Warning : The content of this fiction includes extreme violence, foul language, sexual situations, and non consensual situations.

Disclaimer : All characters here in are property of Toei animation and Akira Toriyama, save the character Vavage.

Notes : This is an AU fan fiction, beginning at the Buu Saga.

Shadows Within

Part 2

Reppa

The day of the tournament, and he hadn't seen hide nor hair of Kakarrot. Vegeta scowled as he drummed his fingers on his bicep, he wore his black blue gi, along with white gloves and gold tipped boots. He stood with Piccolo and Krillin as they awaited the Sons to come for the tournament tryouts. Vegeta saw no point to them while their group was there but he huffed and kept to himself, his arms folded as he stood off from them.

That's when they saw them. Gohan, Goten, and Gokou. Scowling, Vegeta pursed his lip as he looked Gokou up and down without so much as moving. His stride, his build, his smile, but his eyes...Vegeta slowly unpursed his lips, his eyes were very different. They were more serious, bold, and filled with more strength than before which showed even if his face was bright and smiling.

He blinked, an uncomfortable warmth spreading over his face, which intensified when he saw the looks on the boys and Kakarrot's faces. Bringing a hand up, he placed a hand on his burning cheek, realizing he was blushing before he hurriedly turned away and stomped off, "Come on already! Let's get this over with!" He left the others behind him with perplexed looks as they slowly followed, all of them asking Gokou repeated questions about Other World.

Vegeta on the other hand, made off on his own, separating himself from the rest of the group with his hand still on his cheek. "Why am I blushing like this?! I must be overly anxious and I stared, which was in courteous, that's it." He pushed down whatever else was going on in his head and looked up ahead of himself at the cluster of eager participants wanting to prove they had what it takes to enter the competition. He shook his head pitying them for a moment over the fact they had no idea about some of their fellow competitors, the ones with the real power.

Then he nearly jumped from his skin, Vegeta whirled around at the hand that rested itself comfortably on his bare shoulder to have his face buried in orange cloth. He gasped momentarily taken aback as he inhaled the larger Saiyjin's thick scent which was like evergreen pine and musk before he pushed away, coughing while his heart was pounding and his face was burning red, "Shimatta, Kakarrot!"

He placed a hand over his throbbing chest as he heard Gokou chuckle, seeing him scratch the back of his head as the smaller Saiyjin turned to him, "Sorry, Vegeta, I didn't mean to surprise you. I guess since I hadn't seen you in so long it'd be nice to have a chat!"

The prince sucked in another breath as he scowled at him, "I'm not interested in banter, Kakarrot! I'm only interested in fighting you, got that?"

"Oh, ah, okay. But I was just wanting to know if you've been getting any sleep lately? You look sick." Gokou pointed out as he walked past him as his name was called for his test.

Vegeta gnashed his teeth together as he covered his eyes with his other hand and groaned, he had been waiting for someone to say that all day, he was sure everyone noticed. He took a deep breath as he heard his name called after #18, Krillin, Piccolo and Gokou did their preliminary tests, stalking up to the machine as the judges bickered about the machine being broken. "Shut up and get out of my way!" he snapped as he smashed his fist into the cushion and destroying the machine while the others moaned among the bystanders and everyone else stared in dumbstruck awe.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gokou frowned as they entered the stadium and watched the Junior Division Rounds. When Vegeta had stated how pointless and boring it would be to watch, he was right. It wouldn't be any fun until Trunks and Goten fought and that was near the very end with Trunks as the winner. Now it was when Trunks was against Mr. Satan that they decided to go eat at the buffet. But as they ate, Gokou felt himself get even more worried about Vegeta than before.

Normally, Saiyjins had voracious appetites and tore into their meals and ate hoards of food. Vegeta, hardly ate even a bite. He just stared in some vivid form of disgust and almost looked as if he was going to lose his lunch. Gokou noticed the Saiyjin pale even more when he looked at him. He was glad he wasn't the only who noticed as Krillin and Piccolo, along with Gohan when he came to join them, all noticed as well.

Krillin frowned, looking between Gokou and Vegeta and looking down at the smaller Saiyjin's untouched food. He looked at Vegeta's pale complexion, "Hey, Vegeta, are you sure you wanna fight? You look like you need to lay down or you'll toss your cookies."

The prince started and looked up at the rest of them, blinking for a moment before his lips turned into a scowl, "I'm fine, dammit all! Now quit staring at me while I eat this slop you all seem to consider food!" After another scowl he slowly, but surely ate what he had, but refused the offer for seconds. He folded his arms over his chest as he leaned back, looking sicker than before.

When they finished they gathered in the locker room. Other than the six of them, there was Spobovitch and Yamu, Jewel, Killer, Videl, Shin and Kabito, whom they had met earlier on a strange basis and were keeping their eyes on them. Then Pintar, Mr. Satan, and two figures cloaked in black who were as mysterious as Shin and Kabito. Vegeta gasped as a sharp pain stabbed him in the chest forcing him to clutch his breast in agony before he placed his hands over his mouth as he was reduced to a coughing fit, leaning back slightly to see a considerable amount of blood in the palms of his hands.

Gokou watched after him in shock as the Saiyjin prince stumbled the sink, before he looked at the cloaked fighters in the very far corner. What-what was that all about? What's wrong with Vegeta? Hr turned on his heel and followed after Vegeta in a timid fashion, worried about Vegeta's temper if he was ill. He stopped by his side, looking at him with a frown, "Vegeta, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

A soft wheeze answered his question, he saw the smaller Saiyjin leaning over the sink and panting, a hand pressed to his sweating forehead. Vegeta didn't believe it, that had been the same monster from that dream with the bloody sword who....killed Kakarrot. He slowly looked up at the taller Saiyjin before he turned back and cleared his throat, "Kakarrot...quit the tournament, just go home."

Gokou blinked at Vegeta as the prince slowly straightened himself up, "What do you mean? Quit the tournament? Why?"

"Just...quit! It's for your own good, Kakarrot!!" he snapped, pointing angrily at the taller man, "You'll regret staying...!Or-or...!" Gokou blinked again while Vegeta coughed again, before settling Vegeta with a stern look, "Vegeta...I'm not quitting the tournament, and I don't know what's going on or why you're trying to scare me off-"

Vegeta scowled at him as he pushed past him and rejoined the others after cleaning himself off, already having figured Kakarrot wouldn't understand. So the prince settled for standing in the corner with a set scowl on his face and closed his eyes, not noticing Shin's staring at him with a questioning gaze. The white-haird man looked up at his towering companion who looked at Vegeta momentarily before looking back at Shin, then at the two figures in the corner.

The rounds passed quickly, Krillin fought with ease against Pintar, Piccolo forfeited to Shin, now Vegeta had to fight the taller of the cloaked figure. As they stepped out onto the battle square, Vegeta's stomach knotted up more and more as every agonized minute passed. He felt nauseous as he turned to face the giant, whose aura felt disturbingly familiar. It's a monster, it's no where near human....he told himself as he pursed his lip and adjusted his slim figure into a fighting stance.

"Now...! Let the match begin!"

Vegeta cried out as the stabbing pain returned, bringing him down to one knee, it was worse than before. Then there was a kick that knocked him back to his feet and backwards before a blow to the back of his head, the taste of the aged battle square stone a harsh one. In less than a minute, he felt blood spurt past his lips. Finally he was bowled into the stone face down again. Dazed, he could barely hear Gokou's calls as his ears twitched from hearing the announcer as his chest ached even more, "Oh my.....sheer brutality.....will Vegeta be able to...."

He groaned before he felt himself kicked in the ribs multiple times, his bones making a loud cracking sound. Then the cloaked man stomped on his back before he grabbed Vegeta's ankle and pulled him up into the air to deliver a series of punches to the small Saiyjin's jaw and stomach. He wished there would be some end to the torment as he was thrown aside into the air, a reprise shortly followed by several more blows. Soon his coughing began, it felt like fate was totally against him.

"Vegeta can't get a blow in edge-wise, he can't even go Super Saiyjin!" Gokou roared, jumping forward, intent on helping Vegeta before he was possibly killed but he felt the others grab his arms and restrain him. Krillin glared out at the slaughter ensuing, "Gokou, you can't do anything, tournament rules! Save it for when you fight him in the next rounds! Besides, that guy doesn't want to get disqualified, so he won't kill him!"

They still held onto Gokou as they watched the cloaked fighter pummel Vegeta on and on, the finishing touch was when he had grabbed one of Vegeta's legs and his throat and threw him onto the edge of the grounds, the small of his back making a sickly crunch noise as he screamed in pain before being tossed onto the grass. The Saiyjin gasped for air with tears running down the side of his face, in so much pain he was practically numb. His ears filled with blood making it hard for him to hear the foot steps stomping to him as he hacked up a mouthful of blood. Everything felt cold and bitter.

The announcer knelt by Vegeta, shock and horror masked on his face, "Oh my goodness! Vegeta has been beaten within an inch of his life, folks!"

Gokou stared down as equally stunned, but more so horrified someone would be so brutal and so strong as if they could do something like that to one of them, "Vegeta! Vegeta!" He bit onto his lower lip as he gently slid his arms under the smaller man and eased him into a sitting position, a look of rage across his face as he glared up at the giant cloaked man who stepped down off of the grounds callously. He's going to pay, oh, he's going to be sorry...Gokou thought to himself as he lifted Vegeta up while the medics laid the stretcher down and urged him to put the prince down on it. Though he didn't want to leave his friend he relented before getting to his feet, hoping he'd be all right.

All of a sudden, the audience started up from something, causing Gokou and the announcer to jump and look around. Then there was the sound of the stone tiles rattling before several were tossed up in the center of the stage and someone poked up through and pulled himself out.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Raditz scowled as he hammered at the stone, "Who's the idiot who put a stone slab over the door way to Hell, huh?! How big could this thing be?!?!" He yipped as a stone slab fell onto his foot and light spilled in. Rubbing his foot, he blinked several times before he realized he hit top. It's been so long since I've been topside...

After the vote Raditz was to go up to find the Demon King, Gauze and Mez had used the emergency equipment for such a task. No mere demons left unless on special task and the spirits couldn't go without physical forms, so Raditz' life was restored to him, a surprising reward for bringing the Demon King back, dead or alive. Now he was here, under the stone and coming up to the light. He pushed the rest of the slabs aside and dragged himself out, looking around at his new surroundings.

"Raditz!! What's he doing here?!"

He jumped in surprise, more alarmed at the thousands of people around him and hearing that familiar voice. He looked to his right to see Piccolo, causing him to squint before he actually recognized him, "Green man?" He hadn't expected Piccolo to come rushing up and grabbing him by the collar of his outfit and roaring at the top of his lungs, "What are you doing alive again?! The Dragonballs already granted the wishes!"

Raditz gasped and pushed the Namek's hands down, "S'not my fault Hell descends into turmoil and I have to fix it." Then he gaped, having to look up at the Namek, "You got taller..."

Piccolo frowned down at the long-haired Saiyjin, not hearing or most likely paying attention to the last commentary, "What are you talking about? What's happened in Hell that they'd send you here? It doesn't make sense." He dropped his hands from the Saiyjin and folded his arms, wondering how bad things could really be. It's funny, Piccolo thought to himself, He looks a lot like Gokou and Gohan...Then he shook his head violently as he grabbed Raditz' arm and dragged him back to the locker rooms where he could explain better.

While the two of them went by, Shin looked over his shoulder with a worried frown as he heard about why Raditz had come. He wanted to know the full story as he followed after in a slower pace. He watched from around the corner as Piccolo pushed Raditz down onto the bench, "Now, explain!"

"Well, I was doing my routine duty, counting the lowlifes that came in and out. Then those Ginyu nimrods come shouting about the Demon King being missing! Of course, my being stupid myself and standing on the table grabbing attention, they voted I come and bring him back! So....there." Raditz stated, sighing and resting his chin on his hand with his elbow resting on his thigh, "I'm not here to cause trouble, I just need to get him so Hell doesn't revolt."

With shock written as plain as day on his face, Shin turned and came back to stand by Kabito, frowning darkly, "That isn't a good sign." Then he looked up as Gokou returned, a look of worry on his face as he paused in the doorway until he looked up at the cloaked figures back inthe corner and his brows furrowed as the shorter chuckled.

While Gokou glared at the two cloaked figures, Raditz and Piccolo came back around, coming to some mutual ground. He looked at his brother silently, a slight frown on his face, "Why're you back?"

Raditz put his arms up in defense, "Ask Green Man, I already explained."

"It's Piccolo."

"Okay, Fife."

"Piccolo..."

"Okay, okay."

He smiled slowly at the two of them, somewhat reminded of how he and Piccolo had originally started before he turned and made his way to the medic facilities to check on Vegeta. It all looked so bad. The smaller man coughed up blood every five minutes and his body was wrought with spasms. He reached down, almost placing his palm on the man's cheek but quickly retracted his hand, feeling it wasn't right, not now.

"Is he all right?"

Gokou whirled around to see Shin standing by the door, who came in and stood on the other side opposite of Gokou, "It's a shame. I can't see anyone wanting to mar a pretty face...You know, two of the fighters disappeared, Spobovitch and Yamu..."

The tall Saiyjin frowned, "I don't care as long as that tall guy with the robes doesn't leave. I want to settle the score." They both looked down as Vegeta started to shift, weakly opening his eyes to look at Gokou, "You won't make it past the smaller one...Ka..ka..rrot...."

End of Part 2