The Deception--Ch. 26
By Elbereth in April
Vegeta rose to meet Frieza. They stared at each other. He briefly noted Frieza's new transformed self, but didn't dwell on it. His mind was understandably on other things.
Vegeta felt his new power crackling over him. The trees around him swayed in a breeze that hadn't existed before. They moved to the rhythm of his energy. It pulsated through his mind, one fully coherent thought. Revenge. Kill Frieza. The one who killed Bulma. The one who'd made him and his people suffer in so many ways. Make him pay.
And he could now. He was finally strong enough. Frieza would see that. They would all see it. The Prince had come into his own. But without his bride, or his brother's forgiveness.
Frieza would pay. Frieza would die.
"It's your turn, Frieza. The day has come," he whispered. The trees whipped in the wind.
He wanted to pound him with his fists. He wanted the satisfaction of delivering pain with his own hands. He closed in and grappled with Frieza, kneeing him in the stomach and then bringing both hands down on his head. Frieza fell about a dozen feet before he righted himself, but then Vegeta was on him again, landing a punch in his kidneys, grabbing him by the feet and the head and bending him backwards to hear his spine creak. He let go just to draw it out more, when Frieza's own energy suddenly burst out stronger, and he was caught by a swipe of Frieza's tail. That brought his arrogance back down as he rubbed at the blood on his chin. They stared at each other again.
"You can't be that strong," Frieza muttered. "I'm invincible compared to you pathetic Saiyans. I will crush you!" He shouted out the last sentence.
"You're deluding yourself."
Kakkarot drifted closer, determined to help. Frieza's power was beyond everyone else's now, but he was going to stick close to Vegeta.
Frieza raised his hand, summoning what looked like balls of fire. He threw them rapidly at Vegeta, arms blurring. Vegeta was hidden by fire and smoke.
Kakkarot's heart sped up and he hit Frieza with a powerful ki blast, slamming him into the ground. Their breathless audience prudently moved further away.
Frieza stood back up, eyes flashing with intense rage. He formed an energy ball and threw it at Kakkarot, who dodged.
Frieza looked back to Vegeta. He watched with narrowed eyes as the smoke cleared. Then his jaw dropped. Vegeta looked untouched!
"Was that supposed to do something?" Vegeta asked with a sneer.
Frieza snarled and shot a bolt of pink energy at Vegeta, who sidestepped, and immediately sent a return attack. Frieza tried to bat it away and discovered at the last instant it was too strong. It left him with severe burns on his chest, which only made him angrier.
Frieza glared at Vegeta. "I said I'd kill them all, didn't I, *Prince*?"--spitting the last word. "What makes you think I changed my mind?"
Vegeta was moving before Frieza finished speaking. So when the blast came for his mother, Vegeta was already standing in front of her, and took the blow for her.
Frieza laughed. "Gonna stand there all day?" He flew in closer and Vegeta estimated his chances of getting to Frieza before he could fire again. Not good. He didn't move, and Frieza's second blast knocked him to his knees.
"You coward!" Siane screamed at Frieza. "You're too scared to face him in a real fight so you resort to tricks!"
"What did you call me, you ugly monkey wench?"
Vegeta fired at him. Nobody insulted his mother. Frieza fired back. Their blasts met between them, as each tried to put more power in. Vegeta drew deep within himself and his bolt began to rip through Frieza's. Frieza spluttered as the energy started to head back towards him. Just as it struck him, he screamed. There was an explosion. Thunder rumbled overhead.
Kakkarot pulled at the sleeve of his gi, a nervous gesture. 'Did he get him?' He looked at Vegeta, who was bleeding from several places, and breathing hard.
Slowly the smoke cleared. Frieza still floated there, but he looked significantly the worse for wear. One eye was squinting. But the other looked quite furious.
Kakkarot rubbed his head wearily. How much longer could this fight go on? He was so tired!
"She's not dead!" Someone yelled suddenly.
The three of them all turned at the sound of the voice. It was one of the scientists, Vegeta realized, the one called Gunther. "Vegeta!" she called again. "Bulma's still alive!"
Vegeta swallowed around an abruptly dry throat. "How?"
"We're not wonder-scientists for nothing! We rigged a version of a rejuv tank. It'll fix her up enough so that the doctors can do surgery to save her. If they can perform the surgery in time. It'll only keep her alive for a short period."
Siane ran over to the spot where Gunther, Prowlr, and several doctors surrounded Bulma. Vegeta stared for a long moment before he slowly began to approach them.
Frieza struck. He hadn't been fighting at full power before, but he had been raising his ki as they spoke. Now he released all the energy he had gathered in one huge ball of ki, rippling with lightning, and threw it at Vegeta's back.
Time seemed to slow down for Kakkarot. He watched Frieza release the energy, saw it stream from his hand toward Vegeta, who was oblivious to everything but Bulma for the moment. The blast was too strong. If it hit Vegeta while he was unaware and unprepared, it would kill him.
It would kill him.
That *could not* happen.
Power surged from somewhere and hit the barrier. Kakkarot moved.
The world still seemed to be in slow motion as he sped forward, trying to get in between the blast and Vegeta. He wasn't going to make it at this rate. Vegeta would die.
Not Vegeta. Not his brother. Not him.
Power strained and screamed as his insides seemed to bleed and run down, while his heart clenched and his stomach shook and his breath rattled and his brain pounded and he came so close to tears he could taste them streaming, screaming, breaking, breaking through. . .
At the last possible moment, power surged again and the barrier snapped, and he threw himself in front of Vegeta with strength and speed which was suddenly much, incredibly more than it had been.
He touched the ground. Vegeta started to spin around. The blast hit Kakkarot. Vegeta's eyes went wide. Frieza cursed. Siane screamed. Lightning struck all around them.
The ground broke under Kakkarot and Vegeta's feet and they fell into the crater caused by the blast and were obscured by dust and rock. More rock toppled in on them.
Outside the crater, the others held their breath. Inside, Kakkarot and Vegeta lay still for a moment, then slowly sat up and brushed themselves off. Rock tilted above their heads, but didn't fall. They were in a partial cave, dark and full of floating dirt.
They looked at each other, assessing one another's injuries. "Are you OK?" Kakkarot asked.
Vegeta nodded. "You?"
Kakkarot nodded. "I'm glowing."
"You're Super Saiyan, Kakkarot."
He grinned. "Yes! Finally!"
Vegeta leaned forward and gripped Kakkarot's shoulder, hard. "Why did you do that? If you hadn't gone Super just before it hit you, you'd be dead."
"You didn't see it coming. If it had hit you when you weren't ready, you'd be dead."
Vegeta dropped his hand and looked down. "I know. People are counting on me."
Kakkarot looked at him. The dust was clearing enough that he could see his face. He was very pale. And he looked so utterly forsaken.
"By the way," Kakkarot whispered, "I forgave you some time ago. And I didn't save you because you're the Prince. I saved you because you're my brother." Vegeta stared at him, completely stunned. Kakkarot smiled.
Vegeta just kept staring at him, breathing suddenly ragged. "You. . ."
Kakkarot's eyes started stinging. "Yeah. Don't worry about it, OK?"
Vegeta shook his head. "How could you forgive me after what I did to you?"
"Because I. . ." He blinked to keep the tears back. "I love you, big brother."
Vegeta felt tears of his own slide down his cheeks, and he didn't even care. What he felt was too great. "I--I love you, too. I really am sorry. I promise I'll never lie to you again. I swear it."
"Same here. But it's all right, I tell you. Besides, I didn't like being mad at you, Vegeta. It hurt too much. I'm never going to do it again."
"I didn't like it either. Brothers should stick together."
"Yeah!" Kakkarot's smile was amazingly pure-hearted and happy.
Vegeta shook his head again. "You're amazing. Did you know that? You were worried about being noble, but you are."
"So are you."
"I'm not."
Kakkarot smiled again. "Yes. You are." Then he grabbed Vegeta and pulled him into a hug. Vegeta tensed, then relaxed against him. He wiped his eyes, then gave a shaky laugh. "If I'm noble, Kakkarot. . ."
"You are," he insisted firmly.
"Well then. It's only because I've had you egging me on, little brother."
Kakkarot laughed, a truly joyful sound. "I'm glad I've had the chance. I'm going to keep doing it, you know." He stepped back, his eyes dancing with delight. "But I've learned from you, too. Look! I've finally got the smirk down!"
Vegeta smiled.
Kakkarot raised one fist in the air, posing. "We are Vegeta and Kakkarot, the strongest Saiyans in the universe! Tremble before us!"
"We shall defeat Frieza! Resistance is foolish! Our moment of triumph is at hand!"
Then they both burst out laughing, just giddy in the moment.
"All right then," Vegeta said. "Let's go kill Frieza so Bulma will be safe."
"Good idea. Zarbon told me you were clever, you know."
"Sometimes he actually knows what he's talking about."
They tossed a few rocks away to clear the hole, then prepared to go outside. They looked at each other again. "Let's go make Frieza pay, big brother."
"You have some good ideas, too." Then he placed one hand on Kakkarot's arm, growing more solemn. "For the good of the Saiyan Empire. Let's kill him, my warrior brother."
Feeling suddenly full of pride, honored to be called Saiyan and Vegeta's brother, Kakkarot could only nod. Then they rose into the air and exited the hole.
They looked around at the scene before them in wonder. "What's happening?" Kakkarot asked.
Frieza was standing on a pile of rocks. A Saiyan knelt before him, talking very fast and oozing sneakiness and hypocrisy. Just behind him, also kneeling, were four other Saiyans who appeared to be his bodyguards. Zarbon was forcefully restraining Queen Siane from killing all five of the groveling weasels.
And surrounding the edges of their group of rebels were dozens of other Saiyans, attracted by the power levels and the fight, come to see what was going on.
"That's my second cousin, Nyl," Vegeta told Kakkarot. "The pretender to the throne." He crossed his arms. "Hey cuz!" he yelled, startling them all. "Don't go anywhere! As soon as I finish off that weak, smelly lizard, I'm coming for you!"
"The Prince!" someone cried.
"The Legendary!" someone else yelled.
Excited murmurs spread. The Queen composed herself, looking smug.
"Weak?" Frieza screamed.
"You forgot ugly," Kakkarot said, smirking.
Vegeta looked at him and grinned. "And soon to be dead."
Frieza sneered and floated upwards. "I'm at 100 percent power now, boys. Two of you or not, it doesn't matter. I'll destroy you."
"We'll see about that." They met him in the air and attacked.
_____________ _________
A/N: Does anyone feel warm and mushy inside now? They finally made up and she's not dead! Yet.
By Elbereth in April
Vegeta rose to meet Frieza. They stared at each other. He briefly noted Frieza's new transformed self, but didn't dwell on it. His mind was understandably on other things.
Vegeta felt his new power crackling over him. The trees around him swayed in a breeze that hadn't existed before. They moved to the rhythm of his energy. It pulsated through his mind, one fully coherent thought. Revenge. Kill Frieza. The one who killed Bulma. The one who'd made him and his people suffer in so many ways. Make him pay.
And he could now. He was finally strong enough. Frieza would see that. They would all see it. The Prince had come into his own. But without his bride, or his brother's forgiveness.
Frieza would pay. Frieza would die.
"It's your turn, Frieza. The day has come," he whispered. The trees whipped in the wind.
He wanted to pound him with his fists. He wanted the satisfaction of delivering pain with his own hands. He closed in and grappled with Frieza, kneeing him in the stomach and then bringing both hands down on his head. Frieza fell about a dozen feet before he righted himself, but then Vegeta was on him again, landing a punch in his kidneys, grabbing him by the feet and the head and bending him backwards to hear his spine creak. He let go just to draw it out more, when Frieza's own energy suddenly burst out stronger, and he was caught by a swipe of Frieza's tail. That brought his arrogance back down as he rubbed at the blood on his chin. They stared at each other again.
"You can't be that strong," Frieza muttered. "I'm invincible compared to you pathetic Saiyans. I will crush you!" He shouted out the last sentence.
"You're deluding yourself."
Kakkarot drifted closer, determined to help. Frieza's power was beyond everyone else's now, but he was going to stick close to Vegeta.
Frieza raised his hand, summoning what looked like balls of fire. He threw them rapidly at Vegeta, arms blurring. Vegeta was hidden by fire and smoke.
Kakkarot's heart sped up and he hit Frieza with a powerful ki blast, slamming him into the ground. Their breathless audience prudently moved further away.
Frieza stood back up, eyes flashing with intense rage. He formed an energy ball and threw it at Kakkarot, who dodged.
Frieza looked back to Vegeta. He watched with narrowed eyes as the smoke cleared. Then his jaw dropped. Vegeta looked untouched!
"Was that supposed to do something?" Vegeta asked with a sneer.
Frieza snarled and shot a bolt of pink energy at Vegeta, who sidestepped, and immediately sent a return attack. Frieza tried to bat it away and discovered at the last instant it was too strong. It left him with severe burns on his chest, which only made him angrier.
Frieza glared at Vegeta. "I said I'd kill them all, didn't I, *Prince*?"--spitting the last word. "What makes you think I changed my mind?"
Vegeta was moving before Frieza finished speaking. So when the blast came for his mother, Vegeta was already standing in front of her, and took the blow for her.
Frieza laughed. "Gonna stand there all day?" He flew in closer and Vegeta estimated his chances of getting to Frieza before he could fire again. Not good. He didn't move, and Frieza's second blast knocked him to his knees.
"You coward!" Siane screamed at Frieza. "You're too scared to face him in a real fight so you resort to tricks!"
"What did you call me, you ugly monkey wench?"
Vegeta fired at him. Nobody insulted his mother. Frieza fired back. Their blasts met between them, as each tried to put more power in. Vegeta drew deep within himself and his bolt began to rip through Frieza's. Frieza spluttered as the energy started to head back towards him. Just as it struck him, he screamed. There was an explosion. Thunder rumbled overhead.
Kakkarot pulled at the sleeve of his gi, a nervous gesture. 'Did he get him?' He looked at Vegeta, who was bleeding from several places, and breathing hard.
Slowly the smoke cleared. Frieza still floated there, but he looked significantly the worse for wear. One eye was squinting. But the other looked quite furious.
Kakkarot rubbed his head wearily. How much longer could this fight go on? He was so tired!
"She's not dead!" Someone yelled suddenly.
The three of them all turned at the sound of the voice. It was one of the scientists, Vegeta realized, the one called Gunther. "Vegeta!" she called again. "Bulma's still alive!"
Vegeta swallowed around an abruptly dry throat. "How?"
"We're not wonder-scientists for nothing! We rigged a version of a rejuv tank. It'll fix her up enough so that the doctors can do surgery to save her. If they can perform the surgery in time. It'll only keep her alive for a short period."
Siane ran over to the spot where Gunther, Prowlr, and several doctors surrounded Bulma. Vegeta stared for a long moment before he slowly began to approach them.
Frieza struck. He hadn't been fighting at full power before, but he had been raising his ki as they spoke. Now he released all the energy he had gathered in one huge ball of ki, rippling with lightning, and threw it at Vegeta's back.
Time seemed to slow down for Kakkarot. He watched Frieza release the energy, saw it stream from his hand toward Vegeta, who was oblivious to everything but Bulma for the moment. The blast was too strong. If it hit Vegeta while he was unaware and unprepared, it would kill him.
It would kill him.
That *could not* happen.
Power surged from somewhere and hit the barrier. Kakkarot moved.
The world still seemed to be in slow motion as he sped forward, trying to get in between the blast and Vegeta. He wasn't going to make it at this rate. Vegeta would die.
Not Vegeta. Not his brother. Not him.
Power strained and screamed as his insides seemed to bleed and run down, while his heart clenched and his stomach shook and his breath rattled and his brain pounded and he came so close to tears he could taste them streaming, screaming, breaking, breaking through. . .
At the last possible moment, power surged again and the barrier snapped, and he threw himself in front of Vegeta with strength and speed which was suddenly much, incredibly more than it had been.
He touched the ground. Vegeta started to spin around. The blast hit Kakkarot. Vegeta's eyes went wide. Frieza cursed. Siane screamed. Lightning struck all around them.
The ground broke under Kakkarot and Vegeta's feet and they fell into the crater caused by the blast and were obscured by dust and rock. More rock toppled in on them.
Outside the crater, the others held their breath. Inside, Kakkarot and Vegeta lay still for a moment, then slowly sat up and brushed themselves off. Rock tilted above their heads, but didn't fall. They were in a partial cave, dark and full of floating dirt.
They looked at each other, assessing one another's injuries. "Are you OK?" Kakkarot asked.
Vegeta nodded. "You?"
Kakkarot nodded. "I'm glowing."
"You're Super Saiyan, Kakkarot."
He grinned. "Yes! Finally!"
Vegeta leaned forward and gripped Kakkarot's shoulder, hard. "Why did you do that? If you hadn't gone Super just before it hit you, you'd be dead."
"You didn't see it coming. If it had hit you when you weren't ready, you'd be dead."
Vegeta dropped his hand and looked down. "I know. People are counting on me."
Kakkarot looked at him. The dust was clearing enough that he could see his face. He was very pale. And he looked so utterly forsaken.
"By the way," Kakkarot whispered, "I forgave you some time ago. And I didn't save you because you're the Prince. I saved you because you're my brother." Vegeta stared at him, completely stunned. Kakkarot smiled.
Vegeta just kept staring at him, breathing suddenly ragged. "You. . ."
Kakkarot's eyes started stinging. "Yeah. Don't worry about it, OK?"
Vegeta shook his head. "How could you forgive me after what I did to you?"
"Because I. . ." He blinked to keep the tears back. "I love you, big brother."
Vegeta felt tears of his own slide down his cheeks, and he didn't even care. What he felt was too great. "I--I love you, too. I really am sorry. I promise I'll never lie to you again. I swear it."
"Same here. But it's all right, I tell you. Besides, I didn't like being mad at you, Vegeta. It hurt too much. I'm never going to do it again."
"I didn't like it either. Brothers should stick together."
"Yeah!" Kakkarot's smile was amazingly pure-hearted and happy.
Vegeta shook his head again. "You're amazing. Did you know that? You were worried about being noble, but you are."
"So are you."
"I'm not."
Kakkarot smiled again. "Yes. You are." Then he grabbed Vegeta and pulled him into a hug. Vegeta tensed, then relaxed against him. He wiped his eyes, then gave a shaky laugh. "If I'm noble, Kakkarot. . ."
"You are," he insisted firmly.
"Well then. It's only because I've had you egging me on, little brother."
Kakkarot laughed, a truly joyful sound. "I'm glad I've had the chance. I'm going to keep doing it, you know." He stepped back, his eyes dancing with delight. "But I've learned from you, too. Look! I've finally got the smirk down!"
Vegeta smiled.
Kakkarot raised one fist in the air, posing. "We are Vegeta and Kakkarot, the strongest Saiyans in the universe! Tremble before us!"
"We shall defeat Frieza! Resistance is foolish! Our moment of triumph is at hand!"
Then they both burst out laughing, just giddy in the moment.
"All right then," Vegeta said. "Let's go kill Frieza so Bulma will be safe."
"Good idea. Zarbon told me you were clever, you know."
"Sometimes he actually knows what he's talking about."
They tossed a few rocks away to clear the hole, then prepared to go outside. They looked at each other again. "Let's go make Frieza pay, big brother."
"You have some good ideas, too." Then he placed one hand on Kakkarot's arm, growing more solemn. "For the good of the Saiyan Empire. Let's kill him, my warrior brother."
Feeling suddenly full of pride, honored to be called Saiyan and Vegeta's brother, Kakkarot could only nod. Then they rose into the air and exited the hole.
They looked around at the scene before them in wonder. "What's happening?" Kakkarot asked.
Frieza was standing on a pile of rocks. A Saiyan knelt before him, talking very fast and oozing sneakiness and hypocrisy. Just behind him, also kneeling, were four other Saiyans who appeared to be his bodyguards. Zarbon was forcefully restraining Queen Siane from killing all five of the groveling weasels.
And surrounding the edges of their group of rebels were dozens of other Saiyans, attracted by the power levels and the fight, come to see what was going on.
"That's my second cousin, Nyl," Vegeta told Kakkarot. "The pretender to the throne." He crossed his arms. "Hey cuz!" he yelled, startling them all. "Don't go anywhere! As soon as I finish off that weak, smelly lizard, I'm coming for you!"
"The Prince!" someone cried.
"The Legendary!" someone else yelled.
Excited murmurs spread. The Queen composed herself, looking smug.
"Weak?" Frieza screamed.
"You forgot ugly," Kakkarot said, smirking.
Vegeta looked at him and grinned. "And soon to be dead."
Frieza sneered and floated upwards. "I'm at 100 percent power now, boys. Two of you or not, it doesn't matter. I'll destroy you."
"We'll see about that." They met him in the air and attacked.
_____________ _________
A/N: Does anyone feel warm and mushy inside now? They finally made up and she's not dead! Yet.