Begin to Lose Control

A/N: Eep! A reviewer made it clear to me that I had forgotten to explain why I referred to the Ecandlians as the Tusken Raiders. It was explained in "Dreaming of the Past", but I forgot that some people haven’t read "Dreaming of the Past" yet. "Tusken Raiders" comes from "Star Wars". They’re the sand people. In "Dreaming of the Past", Goten, with no other name to call the Ecandlians (since they do not declare their name, and have probably forgotten it themselves), and being a Star Wars fan, refers to them as the Tusken Raiders, and the name sticks from then on. That scene will appear in the story later, but there you are – Why the Ecandlians are called Tusken Raiders.

3: The Dreaded Peace

Everyone sat around the living room of Capsule Corp. Vegeta, Trunks, Goten and Juunanagou had returned and told everyone about their discovery. The happy get-together Bulma had planned had become a sad and sombre occasion. 

Gohan was the most upset. He sat on a couch, looking at his feet, obviously depressed. His master was dead. His master…and his best friend. I guess this is how Mirai Trunks must have felt. He looked up at Juunanagou and Juuhachigou. I don’t suppose they…No. I can’t blame them. Juuhachi and Juunana are our friends now.

The jinzouningen twins were as upset as everyone else. Their ice-blue cat eyes identical in their emotions: downcast and brimmed with tears. The look was foreign on their faces. Normally anger was the only emotion to grace their flawless visage.

Videl kept her hand on her husband’s shoulder. She knew how close Gohan had been to Piccolo, especially after Goku’s death.

All thoughts seemed to be focussed on the loss of Piccolo – he had been the closest to the group. They did all feel upset over the deaths of Dende, Popo, Yajirobe and Korin, but nobody realised the implications that had now arisen.

Nobody, except Bulma.

She had always been the one to keep her head in emotional times. "The DragonBalls are gone. The Senzu beans too. If whatever did this attacks, we could be in a lot of trouble."

"When did we decide something ‘did’ this?" asked ChiChi. She didn’t want to believe that the Earth was in trouble…and Goku wasn’t there to help. "It might have been an accident."

"I don’t think that even Bulma could have caused an accident that big," replied Vegeta. Though he mocked his mate, he was proud of her. She had worked out, and accepted the inevitable before anyone else.

"Vegeta’s right, okaasan," sighed Gohan. "Piccolo’s ki was raised just before it happened. He was obviously confronted by something. And I was too dense to realise! I just thought he was training."

"Don’t be too hard on yourself, Brat. I didn’t realise either. And even if we had, do you really think we would have gotten there in time?"

"Well…what are we going to do?" Yamcha asked. He was obviously terrified. But then again, they all were. They were faced with a completely new and unknown foe. And without their two safety nets – the Dragonballs and senzu beans – they may not have any hope.

"What can we do?" Vegeta sighed. "We can’t do anything. We don’t know what we’re up against, and we don’t know where to find it. We’ll just have to sit and wait."

Though no one liked Vegeta’s "idea" (Vegeta least of all), they all knew that they had no other choice.

 

* * * * * *

 

"That was great!" Sakata giggled.

She and Thiacin returned to the base they had set up on Earth. It was in a very isolated area of woodland. They would remain hidden as long as they kept their kis low.

"What are we gonna do now?"

Thiacin thought for a moment. "I think we should lay low for a little while." He held up his hand to Sakata’s protest. "I figure, if they’ve seen the aftermath of our little expedition – which they should have by now – they won’t have figured who or what did it. They probably don’t know about us. By laying low, we’ll keep ourselves a secret. They might even forget about the whole incident. We just have to wait. And besides, I’m sure we have enough in the Cells to keep your sadism satisfied."

 

* * * * * *

 

A year passed, and although the Z-warriors did not "forget about the whole incident", many of them came to accept ChiChi’s idea that it had simply been a terrible accident. What sort of enemy would destroy Kami’s Lookout, and not attack anyone or anything else?

But Vegeta remained sceptical. He began training himself at a higher level, and urged Trunks to follow suit. And though part of him wanted to start training Bra, another part could not bear to see his little princess fight. But he knew that he would eventually have to train her, for he alone knew the power she possessed.

Bra was a human-Saiya-jin hybrid, two races that seemed to compliment each other almost perfectly. And like Gohan, she possessed amazing power. Vegeta had always wondered why Trunks had never been (and never would be) as powerful as Gohan, even though he had come from a more powerful bloodline. But after the birth of Bra, Vegeta realised that the power of the offspring depended on the…situation of conception. While Trunks had never been planned by Vegeta and Bulma, Bra had been. The same went for Goten and Gohan. Goten had been an accident (ChiChi had told Bulma, and she, in turn, had told Vegeta) – the result of one last bit of fun between Goku and ChiChi before Goku left to fight the jinzouningen.

But although Vegeta was aware of Bra’s capabilities, he kept it a secret. She was far too important to him. Let people accuse him of becoming too soft; his family meant everything to him. He finally had something he could honestly feel proud of achieving.

And that was why he completely flipped when Bulma went missing.

 

* * * * * * 

 

Bulma left Capsule Corp. at ten in the morning, headed for Satan City Mall. Bra waved sadly from a window. Although Bulma knew that Bra loved shopping, she couldn’t risk taking the eight-year-old on this particular day. She was going shopping for Trunks’ birthday, and Bra had a habit of blabbing.

Climbing into her Capsule car, Bulma set off. But as she approached the main road leading to the mall, she found it was blocked, and a detour, through the outskirts of town, was advised.

Bulma sighed, irritated, but took the detour. She had been driving along an almost dirt road for around ten minutes, when something suddenly exploded in front of her. Bulma screamed, and slammed on the brakes. The air car spun out of control, before coming to rest in the middle of the road…or at least, where the road used to be. There was now a gaping crater.

Bulma panted, thankful of surviving her near-accident. But at the same time she wondered what had caused the explosion.

"Good morning, Ms. Briefs," a gentle male voice greeted.

 

* * * * * *

 

At four o’clock that afternoon, Vegeta started to wonder why Bulma had not come home yet. By six, he was worried, and by seven, everyone, including the police, was at Capsule Corp.

"So, she hasn’t called?" the Police Chief asked Trunks.

Another officer was interviewing Vegeta. "It’s possible that this is a ransom kidnapping. Your wife is very recognisable as the Capsule Corp. President. We’ll tap the phones."

Vegeta nodded mutely. The police all seemed sure that Bulma had been abducted by someone after the Capsule Corp. fortune or perhaps a rival company. Vegeta did not share their theory. He wondered if someone was seeking revenge against him by kidnapping his mate. He tried to think of who would want to get back at him, but found he could not narrow it down to one individual. Or group, for that matter.

It was not until he looked up and saw the little shrine Trunks and Bra had constructed for Piccolo, Dende and the rest, that it all fell into place.

"Sweet Kami, no," he whispered.

"Vegeta, what’s wrong?" Gohan asked, seeing the blood drain from the older man’s face. He followed Vegeta’s gaze, and realised what was terrifying the prince so much. "You don’t think…?"

Vegeta nodded. "It seems our unwanted guests have come out of hiding."

Vegeta closed his eyes, took a deep breath and did something he hadn’t thought of yet. He searched for Bulma’s ki. It was very weak, and for most of the fighters, impossible to detect. But since he was bonded to her, Vegeta could find it.

His eyes shot open. "Found her."

And with that, he quickly left Capsule Corp. …and a very confused Gohan.

Trunks could see the bemused look on Gohan’s face, but the police still had questions to ask, and with Vegeta gone, Trunks was the one who had to answer them. Thus, it was ten minutes later before Trunks could speak to Gohan.

"Gohan, what’s wrong? Where’s otousan?" he asked.

"I don’t know. He thinks whatever killed Piccolo might have something to do with this. He closed his eyes, like he was meditating, then said, ‘Found her’ and left." Gohan shook his head.

"He was searching for okaasan’s ki." Trunks’ expression became grim. "I’m going after him. Look after Bra for me."

"Trunks wait!"

But it was too late – Trunks was already gone.

 

* * * * * *

 

In a quiet desolation some way out of the city – and a considerable distance from their "hide-out" – Sakata and Thiacin were waiting.

"He should have been here by now," Thiacin growled impatiently. "Are you sure this is the right woman?"

"Of course I am!" Sakata snapped back. She grinned. "He’s on his way. I can feel it."

"Are you sure you just want to watch, my dear?"

Sakata nodded. "I’m tired, but I could do with a little entertainment. And a blood-fest starring the Saiya-jin Prince will do quite nicely."

"NO!!!" a female voice screamed.

"Oh, shut her up, please!" cried Sakata.

Several soldiers advanced on the woman. She was sitting in a large crater-like basin, with strange artificial lights focussed on her. Her arms and legs were bound. The soldiers got closer, preparing to eternally silence the woman.

"Don’t kill her!" roared Thiacin. "Without this woman, Bulma, Vegeta won’t turn up!"

"He’s almost here!" giggled Sakata. "Such power. Such a shame he has to be wasted, but I’m sure I’ll get to have more fun later."

"That you will, my dear." Thiacin clapped his hands together. "Places everyone!"

The soldiers slunk back into the shadows, camouflaged by the darkness. Thiacin and Sakata were already safely hidden in the dark, with three of the Elite. The remaining three joined the soldiers making a ring around the bait.

Bulma cried out again, but this time stopped herself. Her screams would probably attract her mate, and she didn’t want him anywhere near the place. She mentally ordered him to stay away.

But even if he had heard her, Vegeta probably would not have listened anyway. He sped straight towards Bulma, landing with perfect grace next to her.

Only then did he realise the horrible trap he had walked straight into.

Bulma was sobbing, ordering Vegeta to leave, saying something about a ‘blood-fest’. But Vegeta wasn’t listening to her. All his sense were focussed on the creeping shadows surrounding them…and the tremendous power they were beginning to radiate.

"Welcome, Prince Vegeta," a voice boomed. "We are sorry we could not do you the…justice of fighting you ourselves. My dear love is rather tired tonight. But don’t worry too much. I’m sure we will have just as much fun killing your children."

Enraged, Vegeta powered up to Super Saiya-jin, eyes searching for the source of the voice. Instead, all he saw were menacing green eyes, surrounding he and Bulma… and closing in fast. 

Vegeta stood in front of Bulma, trying to protect her, but he soon became aware that it was near impossible to do so. They were completely surrounded.

He snarled. "FINAL FLASH!"

The energy beam cut through part of the ring, the beings who had once occupied the space screaming as they were blown apart. Their companions jumped on Vegeta at once.

Vegeta threw each of the soldiers to the side, the force breaking everyone bone in their bodies as they landed. But it seemed that for each soldier that he defeated, two more appeared. And he was having trouble trying to protect Bulma at the same time.

He powered up again, this time to Super Saiya-jin 2, in the process, blowing away several soldiers. The game had begun again, with Vegeta gaining only a slight advantage. 

Safely out of view, Sakata grinned broadly. "This is wonderful! He is truly magnificent."

"Yes, he is." Thiacin frowned. Vegeta was killing too many of the soldiers. Their numbers were not infinite, and they were starting to run low. "Finish this!"

His order was directed at the three Elite who had formed part of the circle. Two jumped Vegeta, while the remaining one grabbed Bulma. They held Vegeta down. The other held Bulma directly in front of Vegeta.

Bulma’s lip trembled and her eyes sparkled, but she would not give them the satisfaction of crying. Vegeta had never been more proud of her, as he watched her stare death in the face.

The Elite twisted Bulma’s head to an unnatural angle, and her face lost all light. The sickening crack her rang in Vegeta’s ears. Bulma’s lifeless form was tossed aside.

"NOOOOOOOOO…!" Vegeta’s cry was cut short as a hand ripped through his torso.

The Elite removed his hand from Vegeta’s chest, letting Vegeta drop to the ground to bleed to death; his aorta completely severed.

Vegeta stared at the night sky, listening to the sound Bulma’s neck had made echo over and over. Above this, he could hear his own heart beat, faltering as it realised something was very wrong. And finally, above that, he thought he could hear a voice.

"Otousan! Okaasan!"

The vision before Vegeta’s seemed to morph. At first, he thought his life was about to pass before him, but what he saw, had never happened in his lifetime.

He saw the city, nearly completely destroyed. He saw three figures: one a man who looked much like those he had just fought; one a woman, sneering, angry, and badly beaten. The final figure was bathed in golden light. She quickly and surely killed the other two figures. Then she turned, and Vegeta saw her face. Even grown-up and in Super Saiya-jin, Vegeta knew it was his daughter. And he knew she would put an end to all this horror. He had been right all along. His vision distorted again, and a different pair of green eyes stared at him. The face they belonged to was streaked with tears.

"Otousan!"

"Trunks…" Vegeta choked out. He had wasted so much time already. He had to let someone know. "Trunks…look after Bra…train her…she’s special…p-precious…" Vegeta could not take a final breath to finish his plea. His eyes rolled back, and something left his body.

"Otousan? Otousan!" Trunks cried hysterically. He frantically looked around for the person, or persons, who had killed his beloved father.

But he was alone. The murderers of his parents had disappeared. They had once again faded mysteriously into the night, leaving no clue of what they were, or when they would return.