Chapter 1: A Feeling of Darkness
The house was unusually silent. Bulma had gone into town grocery shopping to restock the fridge for several hungry Saiyans who had found it to be almost empty that morning. After breakfast, Trunks had gone off to see his best friend Goten. No other living soul was in the house except for one hungry Saiyan prince.
"Bulma had better hurry back with that food," Vegeta muttered to himself as he stood staring into the kitchen. He found the silence to be quite enjoyable. Trunks and Bulma were finally gone. Vegeta no longer had to put up with his son's jumping wildly around the house after her had consumed several bowls of some insanely sugary, chocolate cereal. The prince could not understand why Bulma was yelling at her son to calm down when she was the one who had bought him the cereal in the first place.
Vegeta turned and crossed to the window on the other side of the living room, his bare feet padding softly on the carpeted floor. He glanced outside briefly, then slowly headed for the front door. He reached it and hesitated with his hand on the doorknob. Vegeta closed his eyes to gather his thoughts, then opened the door.
He stepped outside, a soft breeze blowing through his black hair. The strange feeling had again returned. Over the past several days, he had been distracted. Nothing out of the ordinary had occurred lately, but Vegeta had a gnawing premonition that the peace and calm would not last much longer.
The prince strolled across the front yard, the grass cool under his bare feet. He stopped under the shade of one of the taller trees and leaned up against it, crossing his arms. The odd feeling had grown stronger every day over the past few days, and now he could no longer ingore it.
Finally having some time to himself, Vegeta collected his thoughts. He tried to come up with any explanation for what he had been feeling recently and had closed his eyes to focus. He did not notice the two approaching power levels.
He unexpectedly found himself tackled from behind. He shot out his hands to catch himself, landing on his hands and knees. Before he could recover, he felt someone climb onto his back, and another wrap a pair of arms around his neck. Then he heard two familiar, high-pitched giggles.
Trunks and Goten found it hysterical that they had caught Vegeta off guard. Goten had climbed up on the prince's back with one leg on each side as if riding a pony. Trunks had his arms wrapped affectionately around his father's neck, his eyes wide.
Vegeta sighed, exasperated and embarrassed to have been surprised. The prince slowly climbed to his feet, the two young Saiyans still clinging to him.
Vegeta grunted as Trunks and Goten tried to pull him back down to the ground. "What are you two doing here?" he demanded, becoming quite annoyed that his peace and quiet has been so rudely disturbed.
"We decided to come play over here," Trunks exclaimed cheerfully. He dropped to the ground, grabbed his father's hand, and began to pull him towards the house. Goten followed his best friend's motions and grabbed the prince's other hand.
Vegeta finally gave up trying to resist and let the two boys lead him to the front door of the house. He knew that yelling at them for barging in on his peace and quiet would probably bring about whining, and right now, he was not in the mood for their loud complaints.
Once inside the house, Vegeta quickly pulled both his hands free. He grabbed both boys and pinned them to the floor. Trunks and Goten began giggling and shrieking while wiggling around and struggling to free themselves from the prince's hold. Vegeta's sensitive hearing protested to the high-pitched screaming, and he quickly gave up.
He freed the two boys, and they dashed up the stairs to Trunks' room. Vegeta heard the door slam, and he just shook his head and sighed.
Feeling somewhat tired, he slowly walked over to the couch and sat down. After a few moments, he stretched out on his back and rubbed his eyes.
"I guess a little nap won't hurt," he muttered to himself.
The air was still and silent. Dark, menacing clouds covered the sky. Suddenly, a bright light pierced the heavens, and the earth began to tremble violently.
People were screaming in terror all around him as Vegeta watched fires explode up everywhere. Buildings began to collapse and crumble to the ground. As more fires blazed, deep cracks and fissures opened up in the ground.
People were running around in a panicked frenzy, trampling anyone who was in their way. Vegeta found himself being shoved around roughly as many fear-stricken citizens attempted to flee for their lives. Shoving his way through the crowd and chaos, he managed to make it to the sidewalk. Once there, he climbed onto the roof of a parked car. He rapidly glanced around in every direction, not quite sure what he was looking for. He soon noticed that the sky had slowly begun to take on a reddish glow.
Then he saw them. Tall, shadowed creatures dropped from the sky, cloaked in black and dark blue. They landed all around, too many to fight off alone.
The creatures did not hesitate as they began their rampage. They tore through the city, slaughtering everyone in their way. Vegeta watched in horror as many innocent people fell at the merciless hands of these creatures.
He jumped down from the car roof, and just began to run. He wasn't sure where he was going, just trying to escape from the awful creatures.
His escape was halted suddenly as one of the creatures dropped directly in front of him. This one seemed different than the rest. It was larger in build and wielded a weapon, a sword, unlike the others. But it was something about its eyes that held Vegeta frozen.
Its eyes seemed to glow as it stared, fixated on the Saiyan prince. It made no move, just stood and peered menacingly.
Vegeta had been completely overcome with a fear he had never experienced before. He could not move. No matter how much he wanted to, his arms and legs would not obey. His breathing had become short and panicked. His heart pounded in his ears.
The strange creature abruptly leaped into the air, above the prince's head. He let out a terrifying wail and flew down, swinging his sword powerfully.
Vegeta let out a cry as he jolted awake. His arms flailed around frantically, searching for some support as he sat up straight, his back rigid. His head spun, his vision blurred.
After a few seconds, Vegeta was able to focus. His hands gripped the back of the couch tightly, his knuckles turning white. He soon realized that he was shaking violently, and that he had broken into a cold sweat. His breathing was now in short, quavering gasps.
He struggled to collect himself. His breathing slowly became less rapid, but his heartbeat still pounded in his ears. Vegeta's grip on the couch gradually loosened.
"I can't...believe," he whispered softly, running his arm across his forehead to wipe away the sweat, "how...real that was! What a horrible nightmare!" Vegeta turned and swung his legs over the edge of the couch. He then leaned forward and rested his head in his hands.
His breathing and heartbeat had finally slowed down, but he was still shaking. "I wonder," Vegeta murmured, "if that nightmare was connected with what I have been feeling lately."
He now felt the presence of others in the room with him. Turning his head around slowly, he saw both Trunks and Goten watching him with worried looks on their faces. They stood silently at the bottom of the stairs, unsure of what to do.
He turned back around and closed his eyes. I have to tell someone about this, he thought. I know that something bad is going to happen. A slight chill went down his spine.
"Papa?" His son's voice made him open his eyes.
Vegeta stood up and faced the two boys. "We have to find Kakarott."
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