Beautiful Stalker

Disclaimer: We don’t own DB/Z/GT or any of the characters found in this fic. They are the property of TOEI ANIMATION in Japan and FUNimation in the U.S.A. We are not making any profit from this.

Beautiful Stalker

Chapter 18 - Culmination by Macha and Mechanical Butterfly


“Mr. Popo locked them up in a room. We have to get the dragonballs. It’s the only way to fix everything!” The words tumbled out of Dende’s mouth almost faster than they could be pronounced.

“Hold on,” Seventeen shifted his weight, “Who has been locked up? Does it have anything to do with the fact both the Briefs and the Son families have been destroyed.”

Dende nodded emphatically, but Mr. Popo answered, “Something has happened to Goku. He’s the one who’s been murdering everyone. From what we have been able to observe, he isn’t Goku any more. When he followed Gohan up here, he had Vegeta in tow. I only meant to seal Goku up in the room of Spirit and Time, but it ended up being all three of them.”

“I don’t know what Vegeta has done to Goku, but we have to reverse it,” Dende was ready to place all the blame squarely on the prince’s shoulders.

Eighteen gave the young guardian a level stare, “I know how bias you are against Vegeta, but I don’t think he had anything to do with this.”

“Enough blame throwing,” Seventeen cut into his sisters conversation before it could turn into a accusation match between her and the twerp, “My sister and I will go in search of the dragonballs,” he stated, “You,” he said, directing his gaze at Dende, “And the genie here need to find out what really happened so once we do have all the dragonballs, we can make a well worded wish to rectify this situation.”

Mr. Popo laid a hand on Dende’s shoulder as it looked like the youngest in their group was going to make an argument, “It’s a good plan. We’ll leave you two to your hunting,” he said to the android pair.

The twins each gave a curt nod. Seventeen clicked the radar on, in order to get a reading of the closest dragonball, and then the two of them took off.

Before Dende could make a comment, Mr. Popo spoke, “You need to make contact with King Kai.”

Dende gave Mr. Popo a wilted look. He really didn’t want to have to get the kais involved if he didn’t have too. He didn’t want them to know how messed up things had become. He was supposed to be guardian of this planet, and yet he hadn’t been able to stop its champion from going rouge. How would that look on his resume?

When Dende didn’t respond immediately to his request, Mr. Popo wasn’t certain if the young guardian understood the urgency of the situation, “We need to find out what has happened. We need to be able to communicate with those in the room. If Goku is able to overwhelm both Gohan and Vegeta, he’ll get bored in there. It won’t take him long to figure out how to get out, just as Majin Buu did. The room was never meant to be a prison.”

“But they’ll think I am a failure!” Dende exclaimed.

Mr. Popo gave Dende a pointed look, “You haven’t failed yet. The planet hasn’t been destroyed, and you are still alive, but if you let Goku escape and he kills you or destroys the planet, then the Kais will know you are a failure. There is nothing wrong with asking for help from time to time. We need answers, we need them now: now is exactly the time you should be asking for their help.”

Dende hung his head. For the first time in a while, he was glad to have Mr. Popo there with him at the Look Out. The genie’s calm logic was an excellent resource in times such as these.

The young guardian looked up briefly and gave his companion a quick smile and a nod before he sat down where he had stood, and reached out to contact King Kai telepathically.


~o0o~


The android twins flew neck and neck, “Where’s the first dragonball at?” Eighteen asked her sibling.

Seventeen held the radar out far enough for his sister to see the blinking screen also, “I don’t know what to make of it. If I am reading this correctly, there are already several balls in one location.”

Eighteen took a moment to study the screen, and came up with the same conclusion, “I think someone has been gathering them. I just hope we don’t have to kill anyone to get them.”

“Speak for yourself. If I have to decide between one life or the existence of this planet, I’ll take the latter choice,” Seventeen said with conviction.

At first, Eighteen was shocked, but then she took a moment to think it through. Her conclusion was just as ugly as her brothers. Needs of the many out weighed the need of the few. Still, she hoped it wouldn’t boil down to them having to kill someone, “Right, the five first, then we’ll go after the stragglers.” After the decision was made, both of them picked up their speed.

~o0o~


Gohan noticed the blood pooling around Vegeta, but his attention was immediately redirected towards the other sayian. Kakarott was walking towards him, taking his time, almost stalking.

There wasn’t much for it, this confrontation was going to take all of his attention. He hoped the prince would be all right, but if his father weren’t stopped, then nothing would be.

The distance between them closed as Kakarott kept his steady pace, then there was a moment of uncertainty, when Kakarott stopped where he stood and roared. Gohan could feel the power gathering around his father’s body. The transformation between SSJ2 and SSJ3 took only seconds. “I don’t mind an even playing field,” Kakarott said lowly, “Ready to take on your old man?” He asked as he resumed his forward progress.

“I would have never have felt the need to take on my father. You on the other hand are a menace that must be stopped,” Gohan replied.

The retort was a mistake. Between the syllables of the word ‘stop-ped’ Kakarott was in full motion. Gohan wasn’t even able to see the kick that connected with his head, let alone try to block it. Having only attained this state of being once before, the form was still foreign to him. The only advantage it actually gave him was he was thrown meters instead of having his head come off.

He came back to his feet as fast as he could, coming up in a defensive posture, readying himself for another attack. He found he had breathing room, his father having more interest in the Prince lying in a pool of his own blood. “What did you make me do?!” Kakarott screamed, his face lifting for a moment from his beloved.

Gohan didn’t dare go any closer, hoping he would be able to see the next attack while it was happening, hoping the distance between himself and the maniac would give him that slight chance. He watched in amazement as Kakarott tried his best to impede more blood from being spilt by laying one of his hands across the Prince’s throat and cauterizing the deep gouges ripped into Vegeta’s neck, but it wasn’t enough, and both Kakarott and Gohan knew Vegeta had only a slight chance of living without the aid of a senzu.

::Gohan, this is King Kai, can you hear me?::

Gohan blinked, not having expected to hear any voices in his head. He hadn’t used telepathy often, so he hoped King Kai would be able to hear him if he spoke out loud, “Yes.”

::Dende has contacted me. He’s sent the androids to find the dragonballs, but we need to know what to wish for. Has Goku said anything that may tell you why he started behaving this way?::

Before Gohan could start to tell King Kai any of the information about the nanobots, Kakarott stood and came at him with speed rivaling that of light. The distance didn’t help Gohan follow his movements at all. He found himself being held inches off of the ground by what was left of his shirt front, “If he dies, it’s on your head,” Kakarott spat, and then he head butted Gohan.

Gohan saw stars and felt the hot flow of blood gush from his nose. Not that the sense of sight had helped him the last couple of blows, but he couldn’t see as Kakarott delivered a kick to his side, “Bulma’s father had cancer,” Gohan said out loud, distractedly trying to communicate to King Kia what little he knew. He cried in anguish as Kakarott dislocated his left shoulder, the quickly accumulating damage enough to cause him to fall out of SSJ3, “She created machines to help fight it,” his knee was busted with a brutal heel kick.

“I’m not going to play games with you,” he heard his father’s voice say, “I didn’t realize I was gambling with my love’s life by letting you live this long.”

Gohan ignored the pain, his sight slowly coming back to him, he continued to feed King Kai as much information as he could, with what little time he realized he had left, “They’ve invaded my father and made him Kakarott,” the young man felt a finger pressed against his forehead, he looked up to see he was kneeling before the maniac.

“Say good-bye to whom ever it is you are talking to,” Kakarott said, no hint of mercy in his voice.

Gohan had just enough time to hope he had given King Kai enough information before oblivion took him.

~o0o~

Seventeen wasn’t really certain what he had been thinking his sister and they would find when they came to the position the radar indicated five of the dragonballs were gathered. Even so, it came as a complete shock to see the same lavender haired man he had seen nailed to a tree hours ago, walking around as though nothing had happened to his body.

His sister knocked him back to reality as they landed, and she greeted the young man, “Miria!”

Never in his life had Miria Trunks thought he would actually be happy to see the androids. Of course, that had been before a couple of days ago, when he thought he would visit the time line from his past, and came upon nothing but an empty hole in space where a planet should have been. He’d been traveling back in time in this time line in week intervals ever since, trying to figure out what had happened. He had barely escaped from his one encounter with a solitary Kakarott on a devastated planet.

He didn’t bother with formalities, opting to go straight to the chase instead, “I have five of them.”

Seventeen nodded, “I am very glad we don’t have to bother stealing them from someone.”

“You have a radar?” Eighteen asked.

“Yes,” Miria replied.

“That makes this more simple,” Eighteen said relieved, “We’ll go after one, and you can go after the other.”

Miria nodded, “Do you know what happened?”

“The Guardian and the genie are working on the answer to that while we were sent in search,” Seventeen informed him.

Miria took a glance at his radar, clicking a button a couple of times, “I’ll go after the one to the north. You two go after the one in the east?”

Eighteen and Seventeen both nodded, “We’ll meet you at the Look Out,” Eighteen said.

Miria nodded and took to the air. Seventeen and Eighteen were quick to follow his example.

~o0o~


::I’ve lost contact with Gohan.::

Dende’s shoulders slumped at King Kai’s information. ::Were you able to get any ideas as to what has happened?:: Dende asked his superior.

::I can only tell you his exact words. I don’t know if they will mean more to you than they did to me.:: King Kai responded.

Dende waited for King Kai to enlighten him.

~o0o~

Miria checked the radar to make sure he was in the correct spot. There was nothing but ice to see in any direction. “Fuck,” he said out loud. He fired a ki blast into the glacier, and water gushed out to fill the gap. He capsulized the radar, took a deep breath, and dove into the frigid water.

~o0o~


Eighteen watched as her brother ran away from the dinosaur’s nest, the dragonball held out on front of him, “Fly you dumb ass,” she whispered, just before he lifted off the ground, his legs just barely being missed by the huge clamping jaws of the hen he had stolen the ‘egg’ from.


~o0o~

The Look Out shook, as though an earth trimmer had reached its foundations. Mr. Popo stood at the door to the Room of Spirit and Time, trying to re-enforce the warding spell he had placed there.

Dende waited impatiently for the return of the androids. He didn’t really believe they had had enough time to find the dragonballs, but he could hope for nothing else. It was either they returned in time and he was able to make a wish, or the maniac that had killed so many of his former friends and family came out of the room and all was lost.

His hopes rose as he saw a figure flying towards the Look out, but he had to wonder what had gone wrong during the search for the dragonballs that only one android would be returning.

He was pleased and concerned when he saw that the person landing in the courtyard of his home was Miria Trunks, “The androids haven’t made it back yet?” The lavender haired prince from the future asked as the Look Out foundations were rocked again.

Dende shook his head, wondering how Miria possibly knew that he had been looking for the twins. When Miria looked up and behind him, a relieved smile gracing his features, Dende turned around to see Seventeen and Eighteen coming their way, “I guess they weren’t too far behind,” Miria Trunks said in relief. He took a capsule out of its case and placed it on the ground before clicking the button. A poof of condensed air was released, and when it cleared, Dende saw six dragonballs waiting for their last sibling to join them.

Seventeen landed close to where Miria Trunks had released the other dragonballs and placed the seventh with the rest, “If you know what to wish for, you’d better make it fast,” he informed the guardian as the balls began to glow of their own accord.

“Arise Shenron!” Dende commanded. At the same time, half of the Look Out’s structures were scattered to the winds.

~o0o~

“You can’t die!” Kakarott held Vegeta against his chest with one strong arm as he rammed against the Room’s door with the other fist.

Logically, he knew his beloved was already dead. Emotionally, he couldn’t let it stop him. If he could just get outside this room’s dimensionally laminating walls, he would be able to wish his beloved back to life.

He let his head drop to his Prince’s burnt neck and howled before he pulled himself together and prepared himself for a one handed strike, “Ka-Me….”

~o0o~

Shenron awoke to find the people who had summoned him laid scattered about. It was a bit unusual, but he found it somewhat amusing. Most people stood in awe when he granted them with his presence.

“Who has summoned me?” He spoke, of course he knew who had summoned him, but he found it so amusing when splintered groups of people would fight tooth and nail to get the first wish out.

This time, however, there wasn’t much of a contest in his stage of puppets. One form he had become familiar with immediately stepped to the fore. Of course, the form this one was in was different than usual, but he knew people more as soul than actual bodies: they usually looked like ants to him. “I wish Vegeta life!” Was shouted at him.

Shenron moved slightly, thinking about the past wishes he had granted, making sure his memory was correct before answering, “This wish cannot be granted,” this one called Vegeta was the same as the one he had brought back to life only a few wishes ago.

There was a scream of anguish from the ground.

~o0o~

NO! It couldn’t be true. There had to be some way to make things right! To have his beloved back, returning punches or kisses, he didn’t care which, as long as there was life back in the body he held in his arms.

His mind screamed through the last two days, trying to find a solution. It finally came with the cryptic words his estranged son had been speaking before he had blown a hole through his forehead.

“Bulma’s father had cancer… she created machines to help fight it… they invaded my father and made him Kakarott….”

“I wish that Bulma Briefs’ father had never had cancer!” Kakarott screamed, only thinking of a way that he could have Vegeta back.

Shenron’s amusement had burnt out quickly. Dr. Briefs would have been cured had his daughter been allowed enough time to perfect her technology. Despite the rules usually governing his decisions about the natural order of things, this one could be granted, “Your wish is granted!”….


~o0o~~o0o~

…


I caught the towel Vegeta threw at me and wiped my sweaty face off on it, watching as he did the same. Stared as his eyes closed and he brought the soft clothe across his eyelids wiping them, then down the bridge of his nose. The towel now covering the lower half of his face. He kept his eyes closed a moment more then looked down at his towel and re-wiped his face all over again.

I smiled at him, even though he wasn’t looking at me and watched as he carefully removed debris from his hair, pinched his fingers together and threw whatever was in his coal colored inferno to the ground and stared at me with smirking eyes.

There was a time when I could do this, stare back into his eyes, without the heat of a crimson blush painting itself onto my skin. Without stopping to contemplate if his hands were soft yet calloused under those sacred white gloves.

A time when I didn’t wonder why his hair would sweep itself below his brow when the wind caught hold of it, and made him look damn irresistible. I could only wonder how hair could be so flexible as to bend any which way, yet still stand up straight on his head. I wondered if his body was that flexible, and blushed more.

There had to be a time when I didn’t care how nice he looked in his blue spandex. How his muscles glistened in the sun. A time when I could say stupid things with out worrying if it made sense or not. A time when the Saiyajin Prince never had such an effect on me the way he did now.

I stood and turned my back to him staring at the horizon and stretched. I knew what I was feeling…I wasn’t that oblivious to not see that I wanted Vegeta. To think he should be mine. Not that the feisty Prince was owned by anyone( a fire like his could not be contained), but I did want him to be a part of me, my life.

Who wouldn’t? He was Vegeta, a Prince…my Prince. I rolled my shoulders back and sighed at the setting sun. It was tinted crimson and the sky was a light pinkish red, that I am sure could only remind one of planet Vegeta.

The End