The Game
Chapter Two
Vegeta was conflicted. In the nearly four years he had lived on this planet, he had always merely thought of it as nothing but temporary. He had a long life to live, what was a few years on a backwater planet? Then along came his feelings for the human woman, who had in the end bore him a son. Not that he cared at all about Trunks. The baby had inherited all of his..."mate's" human traits, which disgusted him. But, even Vegeta noticed the gleam in his infant son's eyes once in awhile.
Smirking, Vegeta thought that there would be more to Trunks than Bulma would ever admit. Why not, he thought. If Kakarot's brat can become a warrior, who says my own couldn't?
So he had stayed on Earth. His power had increased nearly tenfold since the battle with Freeza, but he had nothing to do with it? What good is it to have the power of a god and nothing to do with it?! He swore bitterly as he realized that nowhere in the universe was a foe as strong as Freeza. And Freeza would be no challenge to the Saiyajin prince if he was still alive.
He allowed a tiny bit of his anger seep out from him. The log he was sitting on crackled, finally bursting into a million splinters of wood. Now seemingly sitting on air, Vegeta felt a little relieved after the minute exertion. The forest surrounding him echoed noisily with the voices of various forest animals.
A nearby noise made him look up abruptly. He glanced to his right and saw something running. What did Bulma call that thing, he thought. Oh right, it's a deer. Right on the heels of the deer was a huge sabre-toothed tiger. Thinking back to his own youthful experiences of hunting, Vegeta sat back and watched, amused. The tiger finally caught the deer, razor sharp fangs ripping through bone and tendon as it devoured its prey. Finishing its meal, the tiger looked up and noticed Vegeta. Suddenly it bared its fangs, issuing a challenge to the smaller Saiyajin.
Vegeta sat unmoving, no fear shown in his eyes as he continued to stare the tiger down. The tiger crouched down and pounced at the warrior. Closing its jaws, the tiger clamped its fangs down on Vegeta's arm.....and instantly feel back as every one of its teeth had broken on the Saiyajin's arm. Wimpering, it slowly slunk away from Vegeta.
Laughing, Vegeta said, "You know, I'm glad you came along, I haven't reveled in the hunt in too many years now!"
The tiger turned to dash away, only to find Vegeta was now right in front of it. Thrusting his fist forward, Vegeta tored into the tiger's torso with the blow and finally ripped the great beast's heart out. Blood poured through his fingers as the still beating heart slowly pumped its last volume of the salty liquid out. The tiger feel over, instantly killed by the sudden shock of its missing organ. Vegeta smiled evilly and licked his lips before taking a mammoth bite out of the hot flesh of the heart.
How he reveled in this! It reminded him of what he was, a true Saiyajin, elite warrior among his race, and still the Prince to his race. Finishing the heart, he happily went into a feeding frenzy, devouring the beast until just bone remained.
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Piccolo stood on the edge of Heaven, disgusted by the gruesome display Vegeta had just exhibited. Dende, standing next to him, turned away as the Saiyajin finished his meal.
"Piccolo-san, Vegeta's lust for power has kept him peaceful these last few years, but the time is coming when he will allow his Saiyajin blood to overtake him. I fear for the people of Earth." Dende said.
"It won't come to that, Goku and Gohan are both more powerful than him at the moment, but Vegeta is right. What good is such power if you have no use for it? It's almost a curse!" Piccolo snapped angrily.
"Maybe, but that "curse" has kept us alive, and protected us from the likes of beings like Freeza."
"Which proves my point, you noticed this yourself, powerful opponents bring us together. Vegeta is much better as an ally than an enemy. Goku feels this way as well. Gohan...well he is still too young for such matters. By the way, have you felt the KI emanations from Vegeta's son?"
"Yes, his mother feels he will be a normal Earth child, but the boy will be powerful. He will need to be trained, we can only hope Vegeta's interest in the child increases, or we will have to intervene."
"Intervene? Why?!" Piccolo demanded.
"You yourself have told me about how Gohan's potential was beyond remarkable before he was trained to use it. Trunks could very well destroy this world if he doesn't learn how to safely use his power."
Piccolo nodded, seeing the logic in Dende's words.
"I think it will be alright, Trunks seems to really like Gohan. Gohan will train him if it comes down to it."
"But Gohan is so young."
"True, but he knows how to fight and about power. After all, he survived training with me when my evil side ruled this body. That is no mean feat."
"Gohan broke your evil feelings. You felt love and compassion training the son of your worst enemy."
"Heh, ironic isn't it?" Piccolo asked, smiling.
"Very."
Gohan walked up behind them, refreshed after a long nap. The sparring session had gone well, but in the end, Gohan had really overexerted himself. Piccolo had reminded himself to continue working on the boy's stamina. Having no energy in the middle of a fight would do them no good.
"Piccolo-san, I have to get home now. I will see you when I can come back." Gohan said, interrupting Piccolo's thoughts.
"All right Gohan, you did well today, just remember what I teach you, and remember I want you to train yourself everyday when your mother isn't demanding studying out of you. Train with your father or something."
"Hai, Piccolo-san. Bye!" That said, Gohan flew off.
Piccolo didn't say anything, but nodded as Gohan flew off. "That kid will be the best out of all of us."
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Goku finished a kata to relax and cleanse his spirit and stood strong, arms flexed at his sides. Focusing his concentration in one direction, he controlled the power emanating from him into one single controlled burst. The mountain wall he stood facing trembled as his power slid over it, like a giant hand grabbing a rock. His eyes flashing a brilliant blue, Goku stepped up his power and burst into Super Saiyajin.
His aura pulsating around him, Goku closed his eyes and envisioned the mountain being lifted out of the ground like a pebbled lifted off the surface. Reopening his eyes, he smiled as he saw the mountain slowly hovering off the ground. Keeping his concentration on the mountain, he slowly raised it high above him and fully powered up. The winds buffeted around him as his energy burst around him, bulking his muscles and increasing his own power even more.
Looking up, he slowly moved the mountain directly over his head, about half a mile up in the sky. Smiling, Goku crouched down and leapt into the sky directly at the mountain. Flying through it, the mountain burst into a dozen huge pieces of its former self. Goku hovered in the middle, still keeping the pieces in place.
Controlling the pieces, he recalled how Freeza had done a similar thing during their fight. He had dodged the huge boulders flying at him, and thought it was good to increase his speed by training like this. He nudged one of the pieces forward, and it flew at him with incredible speed. Goku nimble dodged, directing another piece to follow suit. Leaping out of the way again, Goku forced all the pieces to fly at him.
Ducking and weaving, Goku continued to dodge the huge rocks flying in his direction.
"Father!" came a voice.
"Gohan.....Aaaaahhhhh!!!" Goku yelled as his attention was diverted, the mammoth pieces of rock all crushing against him.
"Father! I'm sorry, I didnt mean to-
Gohan was interrupted as Goku cried out, the rock pieces disentigrating as power burst from him.
Gohan watched in awe at this, finally regaining his composure when Goku neatly landed in front of him.
"What are you doing here Gohan?" Goku asked.
"I felt your energy and wanted to watch for a moment. I didn't realize you trained so hard." Gohan replied.
"Hehe, oh that was nothing really. Would you like to train with me?"
Gohan smiled. "Sure, father."
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"Lord Tedei! The transdimensional gate is ready." An aide reported.
"Very well, are the collars ready as well?" Tedei asked.
"Yes sir, they were finished about half an hour ago."
"Excellent, I want you to let the citizens of Hilrago know that the next game is sure to be the best ever! We've had so many disappointing exhibitions as of late. The universe is too large to scour for fighters. We are truly lucky we found these beings."
"Sir, I am concerned about one thing. These being are extremely powerful. How will we subdue them?"
Tedei laughed. "Leave that part to me."
The aide nodded and rushed to prepare the final set of instructions to deliver the "contestants."
Hitting a button, a large rift in space appeared in the containment chamber.
"Sir, it will take a moment, but we will have them."
Nodding, Tedei smiled.
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Vegeta streaked across Earth's surface, high on the feelings he had felt when he had killed the tiger. His blue aura caused the water to divide as he flew over it, increasing his speed for the sheer insanity of it.
Laughing madly, Vegeta flew along a nearby airline plane and abruptly flew below it and cut it off. Looking back, he saw the pilots scream madly in fear. This brought another round of laughing.
Suddenly he stopped, unable to move. What the hell, he thought, what the shit is this?!!!
Screaming in fury, he fought to free himself. Looking around he saw that everything was in suspended animation. Even the birds were in half-flight.
A black rift emerged out of nowhere, and he felt himself pulled helplessly towards it.
Just before he was sucked in, he regained control of his body. But, it was too late, he was being sucked in with a force he couldn't counter.
"Noooooooooo!!!" He screamed, and went silent as he disappeared.
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"What the hell!" Piccolo yelled as he saw Vegeta sucked into the black hole. "What the hell is that?!"
"I......I don't know! I've never seen anything like that! I.....-" Dende suddenly feel silent.
Piccolo whirled around to look at Dende but suddenly stopped in mid swing, suddenly unable to move.
So, he thought, whatever it is, it was no accident Vegeta was struck by it. It has a purpose.
Opening his eyes, he saw the rift appear before him and felt himself slowly move toward it. He summoned all of his power and still was at the mercy of the rift.
Finally, like Vegeta, Piccolo regained control. Charging his energy into his fists quickly, he threw his most powerful energy attack right into the rift, which passed right through it and disappeared.
"Nani?!!! What the...." He was sucked in immediately following the start of his words.
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"Ouch! Great punch Gohan!" Goku said as he rubbed his cheek.
Laughing, Gohan smiled as he looked at his father, ready for his attack.
Goku went back into a stance, and leapt at his son, launching a flurry of fists and kicks that no human could ever see. Gohan blocked every blow, and threw a few of his own which sent Goku on the defensive. Finally, Gohan threw a punch that overencompassed his momentun, and left an opening for Goku. He thrust his knee into Gohan's stomach and.....
Abruptly couldn't move. He tried to look up but couldn't move his head. However he noticed Gohan wasn't moving either, and that there was no sound around them, as if they had become a picture.
A black rift suddenly appeared a little bit away from them. It started sucking them in, and Gohan couldn't move against it. He noticed his father was also suspended, which ruled out his theory that his father had some new secret technique he had learned. Suddenly afraid, Gohan struggled to fight off the power sucking them in.
Finally, he was able to regain control. Powering up to full, he launched himself upward, struggling against the force pulling him. He felt immediate resistance, but he was making progress. He felt his energy leaving him in waves, but smiled as he felt Goku grab him and pull him with him. Between the two's power, they were able to tear free of the vaccuum and streak away from it.
Breathing hard, Gohan asked, "Wha....what was that?!"
Goku didn't answer. He stared at the rift silently.
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"What?! The one called Son Goku broke free?!" Tedei demanded.
"Yes, we believe the combination of his power's with the boy's helped them break free. Also, my liege, the green one's blast killed several of the slaves."
"To hell with them! I want those two. They know the Saiyajin and the one called Piccolo. Open a communication signal through the rift."
"Yes my lord!!!"
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The rift sat unwavering. Goku and Gohan stood before it, no longer feeling its embrace, but contemplating what it was.
Suddenly a voice came to them through the rift, as if it had spoken.
"Son Goku, Son Gohan. I believe you might like to come through."
"Why would we do such a thing?!" Gohan demanded.
"Well, young child, two of your friends weren't as lucky as you. I believe they're names are Piccolo and Vegeta." said the voice.
"Piccolo-san?!" Gohan silently cried.
"What have you done with them?! And who are you?" Goku demanded.
"Let's just say I would like to meet you personally, and it's the only way to save your friends. Besides Son Goku, I've witnessed you for awhile now, I know how boring your life has become without fighting. I offer you a chance to relive yourself of this life and to come face the greatest fighters the universe has ever seen!"
Gohan whispered, "Father....no...."
Goku burst into Super Saiyajin and spoke softly, "Gohan, go home. Tell your mother what has happened and take care of her." He burst into energy flames and flew into the rift.
"Father! I....I won't let you go alone!" Gohan burst into Super Saiyajin and followed suit, flying right into the rift.
To be continued.....