The Curse of the Bond
Ascension
DISCLAIMER: Dragonball Z belongs to Akira
Toriyama.
WARNING: This chapter is R rated for lots
of swearing, violence and death.
A/N: Ok, the updates have been slow, but
who's reading it anyway? people if you want a chapter to come out, YOU
SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING! As far as I know, only a few people are
reviewing. It doesn't have to be showering praise for kami's sake,
just mention something you thought interesting or stupid, and it let's
me know people are reading it. I don't see a reason to post if no one's
reading it. that makes sense right? i'm not just being a prick.
Chapter 16
After the wish Popo
made to send all Namekians and Chikyuu's forces (except for Goku) to Earth,
they realized their error. Bulma wasn't a fighter and Vegeta wasn't
a part of the Earth Forces. Though to be truthful, no one was really
concerned with Vegeta's fate. But they had no idea as to Bulma's.
Gohan had been optimistic, saying that last he'd seen Bulma, she'd been
on Goku's ship getting ready to leave, and trying to convince him to do
the same.
Both sets of Dragon balls
had been used.
Mr. And Mrs. Briefs allowed
the Nameks to stay with them until they could find a new home with the
help of the Dragon balls. But they had agreed to let the Z fighters
use them first to wish back their fallen comrades. But Gohan and
ChiChi were growing more concerned about Bulma. As the weeks passed
and they received no call from her whatsoever, Piccolo had an idea.
After listening to Gohan's worrying over Bulma's plight he decided to find
both sets of dragon balls with the help of an extra Dragonball radar at
CC.
It took two weeks for
him to find all fourteen. And then he placed both sets in the Room
of Spirit and Time with Kami and Mr. Popo's blessings.
The next day both sets
were charged. Krillin and Tien were wished back with the Namek Dragon
balls after Chao-Tzu's insistence. And they then summoned the Earth Dragon.
Gohan and the Briefs stopped their joyful dancing for a moment to make
the final wish.
"Please, Shenrong, our
daughter, Bulma is on Namek and we need her here." Dr. Briefs yelled
up to the dragon. The dragon glared down at them. Gohan could
feel Tien and Krillin's chi approaching.
"That is not possible.
Planet Namek has been destroyed." Shenrong's hollow voice rang out through
the clearing.
"What?!" Gohan cried.
"But my father?!"
"The Saiyan Goku still
lives. Bulma Briefs still lives. What is your wish?"
"Is she on her way here?"
Dr. Brief's yelled. The dragon rumbled angrily.
"Yes, now state your wish,
I grow impatient!"
"What should we do?
Should we wish Bulma back or Yamcha?"
"Bulma!" Mrs. Briefs cried.
"All right." Gohan said
with a nod. He gnawed his lower lip in anxiety. Planet Namek…
gone! But if his father was still alive and well…
"Ok, We wish you to bring
Bulma here!" The dragon rumbled deep in its throat and its
eyes shone fiery red.
"I cannot. I can
no longer find her chi" Bulma's mother began to cry, and even Dr. Brief's
assumed the worst.
"But I thought you said
she was alive!"
"That is correct.
But I can no longer sense her chi, and yet she has not passed into the
land of the dead. Make another wish!"
"Oh! What are we
going to do?" Mrs. Briefs cried.
"I guess we'll have to
wish Yamcha back. We can collect both sets and find Bulma and wish
Chao Tzu back maybe in a few days if we all look for the dragon balls together
after they scatter. We'll have more help easteast." Gohan sighed.
Mr. And Mrs. Briefs agreed, although reluctantly.
"I wish that Yamcha would
be brought back to life!" Gohan cried.
"Your wish is granted,
farewell." The dragon rumbled and with a brilliant flash of light, he disappeared
and they watched each ball shoot in a different direction.
Minutes later Tien and
Krillin appeared.
"Hey guys!" Gohan cried.
He explained what had happened and they began to make plans to search for
the other balls. Dr. Briefs retired to his lab and began to build
extra dragon radars to make the search go quicker. Kami help him
if Bulma was in trouble or hurt. He shook his head, feeling old suddenly.
He never should have let her go. He didn't blame Krillin or Gohan,
he blamed himself. Kitty mewed in his ear and he rubbed the kitten's
head affectionately. With a sigh, he began to work.
"What do you mean, she's
not back?" Yamcha cried pacing in the Brief's living room. Everyone
had decided to stay for the next few days until they had gathered all the
dragon balls and wished everything right again. After they wished
Chao Tzu and Bulma back they still had to find Goku and a home for the
remaining Namekians.
"The dragon said he couldn't
find her chi. But he said she was still alive. I don't know."
Gohan mumbled. He still thought back to the look of shock he'd last
seen on Bulma's face before he had been transported to Earth. It
haunted him at the moment. "I'm sorry." Yamcha's face immediately
softened when he saw Gohan's distress.
"It's not your fault kid,
don't blame yourself." Yamcha said with a smile. "I just hope she's
ok."
"Me too."
Another week passed as Another month passed without After that utterance time Three days passed in tense Several buildings were &nbsbsp;bsp; The others faced similar Krillin and Tien were the They all sat at Bulma's "It looks like they must Yamcha cupped his broken Vegeta grimaced in anger. "Well, well Vegeta. Piccolo, Krillin, Tien Yamcha powered up and took "If you think I'm going Bulma watched from behind "I hope Cooler defle
tha
that away from Earth." Krillin said with a shudder. If Vegeta was The swirling energy fused "Guys. We have to Bulma felt sick. She couldn't Yamcha finally tore his Ouch! Yamcha lovers are plotting my * - Cultivars is the name give to the Saiba
they searched for the dragon balls. They set the Namek balls in the
room of spirit and time and the next day they came out glowing orange with
each star visible. Chao Tzu was brought back to life first.
Then they tried to find Bulma. The Dragon gave them some disturbing
news.
"She is on a planet known
to its native's as Takezo. She is injured. The Saiyan Vegeta
has her in a healing chamber." The Namek dragon rumbled.
"WHAT?!" Yamcha, Krillin,
and Gohan all cried in un.
"Did he hurt her?" Yamcha
bellowed.
"No. He placed her
in the healing chamber after she was attacked by a member of the Ice-Jinn
army."
"Ice-jinn? Does
he mean Frieza's army?" Krillin wondered aloud.
"That is correct, human."
The dragon answered.
"But Vegeta is in Frieza's
army! Are you sure it wasn't him?" Tien asked.
"I am sure!" The dragon
snarled. Tien backed away with a little bow of forgiveness.
"He has not harmed her." At that disquieting statement they each
eyed each other uncertainly.
"I find that surprising."
Tien grumbled quietly.
"No kidding!" Krillin
said.
"Guys, Bulma's a girl,
why would he hurt a defenseless girl?" Tien, Yamcha, and Krillin
glanced at each other with uneasy frowns. They knew exactly why,
but Gohan didn't. And it was a subject neither of them wanted to
touch. So they went for the obvious tactic.
"Gohan, we fought him
before. He's evil. You know that." Tien said.
"But you didn't see it
when he died! You didn't see him! How could you be the same
after that?"
>
Gohan. But who can say if he changed for the better?" Krillin replied.
"Why did he get wished
back anyway?" Yamcha grated. The thought of poor Bulma alone with
him. Probably scared half to death, he'd -
"Excuse me." The dragon
rumbled. "Your final wish-?"
"Oops!" Yamcha, Tien,
and Gohan squeaked.
"Should we wish ourselves
to where Bulma is?" Yamcha said.
"Only one of us can go
probably." Krillin said.
"And Vegeta will kick
the shit out of us!" Tien snapped. They frowned unsure of what to do.
"I'll go." Gohan piped.
"No!" The three adults
shouted. Piccolo suddenly dropped down in front of them.
"They're right Gohan.
You've done enough for now. The solution is unclear to me.
Kami has no answers. I say leave her be. I think she'll be
fine."
"What?! Are you nuts?"
Yamcha shouted. Piccolo grimaced as the sound assaulted his sensitive
ears. Yamcha blanched and stepped back as he received a death-glare
from the powerful Chikyuu-raised Namekian.
"He's obviously not going
to hurt her if he's going to take the time to heal her. Isn't that
right?" He said the last part to the looming, increasingly annoyed Eternal
Dragon.
"That is correct, insofar
as I can tell."
"What does that mean?"
Krillin piped.
"It means that the Saiyan
named Vegeta is changing too rapidly for absolute certainty and as I see
things now, he will not hurt her."
"Changing?" Tien murmured.
"But for better or for worse?"
"That I cannot say.
It is too soon to tell. But one thing is clear. The human known
as Bulma is also part of his change." Silence fell as each stared
at the dragon. How was Bulma changing him? And knowing her temper..
"Uh oh." Gohan said quietly.
incident. And then Gohan had felt a huge chi that distinctly reminded
him of Frieza. With terror-numbed fingers he dialed Krillin's number.
"Moshi, Moshi." Krillin
answered.
"Krillin!" Gohan gasped.
"Frieza is coming!"
seemed to slow for them all. They had gathered together and watched
the huge ship land. But instead of Frieza coming out to greet them
it was another who could only be of the same species.
"I am Cooler. I
have come to this planet seeking the Saiyan no Ouji, Vegeta." he had addressed
the humbled group before them.
"He's not here!" Piccolo
said.
"But he will be.
He's headed right this way with a member of your species." He said
his face and voice devoid of emotion. "I will cause no damage to
this planet or its people if you hand him over to me when the time comes.
Is that understood?" Cooler purred.
"That doesn't sound like
a problem to me. What do you guys think?" Yamcha said. Tien
nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, we don't wanm
hm
here anyway, he'll just kill us again." Tien said.
"No!" Gohan cried.
"We can't do that!"
"Why not? He would
do the same to us and you know it." Tien replied.
"Gohan, I know how you
feel, but maybe it is the best idea. I mean, he is a killer, we all
know that. He destroyed so many lives and planets. I don't
know how much a person like that can change." Krillin began.
"So what? Can't
we at least give him a chance?" Gohan whispered fiercely.
"But you heard him Gohan,
he'll kill us. Vegeta definitely isn't worth it! And we can't
stop him. Not without Goku."
"There's going to be a
fight anyway!" Gohan insisted. "Do you think Vegeta's going to just
let himself be taken?"
"Well we don't have to
help him!" Tien objected.
"But why not?" Gohan cried.
He shifted his glance to Cooler who merely smirked and continued to wait
patiently. Although the ice-jinn was at a loss as to why they were
n den debating the issue.
"I can't believe you guys."
Gohan began in a hiss.
"And I can't believe you
Gohan!" Yamcha interjected. "You know what kind of a person he is.
He doesn't give a shit about anyone. At least Piccolo likes you."
Piccolo coughed his green skin taking on a purplish tinge as he blushed.
"But that's what you're
forgetting. He hasn't hurt Bulma has he?" Gohan snapped.
"Maybe it's just because
she's the pilot." Tien said.
"Guys whatever that case
is we have to decide. Gohan I'm sorry, but I think we have to look
out for ourselves this time. We can't beat him. You can feel
how strong he is right?" Krillin said.
"He's right." Piccolo
finally spoke up. "Gohan without your father here there's really
nothing we can do. And I still haven't decided if we should do anything
except take Cooler's offer." Gohan gritted his teeth but said nothing,
nodding in defeat.
"Fine. Have it your
way." He snapped and turned on his heel to stalk away a short distance
and then power up for flight.
"Gohan, wait!" Yamcha
shouted, regretting the young half-breed's anger. He had to understand,
they were right! As much as he hated Vegeta for what he'd done to
them, he did think he deserved a second chance like Piccolo. They
all did. But they couldn't risk losing their planet over him.
"Let him go." Piccolo
cautioned. Gohan's anger was a mystery to most of the assembled fighters.
But Piccolo understood his feelings. Vegeta was that last pure Saiyan
other than Goku. And out of the two of them only Vegeta had any recollection
of growing up on the Saiyan home world. Piccolo could barely put
into words the strange relief he had felt when he'd first learned of his
celestial origins. And now Gohan was having that taken away from
him.
"Well, we're decided then."
Krillin said with a sigh, rubbing his bald head.
"What about Bulma?" Yamcha
asked. "How are we going to get her away from Vegeta in one piece?"
The assembled fighters frowned and puzzled it over.
"Well, I would hope that
Cooler would wait until their ship landed to attack Vegeta. If not..
We're going to have to keep our senses on alert for any sign of Vegeta's
ki." Tien suggested.
"Then what?" Yamcha prompted.
"I don't know!" Tien snapped,
throwing his hand up in frustration. "She's your girlfriend!
You think of a plan!"
"All right." Yamcha said,
glaring at Tien. "This may sound crude, but I say we just wait till
they land and grab her as soon as she gets out of the capsule. I
would hate to have to try the same in mid-air, but I will if I have to.
And that seems like the only option to me. We have to get her before
any fighting starts."
"I agree." Piccolo said.
"She'll be killed if we don't get her as quickly as possible."
"Guys, uh.. I know this
sounds really unlikely but what if Vegeta gets pissed and tries to attack
us?" Krillin asked with a nervous laugh. They each exchanged looks.
It seemed unlikely but stranger things had happened.
"We'll just have to keep
our fingers crossed that he'll be too busy with Cooler to stop us." Piccolo
murmured. They all nodded in agreement and decided to each keep their
sense trained for Vegeta's ki, and then made the wish that would send the
Namekians to a newe.&ne. That finaaly accomplished each set off for
their respective dwellings.
anticipation. Gohan still refused to to to anyone but Piccolo,
his anger seemed perfectly justified (to him at least). Then it happened.
Half of West city erupted in flame and smoke. They felt the shock
from the apparent explosion. Dismay swallowed their features.
Cooler had promised.. but then again, if he was anything like Frieza his
promise meant nothing.
They raced to the scene,
meeting Yamcha, Tien, Krillin, and Chao-Tzu on the way.
"What happened?" Chao
Tzu squeaked.
"We don't know yet." Krillin
replied as they sped toward the scene. Once they entered city limits
they could smell the acrid smokd hed hear the screams of the dying.
ablaze and some had already collapsed. People filled the streets
as they tried to escape. People trapped in upper stories stood at
the windows preparing to jump.
Without a word between them the Z fighters
split up and began to search the buildings that still stood for survivors.
Piccolo flew to an upper
story where several frightened office workers prepared to throw themselves
to oblivion rather than succumb to the flames. They saw him coming,
but instead of cowering in terror as they would have in any other situation,
they screamed for his help, their arms outstretched to meet him.
He grabbed three women
and dropped down as quickly as he could, placing them on the crumbling
ground.
"Run!" he ordered and
shot back up. He did that several more times until he had gotten
everyone off that floor.
situations, and helped as many people as they could, but one after another
the buildings began to collapse and they knew there were still people
trapped inside.
Pi">Piccolo began to cough as the floor he was
searching began to fill with smoke. Suddenly he noticed Gohan beside
him, lifting a large slab of cement.
"There's someone under
here!" he cried. Piccolo hadn't noticed. He'd felt no chi…
Then he saw a small hand, cracked with blood and dirt underneath the rubble.
"Gohan." He said softly,
grabbing the half-Saiyan's shoulder. "It's too late." Gohan
froze, the thick slab inches from the ground.
"No it isn't!" He
flung the slab back and looked down and then quickly turned away, almost
retching. The girl was indeed no longer living. In his rush
to save people he hadn't even noticed the absence of ki. But there
was no mistaking it now, half her head was crushed.
Piccolo grasped Gohan's
shoulder to steady him as he staggered away.
"Let's go. No one
else is here. And there are still other's who need help."
first to spot Cooler after all those still living was saved. He had
been waiting for them with an almost guilty smile on his face.
"I must apologize.
One of my men got carried away." He said pointing. They followed
his finger down to the ground where that saw what appeared to be a dead
soldier. His battle armor was almost identical to Vegeta's.
"But as you can see, he has already been dealt with. There will be
no more disturbances."
Krillin and Tien shrugged,
unsure of what to say or do. "By the way," Cooler added as thurneurned
to leave. "You do remember our bargain?"
"Of course." Tien shot
back. "Don't worry about that. We have no love for that Saiyan."
"Good. I'm glad
to hear it." Cooler replied with an easy grin. Krillin and Tien shuddered
and took off as fast as they could.
"I feel like I sold my
soul to the devil." Krillin murmured. For once, Tien had no refuting
argument.
house later that evening trying to eat what Mrs. Briefs had prepared.
But the carnage from earlier had left them with little appetite.
Especially Gohan.
Krillin was slowly draining
his milk shake when he suddenly gasped and began to choke.
"Are you ok buddy?" Yamcha
asked, pounding on Krillin's back. Krillin jerked away from the blows
that were only making him cough harder and gasped out:
"Vegeta's here!"
have just started." Bulma said in a hollow voice as the cruised over West
capital. If she had aimed them correctly, they would land in the
clearing behind CC.
"No it doesn't" Vegeta
said, his expression puzzled. "This looks like an accident.
If they had already begun there would be nothing here."
"Really?" Bulma gasped,
her eyes shining with hope.
"Really." Vegeta said
with a puzzled frown. "I don't know what's going on."
"Impact in 3, 2, 1" The
computer intoned and they came to an abrupt, jarring halt.
"Shit." Bulma grumbled
as she rubbed her aching neck. "I got to find a way to slow this
things descent."
Suddenly there was a pained,
inhuman squeal and the door suddenly bent. Vegeta tore the seat belt
off and stood in front of the door, powering up.
"What is it?" Bulma cried.
Vegeta said nothing as the door was wrenched off it hinges. A ki
sphere formed in his hands and he fired out the door and ran out after
it.
Seconds later Yamcha was
at the door.
<>
"Yamcha!" Bulma cried,
unable to stop her happy grin. "What the hell is going on?"
he said nothing merely grabbed her wrist and pulled her close.
"Oh baby I missed you."
He purred and leaned in for a kiss. Bulma turned her head and his
lips pressed against her cheek. When he drew back in surprise she
pulled out of his grip.
"Yamcha there's something
I have to tell you." Bulma began.
"Not now!" he said and
dragged her out of the ship. The sunlight hit her and for a moment
she was blinded. Yamcha continued to pull her towards the house and
she struggled to get free of his grip.&n Wha What the hell was he doing?
Where had Vegeta gone? Suddenly she heard a cry and Yamcha released
her. She blinked, painfully adjusting to the harsh sun.
"What did he do to you?"
Vegeta was suddenly bellowing in her face.
"Nothing! He wanted
me to go inside!" Bulma cried. "Did you kill him?" He heard
the panic in her voice and frowned. Whd shd she care so much about
that idiot? He was weak and pathetic. He remembered him from
his first trip to Chikyuu. The scarred fighter had been killed by
a Cultivar *. How pathetic could you get?
"No, just do what he says
and get inside." For once Bulma didn't argue and made a mad dash
for CC where her parents waited at the door.
nose with a howl of dismay. He sat in the medical wing of CC while
Bulma's mother and a nurse looked at his gushing nose.
"Thab bastarb Begeta did
it. I was jus tryin' to get Buma inside." He said. The door was suddenly
flung open and Bulma rushed in.
"Are you all right?" Bulma
asked as she came forward, although she wasn't half as upset as he'd thought
she would be.
"Thab bastard Begeta broke
my nose!" He cried.
"Well he probably wouldn't
have touched you if you hadn't been dragging me inside like that.
And what's the deal anyway, we thought Cooler was here."
"You know him?" Yamcha
suddenly cried, his eyes snapping open.
"He is here isn't he?"
Bulma cried. Yamcha nodded, unsure of the significance.
"He came to get Vegeta,
he promised not to blow Chikyuu up if we handed Vegeta over when he got
here." He sat up in astonishment as the blood drained from her visage.
"Bulma are you all right?
Maybe you should sit down honey." Bulma's mother fussed.
"No!" she cried snapping
out of her daze. "How could you?" Bulma's livid gaze was suddenly
directed at him.
"What? Who cares?"
Yamcha asked, coed.
"I DO!" she screamed and
turned and dashed out the door.
Bulma's stupid human allies had handed him over to Cooler. Not that
he expected anything different, but ae sae same time, there went his opportunity
to escape unnoticed. The humans and the Namek stood on the ground
far below watching. Vegeta could feel Cooler coming. They hadn't
been on the ground five minutes and already every plan he'd made had gone
right out the window.
What am I going to
do? Vegeta wondered. He knew he had no choice but to fight.
And he knew Cooler would be doubly cruel in his attack after what had happened
on his ship.
Suddenly he felt a ki
approach. The power level was almost the same level as his, but not
quite. The glowing aura drew nearer and then vanished from around
the form of Son Gohan.
"What the hell do you
want?" Vegeta snapped.p; Gp; Gohan smiled lightly.
"I want to help you kick
Cooler's ass." Vegeta smirked lightly.
"And why is that?" he
asked, titling his head in confusion.
"Because, you’re not the
same as you were before. You would have left Bulma on Namek to die
if you were." Vegeta's eyes narrowed in anger. How the hell
could he know that? They'd just gotten there! "And besides,
no one ewillwill, and I think that's bullshit. Pardon my French."
He added.
"I don't get you kid.
You were there when Nappa and I first came here."
"I know that. But
things are different now." He said softly. Vegeta had returned his
attention to the approaching power. Gohan fixed his eyes on the glowing
nimbus that drew closer at an incredible speed.
Cooler was there.
I'm surprised that after all the years you spent in my brother's army you
really thought you could escape me. How tragic for you." Cooler
said with a grin.
"Go to hell, Cooler.
I'd rather let you beat me to death than go back with you." Vegeta
snarled. Gohan submerged a shudder at the thought. The last
thing he wanted was to have to watch Vegeta get beaten to death again.
"And who is this enchanting
little one?" Cooler asked, gazing at Gohan. Gohan shivered as Cooler's
hungry gaze swept over his body. Suddenly his view was blocked as
Vegeta stepped in front of him.
"I'm not sure you would
enjoy him Cooler. He's only half Saiyan." Vegeta said, his tone cold
and mocking. Gohan shivered. Everything was becoming painfully
clear to him. He was beginning to understand why Vegeta had been
an uncontrollable killer before. The thought of someone like Cooler
holding his life in the palm of their hand. He shuddered, not
able to think of the horrors he surely must have endured.
He felt his power level
rising.
"And is this boy a result
of you and that female's acquaintance?" Cooler said with a thin smile.
"No. He's not mine.
You were there when Frieza found out that I got a girl pregnant, I remember
now. He killed her on the spot. As soon as his scouter picked
up the Saiyan ki coming from inside her." Cooler tilted his head
to the side as he thought back. Slowly a pleased smile graced his
lips.
"Ah yes, I remember.
You didn't seem too happy about it either." Vegeta said nothing.
"So I take it that your going to fight instead of coming willingly?"
"Would you want me if
I didn't?" Vegeta sneered. Cooler laughed outright at that.
"Of course not!
You know me too well, or maybe you just know the family." He snickered.
"Well little boy, I think it's time for you to run along. You could
get hurt." Cooler added to Gohan with mock concern.
"Piss off. I'm not going
anywhere." Gohan shot back. Their conversation had firmly convinced
him that Vegeta was not going to be taken back with Cooler like some runaway
dog. At least, not if he could do something about it.
Gohan's aura ignited around
him but he stayed his place when he felt Vegeta's fingers biting into his
shoulder.
"I don't need your help."
He said. "Leave now before you get killed." Without another
word, he and Cooler took off towards the desert.
"I don't care what you
say. You will need my help." He snapped, following.
and Yamcha all watched in disbelief as Gohan followed Cooler and Vegeta.
&nbnbspnbsp; "What is he doing?" Krillin
gasped.
"What do you think?
You should have known he would do it." Yamcha mumbled.
Suddenly the front door of CC flew open and
smacked the opposite wall as Bulma stormed out.
"Where are they?" she
cried. Yamcha growled angrily and grabbed Bulma's arm as she headed
past. He pulled her back with a jerk.
"Ow! Yamcha!" Bulma cried.
"I want to know what's
going on right now! What's going on between you and that- that murderer?!"
he snapped. Everyone looked up and watched the conflict with interest.
They were in the dark, as usual, but were all surprised at the vehemence
in Yamcha's voice.
"I'll tell you what's
going on Yamcha." Bulma said softly, her features unusually subdued.
"I've got three senzu beans here that I've been keeping for an emergency.
I'm going to follow incase he needs them."
"Vegeta?" Yamcha gaped.
"Yes." She said, her eyes
boring into his. "I'm sorry. I know how you feel right now,
but it's too late."
"Yamcha are you coming?"
Tien shouted as the other's prepared to follow Gohan and Vegeta.
"Not right now!" Yamcha
bellowed.
"No, we are going.
I have to, I'm the only one with any senzu beans."
"This conversation isn't
over!" he snapped. Bulma turned and faced him, catching his wrists
with her hands.
"I know Yamcha.
Believe me, I know." She said softly, and without another word or glance
at him she tossed a capsule to the ground and hopped in the jet as soon
as it emerged.
to the air at a frenzied pace. He couldn't even identify all the
emotions going through him at the moment. But the most concentrated
emotions were confusion and suspicion.
What had happened all
that time between the two of them in space? None of the scenarios
he imagined brought him comfort. And even though he continued
to imagine the worst he tried not to. He loved Bulma. How could
she risk her life going to Namek to get him wished back only to..
No she didn't. She couldn't have.
Maybe she felt sorry for him for some strange reason. Maybe it was
some bizarre infatuation. He could handle that. It wasn't as
if his eyes never wandered. But if she had gone that extra step..
No,
she couldn't have. He tried to reassure himself.
back to be your little fuck toy, then you must be stupid."
"I assumed you would resist
after our little scuffle on the ship. But you must realize that I'm
going to have to pay you back for that, you may not survive."
"Good." Vegeta shot back,
a little too quickly.
"Of course I'll have my
fun first, as usual. You pbly bly have figured out where Frieza learned
everything by now." Vegeta closed his eyes, unable to repress a shudder
of disgust and Cooler took the opportunity to attack. He barreled
forward, head first. Vegeta's aura flared and he raised his arms
to block. He shot backwards less than a second before Cooler hit
him and went with the momentum. He gripped the fleshy lobes that
were Cooler's ears and brought his knee up as hard as he could. Cooler
barely dodged the knee that would have sent his teeth flying. He
landed on his hands and feet, shooting up in the air to avoid Vegeta's
foot that had been sailing towards his head.
Vegeta cursed in fury
and sent forth a barrage of chi blasts. Cooler dodged each with amazing
ease and Vegeta was forcibly reminded of his final fight with Friezbsp;bsp;
He shook his head, not wanting to get distracted but it was too late.
Cooler's knee suddenly buried in his gut and he grunted in pain as the
air rushed from his lungs. Then the long, reptilian tail wrapped
around his ankle and with incredible force he was hurled into the air.
He stopped and pivoted as Cooler fazed in behind him and released a huge
blast of ki.
It enveloped Cooler with
it's deadly radiance and those who watched from the ground crossed their
fingers, praying it was over but knowing that it wasn't by any stretch
of the imagination.
The smoke cleared and Cooler stood there
with a hard, mocking grin. Vegeta suddenly screamed in fury.
"I will not let this happen
again!" he shrieked, and his aura blazed a pale blue. The ground
began to shake, small stones began to levitate and swirl as a hot wind
began to whip the dust and particles into a violent frenzy.
a huge boulder in terror and awe. She'd seen Vegeta fight before,
but Kami, the was absolute madness. She couldn't even imagine wielding
that kind of power. And Cooler still stood his ground with the annoying
smirk plastered on his face.
already powering up for his final attack, the Gallic Gun, then they were
going to again be forced to witness his death.
"Get ready incase he doesn't."
Piccolo murmured.
into a glowing orb between his splayed fingers. Without warning her
fired and Cooler waited patiently for it to arrive. Vegeta knew he
would deflect it at the last moment like Frieza had before. But The
tail of the chi-bomb was still in his grasp and at the last possible second
he pulled back as hard as he could, mildly surprised when it shot into
the air like he'd hoped it would. Cooler hovered before it, confusion
on his face. He pushed forward and it slammed into Cooler's exposed back.
But again. When the smoke
cleared Cooler remained unhurt, but his expression was no longer benevolent.
"Damn you, you treacherous
little monkey."
"Rot in hell you fucking
pervert!" Vegeta roared. He let loose a volley of ki-blasts, but
Cooler merely deflected them with ease and blurred out of sight.
Vegeta shot away from his previous position with blinding speed, but the
clammy tail caught him again. This time it twined around his wrist
before he could get out of range and began to tighten painfully.
Vegeta gasped as he felt his bones grind together and against, his better
judgment he dove on the loathed appendage and sank his teeth in.
An enraged curse preceded
a painful blow to the top of the Saiyans head that almost forced him into
unconsciousness. But the tail released him and he rolled away as
in crashed down in the space he'd just occupied. For a few brief
moments they traded lightning fast blows before Vegeta was struck across
the face by the bleeding tail.
Then he felt Cooler's
hands on his tail. He felt the pain shoot up his spine, but refused
to fall victim to the inherited weakness. With a strangled curse,
he dragged himself forward until the tail tore off at its root. He
tumbled forward with a moan and staggered to his feet as Cooler stared
at the writhing tail in his hands with disgusted amazement.
Vegeta gasped as pain
shot up his spine in electrifying jolts. His poor tail.. he thought
as Cooler threw it to the ground, wiping his hands in revulsion.
Vegeta formed two ki spheres in his hands and shot them at the preoccupied
Ice-jinn. But again, Cooler spun out of the way.
"You monkeys are full
of surprises." Cooler said with a curled lip. "But now you can't
go Oozaru." Vegeta ignored the last comment. It wouldn't have
helped anyway. There was only one way to win, and it was becoming
clear that it was nowhere in his reach.
No! I can't give
in again! I'll kill myself first! He thought. Cooler saw
the indecision in the Saiyan's face and attacked. He grabbed Vegeta's
elbow with one hand and his ankle with his tail. He ignored Vegeta
as he brought his fists down on his head and began to plow his fist into
his midriff, smiling as the air was forced from the Saiyan Prince's lungs.
Between each blow he gave him a second to suck in a lungful of air only
to drive it out again with his fist.
do something. We have to distract him so Bulma can give Vegeta a
senzu." Gohan gasped.
"Yeah, prolong his torture."
Yamcha said with a cruel smile.
"Yamcha!" Gohan cried
in shock. Yamcha frowned at him.
"Gohan, I know what you
think but I could care less if he dies again. In fact it would be
better if he did." He said, ignoring Gohan's stunned expression.
He didn't care. It was becoming clear to him that something had happened
between the Saiyan and Bulma. He'd been watching her more than the
fight and her pained cries seemed to coincide with the damn Saiyan's.
It was too painfully obvious that Vegeta now occupied a spot in Bulma's
heart that he had once taken for granted.
"Well I care!" G yel yelled
and took off.
"Gohan!" Piccolo yelled
and shot off after him when his cry was ignored.
bear to watch the fight, it seemed more like she was witnessing a murder.
Vegeta was simply outmatched. She had to get him a senzu before the
life was beaten out of him. But how? If Cooler killed her,
then he would never get one, so what was she going to do? She found
her answer as Gohan took off towards the battle.
eyes from Vegeta's pummeling when Bulma darted out of her jet with the
bag of senzu in hand. He was in front of her in less than a second,
blocking her way.
"Yamcha get out of my
way!" Bulma nearly shrieked.
"No." he said, his voice
calm and flat. "Whatever hold he has on you ends now. Your
staying here, I won't let you help him."
death right now, I can see it!
TBC!!!
men in the manga. I thought it sounded better.
Chapter 17
Fan Fiction
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