DISCLAIMER:
Rath: (Scratches her head as she stares up at the giant 'Disclaimer' sign. It has wooden boards nailed over it with the words 'WORK IN PROGRESS' sloppily painted in front.) "Yo, Vetyga, what's the deal with your Disclaimer?"
Vetyga: (Huffs indignantly) "A work of art takes time… Stop rushing perfection!"
Rath: "But the next chapter is already…"
Vetyga: (Stomps foot) "Stop rushing meeee!"
Rath: (Sighs at reader) "You know what we don't own…"
IN THE PRESENT WORLD:
Bulma and Vegge sat in silence for over an hour before the sound of a door slamming interrupted their trains of thought.
The older Vegeta briskly entered the kitchen shortly afterwards. Clearly, he was in a sour mood. His eyes furrowed at the sight of his younger self.
"What was the third rule, boy?" Vegeta questioned.
"Don't leave without your permission a-and stay in my room if I'm not eating or with you…" Vegge recited obediently, though he kept his eyes cast downwards.
Bulma looked up in disbelief. "Is that what you told him, Vegeta? He's a child and a guest in this house, not some damned prisoner!"
"Woman, I suggest you stay out of this," Vegeta warned. "You and I both know what he's done and what he's capable of. In fact, his recent actions have already proven just how untrustworthy he is."
"No!" Bulma exclaimed passionately as she stood up to Vegeta. "No, you only think you know how to handle this situation. Instead, all you are doing is continuing this cycle of abuse. I won't stand for it, Vegeta!"
"Abuse?" Vegeta scoffed. "Abuse?! Abuse implies unfairness. Abuse implies he did absolutely nothing wrong. I'm not abusing the brat, I'm disciplining him. There's a difference."
Bulma's eyes saddened. Vegeta truly didn't understand the difference.
"Vegeta…" Bulma's voice took on a softer tone. "You left him in the tub for hours… You didn't even check to make sure he had eaten… That's not discipline."
"If he stayed in the tub like an idiot for that long, that was his own choice," Vegeta had no sympathy. "Don't blame that on me."
Vegeta noted Vegge's untouched plate of food.
'And if the brat was hungry, he'd have eaten,' Vegeta thought to himself. 'Bulma may fall for his antics, but I know better…'
"You are dismissed, brat," Vegeta ordered. "Return to your room."
Vegge left without hesitation.
"His room is currently flooded," Bulma informed. "I need to prepare a new room for him. He can't stay in his old one."
Vegeta's eyes darkened.
"It wasn't his fault!" Bulma quickly added.
"Stop defending him for every little thing he does wrong," Vegeta said as he went to fix himself several plates of food. "You aren't doing him some good service. Trust me when I say he has zero feelings of remorse for any of this turmoil he's caused. He's a selfish little punk with no empathy."
"Well, you weren't exactly Mr. Sunshine, when we first met either," Bulma commented.
Vegeta smirked.
"I'm just saying, maybe he'd learn compassion if others actually showed it to him," Bulma continued.
"I'm sure you mean well," Vegeta replied. "But I assure you, I know what I am doing. This conversation is over."
IN THE PAST WORLD:
"What is it you want from me?" Trunks questioned.
"What does Drinn want?" Drinn repeated.
The surrounding shadows shifted in random directions as Drinn paced back and forth.
"Trunks is a special case, he should know," Drinn said after a while. "The boy has somehow linked himself between the two worlds. Even they do not understand… Or perhaps they do… Hmm… Either way, the child prince also shares this link, though they are not yet convinced the links are identical. It puzzles them."
Drinn swiftly waved a gaunt hand in a small arc above his head. For a split moment, the air shifted like dark ocean waves. A brief image of other cloaked beings rippled at its center before fading back away into nothingness.
"They have been watching him," Drinn continued. "Drinn as well... Trunks has created a cascade of disturbances in this timeline. He upset the balance by a far greater magnitude than he knows. Perhaps he will never know. He can not see as they do."
"Does that mean I'm really stuck here forever?" Trunks asked.
"Trunks is bound by the rules of balance, yes," Drinn started.
Trunks's shoulders slumped. That was the last thing he wanted to hear.
"But Drinn here is not," Drinn reminded with an amused tone of voice. "And this one has decided he will return Trunks to his own world. The price for this is that Trunks must serve as Drinn's vessel… until that moment Drinn creates his own link between the two worlds."
Trunks's head snapped up in surprise. "Really?!" he exclaimed.
"Yes yes," Drinn waved his hand dismissively. "Drinn will do this, because it does not matter that Drinn transcends the rules of balance. Alone, Drinn has no ties to the world of the Timewalkers, thus he is unable to freely cross between the two worlds. On the other hand, the balance prevents Trunks from freely crossing either, despite the fact he already possesses the link. Together, Drinn and Trunks can both get what they desire. They will cancel out each other's limitations. It is simple really."
"What will you do then?" Trunks asked.
"What will he do when?" Drinn questioned.
"After you get to my world and gain the ability to freely cross between the times," Trunks answered. "What happens after that?"
Drinn cackled. "Even Drinn does not know!"
After two flicks of his wrist, two large ovals of smoke formed in front of Drinn. The smoke shifted in a chaotic manner like violent storm clouds. The first was tinted a shadowy green color and the second was a misty royal purple color.
"Here is not the place for further discussion," Drinn said as rocks began to crumble around them. "Rijow is a doomed planet. If he accepts Drinn's proposal, he may follow this one through the green portal. If not, the purple one will transport him elsewhere safe. Or Trunks can stay and die with the planet... The choice is his! Consider this Drinn's gift."
With that, Drinn vanished, leaving Trunks alone to decide his own fate.
"That's not even a real choice, you know!" Trunks shouted after the hooded man.
Without hesitation, Trunks followed after Drinn.
IN THE PRESENT WORLD:
Vegge was curled up in one of the chairs of his original room. His tail wrapped around his knees in a protective manner.
'It was worse with Frieza,' Vegge silently convinced himself. 'In the end, I still win…'
Vegge smirked at that thought, but his amusement was short-lived as the door to his room creaked open.
"I wanted to see for myself," Vegeta commented as he entered the room and locked the door behind him. His eyes furrowed as he surveyed the damage caused by the flooded water.
"The woman and I agreed that your next room will not have water-access," Vegeta stated. "She is busy preparing the room now for you, but it doesn't excuse what you've done. While you are here, I will not tolerate anything less than perfect behavior from you. Is that clear?"
"Yes," Vegge answered automatically.
"Good, but not good enough," Vegeta said as he grabbed hold of Vegge's arm and roughly jerked him off the chair. "Stand when you are addressing me. Disrespect from you will also not be tolerated."
Vegge nodded.
"I will give you one hour to clean up this mess you made," Vegeta declared. "And not a second more. It's time to take responsibility for your actions. I expect everything to be in sparkling condition."
"I don't…" Vegge started, but he was interrupted by a swift punch to the gut.
"I didn't ask for excuses," Vegeta replied. He watched emotionlessly as Vegge fell to the floor in shock and curled up in a ball. "And for the record… No, you may not leave this room in the meantime."
Vegge's arms wrapped tightly around his abdomen. His body struggled to recover from the impact of the punch. He heaved a few times, but there was nothing in his stomach to throw up.
"Time is wasting," Vegeta remarked.
Vegeta folded his arms across his chest and took a seat on top of the bed. A stone cold expression set on his face as he prepared to watch Vegge's every move for the next hour.
ELSEWHERE IN THE PRESENT WORLD:
Since their house was destroyed, Goku, Chichi, and Goten were now temporarily living with Gohan and Videl.
Goten was sitting on the living room couch watching TV, though he didn't seem very interested in it.
Gohan hopped onto the couch next to him. "What's wrong, kiddo?" Gohan asked as he nudged Goten with his elbow.
"Oh hey, Gohan," Goten forced a smile.
Gohan frowned. He could always tell when something was bothering Goten.
"Worried about Trunks?" Gohan asked.
"Ya," Goten admitted. "…And Vegge."
Gohan raised an eyebrow. "What's going on with Vegge?"
"Do you think Mr. Vegeta will hurt him?" Goten asked.
Gohan blinked.
"What makes you think Vegeta would hurt him?" Gohan asked.
The question seemed to come out of nowhere. His little brother practically idolized Vegeta. Goten had never even seen how ruthless Vegeta used to be. Gohan knew how cruel he was, but even so, Vegeta was nothing like that anymore.
Goten shrugged.
"Does it have anything to do with something you saw in the Past?" Gohan asked.
"No," Goten shook his head. "Well, maybe…"
"Anything you wanna talk about?" Gohan asked.
"He just seemed really angry," Goten replied. "And I could tell Vegge was afraid of him…"
Gohan laughed. "No doubt about Vegeta being angry, but who wouldn't be in that situation? He can be pretty intimidating to those who aren't used to him. Vegge's no exception. That's all. I'm sure he's fine."
"I guess so," Goten reluctantly agreed.
"If it makes you feel better, how about we go over to the Briefs' place tomorrow and then you can see for yourself how he's doing?" Gohan suggested. "We can help him adjust to his new life here."
Goten grinned. "Okay!"
'If Trunks was here, he'd like that,' Goten thought to himself. He couldn't wait for the next day to come!
Rath: And that's that for this chapter of TTWV! It was shorter than the last few chapters, but I hope you enjoyed none-the-less.
I want to give a big thank you to all those who reviewed the last chapter:
To sp4rkl3: Wow! That was a very passionate review! I really like your suggestion that Vegeta change his mannerism towards Vegge on his own accord. We'll see how it goes…
To WildVegeta: Glad you enjoyed the chapter! Bulma currently serves as a counterbalance, so that Vegeta's abuse doesn't get too out of hand.
To mandy: Indeed, Vegge is a great character for angst! Right now he doesn't even understand Bulma's kindness towards him. (And there will certainly be more of scenes between Vegeta and Vegge.)
To Guest: That scene with Frieza and Vegge was my fav part to write in that chapter!
To TwistedFortune: It seems that scene is being received quite well. Good to hear you liked it too!
To Guest: (CH 21): Ah, I didn't realize Marron was that much younger… Making Trunks and Goten any older would ruin aspects of their characterizations in this story, so if anything changed, it'd have to be Marron. It'd be interesting for Vegge to have someone who is so close to his own age. I'm debating if I will change her or not. If I don't, I'm going to chalk it up to this being an AU. (Yep, I'm pullin' that card!)
To NoAccount: With all the stories out there, it's nice to hear that this one still has a few unique aspects to it. I'm also glad that Vegeta's treatment of Vegge does not feel out of place in this story. Vegeta has a lot of issues to work out for himself. Your theory is pretty good!
To Ashe: That's a lot to read in one go! (By 'Trunks and Goku', did you mean to say 'Goten and Goku'?)
Have a happy new years!
Until next time… Sawatdee...
[As of this post, it seems the site is having some problems with reviews not showing up. Hopefully, nothing gets lost...]