The gravity chamber was lit with a dull red.  Several floating orbs shot lasers strong enough to puncture Saiyan flesh.  Vegeta stared in defiance, they would not hit him. Suddenly a barrage of beams streaked towards him, he leapt away effortlessly shooting small ki-beams at Bulma's inventions.  The orbs were made for the sole purpose of helping Vegeta train.  He'd been going at it for hours, enjoying the new toys.  At least they didn't hold back like that stupid Kakarotto, Vegeta thought briefly.  A tiny beam whizzed past his head and he shook himself.  Concentrate, you fool! He thought angrily.  He did a mid-air flip, avoiding three successive blasts, landing in a crouch on the far wall.  Two more beams were heading straight towards him, he sprung forward and pushed off the Gravitron.  He heard the two beams strike the main reactor.  Oh shit. A series of small explosions ripped through the Gravitron, throwing Vegeta into the wall with such force that for a moment, after his head slammed into the wall, he was dizzy.  Shards of metal followed.  He raised his arms to protect his eyes, but the twisted metal sliced everything else. Blood from a deep gash above his eye ran down his face , turning his vision red.  He tried to get up and run but there was a deep, ominous rumbling and then all he saw was white.

     Bulma heard the thunderous explosion and dropped her prototype-cooking robot.  She ran to the only window in her lab and saw smoke billowing into the sky.
     "Vegeta!" she cried and ran towards the fire.

     Goku had heard the explosion as well and was all ready throwing aside large slabs of hot iron.  Bulma was relieved to see only a few small fires and they were about ten feet from where Goku was digging.
     "Stay back, Bulma!" he warned as he saw her approach.
     "Is he ok?" she cried, biting her lip.  Goku didn't pause to look up.  He grunted as he flung back a large piece of the wall.
     "He's alive." He bent down and pulled Vegeta out of the debris, then rose up, hovering above the wreckage.  He flew over and landed, Vegeta flung over his shoulder.  "I'm taking him to the hospital." Bulma said nothing, she leapt on Goku's back, her arms around his neck and they disappeared.

1.1: Demon RIsinG

 In the night skies, the demons rise.
Hiding truth with bitter lies.
Their twisted flesh smells of death,
they drink the souls in a dying breath.
No soul is safe from their grasp.
God cares not for demon-slain,
 And in hell rots their soul in vain.

    The demons float through the undead wastes searching.  They do not need human belief to exist.  All they need is despair, insanity, pain, and suffering to feed on.  Rage, jealousy and greed attract as well.  And if people ignore them, that is for the best, it makes feeding that much easier.
    No one sees them, no one senses them, and so no one knows how to defend against them.  Many stray near hospitals and other places that house the sick and dying.  Those in despair, whether they know it or not, are silently calling to them.  Their souls are there for the taking!  They twist and writhe and each seems different as if to manifest a different dark aspect of hell.
     They see Vegeta as he lies unmoving, they watch his muscles twitch involuntarily. They breathe in the sighs that escape his lips, hoping for a taste of his soul.  They feel his pain and are drawn to it, and far below, unconscious, and deeply buried, they feel his fear.  Fear of failure, fear of not being needed and even fear of being unloved.  They sniff at it like one would inspire the delicate scent of a rose.  Slowly savoring, licking their fleshless lips, running tongues over rows of jagged teeth.
    Those fears are the sweetest morsels.  One tiny demon, unnoticed, gliding on air, slips into the saiyan's lungs, melding into the blood, clutching at the heart and brain.  Once firmly in place it begins to whisper softly.
    Betrayers, don't trust, stay away, hate you, don't need anyone, anything, get away, or its death, despair, anguish, lose your soul, you will.  Listen to me, I know what they'll do, stay away from them.
     At first the saiyan does not hear it, but the tiny voice slowly begins to filter through his subconscious, tainting his sleep with nightmarish visions.

    Vegeta sat alone in a room.  A bedroom.  He was sitting on a bed.  The room was dark but there was a tiny light coming from… Somewhere.  His hand absently smoothed the sheets and ran into something hard and thin, under the cloth.
    Icy fear ran through his veins as he slowly drew back the silky covering.
    He gasped in horror as he released the silky material, leaping from the bed.  On the mattress, stained in blood, was a skeleton with wisps of blue hair barely clinging to the scalp.  Shredded tendons scarcely held the bones together.  Veins, sinew, muscles and bits of gore covered the bed along with torn viscera.  Vegeta's heart was pounding in his ears and he realized that her heart was gone.
    No! This can't be happening!

1.2: Paranoia

     Bulma held Vegeta's hand in hers as she stared down at his face in concern.  There was something.. wrong. She didn't know what.  But the bond they shared tickled the edge of her brain making her stare down at him, searching for an answer.  The nurse flitted about the room making adjustments on the equipment.  Suddenly Bulma let out a cry.
    "What's happening?" Bulma gasped.  The nurse stopped, her brow furrowed.  Goku sat up straighter in his chair.
    "What is it?" the nurse asked.
    "His face is.. white!" she cried, pointing.  Goku leaned in to get a good look, Vegeta was starting to look like a corpse.  All the color was draining from his face before their  eyes, so that his veins were becoming visible. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he jolted up to a sitting position as if pulled by strings. Both Bulma and the nurse shrieked and jumped back.  Even Goku was alarmed.  Vegeta's eyes were grayish like something long dead.  Blue veins pulsed beneath the skin.  The gashes and cuts on his body turned a purplish color and blood began to seep from the largest wounds. His mouth began to move slowly, and at first, no sound came out except a dry croak.
    "D-dead… All dead… I’m alone…No one left.. Naia! Naia! Yodoi qireo sai-ga!"  blood began to leak from his nose.
    "Stop!" Bulma screamed, grabbing Vegeta and shaking him.  For a moment his eyes refocused and turned black and he gazed at her without recognition.
    "Bulma?" he murmured before passing out.

    For the rest of the day he remained oblivious to the waking world.  Bulma had been near hysterics after he passed out, and Goku did his best to calm her down. Soon she was crying into his shoulder and Goku was torn with conflict.  He wanted to stay and comfort her, but he was getting really hungry.  And the sight of the doctors sticking several needles into Vegeta's unresponsive flesh sent fits of shivers down his spine. His stomach began rumbling, he could hear it clearly over Bulma's sniffling.  Decision made he grabbed the phone and began to dial.
    "ChiChi, can you come to the hospital? No, Gohan's fine.  I'm fine ChiChi.  Vegeta.  And Bulma.  No Bulma's fine, but I need food.  No, that's not the only reason, Bulma wants to talk to you. .. I'm talking to you now.  I know, but we've been training--"
    Bulma sat quietly listening, giggling as she heard Chichi's voice rise over the phone.  Goku looked amazed for some reason and then he hung up the phone.
    "What happened?" Bulma said, smiling lightly.
    "She hung up on me." He looked confused.
    "Is she coming?" At that Goku brightened.
    "Hai.  With food!"

1.3: Inside
 
    Vegeta slept.  He dreamt of things he refused to think of while awake.  He was about five or six staring up at his father's stern face.  He had done something bad, and his father looked pissed. The boy was trying not to appear scared, but he was.  He didn't know why but something deep inside insisted that it shouldn't be this way.  But he ignored the tiny voice and buried it deeper still.
    Dry voices whispered dully at the fringes of the dream world, he could barely make them out.
Then he was older and hating his father was easy.  The king lashed out with a fist and Vegeta felt his father's rings cut into his cheek.. tasted blood.  He felt the old hatred come back, burning fiercely.  He remembered his frustration at being forced to take his abuse.
    Then he stared into Frieza's strange visage and felt a new sense of betrayal.  His home, his whole world was gone.  He alone was the only true Saiyan.  True, there was Kakarotto, but he wasn't really a Saiyan.  He just wasn't normal.
    Then all memories faded and he was alone on a hillside.  Dead trees clawed at the sky, their trunks twisted and misshapen.  The sky was a deep bluish gray, thick clouds and lightning raced across the sky.  A cold wind blew over the barren landscape and as Vegeta sat their, he felt truly alone.  He knew that he was in a land full of nothing and he was the only inhabitant, and the thought scared him.  It scared him even more that he truly didn't wish to be alone.
    He looked to the sky.  No sun, no moon either, not that it mattered.  He grew aware that the wind howled his name.  Vegeta…
    "Oh, Vegeta…"
    Huh?

    Vegeta slowly opened his eyes.  He squinted in the bright sunlight from the large window, and gazed into Bulma's tired, but smiling face.
    "Your awake!" she squealed and leaned over wrapping her arms around him.  Vegeta sighed and buried his face in her shoulder, the dream forgotten, and allowed himself to be comforted by her presence.  He pulled her down onto the bed.  "How do you feel?" she cooed.
    "I'm fine." Vegeta replied, without his usual gruffness after such a question.  The truth was that he felt exhausted.  And he just woke up after however long he'd been sleeping.  He rolled himself and Bulma to their sides and closed his eyes, ready to drift back to sleep but Bulma gently took  his chin, and he forced his eyelids to open.
    "Still tired?" she inquired.  He nodded after a moment and pulled her closer.  He was acutely aware of his injuries.  Something that was rare.  His healing abilities should have dulled the pain long ago, but he was sore and it hurt to move.  Bulma accidentally brushed a deep cut on his thigh with her leg and he flinched, gasping sharply, his grip on her tightening.  Bulma frowned. "I'm sorry. Are you ok? What did I do?"
    "Nothing, I'm fine.  Just let me sleep."
    "But you just woke up!  You've been asleep almost 24 hours!" she pouted.  He sighed.
    "What else can I do? I doubt you're going to let me leave this hellish place anytime soon." He snapped.   Bulma frowned and remained silent.  Vegeta stared at her curiously then:  "Just how long am I going to be stuck here?" he demanded.  Bulma shrugged.
    "Not long." He sighed, if she wasn't going to tell him the truth, Kakarotto would.  He sat up, and as the blood rushed to his brain, he wished he hadn't.  He put his head in his hands until his head stopped pounding.  Just then Goku walked in with ChiChi.
    "Hi Chichi!" Bulma said, sitting up.  Vegeta glared at Goku as he entered.
    "Hey, Vegeta your awake! How are you?" Vegeta frowned.
    "Shut up Kakarotto." ::he will betray you..:: Vegeta shook his head, where did THAT come from?  He stared at Goku wondering if there was any validity to his thoughts and as he watched him talk with Bulma and ChiChi he felt suspicion well up inside him like molten lava.  He then switched his gaze to Bulma desperately trying to hear what they were saying.  He knew they were talking about him, but what exactly were they saying?  He stiffened when he heard Bulma say something about leaving.  Did she mean she was leaving him? After all this time? And for what reason?  He tried to calm down and rationalize, but something inside just wouldn't let him.  He started sweating and feeling dizzy, his breath was coming in rapid gasps.  Goku heard Vegeta panting and turned to look.  He was startled to see Vegeta livid, shaking in rage.
    "Vegeta! what's wrong?"  Bulma and ChiChi turned to look.  Vegeta leapt out of bed and stalked forward a snarl contorting his features.  He was so enraged he could only sputter obscenities.  Bulma grabbed his shoulder as he tried to storm past.
    "Where are you going?" she cried.  He slapped her hand away. And before they knew it he had taken off down the hall and out a window.  He sped off to Capsule Corp and once he made it to his and Bulma's room he ripped off the hospital gown and all his bandages, ignoring the pain and blood.  He grabbed his battle suit and armor, throwing it on quickly.  He didn't really know what he was doing but he was filled with a strange alien fear that urged him to get away as fast as he could.  Suddenly Goku teleported in front of him.  Vegeta gasped and leapt back into a fighting stance.  Goku held up his hands in a sign of peace.
    "Get away from me." Vegeta hissed.  Goku looked confused, he sensed that something was wrong with Vegeta but he couldn't tell what it was.
    "Why? What's wrong?" Vegeta gasped as he saw ki-spheres in each of Goku's hands and a wicked smile on his lips.  In reality Goku merely stood there, puzzled.  The demon was growing stronger.  Goku reached out to him and Vegeta leapt back firing rapid ki shots all of which, Goku blocked.  "What are you doing, Bulma's going to kill you!" he said.  Vegeta snarled and took off again, disappearing in the surrounding woods.  Goku took off after him.  "Vegeta, where are you going, you’re still wounded!"  Vegeta didn't hear him and he tried using telepathy.  As soon as his mind touched Vegeta's he recoiled in horror.  He saw wretched evil in the form of a tiny demon that was growing larger by the minute, fueled by Vegeta's pain and fear.  It hissed in fury and tried to slither into Goku's mind just before he broke the link.  "VEGETA! WAIT!" he cried into the empty air.  He realized the futility of trying to chase him and halted in mid-air.  He heard the hum of an air car and turned to see Bulma and ChiChi.
    "What the hell happened to my house?!" Bulma shrieked.  Goku shrugged.
    "Vegeta.. there's something really wrong.  He took off." Goku hung his head, feeling like a failure.
    "SO GO GET HIM! HE'S HURT!!" Bulma screeched, Goku winced, covering his ears.
    "I tried, but he won't let me near him.  He'll come back soon, don't worry." He said trying to be reassuring.

1-4: A New Evil

    Vegeta flew until he was exhausted.  Suddenly his vision blurred and he felt like he was going to vomit.  He suddenly blacked out and crashed to the ground, reopening several wounds.  As he lay there bleeding, demons began to hover about his body and once they saw that he could not fight them they began to feast on his blood and merging with the demon already inside him they connected and fused… Vegeta could have resisted.  He had the strength of will to defeat them all and chase them away.  But a part of him welcomed it.  Part of him longed for a return to the days of senseless destruction that he had so loved.  So he did nothing and the Majin was born.

    It sat up shaking it’s head and stared down at it’s clothing that were quickly soaking in blood.  It raised its five-digit appendage and saw the red liquid drip down toward the wrist joint.  It drew the appendage to its mouth and a pink tongue slid out and slowly licked the blood off its arm.
It concentrated and the wounds inflicted on the previous owner of the body closed and healed without a mark on the flesh.
    The blood was good but it knew enough to know that the shell it inhabited needed blood to continue functioning properly.
    It scanned the mind of the previous owner and learned enough to mimic the host.  So doing it set out to Capsule Corp.

    Goku was sitting at home eating when he felt a surge of raw, primeval power.  He choked on his food the feeling was so intense.
    "Vegeta!" he cried when he could speak and took off.
    "Goku!!" ChiChi yelled after his retreating form.  "Damn it!"

    Bulma sat in the kitchen eating with Trunks when Vegeta marched in the door.  His wounds had miraculously healed in the span of a few minutes.  Trunks stared at his father in confusion and the sense of horrible evil hit him in the face.  He leapt to his feet and stood in front of Bulma, eyeing his father warily.
    "Out of my way, brat." He hissed backhanding the boy and sending him crashing into the wall.
    "VEGETA!" Bulma shrieked.  "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
    "You stupid bitch." He spat. "He would have been able to block that if it weren't for you.  You made him weak! You're pathetic! You disgust me!"  before she could blink his hands were wrapped around her throat.  She gasped in terror and closed her eyes, awaiting a dreadful blow.  Instead he threw her to the ground.  She felt Trunks wrap his small arms around her and before she knew it they were outside.  And explosion ripped through CC and it collapsed upon itself.
Bulma lay on the ground sobbing as Goku appeared next to her and Trunks.  Trunks cried out and ran into Goku's arms.
    "That's not papa!" He cried.  "He's got a weird mark on his head.  He's not my papa!"  Bulma sat up shivering and hiccuping.
    "My home!" she curled her hands into fists and screamed in rage.
    "Don't worry you guys, you can live with us till things get back to normal." Goku offered.
    "Why did he do that?" Bulma continued to sob, not listening.
    "That's not papa!" Trunks yelled, trying to get her to listen.
    "Trunks is right." Goku said quietly.  He searched for Vegeta's ki.  He was miles away and his ki was shifting and unfamiliar.   Bulma gazed at him for the first time.
    "What do you mean?" she asked, still sniffling.
    "Don't worry about that now.  Let's go to my house and eat dinner okay?" he said, smiling lightly to cover the fear and confusion he felt.  Bulma nodded dabbing at her eyes with a tissue and they teleported to the Son house.