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Chapter 2: Rain of Fire
The wind rushed past as Vegeta sped through the air towards Goku's house with Trunks and Goten tailing him closely. The ground below him became a blur as he kept picking up speed. The air around him had become cooler, and a strange calm seemed to have settled over the land.
Vegeta tried to stay focused, but his mind kept wandering. His only thoughts were of trying to stop what he knew was going to occur soon. Very soon.
The prince narrowed his eyes and scanned the ground. He quickly spotted what he was looking for. Slowing down, Vegeta dropped form the sky, descending rapidly.
He landed in the front yard and darted toward the door. He raised his fists, feeling more impatient than usual, and pounded on it. Receiving no reply, Vegeta sprinted around the house, glancing in each window. Finding the house to be empty, the prince sped around, back to the front yard where Goten and Trunks were waiting quietly.
"Where's Kakarott?" Vegeta asked in a harsher tone than he had meant to, causing both boys to flinch almost imperceptibly.
"I'm not sure," Goten said timidly. "My mom mentioned something about going shopping today."
Figures, Vegeta mused silently. Chi-Chi's gone shopping and she probably drug Kakarott along with her. Great. I can't wait around here.
Not waiting for the two young Saiyans to follow, Vegeta shot into the sky. He sped towards the city, Goten and Trunks struggling to keep up. Within a few minutes, the noise of the city drew nearer.
In the outskirts of the city, Vegeta and the two boys landed and took off running. Vegeta knew how much Bulma hated when he flew in public, and if she saw him, he would be in for another of her loud lectures. He dashed through the crowds of people on the sidewalks. No one seemed to take any notice of him.
Feeling Goku very near, Vegeta stopped in his tracks and glanced through the crowds and traffic, trying to find him. He abruptly turned his head toward a parked car a short distance from him after he heard a familiar voice through the raucous noise of the crowds and cars.
"Chi-Chi," the voice said in a childish whine, "I'm hungry. Aren't we done yet?"
Vegeta quickly pinponted Goku and Chi-Chi standing next to their car. Goku had boxes and bags piled high in his arms. He stood, balancing the stack of packages precariously as Chi-Chi fiddled with the car keys, trying to open the trunk.
"Goku, you cleaned out the refrigerator this morning," came her reply.
"I know, but that was over an hour ago! Can we please get something to eat?"
Chi-Chi had finally succeeded in opening the trunk and was taking the boxes from Goku's arms, loading them into the car. No longer having to worry about dropping any of the packages, Goku began restlessly switching his weight from one foot to the other.
This whole scene was actually quite comical, and Vegeta just stood there for a few seconds, watching in amusment. Realizing he had become distracted again, he cleared his head and marched over to Chi-Chi and her restless husband.
Goku immediately sensed the prince's prescence and turned to face him. "Hey, Vegeta!" The third-class gave him a friendly slap on the back.
Vegeta didn't return the greeting. "Kakarott, I must talk with you. Now."
Goku gave him a slightly puzzled look and began to follow when his wife's voice made him turn back around. "Umm, Goku?" Chi-Chi said softly, facing the once bustling, noisy crowd.
Following Chi-Chi's gaze, Vegeta saw that traffic had stopped dead in the streets, and the crowds of people were now gaping up at the sky. The earlier ruckus had died down to astonished, bewildered murmurs.
Vegeta slowly shifted his eyes to the blue sky. Several bright lights had appeared and were zooming towards the earth. His ears picked up a faint whistling sound that was rapidly growing louder. As they grew closer, he could finally make out what they were.
Several huge balls of flame were shooting towards the city. People stood fixated on these strange projectiles. Then the eerie quiet was broken.
The whistling sound had grown to a loud piercing noise accompanied by the frantic cry of the people as they tried to move out of the path of the firy spheres. Cars were abandoned as people fled for their lives.
Vegeta found himself being shoved around by panicked citizens. He glanced over to see Chi-Chi cling to Goku, her eyes wide. Goku's face held an expression of grim determination. Peering back up at the sky, Vegeta saw one of the balls of fire zoom over his head. It landed a few seconds later.
The ground beneath his feet rumbled as a rush of hot air blew past Vegeta. A huge, billowing explosion rose a short distance away, lighting up the sky with its brilliant, flaming glow. He now became aware that a hand had roughly grabbed his shoulder.
The prince spun around to see Goku, pointing to the sky with a quavering finger. Another of the massive projectiles was hurtling towards them. Vegeta felt the heat as it approached, and he spun on his heel, trying to get out of its path.
Goku watched him and followed without hesitating, dragging along Chi-Chi who at this point was now screaming. Vegeta's expression was grim as he realized that what he thought had been a nightmare was now becoming reality.
A voice from the panicked outcries reached the prince's ears. "Papa! Papa!!"
Vegeta whirled around and saw Trunks and Goten running up to him. Both of the boys' eyes were full of panic. Without a second thought, Vegeta grabbed their arms and lead them after Goku who was a short distance ahead.
The prince looked over his shoulder just in time to see a fireball smash into the building across the street. A massive explosion erupted, sending the surrounding buildings up in flames.
Vegeta found himself flung into the air from the force of the explosion. Trunks and Goten were ripped away from him, their cries lost in the loud roar. The searing heat rushed past him as rubble was thrown high into the sky. Dust billowed in a great cloud around him.
Vegeta was slammed into a nearby building, then fell hard to the ground. Slightly dazed, he pushed himself to his knees. His eyes began watering, and he blinked, trying to clear them. He opened his mouth to try calling out to anyone who could hear, but instead began coughing, choking on the thick, dusty air around him. His ears picked up scattered moaning and wailing.
As Vegeta climbed to his feet, the ground beneath him quaked violently. Another explosion could be seen over the buildings that were still standing.
After a few minutes, the dust had cleared just enough for Vegeta to see. The prince scanned the piles of what used to be buildings for any movement. He slowly walked forward, treading carefully on the huge chunks of cement and glass.
Explosions continued to shake the earth as Vegeta knocked aside the rubble, searching for his son who had been torn away from him moments before. Suddenly, he caught sight of a hand reach up through the cement rubble and begin pushing aside the heavy stones. Vegeta darted as fast as he could over to that spot. He bent over and moved aside the sharp pieces of cement, assisting whoever was trapped beneath.
After several seconds, Vegeta immediately recognized his son's lavender hair. Trunks sat up slowly, disoriented, and began coughing. He had scratches and scrapes on his arms and face, but other than that, he was not seriously injured.
Trunks continued coughing as his father pulled him to his feet. Suddenly his eyes went wide, and he began glancing desperately in all directions.
"Where's Goten?" he said in a panicked voice. "Where is he?!" Trunks turned away from Vegeta and began searching for his best friend. The young Saiyan stumbled as he kept catching his feet on the sharp chunks of cement. He continued to call out Goten's name in a desperate attempt to find his friend.
Vegeta peered up at the sky, seeing more of the fireballs shoot towards the earth. The odd thing was that they landed further away each time, almost in a straight line. The ground rumbled with each impact, the sky aglow.
Vegeta heard grunting behind him, and he spun around. He saw Goku slowly walking across the stone rubble, his wife in his arms. His expression was grim.
"Kakarott?" Vegeta asked in a low voice, motioning with his eyes at Chi-Chi.
Goku didn't look at him, but instead gazed down at Chi-Chi. "She's alright. I think she just passed out from being so scared."
Vegeta saw no injuries on Chi-Chi. Looking at Goku's face, he saw the Saiyan flinch, then relax his face slightly. Vegeta then saw the deep gash running the length of Goku's upper arm.
Seeing that the prince had noticed his injury, Goku put one of his brave smiles on his face. "It's not bad. I'll be fine."
Vegeta didn't bother to say anything else, and turned his gaze back to Trunks who was still calling out his friend's name. Suddenly, Trunks dashed over to an area a short distance from him.
Vegeta began walking over to his son who had begun moving rubble away. He then saw a head with dusty, black hair pop up. Trunks had succeeded in finding Goten and was now helping him to his feet. Goten appeared alright with similar scrapes and scratches as Trunks.
The prince stopped and stared back up at the sky. The fireballs could barely be seen anymore, landing much further away. Vegeta quickly became aware of Goku standing next to him. Goku was supporting Chi-Chi who was now awake but very confused.
"What happened? What were those?" Goku asked, his face full of worry. He saw the look on the prince's face and lowered his voice slightly. "Do you have any idea of what is going on?"
Vegeta didn't take his eyes away from the sky now blanketed with smoke and dust. "All I know is that whatever that was is only the beginning."
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