Heart of Fire

SonSofia here, I did make a slip up in the second and fourth chapters. It would take Vegeta four weeks to get to Lais. Not 8 months. I was thinking ahead to Dusk, which is much farther. It would take Kakarot/Tarneus almost four months to get to Dusk and Vegeta longer. I was not really on my rocker that day, so excuse me. Here’s chapter Five, Instant Transmission mission. Hope you enjoy, I know I did writing it. Oh, I almost forgot, I changed the title because now it doesn’t fit anymore. Like I said, I am writing randomly and this fic didn’t turn out the way I thought it would. I still like it though. I NEED HELP CHOOSING A NEW TITLE!! SOMEONE.., anyone?

The time it was taking to arrive at this planet was beginning to annoy Tarneus. He was sure he should have been there quicker, or maybe it was his excitement that made him so giddy. Either way, he wished the ship would hurry up and get there. It was boring in space, and he had been there for 3 months already. What the hell was taking so long? There were no more stars in this part of the galaxy so maybe that meant he was close? Planets were getting smaller and smaller. The ship specified that it would take 3 ½ months to get there, but Tarneus was already restless. He had passed the Sigma Planet ages ago, not caring what the elder Lais-jin had said.

“Not the boss of me…” He muttered.

He thought he should have been used to spending so much time in space, but the journey bore the hell out him. Space was lonely and he hadn’t run into one ship. He did have to dodge a sun that was bigger up close than he thought, but that was about all the action he got while up there. The old Lais-jin had bothered him again, while he was in the bathroom no less, telling him to return to Lais.

“Didn’t I tell you to fuck off?” Tarneus asked.

“Tarneus, you have to return, as soon as possible, you are not ready for this mission. You’re an arrogant fool who has no business disobeying orders!”

“I’m ready, it’s you who’s having the trouble understanding that I don’t follow orders anymore.”

The Lais-jin grunted, “Yes I gathered that, so why don’t you not bring your conceited ass back here, how’s that?”

Tarneus had to laugh. “That’s fine old man, but do expect me back to obliterate your shitty planet”

The look on that red freak’s face was comical. As ugly as that thing was, it shouldn’t have been able to produce such a disturbing look. Better he wasn’t Lais-jin, or he’d look like that. For him, he was handsome, if not a little roughened. But the clothes were killing him. He donned a long white robe like shirt with a nappy sash and ugly green pants that tapered off at the bottom. He would definitely have to kill someone for a new outfit. This one was simply terrible. For all the power they claimed to have they should have at least had a better wardrobe. It was becoming tempting to stop by a service planet and get some clothing, even if it meant prolonging his trip. Something had to give, he was not going to destroy a planet and cackle at its demise wearing what he was wearing.

He put in the coordinates for a service planet on the same route and sat back in his seat. He felt powerful where he was, like nothing in the world could stop him. Bulging muscles, on a well endowed body. He felt the power course through it. It was more than he knew what to do with. Assessing what he had, he figured it would take him mere months to rip apart a solar system. Upon concentrating, he could feel out the life force’s of the people on a planet thousands of miles away. He found this to be a unique power. He wished he could kill them from his spaceship, but he could not. Those creatures would live a little longer then.

Training had gotten boring over the weeks with nobody to beat the crap out of and his food supply was running low. To make things worse, he had been having those dreams again. Dreams of himself and other people he swore he’d never seen before, but they were so… familiar. Whatever they were they meant nothing and so he never gave much more thought to them. ‘Goku’ was the name that the people in the dream called him. Who was that? He wondered. Even though the dreams meant nothing to him, there had to be a reason that the people in his dream were calling him that. Could it have had something to do with his life before he forgot everything?

“Well, all the same, I am Tarneus and I don’t live dreams” Reality suited him a lot better. Since he left Lais, he had no feelings about leaving the planet that was supposed to be his home world. Nothing struck him as worth being thought about. There was nothing for him there. But there was one planet that he found himself continually thinking about.

Earth.

What was it about this planet that had his attention most of the time? When he could think of nothing else images of a bright blue planet filled his mind. It was beautiful, but what could it mean? Maybe he was to destroy it? That must have been it. There was no real reason he should have been thinking about a planet he’d never been to, it must be that the Lais-jins put it in his memory. That was the planet he had been meant to destroy before he had the ‘accident’. He never got the chance to gather the information, but he had no superiors to look up to, he would do as he pleased.

After Dusk, Earth was next.

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Vegeta trained tirelessly, there was nothing better to do. Besides, there was no telling what was out there in the deepest reaches of space. He was not going to let anything catch him off guard.

It would be months before he got to Lais, and where ever Kakarot was, he was two steps ahead of him. Vegeta decided he would go to Lais anyway to get some information of his Saiyan friend’s whereabouts. At the very least, he wanted to know exactly where he was looking. Kakarot didn’t know he was coming, all the more reason to surprise him.

If he ever found him, there would certainly be a few things he wanted to ask. But the question that plagued his mind was, whether or not Kakarot was running from something. If not from him, then what?

Why would he move from planet to planet? Was life really that dull for him? He never showed too many signs of unhappiness with the way he lived, except when he was around Vegeta. It just didn’t seem like him, but then again, he had been acting strange before he left.

The taller Saiyan had said he wanted to say goodbye, meaning he was never coming back. Would he even give him the chance to find him?

‘I should have stopped him’

Maybe Kakarot had not though of where he wanted spend the rest of his life, and wanted to explore. This would make Vegeta’s search harder, but whatever the cost he had to find him. Not paying attention, he almost slipped on the puddle of sweat he made on the floor under him, when doing a particularly strenuous one handed push up.

“Shit!” He cursed aloud. He had to be more careful.

Then something came to him. Wherever Kakarot went, why did he take a ship? Didn’t he have Instant Transmission? If he wanted to he could be any where in seconds, so why did he need a ship? This being thought, he could be searching forever for him and if he didn’t want to be found, then there was no point in trying to locate him. But the fact still remained that Kakarot had used a ship and maybe he still is using it. That would slow him down considerably and give Vegeta time to find him. Vegeta could only hope that the man stayed in one place long enough for him to do so. “If he starts bouncing around from planet to planet then, I’ll have to go to----

That was it! All he had to do was go to the planet Kakarot went to learn the technique! If Kakarot and Cooler could do it then so could he!

Genius!

So he rushed over to the control panel and switched the coordinates to go to Planet Yardrat. It wouldn’t be so hard to find him then, all he needed was some Ki activity from him and he was as good as found. Vegeta nodded his head to himself and continued working with renewed vigor and confidence. The earth raised Saiyan may not want to be found, but he had no choice now. Where Vegeta was now, it would take a few short days to get to Yardrat. Blasting off into space at full speed, Vegeta smiled through the rest of his training for the day.

He always wanted to know how it felt to move so fast ones body becomes a mass of light. Kakarot had made it sound so special. Even that green thing, Cell had found it to be a useful technique and indeed it was. He used it to comeback to earth and kill Vegeta’s only son, the evil thing he was. Kakarot used it on many occasions to save the planet, and so he must learn it too, if he were going to save Kakarot. “It shouldn’t take long, after all, I am smarter than Kakarot”

Yardrat had some weird way of dress though, and if he was going to spend time learning the technique on that planet, he would bring his own wardrobe, thank you very much. The first time Kakarot came back wearing the ridiculous outfit made up of old parts of other suits, it was all Vegeta could do from cracking a smile. The shirt part was plain ugly, but for some reason, Kakarot really didn’t look that bad in it. The outfit itself was hilarious, but him in it sort of took the edge off. But damned if Vegeta would wear that!

For the rest of the time to Yadrat, he would lessen his training time and concentrate more on attempting to locate Kakarot’s Ki. He had done a very goof job of hiding it and even King Kai couldn’t find him. But…he wasn’t dead, was he? He couldn’t be, there was still something inside of Vegeta that could still feel him. After their fusion, in the fight against Majin Buu, he could feel him after they split apart, even when they were destined to be that way forever. Vegeta supposed he should have thanked that pink blob of horror. If it weren’t for his disgustingly toxic body, he and Kakarot would be fused together this very day.

They had formed a bond of sorts in the short time they had been together, Kakarot’s emotions spilling into his mind and his into Kakarot’s. Whatever they had been able to feel was never spoken between the two, but Vegeta knew that he felt something strange and foreign. He couldn’t explain what it was, but he knew that it was the kind of feeling that the other Saiyan kept in the back of his mind. It had been somewhat hidden, in that it was not on the surface like his regular feelings. Almost like it was something he wanted to deny. But then again, who was Vegeta to say he didn’t have some monsters in his closet? He had feelings he wanted to reject for what seemed like forever. He knew all about denial, and if he could have only stayed with Kakarot long enough to search his mind for that emotion in the far reaches of his psyche…

Whatever the feeling was, it obviously bothered him enough to put it to the back of his mind, and as far as anyone knew, Kakarot was an open person. But not that open. Nobody could honestly say that they had ever seen him cry, once. Vegeta on the other hand had cried 4 times in the course of the time he had known him and in front of him no less. Vegeta wasn’t exactly an emotional rollercoaster himself, but it seemed at times that Kakarot couldn’t cry. He just never could produce that kind of raw emotion. He exhibited rage, happiness, sadness, confusion, love, pity, disgust, but never the ability to shed tears.

Kakarot was the most emotionally animated person he knew, for a Saiyan at least. But the fact that he didn’t cry only showed how strong he really was, in comparison to Vegeta, who had little emotions but still found it possible to weep. Vegeta frowned. That didn’t mean he was a crybaby or anything, he just couldn’t help it sometimes, foolish emotions getting in the way. And always in battle, the place where he should have kept his feelings to himself. Kakarot never teased him about it though, and for that he was grateful at the least. And nobody but him had ever seen Vegeta cry more than once. Except maybe Dende, and he would keep that shit to himself if he knew what was good for him!

Vegeta began to wonder why his friend really left. It was something that he couldn’t deal with on Earth but for how long had he been harboring this…problem? That was all Vegeta could call it because he didn’t know what it was.

It could have been anything. Anything. But whatever it was it disturbed him to the point where he had to leave the planet he swore to protect. Was it really something so strong? An emotion? A danger of some kind? It seemed to highly questionable that he would just leave to leave. There was a reason behind it and Vegeta would make it his business to find out what it was. It wasn’t very likely that it had anything to do with the death of Goten, but that happened six years ago. Not that it wasn’t sad. But it wasn’t unlikely. That depended on how well Kakarot hid his emotions, and Vegeta knew he did. All of the time.

Goten was killed when a horrible gas was released into the air in a city in China, where he went to visit his girlfriend. The gas mutated him and he didn’t last more than a few days after that before he exploded into a mass of flesh, dead. It was freakish, and the messed up part was that the Dragon claimed that it was a natural cause of death. Kakarot was shattered, but he didn’t once shed a single tear. He took it several times better than Vegeta would have taken it had it been his own son. He needed some time alone and what he did with that time, Vegeta never knew, but he was sure his companion did not spend it crying.

Vegeta wished the bond was strong enough to detect Kakarot, but it had weakened over the years, neither of them far enough apart to ever have to feel the bond. When they were closer, the bond was weaker, and when they were farther, he could feel traces of it in his head. He was sure Kakarot did as well. Lately the bond was being shunned as was he when Kakarot would avoid him, wouldn’t come near him for much of anything. A wall had been put up on the already weak bond, but Vegeta thought nothing of it. Maybe he needed some time alone again.

Still, he couldn’t help think that this had something to do with him. Kakarot had felt the need to tell him goodbye at the very least. It was the first time he had come to see him in weeks, just to tell him he was leaving.

‘I should have stopped him’ Vegeta thought for the umpteenth time in days.

He really should have, because of him, Kakarot could be anywhere, never to be found. He had to know why he was avoiding him and why he left so suddenly. It wasn’t like Vegeta hadn’t wanted to see him, he looked forward to it everyday, it was what got him up in the mornings. Kakarot normally had nowhere else he had to be, but he managed to be everywhere but home. Home. It was his home as well as Vegeta’s and Vegeta didn’t mind sharing his space. There was plenty of it and he didn’t see a reason not to. Kakarot would go to different parts of the planet and lower his Ki so that Vegeta couldn’t find him. No one else would be looking for him. He had never thought that he would resort to leaving Earth. Was there not enough places to be than at home with him?

‘Shit, that came out the wrong way.’

Or did it?

He liked Kakarot’s company admittedly. It was lonely and the house was spacious enough, he wanted Kakarot to fill the space with him. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Kakarot didn’t mind and neither did he.

They never got in each others way. In fact, Kakarot watched out for him like the plague. He never wanted to touch Vegeta if he didn’t have to. Vegeta didn’t find this strange, he didn’t want to be touched anyway. But it was the way Kakarot avoided it. If he so much as brushed by Vegeta, he would apologize profusely and promise to never do it again.

Like it was something that was sinful or wrong. Vegeta always thought that that was weird. So what if the other man touched him by accident? It happened.


One time when they were together eating in the kitchen, Kakarot went to take the dish from his hand. When their hands made contact, he instantly dropped the plate and it shattered into small pieces.

“Kakarot, what the hell is wrong with you?”

The younger Saiyan backed up and bent over to pick up the shards of broken glass. “Uhhh, sorry Vegeta, I didn’t mean to touch you, I was just---

“So what, you touched me, big damn deal. You didn’t have to drop the plate. Do you think I have a disease or something?”

Kakarot put his hands up defensively, “No, no it’s nothing like that, I just know you don’t like to be touched. It was an accident. I swear it will never happen again.” He always said that, but there was no getting around the mistake sometimes, it just happened. It was getting annoying to hear him keep saying how sorry he was every time they touched.

One day in particular, Vegeta had had enough and shouted, “For the sake of Dende, Kakarot, you can touch me, damnit, I won’t kill you!” Kakarot preferred not to though and it never happened again. They went through their time, only touching when they sparred and it was then that Kakarot made sure to hit him hard, every one of his hits were deep. He was taking the days frustrations out on Vegeta.

Maybe that was why he left? He didn’t want to be around Vegeta and risk touching him at all? That sounded ridiculous, but it could be true, or partway true. If so then it was definitely his fault Kakarot left. Well, then it was his mission to rectify the situation. If his Saiyan counterpart felt that uncomfortable around him, then they should work on it.

But Kakarot was something else. He could strip naked in front of the world and not feel an ounce of modesty, but he was always very careful around the prince, always making sure he took his showers in the night, so that he would never make the mistake of running into Vegeta without clothes on. Vegeta on the other hand didn’t prance around naked or half naked either, it was a matter of modesty for him. Vegeta had already seen him nude, once, half naked dozens of times and Kakarot didn’t seem to care then. But he cared recently before he left. Vegeta, not being the most emotion oriented person in the world, couldn’t put his finger on exactly what was wrong.

But he was more than determined to find out, even if took years. He had time.


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Tarneus had a headache. And it wasn’t pleasant at all. It came out of nowhere, he was sitting staring off into space, literally, and suddenly his head started to throb.

“What the fuck is this?” he asked himself.

He had never experienced a headache before, not that he knew of. It hurt, of course and he didn’t know what to do about it. Perhaps there was some explanation for it, but for now all he could do was sit and wait for it to go away. It had been hours now and the not-so-dull throbbing in his head did not abate. He sat there holding his head, trying to think of something to do about it lest he go insane.

It hurt a lot, like something hit him. But he had been awake all this time and no one but him was on the ship. It was stupid of him to think that it was nothing more than a feeling. But it ached. Whatever this was, it was also making him feel sluggish, it was harder for him to move. Now that he looked around, things were getting blurry and colorless…

“What the fu—was all he could get out before he collapsed.


For one thing, it was dark and something smelled dead. Tarneus woke up still with the headache, and glanced around him, surprised to find that he was no longer in the ship.

“Where the hell am I?” he wondered.

He was sure he fell asleep in the ship. Wait, he didn’t fall asleep, he passed out. But why? It was now clear that there was some foul play going on here. Maybe those damn Lais-jins got him, they would pay when he found them. “Hey, show yourself you pea-brained, mutant retards!” He winced holding the sides of his head. He was obviously sensitive to loud sounds.

And what the hell was that smell?!

Tarneus looked around again, and finding nothing let his nose guide him in the direction of the stench. It sure did stink, some thing was dead that was for sure. The place was still dark but it was not really a place, it was more like… a void. There were no doors, no staircases, no lights, no ceilings, no walls, and…as far he could see there was no floor either! What was this place?

Tarneus walked further until the scent was too strong to continue. He figured he must be close judging by the intensified smell. His eyes scanned the area and caught sight of something, a lump of something, on the ‘floor’. He hesitantly walked forward until he had to reel back at the horrible putrid stink that emanated from the corpse. Whatever died, this was it. It was a human, or something humanoid, wearing nothing. Blood was all around it.

Tarneus stood a few feet away from it and inched his foot forward to nudge at the body. When he flipped it over, he gasped in mortified horror as the dead things face came into view.

Great Galaxies, it was him! He was staring into the lifeless eyes of himself.

“What is this? What kind of…”

But sure enough it was him without a doubt, everything was similar right down to the spiky black hair. It was dead, but had no wounds or scar or any bleeding orifices he could see, but it was definitely dead. Tarneus held his nose tighter and backed away from the corpse. His head was killing him and he stumbled as far away as he could but for some reason no matter how far he went, the corpse never moved from where it was but neither did he. His legs were moving, but he was not. The corpse stayed where it was, not more than a few feet from him. He turned and ran, looking back, the body on the ‘floor’ never once moved but followed him still. “What the hell, why can’t I get away?” Things were getting weird, and he didn’t like it.

Suddenly a voice broke the silence and startled him.

“I should have stopped him.”

What?

“Why did he leave?”

Who the hell was this? Tarneus’ head swiveled in all directions, but could not find the source of the voice.

“Maybe…” The voice said again.

Maybe what? That voice….sounded familiar, he was sure he never heard it before, but he knew it from somewhere.

“Kakarot…” That name again, he had heard it in his dreams, but who…

“Who is Kakarot?” The voice did not answer. Instead it repeated the name. “Kakarot.”

Who the hell? “Kakarot.”

“Who are you?” Tarneus shouted into the nothingness. Who was playing these games and how was it that he was lying dead on the ‘floor’ over…. Tarneus looked one more time at the dead version of himself and let out a shocked cry. It was gone.

But the pool of blood was still there.

He was going insane, where the hell did that dead guy go? And why didn’t he take his blood with him? Was he really dead? “Kakarot…” Damn voice, wouldn’t just shut up!

When he turned around to try and leave, he screamed. In front of him was the dead corpse that had mysteriously disappeared. It was very much alive now.

Was this the voice?

“No, I’m not ‘the voice’”

Oh, it could speak! It seemed to understand him so Tarneus asked, “Who the hell is doing this, where the hell am I and what the hell are you?” The other him smiled.

“Don’t you know? I’m you. And as for where you are, that’s not important. Not as important as why you are here. And no one is doing anything.” Tarneus barred his teeth and growled, “Don’t bullshit me, it’s obvious you’re not me. You look like me and sound like me but, you were dead just a few minutes ago, how the hell did you come back? And I do think it is important to know where I am!”

Another smile.

“Well, you’re right I was dead.” It smirked and took a step forward. “But as you can see, I’m alive and well now, and I am you. But you don’t remember me. Oh, about the voice, you don’t remember him either, but you should.”

Tarneus pointed at the still naked thing and hissed, “I’m going to ask one more time, and I don’t want to hear any more riddles. Who or what the hell are you? Why am I here and who is that voice?” “You know him and you obviously know me. Let me explain, I am----

Suddenly the pain in his head increased sharply and he felt himself nearing another blackout. Again, he collapsed onto the floor, but this time he went right through it, falling into the dark abyss below.

When he awoke, this time he was in his ship, and everything looked normal. Tarneus jumped out of his seat, his headache gone and ran around the ship, searching every nook and cranny for any signs of a hiding Lais-jin. He found none and warily returned to the control deck.

“Then it was a dream. That explains it, I know that I’m not quite that crazy”

But the dream, it was so real. There was something about it that made him think. He really had wanted to know who that voice was, but he woke up before he could find out. Better he never knew. Surely though, he would have to go back to sleep sometime and when he did, he might find the answer to his questions. Either way, he knew what he knew and that was that he was him and nobody else, and he was NOT a loon! But still, it was a disturbing dream nonetheless, he almost didn’t want to sleep again. He had been having odd dreams since he returned from his mission on Earth, but was there more to it then the Lais-jins let on? He’d bet there was. These dreams were too frequent to be a coincidence and he was positive they were having an effect on him. Why, he didn’t know. All he knew was that he was him and nobody else. That was it.

If someone was playing head games with him, he would find out when he returned to Lais to destroy it. If those red things somehow got into his head, they would pay dearly. However, somewhere in the back of his mind, Tarneus knew that his dreams had more significance than he thought and it may not have had anything to do with the Lais-jins. He would kill them anyway, just for sport. Getting up again, he went to the bathroom to take a pee.

Afterward he decided he would play around with his powers. Flexing his fingers, he focused as much of his Ki as he could and let it all out with a shout. Power exploded all around him he could feel his muscles expand. Ki crackled around his body, the entire ship shook.

“Yes, that’s it. I am the most powerful being in the world!!!”

He stopped and walked over to sit down, and caught a glimpse of himself in the window. He gasped. His hair was blonde and his eyes were teal. He had transformed into something. Whatever it was, it made him stronger than he had ever been and it had felt so natural and effortless, like it was apart of him. He smirked and took a closer look. He didn’t look any different save for his hair and eye color, he was still handsome. He cackled dryly and sat down. The transformation didn’t make him feel complete, and he was sure he had more power stashed inside of him, but he couldn’t bring it out in the ship. Well, when he was finished with the service station, he would destroy it anyway so what better a place to test his strength?

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Vegeta’s head shot up when he felt a sudden burst of power in another galaxy. What was that?

It felt like…Kakarot!

He was alive, Vegeta was sure of it. There was no doubt that that was his Ki, but something about it felt off. He was a Super Saiyan, he knew. That small spark of Ki gave him a lot more confidence. But his Ki felt different, him for sure, but different, like King Kai said. Evil. Something was wrong with Kakarot, something wasn’t right. He wasn’t the same, what happened? Vegeta’s brow furrowed in concentration, trying to feel the energy again, but he couldn’t, that was it. But it was all Vegeta needed.

“Hey Kai, did you feel that”

The King answered immediately. “Yes, Vegeta I did, there is a negative force in it though, I’m not sure what it is.”

“Where is he?”

“He is heading in the direction of a service station in the Konack galaxy. That is where Tapion is from. I don’t know where he’s going, but you must get to him as soon as you can Vegeta, I don’t like the looks of this.”

Vegeta knew, things were getting stranger by the day and it was all centered around Kakarot. “I’m going to Yardrat, to learn the Instant Transmission technique, I think it will be helpful.”

“You better hope he raises his Ki like that again because I won’t be able to tell you where he is if he doesn’t. That’s a good idea, but it does present the problem of time, something you have very little of. If you don’t find him, I don’t know what he’ll do. I saw him Vegeta, he didn’t look like himself, he looked…different. Something is very wrong. Find him as soon as possible.”

Vegeta nodded. He wished he could see his Saiyan friend at the moment, if he were that different could he bring him out of it? “I will call for you again when I need to” He shut the link and went to stare out of the window.

He had an idea, but he wasn’t sure it was a good one. He would raise his Ki in a call of sorts and maybe Kakarot would feel that it is similar to his. Hopefully his curiosity would get the better of him and he would look for Vegeta. Would it work was the question? He would think more on it after he learned the Instant Transmission. He needed to secure that he would be able to find Kakarot in time, if at all. It would be useless if he could feel him and never get to him.

Despite the situation, there hadn’t been this much action in his life for years and less when Kakarot left. He spent his time training when he wasn’t thinking and sleeping. Life was boring and there was nothing to stick around for. Even with billions of people on the planet, he still felt like he was alone in his own universe, with nothing to live for. Nothing new to see, no one around him. It felt so empty, he craved some kind of change. Too bad it came in this form, but it was better than nothing and maybe, when this was all finished, he would get Kakarot to be more comfortable around him and stop avoiding him.

The ship was suddenly jerked forward, almost sending Vegeta through the window. “What was that?” Looking up, he saw that he was caught in a meteor storm.

Sucking his teeth he rushed into the cargo compartment and grabbed a spacesuit. Putting it on, he ran to the ships door and yanked it open, floating out. He dodged a meteor and closed the door. The ship could not sustain any further damage. It was strong but he wasn’t taking any chances. He floated around the ship and pushed it out of the way of the meteors. Then he turned his attention back and summoned his Ki in both hands, blasting the meteors until they were space dust. Returning to the ship, he took the suit off and tossed it aside.

A minor distraction.

The computer bleeped, signaling he was nearing Yadrat. In just a few minutes, he would land and he would waste no time demanding that they teach him the technique, he had no time. He strapped the belt around his torso and held on for the bumpy landing. The ship rocketed into Yadrat’s stratosphere and through its atmosphere before landing hard on the surface.

The ship hissed as the door creaked open and Vegeta stepped out. The first thing that greeted his eyes, was the site of the Yadrat-jins staring wide-eyed up at him. He smirked regally.

“I don’t have time to talk or explain, I need you to teach me the technique of Instantaneous Movement. And be quick about it, as I said, I don’t have time.”

They continued to gawk at him, neither of them moving a muscle.

“Hey!” Vegeta barked.

One of them jumped and they all began to run.

“Where are you going? I want to learn and you will teach me. You taught my friend how to do it, now teach me.”

A few of them stopped running and turned to face him. “What will you do to us?” Vegeta shook his head. “Nothing! Just hurry I need to save someone.” “Who?” It asked. Vegeta sneered, “Why does it matter?”

“Because, the Yardrat-jin got a little bolder and took a step toward him. “People have come here in the past with bad intentions of how to use the skill. I don’t want to cause the universe chaos by giving you the power to move to any planet you want.”

Vegeta couldn’t believe this! He did not have time for such discrepancies.

“You know my friend you taught it to him a few decades ago. He came here hurt and you helped him. He is a Saiyan, as am I.” Realization crossed the Yadrat-jins face as he recalled. “You mean the being with the strange hair?” “Yes, that’s who I mean” They would talk, their clothes were less than fashionable.

“Is he in peril?”

What was with all the questions, didn’t he tell them three times that he had no time for this?

“Again, I don’t have time to explain I have to save him but I can’t get to him in time, which I stress again I am not rich with. So would you just teach me the technique so I can go?!” He snapped.

The Yardrat-jin nodded and motioned for Vegeta to follow him. As Vegeta walked behind them, he couldn’t help but notice that their planet looked dirt poor. The houses, if you could call them that, were made out of used items like vehicles, metal and other spare parts. It looked like all they had was junk no one else wanted. Kakarot said they weren’t very strong, so they were weak as they were poor.

“How long will this take?”

“It depends.” Was the short answer he got.

He frowned. Why were they suddenly so defensive? “On what?” It turned around and looked up at him. They were a very short race of people. “It depends on how strong you are, and your ability to control and bend your mind” Vegeta could do that easily. “Then I should learn quickly. I can do those things, now how long will it take?” It didn’t answer this time and led him into a small shack that looked like it would fall apart any second. “Sit” Vegeta sat, resisting the urge to tell it off.

“Now, it should take you a few days---

“I don’t have that, damnit! Isn’t there a faster way?”

“I’m afraid not, you will either have to wait or leave.” Vegeta closed his eyes and clenched his fists. He would have to wait and hope that Kakarot didn’t worsen. He didn’t have a choice at all, he would have to sit here for days, and be forcibly patient. These things weren’t making it easier for him either, he didn’t like their attitude. “Hurry up with it, the universe may be in danger. And you will all die anyway if you don’t help me.”

Vegeta wasn’t sure if that was what would happen, but there was always a possibility and he wanted to leave nothing out. It might even make the Yardrat-jin work harder and faster.

“Sit still and concentrate your mind, think of nothing else. This is akin to meditating, but it is different. I want you to relax as much as possible and listen to my voice and nothing else.” Vegeta had to try hard, but he let his limbs loosen and closed his eyes. This was annoying because he was never a patient person. These creatures were too damn calm for him and he didn’t trust them.

“You don’t? Well, you’ll have to if you want to learn the technique”

Vegeta’s eyes popped open. That thing read his mind. It just smiled wisely and folded its hands in its lap. “Don’t do that again!” “Can’t help it, I have to. This technique requires it. I will not read your inner most thoughts, but I just found it offending that you don’t trust us. You asked for our help, I would think that you could, at the very least----

“I don’t care anymore, I shouldn’t have said anything! Just hurry up. I don’t have time for your mindless chatter!”

It was becoming increasingly hard to deal with these talkative little bastards without losing his cool. His body had tensed up and he had to work on relaxing it again. It wasn’t easy getting his mind to concentrate on nothing when Kakarot was out there in trouble, how could he not think about that? With great effort he pushed his thoughts away and cleared his head. “Now imagine being anywhere, anywhere at all and go there”

“What do you mean, I can’t just go there”

“I mean take your mind there” Vegeta didn’t understand. “What are you talking about?”

“Like imagination, but you have to really believe and feel yourself there, I don’t know how else to say it. Just be there. Anywhere.”

Vegeta thought about his home as that was the only place he could vividly remember having been there so long. He didn’t want to go there, but he had to, it was easy and he knew it well. So he pictured himself there, alone again with his head down on the table as he had been so many times before. It was almost like a dream, he could see everything now, the kitchen, as it had been with simple appliances and a large rectangular table. The table Vegeta sat at too many times in a day thinking about what his life had become, what it could have been if he had done something different. It was his favorite place to think for some reason and he wouldn’t go anywhere else with his thoughts.

The voice of the Yardrat-jin broke through his dream like world. “Good, I can feel you. Now send your body there, in your mind. Send it and we’ll see if it works for you if you can go there. The easiest part is going the hardest part is coming back. You can’t come back to a place you’re not familiar with if you have not mastered the technique. I will suggest that you be very careful in where you want to go, because they might have unpleasant consequences. Of course, one of us will have to get you.”

Well why didn’t the thing say that before? Vegeta was starting to get alarmed, afraid that he had made it this far and a small slipup could mean having to travel all the way back here again and that was not something he wanted or could afford to do.

Vegeta’s mind went back to his thoughts and he carefully dragged his energy and combined it with his mind to be at Capsule Corp. Sweat trickled down his temple, and he took in shaky breaths. It wasn’t as easy as it sounded, not that Vegeta expected it to be, but damn, the effort it took….

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Landing on the service station was pretty rough, but he got through it. It was just a very small planet that was a market. Looking down at himself, Tarneus ripped off the ugly crème colored shirt off of him and walked over to a clothing vendor, snatched a shirt from the rack, put it on, and walked away.

“Hey you, you do have to pay for that with something!”

Tarneus turned around. “Do you have pants?”

The vendor looked at him like he was crazy. “Will you pay for that shirt?”

“Whatever just give me some good looking pants, preferably black.”

The vender pointed over to another market stand and held his hand out. “Give me something of value for the shirt, what have you got?” Tarneus looked at the vendors hand and back at him.

“I have nothing for you, now leave me alone!”

“You said you did, you lied. Take the shirt off and go somewhere else, this stuff isn’t free you know.”

Tarneus turned and headed over to the pants vendor. “Where do you think you’re going?” “I said I needed some pants, so I’m going to get some. I’d hate to have to kill you before I get all I need.” The vendor didn’t look happy, but then he smiled like he was hiding something.

“You know, we’ve had people like you here before and you’re no different from the others that try to rob the service stations in this galaxy. You will now suffer the same fate as they did. Nobody walks out of here the same when they try to steal from us.”

Tarneus laughed heavily, not bothering to keep in the fact that the man in front of him was sealing his own fate and that it was funny. “You can’t stop me, but I would appreciate it if you would just let me go this once, I don’t have anything to give.” He would play this game and see what the vendor would do. “No. I don’t think so, you pay now or you leave in the rags you came in.”

Well, he tried.

“Okay, I’ll kill you, but only because you begged me to.” Letting energy fill his palm, he raised his hand and blasted the vendors head off. Screams were heard and people were running everywhere. Tarneus took his time picking and choosing what he wanted, like nothing was happening.

He found a few things he would have liked to wear and picked up some food. And he would get some fuel. That was all he needed.

“You there, turn around and meet your demise!” Tarneus amusedly did as he was asked and turned around to address whatever dare stop him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Now, you’re coming with me and if we have to, we’ll hurt you even kill you. Now, comply or else!” He stared boredly at the police man and outstretched his hand.

“Die.”

The policeman tried to run, but to no avail. He was ripped apart by the blast and sent to the next dimension instantly. By now people were pushing and shoving into their spacepods and some where hitting others over the head with blunt objects and taking their ships. The chaos was music to his ears, their screams made it a lot more fun. He flew back to his ship and had to kill four people to get them away from it and put his newly stolen stuff inside. Exiting the ship, he went back down into the chaos and began firing away at everything in sight.

Screams of agony and fear filled his ears as people all around him died at his hands. It was the best he’d felt all day. After some minutes when all of the people were destroyed, he stood back and surveyed his handiwork. Nothing was alive and everything was in ruins.

That’s what he thought until he heard a wailing noise coming from one of the not to badly damaged spacepods. In seconds, he was inches away from whatever was making the sound.

It was a female child no more than 4 years old, crying and shaking like a leaf behind the ship. How she managed to survive, he didn’t know, but she wouldn’t get away this time.

“Mommy, I’m scared.”

Tarneus didn’t even so much as bat an eyelash as he blew her away.

Now that the planet was empty, he could test his power here without restraint. Spreading his legs a bit and tensing his arms at his side, he released as much power as he could, screaming in agony. The feeling was incredible, but painful, he never knew he could put out so much power. Light erupted from him as his hair grew down his back. Then a sharp pain shot through his tailbone and sure enough, out sprouted his tail. He didn’t know he had one. He couldn’t believe he was so powerful and didn’t use it to destroy Lais sooner. No matter, he would get to that later.

His Ki broke and he huffed in exhaustion. He lifted his hands to his eyes and was surprised to see that they were covered in red fur. He needed a mirror. He picked up a shard of glass and angled it up and down the length of his new body.

He looked a whole lot different than before, but he never felt more at ease with himself. This new feeling, for some reason, didn’t feel so new to him. Perhaps because he always had it. But then why his failure on Earth, was there someone or something there stronger than he? He doubted it. He just forgot he had the power, and he just couldn’t figure out why he let the Lais-jins control him all the time they did.

All he had to do was blast them away, but from the looks of it, they weren’t going to tell him of this power or his transformations. Powering down, he boarded his ship and took off.

He was done here, and he was back on his way to Dusk.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Vegeta’s concentration snapped like a twig when he felt Kakarot’s power level skyrocket into Super Saiyan 4. What was he doing? Was he in danger? His Ki flared for a few minutes, more than enough time for Vegeta to feel him. Something was definitely wrong, his Ki was tainted with evil, but at the same time it was still him. It just felt strange, like it wasn’t all him.

“What are you doing, I told you to concentrate on nothing! I felt it too, it’s your friend, but you must focus, or you will be here longer than you’d like.”

It was hard, it came out of nowhere. He knew King Kai felt it and he was itching to ask of his whereabouts.

“Just a little longer, and you will be finished. You were right, you are very versatile and you learn quickly, you should be done in about one more day, but things could go a lot smoother if you concentrate.”

Vegeta hesitantly went back to his training and tried to will his mind from thoughts of the other Saiyan. In just one more day he would leave and find Kakarot and find out what was wrong with him. But it looked like it wouldn’t be so easy if Kakarot didn’t want to leave. If he wasn’t himself things might lead to confrontation, which was not something Vegeta looked forward to.

On the good side of things, he was getting better at his teleportation abilities and could almost freely go where he wanted, but he never went too far, he didn’t trust the Yardrat-jins to bring him back like they said they would.

Soon he would be able to stop worrying about whether or not he missed the opportunity to find Kakarot. It didn’t seem like he would flare his Ki again if for any reason at all. But Vegeta could hope. He really needed to speak to King Kai, but it would have to wait until he was finished his business here.

^*^**^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

Just two more weeks and he would be at Dusk, but two weeks seemed like a lifetime. He wished there was some way he could get there faster. Too bad, he would have to duke it out in this ship for the time being. In the meantime, he would go to sleep. The day’s events had tired him out a bit and he was ready for a nap. Deciding it was better to be careful than comfortable, Tarneus slipped into the chair in front of the control panel, and closed his eyes.


To Be Continued….. (duh!)

This was longer than the others, but I didn’t have an easy time getting that out. It took days to get this idea and it only came to me yesterday. But it looks like it turned out well. Review and tell me what you think. I think it’s a big step up from my previous chapters, and I hope it will only keep getting better. It takes a while to get the chapters out, but I’m working on a bunch of things at the same time, so it’s hard for me. But I do it anyway, for you guys! Yay! Anyhow, I’ll try and come up with some ideas for the next chapter, and if anyone has any help for me, they can always send an email. You know, sonsofia@aol.com. Don’t be shy now!