Vegeta walked through the prison doors accompanied by his tearful wife. She had barely stopped crying since she'd seen Chichi like. Vegeta had told her not to come here but she'd insisted on seeing Goku. She had to know why… she had to know her oldest friend hadn't forsaken her. Vegeta looked up to see Krillin and Yamcha already there, waiting for them.
Gohan was watching over Goten and Trunks while the adults visited his murderer father. Vegeta could still remember the look on Gohan's face as he and Bulma had left Trunks with him. Lost, confused… shattered. The boy could not even begin to comprehend what had happened to his mother, nor could Vegeta understand what had pushed Kakarotto to kill his mate.
"Bulma…" Vegeta looked up to see Krillin clutching his wife tightly, tears in his eyes.
"Krillin, tell me this is a bad dream…" Bulma whimpered, hugging the smaller man.
"I don't know how this has happened." Krillin mumbled. "There must be something wrong with him! Goku wouldn't do that –"
"Of course he wouldn't." Yamcha interrupted him, not looking at either of them. "I've known Goku since he was twelve years old; he doesn't have a vicious bone in his body."
"He said it wasn't him…" Bulma looked at Yamcha, who met her glance.
"Then who was it?" Yamcha demanded. "I'll kill him!" Vegeta grunted, irritated by the way Yamcha was speaking to his wife.
"That'll put you in quite an awkward position." He said. "Apparently it was Kakarotto."
"What…?" Yamcha and Krillin both stared at him.
"What the hell does that mean?" Krillin asked.
"Kakarotto as in…?" a look of confusion swept over Yamcha's face. Bulma nodded a little.
"He told me himself. He said it wasn't him, it –"
"Excuse me?" the group looked up as the prison receptionist interrupted them. "Are you guys talking about that whack job with the spikey hair?"
"He's not a whack job, he's our friend!" Krillin snapped. "His name is Goku!"
"Well that's not what he's telling us." The receptionist replied. "He says his name is Kakarotto." She narrowed her eyes at them. "Are any of you called Vegeta?" the group looked towards the saiyan prince, who moved his eyes to the receptionist.
"Yeah, that's me."
"He's been asking for you, Sir. You're a prince, right?"
"Yes I am." Vegeta looked at her, a little taken aback. "He told you that?"
"All he's ever said all morning is that he wants to speak to Prince Vegeta. He won't even tell us why." Bulma looked at Vegeta, concerned.
"I'll go with you."
"…No." Vegeta replied. He felt unsettled by the man's demands, why would Kakarotto want to speak to him? He turned to Bulma, hiding his nerves. "It's alright – stay here."
"But Vegeta –"
"What?" Vegeta looked at her. "You think he's going to kill me?" she didn't answer. She just shifted a little. Vegeta's breathing stopping as he read her response. She was scared for him. She really did think there was a chance he wouldn't come out of there alive. He eased himself a little, looking firmly at her. "He won't. If he's not done it by now he won't do it at all."
"Do you think Chichi thought that?" Vegeta's heart froze and a look of regret swept over Bulma's face the moment she said it. Her lip quivered as she struggled to fight back another flood of tears. She shook her head. "Please… just help him." Vegeta breathed, shaking off his suspicions, and nodded. He looked over at the receptionist.
"Where is he?"
"I'll get someone to escort you down."
Vegeta followed the prison guard through the dusty corridors, not saying a word. He took a few glances at the prisoners that stared at him as he walked past, forcing himself not to rip the throat off anyone that said a single insulting word to him. They stopped outside a door, and the guard looked at him. "You want me to come in with you?"
"No. I'm fine, thanks." He wanted Kakarotto to himself. The guard nodded.
"Alright – if you need help, there's a buzzer on the wall. He's not getting past those bars." Vegeta silently scowled at the guard's ignorance. Kakarotto could blast himself out of here in a second if he wanted to… but he didn't. He wanted to stay locked up, and Vegeta didn't know why. Why…
Vegeta entered the room, hearing the heavy metal door shut behind him. In front of him was a single chair and a wall of thick, black bars. The room was dark and gloomy, lit only in the centre by a bright white light that shone from the ceiling. He could just make out Goku's figure sat in the corner of the cell, covered in darkness. Vegeta moved slowly to the chair, and sat down.
"Kakarotto…"
"…" the figure sighed happily, and turned his face towards Vegeta. He was smiling. "Sire…" he made his way into the light and over to the bars, kneeling down before Vegeta. Vegeta stared at him, gobsmacked.
"What –"
"It's good to finally speak to you, Sire." the figure said. "I'm sorry it's taken me so long to emerge… but let me assure you, I have always been loyal to you." He looked at Vegeta. "I'm going to follow your every command, Your Highness."
Vegeta stared at him, speechless. He watched as the saiyan's eyes fixed themselves on him, loyally awaiting his reply.
"Kakarotto…" Vegeta said softly. "… What the fuck are you talking about?"
"I… I don't understand, Sire." The man rose to his feet. "Isn't this what you always wanted? We can finally purge this planet once and for all!"
"Purge it?" Vegeta blinked, sitting there in shock at what he was hearing from the man that had spent his entire life defending Planet Earth.
"I'm sorry I failed my mission… that human Gohan took me in when I was too young to fight him off. He dropped me on my head… when I came to I was so much weaker than before." The caged man's eyes lowered in shame, angry at himself for letting it happen. "But now I'm here, Sire!" his eyes lit up. "You and I aren't in danger anymore! I've finally conquered Goku!"
"You've… what?" Vegeta looked at him, confused. "Kakarotto what in God's name are you talking about?" "Kakarotto…" the man smiled. "Sire, you're the only one that ever called me by that name… If it wasn't for you I don't know if I'd even be here right now. All those years being trapped inside that darkness, just waiting for the chance to come out… I never would have become strong enough if you hadn't believed in me." Vegeta's stomach turned as the saiyan smiled at him, kneeling again. "Thank you, Sire."
"Who the hell do you think you are…?" Vegeta stood up, his blood chilling as he felt the darkness of the man's ki. This wasn't Kakarotto… "Your name is Goku, right?"
"No." the man smiled again, rising to his feet. "Not anymore. Now I'm your humble servant…" he smirked, bowing graciously. "Kakarotto."
"Kakarotto…?"
"I let them lock me up in here. After I killed that woman Goku went crazy, he shot me right out of my body! The next thing I knew I was in here, but I didn't want to break out until I'd spoken to you." Kakarotto looked at him. "I thought you might want me to stay here until you were ready to carry on the mission."
"Mission?" Vegeta looked at him. "What mission?"
"Sire…" Kakarotto laughed. "To purge Planet Earth, of course! Isn't that why you're here?" he grabbed the bars of his cage, looking sharply into Vegeta's eyes. "We have to avenge our comrades, take over the universe just like you always wanted!" his eyes softened a little, his grip on the bars loosening. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you on Namek, Sire… I wasn't strong enough, physically or…" he sighed regretfully. "I'm not asking for your forgiveness… but I am asking for you trust." He looked at Vegeta. "Will you trust me?"
Vegeta gazed at him for a while, dumbstruck. He could barely even comprehend what he was hearing – had Kakarotto – had Goku gone insane? Did he really believe that he was two people? That this creature actually existed? This alter ego – this Kakarotto that was hell-bent on completing his childhood assignment? Vegeta swallowed hard, clueless as to how to react to the lunatic. He replied simply with the first thought that came into his mind.
"That woman was your mate."
Kakarotto paused, his face crumbling slightly.
"Please, Sire… don't mention her."
"Why?" Vegeta challenged, picking up on his weakness. "Are you ashamed of what you did?"
"No, of course not." Kakarotto said. "I guess you'll be killing your own woman soon, right? I get it… you needed an heir." He smirked. "She was always pretty; you should have seen her when she was sixteen. She was the first girl I ever saw." He laughed. "But she's served her purpose now, right? Do you want me to dispose of her for you, Sire?" Vegeta's face turned in anger, in a white rage he grabbed Kakarotto's throat.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he barked. "You stay away from her, do you understand?"
"S-Sire…" Kakarotto choked, pushing against the prince's hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't – I thought you were finished with her." Vegeta watched as the man started losing his strength; he wasn't fighting Vegeta. "S-Sire… p-please…" Kakarotto gagged, closing his eyes. "I can't…"
Vegeta watched as the man's face changed. His brows softened, his grip on Vegeta's hand relaxed. He opened his eyes, looking deep into Vegeta's.
"V-Vegeta…" he whispered, a small smile on his face. "Thank you…" Vegeta's eyes widened as he started to recognise the gentleness of the man standing before him.
"Goku?" he removed his hands from Goku's throat and stepped back as he watched the man choke and splutter, catching his breath.
"D… damn it, Vegeta!" Goku shot him an angry glare. "Why the hell didn't you kill me?" he slammed himself up against the bars, almost tearing them from the walls. "He's gonna come back!" before Vegeta had a chance to stop him Goku reached through the bars, pulling Vegeta up against him. "Please!" he begged, his eyes glistening. "You have to kill me… I can't control him anymore…"
"Kakarotto…?"
"Don't!" Goku screamed. "Don't say his name, you'll bring him back!" Goku's grip on Vegeta tightened as he grew more desperate. He held Vegeta in place, determined to make him listen. "He'll kill my whole family – he's insane!"
"He's insane?" Vegeta protested. "He's not even real, Goku!" he batted off the taller man's hands and pulled away from him. He stared in disbelief at the man standing before him, traumatised by what he had just witnessed. "You are Kakarotto! It's just your saiyan name, that's all there is to it!" how the hell could he not understand?
"No, no…" Goku whimpered, grabbing great clumps of his own hair in his hands. "You don't understand… he's always been there…" he looked up at Vegeta, tears in his eyes. "I've always been able to control him, but now…" Vegeta dodged as Goku went for him again, trying desperately to grab the prince. "Please…"
"Hey!" they both looked up to see the prison guard standing there, interrupting the scene. He moved his eyes to Vegeta. "You alright?"
"… tch." Vegeta scowled at him. "Fine, he didn't even touch me."
"Yeah well, I heard an awful lot of yelling." The guard approached Goku. "You sit there and behave, alright? No more visits today! You're getting moved out of here as well."
"…" Goku sat down, trembling in defeat. He didn't respond. Vegeta watched him for a while, trying to make sense of what was going on. The sudden transformation…
"Where to?" Vegeta looked at the guard cautiously, realising his eyes were on him.
"Just a more secure part of the building, you'll still be able to see him. Tomorrow, though." The guard grabbed Vegeta's arm. "We're done here."
"Get off me!" Vegeta snapped, pulling his arm free. He looked at Goku. "I don't care what's going on in that head of yours; you'd better pull yourself together! Your kids are destroyed, Kakarotto – Bulma's been crying all night because of you, you'll be lucky if I ever let you see her again."
"Vegeta…" Goku pleaded, reaching through the bars. He hadn't taken in a word of what the prince had said. He was too terrified to be left alone. "Don't leave me! Please – don't leave me alone with him!"
Vegeta looked at him, disgusted at the man for not listening. His best friend, his own children were in pieces and all he could think of was how he was afraid of a creature that didn't exist.
"Bye, Kakarotto." Goku watched in horror as Vegeta turned and left the room, just like he had left after seeing Chichi's lifeless, murdered body. Vegeta didn't believe him. Bulma didn't believe him. They all thought Goku had killed her. They all thought Goku was insane…
He shut his eyes tight and clasped his hands over his face, sobbing loudly and rocking himself gently, trying his hardest to keep his sanity and ignore the dark, ruthless voice that echoed around his mind.
"I'm still here…"