Chapter 8: A Mountain of Sins

  “Vegeta you have finally realized the truth,” he said. “You cannot be redeemed.”

  The Saiyan squinted his eyes hard, trying to push the tears out of his eyes as the soothing voice washed over him. The sound of the person behind him was surprisingly gentle. It felt sweet, like honey. If Vegeta closed his eyes and listened to nothing but the voice, he could imagine himself floating atop a slow moving river, carried by the gentle breeze that moved the water.

  It feels so…He thought. Calming. Like I don’t need to keep fighting, like I can just…just finally give in.

  “Vegeta,” he said. “Goku has put you in an unwinnable battle against your very being. He knows you cannot overcome your evil nature instilled into you by your proud warrior race.”

  The voice began laughing.

  “You’re follies are too grand to recover from,” he said. “And you know that. So stop pretending as though you can change since you’re so far gone.”

  “Don’t listen to him,” Goku said. “Majin Buu wishes only to stop your path to redemption. Nothing, and I mean nothing, he says is true.”

  Vegeta allowed himself to open his eyes, his tears dropping to the dead leaves under him.

  “Then why…?” he said. “Does it feel so true? Tell me that…Kakarot. Tell me…why are his words are something I feel like I could tell myself if I wasn’t such a coward?”

  “Buu is the incarnation of all evil in the world,” the Saiyan’s voice said. “His only purpose is to spread it into the hearts of all beings in the universe. He’ll use every door possible a person leaves open to get in.”

  “And you are any different?” Buu asked. “This Saiyan wishes to do the same to all sentient life, using them for the purposes the Trampled Innocence has in store for you.”

  Vegeta silently nodded his head, angry he hadn’t realized it before.

  Makes sense. He thought. No one with all my evil deeds could live amongst the righteous. Kakarot probably knew I was too far gone and thought I’d make a good ally due to my Saiyan strength. I doubt Patata is even waiting for me like he said. Probably just a lie.

  “There is no use in trying to absolve yourself of guilt,” Buu said. “The evil you’ve accumulated reaches to the heavens themselves. For you to try and repent now…it is like a man trying to warm himself while covered in ice. The best you can do is throw off the needless pursuit of righteousness and embrace your horrid nature.”

  “Vegeta,” Goku said. “Patata will only grow more sad as she waits for you in Heaven if you give into Buu’s temptations. She’s waited for you for years now and longs for you to be at her side. The further away you are from nobility the greater her sorrow.”

  “You would have never made it anyway,” Buu said. “Stop this foolish striving and spare yourself the pain.”

  Vegeta sighed deeply, remembering the Saiyan child he’d grown up with. Her smile was like the morning sun. Even in the pitchest black, knowing Patata was happy was enough to motivate him to do anything. When she died, it was like living in a world without light.

  “I miss her,” he said. “I long for her more than I…than I wish to live. She was like a dream…a dream I’d forgotten long ago that filled me with light. I can’t believe…I forgot about her after so long.”

  “And you will never see her again,” Buu said.

  “There is no way Buu can know that,” Goku said. “Reject his voice and carry on the path I’ve given you. You’ve done so much in these last few years…your good deeds are so numerous…you have a large chance of seeing your friend again.”

  “Yes,” Buu said. “Your good deeds you’ve done. Your righteous acts. Look at them.”

  Vegeta darted to his eyes to the right to see a curious sight. It was a mound of white, porcelain-like balls. They were like pearls, each the size of a man’s palm. There were twelve in total, mounted on each other like a pyramid.

  “The treasures you’ve accumulated as a result of your good deeds,” Buu said.

  He laughed.

  “If only they piled as high as your evil ones,” he said.

  Something appeared out of the corner of his vision. When he turned to face it, Vegeta jumped to his feet in shock. He backed away in terror and confusion, fear coursing through him as he staggered back. His mouth was agape at the sight.

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  Towering over him was a mountain of black, severed heads that reached far past the tree tops. They were obsidian in color, and had a slightly shiny surface save for their gaping mouths. The heads were as perfectly circular and sized as the pearls around him but sharp, gnashing teeth that bared their wicked fangs as they screeched. Each scream was a deafening shriek of pain and torment, anger and disgust ever present in their voices.

  Vegeta backed away in fear as tried to find the end to the tower of screaming faces. But the truth is there was no ceiling in sight. The heads were neatly stacked in rows of four, not a single one even wobbling in place as they shouted sharp, pained noises with all their fury.

  “And that,” Buu said. “Is the sins you accumulated as a Saiyan warrior. Each one born from your violent and depraved actions as a warlord under your father’s or Freeza’s command.”

  Vegeta then turned to the small pile of pearls to his side. His heart sank at the sight of the treasures before turning back to the pile of severed heads. He shivered when he realized how overwhelming the comparison was. Vegeta shook his head in pain, tears rolling down his face.

  “You see your predicament?” Buu laughed. “You cannot claim your measly deeds of penance are comparable to your sins.”

  Vegeta was shaking as though his body was covered with snow as he watched the heads grind their teeth against one another, their screaming hurting his ears.

  “You were pretending to be something you are not just to chase the forgotten memory of someone who no longer cares for you,” Buu said. “What Kakarot told you was a lie. How could Patata forgive you after working alongside the very person who killed her?”

  Vegeta choked in pain, scared to utter another word.

  “You are allowing the darkness in your heart to overcome you,” Goku said. “Buu is tempting you to look back.”

  “Don’t pretend as if what I’m showing him isn’t the truth, Kakarot,” Buu said. “He didn’t want to show you your sins versus your good deeds because if he did, you’d be forced to face the truth. The fact is there is no turning back after so many evil deeds.”

  Vegeta was sniveling as he lowered his head, unable to stare up at the tower any longer. Now Vegeta was thinking of something he had pushed to the back of his mind ever since the day he’d been resurrected. It was a lingering thought that he’d done everything to suppress these last few years. And now it was the only thing he could think about.

  How could Patata forgive me for all I’ve done? He wondered.

  He tightened his hands into fists, shaking them in anger at himself.

  Why would Patata want to see me after all the people I’ve killed, tortured and made homeless? He wondered. Why would a girl that pure want anything to do with me?

  “I realize you’re starting to see reason,” Buu said. “Goku never seriously expected you to recover from your evil ways. He merely wanted to trick you into being on his side as an ally in the Trampled Innocence’s army.”

  Vegeta nodded as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

  “So,” Buu said. “Do you wish to return to your original, true position as the prince of Saiyans? To flee this futile attempt at being a bleeding heart and ready to reclaim your rightful place as a ruler of this universe?”

  Vegeta shook his head, wincing in pain as he thought of what Patata would say had she seen his tower of sins.

  “Yes,” he said. “Take me out of this world of pain.”

  A crackle of lightning shook his world. Vegeta looked up at the sky to see dark clouds had gathered from above. Within the thick black mist gathering was not only explosive lightning but horrid images. Visions of death, famine and greed could be seen within the clouds that were accumulating.

  The first sight was of warriors capturing women in nets before the scene transitioned to them being sold a market. Not a single one of them looked happy. Another image within the cloud showed a city on fire with its residents fleeing, some covered in flames. Another was of children no more than five fleeing in fright as they were picked off one by one by separate qi blasts.

  At that moment, his body surged with power. A black aura surrounded Vegeta as wicked thoughts consumed him. Thoughts of his life as a bloodthirsty warrior raced through his mind. Memories of killing whole races and blowing up planets for fun rose up and replaced those of serving humans. When he opened his eyes he found himself looking at the pile of twelve pearls to his side.

  In its smooth, gem-like surface, Vegeta could see a certain intensity return to his face. He once again looked like a warrior ready to jump into battle for the sheer sake of pleasure in ripping a person apart with his bare hands. A mad glee was in his eyes, an animalistic hunger etched in his expression. And the sharp, black M on his forehead sold the look.

  “See,” Buu said. “Back to your former self. Feel better now?”

  He looked into the reflection, unsure of how to answer. Vegeta wasn’t sure how to feel about this, actually. All he could think about at that moment was what Patata was thinking right now.

  “Certainly,” Vegeta said.

  He could practically hear the smile on the being’s lips.

  “Wonderful,” he said.

  “Vegeta,” Goku said. “I knew you would take this route. I knew the sins you accumulated would weigh too heavily on you. I…I am sorry I couldn’t save you from your own shame.”

  “Then why try?” Vegeta asked. “Why attempt to goad me when you knew this would happen?”

  “Because you have a greater role to play than you realize,” Goku said. “You have a place in this battle that you could have never guessed.”

  And then he vanished. Vegeta did not see him disappear. It was more than even sensing the Saiyan’s leaving. It was a knowing that went beyond any sort of perception he could rationally explain.

  “Don’t let that fool’s words bother you,” Buu said. “You are home again. Now, are you ready to take your place on the throne as prince of the Saiyan race?”

  Vegeta stared up at the sky, confused as to what he should feel. The horrid visions with the cloudy blackness only further made him conflicted. It was hard to watch the sight of millions of sentient beings in pain at once. The storm above was spreading quickly, encompassing nearly the entire sky from his point of view. Vegeta couldn’t answer Buu honestly, the images in the storm fierce enough to stab at his mind. He realized he would take part in the evil they portrayed.

  “Of course,” Vegeta said.

  And then his body disappeared, fading like a candle flame blown out by a single breath.