DISCLAIMER:
Rath: (Mutters with indignation) I can't believe Vetyga actually WON that silly argument! Now, I actually have to PAY her every time I say the words "I don't own DBZ!"…
Vetyga: (Jumps with glee) Oooo! You SAID IT! (Holds hand out expectantly) Now you have to pay me!
Rath: (Unwillingly tosses Vetyga a penny) Oh man! Now what am I going to do? Disclaimers are going to be so much harder to do if I can't say "I don't own DBZ"! (Quickly covers mouth) Oops!
Vetyga: (Holds out her hand AGAIN) Ooo! Now you owe me TWO pennies this time!
Rath: (Growls as she tosses two more pennies to Vetyga)
Vetyga: Yeah! Next time I'll get FOUR pennies... And then eight! Yes, at this rate I'll be RICH! Then I can finally buy DBZ for myself... By the way, Rath, it's still your turn to finish this chapter's disclaimer.
Rath: (Tosses Vetyga four more pennies before mumbling) We don't own DBZ!
ABOARD THE "GHOUL SABER", WITHIN THE PAST WORLD:
Trunks sighed helplessly as he watched the platform take off with Goku, Bulma, and Goten. He knew he had made a brash decision, but he did not regret it one bit. There was absolutely NO WAY he would have left his younger father behind…..Especially not aboard THIS ship where everyone hated him just for spite…..
"You're an idiot, you know that," Vegge declared as he glared into Trunks's eyes. "Now you're stuck here!"
"Yes, WE'RE stuck here," Trunks emphasized, but Vegge offered no response.
"I'm going to ask you again," Vegge said slowly. "Where is Frieza!"
"We TOLD you!" Trunks exclaimed. "Frieza's DEAD!"
"You're lying!" Vegge declared vehemently.
"Tell me, what do I have to gain from lying to you?" Trunks argued. "I meant it when I said he's DEAD! Why is that so hard for you to understand?"
"Because I know better," Vegge replied. "I'm no fool! Besides, you don't know him like I do…."
"I'm sorry….." Trunks didn't really know how to respond.
"Pity is for the weak!" Vegge narrowed his eyes. "And I will NOT be pitied!" With that, he turned his back to Trunks and began to walk away.
"Wait, Vegge!" Trunks called out as he hurried to catch up with Vegge. "We'll get out faster if we work together!"
"I don't need your help!" Vegge replied as he continued on.
Trunks rolled his eyes slightly, "I never SAID you needed 'help'! I just said it would be FASTER! Besides, this place is just crawling with people who despise Saiyans!"
"So?" Vegge shrugged. "What does this have to do with you?"
"Because I, too, am Saiyan!" Trunks declared proudly, much to Vegge's surprise. Vegge, however, kept his shock well hidden as he replied simply, "Interesting…..But you have purple hair..."
"Yeah, I get it from my mom's side of the family!" Trunks laughed. "Although I swear my mom says my Dad said the exact same thing when HE first saw me!"
"Then the adult Saiyan you were with is not your father?" Vegge questioned. "But the girl is your mother, am I right?"
"You're pretty observant, aren't you?" Trunks replied. "But yeah, Goku's not MY dad; he's GOTEN'S dad! And 'the girl' who you referred to is named 'BULMA'…"
"I know her name, TRUNKS," Vegge stated, emphasizing the word 'Trunks' to make it perfectly clear that he also knew Trunks's name by now.
An awful putrid smell hung thick in the air, interrupting them in the midst of their conversation. It was a smell Vegge was all too familiar with: the smell of burning and rotting flesh… Trunks felt like he would throw up as they came across a pile of badly burnt bodies… But what REALLY horrified Trunks was the fact that many of the them were actually STILL ALIVE as their skin ever so slowly decomposed from their bodies….! Their moans of stark pain were too much to bear for Trunks, who couldn't hold it in anymore as he vomited all over the floor… Vegge, however, remained impassive as he continued to walk on by, kicking a dying hand out of his path…...
"Vegge! We can't just leave them like this!" Trunks exclaimed.
"We?" Vegge replied without even bothering to glance behind him. It was as if that one simple word explained everything… Vegge could care a less about these victims…..
"VEGGE!" Trunks screamed emotionally. "Are you even listening to me? They're SUFFERING!"
"They're practically dead anyways," Vegge finally turned to acknowledge Trunks. "Let them die."
"Unbelievable," Trunks shook his head. A part of him wanted to slap Vegge for being so uncompassionate, but the other part of him understood that Vegge was behaving the only way he knew how…. Trunks was like Vegge in many ways, but clearly compassion was not one of them… Trunks knew what his mother would do: she would stay behind and do what she could to aid those in need…..And thus would he!
"Then I will help them myself," Trunks declared. "I'll just give them the same stuff that was used to heal you and my mom!" He kneeled down towards one of the victims as he said, "Hang in there! I will help you!" Trunks could have sworn the victim nodded slightly in response, but before he could do anything a ki blast was shot straight through the victim's head, killing him instantly…
Trunks looked up angrily at his younger father, who was slowly lowering his hand. "How could you, Vegge!" Trunks exclaimed with fury.
"I said LEAVE them," Vegge replied without any remorse.
"And I already TOLD you I wouldn't!" Trunks replied determinedly.
"I do not wish to kill you, Trunks," Vegge responded. "But you're not giving me much of a reason NOT to!"
"I hate to say this," Trunks retorted. "I'll admit I'm much weaker than I normally am, but I'm STILL much stronger than YOU!"
"Hmphf!" Vegge huffed as his energy flared with anger. "I'll challenge that!" he growled as he suddenly launched himself at Trunks. It was so unexpected that Trunks barely had time to defend himself from Vegge's initial flurry of kicks and punches, but once Trunks got his bearings straight, he was able to block them all with utmost ease.
"I don't want to hurt you, Vegge!" Trunks mocked his younger father's earlier statement. It only infuriated Vegge all the more as Trunks seemed to be toying with him the whole time he was on the attack.
"I'm the strongest Saiyan alive!" Vegge growled as he threw a blind hook punch to Trunks's gut, only to have it deflected away from its intended target with utmost ease.
"So what does that make me?" Trunks retorted, purposely fueling Vegge's frustration. "You're letting your anger get the best of you!" Trunks remarked as he leaped over a low side kick to the knee.
"I'm ALWAYS in control!" Vegge declared as he gathered a small ball of bluish energy and hurled it into Trunks's face. The blast stunned Trunks just long enough for Vegge to jump up with a flying wheel kick to the head, knocking Trunks into the wall.
"Always 'in control' or always WANTING control?" Trunks barely had time to counter before Vegge launched another slightly larger ball of energy towards him…And then Vegge threw another….And ANOTHER…!
"You're really trying to HURT me, aren't you?" Trunks said as he dodged the incoming flood of deadly energy.
"That's the idea," Vegge muttered to himself as he relentlessly pushed himself to increase the intensity of his offense to an even GREATER extent. It got to the point where he was literally shaking and hyperventilating with barely contained rage.
"Vegge!" Trunks realized things were going too far. "Vegge! Calm down! I'm not your enemy! I'm on YOUR side! I'm ALSO Saiyan! Remember? Take it easy!"
Vegge, however, could not be reasoned with… All he could focus on was this 'STRONGER' being before him making an absolute mockery of him. Trunks's calls of reassurance fell upon deaf ears as Vegge's ears twisted Trunks's each and every word, interpreting them, instead, as demeaning insults and vows of humiliation ….. And slowly before his very eyes, the stronger being's form morphed into that of FRIEZA!
"Submit to me, monkey," Frieza seemed to say. "And MAYBE I'll take it easy on you today...!"
Despite all sane reasoning in favor of self-preservation, Vegge shook his head furiously. "N—NO!" Vegge shouted angrily. "This time you'll have to kill me first!"
"Vegge!" Trunks's eyes widened with worry and confusion. "I'm not going to hurt you, Vegge… Relax…!"
"Relax, monkey! I'm not going to hurt you... MUCH...! Ha ha!"
Vegge subconsciously backed up into the wall, unsure what to do. He was so confused….. He cringed ever so slightly as Frieza reached his hand out towards him…
"Vegge," Trunks spoke softly as he cautiously placed his hand on Vegge's shoulder. He didn't understand why Vegge was so on edge all of the sudden and it worried him. Vegge's eyes seemed so sullen and glazed over as if he was looking straight THROUGH Trunks rather than right at him… Trunks gently lifted Vegge's chin up with his other hand as he said, "You're the Prince of Saiyans, right? So you have no need to be afraid of me!"
"You have every reason to be afraid..." Frieza's voice grew distant.
Vegge became overly tense as he remotely recalled being in this exact same position earlier… "Tr—Trunks?" Vegge said slowly as 'Frieza' finally faded away. "Stay AWAY from me!"
ELSEWHERE ABOARD THE "GHOUL SABER", WITHIN THE PAST WORLD:
Goku cursed as he felt two relatively strong power levels aboard the ship. One was definitely Frieza, but he didn't quite recognize the other one…
"Hey, Dad!" Goten called out suddenly. "I think I felt Trunks and Vegge's energies! For a moment it seemed like they were fighting or something, but it's stopped now…"
Goku, however, was too busy trying to pinpoint the exact location of Frieza and the other being, who he realized must be KING Vegeta…. Perhaps this was the time loop Galan and the Doctor had been talking about…..?
"What! They're FIGHTING!" Bulma exclaimed in concern. "Neither of them is HURT, are they?"
Goten shook his head. "I—I don't think so, but it's hard to tell…. It's like I get a 'fuzzy cloudy' feeling every time I try to sense someone in this place…."
"I think we have bigger things to worry about," Goku declared. "I fear Frieza and another powerful being are here somewhere as well… But this place distorts the senses, so it's hard to tell where they are right now….."
"King Vegeta?" Bulma guessed.
Goku nodded. "It's likely, but I fear what would happen if they ran into them before we found them…." Nothing more really needed to be said as Goku, Bulma, and Goten quickly rushed off in search of Trunks and Vegge.
.
MEANWHILE, WITHIN THE PAST WORLD:
Trouble was brewing as two ghastly figures wrecked mayhem upon all those in their path… They were not 'ghosts' in the general sense of the word; rather, they were a 'replica' of what they had once been at that particular moment in time…..For they too were cursed to repeat history in an endless loop of eternity.
"Ah ha ha!" Frieza's voice laughed callously as he watched King Vegeta do away with a mother and her little girl… He had already killed the father, who had foolishly tried to protect them. Clearly King Vegeta was fast and efficient at what he did. None so much as stood a chance of survival if he had anything to do about it.
"Oh come now, Vegeta," Frieza shook his head in disapproval. "You're killing them way too fast! Where's the fun if you can't watch them suffer as well!"
"I'm sorry, Lord Frieza," King Vegeta gritted his teeth. It was true he killed on a daily basis, but he did NOT do it simply for sport as Frieza often did. He found it POINTLESS that they were even attacking this ship in the first place! They had already taken over the planet itself, leaving behind no survivors. Only one ship had escaped, but Frieza had insisted they seek them out and finish them all off anyways…
"It will serve as a lesson to them!" Frieza had justified, but King Vegeta failed to see any sound reasoning behind it. After all, what lesson could they possibly learn if they were DEAD! The only reason King Vegeta had went along was because FRIEZA had insisted he come…..And Frieza ALWAYS got what he wanted….
"Well now," Frieza said as he clasped his hand behind his back and continued to walk down the long corridor. "Shall we move on?"
Rath: Hmmm, I guess this is as good a spot as any to end this chapter! Once again I'm REALLY REALLY pleased that you guys are liking this story so much…. Even in spite of my warnings of irregularity! It's nice to have such supportive Readers/Reviewers!
To Dark Ki A.K.A. Lee: GREAT question you asked! When they first entered Vegeta's Past, it was really HIS Past just as it really happened….But the moment Trunks had interfered with Vegge's punishment, things changed creating an "Alternate" timeline so to speak. This is because everything from this point on has been influenced in some way by their very presence in that world. So NO, Vegeta will NOT actually lose or change any of his memories because it doesn't DIRECTLY affect him (due to the now completely different timelines). This is PRECISELY what Dende had warned them about….. Hmmm, hopefully I didn't confuse you too much! LOL!
To Darksouled Saiyanphoenix: I think that part with Bra was quite fun to write, really! Vegeta is trying hard to be more of a father to her than he was to Trunks, but he's absolutely clueless on some things! Ha ha! Anyways, I'm glad you were entertained by the whole scenario!
To ssj-vash: It's nice to know you enjoy my writing style!
To BballAnimeLover89: Yes, there ARE a lot of questions to be answered, aren't there! And I think there will be even MORE to be asked in LATER chapters!
To cutieangel: I'm trying not to make it TOO confusing! LOL! But if you ever have any questions, just ask!
To Tsume-Hiei luver: Hmmmm, I guess it's been about a month since my last update….. Eh, oh well…..! I'm happy you liked my last chapter though!
To Godzilla2: And to think I hadn't even originally planned for the story to take this particular path! LOL! I've pretty much just been playing it by ear! I hope I don't disappoint!
To bulmaprincess: LOL! That WOULD be entertaining, wouldn't it!
To Garowyn: Ha ha! You want to know something funny? I hadn't even thought to CONSIDER the fact that others might think I had spelled "Vegge" wrong until YOU brought it to my attention! LOL! This feels like one of those 'Anime-Moments' where everyone falls down in shock when someone fails to know the OBVIOUS!
Anyways, please continue to R/R! Until Next Time! Sawatdee!