"In the Future"
Chapter 36: Another Three Days (Peculiar Dreams)
He felt rather odd and he couldn't quite figure out why. Vegeta only noticed that it was slightly easier to fall asleep. When he did, he immediately found himself in an entirely different place.
Instead of the couch that he had been lying on, he was laying on a vast carpet of white substance. He looked over at his arm and saw that it was completely submerged in the substance. Slowly, he lifted his arm and watched as the soft, powdery matter fell off his skin. Was it baby powder? Vegeta couldn't smell any sweet scents around him so he discarded his first thought. Baking powder, baking soda, maybe? There was only one way to find out which one it was. Vegeta first lifted himself up to a sitting position, but couldn't completely brush off the white dust-like material. His finger then gathered a small amount of the powder and put it to his tongue to taste. With a grimace, Vegeta spat it back out. His next thought was Comet Cleanser. Never had he tasted something so foreign. He knew it wasn't Comet Cleanser though, as he realized that it always had a strong scent to it.
He continued to run his hands through it, but he never once discovered what exactly it was. Suddenly, Vegeta found himself sinking into the white powder. Deeper and deeper he was drawn in as if it were quicksand. Instinctively, he tried to use his flight ability, but as usual, as was the case with dreams, he found himself unable to use his ki. He was always vulnerable--akin to a human--whenever he found himself in such situations. It almost reminded him of before when he felt the same sinking feeling as if there was another force pulling him. Except this time the substance wasn't red fluid, this time it was powder and Vegeta found that it could be just as suffocating.
Eventually, his nostrils became filled with the strange powder. Every time he breathed he inhaled powder. He knew under normal circumstances, he probably would have been clawing to reach the surface again yet he was resigned to the belief that it wouldn't make a difference anyways. His eyes were closed instinctively even though he was trying to convince himself that none of this was real; he hated to think of the burning sensation he would feel once he opened them though he was already growing used to the uncomfortable feeling of suffocation without truly suffocating. His mouth was full of the rancid taste and his throat swelled with powder. His lungs begged for air, but it was not to be.
Until he heard a little girl's voice.
"Daddy? It's getting kind of late. You said you was going to train us today."
Vegeta took a chance and opened his eyes and found that he was in his own room. He looked to where he heard the small voice and his eyes settled on a very familiar young girl. He could tell instantly that she was in fact Ariel but at a much younger age. Her hair still reminded him of Pan's--even more so now since she didn't have it in a ponytail. Her eyes shined with excitement and expectation and Vegeta was hard pressed to deny her request.
"Yeah, I'll be right there--just…wait out in the living room."
"Al-right," Ariel said brightly.
She nearly pranced out of his room to the living room and Vegeta wondered where she had gotten all the energy from. With a sigh, Vegeta sat up in the bed that he was currently occupying. Here was in yet another dream. Another premonition to what could potentially happen in the future. So far, everything appeared to be kosher.
Vegeta looked into the normal places where he would find his clothes and then went to take a shower--an activity he hadn't done in a while in the real world.
All of them were waiting in the living room and for the first time he saw Pan. She must have already been there on the couch watching television. Only when Vegeta stepped in did she glance up. She gave him a brief smile and returned to watching her show. Her eyes appeared to be despondent, but Vegeta didn't have much time to study her before the children were trying to get his attention.
"C'mon, Dad, let's do that training thing you were talking about," Jr. proclaimed.
"Yeah, the…Gra-vity Room," Golyn said trying out the word.
"Do all of you truly believe you're ready for that?"
Vegeta received three affirmative nods.
"Alright then--since you insist," Vegeta said with a tone that would always cause Trunks to second guess himself.
There was no second guessing from the three in front of him and they trailed closely behind him as he led them to his old training ground. Quite frankly, Vegeta was surprised that it still worked.
Vegeta didn't exactly turn it on as he was still uncertain of how far along they were, but he didn't disclose this information to them. Golyn and Ariel already faced each other in a kind of stand off and Jr. had turned to Vegeta. This seemed to be the routine set up, but before Jr. could throw the first punch at him, Vegeta stopped him so he could watch the other two.
"Hey, what gives," Jr. asked.
"You'll get you chance soon enough," Vegeta said as he stood with crossed arms.
Jr. stood directly beside him and after glancing up at his father, he adopted the same stance.
Their technique was a little off. Ariel would always try to do too much in one breath and Golyn's punches didn't have enough force behind them to ever cause any good damage. Both of them were rather slow, but this was supposedly the first time he had taken them to the Gravity Room. Before their spar could get out of hand, Vegeta broke them up and told them to watch as Jr. and he fought.
Vegeta had no idea where Jr. stood in his technique, but as they traded blows, he realized that Jr. had already surpassed the other two in that respect. Still, Vegeta avoided using any real force on him. After a minute, Vegeta brought the spar to an end.
"So, how'd I do?" Jr. asked him immediately.
"You're too predictable. While it is good that you're able to mimic my moves--predictability will always make you vulnerable."
Jr. never strayed too far away from the obvious attacks. This wasn't actually a bad thing; even the best fighters didn't always know what the next logical attack should be. Most fighters often went with their own instincts. However, Vegeta was never one for giving compliments to beginners and, in a way, it would make them work harder.
Vegeta walked over to the control panel to raise the gravity level to 2 times above gravity. Of course, Vegeta couldn't feel it at all, but his three trainees felt it immediately. He soon had them doing 200 pushups and 100 sit ups--he was being nice. Just when they thought Vegeta would call it quits, he taught them a very intensive lesson on defense--Vegeta had also noticed that they had all demonstrated a lacking ability on this aspect of combat.
On the very last part of their training session, they were all at once trying to throw a successful punch at their father. However, his defenses seemed impenetrable. Vegeta had promised that if anyone could manage an attack through his defenses then they could finish this session early, but between the three of them it was taking too long.
"That's it!" Jr. shouted getting angry and simultaneously turning Super Saiyan, "I'm gonna' finish this quickly."
Golyn then turned Super Saiyan as well. Ariel looked on with astonishment and fear.
"You guys, wait!"
But the two of them were both attacking Vegeta with renewed fervor. Vegeta hadn't realized that they could already turn Super Saiyan, but he was still able to stave off their attacks. Jr. fought wildly, but Golyn was comparatively more calculative.
"Hey, that's not fair!" Ariel cried from a distance, "Daddy didn't say we could do that."
Golyn stopped for a moment and turned to Ariel, "Oh, shut-up, you're just mad 'cus you can't do the same."
Then Jr. stopped as well, "You two stop your bickering! It's gonna take all three of us to get that hit in."
With this small encouragement from Jr., Ariel again joined them and Vegeta was faced with two Super Saiyans and one female Saiyan. He soon fazed out of their reach to catch a quick breather.
"Not getting tired, are you father?" Jr. taunted gliding towards him.
Vegeta had no intentions of going Super Saiyan on the novices, but this exercise seemed to be headed in that direction. Despite Golyn and Ariel's initial slowness, they were fast improving their speed. He thought he had tired them out from before, but now they seemed unfazed. They had a vast reservoir of energy and Vegeta realized that he was destined to get hit at least once in the next five minutes.
Vegeta could see it clearly now. At this rate they would eventually surpass him in strength. Youth always brought energy, but Vegeta was no longer young--that vast reservoir of energy that his children were able to pull from was more like a small pond for Vegeta. He would be forced to transform in order to even come close to their vitality, but he didn't. Vegeta allowed them a well deserved hit and the session was brought to a close.
He hadn't trained like that in years and it showed. Of course, he played it off expertly in front of his children but when they were out of sight, he didn't quite make it to the front door and decided that he would rest on one of the porch chairs. At the same moment, a frightening thought came to his mind. All three of his children were only going to become more powerful, pretty soon training them all at once would develop into an impossible endeavor. He thought he was exhausted now, but what would it be like in a few months--a few years even? Trunks had only been one person and Bra had shown no interest in fighting; before it had been simple perhaps even entertaining. Now it felt like a monumental task.
"I knew I'd find you here," Pan said, instantly drawing Vegeta's attention.
A sense of déjà vu came over Vegeta as Pan stepped out onto the porch. She sat down in a chair beside him.
"Am I that predictable these days?"
Pan smiled softly at him, "That's not such a bad thing. At least I know where to find you."
"At least," Vegeta responded thoughtfully. He felt as if his mind had went over the same kinds of thoughts before.
"You can't fool me, Vegeta, those children have you wrapped around their fingers. I see them each day rob you of your energy and you hardly have any time for me."
"I have an idea--why don't you help me," Vegeta said with slight sarcasm.
"I don't want anything to do with those little devils. Besides, you don't want your precious children to be trained by a second rate fighter like me."
"First of all, they're our children and secondly, you're not `second rate`. I see nothing wrong with you training them. If only you could take one of them, maybe Ariel--
"No," Pan said instantly, "I won't do it."
Vegeta looked at her bitterly, but it didn't seem to affect her at all.
"But I have a better idea," Pan continued.
Vegeta was all ears.
"Why don't you let Grandpa help you? I'm sure he has it far easier than you, training that Robby kid."
"Kakarot? There's no way I'm going to let my daughter train with him. All she'll have for competition is that boy."
"I thought you trusted him. I didn't know there were still any hard feelings between you guys."
"There isn't. I just don't like the idea of sending any of them off to someone else. You know how it is with triplets, if you do one thing with one of them, they'll all want to do the same thing."
"I don't think it's going to be as difficult as you think. Whether you know it or not, Ariel already flies off to Grandpa's place every day without fail. I wonder what she's doing up there." Pan spoke the last sentence in a very sardonic tone.
"She flies off to the Lookout?"
"You wouldn't know. You're always asleep by now."
"Well, why doesn't Golyn or Jr. go with her?"
"Because they're so sure Ariel's wasting her time. Far be it that they train with a human not when they're getting the best training from their all-powerful father. Oh, if they could only see you now."
"Why don't you just tell them since you're so bent on being pessimistic."
"Those kids seem to adore you. I'm not willing to take that away knowing that you'd hate me for it."
"It's nice to know you care even if you're trying to disguise it with logical reasoning."
"Yeah, right," Pan said as she stood, "I better leave you to your rest. Your `personal` alarm clock better known as Ariel will make sure you don't oversleep."
With a huff, Pan strolled back into the house. Vegeta watched her go and then sat back in his chair. It was a rather peaceful day. He was already used to the sound of hover cars constantly flying past in the far distance. He could hear Golyn and Jr. playing some imaginative game in the vast field stretching from the back of the mansion. The usual sounds of nature also made their presence known. This dream felt like reality more so than some of his other ones. He never imagined that he'd find himself dozing off while he was already asleep, but at this instance that is exactly what happened.
Then he found himself in yet another dream--a dream within a dream. He found himself lying face down in some rubble as if he had been in a recent battle. When he tried to lift himself up, he felt the bruises all over his body and experienced the same kind of pain he felt after being beaten to a pulp. Something caught his attention out of the side of his eye--Pan. He made his way gingerly to her and found her barely conscious.
"I-I'm s-sorry, Vegeta. Please don't be mad…"
"Mad? About what?" Vegeta asked while at the same time trying to pull her up a little.
"N-no…don't…please. I've been…such a monster. I did it…don't blame anyone else…i-it was me."
Vegeta pressed a finger to her lips and shook his head slowly. That was enough to quiet her, but she seemed to be crying uncontrollably. Vegeta pulled her close in a gentle embrace as she continued to sob on his shoulder. He had no idea what she was talking about or why she was crying, but at least he tried to comfort her.
"It's alright," Vegeta finally said, "Whatever you did--it doesn't matter now."
Suddenly Pan ceased her crying and she grew completely still.
"Pan? Pan?!" Vegeta said with heavy concern as he pulled her back to look at her face.
Her ki signature was gone and now she stared at the world with cold, lifeless eyes.
"Pan," Vegeta whispered, "Who did this to you?" he asked to himself.
Vegeta didn't know what he felt at that moment. It was despondency entangled with a hundred other emotions all of which were indistinguishable. He couldn't think properly. The more he looked at her corpse the more lost and empty he began to feel.
"Pan…" Vegeta said again softly.
He was frantic now, he had to get her to Goku first to save her by making a wish, but for some reason he couldn't zero in on his friend's signature--his mind was unfocused. He knew he wouldn't get anything done like this as a sudden weakness came over him. There were no doctors or people around to bring him back from the precipice of despair this time--only he was available. And then another thought came to his mind: this was just a dream; he could just will her back to life. But even as Vegeta gazed down at her, her body began to fade away. He hadn't known such a sight would affect him so much. When he was left with nothing to grasp, there was something in correspondence missing in him as well.
Then the environment began to change rapidly. Vegeta didn't know exactly where he was being taken, but he no longer cared. It was as if his mind had ceased making coherent thoughts. When the world stopped moving around him, he found himself in an endless field of bright green grass. The sudden brightness shocked his eyes, but he soon grew accustomed to it.
"Had enough?" A feminine voice said to him.
Vegeta's eyes searched around but found nobody else.
"Do you seek the future or would you rather be ignorant to it? The future is as black as coal. You will find yourself in ruin, your children's future in shambles, and the world on the point of no return. Does it not frighten you?"
Vegeta was strangely muted. For some reason, he couldn't form any words to respond to the strange voice.
"Yes, it does. What will you do, Vegeta? How will you stop it from happening? Even now you have no answers to these questions. The sea of life will move as it pleases and you'll be powerless to change its course."
"What will you do, Vegeta?" asked Goku.
"What will you do," asked Pan.
"What will you do," asked Ariel.
"What will you do," asked Golyn.
"What will you do," asked Jr.
"What will you do," asked Robby.
"What will you do," asked 18.
"What will you do," asked everyone at once in a strange, haunting chorus.
And that was when Vegeta woke up or at least he thought he did for a split second. He was back on the porch from before and now it was raining. Big drops pounded on the porch roof and splattered on the now muddy grounds. Vegeta stood up from his chair when his ears began to pick up a strange whistling sound. He peered out from the porch's balcony to the distant sky: a missile and judging from its current trajectory path it was coming directly towards this mansion.
"Ariel!" Vegeta began to shout, "Golyn, Jr., Pan! We have to get out of here quick!"
Golyn and Jr. were still outside. Vegeta literally flew to their positions and hastily grabbed their collars. He searched for Pan's signature, but it was nowhere near the mansion.
"Dad, what's happening?" the startled children asked.
"You don't hear that whistling sound?" Vegeta asked incredulously.
They shook their heads. The rain must've been impeding the sound too much, but Vegeta heard it perfectly. Without another word, Vegeta took off into the air away from the missile's target. Yet before that happened there was another explosion nearby that shook the earth violently and caused debris to fly everywhere. At the same time, Golyn and Jr. were struggling out of his grasp.
"We can fly, you know," they protested even as another explosion went off
"Fine," Vegeta said sharply and released them. "Let's go find Ariel and your mother."
"Oh that's easy," Jr. said, "Mom's at Bra's house and Ariel is at the Lookout."
"Alright, you two go straight to the Lookout no detours--can I trust you two to do that?"
The two nodded affirmatively.
"I'll meet you there soon enough. Now go."
Vegeta watched as they spurted off in their Super Saiyan forms and then he took off towards Bra's place. Hopefully in the future, she hadn't moved again. When he made it to the house, Vegeta was soaked. He knocked on the door fervently. The door opened almost immediately.
"Dad! You're soaked! Come on inside already," Bra said pulling him in and closing the door hurriedly, "Didn't anyone teach you to at least wear a raincoat when it's pouring like this?"
"Bra, there was no time." Already Vegeta didn't sense Pan here, "The mansion was just destroyed by a missile."
"A-are you serious?"
"Let me finish. There were many other missiles and bombs falling down, but it must not have gotten this far yet."
And as if on cue, the ground beneath them began to tremble uncontrollably. Pictures frames on the walls crashed loudly to the floor.
"Dad, what's happening?!" Bra said as she began to panic.
"Bra," Vegeta said in a steadying voice and he grabbed her shoulders for added effect. He had her undivided attention, "Where is Pan? Do you know where she is?"
"She came here a while ago," Bra said in a calmer voice, "but she left abruptly just a few minutes ago."
"To where?"
"Probably to the Lookout. She was just going on and on about Ariel and how she was the main one stealing your attention. Dad, I think there's something seriously wrong with her. She was rather pale looking when she left--"
"She's fine, Bra, right now it's not safe here. Pan's already there at the Lookout; we should do the same."
He had already taken hold of one of her hands when Bra pulled back gently.
"You should talk to her, Dad. She's been acting strange all week and I think it's something you two have to work out now rather than later."
"When she's ready to talk then she will--if she doesn't, then I won't force her."
"You need to."
"Force her?" Vegeta said with a hint of disbelief, "And this is coming from a person who's never been able to keep a relationship for more than two months."
"Well then I should be an expert in knowing what not to do in one and one thing you don't do is sweep problems like these under the rug. You know there's something wrong so do something about it. Don't let it fester into an even bigger problem."
"Every time I try to pry any real information out of her, it turns into a fuss--she pulls away, I try to understand her and the cycle begins again. It's not something you can deal with so easily."
"You did…before."
She was referring to his other rather rocky relationship with Bulma. Except back then the roles had been switched. It had always been Bulma trying to pry information out of Vegeta, trying to make him more open with his feelings. It was Bulma who had loved their children first and had eventually taught him how to do the same.
Vegeta suddenly heard a loud whistling sound above and knew what was coming next.
"There's no time," Vegeta said pulling her along with him, "This has to wait."
They shot up into the sky flying at speeds that were faster than sound and Bra was simply along for the ride. Eventually, though, Vegeta had to slow down so he could conserve his energy, but even more he also had to take care not to be hit by any arbitrary artillery from above.
"Let me go, sheesh!" Bra said pulling away from him, "At the very least I can fly."
"Yes, I know—everyone like to remind me of that. You just make sure to be careful."
"Right, Dad."
All too quickly, a loud boom and blinding flash of light went off right between them.
Vegeta's vision was filled with flashing red, white, and yellow colors. He had no idea how long it was until he was able to see properly, but when he did, he had no idea where he was. All he saw were little white twinkling dots against a black backstop—he felt like he was somehow falling through space. The twinkling lights flew by him as he continued to soar downwards. Faster and faster he fell until the white spots began to run into each other and then he was falling through a sea of white.
And then he opened his eyes. The ceiling that his eyes came to rest on was also white so it took him a moment to realize he was actually awake. His eyes scrunched at the sunlight permeating through the curtains. He wondered how much time had passed as he strolled over to the window to peer outside. The sun seemed to be in the exact same place he had last seen it. Maybe no time had passed. Vegeta looked around for a television so that he could at least watch the news to see what exactly the day was.
There was no T.V. in the living room so Vegeta ventured up the stairs. Each room he walked into was even messier than the last. None of them had a television. Annoyed, Vegeta came all the way to the living room again. Then he went out on a limb and decided to try the kitchen. One shelf that he looked in was filled with those despicable energy bars. Then he looked into the cabinets. He found numerous empty pill boxes. On mere curiosity, he picked one up and read off the name "Lunesta". He knew them instinctively to be sleeping pills because he used to find the same kind of pills in Bulma's medicine cabinet. There were at least eight empty boxes and several more unopened ones. He wondered why 18 would have such a stash, but soon his eyes found something far more interesting—a battery operated TV. Eviant; a nice little affordable digital TV. This would at least have the news channels. He took it out and dusted it off with one swift blow. He switched it on and was relieved to find that it still had some power left in it.
"We regret to announce that we are now officially going off the—
Suddenly the screen turned to complete static and this was the same with the rest of the channels he flipped to. He had at least caught the date on the corner of the screen. This was currently the tenth day; 18 would be back any minute.
"What in the world," Vegeta said to himself as he continued to switch through the analogue channels. Nothing came through.
He soon turned off all the noise and decided that he would wait outside. The porch was in ruins so he opted to stand up against the last standing balcony.
///
18 knew exactly where Vegeta's children were and now she flew hurriedly back to her house. She wondered what condition she would find Vegeta: in the grips of a nightmare or in a peaceful slumber?
She flew in a low altitude and dodged dozen of buildings and trees before she arrived in her front yard. Accustomed to Vegeta simply being inside, she was caught off guard by the sound of his voice upon arrival. He was already walking towards her.
"Well, you're up bright and early."
"Maybe if you wouldn't take so long," Vegeta retorted.
"I have some good news, Vegeta. I know where your kids are."
"Where?" Vegeta asked immediately.
"I'll have to show you."
"Then we don't have much time."
"Woh, hold on--are you sure you're ready to take on Cain?"
"I'm sure."
"Right. You wouldn't tell me the truth even if it killed you," she said looking away.
"18...there's something you haven't told me yet."
"And what's that?"
"You want revenge, don't you? For something Cain has done to you."
"What are you talking about? Cain is about to ruin this entire world shouldn't I be concerned?"
"The only thing you're concerned about is yourself."
"And how is that much different from what you believe in?"
"You've been living in solitude for centuries, your house is falling apart and suddenly you take concern of worldly affairs? How stupid do you think I am?"
"You wouldn't understand," 18 seethed, "A monster like you wouldn't understand. Why don't you just butt out of my business and do your job like a good little Saiyan."
Vegeta's eyes glistened with silent anger, but despite himself, he decided to let this one comment slide--at the moment, there were more important issues to deal with. "Oh, don't worry about Cain--he will die nice and slowly just like you intended, 18."
"Just like you want," 18 said back.
"18...what did he do to you?"
18 was quiet for a moment longer than usual before she responded, "None of your business."
"I understand that you haven't spoken to anyone in a while, but sometimes it can be easier just to say something, to anybody who would listen. If your only companion is your own thoughts, you'll never know when you begin to stray and…perhaps do something you'll later regret."
"Is this your way of saying you pity me?" 18 said bitterly.
"No. This is me helping you."
"Helping…me? Why would you want to do a stupid thing like that?"
Vegeta didn't answer her verbally, but she could read a rather disturbing message in his bright, golden eyes. Because I want to. 18 wanted to also read some underline reason for his strange answer, but there was nothing else to discover. Did he truly want to listen to her? Since when did he care about such things? 18 stepped back in amazement unable to look away now. Somehow her mood was changing and she knew it had something to do with him. She didn't like feeling so open, so ready to speak what was exactly on her mind.
"Just go, damn it! Go find Cain and I'll delay the others, alright," 18 said unsteadily.
"Fine," Vegeta said simply as he lifted off into the air.
"Uhh…wait…" 18 said before he flew off. She wondered what had possessed her to say such a thing and quickly regretted it when his eyes were on her again.
"Yes?" he implored.
"Nothing," 18 struggled to say.
Vegeta stayed a moment longer and then shot into the sky. Silently, 18 crumbled to the ground and began to sob.
///
AN: Yep, another long chapter, perhaps not the longest chapter I've ever written, but it's up there. Sorry you guys had to wait so long. Promise to have more Pan/Vegeta soon.
Lovely reviews…:
cheche: Sheesh! I was just getting to them (Pan/Vegeta). They'll probably be more in the coming chapters. And Vegeta Jr.? ^.^ Way better than the one they showed on the last part of GT.
xzavx: Well, at least I made a few people laugh. Yeah, I love the part about the sleeping pills.
Kyra: Really? That's the legal drinking age? Sweet. And yep, Pan, Bra, and Goku are all under Cain's influence by now. (yeah, Vegeta is gonna be seeing a lot of action pretty soon)