Sepis got to his feet, hardly believing he could walk again, Vegeta's kai flowing through him. He looked at Vegeta, whose back was fully turned now and ready to fight again. He saw the mauve flames in his eyes slowly grow and he gasped with hope. The bond! The bond had been fully reestablished. Yes, that too, was what Goku would want. It seemed he had managed to do some good after all. And…he was going to live! Impossible beautiful miracles, he wasn't going to die! He looked between Vegeta and the monster who had invaded their fleet once more, steeling himself. But Vegeta was right, he had better leave immediately. If he stayed and watched the fight any further, he'd just be a liability. Side-stepping, he hurried toward the gaping hole that was the monitoring station's current exit.
A yellow beam exploded in front of his feet and Sepis squealed, covering his head. Un Goku glared at him, arm outstretched and palm flat. "Sorry, Sepis, but I have no reason to let you leave," he stated coldly, "In fact, now that you're gonna keep breathing for a while, I'd rather keep you around. After all, there's still some blood left in that body of yours and I really like the idea of having a perfect copy of you." Sepis's eyes grew with horror.
"Well that's too bad," Vegeta interjected. Sepis's eyes drifted to the true Saiyan as he came to stand several paces behind the imposter. "Because I told him to go."
Un Goku laughed mockingly, turning slightly. "I'm sorry, did I do something to make you think you were in control?"
"Don't question me, freak," Vegeta scowled, his brow flat and hard, "I say the Arlian goes. So you can just wait until he's gone before having the privilege of fighting me again." The mauve flames above his eyes flared.
"What's this?" Un Goku cocked his head, "Trying to put on some princely airs? How annoying." His outstretched palm lit with energy again. "In that case, I think I'll just blow the bug away – since he's such a distraction!"
Sepis squealed and covered his face as there was a flash, but the next second he was clear across the room, his back plate rudely clenched in Vegeta's fist. "I said the bug lives," he stated.
"Oh this is embarrassing," Un Goku complained, shoving a hand into his thick, black hair, "You and I both know that that thing is a whimpering wimp. A pathetic whelp. You giving him your energy was sickening enough. Now you're out to play nursemaid for him?"
Vegeta grew a dark grin that made Un Goku almost a little frightened. "No…" He turned his back on him, but look over his shoulder as he held Sepis like a bag at his side. He gave a mocking grunt. "It just occurred to me a moment ago just how far the gap is between us. The only thing that makes you even slightly worth my time is because of what you did to Kakarot." He held Sepis up. "So I'm getting the Arlian out of the way to make things even less laughable than they already are. You can sit here and wait for me to return and finish you." The flames about his eyes intensified.
Un Goku's face contorted with confusion and irritation. "You can't be serious!" he cried. He stepped forward. "What is this? Is this that damn Gregorik influencing you again?"
Vegeta's teeth shone and he laughed. "Not at all," he assured, "He's merely agreeing with my actions right now. And on my opinion of you." He laughed again.
"No, wait!" Sepis piped, squirming, "You can't leave him alone with the core! He has my knowledge! My codes! Everything!"
"Oh don't worry," Vegeta smoothly remarked, "He'd have to transform to do that. And without Kakarot's speed, I'll be back before he can sneeze." He laughed. "And Kakarot wouldn't know a bolt from a wire." He turned again. "The sad truth is, Un…when it comes down to it, your strength is nothing but a bunch of parlor tricks." He started to walk away. "And don't try to run. I hate chasing my quarry and I still intend to kill you."
"Run?!" Un Goku shouted after him as he continued to carry Sepis away, "Me? Run from you?! Now that is a joke!" He stared as Vegeta kept walking. "Who the hell do you think you are?! You can't just walk away from me!" His eyes narrowed as Vegeta didn't turn and braced his boots against the floor. "Oh you've made a mistake. I'll teach you to ignore me, filthy Saiyan!"
Vegeta felt the air pulse as Un Goku leapt at him, his teeth flashing a wicked grin. In that fraction of a second as his foe flew at his back, he dropped Sepis and clenched that hand into a fist. Gold flashed up his hair for the briefest breath, energy sparked like lightning around him It was all too fast for his foe to see it as he spun, his knuckles connecting with the center of Un Goku's chest. The mauve flames flashed, his power reaching maximum peak at the exact precise moment. Un Goku's face turned from anger to horror as his body buckled.
Sepis and Vegeta recoiled as suddenly they were both covered in grey slime, spattering against them, the walls, and dripping onto the floor. Sepis blinked as it dripped down his antennae, staring at it sticky on his hands. "Wha…did you…did you kill him?" Vegeta flicked his hand twice with disgust, trying to dislodge the slime and then inspected it in his palm. Sepis peeked over his shoulder. "Is…is that what's left of him?"
Vegeta's eyes shifted back to the Arlian. "Why are you still here?" he barked. Sepis squeaked and bolted from him, disappearing down the hall. Vegeta held up his other hand and watched the slime drip from it, shaking his arm again and then sweeping his both hands over his slime-covered chest. His eyes shifted forward at last, spotting an entire trail of slime exploding forward from the impact zone. He stepped forward, several paces, Oom'Bagu sending signals of caution and he agreeing with the assessment. As much as he'd like to believe he'd just obliterated the monster, previous experience had taught him not to take such things at face value.
Still…he sensed nothing. The slime clung to his boots as he walked and he continually paused to shake it off and growl before continuing on again. Finally, he found something. Vegeta stooped, grasping the corner of the black unitard, the other articles scattered nearby. They were empty – and the unitard had shrunk to an incredibly small size, like it were made for an infant. He sniffed them lightly, his eyes intent as they shifted about. He scooped some of the slime out of his hair and looked at it again.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" he demanded, "Going to reform or not?" The slime didn't move or give any sign of life. Vegeta growled and flicked it onto the floor. If that was the end of it, it was a very dissatisfying end. That monster hadn't suffered nearly enough to pay for his crimes.
But just as he thought this he heard a very distinct sound. It was a moan, but not an ordinary moan. The voice that produced this moan was small, high pitched and almost fuzzy in texture – light, pretty, and cute like the cooing of a baby. Vegeta paused and carefully moved towards the sound, his brow tight. The splatter trail of slime came to an end and several paces further he spotted a crater in the high wall. Vegeta eyed it for a moment before floating up to it, watching as sparks flew from severed wires.
The sound came again from the recess. "Eeeeeeuuuueehhh…" purred the cutesy moan. Still, he sensed nothing. Vegeta flew in closer, narrowing his eyes until he suddenly jerked back. A pair of big, white, fluffy ears popped up, stretching painfully.
"Uh…!" Vegeta stared, his face wrinkled with confusion and shock.
A tiny, tiny creature, no bigger than an infant crawled to the edge of the enclosure. It was…a rabbit – a little, soft, fluffy white bunny person with long ears a head that was big for its body size, tiny paw-like hands, and comically large feet. All in all, it was a perfect picture of adorability and innocence, save for the pair of fangs that extended from its upper lip and the black orbs with glowing red pits that surfaced under its dizzily blinking lids. Vegeta just watched as the thing teetered and fell out of the crater, tumbling and bouncing across the floor below.
"Oooh…God," squeaked the tiny thing. It rolled onto its enormous feet, clapping its hands to the side of its head and shaking itself out. Vegeta landed in front of it and the critter glared up at the tiny man who towered over it. "You!" it piped, jabbing a fuzzy finger up at him, "You knocked me right out of my body!" It looked down, touching the finger to its chin now. "I don't think anybody's ever done that before. I didn't even know that was possible!"
"Uh," Vegeta continued to stare for several seconds longer, blinking twice. The moment finally passed and he reeled, about busting a gut laughing. "This is your true form?!" he howled, laughing boisterously, "It's too perfect! There's no way this could be just another of your forms! AH-HAHAHAHAHA!" The fur under Un's eyes turned pink with embarrassment, folding her little arms as she glared away from him. Suddenly, he picked her up by the ears. "I just decided not to kill you after all," he laughed, poking her in her little, pink nose, "Instead, I think I'll just take you home to my son as a pet. And if he doesn't take a liking to you, I'll give you to the baby instead as a sparring partner! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!—Put me down right now!" Un flailed and kicked angrily, "What exactly is wrong with my body?!—This isn't a joke, you know!"
Vegeta suddenly stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes. "Isn't it?" he scowled. His fist tightened around her ears as he brought the bunny creature closer to his face. "Is this really all you have to offer? Or is your power actually so small that I can't even feel it?"
No, that fact hadn't changed. He may have found what happened to Un, but he still sensed nothing, not even a glimmer of energy, which troubled him greatly. Even when someone was suppressing their energy, there was still something to be sensed. But this little monster didn't feel like anything. She was complete, empty void. Invisible but for his other senses.
Un watched him with those glowing red pits as he scowled with frustration and she tittered sweetly. "Oh Vegeta," that high, bizarre voice purred, "You of all people should know better than to judge someone by their size."
"Hm?" Vegeta grunted as she suddenly clenched up, her fangs gritted as she shut her eyes. His eyes widened as multiple colors of energy sparked around her.
"Hiiiiii…HEEYAAAAAAAAAA!
"HA!" Vegeta cried, dropping her as those sparks condensed into a grey fog and exploded in a blaze of murky black kai that burned around her like lazy, hungry flames. His senses were struck by an entire universe of energies, too numerous to count all existing at once in one tiny being. He screamed as his head thrummed with this overwhelming sensation, his fingers digging up into his hair and shaking viciously.
(**Scene Break**)
"Aaaah-AAAAHHH!" the justiciars screamed, holding their heads and writhing.
"What the hell is that?!" Laswe cried, falling to the floor and his wings buzzing.
Oom'Bagu fell out of his chair, bracing an arm against the floor. "Must…concentrate…"
"So many energy signatures…!" Nevrrest hissed, the talons of one hand digging into the wall, "Contained in one spot!"
"I…I can feel Goku's in there!" Horkion panted, "It's the strongest of them all!"
"What the hell is it?!" Laswe cried again.
Misado wavered, pausing for the first time in its labors against the door, acid dripping from its flowers. "Evil…"
(**Scene Break**)
All at once it stopped. And there was absolutely nothing. "Hmph," Un wickedly smiled, briefly folding her arms before skipping off on her giant, fluffy feet, "Lalalalaaa."
"Ha…ha…ha…" Vegeta panted, still holding his head as he regained himself, looking off after the tiny creature. His brow fell, gritting his teeth. "You're a monster," he stated angrily.
"Eh-hehehehehehehe!" Un squeakily and darkly giggled, plopping her little rump on the deck amidst the slime. She grasped the edge of her tiny unitard off the ground and glanced back at him slyly. "But of course I am," she assured, "All this time you've been looking down on me. But the truth is? Only a monster like me could put an end to Kakarot." Vegeta said nothing, only glared darkly as continued to sing to herself, tipping her head about and swaying her long ears as she slipped her feet into the unitard. "Ah, clothing, such a bother," she remarked as she wriggled down into it, "I hate you creatures that have to wear them – with all your little…parts hanging out." Vegeta growled, but paused as his boot knocked against something. "I don't even have them myself. So it if weren't for all you sort I wouldn't have to wear this thing." Her ears perked as Vegeta started to chuckle. "You find that funny?" she remarked with curiosity, looking over her shoulder at him, "Ehehe, I didn't think you were to sort…to…"
She froze as she saw the item in his hand – the glimmer of gold and mauve gem clasped firmly at his side. Un immediately slapped her hands about her scrawny neck and shrieked with horror. "My fusion band!" she screamed, leaping into the air, "It must have come off when you destroyed my sub-body—GIMME THAT!" She bounded at him wildly, but Vegeta just cackled, backhanding her out of the air and sending her bouncing across the floor.
"Oh I don't think so," he assured, holding it up. He walked over to the fissure in the wall where his final flash had impacted, looking down into the darkness resolutely. "I think it's time I finally found what you're really made of." He tossed it.
"DA!" Un piped, bolting after it as it fell from his hand and disappeared clattering down into maintenance. Un bared her fangs and growled, gripping the edge of the scorched paneling. She slowly turned her head icily up at Vegeta. "You…" she hissed. She bounded up on his shoulder and screamed into his ear. "HOW DARE YOU DO THAT, YOU STUPID MONKEY?! DO YOU REALIZE HOW HARD IT'S GONNA BE TO FIND IT DOWN THERE?!"
Vegeta chuckled and grinned, not even looking at her as his hair settled down from the gust of her shout. "Oh I can imagine," he assured. He shoved a finger sideways against her forehead, pushing her until she fell onto the floor again, bouncing like a squeaky toy. He turned at last, his eyes very dark. "The real question is…do you have any idea how much pain you're about to be in?" Her ears fell a little as his shadow passed over her. "Cause now that that little nuisance is out of the way…I no longer have any reason to hold back." He raised a clenched fist, chuckling as white energy began to lap around him. "Say you're prayers, Un. You're at the end of your rope."
Un's ears slowly flattened back and her glowing pitted eyes narrowed. "You…arrogant…piece of filth," she pronounced. The back of Vegeta's eyes began to burn again as wisps of black energy began to emit from the little monster, hundreds or even thousands of energy signatures all crammed into one tiny space. "You have no idea what you're dealing with," she sneered, her fangs glimmering. Vegeta growled, clenching his knees as the sensation made him dizzy. She hopped a step forward. "You think I'm afraid of you? Me? Who alone had the mighty Lord Frieza's ear? Never!"
Vegeta was forced to move back, gripping his head as the black flames exploded around her. She grinned as the pain made him sweat, thrashing his head from side to side in an effort to overcome it. "There's something you should know about me, Vegeta…" she said with sweet cruelty, "You've been asking this whole time where Goku's power went…" In an instant, she appeared on his shoulder. "Would you like to know a secret?" She leaned in close to his ear, he crying out and growling as he continued to resist the pain in his head. "Holding a shape cuts my power in half…" She leapt up into the air and struck the side of his head with one of her giant feet. Vegeta, too stunned to see it coming, went flying across the room, the floor denting and shielding flashing. Un remained floating in the air, holding up a tiny hand. "That was also half your Kakarot's power. But I can go just as far as he can…in my true form."
Vegeta's vision was distorted as he tried to get up, his other senses overwhelmed by the anomaly occurring nearby. He sensed the movement coming at him too late, both of Un's feet planting on his collarbone and slamming him into the floor again, the plating cracking. Un bent over him. "Of course, doing so will mean giving up all this delicious energy I've gained today." Her eyes turned to slits. "But at this point, it's a price worth paying. After all, there's always more where that came from. So we'll see just who's about to die…"
Un at last paused, seeming to notice his struggle for the first time. "Ooooh…that's right…I never used this form around someone with energy sense before. After all, I have no energy of my own. All those people I've feed off of in my long life…hehehehehe." She poked a tiny fuzzy finger against his forehead. "It must be like trying to read an entire library at once. Poor little chimp."
She hiccupped as suddenly Vegeta's hand was around her neck. "Little chimp?" he grunted through the strain, the mauve flames flaring in his eyes, "You're one to talk, you carnival toy." Un squeaked, fighting against his hand as it held her throat, energy flaring around both of them. Vegeta's eyes glowed brighter, parting his teeth as he started to howl.
(**Scene Break**)
Oom'Bagu curled back his lips, gritting his teeth and growling as he pushed himself back up, the flames rising and lapping from his narrowed lids. "Yes! That's it, Vegeta!" he encouraged, "Reach deep into the bond. There, you will find your strength. Strength to resist." The Gregorik got to his feet, clenching his teeth harder as he pressed his palms together, mauve energy swirling there. "No holding back. Let us take your power to the maximum!"
(**Scene Break**)
"HAAAAAAAAAA!" Vegeta screamed, his energy burning around him like a wildfire as he raised his power higher and higher still. Still imprisoned in his grasp, Un also screamed, her black kai blazing and growing to match his own with every passing moment. His eyes tightened against the sensation of the monster, feeling Oom'Bagu reaching out to him, sharing the burden on his mind. His senses were coming into focus again and he was ready now. Yes, he could feel it. The time had come, the true battle for Kakarot's honor had come. One would be triumphant, the other would fall.
He reached the maximum of his base power and with a louder howl his eyes turned green, gold exploding up his hair and turning it rigid with the energy that flowed through it. The gold flowed down the length of his tail as well, shimmering fiercely about his waist. Un's eyes narrowed as she shrieked louder as well, reaching unimaginable pitches. The pits of her eyes went from red to green. Vegeta clenched against the power as Un's fur turned black and golden energy like his own began to swirl around her, the two powers merging and pushing against each other.
Both knew that something eventually had to give. And it did. The energy between the two of them grew so powerful that it finally collapsed on itself, giving off such a terrible explosion that it rocked the entire ship. The power of a super saiyan flowing through him, Vegeta got to his feet again, shaking out his hand and glaring around for his foe. Un floated in the air, the golden energy swirling around her black form. Vegeta gazed up at her, feeling the anomaly of her existence still burning his senses, but the burden of it now shared between him and Oom'Bagu.
He smiled. "So, this is it," he remarked, his golden hair rippling, "Finally, all the tricks and cloaks have been put aside. The warrior prince and monstrous freak do battle."
"Don't get so smug and glorified, Vegeta," Un scolded, glaring down at him, "This is me killing you. Simple as that."
"If that's how you want it," Vegeta mildly replied. He shifted his stance and motioned with a hand. "Then give it your best shot."
That's when she appeared next to him and stuck him with a foot.