Work Text
Fateful Days:The BanquetThe sound of his boots hitting the metal floors, echoed throughout the corridor. Soldiers were scrambling to either side to avoid confrontation. He didn't even grace them with his acknowledgement, just kept his piercing onyx eyes locked onto his destination. He was thankful for the fact no one was getting in his way, he surprisingly didn't want to kill anyone at the moment, how long that feeling would last he didn't know. He had his last decent uniform on and didn't know if he'd ever be issued another.Vegeta finally reached the large golden door that towered over him, seeming to mock his smaller than average stature. After all these years being in 'service' to Frieza, he had never been invited to one of his banquets. He wasn't even sure why the effeminate lizard even had these get togethers to begin with, only that he'd heard they were for wealthy investors interested in Frieza's galactic real estate. He was also confused as to why he was invited to this particular gathering. Well, not invited per say, more like forced under threat of torture, which normally didn't bother the Saiyan that much, he was unfortunately used to the lizard lords favorite pastime, but this torture was different from the others-6 straight months of purging 50 planets, with only 25 soldiers to accompany him. He growled low in his throat just thinking about it.He waived his hand over the sensor to his right and the door swished open, revealing an elaborately decorated hall in purple, whites and golds, quite gaudy in Vegeta's opinion. Many aliens from species across the galaxy milled around several long tables laden with exotic delicacies pleasing to ones palate. The rest were sitting at round tables scattered across the hall. On the opposite side stood Frieza's golden throne, egregiously large for the small emperor. There he sat swirling his goblet of wine in his hand, his eyes immediately shot up to meet Vegeta's, the smallest of smirks tugging at his thin lips, a silent invitation to come over.Vegeta scowled and quickly strode across the hall to stand before the throne, hoping the faster he did what was expected of him, the sooner he could leave. He stilled with his arms crossed over his chest."Tsk tsk, is that any way to greet your lord and commander?" Frieza admonished. "After all these years I'd expect more from you little monkey...then again who am I kidding?" He chuckled, taking a dainty sip from the goblet in his three fingered hand."Kneel." He added quickly.Vegeta's eyes narrowed into slits. He loathed having to kneel to anyone. Him, the prince of Saiyans, reduced to kneeling in front of nothing more than, in his opinion a glorified land lord, who just happened to be far too powerful for Vegeta to overthrow at the moment, as much as he hated to admit that. Silently, he lowered to one knee, his face to the ground, his pride in tatters."That's better. Now, I'm sure you're wondering why you have the honor of attending tonight's festivities?"Vegeta raised his head to lock eyes with the tyrant. He knew better than to actually respond to the question.Frieza smiled wickedly at Vegeta's unusual compliance. "I've decided, probably against my better judgement mind you, to give you additional responsibilities. If you prove yourself, you may even earn a promotion to my inner circle."Vegeta scoffed internally. Like he would want to spend any more time than necessary with this bastard. Deciding now was a good time, he opened his mouth. "And what if I'm not interested?"The lizard lord swirled the wine in his goblet, looking transfixed at the small whirlpools he created within for just a moment, then slowly looked back to the Saiyan, his eyes promising pain in their depths. "This isn't a proposition Vegeta. You will comply, or suffer the consequences which we've already discussed. However, I might be swayed to add to those if I feel you aren't appreciative of this opportunity."Vegeta, who was still kneeling, tore his gaze away from the small dictator. He knew this was a battle he wouldn't win, and he'd certainly learned to pick his battles with Frieza over the years. The scars littering his body proof of his unflattering losses."Do you accept?" Frieza asked, even though there really wasn't an option to refuse.Against his better judgement, Vegeta just had to know what he was getting into before he entered into this little agreement. "What exactly are these additional responsibilities?""I'm so glad you asked. You see, the people in this room could make me a lot of money Vegeta. They could also be plotting against me. I can't afford to be complacent, I've got a galactic empire to protect you see. That is where you come in. You will wander through the hall this evening and monitor our guests. If anything looks suspicious, I want you to report directly to me.""You want me to be a spy?" Vegeta asked, feeling affronted. He's a warrior prince! Not someone to hide in the shadows."If you want to call it that, then by all means, go ahead. I just need to have eyes and ears among the crowds.""And why can't Zarbon or Dodoria do this dirty work for you?" Vegeta snapped. He already had enough of listening to this maniac, and had no desire to be his snitch.Frieza raised one perfectly manicured brow at the Saiyan's outburst, daring the man to keep going."Dodoria lacks tact for a delicate task such as this. And Zarbon lacks the attention to detail. They both have their usefulness in other areas, of which I'm sure you are familiar." Frieza goaded."Hmmph." Was Vegeta's only response he didn't need to be reminded of his run-ins with those two. He couldn't argue those points though, Zarbon was so self absorbed he wouldn't notice a bomb going off unless it somehow involved him. Dodoria was a classless buffoon whose only talent seemed to be the crushing of people's skulls. However, that skill is highly valued in Frieza's force. Knowing he didn't really have a say in the matter, he grit his teeth and moved his head in an almost imperceptible nod. There would come a day when Frieza's severed head would lay at his feet, until then he would need to play the lizard's games."Good. Now get going." Frieza shooed him away.Vegeta rose to his feet and walked over to a sparsely populated area and leaned against the wall, one leg tucked up against it. He wasn't a fan of crowds, or people really, so this was an ideal location. His eyes roamed over the occupants of the room, familiarizing himself with each one, watching their body language and demeanor. He fished his scouter out from his uniform and placed it over his eye, deciding to get power level readings from these fools.He stood there for what felt like hours, listening in to conversations, albeit halfheartedly, when the door to the hall swooshed open. He looked over to see a very striking creature enter, and head towards one of the tables filled with food. She had bright blue hair that was pulled up into a bun on the top of her head, her eyes matching her hair color. Unlike the rest of the guests, she wore a bright red garment that clung to her body like a second skin. It came to her upper thighs and had a slit up one side. Vegeta had seen his fair share of exotic women in his travels, even taken a few to his bed. But they were never a distraction, just a reprieve from his unbelievably shitty life. Now, for reasons unknown, he couldn't keep his eyes off this woman.He watched her converse with a group of people, analyzing her movements, memorizing her features. She spoke animatedly, using gestures for emphasis. Her obvious confidence and poise was awakening something inside him he didn't understand.He was broken out of his trance by Frieza's chilling voice."Thank you, one and all for joining me this evening. Tonight, some of the brightest minds in the galaxy will showcase their greatest achievements. Those of you with deep pocketbooks, will have the opportunity to help fund a project of my choosing, to benefit the cold empire. Your investment will easily fetch returns, that I can promise you." Frieza's eyes glimmered with promise alright, just not the nice kind. "Now without further ado, who would like to go first?"Everyone began taking their seats and a small elderly man walked forward with a box in his hands, they were trembling so much he was having trouble holding it. He stood a good distance from Frieza and kept his head down."Well? Get on with it!" Frieza said impatiently."O-Oh right. I'm professor Gorgon and I've come to show you my newest invention." He carefully laid the box on the floor and lifted the lid. He reached in and grabbed a remote of some kind, then took a few steps back, pressing some buttons on the remote caused a small vehicle to fly out of the box."I call it, a sensory tactical drone. It can go ahead into battle, assess the situation and even shoots lasers to aid in attack." Professor Gorgon said shakily.Frieza looked entirely bored with the whole thing. He lifted his hand and made a shooing motion. "Enough, I have no need for such base technology. Guards remove him from the premises."The man was soon being dragged through the doors by two henchman, screaming on his way out. "Wait, but there's so much more it can do, please, don't do this!"Vegeta shook his head, this whole scene just way to common to cause even an eyebrow to raise. He knew the fate of that man and it wasn't a nice flight back to his home planet.His eyes were soon back on the woman with the blue hair. She was watching the proceedings with rapt attention. After several people came up and showcased their work, only to be dragged out shortly after, she gracefully rose from her seat and walked up to the throne. Vegeta was surprised, he hadn't expected that she would be a scientist or inventor."Well now, what do we have here? You're quite the remarkable specimen." Frieza drawled, eyeing her up and down. "What do you have to show me this evening? It better be more useful than what I've seen so far." He politely threatened."Thank you for the opportunity to finally meet you lord Frieza. It is absolute honor. My name is Katrina Chase, and I believe you will be very interested in what I have to show you." The woman then reached into her cleavage and pulled out a tiny capsule. The whole room was entranced by this beauty and if Vegeta didn't know better, he could have sworn the woman wanted it that way."This little piece of tech will change your life, forever." The woman whispered the last word so quietly few people could hear her. Vegeta was one of those people. What happened next, was a surprise to everyone in the room. The blue haired scientist proceeded to throw the capsule to the ground making a popping sound, creating a cloud of green smoke that quickly filled the hall. Another popping sound could be heard closer to Vegeta's location and through the thick green cloud that Vegeta immediately knew to be poisonous gas, he saw a blur of blue running out the door.The entire hall was filled with coughing and gasps. Frieza could be heard shouting obscenities and asking for the woman's head. Vegeta covered his mouth and nose and ran quickly after the scientist. Not for Frieza, but out of his own curiosity. His scouter detected the minute power level of what could only be the woman rushing towards the shuttle bay of the giant flagship that belonged to Frieza. Vegeta was impressed by her speed, but decided he didn't have the time to waste running, so he starting flying through the corridors to catch up, the emergency alarm blaring in his ears.He reached the shuttle bay in time to see the woman getting into a pod. Their eyes locked on one another and time seemed to stop. Vegeta noticed her flushed cheeks, and her hair falling about her face, no longer tightly tied up. Her eyes held determination, and also a little fear in them."Who are you, really?" Vegeta spoke first.She hesitated, as if considering how to answer his question, then shook her head and continued getting in the pod. Vegeta just watched her start the engine and open the pod bay doors. He had no ill will towards the woman, he was more impressed than anything. How did she get the poison onto the ship? How had he not noticed anything? Her stealth and cunning were formidable, albeit a bit crazy. No one in their right mind would try a stunt like this and expect to live. His thoughts were broken by the pod ejecting into cold space. It was then that Vegeta realized that he was probably going to get punished for this, severely."Shit."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Chapter 2: EscapeShe released the breath she didn't know she was holding as soon as the coordinates were set into the navigation system and she deactivated the pod's tracking device. She leaned back in her seat and took her hair down, running her fingers through it to get out any tangles.Oh how she wished she could have stuck around to see if that pathetic excuse for a living being bit the dust or not, but she didn't have a death wish at the moment so she would have to wait for the reports to come in.Her thoughts on her mission were interrupted by other ones. Mainly, who was that handsome mysterious man that ran into the shuttle bay as she was leaving? She couldn't be sure but he almost looked Saiyan. He was wearing the traditional PTO armor so he had to be one of Frieza's lackeys. She didn't have the time to check and see if he had a tail, but those eyes and that jet black hair were near dead giveaways.As she was lost in thought, her com buzzed. She quickly fished it out of her cleavage, the only place to store anything in that kami forsaken dress and answered. A bald three eyed man was looking back at her."Report.""Things went as planned...for the most part." She addedThe three eyed man narrowed his eyes at her. "Bulma...what do you mean 'for the most part'? Did you not release the gas?""Yes, that part went off without a hitch, you can relax Tien." Bulma placated her peer."Okay...so then what didn't go as planned?""I...saw someone." She answered, not sure how exactly to state her suspicions.Tien raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You saw someone? I would imagine you saw lots of people, you were at a gala." He replied with snark."Haha, very funny. I'm serious though, I-I think I saw another...Saiyan."This peaked the man's interest. "Are you sure? Did they have a tail?""I was in a bit of a hurry, so I can't be sure, but the hair and the eyes told me he was."Tien grasped his chin in thought. "Hmm, this is interesting. I thought their planet was destroyed. I'll have to do some research, maybe Goku can lend some insight."Bulma laughed. "Goku? Don't be silly! He doesn't remember anything accept being found by that old man in the forest. I'm surprised he even figured out he's a different species from us all together. If we hadn't intercepted that communication from all those years ago, we wouldn't even know planet Vegeta even existed in the first place.""You don't give him enough credit Bulma. Maybe he has some suppressed memories or something. I'm sure you're father could help us out with that."Bulma shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe, that's a long shot though and you know it.""It's worth a try. Get some rest, I'll see you in a few hours. Good work."Bulma smiled. "Thanks Tien, see ya in a few." And the com went dark. Bulma put it back in it's hiding place, loathing not having pockets right then. She initiated the sleep gas and closed her eyes, hoping the next couple of hours would go by quickly. She wasn't a fan of PTO space travel.The banquet hall was a disaster. Bodies lay everywhere, tables were overturned and food littered the floor. There were only a few survivors, and they were slowly making their way to the shuttle bay.When the gas was released, Frieza realized what was happening and quickly yelled to his soldiers to find the bitch that dared to attack him before he covered his mouth and ran for a hidden exit behind his throne.As for Vegeta, he just walked back to his barrack, knowing full well he should take advantage of any rest he could, as he wouldn't get any for some time thanks to the woman's attack. He reached his door and put in his code, hoping to have some alone time before his torture session was to start, but instead he found his comrade Nappa snoring away on the top bunk. He shook his head in frustration and once the door closed he slammed his fist into the metal wall, leaving a decent dent behind and consequently waking his older, bald room mate."Hhhuh?" Nappa groggily woke up. "What the hell man? Didn't you see I was sleepin'?" He rubbed his eyes as he sat himself up and jumped down from the bunk."I don't give a fuck." Was Vegeta's only reply as he punched the wall once more, adding a second dent next to the first one."What's eatin' you? I thought you were at Frieza's fancy party?" Nappa asked as he walked over to a nearby chair and picked up his uniform, starting to dress."I was. One of the guests tried to kill the bastard."Nappa's eyes widened in shock and surprise. "No shit?! Who was it?""A blue haired woman. Looked like a Saiyan except for the hair, her thin build and lack of a tail.""How the hell did she get the chance to attack Frieza?""She hid her weapon, poisonous gas, in her..." Vegeta couldn't get himself to finish the sentence, his mind instantly pictured that voluptuous chest, attached to rest of her curvy body."In her...?" Nappa prodded."In her cleavage dammit!" Vegeta finished quickly, sporting the tiniest blush."Nice! And what's wrong with that? Did she get the job done?" Nappa joked."No, that's the problem. The whole reason I was there was to apparently make sure no one was plotting against him, or trying to kill him."Nappa's smiling face quickly turned to a frown. "Oh. Well shit." He scratched his head."My thoughts exactly." Vegeta gruffed out."Where's the woman now?""She escaped.""Double shit." Nappa replied.Vegeta growled and clenched his fists. Just then came a knock at the door. Vegeta knew exactly who it was, so he opened the door, and without even greeting the green skinned alien, he pushed him aside and began walking down the hall towards Frieza's quarters."Hey! Monkey! Where do you think you're going!?" Zarbon yelled as he quickly caught up to the Saiyan."Where do you think?" Vegeta growled out. He immediately felt a punch to his face that caused his whole body to ram into the wall of the corridor."Show some respect Ape. I could end you here and now if I wanted, but lord Frieza has other plans for you." Zarbon sang the last part sickeningly.Vegeta glared at the feminine man, rubbing his cheek before continuing on his way. Thinking about how he wanted to destroy the self absorbed idiot gave him the smallest bit of pleasure, but it was enough to push the thoughts of his impending torture away for a moment. It wasn't long before they both stood in front of the doors that led to Frieza's quarters. Two low ranking soldiers stood guard but stepped aside as they saw Zarbon and Vegeta approach. Zarbon nodded to both men and walked through the doors with Vegeta in tow.As they approached the lizards throne, Zarbon kicked Vegeta in the back of the knees, causing him to fall to his knees, his hands bracing himself from falling, in front of the ice-jin. He looked back with seering hot rage in his eyes at Frieza's lackey but said nothing."Ah, Vegeta. Nice to see you again this evening. Thank you for showing the proper respect."Vegeta said nothing and refused to look the lizard in the eyes."I'm speaking to you, monkey. The proper thing to do would be to respond." Frieza's tone darkened.Vegeta raised his head slowly, choosing to speak the truth, knowing it wouldn't make a difference what he said in the end. "I have nothing to say.""Oh really? You had one job tonight. One! And your feeble monkey brain couldn't even comprehend that! How hard is it to keep your eyes open and look for anything suspicious?" Frieza spit out.Vegeta's eyes narrowed at the man's insult to his heritage but didn't answer."Not only was there an attack on my life, but by a weak female no less, who YOU let ESCAPE! You will pay dearly for your incompetence." Frieza smiled wickedly, looking like he was going to enjoy what came next. He lifted his finger and pointed it at Vegeta, who was still kneeling on the ground. A beam of ki came shooting out and hit Vegeta in the shoulder.He grimaced and grunted but tried not to make much noise, despite the extreme burning sensation in his shoulder, as the lizard tended to enjoy it more when his torture subjects screamed out in pain."Oh come now, no need to play tough Vegeta. I know that must have hurt like hell." Frieza sang. He shot another beam of ki into his other shoulder, causing Vegeta to fall face first to the floor, his arms in too much pain to brace himself. He grunted loudly and moaned as he could feel tendons and muscles tearing in his shoulder. Now he wasn't able to utilize any of his ki attacks since they required the use of his arms and hands.Frieza daintily came down from his throne and floated over to the prone Saiyan on the floor. His lips turned up in a smirk. "You know, if you had just done your duty like I asked you to, we wouldn't have to be in this position."He circled Vegeta's shaking body, his reptilian tail lazily following along."However, because you failed me, I must make an example out of you to the rest of my soldiers. After all, we wouldn't want people thinking they could get away with not doing what they're told, now can we?"In the blink of an eye, Frieza's tail moved with swift precision and whipped the Saiyan in middle of his back causing his armor to crack and break into several pieces onto the floor."Oh dear, looks like you'll be needing a new suit." Frieza chuckled as his tail lashed the Saiyan's back, now only clad in his spandex bodysuit.Vegeta growled out in pain and rolled onto his side, only to grunt when he remembered his shoulders were badly injured. There was no position that would bring him relief now, besides laying flat on his stomach, basically submitting that he is the lesser warrior. So he stayTd on his side, gritting his teeth, his whole body shaking.Frieza continued his assault until the back of Vegeta's body suit was in tatters and there were deep lacerations littering his back.The pain got so bad that Vegeta didn't have the energy to even vocalize, the only sounds heard were the slapping of Frieza's tail against bare skin and Vegeta's quiet grunts and heavy breathing. The lizard becoming dissatisfied at the Saiyan's reaction decided to change up his moves. He walked to Vegeta's legs and pushed his three toed foot down hard on the back of one his knees. This caused him to scream out the last of his energy."Oh good! And here I thought I had killed you! Before you completely lose consciousness, I have a new job for you. Find. The. Bitch." Frieza cackled. He followed that up with stomping down on the back of Vegeta's other knee rendering both of his legs useless.Vegeta lay motionless on the floor, his vision faded to black. His last thought was how he had failed his people, his father, in getting revenge for them against the lizard bastard. Instead, he would share their fate."Pathetic, didn't even last 10 minutes this time. I must be getting stronger. Zarbon! Take this fool to the brig. Let him rot in there for a few days, then his monkey friends can come get him."Yes my Lord." Zarbon bowed and walked up to Vegeta's nearly lifeless body, hauling him up and carrying him out like a sack of potatoes.In the darkness, he began to stir.The first thing he felt was pain. Everywhere. Frieza had done a number on him this time. He opened one eye slowly, then the other, blinking several times to acclimate to his surroundings.The brig. The bastard put him in the brig. The Saiyan prince feared nothing in this world or the next, but small confined spaces made him feel very uncomfortable. In the dim lighting he could make out a bucket in the corner next to a basin with some rancid looking water in it. The rest of the cell was barren. The only light coming from a small window in the door about 8 feet away.As he looked around the cell he could hear the faint sound of boots on tiled floor, slowly getting louder.They stopped when the light from outside was blocked by a lone figure. The door to the cell wooshed open and there stood what Vegeta assumed to be Zarbon, though due to the flood of light from the room he had to squint."Well, you're finally awake." Zarbon sang as he waltzed in the room. "Oh dear, Vegeta, you reek!" Zarbon whined, plugging his nose."You're monkey friends are here to collect you."Vegeta raised his head from the floor as his two comrades rushed in, squatting beside him."Vegeta, can ya hear me?" Nappa's voice rang through the cramped cell.A grunt was his only reply."Well, get moving. I don't have all day to babysit Saiyans." Zarbon warned."Damn, he looks bad this time." another male voice chimed in.Vegeta then felt himself being lifted off the ground as the last known remnant of the Saiyan race carried their Prince to the med bay.They waited there for six hours.Both men had fallen asleep in front of the regeneration tank that held their leader and Prince.The tank finished it's healing sequence with a loud beeping sound, startling the two from their slumber.They watched as the liquid from the tank was sucked out, leaving a very naked Saiyan in it's wake. His eyes opened and he removed the breathing mask from his face and opened the door to two eager looking faces."You had us worried there for a minute." The one known as Raditz said.Vegeta merely grunted and walked over to a table where a new body suit and armor lay, starting to dress."Yea, you were in there for twice the recommended time." Added Nappa. "We didn't know if you were going to make it."At that comment Vegeta turned his head as he fixed his gloves over his hands."You doubted your Prince would survive?" He countered. His eyes hard and his look unwavering.Nappa rubbed his bald head in nervousness. "Well yea, you were unconscious for three days this time. We weren't sure what was going to happen. You just happened to be awake as we were walked by the cell today.""It's good to have you back." Radditz said as he came up and slapped Vegeta on the back. The shorter Saiyan quickly turned around and glared. "Do that again. I dare you." He rasped out.Radditz chuckled nervously and backed up a little. His hands in a position of surrender. "No harm done. Just glad you're not dead."Vegeta nodded back."So what did I miss." He asked as they all began walking back to their barracks."Frieza cut our rations again, everyone's rations actually. He's really pissed about the assassination attempt." Raditz said."Tch. Is that all?" Vegeta shot back."Actually, he assigned us to a new mission." Nappa joined in.At hearing that, Vegeta's mind went back to a memory from three days ago. "Oh good! And here I thought I had killed you! Before you completely lose consciousness, I have a new job for you. Find. The. Bitch.""Yes, Frieza has tasked us with finding the woman that tried to kill him." Vegeta supplied."How'd you know?" Nappa wondered."Because he told me during our last...chat." Vegeta couldn't get himself to admit he had the shit beaten out him."Gotcha. There's a catch though. We only have three months to search the entire galaxy for one person." Nappa said."Of course we fucking do. Since when did Frieza ever make anything easy on us?" Vegeta snarled."Good point." Radditz added.Vegeta thought back to that evening, to her. He was royally pissed at the woman for causing his most recent brush with death at the hands of Frieza. Although deep down he knew it wasn't completely her fault, he needed someone to direct his rage towards and she would do for the time being. Despite being the most beguiling creature he'd ever laid eyes on."We've no time to waste then. Let's get moving."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Chapter 3Hunt and SeekBulma slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times to get her bearings. She had just felt a huge jolt that awakened her from her slumber. As she looked around she realized she was still in the escape pod, she must have just landed. Hitting the button to open the pod, she undid the safety restraints and stepped out onto a large landing pad with a hazy green sky at sunset as the backdrop. The solid surface was pock marked with small craters and spider webbed cracks, patches of moss also littered the area. To any onlooker, though there were none on this deserted planetoid, it would appear to be an abandoned space port, but looks could be deceiving.She rubbed her neck, getting out the kinks from the uncomfortable position she had to sit in for hours. With all the money Frieza has, you'd think he would invest in better transportation for his soldiers...who was she kidding? The only thing Frieza cares about is Frieza. Even thinking about that tyrant for just a moment made her blood boil with utter hatred and the need for vengeance.She made her way to the edge of the platform to a metal pole with a flat panel that stood about waist high. She placed her palm on it, and part of the platform slid back, revealing an underground stairway which she made her way down. Once at the bottom, there was a long hallway lit with dimmed and occasionally flickering florescent bulbs, Bulma cringed at the harshness of the artificial light and quickened her pace. At the end of the hallway there was another set of stairs between where the hallway forked left and right. She made her way down to a large open area. On one side was a sunken lounge with two well worn couches and a recliner. Next to the lounge was a small kitchenette with a fridge, stove and sink. Across from the living area was a bank of monitors three rows high, showing footage from security cameras placed around the deserted space port. Below that was a work station with several computers and miscellaneous tech components scattered about. There were several people milling about the space and she maneuvered around them to her destination.Bulma walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a pitcher of water out of the fridge, and poured herself a glass, leaning against the cabinets, closing her eyes as the cold water made it's way down her throat."I see you made it safe and sound."Bulma jumped, causing her to spill the remainder of her glass down the front of her red dress she still had on."Kami, don't sneak up on me like that Tien!"Tien chuckled and handed her a dish towel. "Maybe you shouldn't let your guard down and I wouldn't startle you so bad."Bulma rolled her eyes at him as she accepted the towel, blotting her dress trying to soak up the excess water. "Maybe I'm tired of having my guard up 24/7. If I can't relax here, then where can I?"Tien crossed his arms, leaning on the set of cabinets opposite her. "I was just joking Bulma, chill out.""Sorry, it's just that this mission has me on edge I guess. It's been a while since I had to be in the same room with that bastard. I'm hoping the poison took him out, but knowing that slimy lizard, he probably found a way to slither his way out of there.""We'll find out soon enough." Tien replied.Bulma nodded in agreement, then looked around the large room. "Where's the gang today?""You mean, is Yamcha here right?"She sighed and placed the towel and her glass on the counter. "I'm that transparent huh?" she chuckled. "It's true, I'm hoping Yamcha is off doing something so I can avoid his annoying ass, but I actually would like to know where everyone else is too. I'm not that selfish." She smirked."Well, Goku's on the surface training with Piccolo, they've been at it all day, Yamcha and Krillin took the runner to the depot for some supplies. And Chi Chi's in her quarters."Bulma's eyes widened at hearing that. "So the old hunk of space junk flies huh? What'd I tell you! I knew I'd get it up and running." She said smugly. "And I'm glad I'll have a few hours to myself.""We'll see, the real test is if they come back in one piece. And you're welcome. I suggested he go with Krillin on the supply run." Tien smirked at the pout that quickly turned into a scowl, though her eyes were smiling with playfulness."Yea yea. And thanks. Well, I'm going to go get out of this Kami forsaken dress and incinerate it!" She waved to Tien as she walked to the stairs and out of sight.As she passed by the other people in the base, she reflected on the fact that about half of the F resistance cell was all that remained of the human race. Her jovial attitude disappeared at remembering why they were all here in the first place. She had a mission to complete, and definitely didn't have time for the soap opera that was Yamcha. Their relationship had begun when Earth was a happy and somewhat peaceful place, ignorant of their stellar neighbors. And now it was strained, by the lack of time they had together, and how Yamcha didn't want her going on these dangerous missions, even though she was the only one with the know how to handle them. Then they would fight about said missions, usually causing a scene in the common area and resulting in shouting and one or both storming off.After they both had some time to cool off, Yamcha would show up at her door with some food he snuck out of the kitchen. It was all rationed and everyone had their daily allotment, but somehow Yamcha would find her something sweet when no one was looking. This turned into their new normal, and before Bulma left on her latest assignment they had gotten into it again. She was not looking forward to the awkward and half hearted apology that was coming.A week had already passed and they were no closer to locating the blue haired female then when they first started. Vegeta scoured all the galactic databases he could think of for anyone by the name of Katrina Chase, and found nothing. However what he did find was a list of 50 species in the entire galaxy who are known to have blue hair. Going through that list would take some time, too much time for his liking. Just thinking about their lack of progress made the prince want to kill someone. Anyone really. This research and spy shit was not his forte. He needed a release, and nothing calmed his nerves better than relieving some of his pent up blood lust. Well, that and sex. But he wasn't about to initiate anything intimate with any of the females on this disgusting ship. The ratio of males to females in Frieza's ranks basically ensured they'd all been had several times over, and Vegeta wasn't one to share anything with anyone. Especially something of a sexual nature.All of his inner musings were only heightening his frustration. He didn't even notice that he destroyed his eating utensil until he heard a coughing sound and came out of his daze to see Raditz with a quizzical look on his face."You all right Vegeta? What's eatin' you?" He asked while simultaneously shoving some roasted mystery meat in his mouth."You're disgusting!" Vegeta seethed. "Can't you wait until you're finished chewing before you open that hole you call a mouth?"Raditz chuckled and took a swig of his ale. "We can't all be as civilized as you prince Vegeta."A loud thud reverberated through the mess hall, coming from the Saiyan's table. Vegeta jumped over their meals and grabbed Raditz' throat, causing them both, and the chair Raditz was sitting on to crash to the floor. Vegeta never loosening his grip. Everyone around them looked up at the sound, and when they saw what caused it, they simply went back to their meals. This kind of thing was a daily occurrence in the soldiers mess hall."You would do well to remember your place third class. Unless you want me to kill you right here, right now." Vegeta growled, mere inches from the younger Saiyan's face.A booming laugh could be heard from above the two. "Raditz. Now might not be the best time to be gettin' on Vegeta's bad side." Nappa chided."Thanks...For..The...Warning...Asshole." Raditz rasped out of his quickly closing windpipe. Vegeta glared daggers at the man under him, feeling the need to squeeze the life out of the disrespectful worm. But something was holding him back from his instinctual urge. He and his comrades were the only Saiyans left in the known universe, and he didn't feel like bringing their species that much closer to extinction at the moment."Mock me again and you will lay dead at my feet." Vegeta spat, quickly getting up and turning towards Nappa. "I want you to start researching every species on that list until you find one that matches that female's description. I don't care if takes you days. No eating, sleeping or shitting until it's done." With that he turned on his heel and stormed out of the mess hall."You got it boss." Raditz rasped towards Vegeta's retreating figure while rubbing his throat, righting his upturned chair and going back to his meal."It's been a while since he's been this worked up over somethin'" Raditz commented."True, I don't remember the last time he was this on edge. That woman really did a number on him." Nappa replied."You think it's because of her? Since When has Vegeta ever let a woman get under his skin? More to the point, when has Vegeta ever had a woman?" Radtiz snickered."You'd be surprised. But you're right about one thing. He's never let a mere female get in the way of his objectives. Who knows? Maybe he's still pissed about his latest torture session with Frieza. Vegeta's never one to share his feelin's and shit."Raditz nodded in agreement and took another bite of his dinner.Nappa stood and grabbed his tray. "I better get to work, the sooner we find this bitch, the better.""Good luck.""Thanks, I'll need it."Vegeta stood in the middle of the poor excuse for a training room, sweat pouring down his face. He'd been trying to blow off some steam by doing his katas and some calisthenics and it had worked, a little. He was currently in the middle of his 1,000 reps of one fingered push ups when he thought he felt...energy of some sort. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but his gut instinct told him something was coming his way. Ever since his latest brush with death at the hands of Frieza, he'd been able to...sense things. People's energy. He didn't know exactly how this came to be, perhaps it had something to do with his zenkai boost, but he was glad it did. Now he could rid himself of that damned scouter. He felt annoyed that perhaps some idiot peon was wanting to use the same facilities, so he halted his training and waited for whoever it was to appear.He was not expecting it to be Nappa. The hulking Saiyan walked in holding a data pad in his hand."Any progress?""Actually, yeah." Nappa replied handing over the pad.Vegeta took it and scanned over the data for a few moments before his gaze landed back on the much larger Saiyan, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lip. "Well, I didn't think you would be done so soon, what with your lower than average intelligence.""Well geez, thanks for the vote of confidence Vegeta." Nappa sarcastically replied."You're welcome." He shot back smugly. "Now tell me what you've found."Nappa rolled his eyes at his Prince's comment but dove right in to what he'd discovered. "Well, I was able to rule out 10 of the 50 species by number of limbs alone, since the lady you saw was Saiyanoid, I guessed the ones with four arms weren't a good match.""Obviously. What else Nappa.""Next, I ruled out the ones that haven't had any contact with the cold empire, which only turned out to be 5, but that brings the total down to 35 species!""Yes, I know how to count. Get on with it." Vegeta groaned out."That left me with other weird characteristics like scales, tails, spikes, sexuality...Did you know how many asexual species there are?! Man, they're missing out!" Nappa said with a lecherous grin."And...? what does that leave us with?" Vegeta decidedly ignored his comrade's last statement."10 species. But out of those 10, only 4 had their planets destroyed, or taken and sold by Frieza. The rest are trading partners with the Cold Empire." Nappa Grinned."Good, we have a lead. Let's get to hunting." Vegeta lips turned up into a feral smile.Three weeks had passed since Bulma's mission to take out Frieza, and the communications they were able to intercept weren't promising. She'd learned she had failed to kill the lizard, although she did take out several intergalactic despots, thieves, and crooks. So it wasn't a total loss, but she did fail her main objective. The downside was there was now a bounty on her head. Though thankfully her identity wasn't compromised...Yet. Bulma's brilliance with technology hadn't failed her so far though, and she made sure to cover her tracks to the best of her ability. She just hoped Frieza didn't have anyone on the payroll as technologically proficient as she was.Speaking of that night on Frieza's ship, she couldn't get that dark haired man out of her head! He looked so similar to Goku it couldn't be a coincidence. The fact that he was strikingly attractive didn't go unnoticed by her either. She didn't see a tail, but everything else screamed Saiyan to her. She wondered why he didn't try and stop her?The fascinating part was she thought Goku was the only one left. Their group of friends figured out soon after meeting him, that Goku was different. From his spiky hair, to his tail and unnatural strength, it all had the gears in Bulma's head starting to turn. It wasn't until Frieza came to their planet, claiming it for the Cold empire, that the light bulb went off in her head. Goku did say that his grandpa found him in some kind of pod and raised him as his own. And here was a white and purple alien bent on conquering the Earth! It proved that aliens were real and Bulma knew, that Goku wasn't from their world. It also helped that the pint sized tyrant loved to babble incessantly during battle and shared that he had destroyed Goku's home world. That he was a Saiyan. They had all pinned their hopes on Goku, that he could defeat the monster known as Frieza, but he was overpowered by the small, insanely strong and effeminate lizard, their planet was destroyed after that battle, so badly in fact Frieza didn't even want to try and resell it. Only a handful of humans made it out alive, including one Saiyan and a Namekian. To find someone who looked so much like Goku meant that there were more Saiyans out there then she thought. If they were anything like Goku maybe they could help them take Frieza down for good?What was he doing on Frieza's ship though? Why would he be around the person that destroyed his planet? He couldn't be there willingly could he? surely not, Bulma thought as she continued typing away on the computer in front of her. She was obsessed with learning more about these Saiyans, and so had been spending every free moment of her time researching the galactic net.Learning about the bounty placed on her, she had to be on high alert and keep an eye on all galactic net traffic. And sure enough she spotted something. Someone was digging through the interstellar directory and had requested all documents and information on Earth be delivered to Frieza's headquarters just a few days after the attack. Bulma gulped in fear. How could they have narrowed it down so quickly?! Granted there were 7 billion people living on Earth before it was destroyed so they couldn't have traced it back to her, but still, they were getting too close for comfort.Bulma dug deeper in and found the ID of the person who put in the request."Frieza Force Soldier SJ21010"Hm, what have we here?" Bulma hacked into the Frieza Force database and opened up the file on SJ21010. A picture of an older bald man with a thin mustache and goatee popped up on her screen.Name: NappaSpecies: SaiyanFrieza Force Division: Planet AcquisitionRank: Level 5Another Saiyan!?" She said out loud, gaining the attention of the only Saiyan in the room.Goku rushed over and leaned in to get a better look at the computer screen."Is this the guy you were talking about the other day?" He inquired excitedly."No, the guy I saw was much younger and had a lot of hair. I'm not sure who this is." Bulma pondered aloud."So there's three of us now!?" Goku jumped up and down in excitement. "This is great! We have to meet them!"Bulma paused her research and looked at Goku skeptically. "And how do you propose we do that? These two appear to be soldiers for the very tyrant we're trying to destroy."Goku stopped his celebrating and looked down at Bulma with confusion written all over his face. "I dunno. Isn't that something you can figure out?""Oh Goku, you simple man. It's a lot more complicated than that." Bulma sighed. "This guy on the screen, he's trying to find me, and in the slim chance he does, they'll probably kill me."Goku's face became serious then. "You know we wouldn't let that happen. Maybe they don't really want to, maybe he's just following orders.""That's a pretty big assumption. One we can't afford to make.""But we have to meet them. I have to meet them. They're all that's left of my people, and if we can get them on our side, we'd have a better chance of taking Frieza down.""You know, you actually have a point there, but is it worth it? Is meeting them worth exposing our resistance cell? Risking our lives?"Goku's onyx gaze hardened in resolution and he nodded his head."Okay, I trust you. We'll have to run this by the others. I don't want to do this unless we have their full support."Goku smiled. "Thanks Bulma, I have a feeling everything will all work out in the end.""I hope you're right." Bulma said as she looked at the face of her bounty hunter staring blankly back at her from the computer screen.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Chapter 4: Puppetmaster"No. No way, that's suicide." A gruff voice resounded. hushed agreements and murmuring reverberated around the dimly lit room.Bulma looked around at the 15 or so people that were crammed into their makeshift 'war room' as they called it. Piccolo, Tien, Yamcha, Krillin, Goku, and Chi Chi were sitting at a round table with the scientist while the rest were standing shoulder to shoulder around them. This group of people were her team leaders and most trusted friends."We have to meet them though!" Goku chimed in. "There's two more Saiyans out there, possibly more and they could be the key to helping us take down Frieza! They're already on the inside, imagine what they know.""How do you know they'd even want to help us." Tien asked. "They could like working for the tyrant.""Yea, and I like eating rations that taste and feel like sandpaper morning noon and night." Bulma snarked. "I'm like 99 percent certain that everyone in the Frieza force is there because they have to be for one reason or another.""That doesn't change the fact that trying to get their attention is a suicide mission." Piccolo grumbled again. "Frieza has that big baldy looking for you already Bulma. Who says that once they find you they won't just kill you? After all you did attempt to kill Frieza. We can't afford to lose even one from our ranks to a crack pot scheme."Yamcha nodded. "It's too dangerous B. We can't afford to lose you to Frieza's clutches." Chi Chi also nodded in agreement.Goku stood then and faced the room of anxious looking humans. "If we don't try then we'll never know. I think it's worth the risk to gain potential allies that have inside information on Frieza and are also Saiyans, which means they'll be strong like me.""You don't know that Goku." Tien warned. "You could be putting all of us in grave danger."Bulma sighed and looked to her best friend, she could see how serious he was, the glint of fire in his eyes that he only got before battle. This mattered very much to him. Even though Bulma agreed with the rest of her friends, she trusted Goku, always had, and today would be no exception."I hear your objections guys, but I'm with Goku on this one. If we want to have any chance of defeating Frieza, we need to see if these Saiyans can be turned, if they aren't already loathing their day jobs. Our last mission was our best effort and it only got us a bounty on my head. Worst case scenario...they capture and kill me. That still leaves all of you to continue our crusade against the bastard.""Bulma! You're crazy! This'll never work!" Yamcha shouted, slamming his fist on the table, sending spider web cracks along it's surface.She met his eyes, and saw fear there, concern. She wasn't surprised. She knew how much he still cared for her. And despite their rocky relationship these days, she would always care about him too. If she was being honest with herself, she was also fearful about all of this. But she had to push that fear aside. As their defacto leader of sorts, she needed to put up a strong front, give them hope for a brighter tomorrow, one without the disgusting lizard in it."Yea, well maybe crazy is what we need right now."Chi Chi sighed heavily and looked over at her dear friend. She saw the determination, but also the apprehension in her blue haired friends features. She knew Bulma was having doubts about this herself, but she also knew that once she set her mind on something, she rarely ever changed it."So what's your plan then? I won't agree on this unless I know what it is you plan on doing." Chi Chi stated.All eyes moved back to Bulma and she took a deep breath before straightening up and eyeing the room once more. "Well, we already know that they're looking for me. But they don't know it's me yet. The bounty is for a blue haired humanoid named Katrina Chase, so we have that going for us at least. However, I did see that the bald Saiyan accessed information on Earth, so they are narrowing their search down as we speak. So I'm thinking I'll leave them some bait. A bunny trail to follow so to speak. Then I'll be at the end of said trail, somewhere neutral that Frieza doesn't have a foothold in. I'd take Goku with me, since he'll be our best bet at convincing these guys to defect. The ideal situation would be that they agree. In that case we'd bring them back here and begin our next moves.""And what if you find yourself in a not so ideal situation?" Piccolo asked."Well, then we'll do our best to get the hell out of there and we'll rendezvous with you all.""I don't know Bulma, it seems pretty risky." Chi Chi sighed."Ok, look. I know this sounds crazy, and something we might not come back from. But look at everything we've tried the past few months. Nothing has seemed to make more than a small dent in Frieza's empire. This could be our only shot at truly destroying that bastard and I for one am going to take it."Several heads nodded at her declaration, while those closest to her were still unsure.She looked to Goku who nodded and smirked slightly. She smiled back then addressed the room once more. "We will do our absolute best to make it back in one piece with Saiyan reinforcements. Thank you all, you're dismissed." With that last statement she left no room for argument. This was their course of action.The group began murmuring as they got up and left the room. while Yamcha, Tien, Piccolo, and Chi Chi stayed behind with Bulma and Goku.Yamcha walked up to her and placed his hand on her arm. "Are you sure you want to do this B? There aren't any other options?" He asked concernedly."We've already tried everything in our power at this point. This is our only chance at truly getting rid of the cold empire. I'm not saying I'm not nervous or anything though." She looked down at the floor."Couldn't someone else go in your place? Maybe Piccolo or Tien?""I'm sorry, but no. They're looking for me. I have to be the one to go. Don't worry Yamcha, I'll have Goku with me." She said reassuringly placing her hand over his."That makes me feel better, but not by much." He chuckled nervously."I know." Bulma replied.At the same time. Chi Chi was hugging Goku fiercely, holding onto his training gi for dear life. She knew her husband thirsted for battle and excitement, but after Frieza, she just couldn't help but be worried that he might not come back. She had so much faith in her palm tree haired hunk, but she didn't trust everything else, and that everything else was a big unknown right now, which really frightened her."Oh Goku, please, isn't there any other way?" She sniffled as she removed her head from his firm chest to look up into his sincere onyx eyes."Chi, you know I have to do this. There's other Saiyans out there! They could help us! And if I'm there with Bulma we'll have a better chance of convincing them to change sides.""Please. Please come back to me." She kissed him deeply then curled back into his chest."I'll come back Chi Chi." He said as he gingerly kissed the top of her head....After all the commotion died down, Bulma went to work. She spent the evening putting her bait out there so to speak. She hoped the saiyans would find it, and not some other frieza force soldier.She would make it look like a civilian who had heard of the bounty was calling in a sighting, that she'd been spotted on a neutral trading planet a few days away from her current location. She typed in the code to impersonate the civilian and enter the frieza force's online system. She made it so the post wouldn't actually appear in their system for four days, that would give her and Goku time to arrive at the trade planet Hatozu and get settled. She researched the shops and establishments there on the galactic net and found a hole in the wall bar that would be perfect for their rendezvous. Vic's Saloon it was. She smirked at her own genius.Her fingers were flying across the keys as she coded the message and timed it to appear on the day she wanted. All she had to do was hit enter. She stared at the black key for a moment, her finger hovering over it. This was it, this one action was going to change everything, she just knew it. The part of her that enjoyed thrill and excitement was urging her to complete it, looking forward to the adventure that awaited. The other part, the more conservative and emotional part of her was nervous. She honestly didn't want to die, not yet. She was a beautiful, smart, and cunning woman who had her whole life ahead of her, and pushing enter could end that within a matter of days.She took a deep breath to calm herself and let her finger fall to the key, pressing it quickly, like ripping off a band aid. She exhaled as she took her hand off the keyboard and slid her chair back, reclining in it and sighing heavily. It was done.Bulma stood as she watched the loading bar on the screen progress. It would only be minutes until the program was set. She stayed until it reached 100% then walked off to find Goku and fill him in on the details.After speaking with Goku, they both agreed that leaving the next day would be best. They both began packing what they would need, clothing, weaponry for Bulma, rations, money...Bulma also packed a laptop, and portable charger. She always felt better when she had access to technology wherever she went. Once everything was packed, and she finally had some peace and quiet to herself, she stripped down and changed into a pair of sweats and an old tshirt and flopped onto her bed, sighing deeply when she hit the mattress.Sleep didn't come easy, she knew it wouldn't. She tried to tell herself that she'd have Goku with her, that her plan was foolproof. But she knew it wasn't, and that even though Goku's presence on this mission calmed her down a bit, she knew he wasn't invulnerable. She saw his defeat and narrow survival at the hands of Frieza, it sickened her to her core to even think about the memory. So instead, she intentionally changed the topic of her mind's late night ramblings. She thought back to her parents, and earth, her childhood before this shit show that was her current life ever happened. She drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face, dreaming of happier times....Morning had finally come, and it found Bulma drinking a cup of coffee in the common area, her lids still heavy from sleep. Her bags were sitting by the door, and as she took her last sip, she hummed in content. This could be the last time she drank a cup of coffee, so she wanted to savor every last drop. She internally scolded herself for being so pessimistic. This wasn't like her. Bulma had always been so confident in her abilities and plans, but this one was different. There were too many possibilities to plan for, so she did her best and prepared herself. 'Get your game face on girl, you've got a mission to complete.' she pumped herself up.Goku came strolling into the common area with a loud yawn and leaned against the kitchen counter across from Bulma. "Why do we have to leave so early?" He whined."You were the one that was so gung ho about this mission, I thought you'd want to get going as soon as possible.""Well...Yea, you've got me there. But couldn't we wait until noon? You said they wouldn't even be leaving to find us for another few days right?""The sooner we get there the better. It'll give us a chance to scout out the area and set up a game plan in case things backfire.""Man, you've thought of everything, haven't you Bulma! I'm glad you're on our side." Goku chuckled.Bulma smiled at his last comment. "Thanks Goku. There's some grey area with this plan, I've done what I can. Hopefully it works." She said as she rinsed out her mug and placed it in the drying rack. "I'm going to get the ship ready for departure. We should be outta here within the hour 'kay?""You got it!" Goku gave a thumbs up as Bulma grabbed her bags and headed for the docking bay....Sure enough, an hour had passed and Bulma was starting the ignition sequence and Goku walked onboard with a small knapsack strung over his shoulder. Chi Chi and Yamcha were standing a ways away, both hoping that this wasn't the last time they'd see either of them. Bulma waved through the cockpit glass, as did Goku. She finished the ignition sequence and started the thrusters, opening the bay doors above them and before they knew it, they were already leaving orbit."Geez Bulma! Give me a warning next time!" Goku complained as he held onto his seat for dear life. The gravitational forces on their bodies were getting heavier by the second as they went through the small planetoid's atmosphere. Even though that would normally not be a problem for the warrior, he was still startled none the less.Bulma smirked as she looked over at her friend and noticed he didn't have a restraint on. "Not my fault if you forgot to buckle up bud!" She chuckled.As the seconds ticked by, Bulma could see the countless planets and suns that dotted this part of the galaxy. This wondrous sight would never get old to her, the only part of living on the run she even remotely liked. Being in space and traveling to different worlds was always a dream of hers, she just wasn't planning on fighting for her life while doing it.Once they left the system the planetoid was in, she set the ships control to auto pilot and sat up and stretched her limbs, Goku doing the same."So...we have some time to kill. Wanna train with me?" Bulma asked, a smirk tugging on her plump lips."Nothing else I'd rather do." Goku replied as they both walked to the reinforced shuttle bay in the back of their space cruiser....4 days later...Nappa was getting tired of doing Vegeta's dirty work. How he got roped into keeping tabs on the bounty for the blue haired bitch he didn't know, but here he sat in front of a data console, checking to see if there were any leads. For the past few weeks every day he walked into the data department and sat down in the much too small chair, and there was never any news. Just an empty inbox. So since he assumed today was just like any other day, he didn't pay much attention as he signed onto the galactic net and into Frieza's cold empire system. As he attempted to adjust himself in the tiny chair he heard a strange beeping noise. His eyes returned to the screen and saw there was a message waiting."I've found what you're looking for"The title of the message just sat there staring at him like an impatient child waiting for it's parent's response on whether they could get a new toy. It took the larger than life Saiyan a few seconds to register that he had a lead, and when the lightbulb in his head went off, he shouted in triumph."CHYEAAAAH!" He slammed his fist onto the desk, which instantly broke, and the data console crashed to the floor. The other occupants of the room all glared in his direction and Nappa rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment before his brash personality took over."What the hell are ya staring at?" He shouted at the much smaller Frieza force soldiers occupying the data center. They all turned back to their tasks or scurried away immediately. Not wanting to stoke the flame of the Saiyans rage.Nappa ambled over to another open console and logged in again. The message still sat there waiting to be opened.He clicked on it and with baited breath read the message in it's entirety."I've found what you're looking for"From: Glabus FromeTo: Frieza Force Bounty AlertsTo whom it may concern,I have been made aware of the bounty for a strange blue haired female wanted by the Frieza Force. It just so happens that when I was on the trade planet Hatozu, I spotted a humanoid female matching the description mentioned. She was frequenting an establishment known as Vic's Saloon. I spoke with her and learned she's in the middle of negotiations with a supplier there and planned on staying for several days.Here is my information. Once you have her, please transfer the credits as soon as possible.Glabus FromeGalactic Bank Promera BranchAccount #39874q_9q2384In service to the Cold Empire,Glabus FromeNappa reread the message just to be sure, but this sounded legitimate. He was familiar with planet Hatozu and had actually been to Vic's on numerous occasions. Their ales were some of the best he'd had, and it's side business, Vic's Vixens...that had definitely gotten him through some rough times after several purges. He transferred the message onto a datapad and practically ran out of the data center, much to the relief of it's remaining occupants.Vegeta and Raditz were in the commissary eating their rationed slop for the day. The usual scowl plastered over the prince of Saiyans face. Raditz decided for his sanity...and health, he wouldn't bother with asking what was wrong.They sat together silently, shoveling food in their mouths when the doors to the commissary burst open and Nappa lumbered over to them."Vegeta! Raditz!" He shouted as he bounded forward. He sat heavily in the remaining chair at their table, causing the ground to shake. He not so carefully dropped the datapad in his hand onto the table with a shit eating grin on his face.Vegeta finally acknowledged his presence with a glare. His eating utensil slammed down onto the table causing their plates to rattle."What?" He finally spat out."We've got a lead!" Nappa said smugly."No way, really?" Radditz asked. He hoped that this news would cheer Vegeta up. He was tired of dealing with the prince's sour mood lately. Even though Vegeta was usually dancing on a razors edge of rage, he had been unusually testy lately.Vegeta eyed the datapad and picked it up while eyeing Nappa skeptically. They had received a few other 'leads' since this search began, but they all turned out to be nothing but sleaze bags looking to cash in."This is the best one yet." Nappa supplied as Vegeta raised an eyebrow at him and began retrieving the message. As he read each line, his scowl was slowly replaced with an almost imperceptible smirk.Nappa and Raditz looked to each other and nodded, knowing this could be what they were looking for, and also could maybe put an end to their prince's rotten attitude."This...looks, promising." Vegeta spoke after he read and reread the message."I told ya." Nappa smugly replied.Vegeta stood with the pad in his hand. "Come, we have work to do." The fire in eyes had finally returned.Raditz whined. "Come on man, I haven't finished eating here!"Vegeta stared him down with a look that could kill. Raditz gulped and Nappa grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. "Looks like you'll have to eat later."...Vegeta quickly strode through the hallways of Frieza's flagship. He actually had something positive to report for once, and that meant he wouldn't be getting tortured or beaten today, so all in all, this was the best day he's had in quite some time. At least since she appeared and turned his life upside down. He had gone from getting the occasional lashing for disobedience to being practically knocked unconscious on a near daily basis. Every time he reported there were no new leads...He shuddered just remembering it. His honor as a warrior had never been damaged so badly. He loathed the woman for what was being done to him. The logical side of his mind reminded him that he was the one that let her get away, so technically this was all his fault, but the warrior in him refused to listen. He was out for blood.He reached his destination and stood in front of the gaudy gold doors that lead to the slimy lizard's chambers. Two soldiers stood on guard outside."I need to see Frieza." Vegeta grunted out."Well look who it is. Come for your daily dose of medicine Vegeta?" A purple skinned lizard like man cooed sickeningly.Vegeta flashed over to the soldier and despite their height difference, the soldier clearly towering over Vegeta, had the man by the throat, taking him by surprise. "Just try me today Cui. I dare you." He spoke soft but deadly, his grip tightening by the second around the other man's throat.The purple skinned alien grinned at his attacker despite his obvious discomfort. "Ooh, feisty are we? Maybe I'll take you up on that when I'm off shift." He was able to rasp out.Vegeta huffed and unceremoniously dropped Cui on the ground. "Fuck you." Was his only response before he glared at the other soldier who immediately opened the gilded doors to Frieza's chambers.He picked up the datapad that had fallen to the floor and walked through the double doors with confidence in his step. He wouldn't allow the humiliation to continue! Everything would change now.Frieza looked up from his floating chair with boredom in eyes. He had obviously gotten done with a conference call because his telescreen was still up."What is it this time monkey? You're not due to report to me for several hours." He drawled.Vegeta continued his swift pace almost right up to Frieza himself before Zarbon flashed in front of him. "What's in your hand?" There was a slight warning in his tone. He knew the Saiyan monkey despised their master."A lead, on the blue haired woman." Vegeta's lips turned up in a small smirk. His eyes looked fierce with determination once more.Zarbon raised an eyebrow in slight surprise. "Is that so? Well, let's have Frieza make that determination shall we?" He snatched the pad out of Vegeta's grasp and casually waltzed over to Frieza, delicately placing the pad on the surface of his chair."What is this I hear Vegeta? Did you say...lead?" His eyes filled with a sickening gleam to them.Vegeta nodded, the less he said in front of the bastard the better. He knew his smart ass remarks always got him into trouble. Today, he would withhold his words.Frieza took the datapad and opened up the message. His face going from skepticism to delight in mere seconds. "This looks very promising indeed! You and your fellow monkeys will depart at once!"Vegeta cringed slightly at the slur that erupted from Frieza's mouth. Were they on Vegetasai, he would have been killed instantly. Here however, all Vegeta could do was keep an emotionless face.He nodded his agreement to the lizard. "We'll find woman and destroy her." He said like he was reading off a to do list.Frieza's smile turned into a slight frown. "Yes, you will find her for me, but do not kill her."Vegeta's eyes widened in surprise. This was definitely out of character for the overlord."No, no you won't kill her. But you will bring her back to me. You see Vegeta, even though she tried to take my life, she was able to bypass all of my ships security in the process, which no one else has ever done. I need that kind of resourcefulness in my ranks. Besides, I want to know more about that interesting technology she possessed. Don't get me wrong. She will be severely punished to the brink of death for her treasonous actions, but she will bow to me and learn her place in the cold empire."The laugh preceding his statement hung in the air, making Vegeta almost sick to his stomach with the quality of it. Purely sinister and foul.He nodded once again to show he understood."Now get moving my prince, we don't have time to waste." He made a shooing motion with his hands.Vegeta turned heel and quickly left the lizards presence, not wanting to spend a second more in that room then he absolutely had to. That room was the stuff of his nightmares."Zarbon!""Yes my lord?""Make sure we have the tracking devices activated before they leave on their mission. All of them.""Of course my lord." Zarbon bowed and left to make the preparations....Vegeta had barged into his barracks that he shared with Raditz and Nappa and hauled them over to the docking bay. He ignored their protests of what time it was as they walked through the corridors."Do we have to go this second? I mean couldn't we have gotten just a few more hours of sleep?" Raditz whined."You're pathetic." Vegeta spat back. "If you hadn't spent most of the evening at the ships brothel we wouldn't even be having this conversation.""It was worth every credit. I regret nothing." Raditz smirked back."Shut up you fool. Vegeta's anger was rising by the minute. How this third class warrior came to be in his ranks on this hell hole of ship he never knew. At least Nappa had some sense to him.As Vegeta was thinking that, Nappa looked at Raditz and both silently snickered at the younger Saiyan's antics. Both men enjoyed spending their free time with women. Very much so, unlike their prince who seemed to have nothing else on his mind besides power and bloodlust.They made it to the docking bay and saw three pods all set for departure. Each man got into their respective pods and initiated the start up sequence. Vegeta spoke to the other two through the com system."Listen up. I don't want to waste any time. We're there to get the woman and bring her back. Understood?""Bring her back?! You mean we can't kill her?" Nappa asked, surprised."No, Frieza wants her alive. Now lets get this over with." He closed the com down and signaled they were ready for departure. A yellow thin alien with several tentacles opened up the bay door, and soon the three pods were nothing more than dots in the vastness of space.As Vegeta settled in, he heard the tell tale hiss of the sleep gas entering the pod. "Space sleep initiated. Estimated time to arrival, 12 hours." As his eyes lids became increasingly heavier, the last thing he thought of was getting some semblance of his honor back.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Chapter 5: The MeetingBulma and Goku arrived at Planet Hatozu with one day left before they expected their Saiyan guests. As they made their way through the atmosphere and began their descent, Bulma took in the ever growing scenery. She always enjoyed this part, traveling to different worlds. She hadn't yet been to a planet that was similar to Earth, except for the whole breathable atmosphere part. The plant life here was different than anything else she'd ever seen. Tall spindly purple stalks shot up into the sky, waving back and forth as if in greeting as the ship began it's landing sequence. They honestly reminded Bulma of corn back on Earth, except they were as tall as pine trees.Goku looked through the viewing window in wonder as well, he always had such a youthful outlook on life, which sometimes came off as immaturity, but Bulma knew better. He had been through a lot in his short life, just like she had. He just chose to look at life as a glass half full, and Bulma loved that about her best friend."Hey look Bulma, they look like purple corn!" He pointed to a grove of the trees as they flew past.Bulma giggled. "I was thinking the exact same thing! That field over there looks like a good place to land, what do you think?""sounds good to me!" Goku chirped, not really paying attention, he was too interested in checking out the scenery and wildlife.As the ship came to a halt on the field, they saw that instead of green grass, the ground was covered in teal colored pebbles. Their landing also frightened some mammal like creatures with fuzzy ears and six legs attached to stocky bodies. They reminded Bulma of a dachsund mixed with an ant. They quickly scrambled into the cluster of corn trees on the far side of the field.The landing went smoothly, and in no time they were walking down the ramp of the ship, breathing in the alien atmosphere, which Bulma found was quite like Earth's, if not a little more humid then what she was used to."Based on our map, it looked like the main city and base are in that direction." Bulma pointed southwest of their current location."Yea, I'm sensing a good sized population over there, but it's kind of far. Do you want me to fly us there?" Goku offered."Do you think it will cause suspicion or anything? I don't want us to stand out too much." Bulma sounded slightly concerned."Well, with your hair color we're bound to stand out a little bit anyways right? And besides, this is an alien planet that sees all sorts of people come through, I'm sure a flying guy isn't something they haven't seen before." Goku chuckled.Bulma looked up towards her hairline as she ran her fingers through her long blue locks. "Ugh, why didn't I think of that?!" She shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, why not, it'll save me some energy."Goku nodded and picked her up bridal style and quickly flew in the direction of the city. All the while he could hear Bulma muttering to herself, though due to the wind he couldn't tell exactly what she was saying, but every now and then he could hear 'Stupid Bulma' and '...bring a hat...'. Her antics brought a goofy grin to his face. His best friend was certainly brilliant in many things, but sometimes she was a bit scatterbrained.In no time they reached the outskirts of the city, Goku landing on a side street to a few strange looks from people, but they soon enough went back about their business.Goku handed Bulma her pack which she shouldered and they both walked further into the city. Bulma pulled out a small thin pad, tapping it once which brought a holographic map of the city into view. "Okay, so we're right here, and the inn we're staying at is a couple blocks that way." Bulma said as she pointed out their location and the location of the inn, which happened to be a few buildings down across the street from Vic's."Cool! I didn't know you had something like that!" Goku marveled at the technology in his friend's hand."I picked it up recently when we went searching for survivors on planet Nirmu after Frieza purged it." Bulma said, her tone becoming sad thinking about all the lives lost. They found two children and an elderly couple hiding in an underground bunker. They were the only ones left. Whenever she heard about a planet purge she planned a rescue mission for any potential survivors. Though everyone told her each time that it was unlikely she would find anyone left. Usually Frieza's soldiers didn't leave a single thing alive in the wake of their purges. She had to plan carefully as well, since Frieza's terraforming and mining teams weren't far behind the purge team. Her friends were right most of the time, but that didn't stop her from trying. And this last rescue mission they actually found people! She smiled as she thought back to Una and Hayo and their grandparents. They were so relieved to find there were people like them, without homes, that came together to make a new one."Hey, no need to dwell on it now." Goku placed his hand gently on her shoulder. "This mission could be the beginning of the end of all of that."He sounded so confident, so sure about what they were doing. It immediately lifted her spirits. "Yes, you're right. Let's keep going." She smiled brightly at him as they continued on towards the inn. Any doubts she had about this plan were always pushed to the side whenever she saw the determination and fire in her friend's eyes.As they walked onto one of the main streets, Bulma looked out at all the different species of people milling about. Granted she's met a lot of new species since her life was turned upside down years ago, but it's always fun and a little bit frightening to see just how many kinds of people live in this universe.Bulma stopped in front of a square building with a mushroom like top that ballooned out and above the buildings around it. There was a sign above the sliding entrance doors in a language she didn't recognize."Goku, we'll need to activate our universal translators.""Oh right, good thinking Bulma."They both reached behind their left ears and pushed on a small node that looked like a lump on their skin. When they left Earth after the battle with Frieza, they quickly learned they couldn't communicate well with other species they encountered. Bulma eventually found a place that sold translators and did some odd jobs for them as payment for the translators for her small group. Doing the work, she figured out how to make them herself and implant them, so as their resistance cell grew, those that didn't already have translators had one made for them.As Bulma activated her translator, the language on the sign became legible. "Doorna Inn. Vacancies.""This is the place! Let's go get settled and go over everything. According to my calculations they should be here any day now."Goku nodded and they walked inside to find a surprisingly nice looking lobby with plush sofas and ornate decorations on the walls, considering the outside of the building looked very run down. They walked up to the desk where an alien woman sat, looking to be preening her springy tendrils of hair like a cat would bathe itself."Excuse me, we have a reservation under Katrina Chase." Bulma spoke up, getting the attention of the receptionist."Oh-Oh, excuse me, of course of course." The woman babbled as she began searching her system for the reservation. "Ah here we are. Room 52, 5th floor." She handed Bulma two translucent flat clear discs. Bulma assumed these were the keys."Enjoy your stay!" The woman sang brightly."Thanks." Bulma replied as she and Goku left to find their room.They walked towards a platform that said "lift" and stepped onto it. It immediately started glowing, and barely visible waist high barriers appeared and reminded Bulma of bubbles. "What is your destination?" a sweet sounding voice flowed into their ears.Goku jumped at the sound, looking around for someone. Bulma looked around herself for any kind of button or lever to indicate which floor they wanted, but seeing none, she figured it was triggered by voice command."Fifth floor." Bulma spoke."As you wish." the disembodied voice replied. Suddenly the platform shot up at a speed neither were expecting, both having to brace themselves so they wouldn't fall. Within seconds the platform stopped and the barriers disappeared."You have reached your destination." The voice cooed once more.They quickly got off the platform and it shot back down to the lobby."Wow, that's crazy!" Goku commented looking in awe at where the alien elevator once was.Bulma chuckled and waved him over as she started walking down the curved hallway. They found their room number and next to the door was a circular indent that looked to be the perfect size for the chips they received downstairs. Bulma pulled one out and pressed it into the spot and a beam of light shot out and scanned over her body before a computerized voice was overheard."Entrance granted. Welcome to Doorna Inn. Enjoy your stay."The door then slid open granting them access.Goku waltzed passed her and into the space, she could hear him saying "Wow!" And "This is amazing!" So without further ado she followed him in. Bulma was loving all this new tech and was already thinking of ways she could make things similar to what she was seeing, then her eyes took in the space.It was a modest room, with two beds, two dressers and a computer console on a desk, next to a sofa, but the design was so streamlined it looked completely foreign to her. The beds were shaped like normal beds on Earth, except the mattresses weren't flat, they looked like small waves. The desk looked normal enough to her, but the dressers were actually a part of the wall. Goku had already figured out how they worked. Pushing a button next to four rectangular shapes, it caused one to move right out of the wall revealing a drawer. It was pretty ingenious and a great way to save space.She set her pack down on the sofa next to the desk and pulled the round high backed chair out and took a seat, finding it surprisingly comfortable. "Goku, we should go over our plan again, make sure we're on the same page. Then we can go get something to eat."Hearing the magic words, he sat down on the wavy looking bed and grinned wide. "Sure thing! I'm starving!"Bulma laughed a little. "Okay, I'll try and make this quick. So I timed the fake tip to show up in Frieza's system two days ago. If they are monitoring it, they should have found it by now and sent a team to come get me. My hunch is that it's that Saiyan Nappa for sure, and maybe a few PTO soldiers. I'm guessing Frieza won't want to waste valuable resources like manpower to capture or kill me. Which is to our advantage."She could see Goku's eyes glazing over in boredom and snapped in front of his face. "Earth to Goku! Are you listening? I knew I shouldn't have mentioned food.""Huh? Oh yeah sorry." He scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.Bulma merely sighed and began again, she was too used to his antics to make a big deal out of them. "Okay, so in the tip the 'informant' (she used air quotes for emphasis) said that Katrina, that being me, has been spending time at Vic's down the street, so that's the first place they'll probably look. So we'll get up bright and early again tomorrow morning, and head over there."Goku nodded in understanding, then scrunched his eyebrows in question. "Ok, but then what?""Well, then we wait for them to arrive, and once they do we can hopefully convince them to join our side without too much of an issue...or a fight." She added on the last bit. Bulma knew Goku was always itching to battle someone, to get stronger. His ambition for strength was so much bigger than anyone elses' she knew, that when Bulma found out he was a Saiyan and did some research on them, she wasn't surprised. She figured any Saiyans that would be coming to meet them would probably be the same way in that regard."So all we're going to do is sit around in a bar until they get here?" Goku whined. "That sounds so boring!""Yea, it will be for a while. But I have a feeling it won't be boring for long. Just be as patient as you can."Goku nodded, the fierceness in his eyes returning somewhat."Okay, now that that's out of the way let's get some grub!"Goku jumped from the bed. "Yeaahh! I'm starving!"Bulma chuckled at his all too familiar response and they left the room to go to the inn's restaurant.After a surprisingly tasty meal and amazingly peaceful night's sleep, Bulma woke up to her alarm feeling invincible, and she was officially in love with these mattresses. She sat up and stretched out her tired muscles, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She reached over and nudged Goku's shoulder."Hey, Goku. Time to get up bud." She spoke quietly.The only response she received was a loud snore.She nudged him a bit harder this time and raised her voice slightly. "C'mon Goku, wake up!""MM n'thanks" He murmured back to her in his sleep.Groaning in frustration, Bulma decided it was time for drastic measures. She grabbed the pillow the Saiyan's head was resting on and yanked it out from under him so fast it even surprised her. She then put it on top of his head holding both ends in place."Get up sleepy head! We have a mission to complete!" She yelled.The lack of oxygen finally got his attention as his limbs flailed everywhere while he got his bearings. "Uulma at u oinn" He yelled, muffled by the pillow over his face. It only took him a second to grab the pillow and throw it across the room, sitting up against the headboard and taking a few deep breaths."What were you trying to do Bulma? Smother me?"Bulma smirked as she went to her bag and got a change of clothes. "Well, you weren't waking up and it's time to go, so I had to resort to some creative thinking.""Just be careful next time will ya?" Goku chided as he began to get himself ready as well.A few minutes later and they were all set. Their bags and everything they brought with them capsulized. Bulma stuck the tiny capsule down her tank top for safe keeping. They walked out of the inn and down a few buildings to Vic's saloon. Since this planet was a pit stop on a regularly used trade route, the bar was always open. They strolled in and walked up to the bar, taking in the layout of the place.It was dimly lit, which she expected. She was surprised to find the place quite full already. They both sat down at the only two available bar stools and a gray skinned man with bright white hair braided intricately around his shoulders walked up to them."What'll it be?" He asked, not seeming to really care what their answers would be.The duo looked to each other, realizing they weren't familiar with the types of drinks that would be available at an alien bar. Goku shrugged his shoulders and Bulma faced the bartender once more."What's good around here?"The man chuckled and grabbed an empty glass off the bar top and began wiping it down with a cloth he pulled out of his apron pocket."Not much. I take it this is your first time to my establishment?"Bulma merely nodded, not wanting to divulge anything."Alright, two Vic's Vipers it is then." His offered smile was a little less than friendly and put Bulma slightly on edge. As he walked away she turned around on her stool and took a look at the place. There was one main room, shaped like a square, with tables littered around. There seemed to be some sort of game in the back corner that people were hovering over. Seemed like Goku was also interested as his attention was clearly pointed in that direction. The bartender placed their drinks on the bartop, the sound making Bulma pause and turn to find two square glasses with a clear but shimmering liquid inside. She took the glass and raised it to her nose, sniffing the contents, already feeling a slight burning sensation run down her nostrils. Deciding it would be in their best interest to fit in and not be suspicious, she took the glass, brought it to her lips and drank the whole thing down in one shot.She immediately regretted it as a hot burning feeling erupted from her esophagus. She could taste faintly what she could only describe as something like mint and citrus, which wasn't a great combination in her book, and she started coughing to rid the taste from her mouth."Water p-please." She rasped out to the bartender. He saw her reaction and chuckled slightly, bringing a bigger glass and setting it down by her without a word."Hey Bulma, you okay?" Goku's attention turned to his friend as she coughed and sputtered, taking big gulps of the provided water while he patted her back."F-fine, I'm fine Goku." she choked out after setting the glass down."Oh, our drinks are here. This looks interesting!"Before she could warn him, Goku downed the whole thing in the exact same way she did. But there was no coughing, no expletives, only a smile on his innocent looking face."MMmm that's good, can I get another?"Bulma gaped at him as he flagged down the bartender. She hoped the Saiyans would come, just not right now, she needed some time to compose herself.Vegeta slowly opened his groggy eye lids to find himself still in his space pod. He was dreaming again, one of his favorites this time. Frieza had been chained to a pipe in the bowels of his ship while Vegeta cut his arm off with ki and used it to beat him to death. He allowed the smallest of smiles to grace his lips until he realized that yes, he was indeed awake, the lizard bastard was probably still alive and he wasn't hearing the automated voice of his pod going off about landing sequences like normal.He sat up a bit and leaned forward over the control panel to see the ship's stats. Everything seemed up to snuff."What's our eta to planet Hatozu?""2 hours and 45 minutes" The automated voice replied."Then why am I up right now?" Vegeta growled, clearly annoyed that his dream was interrupted."Unkown." the computer responded."Well, fucking figure it out." Vegeta snapped back."Searching...It appears this pod has run out of the required sleep vapor to keep you in hibernation.""Of course it has." He replied out loud. Just leave it to Frieza's poor excuse for pod technicians to overlook something so crucial. Now what was he going to do for the next almost three hours?He supposed he could try reaching out to his comrades, maybe they're having the same shitty luck he is."Raditz...Nappa...You awake?" He spoke into the comms system."..." No response from either one. Looked like he had the only fucked up pod.He sat back in his seat and ran his gloved hand over his face in frustration. Just his luck that he was the only one that was up at that moment and he had almost three hours to kill before landing.Thinking about landing reminded him about the mission he was on. He was going to finally meet the woman he saw all those weeks ago. The mysterious woman that had gotten through Frieza's defenses and almost killed the slimy bastard. He admitted, only to himself, that he was impressed with her skills. He didn't know of anyone who attempted an assasination attempt on Frieza and survived, which is probably why he wanted her alive.He thought back to that night, seeing her in that tight red dress, her hair electrifying in its blue hue, walk right up to the effeminate lord without a shred of fear in her cerlurean eyes. He was entranced, never had he seen a creature so unique, and he had seen several hundred species through his unfortunate work for the lizard. When he finally caught up to her in the shuttle bay, that air of confidence faltered for a moment when she met his gaze, but just for a moment. Her fiery determination returned seconds later and without a word to him she disappeared.Because of his actions, or lack thereof where the woman was concerned, he was subjected to some of the worst torture to date from his 'employer'. Just thinking back to those 'sessions' as Frieza liked to call them made the smallest of shivers travel down his spine.For all the trouble she'd put him through, he was slightly loathe to bring her back to the lizard. He knew what was in store for her and even though he didn't know a damn thing about her, he didn't want that kind of physical and emotional pain to take that fire out of her eyes.What was he thinking? He's the fucking Prince of All Saiyans! What should he care if some random terrorist to the cold empire gets tortured?That's what he wanted to believe, that he had no feelings one way or the other on the matter. He couldn't really. He wasn't in a position just yet to oppose the evil tyrant, no matter how much he wished he was. He had to get stronger! In the end he realized he's just a selfish bastard doing his job. He had to push his unwanted feelings to the side and just finish the mission for both his and his comrades sakes.It felt like forever, but eventually he heard those sweet words he was waiting for."Preparing for landing on planet Hatozu." The computer voiced.He was shaken from his internal musings by the announcement and looked to his control console. Sure enough he would be entering the atmosphere shortly. He leaned back and closed his eyes just as the turbulence of the planets atmosphere rocked his pod.To pass the time, Goku had started playing the strange looking game in the corner with the other bar patrons. At least he was trying, he didn't quite understand the rules and the other men playing with him were laughing and grabbing what Bulma assumed to be some kind of game chip. She had a feeling this was some sort of gambling game.Goku however, didn't mind in the least. He laughed along with the other guys and took a drink from his glass, which was a much bigger version of the shot they had both partaken in when they arrived. Bulma had no idea how he was still standing considering how she still had a slight buzz from her one shot and that was 8 hours ago. She only guessed it was due to his Saiyan genealogy.She was taken out of her musings when she noticed Goku had stopped laughing abruptly. His head shot up and his eyes were hard and focused. Bulma reached out to him and whispered near his ear. "You sense something?"Goku nodded quickly, not moving his gaze one iota."Hey guy, are you gonna play or what?" one of the guys spoke up when they noticed it was his turn and he wasn't playing.Goku then looked to Bulma who nodded and continued to speak to him in a near whisper. "Keep playing, we want to appear as normal as possible."He nodded and went on with his turn."So, what can we expect?"He turned his head to her slightly, still keeping his eye on the game."There's three of them. One is as powerful, if not more so than me. The other two are also very strong but not on the same level." Goku muttered under his breath. The men all laughed again and one of them swiped the two glob looking chips sitting in front of Goku.She paused at hearing one of them was as strong or more strong than Goku. They might have bitten off more than they could chew. "Are they Saiyans?" Bulma asked."I can't tell. Their energy feels similar to mine, that's all I know.""Hm, ok well that's promising. Keep playing the game, even when they come in. I want to make it look like I'm alone at first. If things look like they're going south, then make your presence known. I'll be over at the bar."Goku nodded and went back to the game, although not as invested as before.Bulma sat at a bar stool and called the bartender over."What'll it be this time miss?" He smirked at her."Give me something a little less strong than your vic's viper please.""Coming right up." He replied. Within a minute a fizzy concoction was placed in front of her. It smelled slightly like ginger which made Bulma a little less nervous. She took a sip and grimaced only slightly. At least it was tolerable, it reminded her of a strong whiskey from back home. She took a deep breath to calm herself. This was it, the moment that the rest of her life hinged upon."Take it easy Briefs, you got this." She said under her breath, trying her damnedest to not show how nervous she was....Several miles from the town the three soldiers' pods landed in the strange pebbled ground creating craters and tremors in their wake. It was only moments before the pods depressurized and they all came rushing out of their confined spaces. Nappa began stretching his limbs immediately, trying to regain feeling since he was the largest of the group, he could barely fit inside those cramped pods.Raditz was 20 yards away doing some light stretching as well, taking in his surroundings and making sure his scouter was up and running. Vegeta climbed out of his pod, thankful for the fresh air. He was slightly tired from not being able to sleep for the whole duration of the flight, but he wasn't about to let that affect his duties.They all spotted each other and gathered near the pod in the middle. "Raditz, do you detect any strong energy signatures?"The long haired Saiyan scanned the horizon, his scouter's beeping becoming louder. "Yea boss, sort of.""What do you mean sort of?""Well, there's only one power level in the closest town that's even close to ours. But it's not a real threat.""I see. Well let's head over to that bar and see if the informant's information was accurate."The two men nodded and they all shot up into the air on their way to the trading town."By the way, did either of you get woken up early?" Vegeta asked his comrades.They both looked over at him with perplexed looks. "Not me, slept like a baby!" Nappa cackled.Raditz shook his head. "Me either. I woke up when we landed. Why? Did you get woken up early?"Vegeta growled and looked away. "Of course you two didn't. Frieza must be fucking with me.""I'll take that as a yes." Raditz said to Nappa as silence fell over the trio. They both knew when not to push a subject with their Prince.As they flew above the high stalked trees Vegeta's mind was focused on the woman. The woman that haunted his dreams with those piercing aqua marine eyes. The woman that caused him so much pain and torture. To say he was torn in his feelings on the matter would be an understatement. And now there was a very high possibility that he would see her again in person. He knew this would be a difficult mission for him, but he was a soldier first. He didn't have time for frivolous feelings or inclinations. He was here to do a job and nothing more. Get the woman, and deliver her to Frieza.They made it to the town quickly and headed straight to the bar where the informant said the woman would be. They touched down in front of the establishment, Vegeta wasting no time in heading towards the door, but stopped right before entering."Remember we're here to get the woman and deliver her to Frieza. Nothing more." He looked back over his shoulder at his two comrades who nodded in agreement."I mean it. No fucking around...Raditz." He added.The long haired Saiyan's eyes widened for a second, then he snorted out a laugh and a look of mock hurt painted his angular features. "Aw, come on Vegeta! Not even a quickie?"At that Nappa could be heard chuckling under his breath as well.He wasn't graced with a verbal response. Only the look of death from his commanding officer. Raditz put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, okay got it. I was only kidding ya know.""Hmmph." Vegeta grunted and continued his way through the doors. The contrast between the bright light of the afternoon sun and the darkness of the bar caused the men to squint momentarily as they got their bearings.The music playing overhead had a militaristic beat accompanied by haunting chords and a powerful voice. Vegeta thought it was fitting for this moment. As they took their first steps inside, several of the bar patrons stopped what they were doing and just stared at the formidable looking trio. Vegeta glared at them all, daring them to say anything. He figured it was to be expected, This planet wasn't exactly in PTO territory, but none the less, Frieza's soldiers had gotten a reputation across the galaxy for being blood thirsty and extremely dangerous. At his gaze, they all quickly went about their drinking and socializing.Vegeta scanned the room once more and saw exactly what he was looking for. The woman. She was here, and she didn't even look up when they arrived. How interesting. He noticed her hair was in a long braid that hung over her shoulder. She was wearing a tight black sleevless top tucked into dark green pants that hugged her legs. Combat boots adorned her feet. She was sitting at the bar with a drink in hand. He also noticed the holster she was wearing that had some type of weapon in it as well. She reminded him even more of a Saiyan female then when he first saw her, and he felt a strange sensation in his gut that was not welcomed at the moment."Hey Vegeta, that her?" Nappa poked Vegeta's shoulder to get him out of his head."Yes, that's the woman." He snapped back.Raditz whistled low. "Damn, if I'd known she was this hot...""Shut up Raditz." Vegeta snarled."Just sayin..." He laughed a little. "Get it?" He nudged Nappa in the side with his elbow.Nappa chuckled. "Take away the blue hair, add a tail and some muscle mass, she'd be the spitting image of a Saiyan woman.""Stop your gabbing ladies, we have a job to do." Vegeta scolded as he began walking up to the bar. The two men looked to each other with smirks then followed...Bulma knew the moment they walked in that these were the guys they'd been waiting for. She didn't need to look up. The energy they were radiating was confirmation enough. She kept a tight grasp on the tumbler in her hand as she took another swig.Out of the corner of her eye she could see them approaching her. The one in front was the man she saw on Frieza's ship. The one that almost caught her but let her go. She didn't look over until he sat himself at the bar beside her. The other two standing by him towered over his smaller stature."So, we meet again." The man said.So he remembered her. This could be interesting.She finally turned her head and realized they were only a few feet apart. His face was strong, and angular. He had high cheekbones and piercing black eyes that were boring into her like they could read her mind. He was wearing standard PTO armor, but it was a deep blue instead of the normal black, brown and green colors she'd seen in the past. She had to admit that even though he was technically the enemy right now, he was damn handsome.Bulma put her game face on, and smirked at him. "So it seems." She let go of her glass and set it gently down on the bar top, then angled her body to face him a little better. "You've come to bring me to Frieza, right?"Vegeta smirked back at her, enjoying their little banter, however short lived it may be."You catch on fast..." He replied.Bulma smiled softly, though it didn't change the intensity in her eyes. "How do you think I've survived this long fighting your employer?""Pure luck probably. But that doesn't matter anymore. You're fight is over. You're coming with us." He went to grab her upper arm, and that's when Bulma reacted. She shifted forward slightly, dodging his grasp and in only a few seconds pulled the gun out of her holster, keeping it relatively concealed, put pointed at his stomach. Vegeta brought his hand back, his eyes widened for a fraction of a second in surprise at her speed, but quickly put his stoic mask back in place. The other two Saiyans taken aback as well, were also ready to attack at a moments notice. The tension in the room was thick, and Goku, still at the game table looked up, his eyes sharp and ki kept low as to not alert them to his presence, was keeping a very close eye on the situation."Before we take our leave, I'd like to speak to you gentlemen. I think what I have to say will be in your interest." Her voice now more authoritative, but still calm and collected.She heard a snort and looked up to see Raditz stifling a laugh. "Gentleman, that's a good one." He chuckled.Nappa elbowed him in his ribs, hard. Causing Raditz to grunt and bend over.Bulma smirked and looked back to Vegeta to see his reaction.Vegeta ignored his idiot team mate and kept his eyes glued to the woman. He looked at the gun pointed at him, then back to her bright, round eyes. "First of all, put that toy away woman, it won't have any effect on me. Second, I've heard that before. Do you think you can trick me with your mind games? Think again."Bulma glanced at her gun then back up at the smug looking soldier. "This is no toy, I assure you. I don't think I'll put it away just yet. If you remember, I was the one who was able to sneak past Frieza's security with a poison smoke bomb and almost kill him. My intellect and cunning know no bounds, it would be wise to keep that in mind. Now, I will say again. I have a proposal for you three. One that I'm sure will be to your liking. If you would give me five minutes, my partner and I can go through the details."She said partner slightly louder then the rest of her sentence, causing Goku to look up and see her meeting his gaze. He quickly left the game table to the dismay of the other players and was by her side instantly."Partner?" Vegeta said mostly to himself. He looked to the man standing by the woman's side and almost had to do a double take. He looked nearly identical to Raditz, except for the short spikier hair. He looked like a Saiyan!"Impossible." Breathed Nappa."No way..." Raditz said, stunned.There was silence between the five of them until Raditz jumped up, a genuine smile on his face. "Kakarot? Kakarot is that you?"Goku saw that the man was looking right at him, but was unfamiliar with the name. "Who, me? No, I'm Goku. But I am a Saiyan, just like you three are."Bulma looked to Goku, then looked over to the PTO soldiers. She could see the resemblance easily between Goku and the one with the long hair and the shorter man, but the tall bald one didn't seem to look like any of them. She noticed that they all were practically slack jawed at Goku's statement. She knew Goku was right, they had to be Saiyans. This was their lucky day. Now if only they would hear them out."It can't be." Nappa spoke as he grabbed a bar stool and plopped down on it, scrutinizing the man that just joined them. "Our planet was destroyed. Frieza told us we were the only ones left.""Well, things are getting interesting indeed." Vegeta spoke up. He was planning on this being a simple procurement mission. Now his carefully laid plans were being tossed aside. He had a feeling that this woman would be a thorn in his side.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Chapter 6: The OfferThere was silence within the group for a moment as the reality of the situation set in for both parties. There were more Saiyans than anyone had thought. Goku was nearly jumping out of his gi with excitement at the prospect. While the other three were simply in shock. Well, more so Raditz and Nappa. Vegeta was planning a new strategy considering the current circumstances.Bulma couldn't stand the quiet any longer. "Well? What do you guys have to lose?"At the sound of her voice they came out of their stupor. "Our lives for one." Nappa replied. Vegeta smirked, glad at least one of his men had a decent head on his shoulders."But this is my brother! Can't we just hear them out? I'm sure it won't take long and then we can take the woman back to Frieza." Raditz practically whined. His brother, Kakarott who he thought was dead, was now standing right in front of him. He couldn't just leave without talking to him for a bit. He needed to know what the hell happened to him!"You're not taking her anywhere." Goku said sternly. Even though this man could very well be his sibling, and the other two his kinsmen, he wouldn't let them harm Bulma in any way. He still had hopes that they could get these three men to team up with them."That remains to be seen." Vegeta spoke up.Bulma was getting more frustrated by the minute! It's like these guys were just ignoring her! No one ignored Bulma Briefs!She stood from her stool, weapon still pointed at Vegeta. "Ok, look. This will literally take like 10 minutes. You're telling me you don't have 10 minutes to spare when we're (at this point she lowered her voice a bit to try and prevent anyone else from overhearing) talking about putting an end to the cold empire?"The three men blinked at her before breaking out into full blown laughter. Nappa was holding his gut, barely making any noise he was laughing so hard. Raditz had his hand on Nappa's shoulder for support and Vegeta just sat there cackling.Bulma and Goku just frowned back at them. How could they not take this seriously? Were they really okay with being in service to Frieza? Did they honestly have no problem with working for a tyrant who had destroyed countless planets and taken billions of lives across the galaxy?"That's rich woman!" Vegeta spoke in between chuckles. "You and this rogue Saiyan intend on bringing down the most powerful regime in the galaxy!?""Keep it down! Do you want people to hear? This is serious!" Bulma hissed."I give zero fucks who hears about your hair brained scheme, which is doomed to fail by the way." Vegeta snarked back.Goku wasn't liking where this was going. He took a step forward and put his hand on Bulma's shoulder to try and calm her down.But Bulma wasn't having it. She shrugged Goku's hand away. "Ugh! Fine! Have it your way dickwads! Have fun being at the mercy of someone who literally couldn't care if you live or died. I'm leaving!"With that she began stomping her way to the doors of the bar and was out of sight before the three Saiyans knew what happened."What's a dickwad?" Raditz asked Nappa who shook his head, also not understanding the Earth insult."It's not good." Goku replied, then began following after Bulma.Vegeta stood up and also followed the duo, shouting over his shoulder. "Well, what are you waiting for? We have a renegade to catch." As he made his way out the doors he replayed the woman's words in his mind. She had a point, he didn't want to be under Frieza's thumb for the rest of his life. He loathed that wretched lizard and was biding his time until he was strong enough to defeat him. Perhaps she did have a plan to kill Frieza, but he didn't know anything about this woman. She was obviously much weaker than himself and even this new Saiyan. What could she possibly do to destroy the ugly bastards empire? He found himself more and more curious about it as he caught up to the duo in no time, halting them in their tracks as they reached the outskirts of the town."Going somewhere?"His sudden appearance in front of them took Bulma by surprise, startling her. She soon had a scowl on her face though and her arms crossed over her chest. "Isn't it obvious? You three would rather be Frieza's lap dogs forever, doing his bidding than make an effort to give yourselves better lives. Ones where you'd be in control. So we're leaving, right Goku?"Goku looked to her, then back to the shorter Saiyan. He knew this man wouldn't let them just waltz out of here. With Bulma losing her cool he had to be the one to hold everything together. He'd never seen her like this, her eyes lit up with a fire so intense. And just by looking at the flame haired man, he knew Bulma had just pushed a button. He hoped it wasn't a very bad one.Vegeta seethed at her insult. How dare she? Just who did this weak woman think she was? Didn't she realize he could kill her with his pinky finger? The audacity of this female!"I am no. One's. Lap dog." He bit out, allowing his ki to increase with his anger.Goku could see the situation was getting serious, but Bulma couldn't sense ki very well, so to her, he was just angry."Bulma, that wasn't a smart move. He's the one that's up there with me in terms of power levels. You may have pushed him too far." He warned."We're out of options here. We need them to join us if we ever want to defeat Frieza! I just took a guess that this guy doesn't respond well to being disrespected. Looks like I'm right."Goku shook his head and looked back over to the fuming Saiyan that looked like he was going to explode any minute. He started raising his ki gradually to prepare for a possible battle."Well, if you don't want to be, then do something about it!" Bulma yelled back. "We have a chance to change this galaxy for the better! Get rid of Frieza and give freedom to all that he's imprisoned by his evil reign!"Vegeta stilled at her first remarks. Looks like she wasn't the type to skirt around an issue. He wanted to do something about his situation so badly it physically hurt, but how could he tell her that, and keep his pride intact. He wasn't going to. Not directly anyway. Just then Raditz and Nappa landed right behind him.After mulling things over Vegeta responded. "Change the galaxy for the better? You do know that if by some chance in hell Frieza was destroyed, that some other power hungry warrior would take his place." His frown turned into a small smirk as he crossed his arms, actually looking a little smug. "Like me."Bulma was taken aback by that statement. She didn't think these Saiyans would want to take Frieza's place! Her shock was quickly replaced by anger. "Oh yea? And how's that goin' for ya?"Goku ran his hand over his face in exasperation. At this rate she was going to get them both killed! In all the missions they've taken together over the years, this is the most impulsive he's ever seen her. Sure she could be spontaneous sometimes and quite stubborn, but those traits of hers never caused them to be put into harms way. She was always careful to make sure everyone made it back safe. Now he could see that Bulma was at the end of her rope. Maybe she thought this was their last hope. Their last chance at actually defeating Frieza. He had to admit that without the help of these Saiyans it was definitely going to be an uphill battle.Before Vegeta even had a chance to respond, Bulma spoke up again. "Who was it that was able to sneak onto Frieza's flag ship undetected with a lethal weapon and nearly kill him? Oh, that's right it was me! Have you seen any other close calls like that since you started working for the asshole?"She waited a second in case he actually had, but he was silent. Silent, but close to becoming deadly. His two companions behind him stood there with wide eyes, not believing the audacity this weak woman had to speak to their prince like this."I didn't think so. I'm the only one. And do you know why? It's because I'm a fucking genius that's why! Guess who sent the tip on my location?" Even though they stood fairly far apart, Bulma was still toe to toe with him. She showed no fear.Vegeta's eyebrows rose slightly at that. Did she really rat herself out? Or was this all part of her plan? To try and convince them to defect?"No ideas? Once again, it was me. I hacked into Frieza's system, planted the tip and here we are! With my knowledge and abilities and the power of four Saiyans, as well as the rest of the resistance force, I know we can take down that bastard!" She was practically panting she yelled so loud."She does seem pretty smart." Raditz remarked quietly."Shut up!" Vegeta ground out.Nappa remained quiet, taking in all the information.Vegeta had to rein it in and quickly. He had orders to bring her to Frieza alive and if he wasn't careful he was going to kill her here and now. He took a deep breath in through his nostrils and exhaled. lowering his ki only slightly."No one, and I mean no one has spoken to me like that, and lived. The only reason you are still standing and not a pile of ashes is that I have orders to bring you back alive. As for your little scheme, it is...intriguing, I will grant you that. But how do you plan to defeat Frieza? What is your strategy?"Bulma stood stock still. Now that she thought about it, she didn't have a plan beyond this point. Her main focus had been convincing these guys to join their efforts. She couldn't believe how stupid that was. Of course she should've come up with some kind of action plan for afterward. Now she'll look like a fool and risk them leaving!"That's what I thought. Nice try woman. Now that all's said and done, we really should be going, and you'll be joining us." Vegeta began walking towards her with what looked like delight in his eyes.Bulma raised her ki gun and aimed right for Vegeta's head, her finger resting on the trigger. But Goku came up to her and guided her hands back down to her side. The look he gave her gave no room for argument."Like I said before, you won't be taking Bulma anywhere." He got into his fighting stance. "Just because she doesn't have a plan in place right this second, doesn't mean that she won't figure something out. She's the smartest person I've ever known and a big reason why any of us in the resistance cell are alive."Vegeta kept stalking forward, cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders in preparation for battle. "And I should care because...?" He was only a few feet away from the pair now, stopping and adjusting his pristine white gloves, making sure they were on tight."Because she's the key to defeating Frieza." Goku said simply.Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "Oh is she now? And what makes you think that?""My gut tells me so. It's never steered me wrong.""Well then, too bad you won't have your key much longer." Vegeta taunted."We'll see about that. I don't plan on losing her." Goku replied. His eyes had lost their softness and Bulma could tell he was ready for battle. She kept her ki gun out in case the other two Saiyans tried anything, but moved to a much safer distance several yards away."Plans don't always work out the way we think they will." Vegeta Countered. With that the two men met in the middle in the blink on an eye and grappled each other, gauging the other's brute strength. Both had their legs spread, one behind them for leverage, Fists clenched together and their ki's spiking, causing a whirlwind of energy to whip out around them which made the teal colored pebbles on the ground scatter in every direction.Vegeta's comrades remained where they were, not seeming to be bothered by the battle or debris in the least. Bulma thought they almost looked bored. Meanwhile she couldn't keep her eyes off of the two men fighting, fists locked together, white auras of energy swirling around them.Before she could blink again, they broke apart and began a flurry of punches and kicks. They seemed to be evenly matched. Every attack Goku made, Vegeta would dodge or block, the same for Vegeta's attacks. Goku would easily dodge or block. It was as if they weren't taking this seriously, merely sparring for fun or something.This back and forth seemed to go on forever to Bulma, but then something changed. Vegeta got a hit in, then another. He was feinting his attacks. He'd make like he was going to punch, then instead knee Goku in the stomach.The taller Saiyan stumbled back but quickly regained his footing and instead of countering, he shot up into the air, Vegeta following shortly behind. As Goku looked down he saw Vegeta gaining on him and shot out several ki blasts right below him in quick succession.Vegeta saw most of them and dodged, but one did hit him square in the chest, causing him to halt his ascent. He could faintly hear the cheering of that damned woman on the wind. He was surprised she could see so well considering they were so high up now that his comrades looked like small bugs.Taking a second to collect the breath that was knocked out of his lungs, he resumed his climb and before he was eye to eye with the other Saiyan he grabbed the man's feet and began spinning him in a circle. He was going so fast that the two looked like blurs to Bulma. It only took a minute to get to the speed he wanted, then Vegeta let go, causing Goku to sail through the air at breakneck speeds and crashing into the ground, through several of the corn trees and stopped only because a giant boulder was in his path."Goku! Bulma shouted. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her over to where Goku laid, struggling to get to his feet. She kneeled down next to him and tried to assist him in sitting up."Bulma, g-get out of here." Goku rasped as he regained his footing. "You need to leave. Now. Go back to the ship and leave this planet!"Bulma had only seen her friend this upset once before. And that was when he had fought Frieza. She realized then how serious the situation really was."But I can't leave you here! Chi Chi will kill me!""You have to. If you don't go, you're going to get caught in the crossfire and I'm not willing take that chance. You're too important Bulma. And don't worry, I don't plan on losing. I can always hop on a few cargo cruisers here and there. You'll see me again. And so will Chi Chi." He smirked at her to reassure her.Bulma shook her head, not liking this idea in the least. She went to retort but Goku cut her off. "NOW Bulma! He's coming this way. You need to leave NOW!" He screamed.With a single tear running down her cheek she smiled at her best friend for what may be the last time, then turned and made a run for it towards their ship.Vegeta saw the blue haired woman running through the tree line and got Nappa on the com. "She's getting away. Track her down. I'll join you when I'm done with this low class Saiyan.""We're on it." Nappa curtly replied. "Looks like we've got ourselves a good old fashioned chase." He grinned at his comrade, then shot into the air, tracking Bulma with his scouter."Hey man, wait up!" Raditz yelled as he took off in pursuit as well.Lucky for Bulma, the ship wasn't far from where all the chaos was happening. She kept looking around her to see if anyone was following but it was hard to see past the tree line since the forest was so thick.She came to the clearing and charged up the ramp to her ship, navigating the craft while trying not to fall over in her haste to get out of there. She had just sat down in the pilots seat and began the ignition sequence when she heard two heavy thuds followed by heavy footfalls that were coming closer.They found her. Oh Kami they found her. She quickly shut the blast door to the bridge, knowing it wouldn't really keep them out, but it would buy her a few precious seconds of time. She continued with the ignition sequence, figuring if she could get these two guys out of the equation, at least Goku would stand a fighting chance against their leader.Just as she finished charting her course and starting the engine, the reinforced steel door was ripped open like a can of sardines and two hulking men came charging onto the bridge to find Bulma buckled in her chair, her eyes wild with determination.Raditz felt the hum of the engine beneath his feet, then the vibration of the ship's landing gear retracting. "Did you...?" He started to ask but was thrown to the side as the ship launched quickly above the tree line. Raditz and Nappa tumbled into each other and fell on top of one of the ships consoles."Turn this fucking ship around!" Nappa barked as he grabbed onto the edge of a computer console to steady himself while untangling himself from Raditz.Bulma turned and glared at the two oafs while shaking her head. She wasn't going to turn this ship around for anything. They'd have to kill her first.The two large Saiyans were trying to reach Bulma at the front of the bridge but every time they though they had their balance, the increase in gravitational force caused them to crash into each other and bridge equipment.Down on the planet, Vegeta heard the roar of an engine and looked up to see a strange looking ship flying above the tree line. "Shit!" He cursed as he knew exactly where Raditz and Nappa were in that moment and he also had to dodge a ki blast from their newly found Saiyan. He had to admit for the first time that he was evenly matched with an opponent. It was a tough pill to swallow, but he didn't have time to finish this battle. The woman was his priority here."We'll have to finish this another time third class. I have more important matters to attend to!" He shouted to Goku as he shot a giant ball of ki in his direction and wasted no time in flying at full speed to his pod.Goku's eyes widened at the size of the energy ball coming his way. There was no way he could dodge it. He'd have to take it head on and hopefully redirect it out into space. The other Saiyan's words confused him, but he didn't have the time to think about them now. He had to survive this first."What the fuck is happening!" Vegeta shouted through his scouter at Nappa."T-The woman started her ship b-before we could stop her." Nappa yelled, breathlessly.Vegeta sighed. "Idiots. Once you're out of the atmosphere, take control and land it back on the planet!" He could see the ship getting smaller and smaller as it traveled. This was definitely not how he imagined this mission would go.Vegeta had just landed by his pod, waiting for Nappa or Raditz to confirm they had command of the ship. Hoping that ki attack was enough to stall the other Saiyan for a bit. At least it would take him a while to find him."Uh...Vegeta?" Raditz uncertain voice came through the scouter."Yes?! What is it. Do you have control of the ship yet?" Vegeta barked."Well about that..." Raditz hesitated."Spit it out already!""She's got it on autopilot and locked the controls, we've never seen technology like this. We can't change the ship's course.""Fucking imbeciles!" Vegeta shouted as he got into his pod. "I'll set my pod to track the ship. We'll just have to deal with her whenever and wherever it lands!"As the pod door closed and he started it up, he saw a black dot in the sky growing larger by the second. It was him! The other Saiyan. 'How did he track me down so quickly?' Vegeta thought.Thankfully his pod launched just in time, the Saiyan had launched a ki attack but the pod was too fast."Where is he going? Did they catch up to Bulma?" He asked himself out loud. There was only one way to find out, and that was to follow them. He looked around and saw Raditz and Nappa's pods. He jumped in one, closed the hatch and tried to figure out the controls. There was a large green button to his right. He pushed it and then spoke."Follow that other pod!"He hoped that would work at least. A computerized voice startled him. "Following Pod unit 938.""Yes!" He shouted in excitement. He couldn't believe that had worked. The little ship powered up and blasted off in pursuit of the Saiyan and hopefully he'd find Bulma too.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Ch 7: A Little DetourOnce the ship had reached it's interplanetary speed and the ride had smoothed out, Bulma freed herself from the harness in her chair, stood up and stretched her legs. She was chuckling a bit watching the two big Saiyans try and bypass her lock out so they could reroute the ship. They honestly reminded her of two lumbering apes just hitting random keys."Damn it, that should have worked!" Cursed Nappa as he ran his hand over his face. He looked towards Bulma to see she was also up and about, not seeming to care that they were trying to reroute the ship."Hey you! Woman! I demand you turn this ship around right now!" He yelled, a finger pointed in her direction as he came bounding towards her.Bulma's carefree attitude changed immediately and she quickly took out her ki gun, aiming it at the bald Saiyan. "Sorry no can do.""Look lady, put the toy gun away and just undo your lock out. I'm only asking this one time. Next time I won't be so nice." He glared at her as he cracked his knuckles."Oh, I think I'll hold onto to this 'toy' as you call it. It's not as harmless as you think. Would you like a demonstration?" Bulma pointed the weapon at an empty storage tub near the door to the bridge, aimed and fired.Nappa saw this as his opportunity to disarm the woman and maybe 'persuade' her to unlock the navigation using his fists, but he halted his steps within a foot of her as he saw the storage tub vaporized before his eyes."What the fuck!?"Bulma just smirked and aimed the gun back at Nappa.Raditz stopped what he was doing at the navigation console and looked over his shoulder. "What, did I miss something?""What the hell kind of weapon is that?" Nappa growled out, slightly apprehensive now but not wanting the woman to know that, he kept his gruff demeanor in place.Now she had the undivided attention of both Saiyans. She held the weapon in front of her, almost caressing it as she skimmed her hand across the sleek barrel. "Oh I'm so glad you asked! You see, I invented this puppy myself! I replicated the energy that you Saiyans and some of my fellow earthlings can produce, ki, and was able to make it so that it could be produced by a chemical reaction outside of the body. It's self replicating so I don't need ammo of any kind. I just built the housing around the components in charge of the reaction-here" She pointed to what looked like a small orb protruding from the weapon, "built the mechanism that would trigger the chemical reaction, and viola! my very own ki gun!" She beamed at the two, very proud of her accomplishment.Raditz and Nappa stood there with their mouths agape. Neither had ever heard of such a device, or even that one could ever be made. The only things they knew that could manipulate ki were living beings. But this mere fragile woman had accomplished the seemingly impossible.Raditz was the first to come out of his daze. "Well, now we know why Frieza wants her alive..."Nappa snapped his head to the younger Saiyan. "Shut up you idiot!"Bulma smiled at hearing this again. "You do know your leader or captain, whatever he is already mentioned that don't you? But nevertheless, it's helpful to know."The two Saiyans looked to each other, at a loss on what to do. They couldn't reroute the ship without access to the navigation system and they couldn't access the navigation system without her access codes which she clearly had no intention of giving them. They also couldn't try brute force unless they wanted to be vaporized into nothing. None of this needed to be said verbally to one another, as they both were seasoned warriors, used to analyzing a situation in a moments notice. However, this situation was unlike any they had come across.Raditz was the first to act, and he walked closer to the woman, but stopped several feet away leaning against a panel lit up with displays. "So, since we can't access the nav system, mind telling us where we're going?"Bulma looked up from polishing her ki gun, a slightly surprised look on her face. She was expecting more fight from them. They must realize she has the upper hand in this scenario. They appeared smarter than she thought just a moment ago."A planet." Was her only reply as she sat in the captain's chair and resumed polishing her weapon."And...? What planet is that?" He continued."That's on a need to know basis, and you two don't need to know." She replied.She heard growling and looked up to see a seriously pissed looking Saiyan.Nappa nearly had steam coming out of his nostrils. He'd had it with his lady! He knew she wasn't all that strong physically. If he could just get that weapon out of her hands...He just had to be quick about it.As he was formulating a plan, the ship rocked violently, causing the two men still standing to stumble and crash to the ground. Luckily Bulma was sitting and just braced herself. When the movement subsided, she quickly placed her ki gun in it's harness and made her way to the front console."View screen, on!" She commanded, and a second later their view was nothing but giant space rocks left and right, some still hitting the ship."Shit!" She cursed as she began typing commands into the nav system and taking a seat at the station. Nappa and Raditz both righted themselves and their eyes went wide at the visual in front of them."I'm switching the nav system to manual." Bulma announced, not sure why she was, but she supposed it was just habit. She didn't particularly care in that moment if her two would be captors got jostled around a bit.Seeing this as an opportunity to gain control of the vessel, Nappa whispered into his scouter. "Vegeta, I think I have my chance, going to get control of this damn ship." He then silenced his scouter so she wouldn't hear the reply. He honestly didn't care what Vegeta had to say, he just wanted to let him know he was still actively trying to do his job. He eased his way over to her by keeping a hand on the control panels as we went. It took some effort to keep his footing with how much the ship was shaking as it was bombarded by small asteroids, but soon, he made it close enough to touch the navigation panel. Raditz was eyeing him skeptically the whole time.Before he had a chance to make a move, Bulma turned to look in his direction. "Yea, I know you're there. And I wouldn't try it if I were you unless you want all of us to die." She quickly went back to steering the ship between the large hunks of space rock coming right at them.Nappa looked out the view screen and his eyes widened as he saw the impossibly small spaces she was steering the ship through. Her piloting skills were impressive, though he was loathe to admit it. The more time they spent around this woman, the more he understood how it was that she got so close to Frieza and made it out alive."Hey big guy, take a seat already will ya? Let the lady do her thing." Raditz yelled over the sound of bombardments.Nappa glared at his comrade then slowly made his way to an empty seat, plopping down into it with a thud, though it was barely felt due to their current predicament. He looked over to Raditz, who despite their situation looked almost relaxed with his hands resting behind his head."Some Saiyan you are.""'scuse me? Careful there, those are fighting words." Raditz countered."You heard me! We have a job to do, get the girl to Frieza, and here you are letting her take us to who knows where, not even lifting a damn finger!" The ship shuddered violently, pausing their argument."Sorry!" Bulma yelled.Nappa rolled his eyes then looked back over to Raditz, whose face showed he was beyond pissed at the older Saiyan's statement."Dude, look around us. There's not much we can do in this scenario. She's got a weapon that can vaporize shit, and we're traveling through an asteroid field. Both are deadly. Not to mention we're in a confined space. If an opportunity shows itself I won't hesitate, but I also don't plan on dying during this mission. "Nappa sighed in resignation. He knew what Raditz was saying was true, but he didn't like feeling helpless in any situation. "Lazy ass." He muttered for good measure, loud enough for Raditz to hear."I heard that. Once we get out of this tin can, your ass is mine old man!" He challenged.Nappa smirked at that. "Hah! Not likely boy!" He taunted back.Their banter was cut short by Bulma. "Hey guys-trying to concentrate over here! You two can tease each other all you want once I get us out of this mess!" She quickly pulled up the map for the quadrant they were in, seeing a planet nearby that could sustain life, she altered her course, making a sharp left turn startling the two Saiyans."Hey, watch it lady! you're going to get us killed!" Nappa yelled."That's enough from the back seat driver, thank you!" Bulma replied. "I found a planet, we're going to be landing as soon as I clear this field.""Back seat driver?" Raditz repeated.Nappa shrugged his shoulders.The shaking and rocking of the ship continued and became worse as Bulma tried her best winding through the maze of space debris. She could see the end in sight though and that brought a smile to her face. "Almost there!" She said more to herself than for the benefit of the other two.Within a few minutes, they had cleared the field and Bulma heaved a sigh of relief, but that relief didn't last long as now that her attention had shifted from getting them through the field, she noticed all the warning lights flashing around her."You have got to be kidding me!" She said to no one in particular. The turbulence had not subsided and both Raditz and Nappa looked to each other in confusion, then looked to the view screen, seeing no asteroids in sight."There must be damage to the ship." Nappa commented.Raditz didn't reply, just had a concerned look on his face as he watched the blue haired woman work at the controls of the ship in a frenzy. She ran her fingers across her scalp in frustration, noticing that her braid was much looser than it was that morning. One of the storage tanks was leaking fuel into space and the engine was damaged. To what extent she wasn't sure, and wouldn't know until she could get out and actually look at it. That was if any of them were going to make it out of this alive.The planet she had mentioned earlier was now visible on the view screen and they were heading right for it. "Well, it's going to be a very bumpy landing. Hang on."Vegeta had just gotten Nappa's message."Well it's about time!" He snapped. No reply. "Nappa! Nappa Respond!" Nothing but silence greeted him."Hopefully he'll do his fucking job and we can be done with all of this." He sighed out. His pod was still tracking their ship and even though it wasn't in visual range at the moment he had their location on his small console in front of him.He looked up to see he was approaching an asteroid field of some kind and looked back down to see the ship he was tracking was right in the middle of it."Of course, leave it to them to fly into an asteroid field." If the woman died, he was sure his own death wouldn't be too far behind. He calculated the size of the field and made adjustments to his course so that he'd fly around it, while still keeping close tabs on the ship.He noticed that the ship was still intact after several minutes and was curious who was flying the thing. It couldn't be on auto pilot and he knew Nappa and Raditz' skills with spacecraft were basic at best. That left the woman. So, she had more than a few tricks up her sleeve. Interesting. But in the end it wouldn't matter. Vegeta was a selfish man, the only reason he was still alive was due to his strength, intelligence and survival skills. He wasn't going to let this little mission be the end of him. He had plans, for revenge, and redemption of his people. That was his priority. No woman, no matter what his gut was telling him, would get in the way of that.He looked back down at his console and saw the ship had changed course, it was now traveling horizontally through the field instead of going straight through. What were they thinking? Surely such a sudden change in course would only cause more damage. Yet it was somehow making it through. This change in course allowed his pod to catch up a little and the ship was now in visual range.It was heading towards a planet nearby. Now that he had them in visual range he magnified his view and noticed smoke was whirling around it and it seemed unsteady in it's path to the planet. He also noticed it wasn't slowing down much either.He continued following the ship as it entered the planets atmosphere, not too far behind, but just enough so that his pod wouldn't get caught in any aftermath. He watched as it crashed in a deep gorge between two rocky plateaus. it wasn't long until his own pod landed heavily at the edge of one of the said plateaus. He checked the planet's stats and found it had a suitable atmosphere so he began his pod's shutdown sequence.As he was getting out however, he felt shaking beneath him. He quickly exited the pod but wasn't quick enough to save it from crashing into the gorge below. It appeared the ground he landed on wasn't solid enough. As the pod was descending he flew as quick as he could to try and keep huge boulders of solid rock from damaging his ship and was fairly successful, but not completely. There was too much rock coming down and a medium sized one smashed into the side of it, sending the pod careening into the side of the cliff where it hit hard, then fell to the floor of the gorge with a resounding crash.He flew through the remaining debris coming down and landed amidst the remains of his pod and plenty of dust. Thankfully it was mostly intact as he walked around it, but who knows how it's internal components fared. There were several dents littering the hull including the rather large one from the boulder that hit it. He ran his gloved hand over them inspecting everything, leaving a fine coating of reddish brown dust on his pristine white gloves. He brushed his hands off on his uniform, got out his scouter, locating the ship only a few yards away with three faint ki levels. Good they were all alive.As he got closer, the dust dissipated allowing Vegeta to see the damage caused. The ship was spherical in nature, and about a quarter of it was buried into the ground. It was on it's side still smoking. He noticed a strange symbol that he had never seen before, two circles, one on the outside complete and the inside one was only partially complete. He had no idea what it meant, but it piqued his curiosity.He walked around looking for some kind of entrance to the thing and spotted what appeared to be a door at the top of the craft. He flew up and with little effort opened it and flew inside. It was quite disorienting going through the corridors of a ship that was on it's side. He checked every door he came across and found nothing, but then the corridor ended and there was an entrance into another room, what looked to be the door was crumpled up and to the side. He floated into the room which looked nothing short of disastrous. Wiring was coming out of one of the walls, which was actually the ceiling. Chairs were torn up from the floor and scattered around. He saw two large lumps on the ground that he immediately recognized as his comrades.Vegeta walked over and nudged Raditz with his leg, getting a response, albeit delayed from the prone Saiyan. "Unnnh...Mmmn.""Get up you weakling." Vegeta scolded as he walked over to Nappa and did the same. "Hmm...Huh? Veg..Ve-ge-ta?" Nappa moaned out as his eyes took their time focusing on the flame shaped hair of his prince."You too. Get your ass up. You've had worse beatings then this." Nappa slowly nodded and began trying to move his very sore body up and off the floor.After waking up his two idiot team mates, he looked around the space and saw blue hair attached to a very still looking body. He checked his scouter once again and it showed she was still alive, which meant she must be unconscious. As he got closer and had a better look at her, he could see she had a laceration on her forehead that was still bleeding a bit, some of it getting into her uniquely colored hair. He looked her over and noticed one of her wrists looked to be in an awkward position, but otherwise she seemed unharmed. Seeing her lying there, he wouldn't have believed she could be so spirited and loud mouthed with how peaceful she looked in that moment. Her long eye lashes rested gently against her cheekbones, her pink lips pouted ever so slightly. He had never seen such an exotic and fair skinned female before.He looked back over his shoulder to see Nappa assisting Raditz in getting up. He looked back over to the woman and picked her up quickly so they wouldn't see him staring at the her and made his way towards the exit. It didn't even feel like he was carrying anything, that's how light she was."Come on, let's get out of here, the ship is still smoking." He spoke as he flew past the duo and into the corridors. He made it out of the ship and flew a good distance from the crashes further up the gorge. As he held her in his arms he noticed that even her scent was unique, it reminded him of some kind of flower but he couldn't put a name to it. He set her down against a sloping rock and in the daylight could see she was getting a decent bruise around the laceration on her forehead.It wasn't too long before he saw Nappa and Raditz come out of the ship and slowly make their way over to him. It was then that Vegeta heard the all too familiar sound of a pod entering the atmosphere. The buzzing became louder and louder, causing the ground to vibrate slightly. He looked above the ship and saw the pod crashing into the opposite side of the gorge and become embedded in the rock. It had to be that other Saiyan, though he was surprised he knew how to work a PTO issued pod, he figured he didn't know how to slow it down and start landing procedures.Raditz and Nappa's heads snapped around to see what the commotion was about."It's just the other Saiyan, he must have followed us. There's no way it could be another PTO soldier, we're too far from the territory." Vegeta called to them.They both nodded and quickened their pace to reach Vegeta and the woman. Who knew what would happen now with the appearance of the other Saiyan.Vegeta heard another explosion, meaning that he must have destroyed the pod to get out. He kept his scouter trained on where the second pod crashed and saw the Saiyan had already exited and was quickly approaching them. "He's coming." He alerted the other two.As they came up to Vegeta they both eyed the woman on the ground with what Vegeta swore was sympathy? and even worry? What the hell happened on that ship!?They faced the direction the Saiyan was coming from and went into their battle stances. Vegeta chuckled and motioned for them to stand down. "You two are in no condition to fight. Keep your eye on the woman, I'll handle this." Stepping between them and towards the Saiyan who was now visible and flying to them rather quickly.He touched down and began to run for the woman. "Bulma! Are you okay?" He yelled to her as Vegeta blocked him from going any further."She's alive, has a head wound and badly sprained wrist." He said plainly."Let me see her!" Goku said urgently, but none too gently."You can see her just fine from there." He replied.Goku looked over to the two men standing over Bulma, then to the one right in front of him."Not good enough." Goku said as he flashed over to her, behind Nappa and Raditz and knelt down to look her over. She was still unconscious but breathing.The two looked to Vegeta who was surprised by the man's speed, but nodded, letting them know to relax. He figured since all their ships were out of commission right now there was no where for him to take the woman that he wouldn't be able to track them down.So they eased up and turned around to take a better look at the woman that saved their asses from destruction and death twice in a very short amount of time."Think she'll be alright?" Raditz asked as he came alongside who he was pretty confident was his brother Kakarott."I think so, but she might have a concussion." Goku responded moving the woman into his lap.Nappa also moved closer. "She's such a fragile creature, I'm surprised she's lived this long fighting against the PTO.""She's a lot tougher than most people give her credit for." Said Goku as he brushed a few stray hairs away from her head wound.Vegeta watched the display of care his men were showing and it raised his hackles. Was this amateur hour? Why were they fraternizing with their target(s)? They should know better. Plus part of him didn't like the way they seemed so friendly toward the woman, but he quickly rid himself of that trivial thought.He quickly approached the trio of men. "She'll be fine. Just a head wound and a sprained wrist, I checked her myself." He broke in between Nappa and Raditz, standing as tall as his smaller stature would afford him with his arms across his chest. "The more pressing matter at hand now is repairing the ships and getting supplies. Nappa I want you to search for a water source and collect as much as you can. Raditz? Go find us some food. And you." He pointed to Goku."Me?" He looked surprised at being spoken to like one of this guys men."Yes, you. Go find us something to start a fire with, wood...anything that's flammable. Who knows what the nights on this planet are like."Goku looked to Bulma, then back up to the flame haired Saiyan, and shook his head. "I'm not leaving her."Vegeta stared at the other Saiyan for what seemed to Goku like a very long time before he spoke again. "I won't repeat myself. You have your orders.""And I don't report to you. I'm staying here." Goku said firmly.Vegeta pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "You are a Saiyan, and I am your Prince! You will do as I say!""Prince?" Goku's brows furrowed in confusion.With each response, Vegeta's temper and little amount of patience were wearing thin. "Yes. Prince. My Father was King of our people." He spat in anger. He didn't feel the need to educate this third class on the history and destruction of their world."Wow! A prince huh? You don't look much like a prince. If you're a prince why are you working for Frieza?"Vegeta was barely keeping his ki under control at this point. He wanted to pound this guy into the dirt for his stupidity. But he didn't want to harm the woman any further than she already was. He needed her alive. "That. Is none of your business. Now go get something to make a damn fire with!" He shouted."I'm not leaving her." Goku replied again like a broken record.Just then he felt some movement in his arms and looked down to see Bulma struggling to open her eyes. "J-Just go." she breathed out."Bulma, you're awake!""Goku, just go do what he asks." Bulma weakly pleaded."But I can't just leave you here, I won't.""It'll be alright. I need to talk to him anyway."Goku shook his head. He didn't like this idea. That guy's goons already captured her once and now they were stranded. He didn't know what he would do if anything happened to her, or how he'd explain it to everyone back at base."Trust m-me will ya?" She groaned as she tried to sit up a little. Goku helped her sit on her own with her back against the gorge wall. "We're still alive aren't we?"Goku sighed, she did have a point. If they wanted them dead they would have killed them already. And didn't their leader say Frieza wanted Bulma alive? The fact he was still breathing had to be a good sign didn't it?Leave it to Bulma to be so stubborn while dealing with some pretty painful injuries."Fine. I'll go, but I'll be as quick as I can." He relented to his friend. "And you, if I see that she's hurt worse than she is now...I will kill you." Goku's kind eyes disappeared and were replaced with those of a fierce warrior, one who meant what he said.The corner of Vegeta's mouth turned up in a slight smirk. "I'd like to see you try."Goku glared at him, then turned to Bulma and mouthed 'be careful' before he shot up into the sky to search for kindling for a fire.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Chapter 8: Stranded/Convince MeVegeta watched the palm tree haired Saiyan until he was nothing but a speck in the sky, then looked over to the woman to see her struggling to sit up a little more and trying to rummage through her pockets with her bad hand."Stupid woman." He muttered while still watching her movements.Bulma heard him though, and looked up to lock eyes with him. "Excuse me?"Vegeta uncrossed his arms and walked over to her, stopping right in front of her. It felt good to tower over someone. "You heard me. Whatever it is you are doing is only making your injury worse. That, and what you have to say to me...I'm not interested." He pointed to her wrist that she was now cradling against her chest protectively.She glared at him, snorting in response and went back to looking in the pockets of her pants with the other hand. 'what a stubborn woman' He thought to himself.Bulma finally found what she was looking for and pulled a small box from the cargo pocket of her pants. "Aha!" she cried as enthusiastically as one could when they were in a lot of pain.Vegeta looked on in mild curiosity as she opened the lid to the box and rifled through it until she found what she was looking for. It was a small capsule of some kind with a plunger on the top. She pushed the plunger in and threw it down next to her. A poof of smoke swirled around her and when it was gone a bigger grey box sat to her right.His eyes widened as he was taken back to the night he first saw her. Then, she had taken a similar looking capsule out of her dress. It had the same effect but had the lethal gas within. It could store other items too? What was this technology?She opened the larger box and pulled out what appeared to be medical supplies. As she felt around her forehead for what she figured must be the reason for her killer headache she brought her attention back to him for a moment."You know, you can say you're not interested in joining us to destroy Frieza...but you and I both know that's not the truth." She pulled out a jar and began applying some kind of salve to her head wound.Vegeta stilled at her words. How could she be so perceptive? He was once again taken aback by this woman, how she seemed to surprise him at every turn. She drove him crazy with her stubbornness and loud mouth but if he was being honest with himself, and he didn't really want to be at that moment, he also found those traits...interesting, and very Saiyan like."How dare you presume to know what I'm thinking! What I think of Frieza is none of your business." He snarled back. He had to stick to his mission here. He had his own plans for Frieza."I'm not presuming anything. Just reading your facial expressions and body language. It's a helpful skill to have in my line of work. Also, you just told me all I needed to know without really saying it. Join the club bud!" She chuckled a bit as she put the salve away and rummaged through the first aid kit again. Taking out a tongue depressor and some bandaging.Vegeta practically growled at her. The nerve of this woman! He watched as she struggled to wrap her left wrist."Think you could lend me a hand?" She mumbled with some bandage in her mouth as she tried to tighten her wrap job.His answer was a silent glare. If this woman was so intelligent she could figure out a way to do it herself."Come on! it'll only take a second. Please?"But he didn't budge from his spot. He just stared at her and Bulma was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable. "There's no one around to witness this act of kindness, so it won't ruin your reputation, plus I won't tell if you don't." She let the bandage fall and it started unwrapping itself from around her wrist.He continued to stare at her for what seemed like forever, then gave the smallest nod in agreement. It was so small Bulma didn't understand what it meant until he took the two steps to reach her and sat back on his haunches, grabbing the bandages and tongue depressor with more force than was needed.It only took him a few minutes, he worked quickly and silently. Having him this close to her, Bulma got a better look at the supposed leader. His eyes were black as coal and rimmed by thick lashes. His hair defied gravity and stood proud atop his head in a flame like shape. She wondered if he used any kind of products to achieve that look or if it was purely natural.He paid no mind to her obvious gawking of him. This wasn't the first time a female had paid him this kind of attention."Thank you." Bulma said as he finished knotting up the wrap. He nodded once more then sat down next to her, leaning his head against the rock wall behind him."Long day huh?" she asked as she inspected his work. It looked good and felt tight enough that she had the right amount of support.Vegeta snorted in response. "No thanks to you." His eyes remained glued to the opposite wall of the gorge. He bent his left leg up and rested his arm over it. Bulma noticed the sculpted muscles of his limbs through his skin tight amour.She smirked at his response. "Well, it wouldn't be much fun if I didn't put up a fight now would it?"He still wasn't looking at her, but she noticed a slight crinkle in the corner of his right eye and could've sworn she saw the smallest of smirks. "Fair point...if I was doing this to have fun."Now he turned his head to meet the blue haired woman's bright inquisitive looking eyes. "You don't have a choice though, you will be coming with us, one way or another."Bulma smiled at him. "I could say the same about you. The three of you have the opportunity to change your lives and thousands, maybe millions of others. You can join us in the fight against Frieza. I'm sure with the three of you on our side we have a decent shot of actually taking him down."Vegeta raised his eyebrow at her in suspicion. "So you've been saying, but I've yet to hear any details on how you plan to go about it.""Does that mean you're interested?" Bulma's eyes lit up with hope. She decided to ignore his comment about a plan, since she honestly didn't have one yet. Though she knew she should get to work on something soon.The expression on her face made him pause in his response. He wasn't used to seeing people look at him with hope in their eyes, or in this woman's case, he felt he could literally see into her soul through those cerulean pools. He was used to seeing pleading eyes, eyes filled with fear or dread in their depths while in his presence. But here, this weakling woman was smiling at him with her whole being. He didn't know what to do about it.He composed himself enough to form a response. "It doesn't mean anything. I'm just stating a fact."Her smile dropped a bit, but he could tell that she hadn't given up on him yet. Why she hadn't, he wasn't sure."I see. Well, just think about it. We have some time since all our ships are pretty banged up and at this point I don't know how long repairs are going to take. So seriously, just think about it, please? You've seen some of what we're capable of, but we need more man, rather, Saiyan power. We really could use your help."Bulma then moved her right hand across her body and held it out to him. "I'm Bulma by the way. What's your name?"Vegeta looked at her hand, then up to her face. He didn't reciprocate the gesture. "It doesn't matter what my name is.""I beg to differ! Who knows how long we're going to be stranded here. I'd like to at least know your name."Vegeta remained silent while debating whether or not to divulge such information. Normally he wouldn't give it a second thought, but here he was actually thinking about it. What was it about this woman that turned everything he knew upside down? Against his better judgement he relented."Vegeta." He still hadn't moved to accept her gesture of introduction. The woman's hand remained outstretched towards him."Well, Vegeta, it's nice to meet another person that detests Frieza. You sure you and your comrades don't want to join us?"Again, he remained silent. Bulma figured he would be a tough nut to crack, however it only made her resolution to convince him stronger.She brought her hand back to her side and made to stand up. "Well, I better make myself useful and take a look at the ship, see what needs to be done." Though with only one good hand it was difficult to get to her feet.Vegeta watched as she took a while to stand and thought the woman was out of her mind if she thought she could repair a ship in her condition! She was just unconscious less than an hour ago!She was unsteady on her feet as she began to walk. "Which way is my ship?" She turned and asked over her shoulder, her braided hair swaying slightly with the movement.He had never been put in this position before, making sure someone under his watch stayed alive. It made him uneasy, he actually had to care in a way, something he never had to bother with before. His whole life it was just kill or be killed. Keeping a stranger alive was foreign to him, but since this was the situation he found himself in, he might as well just do his damn job. He couldn't have the woman die on him while trying to repair a ship.Vegeta rose from his position and dusted himself off as he walked towards her. "It's that way." He pointed in the direction of the crash sites. "Although I don't think you'll be able to begin repairs with part of your ship submerged in the bedrock." He replied smugly.Bulma's determined face fell somewhat, and she turned to face him. "Well, can't you move it so it's right side up?""I could. But I won't."Her mouth morphed into a frown. "Why not?""I simply don't feel like exerting myself right now.""Are you serious!?" Bulma yelled, her hands balling into tight fists at her sides. The nerve of this guy! "The sooner we get moving on repairs the sooner we can get out of here!""I'm well aware." Vegeta replied, almost sounding bored."Then why won't you help me?" Her arms shot up in question and frustration.Vegeta was reminded again of the night he first laid eyes on her. The way she used her limbs to emphasize her words, though this time she wasn't calm, cool and collected. Quite the opposite in fact, she looked like she was about to explode. The porcelain skin on her face became red, her body was nearly shaking she seemed so mad. The image suited her somehow.His silence was only fueling her fire. If he was in command, which she believed him to be based on his interaction with the other two Saiyans, then he had to realize the gravity of the situation. Why wouldn't he want to do everything he could to get a ship working and move on with his mission he was clearly obsessed with. She was about to break the heavy silence when he beat her to it."You didn't ask me nicely." His face remained serious with no hint of humor.Bulma was done. She was just done with this guy! "You've got to be kidding me! Nicely? I doubt you've asked for anything nicely in your entire life, and you want ME to ask YOU nicely?!" All this yelling was doing a number on her headache. She tried not to let it show, but Vegeta noticed her eyes squinting in pain."Yes."She yelled to the skies in frustration. All she wanted was to get her ship fixed, convince these three Saiyans to join their fight, and head back to base. Kami, was that too much to ask?Swallowing her pride, she took a deep breath, calmed herself and looked him straight in the eye. "Vegeta. Will you...help...me...move my ship...so I can...start repairs. Please?" Every word felt thick and heavy in her mouth.Oh, was he loving every moment of this. The corner of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. She was a stubborn one that was for sure, but he found a weakness. Her ship. It seemed she would do anything for her beloved ship. That and her own self interests, which this situation clearly fell under. Getting under her skin like this, watching her squirm, it was a delight to him. He hadn't been this entertained in quite some time.He lifted a gloved hand and looked it over, as if inspecting it for dirt. "I think not. We'll wait until the others return."The look she gave him. Were he any lesser of a man, he would have been frightened by it. As it was, it only made her more appealing to him. She stomped past him and went back to her spot against the rock wall, and resumed her digging around in her medical supplies box, completely silent. He was sure that any sudden movement or word to the woman would make her quite literally explode.She pulled out a small bottle containing some pills, set them on the ground and got the little black box out of her pocket again. Finding another capsule inside she threw it a good distance away from both of them and once the smoke cleared, a dome shaped yellow house stood where nothing had been a moment before.He would definitely have to ask her about this technology. He was sure this was why Frieza wanted the woman alive. With that tech he could revolutionize the planet purging business. He almost shuddered to think about the amount of power the lizard would have if he got his hands on it.He watched as she put the pills back in the box, snatched it up, glared fiercely at him and walked over to the house, slamming the door once she was inside. With nothing else to do at the moment and the woman safe in her weird shaped house, he decided to head to his ship and inspect the damage more thoroughly.Inside her capsule house Bulma slammed the first aid kit onto the kitchen table and went to grab a glass from the cabinet for some water. She honestly never thought she'd see the day that she would meet someone as stubborn and quick witted as herself, but today, she met that person in Vegeta. As she brought the glass back to the table and grabbed the pill bottle out of the first aid kit, popping the top and pouring a few into her hand, she couldn't help but be slightly concerned for their mission.Would she be able to convince him to join them? She knew that if Vegeta agreed, then the other two would follow, but getting Vegeta to agree looked like it could be a monumental task.Everything hung on this one mission. The weight of that fact started to sink in for her and she slumped down into her kitchen chair. As she looked around the familiar capsule house it brought her back to before Frieza had taken Earth. Back when her most pressing problems had been what invention to work on next, or what to wear for her date with Yamcha. At the time those issues seemed large and looming, but now she wished with all her heart that those were the only things plaguing her mind again.Now she was stuck on a strange planet with Goku, and three other Saiyans. One of which was looking to be a big pain in her ass. Were they even going to be able to get off of this rock? Would she be able to contact the base? Would Frieza come looking for his lackeys, or worse, send more soldiers? It made her head hurt even worse thinking about it all if that was even possible.Deciding she needed something to take her mind off of it all, she walked over to the bookshelf in the living room and perused the shelves, her fingers brushing over every spine until she found one that looked somewhat appealing to her. It was a rather large tome on quantum mechanics and Bulma knew it would do just the trick. She then went to the closet by the door and grabbed a folding chair, putting the book under her arm as to not hurt her wrist any more than it already did, and made her way outside. It was hot out but the air was dry, so it was perfect for some outdoor reading...It didn't take long for Vegeta to reach his pod and begin dissecting it. He was somewhat skilled at repairs, especially since Frieza loved to fuck with him and have inept pod techs do shotty work on his pod. He had to make sure the damn thing actually worked half the time before he ever took off.Today unfortunately had been an exception since he didn't have time to inspect it before they left. Now he was regretting that as he looked over the wiring and parts strewn on the ground. He knew that Frieza always had tracking devices on his pods to monitor his soldiers and make sure his equipment came back. And Vegeta usually found them and destroyed them before he left on missions. He didn't need to be babysat. So as he was looking things over he found the usual tracker, pulled it from it's hiding place behind the control panel and vaporized it with ki. Luckily it was already turned off, so that meant that Frieza didn't know their current location...hopefully.He continued surveying the damage and with each passing minute it became clearer to him that his pod was useless. The ignition system was fried and so it seemed, was the engine. As he removed a panel to take a closer look he immediately froze.There, nestled in some wiring was another tracking device...and it was still active."Shit." He quickly threw it to the ground and crushed it with his boot, then fished out his scouter from his suit and immediately called Nappa. "Nappa! Nappa answer me!" After a short pause he heard the gruff voice of his older comrade."Nappa here.""Have you found a water source?" Vegeta asked hurriedly."Yes, there are several rivers that lead to a large body of water north east of the gorge. They're fresh water and also clean.""Ok, then get your ass back here. NOW! They put two trackers on my pod and one of them is still active.""Got it, be there soon." Nappa disconnected and changed direction to hightail it back to the gorge. Vegeta did the same.Bulma was enjoying the peace and quiet, reading her book, pretending she wasn't stranded on an unknown planet when she heard the familiar sound of someone in flight, followed by footfalls. She sighed, realizing someone must be back from their tasks. She put the book down and looked up to see the long haired Saiyan walking towards her with some kind of large animal thrown over his shoulders. His eyes widened in awe and surprise as he took in the dome shaped building before him."Okay, so I'm pretty sure this wasn't here" he gestured to the house. "And you were still unconscious when I left. What'd I miss?"Bulma smiled softly at the large man's surprisingly pleasant attitude. Despite their circumstances, he still had a smile on his face. "You're right on both counts."He shrugged the large mammal off his shoulders letting it hit the ground with a thud. Bulma grimaced when she glanced at it, the thing looked like it took a pretty good beating from the Saiyan."So are you going to tell me how a building just magically appeared out of nowhere?""I can tell you it wasn't magic. I brought it with me in a capsule, like this one." Bulma reached into her pocket and pulled out the small black box and opened it to reveal one of her capsules."Huh, no kiddin'?" Raditz remarked."Nope! You can store practically anything in these babies! You just push down the plunger, throw it to the ground and viola! My father invented them." Bulma said proudly, though she saddened a bit when thinking about how worried her parents probably were right now since they hadn't made contact with them in a while."Well I'll be damned. That's pretty advanced tech."The compliment drew Bulma's attention once again and she smiled back. "Yea, my father's quite the genius."Just then, Vegeta landed nearby and practically ran over to them, giving the giant yellow dome a once over but for the most part ignoring it."We have some problems.""Hey Vegeta, what's going on?" Raditz greeted."One, my pod is useless. And two I found this near the engine." He held up the remains of the tracking device."And? Isn't that the tracker that you usually find?" Raditz asked."No, this is an additional one. And it was still activated when I found it.""Oh. That is a problem.""Let me see that." Bulma spoke as she walked up to the duo and grabbed the small chunk of metal right out of Vegeta's grasp. She turned it over in her own palm, studying it closely.Vegeta scoffed at her rudeness in not only taking something without asking, but also having the audacity to actually touch his hand in the process! He was about to complain when she filled the silence herself."Hm, pretty high tech stuff. From what I can tell, this is a long range tracker, possibly transmitting via delta waves, though don't quote me on that. I can't be sure since someone pretty much destroyed it before I could investigate." She frowned at Vegeta who only gave a scowl in return."What did you expect me to do? Let it keep running and display our location while we're stranded here?!""Well, for one, this thing was still running when you found it? If so then they probably already know our location so what was the point of destroying it? Second, why would you care? You want still want to bring me back to Frieza right? If they show up, then that's more help for you."Vegeta shook his head. "There is no helping in the PTO. If a job is not done right, or not completed in time, there are consequences.""Yea, but we're still well within the timeline for this mission. So what's the worry?" Raditz chimed in.Vegeta snapped his head over to his comrade, his scowl still firmly in place. "I'm not. Worried. The issue is, we had a credible lead...""Which turned out to be faked by our target." Raditz interrupted.Vegeta's eyes narrowed at Raditz but he said nothing. "Nevertheless, we received a 'credible' lead, left to investigate and our last known position to the PTO is not where we are supposed to be. They will realize something happened and they will send others.""He has a point. Ok, so that just means we're on borrowed time now. I should get started on those repairs." Bulma started walking in the direction Vegeta had just come from but didn't get far. She was halted by a strong grip around her upper arm. She knew he was strong, being a Saiyan, but feeling even a small bit of that strength was both alarming and exciting."YOU, are not going anywhere. You think you can repair your ship with one good hand? I'd rather not travel in a ship with shotty repairs."She looked over her shoulder to see Vegeta's stern face looking back. "Excuse me? Shotty repairs? How about you wait and see my work before you criticize it bud."Raditz just watched as the two glared daggers at one another and decided to intervene before things went south. He was quite familiar with Vegeta's temper."Ok, ok, let's all stay calm here. Lady, you...""The name's Bulma." She quickly shot back."Ok, Bulma. You have to admit that Vegeta has a point. You're pretty banged up and you were unconscious not too long ago. Maybe rest a bit more before you get started?" He placated.Her face softened somewhat at hearing the man's attempt at diffusing the situation. Out of the three of them, she felt the most comfortable around this one. Something about his demeanor and personality set her at ease. He reminded her somewhat of Goku, though a more rough around the edges Goku to be sure.Vegeta still had his hand tightly gripped around her arm, though he didn't seem to notice. It was Bulma that looked down and then back up at him, making him realize he was still holding on. He abruptly let go and took a step back, trying to hide his slight embarrassment about the prolonged physical contact.She knew Vegeta was right, though not about the shotty repairs jab. That was a low blow. She didn't feel a hundred percent just yet and that could effect her decisions during repairs. She wanted to get going on them right away since she now knew the stakes, but she didn't want to risk hurting herself more either."you're right. Both of you." She hesitantly admitted. "I'll rest for the remainder of the day and get started first thing tomorrow. But for the record, I don't do shotty work! My ship should be evidence of that herself, damage not withstanding." She looked right to Vegeta as she said this.He looked away and huffed. "I have no way of knowing that. You'll have to prove it me." He replied bluntly."You won't have to worry about that."And just in the nick of time, Nappa touched down and walked towards the group. "So, how much time do you think we have?" He asked Vegeta, nodding to Raditz and only giving Bulma a cursory once over.Having the opportunity to change the subject, Vegeta took full advantage. "Not sure, several days, maybe a week at most. It depends on how often the tracking signal is being monitored."Nappa nodded his head. "That doesn't give us much time."The group looked around at each other in understanding. No matter what was decided, whether they would somehow force Bulma to go back with them, or Bulma and Goku convinced the trio to join them, they would all need to leave this planet as soon as possible."Nappa, how far are the water sources you found?" Vegeta asked."A good distance. It would make sense to set up camp closer to one of the rivers before nightfall."Vegeta nodded in agreement.In the silence that sprang up between all of them, Bulma noticed Goku hadn't returned yet. "Either of you see Goku while you were out?"Nappa and Raditz looked to each other and shook their heads. "I didn't see him.""Me either."Vegeta decided now was a good time to try out his heightened senses he required after his last zenkai boost. He reached out around him and felt the ki of the three standing next to him. He reached further and further until he sensed another power level, one that couldn't be a native animal."He's not far.""How can you tell? You don't have your scouter on?" Raditz asked."I don't need it anymore, not really. I'm able to sense the power levels of those around me."Nappa's eyes bugged out when he heard this. "And when did this happen?"Vegeta didn't reply verbally, not wanting to divulge his experience in front of the woman. He merely glared at Nappa and it took a moment, but the older Saiyan realized what he was trying to say."Oooh, I see." Was his response."Did I miss something?" Bulma asked, her curiosity piqued. She knew that Saiyans had that capability, that was old news to her since Goku could utilize it so easily, but to hear that Vegeta had recently discovered this ability for himself and that some kind of event was the catalyst, now she just had to know."No." Was all Nappa would say. She looked to Vegeta who turned away from her, obviously not wanting to talk about it."He's heading back this way." Vegeta added to try and divert everyone's attention from him."Oh good!" Bulma cheered. "Hopefully we can start a fire soon, the sun's going down and it's a little chilly.""Before we do that, we'll follow Nappa to a more suitable site to set up camp." Vegeta announced.Bulma moaned. "Fiinnne. I'll pack up the capsule house." She went over to the building and quickly capsulized it back and placed the capsule in her pocket. For Nappa this was the first time he had witnessed this technology and was understandably stunned."What the fuck was that?" Nappa practically shouted."What was what?" Bulma replied, looking confused at the big Saiyan's statement."That building just disappeared!" Nappa said, pointing to wear the domed house once stood."Oh, that. I know, I stored it in it's capsule for now since we're travelling.""Capsule?" Nappa was dumbfounded, he had never heard or seen of anything like this.Raditz came up to him, slapping him in the back. "Don't worry big guy, I'll explain it to ya."Nappa merely scowled at the younger Saiyan before removing the man's hand off of his back.Bulma was just standing there, waiting for Goku when she saw him come over the horizon. Well all she saw at first were a ton of logs, but eventually Goku could be seen, carrying the egregiously large bundle of kindling."He's here!" Bulma announced, waving to her friend.Before he could get any closer Vegeta spoke up. "Good, now everyone follow Nappa, he'll lead us to a new campsite." He unceremoniously picked up Bulma and put her over his shoulder, ignoring the kicking and pounding of her good hand on his back, he took to the sky followed by Nappa and Raditz. They met Goku in the air and relayed the message, letting Nappa take the lead, they all flew north east, towards the setting sun. Goku kept relatively close to Vegeta and Bulma, not liking that heBulma continued her barrage of kicks and punches, but to no avail. "You're protests are futile. Unless you want me to let go and have you fall to your death. Your choice."He could hear her mumble obscenities at him as her physical attacks ceased. He looked over to her 'partner', as she called him to see the man staring back at them, none too happily. Apparently he had touched a nerve with the new Saiyan by transporting the woman. Did the term 'partner' mean some kind of relationship beyond a working one? The thought immediately irked him, more so due to the fact that he even thought it."...Hey! Are you even listening to me?!" The woman's voice filtered in through his thoughts. He turned his head a bit. "What are you on about woman?""If you weren't being such a space cadet you'd notice that everybody turned left."Vegeta looked around and sure enough, they all were heading away from him to his left. He grumbled his displeasure at himself. "I am most certainly not a cadet woman. My rank in the PTO is captain.""Could've fooled me." Bulma retorted, a slight chuckle in her voice.The two remained silent for the remainder of the journey, which only took about twenty minutes or so. Vegeta saw the clearing up ahead near a river and made his descent, landing a little roughly, to Bulma's displeasure.She climbed down his torso like it was a tree trunk, none too gently, as he was also trying to pry her off of him."What are you doing? Get off of me!" He yelled. To the rest of the group they just looked like a tangled ball of limbs."I'm trying! Stop moving around!" Bulma yelled back as she finally broke away from him and straightened her clothing.As soon as she stepped away Vegeta walked as quickly as he could over to Raditz and Nappa to discuss setting up some kind of camp for the evening. Goku had already set down his massive amount of kindling and was heading towards Bulma."You okay? That guy wasn't very gentle with you." Goku asked as he looked her over."Oh, I'm fine. Vegeta just isn't the super considerate type. My head and wrist hurt but otherwise I'm ok.""Vegeta?""Yes, his name is Vegeta. Apparently he's a captain in the PTO.""I see. So he's pretty high up in the ranks then?" Goku wondered."I suppose, I haven't bothered to brush up on their ranking system. Come on, let's go set up the capsule house and get you up to speed on everything."Goku nodded in agreement as they chose a spot for the house, putting some decent space between themselves and the other Saiyans, not too much but enough that Bulma felt they'd have a little privacy.Vegeta watched as the strange yellow dome building was once again erected and the two went inside. If she's allowing him to stay in that house with her then that must mean they are more than just working partners he though. Again, that unsettling feeling welled up inside his gut, but he once again pushed it down. What business is it of his if they're involved?"Hey Vegeta? Vegeta?" Raditz waved his hand to get the smaller Saiyan's attention."You ok? Did you hear what I said?""Hm? Oh yes, that sounds acceptable. Lets get a fire going and cook up the animal. I'm starving."His two comrades nodded and got to work as Vegeta began walking around the perimeter of their encampment, getting familiar with his surroundings. Even though he couldn't sense any other beings that could cause them trouble, he didn't want to take any chances. That and he definitely needed some time alone to collect his thoughts.He had been distracted by thoughts of the woman twice now and had been caught twice! Never in his life had he let a woman distract him from what was going on around him. This whole mission had gone to hell now and he honestly wasn't sure what to do anymore. The second tracking device in his pod, the chase to this planet, the destruction of two of their pods, and the third one still on planet hatozu. He knew that it wouldn't be long until Frieza sent someone to investigate. Even if he managed to get the woman to pilot her own ship to Frieza's flag ship, he was still going to be on the chopping block for letting this get so out of hand.He stopped amid a cluster of medium sized brown leaved trees and looked up to the orange and amber sky above. The sun would be setting soon. They had only been on the planet for a few hours. He would need to figure out how long the days and nights were on this planet. Every second of time they had would need to be utilized.It wasn't long before he smelled the familiar scent of burning animal flesh and made his way back to the center of the encampment. Nappa had constructed a rudimentary turnstyle spit that the large animal Raditz had gathered was currently on over a good sized fire. Raditz himself was gathering piles of leaves to create some makeshift beds for them around the fire, but could be heard grumbling as Vegeta got closer."Why can't we stay in that house thing with them? They didn't even offer! I say we just go in there and claim some space for ourselves. We do outnumber them.""I for one prefer the outdoors. I spend enough time as it is in confined spaces." Nappa chimed in as he continued turning the animal over the spit."We will stay out here. End of discussion." Vegeta spoke as he walked up to the fire pit.If a Saiyan could pout, Raditz was doing so in that moment."Besides, we've stayed in worse conditions than this." Vegeta added.That ended that particular conversation. The three soldiers sat around the fire in silence as the meal continued to cook, though the silence didn't last long."MMMM, that smells good!" Goku could be heard saying as he and Bulma walked toward the campfire, taking a seat on the ground between Vegeta and Raditz. "What's for dinner?""Mammal." Nappa replied."Sounds delicious." Bulma added sarcastically."Hey, don't knock Nappa's cooking until you try it!" Raditz spoke up."Ah, so you're Nappa! Nice to formally meet you, I'm Bulma, and this is Goku." She looked over to the longer haired Saiyan. "And you are?""I'm Raditz." He replied. "Goku? Seriously? That's not a Saiyan name. What happened to Kakarot?""Today is the first I've heard of that name. I was found by a man named Gohan who named me." Goku replied, staring at the browning meat on the spit."Ok, there's got to be more to the story than that." Nappa commented. He was now genuinely curious too."That's all I know. I was found in a space pod and raised by my grandpa Gohan.""Well, you're going to be Kakarot to me from now on, since that was your birth name.""Are you sure we're brothers?" Goku asked. He would love it if they were, but the only thing they could base that conclusion on right now was the fact they had similar facial features."Positive." Raditz asserted as he leaned back against a rock, moving his hands behind his head."Grub's ready." Nappa announced as he removed the animal from the spit and began doling out chunks of meat to everyone. He handed Bulma hers, expecting the woman to outright refuse it, but she accepted with a smile."Thanks."Nappa didn't know how to respond to that so he merely nodded and found himself a spot on the ground on the other side of Vegeta and started chowing down on his portion.Vegeta remained silent as his comrades talked with their mission targets. He observed the woman and the Saiyan Goku, they seemed unconcerned about their situation in that moment, which he thought was rather odd because they would butt heads soon enough once the woman's ship was fixed. They would all need to decide what to do, where to go. Whether they would fight The other Saiyan and take the woman back to Frieza, or travel with them to who knows where.He finished eating quickly, as he usually did and tossed the bones of the animal into the bushes as he stood. "We'll have a rotation on sentry duty. I'll start, then Nappa, Raditz and Kakarot if needed.""Why, there's nothing on this planet except some medium to large sized animals and us. Nothing's going to pose a threat." Raditz spoke up between chews of his meat."Why? Because I'm not stupid. You don't take chances on an unknown planet." With that he turned and disappeared into the tree line.Raditz looked to Nappa who merely shrugged and resumed eating. The conversation around the fire revolved around their close escape from death earlier that day in the ship and Bulma's piloting skills.After dinner, Bulma and Goku headed back into their capsule house while Raditz and Nappa stayed around the fire talking for a while.Bulma closed the door once she was inside and sat at the table in the kitchen. She recounted the day in her head and was thankful to still be alive, but was wary about what lie ahead. So many things could happen over the next couple of days and she knew she would have to prepare for every possible outcome...