Chapter 13

Bulma felt wonderful when she woke up, yawning as she sat up to look around. She blinked, where was she? Panic coursed through her, she had to get going before Chili caught her sleeping in! Bulma quickly shot to her feet and was about to run through the door when she remember the events of the day before. This was her living space and today she didn’t have to work. Bulma turned around to look at the couch she had been sleeping on, shaking her head as she looked at the bed. She should have spent the first night there on the bed, not the couch. She smiled warmly, even though it was a couch, it was still much better then her previous bed. Bulma’s eyes then caught notice of the computer console –closed and sitting on the low table. The odd thing was that she couldn’t remember ever closing the thing. Perhaps her mind was still hazy from sleep. A slight breeze then drew her attention toward the opened window; she didn’t remember opening it. Bulma gingerly walked to her floor to ceiling window and stepped out onto the small balcony. The two suns were bright in mid-morning and the scenery before her was amazing. Under the bright green tinted horizon, the city was alive with activity and the palace close to her seemed to shine with the glory of the royal house –the glory that was behind the destruction of many planets. Bulma’s sense of wonder faded to disappointment and she went back into her chambers, now she would help them destroy more.  At least she would continue to live, and as long as she was alive there was always possibilities. The growling of her stomach turned her sour mood lighter. She could go to the mess hall and eat, and then perhaps into the city. Nodding at the idea, Bulma scurried about to get ready and experience the day.

**********

Vegeta floated above Bulma’s chamber and had watched as she walked out onto the balcony. When he woke he began to feel foolish again. He had fallen asleep on her floor the previous night, waiting for her to wake. He was a Prince and not some drunken fool that would lower himself to sleep on the floor of a paid servant‘s chamber. But seeing her right after he woke made him feel content and then he quickly remembered her rejection of him and the heartbroken feelings hit him again tenfold. He had quickly left before she woke as well deciding that it had been defiantly foolish to come to her chambers last night. In a few days he would see her again and then he would propose a deal to her that would offer her freedom and provide his rebellion with the necessary technologies that could allow them to survive the up coming fight with Freeza. Vegeta then took off towards the palace, he wanted to train and contact Bardock regarding the situation with the rebellion. The morning wind was comfortable as he flew the short distance to the Palace from Bulma’s chamber, in fact everywhere in this city was a short distance away from the palace.  The third class barracks had been on the other side of the planet and it was an annoying journey from here to there. Vegeta was pleased that Bulma was much closer to him now, but he still felt she wasn’t close enough. He wanted her inside the palace. Landing close to his studio with that thought made him shiver with desire and restraint. Bulma would probably never see the inside of the Palace. His eyes roamed around to look at his palace and somehow it felt foreign to him. He then continued down the vast corridors that lead to his studio. His steps echoed, like all the corridors in the Royal City, but these echoes felt hallow and bare. Looking up to the high vaulted ceiling, Vegeta wondered if that feeling come from that or from his cold, broken heart.

Vegeta stepped inside his studio, locking and sealing his grand doorway. Then he made his way to his communications room, nestled in the back. His studio was large, dark and otherwise empty. There was two floors and little furniture. In his sleeping room was just a bed, but the bed said much as to who he was, it was large and canopied, draped with the most expensive bed ware. But there was nothing much to his studio, he wasn’t here much and he didn’t care. If he wasn’t training, eating, doing his Princely duties, running his rebellion, or doing missions for Freeza, then he was sleeping or with Bulma. He didn’t need furniture. In the communications room he flipped the switch to a secure line and contacted Bardock. It didn’t take long for the screen to light up with the image of the third class soldier. Even communicating in such a way, Bardock still bowed before his Prince before he began to talk.

“Yes, Prince Vegeta, how can I be of service to you?”

“I want to know the condition of the rebellion?”

“Currently, we have 57 planets aligned with you, 3 of them having been purged, but the inhabitants had escaped successfully. The base is currently composed of an old fleet that can barely travel through space effectively. They continue to grow restless.”

“And what are we missing?”

“We need armor, weapons for those who can’t use ki attacks, ships or engines that can out race Freeza’s ships and anything of that nature.”

“How long to we have?”

“Less then a year now, I thought we had more time, but something is now amiss with Freeza.”

Vegeta had thought he had more time as well, but it wasn’t too late. “Prepare for the worst, but I have a plan to get what we need. When I deflect, have every Saiya-jin that supports us leave here immediately and rendezvous at the base.”

“Does your new plan involve the new head of the Engineering and Development of new technologies lab?”

“That is none of your concern.” Vegeta snapped, he didn’t like Bardock’s tone just then, as if the man knew more then he should.

“Your highness,” Bardock bowed again on screen, trying to appeased the Prince, “I will do as you ordered.”

Vegeta nodded then turned the screen off, he couldn’t wait a few days now to see her, he had to see her tonight. And tonight would not be pleasant. In fact, Vegeta wasn’t looking forward to tonight, even though he wanted to see her, he knew her feelings now more then ever.

**********

The sounds of the mess hall was both lively and disgusting. Bulma had eaten as much as she could without becoming too sick. This was the first time in years she actually ate with others, before, after she got her food, she would hide, fearful that someone would try to steal her food. Bulma knew no one here would steal her food here, but she was still wary out of habit. The chewing and gulping noises were much harder to over come. Since there was an array of different species eating, it was a very new experience for her. After she could eat no more, Bulma decided to leave and make way for the city. She didn’t know what to expect from the city below, and she wasn’t fearful, she was just worried she would get lost. Walking to the entrance of the building brought back the memories from the day before when she just arrived and the place awed her. Bulma smiled, this was her new home. She stopped before the entrance and looked around. The lobby was huge and filled with glass walls and technological marvels. The two suns light that came through the windows seemed to bounce around the area with the effect of hundreds of tiny balls and the center of the ceiling was grand hologram of Vegeta-sei. The end result was like floating in space. Bulma was so entranced by the image she didn’t notice when Kakarotto approached her with a smile. Only when he was right in front of her did she notice him. She started a little, he had surprised her.

“Oh, sorry to scare you Bulma.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it.” Bulma clasped her chest with her hand, he really had surprised her.

“I heard about what happened, congratulations.” His grin seemed odd. She remembered their last meeting, how she ignored him and didn’t even thank him for the food. His gin didn’t seem odd anymore.

“I’m sorry about last time, I wasn’t really myself.”

“Huh?…Oh, uh, that…it’s ok. Everybody feels down every now and then.”

“So…how have you been?”

Kakarotto blushed horribly, “I, uh, well…I’ve been great!”

“What’s the matter with you, your blushing…did you find a girlfriend?”

He face then turned serious, frowning he said, “I don’t know what that is.”

Bulma grinned, “Oh, I bet you do have one! Is she pretty?”

Kakarotto shifted uncomfortably, “I, um, well…I got to go, I’ll see you again, I work here too.” Kakarotto said then quickly went further inside the building hoping that he would be fast enough before Bulma called him back. He had no idea how he was going to tell her about Chi-chi. Bulma watched him, a curious look written on her face.

“What’s gotten into him…I’ll never understand Saiya-jin ways.”

***********

Bulma had made her way out into the city, which wasn’t so busy on the ground as in the sky, but was still alive with many Saiya-jins and some other species Bulma had never seen before. She walked down certain streets, noting which way she went so she could easily make it back to her new home. She passed an area of the city that made her skin crawl, it was obvious that this place was harem central, she had gotten very unsettling looks, but everyone else didn’t seem to notice or care what the area was, as there was both men and women using the harem services. It seemed normal to them. And the pleasure slaves seemed to like their work. Bulma walked as fast as she could out of that area and into another, one that she felt kindred to. There were dozens of air vehicle vendors scattered about, mechanics popping up every now and then, with vehicle parts neatly placed in windows and display cases. Navigational devices come up too, delighting her to no end. Bulma took her time in this area, browsing every shop she could find and ogling different parts and designs. When Bulma continued on, the rest of the shops were for fighting, training or for food. Bulma’s excitement was dwindling, place after place was very Saiya-jin. And each place kept reminding her of someone that was never far from her thoughts, yet she was unwilling to bring him into her foremost thoughts. He caused her too much confusion right now and with that confusion came pain.

Bulma wanted to turn back, but she continued until a new and different area surrounded her. It was more colorful then all the pervious area’s before and there was hardly a Saiya-jin in sight. Many of the pedestrians were aliens. The shops seemed poorly taken care of and sold many things of different shape and sizes. As Bulma continued down her path, she noticed some things she couldn’t understand their usage. But many things she could identify with, clothes, jewelry, books, medicines, furniture, and so on. She stopped at one shop and picked up a book that looked interesting to her. It was written in Saiyan, but the story came from a different world. The book was old but seemed quite romantic, so she bought it without much thought. Further down came another shop filled with unique jewelry and Bulma was taken away with the different jewels. Again, she bought the alien things with out much thought.

Bulma continued with her exploration until she noticed the suns setting. Uncomfortable with the thought of being out here in the dark, she headed back. She remembered the way, but the people were different and they gave her very odd looks. Even when she wasn’t in the harem district, she got lustful looks, causing the hair on her skin to stick up. Once she was inside her building, she decided not go out into the city for awhile.

***********

Somewhat tired and scared from her shopping trip, Bulma entered her chambers slowly. It was dark now and the room was overshadowed with darkness. Before she turned on the lights she made sure to lock the door. Once the door was locked, Bulma threw her new things on the bed. An eerie feeling had made its way into her senses once again, causing her to feel different emotions other then her own, something that would happen only when she was around Vegeta. She was tired and was not sure if she was really sensing anything at all. Shrugging it off like nothing, Bulma decided to turn on the lights as her hand reached over to the console beside the door. Before she could switch the light on, a hand came gently over hers, stopping her from turning the lights on. Bulma’s heart skipped as she turned around as fast as she could to face the intruder. To her surprise, she was face to face with Vegeta!  He looked at her with such longing that Bulma completely lost all thought. His hand was still over hers and their eyes continued to gaze into each others. Bulma could feel his emotions and it was overwhelming, but wasn’t so sure that it was indeed his emotions and not just her imagination. Vegeta felt her too, and he couldn’t help drowning himself in them. And they stayed like that for some time, still and silent, until Bulma remember her home world, her mother and her father. She moved away from him as fast as she could, shaking his hand away from hers. She looked at him as coldly as she could.

“What are you doing here.”

“I can do anything I want, especially in the Royal City.”

“I don’t want you here.”

“That doesn’t matter, I want you to do something for me.”

“I don’t want to hear it, just leave, please.”

“I do not take orders from anyone.” His anger was mounting, and so he took a step closer to her. Bulma immediately backed away, hitting the edge of her bed.

“Whatever you want, the answer is no!  You destroyed my planet, you took everything away from me,” Bulma’s voice grew quiet then, Vegeta could feel the despair in her heart, “Just kill me too, so that I can be with my people…”

‘…my people…’ Those words to Vegeta sounded very regal. He sharply replied, “No, I will not.”

“Why don’t you just finish off the job? I’m nothing to you anyway, just as Chikyuu was nothing to you…”

Vegeta’s anger returned as he grabbed her by the arms, glaring at her angrily. She cried out, “Stop it, unhand me…YOU’RE HURTING ME!”

Vegeta’s grip loosened but he did not release her, instead he brought his head closer to hers, hovering his lips just over hers. His glare intensified as his thoughts drifted off to when he had just captured the Chikyuu-jins and found out that they wouldn’t be able to survive Vegeta-sei’s gravity, which was ten times more than Chikyuu itself.  At that time something had come over him, he knew Bulma must have affected him even then, and he slowly raised the gravity in their cells so they would slowly grow used to the extra gravity. Even then he cared and he had given her so much yet she still did not show signs of appreciation. She should be thanking him – loving him even! Had she really forgotten the time they shared together in that garden? But he knew her emotions like his own. How could she not know that he truly cared? She was not ‘nothing’ to him! “Don’t presume things about me that you obviously don’t know!”

Finally Bulma struggled out of his grip and made her way towards the window. “Then why destroy Chikyuu?”

Vegeta didn’t want to answer her, he kept playing over the events that happened almost seven years ago, could he have done something different? His attention was distracted by the objects on the bed, he picked the jewelry up angrily. “These are fake! I will not allow you to lower yourself and wear these disgusting things!” With that he tighten his grip, crunching the trinkets to dust.

Bulma paused as she observed his actions but quickly remembering the real discussion, she cried out softly to him, “Why, why did you destroy Chikyuu?”

Vegeta looked into her eyes again, understanding the need for an answer. He began his reply, this time his expression was more gentle. “I had no choice.”

She noticed the sudden change in his expression and tried to calm herself as well. “You had no choice? There must have been another choice!”

“There was no other choice! Freeza would have gained too much power too soon! I would be years behind if I let the planet be!”

“Freeza? Who in the world is Freeza?”

“He is a warlord that wants to conquer the whole universe, he orders us to purge planets so he could sell them to the highest bidder and use the resources from them to gain a larger empire. If we don’t follow his orders, we will be purged as well. We are slaves just like you were.”

“Cold Empire?” She remembered what Kabba had said to her the other day, “So he is the leader of the Cold Empire?”

“Yes.”

Unsatisfied with the answer she sharply commented, “That still doesn’t mean anything, you still went to my planet, you still destroyed it!”

“If it wasn’t me it would have been someone else, but they wouldn’t have destroyed it and they wouldn’t have allowed some of the people to continue to live even though as slaves, and my rebellion would be years behind.”

She clenched her eyes shut, forcing the tears to go away that were forming in them. “Rebellion, what rebellion?"

“I have formed a secret rebellion to stand up against Freeza. When I was younger, before I came to Chikyuu, I wanted to do the most difficult missions, I wanted to be the best, but I know now that being the best means to do the best for my people. Freeza has brained washed them, he would destroy my magnificent race of warriors if he ever had the chance. Freeza is not the best for them…”

“…That’s why you started a rebellion.” Bulma said this more as a fact then a question. The information struck Bulma. He seemed so different now, like a caring monarch stuck in a very bad predicament. “Then what do you want from me?”  

Vegeta saw Bulma visibly relax and so he stepped closer to her. She didn’t seem to notice. “My rebellion needs technology, I need technology to grow stronger. If you agree to assist us, after Freeza dies by my hand, I will allow you to leave Vegeta-sei.”

“Where could I work on such things?”

“I will show you if you agree.”

Bulma was very uncertain of what to do. Vegeta had just told her that he had destroyed her planet only because of this Freeza whom he wanted to kill. His revenge could be hers, but to do that means to assist Vegeta, the actual man who destroyed her world. But he was also the man she loved and she would be free of this world once and for all if she did help them. Something inside of her, like a little voice, had crept into her mind then, at the thought of escaping this world. Do you really want to leave here?…‘While you are on Vegeta-sei, you will always have apart of Chikyuu with you. If you leave, you leave that as well.’ The words from Vegeta from so long ago, in a time when they both seemed different, made her hesitate answering. Then she remembered her pain that Vegeta brought to her, she needed to get away from him, if only for her own sanity. “Fine”

Vegeta then walked up to her, cupping his hand to her cheek, for a moment he hoped.  His hope was shattered when she pulled away. He let his hand fall to his side and took a deep breath, pushing back the pain she caused him. “Good, tomorrow I will show you to your new personal lab. Tell no one of this and have some blue prints ready for me by then.”

Bulma looked at him, then nodded slowly. He looked into her eyes, so blue even in the dark room. Then he turned towards the window. He stopped before he went out. He could feel her eyes on him. He wanted to turn around, he wanted to kiss her, to love her, he wanted to stay with her. He smirked, but it wasn’t a smirk of victory, it was a smirk of defeat. He left then, without much hope that she would ever be his.

**********

Bulma woke as early as she could to get ready for her first day at her new job, while leaving some time to run down to the mess hall and grab some food. The night before had rattled her emotions. Since she agreed to invent things for Vegeta’s rebellion, and because she couldn’t sleep, she stayed up for almost the whole night, drafting blue prints, one after the other, tossing out some, improving others. When she put on her new uniform, she had felt powerful, but as she was almost running late, she didn’t feel as powerful anymore. Luckily she was not only in time, but proved to be slightly early. After that she worked endlessly with her labs mates to oversee inventions, giving ideas on existing inventions, or producing new ones. The first thing she did after overseeing and reinventing some of the things that were still prototypes, she introduced the capsule technology to her lab mates. Mostly everyone after that became afraid of her, knowing with her abilities she could go far and even terminate some of them if they weren’t up to spar. She went to lunch, feeling terribly lonely. She ate in the mess hall alone, sitting at the bar instead of any table. After she ate, she went back to the lab, almost thirty minutes before lunch was over, and got back to work. When everyone else arrived, she became a stern leader, loudly giving out orders and assignments. What Bulma didn’t know was when the day was over and she was the last person to leave, she had just gotten done two weeks worth of work in only one day.  Exhausted from her day, she went to go back to her chambers, but when she opened the doors to walk into the corridor, she ran right into Vegeta, causing her to fall backwards. He caught her and straightened her but then quickly stepped away from her. She was surprised that he did not try to stay close to her but kept her mouth shut. When she looked at his face, his expression was stern and emotionless. They looked at each other for a moment before Vegeta spoke.

“Come with me.” Then he made his way towards the elevator.

Bulma nodded, then went after him. She silently walked behind him, staring at his back. Bulma again had that strange feeling of sensing his emotions, but this time the emotions seemed guarded. His actions a moment before seemed so different then the facial expression he gave her, which seemed very cold and distant. What did he truly feel for her? Did it matter? Bulma knew he had other women and she didn’t want his affections anyway, no matter the reason, he still destroyed Chikyuu. It shouldn’t matter how he treats her or what kind of face he shows her. It still didn’t explain the nervous feeling she had right now, or the burning desire she had to touch him again. Once they reached the elevator and stepped in, she noticed Vegeta informing the elevator console to take them to the lowest floor. The ride was silent and very uncomfortable, for both of them. Vegeta tried to guard his emotions from Bulma, he knew there was little hope for them, and the best way to deal with it was to act as if he felt nothing. He would distance himself from her, even if he was close to her, as he was now. Once they reached to lower levels and continued down an abandoned corridor, Bulma started to feel light headed. She was so close to Vegeta, to the man she loved, but it was herself that was keeping her away from him. She couldn’t allow herself to think otherwise, it was her hatred for him that helped her survive this long, it would probably help her survive longer. A chill passed through her and she looked around. The corridor was dark and unkempt, rust was forming in the corners here and there. It was cold down there. Vegeta stopped and turned to face her. Bulma then walked forward to face him slowly. She stopped when she was less than arms length away. Vegeta proceeded to take off his royal cape and then he held it for a moment. In one quick motion, he draped the cape over her shoulders before he turned and entered the room that was to his right. Bulma then stared at the floor, again his actions confused her along with her own reasoning.

“Follow me in here.”

“Is it safe?”

“Of course it is safe, don’t be ridiculous.”

Bulma then went inside, hurrying after him. Inside, past the door, was a huge empty lab, rundown and old. It was big enough to fit a huge space ship inside and then some. The proximity was littered with desks covered by boxes, loose wires were scattered about all over the floor and lights flickered on and off. Bulma held Vegeta’s cape closer to her, she felt very small at the moment. Vegeta’s voice echoed through out the room.

“This is one of the first labs ever used on Vegeta-sei, once it was outdated, instead of rebuilding it, they just built new labs and floors on top of it. You will use this lab to create what we need.”

“This will do, I suppose.”

“Good, did you bring the blue prints I asked for?”

“No, but I have them in my chambers.”

“Fine, as long as you have them, start working as fast as you can. You have less then a year.”

“A year!? I can’t create everything for you on my own, I will need assistance from someone or thing!”

“Fine, I will commission some working droids to assist you before I leave.”

“You’re leaving? When?”

“Seven days or so.” After a silent moment Vegeta looked at Bulma. She looked torn between concern, disappointment and relief. When he walked closer to her, he could feel the warring emotions vividly, drawing him even closer to her. When she saw him approach her, she clenched the cape tighter around her. “What have you done so far?” He said as he came right up to her, almost touching his chest to hers. He leaned his head into hers only slightly.

“I…um…have created some new navi systems, a training device, and I have working idea on some armor.”

“Do you still train?”

“I….haven’t…had the...chance…”

“Continue to train.”

“Why?”

Bulma grew uncomfortable and nervous with his closeness. But she couldn’t move; her body wasn’t obeying. His arms then wrapped around her and before she could object, he kissed her with the force of his yearnings and his love, ravaging her lips with his own. Bulma was stunned! It took a moment for her to understand what was happening; anger was now boiling in her veins. He just took the liberty to kiss her and so violently too! Bulma fought desperately to break out of his grip, but it was no use, he was much too powerful. His lips were soft and inviting and the kiss was so full of emotion that Bulma couldn’t help but feel herself wanting more, wanting to stay within his arms. But Bulma wouldn’t let herself  and continued to struggle against the kiss. His hands then went up to cup both her cheeks, keeping her lips against his, drinking her in as she finally broke free.

With all her anger and frustration she yelled out under her flush-reddened face, “YOU! Why did you…how could you!”  She went to smack him, but he caught her by her wrist.

Looking at her sternly, he said, “Because, Bulma, this may be the last you ever see of me.”

Her frustration turned into mild confusion and she grew placid. Before she could think, before she could say anything, Vegeta left. He didn’t want to lower himself anymore then he already had, he didn’t want her to see the hurt she clearly caused him.  But it was true, he had no clear idea if he would return from Freeza this time around. He wasn’t too sure how, but he knew something was coming for him and once they had him, they weren’t going to let him go.

Bulma, finding herself suddenly alone, felt tears come down her face. Her tears were for herself and for Vegeta, because it was clear to her now, that in some way he loved her and she would not give him what he wanted.  No matter if she loved him or not, she would not openly love him, even now, when she might never see him again.

**********

The morning was cold and foggy. Normally the red sky wasn’t burdened by clouds or fog, but today Freeza had landed and it seemed to affect even the weather. Vegeta stood proud, alone on the on the landing pad, dressed formally as the prince he was. Once he was inside the ship he would most likely not return. His rebellion would go on without him, as per his orders if anything happened to him while on this mission. When he was young and had been forced to enlist into Freeza’s army, he was happy, excited even. Mission after mission he grew stronger. He asked Freeza for more harder missions every time he came back from a successful one. He stood in the exact spot he was standing now when he first was picked up. A year before he went to Chikyuu, he found out about Freeza’s plan to destroy his world and all the Saiya-jins. He then found an excuse to leave the army, but even after he came back to Vegeta-sei, Freeza still came for him, he still called on him and his people to do missions and purges. Vegeta took a deep breath and walked proudly up the ramp when he felt no more need to reminisce about the past. His only regret was Bulma. He would miss her. Vegeta wished things were different.

**********

Two weeks later, everything was normal, except the growing dread Vegeta felt pulsing through him. Freeza had mentioned the planet they would be purging next  was Godan. That planet was one that belonged to his rebellion and immediately he contacted Bardock. He told Bardock to contact them and have them evacuate as soon as possible. He couldn’t have more man power for his rebellion be destroyed. What galled him the most was that he was the one that would have to purge Godan. If anyone stayed behind, he would have to kill them. Freeza remained hidden from him, only contacting him via a voice console or scouter. That was odd to Vegeta as well as the over all morale of the entire ship. What hadn’t been off limits to him was now off limits. His food was meager and the ship was in slight disrepair. Everything else was the same. Now they were approaching Godan, and Vegeta watched the planet near from his window through his little chamber port window. They would call him soon.

**********

Vegeta blasted another city, half full with inhabitants. He cursed at the fact that some people stayed behind, instead of escaping. They were fools and idiots for doing so. He flew to another city and blasted that as well. He roamed around the surrounding area’s, killing fleeing women and children. He flinched at every blast. He had given his word to these people he would protect them and now he was killing them. What would Bulma think of him now? Did it matter? She would still hate him. He flew around some more, looking at the destruction he wrought. The weather was good this day, on Godan. It seemed peaceful. Looking at the body of water just below the horizon made him think of Bulma. His direction changed and he headed for the blue body of water, almost thinking he was flying to her. The sun was close to setting now, he had done his job and people here were easy to kill. The whole planet was a simple place for simple people that wanted simple lives. He landed on the beach, watching as the sun set dully on the now empty planet, or so he thought. Vegeta could hear someone approaching. But Vegeta didn’t move, he stood and kept watching the sun die as it dove into the horizon. The person was now very close, but still Vegeta didn’t move. He didn’t know whether to kill the approaching person or not. So Vegeta waited to see if the person behind him would attack. The ki of that person was low and no match for him, but Vegeta wanted to see what would happened next.

“Vegeta?” The masculine voice called out from behind him, and Vegeta recognized it faintly. Vegeta turned to meet his company and was surprised at what he found.

“Chimo? Why are you here, I thought you would leave with your people?” Vegeta was angry at the man before him. The tall, thin blue skinned man with black antennae shook his head at Vegeta, who was scowling at him.

“I was going to leave with the last transport when you showed up, we were too slow to evacuate.”

“I saw that.”

“I’m surprised that it was you that did this. When you came to me to join your rebellion, I thought you were serious and I wanted to help you…but you…”

“Don’t assume things, I had no choice. How many got away?”

“About half.”

“Leave as quickly as you can…I still plan to kill Freeza.”

“When?”

“When the time is right, now get out of here!”

“Ok, I will, but Prince Vegeta, when and if you truly fight Freeza openly, I have a few things I could teach you.”

“What could you teach me? Don’t make me laugh.”

“I have learned things from the gods themselves and from the races that are near by. With them you…you might be able to completely over power Freeza.”

“Then teach me now, if it could end all this quickly.” Vegeta was getting anxious, he didn’t want Chimo to be caught or himself.

Chimo put two fingers to his forehead, concentrated then looked Vegeta squarely in the eyes. “When you openly oppose Freeza and join our fleet, I will teach you.” And then Chimo fazed out of sight.

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Upon his return to Freeza’s ship, Vegeta was finally summoned to meet with Freeza. Vegeta had been wondering about the odd things that were taking place on the ship and perhaps seeing Freeza would answer his questions. Of course being summoned to see Freeza was exactly what Vegeta did not want. The dread he had been feeling was overwhelming him. Something was going to happen, he knew that something waited for him. He was the Prince of the Saiya-jin’s though, he would not cower to anything, even his own death. Vegeta stood before Freeza’s grand doors of his chamber, slowly he closed his eyes and lowered his head. He concentrated with all his power on his bond. The woman that was his other half, both the balm of his soul and the center of his pain. Bulma…With that thought he entered into Freeza’s chamber. When the doors closed behind him he opened his eyes to see the room half in shadow. It was also in serious disrepair, more then Vegeta ever could remember. The light was a dimmed light and Vegeta could not see a thing in the shadows, so he stood still under the radiance. Gratefully he only sensed Freeza’s ki.

“Welcome monkey, I have been looking forward to this meeting for some time now.” Freeza’s voice came from the shadows, immediately Vegeta bowed in the direction Freeza’s voice was coming from. He could also hear Freeza’s approaching feet. Vegeta stood, waiting to see Freeza, wondering why he was hiding in shadows. Slowly Freeza’s foot came into the light followed by the rest of him. What Vegeta saw before him caused his eyes to widen in shock. Freeza was now something else then an Ice-jin. He was mechanical, half metal, half flesh. The flesh he did have was covered in scars. And he seemed to be permanently in his fourth form. Freeza smirked at Vegeta’s reaction. “Well, I bet you didn’t expect me to look like this, did you?”

“No, Lord Freeza.” Vegeta hated using that title with the lizard.

“No matter, it’ll be your last time to see me anyway,” Freeza ignored Vegeta’s shock that was clearly written on his face and turned his head to the side, looking back behind him to the shadows, “You two can have him now, he’s all yours.”

Immediately Vegeta went into a fighting stance as Freeza backed away from him slowly and a humanoid girl with blue eyes and blonde hair came out of the shadows followed by a boy with black hair and blue eyes. They were young, clearly around Vegeta’s age. He hadn’t sensed them at all! They stood together with their arms crossed as they looked at Vegeta. Both wore an insignia of two red triangles tilted to the side, touching the others top point, and had two white Chikyuu-jin ‘R’ letter’s in the middle of each triangle.

“Disappointing, huh Juuhachigo? This is the great Prince Vegeta who destroyed our world? I thought he would be bigger.” The black haired boy smirked at his comment.

The blonde looked at him as if she was bored, “You know better Juunanago, great power comes in small packages.”

Somehow, Vegeta felt like he was staring at his own death.