CHAPTER 11 – Hope is for the Hopeless
Motionless, Vegeta glared at the barrier that kept him from leaving HFIL; unable to accept his fate. All he could think about right now was how the onna was able to overpower him. There was no life in Sen and then to suddenly come to life and produce energy that matched his own. The Prince should have sensed her ki before she used it…but he could only feel his.
Vegeta remembered what Sen said. "Once a fool, always a fool," and growled to himself. "That insolent baka."
He played their fight over and over again in his mind and concluded that Sen had used his own energy attacks to power hers. "You will have to teach me that little trick." He smiled to himself. The thought of having this ability when fighting with Kakarot would definitely be an advantage. His excitement was short lived for he came back to his current dilemma. He was in HFIL and Sen was in the Afterworld.
Vegeta raced towards the cloud mass and attempted to break through the barrier. His body disappeared up to his waste and then stopped abruptly. Slowly he floated down, rubbing his shoulder.
Whispering to himself. "Onna, what have you done?" The Prince's ki flared wildly and his body arched as he screamed, "NOOOOO!!" He powered up to his Ascended Saiyan form. Backing up from the cloud cover he raised his hands up above his head. "THIS IS NOT MY DESTINY!...AAHHH…RENZOKU ENERGY DAN!" Facing the barrier, he whipped his arms down, extended them in front with palms out and shot ki blasts into the clouds. Shot after shot went into the cover, and exploded. The orange-yellow clouds lit up as if lightning danced in their folds.
Finally, Vegeta stopped, finding the blasts had little effect on the barrier. Sweat slid down his temples as he took in huge breaths of air. The feeling of defeat sunk in, his hair & eyes turned black, and his body went limp. He fell to ground with a thud, dust and dirt scattered around him. The Prince laid there on his back, blankly looking up at the locked gate to his cage.
Nothing to do but…nothing to do. A sense of hopelessness began to creep over him. It was as he remembered. Vegeta slowly clawed at the ground with both hands, wanting to feel something...anything. He still had his body but what good is it in this place?
Sitting up, Vegeta looked down at his dusty gloves. While brushing his hands against one another to remove the dirt, he looked around. Nothing but huge spiked rocks scattered here and there, and it was quiet. No wind, no irritating birds or bugs, no animals, no water, just earth and rock as far as he could see. Wallowing in dirt was unbecoming to the Prince, so he stood up and emitted enough ki to remove the particles from his clothing. He watched the dust settle to the ground.
"All dressed up and no where to go." Vegeta took a deep breath and exhaled, noting it broke the unnatural silence. It was likely he could hear his own heart beat if he'd stop breathing.
Closing his eyes, he worked to focus on the last time he was sent here by Frieza's hand. At the time, Vegeta had easily accepted his fate. His whole life was bent on going to HFIL. He stood before King Yama ready. The big ogre hadn't wasted anytime passing his sentence, but not without giving Vegeta a few choice words.
"Prince Vegeta. That was a touching confession you gave before your end. Unfortunately, it and the few noble efforts you had made prior to your demise were still based on your selfish desires.
"What's your point Yama? Or am I to suffer even now, listening to you?"
"Humph…I must wonder, had you more time with the living, would you not come to realize that by using your powers to do good, you would yield greater rewards?"
"Spare me your notions for the weak. Do not forget who you are talking to, fool. I am the elite Prince of the strongest race ever existed."
"Yet the only survivor of Saiyans is pure of heart. Goku has surpassed even you."
"Which would have been ratified had my life not been cut short. The only thing the baka accomplished was realizing a Saiyan's limits are his own."
"Exactly. Let that thought keep you company in HFIL." Yama slammed his gavel and the Prince's spirit descended. With it went his arrogance, his honor and his pride.
Vegeta relived the anger, the aimless drifting and then the desperation he had felt.
But the God's did not totally forsake him. They called to him to help the last Saiyan. Vegeta was asked to send a message of encouragement in form of a vision to Goku. Frieza was unstoppable and Goku had nothing left. He had refused at first; he should be the one to destroy Frieza. After all, he is the Prince of all Saiyans. Now Kakarot was their only hope of avenging their people, so he conceded.
"Kakarot, listen to me. Is that all the power you have? Where's your Saiyan pride?"
"But…but I never was a Saiyan."
"What are you talking about? You can't deny your heritage!"
"Vegeta, right now it doesn't matter what I am. Forget about it."
"You must listen to me. We both know you have Saiyan blood running through your veins. I feel your pain…but you must never forget one thing. It was Frieza that destroyed our birth place, the planet Vegeta. And now that you are the only Saiyan left, it is up to you to avenge our race."
"The...the pride of my people." Goku searched for his forgotten Saiyan feelings.
"Think back Kakarot. Remember your father…my father. There's no one left except for you. So, why you may deny who you are, you are the very last hope for a lost race of brave warriors. Ask yourself this: Why does Frieza want you destroyed so badly? He's afraid a Super Saiyan will rise up, the strongest of all. Destroy him! Destroy him for the entire Saiyan race. Destroy him, for you have the power within you. Now go Kakarot. It is time. Do all that is within your power to bring down Frieza."
The link ended and Vegeta was left to ponder his thoughts. No reward came for his effort. It angered him that the Gods didn't even bother to relay the fight's outcome. Refusing to join the losers of this realm, his soul drifted away. The Prince had resigned himself to spend eternity alone.
But Vegeta's downfall was short lived. HFIL disappeared and everything went black. The next thing he knew, he was surrounded by soil. Unable to gasp for air, he shot his hand upwards breaking out of his shallow grave. Astoundingly, he was back on Namek…alive and kicking. Frieza's victims were wished back by Kami using the Earth's dragonballs.
Nothing from this recall would help matters now. No wish would be wasted on him this time.
Vegeta opened his eyes again to end it. This couldn't be all he knew about this place. The Prince had to find another way. There had to be something else. "Kakarot…Why am I not surprised." The clown tugged at his thoughts. Closing his eyes again, he attempted to clarify his thinking.
The images came up and fast, but they were not of Kakarot. They were of his son Trunks. In each brief thought, the boy was speaking to Vegeta. Then he realized what his son was talking about. It was about Kakarot. A matter of course, Goten constantly looked to others for information regarding the father he never knew. Doggedly, he nagged Trunks, goading him to go to the Prince for answers. Vegeta felt himself smirk. There were times when he thoroughly enjoyed telling his son about the low class baka.
Sheepishly, Trunks entered the gravity room where his father had just finished training. Vegeta was shutting the power off and wiping himself with a towel. "Dad? What's death like?"
"What? Why do you ask?"
"Mom said you were dead once and wished back."
"Answer my question, boy."
"Mom said you would know more about this sort of stuff and…me and Goten want to know."
"Goten and I."
"Ok, ok. Goten and I. Well?"
"Humph…There are no similarities between Kakarot and I, including the afterlife."
"Uh Huh! Goku has been in HFIL too!"
Vegeta glared down at his son. "Who in the HFIL told you I was in HFIL?!"
"Ahhh…nevermind, Dad." Trunks new better then to drag his mother into this any further. He turned and dashed out of the room, his father storming behind him.
Before Vegeta's recall continued, he thought back to what prompted his son's question and willed himself to another memory.
The Prince was leaning against the wall inside the front entrance of Kakarot's house. He had been waiting for Bulma and Trunks to end their miserable visit so they could leave. Twice, he had talked himself out of just taking off, but the idea of giving his mate the cold shoulder during the ride home, was too tempting. Trunks appeared in the hallway. He grabbed his bag and instead of heading for the door he went in the other direction.
"Hey! Where do you think you are going?!"
Trunks called over his shoulder, "Mom said I could stay the night."
"Stop right there, boy. Where is your mother?"
Trunks turned to his face his father. "Ahh Dad. Please? It's been forever since I last stayed. Gohan is going to take us hiking and fishing tomorrow."
Vegeta pulled himself away from the wall and stood with his arms crossed. "Answer my question!"
The disappointed boy looked down and rubbed his foot over the other. "She's in the kitchen saying good-bye to ChiChi."
The Prince regarded his son a moment before answering. "It's getting late, you better be off to bed."
"Thanks Dad!" Trunks took a couple of steps towards his father but stopped after seeing his father's frown. "See you tomorrow night?" Not waiting for a reply, he turned and dashed down the hall calling over his shoulder, "Love ya, Dad!"
Growling, Vegeta decided to wait outside and walked out the door. He guessed his onna would be at least another half hour.
The night air was much cooler in the country than in the city. Taking in a deep breath, Vegeta relaxed, and walked around to the side of the house. The stars were bright and he wanted to get a better view. Many a night, the Prince found himself staring at the night sky and contemplating his life. The love from his family was the only reason he stuck around. Bulma and Trunks knew that too for they were constantly reminding him. The concept of love continued to evade him but he thought he had all the time in world to learn.
Vegeta heard a window open and glanced over his shoulder. It was Gohan in Goten's room. Hard to believe that Kakarot's oldest son was almost a man. Like Vegeta, this half Saiyan has the strength to conquer the Universe yet settled for living his days quietly on Earth.
Gohan turned from the window and rested his hands on his hips.
"Ok guys, ready for bed? Did you brush your teeth?"
Goten ran to his bed and jumped in under the covers. "I did...and tucked in ready for a story."
A light went out in the hall and Trunks entered the room. "Yeah! Tell the one about you and Dad beating Cell." He walked over and climbed into the spare bed. Outside, Vegeta overheard the conversation and walked over and leaned against the wall outside of the boy's room.
"You always want to hear that one! It's my turn to pick anyway."
"Is not."
"Is too!'
"Is not!"
"It is so! Isn't that right Gohan?"
"That's right bro. Your turn. What's it going to be? No, no, let me guess…hmm…Frieza."
"Yeah…Dad becomes a Super Saiyan!"
"Ahh come on…How many times do I have to hear it? How about when my dad becomes Super Saiyan and saves Goku?"
"You know Goten, Trunks is right and he's our guest. I know, why don't you let me pick one…one you never heard before."
"Is it about Daddy?"
"Yes it is."
Trunks groaned and covered his head.
"It's about Dad when he was in HFIL!"
Both boys sat up in bed with eyes wide and mouths opened.
"Ohhh! You said a bad word! I'm telling Mommy!"
Trunks looked over to Goten and narrowed his eyes. "Come on Goten, That's not that bad a word. I want to hear about it. What did your dad do to end up there, anyway?"
"Well, it was by accident! And…he found a way out too! So, do you want to hear it or not?!"
They both answered together. "YEAH!"
Vegeta heard a familiar sinister laugh come from behind of him. This was not part of his memory. His eyes shot opened and sensed his surroundings. There was definitely another being behind him. He knew of only one loser that could get this close undetected.
Annoyed by the intrusion, the Prince hissed, "Just what I need…a bug to swat at!"
The creature floated to the ground, landing lightly, in front of Vegeta. It walked towards the Prince, its exoskeleton joints making an annoying squeaking noise with every step. "Now, now that's no way to treat your welcoming committee."
Motionless, Vegeta glared at the barrier that kept him from leaving HFIL; unable to accept his fate. All he could think about right now was how the onna was able to overpower him. There was no life in Sen and then to suddenly come to life and produce energy that matched his own. The Prince should have sensed her ki before she used it…but he could only feel his.
Vegeta remembered what Sen said. "Once a fool, always a fool," and growled to himself. "That insolent baka."
He played their fight over and over again in his mind and concluded that Sen had used his own energy attacks to power hers. "You will have to teach me that little trick." He smiled to himself. The thought of having this ability when fighting with Kakarot would definitely be an advantage. His excitement was short lived for he came back to his current dilemma. He was in HFIL and Sen was in the Afterworld.
Vegeta raced towards the cloud mass and attempted to break through the barrier. His body disappeared up to his waste and then stopped abruptly. Slowly he floated down, rubbing his shoulder.
Whispering to himself. "Onna, what have you done?" The Prince's ki flared wildly and his body arched as he screamed, "NOOOOO!!" He powered up to his Ascended Saiyan form. Backing up from the cloud cover he raised his hands up above his head. "THIS IS NOT MY DESTINY!...AAHHH…RENZOKU ENERGY DAN!" Facing the barrier, he whipped his arms down, extended them in front with palms out and shot ki blasts into the clouds. Shot after shot went into the cover, and exploded. The orange-yellow clouds lit up as if lightning danced in their folds.
Finally, Vegeta stopped, finding the blasts had little effect on the barrier. Sweat slid down his temples as he took in huge breaths of air. The feeling of defeat sunk in, his hair & eyes turned black, and his body went limp. He fell to ground with a thud, dust and dirt scattered around him. The Prince laid there on his back, blankly looking up at the locked gate to his cage.
Nothing to do but…nothing to do. A sense of hopelessness began to creep over him. It was as he remembered. Vegeta slowly clawed at the ground with both hands, wanting to feel something...anything. He still had his body but what good is it in this place?
Sitting up, Vegeta looked down at his dusty gloves. While brushing his hands against one another to remove the dirt, he looked around. Nothing but huge spiked rocks scattered here and there, and it was quiet. No wind, no irritating birds or bugs, no animals, no water, just earth and rock as far as he could see. Wallowing in dirt was unbecoming to the Prince, so he stood up and emitted enough ki to remove the particles from his clothing. He watched the dust settle to the ground.
"All dressed up and no where to go." Vegeta took a deep breath and exhaled, noting it broke the unnatural silence. It was likely he could hear his own heart beat if he'd stop breathing.
Closing his eyes, he worked to focus on the last time he was sent here by Frieza's hand. At the time, Vegeta had easily accepted his fate. His whole life was bent on going to HFIL. He stood before King Yama ready. The big ogre hadn't wasted anytime passing his sentence, but not without giving Vegeta a few choice words.
"Prince Vegeta. That was a touching confession you gave before your end. Unfortunately, it and the few noble efforts you had made prior to your demise were still based on your selfish desires.
"What's your point Yama? Or am I to suffer even now, listening to you?"
"Humph…I must wonder, had you more time with the living, would you not come to realize that by using your powers to do good, you would yield greater rewards?"
"Spare me your notions for the weak. Do not forget who you are talking to, fool. I am the elite Prince of the strongest race ever existed."
"Yet the only survivor of Saiyans is pure of heart. Goku has surpassed even you."
"Which would have been ratified had my life not been cut short. The only thing the baka accomplished was realizing a Saiyan's limits are his own."
"Exactly. Let that thought keep you company in HFIL." Yama slammed his gavel and the Prince's spirit descended. With it went his arrogance, his honor and his pride.
Vegeta relived the anger, the aimless drifting and then the desperation he had felt.
But the God's did not totally forsake him. They called to him to help the last Saiyan. Vegeta was asked to send a message of encouragement in form of a vision to Goku. Frieza was unstoppable and Goku had nothing left. He had refused at first; he should be the one to destroy Frieza. After all, he is the Prince of all Saiyans. Now Kakarot was their only hope of avenging their people, so he conceded.
"Kakarot, listen to me. Is that all the power you have? Where's your Saiyan pride?"
"But…but I never was a Saiyan."
"What are you talking about? You can't deny your heritage!"
"Vegeta, right now it doesn't matter what I am. Forget about it."
"You must listen to me. We both know you have Saiyan blood running through your veins. I feel your pain…but you must never forget one thing. It was Frieza that destroyed our birth place, the planet Vegeta. And now that you are the only Saiyan left, it is up to you to avenge our race."
"The...the pride of my people." Goku searched for his forgotten Saiyan feelings.
"Think back Kakarot. Remember your father…my father. There's no one left except for you. So, why you may deny who you are, you are the very last hope for a lost race of brave warriors. Ask yourself this: Why does Frieza want you destroyed so badly? He's afraid a Super Saiyan will rise up, the strongest of all. Destroy him! Destroy him for the entire Saiyan race. Destroy him, for you have the power within you. Now go Kakarot. It is time. Do all that is within your power to bring down Frieza."
The link ended and Vegeta was left to ponder his thoughts. No reward came for his effort. It angered him that the Gods didn't even bother to relay the fight's outcome. Refusing to join the losers of this realm, his soul drifted away. The Prince had resigned himself to spend eternity alone.
But Vegeta's downfall was short lived. HFIL disappeared and everything went black. The next thing he knew, he was surrounded by soil. Unable to gasp for air, he shot his hand upwards breaking out of his shallow grave. Astoundingly, he was back on Namek…alive and kicking. Frieza's victims were wished back by Kami using the Earth's dragonballs.
Nothing from this recall would help matters now. No wish would be wasted on him this time.
Vegeta opened his eyes again to end it. This couldn't be all he knew about this place. The Prince had to find another way. There had to be something else. "Kakarot…Why am I not surprised." The clown tugged at his thoughts. Closing his eyes again, he attempted to clarify his thinking.
The images came up and fast, but they were not of Kakarot. They were of his son Trunks. In each brief thought, the boy was speaking to Vegeta. Then he realized what his son was talking about. It was about Kakarot. A matter of course, Goten constantly looked to others for information regarding the father he never knew. Doggedly, he nagged Trunks, goading him to go to the Prince for answers. Vegeta felt himself smirk. There were times when he thoroughly enjoyed telling his son about the low class baka.
Sheepishly, Trunks entered the gravity room where his father had just finished training. Vegeta was shutting the power off and wiping himself with a towel. "Dad? What's death like?"
"What? Why do you ask?"
"Mom said you were dead once and wished back."
"Answer my question, boy."
"Mom said you would know more about this sort of stuff and…me and Goten want to know."
"Goten and I."
"Ok, ok. Goten and I. Well?"
"Humph…There are no similarities between Kakarot and I, including the afterlife."
"Uh Huh! Goku has been in HFIL too!"
Vegeta glared down at his son. "Who in the HFIL told you I was in HFIL?!"
"Ahhh…nevermind, Dad." Trunks new better then to drag his mother into this any further. He turned and dashed out of the room, his father storming behind him.
Before Vegeta's recall continued, he thought back to what prompted his son's question and willed himself to another memory.
The Prince was leaning against the wall inside the front entrance of Kakarot's house. He had been waiting for Bulma and Trunks to end their miserable visit so they could leave. Twice, he had talked himself out of just taking off, but the idea of giving his mate the cold shoulder during the ride home, was too tempting. Trunks appeared in the hallway. He grabbed his bag and instead of heading for the door he went in the other direction.
"Hey! Where do you think you are going?!"
Trunks called over his shoulder, "Mom said I could stay the night."
"Stop right there, boy. Where is your mother?"
Trunks turned to his face his father. "Ahh Dad. Please? It's been forever since I last stayed. Gohan is going to take us hiking and fishing tomorrow."
Vegeta pulled himself away from the wall and stood with his arms crossed. "Answer my question!"
The disappointed boy looked down and rubbed his foot over the other. "She's in the kitchen saying good-bye to ChiChi."
The Prince regarded his son a moment before answering. "It's getting late, you better be off to bed."
"Thanks Dad!" Trunks took a couple of steps towards his father but stopped after seeing his father's frown. "See you tomorrow night?" Not waiting for a reply, he turned and dashed down the hall calling over his shoulder, "Love ya, Dad!"
Growling, Vegeta decided to wait outside and walked out the door. He guessed his onna would be at least another half hour.
The night air was much cooler in the country than in the city. Taking in a deep breath, Vegeta relaxed, and walked around to the side of the house. The stars were bright and he wanted to get a better view. Many a night, the Prince found himself staring at the night sky and contemplating his life. The love from his family was the only reason he stuck around. Bulma and Trunks knew that too for they were constantly reminding him. The concept of love continued to evade him but he thought he had all the time in world to learn.
Vegeta heard a window open and glanced over his shoulder. It was Gohan in Goten's room. Hard to believe that Kakarot's oldest son was almost a man. Like Vegeta, this half Saiyan has the strength to conquer the Universe yet settled for living his days quietly on Earth.
Gohan turned from the window and rested his hands on his hips.
"Ok guys, ready for bed? Did you brush your teeth?"
Goten ran to his bed and jumped in under the covers. "I did...and tucked in ready for a story."
A light went out in the hall and Trunks entered the room. "Yeah! Tell the one about you and Dad beating Cell." He walked over and climbed into the spare bed. Outside, Vegeta overheard the conversation and walked over and leaned against the wall outside of the boy's room.
"You always want to hear that one! It's my turn to pick anyway."
"Is not."
"Is too!'
"Is not!"
"It is so! Isn't that right Gohan?"
"That's right bro. Your turn. What's it going to be? No, no, let me guess…hmm…Frieza."
"Yeah…Dad becomes a Super Saiyan!"
"Ahh come on…How many times do I have to hear it? How about when my dad becomes Super Saiyan and saves Goku?"
"You know Goten, Trunks is right and he's our guest. I know, why don't you let me pick one…one you never heard before."
"Is it about Daddy?"
"Yes it is."
Trunks groaned and covered his head.
"It's about Dad when he was in HFIL!"
Both boys sat up in bed with eyes wide and mouths opened.
"Ohhh! You said a bad word! I'm telling Mommy!"
Trunks looked over to Goten and narrowed his eyes. "Come on Goten, That's not that bad a word. I want to hear about it. What did your dad do to end up there, anyway?"
"Well, it was by accident! And…he found a way out too! So, do you want to hear it or not?!"
They both answered together. "YEAH!"
Vegeta heard a familiar sinister laugh come from behind of him. This was not part of his memory. His eyes shot opened and sensed his surroundings. There was definitely another being behind him. He knew of only one loser that could get this close undetected.
Annoyed by the intrusion, the Prince hissed, "Just what I need…a bug to swat at!"
The creature floated to the ground, landing lightly, in front of Vegeta. It walked towards the Prince, its exoskeleton joints making an annoying squeaking noise with every step. "Now, now that's no way to treat your welcoming committee."