Ok, here's the next chapter. Needless to say, I'm really confused. Half the people that I was asked to put on my mailing list didn't even read it, or if they did, they didn't review. I'm kind of disappointed. But oh well, it is summertime, people have lives nowadays. Unlike me, I spend my time working on my stories and reading Danielle Steel books, when I'm not sleeping all day. I've turned completely nocturnal, I think.
Special Thanks to Reviews from:
Flareon0301/SaiyanCat
Angel
Diane
I love y'all! All three of y'all! And Diane, that was the longest review I've ever gotten... I think. Thank you!
~ Important~
~...~ bond communication
*...* flashbacks
-...- thoughts
(A/N:...) Author's Notes
~*~ This is the symbol I'm going to use when I switch from the battle to the onlookers nearby.
Disclaimer: Too poor to own something as productive as DBZ. By now, the character that I own should be pretty obvious.
Videl smiled as she flew to the Son house. She was completely ecstatic, even though it was quite early in the morning. Nothing could crush her mood, not even the argument that she'd had with her father before she left. She just ignored it, it was his usual bullshit about Gohan being a "skinny little punk not worthy of occupying all of his daughter's time". Hercule wasn't going to get her down today. Nobody was.
She landed in front of the house, her smile widening at the thought of seeing her crush. She knocked on the door and soon she was greeted by a smiling Son Chichi.
"Hello, Videl," She said, always happy to see her "future daughter-in-law". "How are you today?"
Videl stepped inside and smiled warmly at Chichi. She'd grown to like her in the last couple months, once she got used to her frequent outbursts about grandchildren. "I'm fine. And you?"
"Great," Chichi always seemed to be beaming now that Goku was back. "What brings you here so early?"
"Gohan and I were going to go looking for the Dragonballs so that we could wish my mother back." She smiled again. It was just a perfect day.
"Oh, well I hope you have good luck. You can go on ahead to his room and wake him up."
Videl nodded and flashed another smile in Chichi's direction before disappearing down the hall.
- I hope Gohan makes a move while they're gone.- Chichi thought as she went back to her cooking. - Dende only knows I can't wait forever for grandchildren.-
Videl slowly opened the door to Gohan's room, and almost drooled when she saw him. He was sprawled over the bed in just his boxers, smiling in his sleep with drool about to escape his own mouth. Videl didn't even want to know what he was dreaming about as she crept closer to him. She was about to shake him a little bit, but he detected a ki near him and sprung up suddenly, grabbing her wrists. She was so startled she almost screamed.
"Oh," Gohan said, when he was fully awake, still holding onto her wrists. "It's just you, Videl."
Videl raised an eyebrow. "Just me? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all."
Then there eyes met, and they stood there, silent. The nice shade of blue that her eyes were was turning him into a pool of mush, as they always did, and his black, mysterious-looking eyes gave her a similar effect. They slowly inched towards each other, Gohan still holding her wrists firmly. Their eyes closed... their hearts began to beat faster and faster... they were so close they could feel each other's breath on their faces.... and then.... then....
"Gohan!" Goten screamed as he ran into the room.
Videl and Gohan jumped a mile apart and blushed slightly, thinking of what they almost did. And they each hated the little Goku clone for ruining it.
"What do you want, Goten?" Gohan almost groaned.
"I wanted to wake you up, brother," Goten said as he walked over and stood in between Videl and Gohan. "But it looks like Videl beat me to it." Then a mischievous grin spread across his face. "You two weren't about to kiss were you?"
Both Gohan and Videl blushed and wondered how innocent little Goten caught onto that one when he never caught on to anything else so quickly. Must be hanging around Trunks too much.
"Goten!" Gohan said through gritted teeth.
"Well, you were kind of close. It was just a quest-"
"OUT!"
"Ok, ok. Jeez, Gohan, calm down."
Gohan picked him up and placed him outside of the room, then closed his door, but Goten stopped him, surprisingly.
"What do you want, Goten?" Gohan was starting to wonder how he kept his sanity with that little bundle of embarrassing questions around.
"I just wanted to say that whenever you do kiss Videl, don't blow it," He said, suddenly sounding too much like Trunks for Gohan's liking. "I like her, and she'll make a good.... uh... sister-in-law... or whatever they're called."
"Goodbye, Goten," Gohan said through gritted teeth as he slammed the door in his little brother's face. Then he turned to Videl with a much gentler look on his face. "I'll go get changed and eat and then we can go. Ok?"
Videl nodded and watched him as he grabbed some clothes and walked into the bathroom to use the shower. She kept her sapphire eyes fixated on his backside the whole time, and when she noticed what she was doing, she smacked herself. - Get a grip, girl!-
Later at C.C.
Bulma laid down the rest of the breakfast she'd cooked for herself and Trunks and then sat down miserably as Trunks came bounding into the kitchen, grinning from ear to ear.
"Guess what, Mom?" Trunks said happily as he sat at the table. "Dad got me a Playstation 2! Isn't that great?"
Bulma nodded sadly as she picked at the food on her plate. She was too worried about Vegeta to eat.
Trunks noticed something was wrong and became concerned. "What's wrong, Mom?"
"You're father already left for his battle," She replied, looking as though he were already dead as she said the words.
"He did?" Trunks' eyes widened and she nodded at him again. He quickly grabbed a few pancakes, got up, and ran out of the house, shouting, "I gotta go watch him! Bye!"
She ran outside just as he took off into the air and screamed, "Be careful!"
"Hey, Bulma," Gohan said as he and Videl landed moments later. "Where's Trunks going?"
Bulma sighed as she invited them inside. "Vegeta already left for his battle."
Gohan was surprised too. "Wow. I wish I could watch it."
Bulma nodded again. "So what brings you here today?"
"We came to see if we could use your Dragon Radar. We're going to wish Videl's mother back."
Bulma nodded and disappeared to go find the radar, and when she came back, she looked even more worried and depressed. The thought had just come into her mind that if Vegeta died, she'd never see him again, and the Dragonballs would be useless because he'd already died once. She tried not to show her sadness but Gohan saw it in her eyes.
"Good luck," she murmured as she handed the radar to him and sat back down at the table to stare at the mountains of food that would go to waste.
Gohan walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure Vegeta will be fine. He's always training, and she couldn't have become a Super Saiyan. Don't worry about it."
Bulma smiled at his kindness, but still, she didn't quite believe that was exactly true. She had a weird feeling that something bad would happen that day, and she was usually right whenever she felt that way. And if she was right, she didn't know how she would ever deal with it. Even through all of the arguments the Prince of the Saiyans put her through, she still loved him, and always would, and she knew he loved her too. Their bond confirmed it.
She knew one thing at that moment: she would be devastated if he died that day.
"Thanks, kid," She said, faking a smile so he wouldn't get worried.
Gohan nodded and left with Videl on their quest to revive a woman who was deeply missed, while Bulma wondered if Vegeta would be put to his final resting place.
Speaking of which, Vegeta was still flying, in search of any kind of unfamiliar ki that was strong enough to be inhuman, but found none. He figured Kumberelle was still wearing her ki shields, and he wondered why in hell was he so anxious to find her anyway. He knew she was horribly strong when she let herself think of her traumatic past, that her power was too much to even fathom in a female Saiyan. He felt it when she showed him the images of her past, and he had to admit, it scared him a little bit. If she'd been training as hard as he thought she was, if she had even copied his fighting style, then she could very well be as strong as him, or even stronger. But that was highly unlikely. Female Saiyans were generally weaker than males, until they had eye contact with the full moon. Then they were the strongest, but Vegeta didn't have to worry about that, since Piccolo destroyed the moon a long time ago.
But still, her power bothered him. She was the strongest female on Vegeta-sei (A/N: Vegeta-sei sounds a lot better than Planet Vegeta, doesn't it?) when she was just five years old, she had almost killed the horrible tyrant, Frieza, when she was three, and her mental power seemed to exceed her regular power sometimes. But the real thing that bothered him, was that she couldn't control herself when she tapped into it. It was almost like when Kakkarot's brat went Oozaru (A/N: That's when they turn into the huge ape monsters, for those of you who didn't know. I don't think they made a name for it in the American version, so I just used this name.), he became ruthless, and so would she. Then again, she'd have been ruthless anyway, since she was a "true Saiyan".
It was all so confusing. She'd told him a great deal of her past, more than she would ever tell anyone, and yet, she was still so mystifying. She seemed so frightened when she saw that his brat was a Super Saiyan, but yet she seemed happy to fight him when he brought it up. She'd been so dedicated into getting him to come with her to rule that planet, she claimed to have visions of him, she claimed to have a special and unexplainable bond with him, and yet, she seemed more than willing to kill him or be killed by him. Was it all a plan? Was she working for someone much stronger that made her come to Earth to look for him? Why was it that she had visions of him? Why had she tried to kill Bulma? He asked himself a million questions as he searched for her relentlessly. This woman who seemed to haunt him was suddenly here, explained what had happened to her over the years, and still, she was a mystery he had to solve, but wasn't sure he could or even wanted to. He just wanted to kill her and get it over with now. Then maybe he could live in peace without visions of her haunting him.
He stopped when he felt something weird, a new ki. He looked down and smirked. - Speak of the devil.-
Kumberelle had just taken off her earrings to do some last minute training when she felt his ki above her. - Shit.-
Vegeta lowered himself down to her slowly, still smirking, and she matched his smirk, trying to look confident.
"Couldn't wait to see me, eh?" She asked, still smirking.
Vegeta frowned for a second, not sure how she meant that comment, but quickly regained his composure. "I couldn't wait to kill you, if that's what you mean. Let's get this over with."
Kumberelle's smirk faded momentarily as she felt a surge of fear that she hadn't felt since the day her father died. It was here... the moment of truth.... the battle she'd been preparing herself for, for 5 days, and now it was here... way too soon. But there was no backing down now... she had to do it, no matter how terrified she was.
Her confident act reappeared as she bowed to him, no longer as a sign of respect, but as a sign of mockery. The respect she seemed to have only days before had vanished. "As you wish, Prince Vegeta."
Son House
Goku cocked his head to the side as his plate began to shake on the table. He felt a ki skyrocket soon after, which confirmed that his stomach hadn't been growling louder than he thought.
"What on Earth is going on?" Chichi asked, as she tried to set more dishes on the table, but they only seemed to crash to the floor in the end. "Is it an earthquake?"
Goku shook his head, concentrating hard, forgetting his empty stomach. "It's Vegeta. He must be starting his battle early."
"His ki scares me," Goten said, an adorably frightened look on his face. He and his father had grown pretty close in the few days that he was back on Earth, and they both would be devastated when it was time for him to leave. Goten wanted to be with his father more than anything now that he was there. But as Goku explained to him before, "You can't stop the inevitable". It was something he'd just have to understand.
"It is pretty scary, kid," Goku replied.
"Who's Vegeta fighting?" Chichi asked, after another failed attempt at bringing dishes to the table.
She got no answer, only concentrated looks from her husband and youngest son.
"Hello?"
"Goten are you coming with me?" Goku asked as he brought two fingers up to his forehead.
"Yep," Goten said as he grabbed onto his father's arm, and soon, they disappeared from the kitchen.
This time Chichi broke her set of dishes herself, an angry look on her face that could only be achieved by an anime character. "They never tell me anything! Arrrgh!"
The Battlefield (A/N: Dun, Dun, DUN!)
Kumberelle looked up at a mountain when she felt another ki join them. It was Vegeta's lavender-haired brat. - Great, I have an audience now.-
As soon as she put her attention back to the Saiyan in front of her, her head snapped back up in that direction when she felt two new kis join them. She turned up just in time to see Kakkorot and his youngest brat materialize out of nowhere. She blinked. - Did that just happen?-
~*~
"Ahhh!" Trunks screamed, startled by Goku and Goten's sudden appearance. "Oh, it's just you. Did anyone ever tell you that Instant Trans-whatever thing you do is annoying, Goku?"
Goku rubbed the back of his head, confused. "Yeah, actually people have. What's the deal with that?"
Just then, Tein, Yamcha, Krillin, 18, and Piccolo flew to the scene, all having felt the major ki surge.
"What's going on down there?" Yamcha asked Goku. "Who's the chick? She's kind of cute." (A/N: I really want to kill Yamcha in this fic, but it wouldn't make any sense, would it?)
Goku then went on to explain it to everyone, the same story that Vegeta had told him just days before. He didn't leave out a thing, and put emphasis on the mental power she had, earning a shocked, "Oh" from the group. Of course Piccolo already knew that information, seeing as how he lived with God, a.k.a. Dende.
"A female Saiyan, huh?" Krillin said in amazement.
"Yep." Goku said.
"This battle should be interesting," Tein said as he walked up to get a closer look. "If Vegeta hurries up and stops powering up."
"No kidding," Yamcha added, still staring at the woman below. "He looks like he's going to bust a gut down there."
"That or shit on himself," Krillin commented, getting a small laugh from the rest of the group, except Trunks, who was glaring daggers at the formerly bald man. But Trunks decided that the little man didn't deserve to die yet, he did have a family and all.
~*~
Kumberelle inwardly groaned as she saw the rest of the people who were gathered now as Vegeta finished his power up. -What's next? A camera crew?-
Vegeta smirked when she returned attention to him, but was disappointed when she didn't seem effected by his power. He saw no fear, no shock, no nothing in her eyes. Just a blank look that couldn't be described.
Inside, she was really feeling fear, but she wouldn't let him know. She refused to. He was like a dog, she couldn't let him sense terror or else he'd pounce on her, knowing that she'd panic and let him do it. So she took a deep breath and began her own short, but effective power up. It wasn't as dramatic as Vegeta's but it got a lot of shocked responses from the bystanders perched on the mountain.
~*~
"Wow," Yamcha said after she revealed her power to everyone. "She's pretty strong."
"She actually has a chance!" Krillin was astonished.
"You didn't think she wouldn't because she's a woman, did you?" his wife asked, still in her usually monotone voice.
"Uh.. no..." Krillin said, afraid of the look she was giving him.
"Better not."
"But remember," Piccolo commented. "She could still very well be a lot stronger. She still has the telekinesis, the telepathy. This could only be the beginning."
"Yeah," Trunks said as he watched his father intently. "The beginning of her end."
~*~
Vegeta smirked once again after she finished powering up and got into a fighting stance. Her power was pretty close to Vegeta's, but he could easily clobber her if he wanted to. He wasn't even a Super Saiyan yet. - This should be easier than I thought. I could have some fun with this. But of course... she hasn't snapped yet. No, I won't let her get that far! I am the Prince of all Saiyans! No one can defeat me!-
"Except maybe Kakkorot," Kumberelle said as a devious smirk spread across her face.
"Stop reading my thoughts, woman!" Vegeta was outraged. "Do you have a death wish? I'd be happy to grant that wish for you and send you straight to Hell!"
"Not unless I send you there first," Kumberelle said as she got into a similar fighting stance. "No, you'd probably get sent to the Other World now that you've gotten... soft." She put special emphasis on the last word, knowing it would make him snap. And she was right.
Vegeta growled as he lunged his fist at her. Kumberelle blocked it, along with several other kicks and punches that he threw at her.
"Is this it?" Kumberelle teased. "I was hoping to get a workout with this one."
Vegeta growled again and picked up the pace. Kumberelle was totally surprised and let her guard down for one second too late. His fist connected with her face sending her backwards a little, but it was his foot that came crashing into her that sent her into a nearby mountain, crashing it into pieces.
However, she quickly regained control and flew from under the rubble, lunging her fist at Vegeta, but much to her surprise, he faded out and reappeared in the air. Kumberelle's face turned into a Vegeta-like scowl as she flew up to him and started another session of punches and kicks, this time with Vegeta on the receiving end. He was amazed by how fast she was, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He quickly caught one fist, then the other, then head-butted her hard. Kumberelle stumbled backwards and soon Vegeta's elbow to the head sent her crashing down to the ground, forming a huge crater in it.
~*~
"Wow, look at them go!" Goten exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement. "They're so fast I can barely them!"
"I can't see them at all, kid," Tein said, slightly ashamed that he couldn't see it when he was the one with the third eye.
"My dad's going to win!" Trunks exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air. "He's winning! He's winning!"
"Not so fast, kid," Piccolo said. "They're just warming up."
~*~
Kumberelle slowly picked herself up from the new crater that she was in. She was surprised and slightly confused at how bad she was hurting at the moment, and more than once she thought of retreating to her ship, typing in a random course, and taking off, never to see Vegeta again. But she knew that she couldn't, she wouldn't let herself be a coward and take off. She was going to finish this thing whether she liked to or not. That was just the way it was going to be.
Vegeta lowered himself down to the ground with his arms crossed over his chest and the usual smirk plastered on his face. He knew how much pain she was in and he was eating it up. If he could do so much damage without even turning into a Super Saiyan, she definitely didn't have a chance. This was a good match for him.
Kumberelle wiped away a trickle of blood and her tail unraveled from her waist and flicked wildly behind her, showing that her Saiyan blood was indeed pumping and eagerly awaiting more of the fight. She no longer had a smirk on her face, but a serious, determined look as she got back into a fighting stance.
The look on her face only amused Vegeta, instead of intimidate him. He got into a fighting stance as well and said, "It seems you do have a death wish. Well, I'd be more than happy to oblige. That was a good warm-up... now let's start the real thing."
Kumberelle nodded and took another deep breath to calm herself. - It's now.... or never.-
Gohan and Videl's Search...
Videl peeked into a small cave, looking for any unusual dinosaurs or other creatures. Seeing that it was safe, she got on all fours and crawled into it, looking for the fourth Dragonball in the darkness.
"Are you sure it's in here?" She called back to Gohan. "I can't see a damn thing!"
Gohan looked at the Dragon Radar just to make to sure, then stuck his head back in the entrance of the cave. "Yep, I'm positive."
Videl inwardly groaned as she felt around the ground of the cave for the desired Dragonball. - He'd better be lucky he's so cute, otherwise there's no way in hell I'd do this.-
Then she got an idea. She closed her eyes and concentrated hard, trying to flare up her ki in order to bring some light into the dark cave. She smiled when she had success, and immediately saw the four star Dragonball. She grabbed it and backed out of the cave.
"I got it!" She said happily as she handed it to Gohan and dusted off her clothes.
"Great," Gohan said smiling at her enthusiasm. "Now all we have left are 3 more."
"Let's take a break," Videl suggested.
"Good idea."
Videl followed Gohan as they flew to a secluded forest area, much like the one that he lived in. They laid down on the grassy floor in silence, each totally absorbed in their thoughts.
Videl was wondering how life would be when her mother was wished back. She was so excited she felt like one of those preppy girls at school, and almost retched at the sight that she was in. But she couldn't help it. She missed her mother so much and it would be wonderful to have her back. She could talk to her about her problems, among a lot of other things. Of course she always had Gohan to talk to, she could talk to him about everything, but let's face it, there's just some things that would better be discussed with a female. And of course there was Erasa for that, but she always felt like she was bothering Erasa. She was much closer to Gohan, and now with her mother coming back, she finally felt like her life was worth living.
Wait, what would her father think? She hadn't thought of that. There would be no in way in hell that they could work out a relationship again. Her father was always parading around with new bimbos every week, he was way too used to the single life. So, they'd kind of be divorced in way. But she didn't care, either way was fine to her. As long as her mom was home, back to her, everything else didn't matter.
Gohan was currently stuck on his usual internal debate, whether or not to tell Videl how he really feels about her. It didn't seem as simple as he thought it would be. If he told her, there was always the possibility that she liked someone else, or that she thought he was incredibly ugly or stupid for even liking her in that way. That would destroy him, but there was also the possibility that she felt the same way, or that she liked him, but not in that way, and didn't want to hurt his feelings. His life seemed way too confusing for comprehension. He wasn't sure of much anymore.
Only one thing came clear to him lately. He knew that he was indeed falling in love with Videl Satan. That week in school with Lucy tagging along with him all day, and calling him non stop, made him really believe he was in love with her. Words couldn't describe how bad he felt without Videl being near him, he felt terribly lonely, even with Lucy constantly at his heels. The only explanation he could get was that he was falling in love with her. Now all he had to do was confess and get it over with.
- Sad,- He thought. - I've faced the most powerful beings in the universe since I was 5 and yet I can't even tell a girl with pig tails in her hair that I love her.-
Videl glanced over at her friend, wondering what he was thinking about, and decided to break the uneasy silence. She told him the whole story about her mother's death, along with other anecdotes of her early childhood, before the Cell Games. It was all so wonderful until her mother died, she said. Hercule was an actual father and her mother was always around when she needed her, and then one day it all crashed and burned, literally. And she never quite got over it, and he told her that he never got over his father's death either. He told her that he felt like it was all his fault, because he let his Saiyan side control him. He never forgave himself for that. And he never would. But they were both in good spirits as they talked about the tragedies of their childhoods. They had no reason to grieve now. After all, they were happy and they had people who cared about them. And most of all, they had each other.
"So, do you think Vegeta will win his battle?" Videl asked a few minutes later.
"He definitely has a good chance," Gohan replied. "But from what I was feeling earlier, so does she. It's hard to tell. She could go psycho at any minute and Vegeta, along with everyone else on this planet, just might be in deep shit."
"True," Videl agreed. "If I was Vegeta, I wouldn't have given her time to train or anything, I'd have killed her on the spot! She tried to kill his wife for Dende's sake!"
"Yeah, but you know Vegeta. He's always looking for a nice, long fight. It's in his blood."
"So what. He still shouldn't have given her time, she could've escaped."
"Nah, she's a Saiyan. Saiyans don't pass up a good fight."
"So I've heard," Videl smiled as she spoke. "I like fighting too. Maybe I'm really a Saiyan."
Gohan laughed. "I seriously doubt it. But you are pretty strong for a human." He grinned and added, "I sure know one person who's going to wish they were already dead once they see you pissed off at school on Monday."
Videl grinned mischievously, eagerly awaiting the fight she was going to pick with Lucy for standing up Gohan. "Damn straight. No one hurts my friends like that! I'm Videl Satan damn it! When I'm through with her, she'll have to shit out those pompoms if she ever wants to cheerlead again! Stupid preppy ass bitch..."
Gohan smiled at her as she rambled on and on about what a dumb bitch Lucy was. She looked so evil when she talked about killing Lucy that it amused him. All she needed was horns to sprout out of her head and her evilness would be complete.
"...I mean who does she think she is!" Videl exclaimed, getting more and more pissed off by the second. "She practically pissed on herself when I told her that you wanted to go out with her, she was so excited. And then she stands you up! What the fuck is that about! Dende, I swear, I'll be in jail tomorrow after I rip her head off and shove it straight up her preppy little ass!"
Gohan smiled again at the fuss she was making over HIM. - Dende, I love this woman.-
Back to the Battlefield (A/N: Dun, Dun, DUN!)
Once again Kumberelle hit the ground with a sickening thud, adding another crater to the ground. She was still confused as to how she could be so worn out, they were just barely getting started. As she slowly picked herself up, she coughed up blood, and as soon as her ship came into view in the distance, she had a great desire to run over to it and escape. But she knew she wouldn't. Not now, not ever.
"C'mon," Vegeta taunted from the air. "That couldn't have hurt that bad. I'm just warming up."
Kumberelle scowled as she fired a huge ki blast in his direction, which he dodged, but he wasn't able to dodge Kumberelle's fist, which sent him backwards a little bit, but the repeated kicks and punches that she threw at him afterward, all connected. For once, he was sent down the ground, but he caught himself and flipped back up into the air.
"Not good enough," Vegeta said. "But good try."
Kumberelle growled as she threw her fist at him again, but he caught it and smirked. He was toying with her and she knew it. -Why won't he just end it now?... No, he's not going to win. I can win damn it! I know I can!-
She lifted her free hand up and formed a ki blast in it. He dodged it quickly as she fired it, and then, once she had him distracted, she kicked him as hard as she could, right in the stomach. He doubled over and clutched his stomach as she drove her elbow into his back repeatedly until he finally went crashing to the ground.
She followed him down and kicked him back up into the air before he could hit the ground, then followed him back up and elbowed him back down. She then continued that routine, finally enjoying the battle.
~*~
"Uh oh," Goku said. "Looks like she has the advantage now."
"Let's just hope she doesn't snap," Piccolo added, as the others watched in amazement. In a matter of seconds the battle did a complete turn around.
"No!" Trunks exclaimed, on the verge of tears. "C'mon, Dad! Beat her! You were winning before, you can do it again!"
"Don't worry, Trunks," Goku said as he patted the kid on the shoulder. "This is just a few little punches and kicks. He had the advantage the whole time until now. It could just be luck. Don't worry, he'll win."
Trunks smiled at him and then turned back around to cheer his father on.
~*~
Kumberelle was enjoying kicking Vegeta around like a rag doll. But it didn't last long. Just as she was about to kick him back up into the air, Vegeta grabbed her foot and swung her around by it. She let out a scream as he let her go and sent her flying into a mountain, earning cheers from Trunks and Goten that made him smirk.
He floated over to the rubble that once was a mountain, waiting for her to emerge. But she never did.
"Is she dead?" He asked himself. "No, she couldn't be. I didn't put that much effort into it."
Little did he know, she had faded out right after hitting the mountain and reappeared behind another mountain, to create another sword with her mind. She knew once she started to concentrate her power, he would detect her, but she didn't care. She was desperate.
As Vegeta tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for his opponent to come forward, his head snapped up. He detected her ki, and immediately blew up the mountain that she was hiding behind. His eyes widened when he saw what she was doing.
- Concentrate..- Kumberelle thought over and over again. - Focus..-
A figure of a sword flashed in and out of view as she shook from concentrating so hard and putting so much energy into making the sword. Vegeta was not only shocked, but confused as well.
"What the hell are you doing?"
~*~
"What the hell is she doing?" Krillin asked, half to himself.
"I don't know," Goku replied, his mouth half open as he looked at Kumberelle. "It looks like... like..."
"She's creating a sword with her mind," Piccolo cut in.
"She can do that?" Goku said, astounded.
"Apparently so."
"Whoa."
~*~
- Hurry up!- Kumberelle mentally chided herself. As if on command, the sword appeared in her left hand, and she let out a sigh of relief. - Finally.-
"What is this?" Vegeta demanded, totally puzzled as to how a sword just appeared out of thin air.
She waved the sword tauntingly at him and smirked. "What's the matter, Prince Vegeta? Never seen one of these before?"
"Of course I have!" Vegeta barked. "How the hell did it just appear in your hand out of nowhere."
"Well," Kumberelle replied as she walked up to him. "I can create them with my mind. It's a little trick I learned from some race on one of the pathetic planets I purged. I must have failed to mention it." She added, feigning innocence.
Without another word, she swiped at him with her sword repeatedly, Vegeta blocking each furious stroke. Again he looked amused at her determination, and couldn't help but taunt her a little bit. I mean really, what good would a fight be if no one talked a little shit?
"You're sword doesn't appear to be helping you very much," He teased. "Some gift."
Kumberelle became enraged with that comment. She was putting her all into this fight and she was beginning to become irritated with him. She felt she didn't deserve this, any of it. She came to Earth to take him away, for him to be of royalty again, and to fulfill this emptiness that she had inside of her. But if she was going to die, or if he was going to die today, what was it worth now? She'd come for nothing, absolutely nothing. But now that she was here, fighting him, she would not let him win, Super Saiyan or not. And with one amazingly powerful stroke of her sword, she finally cut him. She made a long gash that stretched across his stomach.
Vegeta couldn't believe it, and neither could Kumberelle. They both stopped and stared as Vegeta ran his hand over his new scar and pulled his white glove up to eye level. Seeing the red stain only infuriated him beyond understanding. He transformed into a Super Saiyan and grabbed the sword, shattering it into tiny pieces.
She just stood there stunned as he punched her in the face, then in the gut, then a uppercut until she was on the ground coughing up blood. But instead of waiting for her to get up on her own, he took it upon himself to pull her up by her hair, and then he repeatedly punched her in the stomach, still holding onto her hair.
~*~
"Yeah, go Dad!" Trunks exclaimed, jumping up and down.
"Looks like Vegeta's got this one under control!" Goku said.
"He sure does," Yamcha replied, still stunned that she had created a sword using her mind.
"Not so fast," Piccolo, the always conservative Namek, added. "It could very well end with Kumberelle winning. The fight's not over yet. Not all things are what they appear to be."
Trunks turned around and glared at the tall green man and walked over to him. "So you're saying my Dad doesn't have a chance? Look at him!" He pointed down to the battlefield. "He's beating the crap outta her!"
"I see that," Piccolo replied, surprised at the boy's tone. "But that doesn't mean that she can't come back and-"
"My dad is the greatest fighter in the universe!" Trunks screamed, poking a finger in the Namek's chest. "My dad is the Prince of all Saiyans! He can do anything! ANYTHING!"
He walked back over to where he was standing, leaving a confused and shocked Piccolo to do nothing but blink a couple of times.
~*~
Vegeta smirked as he finally dropped Kumberelle back down on her face, having heard his son's words. - At least he has faith in me... then again... he is the only person up there that counts.-
Then he turned his attention down to Kumberelle and kicked her in her side. "Had enough yet? Ready for me to end your life?"
Kumberelle curled up in a ball, her whole body aching. It was so unfair, so hard to understand, and it happened so quickly. She hated losing, but she felt like she was going to that day. She almost shuddered at the thought, and figured she might as well let him end it all than keep on trying to win. It was hopeless. There was nothing she had to do now anyway. She couldn't keep destroying planets, there was no point in it now, and she definitely couldn't go rule the planet that she talked to Vegeta about. One of the reasons why she came to him anyway was that he was of the Saiyan royal bloodline, she didn't know a thing about running a planet. And there was the matter about the "bond" that they shared. If she died, she wouldn't have to worry about that emptiness, but if she won, she would.
Dying sounding very appealing to her right then and there, but then she stopped herself from saying the words. What if what she really needed to be complete was to close this chapter in her life, to move on and stop the constant visions of him? She hadn't thought of that. All she knew was that if she found him, maybe she could be complete again, but she hadn't thought that maybe killing him and stopping the bond would fill the void. That certainly held great appeal. Then she reminded herself that their so-called King killed her father, and sent her away from the only planet she'd ever known. Why did she come here to devote herself to his stupid child? Now she knew what she had to do.
Slowly but surely she stood herself up and got into a shaky fighting stance, much to Vegeta's amusement.
"Very well," He said, smirking. "Have it your way."
- I will win this.- Kumberelle thought. - I will win this for you, father, and for you, mother, if not for myself. I will not let him gain another victory. It was his father that killed my father. I'll just have to get my revenge on his son. So what if I thought I "needed" him. Maybe this is even better. Maybe proving that I'm not some stupid female will be even better.-
She wiped away the blood that ran down her forehead and put on a Vegeta-like scowl as he got into a fighting stance. He could've sword he saw her eyes flash the color of red for a second, but dismissed the idea almost as quickly as it came.
"Get ready to die, Kumberelle," He said, smirking.
Kumberelle took a deep breath. - This one's for you, Mom and Dad.-
*~*~*~*~*
I think this one was the longest of all my chapters. I had to rewrite this chapter entirely, which pissed me off, but I got it up and running and I'm hoping for more reviews. I have a third fic out now that's currently in progress, called, "The Utterly Impossible", which is a humor fic that features a bunch of different stories that I thought of that could never happen in DBZ. I have two chapters already out, which are about the Z-warriors being black and about them getting high. So check that out along with my developing T/P, "Hope". Anyway, enough with the self-advertisement. Just please review, I'd like to know if this sucked or what.
Next Chapter: Gohan and Videl's search for the Dragonballs ends, and no, he still doesn't tell her how he feels. That comes later! Kumberelle and Vegeta's fight still goes on. No winner yet, instead, a shocking surprise from Kumberelle. She has another trick up her sleeve.
Special Thanks to Reviews from:
Flareon0301/SaiyanCat
Angel
Diane
I love y'all! All three of y'all! And Diane, that was the longest review I've ever gotten... I think. Thank you!
~ Important~
~...~ bond communication
*...* flashbacks
-...- thoughts
(A/N:...) Author's Notes
~*~ This is the symbol I'm going to use when I switch from the battle to the onlookers nearby.
Disclaimer: Too poor to own something as productive as DBZ. By now, the character that I own should be pretty obvious.
Videl smiled as she flew to the Son house. She was completely ecstatic, even though it was quite early in the morning. Nothing could crush her mood, not even the argument that she'd had with her father before she left. She just ignored it, it was his usual bullshit about Gohan being a "skinny little punk not worthy of occupying all of his daughter's time". Hercule wasn't going to get her down today. Nobody was.
She landed in front of the house, her smile widening at the thought of seeing her crush. She knocked on the door and soon she was greeted by a smiling Son Chichi.
"Hello, Videl," She said, always happy to see her "future daughter-in-law". "How are you today?"
Videl stepped inside and smiled warmly at Chichi. She'd grown to like her in the last couple months, once she got used to her frequent outbursts about grandchildren. "I'm fine. And you?"
"Great," Chichi always seemed to be beaming now that Goku was back. "What brings you here so early?"
"Gohan and I were going to go looking for the Dragonballs so that we could wish my mother back." She smiled again. It was just a perfect day.
"Oh, well I hope you have good luck. You can go on ahead to his room and wake him up."
Videl nodded and flashed another smile in Chichi's direction before disappearing down the hall.
- I hope Gohan makes a move while they're gone.- Chichi thought as she went back to her cooking. - Dende only knows I can't wait forever for grandchildren.-
Videl slowly opened the door to Gohan's room, and almost drooled when she saw him. He was sprawled over the bed in just his boxers, smiling in his sleep with drool about to escape his own mouth. Videl didn't even want to know what he was dreaming about as she crept closer to him. She was about to shake him a little bit, but he detected a ki near him and sprung up suddenly, grabbing her wrists. She was so startled she almost screamed.
"Oh," Gohan said, when he was fully awake, still holding onto her wrists. "It's just you, Videl."
Videl raised an eyebrow. "Just me? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all."
Then there eyes met, and they stood there, silent. The nice shade of blue that her eyes were was turning him into a pool of mush, as they always did, and his black, mysterious-looking eyes gave her a similar effect. They slowly inched towards each other, Gohan still holding her wrists firmly. Their eyes closed... their hearts began to beat faster and faster... they were so close they could feel each other's breath on their faces.... and then.... then....
"Gohan!" Goten screamed as he ran into the room.
Videl and Gohan jumped a mile apart and blushed slightly, thinking of what they almost did. And they each hated the little Goku clone for ruining it.
"What do you want, Goten?" Gohan almost groaned.
"I wanted to wake you up, brother," Goten said as he walked over and stood in between Videl and Gohan. "But it looks like Videl beat me to it." Then a mischievous grin spread across his face. "You two weren't about to kiss were you?"
Both Gohan and Videl blushed and wondered how innocent little Goten caught onto that one when he never caught on to anything else so quickly. Must be hanging around Trunks too much.
"Goten!" Gohan said through gritted teeth.
"Well, you were kind of close. It was just a quest-"
"OUT!"
"Ok, ok. Jeez, Gohan, calm down."
Gohan picked him up and placed him outside of the room, then closed his door, but Goten stopped him, surprisingly.
"What do you want, Goten?" Gohan was starting to wonder how he kept his sanity with that little bundle of embarrassing questions around.
"I just wanted to say that whenever you do kiss Videl, don't blow it," He said, suddenly sounding too much like Trunks for Gohan's liking. "I like her, and she'll make a good.... uh... sister-in-law... or whatever they're called."
"Goodbye, Goten," Gohan said through gritted teeth as he slammed the door in his little brother's face. Then he turned to Videl with a much gentler look on his face. "I'll go get changed and eat and then we can go. Ok?"
Videl nodded and watched him as he grabbed some clothes and walked into the bathroom to use the shower. She kept her sapphire eyes fixated on his backside the whole time, and when she noticed what she was doing, she smacked herself. - Get a grip, girl!-
Later at C.C.
Bulma laid down the rest of the breakfast she'd cooked for herself and Trunks and then sat down miserably as Trunks came bounding into the kitchen, grinning from ear to ear.
"Guess what, Mom?" Trunks said happily as he sat at the table. "Dad got me a Playstation 2! Isn't that great?"
Bulma nodded sadly as she picked at the food on her plate. She was too worried about Vegeta to eat.
Trunks noticed something was wrong and became concerned. "What's wrong, Mom?"
"You're father already left for his battle," She replied, looking as though he were already dead as she said the words.
"He did?" Trunks' eyes widened and she nodded at him again. He quickly grabbed a few pancakes, got up, and ran out of the house, shouting, "I gotta go watch him! Bye!"
She ran outside just as he took off into the air and screamed, "Be careful!"
"Hey, Bulma," Gohan said as he and Videl landed moments later. "Where's Trunks going?"
Bulma sighed as she invited them inside. "Vegeta already left for his battle."
Gohan was surprised too. "Wow. I wish I could watch it."
Bulma nodded again. "So what brings you here today?"
"We came to see if we could use your Dragon Radar. We're going to wish Videl's mother back."
Bulma nodded and disappeared to go find the radar, and when she came back, she looked even more worried and depressed. The thought had just come into her mind that if Vegeta died, she'd never see him again, and the Dragonballs would be useless because he'd already died once. She tried not to show her sadness but Gohan saw it in her eyes.
"Good luck," she murmured as she handed the radar to him and sat back down at the table to stare at the mountains of food that would go to waste.
Gohan walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure Vegeta will be fine. He's always training, and she couldn't have become a Super Saiyan. Don't worry about it."
Bulma smiled at his kindness, but still, she didn't quite believe that was exactly true. She had a weird feeling that something bad would happen that day, and she was usually right whenever she felt that way. And if she was right, she didn't know how she would ever deal with it. Even through all of the arguments the Prince of the Saiyans put her through, she still loved him, and always would, and she knew he loved her too. Their bond confirmed it.
She knew one thing at that moment: she would be devastated if he died that day.
"Thanks, kid," She said, faking a smile so he wouldn't get worried.
Gohan nodded and left with Videl on their quest to revive a woman who was deeply missed, while Bulma wondered if Vegeta would be put to his final resting place.
Speaking of which, Vegeta was still flying, in search of any kind of unfamiliar ki that was strong enough to be inhuman, but found none. He figured Kumberelle was still wearing her ki shields, and he wondered why in hell was he so anxious to find her anyway. He knew she was horribly strong when she let herself think of her traumatic past, that her power was too much to even fathom in a female Saiyan. He felt it when she showed him the images of her past, and he had to admit, it scared him a little bit. If she'd been training as hard as he thought she was, if she had even copied his fighting style, then she could very well be as strong as him, or even stronger. But that was highly unlikely. Female Saiyans were generally weaker than males, until they had eye contact with the full moon. Then they were the strongest, but Vegeta didn't have to worry about that, since Piccolo destroyed the moon a long time ago.
But still, her power bothered him. She was the strongest female on Vegeta-sei (A/N: Vegeta-sei sounds a lot better than Planet Vegeta, doesn't it?) when she was just five years old, she had almost killed the horrible tyrant, Frieza, when she was three, and her mental power seemed to exceed her regular power sometimes. But the real thing that bothered him, was that she couldn't control herself when she tapped into it. It was almost like when Kakkarot's brat went Oozaru (A/N: That's when they turn into the huge ape monsters, for those of you who didn't know. I don't think they made a name for it in the American version, so I just used this name.), he became ruthless, and so would she. Then again, she'd have been ruthless anyway, since she was a "true Saiyan".
It was all so confusing. She'd told him a great deal of her past, more than she would ever tell anyone, and yet, she was still so mystifying. She seemed so frightened when she saw that his brat was a Super Saiyan, but yet she seemed happy to fight him when he brought it up. She'd been so dedicated into getting him to come with her to rule that planet, she claimed to have visions of him, she claimed to have a special and unexplainable bond with him, and yet, she seemed more than willing to kill him or be killed by him. Was it all a plan? Was she working for someone much stronger that made her come to Earth to look for him? Why was it that she had visions of him? Why had she tried to kill Bulma? He asked himself a million questions as he searched for her relentlessly. This woman who seemed to haunt him was suddenly here, explained what had happened to her over the years, and still, she was a mystery he had to solve, but wasn't sure he could or even wanted to. He just wanted to kill her and get it over with now. Then maybe he could live in peace without visions of her haunting him.
He stopped when he felt something weird, a new ki. He looked down and smirked. - Speak of the devil.-
Kumberelle had just taken off her earrings to do some last minute training when she felt his ki above her. - Shit.-
Vegeta lowered himself down to her slowly, still smirking, and she matched his smirk, trying to look confident.
"Couldn't wait to see me, eh?" She asked, still smirking.
Vegeta frowned for a second, not sure how she meant that comment, but quickly regained his composure. "I couldn't wait to kill you, if that's what you mean. Let's get this over with."
Kumberelle's smirk faded momentarily as she felt a surge of fear that she hadn't felt since the day her father died. It was here... the moment of truth.... the battle she'd been preparing herself for, for 5 days, and now it was here... way too soon. But there was no backing down now... she had to do it, no matter how terrified she was.
Her confident act reappeared as she bowed to him, no longer as a sign of respect, but as a sign of mockery. The respect she seemed to have only days before had vanished. "As you wish, Prince Vegeta."
Son House
Goku cocked his head to the side as his plate began to shake on the table. He felt a ki skyrocket soon after, which confirmed that his stomach hadn't been growling louder than he thought.
"What on Earth is going on?" Chichi asked, as she tried to set more dishes on the table, but they only seemed to crash to the floor in the end. "Is it an earthquake?"
Goku shook his head, concentrating hard, forgetting his empty stomach. "It's Vegeta. He must be starting his battle early."
"His ki scares me," Goten said, an adorably frightened look on his face. He and his father had grown pretty close in the few days that he was back on Earth, and they both would be devastated when it was time for him to leave. Goten wanted to be with his father more than anything now that he was there. But as Goku explained to him before, "You can't stop the inevitable". It was something he'd just have to understand.
"It is pretty scary, kid," Goku replied.
"Who's Vegeta fighting?" Chichi asked, after another failed attempt at bringing dishes to the table.
She got no answer, only concentrated looks from her husband and youngest son.
"Hello?"
"Goten are you coming with me?" Goku asked as he brought two fingers up to his forehead.
"Yep," Goten said as he grabbed onto his father's arm, and soon, they disappeared from the kitchen.
This time Chichi broke her set of dishes herself, an angry look on her face that could only be achieved by an anime character. "They never tell me anything! Arrrgh!"
The Battlefield (A/N: Dun, Dun, DUN!)
Kumberelle looked up at a mountain when she felt another ki join them. It was Vegeta's lavender-haired brat. - Great, I have an audience now.-
As soon as she put her attention back to the Saiyan in front of her, her head snapped back up in that direction when she felt two new kis join them. She turned up just in time to see Kakkorot and his youngest brat materialize out of nowhere. She blinked. - Did that just happen?-
~*~
"Ahhh!" Trunks screamed, startled by Goku and Goten's sudden appearance. "Oh, it's just you. Did anyone ever tell you that Instant Trans-whatever thing you do is annoying, Goku?"
Goku rubbed the back of his head, confused. "Yeah, actually people have. What's the deal with that?"
Just then, Tein, Yamcha, Krillin, 18, and Piccolo flew to the scene, all having felt the major ki surge.
"What's going on down there?" Yamcha asked Goku. "Who's the chick? She's kind of cute." (A/N: I really want to kill Yamcha in this fic, but it wouldn't make any sense, would it?)
Goku then went on to explain it to everyone, the same story that Vegeta had told him just days before. He didn't leave out a thing, and put emphasis on the mental power she had, earning a shocked, "Oh" from the group. Of course Piccolo already knew that information, seeing as how he lived with God, a.k.a. Dende.
"A female Saiyan, huh?" Krillin said in amazement.
"Yep." Goku said.
"This battle should be interesting," Tein said as he walked up to get a closer look. "If Vegeta hurries up and stops powering up."
"No kidding," Yamcha added, still staring at the woman below. "He looks like he's going to bust a gut down there."
"That or shit on himself," Krillin commented, getting a small laugh from the rest of the group, except Trunks, who was glaring daggers at the formerly bald man. But Trunks decided that the little man didn't deserve to die yet, he did have a family and all.
~*~
Kumberelle inwardly groaned as she saw the rest of the people who were gathered now as Vegeta finished his power up. -What's next? A camera crew?-
Vegeta smirked when she returned attention to him, but was disappointed when she didn't seem effected by his power. He saw no fear, no shock, no nothing in her eyes. Just a blank look that couldn't be described.
Inside, she was really feeling fear, but she wouldn't let him know. She refused to. He was like a dog, she couldn't let him sense terror or else he'd pounce on her, knowing that she'd panic and let him do it. So she took a deep breath and began her own short, but effective power up. It wasn't as dramatic as Vegeta's but it got a lot of shocked responses from the bystanders perched on the mountain.
~*~
"Wow," Yamcha said after she revealed her power to everyone. "She's pretty strong."
"She actually has a chance!" Krillin was astonished.
"You didn't think she wouldn't because she's a woman, did you?" his wife asked, still in her usually monotone voice.
"Uh.. no..." Krillin said, afraid of the look she was giving him.
"Better not."
"But remember," Piccolo commented. "She could still very well be a lot stronger. She still has the telekinesis, the telepathy. This could only be the beginning."
"Yeah," Trunks said as he watched his father intently. "The beginning of her end."
~*~
Vegeta smirked once again after she finished powering up and got into a fighting stance. Her power was pretty close to Vegeta's, but he could easily clobber her if he wanted to. He wasn't even a Super Saiyan yet. - This should be easier than I thought. I could have some fun with this. But of course... she hasn't snapped yet. No, I won't let her get that far! I am the Prince of all Saiyans! No one can defeat me!-
"Except maybe Kakkorot," Kumberelle said as a devious smirk spread across her face.
"Stop reading my thoughts, woman!" Vegeta was outraged. "Do you have a death wish? I'd be happy to grant that wish for you and send you straight to Hell!"
"Not unless I send you there first," Kumberelle said as she got into a similar fighting stance. "No, you'd probably get sent to the Other World now that you've gotten... soft." She put special emphasis on the last word, knowing it would make him snap. And she was right.
Vegeta growled as he lunged his fist at her. Kumberelle blocked it, along with several other kicks and punches that he threw at her.
"Is this it?" Kumberelle teased. "I was hoping to get a workout with this one."
Vegeta growled again and picked up the pace. Kumberelle was totally surprised and let her guard down for one second too late. His fist connected with her face sending her backwards a little, but it was his foot that came crashing into her that sent her into a nearby mountain, crashing it into pieces.
However, she quickly regained control and flew from under the rubble, lunging her fist at Vegeta, but much to her surprise, he faded out and reappeared in the air. Kumberelle's face turned into a Vegeta-like scowl as she flew up to him and started another session of punches and kicks, this time with Vegeta on the receiving end. He was amazed by how fast she was, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He quickly caught one fist, then the other, then head-butted her hard. Kumberelle stumbled backwards and soon Vegeta's elbow to the head sent her crashing down to the ground, forming a huge crater in it.
~*~
"Wow, look at them go!" Goten exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement. "They're so fast I can barely them!"
"I can't see them at all, kid," Tein said, slightly ashamed that he couldn't see it when he was the one with the third eye.
"My dad's going to win!" Trunks exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air. "He's winning! He's winning!"
"Not so fast, kid," Piccolo said. "They're just warming up."
~*~
Kumberelle slowly picked herself up from the new crater that she was in. She was surprised and slightly confused at how bad she was hurting at the moment, and more than once she thought of retreating to her ship, typing in a random course, and taking off, never to see Vegeta again. But she knew that she couldn't, she wouldn't let herself be a coward and take off. She was going to finish this thing whether she liked to or not. That was just the way it was going to be.
Vegeta lowered himself down to the ground with his arms crossed over his chest and the usual smirk plastered on his face. He knew how much pain she was in and he was eating it up. If he could do so much damage without even turning into a Super Saiyan, she definitely didn't have a chance. This was a good match for him.
Kumberelle wiped away a trickle of blood and her tail unraveled from her waist and flicked wildly behind her, showing that her Saiyan blood was indeed pumping and eagerly awaiting more of the fight. She no longer had a smirk on her face, but a serious, determined look as she got back into a fighting stance.
The look on her face only amused Vegeta, instead of intimidate him. He got into a fighting stance as well and said, "It seems you do have a death wish. Well, I'd be more than happy to oblige. That was a good warm-up... now let's start the real thing."
Kumberelle nodded and took another deep breath to calm herself. - It's now.... or never.-
Gohan and Videl's Search...
Videl peeked into a small cave, looking for any unusual dinosaurs or other creatures. Seeing that it was safe, she got on all fours and crawled into it, looking for the fourth Dragonball in the darkness.
"Are you sure it's in here?" She called back to Gohan. "I can't see a damn thing!"
Gohan looked at the Dragon Radar just to make to sure, then stuck his head back in the entrance of the cave. "Yep, I'm positive."
Videl inwardly groaned as she felt around the ground of the cave for the desired Dragonball. - He'd better be lucky he's so cute, otherwise there's no way in hell I'd do this.-
Then she got an idea. She closed her eyes and concentrated hard, trying to flare up her ki in order to bring some light into the dark cave. She smiled when she had success, and immediately saw the four star Dragonball. She grabbed it and backed out of the cave.
"I got it!" She said happily as she handed it to Gohan and dusted off her clothes.
"Great," Gohan said smiling at her enthusiasm. "Now all we have left are 3 more."
"Let's take a break," Videl suggested.
"Good idea."
Videl followed Gohan as they flew to a secluded forest area, much like the one that he lived in. They laid down on the grassy floor in silence, each totally absorbed in their thoughts.
Videl was wondering how life would be when her mother was wished back. She was so excited she felt like one of those preppy girls at school, and almost retched at the sight that she was in. But she couldn't help it. She missed her mother so much and it would be wonderful to have her back. She could talk to her about her problems, among a lot of other things. Of course she always had Gohan to talk to, she could talk to him about everything, but let's face it, there's just some things that would better be discussed with a female. And of course there was Erasa for that, but she always felt like she was bothering Erasa. She was much closer to Gohan, and now with her mother coming back, she finally felt like her life was worth living.
Wait, what would her father think? She hadn't thought of that. There would be no in way in hell that they could work out a relationship again. Her father was always parading around with new bimbos every week, he was way too used to the single life. So, they'd kind of be divorced in way. But she didn't care, either way was fine to her. As long as her mom was home, back to her, everything else didn't matter.
Gohan was currently stuck on his usual internal debate, whether or not to tell Videl how he really feels about her. It didn't seem as simple as he thought it would be. If he told her, there was always the possibility that she liked someone else, or that she thought he was incredibly ugly or stupid for even liking her in that way. That would destroy him, but there was also the possibility that she felt the same way, or that she liked him, but not in that way, and didn't want to hurt his feelings. His life seemed way too confusing for comprehension. He wasn't sure of much anymore.
Only one thing came clear to him lately. He knew that he was indeed falling in love with Videl Satan. That week in school with Lucy tagging along with him all day, and calling him non stop, made him really believe he was in love with her. Words couldn't describe how bad he felt without Videl being near him, he felt terribly lonely, even with Lucy constantly at his heels. The only explanation he could get was that he was falling in love with her. Now all he had to do was confess and get it over with.
- Sad,- He thought. - I've faced the most powerful beings in the universe since I was 5 and yet I can't even tell a girl with pig tails in her hair that I love her.-
Videl glanced over at her friend, wondering what he was thinking about, and decided to break the uneasy silence. She told him the whole story about her mother's death, along with other anecdotes of her early childhood, before the Cell Games. It was all so wonderful until her mother died, she said. Hercule was an actual father and her mother was always around when she needed her, and then one day it all crashed and burned, literally. And she never quite got over it, and he told her that he never got over his father's death either. He told her that he felt like it was all his fault, because he let his Saiyan side control him. He never forgave himself for that. And he never would. But they were both in good spirits as they talked about the tragedies of their childhoods. They had no reason to grieve now. After all, they were happy and they had people who cared about them. And most of all, they had each other.
"So, do you think Vegeta will win his battle?" Videl asked a few minutes later.
"He definitely has a good chance," Gohan replied. "But from what I was feeling earlier, so does she. It's hard to tell. She could go psycho at any minute and Vegeta, along with everyone else on this planet, just might be in deep shit."
"True," Videl agreed. "If I was Vegeta, I wouldn't have given her time to train or anything, I'd have killed her on the spot! She tried to kill his wife for Dende's sake!"
"Yeah, but you know Vegeta. He's always looking for a nice, long fight. It's in his blood."
"So what. He still shouldn't have given her time, she could've escaped."
"Nah, she's a Saiyan. Saiyans don't pass up a good fight."
"So I've heard," Videl smiled as she spoke. "I like fighting too. Maybe I'm really a Saiyan."
Gohan laughed. "I seriously doubt it. But you are pretty strong for a human." He grinned and added, "I sure know one person who's going to wish they were already dead once they see you pissed off at school on Monday."
Videl grinned mischievously, eagerly awaiting the fight she was going to pick with Lucy for standing up Gohan. "Damn straight. No one hurts my friends like that! I'm Videl Satan damn it! When I'm through with her, she'll have to shit out those pompoms if she ever wants to cheerlead again! Stupid preppy ass bitch..."
Gohan smiled at her as she rambled on and on about what a dumb bitch Lucy was. She looked so evil when she talked about killing Lucy that it amused him. All she needed was horns to sprout out of her head and her evilness would be complete.
"...I mean who does she think she is!" Videl exclaimed, getting more and more pissed off by the second. "She practically pissed on herself when I told her that you wanted to go out with her, she was so excited. And then she stands you up! What the fuck is that about! Dende, I swear, I'll be in jail tomorrow after I rip her head off and shove it straight up her preppy little ass!"
Gohan smiled again at the fuss she was making over HIM. - Dende, I love this woman.-
Back to the Battlefield (A/N: Dun, Dun, DUN!)
Once again Kumberelle hit the ground with a sickening thud, adding another crater to the ground. She was still confused as to how she could be so worn out, they were just barely getting started. As she slowly picked herself up, she coughed up blood, and as soon as her ship came into view in the distance, she had a great desire to run over to it and escape. But she knew she wouldn't. Not now, not ever.
"C'mon," Vegeta taunted from the air. "That couldn't have hurt that bad. I'm just warming up."
Kumberelle scowled as she fired a huge ki blast in his direction, which he dodged, but he wasn't able to dodge Kumberelle's fist, which sent him backwards a little bit, but the repeated kicks and punches that she threw at him afterward, all connected. For once, he was sent down the ground, but he caught himself and flipped back up into the air.
"Not good enough," Vegeta said. "But good try."
Kumberelle growled as she threw her fist at him again, but he caught it and smirked. He was toying with her and she knew it. -Why won't he just end it now?... No, he's not going to win. I can win damn it! I know I can!-
She lifted her free hand up and formed a ki blast in it. He dodged it quickly as she fired it, and then, once she had him distracted, she kicked him as hard as she could, right in the stomach. He doubled over and clutched his stomach as she drove her elbow into his back repeatedly until he finally went crashing to the ground.
She followed him down and kicked him back up into the air before he could hit the ground, then followed him back up and elbowed him back down. She then continued that routine, finally enjoying the battle.
~*~
"Uh oh," Goku said. "Looks like she has the advantage now."
"Let's just hope she doesn't snap," Piccolo added, as the others watched in amazement. In a matter of seconds the battle did a complete turn around.
"No!" Trunks exclaimed, on the verge of tears. "C'mon, Dad! Beat her! You were winning before, you can do it again!"
"Don't worry, Trunks," Goku said as he patted the kid on the shoulder. "This is just a few little punches and kicks. He had the advantage the whole time until now. It could just be luck. Don't worry, he'll win."
Trunks smiled at him and then turned back around to cheer his father on.
~*~
Kumberelle was enjoying kicking Vegeta around like a rag doll. But it didn't last long. Just as she was about to kick him back up into the air, Vegeta grabbed her foot and swung her around by it. She let out a scream as he let her go and sent her flying into a mountain, earning cheers from Trunks and Goten that made him smirk.
He floated over to the rubble that once was a mountain, waiting for her to emerge. But she never did.
"Is she dead?" He asked himself. "No, she couldn't be. I didn't put that much effort into it."
Little did he know, she had faded out right after hitting the mountain and reappeared behind another mountain, to create another sword with her mind. She knew once she started to concentrate her power, he would detect her, but she didn't care. She was desperate.
As Vegeta tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for his opponent to come forward, his head snapped up. He detected her ki, and immediately blew up the mountain that she was hiding behind. His eyes widened when he saw what she was doing.
- Concentrate..- Kumberelle thought over and over again. - Focus..-
A figure of a sword flashed in and out of view as she shook from concentrating so hard and putting so much energy into making the sword. Vegeta was not only shocked, but confused as well.
"What the hell are you doing?"
~*~
"What the hell is she doing?" Krillin asked, half to himself.
"I don't know," Goku replied, his mouth half open as he looked at Kumberelle. "It looks like... like..."
"She's creating a sword with her mind," Piccolo cut in.
"She can do that?" Goku said, astounded.
"Apparently so."
"Whoa."
~*~
- Hurry up!- Kumberelle mentally chided herself. As if on command, the sword appeared in her left hand, and she let out a sigh of relief. - Finally.-
"What is this?" Vegeta demanded, totally puzzled as to how a sword just appeared out of thin air.
She waved the sword tauntingly at him and smirked. "What's the matter, Prince Vegeta? Never seen one of these before?"
"Of course I have!" Vegeta barked. "How the hell did it just appear in your hand out of nowhere."
"Well," Kumberelle replied as she walked up to him. "I can create them with my mind. It's a little trick I learned from some race on one of the pathetic planets I purged. I must have failed to mention it." She added, feigning innocence.
Without another word, she swiped at him with her sword repeatedly, Vegeta blocking each furious stroke. Again he looked amused at her determination, and couldn't help but taunt her a little bit. I mean really, what good would a fight be if no one talked a little shit?
"You're sword doesn't appear to be helping you very much," He teased. "Some gift."
Kumberelle became enraged with that comment. She was putting her all into this fight and she was beginning to become irritated with him. She felt she didn't deserve this, any of it. She came to Earth to take him away, for him to be of royalty again, and to fulfill this emptiness that she had inside of her. But if she was going to die, or if he was going to die today, what was it worth now? She'd come for nothing, absolutely nothing. But now that she was here, fighting him, she would not let him win, Super Saiyan or not. And with one amazingly powerful stroke of her sword, she finally cut him. She made a long gash that stretched across his stomach.
Vegeta couldn't believe it, and neither could Kumberelle. They both stopped and stared as Vegeta ran his hand over his new scar and pulled his white glove up to eye level. Seeing the red stain only infuriated him beyond understanding. He transformed into a Super Saiyan and grabbed the sword, shattering it into tiny pieces.
She just stood there stunned as he punched her in the face, then in the gut, then a uppercut until she was on the ground coughing up blood. But instead of waiting for her to get up on her own, he took it upon himself to pull her up by her hair, and then he repeatedly punched her in the stomach, still holding onto her hair.
~*~
"Yeah, go Dad!" Trunks exclaimed, jumping up and down.
"Looks like Vegeta's got this one under control!" Goku said.
"He sure does," Yamcha replied, still stunned that she had created a sword using her mind.
"Not so fast," Piccolo, the always conservative Namek, added. "It could very well end with Kumberelle winning. The fight's not over yet. Not all things are what they appear to be."
Trunks turned around and glared at the tall green man and walked over to him. "So you're saying my Dad doesn't have a chance? Look at him!" He pointed down to the battlefield. "He's beating the crap outta her!"
"I see that," Piccolo replied, surprised at the boy's tone. "But that doesn't mean that she can't come back and-"
"My dad is the greatest fighter in the universe!" Trunks screamed, poking a finger in the Namek's chest. "My dad is the Prince of all Saiyans! He can do anything! ANYTHING!"
He walked back over to where he was standing, leaving a confused and shocked Piccolo to do nothing but blink a couple of times.
~*~
Vegeta smirked as he finally dropped Kumberelle back down on her face, having heard his son's words. - At least he has faith in me... then again... he is the only person up there that counts.-
Then he turned his attention down to Kumberelle and kicked her in her side. "Had enough yet? Ready for me to end your life?"
Kumberelle curled up in a ball, her whole body aching. It was so unfair, so hard to understand, and it happened so quickly. She hated losing, but she felt like she was going to that day. She almost shuddered at the thought, and figured she might as well let him end it all than keep on trying to win. It was hopeless. There was nothing she had to do now anyway. She couldn't keep destroying planets, there was no point in it now, and she definitely couldn't go rule the planet that she talked to Vegeta about. One of the reasons why she came to him anyway was that he was of the Saiyan royal bloodline, she didn't know a thing about running a planet. And there was the matter about the "bond" that they shared. If she died, she wouldn't have to worry about that emptiness, but if she won, she would.
Dying sounding very appealing to her right then and there, but then she stopped herself from saying the words. What if what she really needed to be complete was to close this chapter in her life, to move on and stop the constant visions of him? She hadn't thought of that. All she knew was that if she found him, maybe she could be complete again, but she hadn't thought that maybe killing him and stopping the bond would fill the void. That certainly held great appeal. Then she reminded herself that their so-called King killed her father, and sent her away from the only planet she'd ever known. Why did she come here to devote herself to his stupid child? Now she knew what she had to do.
Slowly but surely she stood herself up and got into a shaky fighting stance, much to Vegeta's amusement.
"Very well," He said, smirking. "Have it your way."
- I will win this.- Kumberelle thought. - I will win this for you, father, and for you, mother, if not for myself. I will not let him gain another victory. It was his father that killed my father. I'll just have to get my revenge on his son. So what if I thought I "needed" him. Maybe this is even better. Maybe proving that I'm not some stupid female will be even better.-
She wiped away the blood that ran down her forehead and put on a Vegeta-like scowl as he got into a fighting stance. He could've sword he saw her eyes flash the color of red for a second, but dismissed the idea almost as quickly as it came.
"Get ready to die, Kumberelle," He said, smirking.
Kumberelle took a deep breath. - This one's for you, Mom and Dad.-
*~*~*~*~*
I think this one was the longest of all my chapters. I had to rewrite this chapter entirely, which pissed me off, but I got it up and running and I'm hoping for more reviews. I have a third fic out now that's currently in progress, called, "The Utterly Impossible", which is a humor fic that features a bunch of different stories that I thought of that could never happen in DBZ. I have two chapters already out, which are about the Z-warriors being black and about them getting high. So check that out along with my developing T/P, "Hope". Anyway, enough with the self-advertisement. Just please review, I'd like to know if this sucked or what.
Next Chapter: Gohan and Videl's search for the Dragonballs ends, and no, he still doesn't tell her how he feels. That comes later! Kumberelle and Vegeta's fight still goes on. No winner yet, instead, a shocking surprise from Kumberelle. She has another trick up her sleeve.
