"Why do humans do this?" Vegeta asked Bulma as he watched her light up a few sticks of incense and put it inside a small, silver-colored burner next to her parents' portrait that was displayed in front of the black granite gravestone. Earlier this morning, Bulma dragged him out of the house for their 'second date'. Vegeta was glad to have woken up before she could find him sleeping next to her, but the very moment she saw him, she immediately demanded him to accompany her to her parents' resting place. Vegeta initially refused, but when she said that she will treat him to lots of food, he eventually gave in to her demands.
And so here they are.
While Vegeta understood why some mortals would bother themselves to give their loved ones a proper burial, he was confused by the Earthlings' tradition of willingly visiting someone's gravesite when they should have already gotten over it. It was then that he discovered that Earthlings are such sentimental creatures.
Bulma deliberately ignored his question as she knelt before the grave and 'talked' to her parents.
"Papa, Mama. I would like you to meet my new boyfriend," Bulma said. She raised her hand and put it over the right side of her lips then whispered, "I'm sure you have seen him already. He says he is the God of Destruction, the deity responsible for death and devastation. He gave you the justice you seek by punishing the guy who did this to you."
Vegeta rolled his eyes at her. "Don't be stupid. Why are you talking to the grave? They cannot hear you."
Bulma turned to him, glaring at him angrily.
"It is the truth. After judgment, the souls of the dead are immediately sent to the otherworld where they await to undergo the cycle of reincarnation, and all memories they had of their previous life are erased. They undergo this process until they are done in their fourth life cycle, and when the final judgment on their soul happens, they are sent to either heaven or hell. There are special cases though, like those who did something unforgivable according to my judgment, or those of my targets and contractees, or those who seek justice or vengeance and called me by my name... Most of those souls were destroyed from its existence by me, some I threw into the lake of fire as their eternal punishment, like that of your parents' killer."
Bulma blinked at what he just told her, "You threw Saike Regin to hell?!" she gasped in disbelief.
His eyes glinted wickedly as he gave her a devilish smirk, "Why? Are you satisfied?"
Bulma grinned a mischievous one back, poking her elbow into his side, "Aiyeeeeh... Did you do it because of me?" she teased.
Vegeta grunted, his smirk fading back to his clenched teeth as he looked away for her in disgust, scoffing in his annoyance at her teasing him as if he did it for her. "Don't flatter yourself. That bastard dared to step into my territory of death and destruction. He abused the strength that I gave him, thinking that he is above the great me, the most dangerous and most fearsome deity in this Universe. So I gave him a taste of what death is like, then I threw him into the deepest pits of hell where he could suffer for all eternity."
"Really? I guess I am glad to hear about that. That murderer deserved to be punished for all eternity. Thank you for giving my parents their justice, Vegeta," Bulma said. She turned her attention back to the grave of her parents. "You heard him, Mama, Papa. You have been avenged."
Vegeta stared at her in silence for a few moments, his jaw twitching, feeling a little frustrated about her words. His thoughts during his encounter with Granolah on the asteroid that used to be his home planet and royal kingdom flashed on his mind. He wondered if she would think the same about him just as how Granolah and other mortals do, that he deserved this cursed eternal punishment he was enduring for more than a millennium and a half, existing in a way even worse than hell itself.
He gritted his teeth in his anger. For some reason, he didn't want her to feel the same about him. Just the thought of her thinking of him like that constricted his chest with pain he had never felt before. He grunted, pushing away these unnecessary thoughts and feelings. Why would her opinion matter to him? Mortals think the same thing about him everytime. She was no different from any other mortal, they're all the same. She will no doubt think he should go to hell for the evil things he had done in both his mortal life and his cursed existence.
"Are you even listening to what I just told you?!" Vegeta told her in a gruff manner, unable to believe that Bulma was still talking to her parents.
Bulma let out an irritated groan as she turned to him with a glare, "I know! I know! But would you please just allow me to do this?! Maybe you were right. It is useless. You told me the truth, but you should understand that humans do this to help them cope whenever they miss their loved ones."
"Tch! You delude yourself with your sentiments. I understand now why you told me that you haven't seen the deities' mercy in your life. There are things that you should let go of so you can move forward with your life for you to achieve what you can be. If you continue to hold into these things you won't be able to get out of that pitiful hole. Your fears will forever restrain you from receiving the blessings the deities bestow upon you. As I always say, 'Before creation, comes destruction'."
"Don't you miss anyone? Or miss doing something that you cannot do anymore now that you are what you are now?"
Vegeta growled, visibly annoyed, "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't feel mortal emotions?"
"I am sure that there are things in your mortal life that you miss so much. I also think that there are things that you wish you could have done if only you were a mortal, knowing that you cannot go back to what you used to be now that you have become the God of Destruction of this Universe."
He grunted in annoyance and rolled his eyes as he scoffed, "There you go again with your stupid assumptions about me."
"Go ahead and think of my words as being 'assumptions' about you, but I had a dream about you last night. In that dream, I saw that you were lonely, that you have been waiting for someone for so long. You have endured a millennium and a half of pain and loneliness while waiting for that person. That person who would come to you and fill up that emptiness you feel."
Vegeta's expression softened up a little. He recalled that dream she had last night when he saw it as he decided to sleep next to her, so it didn't really come as a surprise to him. But why was she telling this to him?
"Are you still waiting for that person?" she asked.
Vegeta's face quickly twisted back to his perpetual scowl as he shouted at her, "No! Why the hell should I wait for some stupid person to come to me?! I am the God of Destruction and I shall not have any worthless attachment to anyone! Don't think about it! It was just a meaningless dream of yours!" and then he huffed in the air as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"You're angry again," Bulma blinked.
"Yes, I am angry! I already told you to stop assuming things about me! Why do you still keep on doing so?!"
"It's because I made a promise to you, don't you remember? I promised that I will love you as my most important person. In order for me to love you, I need to understand everything about you." she told him, causing Vegeta to look back at her. "I admit that you are too mysterious and too complicated to understand, but Bulma Briefs loves a good challenge! I swear I will decode you and melt away that hard shell and cold heart of yours!" she declared with a determined look.
"Ugh..! You really are getting on my nerves, woman! Do what you want so long as you don't bother me!"
Bulma suddenly drew closer to him and she wrapped her arms around him. Then she leaned her head over his chest. Bulma smiled. His body felt so warm to her. Even until now, she couldn't believe that someone like him could radiate such warmth since he was a fearsome and ruthless God of Destruction. It was vastly different from the chilling air he had whenever he displayed his divine destroyer nature, like that before he teleported away in front of her eyes yesterday. On a normal day where he doesn't do his duties, he is physically just as warm as any mortal being.
Vegeta looked down at her with a frown, "What are you doing?" he asked with a cold tone of suspicion in his voice.
"This is a hug. This is how we mortals communicate and share comfort with others." Bulma answered.
He rolled his eyes, "I know what a hug is, you stupid woman. What I am asking is why are you doing this." he told her gruffly.
"I know that you have your reasons why you endure these sufferings. You don't have to feel alone anymore, I am right here. I will come to you no matter how many times I have to until my love for you could reach your heart."
He simply stared down at her, unmoving. There was a long silence in between them and Vegeta found himself somehow liking this sort of communication from her. He raised his arms, wanting to return the hug by wrapping it around her...
He hesitated. He felt two contradicting forces gnawing within himself. One was the longing desire for someone's comfort. It made him glad to know that there was someone utterly brave and foolish in this Universe willing to fight all odds just to understand him. Someone utterly crazy to feel rather easy whenever she was around him.
A small smile of relief appeared on his face for a fraction of a moment before the other force opposed that.
What the hell is he doing?!
A God of Destruction doesn't need anyone to understand him, comfort him, or even love him. He was too superior and too mighty to associate himself with mortals such as a mere human being, and to say a lowly member of the weakest and most sentimental race in his Universe. He should be destroying her and her people, along with her stupid planet!
But why does it feel good, despite knowing that this isn't right at all?
Growling in his irritation, Vegeta quickly grabbed her upper arms and pushed her away from him as if she had dirt all over her, disgusted by her sickening attempt at body communication. A surprised Bulma gasped at the sudden loss of touch and she pouted back at him when he pulled away from her with a deep scowl.
"Geez..." she whined.
Vegeta glared back at her and suddenly demanded at her, "Are you done wasting my time?! I'm hungry!"
Only then she understood the reason for such grumpy behavior. He had been like that the entire day, looking like he was irritated by everything that was around him for some reason. Of course, he only agreed to come with her because she told him that she would treat him to a buffet.
Shaking her head, she responded with an annoyed hiss, "Oh fine! Let's go!"
Chapter 26: A Glimpse of Hell
"Granolah did what?!" Elec asked this with an irked look upon his face. He was sitting in his throne-like seat at their castle's main hall where the Heeters greet their guests. He gazed down at Soshiru, somehow unable to believe what the yellow-skinned, reptile-like alien humanoid just told him.
"Believe me, Elec-sama! I met him on my way here. He was going in the opposite direction instead of returning here with the Namekian Book of Legends!"
"And how did you know about that? Were you eavesdropping on our conversation with Granolah?"
"I happen to be by the door when I overheard the two of you..." Soshiru admitted. He grabbed the device attached to the strap around his body and handed it over the eldest Heeter. "Anyways, here's my body cam! Here lies the evidence of Granolah's betrayal to you! He admitted it himself!"
With a glare, Elec told Oil to take the camera and the largest Heeters Clan member connected the recording device into their gigantic screen. When Oil played the video, everyone's jaw dropped in astonishment at what they saw in their screens.
The video showed them Soshiru, in first person perspective, following Granolah's ship. Within the Cerealian's ship, they saw someone with Granolah. It looks as if the two were arguing for some reason.
"Who-what the hell?! I don't remember seeing that guy in there? Who the hell is that?" Soshiru gasped.
"That's the God of Destruction. It seems Granolah really did summon him," Macki recognized.
"God of Destruction? You mean like that in the urban legends?"
When Soshiru attacked the ship with his rocket-assisted projectiles, Granolah's ship shook at the impact, and it seemed to take a great deal of damage. At that same moment, the God of Destruction turned towards the camera, and glared at them with his slanted, narrowed eyes glowing an eerie mauvish-crimson glow. It felt as if he was staring right through the souls of those watching at him, making Soshiru gasp when he felt a strange, pulsing sensation within the center of his chest.
Vegeta smiled menacingly at the camera, his pinkish-red eyes seemed to glow more. And then, he said, "Die."
Suddenly, Soshiru fell to his knees, screaming in agony as he clutched at his sleeveless shirt nearest to where his heart is, causing the three Heeters siblings to turn to him.
"He-Hey Soshiru! What is happening to you?" Oil asked in concern as he and Macki approached him. Elec doesn't seem to care as he continued to stare on the screen as if to have a glaring match with the image of the God of Destruction. Vegeta chuckled wickedly, and the video went static before the monitor, body cam, and anything close to it exploded, causing everyone to defend themselves from the shockwave it caused and flying debris.
"Wha-what?!" Oil gasped as he found their equipment utterly destroyed to pieces, "What happened? Why did it explode?"
"The God of Destruction did it," Elec thought. He couldn't fathom the unbelievable abilities of the destroyer deity. Even from that video, he could cause death and destruction.
"Elec! Soshiru seems to be having a heart attack! What should we do to him?!" Macki demanded her older brother.
"Throw him to Gas' prison. I have no use for him anymore!" Elec commanded.
"Are you serious, Elec?! If we do that, Gas will-"
"-Exactly!" Elec roared, rising from his seat and pulling out his pistol from his belt. He pointed the gun towards them, and pulled the trigger to shoot at Soshiru, causing Oil and Macki to jump away from Soshiru in fear of being shot by Elec next.
"Now throw that fool in there and feed his carcass to Gas! He needs his nourishment before we unleash him to wreck havoc on Planet Namek!"
"Namek? You really think Soshiru's words were true, Elec? For what reason is he going to betray us?"
"The God of Destruction wasn't there to destroy Granolah. He was obviously on that Cerealian's side right from the start. It is possible that he already told Granolah the truth. Perhaps, this is the reason why Granolah was going in the opposite direction. If we attack Planet Namek, Granolah will be forced to return there because of that old Namekian and he will give us the Namekians Book of Legends with the information about the Dragon Balls in there."
Vegeta stared down at the table in front of him filled with different kinds of cuisine. The several plates with an unbelievably mountainous amount of food made him grin mischievously as if silently saying that he, alone, will eat this gargantuan feast. Bulma was across him with just a single plate of food. Everyone around them stared at their table, astonished by all those food.
And they were even more shocked when Vegeta devoured it all in just mere five minutes, and even asked for seconds.
And another...
And another...
And even more...
Bulma simply watched at him. While he gorged down all those food, he was still careful with displaying his emotions, though he couldn't help all those moans of delight and smiles of satisfaction with every bite. Well, at least, he's in a better mood now than earlier.
Outside the restaurant, across the street bustling with people, Jeizun Shibata, the murder suspect during the Children's Morning Parade almost three weeks ago, was tredging the sidewalks like a madman. He was loudly cursing and aggressively pointing at the invisible creatures only he could see, spirits that Vegeta ordered to haunt him for the rest of his miserable life until his client, Keisaku, agrees to the contract the God of Destruction offered him. The terrified civilians would scamper away in fear of the crazed murderer, but when someone tried to call the police for help and to notify them about the location of the wanted criminal, Jeizun snatched the smartphone off her shaking hands and threatened to kill the darn woman by stabbing her with a thick, pointy, and rusty metallic rod. The horrified woman screamed for help, but nothing happened. She opened her squinted eyes very carefully to find the burly, bald-headed killer frozen in his position during his mid-attack. His deranged eyes locked on somewhere behind her, seemingly bewitched.
"That guy... That bastard... He's the one who did this to me..." he suddenly mumbled to himself as he watched through a glass window of a restaurant several feet across him at a familiar-looking man with his unmistakable spiky jet black hair that stood like a flame on the top of his head as he devoured his impossible amount of food.
Using this as a chance to escape, the woman pushed the crazy man off her and she quickly scampered away from him. Luckily for her, Jeizun was completely entranced by the sight of his next victim.
Jeizun let out a dark chuckle. At long last, he finally found that bastard, and he will make him pay for what he had done to him!
Vegeta suddenly stopped eating, midway through his bowl of Yangchow fried rice when he sensed something going on. A bored Bulma suddenly blinked at him, wondering what was wrong with him again. That look on his face was scarily serious.
Vegeta was like that for a few seconds before he shook his head and continued with his food, slower this time, until he was finished with all the food in front of him. Once done, Vegeta leaned back to the backrest of his chair, crossing his arms over his chest with a satisfied smile.
"You're done?" Bulma asked him, blinking. She was relieved because she thought he will not stop eating at all.
"Hn," he responded with a nod.
Bulma nodded back, shrugging uncomfortably at his unbelievable behavior. She called the dumbstrucked waitress to pay for their food.
Once done, they left the buffet restaurant and its seemingly devastated crew who still couldn't believe that someone could eat as much as that. Bulma and Vegeta walked together side by side in an empty sidewalk. It was already night, but still early so Bulma silently pondered about why the place was devoid of people. She found it quite strange, wondering if it was because of Vegeta's divine destructive presence again.
"Hey, is milk tea delicious?" Vegeta suddenly asked her, causing Bulma to turn to him and be distracted from her thoughts.
She blinked at him in confusion, "Huh? Why did you ask me that all of a sudden?"
Vegeta pointed in front of him and she followed his finger to see a small tarpaulin advertising a milk tea store a few blocks away.
Bulma gasped as she turned back to him and gave him a look of disbelief, not having any idea where he put all those food in that small and fit body of his. "Please don't tell me that after you ate that much, you still want some milk tea?! Are you even aware of how much you just ate?! If you continue this then you will end up getting a stomachache."
Vegeta turned his head at her, an annoyed expression on his face.
"Feh! I don't get stomachaches!" he spat at her in disgust. He turned his head back to the tarpaulin to tell her, "Hey, go to that store and get me one of that."
Bulma just huffed in disbelief. The audacity of this man!
"You are unbelievable! Aren't you even going to come with me?! I am not your servant!" she glared at him.
This time, Vegeta turned his entire body to face her, leaning over so he could glare back at her eye to eye, waving a finger at her direction. "Listen, if that store closes and you don't get me my milk tea, you are going to die," he warned her, his glare even more intensed than hers.
Bulma blinked as she found that unnerving dark gaze of his turned into something really murderous. It made her feel goosebumps and chills run across her spine. He's really serious about threatening her with death. While Bulma wanted to retaliate and tell him not to order her around, for some reason something about his suddenly terrifying mood made her obey him. She stepped back as if to distance herself from this angry god, finally relenting to do his bidding. He was such an insufferable and pushy little jerk.
Bulma let out a sigh before asking tiredly, giving up. "I... I'll go, okay? What flavor would you want?"
Vegeta pulled his lips away from his teeth as he hissed at her, "Whatever you think is good. Just go!"
Bulma immediately scampered to the milk tea store as if to save herself from the rabid-looking deity. Why is he so angry all of a sudden? Come to think of it, he was being a jerk to her even after she fed him all those food. She would have to talk to him about his attitude once she comes back with the milk tea.
Unbeknownst to her, Vegeta ordered her to do that in order to push her away from danger. He was really serious when he warned her that if she didn't do his bidding then she was going to die. He wasn't really threatening to kill her like she was thinking, though Vegeta would have preferred her to think that way rather than make her think that he protected her life. If she stayed with him, then she will surely die. He had no idea why he did this, but he knew that she would only get in his way of dealing with that bastard.
Once Bulma was gone, Vegeta turned his eyes to his side. He had been sensing a vicious mortal energy spying on him since he was dining with her at the restaurant. He recognized its owner to be Jeizun Shibata, the unrepentant killer during the Children's Parade incident, who had gone total psycho over the punishment he gave the murderer. Jeizun must have recognized him back in the restaurant and decided to follow him, planning to confront him for what he did...
From the back of the electric post a few feet away behind him came out a burly, disheveled, bald-headed man. He was cackling to himself, a wide, psychotic grin on his crazy-looking face. Vegeta turned and simply stared at the vile human, remaining extremely calm and standing in his place despite the mortal's seemingly threatening build and height towering over him.
"You... You were the one who did this to me, weren't you?" Jeizun asked him. He shakily pointed at Vegeta with his crooked fingers and then back to himself before he tapped into the sides of his head with his dirty palms. Suddenly, he roared like a madman, waving his arms in front of him. "This... This is all your fault!"
Vegeta gave him a wide, villainous smile. "That's right. I was the one who did this to you," he replied coldly. "Your crimes were severe and unforgivable, that's why I gave you this divine punishment. Don't worry though, you can still look forward to your afterlife, and I promise you that it's going to be even worse than this."
"I am going to make you pay!" Jeizun declared as he took something he was hiding in his dirty jacket before he raised his right arm in the air, showing that he was holding into a thick, pointy, and rusty metal rod.
"Die!" he screeched as he furiously charged toward Vegeta, and mercilessly stabbed him right through the heart with the weapon in his hand. Vegeta just watched him as he allowed himself to get pushed back by Jeizun's crazy force (by human standards) until his back hit the wall, causing the rod to impale him even further.
Jeizun removed his hand from the weapon and stared at the rod sticking out of his victim's chest with a deranged grin as he laughed maniacally at the sight, feeling victorious that he had his revenge, telling the spirits of those he murdered that haunted him for quite some time now that he had killed their boss. He chuckled to himself, saying that this guy deserved to burn in hell along with those 'demons' he called. Then Jeizun ran off cackling like a madman.
Vegeta simply stayed right there before he fell to his knees with a blank expression on his face.
"..."
There was something about that dirty, old man that reminded him of his past self. He saw his reflection within Jeizun's deranged eyes, heard his maniacal laughter when Jeizun laughed at him, and even relate to his feeling of victory when he thought that he had satisfied his vengeance by killing their most hated person. He was once like Jeizun was, a cold-blooded murderer. Even as a child working for the Freeza Force, he was already as crazy and ruthless, perhaps even more. He killed people, innocents, men, women, and children, without any remorse but for fun, to satisfy his own seemingly insatiable bloodlust. He was once a vengeful, hateful, and bitter mortal who enjoyed spilling blood and causing misery to others. When he became the God of Destruction, even though he had more control now, those desires were only magnified whenever he delved deep into his destroyer mindset.
Other than that, being the deity responsible for the misery, loss, and punishment of mortals, all of the mortals' hate, bitterness, and anger at the deities all come to him. They were all directed to him. Mortals cursed him, questioned him, damned him to hell. Why do mortals always blame their misery on others when it was their foolishness that led to such damnation?
"Vegeta!" he heard Bulma panicked when she saw him in that position with a deadly rod impaled in his heart and not moving at all. She dropped the plastic bags containing the two large cups of strawberry milk tea on the ground and sprinted to his side as fast as she could. "What-What the hell happened here? Are you okay? Wa-wait... I-I..." she stammered then she suddenly remembered something and she told him. "Stay right here, okay? I'll just get something and I'll take you to the hospital-"
She quickly ran back to where she came from, only to return pulling a rather shabby-looking vegetable cart behind her.
She was quickly on his side, about to help him drag himself to the cart when she suddenly heard him let out a sigh before muttering to himself with a dazed expression, "Why are mortals so foolish? They always blame someone else for every misfortune they created for themselves. I never dared to condemn that mortal, because that was how I used to be. I would kill and destroy anything that would get in my way of achieving the greatest power in this Universe. It was because of my foolishness as a mortal that I ended up in this damned existence. And yet, I never blamed anyone for it. Not Freeza, not Beerus, not even Mu, nor any of the deities at all. For it was my own decision that led me into this.
"There was no one for me to blame but myself. This existence is the eternal punishment I sow in exchange for the greatest destructive power in the universe that I now held at my fingertips. The world revolves around karma. Good things are rewarded with good things, while evil must be paid for by destruction or eternal damnation..."
"Vegeta, come on. Don't be such a baby and enough with your drama," Bulma whined beside him. Why does he even have time to make drama when there is an iron rod sticking out of his chest and impaling his heart?
However, Vegeta doesn't even seem to register that she was on his side and talking to him at all. He continued to mutter as if he was in a trance, "For a God of Destruction, there is no good or evil. There is only...
"Destruction."
To Bulma's surprise, Vegeta's seemingly blank expression quickly lit up into something deranged when his onyx-colored irises changed color to a fiery mauvish crimson. He swiftly rose from his position and raised his right arm forward, his index and middle finger pointing somewhere in front of him. Not far away, he felt Jeizun Shibata's core of existence pulse powerfully when it perceived the power of the God of Destruction focusing on it.
Vegeta's facial expression and tone were cold as he declared his divine punishment for this lowly mortal, "You have incurred the wrath of the God of Destruction and now you shall receive divine punishment for what you have done... Begone, you foolish mortal!"
A purple-colored energy bullet he named as his "Destructive Final Impact" attack was fired from the tips of Vegeta's fingers and it shoot towards Jeizun Shibata several meters away with blinding speed. The moment it hit Jeizun, he even had no time to scream nor move as the destructive energy immediately rendered him incapacitated. With a grimace, his human body immediately got reduced to bones until it became ashes scattering in the wind. Vegeta's devastating power just destroyed him in a cellular level that every cell of his got pulverized completely but gradually. It was a painful, brutal death but Jeizun was not able to let out a single cry or scream at all.
Vegeta closed his raised hand into a tight fist as if to catch something invisible in the air, then he turned his hand over and opened his fingers. From it, a small, pulsing, whitish blue ball of flame burst out of his palm. It was Jeizun Shibata's core of existence.
His soul.
"Hey, do you want to see a glimpse of what hell is like?"
"Eh?" Bulma wasn't sure if he was talking to her or the ball of flame.
Vegeta suddenly muttered lowly, "Infuu Seikuyo."
Bulma felt a strong shockwave blow around her and then everything darkened and was dyed with purple light.
A closed space!
Then right in front of them, a portal the size of a typical body mirror opened up. Bulma gasped in pure terror when she saw what was inside that portal. A lake of fire burning with tremendous temperature. And within those blazing flames, she could hear the screams and cries of unending agony from the sinful and unforgivable souls thrown in there to suffer for all eternity.
This is... This is what hell is?! Just like what the holy scriptures described it to be?!
Bulma put her hands over her gaping mouth before she turned her wide, terrified eyes back to Vegeta. That ball of flame in his hand flickered away as if wanting to escape from his grasp but it just couldn't free itself. For a moment, Bulma felt bad about that soul, but she knew he probably deserved it.
Probably.
Vegeta pulled his hand back and then hurled the cursed soul into the portal. Bulma heard another addition to the myriad of crying and screaming voices and it made her flinch in utter terror. The portal immediately closed up as soon as Vegeta turned away from it. He raised a finger in the air and the purple light of the closed space faded away.
Bulma could only stare at him in fear and disbelief. Never she had thought that she would see what actual hell was like right before her eyes. And it terrified her to think that this man could casually throw anyone in there whenever he wanted to.
"What were you saying again?" Vegeta asked her as if nothing just happened. She blinked at him as if waking up from daydreaming a nightmare, finding that the cruel pinkish glow of his eyes and his cold, ruthless and villainous demeanor had faded away.
For a moment, she had forgotten about that thing sticking out of his chest.
"Ah... Oh... I... I said that you should get on the cart and I will take you to the hospital. We need someone to take that thing off your chest..." she stammered. She was still trembling out of fear about what she just witnessed him do.
Vegeta raised an eyebrow, eyeing the shabby vegetable cart she pulled with her due to her jitters. He immediately protested, "No! Why are you going to put me on that dirty thing? You think I'm some sort of vegetable?!"
Pun intended.
Bulma rose from her position on the ground, planted her hands on her hips, and glared at him, having enough of his attitude towards her for the day, "Will you stop being choosy?! This is an emergency! Get on that darn cart so I can take you to the hospital!"
Vegeta's eyes widened at her and he shouted, "Aha! Who do you think you're ordering around?! Have you forgotten who and what I am?!"
"I know! I know that you are Vegeta Yonsei, God of Destruction of this Universe, the deity responsible for death and devastation. Who cares about that if you are going to die-"
Vegeta rolled his eyes at her and casually pulled the rod out of his chest as easily as when he was taking something out of his pockets.
Instead of shutting up like Vegeta had expected her to do, Bulma panicked even more, "What the hell do you think you're doing, Vegeta?! You could bleed to your death!" she scolded him. She quickly fumbled through her pockets to look for her handkerchief to cover the grizzly hole, hoping to help stop the bleeding, only for her to halt and be astonished at the breathtaking sight of his pierced wound quickly regenerating on its own. The purple flame of his destructive power rose out of the said injury and healed him until it was completely gone.
Amazing!
"Oh... You're... You'll be fine, I guess..." Bulma mumbled in a stuttering tone, looking away in embarrassment.
"Have you forgotten that I am immortal?! After what you just witnessed?!" Vegeta told at her in a rough manner.
Bulma nervously laughed as she shrugged her shoulders. She could feel an uncomfortable heat running across her cheeks, "Yeah, you're right. Hehehe... Sorry, I couldn't help but be worried about you in there. You weren't responding to me earlier so I thought you needed my help..."
"Why would I need your help, mortal?! I am the most powerful deity in this Universe. Where is the milk tea I ordered you to buy?"
"Huh? Oh, I... Just a moment..." Bulma scampered back to pick up the plastic bag of milk tea she dropped earlier. She took out a cup and a straw covered in plastic, shaking the cup for a few moments before she handed it over to him. He snatched the milk tea from her and ripped the plastic around the straw with his teeth then he stabbed the pointy end of the straw into the cup's lid. Bulma did the same with hers.
"That's strawberry milk bubble tea with Boba pearls," she explained when she found him glaring at the pinkish-red contents of the clear cup.
He shrugged and simply drank from the black plastic straw.
"I was just worried about you. I don't know why I tend to completely forget that you are an immortal deity."
"I don't need it. If anything, you should be the one who should worry about yourself since you chose to be near me."
"Why should I be worried that I chose to love you?"
"You truly are one oblivious, foolish human. And a pesky one at that," Vegeta scoffed. "When you said earlier that Saike Regin deserved the eternal punishment I gave him, I wonder if you would think the same about me."
"Why did you suddenly ask me that?"
"Jeizun Shibata, the soul of that guy I just threw into the pits of hell right before your eyes. He had killed several humans without remorse or mercy. I was once a cold-hearted murderer, just like him, actually even worse than anyone."
Bulma recalled the name and the face of the cruel murderer of the Children's Parade she found on the news almost three weeks ago. Right, he truly deserved to be thrown in hell for what he did to all those poor young children and their devastated family.
"I was the Saiyan Prince, a conqueror and destroyer of worlds, the worst among the most ruthless and most savage race of the mightiest warriors the Universe had ever seen. I've killed countless of innocents, my numbers even greater than any man you know of. Men, women, children., mostly innocents. I was a monster, a murderer, and I loved and enjoyed the blood I had spilled. Never did I feel regret or remorse about any of that."
Bulma just stared at Vegeta's cruel eyes as if he was trying to convince her. Suddenly, flashes of images ran through her mind as Vegeta telepathically showed her glimpses of how he did the evil things he was speaking of. And it was too much for her to handle because she knew exactly how to be a victim of a murder spree. His victims were higher than Saike and Jeizun combined. Since he conquered and destroyed entire planets, his number must be countless. She saw just how cruel and brutal he did all of his kills. She heard him laugh maniacally as he delighted himself with torturing and spilling the blood of his unfortunate victims, enjoying every second of it until their last breath.
Bulma grabbed the sides of her head. At the back of her mind, her trauma resurfaced and she began screaming, "Stop it! Vegeta!"
It thankfully stopped at that moment.
"Do you think you can still love me after knowing that? Or do you think that I should go to hell as much as other mortals think?" he asked her coldly.
Bulma raised her head, gaping at him like she didn't know how or what to tell him.
"..."
Bulma stayed silent for a long moment. She knew that in her heart, that she will not tolerate any of Vegeta's ruthlessness, most especially to the innocents. It is true that she strongly believes that anyone who treats others in a cruel and sadistic manner, those who killed indiscriminately and without any remorse for what they had done, do deserve to rot in hell for all eternity. What gave them the right to do this to others?
But how would she tell him? He was the deity responsible for death and ruin so she was sure that Vegeta will simply say that it was only right for him to be this evil. He did say that he is indeed an evil, ruthless god so many times to her. Even if he did this, as it was his duty as the God of Destruction, he could have gone to hell so many times and returned to the mortal world bringing that hell with him to unleash in the lives and worlds unfortunate enough to welcome his divine presence. He was truly someone who should be despised, cursed, and resented by mortals.
And yet, she wanted to love him. She chose that decision in her hopes to save her people and her world from his wrath, in order for her to never lose anything.
If she wanted to love someone as cruel as he is, someone even worse than all those murderers she was disgusted with and truly resented, then was she being a hypocrite? Does she even truly believe she could love him at all?
"Just as I thought..." Vegeta muttered with an emotionless tone. His eyes grew colder as he gazed at her with his intimidating stare. He could hear her thoughts clearly, reluctant to say to his face what she was thinking, Bulma's silence said it all to him. And something gnawed at his chest. A pang of disappointment.
Bulma knew that he had seen what she was thinking and felt what she truly does feel. And she knew that she made him angry with her reluctance to answer his question and her verbal silence. The way he glared back at her with his dark eyes full of hate and bitterness made her think that he was also hurt and disappointed by her response.
"Vegeta..."
She approached him, her shaking hands reaching out to him, wanting to open her mouth and explain what he was hearing from her mind, but Vegeta angrily slapped her hands away and he stepped back to pull away from her.
"Don't pretend that you will still try to love someone like me. You simply just cannot love me. No mortal had loved me before. You may resent me, curse at me, hate me with all your heart, tell me to go and burn in hell, but no one in this Universe will ever love me," he growled at her. His tone cold and bitter, his black eyes darkened with hate and malice. "I never hid anything from you. I told you and showed you what I am, what I am capable of doing, and what I have done to those who get in my way. In the end, I will be the one who will destroy you, and everything there is on this miserable planet. Do not ever forget that."
Vegeta turned his back on her and started to walk away from her, but his steps were halted when Bulma summoned the courage to snap herself out of her reluctance and said, "I know that you are different from them. I know that you did all those things for a reason. Either because... What was his name again? That Galactic Emperor person- whoever he is, ordered you to do it by force, or because it was your duty as a God of Destruction. I know that you didn't enjoy inflicting all those things just as you always say. You are trying to make yourself believe that you enjoyed it."
Vegeta turned back to her, and roared irately, "What are you saying?! What the hell is wrong with you?! Are you telling me that you are ignoring who and what I am?!"
"I am not saying that," Bulma told him calmly, her blue eyes fearless as she stared at his intimidating eyes, which would have made others fear for their existences.
"Then are you trying to make an exception?!"
"You may have heard me asking myself if I was being a hypocrite for doing so, but when I realized that you had your reasons, that you were only doing your duties being the God of Destruction, I made a decision. Yes, you are an exception. My thoughts about you won't change, Vegeta. No matter how many times you try to convince me about how evil and ruthless you are, I've already seen through you. And you know that I am not just assuming things about you. I won't regret trying to love you and understand you the way no one else did."
For a moment, Vegeta's scary expression softened up. His eyes widened in wonder while his jaw dropped in awe. He was like that for a few seconds before his furious countenance returned.
"You are really getting on my nerves, woman!" he snarled at her. "Forget it! I don't want to hear anymore of your bullshit! I don't even know why I am talking to you right now!"
"I was just worried about you earlier. Why can't you just be thankful for it?" Bulma asked him, the sound of her voice breaking.
"Why should I? I am the God of Destruction. You saw how I could destroy anyone and anything that gets in my way. I don't need a foolish, weak mortal human like yourself to help me with such a trivial thing. Like I said, keep your worries to yourself."
Bulma's lips quivered and her eyes suddenly glittered with unshed tears she was trying her best to hold back. Vegeta stared at her in shock, taken aback as if she just hit him with an invisible ki blast he wasn't able to dodge or protect himself at all.
"I'm sorry. I just can't help it. I thought... I just thought I was going to lose you back there. I was foolish, yes. I'm sorry."
Vegeta stared back at her as if he didn't know what to do with her. He couldn't even understand why she was worrying about him and why she was even shedding tears for someone like him. Even so, something gnawed at his chest, something he knew he wasn't supposed to feel at all. He gritted his teeth together in an effort to fight back the myriad of screaming, agonized voices that started to resurface like a resounding echo at the deep recesses of his mind, and pushed them back with all his mental strength and discipline.
He let out an exasperated sigh, suddenly looking tired from all of that. Why are women such an enigma?
"Come here, Bulma," he suddenly told her, beckoning his finger for her to come closer to him.
Bulma raised her head, blinking and sniffing, "Huh?"
He grunted in annoyance, then he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. Vegeta squatted for a moment to pull her up and carry her in his arms, causing her to gasp in surprise.
"What are you doing?!" Bulma demanded at him breathlessly.
"Do you really trust me?" he suddenly asked.
Bulma's breath got sucked back into her throat and she stared back at his ebony-colored eyes, seeing a playful and mischievous glint in them. It made her feel a bit of excitement on what he was planning to do.
"Mm-hm," she nodded.
"Then shut up."
Bulma closed her eyes and made a grimace when she abruptly felt a quick gust of wind blow at her downwards. She could also feel her heart pound so hard inside her chest at what Vegeta could have done, but when she opened her eyes, she realized that they were up in the sky, surrounded by the fluffy clouds. Above them, the stars twinkle. Then suddenly, the clouds and stars moved past them. Vegeta was flying with her in his strong arms. Bulma quickly wrapped her slim arms around his neck in fear that she might fall to a gruesome death. She heard him chuckle at the thought but he didn't say anything.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked. Her earlier tears gone and forgotten.
He suddenly stopped flying and he slowly descended on the top of a tall rock formation. He gently put her down as she looked around, realizing that they were standing on top of one of the rocks that made up the mountain ranges of the Gizard Wasteland, several miles away from West City Capital where they came from. Bulma couldn't believe at how fast he managed to fly to that place in mere seconds.
"Now, close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you so," he ordered her, causing her to turn to him in puzzlement.
"Huh? Why?" Bulma asked him, blinking.
Vegeta growled impatiently back at her, "Just do it!"
She flinched back at first, before giving in to his orders. "Okay," she obeyed, closing her big, blue eyes.
Vegeta turned to face the night sky, his irises flashed a mauvish crimson glow as he declared a command for the Universe to do his bidding of destruction.
Bulma heard Vegeta exclaim something in a strange language she had never heard before. The way he articulated the odd words were powerful and divine, like a deity making something happen, like a magical spell- or perhaps a curse that would bestow the destruction of something. She wondered what he was trying to destroy this time.
"Go ahead and open your eyes now," he told her.
Bulma opened her eyes and they widened in her amazement when she found a breathtaking show of a marvelous meteor shower at the night sky before her.
"Wow! A meteor shower!" she gasped with a smile of wonder, "It's so beautiful!"
Beside her, Vegeta watched at her with his arms crossed over his chest and a pompous smirk, agreeing, "Right? Go ahead and enjoy the show. I think you needed it."
For a while, Vegeta watched at Bulma as she enjoyed the meteor shower he bestowed into the Earth's sky. While he did that, he felt a strange sensation in his chest. He didn't realize he was gaping at her the entire time. It was the same feeling he had when she smiled at him at the Yakiniku stall the other night. It made him feel hot, he could hear his heart he thought will never beat again pound inside his chest. His blood rushed through him as he was filled with the strange feeling he was slowly, but surely developing for this mortal.
Suddenly remembering an Earth saying that if you see a shooting star, you should make a wish, Bulma put her hands together and wished silently, as if Vegeta wouldn't hear it at all. He suddenly remembered that night she made her wish for him to destroy the world, imagining it being set on fire, letting it burn and making it feel her wrath. This time though, her thoughts were different. He saw how she imagined him telling her that he will spare the Earth and humanity from destruction because he enjoyed it being there, that he finds humanity useful, that he was delighted for being with her, thanking her for letting him see things that he never considered before.
"I wish that Earth would be spared from certain destruction. I wish for the God of Destruction, Vegeta Yonsei, to find a reason to show this world his mercy. I also wish that he may one day understand what I'm trying to tell him all this time."
Vegeta scoffed at her delusions, as if that would suddenly make him change her initial wish. He did expect her to wish the opposite of her initial wish this time, but... Of course, after hearing and seeing her thoughts, he knew that he will never allow that ridiculous fantasy of hers become a reality.
"I won't allow it," Vegeta told her with a wicked smile.
Bulma opened her eyes and glared at him, "I am not talking to you," she told him.
"Then who exactly were you talking to? I was the reason for those shooting stars," he told her, still with his evil smirk.
"The deity who could help change our fate," she responded.
Vegeta blinked back at her in confusion and suspected who she must be talking about. However, since he knew that Bulma had no idea that Yonshir was a multiverse deity who can control reality, he didn't suspect that she was talking to the goddess directly. Though he knows exactly who would hear that wish Bulma made just now. And if Yonshir makes a move about it, he knows that it will become troublesome for him to deal with.