Chapter 9
Several days have passed since Vegeta had left the Earth, his heart full of sorrow yet vengeance. He fully intends to have his revenge against the alien creature Malice; he is running close to two weeks behind the alien. The Saiyan is closing in on him, slowly but surely.
While flying in a Saiyan Space Pod, one is placed in a short term hyper-sleep. Vegeta had set a course on one of the ships preprogrammed courses, where his next stop would be one of the planets that he and Nappa had cleared off for Freeza to sell in his planet selling trade, hoping that maybe the universal credit still stored in the Space Pod will be enough to buy him some food before he has to use his food capsules. Another race had taken habit on the planet; hopefully some of them would be able to give Vegeta the information that he needs.
While in his hyper-sleep, a voice speaks out to Vegeta, softly, reassuring, it lifting his harden sorrow filled heart dramatically.
Vegeta…
“Bulma… is that you,” Vegeta calls out to the darkness.
Yes Vegeta. It is I, replies Bulma softly as she
slowly appears in front of Vegeta, in the dark landscape.
“How can it be? Are you talking through King Kai?”
No Vegeta, I’m
not. This is a dream while I am allowed
to visit you through.
“Woman… I miss you terribly.”
I know you do Vegeta. I miss you too. I feel your pain, being away from you.
“I’m going to avenge your death. Then I am going to wish you back with the Nameksei Dragon Balls, once I can locate their new planet.” Vegeta explains as he grabs Bulma and hugs her tightly, never wanting to let go.
You don’t have to do
that my love. Actually, I’d prefer if
you didn’t anyways. It’d save you future
heartache.
“What do you mean,” asks as he looks down into her eyes.
I have lived a long
life Vegeta. I have no regrets. I was coming close to the end of my mortal
life span anyways. I probably had a few
more years left before I passed on. What
would have you done then? Bulma replies softly as she drags her fingers
alongside Vegeta’s arms.
“I… I don’t know. But we can change that. When Capsule came down and the Brute Ray exploded, it made Kakarrot’s mate, Gohan’s wife, Krillin, Yamcha and his wife young. We can do the same process to you.”
That, Vegeta, was a freak accident, one that cannot be conjured again. Believe me, I have asked King Enma already.
Vegeta lowers his head. “Why do things have to be like this? Am I finally being punished for all the evil I have done in my past?”
“No Vegeta, your not”, came a new voice. Both Bulma and Vegeta turn and look in the direction that the new voice appeared from.
Dende
“That is correct Bulma,” Dende, the kami of Earth replies with a small, sad smile. “I’ve just been informed by Lord Enma that our little visit from that Malice character, wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“What do you mean,” Vegeta asks softly, the first time he has ever spoken to anyone aside from Bulma and Bulla without a harsh tone.
“Malice is from the future, or was from our future. Some how he changed the fabric of reality by traveling to this past by using the Time Machine that Bulma had been rebuilding since Cell had used it to travel to our time years ago.”
What do you mean; was? Bulma asks.
“Somehow, the Time Machine was able to stay on this dimension’s frequency as it traveled back in time. Instead of splicing the fabric of reality and creating an alternate dimension, as Mirai Trunks did, he has changed the entire time flow of this time. All of the Kai’s are looking into this matter. This was how I was unable to detect Malice’s presence on Earth or Master Roshi, Oolong and Bulma’s untimely death.”
“What is being done to correct this matter,” Vegeta asks the god, his hold on his wife never loosing.
“As of now, nothing can be done. No files are on Malice, much like Cell since they both came from uncertain futures. Lord Enma has no idea what this Malice character may be up to, but I can assure you this Vegeta, he does intend to return to Earth to destroy the rest of the Saiyan’s, you most particular.”
“So… he’s still alive.” Vegeta growls. “I had thought that he would have bleed to death.”
“King Kai was able to detect a new chi present in his sector of the
universe. It is several thousand miles
away from where you are currently at in space Vegeta. From what
“I’m going to kill him,” Vegeta growls, his eyes narrowed. “And I will enjoy it.”
Dende lowers his head and closes his eyes. “For once, the Kai’s are behind you one
hundred percent. This Malice character
has already damaged the flow of time, which is something that was donned
impossible. From what
Soapsei, Bulma
repeats. Why does that sound so familiar?
“It was one of the planet’s Baby had intended overthrowing after destroying Goku. You may have been told about it when he had you under his power, Bulma.”
“Soapsei, eh? Yeah I heard of the planet. Back when I was still under Freeza, the Soapian family was the next strongest, though they were never considered a threat by Freeza. If anything, Soapsei is the largest trading post in the universe. Next to the Cold Empire and the Saiyan race, they were third in power in the universe, yet not as feared as the Cold Empire or the Saiyans.” Vegeta recalls from his memory. “What does he hope to accomplish on Soapsei?”
“That, King Kai was unable to tell. Only time will tell. You must catch up with him soon and stop him before he can change the events of the future more than they should.” Dende commands. “You must succeed Vegeta, the fate of the universe rests on you.”
“I’ll do my best,” Vegeta replies.
“That is all we ask,” Dende smiles. “I shall leave you two alone now, so you can be together for a while. Consider this a gift from the Kai’s, that whenever you go to sleep Vegeta, you can visit Bulma in this dream landscape.”
That is wonderful, Bulma smiles. Thank you Dende.
Dende nods his head. Slowly his body
soon disappears, leaving the two lovers in each other’s embrace. Vegeta and Bulma lean toward one another,
their lips coming together, the passion between the two boiling over as they
fall to the surreal ground below them, their clothing slowly following their
example.
********
Malice climbs aboard his new ship, provided by Doctor Lather and his assistants. Malice enters the ship and nods in approval. It’s not a large ship, but it is enough for him. Being a space pirate, a loner at that, he is accustomed to traveling in small ships.
Malice makes his way to the ship’s cockpit where he finds the kind doctor programming Soapsei’s location into the computers. The doctor looks up, startled by Malice’s sudden appearance behind him.
“Malice, my dear boy, you scared me!” Doctor Lather laughs. “You could have given me a heart attack!”
Malice rolls his eyes. Please, if I wanted to give you an attack on the heart, I would just remove it manually, Malice thinks to himself. “Is everything ready?”
“Yes, all of your supplies are aboard. There is plenty of food to last you the four month journey to Soapsei. I just finished programming the planet’s coordinates in the ships memory. All you have to do is set the auto-pilot once you exit the space station.”
“Excellent,” Malice grins. “Doctor, you have proved most helpful. It’s a shame that I will have to kill you now.”
“Wha…” the doctor turns around slowly. Malice’s shadow falls over the doctor. Before the doctor can open his mouth to scream, Malice’s fangs tear the flesh away on the doctor’s neck and Malice begins to feed on his blood. That is how Shadowian’s strength increases, drinking the fluid of life from other living creatures.
Malice drops the empty shell that was once the doctor’s body to the floor. Malice wipes his mouth and returns to the entrance of the ship. He jumps down and unlocks the magnetic locks that were holding the ship in place. He then climbs back aboard his ship and closes the door. Malice reenters the cockpit and activates the ship.
The ships thrusts activate; the heat and fire from the thrusters burning several workers up as the ship lifts up off the floor. Malice steers the ship around and fires the ships torpedo’s toward the hatch that will allow the ship to embark into space.
Malice laughs evilly as he watches many of the colonies workers be sucked out into space. Malice steers the ship out of the open and once he is a far enough distance away from the colony, Malice unleashes a host of missiles upon the space station.
With a bright flash of light, the Orion erupts into a mass of flames. The entire colony explodes when the fires finally reach the reactor that kept the colony running. Thousands of lives are lost thanks to this terrible act.
After observing his handiwork for a few more seconds, Malice activated the autopilot and sits back in the pilot chair, chuckling evilly at what he has done.
“Soapsei, here I come.”
**********
“Videl? Videl, is that you!” yelled a voice as it entered Goten’s café.
Videl and Gohan, both stop eating and look towards the owner of the voice. Videl smiles as she stands. “Erasa, long time no see!”
“Erasa,” Gohan repeats, mostly to himself as he stands to greet his old classmate. Though Videl and her keep in touch, it has been several years since he last got to speak with her.
After the hugs, Videl offers a seat to Erasa. “That would be nice, but let me go find Sharpner real fast. He had to go park the car while I found us a place to sit. Won’t he be surprised to see you two, I know I am!”
As Erasa disappears, off to find her husband, Gohan chuckles. “You know, it still amuses me how those two ended up together.”
“I know. Both of them are vain as can be. Maybe that is how they finally got together, wanting someone that looks perfect to be with their perfection. But still, she’s my friend and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Not to far off, Chi-Chi, who is on her break, shakes her head. She had taken Gosan away from the two so they could have some private time, which is hard to come by at home since Gosan is too young to go to school. Now their private time has been interrupted. Ah well, win some, lose some. Chi-Chi returns to feeding Gosan his lunch.
A few moments later, Erasa reenters the café, with Sharpner on her heels. The blond male smiles once he spots Videl and his former high school rival, Gohan. “Hey you guys, what’s up?”
“Nothing much Sharpner,” Gohan smiles. “Videl and I came out to the city to do a little shopping and take our son out to the park.”
“Your son, where is the little tyke! I haven’t seen him since he was born!” Erasa asks as she and Sharpner take their seats at the table with Gohan and Videl.
“My mother has him,” Gohan points over his shoulder where Chi-Chi and Gosan are sitting. He stands from the table, “Hang on and I’ll go get him!”
“Wow Videl,” Erasa remarks, getting a better look at her lifelong friend. “You look great! You look like you did around the age when you gave birth to Pan!”
“Really,” Videl smiles, her eyes twinkling. “I must have picked it up from Gohan’s side of the family.”
“Must be,” Sharpner remarks as he looks over his shoulder back at Gohan, who is getting his son from Chi-Chi. “We all are in our forties, closing in on fifty, yet you two still look as if you are in your early twenties.”
“Girl, you have to tell me your secret,” Erasa giggles, a sound that is all to familiar coming from the short haired blond.
Videl twirls the end of her braid around her fingers, an act that she always has done when nervous. “Really, there isn’t a secret. I guess its just thanks to all those years of training along with Gohan and his family.”
“I guess so,” Erasa sighs dramatically. “It has to be, after all, he was the Great Saiyaman, and all those tricks with the light and all, really weren’t tricks.”
“Here you go little man,” Gohan tells Gosan as he hands the little boy over to Videl. “There’s mommy!”
Gosan giggles as he wraps his chubby arms around Videl’s neck as Videl take hold of him. Erasa squeals, earning several glances from people in the restaurant. Gohan winces from the loud noise and in the background, Goten can be seen falling to the floor, the loud noise shocking and hurting his sensitive ears.
“He’s such a little cutie, Videl,” Erasa coos at the baby. “Ah, I wish I could have another one.”
Sharpner sweat drops, earning a chuckle from Gohan and Videl.
“There are always Grandchildren,” Videl suggests, earning a longer sweat drop from Sharpner and a squeal from Erasa. The four adults spend the rest of the lunch hour catching up on the past few years that they have missed out on each others lives.
**********
In hell…
Piccolo stands upon the top of a mountain, watching the lava over pour onto the rocky landscape. The sight is very depressing. Before he reformed to become the Piccolo that everyone remembers back on Earth, he was evil, cold, didn’t have a heart. But that was before he became friends with Gohan. The young Saiyan child had given him meaning, hope and most importantly of them all, friendship.
What’s depressing is that when Gohan’s time comes, Gohan’s soul will transcend onto heaven, a place where Piccolo can no longer go. To rescue Son Goku’s life in order to protect the Earth, Piccolo had to come to hell to free Goku. But by doing so, he doomed the final resting place of the Earth. At least he is at peace, knowing that the Earth is safe from evil.
“Hello friend,” came a voice out of the shadows behind him. Startled, Piccolo leaps to his feet, prepared to defend himself.
“There is no need for that my friend,” the owner of the voice makes himself known. “I’m not here to fight.”
Piccolo’s eyes widen at the sight before him. “Goku! Goku is it really you?”
“No,” the Saiyan smiles. “No I am not the Saiyan named Kakarrot whom goes by the name of Goku. But I guess I can excuse you for the resemble I share with my son.”
“Your son,” Piccolo’s eyes widen, if possible. “You’re Goku’s father.”
“Your very observant,” the Saiyan laughs. “My name is Bardock. I am the Saiyan that tried to warn the other’s of Freeza’s evil intention to our people, but failed.”
“I recall overhearing Freeza say something about Goku looking familiar years ago while we were fighting on Namek. Your son, Goku, is the one who defeated Freeza in combat.”
“Yes I know,” Bardock replies. “There is hardly anything that I don’t know, Piccolo.”
Piccolo narrows his eyes. “How do you know my name?”
“I am a seer,” Bardock explains. “I have the ability to see the past, present or future. Mostly the future though. I knew that Kakarrot was the one who was going to defeat Freeza. I knew all about the Androids, Cell, the evil known as Majin Buu, Baby and the current threat that is plaguing the Earth.”
“A new threat,” Piccolo growls as he clenches his fists together. “Tell me…”
“In time my friend,” Bardock grabs the Namekian’s shoulder. “But first, let’s talk business.”
“Business?”
**********
Trunks finishes laying the last stack of folders on his desk. He sighs as he leans forward and rests his head on his desk, next to the pile of folders. Ever since his mother’s death, many stock holders had pulled shares from the company, when the news of her death was told that an experiment had blown up in the compound. Since then, the company has lost several large investors, but has picked up smaller ones that where interested. It will take time for the large investors to want to become part of the Capsule family again, at least until Capsule can prove that it can handle its experiments.
That and the fact that Trunks is unliked by many of the older investors who have more business experience.
“Sleeping on the job big brother,” came Bulla’s voice from the door.
Trunks sat upright quickly. This is a major surprise! Bulla hasn’t been out her room hardly at all except to go to school and eat. This shows that she is slowly beginning to accept Bulma’s death and Vegeta’s disappearance.
“Bulla, what can I do for you,” Trunks asks as he stands and walks around his desk to his sister.
“Oh, nothing really,” Bulla replies. “I just wanted to stop by and see what you were up to.”
“Oh, well, nothing really,” Trunks chuckles. “I just finished looking over some papers of the company. We lost some investors over the past couple of weeks, but things are picking back up.”
“How much longer until the Capsule Compound is finished being rebuilt?”
“We should be able to move back home in a couple more weeks,” Trunks smiles. “and I have a surprise.”
“Oh,” Bulla’s face brightens at the mention of a surprise.
“Yeah, Gohan, Videl, Gosan and Pan are going to move into the compound with us. Gohan is going to help me run Capsule while I return to training.”
“That’s great,” Bulla breaks out into a full fledge grin. “That way Pan and I can hang out more! She and I have kind of lost touch with each other.”
“Yeah, I figured this would be the best way for Gohan, Pan and I to better train ourselves, having everyone nearby. I’m even going to help get Uub an apartment out here in Western Capital.”
“Uub,” Bulla sighs a small smile on her face, her cheeks a bit red. “I never really got a chance to thank him for saving me the other day.”
“Well, you’ll get your chance tomorrow when he comes. Goten and I are going to go help him find a place for him to stay. Ever since Mister Satan and mother begun placing businesses on his home island, he said it has become too crowded for him. He wants a place for his own.”
“Mind it I tag along,” Bulla asks.
“I don’t know, you have missed quite a bit of school the past week,” Trunks remarks, his right hand cupping his chin while his left arm supports his right.
“Oh come on Trunks, I’ll catch up with my studies! Sheesh, you’re starting to sound like Uncle
Gohan!” Bulla teases, shaking her finger
in front of her older brother’s face.
Trunks laughs at his sister’s antics, glad to see her feeling better, acting
like her old self. He is glad to. That poison that Malice had injected her with
was canceled out by her Saiyan blood, he was afraid that it might have had an
affect on Bulla’s health as well.
“Okay, I guess so. Shoot, we might as well as invite Pan, Valese and Marron as well. Pan can use the excuse that she needs to go fight crime, and I am positive that Goten can get him, Valese and Marron off to.”
“Cool, thanks big brother,” Bulla squeals as she gives her big brother a hug.
Trunks chuckles as he releases his sister and pushes his glasses back up on his nose, “No problem Bulla.”
“Ummm… Trunks?”
“Yeah,” Trunks asks as he looks back at his sister.
“Can I borrow your credit card?”
**********
“Let me get this straight,” Piccolo replies as he stands back on the edge of the cliff, overlooking the lava pits. “You want me to use my physic connection with Dende so Dende can talk Lord Enma into letting you and your family as well as me out of hell?”
“Yes,” Bardock replies.
“I’m going to need more to work with here,” Piccolo sighs. “The over looker of hell needs a really good explanation on why a soul should be released from hell.”
“That’s simple,” Bardock smirks. “I know where Kakarrot is.”
Piccolo jerks around, his expression priceless. It seems that this Saiyan has brought a whole bag of surprises for him today. “You… you know where Goku is at? How can you when none of the Kai’s, not even Lord Enma knows where he is at?”
“I know because I do,” Bardock shrugs. “If I could have ran into him down here when he got trapped down here two years ago, I could have warned him on what to expect with the Dragon’s and all, but I got held up thanks to those spirits escaping hell. That was something that I didn’t count on.”
Piccolo glares at the Saiyan. “I thought you said that you know everything?”
“I’m not God am I,” Bardock grunts. “I’m not almightily. I see what I am allowed to see. And I tell you this; I know where Goku is at. The Earth will need him in the future, which is certain. And I will gladly give the location of his whereabouts for my mate Serpia, my son Raditz and I access into heaven.”
Piccolo smirks. “You’re forgetting about me.”
“And yourself,” Bardock grins.
“Okay then,” Piccolo extends his hand out to the
Saiyan. “You got yourself a deal.”