Chapter 18 - Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Vegeta was sitting at the kitchen table that he had nearly bled to death on just two days before. He was staring at a picture of Bulma, just thinking of things. Random things, nothing too important. Goku was opposite him, reading the journal he had found. The past few days, they didn't really say much, but then again, there wasn't much that they wanted to say. Vegeta put his fingertips on the picture and lightly brushed her face. This was his favorite picture of her. It was taken around the time Trunks was eight. She was wearing a bikini because the whole Z gang went to the beach that day. It was a bust shot, but she wasn't looking at the camera; she was watching the sun set over the ocean. Vegeta that day like yesterday. Gohan's girlfriend, Videl, took the picture and gave it to him. He secretly had it framed and has been a prized possession of his ever since. He couldn't wait until he got back home, but he kept his emotions inside him. Goku slammed the journal on the table, which made Vegeta jump slightly.
"That was pretty creepy..." Goku said. "Wonder if she is still alive."
Vegeta got a bit agitated. "You fool! If she had lived, the planet would not have been there when we got there. And even then she would be dead."
"You don't know that."
Vegeta didn't feel like arguing. "What ever." He got up on his crutches, felt immense pain in his arm, and turned around.
"I'm more concerned on when we fuse into Gogeta or Vegeto, we don't share injuries. Now, I have that shoulder bite and all you have is that chest slash."
"Oh quit your whining," he said jokingly.
"I'm just saying that if I gotta be like this, you should too."
"Ok, ok." Goku got up from his seat. "What does 'bentic' mean anyway?"
"Hell spawn." Vegeta began to hobble to the back of the ship.
"Vegeta." Goku shouted. Vegeta just stopped. He didn't turn to face him. He could tell what he was going to ask by the tone of his voice. "Why did you save me?" Vegeta paused a second.
"Because I wanted to kill you."
"No Vegeta, really." Vegeta just turned his head, smiled and said,"Heh." He then continued to the bathroom at the back of the ship.
"I'm going to take a bath Kakarott. Don't bother me."
"Ok, I'm gonna make some ramen." Vegeta began to feel sick at that. He finally got into the bathroom. He looked down and got annoyed when he saw that the bar of soap was run down to a millimeter thick nub. He pulled the drain plug in through the small lever in the tub and sat down on the side. He propped up his crutches against the wall and drew out the water. He took his shirt off and ran his hand under the faucet. This would probably be the first bit of relaxation he had in days. He heard Goku coughing in the background, but ignored it. He was trying not to think of what had happened to him, though he knew his mind would wonder towards it. He had nightmares last night about it last night. Hellish images of miles and miles of bodies gutted from the inside out and bound to the walls by flames. Himself being attacked by demons when he was unable to defend himself, unable to fly away, unable to run, even unable to scream. Finally, the spider latched on to his face and he woke up screaming. He wanted to put this behind him, but it seemed that the harder he tried, the more it kept coming back, strong and more frightening than before. His worst fear was them getting to Earth, and taking away his family. He shook his head and woke up so to speak. He then turned and worked on getting his socks off. This was when he noticed Goku was still coughing.
"Are you all right?" He yelled. It sounded like Goku tried to say something, but it was heavily distorted by the coughing. He looked at his bath, grunted, and got back on his crutches. He hobbled over to the kitchen where Goku was doubled over on the ground, coughing to death. "What? Are you choking?" He then slapped Goku on the back a couple of times. He showed no signs of letting up. He got off his crutches, putting most of his weight on his good leg, and put Goku up on the table. He noticed that Goku was holding his chest instead of his throat like a choking victim would. He got confused and didn't know what to do. "Are you okay?" Goku answered back by screaming in pain. Vegeta got worried and looked around for something to help him with as he picked his crutches back up. He turned to the faucet when Goku screamed again, but now there was blood coming from his chest. "What the fuck...?" Goku then started going into convulsions. Vegeta jumped over to him and tried to hold him down. Goku couldn't control himself; something was more than seriously wrong here. Vegeta looked around for something Goku could bite down on so he wouldn't swallow his tongue. He found a pen and tried to force it into his mouth, but it didn't work. Goku then kicked Vegeta off him.
"RRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH" Goku's chest exploded in a burst of red that mainly landed on Vegeta. Vegeta wiped the blood from his eyes and looked at Goku.
"Holy fuck..." Goku's chest was ripped wide open. Blood soaked almost everything in the room. Then, Vegeta saw something that almost made him vomit. Something was moving out of Goku's chest. It looked like a snake at first. Then Vegeta got a better look at it. The neck, the teeth, the face, no eyes. Vegeta couldn't believe what he was seeing: a newborn demon was coming out of Goku's chest. He lunged at it, but it sprang away, disappearing somewhere in the room. Vegeta fell to his side on the floor, nearly completely red, looking for the beast. He saw its tail slip into the other room. He slipped across the floor, smearing blood as he went. He got into the other room and stood up on one leg. He looked around. He went over to Goku's closet and got out his schimitar. Goku had a thing for ancient Japanese weapons and was hoping to get some weapon training in this trip. He looked around for the thing. He then heard water draining. There was only one place that sound could have come from. He hopped into the bathroom. The tube was tinted with swirls of red as the water drained, and the thing was trying to go down the drain. He stabbed it in its tail, as it was already half way down. It stuck to the end of the blade and he pulled it out. It was hissing and screeching in pain. He rushed over to the air lock, kicked it off the blade, slammed the door, and launched it into space. He dropped the schimitar and went back into the kitchen. He sat in a chair in front of Goku's body. He sat there, looking at Goku's body. What a mess. He could bear to see the sight. It then clicked in his head. The pods were the first stage of life. They had in them the spiders. The spiders latch on to your face, shove a tube down your throat, and plant an embryo in you. That would explain the empty pod in front of Goku. When the embryo develops, it comes out the only way it can, through the chest. It then develops into the full-grown demon. Vegeta was saddened, however, that it took this for him to figure it out. Chi-Chi was gonna kill him for this. Then cry her head off. Gohan and Goten would take it better. Gohan watched his dad die last time (sort of) and Goten lived almost his whole life without him anyway. Vegeta wasn't worried too much. He knew the Dragon Balls would be able to bring him back. But he couldn't help imagining the pain he must have went through. What a horrible way to die. He had no idea what he was going to do now. He just sat there, drench in Goku's blood and didn't move as a single tear ran from his eye.
THE END
Vegeta was sitting at the kitchen table that he had nearly bled to death on just two days before. He was staring at a picture of Bulma, just thinking of things. Random things, nothing too important. Goku was opposite him, reading the journal he had found. The past few days, they didn't really say much, but then again, there wasn't much that they wanted to say. Vegeta put his fingertips on the picture and lightly brushed her face. This was his favorite picture of her. It was taken around the time Trunks was eight. She was wearing a bikini because the whole Z gang went to the beach that day. It was a bust shot, but she wasn't looking at the camera; she was watching the sun set over the ocean. Vegeta that day like yesterday. Gohan's girlfriend, Videl, took the picture and gave it to him. He secretly had it framed and has been a prized possession of his ever since. He couldn't wait until he got back home, but he kept his emotions inside him. Goku slammed the journal on the table, which made Vegeta jump slightly.
"That was pretty creepy..." Goku said. "Wonder if she is still alive."
Vegeta got a bit agitated. "You fool! If she had lived, the planet would not have been there when we got there. And even then she would be dead."
"You don't know that."
Vegeta didn't feel like arguing. "What ever." He got up on his crutches, felt immense pain in his arm, and turned around.
"I'm more concerned on when we fuse into Gogeta or Vegeto, we don't share injuries. Now, I have that shoulder bite and all you have is that chest slash."
"Oh quit your whining," he said jokingly.
"I'm just saying that if I gotta be like this, you should too."
"Ok, ok." Goku got up from his seat. "What does 'bentic' mean anyway?"
"Hell spawn." Vegeta began to hobble to the back of the ship.
"Vegeta." Goku shouted. Vegeta just stopped. He didn't turn to face him. He could tell what he was going to ask by the tone of his voice. "Why did you save me?" Vegeta paused a second.
"Because I wanted to kill you."
"No Vegeta, really." Vegeta just turned his head, smiled and said,"Heh." He then continued to the bathroom at the back of the ship.
"I'm going to take a bath Kakarott. Don't bother me."
"Ok, I'm gonna make some ramen." Vegeta began to feel sick at that. He finally got into the bathroom. He looked down and got annoyed when he saw that the bar of soap was run down to a millimeter thick nub. He pulled the drain plug in through the small lever in the tub and sat down on the side. He propped up his crutches against the wall and drew out the water. He took his shirt off and ran his hand under the faucet. This would probably be the first bit of relaxation he had in days. He heard Goku coughing in the background, but ignored it. He was trying not to think of what had happened to him, though he knew his mind would wonder towards it. He had nightmares last night about it last night. Hellish images of miles and miles of bodies gutted from the inside out and bound to the walls by flames. Himself being attacked by demons when he was unable to defend himself, unable to fly away, unable to run, even unable to scream. Finally, the spider latched on to his face and he woke up screaming. He wanted to put this behind him, but it seemed that the harder he tried, the more it kept coming back, strong and more frightening than before. His worst fear was them getting to Earth, and taking away his family. He shook his head and woke up so to speak. He then turned and worked on getting his socks off. This was when he noticed Goku was still coughing.
"Are you all right?" He yelled. It sounded like Goku tried to say something, but it was heavily distorted by the coughing. He looked at his bath, grunted, and got back on his crutches. He hobbled over to the kitchen where Goku was doubled over on the ground, coughing to death. "What? Are you choking?" He then slapped Goku on the back a couple of times. He showed no signs of letting up. He got off his crutches, putting most of his weight on his good leg, and put Goku up on the table. He noticed that Goku was holding his chest instead of his throat like a choking victim would. He got confused and didn't know what to do. "Are you okay?" Goku answered back by screaming in pain. Vegeta got worried and looked around for something to help him with as he picked his crutches back up. He turned to the faucet when Goku screamed again, but now there was blood coming from his chest. "What the fuck...?" Goku then started going into convulsions. Vegeta jumped over to him and tried to hold him down. Goku couldn't control himself; something was more than seriously wrong here. Vegeta looked around for something Goku could bite down on so he wouldn't swallow his tongue. He found a pen and tried to force it into his mouth, but it didn't work. Goku then kicked Vegeta off him.
"RRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH" Goku's chest exploded in a burst of red that mainly landed on Vegeta. Vegeta wiped the blood from his eyes and looked at Goku.
"Holy fuck..." Goku's chest was ripped wide open. Blood soaked almost everything in the room. Then, Vegeta saw something that almost made him vomit. Something was moving out of Goku's chest. It looked like a snake at first. Then Vegeta got a better look at it. The neck, the teeth, the face, no eyes. Vegeta couldn't believe what he was seeing: a newborn demon was coming out of Goku's chest. He lunged at it, but it sprang away, disappearing somewhere in the room. Vegeta fell to his side on the floor, nearly completely red, looking for the beast. He saw its tail slip into the other room. He slipped across the floor, smearing blood as he went. He got into the other room and stood up on one leg. He looked around. He went over to Goku's closet and got out his schimitar. Goku had a thing for ancient Japanese weapons and was hoping to get some weapon training in this trip. He looked around for the thing. He then heard water draining. There was only one place that sound could have come from. He hopped into the bathroom. The tube was tinted with swirls of red as the water drained, and the thing was trying to go down the drain. He stabbed it in its tail, as it was already half way down. It stuck to the end of the blade and he pulled it out. It was hissing and screeching in pain. He rushed over to the air lock, kicked it off the blade, slammed the door, and launched it into space. He dropped the schimitar and went back into the kitchen. He sat in a chair in front of Goku's body. He sat there, looking at Goku's body. What a mess. He could bear to see the sight. It then clicked in his head. The pods were the first stage of life. They had in them the spiders. The spiders latch on to your face, shove a tube down your throat, and plant an embryo in you. That would explain the empty pod in front of Goku. When the embryo develops, it comes out the only way it can, through the chest. It then develops into the full-grown demon. Vegeta was saddened, however, that it took this for him to figure it out. Chi-Chi was gonna kill him for this. Then cry her head off. Gohan and Goten would take it better. Gohan watched his dad die last time (sort of) and Goten lived almost his whole life without him anyway. Vegeta wasn't worried too much. He knew the Dragon Balls would be able to bring him back. But he couldn't help imagining the pain he must have went through. What a horrible way to die. He had no idea what he was going to do now. He just sat there, drench in Goku's blood and didn't move as a single tear ran from his eye.
THE END