DB Multiverse

Part 1, Chapter 4.

Chapter 4: Spleen and ideal.

For two months, Vegetto had been living in a faraway place in the mountains located in the north of the country. He had no contact with civilisation and fed on what he hunted. This exile made memories of Goku's childhood, but also the awfull months alone on a hostile planet he had gone through for his training as Vegeta, surface again.

Melancholic, he decided to go kill a giant fish for a part of his meal, as he had done when he had met Bulma for the first time. He undressed and dove into the cold and deep water. After a few seconds of apnea swimming, he spoted what he was looking for, swam faster and killed the fish with a well-placed blow. Once out of the lake, he added three deers, five dragons and two wolves to his dinner and started a campfire. The night was progressively falling around ten at night. The roasting of his meal reminded him the missions Vegeta went on with Nappa and Raditz. When he was a teenager, he also had to hunt his meal on the planets they were conquering for Frieza. Vegetto felt terribly homesick, even if, strickly speaking, he had no real experience of life. He had been born two months ago. Of course, it was an antenatal experience, but he had no memory of his own. Those who beseted him were not his. Those persons were part of him, alright, but not him. Why was he born? To kill Buu? But once the talk was done, what was he to do? The reason of his birth had been accomplished a few minutes later! So, once it was done, what to do? That question had been nagging him for two months... The two others fit this world and their respective famillies. He wasn't them. They thought their wives, their friends and their children would go to him as he came from them, but was it true? He wouldn't manage, or with difficulty, to be accepted as Vegetto. The other would always see either Goku or Vegeta. That situation upset him! He bite into a stag's leg. It was bitter, but he ate everything and left nothing, then he slept, once again, his head filled with dark thoughts.

Vegetto had been gone for two months. Trunks, Goten and Gohan did go look for him, but Vegetto hid his ki so well that they didn't perceive even a hint of his aura. The group was in despair.

'What happened that day, Bulma?' asked Kulilin, hurt by the loss of Vegeta all the same.

'Well... he left, like that. Without warning.. And... without telling where he was going...' stammered Bulma, embarrassed.

'Yes, we know that.' said Kulilin. 'But what I want to know is what you did before he left. He can't be gone like that.'

His perceptive remark was answered by a whisper.

'I... I don't know what you mean...'

'Don't play dumb!' exclaimed Kulilin. 'I know Vegeta well, and Gokû better, but if there is one that I know best, it's you. And you didn't tell us everything.'

18 nooded at her husband's sentence while Bulma uttered less and less convincing explanations. She had been really attached to Vegeta she considered a true friend. She remembered the days when the group got together and she accompanied her husband because she had to. When he started laughing with his friends, she felt excluded. That's when she noticed Vegeta stood aside as well. That sudden likeness brought her close to that so secretive being.

'If you don't want to be here, why do you come every time?' He had asked her once.

'Because I accompany my husband...'

Then he had sighed, but not one of these bored, or annoyed sigh. A sigh that one does when something is amusing.

'We've a lot in common then...' had he said with his usual smirk.

That sentence started one of the few friendship of the cyborg 18's life. That's why she couldn't do nothing whereas Vegetto had disappeared.

'I'll help them.' she told Kulilin. 'I leave the child in your care!'

Kulilin wasn't given time to say anything for she had already flew away. She didn't need sleep, food or even water, which enabled her to fly to and fro accross the northern part of the country for a week without respite. 18 knew what she was looking for: remains of camps. Thanks to her speed, each time she found one, she knew in less than a second wether it was normal campers, boyscouts' camps... and if there was nobody around, then it was suspicious. But once again, he resolved the mystery of that encampment in the seconds that followed the discovery.

By the way, she approached the goal as she had found a one-person camp that was surrounded by so many animal carcasses that it could be none else but him. But it had been abandonned for long. Of course, that was when the others had been looking for him. Whenever they came within a 100 kilometer radius circle, even if they hid their aura, Vegetto detected them and left right away. In order to fly, they had to use a tiny bit of ki, and it was obvious that the fusion of Gokû and Vegeta couldn't fail to detect them. But 18 could fly at high speed without producing any ki... One day, she spotted a trail. A new fire, prints... He had been here very recently. Then she wondered: should she resume the search for fear of losing his tracks once again or warn the Z-team? She decided to carry on. She had always been a loner, it wasn't going to change now! And she rushed into the forest...

Vegeto was so close to nature that he had got rid of all clothing. He wandered in the forest without thinking of his personality troubles. For him it was now a bit clearer: he was Vegetto, new born of Gokû and Vegetta, heir to their memories. It didn't go further than that. He bent down at the river to drink a bit when he heard the sound of a brisk march. He turned around to come face to face with 18. She looked like she had spent day without eating, drinking or showering. When she saw that Vegetto was naked, she looked away.

'Wh... What are you doing here, like that?! Get dressed, you idiot!'

Vegetto had the same sheepish look as Gokû's.

'Nudity is very natural.' he made excuses.

'Why did you leave?'

Vegetto stopped thinking. For the first time since his departure, he was directly confronted with the problem.

'I... felt out of place with you...'

'And that's it?!' exclaimed 18, she was so offended that she looked back at him.

'How so 'that's it?' said Vegetto, upset that she didn't take his problem seriously.

'You say that you felt out of place, to me? 18? I don't even have a real name! I'm not even human anymore!'

Vegetto remembered the conversations between 18 and Vegetta. She had to go through a lot to be accepted... He lowered his eyes, ashamed.

'I had to find who I was... I live only through Gokû and Vegeta. I don't exist for you. I only am a kind of substitute...'

'Though, Vegetto, you, of all people, know what it's to lose a loved one.' 18 said, seriously. 'They need time to adapt to your arrival. I have to admit that I too was looking for Vegeta in you. But if I look closely, there is no Vegeta and no Gokû. Only you. Give them some times to come to term with it. Sooner or later, they'll accept you for who you are. Then, you decide if you want to take their roles, their famillies or if you want to be a full-fledged member of the group.'

Vegetto sat.

'I've to carry their legacy, despite the fact that I'm neither Gokû nor Vegeta... I'll think about it a bit more... To be sure making a too hasty decision... Tell them not to worry...'

18 allowed herself to smile a flew off. When she landed at her house, Kulilin let out a scream.

'My God! You haven't been eating for how long? Are you ok?'

18 smiled at her husband's attentiveness, he treated her like she was a china doll even if she was way stronger than he. She told him:

'I bring good news. Vegetto will soon come back.'

Kulilin sighed of relief. He had to admit that with such a circle of family and friends, it was a miracle that he hadn't died of a heart attack yet...

18 told the good news to everyone. They were delighted to know that their friend and relative was going well. In spite of a remaining anxiety, the tension decreased. Bulma had already written her apologies for her very... cavalier behavior. As for Chi-Chi, who hadn't got wind of that story, had already written her reprimand for Vegetto's so evasive behavior. During an evening, a familiar ki could be felt.

'It's him!' exclaimed Trunks as he ran out of his house.

'Him who?' asked Bulma, running after her son.

Vegetto landed in front of them. He looked more serene, and wiser too. His patched up clothes were really dirty, and it looked like he hadn't had a bath in months, yet, in spite of it, he seemed to be in good health. Trunks cried out:

'Dad! Where have you been?'

'In the northern mountains. I needed to... have a change of air.'

'Dad always said that 'a change of air makes everything better',' said Trunks, laughing as he remembered the excuse Vegeta always used when he slipped away.

Vegetto was smiling too. Bulma looked at him, confused.

'We'll have to talk.' sighed the Saiyan.

'I thought so...' answered Bulma, fatalistic.

Trunks felt he will have to celebrate the reunion with his father later. Great! He would have time to call Goten. He hurried into the house to call his adoptive brother. Bulma rubbed her arm.

'Listen, I'm...' she started.

'It's nothing.' Vegetto interrupted.

Bulma was taken aback. She stammered:

'But... Well, I mean... er....'

'You just lost your husband and your best friend. The loss of a loved one hurts a lot, but you hurt twice as much. It happens that I'm the merging of these two persons. So you found a way to find them in me. That's why you feel so attracted by me.' he said, perceptive. 'It's understandable. I'd have done the same if the opposite had happened. But it happens I'm someone on my own. You'll have to know me as Vegetto.'

Bulma was speechless. What could she answer to that? Vegetto looked up.

'Hey, the others are coming...'

Gohan and Videl landed in front of them.

'Dad! We were so worried! Are you alright?'

'I'm doing well, Gohan. We'll wait for the other. I've something to say to all of you.'

Gohan frowned but decided to resign himself to his fate. Ten minutes later, Kulilin and 18 arrived.

'We have felt your ki, Vegetto!' said Kulilin.

'Are you feeling better?' 18 asked.

'Feeling really better.' answered the brown haired with a bright smile.

He mouthed « Thanks » to the cyborg. Kulilin wondered what may have happened. His wife hadn't told him a word about these events. Then something suddenly clicked for Vegetto and he asked:

'By the way, Gohan, how come you arrived so fast? And with Videl?'

Gohan turned red as a beetroot and Videl, embarrassed as she was, lowered her head.

'Actually... Well... it's...' stuttered Gohan.

'We are an item since yesterday...' confessed Videl as she put a hand on her cheek. 'And we were in town today...'

Gohan tensed up, as if he was hoping to get fatherly approval. Vegetto laughed:

'But since the day I was born, I have been thinking you were together! At least, Gokû and Vegeta thought that when they saw both of you together!'

Gohan didn't know where to put himself. Bulma and Kulilin were smiling at him and 18 was glancing at him look of dismay. That lasted for about five minutes. At that moment, Goten arrived with his mother in his arms.

'Daddy!' he exclaimed as he landed. He litteraly threw his mother on the ground and pounced on the laughing Saiyan.

'Calm down, Goten!' he exclaimed as he caught his son in mid-air.

He looked around. Everyone was here. He took on a serious look.

'Listen, I could notice that when you see me, all of you, you think of the two persons you lost in that adventure. I'm the result of their merging, but I'm neither of them. I want that we wipe the slate clean and start all over again and that we really learn to know each other. I'm going to live on my own for a while, we'll see what happen then.'

'But...' Goten stammered, his eyes filled with tears. 'You don't want to be my father anymore.'

'Of course I want to!' exclaimed Vegetto. 'But I want to be seen as Vegetto, not as Gokû or Vegeta.'

Goten seemed to understand. Everyone admitted that when they were with Vegetto, they didn't see him as such. Krilin made the first move.

'Well, Vegetto, what have you been doing for so long?'

'Well, I thought a lot. Aside from that, I lived as a wild man. By the way, when 18 found me, I was naked.'

18 blushed and looked away.

'Don't remind me of that, please!' she growled.

'Oh, come on. There is no need to get into such a state about it!' said Vegetto, laughing.

Everyone but Kulilin laughed. Bulma interrupted them.

'Hey, I bought a new flat screen tv! Do you want to see it?'

'Fine, we know you got money...' 18, miserly as ever, muttered.

They came inside and the group marveled at the size of the screen: it was so big, it took an entire wall of the living-room! Kulilin asked:

'What of the image? It is nice or pixelized?'

'See for yourself.' answered Bulma as she threw the remote-control to him.

Kulilin caught it and was surprised by its size and its weight. He hefted it a few seconds then pressed the red button. The image appeared on the screen, more realistic than ever.

'That's cool!' Goten was completely in awe. 'We can have one like that, mom?'

'No...' replied Chi-Chi, dumbfounded.

On screen, they could see a newcaster interviewing Mr. Satan.

'So, how did you kill the monster?'

'It's easy! When I saw all the damages he was doing, it went on my nerve and I released my power. I smashed him into pieced, like that!' he said as he got up.

He made a sequence of basic blows and ended it with a side kick. Then he yelled and jumped as high as he could in order to kick the air and he landed with a backflip. He got up, rather winded.

'And that... phew.. how... ouch... I got it... over with.. that pink djinn!'

He finished his interview with his usual victory pose. The journalists seemed impressed.

'Once again, Mr. Satan has saved the world!'

Krilin, sickened, turned off the TV. Vegetto was gaping.

'He said that he did all the work?'

'Well, yes.' Kulilin sighed. 'It's always the same people who get the honors... Whereas others get all the work...'

'And you let him do that?' asked a surprised Vegetto.

'Yes. We'd get a lot of problem if everyone knew who the true heroes were.' said Gohan, philosophical. 'It's maybe best for us that Satan get all the honors, so we can be at peace.'

'Yeah... I still don't like that it's that pathetic loser that is in the limelight.'

'Do you want to take his place?' arshly asked Bulma.

'No, I never said that...'