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 sole character Vavage.

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

Shadows Within

Part 3

by Reppa

That puzzled him, what Vegeta had said back there, Gokou didn't know if he really wanted to know what that had meant as he ascended the steps onto the battle ground after the shorter of the figures who the announcer called Vavage. The man turned to him, and Gokou knew he was being glared at from under the hoods, just barely noticing the crimson eyes full of hate.

He frowned, there seemed to be an aura of darkness around the other man. And aura that sent shivers down his spine, he never recalled feeling anything like it before.

They both shifted into fighting stances, his capes rustling as Vavage slid one hand behind him as he smirked to himself. He let out a soft chuckle his as his smirk darkened, his finger flexing as he whispered sinisterly under his breath, "Kakarrot won't know what hit him and then the universe will be mine..."

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

Vegeta gasped and raised himself into a sitting position sluggishly, his temples throbbing painfully and his heart racing at an agonizing pace. He dragged himself from the bed, ripping away the blankets that tangled about his legs despite all the pain. He wanted to hurry and get out there, he had to stop that freak.

"Hey! You're supposed to be resting!" The medics shouted, some of them trying to restrain the Saiyjin but both were tossed away like rag dolls as he staggered out before breaking into a painful run, his lungs burned and his legs ached with a searing fire, the pain so great that it brought involuntary tears to well in his ebony eyes. He refused to let Kakarrot die at another's hand, or at least from dying so soon after he had come back before he could actually fight him. At least, that was what he told himself.

The Saiyjin prince nearly collapsed as he came to stop in Mr. Satan's entrance door, avoiding the other as he'd be stopped by the opposing entrance. Satan and the other man turned in surprise, seeing Vegeta leaning on the wall, bleeding and wheezing for life. Launching himself forward past them, Vegeta raced desperately for the battle stage in hopes of stopping the foreboding vision from becoming reality.

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

Vavage sneered to himself, his hand hidden from Gokou's sight, flexing it which caused the muscles in his arm to bulge grossly as dark mist slithered about his open palm and a long, black wicked sword materialized. This would be the tool with which he would cut down his only obstacle, the sole cut that insured his power. Lunging forward at the announcer's call, he aimed the lethal cut of his blade at Gokou's midsection, intent on slicing him in two.

It was almost as if time slowed, almost to the point in freezing, as if history's great maker took this snap shot of the course of the universe changed, altered with one fatal blow. It would be his greatest triumph before he secured his reign over the world. He smirked, he was a history maker indeed, and he would prove it.

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

It was hard to tell what hurt worse, the numerous broken bones and bruises from his earlier fight, or the severing gash that had torn into his stomach before he collapsed into a bleeding heap onto the floor as he heard several screams in the background. Vegeta winced, his abdomen on fire as he slowly brought a hand down and clasped it over the wound across his stomach, figuring that was most likely what hurt the most. He had never been in so much pain all at once.

He moaned, curling into a fetal position as he started to lose consciousness before he heard Gokou's shocked cry. "VEGETA!" He winced at the intensity of the larger Saiyjin's voice as he looked up to see the man kneeling by him, his face etched in worry, seeming shaken by what he had just witnessed. The prince smirked weakly, swallowing back blood, "You...never listen...to me..."

Gokou shook his head and helped Vegeta to his feet, his grip tight around the smaller Saiyjin's waist as he steadied him, then he glared at Vavage who stood there and watched them silently. The shady man shifted slightly as he leveled his gaze on them, his lips twisted in a dark frown, his plan seeming to have gone in a different direction which immensely displeased him. Watching Gokou pull Vegeta off of the ring and setting him to the ground by the grounds, he rolled his eyes at the announcers shouts of his disqualification for using a weapon.

'Poor fool has no idea...none of them do.'

As Gokou came striding back onto the battleground with an intense look plastered on his normally cheerful face, Vavage chuckled outloud, "That was unexpected, but as long as you fight me, I have no quarrels with Vegeta's interruption. So, shall we?"

Gokou's lips twisted into a scowl, "Monster."

"Why, thank you, I always do appreciate a compliment and pre-battle banter now and then."

The tall Saiyjin ground his teeth in anger, angered by the other man's casual tone. "You spill blood without remorse, are you really that callous and cold-blooded?" The question was rewarded with a haughty chortle as Vavage loosened the strings at the hood of his caping, he felt it would make everything a little more amusing if they saw his face. There came a loud clank as he dropped the cloaked helmet onto the stone floor.

Gokou's eyes widened in utter shock, feeling like he was seeing things before he jerked his gaze around to look back at Vegeta. Then he returned his gaze to Vavage, swearing he was seeing double. The other man's face was exactly like Vegeta's. His hair was also, but it was the golden color as if Super Saiyjin. He wore black leather and armor and he brandished the devious rapier with a wicked smirk.

"I am Vavage, the Master of anarchy, the Lord of Darkness, and the great Demon King!"

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

"Wait, he's not the Demon King, Dibora is!" Raditz snapped, trying to hurry to the battle ground, he wondered what was going on, "On what grounds do you claim to be the Demon King?!"

Vegeta moaned as he put his hands over his face, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. That bastard looks just like me, how can this be happening?? He pushed himself up and glared over the battle arena, straining his eyes before he gasped in shock, he could see through Vavage. If that meant he was a malevolent spirit with no body, then Kakarrot would never be able to beat him, he wouldn't manage to lay a hand on him.

It seemed Raditz was aware of this too, as he jumped on to the stone and brandished a whip, he wore a uniform consisted of shorts, a vest, shoulder armor, knee high boots, and elbow length gloves. "I'll take care of you, demon, you're out of your boundaries! You have to go back down to hell where your kind belong!"

Vavage sneered at the long haired Saiyjin, "And who's going to make me? You and your silly little toy?"

Gokou blinked at his brother in surprise, wondering what he was doing. He's no match for Vavage, he's got to see that, he reasoned, He's a lot more behind us now to how strong he was all those years ago, and if Vavage and his friend could hurt Vegeta that much…

But Raditz didn't seem to mind or notice his limitations like the others thought he had, lashing out the whip and grazing the demon across the chest, opening a horrifyingly large gash in the figure. Needless to say, Vavage was quite surprised as was everyone else, "What the hell?! How did you…" The demon paused, glaring up at the Saiyjin, before he smirked as the wound sealed, "That's right, you're of Hell's Gate Guards, you have to have a weapon for those of the spirit world. Too bad for you I'm beyond the normal you'd find in the spirit world."

The long haired Saiyjin's eyes went wide in surprise, before he found himself pulled up from the ground. He squirmed to look around, seeing Vavage's large partner holding him up. He twisted himself around to deliver a kick at his opponent's face but the cloaked figure grabbed his ankle before his attack scored. Raditz yelped as he was thrown aside into Piccolo who was running to them.

"Fuck…" the Saiyjin growled, shaking his head, "I can't do this alone…"

Piccolo sat up, Raditz' back to his chest, "You have to have a special weapon to fight him?!"

Raditz nodded, "You can't touch him with out one! Kakarrot!" He quickly balled up the whip and threw it to his brother who caught it and gave it a funny look. "You need to use that!"

But Gokou didn't seem to be paying attention, he tossed it aside and shifted into a fighting stance. His brother looked postal, "What in the world is he doing?!" Suddenly the cloaked figure jumped up and landed in front of them, giving the ground a quake, "Be quiet."

"Bite me, you psycho!" Raditz snapped back, before he and Piccolo jumped in opposite directions as the giant lashed out at them. The Namek grunted, "Normally, smart people don't tell crazy people to bite them!" The Saiyjin shrugged in response, dodging another attack, "Why don't we take care of Tiny before we talk about conversational etiquette!"

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

Meanwhile, Vavage smirked at Gokou, watching him toss aside his only real hope of winning the fight. He chuckled as he took a more relaxed stance, placing a hand on his hip, "You fool, but I don't mind, it'll be so much easier killing you when you can't fight back. And once I kill you and the rest of your Z fighters, Vegeta and this universe will be all mine for the taking. I surmise that's a typical villain phrase, but it can't be helped. Oh well…"

The tall Saiyjin growled, was that all Vavage was getting at? It seemed like that was a universal wish of the maniacal. Then he watched the demon's expression change to a dark sneer, "Shall we?"

That was the only warning Gokou had before Vavage lunged at him and swiped with his rapier, a cut appearing across the Saiyjin's chest. "Ha, I'll cut you into tiny bits, very slowly. How grand this suffering before death!" Vavage laughed, slashing at him and missing by mere inches, that attack would have been especially dangerous if landed.

Vegeta ground his teeth, his temples throbbed and his body ached, he felt completely useless. I'm such a weak fool! If I had only paid more attention or I had been clearer with Kakarrot then this could have been avoided! I don't have real power…do I?? If I was truly strong, then I wouldn't have suffered so humiliating a defeat like before…

The world was spinning in front of him, he felt so lightheaded. I can't be saying such things, at least not now. We don't have a way to fight this thing, so we have to make it. I need to pull myself together. The stabbing pain in his chest returned, burning just as hot as before, it couldn't be normal. There's something there…

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

Raditz found himself knocked through the wall with painful force, this wasn't working out like he had hoped. Unlike his companion, the larger figure was alive with a physical body. And he was much stronger. A lot stronger than he was that was for sure. Now Gohan, Goten, and Trunks were helping fight him, though everyone seemed to have forgotten the fight with Vavage and Gokou.

There was rubble all over from their own scuffle and many people in the stands were busy scrambling out in their mad rush to escape harm. He couldn't believe this was all going on at once.

A bright white light suddenly spilled into the stadium and when the long haired Saiyjin pulled himself out of the rubble, he couldn't believe his eyes. Everything was still and it all seemed covered in a blurry white haze. The Son boys and Trunks were all suspended in midair, looking ready to attack the large cloaked man. Piccolo, and everyone in the stands were frozen still.

"It's like Time stopped…''

"Time hasn't stopped, they just have." Shin corrected, stepping up behind him, "Those 'blessed' and those 'cursed' can still move freely."

"I bet I'm cursed."

Shin frowned, as he slowly approached the battle slab. From the sound of it, Gokou and Vavage stopped fighting. He didn't understand what was going on, he didn't know what the light was or how this could have happened unless…"Oh no, he couldn't have awakened…not the Sovereign of Light…"

End of Part 3