Final Fate

The falling out

Son Goku met Aspar's gaze and knew in an instant that he was going to die. He saw the Saiyan's hand rise, felt the immense power gathering in it and knew he had to do something. His heart skipped a beat. Instinctively, due to his will to survive, he reached for his ki and summoned it. The power stone reacted, sending searing pain through his nerves, but Goku refused to accept it. It had to work, it just had to! The pain became greater, so great, so beastly great that all his veins, his muscles seemed to burn. As if someone was drilling red-hot needles into every part of him every second. He gasped, staggered, staggered backwards, Tales grabbed hold, prevented him from falling, together they looked at Aspar, the energy ball in his hand, the determined look. Goku's heart pounded for the second time, the third time, the fourth time. He couldn't defend himself, no one else would, he would die. Here. Today. At this very moment.

Never before had he perceived an aura so imbued with cold readiness and the will to sacrifice everything to achieve something; in this case, to kill him. This Aspar was willing to pay more than his life, more than his soul, more than he was himself. Is this how my opponents felt when I faced them?' Goku thought inappropriately. Did I also radiate such an aura? As cold as ice and as hard as a Dragonball? His heart beat for the fifth time. He had the feeling that he could hardly breathe, that this aura, like an icy, cold hand, was wrapped around his heart and squeezing it mercilessly. No, not even Piccolo, who had wanted to avenge his father, had radiated such an aura. For the sixth ...

... Goku's heart skipped a beat and he experienced something so bizarre that for a moment he thought time had turned back. If he thought he had never felt such energy and determination in his life when his heart beat for the sixth time, he thought it again when it beat for the seventh time. Not a word, not a sound, nothing, absolutely nothing had signalled this black, cold and determined ki that covered the entire throne room. It was simply there, from his sixth to his seventh heartbeat, covering everything and everyone like a gossamer web of mist and choking off the air. No one dared to breathe. If Aspar's aura had only affected him, this new aura simply affected everything. It crawled under the skin of everyone present, made you shiver, paralysed your heart, your breath, even your soul. And there was no mistaking who it came from. It could only have come from one person in this room. Could, no MUST!

Even though there was still the energy orb in Aspar's hand, even though there was still the possibility of his imminent demise, Son Goku had to turn his head. He had to know, had to know if he was right, and of course he was right. It was Vegeta who was emitting that aura and like everyone else in the throne room, Goku now looked to him. What he saw caused something in him that he could not name. Something he didn't even realise at that moment, but it happened and it changed something, actually it changed everything, but it remained unrecognised. For the ninth time.

The King of the Saiyans had risen from his throne, quietly, relaxed, as if he had all the time in the world and as if seconds were not the issue here, he had descended the steps of the gallery of his throne, raised his arm, gathered energy, aligned it and only then allowed his aura to obey his will. He was angry, furious, so incredibly angry ... and calmness personified. Perhaps that was why his ki was so terrifying. While Goku had found it blazing and alive in their fight, it was now silent and deadly. Whereas Vegeta had seemed determined, even euphoric, during their duel, he now seemed to Goku like a reaper with his scythe, intent on bringing about the death of every single blade of wheat unless exactly what he wanted happened. And what he wanted was clear. His outstretched arm with the energy sphere pointed at Veran. The threat was unmistakable. If you kill Kakarott, I will kill your son. It didn't even need words. Goku swallowed, wondering why. His heart beat for the tenth time.

'You,' Aspar broke the silence and with it the eerie spell that turned seconds into eternities. 'Do you prioritise this Tràill's life over my son's?' 'Yes.' Goku blinked, his heart pounding, Aspar's hand twitching. Veran's face was stunned and white as a sheet, turning even paler, no, beginning to redden at these words, beads of sweat gathering on his forehead. Goku couldn't see any more people and he didn't want to turn his head, he couldn't, because he couldn't understand why this was happening. Why Vegeta... Aspar's aura flickered and drew his attention from his thoughts to the immediate threat before him. His life was still in danger. 'Why?' Aspar wanted to know. 'Because I am the Rìgh.'