I don't like this chapter

I had just come to terms with the idea that I would be in agony for the rest of my life when suddenly it just- stopped. No pain. No desperate desire to scream, no paralyzing fear, nothing. One moment I was in unbearable agony and then it was just... gone.

It was so disorienting that, for a moment, I wondered if it had ever happened in the first place. I could barely remember what it felt like. Was it a stabbing pain, or burning? Was it all over my body, or just in the spots Frieza had struck? But I knew that it had happened. It couldn't have not happened, but... my mind just couldn't imagine it.

"That's... weird," I mumbled on automatic which shook me out of my daze. One hurried scramble later and I had clambered onto my feet and was dusting myself off. "Who was that- thing?"

"A thing? That's quite rude, don't you think?" A chill raced up my spine. It- he was behind me.

I turned around. There was no way I was going to let him capture me from behind again.

"Oh my god," I whispered. "You're so short!"

Frieza's narrow red eyes, once full of something only mildly disturbing twisted into rage. "Short? SHORT!? How dare you call the mighty Lord Frieza short! I came back to torture you a bit more, but complete annihilation will have to do!"

A raised finger, and then the sun was in his hand. What looked like a literal star the size of a small mountain hovered just inches from my face. Just looking at it hurt my eyes, and my skin felt as if it might melt off my body at any time. But sensing it was what really drove the point home. There was more ki in that nightmarish energy blast than anything I had sensed before. No, there was more than everything I had sensed before combined. Just a casual, errant ki-blast from Vegeta had incinerated me earlier. What would this- would anything be left for them to revive?

And then, just as quickly, it was gone. And Frieza posed as before, one hand supporting the elbow of his other arm, looking as if nothing had ever happened. "You'll have to excuse me. I'm not usually quite so belligerent, however I just returned from nearly a decade of nonstop torture in your Hell not an hour ago, so I'm afraid that I'm on a bit of a hair-trigger."

I could still feel the heat of the sun. The energy. So close.

"Okay, yeah. Sure man, it's- it's fine. Whatever. Sorry I called you short."

Frieza narrowed his eyes. "Indeed," he said as if warning me to stop talking. A warning which I followed. "Now, let's move on, shall we? I've a tight schedule to keep, and I require your assistance in a rather urgent matter."

I froze. "Help? My help? Me help you?" I shook my head. "Uh, no. Torture me all you want, but there is absolutely no way in hell I'm helping a creep like you."

'Lord' Frieza stepped back, his eyes wide and mouth in an 'o'. "Well aren't you positively adorable? You think you have a choice. No. In fact, you are well on your way to helping me already."

A sudden feeling of panic hit me hard. I practically tore my neck off my body looking around me for some kind of trap or- or henchmen- or whatever bad guys like this do when they're being overly dramatic. But nothing. There was nothing.

"What do you... Wait, where the hell did he go?" Just like that, when I turned back around, that insane monster was just- gone. You would think it would be a relief but it was more like when you throw a book at a spider, but just hit near it, so it kinda just- runs off. And then you're losing your mind trying to find this tiny spider because the only thing worse than having a spider in front of you is knowing it's there, but not knowing where 'there' is.

Same concept.

"I refuse! Kakarot is my only objective!"

I spun around and saw, to my surprise, that the empty desert was no longer empty. Vegeta, Goku, and Shin were all standing not too far away from me but- well they didn't seem to be doing much of anything.

Vegeta was just kinda, bent over in pain and- well it looked kinda like he was desperately trying to squeeze out some hung chow, but- I mean that obviously wasn't what he was doing. I mean, if you're going super saiyan to take a shit, that's gotta be a real mighty shit right? Pretty sure no mere turd could stand up to that kind of core-strength for long.

Anyway, he was grumbling about Goku and grunting like an animal, and for some reason Goku and one of the many people I had met today who could possibly be God, were just kinda watching.

"No! Get out of my head! I already told you- I won't be distracted from this anymore! I won't!"

Okay I had no idea who Vegeta was talking to, but he seemed really determined about something, and god-himself looked like he was about to lose his mind.

"It will take more than head-games to stop me!" Vegeta continued to growl into the wind, "You may have invaded my mind and my body, but there's one thing a saiyan always keeps: HIS PRIDE!"

And then Vegeta just lost his shit. His ki just- skyrocketed, to about where Goku was when he turned Super Saiyan two, but- well I can't say for sure that his hair didn't get any spiker, but maybe that's just because it was already at maximum capacity.

"What-" Shin sputtered. "What kind of strength allows a person to overcome their own enslaved mind and body?"

"What the fuck are you guys doing?" I finally demanded. "What are you talking about? What do you mean 'enslaved mind and body'?"

"Videl!?" Goku and Vegeta both looked like they had seen a ghost.

"How did you get here?" Goku demanded. "You were miles away five seconds ago, I sensed you!"

I shrugged. "Damned if I know. One moment Frieza was bragging about how he was going to torture me to death, and the next I'm watching Vegeta have a mental breakdown in the middle of the desert while you and god watch in silence."

"Leave," Vegeta commanded. "Get out of here, before you get hurt."

That- no that wasn't- wait, was Vegeta being... mind-controlled... or whatever you call it?

"That- that sounded like a threat," I pointed out, an unfamiliar meekness to my tone. Vegeta turned his glare fully on me, and I noticed a rather ominous looking 'M' tattooed onto his forehead, just like Spopavich and Yammu... and just like Frieza.

"Come on," my voice was low and soft, almost afraid but not quite. It would have shaken had I tried to raise it, would have faltered if I had given it more force. "I know we haven't known each other long, and we didn't exactly get along but- you're not that kinda guy. Right?"

Vegeta stood silent, his entire body shaking slightly and his mouth twisted into a snarl. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, or even if he was thinking at all, not with that expression. The muscles in his face were so strained he didn't even look angry, it was more like his features had been molded into an exact replica of what hatred might look like.

"Oh don't be so naive," that voice- Frieza's voice rang out over the battlefield. "Vegeta was a loyal soldier under my employ since he was a child. Along with his caretaker, and that worthless buffoon, he prepared innumerable worlds for sale."

Upon seeing Frieza, Vegeta immediately sprung into action, racing towards him in the blink of an eye before suddenly doubling over in pain.

"Tut tut tut," Frieza leaned in close to Vegeta, his disdainful pout only a few inches from the man. "Did the monkey forget? We're on the same side remember? Our master, wouldn't let you harm another one of his henchmen, would he now? That would be a waste of resources."

He leaned back and looked around, "Now where was I? Oh yes, destroying the human's misplaced faith in the pathetic monkey prince!" He turned to me with more poise than I could stand and started to take a leisurely stroll over to Goku and Shin. "So, to be more specific, when I say 'prepared' I mean he killed every sentient being on the planet, then burned down their homes, and razed the cities."

"Why do you care so much?" I demanded. "If Vegeta is so pathetic, why even take the time?"

Frieza smiled. "To distract everyone from the fact that I've perfectly positioned myself to kill Goku." The exact moment the words left his mouth a handful of purple ki was flying through the air, but Goku was already gone, apparently significantly faster than Frieza when he wanted to be.

The ki blast however, went in the exact opposite direction of Goku, and hit Shin dead on. A momentary cry rang out, smoke and dust flew into my eyes, and the, at this point familiar, smell of burnt flesh and cloth stung my nose.

After rubbing the shit out of my eyes, I finally received good news, the kai seemed relatively unharmed. Though his weird outfit now had a hole in the stomach, and his- well, stomach looked a big singed, it didn't seem like he was really all that hurt.

"A bit tougher than I expected," Frieza muttered, and Goku appeared beside him, fist pointed at his jaw.

Before the strike could connect though, a golden blur smacked headfirst into him, sending him reeling. "You're fight is with me, Kakarot!"

"Vegeta!" Goku screamed, "This isn't the time!"

"It's never the time!" Vegeta answered. "The Earth is constantly in peril, and you're constantly either dead or trying to save it! If I don't take this chance now, there will never be another!"

I felt physically sick when I heard him say that. It was- so, so very close to what I had been telling myself all day long about my father, minus the being dead part. He was always busy, always saving the world, or recovering from an injury. I kept telling myself I only had one chance to win, one shot before he retired, before an injury put him out for good but- wait... was he even injured? Or was that just an excuse to get out of fighting!?

I mean, he hadn't exactly been to a lot of doctors. There was the usual checkups after he took a big hit but- well, none of his medication was actually pain medication, like for an old injury. He swore he didn't want to get addicted, but that never made that much sense to me considering...

I'm such an idiot! Of course there was no injury! That- that limp before fight with Trunks earlier was just another act wasn't it!? And the time when he was supposed to draw- he was totally scared of Vegeta!

That- that- lying bastard! I'm such a fucking dumbass. What kind of idiot believes in 'emergency sugar bags' anyway? The fucking head-trauma finally catching up with me, huh? Jesus- I hate hate hate this!

I was so angry, it felt like I was going to explode! Like- from the forehead... for some reason. Yeah that was really weird. And now I'm burning up all of a sudden too... especially my forehead- what the fuck is going on with my forehead?

And then my forehead wasn't just hot, it was burning- and stinging like a bitch.

"Ah!" I cried out more in surprise than from actual pain. "What the fuck!?"

-Ooh what's this?- A very whiny voice called out in my head -Look at all that anger! Oh you're not nearly as powerful as the other one, but you'll do for now.-

'W-wait, what? W-who are you? How are you doing this?' I tried to think at the voice but- hell if I know how this works.

-I am the wizard Babidi, but you can just call me master! Ahahaha! In case you are mentally challenged- I am talking to you in your mind with magic! Isn't that grand!?-

'No, no it's not!' I responded. 'So- would you just- go away?'

-You can't see me right now, but I'm very disappointed in you. You're the first person to not even ask what I want before telling me to leave, it's very rude-

I sighed. 'Well then, what do you want?'

-That's more like it! It's very simple really, I take control of your body, you get a significant boost in power. Think of it like unleashing your latent potential! And after I'm done, I'll give you your body back- ah, assuming you live of course. AHAHA!-

'I'm not interested,' I responded, 'Will you leave now?'

-No. AHAHAHA!-

This was... too weird. It was even weirder than all the other weird that had happened before. Babidi's voice sounded exactly like a thought from my head. The same- sound but with no actual sound kind of thing. It was freaky! Plus his laugh was getting on my nerves.

'Please leave me alone? I'm not letting you posses my body, so just- get out!?' I demanded.

-Ah, what was it Frieza said? Something about it being sexually attractive that you think you have real agency? Or something? I don't know- the point is, I'm not asking- AHAHAHAHAHA!-

Just as the bolt of fear born from realization struck, my forehead felt like someone was drawing on it with a hot poker. I screamed for a few minutes and before I blacked out, realized why all those people had an 'M' on their forehead.

And then right before it felt like I was going to lose consciousness, I just- didn't. Or maybe I did? It was weird. I couldn't move, couldn't speak, and everything was black -but it didn't feel like I was unconscious. You know?-

'Oh, I know' I answered.

-Wait, I didn't think that. But- that sounded like my voice- Did I think that?-

'No, I thought that.'

-And who are you?-

'I'm Videl.'

-No you're not. I'm Videl!-

'Not anymore.' And with that, I opened my eyes and began the slow trek to Buu's hiding place. I had much to do- and not much time to do it. But there was nothing to worry about, Master plans for everything.

Feeling real apprehensive about this chapter. In fact, I would say it isn't a stretch to say that I hate hate hate the way this turned out. I hate it and hate reading it so much I only grammar/spell checked it the once. I may completely rewrite and then re-release it later, depending on the feedback and my mood.

Until next time, dear reader...