Disclaimer: I am not the owner or creator of Dragonball Z
Warnings: Blood, gore, death
'Thanks for your reviews, comments, and continued interest! Sorry again for all the slacking I have been doing. But it seems I have gotten over some of my writer's block and can continue at last. I have one small favor to ask if anyone is interested. During this fanfiction, I stated what Stage the Present-Time Vegeta is. I can't remember if I wrote that he was Vegeta Stage 52 or 54 or even one of those numbers. If anyone could help me find where I wrote that, that would be awesome and I'll love you lots. I'm just a bit lazy and absent-minded, so I can't seem to find or remember what I wrote, hee hee. Thanks!'
Disclaimer: I am not the owner or creator of Dragonball Z. Akira Toriyama is the man behind the magic and I am only writing a non-profit fanfiction to amuse myself and hopefully others.
Chapter 37
"Did you see that? Did ya?" The youngest of the Arrogances crowed.
Piccolo and Gohan sighed and nodded. As Hatred and his four new enemies threw attack after attack at each other, the thirteen-year-old arrogant persona would turn and make sure his audience was watching.
"Just stick to fighting and finish him off already!" Vegeta shouted.
Pride, Honor, and Vegeta were slowly regaining their strength. The power of being a mere image persona fixed their wounds quickly and neatly, but they still had some time to go before they were fully healed and ready to fight again.
Hatred, however, was gaining some new and painful injuries as he fought against the forces of Vegeta's mind. He had managed a few successful and powerful hits of his own, but the four Arrogances were proving to be too much. The lizard beast was tiring as he tried to protect himself on all four sides, as well as fire his own blasts at his opponents. With each new strike and attack against his weakening form, the combined persona grew more and more furious.
The second youngest of the Arrogances couldn't help but laugh. His gloved knuckles were stained with blood and his face was an expression of pure animalistic glee.
"I haven't had such a fun fight in a long time!"
"True," the third prince added. "I want to practice some new moves on him. Are all of you up for the Qua-Flash Attack?"
The observers below noted the look of excitement on all the personas' faces and became nervous as to what kind of attack this was, especially since it appeared that none of them had used it before.
The four personas lined themselves shoulder to shoulder again and mimicked the exact same movements. Pulling their hands to their sides as if to do a kame-hame-ha wave, they twisted their upper bodies fully around while their legs remained facing forward. As if they were a pitcher about to hurl a ball forward, they formed their brilliant blue energy within their hands. At the same time, Hatred began to power up.
The horned-headed monster was not about to back down from any attack thrown at him. He would show them that he could deflect this special technique that was about to be launched.
The blue energy built in all their palms and the flat, white hallway became illuminated with a lovely calm lighting, though, knowing the Arrogances, this attack would be anything but calm.
The energy hummed and whistled with building tension. In an instant, the Arrogances threw their hands forward, but instead of firing individual blasts, they huddled together and let loose a monstrously enormous beam of energy. It was astounding to witness such sudden light explode into the air, seeing as how the build-up was not that intense. The air was roaring with absolute power as all four fighters threw all they had into an attack that looked exactly like a quadrupled Final Flash.
The massive beam struck Hatred directly as he hovered a few feet higher and through the screaming blast, the combined persona's voice could be heard yelling out in pain. The blue power carried forward, but to the viewers' surprise and horror, began to slow tremendously. Before hurtling into the low ceiling of the white corridor, the Qua-Flash Attack was suddenly pushed forward. The fighters could see a horrid red light burning at the surface of the Arrogances' beam and Hatred's evil and enraged face peered around it.
The beast's muscles rippled with pure strength and tension as he drove the blast slowly forward, before flinging it to the side of the asylum walls. The insane energy sizzled loudly against the incredibly hard surface, the power of the thing bending the wall strangely before ripping right through the once unbreakable structure. The entire area shook violently and white plaster and debris exploded around the area. The Qua-Flash Attack crashed through whatever was on the outside of the prison-like hallway and quickly became swallowed in the blackness that hovered outside.
Vegeta and the others watched through a veil of dust and falling ceiling and wall as the blue energy disappeared from the white hallway, leaving a gaping hole in the supposedly unbreakable surface. But then all went numb for Vegeta and he fell to the ground with a pained shriek. Grabbing his skull, the prince plowed his forehead into the smooth, cool floor as his head exploded in agony. Wave after wave of excruciating pain ripped through his cranium as the Arrogances' wild energy continued to tear its way through his mind. In a flash Gohan and Piccolo were at his side as blood began to leak from his ears and nose.
Hatred panted but grinned down at the trembling prince who pressed his forehead into the ground below. The spiked lizard/saiyajin cracked his knuckles and gave his enemies an amused smirk.
"You personas may be strong, but no matter how powerful you are, Vegeta's very own brain is not protected by you. He is at the mercy of my every attack."
And with that, the cruel monster began to rapidly fire blast after blast into the hole that was created in the inescapable asylum of Vegeta's mind.
"Whoa!" Goku cried as the blackness shook around him. Falling onto his rear, the third-class peered into the pitch black environment that kept him.
He had been waiting forever and even the optimistic, easily-amused saiyajin found the dark nothing but maddening. After Shadow had left him, Goku sat around and just waited for a sign that he would return. But after some time, he realized that Vegeta truly did not want him back in his mind.
But Goku refused to wake himself up and wait on the outside. No matter how long he was forced to wait, the third-class would not leave his friend in such a state, even if Vegeta hated him.
But this sudden tremor made his heart race. e He wanted so badly to enter the prince's mind and see what was happening. It was torture to feel such a violent disturbance and not know what it was from. Goku wanted to form his own energy attack and try to blast his way out, but this dark cage did not seem to have walls or floors or ceilings, even if he could sit down and walk on a "floor." He truly was in nothingness and Goku feared that any attack or blast he set off in Vegeta's mind could truly hurt him.
"But I'm sick of waiting!" He whined to no one. Stomping around childishly, Goku felt a burning anger begin to form. "Stupid Vegeta not letting me back in. Piccolo and the others are so lucky…."
Goku stopped his stomping and pacing and stared into the darkness as his anger built even more. His innocent, childish expression was gone and he listened to the voices in his head.
Of course, if he did manage to blast his way out, he could run in there, save Vegeta, and then all would be forgiven. Even if his blast did hurt Vegeta's mind, it wasn't as bad as what Hatred was doing.
No, Vegeta kicked him out. He needed to respect the prince's wishes and remain seated and waiting.
"But I've done so much for him! His stupid pride and selfishness is the only reason I'm waiting here!" Goku hollered, his voice flat within in the black room. The saiyajin's black eyes swiveled around. "If I don't get out of here soon…."
His threat ended and he said no more, his fear growing as a familiar and terrifying anger built within his chest. Taking a few calming breaths, the third class sat in the nothingness, crossed his arms, and meditated, hoping that he could get a sense of what was happening within the prince's mind.
……………
The four Arrogances growled angrily as Hatred held a large ball of fiery red energy in his hand. It hovered above his palm like a rupturing planet, the flames reflecting off the demon's red irises.
"A few well aimed beams and I'm sure Vegeta's mind will be useless after this. Do you want to test it?"
"Vegeta will survive. We are a part of him and nothing will stop us!" The youngest Arrogance yelled as he rushed forward.
Hatred let out a barking laugh before drawing his arm back. Preparing to launch the burning energy into the darkness of Vegeta's mind, Hatred hurled his arm forward, the large red ball of power shooting toward the hole that led into the prince's unprotected mind.
But the red blast was quickly repelled away from the broken wall where it sizzled and left a scorching mark on the once smooth, white walls of the Freak-Show Land. Hatred scowled and turned to the four Arrogances, only to see that they were all peering at a short hedgehog-looking child floating smugly upward. A slight draft from the outside caught the boy's long, golden locks and he stood in the air with his hands on his hips. Noticing that all eyes were on him, Gotenks did a series of quick jabs and kicks to show off his skills and speed. Doing a graceful back flip, the boy ended in a crouching stance, his mouth cracked into a wide grin and green eyes shimmering with fight.
"I'm sick and tired of seeing you pick on my dad's mind," Gotenks's combined voice said. "I think a fifth Arrogance is what we need."
Hatred blinked at the short, hyper child and let loose an amused laugh, which soon turned into a wild cackle. Gotenks's nose scrunched with annoyance and he straightened into a confident stance, his bare arms folded over his vested chest. Hatred gazed at the child again before going into another fit of laughter, his voice shrieking with Frieza's cackle, Vegeta's chuckle, and Goku's goofy giggle.
"Jeez, it's not that funny," Gotenks muttered.
Hatred finally calmed himself and lifted his red eyes to peer at his new opponent. "Vegeta could not defeat me. Kakarotto couldn't either, and he has the strength of a super-saiyajin three. What makes you believe that a boy of your stature could even hope to kill me?"
Gotenks leaned back and waved a finger, his green eyes dancing with amusement the whole time. "Ah-ah. What you seem to forget is that I am a combination of Vegeta's and Goku's sons, the two most powerful saiyajin warriors in the universe! We are actual flesh and blood. You're just a figment of Vegeta's imagination…and now it's five against one."
Hatred's expression immediately grew darker. In all his time within Vegeta's mind, he had heard speech after speech of useless, "brave" words to try and get the personas' confidence up. But never had he heard anything as crushing, rude, or blatant as his existence being a "figment of Vegeta's imagination." The persona's rage slowly built and his pale, spiked body twitched with fury. His black lips pressed together as he tried to control his quivering lips. With a few steady breaths, Hatred's shoulders relaxed and his tail swished back and forth. His red eyes peered at all four Arrogances and Gotenks before sliding down to glance at Honor.
"Yes, another has come to win a battle that only Vegeta should be fighting. Five against one. How…honorable."
The blue and silver clad warrior twitched, but no one noticed as Hatred rocketed forward, his energy crackling around him as he jumped headfirst into battle with his five opponents.
In a flash, Gotenks hurtled forward, his knee-length golden hair trailing behind him as he smashed a fist into Hatred's face. With a pained grunt, the beast flipped backwards before correcting himself. Just as he opened his squinted eyes, his world was covered with vicious attacks and Gotenks's grinning face.
Honor took a shaky step back before turning to rush to Vegeta's side. The prince was kneeling now with both gloved hands pressed against his throbbing temples. Honor peered directly into the Present-Time persona's face, his expression distraught and guilty.
"We cannot allow your son and his friend to continue this battle. Your very own personas were doing just fine before that Gotenks fusion stepped in."
Gohan pushed Honor aside gently, but enough to move him out of the way. "Vegeta is injured. Just let them take care of Hatred once and for all so we can end this mess."
The blue and silver armored prince grew steadily agitated. His piercing gaze caught Pride's cold expression and the two nodded in silent agreement. Honor shoved his way back toward Vegeta, tossing Gohan on his butt and sending Piccolo stumbling away. Gripping Vegeta by his shoulders, Honor looked the wounded saiyajin directly in his face.
"If Gotenks wins this battle, it will do nothing for your mind. Just because Hatred will be killed, doesn't mean that you're free and clear from these problems," Honor snapped. "I know you. If someone other than your own personality wins such an important battle as this, you will not forgive yourself. Your mind will not become stronger. You will doubt yourself forever and will never feel the courage to fight by yourself again. It is honorable to fight the demons of your mind with your own personas. But look up there. It is Gotenks verse Hatred. Your son Trunks is trying to win your personal battle for you."
Vegeta's dark eyes rose and he stared up at the fight occurring overhead. Gotenks laughed with excitement as he threw fist after fist into Hatred's body. His expression became confused as he tilted his head.
"When did Gotenks appear?"
The fighters surrounding him stared momentarily before almost falling down in exasperation. Of course, Vegeta's brain had been suffering greatly from the Arrogances' attack when Gotenks appeared. In his agonized and distracted state, Vegeta had no idea what was happening above.
"Fool," Pride barked as he strode over to the prince's side. "Gotenks is a great fighter indeed, but soon our powers will be at full strength again. I certainly will not stand here and watch Trunks and Kakarotto's idiot child defeat Hatred." Pride's dark eyes peered up at the four anxious Arrogances watching Gotenks get his fill of the battle. "And I'm sure they will not wait very long either."
With a childish cry, Gotenks clasped his hands together and swung them down at Hatred's horned head. His green eyes widened as a large, clawed hand grabbed his two small fists and began to swing him around. The Arrogances watched with some amusement as the fused child was hurled into the nearest wall where he stayed flattened for a few moments before sliding down the hard surface.
"That was fun to watch, but I think we'll join back in," one of the bystanders said.
Again Hatred was attacked head on by the four Arrogances, and he was tiring fast. Gotenks rubbed his bruised face and peered up at the spinning battle overhead. He growled in annoyance and launched back into the air, but could not find a good spot to attack as the four personas covered every inch of Hatred's body with kicks and punches. Sprinting around to his side, the boy tried to pry his way in, but received an elbow to the nose. With a pained and angry cry, Gotenks hovered back and glared at the warring personas.
"What the heck?! I was doing just fine!"
The youngest Arrogance looked over his shoulder and grinned at the younger boy. "You snooze you lose. Go take a break. We'll finish him."
Returning to the task at hand, the teenage persona focused on his attacks against Hatred. Gotenks hovered back momentarily before tightening his fists and leaping forward. Pulling the arrogant young being away from the fight, Gotenks got one punch at Hatred before angry hands ripped at his hair. The fused child's head whipped back and he came face to face with a snarling, red-faced teenaged version of Vegeta. The two stared each other down for a few seconds before leaping at each other, both hands around their throats and voices hollering in childish rage.
Gohan's hands went into his hair as he watched the kids fall to the ground, the two fighters wrestling as if they had never been trained to fight in their lives. Running over to them, the half-saiyajin tugged at Gotenks's hair to try and remove him off of the young Arrogance's chest. Screaming obscenities that would make both Chi-Chi and Bulma spank their sons until the sun went down, Gotenks's fists ripped at the Vegeta persona's armor and hair.
"Will you two stop it?!" Gohan yelled. "We have much more pressing matters at hand!"
But he lost his grip on the boys as they rolled away him, their wild fight continuing.
The room lit up brightly and one of the older Arrogances let out a pained shout as he was thrown toward the wall. His shaking hand pressed against his bleeding left shoulder and his dark eyes lifted to glare at Hatred.
"You shouldn't have let their little fight distract you!" Hatred roared as he rushed forward.
Barreling through the other two personas, the beastly Hatred pummeled the wounded Arrogance mercilessly. One on one it seemed that Hatred could hold his own, and this was just the advantage he needed. Before the other two could react, Hatred grabbed the persona's face and repeatedly plowed his head into the stronger-than steel wall, the whiteness becoming stained with blood quickly.
Gohan looked desperately at the two boys still spitting and hissing at each other on the ground. Whipping around, he saw that Pride and Honor were still not well enough to jump in, and Vegeta was in no shape to see any fighting.
"Piccolo!"
Without any further prompting, the two earth warriors leapt from the ground, Gohan's hair already a brilliant gold as he and the namek rushed Hatred's unprotected back. Avoiding the large spikes that protruded from his shoulder blades and lower back, Gohan and Piccolo slammed into the beastly persona.
Hatred was driven into the beaten Arrogance, but he spun immediately, the energy in his hands surprising both warriors. They barely avoided being hit by the red blasts, but watched in shock as the powerful beams exited the hole that was created earlier and faded into the darkness. There was a distant crashing and Vegeta let out a muffled groan as he collapsed and gripped his head again.
Hatred flipped over Gohan and Piccolo's head and floated away from them slowly, a cruel, dark grin on his pale face. Gohan shuddered as he could see his father's expression within the evil mask and felt his stomach sink at the thought of such darkness within Vegeta's mind.
"So, you two finally managed to jump in," Hatred's tripled voice growled. His red eyes glanced at Gotenks and the youngest Arrogance, the two circling each other now like territorial dogs. He looked to the floor, where the thirty-some Arrogance rubbed his bleeding head and held an expression of utmost pain.
Hatred was now facing Piccolo, Gohan, and the two other Arrogances, and yet he still remained calm. Forming a blackened ball of energy in his hand, he grinned cruelly.
"I may be outnumbered, but now that there is an exit to this insane asylum, I can finally go do what I had set out to do this whole time; eradicate Vegeta's mind. You foolish, loving earthlings would never leave Vegeta's side were he in pain." He turned and opened his arms wide to the giant hole that had been blasted through the flat ceiling and wall. "This is my hostage! This is what I shall hold as leverage!"
"Not if we kill you first," the eldest Arrogance snarled. "And trust me, we will destroy you."
"We will be decorated in your blood," the cold, dark twenty-year-old Arrogance hissed. "Whatever you throw at Vegeta's mind, he can recover. Do your best."
Piccolo and Gohan looked at each briefly at these words, before launching themselves at Hatred. The horned-headed demon shot backwards immediately, his energy-powered hand already rising to fire his blast into Vegeta's defenseless mind. As the earth warriors charged, Hatred's yellow teeth glistened as he grinned. Before Gohan and Piccolo struck, Hatred disappeared before their very eyes. Not being able to track his energy, the two quickly scanned the area, realizing that the pale, spiked beast had reappeared directly behind Gotenks's unsuspecting back. The youngest Arrogance's eyes widened enormously, but he was too slow to warn the child.
With a tremendous blast, Hatred's energy left his hand, the burning black power firing straight into Gotenks's spine. The child let out a quick startled scream and was thrown directly into his rival. Both children were swallowed in the blast and the warriors had to shield their eyes from the dark, evil power that shook the environment.
Vegeta watched as the beam collided into the wall, the burning tip of it driving the boys into the incredibly hard surface. But Hatred still held onto the energy and slid it upward, leaving a thick scorching mark along the once white wall. All the warriors in the room watched as the blackened energy ball crackled with red electricity and was thrown through the hole.
Ignoring the pain that Vegeta could feel building within his skull already, he jumped to his feet and ran forward. His heart pounded in his chest and he felt the sudden urge to throw up. The wall held a vertical scorch mark that was about five feet wide, but he was most terrified about the thick streaks of blood that sizzled along with the blackness. Where the giant hole in the room began, the prince could see a limp body dangling from the broken edges of the opening. At the corner of the wall and the floor, a smoking heap lay unmoving.
Wobbling as he ran, Vegeta tried his best to keep his balance as blinding pain exploded in his head. Letting out a piercing cry, Vegeta gripped his skull, but kept running forward. Getting closer and closer to the burnt body on the floor, the tortured prince finally fell to his knees and crawled forward, his bloody gloves reaching the boy and turning him over.
Gotenks's golden hair was scorched and blackened, his super-saiyajin three no longer beautiful or impressive to look at. The side of the boy's face was burned badly, but nothing was as bad as his back, for his flesh remained sticking to the floor when Vegeta turned him over. Through his screaming, agonizing brain, Vegeta couldn't tell if the boy was breathing or even alive. There was someone at his side yelling something, but Vegeta was in such a state of shock and excruciating pain, he could only stare down at the passive, unresponsive face of both his and Kakarotto's son.
Gohan pushed Vegeta aside and leaned his head down to listen for Gotenks's labored breathing. Gohan's heart was pounding so loud it was hard to tell if the fused child was alive and he felt panic begin to rise. Taking in gulping breaths, the teenager turned desperately to Vegeta, only to see a stony, wide-eyed expression on his face. Blood seeped from his nose and ears and his eyes were incredibly bloodshot.
"It's ok. Gotenks is alive. He's breathing," Piccolo's voice boomed. He landed in front of the fighters and peered down at the unconscious super-saiyajin.
Gohan felt himself shaking and let out a shuddering sigh. "Thank Goodness for your ears," the young warrior whispered.
Piccolo and Gohan heard some commotion above and saw the oldest and the twenty-year-old Arrogances hovering at the broken ledge of the wall. The earth warriors' stomachs twisted as they saw a large streak of blood traveling its way down the white wall. A limp arm hung over the hole and judging by the Arrogances' expression, it was not good.
Hatred crossed his arms and wagged his tail back and forth, his excitement evident as he awaited the explosion to come.
"HE'S DEAD!" The younger of the two floating personas roared. "YOU KILLED HIM, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
The arrogant persona lit with fiery white flames and he rocketed forward, his speed insanely fast. His irises disappeared as an overwhelming rage overcame him, but Hatred's grin only grew larger.
"You idiot!" The older Arrogance hollered. "He wants us to fight him one on one!"
But before the wiser persona could move forward, Hatred had already driven a fist into the enraged Arrogance's stomach. Blood immediately poured from his mouth, but he was still too driven by anger to stop. Hurling a wild fist forward, the Arrogance's eyes widened as his arm was instantly snapped. Hatred held onto the broken limb and brought his face closer to the gasping, choking saiyajin. With his red eyes peering directly into the twenty-year-old's pale face, Hatred's long, violet tongue snaked from his mouth and licked the sweat from the being's cheek before powering up terrifyingly.
Hatred's body became ignited with burning flames as his energy sky-rocketed, the power itself scorching his victim's body. The spectators watched in absolute horror and disgust as the arrogant persona's body jerked and twisted, his skin bursting into flames, as well. The air exploded with agonizing screams as the tortured soul caught on fire, his life ending gruesomely from the outright power Hatred held.
Finally reaching his peak, Hatred released the second Arrogance's broken arm and let the burnt corpse fall to the ground, where it landed with a sickening crackle and laid smoking. The smell hit the bystanders and they grew increasingly ill. Vegeta's faded eyes slid over to where the charred, twisted body lay and he immediately turned around and began to heave. Piccolo and Gohan could only stare in horror at what just occurred. Never had they seen a warrior kill another just by powering up. The brutality and cunning evil was just too much. And it was a creature of Vegeta's mind that had performed such an act.
Gotenks let out a pained moan as his body began to glow strangely. There was a flash of light and the warriors watched as the fused boy slowly grew into two. Gohan, Piccolo, and Vegeta waited with held breath as the damage dispersed itself to both children. As they separated, it was clear that both had received an equal share of injuries. Both Trunks and Goten had terrible burns along their backs and both had raw, burnt skin on the sides of their faces, though not as bad as it had been when they were one.
Trunks was the first to let out a pained moan and it took some effort to open his eyes. The bright light in the white area throbbed in his skull and he squinted from the pain. Gohan and Piccolo looked up at Vegeta, who only held a dreary, exhausted expression on his pained face.
"We need my dad," Gohan said softly.
Vegeta's body jerked slightly and he slowly gazed up at the stony-faced warrior.
"Your father is long gone. He can't come back here."
The earth boy shook his head and peered down at his unconscious brother. "No. He's waiting in the darkness of your mind. Vegeta, he wanted to come back so badly. I'm sure he's still inside, waiting for you to send Shadow to let him in." Gohan's dark eyes glared into Vegeta's. "All my father ever wants is to help you, Vegeta. Don't make him wait any longer! You need his help."
To this Vegeta stood, his sudden action surprising all. He glared up at Hatred as the being stared down at him. Vegeta's gloved fists tightened and he ignored the throbbing agony in his skull.
"I'm not letting him in! He can wait until he dies for all I care!" The prince yelled, his voice echoing down the endless corridor. Looking down at his son, who now opened his blue eyes to stare at him, Vegeta shook his head and stared out into the blackened hole that had been torn open during the battle. "No one else from the outside will get hurt anymore," he said, his voice cold and serious. "Throughout this battle I have seen Kakarotto almost killed and now my son. There is no honor in letting others fight my battle, especially when it concerns my very own mind."
"It's not cowardly to ask for help, Vegeta!" Gohan shouted, jumping to his feet, as well. "That is only your arrogance talking and look what is happening there."
Vegeta whipped around angrily, ignoring his lack of balance and aching head. Striding forward, he forced Gohan against the nearest wall.
"I am not asking for help! I have made my decision now. I do not want…" he paused and looked at his feet as if embarrassed. "I will not stand to see…those I care about injured or killed all for the sake of trying to save my fucked-up brain. My pride cannot stand to let others fight my battles for me. My honor will not stand to let others die for such an unworthy cause." Vegeta lifted his eyes and Gohan was shocked to see such emotion within the usually lifeless, icy pools of blackness. "Take your brother and my son and exit this mind. You and Piccolo tried, but I cannot allow any more outsiders to enter my brain."
Turning, Vegeta gazed up at Hatred, seeing that the beast was calmly waiting for the soon-to-be battle…and annihilation. The prince sighed and tried to gather what little energy he had to fly up to the creature.
"D-dad. Wait."
The saiyajin prince paused and turned to the pained voice. His heart leapt as he saw his lavender-haired son struggle to sit up, his young face scrunched in pain as his back skin clung to the smooth, stained floor. Vegeta took a step toward Trunks, but then stopped, his eyes downcast and trying to hide the grief he felt for his child.
"You can't do this on your own. We heal faster in this mind. Give it some time and we can fuse again to help you."
Vegeta couldn't stop the smile of pride he felt for his son's bravery, but he shook his head softly.
"Trunks. Go home to your mother. Wait with her. I still have my pride, honor, and two arrogances. That's all I need."
Kneeling was obviously difficult for the wounded boy, but he pushed himself up onto his two feet. Trunks balanced himself shakily, but raised his blue eyes. Vegeta jerked as he saw his son on the brink of tears.
"I-I want us both to go home to Mom. Sh-She's really worried, Dad." The lavender-haired child let a few tears fall as his shoulders shook. He stared at his feet in shame, humiliated that his father, his personas, Hatred, and Piccolo and Gohan could see his weakness. "Just let Goku in. You'll die if you fight him alone."
Vegeta opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by Hatred's dark laughter. The prince's bloodshot eyes glared up at the beast as the horrid persona shook with amusement.
"What emotional wrecks you both are! Like father like son," he mocked. Lowering himself to the ground, Hatred stood with his arms crossed and body relaxed. "Listen, boy," he sneered at Trunks, "when your father does wake up, it will be me! Oh sure, he'll look like sweet ole' Dad, but within his mind, he will be a perfected, amazingly powerful warrior. Say goodbye now, because daddy won't be waking up."
"SHUT UP!" Trunks screeched, his hands busily wiping away his tears. "You will never control my father! NEVER!"
Hatred rolled his eyes and peered up at the hole in the small, flat corridor. He was becoming increasingly bored and wanted to see how truly powerful his energy was now that he had incinerated one of the Arrogances with his brutal flames. Without any warning, the spiraling power engulfed him again. The violent red energy spun around his body, the whipping beams crackling with spiky bursts of white and black electricity.
"I don't like the looks of this," Piccolo muttered.
The expression on Hatred's demonic face struck the warriors with waves of fear and foreboding. The oldest Arrogance settled down to the floor, his body tense and shaking with barely suppressed anger. A few feet behind him stood the thirty-some Arrogance, his face and head still healing from the beating he had received earlier. Pride and Honor stood further behind Piccolo and Gohan, their healing almost complete. But at the looks of Hatred's insane energy, it appeared that none of them could face off against the power-crazed giant.
Hatred's clawed hands reached apart, his nailed fingers twitching as he pulled his entire chi into an enormous, growing ball of pink energy. Vegeta's stomach sank as he instantly recognized the hideous attack as Frieza's finishing move, an energy ball that could destroy any planet in seconds.
"You'll demolish everything," Vegeta growled. "Even yourself."
From behind the shaking, enormous ball, Hatred grinned, his hanging jaws wet with saliva and his expression revealing how truly mad he was.
"Impossible. Nothing can kill me."
And with that, the beast pitched the screaming pink energy directly at all the warriors, the flaming blast already tearing at their clothing and skin. Their eyes widened in terror as they realized that there was no way to stop the crushing attack.
………………
The blinding light that exploded so suddenly into the pitch black environment where Goku waited caused the third-class to fling himself sideways and shield his eyes. His body curled up protectively as he felt the darkness around him break apart and begin to crumble. Blinking in surprise, the saiyajin fighter felt himself falling and realized that he was surrounded by shards of broken and jagged black shapes, as if they were pieces of a mirror. So surprised was he, that he didn't even have time to slow himself before landing on his rear-end painfully, his eyes watering as his sensitive tail bone collided hard with the familiar marble floor.
Goku didn't have time to marvel at his sudden entrance as the ceiling of the grand castle shook violently, the heavy beams and giant stained glass bursting apart. With a surprised yelp, the third-class saiyajin dodged the massive chunks of ceiling, marble, and glass, his heart pounding and mind racing as he wondered what could be happening.
Feeling his panic rising, Goku had no idea how to navigate his way to where Vegeta and the others were. And with the castle in such a state, he had no idea how much longer he had to find them. Running forward, Goku had a hard time balancing as the world leapt upward and jolted sickeningly.
"What is this?" He shouted to no one.
With the world falling apart in such a way, he could only imagine what was happening to the others. Goku paused as he realized that Hatred could very well have already won. Perhaps the reason the castle and Shadow's barrier were crumbling was because Vegeta and others were dead!
"No, no, NO! SHADOW!!"
In a panic, Goku blasted forward, sweat running down his face as he thought up the worst possible scenarios. Calling out for Shadow again, the warrior continued to race forward. The walls collapsed around him and the once beautiful glass that decorated the great hallways shattered and fell like waterfalls. Goku wasn't even aware of his quick panicked breaths as he could only imagine what kind of pain Vegeta must have been in if he was still alive.
Calling out one last time, Goku squeezed his eyes shut and rocketed down the tall corridors. The area was thick and clouded with destruction as Vegeta's mind collapsed in on itself. The earth warrior opened his eyes, only to see a blurry view of colors. Blinking a few times, he realized they were tears.
"Shadow," Goku's hoarse voice called. "Please. Bring me to Vegeta."
'Phew! That is the most I have written in quite some time. I hope you liked it. I was a bit stuck for some time, as I'm sure you all noticed, but I'm back. I hope to have the next chapter out soon. Thank you all for your patience and support!'