Despondent Soul

Prologue

His eyes were sharp, and his jaw clenched, staring mindlessly into his soul through the mirror's reflection. He could hear them. The harrowing cries and shrieks of mercy that had fallen on deaf ears. It was a thrill to kill, to see the fear in his victim's eyes. The sick joy of evil that came with wanton violence and annihilation.

There was no denying it. His retribution for all his heinous crimes will be served in hell, and he accepted this. There was no chance of reincarnation for him. There were too many lives lost to his own selfish acts.

On witnessing the heroic act from his rival, something ignited inside him that day. Kakarot sacrificed his life to protect others. As courageous as it was, it also demonstrated how different Vegeta was to the lower class Saiyan.

No matter how many times he tried to surpass him, he had only ever managed to be one step ahead. Just as he was ready and willing to prove his strength, Kakarot instead took one step ahead of Vegeta and gave all his trust to Gohan before sacrificing himself.

He gritted his teeth and glowered at his reflection. He has only ever been seen as the second fiddle to that lower class wretch. Vegeta was convinced that's how he will be seen next to his rival's son as well once he's grown. He vowed he would retire from fighting, but the thought of Gohan being regarded as the Earth's new protector while the prince of a warrior race sat on his hands left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"There is just no way," he grunted to himself, and slammed a fist against the mirror, "there is just no way the boy will be strong enough if any future threat were to arise, his mind is focused on studying rather than maintaining his strength."

Vegeta's mind focused on the recurring nightmares of his past, and the unsettling feeling that Kakarot trusted his hybrid son over Vegeta to protect the planet.

Had kakarot not seen Vegeta's full potential? He had given it his all, trained hard in the hyperbolic time chamber and yet— that didn't seem enough to prove he is worthy of a rematch from when they first fought.

It was something the two had discussed before their fight with Cell. Kakarot saw it more of a banter, and something playful between the two much to Vegeta's despise — he did enjoy sparring with him, not that he'd ever let on his true emotion.

His eyes darted around his reflection, and he fought back the tears of frustration, "what the hell were you thinking, trusting your son to protect this planet?.. And what should it matter!? You and that half-breed are... Beneath me..."

A soft knock on the door behind him brought him out of his thoughts. He peered to the side seeing Bulma glancing back at him with a look of concern. It could have only been for a few minutes, but it felt much longer. They spoke no words and maintained their eye contact through their reflection in the mirror.

"What do you want?" He finally spoke with harshness in his tone. His deep voice sliced through the silence barrier between them like a knife through butter.

Bulma didn't seem affected by his aggression. She was used to it by now. She sauntered towards him with a small smile forming.

"Hey, it's okay to grieve, we are all still grieving too, but you know you can always talk to me..." she soothed, resting a hand gingerly on his shoulder.

A smirk formed on his lips, and he shook his head while letting out a mirthless chuckle, "Grieve you say?" Bulma opened her mouth, about to say something else before he interrupted her, "It's bold of you to assume that I am grieving."

Vegeta scoffed as Bulma looked at him with doubt heavily etched on her face. Why on this Godforsaken Earth did Bulma assume he was grieving?

He had all these pent-up emotions inside him even before the third class decided to sacrifice his life. It only hindered him more since realising how soft he had become as he grew accustomed to the earth's inhabitants' culture. But of course, only now has his emotions seeped through the surface. He was no longer able to hold it all in.