Madness

Alternate- Dark Epilogue

Vegeta was awoken by a loud shriek and a crack on the head. He blinked at the ceiling, shivering. Goku looked down at him from the bed. "Whatcha doing on the floor, Geta?" he asked. The moon was shining in through their window. Vegeta scrabbled to his feet and looked outside. They were... home, in the forest. He could see Piccolo's mountain, it's faint, snowy peak lit up by the moon. He leaned heavily on the window, gasping for breath. A dream? A freaking dream!? Was that all it had been!?

"Ya ok, Vegeta?" Goku got up too. "You're scaring me a little. What's wrong?" He put a hand on Vegeta's shoulder. The smaller Saiyan still shook. "Hey. Are you ok?"

Vegeta relived every single moment of his nightmare. How had that been possible? How could something so real have been a dream? He sat down heavily on the bed, still shellshocked. "I'm, uh..." His voice was shaking crazily. "I'm ok. I think."

Goku didn't look convinced in the least. His big, innocent eyes searched Vegeta's dazed, hollow ones. "Vegeta. Tell me what's wrong. Did you have a nightmare?"

"I don't know," Vegeta managed to whisper. "I... I don't understand. It felt so real. I've never had a dream like that before. Kami, I'm losing my mind over this." He pulled on his hair slightly, trying to ground himself. What in the world had happened? Was that really a dream or...?

He stiffened.

You can dream this away, just as You dreamed it into existence.

Vegeta slowly put both hands over his mouth as shock crept into his body. He began to shake with terror.

Don't you want to start over?

No. No. Had it actually happened!? Was this the new start the Darkness had promised!? Vegeta thought he was going to throw up.

Goku watched him, unsure of what to do. Vegeta was nearly in a state of panic. He could feel a dark realization, terror, and disbelief. "Vegeta, talk to me. What did you dream about?"

"No, no, no, this can't happen again..." Vegeta rasped, no longer hearing Goku. "I- I can't let it happen again. What am I going to do...? What am I going to do? It's going to start all over again. I- I- What if I do it again?"

"Vegeta, calm down!" Goku was getting really scared now. What was he going on about? "Please tell me what's bothering you."

"I d- don't think it was a dream," Vegeta choked, beginning to cry. "I- Kakarrot, it's all my fault... I don't know what to do! What if I make it happen again!?"

"I think we should go see Dende..."

Now Goku was almost panicking. Both Vegeta and Dende were in tears and completely inconsolable. "Guys, what the heck is going on? Dende?"

The little Namek tackled Vegeta, clinging onto him. "It's ok," he cried. "It's ok. We won't let it happen. I promise. We'll find a way to keep it out. I'm so sorry." When the two had calmed somewhat, Dende wiped away his tears and faced Goku, although he continued to keep physical contact with Vegeta. "Goku, I don't dare show you, but in another reality, one that Vegeta experienced and then came back to us from, a terrible sickness wipes out everything on Earth, including us. There's something inside him. And- And it wakes up and begins to infect everything. Everyone dies."

Goku stared at the Guardian. "That's... scary. And totally insane. And almost unbelievable, but this is Vegeta, so I think I will believe it."

"Hey..." Vegeta actually laughed a little.

"The point is," said Dende, "I want to try to disable this... thing, before it wakes up again. I can scarcely believe what I saw, but I know it's true. It's too crazy to be just a dream," he chuckled. "Doesn't really make sense, but I don't know how else to explain it." He smiled at Vegeta. "We'll fix this. I promise."

And they did.

But the Darkness never died. It watched itself, its small other half, and seethed in the silence. It huffed and turned its gaze to another Universe. Oh. There was another piece. Poor little thing was clueless...

Time to wake up.

The End