Chapter 19 – Final battle

'Radditz, get out of here! You know you're no match for him!' Vegeta desperately tries to convince Radditz, but he won't give in.

'I don't give a damn, Vegeta. I'm sworn to protect you, I won't let you die at the hands of this monster.'

'I won't be able to concentrate when you're here!'

'I'm not a child anymore Vegeta, and neither are you. Don't worry about me, I'll take care of myself.'

Vegeta growls in the back of his throat.

'What is it with people giving me commands these days?'

Mirai comes out of the cabin, drawing his sword and positioning himself next to Prince Vegeta.

'What is it with me these days? Why is everyone after my ass?' Mirai asks in reply to Vegeta's question.

'I wouldn't know,' Radditz remarks. 'Must be the exotic hair color.'

'Ugh. Whatever. Vegeta, you know the king better than anyone. How are we going to defeat him?'

'To be honest, I don't have a fucking clue. I thought we got rid of him the last time we defeated him.'

Mirai Trunks gasps in surprise. "Are you shitting me? You don't know how?"

"All I know is that we're going to try."

"If you die today…"

"There will be no tomorrow. I know."

King Vegeta stretches out his hands. "I'm tired of all this talk. Let's play!"

Shadows all around. A voice commanding him to obey. Red blood…

'Snap out of it, all of you. Don't let him get to you, he's trying to control you.'

Vegeta's guiding voice reassures them, gives them hope.

Toorah opens his eyes again. The prince and the king are standing opposite each other, hands clenched together, fangs bared. A wordless battle is fought between them.

"A foolish thing to do, brat. You shouldn't even come near me! I can squeeze the life out of you, just like last time we met…"

The prince screams as the king reminds him of their last encounter. Mirai lunges at the king and swings his sword down.

'Gotcha.' The voice of the king echoes inside his mind as he looks down on the dying form of the prince, choking on his own blood.

"N… nani?"

'Don't worry, Trunks, I'm fine. He's playing tricks on you.'

'But it feels…'

'Real? Reality has many faces.'

'Where are you?'

'Right beside you. Try to stay calm.'

"This is annoying," King Vegeta decides. "It's Vegeta I want, and the little bitch. As for the rest of you…"

He speaks words in ancient Saiya-go and Mirai feels the ground dissolve under his feet.

'What's happening?'

'He's isolating us from the others, to make us nervous. Stay calm.'

They reappear in a foggy world, their surroundings are grey.

"All mine…" They can't see the king, but they can sense his presence all around them.

"Now who comes first? The brat, or the bitch?"

A cold breeze sweeps past them.

Mirai feels drops of sweat form on his brow. He isn't used to this kind of battle. For Kami's sake, he isn't a mastermind! He isn't skilled in the battle of the mind at all. Tears well up in his eyes as he starts to feel powerless.

'Trunks?'

He swiftly wipes away the upcoming tears. 'Nothing. I just wish I was more skilled in mind battles.'

Suddenly, Vegeta is cast away into a rock wall. The moment Mirai turns around, he too is hit and plummets into a pile of rocks.

'I can't see him!' he cries mentally to Vegeta.

'There's more than one way to see,' Vegeta offers wisely.

'How?'

'You have to do that yourself, Trunks. I can only show you the way.'

Fear overwhelms Mirai Trunks as the voice of Vegeta fades away. His breathing becomes ragged.

'Don't panic, don't panic,' he repeats to himself. He forces his breathing back to normal and closes his eyes.

The king is right next to him. How the hell he is able to see him now, Mirai hasn't got a clue. But there he is, standing out perfectly clear.

The king chuckles softly.

"Very impressive, little bitch. But now what will you do?"

"I know… I'm not supposed to fight you physically," Mirai says, hesitating slightly.

"Do you know or do you think you know?"

"I know." Mirai's eyes become brighter as he looks at his opponent.

"I also know I'm sick and tired of listening to your BULLSHIT!" Mirai's eyes become black orbs now and he lunges himself at the king, sword first. The king is unable to block the attack, but whirls around in a reflex movement. The sword doesn't do a lot of damage and hits the ground.

"What's this? Guided by a mastermind?"

The king raises his hands and speaks a phrase in ancient Saiya-go again. Mirai is hit with a tremendous force and is unable to get up afterwards. Some power is holding him down fiercely.

"I already anticipated that the brat would back you up," the king says while threateningly approaching Mirai. "You should have learned by now that I am not that easy to defeat."

Mirai lifts his fingers to his forehead and fazes out. He reappears behind the king and hisses: "Neither am I."

In a fluid movement, he grabs the king's arm and swings him into a pile of rocks. He leaps forward to regain his sword… but the king is already there, waiting for him.

The world seems to move in slow motion as Mirai runs up a wall and jumps over the king. He pushes away from the opposite wall and crashes into King Vegeta, grabbing the hand that holds his sword.

"That belongs to me," he snarls.

"You've got the world mixed up, bitch. You belong to me, and so does everything you own." King Vegeta's eyes glow red and Mirai backs away.

'He wouldn't…'

"Oh yes he would," the king replies before transforming into Trans-Oozaru.

"Mine," the beast grunts.

'Screw this.' Mirai closes his eyes and pictures the full Chikyuu moon. His blood boils as he opens his eyes… as a Trans-Oozaru.

"Huh?" the beast Vegeta grunts in surprise.

"Let me tell you a little secret: since the prince and I achieved a devil's bond, I can become Trans-Oozaru at will. And since your transformation is only imaginary, I will defeat you in this form."

The beast Vegeta growls at him and attacks.

Grunts and yelps echo through the wastelands as the king and his grandson fight each other.

Claws are everywhere. He can't run from them. He feels how they tear away his skin, his flesh and consequently hit the bones underneath. It hurts… Kami it hurts…

Mirai wakes up screaming, waving his arms around and kicking the covers away.

"Trunks, relax. You're safe now."

It takes him several seconds to recognize Goku's face.

"Goku?"

"I'm here. You're safe now. The king is gone."

"Forever?"

"He won't be back."

Mirai looks around as if he expects the king to barge in on them. After a few moments, he calms down.

"Where is Vegeta?"

"Resting as well."

Mirai sits up and closes his eyes. Then he glares at Goku.

"I can't sense him."

"He's asleep."

"You're lying!"

The vision fades away. He hears Goku laughing at him. The claws are back again, skinning him alive. A furry tail swings by and he grabs it, causing the beast Vegeta to yelp in pain. He crawls on top of the royal beast and brings down his deadly jaws to deliver the final bite to the king's exposed throat.

"Trunks?"

Toorah's soothing voice hits his ears.

"Are you awake?"

Mirai shifts and grunts in pain. He feels bandages cover his body. This seems very familiar.

"Man, Trans-Oozaru fights suck. I don't care whether that's blasphemy in the Saiyan world."

"He damaged you good," Toorah smiles. "But I'll enjoy nursing you back to health."

"Last time we were together you didn't seem too concerned about my physical health," Mirai chuckles.

"I knew you could handle it."

"Handle what?" Mirai looks at Toorah expectantly, waiting for an answer.

The vision fades away. 'How long can you keep this up, Vegeta?' Mirai grunts into the king's mind. 'I won't let you win. You might as well save yourself the trouble.'

The king retorts with a vicious attack, pinning the beast Trunks down to the ground.

"Unh!"

"That's it, scream for me, little bitch. Just like you used to do."

The beast Trunks turns its head and snarls at the Trans-Oozaru on top of him.

"In… your… dreams."

The world moves in slow motion again. Mirai pulls up his knee and throws the king off of him. He jumps up and goes after him, chasing him like the prey he is. He charges up a ki blast and fires repeatedly at the king.

'Die, you son of a bitch.'

Mirai falls back into his body again. He recognizes Toorah and Radditz, their faces grimacing in horror. He looks at his own bloody hands and then down onto the remains of his mate.

King Vegeta fooled them all.