*LOOOOOOONG overdue!!! So sorry about the wait!!! Likely chance that this segment, similar to Open Up Your Eyes, will be featured in Son of the Moon (when I freaking update ':( ). Enjoy!*
The instant that Goku saw the tiny figure just lounging on the black throne, he turned around with his hands in the air. "Nope!" he declared. "I'm done. I'm done. I'm going home, fuck this."
Bulma and Krillin looked at Goku in shock. Cursing was Vegeta's thing, not Goku's.
Speaking of, the little Saiyan paused in what he was doing and glanced up. He saw Goku and his jaw dropped. "Kakarrot," he said, sounding cheesily pleased. "I haven't seen you in years..." He stood slowly.
That's when Goku saw another little person, but this one was curled up shivering on the floor. A chain led to a stake directly by the dark chair. Goku frowned and looked closer. He let out a startled gasp when he saw Frieza on the end of that chain. "Oh my God... Frieza!?"
The Icejin's red eyes flicked to Vegeta then back to Goku. "Goku, what the hell are you doing here?" he hissed. "Get out of here, now-!" He choked when Vegeta noted that he was speaking and yanked savagely on the chain.
Vegeta tsked. "Hang on, I'll let you know when you can talk, Frieza." He smiled sweetly at Goku. "Oh, this is just too bad, Kakarrot. I said I'd be back, but you've gone and ruined my surprise. Oh well. I suppose I can fight you here."
Goku held his hands in the air. "Vegeta, hold on. I want to show you something, and ask you something. No tricks. I promise."
Vegeta met Goku's eyes. Just the look in his eyes revealed his unstable sanity. Goku shivered. The last crazy Vegeta he'd met had just been cracked to the core, totally unfixable. Perhaps... "You're not the lying kind," Vegeta murmured, unconsciously stroking Frieza's trembling head. He released the chain; Frieza skittered as far away as the tether allowed. "Alright. You've got two minutes. Then we're fighting."
Goku nodded. "Ok." He stood directly in front of Vegeta, holding out his hand. Vegeta made a face, and Goku said, "It's not going to work unless you take my hand." Vegeta looked disgusted, but complied.
Goku placed his forehead against Vegeta's, reconnecting their link. From the outside, Vegeta jolted and his mouth fell open. He tried to pull away briefly but was unable to summon that strength. His knees buckled somewhat, but Goku did catch him.
Inside, Vegeta was being reintroduced to years and years of love and experiences in just a few seconds.
Vegeta choked slightly, trying to yank away again. Goku held him firmly. Their eyes were still connected; they couldn't look a different direction until the bond was completely reestablished. When it did (unlike with the other crazy Vegeta, who had nothing to connect to), Goku released him.
Vegeta hit the floor like a rock. He gasped wildly, clawing at his face. "Pfuh-! Ka- Kakarrot-! I- I- I-" He curled up, clutching his head. "Too much- No- oh God, it hurts-!"
Goku knelt beside him. "Vegeta? I'm sorry, I had to. I had to show you." He brought the shivering Prince close. "Shh, it'll go away."
Vegeta weakly pushed him back. "G- Get aw- away from m-me. Ka-..." He leaned against Goku. "W-What did you do to me...?"
Goku stroked his hair. "This is how I feel about you, Vegeta," he whispered. "And this is how you feel about me in a different universe. I love you, and I need you to love me back."
"What have you done to me...?"
Goku remained silent. He leaned his head against the top of Vegeta's and sighed as the smaller Saiyan began to relax, and even lean into him. "Why didn't you tell me?" Vegeta asked, glancing up wearily. "Kakarrot, that's... that's a lot of years we wasted." He grinned suddenly. "Now I want to show you my handiwork." He got up with an energy Goku didn't recognize.
Vegeta went back to Frieza. "This... was the first thing I did after our battle. After you refused my offer and I returned home, I decided, Fuck it, I'm going against Frieza. If I die, I die. But when I did, I achieved the power of a Super Saiyan, as well as a form beyond even that!" He snagged Frieza's collar and showed Goku. "This was me twelve years ago."
Goku knew. He knew very well. He gulped. "Vegeta... let it go. I want you to come home with me. I want you to give this up."
A frown spread across Vegeta's face. "Give it up?" he barked, a bit angry. "Do you realize how hard I've worked? How much I've done? No! I'm not throwing this away, Kakarrot, not even for you!"
How much I've done.
Goku glanced back along the dark corridors, somehow knowing what he'd see. In the walls, which he suddenly realized were cages, he saw many pairs of eyes. Frightened and dejected, they looked back at him.
Vegeta had managed to overcome every single enemy they had been fated to encounter. Every single one. Completely on his own.
Goku couldn't breathe for a moment. Even with the power of a Super Saiyan and it's ascensions, it had taken his own strength and more to defeat the majority of them. "How...?" he breathed.
Vegeta chuckled darkly. "I'm not the damsel in distress. I'm not your boyfriend or the frightened Princess. I'm not a little bird who needs your help to fly." He tossed his head and began to descend the stairs. "Nope! I'm the bad guy." He grinned. Gesturing towards the lines of cages, he continued proudly. "All these former villains that you see, each of them, with shaking knees, has knelt before me. So I'm not your teammate or your partner in crime. What am I, boys?" he called mockingly to the captives.
With noted reluctance- and perhaps a bit of sarcasm- they replied, "He's the bad guy."
Vegeta, in his less than healthy state of mind, seemed not to hear the nasty tone of their voices. He grinned manically and snapped the chain that held Frieza. The Icejin yelped in alarm as Vegeta swooped him across the room in a mad dance. "Oh, it's magic to watch a planet shrivel up and die..." The Saiyan Prince dipped Frieza nearly to the floor before racing around again. "Ohh, it's thrillin' to be a villain! I destroy their homes and then I watch them cry!" He slammed Frieza into the remaining empty cage.
Vegeta turned back to Goku, baring his fangs in a sadistic sneer. "Cause I'm the bad guy." Then Goku saw a moment of hesitancy, but that quickly fell through to the madness once more. "Oh, ain't it fantastic? I see something, I blast it!" He randomly threw a terrifyingly powerful ki blast at the line of cages, causing all the occupants to scramble out of harm's way. "And let me tell you why..." Vegeta looked surprisingly sweet for a moment. "I've always had a weakness for barrenness and bleakness. I'll crush all your hopes and then I'll watch you cry!"
Suddenly ki rings bound all three of them to the wall. Vegeta laughed as they struggled wildly. Not even Goku could break free. "See, I find this business rather fun." He glared specifically at Goku. "I don't want your assistance or your adulation. I'll vaporize this galaxy and bid you bye-bye! Why?" He waited a moment, met only with stony silence. "Come on, guess!" he barked.
Goku sighed helplessly and shrugged. "Cause you're the bad guy?"
Vegeta patted his cheek. "Bingo." His laugh echoed creepily through the darkened walls, taking with it Goku's hopes.
*Again, I am SOOOOOO sorry that this is so late. Wattpad was acting weird, saying I'd published it, then deleted it, and I was really confused. Anyway, better late than never, yeah?*