Chapter 10 – Blood

Vegeta's outside meditating, trying to clear his mind. Needless to say, he does not succeed. He can't believe he actually told Kakarot that he's attracted to him, it's ridiculous. His mind drifts back to their first fight on Chikyuu; he can still remember his intentions with that insolent low class Saiyan…

"It seems I have a job opening for you, Kakarot. How do you feel about joining me? We'd be masters of the universe, no one could touch us."

"Are you kidding me? I have seen what you did to Nappa! That's not what I call job security. And by the way, I have all I've ever wanted here on Chikyuu. All I need is my family."

"Have it your way, Kakarot. I'll send them a message to make preparations for your funeral!"

Vegeta stared at Goku coldly and dared him to attack. Goku, surprised at himself, fell for it and lunged at Vegeta.

'I understand now why he rejected me,' Vegeta thinks. 'A submissive Saiyan would have followed me… All Kakarot ever wanted was to fight me and beat me. He couldn't do it alone though, he needed help from that bald baka and his son. And I still want to kill that coward Yajirobe for cutting off my tail! But right after they defeated me… he let me go. He spared my life… Any other Saiyan, especially a dominant one, would have killed me to save his honor. What about Kakarot's honor? He sure has his pride, but he's not the cold-hearted killer I expected him to be.'

Vegeta sighs. 'Still I wish he had joined me so we could have defeated Frieza side by side.' With the warmth of the sun on his chest, Vegeta dozes off to sleep.

In the middle of his sleep, Vegeta suddenly hears a voice telling him to wake up. He opens his eyes and sees Kakarot standing in front of him. Alarm bells start to go off inside his head as he notices the sun has set long ago. The sky has turned dark and the full moon shines with silver light.

"Kuso!" Vegeta curses and jumps into a fighting stance, expecting Goku to attack any second.

"Tell me… Vegeta…" Kakarot's voice sounds strained, as if he's carrying the whole planet on his shoulders. "… that you… never wanted… me…"

Vegeta gasps for breath as the dark form of Goku approaches him. His heart pounds inside his chest and he shivers with fear.

"Then… I'll leave you… alone…" Goku steps out of the shadows, revealing himself with torn clothes and bloodshot eyes. Vegeta can tell he's still trying to fight off the call of his instincts.

"You know the answer to that, Kakarot," Vegeta whispers, scared half to death. "I gave myself away yesterday when I told you how I feel about you."

"I can't… hold on… much longer, Vegeta… I want you to know… this will cause me… as much pain… as it will cause you… Therefore… I can't kill you… without putting… my own life… at stake…"

Vegeta feels Goku's presence inside his mind as their souls connect. He's got no way out of this.

Don't fight it Vegeta, he hears Goku say inside his head. Trust me.

Tears run down Vegeta's face as he whispers: "I can't… trust you… Kakarot… You're no different than any of them! All you want… is to master me… to break me…"

That's a lie, Goku states calmly. I want to protect you, Vegeta, and the only way to do that is to get through this so we can finally be together.

"I will not submit to you, Kakarot! My nature forbids it!"

That, my Prince, is of no relevance to the matter. Goku steps forward and grabs Vegeta by the throat, crushing their lips together.

In that case, Kakarot, prepare yourself to fight. Vegeta powers up and frees himself of Goku's iron grip. I will die before I let this happen again.

You can't beat me, Vegeta and you know it. Goku starts powering up as well.

Guess I'm finally fighting for the right reason then.

They fly towards each other. Lightning strikes when the two warriors collide.

The sun rises over a blood soaked field. Goku slowly opens his eyes, grimacing at the pain he feels. He can barely move…Then he notices the blood. It's everywhere, just like in a bad horror movie. He can smell that a lot of it is his own, but the other part definitely belongs to Vegeta.

"Vegeta…" he croaks groggily. Then it hits him like a hammer. He remembers what happened here last night. Tears well up in his eyes as he sits up and looks around for the Saiyan Prince.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The mountains crumble at Goku's heart-broken scream of agony as he sees what is left of Vegeta. He can barely recognize him anymore… He scoops up Vegeta's limp body and cries.

"Kill you? Why?"

Goku stands before Frieza in Hell, the blood of Vegeta still on his body. He used Instant Transmission to get there.

"Because I tell you to, you moron," Goku growls. "Can't you see? You've won, even though you're dead."

"Whatever, monkey." Frieza charges an energy blast and fires it at Goku. It hits him straight in the chest. Goku falls to the ground and his body fades away.

"About time you killed him, Frieza," a dark form chuckles from the shadows.

"Shut up! I know he killed me, do you have to keep rubbing it in?"

"I can't help it, you're so much fun when you get pissed off like that… otousan."