Vegeta in the Afterworlds

by A Saiyan's Tale

Finally realizing there are more important things than life itself, Vegeta uses his utimate attack to take Majin Buu out. The Prince dies leaving all that he desires behind. So what's a Saiyan got to do to regain all that he's lost? COMPLETE!

33. Chapter 32 Leap of Faith

CHAPTER 32 – Leap of Faith

Vegeta had a few choice words of his own but remained silent. Careful to keep his feet in place, he looked over his shoulder. Daylight poured in through the opening but was swallowed by the darkness surrounding them, its brightness contained within the entrance way. The Prince had to squint to filter out the glare that framed the black heap lying on the steps below.

When Sen had re-materialized, it was as though she hit a brick wall and then dropped. Moaning, she attempted to roll over. Sen's eyes had not adjusted yet so she couldn't see a thing, but Vegeta saw her, and she was about to roll off the stairway. "Don't move you idiot!"

"Huh? (augh) Vegeta! Were the HFIL are we?" Not sensing danger, Sen didn't heed his warning. Rolling onto her side, she teetered on the edge. Instantly, something grabbed her and threw her. She landed on her rump at the passageway's threshold.

Ignoring the pain in her side, Sen quickly returned to her feet and took a defensive pose towards what she deemed was an attacker. She blinked until her eyes adjusted and found Vegeta frowning down at her from the steps above. He was half turned; his right foot in front on a step lower then his left.

"Go back to where you came from, onna."

"You're coming with me, Vegeta."

"Why should I?"

"There are those that need you."

"And you do not?"

Sen eased her stance but did not reply.

"Feh. Go back, Sen."

Sen clenched her fists and moved to the bottom step. "Not without you."

Vegeta had to smirk at Sen's persistence. He could easily put her down and be rid of her. But it may jeopardize what he had accomplished. The Prince was mentally planning his next course of action when he felt an extraordinary ki signature come railroading past him from behind. He jerked around to look up the staircase and honed in on the power. "No, not him." The Prince growled in frustration and leaped up the stairs.

Sen stood frozen. Who was this new power and where did it come from? Though she didn't recognize the ki, she sensed its familiarity. Realizing she lost sight of Vegeta, she took off up the stairs. "Wait up, Vegeta!"

After a time, Sen began to feel the vastness of the place close in on her. Though she couldn't see the Prince, she could still sense his ki but he was pulling further and further away from her. This stair climbing didn't help her injury either; the increasing pain was numbing her senses. The warrior called out again, "VEGETA! STOP! WAIT FOR ME!

Vegeta heard her pleas but ignored them. The only thing that mattered now was to get out of HFIL. To comply with the warning that Gohan relayed, the Prince was forced to put his faith in the Earth-Saiyans. He trusted Kakarot had told the truth about the Secret Passage Way to his son, Gohan, and trusted that Gohan had passed on the information correctly. He frowned at the shoestring notion. 'Humph. I follow a Bedtime Story.' But step after step, he climbed. The only thing that was visible, were the few steps that lay ahead. Beyond that, there was just twinkling and blackness.

Forcing back the doubt, Vegeta focused on what he would do when he returned to the Afterworld. He had to make a stand. The Gods would have to listen to him. Yes, he trusted Gohan's recollections, but not his fighting ability. There was no doubt the half-Saiyan had reached an unfathomable power level, but it was not enough. The young man was no warrior. The thought of Kakarot's son being wiped from existence did not sit well with the Prince. Urgency nagged at Vegeta and he surged forward, taking two steps at a time. Going so fast, he no longer saw the stairs, but blindly trusted they were there.

Sen slowed, and then stopped in her tracks. Her breathing was labored as she tried to focus on Vegeta's ki. She was losing him. She couldn't tell if he had suppressed his energy or that her ki sensing abilities had faltered. The warrior looked back. As she had feared, the entrance was not to be seen. Ahead, there were no signs of an end, only the darkness and the eerie light show. Again, she called to Vegeta. This time, she had to work to mask the anxiety that was growing within her. "VEGETA, CHOTTO, SHIMATTA!" (Vegeta, wait a minute, damn it!)

Vegeta heard the call. He slowed his pace and struggled with what to do with Sen. 'Forget about her.' The thought gave him no comfort. Then he heard her call again.

"NO OUJI VEGETA, CHODAI!"

Vegeta wasn't sure what she had meant, the last part of the Saiyan phrase was not a common one, so he stopped and listened. Sure enough, she repeated the phrase but this time in Universal, "PRINCE VEGETA, PLEASE! DO THIS FOR ME."

Vegeta closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and dropped his head. The Gods had to be testing him. Here he was, somewhere between, HFIL, the Heavens and Oblivion, and his heart was struggling with an undesirable transient named conscience. A vision of Future Trunks appeared, lecturing Vegeta for not rescuing his mate Bulma and their infant son. He opened his eyes again. The Prince has had his fill of that memory. Future Trunks had saved them from harm, but apparently, the idiots that idly stood-by expected him to put aside his manhunt for the menace Gero to do it. The regrettable incident has plagued him ever since.

Looking on in the dark, Sen tried again to sense Vegeta. If she could get a clear reading where he was, she could use Instant Transmission. It was no use, and a sense of failure filled her soul. She had no choice but to go back. Certainty, lie in the path traveled, not in the journey ahead. She would not follow the Saiyan Prince into oblivion. She turned and took a step down.

The Prince hissed sarcastically through gritted teeth and shook his fist skyward. "Gods! May the fking bleeding hearts of the Universe unite." Then he yelled down the stairs, "Grrr—SEN! DO NOT KEEP ME WAITING!"

Sen's head jerked around. "VEGETA?!" He sounded closer then she had thought.

"WHO ELSE, FOOL! NOW GET YOUR ASS UP HERE BEFORE I HAVE A CHANGE OF HEART!"

"Heart? Who's he kidding?" Sen grumbled under her breath as she spun around. "YOU SHOULD BE COMING HERE. WE NEED TO GET BACK TO YAMA."

"WE ARE, ONNA. BUT THE WHOLE DAMN UNIVERSE WILL BE DESTOYED BY THE TIME YOU GET OFF YOUR LAURELS."

"YOU ARE TAKING US TO KING YAMA?"

"KEEP WASTING TIME AND IT WILL BE ONLY I WHO WILL RETURN."

Sen sighed and commented to herself, "And I'm supposed to believe you." She didn't expect him to hear it but he did and his chortle traveled down the stairs.

"HAHAHA...YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO TRUST ME, ONNA."

"Great." Sen was grateful that her breathing had returned to normal. She began to climb with some urgency, but was careful to keep her stepping light. The warrior wished Baba would have another one of those lint covered beans. Then she added to her thought, 'That would be if I ever get to see Baba again.' The silence made Sen suspicious. "VEGETA? WHO POWERED UP?

"GOHAN."

"GOKU'S SON? HOW IS IT THAT HE OBTAINED SO MUCH STRENGTH?"

"ASK KAKAROT. LOOK WHAT DEATH DID FOR HIM."

"BUT GOHAN IS NOT DEAD."

"WHAT?!" Vegeta glared down into the darkness. What could Sen possibly know? Refusing to have a detailed conversation yelling, Vegeta backtracked to meet Sen.

"BABA SAID THAT GOHAN NEVER CHECKED IN, AND THAT GOKU WENT TO FIND HIM—Ahh!" Sen had to reverse her last step to keep from running into Vegeta.

The Prince stood two steps above her, glaring at her with his arms crossed. "Quit your yelling, onna. My Saiyan ears can barely tolerate your cantankerous voice as it is. Now tell me what else you know."

Sen frowned at him, "All I know is what Baba told Yamcha and Krillin. That Goku found out that Gohan hadn't checked in and then took off."

"Then how do you know, Kakarot went to find Gohan?"

"That's what Baba told me."

Vegeta lowered his chin in thought for a moment and then his eyes returned to Sen. "What I felt did not come from the living world. Gohan is here. Come!" Vegeta nudged his head at the stairs ahead, turned and started to climb. "Blast that Supreme Kia. If Gohan isn't dead, he soon will be."

Sen began to follow and asked, "Vegeta. Gohan's power is phenomenal. His ki signature definitely outranks Majin Buu's. If Gohan goes to Earth, Majin Buu will be history."

The Prince stopped in his tracks, causing Sen once again to back step. Vegeta clenched his fists and hissed, "They send a lamb to the wolf." He started to climb again and added, "The boy's strength is no match for this enemy." Quickening his pace, Vegeta pulled away from Sen.

Sen struggled to keep up. "Then it's up to you and Goku."

Vegeta frowned and used another metaphor, "He has used his free pass to Go. Kakarot will not return to Earth." The Prince remembered the times when Bulma would coax him into playing board games with their son. Monopoly was his favorite and he was the reigning champion. The Prince thoroughly enjoyed bankrupting them both. Then he remembered the game had disappeared and he wondered which one had hidden it. Briefly, a slight grin appeared on his face then it was gone. "What of the others?"

"If you mean Yamcha and Krillin, they went to the Grand Kia's World for training. We will be your backup."

"Humph." Sen's words gave him no comfort. Vegeta quietly rephrased his question, "What of my mate and my son?"

"Trunks is it?"

"Hai." (Yes)

"Trunks, along with Goten, and Piccolo are sealed in some time chamber."

Sen had confirmed what the globe had shown him. Angrily he asked, "Tell me something I don't know, onna. What of Bulma, my mate?"

"I know nothing of your mate, Vegeta."

"I know she's dead. I thought maybe--" Vegeta went silent. The chance for them to be reunited was slim to none. 'Onna, do you think of me in Paradise?' No matter. Somehow, he would make damn sure to improve their odds.

They pressed on with only the rhythm of their footsteps to listen to. Several times, Vegeta had to slow down to allow Sen to catch up. He knew that she was hurting. Sen was sweating and her breathing was labored. But she did not stop or complain.

The next step Vegeta took sounded hollow and he stopped. Sen came up behind, breathing heavily. "Onbin!," (Quiet!) Vegeta warned. Sen worked to suppress her panting. He tapped his foot on the last step. It sounded as though it was made of wood. Bending down he took a closer look and realized it was not a step but a wide platform. Shifting his weight to his forefoot, Vegeta stepped-up; straightening his posture as he did so. Bonk! "KUSO!," he cursed after hitting his head on the low ceiling.

Suddenly, the floor and Vegeta began to move away from Sen. Then, a bright horizontal line of light appeared in front of the Prince and began to expand vertically. Sen wondered what the HFIL Vegeta had got them into. Then mustering the energy, she blindly jump across the gap that grew between them. She ended up sliding into the hunched over Vegeta who instinctively put out his arm to stop her. "Baka!" After regaining their equilibriums, Vegeta threw caution to the wind, stepped away from Sen and began to walk towards the light.

Sen remained, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the brightness. She kept her eyes on the black silhouette of Vegeta that was soon surrounded by the light. The low ceiling ended and Vegeta's head disappeared as he stood tall. "Uh? Hahaha, Unbelievable!" then the rest of his body followed and he was gone.

Clocks – song by Coldplay

The lights go out and I can't be saved
Tides that I tried to swim against
Have brought me down upon my knees
Oh I beg, I beg and plead singing

Come out of things unsaid
Shoot an apple off my head and a
Trouble that can't be named
A tiger's waiting to be tamed singing

You are
You are

Confusion never stops
Closing walls and ticking clocks
Gonna come back and take you home
I could not stop that you now know singing

Come out upon my seas,
Cursed missed opportunities
Am I a part of the cure
Or am I part of the disease, singing

You are, you are, you are
You are, you are, you are

And nothing else compares
And nothing else compares
And nothing else compares

You are
You are

Home, home where I wanted to go
Home, home where I wanted to go
Home, home where I wanted to go
Home, home where I wanted to go