Vegeta froze in place. What did Kakarot just say?
"Goku, what are you talking about?" Bulma said, still trying to get down from Vegeta's shoulder.
Kakarot pointed to the right and up. "Right before we landed, I sensed Tarble's Ki going that way. It wasn't alone either. There was some girl with him, too."
"Girl?!" Gure snapped angrily.
Vegeta just stood there as the night before him flashed before his eyes. But that couldn't be right. There was no way that Tarble would betray him like this. His brother couldn't be the king they were talking about, could he?
"Yeah, but it felt off." Kakarot said, thinking it over.
"Off?" Bulma asked.
Kakarot's face went serious. "His Ki wasn't normal. It was almost as if it had been consumed in darkness. When I felt it, a chill went down my spine. It felt like all of the light around me had been shattered to pieces, but at the same time…" They all hung on his words. "His soul was in pain. Like it was ripping into thousands of fragments, all of which were going in different directions." Kakarot sighed. "There was also a fog around him." He turned to stare at Vegeta. "Someone had to have gotten into his head. Probably to the point where they were driving him insane."
Gure covered her mouth as her eyes welled up with tears. The last time she had seen Tarble, it was as if he was someone else. If what Kakarot was saying was true, then someone used her love with the intention of turning him into a monster. "Do you know anymore?"
Kakarot looked down at her. "Well, knowing Tarble. She had to isolate him. There had to be some kind of bait, followed by a slow diversion. She would have had to get him to trust her and her alone."
Vegeta's eyes went wide. "The pod…" His mind went back to what had happened with Gure's pod. Tarble was pissed that he was messing with his area of expertise. Regret filled him. This was his fault. If only he had told Tarble about the spy. Then his brother wouldn't have been a target.
"Why did they strike now?" Bardock asked.
"I think I know why." Everyone turned to Bulma. "Remember, they were the ones that messed up the ships. First they made sure that Goku and Chichi's ship had a broken hyperdrive, then they sent information to the Cold Empire, telling them about Planet Tech-Tech, Cooler's men destroyed Tech-Tech, while Raditz was given the information about a plant that he needed, after that Raditz was kidnapped and we discovered that Tech-Tech was gone, leading to Tarble coming back in a rage and training to kill Cooler, from there we have no idea what happened."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Bardock said, confused.
Gure looked angry. "They didn't look for a time to strike. They made one. They set the stage to take Tarble away from us."
Bulma nodded. "With Gure kidnapped, Tarble would have been thrown into a blind rage, from there Vegeta's mind was distracted by the Commission, along with the spies, then removing Raditz from the picture was essential. Without his best friend to turn to, Tarble was vulnerable."
"Then why was my ship messed with?" Kakarot said.
"Because you're the only one that can sense others. You would have been able to find Tarble easily and would have sensed him as she tried to brainwash him." Bulma answered. "This girl had to have been studying us for a while. I just don't know how she did it yet." That was really bothering her. How the hell did this woman get into the palace?
Vegeta stood there, still in shock. How? How could they turn Tarble against him? He thought after everything they had been through, that his brother would have known better. His mind was going backwards, to the time when he had left his brother alone with their father. That old fear was rearing its ugly head. He lost Tarble. He lost his brother. If only he had been paying attention, then this wouldn't have happened. "I…I should have..." SMACK! Vegeta looked up to find Kakarot standing in front of him. "What the hell, Kakarot?"
"Stop feeling sorry for yourself." The captain said.
"I'm not…" Vegeta started, but Kakarot silenced him.
"You're blaming yourself for this. I can see that look on your face." Kakarot continued. "You can't save him by wallowing in your own self-pity."
"We don't even know where he…" Vegeta made to argue, but Kakarot wasn't done.
"Then find him. Don't just sit here and expect him to come to you on a silver platter. I didn't just come here all the way from Earth with my family to serve under a spineless king. Now what are you going to do, Vegeta? Are you going to give up? Are you going to leave Tarble to the dogs that messed with his mind? Or are you going to fight for him?" Vegeta looked up at his former student in shock. "You know what you have to do, Vegeta. You may feel lost now…but don't give up on him. That's what they want you to do."
"Kakarot…" The Emperor was speechless. To think that Kakarot knew the exact thing he needed to hear right now. Vegeta smiled up at his captain. "Thank you, Kakarot."
Kakarot smirked down at the royal. "For what?"
Vegeta smirked to the side. "For helping me remember who I am." He walked over to Bulma. "We'll discover where they took Tarble. Then I will leave the planet in your hands, Kakarot."
Kakarot nodded. "Of course."
"I will bring my brother home. It doesn't matter who I have to fight," Vegeta said, his heart was racing. The girl would pay for causing the rift between them.
"I'm going too." Gure changed forms. "If some no-good hussy thinks she can steal Tarble from me, she has another thing coming."
Bulma sighed. "Then we better figure out this mystery for ourselves. There has to be clue to where they ran off to somewhere."
"Then let's get looking." Vegeta growled. There was no time to lose. He would find his brother and undo this travesty. This Betra had messed with the wrong person and she would pay with her life.
Raditz looked around the room he was placed in. This was new. They must have brought him here in his sleep.
The saiyan moved about the room, looking at the dark paneling that covered the walls. There was a large cylinder in the middle of the room, but it looked like it was being protected by some kind of metal. There had to be an incubation tube in there.
An idea came to him. This was the place where Zera's body was being made. This was the place where they were planning to kill Onna. He growled in his throat. Like he would let that happen.
He moved closer to the cylinder. There had to be a way to destroy it.
He froze as he heard her laughter from behind him. "I see you've figured out what this room is for."
He turned back to look at her, almost breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that she was still in Onna's body. "I'm not an idiot."
She scowled at him. "Raditz, why can't you learn to behave? You were doing so well the last time we met."
He glared back at her. "I know what you're planning."
She chuckled. "Yes, you do show a fondness for this body, and while I do admit that it has its charms, it's just not my body."
"That's because it belongs to Onna." He snapped.
She only gave him one of her wild smiles. "She is nothing but a host for me. I really don't see why you like her so much. Does this body…" She walked over touching the side of his face. "Really affect you so much?"
He grabbed her arm and pulled it from his face. "Like you would know anything about what I like."
She giggled. "What are you talking about, Raditz? I know everything about you. I was the one that raised you for four years." She turned her back on him. "What did your family do? They abandoned you. They left you to me." She grinned, staring back at him. "I made you."
He looked at her as if she was off her rocker. "No. You're wrong."
"How am I wrong? Who was the one that let you learn your craft? Who was the one that taught you the pleasure of pain?" She said, trying to seduce him.
Raditz growled. "I'm a saiyan. Those things are natural to me."
"But not in the way that you do it. You are my creation, Raditz. I molded you." She said triumphantly.
He snarled at her as she began to pet at his long hair. "Don't touch me."
She giggled. "You didn't say that before. Remember when we first made love?"
He growled. "I only did that to save Onna. It had nothing to do with you."
"But you were still turned on by me." She said, satisfied.
"You're using that body. If it wasn't that body, I wouldn't be interested." He snapped, trying to turn away from her, only for her to grab his arm.
"Don't be like that. You know that you love me." She said, looking off to the side. "If you didn't, you wouldn't care."
"I don't care." He lied. It wasn't that he cared for her in that way. There was no way that he could love her.
"You're lying to me. I can see it in your eyes." She said, moving to kiss him.
He pulled out of her reach. "I don't love you. I pity you." He said, making her freeze.
"What?" She sounded angry at his words.
"I have seen your past first hand. I know you were overlooked by your father. That's why you take your pain out on others." Raditz said. "You thought that I was the same as you. That my parents just threw me away the same way your father tossed you to the side, but that's wrong. My mother and father didn't toss me to the side. You took me from them."
"You left them willingly. Don't you remember how they forgot you?" She shrieked.
"I was wrong. They never forgot me." Raditz said, gaining his courage with each passing moment. "They waited for me to return, even after they lost hope. They missed me. So no, my parents are nothing like yours. They understand me. From what I saw, none of them understand you." He walked around her, watching as she fell to her knees in tears.
"Stop laughing." He wondered what she was talking about. She was holding her head, screaming to herself. "Stop it, Daddy! Please!"
Raditz walked over, placing his hand on her shoulder. The scene before him started up again. Zera was huddled on the floor as King Cold brutally murdered his wife. The small child was crying for her mother as she shook with fear. In the vision, Raditz walked over to the child and picked her up off of the ground. The small girl stared at him in tears. "Do you want the pain to stop?"
The child only cried into his shoulder. "Why don't they love me?"
Raditz was about to say something, but watched as Onna appeared at his side. She was smiling at the girl in his arms. "Do you want a mommy and daddy to love you?"
The child nodded. "But no one loves me. I wish I wasn't born." The frostian said, in tears.
"But someone can love you." Onna said, running her hand over the girl's head. "You just need to let go."
"Let go?" The girl said in fear.
Raditz stared at Onna, wondering what she meant. "Let go of your anger, Zera…and start over."
"But how can I…?" The child cried.
Onna reached forward, taking the child from his arms. Raditz froze as the child changed forms, no longer looking like a frostian, but just like a saiyan. He watched as Zera looked down at her hands and tail as it looped around.
"How?" The child whispered.
Onna leaned forward purring against the child in her arms. "My body is pregnant. You can start over." Onna said.
Raditz began to shake. He was going to be a father? But what was Onna talking about? Zera couldn't be their child.
Zera looked over at Raditz in fear. "But Daddy will still hate me." The child cried into Onna's shoulder.
"If you're reborn, you won't remember your past." Onna said. "You can start over."
Raditz couldn't believe what he was hearing. Onna wanted Zera to be their child. But as the child looked up at her, he could see hope in those eyes. His love looked over at him, asking him to come forward. He obeyed, taking the child in his arms again. She was shaking in fear. Then he felt himself smile. "You really can start over, Zera."
"You mean it?" The child said, looking up at him.
Onna came by his side, purring into the child's cheek. Raditz did the same, only tickling her side, making the child laugh. "Daddy, it tickles." Onna grabbed her feet, making her squeal. Then the child stopped. Her eyes began to close slowly. "Mommy…Daddy…" Then she disappeared, turning into a small ball of light before heading into Onna's lower abdomen.
The false room around them shattered, leaving them in the locked room with the paneling. Onna was standing across from him, tears were falling from her eyes. "Raditz…"
As he stared at her, he realized that this was reality. Zera was gone. She had chosen to start over. To forget her past, and become the soul of their unborn child. "Onna…" He moved forward as she jumped into his arms, kissing him deeply. The thrill of connection flew through them as her scent hit his nose, letting him know that it would never leave him. That she would never leave him again. "I love you." He whispered against her lips.
She nuzzled against his chest. "I love you too." Her tail wrapped around his as they purred against each other.
He kissed her again, before becoming serious again. "We need to get out of here."
She smiled. The key cards were still at her side. "I don't think that's a problem." She then giggled. "I do think it's a problem that our child has two parents that aren't mated. Don't you agree?"
Raditz purred in his throat as he leaned back into her neck. He smirked. "Do you wish to be my mate?"
She purred. "I thought you would never ask." With that his teeth dug into her neck, marking her as his for all eternity. Seconds later, a new set of hormones came flying through his body, making him push her against the wall. Not that she minded. She wanted him as well, she was already pregnant. Having sex wasn't going to hurt her at all.
Raditz let out a primal growl as he ripped her clothes. Finally, Onna was his and no one would ever get in the way of that again.
To Be Continued…
Author's Note: There isn't going to be a chapter next week, but there will be two chapters the following week and twice a week updates begin. I have midterms and my beta reader has finals next week, but after that, you'll get updates on Fridays and Saturdays.
Beta Reader's note: I'm so, so sorry this is late, Y'all. I had three big tests and a paper due this past week, and finals are next week. I forgot what day it was as I drowned my stress in anime and sleep.