Quest: Kais

Chapter 43 - Kais

Too late. He was too late.

Vegeta had stayed with Piccolo, trying to detect that strange ki again, warning Kakorr to be alert. The still shaken Namek had finally gone to The Lookout under protest, leaving Vegeta on his own to hunt for their new enemy. He could feel Kakorr doing his own sweep for any more disturbances, but so far, there had been nothing.

He had no reason to be, but he was sure the Kais were behind this. It made no sense, though. All their planning – all their training – had been with the belief Vegeta would be the one they would go after. Why the Namek? If it was the Kais, why was his friend the first target? Why not come after him instead?

And then, suddenly, it appeared. A huge burst of energy.

::Kakorr – that’s it.::

::It’s Krillin. Vegeta, he’s here.::

He had cursed to himself and leapt to level three, rocketing to reach his mate. The instant he had reappeared Vegeta had recognized the kis and understood the Kais’ plan; his mate would be vulnerable. Kakorr was forgiving – saw the good in all – he would never raise his hand against the monk because they had been friends. Kakorr would never willingly hurt a friend – he couldn’t believe anyone else would either. The murdering bastard knew this – knew exactly how Kakorr would react – and was using it against him. The Kais must know – because of their bond, killing Kakorr would kill him as well.

‘Mister Hero. IT away now and the blast continues on to the house.’

He could hear everything through their bond, realizing with a sickening dread his mate and child were in danger. The ki was rolling over his mate, but Kakorr wouldn’t power up, wouldn’t teleport out of the path, wouldn’t do anything that might hurt or endanger the women or the baby any more than he had to. His mate would sacrifice himself again to protect his family.

::Damn it, Kakorr. Get the hell out of there. I’m still too far away to help.:: He could feel the blast burning his mate and hear the echoes of Chichi’s demand that he power up. Krillin had the power of the Kais behind him and was too strong with Kakorr in this state.

::Can’t. Baby. Rezu.:: The monk’s attack had gotten even stronger and Vegeta could feel Kakorr’s pain.

Vegeta cursed and wished he had gotten Kakorr to teach him that damned transmission technique.

::How can you protect them if you are dead? Please Kakorr…:: Even as he pleaded with his mate to fight back or retreat he knew it was too late. Kakorr’s pain was crippling, crushing him with the power of several Kais at once.

::It’s Krillin – he wouldn’t kill me. He’s just upset. He isn’t really bad.::

::He will, Kakorr. He’s…:: He wanted to say the monk was sick, evil… twisted – but his mate wouldn’t accept that. He’d want to help Krillin and Vegeta knew it was too late for that.

::I’ll be fine…I can protect them for a little bit longer like this. Just get here as soon as you can.::

::Please, Kakorr – don’t do this.::

He tried to fly even faster, hardly noticing the ground exploding in his wake. He didn’t notice anything but his mate’s increasing pain.

::I’m sorry, Vegeta…I should have listened. I’m sorry…::

He nearly screamed in anguish as his mate apologized to him. This wasn’t Kakorr’s fault, it was his. He should have expected this. He should have gone after the Kais when he had a chance. He should have found a way. He should have done something to prevent this. Now it was too late.

‘It’s your fault, Goku. You could have finished this years ago. Now I have to.’

He howled in torment as he felt Krillin’s power rise. His mate was suffering because he had shown Vegeta mercy all those years ago. Almost there. Please – let him get there in time. He could feel Gohan headed their way, but even with his Mystic powers starting to climb, he was too far to help.

::Vegeta.::

He felt the blast piercing his mate and nearly fell from the sky.

Vegeta swore and righted himself, fighting to control his side of the bond. Kakorr was struggling to move to protect the woman, but it was nearly impossible – Vegeta could feel the damage to his spine, taking the use of his legs from him. He could feel Kakorr’s agony, making it nearly impossible to function. He had to block so much of his mate’s suffering out if there was going to be any hope of helping him.

But he couldn’t block the sounds. Chichi was weeping and cursing at the monk, while the murdering little bastard just laughed.

‘Don’t worry bitch – you and the little Saiyan mutt are next.’

‘Krillin…please…don’t…it’s just a baby,’ Kakorr pleaded.

He arrived seconds later to a scene out of his worse nightmares. His mate had somehow managed to drag himself over to Chichi, trying to use his body as a shield. The monk stood behind him, hands coiled tightly around his mate’s tail and to Vegeta’s horror wrenched hard, jerking Kakorr off the woman, crushing delicate bones, eliciting an excruciating scream from his mate.

Vegeta didn’t slow at all, launching himself at Krillin, kicking him clear of his intended victims, the ball of ki the monk had aimed at the woman flying wild. He landed beside his mate, growling angrily, glaring through the golden hair falling around his face at the bastard who dared to attack his family. His tail snapped once in rage before coiling protectively around his waist.

Kakorr was hardly moving, his agonized moans loud in his mind. The woman was obviously uncomfortable, but he could do nothing to prevent it – he couldn’t defeat this menace with his ki down. They would have to hope any injuries she received because of it were easily healed – it was better than her and the baby dying at the murderer’s hands.

“What are you waiting for, Vegeta?” Chichi demanded, “Kill him.”

Krillin laughed, “Give it up, you cocksucker. When Goku dies, so do you. He’s not in very good shape, is he?”

Vegeta snarled and leapt at the bastard, hitting him with everything he had, blasting him repeatedly at short range. He felt the monk’s power rise, that strange ki eclipsing Krillin’s own. If there had been any doubt before, he was sure now. Krillin was working with the Kais – that was their energy, not his.

Krillin just chuckled knowingly and fought back with uncanny speed and strength, apparently not affected by his bloody injuries. Vegeta scowled – a normal human wouldn’t be standing after the punishment he had just received. Even worse, the bastard’s punches and kicks were strong enough for him to feel. The monk threw a powerful ki attack at him, Vegeta just barely able to deflect it in time.

The monk went on the offensive, using the strength of several Kais to press him back. Kakorr’s wounds were affecting him through their bond, his concern for his mate’s safety nearly destroying his concentration. Vegeta tried to feel for any Kais nearby, planning to kill them so they couldn’t provide any more ki to his enemy. The amount they were giving Krillin was making the monk a challenge. Vegeta snarled in fury when another blast got through his defenses enough to shred some of his clothing.

“Not feeling too good, are you?” Krillin sneered. “Without Goku, you’re nothing. Just a pitiful little excuse for a monkey.”

Vegeta kicked the little prick in the ribs, smirking at the satisfying crack of bones under his foot. He couldn’t let the murderer know how close he was to the truth. He hoped Gohan would reach them soon – he didn’t want to admit it, but might need the boy’s help to take down this monster. Kakorr’s injuries were draining him; the echoes of his pain making him want to scream. He had to tap into their shared power and finish this quickly – all without taking any of Kakorr’s ki from him.

“Give it up, Vegeta. Goku’s good as dead. There’s nothing you can do. The Kais gave me this. Mystic. Just like Gohan is…” The monk glanced to the sky as Gohan arrived. The teen suddenly began to plummet from the sky. Krillin smirked, “Sorry. Was.”

“He was your friend!” Vegeta howled and launched himself at the monk. His entire pack – his family – was in danger because of Krillin’s betrayal; if he and Kakorr died there would be no one else strong enough to protect them from this psychopath.

“Not anymore. All Saiyans have to die.” Krillin laughed and threw a ki-charged punch that snapped his head back, “Want to know why your planet was destroyed? Do you? Because of you. All because of you,” he sneered. “The Kais told me - Frieza wanted to keep you as a pet and as long as your people were alive you were a threat.”

“I’m still a threat, fool,” Vegeta growled and struck him, doing his best to hide his horrified reaction. No. He couldn’t afford to listen to these lies. Even if it were true… It was the past. It didn’t matter anymore. Kakorr was dying – his mate needed him.

“How’s it feel, asshole? Knowing your race died so you could be Frieza’s buttmonkey?”

“Shut up!” Vegeta snarled and threw himself at his enemy. It didn’t matter, he told himself. He slammed a fist into the monk’s gut. It didn’t matter. Another punch to his gut. This monster had hurt his mate. He was so angry he couldn’t feel the blow to his face from the monk. He had tried to kill his child. Vegeta hit him over and over, his fury keeping him from feeling the punches the monk got through his defenses. The only thing that mattered was protecting his mate and his pack from this evil. The monk was worse than Frieza, hiding behind friendship, using it to take advantage of Kakorr’s trust. Vegeta was blind to everything but his opponent – the monk had to die.

Finally Krillin was standing unsteadily, his injuries more than a human should be able to survive. Vegeta wrapped a crushing hand around the monk’s neck.

“Sure. Go ahead. Kill me,” Krillin said through swollen lips and missing teeth. “Doesn’t matter. When all of you monkeys are dead the Kais will bring me back.”

“Vegeta!”

He snapped his head around at Chichi’s panicked scream. To his horror, there was a Kai standing over his defenseless mate – and then they vanished.

“No!” he shouted. Kaibito - that fused purple bastard – had used his teleportation to kidnap his mate!

“You Saiyans are such suckers,” Krillin snorted. “You’re dead, Vegeta.”

He screamed in fury as he twisted the bastard around, wrapping his arms around the monk’s body and head. With a seemingly effortless twist and snap he ripped the murderer’s head right off his neck. With a satisfied growl, he released the now-limp torso, ignoring the blood spraying from the still-pumping heart that hadn’t gotten the message yet. Vegeta stared into the surprised eyes of the head in his hands before tossing it into the air and incinerating it.

“So are you,” he muttered.

“Vegeta?” Gohan landed nearby, slightly shaken, but apparently uninjured, “My Mystic powers just…vanished. What happened? Where’s Dad?”

He stared at the boy, unseeing, as Kakorr’s fear washed over him. He nearly moaned at his mate’s terror at being nearly helpless and in the hands of their enemies.

‘Why, King Kai? Why are you doing this? We were friends…’

“The Kais…they took back the powers they had given you. They caused all of this…” he said angrily. Kakorr’s pain was leaking through the walls he had hastily thrown up, making him feel weak even as his ki flared around him.

“VEGETA!” a voice shouted as something hit his face. He caught his attacker’s hand and stared into the black, angry, tearful eyes of Chichi.

He released her hand and looked at her in confusion. Shouldn’t the baby be protesting being this close to him? He felt so lost – he didn’t know what to do – how could he rescue his mate? “He’s dying,” he whispered, “Kakorr’s dying.”

She slapped him again, but he barely felt it. “Snap out of it! Save him. Krillin killed Rezu. You can’t let Goku die too!” She grunted as the baby kicked and he started to lower his ki. She must have felt the change because she went to hit him again, but he caught her wrist. “Don’t you dare give up! I can survive a few more kicks. I won’t let you use me or the baby as an excuse.” She began to cry, “Save him, damn you. Save him!”

“Mom! Stop it!” Gohan said, wrapping his arms around her as she starting swinging at Vegeta in her grief.

He stared at her, still full of frustration and helpless rage. There was so much blood on the ground and on the woman – his mate’s blood. Kakorr’s blood. Blood that had claimed him and filled up the emptiness inside. His enemies had his mate and they were out of his reach. Kakorr couldn’t focus on any ki enough to return on his own. When his mate died, so would he. The Kais were going to win after all.

“Dad’s not on Earth, Mom. We can’t get to him,” Gohan said apologetically.

Chichi slumped to her knees, weeping. “He’s afraid of being alone, Vegeta. No one should die alone.”

He moaned – he could hear the Kais around Kakorr – the voices sounded like that bug King Kai and the old Kai he had met during the whole Buu fiasco.

‘I’m sorry, Goku, but you brought this on yourself. You should have behaved.’

‘I told you – Saiyans make lousy pets. You should have stuck with humans. This one should have been put down years ago.’

‘I’m not a pet. I’m a Saiyan and you can’t just kill me like this.’

The Kais were going to kill Kakorr – and there was nothing he could do to stop them.

TBC