Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ, except for the Vegeta action figure perched
on my monitor.
Warnings: Angst, Humor and as always, Violence.
Archive: Sure, you bet!
Thanks as always go to Stormy, Stacey and Maria, for their unflagging support. And to the wonderful reviewers, you know who you are.
A Killer in Me
Chapter 10
Vegeta found Trunks and Goten stuffing their faces rather neatly for Saiyans. The galley was large and well stocked, enough to feed the three of them for about two days all told. He strutted in; feeling very satisfied with the recent events and that made his mood rather mellow.
Trunks and Goten looked up as he entered, their cheeks bulging with food. Trunks swallowed, and said, "Hey father! Gonna join us?"
Nodding, Vegeta sat next to Goten and surveyed the table. He picked up a yellowish bar and bit into it, noting the taste was sweet. In two gulps, the whole thing was gone. He was reaching for another when Trunks asked, "Where are we going?"
Chewing for a minute, Vegeta thought about his response. Then shrugging, he said, "Planet Freiza number 34."
"Planet Freiza number 34?" Goten asked as he stuffed some green, leafy stuff in his mouth.
"Yes, that's the one," Vegeta answered, and grabbed yet another yellow bar.
"Why there?" Trunks asked, tearing apart a brown loaf.
"Because that is the only planet that Freiza claimed, yet left intact. I want to know why." Vegeta was thinking about the past, and what he needed to do.
"Freiza?" Goten asked, surprised. "He's dead."
"I know that. That is the only reason that I can go to the planet," Vegeta said a bit impatiently. "When he was alive, the planet was quarantined. No one was allowed with 5 parsecs of the place."
Trunks was studying his father. "How do you know so much about Freiza?" he asked.
The Saiyan prince froze. He thought that Trunks and Goten knew about his past. Apparently that was not the case. "My father King Vegeta sent me to Freiza when I was younger," Vegeta said, not really wanting to talk about it. But seeing the surprised expression on the boys' faces, he knew that he needed to explain things a bit more. "Freiza thought he would have better control the Saiyans if he 'raised' me. But my father had something else in mind, so he agreed."
"What did he have in mind?" Trunks asked, awed. He didn't know that Freiza had raised his father. From everything he had heard, Freiza was the worst possible monster that existed. The demi-Saiyan felt an unnamed dread stir deep within himself at the thought of his father, as a child, in the brutal hands to the reptile. But Vegeta was talking again, interrupting his thoughts.
"My father sent me to spy on Freiza."
"Wow! You were a spy?" Goten's estimation of Vegeta went up yet another notch. There was no end to what the Saiyan prince could do in the youngest Son's opinion. "I would have never thought of that!"
Biting into a pink fruit, Vegeta nodded. "Neither did Freiza. Normally, Saiyans make the worst spies. They aren't smart enough to hide a secret if their life depended on it, not to mention that most are a subtle as a meteor shower. But since my birth, my father made sure that I received the highest education possible. Freiza never suspected that a Saiyan could be a spy."
"How long will it take to get to Planet Freiza number 34?" Trunks asked. He made a mental note to ask Goku about his father's past with Freiza as soon as he saw the other Saiyan.
Activating his scouter, Vegeta looked at the readings and said, "At our present speed about 36 hours."
Goten choked. "36 hours? My mother is going to kill me!"
Blinking, Vegeta asked, "What for?"
"She told me to be home for supper, and I'm gonna be late!" Goten wailed in distress.
Not seeing what the big deal was, Vegeta shrugged. "So what?"
"You don't know Goten's mom," Trunks said. "She's really scary."
Remembering the dark-haired harridan, Vegeta could see where that notion had come from. But as a member of the Royal House, he still figured that the best way of dealing with Chi-Chi would be to blast her. He was about to say so when the ship shuddered violently, throwing them all to the floor. A siren sounded off, deafening them with its constant wail.
"What the hell?" Vegeta demanded, his tail was fuzzed out and lashing wildly. The sound of twisting metal filled their sensitive ears as the ship shuddered again. "We are under attack!"
"Who is attacking us?" Goten shouted above the siren, scrambling to his feet.
"How the hell should I know?" Vegeta snapped, as he too gained his feet and raced out the door, heading to the control room. Trunks and Goten were hot on his heels. They hit the control room and Vegeta immediately deactivated the siren. He then activated the main screen and started swearing so fluently that Trunks regretted not being able to take notes.
Floating nearby in space was a huge ship, bristling with cannons. Vegeta recognized it instantly. "Lactaids!" he spat. "What in hell are they doing?"
"Who?" Trunks asked.
"They are from the planet Lactose. Their strength is only outmatched by their ugliness. One of them was the captain of Freiza's Ginyu Force." Vegeta said sourly. Mentally, he kicked himself. Goku had warned him that these goons were coming, but did he listen? No! Shaking his head, he went on. "We have to get out of here. That ship carries about 25 troops, and the only weapon on this ship would barely blister the paint on that thing. We aren't strong enough to fight them." The ship shuddered once again. "Dammit! They just hit us with a tractor beam." Vegeta smashed a fist against a monitor, which promptly blew up.
"We are being boarded!" Trunks shouted from the other side of the control room where he was watching a blinking screen.
"We will have to fight hand to hand," Vegeta said, his heart pounding with excitement at the upcoming battle. He couldn't help his smirk of anticipation. The odds were very high against them, but this was the type of fight that Saiyans lived for. If they died, at least they would go out fighting.
Sensing his father's eagerness, Trunks looked at Goten and had an idea. "Would it help if we went Super Saiyan?" he asked Vegeta.
Vegeta didn't respond. Trunks frowned and repeated his question. Then he noted that Vegeta hadn't moved or for that matter, even blinked. "Father?" He waved a hand in front of the prince's face, but there was still no response. "I think he's clocked out," he reported, turning to Goten.
A hand fisting the front of his Capsule Corp sweatshirt pulled him back around to face the glittering eyes of Vegeta. "What did you say?" the Saiyan prince asked in a level voice that belied his shock.
"Ummm…I just asked if you want me and Goten to go Super Saiyan," Trunks tried to smile but it was a bit wobbly. There were very few times Vegeta had that look in his eyes, and each time it had not heralded a good thing.
"Super Saiyan?" Vegeta echoed. He studied his son, trying to discern the lie, because it had to be a lie. There were no Super Saiyans. The last one had been at least a millennia ago. Sure, Vegeta himself carried to potential, but it was impossible that these two half-breeds could be Super Saiyan. Okay, maybe, maybe his son, but there was no way that the other one could.
"Sure," Goten answered Vegeta's unspoken question. "Like this." Vegeta's scouter screamed to life as he powered up until his black hair was golden and his eyes were solid aqua.
Slowly, Vegeta let go of Trunks, staring at Goten like he'd never seen anything like it before. And he hadn't. Sure he'd heard about the Golden Fighter, but that was just a legend, and now…
Vegeta swallowed hard, his tail was fuzzed out again. "You are a Super Saiyan!"
Goten grinned manically, and Trunks powered up too. The two boys stood grinning at the Saiyan prince, glowing gold.
"Both of you!" Vegeta shook his head, trying to get a grip on his thoughts. He told himself that he did not have time for histrionics now. Trying like hell to accept the situation, Vegeta forced himself to ignore the hysterical denial that insisted that what he was seeing wasn't real, and concentrated on a more productive line of thinking. "Okay, that simplifies things a lot. The two of you can take on the Lactaids as they board our ship. But don't get carried away!" he warned the pair.
"What do you mean? That we can't hurt them?" Goten asked disappointed. He knew his father didn't like hurting others if he could help it. Funny, Vegeta never seemed to have that problem before.
But Vegeta just snorted in derision. "Hurt them? Of course you can hurt them. Hurt them all you want to in fact! Killing them would be even better. I just meant don't destroy the ship."
"Oh, okay!" Goten brightened. Vegeta was much easier to deal with than Goku on this matter.
"What will you be doing?" Trunks asked.
Grinning evilly, Vegeta answered, "I'm going to sneak over there and blow up their ship."
Trunks and Goten had just enough time to give each other a high five, then the ship shook once again, as it was roughly pulled alongside the warship. "Get going!" Vegeta snapped.
They got.
Trunks and Goten didn't exactly expect to romp through the fight, and the Lactaids put up a surprising amount of resistance. They were very strong, despite their purple skin and teeny little horns. The main hindrance was due to the numbers of the opposition and Vegeta's orders not to damage the ship. Finally, pressed to the limit, Trunks looked at Goten, who looked back at Trunks. They both grinned that slow, evil grin at the same time.
"Ready Goten?"
"Ready, Trunks!"
Sliding a little ways apart, they struck a pose.
"Fu…"
Seven Lactaids slid to a stop in front of the two demi-Saiyans and stared at the weird little performance going on in front of them.
"Sion…"
Grimacing at the sheer ugliness of the dance, one of the Lactaids pulled out a blaster rifle and pointed it at Trunks.
"H…"
BLAM!
Trunks found himself flat on his back, staring at the ceiling in bemusement. That was not supposed to happen. He sat up, glaring at the Lactaid who shot him. Beside him, Goten was staring in shock.
Climbing to his feet, Trunks dusted himself off and marched up to the Lactaid. He reached out and yanked the laser rifle out of the stunned soldier's hand and broke it in half over his knee with no effort. Reaching up to grab a fistful of the soldier's uniform, he dragged the Lactaid down to eye level. "Listen, idiot. Something really cool is going to happen here. Wait for it!" he commanded in his best Vegeta voice.
Releasing the Lactaid, Trunks turned his back and marched back to Goten. "Okay, lets try this again, and no audience participation this time." He glared at the watchers who actually managed to look a bit sheepish.
Nodding at Goten, the two demi-Saiyans resumed the position.
"Fu…"
"Sion…"
"HA!"
The watching soldiers threw their arms in front of their eyes to keep from being blinded by the bright light that burst from the two small forms in front of them. When they lowered their arms, however, there was only one. He was dressed in a corny vest and baggy white pants, standing with his hands perched cockily on his hips. An arrogance sneer was etched permanently on his face. And his hair was a golden mass that hung down to his waist.
"Tremble at my feet, minions of evil, for I am Gotenks!" It should be noted that Trunks and Goten had become obsessed with Monty Python and the Holy Grail and it was influencing their vocabulary immensely.
The Lactaid soldiers stared. For one thing, they simply could not get over the ugly fusion dance. And if it produced something that talked like that, well, it was almost too much. So they reacted in the most natural way they could. They fell on the ground, laughing their asses off, so to speak.
Gotenks looked extremely put out. He hated not being taken seriously.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Gotenks jumped up and down in a fit of rage.
The soldiers stopped laughing abruptly, looked over at Gotenks, looked at each other, and promptly fell down laughing again. Harder this time.
"That does it!" Gotenks roared. In a fit of pique, his ki flared up, and he extended a hand at the Lactaids. "Finish Flash!"
The huge ki beam tore right through the laughing Lactaids, who weren't laughing anymore. Unfortunately, they didn't slow it down…not one little bit. Neither did the wall. Nor the wall behind that. Nor did the engines.
Gotenks gaped in horror at what he had done. He could see sparks coming from the huge pieces of machinery as smoke curled up in ever-increasing billows around the engines.
"Vegeta's going to be pissed," he observed, wincing.
TBC
Author's note: Yeah, I know that I 'borrowed' a bit here but if you have ever seen the episode with Gotenks and Buu in the Room of Spirit and Time you know that without a doubt, it was one of the funniest episodes ever.
Warnings: Angst, Humor and as always, Violence.
Archive: Sure, you bet!
Thanks as always go to Stormy, Stacey and Maria, for their unflagging support. And to the wonderful reviewers, you know who you are.
A Killer in Me
Chapter 10
Vegeta found Trunks and Goten stuffing their faces rather neatly for Saiyans. The galley was large and well stocked, enough to feed the three of them for about two days all told. He strutted in; feeling very satisfied with the recent events and that made his mood rather mellow.
Trunks and Goten looked up as he entered, their cheeks bulging with food. Trunks swallowed, and said, "Hey father! Gonna join us?"
Nodding, Vegeta sat next to Goten and surveyed the table. He picked up a yellowish bar and bit into it, noting the taste was sweet. In two gulps, the whole thing was gone. He was reaching for another when Trunks asked, "Where are we going?"
Chewing for a minute, Vegeta thought about his response. Then shrugging, he said, "Planet Freiza number 34."
"Planet Freiza number 34?" Goten asked as he stuffed some green, leafy stuff in his mouth.
"Yes, that's the one," Vegeta answered, and grabbed yet another yellow bar.
"Why there?" Trunks asked, tearing apart a brown loaf.
"Because that is the only planet that Freiza claimed, yet left intact. I want to know why." Vegeta was thinking about the past, and what he needed to do.
"Freiza?" Goten asked, surprised. "He's dead."
"I know that. That is the only reason that I can go to the planet," Vegeta said a bit impatiently. "When he was alive, the planet was quarantined. No one was allowed with 5 parsecs of the place."
Trunks was studying his father. "How do you know so much about Freiza?" he asked.
The Saiyan prince froze. He thought that Trunks and Goten knew about his past. Apparently that was not the case. "My father King Vegeta sent me to Freiza when I was younger," Vegeta said, not really wanting to talk about it. But seeing the surprised expression on the boys' faces, he knew that he needed to explain things a bit more. "Freiza thought he would have better control the Saiyans if he 'raised' me. But my father had something else in mind, so he agreed."
"What did he have in mind?" Trunks asked, awed. He didn't know that Freiza had raised his father. From everything he had heard, Freiza was the worst possible monster that existed. The demi-Saiyan felt an unnamed dread stir deep within himself at the thought of his father, as a child, in the brutal hands to the reptile. But Vegeta was talking again, interrupting his thoughts.
"My father sent me to spy on Freiza."
"Wow! You were a spy?" Goten's estimation of Vegeta went up yet another notch. There was no end to what the Saiyan prince could do in the youngest Son's opinion. "I would have never thought of that!"
Biting into a pink fruit, Vegeta nodded. "Neither did Freiza. Normally, Saiyans make the worst spies. They aren't smart enough to hide a secret if their life depended on it, not to mention that most are a subtle as a meteor shower. But since my birth, my father made sure that I received the highest education possible. Freiza never suspected that a Saiyan could be a spy."
"How long will it take to get to Planet Freiza number 34?" Trunks asked. He made a mental note to ask Goku about his father's past with Freiza as soon as he saw the other Saiyan.
Activating his scouter, Vegeta looked at the readings and said, "At our present speed about 36 hours."
Goten choked. "36 hours? My mother is going to kill me!"
Blinking, Vegeta asked, "What for?"
"She told me to be home for supper, and I'm gonna be late!" Goten wailed in distress.
Not seeing what the big deal was, Vegeta shrugged. "So what?"
"You don't know Goten's mom," Trunks said. "She's really scary."
Remembering the dark-haired harridan, Vegeta could see where that notion had come from. But as a member of the Royal House, he still figured that the best way of dealing with Chi-Chi would be to blast her. He was about to say so when the ship shuddered violently, throwing them all to the floor. A siren sounded off, deafening them with its constant wail.
"What the hell?" Vegeta demanded, his tail was fuzzed out and lashing wildly. The sound of twisting metal filled their sensitive ears as the ship shuddered again. "We are under attack!"
"Who is attacking us?" Goten shouted above the siren, scrambling to his feet.
"How the hell should I know?" Vegeta snapped, as he too gained his feet and raced out the door, heading to the control room. Trunks and Goten were hot on his heels. They hit the control room and Vegeta immediately deactivated the siren. He then activated the main screen and started swearing so fluently that Trunks regretted not being able to take notes.
Floating nearby in space was a huge ship, bristling with cannons. Vegeta recognized it instantly. "Lactaids!" he spat. "What in hell are they doing?"
"Who?" Trunks asked.
"They are from the planet Lactose. Their strength is only outmatched by their ugliness. One of them was the captain of Freiza's Ginyu Force." Vegeta said sourly. Mentally, he kicked himself. Goku had warned him that these goons were coming, but did he listen? No! Shaking his head, he went on. "We have to get out of here. That ship carries about 25 troops, and the only weapon on this ship would barely blister the paint on that thing. We aren't strong enough to fight them." The ship shuddered once again. "Dammit! They just hit us with a tractor beam." Vegeta smashed a fist against a monitor, which promptly blew up.
"We are being boarded!" Trunks shouted from the other side of the control room where he was watching a blinking screen.
"We will have to fight hand to hand," Vegeta said, his heart pounding with excitement at the upcoming battle. He couldn't help his smirk of anticipation. The odds were very high against them, but this was the type of fight that Saiyans lived for. If they died, at least they would go out fighting.
Sensing his father's eagerness, Trunks looked at Goten and had an idea. "Would it help if we went Super Saiyan?" he asked Vegeta.
Vegeta didn't respond. Trunks frowned and repeated his question. Then he noted that Vegeta hadn't moved or for that matter, even blinked. "Father?" He waved a hand in front of the prince's face, but there was still no response. "I think he's clocked out," he reported, turning to Goten.
A hand fisting the front of his Capsule Corp sweatshirt pulled him back around to face the glittering eyes of Vegeta. "What did you say?" the Saiyan prince asked in a level voice that belied his shock.
"Ummm…I just asked if you want me and Goten to go Super Saiyan," Trunks tried to smile but it was a bit wobbly. There were very few times Vegeta had that look in his eyes, and each time it had not heralded a good thing.
"Super Saiyan?" Vegeta echoed. He studied his son, trying to discern the lie, because it had to be a lie. There were no Super Saiyans. The last one had been at least a millennia ago. Sure, Vegeta himself carried to potential, but it was impossible that these two half-breeds could be Super Saiyan. Okay, maybe, maybe his son, but there was no way that the other one could.
"Sure," Goten answered Vegeta's unspoken question. "Like this." Vegeta's scouter screamed to life as he powered up until his black hair was golden and his eyes were solid aqua.
Slowly, Vegeta let go of Trunks, staring at Goten like he'd never seen anything like it before. And he hadn't. Sure he'd heard about the Golden Fighter, but that was just a legend, and now…
Vegeta swallowed hard, his tail was fuzzed out again. "You are a Super Saiyan!"
Goten grinned manically, and Trunks powered up too. The two boys stood grinning at the Saiyan prince, glowing gold.
"Both of you!" Vegeta shook his head, trying to get a grip on his thoughts. He told himself that he did not have time for histrionics now. Trying like hell to accept the situation, Vegeta forced himself to ignore the hysterical denial that insisted that what he was seeing wasn't real, and concentrated on a more productive line of thinking. "Okay, that simplifies things a lot. The two of you can take on the Lactaids as they board our ship. But don't get carried away!" he warned the pair.
"What do you mean? That we can't hurt them?" Goten asked disappointed. He knew his father didn't like hurting others if he could help it. Funny, Vegeta never seemed to have that problem before.
But Vegeta just snorted in derision. "Hurt them? Of course you can hurt them. Hurt them all you want to in fact! Killing them would be even better. I just meant don't destroy the ship."
"Oh, okay!" Goten brightened. Vegeta was much easier to deal with than Goku on this matter.
"What will you be doing?" Trunks asked.
Grinning evilly, Vegeta answered, "I'm going to sneak over there and blow up their ship."
Trunks and Goten had just enough time to give each other a high five, then the ship shook once again, as it was roughly pulled alongside the warship. "Get going!" Vegeta snapped.
They got.
Trunks and Goten didn't exactly expect to romp through the fight, and the Lactaids put up a surprising amount of resistance. They were very strong, despite their purple skin and teeny little horns. The main hindrance was due to the numbers of the opposition and Vegeta's orders not to damage the ship. Finally, pressed to the limit, Trunks looked at Goten, who looked back at Trunks. They both grinned that slow, evil grin at the same time.
"Ready Goten?"
"Ready, Trunks!"
Sliding a little ways apart, they struck a pose.
"Fu…"
Seven Lactaids slid to a stop in front of the two demi-Saiyans and stared at the weird little performance going on in front of them.
"Sion…"
Grimacing at the sheer ugliness of the dance, one of the Lactaids pulled out a blaster rifle and pointed it at Trunks.
"H…"
BLAM!
Trunks found himself flat on his back, staring at the ceiling in bemusement. That was not supposed to happen. He sat up, glaring at the Lactaid who shot him. Beside him, Goten was staring in shock.
Climbing to his feet, Trunks dusted himself off and marched up to the Lactaid. He reached out and yanked the laser rifle out of the stunned soldier's hand and broke it in half over his knee with no effort. Reaching up to grab a fistful of the soldier's uniform, he dragged the Lactaid down to eye level. "Listen, idiot. Something really cool is going to happen here. Wait for it!" he commanded in his best Vegeta voice.
Releasing the Lactaid, Trunks turned his back and marched back to Goten. "Okay, lets try this again, and no audience participation this time." He glared at the watchers who actually managed to look a bit sheepish.
Nodding at Goten, the two demi-Saiyans resumed the position.
"Fu…"
"Sion…"
"HA!"
The watching soldiers threw their arms in front of their eyes to keep from being blinded by the bright light that burst from the two small forms in front of them. When they lowered their arms, however, there was only one. He was dressed in a corny vest and baggy white pants, standing with his hands perched cockily on his hips. An arrogance sneer was etched permanently on his face. And his hair was a golden mass that hung down to his waist.
"Tremble at my feet, minions of evil, for I am Gotenks!" It should be noted that Trunks and Goten had become obsessed with Monty Python and the Holy Grail and it was influencing their vocabulary immensely.
The Lactaid soldiers stared. For one thing, they simply could not get over the ugly fusion dance. And if it produced something that talked like that, well, it was almost too much. So they reacted in the most natural way they could. They fell on the ground, laughing their asses off, so to speak.
Gotenks looked extremely put out. He hated not being taken seriously.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Gotenks jumped up and down in a fit of rage.
The soldiers stopped laughing abruptly, looked over at Gotenks, looked at each other, and promptly fell down laughing again. Harder this time.
"That does it!" Gotenks roared. In a fit of pique, his ki flared up, and he extended a hand at the Lactaids. "Finish Flash!"
The huge ki beam tore right through the laughing Lactaids, who weren't laughing anymore. Unfortunately, they didn't slow it down…not one little bit. Neither did the wall. Nor the wall behind that. Nor did the engines.
Gotenks gaped in horror at what he had done. He could see sparks coming from the huge pieces of machinery as smoke curled up in ever-increasing billows around the engines.
"Vegeta's going to be pissed," he observed, wincing.
TBC
Author's note: Yeah, I know that I 'borrowed' a bit here but if you have ever seen the episode with Gotenks and Buu in the Room of Spirit and Time you know that without a doubt, it was one of the funniest episodes ever.
