Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ What Exactly Is Involved In A Saiyan Mating Ritual? ❯ Mind Over Matter ( Chapter 20 )

Disclaimer: Yep, I don't own DBZ *sigh*

Chapter Twenty

Mind Over Matter

The full weight of the words before him couldn't be ignored, and Vegeta's face turned into a twist of confusion. He didn't like the idea at all, but then surely it was just someone fucking with his head. His eyes narrowed and sharpened. The Saiyan, who had been unfortunate enough to be holding the banner was still before him, but instead of being caught up in a muddling of fear as before, was now looking in awe at his Princes face. Vegeta, instantly disliking the familiarity in the look and having had one of the worst days of his life, was in no mood to think clearly. A rage pounded through him and when all restraint had fled his body his hands sprang without warning, grabbing great fistfuls of clothing, pushing the unsuspecting bystander roughly against the stone.

"What kind of witchcraft is this?" his words were thick with malice, "Who are you to presume to trick your Prince in this way? I demand an explanation!"

"My Prince I… I…"

Vegeta's hands were poised to strike, his fingertips mere millimetres away from the throat. "You what? I'll tell you what you have… you have exactly two seconds to tell me what is going on before I kill you!"

"I… I do not know what you are talking about sire. The sign is simply willing you to win, there is no trickery, no witchcraft involved, it's just a sign!"

"Wrong answer!" was Vegeta's swift reply. He pushed the banner in the man's face. "Read again second class!" he sneered.

"Please, my Prince, it say's 'Win Vegeta' nothing more!"

The man in his grip was literally wetting himself with fear. His face was covered in a fine sheen of sweat, and his eyes were closed as he mumbled a prayer to whoever might be listening. Instantly Vegeta relaxed his grip. There was true fear in this man's demeanour.

"My Prince… I would never lie to you!" he choked out.

Vegeta curled his lip at the degradation and whimpering of the soldier before him, but couldn't escape the reverence and pleading within it. Cautiously he looked again at the card, and his mouth dropped a full foot. The second-class warrior spoke the truth, 'Win Vegeta' were the only words to grace his vision. "Fuck!" he swore, his grip relaxing.

Slowly he staggered back, his thoughts reeling, "Am I losing my mind!" was the predominant thought. Then it clicked. Everything fell into place. It was so obvious now! "Where is he?" he wondered, "Ko-oni-jin!" he screamed out, his veins pumping in anger.

As if on cue the tiny creature appeared in his peripheral vision. Vegeta noted with a hint of amusement the blood that seeped from its lip and the slight graze that adorned it right cheek.

"You called!" was the delicate reply.

The Ko-oni-jin immediately phased out of focus, leaving Vegeta dead in the water, vainly waiting for his senses to give him enough warning. The power snapped into place, but far too late to give his body time to react. A powerful flurry of punches was unleashed onto his prone body, ending with having both the Elder's hands being slammed onto his exposed back, propelling him towards the stadiums stone floor.

Vegeta managed to control it enough to absorb the impact with his ki, all four limbs pushing him back the way he had come as his ki lit in a burst of white-hot rage around him, "Get out of my head!" he shouted with all the vehemence he could muster. "I don't know how you're doing it without betraying some power, but rest assured you illusions will not stop me from pounding your worthless body into the ground!"

"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about Saiyan, you sound like a complete madman, but it will be fun to see you try to even lay another finger on me, let alone pound me into the ground." His eyes flashed, "You really want to feel my power Ouji? Remember what it did to you the last time. I really wanted to make this fight longer, but if you want to have the bond completed now then I am more than willing to move things along to the next level."

Vegeta's eyes widened in shock, "What do you mean completed? It was never…" He didn't get to finish as a concentrated ki beam tore brutally through the kneecap, disabling him as he tried to avoid it, instantly shattering the bone and cartilage, the ligaments that held it altogether, being incinerated on impact.

Screaming out in pain Vegeta staggered blindly forward only for the reality of his injury to become fully apparent as the limb bent unnaturally under his body weight, crumpling and forcing his body to the floor. Carefully he pushed back up onto the unharmed left leg, modifying his ki for balance.

The Ko-oni-jin simply laughed at his debilitation, "Much better! Now I won't have to worry about chasing you around like a dog!" His head tipped to look Vegeta meaningfully in the eye, "You see Saiyan. Kandai reached you a fraction of a second too late, I already started to initiate the bond before he struck me. Most of the energy escaped, but a part of it remains still. I managed to retain some, and your own body also started to absorb it." His grin spread maliciously over green features, "Realistically the bond is no longer needed. We both know that whoever wins this fight will have ultimate control of Vegeta-sei, but it certainly makes this fight more interesting. All I need is the slightest contact with your energy to complete the bond and once that is done I will be able to control you. I could even make you kill yourself if I wanted to."

Vegeta struggled for composure, the pain wracking through his leg was almost unbearable, and the miniscule alterations that his ki required to hold himself upright demanded constant concentration. "Is that a fact," he ground through his teeth, wanting to keep the Ko-oni-jin talking as long as possible as he adjusted to his disability, "Then why haven't you done anything yet? You have had ample opportunity to take me down, you're bluffing. You are saying all this merely to avoid me attacking you, you fear the true power of the Saiyan's and therefore do not want to risk being on the wrong end of an energy attack."

The Ko-oni-jin chuckled, "Think what you want Ouji, it makes no difference to me. Fire an energy attack at me! See if I try to avoid it."

Vegeta grinned despite himself. 'Right into the lion's mouth,' he thought. "Ok then, let us see who is really faking. I am not afraid of you or your power!"

Pushing his ki a little further so he floated off the floor, Vegeta managed to stabilize a decent fighting stance, even though gravity still strained on the tortured limb. Slowly his hands pulled to the side, cupping the beginnings of purple energy as it strained along with the blood, draining him of almost all the power he had left. The power sparked into life, growing into a perfect sphere as it formed neatly in between his palms. The contours of his eyebrows dipped and Vegeta's dark piercing eyes looked menacingly up through them as he gloried in the feel of his own power, his arrogance fuelling the power, caressing it to its absolute maximum, the fingers of his right hand flexing briefly as he calibrated its right frequency. He would have to have it spot on for his plan to work.

The light streamed through his open fingers as the power felt exactly as he knew it should be. He breathed heavily under the pressure is took to build and looked to the Ko-oni-jin, "Are you ready?" he grinned, "Because I promise you that it will take a lot more than mind tricks to stop this!"

The Elder simply nodded his head and fell back into a low stance. Closing his eyes the faintest murmurings of a chant fell from his thin green lips.

Vegeta had to stifle a smirk, the Ko-oni-jin was preparing for the attack just as he hoped he would. With a flash of canines Vegeta forced the power forward, his arms straining as he pushed it out, the energy flying from the fingertips accompanied by the scream of, "GALLET GUN FIIIIIIIRE!"

The words echoed around the large stadium, as the energy spun away hurtling across the dry stone, blowing the dust apart in great plumes from the destruction earlier. The privileged onlookers had to hang on for dear life as the wind it generated blew out in all directions with a force that would have left normal spectators flattened.

Despite the veritable hurricane that the pure energy created, the Elder stood firm. To anyone who could actually bear witness in the violence, it would appear that the aged creature did not feel or see the power at all. The expression on his face didn't change, his eyes didn't even open, only his brow furrowed slightly as the energy calved its direct course to him. The power was now only a couple of metres away and finally the Ko-oni-jin moved. In the blink of an eye his right arm extended towards the energy the palm facing up, the small wiry finger splayed in all directions.

His eyes sprung open just as the power was about to meet with small fingertips, and he shouted, "Cease!" against the rush of power.

Almost instantly the Purple energy stopped dead, the surplus power absorbing itself as it struggled to find its path. The Elder let his mouth turn up into a stolen smirk, "You see how wrong you were Vegeta? I told you I wasn't bluffing, you can't find a way through can you?"

Vegeta couldn't help but be astonished, (even though he had figured the Ko-oni-jin would block the power,) at the ease with which it was accomplished. It was simply amazing! Now he knew perfectly well that the creature had not been lying, he did have a share of the bond, and as they stood at this stalemate Vegeta could feel it pulling through the contact with his energy. This revelation didn't shock him, but he just hoped that his energy reserves would be strong enough to hold out for him to put his plan into being. It was going to be touch and go but not impossible. "How did you stop it so easily?" he exclaimed, hoping that his feigned ignorance would distract the Elder long enough for him to get a mental hold of the situation.

"Because I am stronger mentally than you are physically Saiyan, perhaps you should have spent as much time training your mind as you did your body."

Somewhere the energy was seeping, Vegeta could feel it, it was clawing through his own, trying to find the right calibration to break through, merge with it and take over control. This was it! He couldn't afford to be the tiniest bit sloppy he had to concentrate.

"You're wasting your time Vegeta. You won't be able to break me!" As if to enforce this the Ko-oni-jin screamed out as translucent power pushed Vegeta's back. The stream of his energy pushed at his own wrapping around his body, burning at the skin. Vegeta physically sweated under the pressure, his mind trying to keep focus through it all.

In a flash of contact the power changed and Vegeta grinned, as the Ko-oni-jin broke off to try and search his mind through the power.

'Can you feel it?' The words were whispered around Vegeta's head. 'The bond is forming as we speak. I'm inside your head now and you will lose.'

' And I am in yours,' Vegeta taunted back, 'now let us see who is the stronger mentally! You are just like every other opponent I have faced. You see my fighting skills and automatically dismiss me as a muscle bound baka that couldn't think his way out of a wet paper bag, but you are wrong. My father saw to that, thanks to him I have been mentally preparing for years, enforcing my power with the help of…' His thoughts faltered as he pushed further into the Ko-oni-jin's mind, his astonishment growing the more he saw, 'with the help of The Link!'

The words were forced out as everything about the situation crashed down on him at once.'Dammit!' He cursed mentally. 'I've been a complete idiot! The Link, I can see it all now. It was you! You know this isn't real, and have known it all along, haven't you! I can't believe I didn't realize earlier, but of course I wouldn't, because from the moment I walked into your disgusting caves, your power has been flowing through me, keeping me ignorant.

At the revelation both powers withdrew their energy. They didn't need it anymore, the battle was still raging even though there were no outward signs of such. The Elder grinned, "You surprise me Vegeta, I honestly didn't think you would figure it out. You are right. I have underestimated you."

The lines of the Elders face furrowed, "I found out the true nature of my existence when we were searching through your memories. It helped that I was watching the visions. It meant that my emissary didn't know it all as I do. I think he is beginning to suspect too, otherwise I doubt he would have followed with my plan of action to this level. When we first started searching, we were merely wishing to control you for the sake of the betterment of our people, but that is no longer the case. Through the bond that I will enforce with you I will in essence become a part of your being. I will live! Take over your body, and be able to extract myself from the confines of this accursed game! Your mate wasn't part of the plan. If only you hadn't shared your energy with her then we wouldn't have been forced to take such drastic actions, we really had no desire to kill her."

Vegeta breathed evenly, trying to take all the information in. Now everything was fitting into place, all the gaps in his memories falling perfectly in line. He was in the Link, nothing here was real, the Ko-oni-jin, Kandai, Vegeta-sei… it was all make-believe! Then the last of the Elder words played into his head, and he lowered his tattered body to the floor, not minding the rush of pain it expelled from his leg, his breathing increased as his body slumped, laughter and relief washing through his whole body, "Bulma!" he whispered, "Is it possible she is still… alive?"

Not minding who saw, Vegeta flung his shoulders back, a true smile playing over his features, as he shouted her name aloud in the realizing joy of the moment, "BULMA!"

The Ko-oni-jin walked calmly over to Vegeta, his features pinched in annoyance, "I wouldn't celebrate too soon Ouji. She may be still alive, but do you have any idea how much pain she will be in without the bond. If it was enough to kill her in here, it could well be enough to kill her in real life as well, and secondly I am still in your head. I can almost touch the power I need to control you. You are no better off for the information than you were five minutes ago!"

Vegeta was brought crashing down by the Ko-oni-jin's words. It was true, Bulma was still more than likely suffering from the loss of the bond, if it had not claimed her life already, but it wasn't too late, he could still change things, "That is where you are wrong Elder," he spat, "You see now I know this is a game now and I can simply disengage anytime I want to. All I need to do is press at the temple and this will all be over. I will go to Bulma to re-establish the bond, and you will remain as nothing but a worthless piece of computerized trash!"

"Really?" he questioned, "Then try it."

Vegeta's face fell a little at the cockiness of the Elder, but pressed his hand to his temple nonetheless. The apparition of his scouter clouded over the vision of his right eye, as the pages of text scrolled over it. Eventually he came to the writing he needed and after selecting it, prepared to disengage from the game. He closed his eyes preparing for the pain, but was interrupted by a loud beeping. Slowly he opened his eyes only to see 'Error' displayed in large letters across the small screen. "What the Fuck?"

"Do you really think I would be so stupid? I have disengaged your link to the scouter. You have no option. You're only way out of here is to kill me."

Not knowing what to do, Vegeta screamed until his lungs felt as though they were going to burst. It was too much! He had thought Bulma was dead, and then he had been given hope, a hope that she was alive and that he could once again be in her arms, and then that hope was ripped from within his grasp, "FUCK!"

His body sank even more, his fingers clawing at the sun bleached stone, as his mind tried to stay in control. He could still feel the Elder in there, probing for the right source to track a course to the power they had introduced all those unfathomable years ago. Slowly his face lifted from the floor, the murderous intent, glistening in his eyes. His lungs rumbled as he growled, "get out of my head!" his ki scorching the stone in close proximity as his mind battled with the Ko-oni-jin.

"Not a chance Vegeta, I can see it. I can see how to make it work!" his skittish giggles flowed tauntingly over to the Saiyan, "Ha! This is it. My moment of glory! I will live, and you and your mate will never know anything different. I can't wait! This is perfect! I can literally feel your power!"

Vegeta shut his eyes, concentrating through the pain, the Elder told the truth, he was winning, he couldn't stop him, the power was just too much to concentrate through. Shit! He was going to lose if he couldn't think of something quickly. He had to think, had to… He stopped. That was it! It was risky, but realistically he had no choice, he was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. This was his last chance to get away! His breathing became shallow as he prepared his energy. There wasn't much left after the Gallet Gun Fire, but there should be just enough if he aimed it well.

"Come on Ko-oni-jin!" he cursed, "Get it over with already! I can't stop you. Do your worst."

Lost in the pure flowing of power like he had never experienced the Elder didn't even think about the obvious challenge in Vegeta's words, "Don't worry it will be a painless death Vegeta. Can you feel it, the power is good ne?"

"The power is disgusting and so are you!"

"Ha! Enough talk, you're finished!"

Without another word the Elder passed the final barrier, locking their minds together in a rush of power, both bodies were momentarily overwhelmed by the force that it crushed with, but Vegeta's was the first to recover giving him the slight advantage he needed, his body glowed an intense white, as the power surged through his body, turning in on itself and instead of collecting outside the body it collected around the Ko-oni-jin's foreign energy, pushing through the pain barrier, up through the link that the Ko-oni-jin created. It forced the raw energy straight into the Elder's head, burning its way into his skull. It exploded around the brain cavity, in a flash of brilliance, burning the creature's defences from the inside out.

The wrinkled green skin of the elder started to blister on the outside under the amounting pressure on its internal organs, bloating the small frame until it could hold out no longer. In a blazing of ki the skin stretched, pulled and eventually tore, blinding rays of the intense ki ripping their way through the chest cavity, and in one great swathe of power the Ko-oni-jin Elder exploded, the heat that was created incinerating his remains on impact.

The power subsided, the last rays dispersing into the night's sky and Vegeta slumped to the floor, physically exhausted as the last remnants of the Elders power left his body. He was sure he blacked out for a moment, as the next thing he remembered seeing was Kandai's shrouded form offering him a hand. Vegeta pushed himself up from the floor and looked scathingly into the guardians face.

"You have won Prince Vegeta. Revenge is yours!"

Vegeta glared wearily at the outstretched hand, but this time he thought better than to slap it away, instead a torn white glove, grasped it firmly shaking it once, before letting it go and pushing his ki out to balance on his own. The stadium flooded with cheering as the proud Prince of the Saiyan's rose like a phoenix from the battle arena. The adrenaline surged in plenty around his body, his mind spinning.

As the situation and realization of his victory finally settled around his head, Vegeta managed to let a sigh escape his lips, "Of course I won," he snapped at Kandai, pulling his body up as authoritatively as its battered state would allow, "Thank you Spirit." He conceded, "Your help has been invaluable. It is appreciated."

Kandai's mouth opened and closed at the compliment, unsure if Vegeta was trying to trick him or not. At length sincerity won out and he bowed his head, "I'm glad to have been of assistance. I just wish… things could have turned out differently. She was a wonderful woman Ouji. I will never know why she settled for you, but she was a wonderful woman nonetheless."

The reference to Bulma flung Vegeta out of his relief and made his body tense, "Not was," he expostulated, "but… is!"

Kandai was adequately confused, but chose to remain silent, he was glad he did as the next words escaping Vegeta's lips were, "I hope."

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The small room was alive with cheering! The sweat that had poured down Doctor Briefs face, drying up in an instant, "He did it!" he exclaimed to a perplexed Goku, "Vegeta won!"

Goku jumped up, knocking his chair over in the process, "Are you sure?" he asked, knowing that it wasn't always cut and dry in a fight of this calibre.

"Yes look!" he said pointing to the screen, "The numbers that represented his opponent are completely eliminated!"

"Wow that's awesome! Vegeta's awesome! Man what a fight!"

There was a silence after this as both minds tried to calm to a normal level of thinking.

"So what exactly does this mean?" asked Goku scratching his head, "Does it even help? What if Vegeta still doesn't know he's in the link?"

"Oh he knows alright!" Dr Brief smiled, "It's just if he chooses to come out yet or not. He may still be ignorant to his condition. I am not sure what he will do."

As if on cue a beep cut both of them from further speech.

"Already?" questioned Goku, turning for his duties, "but I only just gave him an energy fix!"

Both looked quizzically at the watch on Goku's wrist and both realized at the same time. The beep wasn't coming from there. In a whirl of a lab coat Dr. Briefs ran to his daughter's bedside, "Bulma?" he shouted.

Her body was writhing on the bed, her limbs thrashing, as her body convulsed.

"Shit!" exclaimed the old man.

"What's going on?"

"Goku you have to get my briefcase from the kitchen right now!"

"Why… is she waking up?"

"No," he said firmly, as he watched the convulsions and the colour of Bulma's face change, "She's stopped breathing!" He bent over her small frame, tears spilling from his eyes, "Hold on Bulma! Please! For Kami's sake hold on!"

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A/N - *Chuckles evilly* I know that was a really mean place to finish, but I couldn't resist.

I wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed or emailed me about this fic. Your support is very much appreciated. You have no idea how much your comments mean to me! Huggles and best wishes ~Ember~