Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Fall of the Mighty ❯ Contrast Conflict Clash ( Chapter 20 )

~Here I Come To Save The Day!!~

There's a flashback it this chapter. Not a great one but I had to add a few details to round things out a little. Just thinking ahead again. I thought I'd warn you that I misspelled things on purpose. Drunk people don't talk clearly so I didn't write it clearly, I'm going for realism people! Well, it might be hard for some of my avid readers who know English as a second language to understand so… If I need to clarify anything feel free to point it out and I'll do my best.

Do any of you know why Mighty Mouse was cancelled? I do! I saw the episode that got it taken off the air! My mom nearly had a conniption. Anybody else have a clue why? Ya wanna know? Hehehe It's a doozy. Sorry, that just came to mind when I was thinking of a line for my author's note. You know, I just write whatever pops into my head when I make one.

~Oh, Wait, That's Not Why I'm Here… Nevermind~

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Everything he'd ever found value in had always been taken away. Better that he give it up rather than let that happen again. The prince nodded to himself, making up his mind. Landing softly in his room he walked strait to the closet and removed a training outfit.

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*Contrast Conflict Clash*

"You're not going to go train so early are you?" Goku asked sleepily. The prince did not look at him.

"I lost a lot of time yesterday."

"Come back to bed, Vegeta. You have forever to train." Goku didn't believe he would but asked anyway. To his surprise, Vegeta stood still for a moment before putting away his clothes and nodding. It surprised him even more when the prince wrapped his arms around him tightly after climbing back into bed and he snuggled against his oujisama's chest blissfully.

Goku woke late, he'd been sleeping more and more lately. He seemed to run out of energy quickly and it took a long time to build it up again. He rolled and then nearly jumped out of bed. Vegeta was still there! His ouji still lay next to him, a small grimace on his face. Goku ran a thumb lightly over the frown causing Vegeta to open those endless black eyes of his. "Were you dreaming again?"

"No."

"Are you going to go train?"

"Yes." Vegeta seemed tense.

"Are you sure?"

The prince's hard eyes softened slightly. "What would you rather have me do?"

"I dunno."

"Then I guess I'll go train." He rolled off the bed to his feet but Goku caught his arm. "Maybe you could wait till I think of something?"

The prince paused, torn. He took another step but stopped again, turning his head just slightly but not looking at Goku. "For just a little while."

Vegeta was disgusted with himself. His "just a little while" had turned into an entire day. He rummaged through the fridge in search of food. Kakarott had fallen asleep and Vegeta was finally on his own again. He had wasted enough time. He needed to… He turned to the table to come face to face with Spice. She looked terrible.

"Hey, Vegy."

He glowered. "I *was* looking forward to some peace and quiet." He studied her for half a second. "What's wrong with you?"

~Flashback~

"Come on, bud. You're acting like such a loser. I met that Brian guy an' he was nothin' special. Nothin at all. I didn't really like him either. Ya gotta do somethin about yur tastes. Ya let yurself get too attached anyway." Spice poured herself another hefty glass of liquor.

"Oh! An' I should take advice from you since you've been around the block so many times, huh?" Tong snapped huffily with a slight slur to his words to match his sister's.

She shrugged. "Hey, don' jump on me jus 'cause my standards match my ego. There aren't that many guys out there that spark my interest an' even less are my type." She paused and added. "An' with the few that are *my* type, usually I'm not *their* type." She downed the entire glass and poured them another. "Anyway, are ya sure ya don' like girls? I think I met one that ya might like. Don' get me wrong, I really don' care. It's none a my business an' none a dad's either. Fuck him! It's just… Guys…? None a my guy friends swing that way. They'd prolly try ta beat ya up. "

Tong snorted. "Yea right, beat me up. Sure. An' I don' think dad would like that very much. I'm sure he's too much of a tight ass anyway." He looked down guiltily. "Girls? Well… There's only ever been one." Suddenly he gave her a sultry eyeing. "You've always been my type, sis."

Spice choked and fell out of her chair then peeked over the seat with wide eyes only to see her brother cracking up and trying to stifle his giggles. "Gotcha! Man did I get ya good! Ya shoulda seen your face! Serves you right for buttin' into my romantic life!" He continued to laugh and she roared and leapt on him. They wrestled around until she froze with a gasp. Quickly she scrambled off of him and toward the couch. He sat up in confusion while she half crawled under it.

"Oooooo, look at this!" She sat up again with the bottle in hand that she found under the couch. She held up the bottle of butterscotch snapps with shining eyes like it was a prize. "It's unopened! I thought they were all gone!" Scrimmage forgotten, they cracked open the liquor and filled their glasses again.

Tong took a swig of the sweet liquid and smiled. "An' what d'ya mean high standards? You dated that JD guy."

Spice grimaced. "Yeah well, I didn' like him...not really...not at first anyway. He was jus there an' he was interested an' I thought 'why not?'. We had similar personalities. At the first sign I wasn't the center of his world I dropped him like a rock. I wasn't happy about it but I wasn't about ta put up with the shit he thought he could do. That was in highschool anyway." Her face darkened as she remembered the only person outside her family who had ever dared to hit her. She might have killed him if she hadn't been so shocked at his audacity. Her shock had given them enough time to be separated and she finally decided that he wasn't worth her hurt feelings or her wasted effort, she *had* been extremely pissed for a long time though. Every time she saw him at school after that she got a queasy feeling and would see a vision of his bloody corpse a new gory pose. She almost made a caustic comment but snapped her mouth shut. She could never tell them. Nothing but her pride had really been hurt and it wasn't worth thinking about. First of all, it was too embarrassing to admit that someone could have gotten the better of her even for an instant, and second, any one of her family or extended family would probably just hunt the stupid fuck down and attempt to teach him a lesson. She didn't need the further embarrassment.

Tong turned sour. "Yea, well, ya did better in all that stuff than I ever did."

"Better?! Ya think I was better off?" She eyed him with disbelief. "You screwed me over! You and Pan both. I either had to be just like Pan or just not like you. I had to threaten my way into high school and then I had to threaten him just to stay in high school. He wasn't about to let me go otherwise, he prolly woulda homeschooled me till college if I let him. Dad was too afraid that I'd get out a control like you." She grinned evilly. "Boy did I show him." She took another swig. "How could ya possibly think I was better off than you? You were out a tha house by that time. I was all alone. Then mom was goin' on all those trips for the Martial Arts Federation business that grandpa left to her an' I was all alone stuck in tha house with dad a lot of tha time. When he wasn't working, at least. He works in a school! Ya'd think that he woulda trusted his own kid in one!"

"Yeah, well…"

They kept on like that into the wee hours of the morning. The roommates, when they headed out to their classes and jobs the next morning, found them both passed out surrounded by a pile of bottles on the living room floor.

~End Flashback~

She swallowed hard and tried to force a smile, not succeeding. "I think I kind of overdid it with Tong last night. There's a first for everything right?" She wobbled a little. "I think we probably got alcohol poisoning. I don't know about him, he's still passed out." Vegeta just watched her with a disgusted expression as she blinked slowly. She was moving extremely slowly and carefully. "I just wanted to ask you about this." She reached behind her to grab something but missed a few times. Finally she just turned around, lifted her shirt, and stuck her boxer-clad ass out at him. "What exactly is this supposed to do, Oh All Knowing Uncle?" Vegeta looked down and saw a shiny deep-black tail hanging limply from beneath her baggy t-shirt.

The prince coughed on the bite of food he'd just taken and growled loudly. 'Why is it never easy for me?' It never seemed to fail, whenever he set his mind on something something else always barred his way. "How could you *possibly* make yourself *that* ill!" he exclaimed in disbelief. "Fine, girl. Sleep. Come back in the morning and I will show you what it does. Just stay out of the moonlight until then, onna." He snapped crankily.

She turned around and groaned holding her head as she almost fell over. "Morning? No. I'll let you know when I'm up to it." With a pathetic whimper she suddenly disappeared.

The ouji stared at the spot she had been occupying just a second before and then bellowed his rage to the kitchen ceiling. "Fucking subeta!! That wench!!" He angrily stomped off to the gravity chamber. His premonition was forgotten under the knowledge that yet another Son had outdone him yet again.

Battling demon shadows the Saiyajin no ouji found his calm center once again. He was allowing emotions to control him. He was stronger than that. He controlled his fate. Nothing changed that, certainly not some foolish dream. Perhaps he should distance himself but he would not leave his mate defenseless whether there was something to fear or not. 'I run from nothing. I fear nothing. Nothing can happen here anyway. There are enough protectors here and I am strong enough to stop anything.' Coming to that conclusion, Vegeta threw off all thought and immersed himself back into his training.

Vegeta felt about to collapse. He'd increased in strength. It was probably the most he'd ever accomplished in such a short amount of time. Through his exhaustion he tried to smirk but found it to be too much effort. Legs wobbling, he shut off the gravity and just about stumbled as he stepped down from the door. 'And to think, I owe it all to him again.'

It was late afternoon and his mate could be seen across the property with some of the children. He moved slowly toward the house, partially from weakness and partially to avoid drawing attention to himself. He did not feel like dealing with anyone, he just wanted to fill his painfully hollow stomach and rest.

As he sat at the kitchen table eating he felt around his surroundings. There was just the two chibi girls and his mate present…and one other heading his way. Vegeta sighed in irritation. 'Great.'

Just as he was finishing up his meal Gohan stepped in to hover at the doorway. The prince did not acknowledge him, he merely continued eating. 'What now?' He thought in annoyance. Gohan fidgeted while the prince ignored him until Vegeta downed the last drop of water in his glass of water and stood to leave.

"Vegeta, we need to talk."

The prince eyed him skeptically as he brushed by and snorted. "We? Hn. I think not. Speak if you feel the need. If not then leave me alone."

Gohan moved to keep up as Vegeta walked away. "I want to talk about dad. What do you…?"

The prince cut him off. "That is none of your concern." He kept walking away.

"Wait, Vegeta. I… Hold on a sec… Vegeta, stop!" Vegeta had just opened the front door and stepped halfway outside when Gohan grasped his shoulder in an effort to stop him from walking away.

Instantly he whirled, catching the demi-Saiyan's arm and twisting it painfully. "Do not presume to handle me like one of your own. What I do is no business of yours."

Gohan grimaced, anger mixing with the pain on his features. "It *is* my business whether you like it or not!"

Vegeta's cold, impassive eyes narrowed and he twisted harder making the elbow creak and drawing an angry whimper from the younger man who powered up in response and threw Vegeta off.

"I just wanted to talk but if you want to do it the hard way then fine!" Gohan slammed his palms squarely on the prince's chest, knocking him back before he could block.

Vegeta caught his balance in mid air and landed in a defensive crouch looking like a lineman getting ready for an assault. "I warned you, brat. You're going to regret that." He powered up and launched at Gohan. He impacted lightning fast, knocking the younger man back into the house. Smashing and breaking sounds could be heard from where Gohan must have crashed into a cabinet at the far end of the living room. He turned around and stalked away.

After only a dozen feet Gohan came flying at him again. He spun to knock Kakarott's spawn from the air but he was still exhausted from his long training and his reflexes were lagging. The younger man slammed into him and they grappled, rolling, punching and grasping. Vegeta broke away with a string of curses and powered up further. He was moving too slowly.

Goku heard a yell near the house and looked up from where he was teaching the finer arts of ki manipulation to his and Vegeta's grand daughters. 'What the…?' His son and mate were rolling around in the grass screaming profanities. He grunted as he levered himself to his feet. He was still not eating well and it was taking its toll, his energy was at an all time low. He told the girls to stay put and hurried across the large yard. 'I thought they were starting to get along. What could have happened?' Goku watched in horror while Vegeta surged into SSJ2 and attacked just as Gohan scrambled to his feet. The larger Saiyan slowed and finally stopped, though, when the prince was repelled quickly. Suddenly Vegeta was on the defense and Gohan beat him back. 'What? Is Vegeta letting him win?' The thought was absurd. Goku looked closer. 'He's been training too hard.' Once the realization hit him he started running again. 'Gohan's really going to hurt him!'

'Shit!' Vegeta knew he wouldn't be able to dodge even as he tried. Gohan was too fast. Vaguely he wondered how long he'd been in the gravity room this time as a punch to the stomach bent him double. Forcefully stifling the urge to retch, Vegeta rolled under a kick and backed off out of the younger man's reach. Croaking out a laugh he sneered from his half crouch. If the boy wanted to play hero, he was more than happy to play the villain. That was what he was, after all. "Good shot. But if you think this will *save* Kakarott from me, you have a lot to learn. No one can take what's mine." The sneer gained an aspect of genuine amusement, countering Gohan's wrath. "Go find your own playtoy, this one's been claimed." That did it. Gohan burst with power and leapt at the prince.

"My father is not a possession!"

Vegeta choked and spit out a mouthful of blood. He wasn't even sure exactly what happened. Shaking off the vertigo he lurched to his feet. "Is that it? You're pathetic." He taunted.

Gohan jumped back and roared in rage, throwing a blast of energy at the ruthless ouji. Vegeta crossed his arms and tried to power up to block but was enveloped and thrown clear away by the explosion.

He pushed painfully up on his hands, a large piece of ripped up turf sliding from his shoulders. Throbbing, searing heat flooded his arms and side and he could smell burnt cloth and meat. His breath caught chokingly in his throat when he opened his eyes. The image from his dream stared up at him eerily and he had to blink a few times before ridding himself of the fantasy to see what was really there.

"Gosh, Vegeta, you're really heavy, you know that?" Goku's voice was hoarse and his face was tinged with pain.

The blast had thrown Vegeta right into the other Saiyan. They both lay at the end of a deep furrow that had been created by the impact of their own bodies with Goku on the bottom.

Vegeta heaved off of him, dirt and grass flying in every direction. Goku tried to sit up but let out a gasp and fell back down. "Kakarott!" Vegeta quickly cleared away more dirt and sod from the other man. Lithe fingers ran over the pregnant man's form searching him for injuries. After Vegeta was sure the other was in acceptable condition he helped Goku into a sitting position.

"Oww, that hurt." Goku looked up at Vegeta's dirty, incensed face and paled. The ouji was trembling with black rage and turned back to where Gohan stood frozen, panic rooting him in place. A murky violence fairly glowed from the seething prince and Goku's stomach twisted.

A few more glimpses into Gohan's family life and I am managing to fit Tong in more and more though just in bits and pieces. Everyone seems to like Tong. I'm still working out the details regarding the kids. You'll see more of them soon. Vegeta didn't get a chance to leave. He was starting to drop that notion anyway. You didn't think I'd let him off the hook that easily, did you? Well… I might have but I got another idea. I hope it works out cause I would hate to have to back up and redo this. Don't worry, I have no intention of doing that but I have come to another impasse…but that's later.

Question: Asexual or not asexual or…O_o something like that. That is the question. You know what I am talking about. *author points to where Piccolo is standing andlooking very uncomfortable for those who are just sitting there cluelessly* Give me your opinion. I can't make up my mind.

Ooooooo look at that! Gohan's up to his eyeballs in shit and there's a fan blowing. *evil grin* What now? hmmmmm… We'll see. I just couldn't make myself wait to post this so feel blessed. I'm having fun again. Beware.