Chapter 087 – Farewell Proud Prince

An audible noise came from Vegeta's throat, alerting the two boys and Corset. The severely beaten warrior slowly turned his head, one eye opening an inch as he became aware of his surroundings.

"That's it Dad!" Trunks encouraged.

"He's awake!" Goten smiled.

Corset stood behind the two children torn; watching as her father slowly sat himself up and hid his face behind his hand as his son supported him, noticeably hiding the M mark upon his forehead. Either Trunks had not noticed it before or he hadn't dared to ask about it, Corset wasn't sure which was right. Quickly Trunks was pushed away, Vegeta looking around feverishly, "Where's Majin Buu?" He demanded.

"Trunks kicked him over there," Goten answered, stepping back as Vegeta rose to his full height.

The feel of a tiny ki enveloped with a strange energy caught Corset's attention. She turned to see Piccolo chop Babidi in half across his abdomen; the two floating in the air behind them. Babidi's body vanished from view as he fell below the surface of the ground and into the large crater Buu'd created moments ago.

'Trust Piccolo,' she mused to herself. She'd almost forgotten about that annoying warlord and how he'd been the cause of all this. He'd gotten what he'd deserved, though she wished she'd been the one to have killed him after all he'd done.

"... Trunks, Corset... You need to take good care of your mother."

Her head whirled around sharp back to her dad. Trunks had done the same.

"Take care of Mama? You can take care of her too, can't you Dad? Why would you say that?" Trunks asked curiously, taken aback by his odd request. "Why do you want us to take care of Mama; are you going somewhere?"

Corset frowned uncertain and looked at her father suspiciously. "What are you planning to do?" She grumbled.

"...I want you three to leave and get as far away from here," Vegeta answered. "As for Buu, I'll fight him alone."

"Don't do that!" Goten protested.

"Goten's right!" Trunks clenched his fists. "We'll fight with you! You don't wanna get killed do you? You've got to let us help you Dad! Goten, are you in?"

"Yeah!" Goten nodded eagerly, his smile identical to that of his fathers. He reminded Corset a little of Gohan in his younger days, willing to help whenever needed even if he doubted his own capabilities. That trait of never willing to back down seemed to run strongly in the two brothers, as it did with their parents.

"See, we're with you! All three of us are, right Corset?" Trunks beamed towards his sister who avoided eye contact with the boy.

"Stop it," Vegeta ordered, "It's too dangerous for you. It doesn't matter how many of us there are; we can't beat Buu just through fighting."

"No, that's not true," Goten smiled. "We're the best!"

"We'll gang up on him, he won't know what hit him!" Trunks added.

"We're tough; we could even beat that big blob without your help, right Trunks? We might do better than you did!"

Realising what had just been said both boys suddenly panicked and covered their mouths fearful of Vegeta's reaction. No one could get away with such a comment, especially when it came to Vegeta's pride and confidence in his strength. Corset gulped and waited nervously for her father to bellow at the boys for accusing him of being weak.

It never came.

"... Trunks, I never held you once, even when you were a baby..."

Corset blinked in surprise as did her brother; neither sibling had expected such a thing to even be brought up by their father of all people. Corset couldn't figure it out: what was with his behaviour today? What was going on in that mind of his? She felt despite knowing him for over a decade now, she'd never known so little about him. The events of the past day were all so conflicting, so confusing to her. She didn't know what to make of anything anymore. Was it just because Trunks was now present or was there a different reason for his sudden concern for them. Corset wasn't going to let herself be fooled, not again.

"... Let me give you a hug now..." Vegeta edged over to his confused son and wrapped a hand around his head, pulling him closer much to Trunks' protests.

"Dad? Aww this is embarrassing! Dad, come on! Cut it out!"

Corset watched amazed and shocked. Never in a million years had she thought this would happen. For years, ever since she was a little child, she'd always wanted a hug from him. It didn't matter how evil he was, how much of a cold-hearted murderer he was, in the end he was still her father. She'd always tried to see past the tough and cold persona, to try and imagine him in a more humane way no matter how much she felt it was an impossible possibility. She'd wanted a normal family; she'd seen how affectionate Goku'd been around Gohan and had wanted the same. She'd always known in reality it would never happen but to hold onto the thought had kept her thinking that maybe someday, he'd shown the same affection to her. To see it given to her brother almost brought tears to her eyes. Trunks had never known the evil his father was capable of. All he knew was the man after the fight with Cell who'd stuck around with his forming family and trained his children. He had shown affection in his own way, mainly through spending time with them; nothing like this. Nothing ever came as close as this did.

Something was very wrong. No matter how many reasons she tried to think of to explain his sudden and dramatic change in behaviour, to hug his own son... Corset couldn't rid herself of the lurching feeling in her chest. Something was making him act this way.

"You've made me proud. Take care, Trunks," Vegeta smiled softly at his son.

With one clean chop to the head, Trunks was knocked to the floor unconscious, falling with a thud to the floor.

"What did you do to him? Why'd you do that?" Goten demanded baffled. "Why did you do that to Trunks? You might have killed him!"

'... Poor kid...' Corset frowned gulping down the heavy lump in her throat. 'I get it now...'

Goten had grabbed hold of Vegeta, demanding to know why he'd knocked Trunks out. "Why'd you do it? Tell me! Why did you do that to Trunks? You're his dad; dads aren't supposed to do bad things to their sons! Why did you hit him, why did you hurt him like that? Why?"

Vegeta crouched down to his level and punched Goten in the stomach. The boy buckled onto his knees clasping hold of his gut before falling on his face; he too was knocked out.

Corset watched quietly as Piccolo landed beside them.

For a moment no one spoke.

Corset glanced around as the subtle but annoying sound of Buu began to draw closer. Buu was alive and well and making his way towards them. A wave of nerves came over her; her dad was badly beaten and she knew neither she nor Piccolo stood a chance fighting him. What's more, Goten and Trunks were unconscious and right with them. They had to get the two boys to safety, maybe they could pass them onto Krillin and he could get them clear from the area.

"Who hit Buu?" The Majin demanded, standing quite a ways away from the others but close enough for them to hear him.

"... Take the two boys and get as far away from here," Vegeta ordered striding towards Buu, "I'm counting on you both."

"Understood..." Piccolo nodded, walking towards both boys and picking them up under his arms.

"... What are you gonna do by yourself?" Corset asked nervously. "You know you can't beat him." She found it difficult to stay angry with him after he'd just hugged his own son; his actions had thrown her and now all she wanted to know was why. Was he going to do what she thought he was about to do?

Vegeta did not answer, much to his daughter's annoyance.

"He plans to die," Piccolo muttered, "... don't you?"

It took a while for Vegeta to answer, and when he did it was with a question:

"There is one thing I'd like to know: will I see Kakarrot in the otherworld?"

Piccolo hesitated a little before responding, "... This isn't a time to be mincing words so I'll be blunt..."

Corset gulped and looked nervously to her former mentor. She couldn't believe this conversation was happening. None of this could be real, it wasn't allowed to be real; she forbade it. Yet she could deny its existence all she wanted, it was real and it was happening right before her eyes and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it.

"... No. You've caused too much pain. When you die you will lose your body and your soul will be banished to a place far different from where Goku is. There it'll be reincarnated into a new form but only after it's cleansed of its memories..."

'Turned into a new... form?' Corset stepped forwards. "Wait... So we'll never see him again? Not even if we manage to revive him with the Dragonballs?" She wasn't fully aware of which Dragonballs Vegeta had been revived with after both of their deaths on Namek. Indeed it had been Earth's Dragonballs, meaning Vegeta could not be wished back again – or at least not with their Dragonballs. A job like that would require the Namekian Dragonballs, not that the Earthlings really knew where New Namek was in the universe.

"... I see... pity..." Vegeta muttered, back turned to the two fighters. "... That will be all, get out of here – and hurry."

"W-Wait a minute!" Corset cried desperate to get some answers. She couldn't leave things as they were, they were far too messed up for her liking. "Talk to me! What the hell are you doing? What the hell are you even thinking? You turn your back on us and now you're fighting with us again? Whose side are you on? Who are you?" Her fists shook violently at her sides, angry her father didn't even turn around to look at her. Here he had been all day acting selfish and disregarding everyone's safety over his own desires. He'd returned to his evil self and caused the resurrection of Majin Buu. He'd cast his family aside which had left a very sore and bitter scarring inside Corset. Now here he was doing something selfless?

Vegeta turned around and looked at his daughter.

For the first time he seemed genuinely remorseful.

"... You've fought Buu and know as well as I do that nothing works... but there is one thing that could work. If I fail, you have to protect your mother and brother. You're the only one left who may beat Buu...

"I know I've never been the father Kakarrot has been to his sons. I've never been able to show affection or tell you how proud I am of you... I'm sorry."

The words hit her slowly and took even longer to sink in. Corset stared at the man before her unable to comprehend what had just happened. Had he apologised for his lack of affection? Why? Why now? Why even apologise for it? It wasn't the man he was; Corset'd accepted that long ago. Yet here he was giving out hugs and apologies.

What did she do with this information?

"We're running out of time, let's go Corset!" Piccolo ordered, taking to the skies and heading back to Krillin.

"He's right, go." Vegeta agreed.

Corset looked at her father for a moment and crossed her brow. "... All the things that have happened today... I lost my best friend and lost my father to his own selfish desires... and I'm gonna lose him now. My human side will never forgive you for what you've done and for how much you hurt me... but my Saiyan side respects you for what you're about to do."

Her feet slowly left the ground for the briefest of moments before suddenly bolting forwards into the sky, following her fleeing mentor. Corset didn't look back. She knew no matter what she couldn't look back. She and Piccolo were joined by Krillin as they sped through the skies fleeing the area.

"What's Vegeta up to, Piccolo?" Krillin asked over the noise of the rushing wind. "He's crazy, he'll be killed!"

"For the first time Vegeta's fighting for something other than himself..." Piccolo answered, "... sacrificing his own life."

The words were no easier for her to hear, even if she'd already known they were true. Behind them the sky began to darken, light reaching places ahead of them and tainting them yellow. Corset painfully kept tabs on her father's energy as it continued to rise higher and higher. Finally the moment came; his ki fluctuated steadily before it suddenly exploded, uncontrollable and deadly.

The shockwave pushed her head over heels forcing her to turn around albeit upside down. The sheer size of the gigantically bright dome of energy left her speechless though she had enough sense left to correct her orientation, rotating to an upright position. Her eyes stayed clamped to the large dome of ki. Her father's ki had been consumed inside the dome, undistinguishable from the explosion. The deafening roar almost blocked out Krillin as he screamed out Vegeta's name.

Corset watched the brilliant attack silently until finally it died off. Her dad's life force had died along with the attack.

The clouds had been distorted, pushed away by the shock to the atmosphere. The wind was still quite strong despite calming since the explosion. For a while none of the three spoke, all left to their own thoughts. Corset herself did not know what to think. She'd just witnessed her father's death, his own self destruction and yet the sight did not make her cry. She didn't feel anything, nothing but numbness inside. She knew how she was supposed to react; she was meant to feel horrifically sad and probably bawl her eyes out yet she couldn't bring herself to do this. There were no tears, no feelings of sorrow. Just pure numbness with an essence of shock. No, all she needed now was time, time for the news to sink in. Then she knew she'd react in the way people would assume she would.

She'd gone through this before, on Namek. There, she'd cried and lost contact with the outside world for a moment, a mere child of five that'd witnessed her father's tortuous death at the hands of Freeza. This time was different. This time the man had been his own undoing, he'd been in complete control of his fate. He'd controlled the moment of his demise, sacrificed himself rather than be killed by the monster facing them. He'd done it for them.

"... Krillin, take Corset and the two boys' home," Piccolo spoke breaking the silence. "I must see the aftermath."

"S-Sure," Krillin nodded grimly, taking Goten and Trunks under his arms from the Namekian.

"It would be worse not to say so tell their families," Piccolo added. "I don't know about Goku but Gohan was killed by Buu. I heard Vegeta say it."

With that Piccolo shot off into the distance, headed back towards the battleground.

Corset floated quietly, her thoughts kept to a minimum. Her body felt quiet and limp, her face felt heavy as if she were about to cry, only she knew she wasn't going to cry as there were no tears. A little feeling had seeped in quicker than she'd anticipated. The spot where her father's ki had once been continued to plague her mind; empty, dark and cold. It still hadn't hit her what he'd done.

"... Hey, come on." Krillin ushered softly.

Corset looked up glumly and nodded silently, flying forwards at a pleasant pace.

"... I'm sorry Corset, I know it's tough losing someone you care about," Krillin apologised, "... I guess you're not in that great a frame of mind right now. You know you can come and talk to me if you need to."

Corset didn't respond, eyes fixated on her horizon ahead.

"... I didn't realise we'd lost Gohan too..." Krillin added quietly to himself.

The flight was quiet from there on, Krillin giving up on trying to start a conversation. Corset's brain felt scattered and distorted, yet calm and empty. So many things were registering but nothing was making itself known...

"... Buu blasted him up into the sky..."

Krillin almost missed it! He'd actually gotten a response from her, "Wha?"

"Buu..." Corset mumbled, "... Gohan couldn't react in time... and Buu blasted him up to space. It exploded up in the sky. I didn't see it but I can't sense his ki..."

"Oh... right," Krillin frowned. "... He really is a monster... At least your dad's shut him down for good. We can gather the Dragonballs and wish them both back to life."

Corset sighed disheartened and looked down at the ground. "... No we can't... Dad can't..."

She was cut short as a noticeable ki approached them from behind. The duo was suddenly joined by a flustered Piccolo who seemed rather desperate to catch up to them. The look on his face concerned both fighters.

"Hurry, we have to get the boys to a safer location!" Piccolo ordered.

"Why? What's wrong?" Krillin asked nervously.

"Buu survived! Vegeta failed; he didn't destroy Buu!" Piccolo responded. "I saw him start to regenerate. Even under the sheer power and force Vegeta's attack must have dealt on him..."

Corset stared in horror. "... What?" She asked almost breathlessly.

"You mean Vegeta died for nothing?" Krillin asked mortified.

"It's too dangerous to stay down here: I'm taking the boys to the lookout." Piccolo decided, taking the boys back from Krillin. "Right now, they – and Corset – are the world's only hope – and a slim one at that."

The lookout was as peaceful and tranquil as ever as it floated miles above the Earth. As soon as the trio arrived with the two boys in tow they were greeted by Dende and Mr Popo.

"We know all of what's happened," Dende cried. "This sounds awful."

"Mr Popo, take the boys inside so they can rest," Piccolo handed the boys over to the lookout assistant who nodded and wandered towards the large palace behind them.

"Hey Dende, any idea if Goku's still around?" Krillin asked.

"I'm sorry, I've been trying to find out but I don't know," Dende shook his head regretfully.

"Aww... I was hoping you wouldn't say that..." Krillin frowned.

"I'm really sorry to hear about Gohan and about Vegeta," Dende apologised. "It must be hard for you guys..."

Corset frowned and looked down at the tiles below her feet. "... I could have saved them both if I wasn't weak." She muttered gloomily.

"Hey, don't say that," Krillin butted in, "You're a heck of a lot stronger than I am. I'm sure you did all you could Corset."

"Since we're waiting for the boys to wake up, we need to make a plan on how to tackle Buu," Piccolo instructed, "however... First of all we need to be brought up to speed on what's already happened! Corset, you're the only one who has been around. Tell us what's happened since Dabura turned Krillin and I to stone."

"Right..."

Corset started to tell the others about the raid on Babidi's spaceship, how on every level there'd been a warrior everyone had to fight and how Gohan had fought Dabura. She told them how her father had been taken over by Babidi's magic – which had shocked both Piccolo and Krillin – and how he'd turned on them to fight Goku, ultimately leading to the release of Majin Buu. She told them how she, Gohan, Kaioshin – and even Dabura – had tried to fight Buu but none had prevailed. Then Vegeta had appeared again to fight Buu.

After she'd filled the others in, Corset went to grab herself a glass of water. Really she'd just wanted a little time to herself, to gather her thoughts and compose herself. She'd wandered into the small makeshift kitchen and grabbed herself a glass from the side, making her way over to the sink and starting to run the tap. She watched silently as the water filled the glass.

A tear fell down her cheek. She felt awful, she couldn't keep it in anymore. It had been a struggle to keep herself composed when they'd arrived to the lookout, that'd been the point Corset'd fully taken in all the events for today. Her breath hitched loudly at the back of her throat as she dropped down the side of the sink, breathing sharp but deep as she hiccupped, more cool tears running down her warm face. It was too much to believe.

She'd lost her best friend and her father. Her father had hurt her betraying them and turning to Babidi's side.

Buu had killed him and Gohan.

She hated feeling weak. If only she'd been stronger. If only she'd spent more of the past seven years training like her dad had told her to! If only she hadn't been foolish enough to let Gohan fight Dabura; things may have turned out differently! She knew there was nothing they could do about it now, nothing could bring back her father and nothing could bring Gohan back, save the Dragonballs. That wasn't the point; the fact he'd even died in the first place was unforgivable. She'd known full well that Gohan had weakened in his past seven years due to lack of training; she should have been the one on the other end of that blast!

Corset stayed in the small room crying to herself for quite some time. When she finally emerged – still minus a drink – she found the others walking outside in conversation. Hurriedly she wiped her eyes and caught up, avoiding eye contact with any of them and trying to hide her face. She didn't want them to know she'd been crying though she was sure they were all probably aware of it. With luck they'd mind their own business and not ask her about it.

"When do you think the kids will wake up?" Krillin was asking as she approached.

"In an hour or so," Piccolo responded.

"I can't believe Gohan and Vegeta are both dead... The kids will take it hard. We don't even know what happened to Goku..." Krillin stopped and turned to Dende. "Hey Dende, would it be alright if I brought my family up here?"

"Isn't it unfair to want to save ourselves?" Dende asked turning to Piccolo. "What do you think?"

"You're god; you decide." Piccolo responded.

Dende smiled, "... Very well then; the Earth wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you guys."

Krillin grinned with relief and appreciation at the guardian, "Thanks, I'll bring them right over." He turned and was about to leave the lookout when suddenly a powerful and familiar Ki appeared. They were here, right on the lookout!

"... Is that?" Corset started, hurriedly breaking into a run alongside Krillin, rushing around to the side of the palace. Eyes settled on the battle-ravaged but seemingly healthy Saiyan who greeted them with a smile.

"Hey," Goku stood before them looking badly beaten and rather worse for wear. Apparently the battle between he and Vegeta had been a pretty intense fight at that, though Corset could easily testify to that due to how quickly Buu had been released.

"Goku!" Krillin cried happily rushing up to the taller Saiyan, "You're alive! I mean... you know what I mean!"