Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Sheep and the Hedgehog ❯ Scorched Dreams ( Chapter 11 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

 
 
Scorched Dreams
 
 
 
High noon, one hour after Vegeta's hasty departure from Bulma's laboratory.
 
 
A large, gray-haired hand was stretched out to `investigate' if the contents of the waitress' short skirt wereas firm as they looked like. A sharp-pointed fork stopped it half-way.
 
Slowly, the owner of the hand, a weighty, middle-aged man, looked up at the young woman who held the fork. A pair of blue eyes, as cold and clear as the surface of a lake, stared back at him, bearing a very clear message, “Go ahead and you´ll have to pay a doctor to remove this fork from your hand!” The man narrowed his eyes, dropped a few zenni bills on the table and stomped his way toward the door, leaving the beef and fries he had ordered untouched.
 
Without saying a word, Sukie calmly put the intact food back on her tray and took it to the kitchen. Absently, she held up out a hand to push a few stray, golden locks back to under her red and white striped cap. The young blonde was pretty aware about the consequences of her actions, but suddenly she didn´t care anymore. Just one month and a half working at on that blasted place and she was already fed up with it.
 
Along with her twin brother, Jack, she had moved from South City to escape from some troubles with criminal gangs. A quiet, honest life seemed the best cover, but such plans could be difficult and extremely humiliating when you didn´t have much to start with. The best jobs demanded references, `doors' and diplomas, things hard to be won by youngsters who had spent half part of their lives in orphanages and workhouses and the rest on streets. Sukie, who always had dreamed about working with fashionable clothes, had to resign herself to a miserable job in a small, lame diner pretentiously called Delicious.
 
“I don´t care if he was our best customer. He is a dirty old man, and I already said I would not serve him!” she hissed a few minutes later to for her bristling boss. A purple colouring slowly spread its way over the man´s face.
 
“That´s the worst excuse I ever heard! Now I let the waitress decide who they´re serving and who they won't? ! If I tell you to sit on the customers´ laps you´ll do it with a smile on your lips! For all the troubles you have made, I should have put you out on the street. But it would have been a pity to leave a pretty girl like you starving… “ he finished, with leering eyes.
 
Sukie used all her self-control to not slap him.
 
“You haven´t fired me yet because if you did that this place would be empty again! For all the ogling brats and old men that have become our regular customers since I came, I should receive a whole lot more then peanuts!”
Her boss stared at Sukie as if the blonde had sprouted a second head. When he replied, however, his tone was carefully , though filled with poison.
 
“You could be already earning lots more if you didn´t think yourself too good for our customers. Do you really think that these ` ogling brats' come here only after fries and hamburguers?”
 
A Crimson rose to Sukie´s usually pale cheeks. She was about to banish all her reservations away and grab that by his collar when the sound of a honk interrupted them. Initially, she didn´t pay it much attention, until the honk sounded again - first one long call, them two short ones. It was the old code from the times before when she and Jack still lived on the workhouse and communicated between themselves with a sort of Morse Code of their own. Without thinking twice, she simply pushed her boss out of the way and darted through the door kitchen and out of the place. Outside, a beautiful, new-looking sport car was stationed right in front of Delicious snack-bar, and surrounded by local girls.
 
Far luckier than his sister, Jack had found a job as a mechanic. He always had adored cars and weapons, though this love often put him and Sukie in trouble. Actually, it was a wonder that he had been able to keep that job for more than one month, surrounded by temptations as he was.
 
Blind and deaf to glares and protests, Sukie rudely pushed her way through the girls toward the dark, black haired man seated at the driver´s chair.
 
“Where did you steal that car from?” she hissed, without spinning around. The young man just smiled at her.
 
“Hey, where are your manners, Sis? Honest people like us don´t steal, we just borrow. I´m just giving myself a reward for all the nice hard work I put into making this beauty as good as new, since I´ll get receive my money only after a month.”
 
“I´m not interested in any excuses you use because you're feeling homesick for prisonabout the excuse you gave yourself to justify your homesickness from jail. All I want to know is why you came did you come here to drag involve me into this mess?”

He rolled his blues eyes.
 
“Oh, you know what they say about us, twin siblings. If one feels bad, so doesthe other. I just felt that you were probably as sick as I am of this normal, boring decent life, and eager for some of the old excitement…” he explained as his fingers drummed at the driving wheel “But if you think it´s thrilling to keep serving hamburgers for fat old men…” he purposely trailed off, at the right moment when Sukie´s fat employer burst out in the street, panting hard but still furious.
 
“Don´t you dare try to run from me, you little tramp! I still haven´t finished with you! “ he bellowed.
 
“Oh, you have now buster!” the girl yelled back, as she freed herself from the cap and apron, wrapped them into a ball and tossed the material onto the man´s red face “This is not a snack bar, this is a bordello!” she finished, jumping into the bank besides her brother. Jack laughed as he stepped on the gas, leaving the snack bar and its proxy owner behind.
 
***********************
 
A few hours later
 
The wind howled across in the devastated landscape. The four figures in the sky remained silent and motionless, two of them staring at each other while the others were watching them at a safe distance.
 
Down on the ground, there was no sign of life. Fortunately, that had nothing to do with the destruction the first two members of the group had caused, for that place always had been a desert. Once again, Goku had been allowed to choose the place for their fight, since Vegeta didn´t care if there were life forms living in their battlefield or not.
 
Not yet, the younger man thought, although a dark, tiny portion of his mind admonished him for being always so optimistic. What made him think that Vegeta would end up changing like Piccolo or Tenshinhan did?
 
Heaving, the two men exchanged glares, their muscles hard and tense, never missing the slightest move of each other. It was just a matter of seconds until their pummeling started again.
 
Several meters away from them, Gohan held his breath, as if he feared that single sound could trigger a new fight between the two men. Why in the world was this happening? Everything was running so smoothly hours ago! Back then, he was seated in his bed, waiting patiently for his mother finishing her laundry, so she would come to review his homework. With luck, she wouldn´t remember something else for him to study or re-study, and he could go out fishing with his father. And if she remembered… well, Daddy would think of something then. Then, suddenly, a horrified scream came from the yard. Recognizing his mother´s voice, Gohan had jumped through the window and ran towards the sound, only to find a scene that looked one of his nightmares turned true.
 
Vegeta was standing at the middle of the yard, demanding for Daddy to fight with him. Pale as death, Mom was hiding behind a tree, before she saw Gohan and fled towards him, trying to shield the kid with her own body.
 
His father, Gohan remembered, had tried to resonate, but Vegeta had simply held out the palm of his hand in a vertical angle and pointed towards the kid and his mother. At this, his father had closed his mouth and frowned, then he finally nodded in agreement. Then, they flew away together. Gohan had taken a few precious minutes to get rid of his mother, who tried to drag him into the house, before taking off after the two men. A few minutes later, he pounced onto Piccolo, who had been alerted by Vegeta´s ki and was tracking him down. Now the little boy and his alien mentor were there, watching a battle that apparently made no sense at all. He ventured a look at Piccolo. The tall Namekian was as still and expressionless as a statue, but Gohan knew him enough to know that inwardly he was very worried, and for reasons that had nothing to do with Daddy´s security.
 
Goku´s hair was raised, glowing like flames, and his eyes had an aqua color, instead of their usual black. Vegeta had demanded for him to fight as Super Saiyan. And, despite the prince´s apparent disadvantage, he was putting all his heart into attacking his foe. He had even managed to injure Goku a little, even though he had suffered much more damages.
 
A slow smile spread across Goku´s face. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he felt excited by the battle.
 
“You weren´t kidding when you said you would work it out, Vegeta,” he said in a light tone “You´re much stronger now than that time in Namek.”

Vegeta raised a corner of his mouth in a smile-like way, but actually it was just a grimace. He brushed off the blood on his chin with a dirty gloved hand.
 
“Hmpf. Do you think I feel flattered by your patronizing attitude?” he snapped, practically spitting the last word.
 
My patronizing what?” Goku echoed before gaping in total confusion.
 
“Don´t stare at me like I had fallen from the Moon. You know very well what I´m talking about, Kakarot! I know you think you´re better than I.”
 
Goku slowly shook his head, his eyes showing genuine innocence.
 
“Honestly, Vegeta, I don´t know what you are talking about.”
 
At his words, the veins on the prince´s forehead started bulging in fury.
 
“Do you think I didn´t notice how you´re trying to deceive me?” he bellowed “ I´m not a fool. You haven´t used even HALF of your power! What is holding you back?”
 
As understanding made its slow way through Goku´s mind, a sequence of expressions that ranged from confusion to realization and finally to complete horror appeared on his face. That could be comical if the situation wasn´t so serious.
 
“But… I can´t do that! Can´t you see? I'm too stronger now. Even in my normal form I still can't control completely my force,” he explained as he remembered the way Chichi had flown through the wall of their house when Goku gave a friendly slap on her back. “If I use the full extent of my power against you, I´ll probably kill you!”

Piccolo shared Goku´s concern. Not that he cared about Vegeta; if the arrogant little bastard was killed, no one would lose anything. The point was that if Vegeta died before impregnating that waspish woman, Bulma, Trunks wouldn´t be born in their timeline, and that could bring tragic consequences. Apparently, Goku thought the same. Twice he had enthused too much and himself at the last moment to not injure the other Saiyan deathly. Not being able to know the true reason for
hat concern, Vegeta only could suppose that it was Goku´s natural kindness that was keeping him. And, naturally, the prince felt humiliated at this.
 
“My patience is running out. If you´re not going to do what I say then I´ll force you!” he stretched his arm and turned the palm of his hand toward Gohan and Piccolo, sending a massive ki blast.
 
“NOOOOOOO!!!!” Goku screamed a half second before using the Instant Transmission technique to get to them. However, Piccolo was much faster and kicked Gohan to the extreme left, before darting as fast as he could in the opposite direction. Goku found himself alone in the way of the ki blast and had to teleport himself again.
 
Out of danger, he searched for Gohan and Piccolo until he spotted them, many meters away, right at Vegeta´s back. Seeing that they were both ok, he finally whirled angrily toward the prince.
 
“That was not funny!” he bellowed. “You could have killed my son and Piccolo!”
 
A slow smile stretched Vegeta´s mouth as a second ball of ki appeared in his hand.
 
“That´s exactly what I´m going to do, if you´ll not do as I say.”
 
“No way! I won't let you do that!” the younger Saiyan yelled, anger growing within. Telepathically, he sent a message for Gohan and Piccolo to leave immediately. He knew they wouldn´t, but at least they could conceal themselves and power down, so Vegeta wouldn´t be able to find them. The two spectators just nodded and flew away, without arguing.
 
They hadn´t flown out of sight and Goku was already raising his ki.
 
“Allright. If its power that you want, then I´ll give it to you!”

The older Saiyan gave a satisfied laugh as he also started raising his energy. Golden waves of energy zigzagged around the fluctuating bodies of the two men, causing the earth to shiver and cliffs to crumble
s if they were made of sand. As they raced to hide as Goku had asked them, both Piccolo and Gohan had to dodge and avoid falling pieces of rocks several times.
 
“Those two idiots are going to destroy the entire place!” yelled the Namekian as he blown a massive wall with his finger before it smashed him.
 
Indifferent to the chaos both he and Goku were causing, Vegeta burst into an evil, villainous cackle.
 
“YES! Show me all your force! Show me the real power of a Saiyan!!! “ he yelled above the cacophony .
 
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They chorused as their muscles bulged, their hairs fanning behind them like they were in the middle of a hurricane.
 
***

From other points of the world, the rest of Z warriors dropped whatever they were doing to stand dumbstruck in shock and worry, as they followed the incredible, apparently unstoppable growing level of ki. At a movie theater at West City, Krillin suddenly dropped his popcorn bag at the right moment he was going to pass it to Oolong, the popcorn
s spilling all over on the floor. The pig opened his mouth to protest, but noticed his bald friend´s weird expression and his forehead shining with sweat, in the movie´s dim light.
 
“Are you feeling okay?” the pig asked with concern. Krillin, however, didn´t seem to hear him.
 
“W-What is Goku doing?” he muttered to himself, his eyes staring at nothing.
 
****

However, one didn´t have to feel ki to notice the disturbance caused by the two Saiyan´s power competition. Although Goku had apparently chosen a deserted place, several kilometers from the battle, a high, massive cliff of earth and rocks had been partially cut to clear some space for a highway. Luckily, it wasn´t much used during week days, like that one. But, at just that moment, a small blue, sport car happened to be there.
 
“You call that excitement?” Sukie yawned, as she stretched herself, lying in the back seat.“To drive for hours on a never ending road, where you never see anything but lawn, and lawn, and rocks?”

Jack, like always, took lightly his crotchety sisters´ complaints.
 
“The excitement comes just from never knowing what comes at the next moment. “he said with a smile. “I always forget that you´re unable to understand that.”
 
“Hmpf! If you call it exciting never to know if you´ll starve or find something to eat, or if the cops will catch you…”
 
A slight rumble interrupted them. Jack´s smile was replaced by concern.
 
“Did you feel that?” he asked in a wary tone.
 
“It´s the car,” Sukie yawned again.
 
A second rumble shook the entire car. Sukie sat up with a start. She opened her mouth, just to close it almost immediately as she looked in the same direction Jack was staring. A Several feet ahead, a series of cracks were opening both at the road and the cliff. Jack stepped on the brake at the very moment when a rain of earth and rocks fell right in front of them. The car made a quick u-turn in an attempt to go back, but the rocks were already falling behind and over them. It was awesomely fast. The siblings´ screams were muffled by the deafening rumbles caused by the massive landslide that happened in several places around the battlefield of Goku and Vegeta. That was why even Piccolo´s sensitive years didn´t notice the tragedy.
 
However, someone else, kilometers away, noticed it, thanks to satellites that followed the fight and what happened around, in several different angles. And he wasted no time.

Many hours later, that point of the road would be crowded with police and rescue vehicles cars. The owner of the dealership oficine where Jack worked would recognize the remnants of the blue car as the one that had been stolen that morning. But, from the boy and his sister, they didn´t find even a single hair. From that moment on, Sukie and Jack had ceased to exist.
 
***

Unaware of the tragedy they involuntarily had caused, the two Saiyans stopped screaming. They exchanged glares again. Vegeta´s level of energy was as high as Freeza´s, now. That was much more power he had ever dreamed in his old days, and for a half-moment he felt proud of the result of all those months of sacrificed training. Yet, both his hair and eyes were still black, and he didn´t need a mirror to know that. The glare he tossed at his rival was filled with bitterness and deep hatred. Why did people who didn´t deserved it received everything on a silver platter? Well, maybe in the heat of the battle tables could turn. Anyway, he´d know it soon. No longer hesitating, he threw himself towards Goku.
 
For many moments they pummeled at each other furiously. Vegeta his disadvantage in power by wits and dirty tricks, but inwardly he had to admit that his opponent´s attack was by far much quicker and caused more damage. Both his punches and kicks were now more painful and difficult to be dodged. To make matters worse, Vegeta was also starting to fatigue, despite his tenacity. He started to make errors, and Goku easily blocked many of his attacks.
 
“Vegeta, you barely can stand. Why don´t we stop that now?”

”SHUT UP!!!”
 
Using his supervelocity, the prince floated behind Goku and kicked his back. The younger man dodged him and used Vegeta´s trick to give him a kick that sent him flying away.
 
That was the perfect opportunity.
 
Turning both the palms of his hands, Vegeta summoned the strongest ki blast he could; not toward Goku, but toward the ground.
 
As he expected, the bristling defender of Earth promptly gave a quick kame-hame-ha to send Vegeta´s own ki blast back toward its sender. Vegeta tried to repel the energy back, only to realize that he had commited a small miscalculation. He was too weak and tired to back the energy away. There was only one hope, and he smiled weakly at it.
 
“Now it´s the moment of truth. If that won´t turn me Super Saiyan, nothing else will. And if I die, at least I´ll have died on the battlefield, trying to regainmy pride…” He closed his eyes and waited for the moment whether the uncanny transformation would happen to save his life or not and he would be turned into dust.
 
***

Vegeta woke up in a sea of pain as a pair of calloused, not much gentle hands pushed something in his mouth and pressed his jaw, forcing him to chew the weird object. Distantly, he felt the points of grass leaves tickling him through the holes opened in his freshly-made outfit.
 
"C´mon Vegeta," mumbled impatiently a voice he knew too well.
 
Even before his mind cleaning enough to form coherent thoughts, he already knew what the thing in his mouth was, so he gulped it more by instinct than something else. Almost instantaneously, he felt the pain abandoning his body to be replaced by the usual wave of reinvigorating energy that greets any Saiyan whorecovered from death. He opened his eyes to see Goku crouched in front of him, his face opened in a relieved grin. A few inches away, Gohan and Piccolo stared warily at him.
 
"Whew! That was close. If I hadn´t teleported myself after you and then teleported we both at the last moment, you´d have become ashes." the young man in orange laughed "Luckily I had spared this senzu for an emergency."
 
Sitting abruptly, Vegeta pushed him off.
 
"You ruined everything, you big moron!" the prince snarled as he jumped to his feet and took a few steps away, closing his hands into fists and glaring at the trio.
 
"You´re so ungrateful, Mr. Vegeta," Gohan bristled. "Daddy used his last senzu on you, and he´s still wounded!"

Vegeta gave Goku a glance. Really, his rival had several injuries, though Goku didn´t seem to notice that. His energy level had lowed considerably, too. For a moment Vegeta considered the idea of attacking the other Saiyan injuried as he was. But that wouldn´t bring any good. Even if he defeated Kakarott at his current state, what that would proof? It wouldn´t help the prince to get what he was ready to die for a few minutes ago.
 
"I didn´t ask you to save my life!" he bellowed at the boy "Why are you always nosing into things that you can´t understand?"
 
Gohan´s eyes widened and he fearfully backed away, but his father´s expression sobered. He gave the prince a suspicious look.
 
"So, my impressions were correct? You really wanted to kill yourself by fighting me, Vegeta? Why?"

"Baka. I have no reason to wish for death, despite the pathetic life I´m living now. But I finally realized that, to have a power like yours, I´ll have no way but facing death itself."
For a few moments, Goku stared at him blankly. Then, finally, it dawned on him and his jaw slowly dropped.
 
"You thought that to become Super Saiyan you had to fight me to death?" he gaped in shock. "Is that so?"
 
"What else could be?" Vegeta´s bitter, tired response was almost a sigh " The honor of being Super Saiyan was supposed to be mine. I surely would have done it, if..." he paused for a split second " if that miserable Freeza hadn´t killed me before."

Although his pride kept him from speaking openly, the trio understood perfectly what he really meant -
if I hadn´t gave up on fighting and let Freeza kill me. Visions of Vegeta´s broken body and his face washed with tears flashed in Goku´s mind. He didn´t believe that his rival could have escaped from such a fate, but had no guts to admit that on Vegeta´s face. The despair of the other remnant of their race was so painfully obvious that the younger Saiyan felt like crying for that blind soul, so twisted in its notion of values.
“Vegeta,” he said quietly “I didn´t went Super Saiyan because I was close to death. That only happened because I was too hurt and furious, when Freeza killed Krillin.”

”You big-mouthed idiot!” Piccolo bellowed, his eyes widening in shock “What do you think you´re doing!”
 
For a moment, Vegeta didn´t react, as if he hasn´t heard Goku´s words. Then he burst out in a sarcastic laugh.
 
“Don´t lie to me, Kakarot” he grimaced. “You want to make me believe that it was just because Freeza killed that good-for-nothing dwarf that you transformed yourself? I believe that made you angry, because you´re a soft-hearted fool, but it has to be more than that.”
“Huh?” Goku simply looked at him. Vegeta let out an impatient huff. That boy was even more slow witted than Nappa.
 
“That should be obvious, even for an atrophied brain like yours. I hate you, Kakarott, with all my soul!” he burst out. “If it´s the concentration of hate and fury that causes a Super Saiyan, I should have became one long time ago, because the simple fact of thinking of you makes my blood boil!” the last word was screamed almost hysterically, as his body sent waves of energy that would have knocked away anyone that not the trio surrounding him.
 
The three males just looked at him, musing over Vegeta´s words.
 
To become Super Saiyan is needed a pure, calm heart…Piccoloremembered.That was Mr. Kaioh had told him and the other deceased Earth warriors when he was training themExactly what this little bastard hasn´t. Hmm… I almost feel sorry for him.
 
Many times I´ve asked the same thing to myself, Gohan thought. Daddy rarely gets angry - not truly, actually angry. Then, when Mr. Krillin was murdered, he was so angry that he couldn´t control it. Like me, when people hurt the ones I love. But Vegeta is angry the whole time, so to be get more or less furious shouldn´t make any difference for him. Does that mean… that he´ll never become a Super Saiyan then?”

Goku, for his part
by his turn, hardened his expression, as if he felt insulted by at Vegeta´s words.
 
“Vegeta, you´re not understanding this! It´s not pure anger that makes a Super Saiyan. It´s the fury caused by a deep, terrible pain. It hurt me too much to see Krillin die in front of my eyes, so cruelly and gratuitously! But you can´t understand that because you have no feelings for anyone. You don´t know what grief is!”
 
“Kakarot,” Vegeta hissed “ If you´re teasing me, I´m going to rip you apart, Super Saiyan or not…”

Goku lost his last bit of patience.
 
“I`M NOT TEASING!! Don´t judge the others for yourself! Do you really think I would lie about something so serious?” he finished in a hurt tone.
 
For a few seconds, Vegeta just stared unbelievingly at him. Then, slowly, his eyes widened up as if the truth finally dawned on him. The waves of energy around his body slowly powered down until they vanished away.
 
“You… you´re telling me you only could transform because of that miserable baldy?” he asked, like to confirm something he already knew, but still couldn´t eat.”
“What´s wrong with that?” Goku simply asked, looking suddenly very tired.
 
Something was wrong. It had to be something else. Kakarot was lying. However, Vegeta´s brain told him that not. He already knew Kakarot well… he was not dissimulate, even to his enemies. Besides, although Vegeta couldn´t truly understand feelings, he had seen too many times the pain of grief in the eyes of people who had lost their beloved ones killed by him and his companions. That pain was there, in Kakarot´s eyes; it was obvious that remembering the fact still hurt him, even though the baldy was alive now. His angry, offended tone when the prince hadn´t believed him was genuine.
 
So… that was it?

For Goku, it looked like Vegeta had shrunk a bit in front of him. Even his muscles seemed to loose their form. And his eyes… his eyes…
 
Abruptly, the older Saiyan turned around.
 
“You´re despicable.” He muttered, before silently taking off and flying away. Goku stood in the field, watching as his foe´s blue clothes melted against the sky. He barely noticed Piccolo and Gohan walking toward him.
 
“Dad, are you allright?”

”I hope you have a very good reason to have given to Vegeta the recipe of how becoming a Super Saiyan!” the Namekian admonished “That was very imprudent, even if that little sonofa can´t transform.”

” Uh- huh” Goku muttered absently, his eyes still lost on the sky.
 
“Is it because after three years we´ll need all help we can get, even from Mr. Vegeta?” Gohan asked wisely.
 
That question seemed to bring Goku back to reality. He slowly turned around to look at them with his trademark childlish smile.
 
“I didn´t even think of that,” he confessed with a laugh as he held out a hand to run awkwardly on his matted hair “I just felt sorry for Vegeta having put all his heart in that fight for nothing. Don´t you think that so much effort doesn´t deserve a reward?”

In response, the other two fell over.
 
“Besides…” Goku looked thoughtful again. “Maybe now that Vegeta knows the truth, he´ll finally understand that is not a weakness to care about others. Perhaps he´ll change after this, who knows?”
 
Standing again, both his ally and son gave him a very skeptical look.
 
“In one thing I agree with Vegeta,” Piccolo mumbled behind clenched fangs. “Your brain is really atrophied!”
 
Goku didn't mind. He was already used to that kind of reaction, and though the years he had come to understand why people were so untrusting about others. Moments like this made him grateful for never having lost hope, too. Several times he found out his trust on others wasn't undeserved, and he prayed inwardly that was one of these moments. For Bulma and Trunks´good.
 
 
Note: Sukie and Jack made a small cameo at the chapter four (Unchain My Heart). If you´re wondering what they have to do with Bulma´s and Vegeta´s history, well… just keep watching. You might have a surprise… or not.