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 characters Vavage, Phobe, Coma, and Jaxom.

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

Shadows Within

Part 5

by Reppa

"Babidi?! What in the world happened you two?!" Shin cried in surprise, he had no remorse for Babidi's death, but he was intent on knowing what exactly happened, he hadn't expected anything like this to happen. But all Raditz could do was shrug his shoulders, "We have no clue, they were all dead when we got there, all done by a hungry little demon who might have been our buddy Vavage."

The Supreme Kai gripped his head with a moan, "Things are escalating to phenomenal proportions! This Vavage is a danger while on the lose." Crossing his arms, the greater being stepped away for a moment, trying to piece everything together.

"Kakarrot…"

Gokou jerked himself out of his thoughts to turn to Vegeta, the smaller man staring off into space himself, most of them were. "Kakarrot, why don't you and some of the others go to Capsule Corp. and get the Dragon radar, we'll most likely have to find the other Dragonballs." Vegeta didn't know why, but it felt that all they could do now was collect the Dragonballs if they hoped to fight Vavage, especially if they were different like the one star was. He looked up, his eyes suddenly growing wide when he looked up at his fellow Saiyjin in the face, the both of them looking away in the same instance.

What's going on with me? I'm acting so strangely, it must be due to what happened yesterday, that must be it. Once I get some more rest, I'll be back to my old self, the Saiyjin prince assured himself, though he was aware of Gokou staring at him now, and it made him feel so awkward. It felt like there were butterflies in his stomach, and he really hated the feeling, Bastard and his messing with my head…

The prince sneered as he kicked Gokou in the shin from where he sat, not being on the gentle side, "What are you waiting for, you dolt?! Get going!"

The other Saiyjin yelped more in surprise then in actual pain before he, Krillin and Piccolo took off for the city, leaving Vegeta and Raditz back on the Lookout with the oldest Son. Gohan sighed, he felt incredibly nervous, here he was, practically alone with Vegeta and with his estranged uncle. He could never think clearly around the Saiyjin prince, his heart always pounded at an accelerated rate. Call it a funny feeling.

The two full blooded Saiyjins' just looked at each other while Shin came over to them, ready to explain to Vegeta what he had missed before the Sovereign had possessed him. Raditz, not very involved in said conversation, made his way over to his nephew, figuring they had to talk eventually.

"Well, I've noticed you've improved a great deal since I first came to Earth," the long haired Saiyjin noted with a smirk, coming to stand beside Gohan who almost jumped out of his skin.

The teenager looked at his uncle before he relaxed, I've got to chill, he did try helping out when Vavage first attacked and he did come back from Hell to stop things from getting out of control. Heroism must run in the family…Gohan nodded, side glancing at him, "Yeah, a lot has gone on, I guess you guys watch it below, huh?"

"You could say that. Watching's boring though, not that actually being in the mess is any better."

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

Gokou sighed, he wished Vegeta hadn't kicked him, but it gave his heart a jump when the two of them just stared at each other. It felt so, well, he couldn't exactly explain it. He glanced back towards the Lookout that shrunk from their view as they flew on and he was overcome with nervousness, he didn't want to leave the other Saiyjin alone. Wait, what am I saying?! He's not alone, he has Gohan and Raditz and Shin! He'll be fine!

But those assurances didn't help, they only sufficed to raise his anxiety. He looked at his two friends beside him, Krillin looked fairly indifferent though he had been very concerned earlier and Piccolo looked to a great extent apprehensive himself.

Soon they arrived at Capsule Corp., not a soul out on the front lawn. But without warning, a small ki blast zipped by, a mere breadth away from Gokou's nose before it crashed into the ground near them with a tiny explosion. The trio jumped back into fighting stances as childish laughter erupted nearby, Trunks came bouncing out of the bushes with Goten. The purple haired boy snickered, "Phobe's pretty accurate, huh?"

"Phobe?"

As if on cue, the person in question jumped down from the roof, his appearance knocking them for a loop. He looked just like Vegeta, but with green eyes and a strip of hair hanging out in front of his face, but what really set them off was the skimpy jumpsuit.

"Um, Trunks, what's with the look-alike?" Krillin inquired, looking at Phobe in confusion, "Man, we've got too many Vegeta's running around."

"If it helps any, we have another android that looks like Goten's dad too!" Trunks threw in, hugging onto his android's leg somewhat possessively, "But Phobe's mine, so you can't have him."

Gokou shook his head, deciding not to ask what had possessed the kid to make androids like that, but he remembered there were more important things at hand. "Trunks, where's the dragon radar?" he demanded, looking down at the boys, but all Trunks did was point at Phobe.

"I built a radar into him, because Grandpa wants the original to stick with him." Trunks explained, patting on the robot's hip, "Hey, we've got the two star Dragonball here, should I go get it?!''

That brightened up their spirits, Gokou nodded enthusiastically, watching Trunks run inside to come back out a few moments later with it. But the others came out after him, including Chichi to the tall Saiyjin's dismay. The woman stomped up to him, angry as ever at him, "Gokou, just what's going on?! And where's Gohan?! I swear if anything happened-"

"It's okay! Gohan's fine!." Gokou assured hurriedly, taking the Dragonball from Trunks. It was now black in color, and the two stars were a blood red, for some reason it sent chills down his spine. Goten stepped over to him, an enthusiastic grin on his bright face, "Hey, dad, can we come too? We promise to be really, really good!"

Chichi seemed ready to flip her wig, her voice raising to an explosive level, "What?! I think not! You're staying right here! I'm not going to let you turn into a hooligan like your father and that bastard that lives here!"

"Chichi, just shut up!"

Everyone's jaws went slack as they looked at Gokou in shock, especially Chichi who stood there with her mouth agape. He was clenching his fists and his face looked red, it was obvious he couldn't stand her screaming anymore. He looked down at his son, relaxing a little, "Yeah, you two can come, but only if you behave."

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

Raditz yawned, sitting against the wall with his knees pressed to his chest, bored out of his mind, he realized he would have preferred going, but he felt obligated to stay near the prince. Shin stood a ways from him, with Vegeta sitting on a bench by him as they watched Gohan practice in the air. Vegeta didn't know why, but he felt too drained of energy to spar with the boy, his body felt like there were thousands of lead weights attached somehow.

He started to wonder what was taking Kakarrot and the others so long, it'd be unfortunate if they ran into any trouble, but he reminded himself that Vavage was gone, or at least he hoped so. With a tired sigh, the Saiyjin prince covered his face with his hands when Gohan touched down in front of them, he barely noticed what the half breed said. "Nani?" he questioned, looking up.

"Do you guys feel that?" Gohan repeated, his expression grim, "Don't tell me I'm the only one who senses it."

The three of them started looking at each other, then they looked around at their surroundings. Raditz couldn't sense anything, he didn't quite have the ability like the others just yet. Vegeta himself had dismissed the strange aura he sensed earlier, but now that it had been brought back to his attention, he started to worry. It felt strangely familiar.

Shin frowned, starting to worry, but then as he looked towards the sky, his expression changed to that of horror, taking a step back, "This isn't good!"

The others looked up and they also jumped in alarm as none other than Vavage hovered in the sky above them, a fearsome sneer on his face. He looked down at them with his arms crossed over his chest. "I've been looking for you all day, really now, you know it's impolite to start a party and then kick out the guest of honor!" he laughed, the sneer turning into a sinister smirk, one to put many of Vegeta's to shame.

"Guest of honor my ass!" Raditz snapped, Shin stepping forward himself, he pointed skyward, his tone commanding, as much as it could be anyways when face to face with a monster like Vavage. "Be gone demon! You don't belong here!"

Vavage snorted, screwing up his face as a gurgling noise began low in his throat, then with a sickly inhale of air, he spat a disgusting mouthful of pink goo into the Supreme Kai's face. The demon smirked as he looked past the sputtering Kai towards Vegeta who was already on his feet, Vavage licked his lips in the only sadistic manner he knew, slow with a gleam of evil in his eyes, "Well, shall we be off, sweet pea? I'm afraid I have an agenda to get to and I can't be wasting my time here with the kiddies."

He couldn't let Vavage have his way, Raditz scowled as he cracked his whip and lashed out at the fiend, catching him right in the face. Vavage let out a shriek of pain as the Supreme Kai stumbled back, finally removing the goo from his face with Gohan's help. In a vengeful fit, the demon grabbed a hold of the offending weapon before Raditz could pull it back and gave it a hard yank, sending the Saiyjin forward.

"Kuso…!" Raditz scowled, sitting up and shaking his head, having only a moment to get to his feet before he was caught with a hard kick to the jaw, knocking him off of the Lookout. Shin ground his teeth while Kabito stormed outside, hearing the commotion from inside, "Master, what's going on?"

The Supreme Kai grimaced, there would be no way they could stand up to Vavage for long at least not now, what they needed was a safe distance in between them and him to prepare for a real confrontation. Then he got an idea as he turned to his tall companion, "Kabito, home, now!"

The white-haired giant gaped, looking at the two Earthlings with a serious frown, "But master, they can't possibly-"

"Just do it, now!"

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

He wished the boys had gone for their potty break when they were at Capsule Corp., and he especially wished they hadn't decided on chasing that dinosaur halfway across the country. Gokou sighed to himself, hopefully, no more interruptions so they could get back to the Lookout. Now they were minutes away and the Saiyjin started having a terrible feeling in his gut, something wasn't right.

"Gokou!" A voice called out from ahead of them.

He blinked in surprise, then looked forward to see Korin, the chubby cat waved at him with his wooden staff and gestured for him to come over. Gokou didn't think they really had the time, but he couldn't say no to Korin, not after all the times he'd been of help. Plus he was curious on what the feline wanted. He gestured to the others to stay put before he landed in front of his friend, frowning slightly, "What is it, Korin? We're kind of in a hurry."

"Well, after hearing the commotion topside, you probably are, I just wanted to know something. Does he belong to you?"

"Huh?" Gokou blinked in confusion, looking around the cat to nearly fall backwards in shock, his brother laid there sprawled out on the floor, as unconscious as can be.

End of part 5