Chapter 2 Confusion
Vegeta could only stare as Cell rushed him. There was no time to dodge or block. The only indication that he had known of his approaching sentence, was the slight widening of his eyes. Pain gripped him as he was bent to the blow's force.
Before Cell unleashed his rain of blows upon Vegeta's being, he raised his arm in defense. A glimmer of hope shone as the monster's fist only connected with the appendage instead of his abdominal region.
This will only work for so long. I need a better plan soon. I cannot let this continue. Vegeta contemplated. Another blow came to his left side as he was thinking. Well, if fight didn't work, maybe flight will.
Vegeta flew into the atmosphere a little ways, but before he got far, Cell suddenly fazed in front of him. The prince was startled at first, but immediately changed his expression to complete defiance. His eyes bore into Cell's with a force he didn't know he had. For less than a second, Cell's features dropped a bit out of an emotion not far from fear. The mere fact that he took the time to inspect the prince's optical orbs was a sign of that. It passed as quick as it came, but Vegeta had caught it.
Cell, recovered from his initial shock with a smirk and ground his elbow into Vegeta's spine. Pain exploded from the contact point in Vegeta's back as the two began plummeting towards the ground. The prince couldn't stop his mouth from opening in a silent scream. The wind tearing into him had stolen his breath away.
Why had he let the bastard reach his most powerful form? Oh yes, to satisfy his hunger for a challenge. No, that wasn't it. It was to raise his own selfish pride. Now look where it had landed him. He was reduced to a helpless punching bag at the mercy of a human made Frankenstein freak.
As he was in the air, Cell suddenly stopped, this allowed Vegeta to take control of his descent. The black and green peppered being stood with his arms crossed in the air, but his form began to waver. It looked like he had suddenly turned into bad reception on a television screen. The fuzzy squiggles started to take on a different color, orange. The image evolved into Kakarrot. His arms were at his sides and his eyes were closed. The taller saiyan opened his eyes slowly and noticed Vegeta. A smirk played on his lips like none other seen on this particular saiyan… it looked sadistic.
He would now get to fight the lower-class saiyan. The prince experienced a bittersweet joy in spotting the one with whom he most longed for battle. Vegeta attempted to lift his arms into a fighting stance. Utter shock plastered across his face when realization dawned that he was unable to move his limbs.
Enraged at his helplessness, he could do nothing as he began falling again. Kakarrot seized the opportunity to attack. He began beating him, hurting him. He could actually feel the pain as though it were happening, even though it was only a dream.
Goku kept his hand placed atop the prince's forehead. For the last three minutes he had been in deep concentration, delving into the elder Saiyan's mind. After a round of insistent questions, Goku informed Bulma what was going on, explaining to her in as much detail as he could based on what he could unearth.
"It looks like whatever Vegeta has been dreaming about has something to do with his past." Goku stated. "It appears that when it gets near the end of the dreams, he sees himself being killed by… me." For Goku it was painful to admit. He knew Vegeta believed that Goku's sole purpose in life was to make Vegeta appear weak and useless, which was not true, but he never imagined Vegeta would believe he would kill him. It even horrified him that the prince could see him posses such cruel intentions, not to mention act on them.
"Hmm… what are the significance of these dreams? Surely they can't be too serious. I know him, he would be acting on it his is sleep by now." Bulma mused, absorbed in thought. She turned away from Goku to stare absent mindedly at an empty plot of grass.
"Ugh… stop it," the prince moaned, "Stop it," he said again a bit more forcefully, "STOP IT!" The last was roared in desperate agony. It made Bulma jump in surprise and caused Goku's heart to leap up in his throat. He felt remorse for something he wasn't entirely sure he was guilty of.
"Oh it's okay, that just means we should wake him up now." Bulma assured them as she raised her head. It was the same indication that it had been for the past three nights. He begins to call out and she wakes him up, no harm done. Everything would be fine once he was awake and back to his grumpy old self. Only this time, it was different. This time, the outcome would not be so simple a matter. As she turned, her eyes became scared and empty.
They all looked on as Vegeta began tearing at his arms and chest with his fingernails. The cuticles left marks to bled the instant after being raked. His screaming continued and he started convulsing in panicked hysteria. "Leave me alone! Get away from me! STOP IT!"
"We have to stop him!" Goku ordered. "C'mon everyone, help me hold him down."
Goku, Gohan, and Krillin rushed over to the prince's thrashing form. Goku and Gohan each held an arm and a shoulder. Krillin pushed down on Vegeta's chest to try and lessen the violent seizures.
This didn't work for long. Vegeta started kicking at them, howling in alarm. He seemed to be responding to them as though they were factors in his dream. "We need more help!" Goku called. At this Eighteen and Videl got over their initial shock and knelt down to hold the ankles of the saiyan on the ground.
All the commotion had attracted the children. Goten, Marron, Pan, and Bra appeared at the sound of the ruckus and gaped in stark terror. Bra grabbed onto Pan and buried her head into her shoulder to hide her eyes from her daddy's suffering. The bandana wearing saiyan patted her friend's back in sympathy, but her eyes never strayed from the scene before her. Marron offered her condolences as she placed a comforting hand on Bra's shoulder.
The only thing Goten was capable of doing was to stand upon the hill and stare. He could see black shadows creeping around Vegeta. They writhed and contorted unnaturally. Those things appeared shapeless and encompassing. All one could do if they were lost in its dark, whispy grip would be to cry out in pain and sorrow merely from the hopelessness of the situation. That part was the only one he knew for certain. What if once it got a hold of you, it could suck your very life force? It scared him, what if those things came over to get him? What if those things were here to kill Vegeta? He couldn't make a sound for warning, his voice had stopped working out of fear.
Lastly, Trunks appeared from over the hill.
"Dad…," the young demi-saiyan breathed out as he ran to him, his eyes became devoid of all cheerfulness as his hands sought out Bulma, "what's wrong with him mommy?" the boy inquired as he pulled despairingly on her shirt, his eyes filling with unshed tears.
Trunks received no reply as Bulma's full attention was fixed solely on her husband. In all the years that she knew him, he had never been one to intentionally cause himself any physical pain or to even cry out in anguish. Of course there was training, but that was a different matter entirely. After witnessing this display it was more than apparent that Vegeta was suffering from something far more serious than night terrors. Something that would need to be quickly understood and stopped before this self-induced torture proceeded.
The prince let out another scream, only this one was cut off abruptly as if someone stopped it by winding him. It made Bulma sob one comprehensible word in the midst of her worry, "Vegeta"
Goku eased up for a brief moment to stare into Vegeta's eyes. He smiled such a twisted, sadistic grin, it was impossible for Vegeta to even conceive the idea of it on this saiyan's face. The prince watched in disbelief as Kakarrot pinned his shoulders against the ground. The lower-class began kicking him in the ribs as rapidly as pistons. It was agonizing and his thrashing seemed to have little effect on the other saiyan.
'This isn't fair!" he screamed in his mind. "How could I, the Prince of all Saiyans, the strongest descendant of my entire line, be so helpless against a sorry excuse for a lower-class warrior? I should be the one destroying his body, I should be the one who is stronger, I should be the one killing him." Kakarrot grinned at the prince's displeasure. He bent down within an inch of Vegeta's face to mockingly whisper, "My prince… oh mighty one, how may I serve you?"
Through half closed eyes, from his body imprinted hole in the ground, the prince yelled, "Leave me alone! Get away from me! That is how you may serve me you baka." Vegeta then spat on the lower-class' face.
Kakarrot pulled back in disgust. He wiped the offensive liquid off his face with one hand and looked back at Vegeta with a snarl. An awesome gold flash filled his vision as Kakarrot transformed into super saiyan three. He smirked at Vegeta in a way that was still incomprehensible on this particular saiyan's face. Vegeta's vision was already clouding, but he could clearly see that Kakarrot's fist was coming fast and would soon collide with his middle. It did so as a mixture of saliva and blood shot out of his mouth. He was winded and his vision blacked out.
The five fighters holding Vegeta down suddenly noticed that he had stopped moving. Vegeta was no longer fighting them and had stopped convulsing. The prince relaxed and his breathing returned to normal.
Goku looked to the rest of them and then back at Vegeta. He could see the prince was no longer in immediate danger. The saiyan nodded and everyone let go.
Bulma walked over to Vegeta and knelt next to him. She hugged her arms and looked directly at his face. Not even caring that others were there, she whispered the question loud enough that all could hear, "Vegeta… what's wrong with you?"