Ki Links: Part 5
The Fight in the Darkness! A Saiyajin Collision!
Vegita's upsweep of hair flattened against his back as he flew through the night sky with a startlingly almost panicked speed. His body was rigid, set and determined to track the ki of his mate wherever she may be. His hands were clenched in nervous fists and he moved faster than he ever had before, in any battle he had ever been in. Energy cracked around his body in pulsating throes and he felt his body surge with the desire to find the woman.
The Saiyajin no Ouji he had been years before would have mocked him now…shaking up over some human, barely worth the time of such high royalty. The warrior in him would have laughed to see him become so excitable, giving up such ample training time to go searching for just some girl. But no…this was something more… because he was not only flying for her.
He was flying, searching, worrying for his son. His heir. His child.
Vegita could remember instinctively what Bulma had said that week ago. Her assuring voice telling him not to worry, that she could survive in the wild for a time. Commanding him that she needed, she had to have, time to herself for a while. Promising that the baby wouldn't come for another few weeks. He hadn't given any thought to it, besides that he would be sleeping alone and would have to fix his own meals until her return. He had never thought, never even dreamed that anything would happen to his mate while she was away.
The worry that etched through him was a new emotion for him to feel. He had experienced many things in his life: fear, loathing, rage. He had even felt death itself, the coldness that overtook him and the darkness that stole away his life on the desolate planet Namecksei. But this new feeling was stranger, more odd than those… and he did not care for it. Was it also…love that pushed him on? The partnership to his mate that kept his body from breaking down in exhaustion? That couldn't be it…Saiyajins weren't born with such queer emotions.
His thoughts were interrupted as Vegita finally came to the place where Bulma's energy centered to. It was Satan General Hospital, a large building set into one of the main squares of the city. Vegita had never been particular to the humans' strange medical terminology and instruments. He had even seen Kakarrotto, the great Super Saiyajin who had gone so far as to defeat the almighty Frieza in combat, break down in pleas and almost tears before a human syringe. How ironic that such a warrior could be brought to his knees before something so simple…
Vegita pinpointed her location and floated up to her room on about the fifth or sixth floor. He looked into the window that lead inside her dark room, shielding his eyes so that he could see the form that lay on the bed inside. His inherited acute eyesight allowed him to see remarkably well in the night without so much as even a lamp on inside the hospital room. He was relieved to see that the woman was sleeping soundly; he could even make out the sounds of her breathing from outside. He silently pried the window open and stepped inside the cool apartment.
The Saiyajin walked with soundless steps on his still bare feet as he approached the small bed. Bulma's blue hair looked wild and disorderly, marking unknown battles she must have gone through only a while before. But she was still just as beautiful as when Vegita had started living with her months before, although he would never openly admit it to her. He reached out a hand and stroked her cheek, and for the first time through the physical contact, he noticed that something was lacking from her… He closed his eyes and reached out, feeling through her body for something...
Yes, he was positive. She had given birth already…his son was born.
Vegita smirked. He wished he could have been around to see the look on the humans' faces when they found the baby's tail. No doubt that trait would remain constant in his child… he remembered the unfortunate occurrence of when even Kakarrotto's half-breed brat had still possessed a tail, going so far as to even turn Oozaru and almost kill him in their first battle. Almost. But he would be sure to be more careful with his son… he would see that such accidents would not reoccur. He couldn't wait to see him, his young prince…
"Funakosama…"
The word awoke Vegita from his almost trance. He knew it hadn't come from him or Bulma, that much was certain. But he hadn't sensed anyone else in the room… he pushed an orb of energy into his palm and scanned the room again. It was empty. "Who dares toy with me…" he growled more to himself than out loud.
"Funakosama… no!"
The voice was louder this time, almost frightened. But Vegita knew it wasn't directed at him… he walked silently to the other side of the bed and almost tripped. On the floor, curled up into a ball almost like a cat, lay a teenage girl. She had a disorderly white mane of hair and her black clothes were torn and dirty. Vegita could feel her ki now…it still amazed him that he hadn't felt it moments before. It was in a state of dormancy, a hidden position she had put it in before resting. He had done it many times himself. He probed the small bit of energy she released…no, it couldn't be…
"Saiyajin…" he breathed out.
Vegita lowered himself to a crouching position before the sleeping girl. He felt partly excited, partly confused, partly curious. How long had it been since he had seen another true-blooded Saiyajin? What was this one doing in the same room as his mate? Why wasn't it older? Frieza had destroyed the planet Vejiitasei years before…she should be at least to the adult stage! But most importantly, why did this one seem familiar to him? There was only one way to confirm his suspicions…
He reached out one hand around the girl's back and felt around near her gi pants. No doubt she would still have her tail. He felt a bit disappointed when he did not find it wrapped around her waist like most of the other warriors had done on Vejiitasei. Was his race now truly dead? Were the only ones left to carry the once proud bloodline himself and that imbecile Kakarrotto? He felt an overwhelming relief when he found the roots of the tail where he thought they would be, although the actual appendage itself was wrapped around her right leg.
Vegita closed his hand tightly around the base, and for a moment he was tempted to pull the thing out. But why should he care? That Nameckseijin Piccolo had destroyed the moon years ago and the girl looked too young to be able to make an effective artificial moon. And there was no way in this world or the next that he was afraid of this child… but why was he still so set on taking the tail out? Was he…jealous? Jealous that he had been robbed of his tail by that fat kusotare during that first battle on Earth? No…
He didn't have much time to think before the girl's eyes suddenly snapped open.
The whole healing ordeal and flight had literally exhausted Winter by the time she saw that Bulma was taken care of and the baby was given a proper room. The doctors had tried to get her out of the hospital, saying things about "visitation hours" and other asinine comments, trying to force her out of the building. But Winter had calmly refused, commanding them that she had to look after the woman. They had been easily convinced. Maybe it was the fact that she had flown through the entrance of the hospital or just her apparent brutality that made their decision for them…
Winter had decided right off to stay in the room with Bulma, to make sure she was there if anything were to happen to her. But her body was totally drained and she was forced to finally sleep, curled into a fetal position near the side of her bed. As she drifted into her unconscious slumber, she was plagued once again by flashes of nightmares from before. It was dark, shadows blinded her eyesight of anything but that which was ahead. Images of the black lion, larger in size than it had been before, that she had battled just the other night reappeared, silently biting, slashing, ripping a human to pieces before her eyes. It was Funakoshi, she could tell from the sadness in the eyes of the dying master. She felt her own stomach churn and heave with the sickness of the display. Then suddenly the faces of strange people laughed at her…laughing at her incompetence…
Then the lion turned to her, and with a silent leap sunk its teeth into the lower part of her back…
That's when she had awoken.
Winter darted her eyes to the source of the still numbing pain that etched through her back, overtaking her body as she lay there. She saw a man, a short man with a great mass of spiked hair and his face set into a stone cold look of grimness, crouched beside her. His hand was now gripping her tail in an almost cold power. She felt his energy emanating through his touch… Winter had never felt such power or such pain for that matter in her entire life. And for a moment, she was afraid.
But only for a moment.
Winter blinked and forced her remaining energy in one powerful heel kick to the man's face, which was nearer to her due to his kneeling position. "Hands off!" she snarled, her voice savage and cold. A warm tingling replaced the numbness as the man reeled away from her and let go, obviously surprised by the tactic by the way his narrowed eyes had widened slightly. Winter felt her heel slightly pained…the man was like a rock! She had never experienced one with such power as this…
Vegita shook his head slightly, clearing it of the shock he had received from the sudden strike. Yes, this girl had the raw Saiyajin power he had expected…but he didn't care about that. This child had dared to strike him, something few true Saiyajin upper class warriors would dare to do even in sparring matches. An offense punishable by death. "Kisama…" he growled as he started building up his ki.
Vegita watched in a sardonic humor as the girl jumped from her position on the floor and into a crude defensive stance. Her energy was now alerted and heightened to its fuller flame. Her eyes were narrowed in an angry tone and she flexed her fingers, cracking them. At least she is taking her death fight seriously, Vegita thought with a hidden satisfaction. "I hope you are proud of that little tap you gave me," he remarked. "Few have had the opportunity of taking even that much with them when they die."
The girl only made a small growling sound in response. That was all there was really time for.
The Prince dematerialized behind her within a second's notice, the only thing marking his last position was a blurred image of himself. She hadn't even seen it coming until he sunk both of the balls of his feet into her back. The force of the double kick actually managed to throw her through the window and out into the night sky. At least now I don't have to worry about harming the woman, he thought to himself as he followed her out the hole.
Winter felt herself free falling and managed to concentrate on floating before she could start plummeting to the ground. Her already injured back was throbbing with a heated pain and she was surprised the man's blow hadn't broken her spine. She felt her wounds reopen and the warm wet feeling of blood start to drip down her body. She glared upward defiantly at the man, now floating a few feet in front of her.
She managed to bare her teeth in an almost barbaric grin. "I will live. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for you…besides, you were not the first to draw blood."
One of his dark eyebrows curled in confusion. The stranger reached one hand up to his chin and touched the spot where her heel had connected. Just as she had said, there was a small, yet significant, slice of severed skin. As he looked at his hand with an amazed rage, Winter could tell that next time perhaps she should watch her tongue. He glanced up at her with a startlingly look of sheer murder and said in a guttural whisper, "Now you die."
Winter looked on with a morbid curiosity as he brought both of his hands out in front of him, palms facing out and up shoulder length. He screamed out, "Renzoku Energy Dan!" and blew forth a stream of sudden constant blasts of fiery energy. Winter crossed both of her arms in front of her chest and forced a shield around her. It worked to a fashion as she felt some of the blasts fly past her along her side, but the ones that were aimed head on connected with painful accuracy. But perhaps the flaming shield they were providing could be used to her advantage…
She threw both of her arms out, pushing her shield to a farther radius before it dissipated. The spheres continued to explode against it and she flew through the flames, using them as barriers so as that the man could not see her on the other side. She blew the remaining fire away from her and soared straight into him head on. She let out an almost barbaric yell as she sunk her fist into the man's stomach, followed by a sharp backhand to the side of his head. She floated back a bit from him and curled over, breathing deeply from the sudden attack and the punishment her body was taking.
Winter forced herself up to a vertical position and managed a half smile as she watched the man, bent over the place she had struck him. His form was shaking slightly and she wondered just how hard she had hit him. That's when the growing sounds from him reached her ears…laughter. He lifted his head, his face twisted in a mocking humor. "After your first little sneak attack," he let out between chuckles. "You thought I wouldn't be ready for a tactic like that? How juvenile."
In the next second, the man smirked and his image blurred away in an instant. Winter could barely even track his ki as he dematerialized again, not unlike he had done before, and appeared right above her, sweeping his leg cleanly into the side of her face. Winter reeled backward, her vision actually turned white and clouded with the force of the attack. She almost felt her skin tear off and she could feel small streaks of blood run down her face in miniature streams. Her eyes swerved to and fro, searching for her attacker.
"Can't you feel me, fool?" his voice screamed from above her, and Jade looked just in time to feel his connected fists drive down into the front of her skull.
The vicious momentum of the strike forced Winter's body into a spiraling roll toward the ground. She let out a strangled cry, mixed with pain and a surprising awareness that it hadn't broken her neck. She forced a concentrated hold on her flight and made her body stop at a halfway crouched stand. Her body shook in a convulsive pain as she almost seemed to twitch…the pain she felt was new. It was raw…and yet she couldn't help but feel almost a sickly twisted excitement at this chance to finally fight with a real warrior.
Her ears seemed to shift upward as she heard the sound of the man's new burst of amused laughter. "You should be satisfied, Saiyajin! There are not many of your kind that can die knowing that they lasted this long against the mighty Prince Vegita! Though satisfaction won't save your wretched soul…"
"Hai, it won't…" Winter charged her ki into almost circled ringlets around her wrists and swung both of her arms in one circular motion behind and then around her, pushing them out into fists toward the other fighter. The circles spread out and split, forming small half-disks of energy soaring in all directions. "But perhaps this will! Meteor Flying Shower!"
Vegita should have seen an attack coming.
True, the little whelp had true spirit, that much was certain. But he had not expected her to be able to form any significant ki combination after the force he had dealt to her in that one strike. It was the same one he had used on Kakarrotto during their first fight, which, if he recalled correctly, had nearly sent him into the ground. The true determination this simple girl was showing was surely invigorating to him…but he couldn't let her live. One of them was going to die tonight, and he wouldn't face death so easily.
The girl smirked in a grim confidence as the fingers on her hands seemed to dance around, seeming to control the small attacks to go every which way. Some went up, some went down, some traveled together, some alone. There were far too many for Vegita to keep track of. But just as suddenly as her fingers were moving, they were once again clamped into one single fist, and Vegita was thrown forward as the small bits formed together into one mighty sphere that hit him squarely in the back.
His body was thrown forward, and Vegita coughed as the breath caught in his chest from the loss of air. He tilted his head back to look where the blast had connected. Yes, his back was burning with an acidic spreading and his flesh was scarring harshly. This…brat was going to pay dearly… He turned back around to see her preparing a harsh uppercut that would connect when his body came within reach. So that was her plan…
Vegita let his flying body sag loosely, feinting a painful unconscious. He was coming closer to the girl and he could feel her charging her ki into her arm so as that to inflict damage with the cut. His eye caught a shine of triumph in one of her blue eyes and he did not move until the punch was only a small distance away. He twisted his body around and caught her fist in an iron clasp. His eyes narrowed again and he growled a guttural curse. "Now…shine!"
He squeezed her fingers in a cracking fist and relished in the sound of her small choked cry. He reached his other hand up in one fluid motion and grabbed her throat in a hold that would have broken a normal human's neck. Her pupils started to shrink and Vegita could feel her pulse actually slowing. To think that this one would die so easily…
Winter felt her hand begin to snap like a twig. The pain was a relentless punishment, only getting worse as the seconds grew. This was no regular fight…this man wanted blood. He wanted her dead, and Winter knew that he wouldn't stop until she was. The hand on her throat was forcing every bit of life out of her, taking her very essence with every flex of his fingers. The view of his looming visage, smiling and looking down at her with an almost cruel happiness, only worsened her flight to death.
She didn't even have the energy to keep herself flying; the only thing keeping her from crashing to the ground was the murderer holding her up.
A warm tingling spread to her feet as her blood started to run dry. It wouldn't be long until her shell of a body was nothing but an empty cast. Like a crushed insect.
Suddenly Vegita's hand grew hot with a new burning. Was it just her mind running rampant? Was it a figment of her imagination? No…he was charging up… But there was no way she was going to die so helplessly. She forced her power into one small gesture…she smiled. A half grin actually, but a smile nonetheless. When she spoke, she couldn't even hear her own voice. "Baka…don't waste…time…"
He smirked in reply. "Perhaps you should have told me that when we started this fight… So now it ends here! Big Bang…"
And as Winter finally fell into unconsciousness, her throat almost catching fire from the upraise in ki, she could make out faintly the words of a crying voice…
"Vegita no baka!"
The Saiyajin Prince shifted his gaze from the now unconscious child to the sight of his mate, leaning out of the hole in the window they had come out of. Her eyes were wild, glaring at him angrily. He was so close to finishing his opponent off… "What do you want, woman?" he half growled, half yelled in annoyance.
She closed her hand in a fist, shaking it at him in an almost comical threat. "Put that girl down now! Just what in Kame's name do you think you're doing out there? Get in here at once!"
Vegita smirked in amusement. It was humorous to think just what the woman could do to him, which was little to none. True, she had the iron will that most of the weak beings of her race lacked, but in physical prowess he was her superior. But she was a deviant little one…yes, she had ways of bending even him to her will…
No cooking. No gravity room upgrades. No bed.
Kuso! I hate it when she does this!
He silently retreated back to the small, enclosed quarters of the hospital room, holding the girl now by the scruff of her charred neck. Bulma ran up to him, grasping the girl under the armpits and half dragging her to the bed she had been given. Vegita leaned against what was left of the window frame, his arms crossed, and watched emotionlessly as the woman pressed a sheet to the bleeding skull. "Come on, Winter…" he could hear her repeating.
"She's alive…what are you so worked up about?" he asked, nonchalantly.
Bulma turned on her heel, her blue hair practically blazing in an angry annoyance. She reached out with the flat of her hand and unceremoniously slapped him in the face. Hmm…stronger than usual…must have touched a nerve with that one, Vegita thought to himself. She yelled directly in his face, her voice sharp and cruel. "You arrogant little crap…she not only saved me, but your own son as well!"
Vegita felt himself step back a bit in surprise. "My…"
A small grin caught in the woman's features, despite her apparent rage. "Thought that might get your attention. If it wasn't for her, I never would have even gotten here in time. You should be grateful."
But when she turned around, the Saiyajin was gone, the only thing marking his place of departure being a trail of dust. As she went back to trying to care for the wounds of the white-haired girl, she said softly to herself, "Why is it always the men I go out with who always choose to leave at the most impromptu times? Men, all bakas, the whole lot of 'em!"