Quest: Prophecy

Chapter 44 - Prophecy

Vegeta closed his eyes, feeling the heat of unshed angry tears. He refused to give up. His mate needed him now more than ever before and he had to find a way to help him. Kakorr had willingly crossed time and galaxies for him so they could mate – there had to be some way he could do the same. Even weakened, he could feel Kakorr’s ki, no matter how distant. He would not allow the Kais to take his mate from him like this.

::I’m sorry Vegeta – I’ll fight them as long as I can, but I can barely move….::

He groaned, refusing to let himself succumb to fear. His mate was going to die unless he did something. They had only had a few perfect days so far – not the lifetime he had looked forward to.

::Keep fighting, Kakorr; use our bond. I will get to you.::

“Give me ki, boy,” he demanded, ripping away the remnants of his damaged shirt with annoyance. Vegeta started to force his own ki even higher; he needed to be strong enough to stop the Kais permanently – he could not allow them to remain a threat to his family.

He would not surrender – Saiyans never surrendered. He would find a way to get to Kakorr and save his mate. Vegeta crouched next to the still spreading pool of blood that had come from his mate, the rich, pungent scent making him growl.

‘I’m sorry Goku, but Krillin was right. This is the only way to keep Vegeta from attacking us and fulfilling the prophecy.’

Vegeta growled. It was that bastard King Kai; he had used Kakorr while pretending to be his friend.

‘You’re making it happen! Why can’t you see that? He’s not like that anymore!’ Kakorr insisted, his aggravation evident.

‘Don’t be ridiculous, Goku. Now that you are mated, putting you down is the best way to get rid of that monster before he destroys us.’

‘Do you really think that will stop him?’ Kakorr laughed bitterly. ‘Even if you do manage to murder me Vegeta will kill you.’

Gohan’s ki flowed through him, reinforcing his own still climbing energy, so much like his father’s, yet so different. It lacked the feeling of warmth and safety he associated with his mate, even though the boy’s goodness came through. He regretted that Gohan, whom he had envied for so many years, had lost so much because of the Kais’ treachery.

Chichi was on her knees, covered in his mate’s blood, arms curled around her belly, weeping over the woman who had been so casually taken from her. He could feel Tama’s ki settling – almost as if the pulse of his building ki had begun to calm her instead of making her anxious. Under other circumstances he would have been pleased – it seemed his daughter recognized him already.

Even Piccolo – although he never would admit it – was grieving for Nail. Vegeta scowled. He had to do something to protect them all – what was the point of even trying to bring them back if they would just be attacked again? As long as the Kais were alive, everyone in his pack was in danger.

::Can you tell me how to use your IT technique?::

Vegeta frowned as he felt his mate struggle to concentrate on explaining while still protecting himself.

::I can’t…:: Kakorr cried out in frustration.

Vegeta scowled. His mate couldn’t afford to split his attention from his uneven defense enough to send him the knowledge the way he had given him Level 3. He caught pieces, but this was more than the simple manipulation of ki; the process was too complicated to explain in a burst. He would have to find it himself.

::It’s alright, Kakorr…Let me in...::

Kakorr instantly lowered his already weakened barriers, allowing him into his mind. His mate’s injury hit him immediately, nearly crippling him. With regret, he threw up a shield – he couldn’t focus on protecting Kakorr while struggling to deal with the pain. As his essence flowed through him, Vegeta thrilled at the trust his mate had in him; he hid nothing. Vegeta used their bond, following as Kakorr pointed the way to the knowledge he needed.

He dipped his fingers in the still-warm blood, bringing them up to taste. ::Kakorr… I’m coming – I swear it:: He could feel his mate in his mind, drawing strength from him, holding on desperately as the bastards calmly discussed destroying the only thing that made his life worth living. Pet. How dare they call his mate a pet?

::Vegeta… I can’t hold them off much longer…::

His tail cracked with ki and thrashed through the pool of blood, covering him in thick spray. He bared his teeth and deliberately used it to paint red streaks over his chest and face, the heat making him feel closer to his mate. He’d wipe out those bastards, doing everything in his power to ensure they knew nothing but terror in their last moments of life.

When Kakorr’s blood touched the dragon on his arm it…pulsed, ki racing through the flames. The scent was dizzying; he swore he could hear Kakorr’s heartbeat. He growled possessively at the familiar touch and taste of his mate.

Rage at the Kais was pushing his ki to unheard of levels, but for the first time his anger seemed focused – directed towards a single goal. The need to protect his mate – to protect his family – was overwhelming, giving him a sense of purpose he had never felt before.

‘This won’t do you any good. Our family will use the dragonballs – we’ll come back even stronger.’

Vegeta nodded to himself with approval. Kakorr knew how much the bug liked to talk – he was doing his best to stall the Kais these precious few seconds.

‘No they won’t. We’ll be taking care of that as well. Earth is going to have to have a new Guardian – we can’t permit Nameks to continue interfering.’

Vegeta cursed. If he didn’t defeat the Kais before Kakorr – and he – died, his entire pack would die at their hands. They would find others as willing as the monk to kill for them and without the dragonballs there would be no way to bring them back. His sons would fight well, but ultimately they would fall to the Kais’ treachery. His daughter would never have the chance to grow up. This would be the end of the Saiyan race; he couldn’t let that happen. He had to protect them, no matter what it took.

As his power climbed easily past level three he finally understood why he had lost so many battles in the past. Unlike Kakorr, he had always fought for himself – for pride – for rage – for his ego. His mate always managed to win even when the odds were against him, achieving unexpected victories because he wasn’t fighting for himself. His mate fought to protect.

The battles where the outcome mattered – where others were in jeopardy, not just the combatants – that was when Kakorr excelled. When he reached unheard of levels, his loyalty rewarded as he pressed others to go past their limits. Vegeta understood now; he could surpass his own limits for his mate. He could use his rage to protect, not be blinded by it. He could feel himself changing, getting even stronger, transforming. He had to protect his mate and family. And to do that he had to be powerful enough to destroy the Kais forever.

“That’s enough, son,” he said. Vegeta stared at his bloody hands, watching them clench and unclench. He could feel Kakorr in his mind, holding on to him desperately – needing him. Kakorr was depending on him. “Do you have any Senzu with you?”

Gohan shook his head, “Sorry.”

He shuddered as he felt power flow through him. Vegeta frowned for a moment – the boy seemed to be slowing down, his movements strangely stilted. Was this because of his power? Was he that far removed in strength?

“You’re in charge here. Leave now – get everyone to The Lookout. Trunks and Goten are almost here – intercept them and have them fuse. Don’t be surprised if the Kais send someone to attack Dende – don’t hesitate – kill them on sight. I’m counting on you.”

“Dende?” Gohan breathed in shock. He studied Vegeta for a moment, and then nodded. “Yes, sir… You can count on me, Father.”

Vegeta made a tiny smile of acknowledgement before returning his focus solely to his mate. “I’ll get to Kakorr. I won’t let him die alone.”

“Vegeta…”Chichi asked, “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to protect. I’m going to destroy.” He looked at her and wondered if he would see his daughter grow up. “Leave now,” he said, dismissing them.

He felt more powerful than he ever had – even Oozaru didn’t compare. He wondered what he looked like – he knew he was beyond level three – beyond what any Saiyan had ever attained. Unlike the others, this transformation was almost effortless; it didn’t require a painful push to the next level. He needed power to protect and it came at his call, allowing him to surpass anything ever experienced before – this was the strength of Saiyan mates.

He could feel Kakorr through the blood coating his tail and his hands, but he needed even more in order to follow him. He bent down and put his palms in the blood of his mate, spreading more of the thickening liquid over his bare skin, feeling his ki shifting as he touched the dragon. He heard the woman’s wordless protest, but he ignored it. He and Kakorr were bonded through the blood they shared; they were one.

He looked at his arm, at the dragon Kakorr had given him and on impulse spread his blood over the glowing symbols entwined with the glowing flames. During his transformation, he had felt his mark getting warmer, ki pouring from it to ripple and flow over his entire body. The dragon was liquid now, moving and twisting over his shoulder and down his arm, claws curling with his fingers, its flames crawling over him. It had grown, stretching down the length of his arm and coiled around his waist and chest, throbbing and pulsing with power. He was the dragon.

A squat female Kai was about to strike; he gave Kakorr strength to blast her out of range.

Vegeta smirked in satisfaction – based on their shouts, they didn’t expect that. The fools always underestimated what Saiyans were capable of. His satisfaction didn’t last as he realized how much that one attack had pained his mate. It might have slowed them down, but Kakorr’s body was failing; he was in no condition to protect himself from these creatures.

‘Calm down Goku. Stop squirming; we’ll make this as quick and painless as possible. You won’t feel a thing.’

‘Damned Sayains… We should have eliminated these monkeys years ago.’

‘We’re Saiyans, not monkeys! You can’t do this!’

Vegeta closed his eyes and shuddered, his ki cracking and spiraling around him. Kakorr was struggling in their grasp, pushing them away with ki Vegeta sent him, anger giving him strength. He was proud of his mate fighting for him – for pride – for honor - against dishonorable opponents.

A powerful ki appeared by The Lookout and he felt Gotenks ki rising in response to the threat. He had faith in his sons’ ability to protect Dende. He had to. He could do nothing now to help them – this was their battle. He had to rescue his mate.

“The bastards were right – I am going to destroy them,” he rumbled to himself, his voice made deeper by the change. Vegeta lowered his head, smirking at the blazing red hair that fell around him. Level Four. In this state, his hair was longer than Radditz’ – and much too likely to get in the way. Chichi had dropped a bloody scrap of Kakorr’s shirt when Gohan flew away with her in his arms. A flick of his tail, the red fur coated with his mate’s blood, and it was in his hands. He quickly tied the heavy mane back – he had work to do.

He smirked; he could reach his mate. Now that he knew how to IT he was impressed at his mate’s ability – he had intense concentration and focus coupled with an instinctive understanding of spatial relationships that bordered on genius.

The air around him pulsed and hummed, vibrating with the intensity of his power. He held his hands out, the ki flaring around them visible. He was completely calm, filled with a comforting certainty – he could do this. All he had to do was focus – concentrate.

He could feel Kakorr’s ki fading and dropping as his resistance became less effective. He was out of time. Now or never.

He took a deep breath and visualized his mate, the feel of his ki, his scent, his touch. Let everything about his mate fill his mind, his only desire to be at his side. Once he had a firm image, he let himself go.

::I’m coming, Kakorr.::

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Vegeta didn’t even stop to wonder at the strangely disorienting sensation of ITing himself. All of his attention was on his mate and the danger he was in. The Kais were about to kill Kakorr, but they seemed frozen in some deathly tableau. There was the blade raised over the perverted Old Kai’s head, the fat blue bug holding Kakorr down so he couldn’t escape in his weakened state. They were trying to take his mate from him, but he would never allow it.

He exploded in a blinding red wave of energy, protecting his mate with a cocoon of ki, while throwing a deadly blast at the monsters surrounding Kakorr. “Get away from my mate!” he roared. King Kai raised his head, wide-eyed in terror, a moment before the flames surrounded and burned him, turning the bug to liquid in an instant. The Old Kai realized what was happening and desperately tried to swing the sword to kill Kakorr.

Vegeta advanced, smirking. At his current level of power, they seemed to be moving in slow motion compared to him. He swept the weapon from the old man’s hands and moved away as the bolt he had fired beforehand reached them, piercing the purple pervert.

He growled angrily as the insects realized what was happening and began to move towards him. All he had wanted was a chance to live in peace – to enjoy being with his mate and his family – to prove he was more than the monster Frieza had made him. He had wanted to be more than a ruthless killer, even willing to let their prior blatant attempts pass.

Vegeta regretted that now – his attempt to rise above his bloody past had done nothing but endanger everyone he cared for. He hadn’t wanted to believe he was meant to do anything but kill, but as he swept a ki blast over a group, he hated how easy it was to go back to his old ways.

“It’s the Destroyer! Kill him!” He laughed bitterly when he heard the terrified screams of many, begging for rescue that would never come.

More and more of his enemies fell before him, the stench of blood and fear nearly over-whelming. Memories kept surfacing of purges he had done for Frieza; Vegeta hated the Kais for making him have to do this. He had tried to change, to leave everything the lizard stood for behind him. But he couldn’t, because they wouldn’t leave him alone. He had to be exactly who they said he was – be everything they feared – if there was to be any chance of protecting his family.

A skinny old Kai with a beard and sunglasses raised his hand, planning to attack. Vegeta sneered. Too slow. He swung his arm, throwing the captured sword at the fool, the point hitting him on the bridge of his sunglasses, the momentum driving the blade into his brain.

::Hold on, Kakorr.:: He affectionately brushed his dying mate with his ki. He wanted nothing more than to go to Kakorr’s side and get him off this planet, but if the Kais were still alive, it would be for nothing.

Vegeta raised his left hand, the dragon seeming to rise and arch off his skin, lunging at the attacking Kais. Ki from the dragon’s claws leapt out and struck the weak blue creatures, destroying them with just one blow.

He laughed bitterly and waved his hand at a fat female Kai, his effortless blast making her cry out before falling in a crumpled, broken heap at his feet. Frieza’s training was finally coming to good use. “You did this to yourselves, fools. You never should have touched my family.”

Vegeta scowled as the murderers attacked him, their colors reminding him of that bastard Zarbon. His mate had trusted these people and they had done nothing but use him. Kakorr’s memories gave them names – South or West or…Gregory?

“You killed King Kai!” the yellow insect wailed, flying at him with a burst of ki. He plucked it out of the air and crushed it in his hand, grimacing at the slime that came from its body.

In the past, he would have been unthinking in his rage, striking out blindly. The anger was there, but overlaid with a strangely disconnected sense of time. They were weak and moving so slowly they were no challenge at all. How did the Kais expect to stop him or Kakorr when they were moving at such a crawl?

Even worse, they were so sluggish in their defense he had time to think and feel about what he was doing. He kept wishing they would speed up so he could just react, letting his emotions shut down so he could just concentrate on the business of death.

He narrowed his eyes. That fused Kai – the one who had kidnapped his mate and forced this on him - was moving towards him, the stink of fear and desperation overwhelming. The air around Kaibito shifted and hazed and the purple fighter suddenly veered to the side, changing the vector of his attack. Vegeta sneered. Did he think that would give him an advantage?

Vegeta’s hand snapped out, grabbing the spikes of white hair, twisting them in his fingers, wrenching the fool off his feet, dragging him closer until the purple bastard dropped to his knees before him.

“How did you-?” the creature whimpered, “I wasn’t visible.”

Vegeta shook his head in amusement. “Too slow,” he laughed, using the power of Kakorr’s dragon to burn the betrayer’s head away.

How could anyone consider these weak insects gods? The bled and died too easily, their cowardice and fear making the air rank. A few more tried to teleport close, but he easily caught them, their technique useless against him. Wave after wave of them charged and fell before his power as he gave them a cleaner death than they would have given his mate.

::Vegeta? Where are you?::

He pushed his ki even higher in response to the desperate plea. He could feel his mate’s fear and loneliness; Kakorr was barely conscious and almost too weak to sense him, barely aware of the battle going on around him.

::I’m here, Kakorr. I’m right beside you.::

::I want to go home.::

Vegeta spared a worried glance at his mate. That plea had been so small – almost child-like. If he didn’t finish this quickly, he and Kakorr would die here. ::Hold on, Kakorr – we are going to go home soon.:: Vegeta wasn’t sure his mate could even hear his thoughts; he believed he was alone.

He didn’t even turn around as a group of Osekkai tried to attack him from behind. With a thought they were turned to ash. He snarled. This was taking too long – Kakorr couldn’t wait, his ki becoming fainter by the second.

Vegeta moved closer to his mate, shielding him, and then with a roar of fury sent a deadly wave of ki over the entire surface of the planet, leveling buildings, annihilating every living thing in a second, the ki of every Kai vanishing. He pressed his palm to the ground, sending the power of his dragon straight to the core, turning the insects’ world into a time bomb.

He knelt beside Kakorr, his mate’s weakness finally getting through his shields and affecting him, and brushed his red tail over his too-pale face. Vegeta gently wrapped his arms around his mate, the planet below him already rumbling in its dying moments. ::Please stay with me just a little longer.::

The prophecy had come true. He had destroyed the Kais.

TBC