Part 2: Dementia
Bulma stared down at her lap. She could barely see, her
vision blurred by tears. Trunks and Goku had both tried to explain
to her that there was something… different about Vegeta. His ki was
erratic and flared to extreme levels and dropped down to nothing within
seconds making him hard to track. Goku told her about the telepathic
moment he'd had with him and shuddered as he recalled the warped presence
that seemed to be fighting for control.
"He's still inside there, but he's barely hanging on! There's something
inside him that's eating him alive it seems." Trunks nodded in agreement,
for a six-year-old he was remarkably perceptive.
"What can we do?" Bulma asked, her face red and puffy from crying.
Goku stood, his features hardening in resolve.
"I'm going to find him." Trunks leapt to his feet. "Alone." He
said looking down at the little boy.
"But he's my dad!" Trunks cried. Goku's expression softened and
he knelt down in front of Trunks.
"I know, but you Okasaan needs you here. And Goten misses you."
Trunks looked disappointed but forced a small smile. ChiChi walked
in carrying a large platter of spring rolls.
"Is anyone hungry?" she said, smiling. She set the plate down
and pulled up a chair next to Bulma giving her shoulders a squeeze.
Goku grabbed a few and stuffed them in his mouth, chewing vigorously. He
almost choked on his food when he felt a strangely familiar ki rise to
amazing levels and drop to almost nothing a second later.
"Stay here!" he warned as Trunks leapt out of his seat. The boy
snarled, sounding very much like Vegeta before sitting back down.
Goku bolted out the door and headed towards the forest.
Vegeta screamed in agony. There was a war going on inside him
and he wasn't faring well. Whatever was inside him was causing horrendous
amounts of pain. His skull felt like it was going to burst.
It felt like knives were stabbing his eyes and temples. His heart
was beating far too fast, he was drenched in sweat and he was having difficulty
breathing. And on top of all that he was suffering from the most
vivid, nightmarish visions. He saw things he'd never dreamed of.
He saw himself slicing open bodies and pulling their insides out, taking
their bones and rebuilding them into freakish poses. He removed skin
and hung it to dry. He could hear the screams, he could feel the
hot blood as it splashed on his face and hands. He felt hot tears
roll down his cheeks as he pounded his temples.
"Leave.. me.. ALONE!!" he screamed, tugging his hair at the roots.
::Never.. You are mine.. body and soul.. I am you.:: "I AM NOT!"
he shrieked a wrenching sob tore from his throat. He knew if he didn't
fight this, all the sick visions running through his head would become
reality. He saw Bulma, he almost calmed down at the thought of her,
until he saw his hands snake out and rip out her trachea leaving
a huge, bleeding hole in her throat. She couldn't even scream,
he heard a gurgling choke as she slumped to the ground. Blood rapidly
formed a pool beneath her.
"NOOOO!!!" he collapsed to the ground shaking uncontrollably.
Suddenly he sensed a huge ki nearby. He tried to raise himself up,
but he could barely move.
"Vegeta!" a voice cried and he heard a soft thump as Goku landed next
to him. He felt a hand on his shoulder and instantly recoiled.
"Get away!" he cried. Goku frowned, he could sense Vegeta's pain
and it was overwhelming, he also could sense his struggle for control.
He couldn't leave him like this, he was losing his battle, and he needed
his help.
"Come home Vegeta, please. Bulma and Trunks are very worried."
"I.. said.. get.. AWAY!!" he bellowed and suddenly Goku's mind felt
like it was turned to mashed potatoes. His stomach heaved and he
fell back, trembling.
"What the.." he gasping, groping for something to hold onto until the
world stopped spinning. When he finally could think straight, Vegeta
was gone.
2.1: Losing the War
Vegeta flew blindly trying to block out the images that filled his mind.
He didn't know what he'd done to Goku but, he'd gotten too close and Vegeta
needed to keep him away. Without thinking about it, he'd somehow
forced all the rampant images in his mind to flood Goku's. It had
been too much for him and he almost blacked out. Vegeta, on the other
hand, had a clear head for a moment and used the opportunity to escape.
Now that he was alone again he wasn't thinking about killing other
people. He was thinking about killing himself. The thoughts
shocked him to his core. He'd never dreamt of such a thing.
But once the idea entered his head, he couldn't shake it. And for
some reason, he could not find any reason why he shouldn't end his life.
He stared down at his hands, the hands that had been responsible for so
many deaths, and shuddered. But he knew no matter how much he thought
about commiting suicide, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He wandered
aimlessly on the small island he'd found when he first came to Earth.
Suddenly the pain came back and he crashed to his knees with a whimper.
The pain was more intense than before if that was possible.
He curled up in a ball on the black sand and tried to hold onto reality.
He heard running footsteps and tried to open his eyes and see who it was
but he already knew who it had to be.
"Vegeta!" of course it was that idiot Kakarotto. Would he never
learn?
"Get.. out." He groaned forcing himself to stand. Goku
grabbed his shoulders and forced him to sit. Vegeta snarled in anger
but was too weak to stop him. "You can't keep running." He said.
Vegeta shook his head violently, refusing to look at him. "Listen
to me!" Goku yelled, anger in his voice. "I can help you, why won't
you let me?" at that Vegeta burst into horrible, croaking laughter.
"You can do nothing!" he yelled, leaping to his feet. Suddenly
he felt as if a set of teeth and claws sank into his mind and heart and
shook it like a rag doll. With a shudder and a sharp cry he collapsed
into unconsciousness. Goku gathered him in his arms and put two fingers
to his forehead and they teleported to Dende's.
"He's possessed." Dende said simply. He stared down at Vegeta's
still-unconscious form and shook his head with a sigh.
"So you can't help him?" Goku asked quietly. Dende shook his
head and smiled.
"I can try. I've never done it before. I will establish
a mind link and attempt to expel it from the inside. Goku nodded
and watched as Dende knelt before his friend and began chanting.
An orange glow surrounded the young guardian and traveled to Vegeta until
they both were completely engulfed.
Goku sat watching. For several minutes nothing happened.
Then Vegeta began to convulse suddenly and his eyes snapped open.
He sat up instantly as if pulled by a set of invisible strings.
"No." he said. He raised his hand and Dende was thrown back several
feet. Goku gasped and tried to grab Vegeta and hold him down.
"Release me Kakarotto." Goku shook his head resolutely and felt thousands
of volts of electricity course through his body and he was thrown back
as well. He slammed into the outer wall of Dende's palace and Mr.
Popo peeked out the window as the walls shook around him.
"Oh my!" he cried. Goku shook his head and staggered to his feet.
He glared at Vegeta and noticed that he'd gone Super Saiyan. Goku rushed
forward and saw a strange symbol burn into Vegeta's forehead. He
stopped short as he saw smoke rise from Vegeta's skin.
"Save your strength Kakarotto. I will see you in two weeks, then
we shall finally see who is "strongest under the Heavens"." He laughed
and was gone.
"Uh oh." Goku shuddered. That wasn't Vegeta, whatever
he'd been fighting had suddenly gotten the upper hand. Even his voice
was different. He heard a soft groan. "Dende!" he ran over
to the young Namek. "Are you ok?" Dende nodded, laughing bitterly.
"The Majin has him." He sighed in defeat.
"The what?" Goku said.
"The Majin, that is what it calls itself."
"What is 'it'." Dende sighed, rubbing his temples.
"It is a collection of lesser demons that have fused into one inside
Vegeta. The first one got in after the gravity machine blew up and
he was in the hospital. I though he would be able to fight it off,
but apparently it gained too strong a foothold too quickly. When
I entered his mind.." he trembled and gripped the sides of his arms.
"What that thing is doing to him is just sickening. Its playing on
his deepest fears and blowing them totally out of proportion… we have company."
Goku turned, started. He hadn't been paying attention to anything
but Dende's story and hadn't listened to the slight whisper that always
let him know when someone with ki was near.
"Piccolo!" Goku waved with a grin. Piccolo smirked and hovered
over to Goku and Dende.
"So the almighty Prince of Saiyans is causing trouble again?" Goku
and Dende nodded. "Goku you should have let Krillin kill him when
he had the chance." Goku gave an uncharacteristic snort.
"If I had to go back and do it all again I'd make the same decision."
He stated firmly. Dende and Piccolo smiled.
"I knew you'd say that. But I wish to hear the rest of Dende's
story." Goku nodded.
"Yes, well, it's also magnified his deepest desires and made
them a great deal more.. twisted? Yes. It's doing everything it can
to gain complete control of Vegeta. if we don't do something soon,
Vegeta will be no more. Only the Majin will remain, and there is
no good in the Majin, only hate. He will destroy this planet, he
will never stop until he has killed every living being. And he has
several techniques that Vegeta never learned."
"Oh great!" Piccolo snarled. "Like what?"
"Well, he can teleport over small distances. He is a telekinetic,
if he desired, he could shred your internal organs with the mere wish to
do so. The only advantage you have is that he is not skilled in these
techniques and he is not yet in complete control. But once he has
mastered them or Vegeta is destroyed, we will have no chance of defeating
him I'm afraid." Goku and Piccolo were silent. It was grim
news indeed, but as the former Kami always said, 'Forewarned is Forearmed.'.
They had a chance, however slim.
"What will happen to Vegeta if we can't help him in time?" Piccolo
asked.
"Then his soul will shatter. The Majin will have complete control
of his body." Dende said simply. Goku and Piccolo exchanged
glances. "Before you take off trying to find him," Dende began, halting
their advance. "I suggest you check the Philippines."
"Thank you Dende!" Goku cried, and they were gone.
"Good luck my friends. After all that Vegeta has done and how
much he's changed it would indeed be a shame to lose him now."