"This Time Imperfect"
Chapter 7

Days ago, Zeniba's premonitions revealed to her a vision of a raven haired maiden clad in sapphire robes. Though she didn't know who the maiden was, her unmistakably divine presence was an experience Zeniba would not soon forget.

The Goddess, as Zeniba had chosen to call her, stood over Goku's bed as he'd slept and Realizing she had an audience, the Goddess looked over at her with a most unusual pair of golden eyes.

Before Zeniba had a chance to question the woman's identity, the Goddess spoke.

"It is not yet his time…"

Zeniba stiffened fearfully, "Who's time?"

The Goddess leaned down to comb her fingers through Goku's hair, "Vegeta, the crown Prince and heir to the throne of Vegetasei… As for Kakarott, there is much for this young Patrah to learn. The child he carries, the new Prince, is unlike any other."

Zeniba swallowed the anxious lump rising in her throat and dared to ask, "I have heard of a legend. Is this what you're referring to?"

"The legend of the Super Saiyan," The Goddess affirmed. "The fate of the Saiyajin lies in the hands of Kakarott and his unborn son. If anything were to happen to them then all would be lost." She frowned grimly, raven lashes fluttering. "The legend must be fulfilled."

"What of Vegeta then?" Zeniba pressed.

"The reign of the Icejin Empire continues to thrive despite all attempts to end it. Vegeta's presence on Yardrat would herald the destruction of your people and all that remains of my own." She lowered her hand to rest it atop the swell of Kakarott's belly. "Until the grip of the Icejin royal family is completely severed, I fear that my hope for the survival of the Saiyajin will be in vain."

Zeniba drew closer to the opposite side of Goku's bed and hesitantly closed her hand around the goddess' pale wrist. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"My powers are weak in the absence of Vegetasei." The Goddess clasped her hands, "I implore you, Zeniba, Elder of Migh'ak'azen, to discourage Vegeta no Ouji from making a decision he would come to regret."

…..
'I'm no closer to Super Saiyan than I was three weeks ago…'

Amidst a throbbing miasma of flickering ki, Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans, struggled to stand. Rivulets of glistening sweat bled freely from the straining contours of a physique that resembled something godlier than that of a mortal.

The royal snarled, his usually gravity defying flame of auburn flecked spikes hanging in damp heavy tendrils over his eyes and shoulders. Apparently that hair-brained scientist, Mr. Briefs, hadn't taken into consideration the true immensity of a Saiyan's power. The filtration units worked frantically to process the stagnant air into cool breathable oxygen but with the combined heat produced by his ki and the thrum of the Gravity Machine's power core, it was damn near unbearable.

With a strangled cry he dropped hard to his hands and knees. His arms, bulging and streaked with swollen veins, jerked in violent spasms as his back arched to resist the force pulling him determinedly to the floor.

'No…I-I can DO this! Get! UP!!'

A distinctively feminine voice broke his concentration, 'Vegeta…'

Vegeta jerked in alarm. "Nh?! Wh- Oh… NN!!" His elbows buckled and he caught himself before his face struck the tiles. He shuddered, troubled by the thought of his head, which felt as though he had a Buick resting on his shoulders slamming into the tiles in a spray of blood, bone, and brain matter.

Vegeta's eyes narrowed curiously, searching the vicinity through the crimson ambiance of the generator's backup lamps for the source of the eerie voice.

'Something… Something isn't right about this.' His ears pricked, listening for any sound aside from the dull hum of the gravity and the throttle of the ship's engines but even his ultra sensitive hearing couldn't pinpoint it.

'Vegeta,' the haunting voice spoke again, closer than before.

Painfully slow, his face contorted in agony, Vegeta looked up to level an accusatory gaze upon the invader but emptiness was all that greeted him. He paled.

'Your search is in vain. You must go back…'

Lips curled into a feral display of teeth. "SH-SHOW YOUR S-SELF!" Vegeta demanded, not sounding nearly as threatening as he would have liked.

'Go back to Earth. Wait there and Kakarott will come to you…' was the reply.

"H-He…" He let out an animal moan and lifted a shaking arm to grip the edge of the console to his right and struggled to his feet. "Y-You mean Ka-kaAARRRRR-GK-NGH!" He choked on the younger Saiyan's name, his joints afire and finally managed to pull himself upright again.

He wheezed, wondering if he'd lost his mind somewhere amidst his obsessive training. Perhaps One Hundred times Earth's gravity wasn't such a grand idea after all. The stress on his body was causing his brain to short circuit, inducing hallucinations and delusions of–

'You aren't going insane and you aren't delusional either. You're merely experiencing a telepathic bridge of communication between sentient minds, much like your rapport with Kakarott.'

'Who are you and what do you know of Kakarott?'

'Who and what I am are of no concern to you, Vegeta no Ouji. All you need to know is that he will arrive at the planet Earth in three months time, whole and unharmed. Return to Earth and train at your leisure. If you wait, your patience will be unduly rewarded.'

Squaring his jaw, Vegeta studied the glaring red digits inlaid into the computer's mainframe and fisted the large dial located below it. 'WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE YOU?' He gave the switch a sharp turn to the left and was relieved to feel the gravity steadily beginning to plummet.

'Because you have nothing left to lose,' was the ghostly reply. 'And I have no reason to deceive you. Otherwise I wouldn't have wasted my time to contact you, now would I?'

He groaned as the pressure on his ailing body lifted. 'I have many enemies, woman, if that is indeed what you are...' He paused before he continued, '…Why then, pray tell, can't I communicate with him?'

'If you're wondering if I'm to blame for that, then yes, I am. I've created a barrier to keep you from accessing the link for reasons that you'll soon realize.'

Vegeta seethed, unleashing a throaty growl. 'I won't participate in this foolishness!'

'As I've said… Be patient.'

"You're only trying to trick me!" He shouted aloud.

'The only trickery being committed here is of your own imagining.'

'Are you trying to protect him from something? Is that it?' Vegeta hissed.

'If I were to further divulge such classified information I fear that it would thrust our very existence into utter disrepair. I urge you to honor what I have said for a higher power has requested that I say nothing further.'

'That's fucking nonsense.'

'Only because you cannot comprehend what you do not understand. If you trust what I've said then you will soon acquire a wealth more precious than any of the monetary riches this universe has to offer.'

……

Vegeta waited for what seemed like an eternity for the voice to speak to him again despite how absurd it felt to be talking to a stranger he couldn't see. His vision spun and the wary prince swayed, grasping the console in a death grip.

What had she meant by monetary riches? Of course he had no desire for treasures! Now that Freiza was gone, the most important thing to him was achieving his ascension so that he could challenge Kakarott, defeat him, and then rightfully claim him. Was that so much to ask? Of all the things he could ever want, the ONE person in the whole god damn universe and he couldn't even get the stupid sod to communicate with him!!

Rage began to rise in him again, but he beat it back and muttered dejectedly, "If this is the way you want it then…." He sighed heavily, fatigue forcing the tension from his aching muscles. "Rot in hell for all I care…" His legs gave away, sending him crumpling to the floor for a second time that day and as unconsciousness swept over him a distant cry echoed fervently through the darkness.

'Don't give up!!'

……………

………..

That had not gone as well as she had hoped but then Vegeta was not one to trust anyone or anything. Considering his history, he had every right to be suspicious and she hadn't exactly asked for his permission when entering his mind.

Zeniba smoothed the folds of her bed covers and lay back against the mound of pillows, her fingers interlaced over her chest.

She didn't doubt that at that very moment he was denying the credibility that she even knew anything about him or of Kakarott's whereabouts. There was no proof and the Prince wasn't exactly in a coherent state of mind. Had she the liberty of sharing the entirety of the Goddess' message, would that have changed Vegeta's mind?

Zeniba gazed tiredly at the skylight above her where the twin moons of her planet shone brightly.

'Saiyans are such wearisome people…'

……………………

Zeniba stayed with me for a while after I'd gotten sick, feeding me more of that tea and a thick broth which reminded me of Chichi's beef stew, except without the meat. I didn't have a clock but I knew several hours had passed and by then everyone had turned in for bed.

I insisted that Zeniba try and get some rest too. She didn't seem to want to leave and it took a while of convincing her that I would be fine until she finally got up and bade me good night.

When the alien world had at last gone still, I lay awake listening with sensitive ears to the gentle sound of even breathes carrying down the empty halls. I turned to my side, my back to the door and gazed longingly at the window. The thin tapered curtains shielding the open panes billowed in the mild breeze, carrying with it the foreign scents of the night.

My abdomen clenched and I stiffened, fearing the sickness had come again but after several seconds, the compulsion to purge myself never came. I relaxed again, slipping my arms beneath the linen sheets to cradle the firm swell of my belly.

"I don't understand how exactly you got there," I said to it softly though I knew it was impossible that it could hear me (or so I thought). "I know that sex makes babies and how girls conceive but… how did this happen to me? What special part of me got you there, hm?" The warmth beneath my palms grew and I felt my face flush with surprise at the tiny throb of energy rippling through my body.

"Can you hear me?" I asked in a whisper.

My womb was silent and I lifted the sheets to find that there was a distinctive glow emanating from my middle. 'Well, that's just weird,' I thought. 'Is that normal?' The yellow ocher glow intensified and I pulled the covers over my head to have a better look in the dark but then something else more unusual happened.

Something fluttered and my hands immediately flew to my stomach. The little ki was acting strangely, flickering wildly and sending intermittent pulses of golden energy from my abdomen. Weird… Not only was I a pregnant alien man but now I was glowing in an inappropriate place. What else could go wrong?

A cramp seized my gut reminding me that something other than the baby was the cause of all this, something that was just about to reveal itself whether I cared to know or not.

b-dm… b-dm…b-dm…b-dm… b-dum…

I craned my head to listen closely. 'What was that?'

b-dm…. b-dhm….B-Dhm… BDHM…BUH-DUM…

'Is that my heart?'

I could feel something welling up inside of my mortal frame, tearing, clawing, and screaming to be set free. Wincing, I was pulled involuntarily from the bed and onto my feet as though I were a puppet on strings. Sweat began to pour from my brow and all over me, making my pants cling uncomfortably to my thighs.

God… My nostrils flared, senses hyper-alert. I hadn't felt like this since… since...

B-DUM.. BUDUM..B-DUM..BDUM-BDUM-BDUMBUDMBUDUM…

It began as a sharp twinge in my spine and even as I moved my knees popped, followed by my hips then shoulders and neck…. "Uhooooh, Gaaaawwwd!" My chest visibly throbbed from the thunderous beat of my heart, wrenching me forward.

BA-DUM. BA-DUM. BA-DUMBA-DHUMBDUMBHDMBUHDUMBDUMBDUMBDUMBDUMBDUM!!

One foot in front of the other, I shuffled like a zombie, inexorably drawn to the window ledge where the silvery light was strongest. I knew that no force in the universe could have kept me away from the silent call of the night and the growing need of savage release.

BHDOOM-BHDOOM-BH-DOOM!

I thrust the curtains aside and was awash in the radiance of not one, but two full moons.

"Ohgodno!" My gasp of awe turned into a moan as another spasm ripped through me.
"Nononono NO!" I scrambled to get outside, finally comprehending what was happening but helpless to stop it. I had to get away quickly before I hurt somebody! I fell clumsily head over heels onto what felt like grass and tried to get up and move but my body refused to obey.

The moons hovered like specters, leering down at me as if to say, "You can't escape us!"

Hair sprouted from my flesh, spreading all over me like wildfire. It itched like crazy and I started to scratch myself but found that my fingers had grown into claws.

"HhhhhhhhhnnnNNNNAAAAAHHH!"

With an anguished cry, my arms broke then lengthened soon followed by an audible crunch in my legs. Sinew and tendons snapped like twigs, re-knitting and stretching to accommodate a much larger frame. They bulged and strained the seams of my pants till I heard the rip of sweet release, but the growing hadn't stopped. It continued at a feverish pace, spurred by the lack of material constraint.

Tears lined my face and I curled into a tight trembling ball and promised myself I wouldn't forget and that I'd remember enough to resist the insatiable bloodlust that crept into my mind like a disease. I couldn't risk the lives of my caretakers… I just couldn't! I'd never forgive myself!

"If only," I started to say. "I-If ooooonlyyyyy HeeeeeewasSSSSSSrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRR!!" The words were strangled from my throat by the guttural sound of an enraged beast.

'Help me…'

I clenched my teeth and shut my eyes to will the pain away but my jaw felt funny and my teeth ached like hell.

'No… I – I can't…f-for……for…..forget… ……can't forget…'

With an abandon that only a child of the moon could muster, I raised the beginnings of a muzzle and howled for the only man I knew who could save me.

"VEGEEEEEE-TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

……
The enormous mass of roiling muscle and coarse chestnut fur broke from its tiny prison, no longer a man but a beast, shattering the perfect still with a lamenting dirge of loss and longing.

His cries carried for miles, far and wide across the placid landscape and further still, beyond the hills, the mountains, the endless gloom, and then rose higher and higher into the unlivable cosmos.

Somewhere, light years away, amid the chaos of space debris and colossal asteroids drifted a comparably infinitesimal craft. The globed ship, Black and white in color and brandishing Earth's Capsule Corp logo, came to a slow stop within the cataclysmic remains of a planet that had once been called Namek.

Alas, in a cruel twist of irony, the ship's sole occupant lay unaware of how close and yet so far he was from obtaining his goals.

Operating on auto-pilot, the engines quieted, save for the occasional thrushes of the boosters igniting to maintain the craft's balance.

Having spent the majority of his lifetime in space, Vegeta stirred, unused to the lack of sound only to be welcomed by a new and indescribable pain. He knew the price of his exertions had paid dearly on his body but hadn't expected to awaken to the sound of his own agonized screams.

Vegeta's stomach flopped and he retched, gasping into consciousness, realizing, in horror, that something terrible must have happened. He writhed, cradling his head in obvious distress. He'd heard it… How could he not? That sound…that spine tingling, gut spewing, all consuming sound that shook him to his soul had been Kakarott. He knew it, regardless of that woman's voice, which now he'd begun to doubt having ever existed at all. He knew he'd heard Kakarott calling him… It couldn't have been anyone else, certainly not his imagination.

He pushed tentatively at the link he shared with the younger Saiyan, 'Kakarott… What's happening to you?'

A flash of violent change flickered into memory then morphed and melted into a diffused blur. His eyes widened.

'The change.'

The image of wild abandon faded from his mind's eye thought it remained burned into the backs of his eyes. He quivered with primal desire, wetting his lips with a flick of his tongue. Kakarott was changing, transforming… without HIM.

"Nnn…" His temples throbbed. "I …I c-can't see you…the bitch was right… God DAMNIT, it WASN'T A DREA-AHGHK!"

Another wave of excruciating pain thrust him face down, molten white-hot agony radiating down from the base of his skull to the tip of his coccyx. Vegeta clawed the floor, attempting to take hold of something, anything, but the smooth, reinforced surface refused to give in to his failing strength.

Tears forced their way from eyes squeezed tight as the invisible daggers gouged, slashed, and tore their way through him. Gods, it felt… It felt as though a spike, possibly thousands were being driven into his back, grinding bone into dust!

Scarcely able to breathe, his mouth gaped, jaw moving, yet nothing save for a solitary bleat of protest managed to escape him. Vegeta heaved violently, forcing a searing bitter sea of yellow bile surging from his bowels.

He pressed his chin to his chest as the pressure of intolerable suffering reached critical mass at the festering area midway between his buttocks and lumbar region. Though he couldn't see it, he felt the anguished dermis beginning to stretch and bubble, then, at last, in a spray of hot blood, he heard the wet rip of something tearing free.

Vegeta collapsed, shivering in the sudden chill and in a stupor he somehow managed to crawl on all fours toward the far wall where the master thermostat was located. He'd set it to damn near arctic before he'd pulled that stunt with one hundred G's.

He paused, leaning hard against the wall. He hadn't quite registered what had happened and frankly, at the moment he didn't give a shit. It was cold and he didn't like being cold so regardless of the situation, he was going to fix that problem first before concerning himself with another one.

When the Prince felt that his head had stopped spinning, he stood on his knees and reached up to jab the master key, which in turn would increase the set temperature for the entire craft. Once he was satisfied that that had been completed, he returned to lying prostrate on the floor, utterly spent.

Vegeta groaned, clutching his empty stomach. Despite having just gotten ill, food was necessary to sustain his hyper metabolism. He needed energy; otherwise his body would find other means to obtain it by consuming itself. But first, he had to see if his suspicions were true… He glanced over his shoulder and lo and behold, sticky and matted with blood was his long lost tail.

A rare smile tugged at his lips, "Well I'll be damned…"

Trembling, Vegeta propped himself up on his arms and stared at the twitching length. "Hello, old friend," he mused, curling it toward him to assess its condition. He shook his head and chuckled, "Tch! Talking to my tail… I MUST be losing my mind."

He let his gaze wander to the mess he'd left, assessing the scorch marks littering the walls and floor. That was to be expected when training as vigorously as he was. His nose crinkled. It was the blood that irked him. He grimaced. And there was a lot of it.

"Hurt like hell but I suppose it was worth it, eh?"

Naturally, the appendage did not respond so the Prince set about dragging his tired ass to the kitchen below and getting himself something to eat. After that he'd get a much deserved soak in the tub.

He'd think about cleaning up later.

To be Continued…