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. By the way, I really, really appreciate all the great input I'm getting on this fic, I couldn't be any happier!

Shadows Within

Part 4

by Reppa

Gokou had to cover his eyes when the bright light flared out before them all with a clap of thunder. When he was sure the stunning brilliance had died down, he slowly lowered his hand. Everything was covered in a hazy white fog and the only sound to be heard was a soft droning, like the inside a void. It sent shivers up his spine.

"Son Gokou…"

He gulped, his heart pounding. The voice drifted through his ears, husky and calm. He slowly turned, a lump in his throat, and he wondered why he felt so strange. Just then he felt himself freeze, having problems breathing. He could have sworn he heard Vavage gasp, the noise echoed around him.

He stood face to face with Vegeta, whose wounds were gone and his attire was different, even his hair style. His hair was down, a little past his shoulders and he wore a violet and white ensemble with armoring of a kind of zirconium. He also brandished a large weapon, a heavy blade on top of even more crystal. Gokou gulped at the cold, icy violet color in the other Saiyjin's eyes. He looked so much greater than royalty then.

"I am the Sovereign on Light, Son Gokou. I am the ruler of Other World, who rules out good and evil and lays down the separating bar between these great powers. If ever they were to merge, this universe and the plane on which it exists will be destroyed in it's entirety."

The Earth Saiyjin blinked, looking somewhat confused, he was finding it extremely hard to speak. "Wait, I don't get it…why are you here??" he mumbled softly, staring at his transformed friend. He didn't comprehend what was going on.

The Sovereign walked around him, seeming as if he didn't touch the ground and pointed the Glaive at Vavage, his gaze so piercing diamond would crack, "I am here in this body in order to spare the universe of this wretched evil that would destroy it and recreate it in it's image. Evil will never triumph in the Light of Good."

The demon himself looked very rattled, baring his fangs as he took a step back but he soon plastered and evil grimace on his face, holding his sword up, "Who says?! You? If you're the Sovereign of Light, then I must be the Sovereign of Darkness!" With that, Vavage lunged forward to attack, aiming to knock him unconscious, he wanted Vegeta alive.

"Even you, lowly demon of the dark, should pray the real Sovereign of Darkness doesn't wake! Screaming Light Dimension!" The possessed Saiyjin twisted around at the waist hoisting the Glaive into the air before throwing it down, practically tearing the air in two with a shrill shriek. Vavage came to a quick halt, but he could do nothing as an incredibly large beam of light hit him and blasted him into the sky.

Gokou stumbled before falling backwards from the shockwave, not seeing a bit of Vavage now that the light died down. He looked up to see the Sovereign looked down at him with those violet eyes, he shook his head, "What did you do?"

"I sent that spirit back where he belonged…" the other replied, before he slowly approached the larger man, kneeling down so his face was inches from Gokou's. He held up his hand, an orb that emanated with a white light resting in his palm, "When I leave this body, this is to belong to the owner of this body. Don't let it or him fall into evil's hands."

"All-all right…" Gokou stuttered until the Sovereign leaned down and pressed their lips together. The taller Saiyjin didn't think anything like this would happen in a million year until there was a flash of light once again. Soon the light faded and the stadium was to the way it was before.

"Gokou!" Shin called, hurrying over, he wanted to know what had happened, he and the others couldn't see anything through the fog of light. The Saiyjin started to sit up until he noticed there was a weight in his lap and he looked down to find Vegeta there, unconscious. He reached down to touch his shoulder, but Shin intervened.

"Gokou! What happened? Where'd that light come from? Where's Vavage??" the Supreme Kai demanded, kneeling by them and looking from him to Vegeta, "Was the Sovereign of Light here?! If he was, then that means something terrible is on the horizon to awaken him."

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

"The Sovereign of Light is who originally created the Kais and their planet. He is pretty much what Earthlings call God." Shin explained. They were now up high above the clouds on the Lookout. Vegeta was resting in a bed in one of the rooms, and the rest of the group sat out on the pavillion, listening to Shin talk to them. He had explained why he and Kabito were on Earth, to find and destroy Buu before he's awakened, but now it seemed they had an even greater crisis.

"The Dragonballs are different now," Dende added in, holding up the orb the Sovereign gave them, a Dragonball white in color, the one star ball, "Why the Dragonballs?"

"He must have required an object that could hold as much magical power as he intended to dispense. And the Dragonballs are really the only objects powerful enough to hold this power on this planet." Shin answered, crossing his arms.

"Why did the Sovereign speak through Vegeta?"

Shin turned to Gokou, shaking his head, "I don't know. What the Sovereign does is something like untouched territory. The last anyone's heard of anything from him, it was thousands of years ago. Has Vegeta been…odd as of late?" It seemed like the question hit home as everyone of the Z fighters looked thoughtful.

"He's been sick, lack of sleep, and he hardly eats. As far as we could tell." Krillin pointed out, crossing his legs as he looked at his wife and daughter, "I just figured it was because of Bulma but I guess I was wrong."

"The Sovereign was awakening, that was why. Vegeta's body should be healed now of whatever ails he experienced before."

Gokou sighed as he watched them, they all had very serious expressions. Then Raditz spoke up, "Hey, I have to find Dibora. I'd love to sit here and chat with you guys, but Hell's out of control and I have to fix it! If you want to help, go ahead, otherwise, I'll see you later."

They all turned to watch the long haired Saiyjin run to the edge of the Lookout and step off, then Piccolo suddenly stepped away from them, clearing his throat, "I'll go with him, just to…keep an eye on him and make sure that story sticks."

Gohan blinked as his mentor left after his uncle, Krillin nudged his side, "Seems like Piccolo likes your uncle. Heh heh heh."

"Oh gross!"

Everyone chuckled at him, but Gokou just smiled slightly before he separated from them and wandered the corridors. Was the Sovereign really speaking through Vegeta? It didn't seem like it…and what's going on? Everything's gotten so weird. Why's Vegeta the center in all of this and where in Kami's name did Vavage come from? Gokou sighed, he had so many unanswered questions.

Soon he found himself in the doorway of the bedroom they had situated Vegeta in. The Saiyjin was partially covered and he had a pillow hugged to his chest, it worried Gokou a little to see such a sound, undisturbed expression on the other's face. He glanced over his shoulder and around to see if anyone had followed him, and when he saw no one, he made his way into the room to sit on the edge of the bed.

He felt guilt baring down on him. "I'm such an idiot for not listening to you or to Raditz. Maybe I was just so blind to what was really going on. I felt the tournament would be a breeze and it seemed like I could take Vavage…I'm really sorry, Vegeta, you were right, I don't listen."

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

Raditz huffed as he flew over the plateaus, he was glad it wouldn't be excruciatingly hard to find Dibora. Earth was a small enough planet and with his demon sense, tracking him down would prove easy. Convincing him to go back would be the hard part. "Then…what'll I do when I've done the job…?" he murmured, coming to a halt in midair, he hadn't thought of that, "I can't go back, I'm alive now…"

He frowned, looking up at the azure blue of the sky and he swallowed hard, Why do I have to be different from the other Saiyjins? Why can't I hide my feelings behind a wall of pride like they do? Maybe it's because I don't have that comfortable wall to hide behind because I never thought I needed it.

"I don't need it…"

"You don't need what?"

Raditz blinked and turned to see Piccolo behind him. The Saiyjin quirked a brow, a little surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"I figured you could use a bit of help." The Namek earned a funny look, but the long haired Saiyjin shrugged, gesturing straight ahead of them, "Okay, whatever floats your boat. Now, I think Dibora is that way."

Piccolo just nodded as the two of them began heading in that direction, after a while he glanced over at Raditz, "What were you mumbling to yourself back there anyway?" The Saiyjin looked over at him, surprised yet again but he shook his head, "Nothing of any real importance, I guess I was just wondering what I'd do when my job's done."

"Oh."

They continued on in silence until Raditz slowly came to a halt. Out in the middle of an expansive space sat a weird little white edifice sticking up from the ground, two bodies on the ground before it. He looked to Piccolo who nodded and landed nearby, Raditz soon followed his lead. When they approached the bodies, Raditz nudged them over with his foot and Piccolo recognized them as Spobovitch and Yamu from the tournament, but their bodies were shriveled, blackened and decayed.

"This couldn't have happened too long ago…" Piccolo whispered, holding his nose due to the stench. Raditz agreed, glaring at them with a frown, "Demon spawn drained them of their life force a while before Kakarrot's match in the tournament."

The Namek gave him a questioning glance, "How can you tell?"

"I've been in Hell," was the simple response he gave as he stepped towards the structure, gulping slightly, "I guess Dibora would be in there…"

"Are you scared?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't."

"You're a little different from other Saiyjins." Piccolo noted more to himself than anyone else. But Raditz smirked, though he looked a little sad, "I try to be…"

Piccolo decided to tuck that information away for a while as the two of them stepped inside. As they descended the many floors of the building, which Raditz deduced was a ship later on, they found even more decayed corpses littering about, and they were far more recent than the other two. "Be careful, the demon may still be around," the Saiyjin warned as they landed on the final level.

The room was dark save for the illumination of a crystal ball. And only two corpses were around from what Raditz could smell. He looked up at a sickly looking ball, that seemed a lot like an egg, but it was cracked open and a pink ooze was dribbling forth. Whatever was in there, the demon slurped it up pretty fast…Raditz noted to himself, wiping up a bit of it and sniffing, "Hm…"

He put the extract in a container to look at later as he continued to look around, Piccolo staying put where he landed and letting Raditz do his detective work. The Saiyjin found a pile of sliced up flesh and immediately knew what it used to be, Dibora. The two jumped in surprise when they heard a moan and Raditz looked over to see a creature that looked a lot like a flea trying to drag himself to the crystal ball.

Piccolo slowly stepped over to the creature and picked it up, causing him to squirm helplessly. "Do…you…know who you're…argh!" the alien shrieked, slowing in it's struggle.

"Who are you?" Raditz demanded, stalking over to the two of them, hands on his fists.

"I'm…the…great wizard Babidi!…Arg..gg..gg…"

"Who did this?"

"Kgh…Vav…a demon…" Babidi finally gurgled and his body went limp and it was obvious he was very much dead. Piccolo frowned as he gradually threw the corpse down and he looked at the Saiyjin. Raditz frowned, deeply troubled, "This is very serious…"

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

Vegeta regained consciousness little by little and soon he was sitting up in bed. "What…happened…?" he moaned as he combed a hand out to grip the edge of the bed but instead found his fingers combing through hair. He jumped in surprise but relaxed when he saw Gokou snoozing, obviously having dosed off in his silent vigil.

The Saiyjin Prince eased himself off at the other side of the bed, before he crept out of the room. He massaged his sore shoulder as he contemplated what happened. He couldn't remember a thing past when he blacked out and when he came back to, he was inches from Kakarrot's face like they had been kissing. Vegeta blushed, I'd never kiss that fool…

Wandering through the halls, he soon found himself outside in the sunlight. It felt good compared to the cramped space inside. The sun was warmth and comfortably bright, Vegeta couldn't wait until nightfall when there would be a cool breeze blowing through. But his attention turned to the Supreme Kai standing a ways from him, who also seemed he was enjoying the sun.

"It's a good thing you're awake now, we were worried the Sovereign took more than energy from you." Shin casually said, folding his hands together behind his back, looking over to see the confused brow Vegeta raised, "Oh I know there's a lot to fill you in on, but we can worry about that once Babidi is taken care of."

"You're a little late for that."

Both Shin and Vegeta looked up to see Raditz and Piccolo land back on the Lookout, a bundle tucked under the Namek's arm. The Supreme Kai's expression was one of interest and curiosity until it was replaced with shock when the two showed him the bundle was none other than the decayed corpse of the wizard Babidi.

End of Part 4