The Deception
By Elbereth in April
Chapter 25: The Chase
Vegeta gave Zarbon a good head start, then went to stand beside Kakkarot. 'Now for the chase,' he thought. He looked at Kakkarot, who raised his eyebrows. "Ready?"
Kakkarot nodded.
"For what?" Frieza asked, eyes narrowed, suspecting some attack.
In response, Vegeta dropped like a stone through the floor, Kakkarot beside him. Frieza squawked in surprise. "Running? You cowards!" He pursued.
From the throne room, down a floor and into the armory, exchanging thrown ki, back and forth like gun fire. No big deal, except they only had three minutes.
Kakkarot got clipped on the shoulder and spun into a wall. Vegeta stopped, spun, and battled with Frieza fist-to-fist for a moment or two while Kakkarot picked himself up again. He sent a blast back into Frieza, long enough for Vegeta to disengage and follow him onward. They could see the next opening in the floor of the training room, just ahead of them.
Frieza was getting increasingly annoyed. "Just what are you up to anyway, you dumb monkeys?" He held up a hand full of gathering energy, and let loose.
They picked that instant to dive downward through the hole in the floor, to Frieza's outrage. The ki melted through another couple walls into the medical center, incidentally killing several of his own men, which, by pure chance, weakened the blast enough to stop it before it reached the engine room.
"Did we just pass Dodoria's dead body outside the armory?" Kakkarot wondered out-loud.
"Yeah," Vegeta answered. "Cool."
They were on the right floor now. Vegeta could see Zarbon in the distance ahead of them, just entering the science lab. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
Frieza landed behind them. Vegeta turned and hit him with a Gallic Gun. 'Give Zarbon another moment. . .'
"Quit running, you cowards!" Frieza shouted as he shook off the effects of the blast. "I always knew all Saiyans were lilly-livered--and their Prince the worst of the lot!" Then he had to dive or be hit by two near-simultaneous ki attacks.
"Shut up, baka," Vegeta retorted. "You never did know what you were talking about half the time."
He proceeded forward. Kakkarot followed. Frieza chased them both.
Vegeta estimated the time. Less than one minute left. They came to the door of the science lab.
"Kakkarot," he said, wondering if Kakkarot's mind was still closed to him.
But he answered. "Yeah?"
Sweet relief. "You go first. I'll hold him off," Vegeta instructed.
The strangest expression crossed Kakkarot's face. "I can't leave you here alone."
"We have to keep Frieza from going through the portal. I have to hold him off, but that's no reason for you to endanger yourself. So go."
"But--but--Vegeta, you can't die!"
They sprang away from either side of the door to dodge a ki blast. Kakkarot briefly returned fire, then they faced each other again.
Vegeta's heart was suddenly beating very fast. "Why not, Kakkarot?"
Tangerine, there was no time to go into it. "You're the Prince," Kakkarot answered instead. "Everybody's counting on you."
Hope faded from Vegeta's heart again. It was so cruel, every time it died. There had been a couple times, during all the fighting, when Vegeta had almost dared to wonder if Kakkarot had, despite everything, forgiven him. But he had only been deluding himself. He took refuge in anger and arrogance. "That's right! I'm the Prince! So you have to listen to me! You're going now!"
". . . Vegeta. . ."
"Excuse me! Have you forgotten about me again?" Frieza was looking incredibly peeved.
The door to the lab abruptly opened. "Hurry up! Time's almost out!"
All three turned. It was Sekot.
"I'll keep him here! I'm good enough for 30 seconds. Now go!"
Kakkarot and Vegeta looked at Sekot. They looked at Frieza. They looked at each other. Then Vegeta clapped Sekot on the shoulder. "Follow us quick," he said, and the two disappeared into the room.
Sekot and Frieza faced each other.
"*What* is going on?" Frieza huffed.
"We're winning, you big, stupid lizard," Sekot replied.
Frieza laughed. "I fail to see that. From what it looks like to me, the ship will blow up before. . ." Suspicions suddenly began to fill his mind. They were at the science lab. His prey was running. Somehow they'd found a way to escape!
He growled. "Get out of my way!"
"Forget it," Sekot smiled. "This is my chance to redeem myself and die a hero. I'm not going to lose now."
Frieza smirked. "You were always just a second-rate weasel, Sekot. You'll never be a hero. But you are going to die!" With that, Frieza gathered as much energy as he could in 20 seconds, and threw it all at Sekot.
_______ _______ _______
Kakkarot stepped out of the portal and onto Vegeta-sei. Van, Capran, Nappa, and the rest of his friends were standing nearby, waving at him. He smiled and let himself be pulled over, but kept his eyes on the portal.
Vegeta stepped out a few seconds later, and his friends all cheered. "Shut it off," he instructed Bulma, who stood next to it so she could do just that. He would have said more to her, but his mother grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. He blushed, but returned the gesture.
Then the portal exploded outward, right into Bulma.
Everyone was knocked to the ground by the blast. The planet itself seemed to rock. Then there was a momentary silence, that seemed deafening after the noise. They all slowly got up and looked around.
Vegeta jumped up from where he'd landed, shielding his mother with his body. His eyes found Bulma, lying on the ground, covered with blood. "No. . ."
What had happened?
Then they all felt it, a ki level so enormous it couldn't be ignored. They looked up. Frieza floated in the air above their heads, in his second level, tall, strong, arrogant, with two large horns on his head. He was laughing at them. "Surprise," he taunted. "I made it through your little gateway after all. That Sekot is such a loser. Too bad I had to blow it up around me as I came through. Tsk tsk. Shame about the woman."
Vegeta was on his knees beside her, searching for signs of life. He looked up at that.
Far above their heads, Frieza's ship exploded, like a star in the twilit sky. Everyone ignored it.
Frieza looked around at all of them assembled there: 29 Saiyans, 12 alien scientists, a number of fighters, cooks, doctors, armorers, general laborers, even entertainers. He frowned. "So many traitors. I'm glad you were thoughtful enough to expose yourselves. I can get rid of all of you here in one place."
"Shut up!" somebody screamed. Kakkarot. Bulma was dying, and he was truly angry. He launched himself in the air, and butted Frieza in the stomach with his head. Frieza shut up with a "whoomph," all the breath knocked out of him. Kakkarot followed up by punching him in the face and the ribs.
Frieza caught his arm and threw him back. "Let me return that favor," he wheezed, still trying to catch his breath. "This'll take the air out of your lungs." His horns glinted wickedly as he lowered his head. 'If he manages to catch me with those, I'll have a hole gouged through me as big as his ego,' Kakkarot thought in dismay.
_________ ________
Lori and Queen Siane rushed over to Bulma and Vegeta's side in time to see her manage to open her eyes. Vegeta stared into those deep blue wells normally so full of sparkle and life, but now fading. . . fading. . . His own eyes began to dull and tear. They were both breathing in ragged breaths.
"My love," she whispered.
"Bulma!" He cradled her in his arms.
"I guess. . . I won't get to be your bride. . . after all. . ."
Siane knelt beside them. 'I knew it! I knew they were serious!' She looked Bulma over, then swallowed hard. "My son, I don't think we can save her," she told him softly.
"Bulma," he repeated, as if saying her name was all he could manage. That knife was back in his heart, twisting, scraping, bleeding it as she bled. His very soul was collapsing in on itself where she had bonded to it, as he felt that bond slip away with an agony like nothing he'd never imagined. "Bulma!"
"Kill him," she said, suddenly, clearly. Then her eyes closed.
Two medics came running over, and pried her out of his grasp. He watched them mutter over her, shake their heads. "If only we'd had a regen tank," one sighed.
He looked up, to where Frieza and Kakkarot still fought. A shudder ran through his body. Then another.
And power burst around him, knocking everyone back with the force of it. A wind seemed to whip up from nowhere, little rocks and blades of grass floating up on the wind. He screamed.
Siane looked at his eyes. They were blazing with pain and rage and determination, taking on that look she still remembered from his childhood. The look that said, mess with me and you *will* die, because I guarantee you will not win against me. And his adversaries usually cringed and slunk off, because that look alone made them believe him.
Only she didn't remember his eyes flashing teal before.
The power hit the barrier, heard Bulma say, "Kill him," and broke through. He screamed once more and his power exploded, knocking away all internal walls and boundaries, sending a ripple through the planet and all his audience, reaching the pretender on the Saiyan throne, making him twitch and look around, as all the scouters on the planet broke. And most of all striking Frieza coldly between the eyes. Frieza stopped mid-punch and cast his gaze down.
To see Vegeta staring upward with eyes now definitely teal, and hair of gold, as he stood radiating raw power. He rose slowly and majestically to meet his enemy.
Kakkarot laughed in delight. "He did it! He did it! He's Super Saiyan!"
"Nonsense!" Frieza scoffed in answer, eyes still locked on the slowly rising Prince. "None of you have the ability to. . ." He stopped. OK, so Kakkarot and Vegeta both had the gene he tested all Saiyans for. But he'd never more than half-believed that legend. "Super Saiyan is a myth told to gullible children." But his tone was extremely weak as the proof of the legend was almost level with him now. "Um," he said.
"Watch out," came Tory's voice. "I can't hold him anymore."
Frieza backed away and powered up. He'd show these stupid monkeys! They thought their pathetic little Super thing was such a great show. Well, he'd let them see real power. He'd show them!
Once again, the planet shook as Frieza made his ultimate transformation.
"We were worried about the ship,' Zarbon thought. 'I wonder if this planet can hold out.'
________ ___________
By Elbereth in April
Chapter 25: The Chase
Vegeta gave Zarbon a good head start, then went to stand beside Kakkarot. 'Now for the chase,' he thought. He looked at Kakkarot, who raised his eyebrows. "Ready?"
Kakkarot nodded.
"For what?" Frieza asked, eyes narrowed, suspecting some attack.
In response, Vegeta dropped like a stone through the floor, Kakkarot beside him. Frieza squawked in surprise. "Running? You cowards!" He pursued.
From the throne room, down a floor and into the armory, exchanging thrown ki, back and forth like gun fire. No big deal, except they only had three minutes.
Kakkarot got clipped on the shoulder and spun into a wall. Vegeta stopped, spun, and battled with Frieza fist-to-fist for a moment or two while Kakkarot picked himself up again. He sent a blast back into Frieza, long enough for Vegeta to disengage and follow him onward. They could see the next opening in the floor of the training room, just ahead of them.
Frieza was getting increasingly annoyed. "Just what are you up to anyway, you dumb monkeys?" He held up a hand full of gathering energy, and let loose.
They picked that instant to dive downward through the hole in the floor, to Frieza's outrage. The ki melted through another couple walls into the medical center, incidentally killing several of his own men, which, by pure chance, weakened the blast enough to stop it before it reached the engine room.
"Did we just pass Dodoria's dead body outside the armory?" Kakkarot wondered out-loud.
"Yeah," Vegeta answered. "Cool."
They were on the right floor now. Vegeta could see Zarbon in the distance ahead of them, just entering the science lab. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
Frieza landed behind them. Vegeta turned and hit him with a Gallic Gun. 'Give Zarbon another moment. . .'
"Quit running, you cowards!" Frieza shouted as he shook off the effects of the blast. "I always knew all Saiyans were lilly-livered--and their Prince the worst of the lot!" Then he had to dive or be hit by two near-simultaneous ki attacks.
"Shut up, baka," Vegeta retorted. "You never did know what you were talking about half the time."
He proceeded forward. Kakkarot followed. Frieza chased them both.
Vegeta estimated the time. Less than one minute left. They came to the door of the science lab.
"Kakkarot," he said, wondering if Kakkarot's mind was still closed to him.
But he answered. "Yeah?"
Sweet relief. "You go first. I'll hold him off," Vegeta instructed.
The strangest expression crossed Kakkarot's face. "I can't leave you here alone."
"We have to keep Frieza from going through the portal. I have to hold him off, but that's no reason for you to endanger yourself. So go."
"But--but--Vegeta, you can't die!"
They sprang away from either side of the door to dodge a ki blast. Kakkarot briefly returned fire, then they faced each other again.
Vegeta's heart was suddenly beating very fast. "Why not, Kakkarot?"
Tangerine, there was no time to go into it. "You're the Prince," Kakkarot answered instead. "Everybody's counting on you."
Hope faded from Vegeta's heart again. It was so cruel, every time it died. There had been a couple times, during all the fighting, when Vegeta had almost dared to wonder if Kakkarot had, despite everything, forgiven him. But he had only been deluding himself. He took refuge in anger and arrogance. "That's right! I'm the Prince! So you have to listen to me! You're going now!"
". . . Vegeta. . ."
"Excuse me! Have you forgotten about me again?" Frieza was looking incredibly peeved.
The door to the lab abruptly opened. "Hurry up! Time's almost out!"
All three turned. It was Sekot.
"I'll keep him here! I'm good enough for 30 seconds. Now go!"
Kakkarot and Vegeta looked at Sekot. They looked at Frieza. They looked at each other. Then Vegeta clapped Sekot on the shoulder. "Follow us quick," he said, and the two disappeared into the room.
Sekot and Frieza faced each other.
"*What* is going on?" Frieza huffed.
"We're winning, you big, stupid lizard," Sekot replied.
Frieza laughed. "I fail to see that. From what it looks like to me, the ship will blow up before. . ." Suspicions suddenly began to fill his mind. They were at the science lab. His prey was running. Somehow they'd found a way to escape!
He growled. "Get out of my way!"
"Forget it," Sekot smiled. "This is my chance to redeem myself and die a hero. I'm not going to lose now."
Frieza smirked. "You were always just a second-rate weasel, Sekot. You'll never be a hero. But you are going to die!" With that, Frieza gathered as much energy as he could in 20 seconds, and threw it all at Sekot.
_______ _______ _______
Kakkarot stepped out of the portal and onto Vegeta-sei. Van, Capran, Nappa, and the rest of his friends were standing nearby, waving at him. He smiled and let himself be pulled over, but kept his eyes on the portal.
Vegeta stepped out a few seconds later, and his friends all cheered. "Shut it off," he instructed Bulma, who stood next to it so she could do just that. He would have said more to her, but his mother grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. He blushed, but returned the gesture.
Then the portal exploded outward, right into Bulma.
Everyone was knocked to the ground by the blast. The planet itself seemed to rock. Then there was a momentary silence, that seemed deafening after the noise. They all slowly got up and looked around.
Vegeta jumped up from where he'd landed, shielding his mother with his body. His eyes found Bulma, lying on the ground, covered with blood. "No. . ."
What had happened?
Then they all felt it, a ki level so enormous it couldn't be ignored. They looked up. Frieza floated in the air above their heads, in his second level, tall, strong, arrogant, with two large horns on his head. He was laughing at them. "Surprise," he taunted. "I made it through your little gateway after all. That Sekot is such a loser. Too bad I had to blow it up around me as I came through. Tsk tsk. Shame about the woman."
Vegeta was on his knees beside her, searching for signs of life. He looked up at that.
Far above their heads, Frieza's ship exploded, like a star in the twilit sky. Everyone ignored it.
Frieza looked around at all of them assembled there: 29 Saiyans, 12 alien scientists, a number of fighters, cooks, doctors, armorers, general laborers, even entertainers. He frowned. "So many traitors. I'm glad you were thoughtful enough to expose yourselves. I can get rid of all of you here in one place."
"Shut up!" somebody screamed. Kakkarot. Bulma was dying, and he was truly angry. He launched himself in the air, and butted Frieza in the stomach with his head. Frieza shut up with a "whoomph," all the breath knocked out of him. Kakkarot followed up by punching him in the face and the ribs.
Frieza caught his arm and threw him back. "Let me return that favor," he wheezed, still trying to catch his breath. "This'll take the air out of your lungs." His horns glinted wickedly as he lowered his head. 'If he manages to catch me with those, I'll have a hole gouged through me as big as his ego,' Kakkarot thought in dismay.
_________ ________
Lori and Queen Siane rushed over to Bulma and Vegeta's side in time to see her manage to open her eyes. Vegeta stared into those deep blue wells normally so full of sparkle and life, but now fading. . . fading. . . His own eyes began to dull and tear. They were both breathing in ragged breaths.
"My love," she whispered.
"Bulma!" He cradled her in his arms.
"I guess. . . I won't get to be your bride. . . after all. . ."
Siane knelt beside them. 'I knew it! I knew they were serious!' She looked Bulma over, then swallowed hard. "My son, I don't think we can save her," she told him softly.
"Bulma," he repeated, as if saying her name was all he could manage. That knife was back in his heart, twisting, scraping, bleeding it as she bled. His very soul was collapsing in on itself where she had bonded to it, as he felt that bond slip away with an agony like nothing he'd never imagined. "Bulma!"
"Kill him," she said, suddenly, clearly. Then her eyes closed.
Two medics came running over, and pried her out of his grasp. He watched them mutter over her, shake their heads. "If only we'd had a regen tank," one sighed.
He looked up, to where Frieza and Kakkarot still fought. A shudder ran through his body. Then another.
And power burst around him, knocking everyone back with the force of it. A wind seemed to whip up from nowhere, little rocks and blades of grass floating up on the wind. He screamed.
Siane looked at his eyes. They were blazing with pain and rage and determination, taking on that look she still remembered from his childhood. The look that said, mess with me and you *will* die, because I guarantee you will not win against me. And his adversaries usually cringed and slunk off, because that look alone made them believe him.
Only she didn't remember his eyes flashing teal before.
The power hit the barrier, heard Bulma say, "Kill him," and broke through. He screamed once more and his power exploded, knocking away all internal walls and boundaries, sending a ripple through the planet and all his audience, reaching the pretender on the Saiyan throne, making him twitch and look around, as all the scouters on the planet broke. And most of all striking Frieza coldly between the eyes. Frieza stopped mid-punch and cast his gaze down.
To see Vegeta staring upward with eyes now definitely teal, and hair of gold, as he stood radiating raw power. He rose slowly and majestically to meet his enemy.
Kakkarot laughed in delight. "He did it! He did it! He's Super Saiyan!"
"Nonsense!" Frieza scoffed in answer, eyes still locked on the slowly rising Prince. "None of you have the ability to. . ." He stopped. OK, so Kakkarot and Vegeta both had the gene he tested all Saiyans for. But he'd never more than half-believed that legend. "Super Saiyan is a myth told to gullible children." But his tone was extremely weak as the proof of the legend was almost level with him now. "Um," he said.
"Watch out," came Tory's voice. "I can't hold him anymore."
Frieza backed away and powered up. He'd show these stupid monkeys! They thought their pathetic little Super thing was such a great show. Well, he'd let them see real power. He'd show them!
Once again, the planet shook as Frieza made his ultimate transformation.
"We were worried about the ship,' Zarbon thought. 'I wonder if this planet can hold out.'
________ ___________