PART FOUR: TWO UNIVERSES IN BAD LUCK.

Chapter 18

Translated by Prince Vegeta

Vegeta walked calmly. There was no doubt that the Trunks of the future – that of the universe 12 – was stronger than the offspring of his universe. It unnerved him a little...

He arrived near the outskirts of Universe 12's wing while Trunks was violently beating down Coola near the end. #16, nearby, did not remove his gaze from the Saiyan Prince. The Android had been silently observing Prince Vegeta from Universe 13 in the same manner. There was a silence between the man and machine... Neither of them was the type to break the silence... Uncharacteristically, Vegeta broke the silence.

"You're more in shape than you are in my world right now," he said sarcastically, turning his back to lean against the low wall.

"You too," simply replied the Android, grinning inside.

Vegeta gasped for a second. That damn robot! Since when did Androids understand sarcasm? Especially, this one, of the three? And in two words he had replied so crisply! Vegeta thought he was being clever by bringing up the Android's destruction in his universe, but had forgotten that he, himself, had died in Universe 12... That robot was lucky to-...

"Dad?"

Trunks had just arrived. He was very surprised to see his father waiting there before his world.

"Hi Trunks."

"Uh ... hello," simply said his son, a little shy and embarrassed. He had so much to say, but now Vegeta was in front of him ... where to start?

"How you doing now?" Vegeta asked, genuinely interested in his son.

"Well ... very well," answered semi-Saiyan, not daring eye contact with his father, yet still smiling.

"How is your mother?"

"Very good! If I had known... I would have asked her to come... it would have given her so much pleasure to see you again..."

"And your girlfriend?"

“What? Uh, how do you... I... umm..." Trunks blushed.

"Trunks, in my universe, you don't stop having girlfriends. I know you're more serious than my son but I heard that you had someone."

"But, I never mentioned it... no!"

"Yeah, Gohan told me."

Glowing red, Trunks said, "Impossible!"

"I confess, I lied," Vegeta was smiling, "He didn't say anything, but you just revealed it."

Trunks grew silent, more embarrassed than before... Vegeta laughed... and this surprised his son, who had never seen him do so. He lost his discomfort, smiled back, and finally laughed before volunteering further information.

"She's fine. We’ve been together for almost two years, now. We already talked about a future and all..."

"I see ... Looks like I have a better chance of being a grandfather with you than with that other offshoot," Vegeta was watching his own son in the space 18. The teenager was still talking with his friend... Son Goten. In fact, it was the son of Son Goku who was having a bad influence on his son!

"I spoke with him earlier. It's impressive. I knew there'd be differences, yet..."

"Yeah, I noticed that you're still training?"

"That's right. On my way home, in my present, so your future, I thought about Gohan against Cell, and the level he had reached. I trained to one day reach that level too."

"And did you manage?" Vegeta asked, very interested.

Trunks did not answer...

"You can tell me, we're no longer facing Cell. I won't take it badly if you're stronger than me. But know that I had already reached that level two decades ago."

"Already?"

Vegeta smiled. Trunks did also. The father broke the silence again.

"I'm gonna head back to my wing, my fight will start soon it seems," he said when he noticed that the ring was almost repaired.

"See you later, good luck with your fight Dad."

"I don't need luck... These guys are small-fries for me ..."

And he went away just like that, leaving Trunks with a smile. He was really happy to find that to be so ... And he could not wait to get home to tell all this to his mother!

"That guy?" Trunks thought suddenly. But... wasn't that himself? Trunks made note that he would learn about his father during this fight. Moreover, this fight... Once his dad won, in the second round... Counting and grouping them by previous pair...Yes! In the second round, he should be fighting against his father!

While Vegeta came back into Universe 18's space, he put two fingers to his chin and looked thoughtful. Gohan and Trunks came back, and the former asked, "Do you mind going up against your father?"

Trunks, who for once had something tactful better prepared than Gohan, ventured to correct it with a smile:

"It's himself, not his father."

"Oh yeah?" retorted Gohan.

"But I do not care about him," suddenly declared Vegeta. "I'm trying to calculate when I'll finally be able to confront that clown Goku!"

Again, Gohan was surprised to hear "Goku" from Vegeta's mouth, he who kept saying "Kakarotto" all the through the years, even when they were no longer enemies, but rivals. He always called him that way when he was angry. But for twenty years, after the fight against Buu in fact, he had begun to call him Goku with increasing frequency. Besides the first time he had said that, everyone was almost shocked.

Looking back, Gohan was at a small party with friends to celebrate their victory over Majin Buu when it was first noticed! During the festivities everyone had stopped to look at Vegeta, who had become quite red. Bulma even asked him if he had not taken a hit on the head.

Since then, Vegeta had become much quieter, more pleasant in fact. But for Gohan, Piccolo, and even Kulilin, who had heard for a long time, "Kakarotto", it was still weird.

"Everything is ready," the host finally said, "The two competitors are preparing!"

Vegeta flew to the ring immediately. He had not finished calculating the time when he would meet his universe’s Goku ... Too bad he was going to end this fight quickly and go back to thinking about it right after.

Both Vegetas came to the ring exactly the same time, with the same movements with his arms crossed in front of their opponent. The Universe 18 Vegeta eyed his other self. First, he had a goatee ... it made him less credible. And his clothes looked ... kind of seedy, too simple, too brown. Finally, the last detail, King Vegeta has his Saiyan tail.

"What did you do to your title?" finally the king said, pointing fixedly.

"You know, in my house I have no one to rule."

"Nobody ... ?"

King Vegeta had heard that his people had been massacred in other universes. They were very weak! "But what about the real one?" he wondered.

The king decided to attack, without stopping the discussion. There was a point he wanted to check.

Attacking fists, the other Vegeta avoided his blows without getting tired. He asked:

"What happened to your people?"

"My people?"

"You have no subjects over which rule?" again asked the bearded king, while his opponent had to parry his fist.

"Now I rule ... no, I share my life ... simply. And not with subjects or vassels, but much better ... It's called a family."

Universe 18 Vegeta struck once to his right, throwing his counterpart. The latter rose, spitting a little blood, and began churning words out, angrily, accusingly.

While flying towards his opponent at high speed, he said:

"Family? Ho! It's your brat who insulted me just now?"

Bam, Universe 18 Vegeta stopped him with a hand gripping his hair and, whirling, threw his counterpart a little further, finally falling to the ground.

"It's his mother who was badly educated," then he replied.

Rising, a hand through his hair, King Vegeta continued his questions:

"You have traded your people for a family do you say?"

Almost mad with rage, Vegeta thought to himself, “this turncoat..!”, pouncing on his enemy as earlier. But the other stopped him easily, put him down quickly and pinned him to the ground with a foot.

"How weak... I have to ultimately thank Freeza. Nothing, you're nothing but a ghost of what I would have become if I had stayed on a pitiful planet named after me."

King Vegeta felt anger seething inside. "How does he mock a ‘pitiful planet’ named after him? That's his name, which was chosen as the one of the world! He truly denied his title of King of Saiyans?!"

"Like the other universes down there," said Vegeta, "You’re what I would have become if I had not found serenity on Earth."

"Hey Vegeta”, Raditz of Universe 13 said, “it sounds like the Universe 18 you is looking at you."

"What would you say if you could talk to the other you?" Nappa said.

"Surely they find me more classy in my brand new armor," Vegeta of Universe 13 smiles, "and you must admit, that one’s not very handsome with a beard."

"I knew that wearing a beard like my father would be ridiculous," Universe 18 Vegeta continued by setting down the 'king', as if he had heard what the members of Universe 13 had just said. "You confirmed it. But physical appearances aren't everything. Finally, he let the bearded man take a pause. Universe 10's Vegeta knew, even if he had not done so for many years, that he had only one slim chance to win.

"The Galick Gun, eh?” Universe 18 Vegeta said. "Go on, try to balance this fight with it, if you insist."

"Tell me, what is your goal if you do not rule?"

"Pushing my limits... and... fighting an old friend."

King Vegeta, dissatisfied with this response became enraged. After a few seconds of concentration of his strength, he shouted the name of the technique and carried out the attack. Opposite him, Vegeta stopped it with one hand without flinching. Even his hand did not reflect any damage, no scratches, no nothing.

"Is that all? You're really pathetic..."

"You talk a lot, and you don't have a tail! Aha!"

The King conjured a ball of light energy above his left hand while the Galick Gun began to fade.

"Close your eyes," cried the old King Vegeta to his people in space 10 when they saw this technique. "Nobody look at the sky! Otherwise we will not even fit in the arena!"

“Transform yourself into a full moon!" cried the current king in turn, swinging the ball of energy high in the night sky.

"Nappa, Raditz ..." Vegeta was calmly watching his Universe 13 acolytes.

"We know," replied the Saiyan with long hair, hiding his eyes with one hand.

Laughing, U10 Vegeta was transformed. His opponent did not care. He looked as always: cool, calm. The king began to grow rapidly, his hair and nose distorting, and his mouth, which became a snout, lengthened, and his clothes were torn quickly. Curiously, his beard was gone. Once at its maximum size, the Oozaru he had become let out a howl. It was strange, because from a distance, it looked like a big circus monkey on a ball...

"No one can defeat the king of the Saiyans!" Oozaru Vegeta yelled while beating his fists against his chest.

He attacked with a kick, as if to play with the ball that was the ring. But Universe 18 Vegeta dodged a bound on the side. The attacks continued, Oozaru stomping and smashing, but he could never touch his tiny foe. He tried to crush him then ... But his opponent, just stretching his arms above his head, escaped unhurt.

"Wha-?! .. How can you lift me so easily?!"

Universe 18 Vegeta gave him a small boost ... This was enough to rock the giant ape who toppled to the bottom, though the gravity of the ring was not enough to bring down a body as heavy as that of an Oozaru.

Having found his fight more difficult, King Vegeta jumped an incredible height to find the ring again ... But the other Vegeta, still folded arms, immediately attacked by a kick in the belly of the Oozaru, who spat in pain, gasping.

"The joke has gone on long enough," seeing that the Vegeta who was his opponent could not really do anything...

But still, it was still slightly surprising: the Oozaru jumped again, easily springing up, and threw forth from his mouth a thick line of energy that gushed into the ring and Vegeta. He simply held out an arm in front of him, and released his own energy beam. The two collided, there was an explosion, and then the radius of Universe 18’s Vegeta continued its journey as if nothing had happened, rushing in towards the Oozaru. He managed to push the ape into the artificial moon, piercing it. His trajectory ended in a small explosion.

Universe 18 Vegeta flew to recover the body of his now-humanoid opponent, in order to bring him up to Universe 10, where all the Saiyans still kept their eyes closed.

"You can open your eyes, Universe 18 Vegeta said to his father from another universe."

The old king then opened his eyes to find his son naked on the wall, and another son from another universe facing him, still with folded arms, who held his gaze a few seconds before turning on his heel. With that, Vegeta was had truly, permanently destroyed his former self...

"Universe 18 Vegeta - winner of the match!" shouted the leader in the microphone while the rival of Goku begin to think about when he would meet Kakarotto ...