Welcome to Boxer & Rice

"Yamcha, I'm afraid. Vegeta hasn't come home yet. He's been gone for three days." Bulma said with a serious tone. The situation was quickly becoming more and more of a source of anxiety to the genius.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon. Don't worry, he can take care of himself." Yamcha answered as he sipped his beer unworriedly.

"He's gotten worse."

Yamcha sat down his beer can slowly and looked deep into Bulma's eyes. "What happened?"

"He was in his room screaming and throwing things. There was a look in his eyes like a cornered animal. A cornered animal that would do anything to get out of the corner. I've never seen him like that before. Not even when he was the enemy," Bulma said quietly as she remembered the chilling scene.

Yamcha leaned back in his chair and gave a deep sigh. Staring at the ceiling to avoid the worried gaze of his friend, he tried to think of something consoling to say. But when it came to Vegeta, there wasn't much you could say to assuage one's fears.

Vegeta was becoming a problem. There wasn't a nice way to put it. Over the years he had transformed from a cool and calculating man of pride to an irrational and unstable loose cannon. Every remark set him off. Every slight glance had him on edge. And it got worse every year.

There was something wrong with Vegeta and it was killing him. Not eating away his body like some infection, but eating his mind like a cancer. He was getting harder to control.

It was like he couldn't even control himself.

And a man with that much power but no control was a very dangerous man.

They kept a horde of liquor solely for Vegeta. At least when he was drunk he could be manipulated to an extent. But it took a lot of drinks to get him that way. And there was no telling how long it would work.

There was going to be a day when no one could stop Vegeta. Not even himself.

"What do you think we should do?" Asked Yamcha finally, afraid of putting more stress on Bulma by dragging out the conversation. Vegeta had never done anything drastic before, and it wasn't unusual for him to disappear for weeks at a time. Yamcha wasn't sure what had made Bulma so upset this time, but he was sure the Prince would come back eventually.

"We have to find him. And when we find him..." Bulma trailed off hesitantly.

"And when we find him?" Yamcha asked, taking another swig of his beer.

"And when we find him we have to stop him somehow," the scientist said resolutely.

"Do you really think it's that serious?"

"I don't know anymore."

~*~*~*~*~

Vegeta sat beside the stream. 'This is the stream. This is where my life ended. This is where I died. I died so long ago. You killed me. You killed me, Kakarot. It's your fault. You killed me.

I would have given my life for you an infinite number of times.

But instead you killed me.

What was wrong with me?

What was so wrong that you had to kill me so brutally?

You ripped out my heart with your bare hand and killed me.'

He sat staring into the stream with a blank look in his eyes. He didn't notice the animals playing chase around him. He didn't notice the bird chirping in his hair. There was nothing in his world except for the stream.

The stream was fast and dark. It overran with Vegeta's blood. Nothing could live in those corrupted waters. Its current threatened everything that came too close. As if it would pull any unsuspecting passerby into its red depths and hold them close in its cold embrace. The stream had had a taste of blood and it wanted more.

It wanted more of Vegeta's blood.

It wanted Vegeta to come rest in it and never leave.

The dark depths and quick current beckoned him to come share its rapture. Share its secrets. Share its darkness.

Vegeta's eyes widened as he took all this in. Unfocused eyes watched the light reflect off a crystal clear surface. They watched the lazy stream slowly roll over smooth rocks and a sandy bottom. Watched small fish flit through the shallower parts.

Hearing a twig snap behind him, he was suddenly on alert. Standing quickly, he scanned the area for anything that may be a threat. After not sensing anything after a few minutes, he began to calm down.

But that's always when they get you.

"Staring at a river now? Man, Vegeta, you must be really fucked up nowadays," came the voice that haunted his dreams. Haunted him always.

Vegeta whipped around to see Goku leaning casually against a tree with his arms crossed.

The taller Saiyan smirked before standing straight and ambling over to where Vegeta stood. "Hmm, now why does this look so familiar? Oh yes, I remember now! This is where you kissed me, Vegeta! You do remember, don't you?" Goku said with a snicker.

Vegeta's hands clenched tightly at his sides and a low growl began to build in his throat.

"Come on, Vegeta, don't be mad," Goku said with a sexy grin. "So tell me, was it as good as you had imagined? As you had dreamed about it being?"

Vegeta's fist flew through the air quicker than any normal human would be able to see it, however, Goku dodged the punch easily.

"Don't be that way, Vegeta. The man of your dreams comes from the Other World to visit you and this is how you welcome him? Not even a 'Kakarot! I've missed you so much! Please, oh please, take me away to be your love slave forever!'?"

"Shut up and leave me alone, Kakarot! Just go away and leave me alone! Why can't you just leave me alone and stop fucking with me?! I know you only came back to torment me! BUT JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" The irate Prince shouted as he powered up to Super Saiyan.

Teeth gnashing and ki whipping around him wildly, Vegeta prepared to kill the bastard that had killed him so many years ago. Kill him and make sure he never came back to haunt Vegeta again. Kill him and cure Vegeta. Vegeta could regain his pride if he killed the person who had killed him.

"Oh please, not these little games again. You know you're no match for me, Vegeta. Why do you even bother? You'll never beat me," Goku said with an amused chuckle.

"Just face it. You're a weakling."

The words stung Vegeta like a fully-powered blast would have. The breath was literally knocked out of him and he was forced to take a step backwards.

The other Saiyan had called him a weakling.

Weakling.

The root word of weakling is weak.

Weaklings are weak.

Weak.

"NO! I'M NOT WEAK! I'LL KILL YOU, KAKAROT!" Vegeta screamed as his power soared higher and higher.

Goku shook his head unheedingly and turned his back to the other man. "Come on, Vegeta. You know you can't kill me. Even as fucked in the head as you are, you still love me too much to kill me," he said as he inspected his fingernails.

With a scream, Vegeta reached the peak of his power. He was ready to kill Goku. Ready to break Goku's bones. Ready to feel Goku's blood splashed across his body. Ready to tear Goku's heart out like he had torn out Vegeta's.

Glaring with an intensity unparalleled, Vegeta stood trembling from the force of his need and power. Every nerve was on edge and his muscles were coiled up like springs ready to leap into action. His eyes only saw red. The red of Goku's blood mixing with his own in the river.

Twisting his head back to glance over his shoulder, Goku looked at Vegeta with an unimpressed expression on his face.

"Is that really the best you can do? I thought since you loved me you could at least have shown enough respect to kill me with a decent power level. This is pathetic."

Vegeta's teeth grinded against each other at the challenge. Clenching his fists tightly enough to draw blood, tears of frustration escaped from his eyes. Desperately trying to marshal more power, Vegeta willed himself to attack the man before him.

But he couldn't.

He knew what Goku had said was true.

Every thing Goku had said was true.

Collapsing to his hands and knees, Vegeta felt the tears intensify. 'If only I was strong enough to kill him. If only I was strong enough to hate him.' He dropped out of his ascended state and clenched his hands in the soft soil beside the river bed.

"What? Are you crying now? I thought you were going to kill me. What a pussy." Goku said as he began to walk off.

Vegeta couldn't bring himself to lift his head and watch the other Saiyan leave.

He already knew what it looked like to have the man he loved leave.

That haunting smile just before he transmitted Cell off the Earth and to the Kai's planet.

The smile that wasn't meant for him.

Never for him.

"Kakarot. Why can't you just stay for once?" The broken man whispered barely above a breath. "Stay. Stay with me. Give me back my life. Give me back the feelings I gave to you."

But when he looked up to shout this to the other man, he saw that Goku was already gone. Already discarded Vegeta again. Already pulled out the dagger and shoved it back in with a twist.

~*~*~*~*~

Bulma stood nervously at her kitchen window, apprehensively watching for any sign of Vegeta's return. Yamcha had talked her out of her plan to go on a massive hunt for the missing Prince. So instead, she was forced to wait a few more days in hopes that he would come back on his own. Her hands gripped the edge of the sink fearfully, as if the stainless steel fixture was the only thing that was stable in the miasma of uncertainty.

"Goku...what have you done to him?" she asked, desperately needing an answer, yet afraid to know the truth.

The loud slamming of a door and slow, staggering footsteps drew her attention elsewhere however.

Vegeta stood at the back door of the kitchen, his spandex shorts ripped, bruises and cuts all over his body, breath coming in pants. Looking around the room he saw the worried woman standing by the counter.

And that damnable man sitting at the table, wearing a large grin.

Instantly straitening, Vegeta growled at the man and woman. "What the fuck is he doing here?!"

Bulma blinked in surprise and gripped the sink edge tighter. "What do you mean 'what is he doing here'?"

"What is HE doing here?! Get him OUT! I don't want him here! GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" Vegeta roared in anger as he pointed at the snickering man. The veins on his forehead began to bulge out and his eyes flashed with hate.

"Vegeta! Please calm down!" Bulma said, reaching a hand out to the irate man.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! I NEVER SAID YOU COULD TOUCH ME! KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF ME!" Vegeta shouted as he smacked her hand away.

Cradling her hurt hand, Bulma took a few steps backwards until she was pinned against the sink.

"Vegeta... What have you done, Goku?" She whispered as tears fell from her eyes.

"DON'T SPEAK THAT BASTARD'S NAME IN THIS HOUSE EVER AGAIN!" Vegeta screamed at the blue-haired scientist. "ALL OF YOU JUST GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

Hesitating for a few seconds, Bulma turned to flee from the room in fright.

Slowly rising from the table, Goku placed his hands on his hips and stared into the dark eyes of Vegeta.

"I thought Princes were supposed to be gentlemen. And gentlemen don't smack ladies or make them cry. Tsk, tsk, tsk." He said with a disappointed shake of his head.

"I told you to get out of my sight, Kakarot," Vegeta growled low in his throat.

"So you did. But I don't see how you're going to make me. So until you do, I'm perfectly happy here." Goku said with a smirk.

"JUST GO! I don't want to look at your mother fucking face any longer!"

"Mother fucking? Hmm...I bet your mom was pretty hot...maybe I should borrow Trunks' time machine and see. How 'bout it, Vegeta? Wouldn't that be fun?" He asked the other man.

Shaking in anger, Vegeta leapt at the taller Saiyan, intent on removing him from sight. But a quick dodge and Vegeta landed on the kitchen table, breaking it in the process. Standing shakily, the once proud man mustered all the hate inside himself to keep himself going. To keep blocking out the voice that kept nagging him in the back of his mind. 'You can never kill, Kakarot.'

"You'll pay for this, Kakarot. I promise you that," Vegeta said through grit teeth.

"Blah, blah, blah, blah. That's all you are, Vegeta. You talk big, but you never back it up. I gave you a free chance to kill me and even then you couldn't. You're a total waste of a warrior," Goku said, spitting on the ground at Vegeta's feet.

"The waste of the warrior is you! You and your COMPASSION. A true warrior doesn't show any weaknesses! He doesn't let his enemies escape alive!" Vegeta hissed in fury as he once again tried to attack the younger male.

Instead of avoiding this time, Goku grabbed Vegeta from behind and held him securely in place with a headlock.

"Just listen to yourself, Vegeta. 'A true warrior doesn't show any weaknesses?' Does that make you a true warrior? Does breaking down and crying in front of your enemies make you a true warrior?" Goku asked as he tightened his hold. "You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for my compassion. How many times have I had to save your pathetic ass? Huh? I didn't hear an answer there, Vegeta!" He shouted as he slammed the Prince to the cold tile floor.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Goku looked down at Vegeta in disgust. Walking around to face the prone man, he shook his head once again.

"You brought this all on yourself, Vegeta. You know that, don't you? If you didn't go around ordering people around and treating them like dirt, then people would like you. But nooooo, you're just too good for that! Prince Vegeta can't lower himself to mingle with us common folk!

"You had to be put in your place, Vegeta. And until you learn your lesson, I will always be there to make sure you get put in your place.

"You think you're crazy now�just wait until I get through with you."

Turning sharply on his heel, Goku exited the building through the back door.

Vegeta lay on the floor, eyes closed as if he was asleep. He lay there and thought. Thought about what he used to be. Thought about what he was now. Thought about what he would become.

"Black, white, disappear in space. Disappear, Vegeta. Appear, Vegeta. Become, Vegeta. Disappear in space, white, black.

Bam!" He whispered to the floor before passing out.