DISCLAIMER:
Rath: (Hands Vetyga a shiny stack of papers with a bow on top) "Enjoy!"
Vetyga: (Yawns as she casually glances over them) "Oh, it's the next chapter for TTWV...WAIT?! NEW CH-CHAPTER?" (Faints from shock)
Rath: (Sweatdrops as looks at reader) "Erm... Not the reaction I was expecting. I guess Vetyga will read this later. For those still conscious, there is a story summary at the beginning of CH 23 that you might find useful to refresh over major things that had happened throughout the story. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the new chapter!"
Unfortunately, we still do not own DBZ...
WITHIN THE PRESENT WORLD:
Vegeta's right eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he became keenly aware of the fact that the other Z Warriors had been staring at him with unblinking eyes for over five minutes. Dende had convened a meeting with all those currently present on Dende's Lookout to discuss the implications of Vegeta's connection with his past self.
"The next time you get in touch with your younger self-uh, Vegge, was it?" Dende began. "Then we need to have a plan in place for what you should say to him."
"Perhaps he could lie to the boy and claim that it is impossible for a figment of the past like him to even cross time's barriers," Piccolo suggested. "Force him to come up with a different plan."
At that Vegeta scoffed, "Vegge is a child, but do not mistake him for being naive. He's not stupid. Anyone with a brain would be able to figure out that if it is possible to go backwards in time, then the reverse is also true. You know that... I know that... Assume he knows that."
"Maybe claim something terrible would happen to him if he is one of the four?" Yamcha piped up.
Vegeta genuinely laughed at that prospect. "Do you really think he'd care?"
"Well, I don't see you coming up with anything better!" Yamcha snapped in annoyance.
"Yamcha's right," Gohan agreed, but at Vegeta's dark glare, he frantically waved his hands side to side as he clarified, "I only mean that it is better to get all suggestions out on the floor for discussion of the pros and cons is all!" He gave a nervous laugh.
Videl tapped a finger on her chin as she looked to Vegeta. "Well, you know him better than anyone considering he's you and all. Assuming he knows all the facts that we do about the possibility of returning to the Present World, what would make him second-guess his course of action?"
"Easy," Vegeta smirked at her. "Without a doubt, he is desperate to come here to escape his living hell under the Cold Empire."
"But didn't you say he told you Goku killed the past version of Frieza?" Piccolo reminded him.
"He did," Vegeta replied. "But in the event of Frieza's passing, all the tyrant's possessions fall to his brother-in other words, Cooler. Vegge...counts as property to be claimed. Even with Frieza dead, they would not forget that fact."
Silence ensued as Vegeta's words sunk in.
"I was desperate back then... He is desperate. The only thing that would make him reconsider would be if he thought that in this timeline, Frieza was somehow still alive to claim him."
"Then it is settled," Dende was satisfied. "You must convince him of that 'fact'."
The older Vegeta's face became unreadable as other contradictory thoughts raced through his mind. It was clear that Vegge could not be one of the four to cross time's boundary, but what would happen to him after Kakarrot and the others returned? From the sound of things, the boy had left behind his two Saiyan guardians, Nappa and Raditz, when he chose to tag along with Kakarrot. That meant he would be left alone to fend for himself in a universe that hated him for spite. Vegeta was certain the boy could survive on his own, but still Vegeta would need to advise him to seek contact with the other Saiyans just in case. Vegeta would feed the boy the necessary lies, but he needed to ensure Vegge's safety as well. If not Vegeta, then who else would even care?
Vegeta scowled as his eyes scanned across each of the present Z Warriors one-by-one as the meeting adjourned-Gohan, Piccolo, Dende, Videl, Chichi, Yamcha... None of them had the slightest clue. Despite them all knowing Kakarrot had traveled back to a time when Vegge was supposed to be a young boy, they would all picture him as the adult they first encountered back when Vegeta and Nappa had originally attacked Earth in the Present World. They had no fucking clue...
Vegeta slowly closed his eyes as he became lost in thought. For now, they could only wait.
WITHIN THE PAST WORLD:
The first half-an-hour proved to be rather uneventful as King Vegeta, Vegge, and Trunks went on the search for Yuulian survivors. For that, Trunks was grateful. He still had no idea how he was going to get himself and Vegge out of this situation.
The unmistakable stench of death as they made their way towards the middle quadrants of the Ghoul Saber was unnerving. Trunks vomited several times, earning a snarl of disgust from the King.
Trunks, however, paid him no mind. King Vegeta did not intimidate him. Besides, he was too busy trying to control his queasiness to pay much attention at this point. Only his younger father managed to distract him long enough for him to forget his uneasiness. Trunks was really worried about him.
As they walked, Vegge kept his head tilted downwards- as though the floor was the most interesting thing in the world. Vegge's expression was lifeless, though it didn't help that the shadows of his bangs covered over the entirety of his dark onyx eyes. Despite his earlier bravado when he claimed there would be 'no survivors', Vegge did not seem any more enthused about the mission than Trunks was. Vegge had not uttered a single word or sound since then. His posture was still slightly hunched; his walk was a slow shuffling gait-as though he were heading towards his own execution sentence. Even his tail drooped lifelessly towards the floor.
Every so often, Trunks would catch King Vegeta stealing a brief glance down at Vegge. The King's face was hard to read, but Trunks couldn't help but think angrily to himself, 'Why even bother? The damage is already done.'
"Most children would feel honored to work side-by-side with their King," King Vegeta commented after a while. "This ridiculous moping around is unbecoming."
Whatever reaction the King was hoping to elicit from Vegge was a failed cause. Vegge did not respond at all. The only indication that he had heard King Vegeta's words at all was the slight twitch of his tail.
"Still..." the King continued. "You are deceptively bold to blatantly ignore me when I address you. How long have you been on this ship?"
"I told you earlier, we only just got-" Trunks started to reply, but King Vegeta cut him off mid-sentence.
"I'm not asking you," King Vegeta growled at Trunks while keeping his narrowed eyes locked on Vegge. "I am only going to repeat myself once, brat. How long were you in the clutches of the Yuuli? And what did they do to you?"
"You're asking the wron-" Trunks started before once again being interrupted.
"Once again, you fail to comprehend the fact that I do not care to hear your response," the King chastised. "Perhaps your insolence was tolerated elsewhere, but it will not be tolerated here. No more warnings."
Even so, the King altered his question for Vegge. "How about this? Do you know the name of whoever it was that hurt you? A simple nod or shake of the head will suffice, but do not push my patience."
Vegge slowly nodded his head in the affirmative.
'Good,' King Vegeta thought to himself. 'The boy is finally responding, but still it is not enough...'
"For how long?" the King asked, hoping to indirectly get the answer to his earlier question, but Vegge once again closed himself off and did not respond.
King Vegeta rubbed his temples in an effort to control his frustration. How could he guarantee Frieza that the boys would not be a problem when he could not even get the youngest one to respect his authority? Frieza would call the King 'incompetent' and take matters into his own hands. Clearly the children did not understand the severity of the situation. The wrong-doings of one could cause consequences for them all, because that was just how Frieza operated. It was an effective way of making sure those under his command stayed in line, though the King did not always agree with Frieza's extreme methods.
A weak flash of color blipped across King Vegeta's scouter before fading into obscurity. Someone was nearby, but where? The King cursed at the fact that his scouter was too unreliable to count on so long as they remained aboard the Yuulian ship.
"Keep your ears and eyes open," King Vegeta's focus returned to the mission at hand. "They cannot be far."
Trunks shifted uncomfortably. The palms of his hands began to sweat as he balled them up into tight fists in anticipation. He was ready to fight, but it would not be against the Yuuli so long as he had any strength left within his body.
'I'll fight you if you leave me no choice,' Trunks tried to convince himself as he looked up at King Vegeta. That's what his older father would do if he had no choice, right? His eyes then diverted down to Vegge for a split moment. 'Well... maybe not...But only for Vegge's sake.'
Besides, the King was supposed to die at the hands of Frieza. Even though this version of King Vegeta was just an echo of the Past trapped in the time loop, Vegge didn't know that. It would not due for Vegge to remember Trunks as the King's slayer. Trunks wouldn't be able to face his mother if he did such a thing anyways. He'd interfere with the King's plans, but he'd never kill him.
As they continued forward, the hallway opened up into a large courtyard filled with large clear canisters containing plants of all shapes and sizes. The largest canister in the center of the courtyard drew their attention. The twisted yellow plant within it gave off a peculiar orange glow. As the Saiyans approached, the glow intensified.
King Vegeta scowled as he took note. "Aringentis mirhou hornja," he muttered.
"Aringa-what?" Trunks raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"I would not have believed such things could exist if my sources had not already warned me," the King replied.
Trunks scratched his head. "Ummm, it's a plant."
King Vegeta glowered at Trunks. "Let us say that the fact that the aringentis is encased in glass is the only reason we are still standing. From the look of things, the Yuuli have attuned this one to the ki signatures of Saiyans, which means the pheromones it gives off would be deadly to us. The plant also produces a liquid neurotoxin. It is still not fully understood how it works, but it attacks the minds of only those it is attuned to when ingested."
Trunks made a mental note to himself to mention this to his mother.
Another aringentis plant was off in the far right corner. It too was glowing brightly, but its glow was green. A figure revealed himself from behind it.
"You dare to attack us on our own ship?" the figure called out. "Then you will perish here."
A blast of green energy shot towards King Vegeta, Trunks, and Vegge before they had the chance to react. It missed them entirely.
Trunks laughed smugly. "You had the first strike and wasted it? We won't be caught off guard again!"
"If you fight with the Saiyans, then you will die with them," the Yuuli man replied. Similar to the other Yuuli they had encountered, this one was tall and extremely pale white in color, though he had no red markings. The top of his head was bald and he had long thick strands of silver hair sprouting from behind his ears. His eyes were milky white, making it rather unnerving as he glared at them.
The Yuuli placed a hand to the side of the canister containing the green-glowing aringentis plant. Its glow intensified for a moment before condensing into single orb of energy. Once again it shot out towards the Saiyans; once again it missed.
"This guy has really bad aim," Trunks openly mocked.
"You fool!" King Vegeta snapped at Trunks. "He's not aiming at us!" The King rushed towards the Yuuli in an attempt to put an end to his assaults.
The Saiyan-attuned aringentis began to glow more fiercely. The canister encasing it was the target of the Yuuli, not them.
"No..." Trunks whispered as he noticed the slight crack forming along the side.
"And so you die!" the Yuuli cackled as he charged up yet another blast.
Rath: It has been a while, but I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! In the next chapter, I will likely elaborate more on what is going on with Goku, Bulma, and Goten.
As I read the previous chapters, I noted a LOT of things that need to be edited. I am definitely going to be working on those bit-by-bit.
Until next time! Sawatdee!
Reminders for this Story:
Ages: Vegge (8), Trunks (14), Goten (13), Marron (11), Pan (3), and Bra (2)
Pronunciation of "Vegge" : Like "Vh—JEEE" (not like "VEH-Ji" aka "Veggie")
For general story summary: Read the "Disclaimer" of Chapter 23