Damaged

Chapter Sixteen: Insanity

The onyx eyes of the youth were studying hers, shifting ever so slightly to and fro as he concentrated on her face and while she watched him, she could clearly see the mental turmoil he was going through. Had she said something wrong…? Somehow, strangely, she felt oddly related to this unknown character she had known for only a few weeks… How was that possible? It was as if there was some sort of connection between them… a mental link that made all her senses more acute to all his actions…

As she watched him struggle with some kind of internal skirmish her hand slowly began ascending from her side towards his face. Somehow, she wanted… no, needed to touch his slightly tanned cheeks, so mind-bogglingly familiar… Yet there seemed to be a wall, blocking the realization from dawning on her. Maybe… maybe if she touched him… then perhaps the knowledge would flow into her…?

Millimeters before his face, however, the deafening sound of a huge explosion engulfed the entire forest and a blinding light wasn't late to follow. Bulma screamed in agony as her hands flew to grasp her head by her sides, cradling her hurt ears. She gasped in pain as her eyes, even having only caught the sight of the blinding light with her periphery vision, welled up with tears of strain.

When she was able to open her eyes again, the sight she registered made her heart freeze in dread. A huge forest fire was engulfing the entire area in ferocious flames. She looked at her side only to find Rain on his feet in a battle stance, his brow sweating profusely, a troubled expression on his sharp features. She was about to ask what was going on when another, even stronger if physically possible, explosion resounded, rendering most of her senses useless for a short amount of time in which the excruciating pain was so severe she couldn't compose her mind…

Somehow, she was certain this couldn't mean anything good…

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

When the rubble settled down and the light stopped its intrusive tries to blind her even through her lids and she finally opened her cerulean orbs to the world again, taking in her surroundings cautiously. She immediately spotted the young Saiya-jin standing in what she assumed was his battle stance in front of her—she could've sworn she had seen that stance somewhere before, but she had no clue as to where—in what seemed a protective manner. What was going on there anyway? Everything was happening just… just way too fast for her to comprehend properly!

In the next instant though, none of her confusion mattered as it was discarded right away only to be replaced with the same amount of fear as an alien creature floated through the air towards the pair of them, looking utterly twisted and giving them the evil eye…

"So you have finally crawled out of your hole, your highness?" the boy taunted with a sardonic voice, his face smug with pleasure with himself. Bulma felt her eye twitch slightly at the word. Was he talking to her? Where did he know her from? Who the hell was he in the first place and why did he have to destroy such a large amount of greenery to get his message across?

The boy's cold icy coloured eyes flashed with a feral glee as he seemed to devour the two of them just by looking at them.

"It was a very cowardly thing to do, fleeing like that from our last fight. Where's your honour and pride, your majesty? Or perhaps you don't have enough of those to solidify your place as a King?" He eyed Rain with a very intimidating leer. King… was it? Did he just say king? She frowned firmly—it was official – the guy was an absolute nutcase. There were no kings around—some beasts had taken good care there weren't…

"Why, if I didn't know any better, Juunanagou, by the look in your eyes I could have though that you're actually happy, in your own perverse way, that I am not dead." The Saiya-jin looked over his shoulder at the perplexed woman behind him caring none about her nonplus but busying his mind instead with thoughts of how to get her off the battlefield before she got caught in the crossfire… or even worse… He shook his head slightly, ridding himself of such thoughts. No! He had to keep a clear mind! He could always hope that this idiot Saiya-jin in charge of her well-being would find a way to save her even if things began getting flashy…

"My, oh, my, looking away from me while I'm beginning to get serious, are you? Isn't that a bit disrespectful of you," said the creature called Juunanagou, summoning a large ki blast between his two hands, "Lord?" he roared and threw the blast at the non-suspecting Bulma, who shrieked in anguish and instinctively brought her hands in front of her in a futile attempt at a block.

Laughing cruelly to himself, the floating monster landed on the ground, enjoying himself while the smoke slowly cleared. However, when it did, the man's eyebrows narrowed dangerously when he saw his antagonist in a protective block in front of the Earth royalty.

"Th-Thank you… Ra—" Bulma began in a shaky voice but was cut across by the boy in front of her.

"I do not need your thanks, woman. Just get inside before I dispose of you myself," he stated in an alarmingly serious and intimidating voice, his jet black orbs burying into her. For an instant, she felt even greater fear than that from a moment ago grip her heart in an icy grasp. Nodding dumbly, she clambered to her feet shakily and ran back to her friends, leaving the two combatants to themselves… and an exhilarating fight ahead.

Once she was gone, Vegeta felt an eerie calm envelop his entire being. Now that all obstacles had been taken care of, he had a clear fighting field. It was ironic how in this sodden dark forest the future of the entire universe would be decided… It was such an unassuming place, with nothing becoming in it, absolutely ordinary…

"Are you done being mushy, loser? I'm starting to become irritated with your impudence, you third-rate fighter…" the teenager growled at the King under cover. Vegeta, on the other hand, only smirked in response to the younger fighter's bubbling anger. "Why, you no good…" Raising his hand higher to gather his ki in a ball above his head, Juunanagou readied another attack.

"Don't take me lightly, tin can!" The man disappeared from eye sight in an instant and reappeared not even a second later behind his assailant. "I'm stronger than the last time we fought," he hissed menacingly, pulling back his fist for a strike, "for which I humbly thank you."

He had thought he had him pinned to the wall. However, right before his fist connected with the unsuspecting head of the android, it went straight to it… and he realized that it was only an after-image that he had been seeing until then. His eyes widened with the realization… He was better now but…

"Maybe you have hurt your head when you fell, your majesty…" Juunanagou's voice whispered directly in his ear. "I think you don't realize yet that you're still no more than an insect for me to crush…"

Before the king could react, a kneecap made a painful impact with backbone, sending him hurtling towards the ground to writhe in an agonizing moment in pain at the feet of the android who only scrutinized him condescendingly.

"Hurry up and show me that Super Saiya-jin form of yours, King…" His hollow azure eyes widened with unveiled madness as he spoke. "You'll regret losing to me again if you're still in your normal power…"

"What the—? Who is that monster?" the unmistakable voice of Goku asked rhetorically as he, Krillin, Juuhachigou and Bulma showed up at the door to the mansion. "Who are you and what do you want from us?" demanded Goku defensively, taking his own battle stance. Meanwhile, Vegeta had finally managed to get into a more dignified sitting position and he was watching with horror-filled eyes as the idiots attempted to resist something that could crush them without even trying to.

"You idiots…!" he croaked out barely audibly. "Get out of here before you get yourselves killed!" He managed to yell out this time but the idiotic Saiya-jin showed no sign of obeying.

"No!" the other man exclaimed finally. "I have sworn my loyalty to Bulma Briefs and I will take any action needed to protect her!" He then changed into his Super Saiya-jin form, his hair which had been pointing in all directions now standing completely up in its full golden glory.

"Then you can die being loyal, fool," said Juunanagou, sending a pair of powerful blasts at the meddlesome Saiya-jin who was detracting the attention of his real opponent.

Goku screamed in agony as one of the blasts scorched his skin but Juuhachigou had been fast enough to deflect the other one by slapping it away to explode somewhere deeper in the forest, creating a large clearing of burning trees. Her intense azure eyes locked with her twin's matching ones, her hatred blazing into them trying to soothe her brother's angry spirit.

"Stop this insanity, Juunanagou! You said it yourself earlier that we don't need to fulfill our father's wishes! These people…" She pointed with a shaky hand at the pair of humans and Saiya-jin behind her. "These people can be the family we never had! With them we can finally find our place in society! Please, brother, stop trying to kill them!"

She waited to see if her words would have any impact on her cold-hearted but, she believed, reasonable brother but to her utter shock and horror he just laughed callously at her little speech.

"Finding our place in society, you say? Finding a place to belong, you say? Ha! Don't make me laugh, sister!" His laughter melted away and a look of burning contempt took over his sharp features. "You never really wanted this power, did you, sister? But not me! I wanted to become stronger! I wanted people to fear me; I wanted to see them run away, screaming and scurrying for their pitiful lives when they see me coming. As long as I'm here, there will be no society, on this, or any other planet! I don't need anyone else—not even you sister!" There it was again, that look of absolute insanity in his cold eyes. "As long as I can pillage and destroy everything in sight, I don't need anything else!"

There was a primordial growl behind him and he turned around to see Vegeta, in all his Super Saiya-jin glory, exude a powerful intimidating aura. There were gasps among the earthlings and Goku even managed to exclaim his King's name.

"Before you can do whatever you wish with my kingdom, you'll have to kill me, half-wit," Vegeta growled out angrily.

"How amusing…! How infinitely amusing…! So you finally decide to fight me seriously, King? About damn time, too…! I have already once nearly killed you…" The dark haired android jumped up from his spot on the moldy grass. "…And, believe me, I won't let you go a second time!"

While the two men engaged in a violent battle, Goku was droning in a panicked way on and on about something Bulma was too shocked to listen to. He was there… He was really there… Her Vegeta… Vegeta was still alive! And yet this monster attempted once again to take him from her. She wasn't angry with the King—her heart was skipping with joy at the notion that he had somehow managed to preserve his life a bit longer and to be close to her for a few more days… And now she felt this intimidating hollowness threatening to engulf her again once more. She was watching the man she loved more than her own life bet beaten to a pulp by this… by this monster! And she felt utterly helpless because they were fighting on a level that was light years ahead of her own.

She then looked at Goku with a glance of utter despair only to be met with one that resembled hers… It was as if someone had stuck a knife in her heart and was now twisting it around painfully… No matter the subject, she had known Goku to keep a clear and optimistic view on things… but if even Goku held no hope for survival then things were certain…

"Get out of here, all of you earthlings! You'll just be in the way!" Juuhachigou barked her order at them only to have the Saiya-jin guardian narrow his eyes at her.

"Weren't you the one who was helping that demon with his work earlier?" he asked dubiously, still crouching in his battle stance.

"She saved your life earlier, didn't she?" Krillin snapped a bit too harshly at his close friend, making him look at him weirdly, taken aback by the quickness of the bald short man's response. "Juuhachigou… What are you planning to do once we're gone?"

"I'm not helping my idiotic brother assassinate that jackass friend of yours, if that's what you're asking," she growled out coolly, but Krillin shook his head.

"You're not planning on sacrificing yourself for this, are you?" the short man continued prodding on. He just got a slightly disbelieving—and sad?—look from his recently found friend and a short reply,

"As if I would do such a thing…!" Her gaze then became stern again as she looked at all of them. "Now go! You only serve as a distraction here!"

"Even if we run, how far do you think we'll go before your brother finds us?" Bulma interjected, making the other woman look away. "If you help Vegeta, maybe we can manage to get out of this alive—"

"You don't get it, do you princess?" The blonde android cut her short. The Queen had to submerge the initial urge to correct her remark, reminding herself that even if the woman was temporarily on their side, she was still a killing machine just like that brother of hers who was still fighting furiously with Vegeta just a few feet ahead of them. "No one will get out of this alive, no matter how many of us jump at him at once. I might be strong but he's the one who was created for annihilating races and galaxies! I was only taken too because I was there and because he refused to be turned into an android if I didn't come with him."

"So… you were turned into this against your will…?" Bulma asked in a maddeningly sad tone of voice. The other female's eyes narrowed dangerously once again.

"Don't look at me with that pitiful expression on your pretty little face. My brother was the only person who I had then and I couldn't let him go. But now I don't have such idiotic things like emotions—I threw them away the moment I decided that I would become an android myself and conquer worlds alongside my brother."

"If what you're saying is true, then why are you siding with us now?" Bulma smiled warmly at the cyborg girl, making her flinch back, as if she had been stung by her question. Instinctively, without even realizing what she was doing, her eyes averted to glance for an evanescent instant at Krillin, who looked equally surprised. Bulma's expression softened even more. "You and Vegeta are so alike… So proud and stubborn in beliefs that weren't even yours to begin with… I'm glad that at least you realized where your loyalties lay, Juuhachigou."

After she said that, the group was startled by the raw yell of pain that the android released and all their eyes pinned to the combatants. They found the pair in a very awkward situation—Vegeta's fangs were sunk in the younger man's neck, drawing blood, while the other fighter attempted with all he had to take off the savage Saiya-jin off himself. He finally managed to catch the King by the back of his shirt and threw him violently off, sending him on the ground right in front of the bedazzled group of people.

"Did you not hear me when I told you? Get out of here!" the Saiya-jin ruler roared.

"We're staying here to help you fight that boasting monster!" Goku said decisively. The other Saiya-jin did not veil his surprise as his eye brows rose.

"What did you say…?"

In the next moment, however, the King drew up his hand over his head from his lying position, drawing his fingers together and bending only his thumb, readying his Big Bang Attack while Goku positioned himself for his trademark Kame Hame-Ha. When Juunanagou came in flying at the two of them, they both fired their attacks, sending their opponent backwards.

"They're doing it! They're actually doing it!" Krillin yelled excitedly at Bulma, whose eyes lit up with hope as she looked at the excited Krillin.

"No, not really…" Juuhachigou muttered darkly, readying herself as well.

"You annoying poisonous insects…" mumbled the enraged Juunanagou who flew out from the still evaporating smoke, pinning Goku to the ground and sending series upon series of punches at him until he could barely hold his Super Saiya-jin state.

"Let him go!" Bulma cried in anguish, drawing the mad man's attention to herself. When he saw the face she was giving him, he bared his teeth in a wide evil grin at her, scaring her soul.

"Solar Flare!" cried Krillin before the bastard could get any weird ideas about harming his Queen. In an instant, Juunanagou rolled off of Goku, clutching his hands to his eyes as he screamed in agony. Juuhachigou blinked with a stunned expression on her face before glancing at the bald man curiously—she had never known he knew such strong—not to mention efficient—attacks! Running to retrieve his unconscious friend, Krillin shook his long-time friend gently, trying to revive him. "Goku! Goku! Get a grip on yourself, man! Wake up! We need you!"

"What you need is to be taught a lesson!" Juunanagou roared as he launched a thin blast from his index finger. Juuhachigou and Bulma both shrieked at Krillin to watch out and dodge it but they were both too late… The blast reached its target—the bald man's heart—and killed him instantly. He didn't writhe in agony; he didn't move a muscle more… His dead body just collapsed backwards on the ground, the last breath of life escaping his carcass…

His widely open eyes still had the shock and terror written in them as they stared up at the cloudy sky above which was hardly visible owing to the thick greenery around. Juuhachigou watched with horror filled eyes as the man who she cared most for among the earthlings she had become quite fond of fall… The ghosts of tears pushed in her eyes, begging to be released, but instead she let an enraged yell escape her mouth as she flew in to avenge her loss and pay her brother back for it.

Left behind were the unconscious bloodied Goku and the powerless Queen who yelled desperately after the woman not to go. She had seen enough death in her life. She had seen enough of destruction and her innocent eyes had feasted enough upon the sight of scorched wreckage. She didn't want to see any more of it—she didn't want to see any more of the people whom she cared for die at the hands of insane megalomaniacs who had nothing better to do than to disrupt her peaceful living. Did fate have no mercy for her wretched soul? Had she not seen enough pain to last a life time? Was she not cracked up enough? Was there some lesson to be learnt from all of this? Why did all this happen to her and the people around her? Why, for goodness' sake?

After a short but powerful skirmish, the exhausted unconscious female android fell as well. Gasping for breath, but still on his feet, the evil twin grinned at his last powerless prey, advancing threateningly towards her with a maddening perverse look in his eyes. Crawling backwards in attempted retreat, Bulma couldn't help a shriek as she watched with tear-filled eyes the murderer of her friends, the destroyer of her world, close the gap between them. She did the only thing that jumped to mind and screamed for the only person she believed could help her,

"Vegeta!"

She figured doing so was mistake because it resulted in him backhanding her, sending her skidding across the wet grass, moaning in pain as she tried to sit up.

"Vegeta…! Please…help—Ah!" She shrieked loudly in pain as her attacker caught her by the neck and raised her above her feet, suffocating her slowly but surely.

"I'm sorry gorgeous, but that pretty little neck of yours doesn't suit my fancy in one piece!" he declared and tightened his grip on her. Bulma felt her consciousness slipping her to be replaced by soul-scaring darkness. She tried to breathe but the amount that was filling her lungs and fed to her brain was insufficient for her to keep her eyes open. She was done for… She was dying…

…And she hadn't even managed to tell Vegeta that she didn't really hate him, that it was blatant lie and about it… she had been so happy…

Then she fell limp in the arms of her killer, ceasing all sort of resistance…

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

In the meantime, Vegeta just stared helplessly into nothingness, thinking how oddly familiar this whole situation was. He was desperate, weak and… scared… Memories came back to him, flooding and haunting him… Memories of how his people had been mercilessly slaughtered by his tormentor for years, the damn Frieza…

He remembered how he had just stayed there, staring vacuously while his father was killed by the hands of that molester… He remembered what a coward he had been there, too scared for his own life to do what his pride called. For once, he had ignored his pride in his desperate will to survive. He recalled how pathetic he had been, watching idly as his father had been ruthlessly slaughtered, right in front of his eyes. True, his father had been a dysfunctional parental figure but he had been the only family the young Prince had had his entire life… and he hadn't lifted a finger when that monster had taken his life…

He recalled what a coward he had been when he had finished Frieza, fleeing from the woman that had stirred weird, disturbing emotion in him that he had never before felt… He remembered how irritated and furious he had been with himself the entire five years he had spent away from her, thinking how that unworthy scar-faced idiot would have her beneath him at night, how he'd have her sleeping peacefully next to him on their bed, and how he'd have her cheerful laugh and spirit-soothing smile all to himself… and it enraged him beyond belief every time! And yet he did nothing to correct his mistake—he kept his distance all that time, thinking that she would only get in his way, that she would only pull him back from reaching his goals, and that she would restrict him from being what he was and from what he wanted to be…!

But was it really like that? Was she really just an obstacle? Was she really that unnecessary? If so, why did looking at that monster choking her sting so bad? Wouldn't it be better if she had just died along with her planet never to be revived again? Wouldn't that make all her anger and anguish disappear? However logical it was for him to be pleased from the fact she was no more, the notion didn't sit well with him at all. His blood boiled in his veins and it angered him even more that he could do nothing to help her. Because he was weak, another person would die on his behalf. Because he was weak, the only woman who ever cared enough to grow fond of him enough to get to know him and love him even despite all his weird traits and bad qualities would die a gruesome and pathetic death by the hands of a pitiful machine, something a human created!

He was so ashamed of himself… He was so pissed with himself…! Why, why couldn't he ever protect those around him when he needed to? Why could he never be strong enough to prevent the monsters from taking away those around him? Why did he have to be such a coward…?

It's because you're still denying it. It's because you still refuse to realize it.

He hated that annoying little voice in the back of his head that always chose the most inadequate moments to butt in. He didn't understand what it meant and at the same time he was fully conscious of its words… it was just that he was, indeed, still dodging the idea, still refusing to admit it even to himself.

But it was so because that was such a weak emotion, a feeling unworthy of a Saiya-jin ruler. A Saiya-jin King did not need to know that kind of pitiful thing in order to become a good leader or a great man! A woman was not even necessary for a Saiya-jin King!

But you desperately want to save her, don't you?

Fucking god, he did! He wanted, for once, to do something for her. He wanted, for once, to be strong enough, mature enough, to save her, the way she had saved him all those years ago. He had gone to her planet, full of hatred and fury, knowing only the thrill of the fight, but she had shown him a world that was far more beautiful and becoming than his own. She had cast light upon his clouded and sorrow-filled heart; she had cleared his mind and opened it to experiences entirely different than his life on Frieza's ship.

Without even knowing it, back then, she had rescued him from the complete darkness of his pitch black inner world… She had taught him that there were other kinds of emotions than those he had been taught his entire life, by both his parents and Frieza, who had taken him under his "protective wing" or at least that had been his pretense for corrupting his wretched soul even more…

Now it was his turn…

Actually he had probably never managed to grow up from that moment when he was fourteen and had first met her… that innocent nine-year-old princess who had spunk and spirit to envy on a ship full of twisted fucks… She had been a ray of light in an accursed land without even realizing it. She had cast light upon that little boy he had been back then without even knowing it… and he had preserved that vision of them, always resorting to it when he didn't know what to do anymore…

…But now the time had come to look away from it and take a firm glance at reality. He was a fully grown man now and still he fled taking responsibility for what happened around him. He still looked for others to do his job, he still prayed in his damned soul for help when he had to have firm belief in himself…

Kakarot, Baldie, Bulma and even that cyborg woman, they had all fallen in the fight in order to protect him… because they all believed in him… And how was he thanking him? He closed his eyes to their pain, trying to escape the painful reality, refusing to believe that everything was happening… refusing to believe in himself as strongly as they did… because he was such a coward… It was a vicious circle he would never escape…

And now it was his time… It was his time to show that he was no longer a cowardly child, hiding behind the skirts of a weak earthling woman. If his emotions were making him weak, then he would not throw them away like he had attempted five years ago. If his feelings towards the frail earth female make him weak, he would turn them into his strongest point. If he had no belief in himself, he would rely on her belief for him. If he lost himself along the way, he would search for the pureness of her soul and find himself again…

Even if he wasn't mature yet, he would still fight to his dying breath…!

Picking himself from the ground, Vegeta cracked an insane grin.

"Does it give you some perverse pleasure torturing defenseless women, you low-life?" the King asked in an eerie voice that sounded alien to him. It was a voice consumed by the madness that raged in his chest, the primordial madness that he was restricting with his will to survive.

"What did you just say?" Juunanagou hissed and turned around with narrow eyes, but once he glanced at the form of the Saiya-jin King he froze on the spot, letting the fainted woman in his hand collapse in a boneless heap on the ground.

Vegeta bared his fangs further, raising his head to lock his teal eyes with the azure ones of his antagonist. When he saw the look in them, his fear dissipated immediately, turning into mad excitement and exhilaration at the thought of their fight. He did not fear for his life any longer—he knew he wouldn't die. No, he would not die without taking the dirty little bastard with him to the pits of Hell…

And, as the last of his reason evaporated from the depths of his sick mind, Vegeta set his insanity loose, letting its promising arousing warmth engulf his entire being and do with him as it damn well pleased…

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

AN: I've got no excuse for prolonging this update this long. I'm truly sorry! I didn't want to rush it! Although I think it could've been better (it always can), I am very much pleased with this chapter. I hope that you still don't hate me enough to not even acknowledge the update… um… yeah…

There are only two or so chapters left to this story, so I hope that at least one of you will stick along long enough to find out how the "Inevitability" and "Incapability" conclude…

See you again soon! Yours sincerely,

Dark Hope Assassin.