Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Surviving Together: A New Legacy ❯ The Plan In Motion ( Chapter 21 )

Surviving Together: A New Legacy

Chapter 21 - The Plan In Motion

"Fuck." Vegeta growled, looking upon the massive expanse of chaos his son was inflicting across the immediate area. "Boy, you picked a lousy time to be seduced by the moon's light." Vegeta muttered.

"Should we attack, sir?" One of Vegeta's elites cried. The beast before them was demolishing and killing everything in sight; their immediate instincts were to destroy it.

"No." Vegeta halted an assault. He was tempted to tell the man to instead focus their energy on cutting off Trunks' tail, but Vegeta was, not surprisingly, very hesitant to reveal the weakness of the Oozaru. "None of you stand a chance attacking him in this state. I will bring him down. The rest of you gather the living and board your ships. I don't know how, but Cooler must have known this was going to happen. I'd bet anything his fleet is poised to attack as we speak. So, get your asses into space and counter him before he has that chance!"

"Yes, Sir!" a fairly synchronized agreement was shouted as the soldiers scattered to their ships, trying desperately to avoid the chi blasts being fired from the Oozaru's mouth.

As the men began to clear the area, Vegeta shot up into the air, carefully avoiding eye contact with the moon. "Boy, you will stop this madness now!" Vegeta ordered, though unsurprised when his son paid him no regard. Trunks released a loud roar and began swinging his arm back and forth, swatting at his father as though at a fly.

Vegeta swiftly attempted to dodge each assault, but found with his son's dramatic increase in speed and strength, avoiding the boy's attacks was nearly impossible. 'I'm going to have to go Super Saiya-jin to stop him with this kind of power,' Vegeta thought rather frustrated. On any other occasion he would have welcomed such a challenge, but with Cooler's aggressive mood, he simply didn't need this kind of pandemonium to distract him from his war. Not wanting to waste any more time, Vegeta attempted to power up to Super Saiya-jin. He failed to have the chance, as he suddenly felt his body being compressed.

The Oozaru released what could only be described as a roar of laughter as he managed to capture that which had been annoying him. Plopping down on his backside, Trunks tightened his grip on his father as he began swinging him back and forth in the sky as though he was pretending to fly some kind of spacecraft, occasionally crashing the object into the ground for his own spectacular enjoyment.

Vegeta screamed in pain as his body felt the agonizing impact of each constriction the Oozaru's palm made. He tried desperately to focus his energy enough to break through the boy's hold; however, being throttled back and forth like a rag doll made the task nearly impossible. 'I'll be killed by my own son if I don't do something soon,' Vegeta thought furiously before making another attempt at focusing his chi. His efforts were fruitless however as Trunks decided, almost clairvoyantly, to reposition his father.

After roughly pummeling the monarch into the ground, the Oozaru rose from his seated position and lifted his heel above the already battered body of his victim. With a very swift movement, the giant crashed his heel onto the man's body, releasing yet another onslaught of what sounded like monkey laughter.

Vegeta roared in agony as every bone in his body felt as though it was being crumpled into tiny pieces. Logical awareness, let alone battle strategy, seemed impossible as the only thought to cross his mind was of his impending death. 'Not like this… Not my own son,' Vegeta's mind begged his body to evade such a fate. But as passionate as his mind's plea was, his body failed to have the energy, let alone maneuvering capabilities, to comply.

Such a circumstance could have been disastrous had some aid not been bestowed upon the helpless Emperor. Trunks suddenly, for no apparent reason, lifted his foot off of his father and took a step away from him. Then, with a gentility that an Oozaru should not possess, he lifted his injured parent off of the ground and cradled him in his palm before quietly sitting on the ground. "Sorry, Dad," a deep voice vocalized an apology with surprising restraint.

Vegeta's eyes narrowed in confusion as the sudden control made absolutely no sense, until a long time friend showed himself before his king. "Garock," Vegeta whispered as the man flew over to help his friend sit up. "You broke into the boy's mind?"

Garock nodded slowly. "You have no idea how difficult it is to bring a moonlight possessed ten year old Oozaru back into a sensible ten year old half Saiya-jin boy. That pounding you took gave me just enough time. You should be very proud of yourself."

Vegeta only growled at the man's useless compliment. "Boy, lower us to the ground," Vegeta ordered as he grabbed onto his associate's arm to pull himself to his feet. Trunks obeyed his father and slowly lowered the pair to a soft patch of untouched grass, allowing his father to step off of his palm. "I'm really sorry, Dad." The powerful voice almost blew the pair over as he reiterated his disappointment in himself.

"Save your apologies for after I cut you back down to size." Vegeta's lips curled into a smirk. "Present your tail to me, boy," Vegeta ordered as Trunks continued to follow instruction, having no idea that the pain he had just pounded into his father was about to be returned ten fold. Before Trunks even knew what hit him, a disk shaped ring of energy shot from Vegeta's hand to slice right through his tail, invoking a thunderous roar of pain. As the Oozaru slowly changed from a giant beast back into a small boy, Vegeta reflected that Trunks was going to have a very sore bottom after the loss of his tail.

As soon as Trunks returned to normal size, Vegeta and Garock rushed over to the boy's side, or rushed as much as Vegeta could in his injured state. "He's out cold," Garock concluded, after checking to make certain the boy was still alive.

"Not surprising," Vegeta noted. "He exercised more energy than his small body possessed; he will be out for a while."

"Alright then," Garock nodded as he bent down and gathered the unconscious boy into his arms. "He will come with us to your ship. He can rest there while we go tend to the battle with Cooler."

"Right," Vegeta nodded as the two men turned to head to the docking bay. Fortunately, it was on the west wing of the castle, the only part that Trunks didn't manage to completely annihilate. "What is our status?"

"Surprisingly strong," Garock was pleased to admit. "Cooler has not managed to penetrate the atmosphere, but then again I am not certain that is his intention. He seems to want to keep the battle in space. Perhaps he has developed some technical advantage we have not seen coming."

"No," Vegeta disagreed, "he knew Garock. He fucking knew Trunks was going to transform! That was why he planned the attack for today. I am certain of it!"

"But how could he have known?"

"Think man," Vegeta growled deeply. "We knew this was going to happen, we just ignored it."

"Durka's vision," Garock quickly made the connection. "But how could Cooler have heard of it? There was only a select few beings privy to that information. All trusted friends."

"Not all of us," Vegeta objected. "That lieutenant from Danior has had it in for my mate since the moment she arrived, along with holding malice towards me for various reasons. I should have seen it sooner. This had to be the working of that bitch."

"Well even so, sir, Trunks is back to normal; whatever information she slipped to him is clearly no longer useful," Garock tried to lessen the disaster this woman clearly had summoned.

"It had better be," Vegeta spoke bitterly; he had been to absorbed in having Bulma and Trunks in his life, he should have seen this sooner. "What of my mate? Did you safely bring her to my ship?"

Garock gulped slowly as he was hoping that subject could wait until they arrived aboard his ship. "Well, I can assure you she has been delivered to your ship sir, but the safely part I can't back up."

Vegeta stopped dead in his tracks as he grasped his associate by the neck, seemingly not caring that the man was holding his son. "What the hell does that mean?" Vegeta's teeth clenched together.

"I am afraid I failed to find Miss Briefs before your son's transformation. When I did she was in the arms of Captain Durka. He told me they had been close to the explosion and she had been knocked unconscious. After I was satisfied that she was indeed not terribly injured, I told him to take her to your ship to get her some medical attention. And then I came right here to aid you."

Vegeta released the man's throat. "She had better be well attended to by the time I get to my ship; if not, I will hold you personally responsible," Vegeta growled before picking up the pace to his ship. Garock could only hope for everyone in Vegeta's vicinity that Durka had taken good care of his cargo.

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"Time to wake up," Durka smirked at his unconscious hostage before pounding his hand across her face to wake her. Bulma's eyes shot open as the sting of the hit knocked her focus right into the harsh reality of what was happening. "That's a good girl." Durka smiled as he watched her eyes fill with hate as she slowly rose to her knees. "Aw, don't be mad at me. This little mess is your own fault; you, your bastard mate, and my dear dead aunt. Her punishment has already been rightfully bestowed upon her by fate, but you and the monkey emperor are going to pay dearly tonight!"

"For killing your father?!" Bulma screamed in frustration, still befuddled by the truths she had been told before being knocked unconscious. "Look Durka, I don't know what you were told of your 'father,' but he was nothing more than a coldhearted son of a bitch! He tried to rape me! That's why he is dead! That bastard deserved everything he got!"

Another backhand flattened across Bulma's face, knocking her body against the cold concrete floor of the docking bay; a change in position that allowed her the chance to finally take note of her surroundings. She gasped as she began to vaguely recognize her local. "Cooler's ship…" she whispered, recalling being dragged onto a similar craft after Merigh was attacked. "Why did you bring me here?"

Durka smirked as he lowered himself to one knee, leaning over to grab a pile of hair from his prisoner, forcing her body to sit up, nose to nose with him. "Do you remember when we first met? Your planet was practically annihilated save a few of your scientist friends and some female pleasure slaves. Then I came, in a blaze of glory, to save you all from the mighty Lord Cooler. Remember?" Durka paused, smirking briefly at the puzzled expression upon his captive's face. She truly had no idea what was going on, but being the 'magnanimous' man that he was, Durka decided to bestow upon her the clue she had so unwisely missed. "Tell me precious, did you ever wonder how my fleet managed to beat the great Ice-jin when we were grossly outnumbered? Hm… No? Well please let me explain. You see Cooler, in his infinite wisdom, decided the best way to defeat the 'omnipotent' Super Saiya-jin was to find his Achilles' heel. In ten years Cooler had never found one in battle, so he thought perhaps if someone was behind enemy lines and gained the trust and respect of the dear emperor, such a weakness could be found."

"You bastard," Bulma tried to swing at the man, but he quickly blocked her attempt. "You have been playing me for a fool all along!"

"You say that as if it was a challenge." Durka roared with laughter, as his captive only became more enraged. "Now you are probably wondering how such a 'difficult' task could be accomplished." Durka returned to his monologue, disregarding her interruption. "Did you ever wonder why your planet, with its technological prestige, had been left untouched by Cooler's empire for so long? I mean lesser nations were being absorbed into his alliance, and yet Cooler left your planet alone. Why? Well, do let me tell you. You see, Cooler was well aware of dear Vegeta's technological inadequacies, and knew the monkey would be scrambling for whatever planets he could absorb to counter his foe's growing power. But, by the time your mate began to make any effort to gain intellectual strength, Cooler had already absorbed so many science stations, Vegeta's only choice had been your planet, the one planet Cooler had so strategically left unattained for so long. You see my dear, your lover played right into Cooler's hands by opening negotiations with Merigh's king. Cooler knew once your people agreed to aid Vegeta he would be bound to protect your planet when attacked. And that's exactly what Cooler did."

"Why Merigh!?" Bulma's brows furrowed, still lost by all the insanity of the truth.

"Now you're using that pretty little head of yours." Durka smirked as she began to ask the right questions. "It was all about location, my dear. Your planet was too far away from planet Frost for Vegeta to aid directly, forcing him to send his nearest fleet in his stead. And guess who that meant sending?"

"Your fleet from Danior!?" Tears began to form in the genius's eyes, the harsh truth sharply stinging them. "Nearly an entire population was annihilated just so you could infiltrate Vegeta's home base?"

"Give the woman a prize!" Durka allowed another smirk to cross his lips, suddenly becoming the spitting image of his father.

"But why you?" Bulma shook her head in argument. "Why would Cooler chose you out of the millions of other lackeys he has flying around the universe!?"

"That's another good question; you are getting better at this." Durka enjoyed her rational mind beginning to work once again. "Do you recall the story I told you, how Zarra feared my working for Freeza, so she brought me to Danior to be raised peacefully and all that bullshit? Well, that story was mostly true, only her fear was that I would become like my father. She convinced my mother to move to Danior, keeping my father in ignorance of my existence. Her plan backfired however. My mother didn't survive my birth, and I was left with no one to tend to me. I had to become the hardened warrior that you see before you to survive, to protect myself, to rise to the high-ranking soldier that I did in the Daniorian army. And why? It was all because my 'aunt' withheld my heritage from me!"

"Zarra was only protecting you from your father. A life lived alone would have been a marked improvement than under the psychotic instruction of Zarbon!" Bulma argued, furious that this man was trying to enlist pity from her after his lies and deceit.

"You know nothing of my father! He was a loyal servant to the mighty Lord Freeza, just as I am to his brother, Master Cooler. He recognized my strength, and sought me out personally, taking me under his wing these last five years of my life, turning me into a man that would have made my father proud! Cooler told me the truth of my father's death, my aunt's part, your part, and Vegeta's part in his defeat. I have been waiting since the day I learned the truth of my father's death to avenge him! From that day on I agreed to do whatever it would take to join in Cooler's battle to defeat Vegeta. With my warrior instincts I had already fought my way to Captain. It was then Master Cooler told me of his plans for Merigh. How easily I could infiltrate his base. And as you can obviously see, his brilliant plan has worked perfectly."

More tears began to flow from Bulma's eyes as she felt actual pity for the man before her. Cooler had clearly taken a confused and lost boy and turned him into a hateful monster. "How poisoned your mind is," Bulma practically spit out the words, "I can not believe I failed to see how mentally unstable you have been all this time."

"Yes, it will prove to be quiet detrimental to your health that you couldn't see through me sooner," Durka countered her insult with a chuckle. "The hero, kind friend, and softhearted son routine sickened me to the core, but it was all worth it. I mean first finding out about your relation to Vegeta; that is the kind of weakness Cooler has been waiting years to exploit. And then, there was the added aid of my vision, the one that started the snowball that is currently bringing your monkey of a mate to his knees."

"Trunks," Bulma whispered her son's name as her mind jerked back to the discussion that had started all of this. "Where is my son!? What have you done to him!? Has he transformed yet?! Tell me!" Bulma struggled in Durka's grasp, as she demanded answers.

Durka was quick to oblige; the truth was better than any lie he could tell. "Oh your precious little boy has already transformed all right. In fact, while you have been taking your little nap, your son has been beating the shit out of your dear mate. I mean, it's rather hysterical don't you think? Cooler won't have to lift a finger to kill the mighty Super Saiya-jin; his own son will complete the task for him!" Durka paused for a brief laugh before continuing with the harsh news. "That's right, my dear. Before I brought you to my transport I stopped outside to see your son grinding your mate into the ground like a little bug. You see, that was my full vision. I originally omitted that little detail along with your actually being unconscious in my arms at the time; telling the full truth would have given away my cover. But that is all moot now isn't it?" Durka released another chilling laugh. "Thanks to my vision, Cooler was able to plan his attack around your son's transformation. With Vegeta out of the way, reclaiming his rightful home will take minimal effort."

Bulma's body began shaking more violently. With every new piece of information she received, all she wanted to do was wake in her mate's arms to find this all to be nothing more than a nightmare. "Then why grab me?" Bulma's voice turned numb. "If my son is down on Frost, killing Vegeta, then why not just let me die with the rest of his army?"

"And give up my insurance? I don't think so," a menacing voice suddenly interrupted the pair. Bulma's eyes rolled slowly to the side to observe who had now come to add to her torment. Not in the least bit shocked, Bulma felt Durka pull her bruised body to her feet, and push her right up against his master's chest.

"I have done as you ordered, sir. She is all yours." Durka bowed his head before taking a step back.

"You have done well Durka." Cooler allowed the man a brief nod of approval before lifting a single finger and releasing a thin blast that shot right through the man's chest. Bulma covered her mouth to keep from screaming as she watched the youthful man's body drop to the ground, lifeless.

"You monster!!" Bulma screamed as she turned around and began fruitlessly attacking her subjugator.

"Come, come, my dear. Why fight me, you know you can't win," he whispered while running his index and middle fingers down her cheek. "What say I get you safety tucked away while we wait for your monkey mate? Because, when he shows up, you, my dear will make certain of his defeat."

"Never!" Bulma argued boldly, whipping her head away from his, attempting once again to pull herself from his grasp. "I will die before I let you use me against Vegeta!"

"You had better watch what you vow, wench," Cooler chuckled as he began dragging his guest towards the bowels of the ship, "because you will get your chance."

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"What the fuck have you done with her?!" Vegeta demanded as he completed another violent blow to Aphara's midsection. "Tell me now!"

Aphara clutched her stomach, doubling over in pain. "I-I have done nothing to Bulma," she moaned weakly. "I haven't seen her since yesterday!"

"Lies!" Vegeta screamed, wrapping his fingers around the battered woman's swollen neck, and hoisting her broken body into the air. "I know you have been slipping information to Cooler. That is how the bastard knew to plan his attack around my son's transformation. You told the fiend about your mate's vision!"

"No!" Aphara protested, weakling groping for his fingers to try and loosen his hold before he could compress all of the life from her. "I was not the one who betrayed you!"

"Bullshit!" Vegeta only tightened his hold. "Enough lies! Tell me what you have done with my mate, or I will send you to the next dimension right this instant!"

"She is not the traitor," Garock interjected, halting the Emperor from forming a chi blast strong enough to turn the woman's body to ash.

"What?!" Vegeta roared as he turned his attention to his associate, who had remained silent during Aphara's beating.

"I scanned her thoughts while you were… ahm… reprimanding her. She is not the one who has betrayed you, but" Garock paused as he walked closer to join the pair, locking eyes with Aphara as he completed his thought, "she knows who has."

Vegeta's slightly relaxed fingers once again clenched more tightly as he turned back to his victim. "Tell me what you know."

Aphara's blood, vomit, and tear soaked face moved from focusing on Garock to the Emperor. "I'm sorry," she whispered surprisingly, the pain of her physical punishment clearly had weakened her emotional strength. "I've loved him for so long… And now I finally had him… I begged him not to do it… But, he had to have his vengeance. I couldn't betray him… He would have hated me… I couldn't lose him."

Without need for further explanation, Vegeta dropped Aphara's body to the floor. "Well, now you will never have to worry about losing him, BECAUSE YOU'LL BE SPENDING ETERNITY IN THE NEXT DIMENSION WITH HIM!" Vegeta screamed. With lightning speed he unleashed a chi blast, dealing the final blow to the lieutenant.

Garock averted his eyes from the gruesomely carried out sentence before returning to business as though a life had not just been obliterated. "I am sorry sir, this is my fault, I should have stop--"

"You are damn right this is your fault!" Vegeta turned to unleash his fury upon the next nearest victim. "You saw that weakling captain with my mate; she was unconscious! You should have personally taken her to my ship as I fucking told you!"

"I know sir, I am sorry."

"SORRY!" Vegeta bellowed; to say fury was consuming him would have been a grotesque understatement. "Durka has no doubt delivered my mate to the hands of that sick son of a bitch Cooler, who, thanks to our traitor, knows damn well exactly who she is to me! Do you have any idea the kind of danger that puts her in?!"

Garock remained silent. The verbal thrashing he was receiving, though frightening, was much preferable to the physical one Aphara had been dealt. "Tell me what to do, sir."

Vegeta paused for breath, still very much winded after the beating Trunks had dealt him. His intentions had been to spend the minutes it would take to catch up with Cooler's ship in a regen tank, but once he had found out his mate was missing, punishment had to be dealt immediately. "How long till we reach Cooler's ship?"

"Five minutes, sir."

Vegeta paused, quickly considering his options. Turning Super Saiya-jin and attacking Cooler's ship head on was too dangerous. He had no way of knowing where Cooler held Bulma; he could not risk hurting her. It seemed as though he simply had no choice but to walk headlong into the trap he no doubt knew Cooler had set for him. "In five minutes I want to be docked and ready to board Cooler's vessel. Understood!?"

"Yes, sir. I'll see that-docked? You simply want to walk right onto the enemy's ship?" Garock raised a confused brow. "You don't think he will simply roll out the red carpet for you?"

"On the contrary," Vegeta's face twisted into a weak smirk. "This is the battle Cooler has been waiting for; the final challenge where one of us will die in humiliating defeat and the other will live in venerable victory. It's a shame," Vegeta paused for an apathetic chuckle, "the Saiya-jin in me welcomes such a confrontation, but the man in me, the part of me that is susceptible to emotion is terrified. If victory comes to me at the price of…" He shook his head. "I will be defeated either way."

"Then it seems you have but one choice," Garock stopped. He had no need to complete his thought, for the Emperor knew what his only option was.

"Protect my son, Garock," Vegeta spoke quietly after a long pause. "He is my heir, the one I leave to continue my legacy. You shall give him the loyalty you have unswervingly held for me these many years. Understand?"

"Of course," Garock extended his arm to his Emperor in a proud gesture. "Through my life or death I will protect your son, though only until you return to continue the honor yourself."

Vegeta accepted the man's wrist in a silent gesture that admitted to more than the surrogate father and son pair would ever admit to one another. "So be it," the Emperor agreed before briskly turning to head towards the chambers Trunks had been laid in to rest while he recovered from his energy-exhausted state. Vegeta would take his last few minutes to check on the condition of his son before going after Cooler.

He would get his mate back, no matter what the cost.

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Author's Note: Hm… What does Cooler have in mind for Bulma? Will Vegeta make it in time to save her? Or will Bulma stand by her vow and be the one to protect Vegeta? Well I guess you will just have to wait for the conclusion of Surviving Together: A New Legacy. **Ominous music ensues**