Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ 28 Stars ❯ Split ( Chapter 6 )

28 Stars

 

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or, sadly, any of its characters. Not even the Saiyans… ~looks sad, before slinking off into the background~

 

Author's Notes of Spewing: Chapter beta'd by The Chichi Slaughter House. Thank you!

 

Chapter 6. Split

 

Vegeta opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling, letting out a muted sigh of relief as he felt his back press against a cushioning surface, tension easing somewhat. He lay there for some long minutes, almost in a meditative state as he gazed upwards. After being pulled into this place, the reality- or, in this case, un-reality- of the situation had still yet to sink in properly, for it was merely another bizarre thing he'd been dragged into, without much say in the matter. He frowned- he was the one meant to be in control of his own life, so why did it never go the way he wanted? First Freiza ripped him away from everything he was meant to have, before crushing it completely, and then Goku took away any possible means to remedy that by destroying the lizard. Vegeta's lip curled in disgust- he had nowhere to go onwards from that, except train harder to beat Goku, of course. Yet, somehow, he ended up on Earth- he ended up considering the pathetic ball of mud to be his home, with a family for him- and worst of all, he was happier that way.

 

Vegeta's face softened- he still wasn't sure how it ended like this, how it came to the point where he lived on Earth with, well, a family- almost a clan now, considering the number of individuals. Things happened, but it seemed unbelievable any action could have had this kind of consequence at the time- it was like an ironic butterfly effect for him, and its result so far was this, being trapped in some magical balls with a dragon and his greatest rival. After years of… occurrences… he'd long given up being surprised by anything- with being inside a pink bubblegum monster, fighting a host of androids, living with a woman who could only be described as “unique”, going to hell- twice- among some of his richer life experiences, he could live with this. At least he had instantaneous room service, and his roommate wasn't as ugly as any of his prior ones. Somehow, putting up with Goku's almost perpetually smiling face seemed negligible to Nappa's shiny bald head, or Dodoria's glaring pinkness.

 

He pressed his hands over the sheets, feeling them out under tentative hands, only now bothering to take in his environment, the cotton cool under his skin. He was on a bed it seemed, confirming this he sat up, seeing the end of it, looking around himself, freezing as he turning to the side. He turned back, facing forwards, taking in a huge breath of air before looking back, to see a large lump curled up under the covers beside him near the far side of the bed, with a black mop of hair poking over the top of the sheets, the owner facing away from him. Beyond the far side of the bed, an orange gi lay crumpled on the floor, shirt and underwear discarded by it thoughtlessly in a pile.

 

Vegeta swallowed as he looked from the pile of discarded clothes to the slumbering man beside him, his tail flicking in his unease as he tried to inch his way off the bed without disturbing the sleeping form beside him, teetering on the side. He gazed over at the mop of hair, feeling a pang of longing for a brief moment, before crushing it as he stepped of the bed with a silent composure. He had to get out of here, before Goku woke up and caught him. Vegeta's face tightened as he contemplated attempting to explain to Goku why he was here, hovering over him as he slept- after the egg roll incident, the mere thought of the potential awkwardness of the situation made him flinch. Stepping around the bed in silence, he tore his stare away from the slumbering form, stepping back as he his hand grasped the door handle- giving an unvoiced plea that it would open without creaking or clicking- and turned it, sidling through the narrow space as he opened it, tail twisting behind him as he slowly pulled the door shut with a sigh of relief.

 

His eyes narrowed as he gazed down the hallway, which appeared to be the same one he'd entered when Goku dragged him to eat- this must be a house Goku lived in, if he came back here all the time. It certainly explained the décor- to Vegeta it seemed the other Saiyan had a particular keenness to the colours, although the prince was getting sick of orange. Vegeta shrugged, trying to ignore the orange carpet and light blue walls as he traipsed down the hall to the entrance, before stopping half way and eyeing the doors with suspicion as he wondered where they led. Vegeta paused uncertainly for a few moments, his honour questioning him, for he doubted he should really be sneaking around Goku's house- the other Saiyan probably wouldn't do the same to him, would he? He didn't when they were fused, for instance, since when they were together, Goku remained unobtrusive, staying out of Vegeta memories as much as he could, even though he easily could have forced his way in if he wanted to.

 

Vegeta's tail wave behind him in agitation as its owner's expression grew more frustrated, feeling guilty about his intended intrusion, yet still desperate to look through Goku's rooms- all those doors seemed so enticing, especially if wasn't caught. He shook his head as he resisted the urge to open a door, stepping back and wrapping his tail about his waist, blinking in surprise as he felt hair billowing over his shoulders and down his back, like it had before he was pulled in. Running his fingers through it in mystification, noting the return of the creeping grey hairs with a soft growl of anger, Vegeta furrowed his brow in confusion- what did this place do to him? His tail remained, but his hair grew out like it had in age. It must have been what Goku meant earlier, even though the other Saiyan had never implied he could age. Vegeta released the hair, letting it swing back down over his shoulders as he marched out of the hall, eager to be rid of the place before Goku awoke. Opening the door into the orange realm, he flinched, before stepping out and shutting it behind him, not noticing as he his hair faded away, once more returning to its former style.

 

Goku sat up sharply in his bed, looking at the door Vegeta had left through a few minutes ago, letting out a long sigh of relief. Vegeta had certainly taken his time to move- the moment he had materialized on the bed, Goku had been jerked out of sleep, left to wait before Vegeta either tried to wake him up, or leave, for he hadn't wanted to deal with the prince.

 

He growled, tearing away the covers from his bare form, sitting on the edge of the bed as he stewed, vaguely angry without much sense as to why, the emotion shielding him from his earlier feelings. His tail beat against the bed in frustration- he felt as though Vegeta had teased him, taken advantage of something too important to merely toy with in a facile situation like that, and what was worse, he didn't even know. Vegeta probably didn't even see it like that, to him, it was most likely some twisted joke to get Goku back for dragging him into the dragonballs. He clenched his fists, before leaning forward, picking up his boxers from the pile as he stood up, pulling them on roughly, threading his lashing tail out the back, not bothering with the rest of his clothes as he sat back down on the bed, taking a deep breath as he tried to calm himself. Licking dry lips, his picked up a glass of water from the side table, sitting back against the headboard as he took a large gulp, setting the empty glass down.

 

Getting up once more, he grasped the rest of his clothes -now clean and unmarred- dressing himself, before stepping out into the hallway, eyeing the doors with mild interest before stepping forward to one.

 

As he went through the door, he entered an open space, mottled with shade from the overhead branches as he walked on the dirt floor. Around him there was a rather large open space, on the fringes being great trees, massive enough so that their canopies stretched over the Goku to give him his shaded clearing to move around in, the ground cleared of debris from use. Shutting the door behind him, it faded away, leaving him alone in the clearing, morning sunlight permeating between the trees as he stepped to the centre, standing completely still as he took a deep breath, calming himself.

 

Leaning back, he arched himself, reaching behind him and touching the floor with a fingertip, before bracing his calves and pushing off the trodden dirt, so he was left upside down, tail poised in the air, whilst his spare arm was tucked behind his back as he balanced. Eyes closed in concentration, he started doing push ups with his finger, rising and falling as he breathed in time with the movements.

 

Having repeated the process a ludicrous number of times, Goku let out a long breath as he flipped back into an upright position, his tail coiling around his waist. Looking around him with an air of tranquillity, a far cry from his earlier anger, he walked around clearing, taking in the surroundings before approaching one of the gigantic trees, his calm demeanour broken briefly as he leapt up onto the thick bough, sitting down and leaning against the main trunk of the tree without a care. After awhile, a small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth, his tail twitching.

 

It was time for payback.

 

He alighted from the tree, landing deftly despite to massive drop, and paced over to the opposite side of the clearing, opening the door into his hallway and stepping though, looking around as though in search of the prince. With a slight frown of irritation, he realised he didn't know where the other Saiyan was. Great. Did Vegeta only hang around when his presence was unwanted or something? Goku sighed- he could always use the dragonballs to find him of course. Shrugging, he closed his eyes, concentrating on Vegeta.

 

Vegeta nearly jumped out of his skin as the larger Saiyan materialised, appearing in the air and nearly landing on top of him, if he hadn't pushed him away in his surprise, hand swiping at his chest as he fell, making Goku land to one side, while he himself fell backwards, landing sprawled on the ground, propped up by his elbows. Vegeta blinked, looking over to Goku, before looking away as he noticed the other Saiyan looking directly at him. Getting up, Goku grinned at him, offering a hand before Vegeta swatted it away with a snort, standing up and brushing himself off.

 

“Idiot.” Vegeta rolled his eyes, sighing sardonically. “What do you want Kakarot?”

 

Goku eyes the surroundings- Vegeta was in the place they'd fought earlier, still in a perpetual state of frozen time as the evening sunlight bathed the pair in a red glow- before he responded, although Vegeta didn't' seem to notice the lengthy pause.

 

“Vegeta?” Goku eyed Vegeta, who was gazing directly at him, yet seemed to be unseeing, before the sound of Goku's voice brought him back to reality. “I thought you might want to fight some more, since neither of us were really tired the first time.”

 

Vegeta rolled his eyes, turning and stepping back for a few paces, trying to bury his discomfort, before turning back to him, smirking and falling into pose. “Fine Kakarot. I suppose I could always kick your ass again.”

 

Goku didn't reply, barely able to keep his own smirk pinned down as he confronted the prince, raising his fists defensively, before shooting forward, the unusual aggression knocking Vegeta off balance, as he barely succeeded in shielding himself from a roundhouse kick. All of a sudden, Goku landed a punch against his jaw, sending him flying back several feet and falling to the ground with a thump. Vegeta growled, wiping blood from his lip as he glared up at the other Saiyan, getting to his feet without breaking the gaze.

 

Just as Vegeta had stood up, Goku was once again flying towards him, giving Vegeta only a split second to notice he was grinning wide enough to show his canines, before Goku stuck him hard, sending him spiralling into the air in a wide arc. Catching himself in mid fall, Vegeta turned himself upright, glaring at the Saiyan below. Smirking, his arms move out in front of him, starting to charge up the same blast he'd used in their previous battle, the white-hot ball growing rapidly between his palms.

 

Standing with confidence, Goku waited for him, closing his eyes in concentration whilst Vegeta's ball of energy crackled ominously, only to burst into a beam of thin ki, ploughing towards the unmoving Saiyan and engulfing him, blowing a sizable crater into the ground.

 

Smirking, Vegeta descended to the ground, folding his arms and watching as the smoke cleared. To reveal nothing, well except a steadily smoking crater.

 

Vegeta gaped- he hadn't vaporised the other Saiyan, had he?

 

“Close Vegeta, but so far.” Goku floated above the blemish on the landscape, grinning down at the prince.

 

“Maybe better luck time, huh Vegeta?” Vegeta spun around to source of the voice behind him, eyes going wide in shock, as a second Goku hovered in the air.