Chapter 13: Promises to Keep

Vegetto's eyes fluttered lightly, his body limp as his head hung towards the ground. His vision remained blurred, feeling that he was being held up by his arms in opposite directions, resting on his knees while the stone ground began to sharpen in his vision.

His head lazily whipped up, not of his command, yet his eyes landed back onto the twisted golden mask that hung a few inches away from his own face. The fusion breathed heavily, tightly shutting his eyes and cringing in pain.

"Why...why didn't you just let me die..."

The Dread Master stood like a stone, catching Vegetto off guard with a familiar voice instead of the sinister tone of Raptus.

"Because that is what you wanted."

Vegetto's head immediately lifted back up, pain replaced with clear hatred in his eyes.

"You won't deceive me, Dread Master. This is just another cruel attempt to attack my mind, you aren't the love I call my own."

Dread Master Bestia knelt down in response, yet kept her flat tone.

"Search your feelings, Saiyan. You know it is true as well as I do, as everything Raptus has shown you has come to be."

He paused for a moment, turning his head to his right arm at the sudden acute pain coming from his wrist. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of simple metal chains binding his arms and hands that extended out into the unknown darkness, turning his head back to the Dread Master.

"Simple chains? Is that all you have to hold me here?"

Dread Master Bestia's tone remained unchanged.

"Yes, they will hold you for the time being. You are not strong enough to break from even those."

Vegetto roared in response, rapidly flailing his arms and pulling on the chains holding him to no avail. He grinded his teeth together, desperately twisting and turning his body to break free from the iron that held him while Dread Master Bestia spoke once more.

"Raptus warned you about the effects of our power, specifically about ki itself. We infused it into the races of all things in the beginning, replicating the energy source we draw power from ourselves into you so that when we returned, there was no possible way for anyone or anything to defy us. The key to a being's life is ki itself, and since we hold the power to take away your very life force, it was trivial to show you the full reach of our capability with throwing your anger, your sorrow, and any other emotion we deemed fit for manipulating."

Vegetto panted heavily, his thoughts shifting to the angry death threat towards Raptus, Goku's apparent anger in using the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and Vegeta's overall distrust towards Leiji herself. His narrowed eyes turned to her, yet offering only silence as he kept his hateful glare trained on the golden mask staring back at him.

"The transformation I inspired you to undertake was simply just me allowing you to borrow that very energy source we draw from. Even that mental struggle with Buu, the projection of who you really are in your mind. All of that, was my doing."

The fusion's dual voice suddenly echoed in the room, booming in a near primal scream.

"Why me?! Why was I the one who gained your favor then?!"

Dread Master Bestia stood firm, her tone unchanged.

"You were the strongest, and you had to believe you were special. By crippling you, the others would fall in place, as they will soon discover when they realize their new forms are merely under my control as well."

Vegetto dipped his head back down, remaining silent for a few moments. He wore a heavy frown across his face when he pulled his head back up, meeting the black slits with narrowed eyes yet held water on the sides.

"And you certainly did a marvelous job of that..."

Dread Master Bestia remained silent in response, Vegetto's tone darkening even further.

"And what of our son, huh? What happens to him, when you have the universe at your feet and you've destroyed everything we stand for?"

Vegetto's glare remained strong, tears rolling down his cheeks as he waited on Dread Master Bestia's response, angrily screaming with the metal binds that held him clanging as he desperately attempted to lunge forward.

"Answer me!"

The Dread Master's expressions remained hidden behind her golden mask, her tone still unchanged.

"I don't know."

Vegetto panted heavily in response, drained at the rage infused uproar as he silently hung in the air, his expression firm through Bestia's words.

"The original plan had been to corrupt your mind with lust, using the reproductive cognitions of your body to guide you into even further submission when you faced Raptus with unconditional anger, pride, and desperation to preserve your own being. But that night...something else happened instead."

Vegetto's eyes remained narrowed, yet stared back at the Dread Master as she moved past his sight, walking around to stand at his back.

"Rather than being dominated by those primal urges to reproduce, I could feel something else in your desires. My ruse of seduction had trapped you, yet even though it had worked, your mind had still been free to turn away from me. Despire my efforts, you still had a choice to make."

The fusion tightly closed his eyes, hanging his head low as she continued.

"Originally this had confused me, dealing with a Saiyan who despite having the lust for a woman, could still turn their gaze away. Your attention fell to qualities of another concept, preferring more empathetic and emotional reliance in touch, smell, and even taste."

Vegetto scoffed venomously, his head still low towards the ground.

"It's called love, Dread Master. You didn't think I'd fall in love with a woman who was able to be the one solace in a life where I knew nothing, not even myself?"

He chuckled darkly.

"Even if it was all a lie?"

Dread Master Bestia nodded her head once, outside of Vegetto's gaze, and her tone remained unchanged.

"Originally no, but after our son was born, it became clear. This is ultimately when Raptus called for me to leave, to leave you behind and forsake the mission as he began to see the danger of me forming a connection with you. Yet I stayed, convincing him the better course of action was to learn and uncover more knowledge about this concept of 'love', as it is the only sentiment of the life by our creation that we had yet to truly understand."

Vegetto's eyes opened, his eyes slightly wide.

"What are you talking about?"

The Dread Master moved out from behind Vegetto's back, her gaze turning back towards him with the same, emotionless and flat tone.

"Raptus needed a reason for me to choose that path, and for the Masters, it made sense. Love is an emotional response born from the very mechanisms we had created within you as sentient life: anger, hatred, desperation, sorrow, and happiness. All of them, every single emotional state that can be felt within you, has its roots dictated in the overall force that we had created to truly bring life to all existence: fear. Fear is where it all began, the source of true understanding..."

Vegetto's gaze remained on the ground, flinching heavily at the sudden touch of the Dread Master's black glove, forcing his chin back up to meet the black slits of her twisted golden skull like mask.

"Yet combined together, they create something entirely different, something we hadn't anticipated: love. At the time, there was only one force of unparalleled power, through the twisting of one's confidence into fear through deception. But instead, I had found another force, something that was more powerful than the first creation in the same mixture of both fear and confidence. Something worth believing in, something more...comforting."

Vegetto blinked heavily, staring back at the golden mask only centimeters away from his face as she continued.

"I do care for you, more than anything else that I have ever experienced. And it hurt me more than anything to watch you stand and have your world ripped out from underneath your own feet."

Vegetto's eyes narrowed back in response.

"Then why did you let it happen?"

Dread Master Bestia lowered her arm, letting Vegetto maintain the lock with his eyes.

"Because I wanted you to truly understand who it was you were dealing with."

Vegetto grunted, his eyes turning away.

"You don't sound very convincing in this whole revelation of yours."

Dread Master Bestia nodded once in response again, lowering her self down onto her knees with the robes draping over her boots.

"It is the only way to show you I am telling the truth."

Vegetto's eyes landed back on her, raising an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?"

The Dread Master turned her head away from Vegetto for the first time, the first sign of amused emotion catching the fusion completely off guard.

"It's funny, how Raptus spoke of me being the master of corruption. When in all reality, you were the one who corrupted me."

Vegetto blinked, watching her turn her head back to his.

"I'm doing my best to show you that I am not here to play games. No eyelash batting, no happiness to show for, no overwhelming sorrow and anguish. I wanted you to take my words for what they were, with no dishonest ploys and tricks to try and guide you into believing a motive. Only offering you the truth itself, and nothing more."

The fusion remained silent, his wide eyes having changed into narrowed slits once more.

"How can I trust you? After all of this...there's no way that I can."

The Dread Master leaned forward, her arms wrapping around Vegetto's waist as the twisted golden mask rested on his chest, her tone dramatically softening and warming his body, despite the cold metal resting on his gi.

"Because you still love me, as much as I do you. And that's the strength that those chains and the other Masters can never keep you from."

Vegetto tensed, staring down at Bestia affectionately wrapped around his body despite his arms being strung up to his sides. He continued to stare down at her in confusion, before tilting his head towards his right arm. He stared at the metal encompassing his wrist, caught off guard at the sight of the cuffs. His arms had remained upright only by the dark grey metal cuff that now hung open, a small golden key still locked firmly in place towards the center of the opened metal circle.

The fusion then turned his attention back down to Bestia, who had kept her golden crest rested on his chest and still clung tightly too him without a change of position. He then turned his attention back to the left cuff around his other wrist, and at the same sight of his right, dragged both of his arms forward to force them down back to his sides.

Vegetto huffed, falling forward slightly now that he was free of his bondage. He panted lightly, lifting his white gloved hands up as Dread Master Bestia remained tightly wrapped around his waist, unresponsive. His eyes narrowed into a glare, staring down at her while his fists clenched tightly together for a moment.

However, his narrowed eyes soon tightly shut together while his arms soon traveled around the small of her back and pulled her close in a tight embrace as another small trail of tears began to travel down the sides of his eyes.

"You're right. I...I couldn't bear the thought of losing you in all of this..."

Vegetto then opened his eyes once more, narrowed at Dread Master Bestia.

"But what of the others? What has happened to them?"

Dread Master Bestia stared back at him, her golden mask glinting in the small light that suddenly shifted to her left at the muffled explosion shaking the room the two held each other close in.

"They're coming to save you."

The smoke continued to billow into the same chamber that Vegetto stood against the Dread Masters an hour ago, the two feet of the transformed Super Saiyan 5 Gogeta cracking the stone of the platform resting beneath the surrounding thrones of the Dread Masters. He whirled his around, frowning at the empty thrones encircling the platform suspended high above the ground below.

"Where are they?"

Goku soon appeared at Gogeta's side, tossing the limp Dread Guard Commander Ciphas down onto the stone with a huff as he and Vegeta moved up to the fusion's side.

"I can't sense anyone. This place feels like it's been abandoned for years...the depravity..."

Vegeta grunted, rising up off the pathway.

"Well, they're here somewhere. Let's get moving."

Vegetto rose to his feet slowly, lifting up Dread Master Bestia up with him.

"They won't stand a chance without us. We have to help them."

Bestia nodded once, stepping back and straightening herself upright.

"Don't worry, they'll find they have more power to draw from in their current forms now that I'm not holding you back anymore. It should be enough for you to be able to challenge them, and they won't be able to control you if you're relying on my energy source."

Vegetto's lips lifted into a smile, clenching his fists together.

"Thank you."

"No, thank you Saiyan."

Vegetto's eyes widened, launching forward at the sound of dark voice echoing in the room in front of him. However, Vegetto fell backwards at the sudden blast of dark purple energy violently shooting above his head in a plasma beam, missing it by mere inches as he collapsed onto the floor.

He quickly scrambled forward, the beam retracting backwards towards the original source as Dread Master Bestia's held her gaze to the ceiling, a three inch diameter hole now cut through her stomach area. She let out a small gasp, tumbling forward at the force of Dread Master Raptus' hand and into the arms of Vegetto, catching her in a panicked stare with the other four Dread Masters watching on silently behind Raptus.

"She was by far the most insufferable Master of our union, twisting and turning our agenda to suit her pathetic needs. With your meddling, I finally had reason to put an end to her once and for all..."

Vegetto shook Dread Master Bestia lightly in his arms, ignoring Raptus as he turned his attention down to the gaping wound below and covering the hole with his left hand.

"No no...stay with me Leiji...please...you have stay with me."

The Dread Master coughed, her voice weak as she pulled her arms up and rested her hands on the bloody glove over her stomach.

"Help me get...this mask off..."

Vegetto nodded his head once, quickly reaching up with his free hand and taking hold of the golden metal wrapped around Bestia's head. He grunted viciously, his fingers denting into the golden metal as he ripped the front half of the mask up and tossing it back over his shoulder, crumpled like paper as it clanged against the ground behind him. His eyes darted around, studying her face with wet eyes.

She turned her head slightly more towards him, resting in the second half of the golden metal with her eyes half open. She hacked once more, a small spittle of blood erupting forward and landing on Vegetto's gi and staining the orange. She cringed heavily for a moment, her voice trembling.

"Listen...please..."

Vegetto shook his head, his eyes still wide with tears at the brims.

"No no! We're going to get you through this, I'll heal the wounds!"

Dread Master Bestia smiled back, showing a bit of her white teeth.

"You don't know how to...please..."

Vegetto kept his panic stared trained on Bestia, falling silent as she struggled to speak.

"You were right...about me. You...were always right hun. You have to be stronger than this...keep that fire alive within you. You have to become more than what you face...don't be afraid of the pain."

Vegetto glanced down towards his arm, feeling her tightly squeeze onto the glove covering her wound. His eyes remained trained on it, watching a dark purple glow illuminate the red glove before fading away slowly.

"It's...what makes you strong. Don't be afraid...Vegetto...don't..."

Vegetto turned his gaze back to her eyes, trembling at the sight of them closing slowly as her head hung limp in his grasp, the grip around his bloody glove soon releasing. His bottom lip quivered violently, forcefully shaking the lifeless Dread Master in his arms.

"Leiji...Leiji!"

His cries were answered by a black boot, quickly sending Vegetto flipping backwards from the force of the blow. He cried out in pain, slamming into the wall and sticking into the concrete mold of his body indented into the stone as Dread Master Raptus leaped up towards him, landing a few inches from the crevice.

"She is gone from existence, Saiyan, she has no spirit and has not moved on to an after life. But I know how your kind responds to the pain of loss, you'll cling desperately to what once was..."

Vegetto grunted, quickly latching his mismatched white and red gloves onto the Dread Master's arm as Raptus' hand launched forward, encasing Vegetto's throat.

"And that is why the pain will break you."

The fusion squirmed in the stone, rubble and rocks breaking around his shoulders and crumbling down to the floor with dust. The Dread Master's grip remained strong, keeping Vegetto pinned in the indent to the stone.

However, Vegetto paused at the sight of his red glove tightly digging into the Dread Master's arm before him. His eyes locked onto the dark purple glow illuminating once more around the blood stained glove, radiating in plain sight. He then narrowed his eyes into a glare, silently grunting as he began to direct the power source radiating around his hand.

The dark purple glow responded in kind, slowly traveling up his arm towards his shoulder before disappearing underneath his gi, heading for his chest. Vegetto tilted his head down, his eyes tightly shutting as he felt the energy surging deep within his heart before letting out a violent roar.

The white aura quickly erupted up from underneath the Dread Master's arm, the fusion rapidly ascending back into his mysterious Super Saiyan transformation before suddenly launching his bloodied fist forward directly into the front of Raptus' golden mask.

The Dread Master snarled, stumbling backwards as he released his grip around Vegetto's throat, the fusion crumpling to the floor. The four remaining Dread Masters tensed, prepared to leap into the battle before halting at the motion of Raptus, commanding them to stand down. The unofficial leader of the Dread Masters then turned his gaze back towards Vegetto, who slowly rose up to his feet.

"Let him come. He still has much to learn."

Vegetto clenched his fists tightly together, tears streaming down the sides of his eyes as he violently roared to the ceiling, the room shaking from the power behind the sound waves of his voice.

"I'll kill you for what you've done!"

Dread Master Raptus nodded his head once, straightening his form.

"No, you won't."

Vegetto roared, erupting forward into a dash as he slung his fists forward in a nearly untraceable fury, slamming into Dread Master Raptus' chest without any resistance from the Dread Master himself. His body rocketed backwards, cringing and contorting underneath the power of Vegetto's blow before soon slamming into the nearby wall, forming an indent in the stone. His black slits on the front of his mask remained trained on Vegetto, the Dread Master freely blasting backwards slowly into the stone from the force of Vegetto's punches, his voice clear despite the relentless onslaught of the fusion's punches.

"The fire within you rises, fueled by pride and rage at the things who wrong your sense of justice. Your fury builds higher and higher, your confidence and sense of accomplishment being slowly fulfilled as you move closer and closer towards satisfying your desires. But just as you think you've won..."

Vegetto's angry glare shifted quickly into a stare of disbelief, crying out as he suddenly shot downwards towards the floor, Raptus' clenched fist having slammed onto his right shoulder bone. The fusion shot instantly towards the stone ground, bouncing upwards from the force of the impact and groaning heavily once his body came to a halt on the stone.

"The tidal wave of fate crashes down, putting out the flames you worked so hard to build."

The Dread Master walked forward slowly, grunting before launching his boot into Vegetto's stomach and sending him sliding across the stone floor.

"You can not change your fate, Saiyan. We created it, and like your fellow mortals, you were born into a prison of control that you can not escape. Existence is a dark and terrible thing, forged in the unending darkness born from the power of fear itself."

Vegetto hacked loudly, clutching his stomach and writhing in pain as he struggled to stand back onto his feet, while the Dread Master stood calm and still.

"Your kind, given power in pride and emotion, struggle against the darkness as a flame that requires constant care and constant attention to survive. While the darkness grows ever stronger without cause, without reason."

The Potara fusion roared with his head whipped up towards the ceiling, summoning his final bits of strength with a surge of white energy blasting up from underneath his feet and launching his right fist forward once he had risen back up to his feet. Vegetto gritted his teeth together, his gasp stealing a small portion of his might at the sight of his fist resting neatly in Dread Master Raptus' outstretched hand, who continued.

"Like a fire, your greatest strength comes at a price too steep for you to pay when it grows too high. Sentient life, given rational thought of the Masters and the emotion of mindless beasts, broken forever in contradictory battle within. And no matter how much you struggle in vain against your nature, the source of your power is what destroys you in the end."

Vegetto's head then whipped to his left, huffing from the powerful side swipe from Raptus' fist that connected to his cheek. The fusion crumbled to the floor, the white aura fading away.

"The fire can be extinguished, put out forever by the water. But in turn, the fire can never destroy water, it can only change its form. The fire within you has its limit, and it will always fall to the true source of power in this world that escapes your comprehension."

The Dread Master loomed over the struggling Vegetto contorting in pain at his feet, his tone deepening.

"You can not win, mortal. You can not destroy the very fabric of existence itself, the very essence of life at its simplest form in this irrational rage to avenge the person you love. It is pointless to keep struggling, you are going to lose."

Vegetto lifted his chin up, meeting the golden mask with his pupil less eyes narrowed into slits of hate.

"I don't care if its true, every breath in my body will be spent trying!"

The fusion grunted, contrasting the amused chuckle escaping from the golden mask still looming over him.

"Your air grows thin. By our design, your power grew with each mountain we placed before you. Frieza, Cell, Majin Buu, Baby, all of them were mere designs of ours for you to conquer with your weak power source. With each victory your confidence grew, becoming stronger and stronger until the point where you now kneel before me, defiant in the face of complete eradication from the confidence you gained in your victories. And for what?"

Vegetto panted heavily, resting on all fours at the Dread Master's venomous tone.

"To protect and defend the innocent? The helpless colonies of sentient beings that suffer from the very weapons you wield yourself?"

The Dread Master lowered down closer to Vegetto, who had dipped his head back down.

"Tell me mortal, who protects the weak from the one who protects the weak? All of those cities and lives destroyed by a villain whose sole purpose in life was to destroy the very person who protected them. You fight to protect them, attempting to draw the destruction away from others. But as you may have noticed for the first time, you failed with Buu."

Vegetto's eyes widened slightly at the revelation, still panting heavily as the Dread Master's tone returned to an empty monotone.

"Good...now you see the true magnitude of your failure. Buu was the first to wipe out the population of your precious planet Earth, and even the twisted parasite Baby was able to manipulate the entire world away despite even your interference. But of course, you were given tools to undo the damage, such as restoring life with the Dragon Balls and the sacred water to cleanse the minds of the controlled."

Vegetto's breathing slowed, still resting on all fours with his head dipped while the Dread Master stood upright.

"Another set of victories, by our design and our control. Like all of your achievements before, you stand for a cause that isn't even your creation, a cause you can not even call your own. You merely adopted it, by our intention and plan. With all your strength, you stood against the forces of evil, and the only victory you could achieve was a lie."

The fusion remained silent in response, a few seconds passing by between the two before Dread Master Raptus lifted his right arm up slightly, an open palm pointing at the fusion.

"You can not fight against the power of existence itself, Saiyan. And like those victories you achieved, none of it is your fault. You can die with a clear conscience."

The Dread Master stiffened up in preparation, holding an open palm out to the Saiyan kneeling on all fours beneath him. Vegetto cringed heavily, his eyes tightly shut as he hung his head low, his arms trembling.

I can't...

His mind raced forward, the voice of Dread Master Bestia stinging his heart.

You have to keep the flame alive...don't be afraid of the pain...

Dread Master Raptus' arm then dropped slightly, the sound of Vegetto's weak voice giving him reason to pause.

"You're right."

The golden mask starred down at Vegetto, whose voice came out weak.

"About me, I mean. I knew that something was...off. Ever since the day I was born...nothing seemed to be true or feel right, the feelings I remember through them..."

Vegetto turned his stare to the ground to his left, his breathing having relaxed previous from the pain.

"Every single day of my existence I struggled to find myself. To uncover who I really am. At first, I thought I could just use the memories of Kakarot and Vegeta to create my own personality, to construct a life of my own from the only thing I truly have: memories from another. But I found it impossible to do, for the very same reasons I kept trying to deny from you."

The Potara fusion clenched his fists together, gritting his teeth and tightly shutting his eyes.

"The anger within, it grows just as you said. Spiraling in desperation to deny your words, words that I can't punch, kick, or destroy. Everything I've built myself up on, everything that those two even stand for themselves...all of it is a lie. Just as you said, just as I now finally understand."

Dread Master Raptus fully lowered his arm, standing still.

"At last, you understand the vanity of your struggle."

Vegetto turned his gaze up slightly, yet kept his eyes to the ground.

"And then, I found her. Like a shining beacon, she was there as a relief from all this strife. Something I could finally call my own, the only true experience I've had since the day I was first created."

The Dread Master nodded his head once.

"You're right about the connection you created. It was true, the only thing we had not foreseen. But in the end, it too was destroyed, severed by the fragile existence that all things share. Made weak by our design, easily controlled and eradicated."

However, Raptus moved back slightly at the sight of Vegetto's head still facing towards the ground, the Saiyan offering no emotion.

"And I fought, desperately proving you right about everything. Trying so hard to deny the truth of it all, to deny my nature..."

The Dread Master remained silent, watching on.

"In the end, all I find is that everything I had created was a lie. I tried to follow the example of Kakarot, to tell myself this was about protecting the lives of the innocent. But like the second voice of Vegeta in my head, telling me that it's about bettering myself as a warrior, both of them failed to give me the true purpose I sought. Like her faied motivation, now that our bond has been broken..."

Dread Master Raptus' tone changed, caught off-guard.

"What are you saying?"

Vegetto's head lifted back up, his pupil less eyes locking on the golden mask once more.

"That all of this is a wake up call, to what I really believe. What really lies at the core of my heart, at the heart of all existence. The only thing that I can see that has always been there, in spite of the lies I created for myself. The very thing that stayed no matter how much I struggled against it."

The Dread Master stepped back once more, watching on as two dark pupils returned in the fusion's square eyes, a dark purple glow surrounding the edges.

"Fear."

Vegetto pushed himself up, allowing his body to nearly float to stand back upright on his feet. His eyes widened, darting down towards his arms and that he extended out to his sides in a smooth, relaxed motion. A small gasp of air escaped his mouth, shivering slightly at the touch of a dark purple glow beginning to darken his entire body. The white aura began to slow immensely from an energetic display into a watery flow around his body, the bright white tainted as it began to darken to match the dark purple illumination on the edges of Vegetto's pupils. He then slowly lifted his chin to the ceiling, the dark purple aura beginning to increase in speed as his dual voice deepened dramatically, his eyes landing on the hands slowly clenching into fists.

"This is why I fight..."

A pocket of black electricity suddenly erupted next to Vegetto's leg, Dread Master Raptus stepping back with a small gasp. The Dread Masters watched on as stones, staring at the black shadow engulfing the fusion floating before them and quickly expanding out around his body in a jagged sphere. His eyes remained wide, another small gasp of air escaping his lips as he stared down at the creeping dark energy wrapping around the muscles of his arms. Vegetto then collapsed onto his knees, falling onto the ground as he gripped the sides of his head and grinding his teeth together with a groan. The white hair soon darkened to match the dark purple aura illuminating the black form of his body, a dark dual voice echoing within his mind.

Breathe in the darkness. Feel your mind crackle, in perfect...magnetic...radiance.

A small crater suddenly appeared beneath the kneeling Vegetto, a blast of wind suddenly erupting out into the room as the black shadowy energy encasing him faded swirled into small pockets of electricity. The dark lightning continued to surge around Vegetto's body as the newly transformed fusion rose back up to his feet, swaying his limp arms back and forth to his sides with his knees caved into each other. A sinister purple glow illuminated the darkened room as he soon tensed his limp body into a poised and solid stance, his narrowed slits locking onto Dread Master's golden crest with a twisted grin.

"This is my true nature...who I really am inside."

The leader of the Dread Masters stepped back once more, clenching his fists together.

"She gave you her power, you are nothing more than her puppet."

Vegetto chuckled darkly, shaking his head to the side once in response.

"Not anymore. You know it as well as I do: I'm my own Master now."

Dread Master Raptus then suddenly bolted forward, rapidly shooting his right fist forward. He gasped lightly, his fist resting neatly in Vegetto's left hand, sending his left hand forward only to meet the same fate. He grunted, attempting to pull away in vain in Vegetto's grip, who kept the same sinister grin.

"You're an abomination. It'll need more than a little power up and a change of heart before you can call yourself a true Dread Master."

Vegetto's toothy grin widened at the Dread Master in response, roaring suddenly as he shot his head forward and slamming his temple directly into the forehead of the golden crest of Raptus, sending him spiraling backwards into the cold stone wall next to the door way.