Chapter 14

Bulma felt completely uneasy in her chair at the lab. She had been working hard all morning but had been tormented by her troubled emotions since she woke. It had been a couple of weeks since Vegeta had left and there had been no word of him since. She thought of what he had told her about never seeing him again, though somehow she didn’t really believe him. But now she was starting to. Everyday, she had felt more and more hallow, like a plant that hadn’t been watered, and the hallow feeling lead to a dry incompleteness that was causing her to ache so badly inside she couldn’t sleep. The other scientists running about the room were only a blur to her, and the work she had in front of her didn‘t grab her attention. She understood her work, she knew what to do and did so, but in a zombie like state. Her real thoughts keep jumping to Vegeta. She had agreed to work for him, secretly for his rebellion and she wondered why. Did she really want to leave? Did she really want to associate herself with the person who destroyed Chikyuu? That argument in her mind only seemed half-hearted now, Freeza was the real destroyer. Once she had extra time on her hands, she did research on the crazed warlord and found under all the glorified words a monster that had his claws around Vegeta’s neck. Bulma still could not forgive Vegeta for what he did and she couldn’t see herself bowing to his lust, no matter if he loved her, his love was probably only skin-deep. But she did find herself accepting a part of him. She understood a little about Vegeta now, she had been on the end of Chili’s leash for six years, just like he was on the end of Freeza’s even now. At first she agreed because she wanted to leave her planetary prison, now she wanted to help Vegeta rid himself of that leash and collar like he had helped her to get rid of hers. Once he was free, perhaps she could finally be liberated from her confused emotions and leave this planet with no regrets.

At night she had begun her training again as well in her chambers. She never got far though, her thoughts would always drift again, to Vegeta and the nights they had out in the garden. His touch, his glare, his smell, his smirk…just him, came back to her at night, especially when she trained. Why had he told her to keep training? Because he cared? Or did he know the memories of their time together under the stars would torment her? When all seemed lost and hopeless, she would wrap herself in that cape he gave her when he first showed her to the secret lab, which was now full of different inventions for Vegeta, ones that he vaguely told her to create. Would he return so she could give him some of the smaller, completed devices? The cape had meant to keep her warm, now it proved to be an item for her comfort, one she needed desperately when she felt the blood run cold in her veins. How many times did she feel like she was bleeding to death when there was no blood? So many questions and no answers. Bulma’s only solution was to work and work hard. She was still very uneasy in her chair, though she was still getting her work done as best as she could. So engrossed she become in her work and her thoughts, she hardly noticed when her work station became a lunch table and her computer screen became food. It was lunch and she was still troubled. Her lunch date noticed her inability to pay attention to him or the fact she hadn’t heard a word he said. Bulma was just staring at her food, letting some of her blue locks fall down the side of her face. He felt sorry for the girl and waved a hand in front of her gaze, desperately trying to get her attention.

“Bulma? Bulma are you ok? Does the food taste bad?”

Bulma looked up at the concerned Saiya-jin in front of her, his face was set in a frown and worry ran across his brow. Bulma sighed, she had to ask… “I’m sorry Goku, I just have a lot on my mind. I know I must be boring company…but can I ask you something?”

“Ok, I’ll answer if I can.”

“Has there been any word about…Prince…Vegeta?”

Kakarotto looked at her curiously, she had always told him she hated the Prince, now she was concerned for him and he didn’t understand it. He shrugged it off and answered her the best he could, “No, he left a while ago and I heard he purged Godan, but then nothing, like he disappeared. Freeza must be having him work on something important to keep him hidden, though I hear the King is now nervous that Freeza killed him for displeasing him.”

“Kill him? For what?” Bulma’s brows tilted with worry, she couldn’t accept his death, not now, when she had finally accepted a piece of Vegeta.

“Hmmm, I don’t know, but I’m not worried, I doubt he’s dead, he’s really strong.”

“I hope so too. I mean, he is a Prince, why would Freeza want to kill royalty?”

“Freeza doesn’t see Prince Vegeta like that. Freeza only thinks his family deserves the title of Royalty.”

“I just hope that Vege…I mean Prince Vegeta can survive against Freeza, if the warlord is mad at him.”

“Don’t worry about it, Prince Vegeta is really strong, and he is used to the beatings Freeza gives him.”

Bulma blinked and grew stiff, apprehensive with the thoughts that were coming to her mind.. Vegeta had been beaten as well? She remembered the humiliation that Chili’s beatings caused her and how the pain must be ten fold for Vegeta. The feeling of mutual circumstances made Bulma feel once again connected to the Prince. And that feeling, unknown to Bulma, somewhere in her thoughts, opened the way for Vegeta. He was just like her…or was she just like him? “Freeza beats the Prince?”

Kakarotto glanced at the others around their table that were glancing at them oddly from time to time, “Um, maybe this isn’t the best place to talk about this.”

Bulma put her hand to her mouth, then slowly placed her hands on her lap, “Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry.”

Kakarotto looked at Bulma, who now seemed to have withdrawn back into her thoughts. He felt sorry for her, obviously something was troubling her. He knew it would be best to cheer her up, but to do that might make him uncomfortable. The only way he knew how to cheer her up is to give her good news. And the only good news he could give her had to do with his secret. So leaning over and slightly whispering, he told her, “Bulma, I got married.”

Immediately she looked at him, eyes wide, and smiled brightly at him, her smile holding a hint of amusement. “I knew it! So is she pretty? Is she strong? When did you get married?…Hey, why haven‘t you told me before!”

With the bombardment of questions, Kakakrotto became lost, unable to decide which questions to answer and then unable to remember the questions at all. Scratching his head and giving her a goofy grin, he decided to just give her one answer, softly he said, “She’s Chikyuu-jin.”

Bulma’s smile faded and the uneasy feeling returned, coupled by the nervousness of hearing about another Chikyuu-jin. The last time she saw one of her race was seven years ago, right before she blacked out and woke to a nightmare. Bulma hadn’t thought of Chi-chi in a long time, she wondered if the raven haired fighter was still alive. Picturing Goku with a girl from her planet oddly reminded her of Vegeta. A running image came to her then of a Saiya-jin groom and a Chikyuu-jin bride, but that would never be her and that would never be Vegeta. Another thought came to Bulma then and her curiosity got the better of her. “But what about the decree?”

“That’s why it’s a secret, don’t tell anyone, ok?”

“Sure.” Bulma nodded slightly, a small smile coming back to her face.

“And, also, well, she is going to have a baby.”

Excitement came back to Bulma’s face, partly from the knowledge that Goku’s child would be half-Saiya-jin. That could mean…Bulma abruptly cut off her thoughts, she wouldn‘t think of that, she wouldn‘t let herself think of that. “Congratulations! Is she ok, how far along is she?”

“Oh, yeah, she’s fine, the baby has been in her belly for only a couple months.” Kakarotto then folded his arms across his chest, unexpectedly becoming deep in thought and troubled by the thought of his wife and lately, her consistent complaints. “But Chi-chi keeps yelling at me to get her different food stuff that taste nasty together, I don’t get it at all.”

“Chi-chi? Your wife is named Chi-chi?” Bulma was in a state of shock, once she heard Kakarotto speak the name of her long lost friend, the world was spinning. She was unsure if her day so far was just really a dream.

“Yep, her name is Chi-chi, but because I don’t let her out, she has been very cranky lately. She keep’s telling me if I don’t let her out soon she is going to turn our kid into a scholar…whatever that is…”

A soft smile then came creeping back onto Bulma’s face and tears started to form in her eyes, her friend had made it, they both had kept their promise. “Oh? I see…I hope she has a healthy baby.”

Kakarotto tilted his head to the side, unsure of her reaction to his complaining about his wife, he was curious about her tears. Unsure of what to do, he sat there as his friend giggled with tears streaking her down her slightly pale face. He knew telling her about Chi-chi would make him uncomfortable, but that didn’t really matter, he was worried about his friend. He hoped she was ok.

Happy with the thought of Chi-chi finding her peace, Bulma couldn’t help allowing some of her tears of sorrow to mix with her tears of joy, with all her happiness in that moment, she could only think of the last time she heard those whispers. One word came to her, very strong and very clear a little over two weeks after Vegeta had left…Bulma…She didn’t understand why the voice had sounded so much like Vegeta’s or why they said her name.

**********

Dr. Gero was an old man with old ambitions. He had worked for the Red Ribbon Army since he was a teenager and had been swept away by their desires to rule the world. He was young man when that yearning seeped into his soul and took over him. Back then, all he wanted to do was dominate and rule over Chikyuu. It was something he worked endless on as a scientist for Red Ribbon and he loved every minute of it. His dreams and ambitions, his life and the things he created bubbled up in him then. When they had found out about the Dragon Balls, his dreams seemed so close to realization that he had for weeks, indulged in woman and killing. Shortly after that though, his life fell apart. One week before those Saiya-jins came, or more precisely, before the unholy Prince Vegeta came to Chikyuu, he had detected their fast approaching ship by one of his new machines. He then quickly and feverously created a make shift space craft. Gero didn’t know what would happen when the aliens arrived, but he did want to take any chances. He didn’t tell anyone else either. Gero was afraid if anyone knew what he knew they might steal his ship and ruin his chances of survival if need be.

Two days before the destined time came upon him, he decided to escape Chikyuu and watch from far away, instead of waiting to see what the ship would do once it arrived in their orbit. He would hide near the sun, but not too near to be pulled in by the gravity. As he had made his plans, a feeling of finality came over him. It was like he felt that night might be the last time to enjoy the spoils of his rank. With a hungry, aching heart, he went to the nearest town with his androids. He ordered his creations to rape, murder and desecrate as much as they could. Of course he joined in the festivities. While wandering the town, he came to a sweet home, modest in its beauty, with a very beautiful family within. They could have been called the ideal family, living the life of a dream. The wife was other worldly, beautiful with pearls adorning her neck, the husband seemed strong and the two 11 year olds, twins, one little girl and one little boy, seemed like perfect children. So Gero couldn’t resist killing the husband with one of his androids, while the family looked on, then Gero took the wife, and ravaged her before the children. When he was finished with the pretty little wife, while he was still in her, he strangled her to death, laughing as she gasped for breath, fighting for life. As she died he turned to the children and looking upon the small angels, he got the urge to open them up and create gods of them, that would only serve him. As the town burned to ashes, Gero left, having the androids carry his new toys, who were knocked out cold from the trauma they had just been through. Gero smiled when he inhaled the burning flesh from the town. The night had gone well and no one had even tried to stop him. Later that same night, he loaded the twins into his space craft and shot into space.

He didn’t wait long in space until the Saiya-jins came. At first he thought they would be peaceful, and then he thought about their technology and how he would love to get his hands on it to further his plans to rule Chikyuu. But his plans came crashing down, when from space, he witnessed Chikyuu being blown from the sky, it’s land masses flying in every direction. He had lost it then, everything was torn away from him. The blast had crippled his ship and he had surely believed they would all die. At first he was content with raping the children, then beating them, then loving them, giving them extra food stuffs they actually needed to preserve. Not long after he began to work on creating different androids, based on the two twins, and that had consumed him, the thought of a goal once again driving him to work hard and endlessly. Unfortunately he came upon wall after wall that he couldn’t get around. To make the twins into gods, he would need power to do so, but his little ship held him back, his little ship was his prison. Again he lost faith and again he turned to the twins. When at last he thought to end it all, to give up and just destroy the ship along with him and his toys, fate came and handed him a card to once again play on life’s equal terms.

His little ship crashed landed on a planet filled with peaceful people with rich technology. They had taken him in along with the twins. It had been two years since Chikyuu had been destroyed. On the planet he learned about many things, that the planet he stood on had been purged and the people on it now were the highest bidder in a interplanetary auction, that Freeza ruled almost everything and the one who destroyed Chikyuu was the Prince of a savage warrior race. Saiya-jins. The word simply spoken out loud around him caused his blood to boil. Dr. Gero hated all Saiya-jins and especially Prince Vegeta. They took away his dreams of ruling Chikyuu. On that planet he used the data banks on the power levels of the strongest races in the universe to turn the twins into gods. Juunanago and Juuhachigo were born almost six years after the fall of Chikyuu. But Gero couldn’t stop there, after destroying the planet that took him in he searched after Freeza, wanting the lizards resources to create the ultimate God, so that Gero could do two things he now dreamed of; conquering the whole universe with force and having the Prince of that monkey race destroy his own planet, then kill him when the monkey finally lost everything.

Dr. Gero smiled as he worked, alone, in the dimly lighted lab on Freeza’s ship. He was getting everything and more then he ever dreamed of, not just a small world, but the Universe would be his and soon. He listened with joy, the screams of the monkey Prince could be heard in his lab, and it was music to his ears. He told the twins not to kill him, he hoped they would obey his orders.

**********

“Juunanago! Gero ordered us not to kill him!” Juuhachigo half yelled to her brother, as he had the Prince lifted up by his neck, slowly strangling him. The Prince was more the just blooded, his arms were dislocated and his leg was broken, his once glorious armor was tattered to bits, and his flame like hair was a tangled mess and mixed with clotted blood. His skin was covered in his own blood. His limbs were dangling in the air and the only sign that he was alive was his teeth, which were grinding together in his effort to stay alive. Juunanago looked at his sister, disappointment clear on his face.

“He is so weak, Juuhachi, he’s worthless, we should kill him now.”

“Gero wants him for something else, you know that.”

“Fuck that old man, I want to kill him now.”

“Juunanago, think of the fun we could have if Gero really does make him destroy Vegeta-sei?”

“Tch, I could care less.” His hold around the Prince’s neck grew tighter, causing Vegeta to gasp.

“Juunanago!”

After hearing his sisters reprimanding tone, he let the Prince go. Immediately Vegeta fell to the floor, lifelessly. He was hardly breathing. Juunanago then walked towards his sister, ignoring the Prince on the floor. Casually he stood in front of his sister. His frown was only so deep.

“Juuhachigo, when will you stop listening to that old fart?”

“I’m not listening to him, I just want to see Vegeta destroy his own home world, I think that would be a fun sight to see.”

“It’s boring to me, I think we should just kill him now and destroy that planet ourselves.”

“Why have us do the dirty work? Besides its much more painful for the Prince to kill his own people.” Juuhachigo looked at the Prince calmly, then back to her brother. “He might bleed to death before that though.”

“I just can’t believe a weakling like him destroyed our planet.” Juunanago sighed, “Fine, I won’t kill him now, but after we finally do kill him, I’m getting rid of Gero.”

“Fine by me, he is too controlling for my taste anyway.”

The twins left then, leaving Vegeta in a pool of his own blood. The doors opened, shining light into the dark room, but once the twins stepped through the doors, the light disappeared. It had been five weeks since Vegeta had left Vegeta-sei. And for three weeks since he was given over to those oddly strong, ki-less Chikyuu-jins, he had been subjected to their hate everyday. He was placed in a dark room, not even a cell, somewhere on Freeza’s ship. The twins came to him, there in his ruthlessly dark prison, and they seemed bored every time with beating him senseless. After they were done, Vegeta would lay, unable to move, barely alive, in his own blood. When the blood dried on his skin and the floor, his cape would appear, stiff and discolored. It was only thing separating him and the cold floor. They kept him alive, for reasons he couldn’t understand, as his hearing became muffled by the blood that had found a way into his ears. But Vegeta could only guess they needed him for something and something not so pleasant. His time, when spent alone, still unable to move, still too hurt to even fight back or simply raise his ki, was spent thinking of Bulma. His rebellion, his people, his strength, and revenge went out the door, those things didn’t matter. For years before he meet Bulma, he cursed his bond and the woman who was forced upon him, and he had desperately wanted to rid himself of that bond. Now he felt imprudent to have thought that way, for now that silly bond was keeping him alive. Her will to survive had crept into his soul, and his need to see her again kept him from giving up. He would find a time to escape and then do so, so he could train again to become stronger and finish off those two siblings and Freeza. And so he could be with Bulma again. It was his time, alone like this, that made him realize when she left Vegeta-sei, his life would become similar to this without her. When he saw her again, even if she still hated him, he would stay by her side as much as possible. He wouldn’t give up on her, she was his bonded after all. Vegeta, even now, he could faintly feel her, and her oblivious concern for him was something he held on to. He wanted to sleep, but he stayed awake and fought for his future, hopefully one day with Bulma by his side.

**********

Freeza sat on the bridge of his ship, calmly enjoying the view. His father was now taking pleasure in their new planet they had just purged, it was a planet fit for luxury. The other warriors weren’t as fast or proficient as Saiya-jins in purging, but they would have to do now, as Freeza was making an attempt to slowly stop using the monkeys, they would all be dead soon, and so he needed to stop relying on them. The Ginyu Force were now being too arrogant to do simple purging missions and Dodoria and Zardon were busy with other tasks. Dr. Gero and his monsters were finally leaving him be, allowing him to continue his campaign. Things were finally going his way. Soon he would rid himself of all monkeys and their ugly planet, enjoying the fireworks in the process, and watch as the pompous Prince Vegeta was killed. That his future would be paved with riches and the bodies of dead weaklings caused a smile to his face. At that moment his smile was disrupted by a messenger, who came running to the bridge out of breath. The boy kneeled before the Warlord Emperor, fearful of the half metal, half Ice-jin warrior.

“Lord Freeza, I bring news of a most urgent matter.”

Freeza didn’t turn to face him nor did his expression change when he replied, “Oh, what is this important matter that brings you here to disturb my meditation?”

“Its from Vegeta-sei, Lord, it seems their Science and Technology division has risen it’s productively and quality over 300%. They are now rising to meet with our own Science and Technology division, and could possibly pass it.”

Freeza still didn’t turn to look at the messenger, but his face had contorted into a mask of hate and disgust. After all this, the monkeys are showing something of value and something that would kept him from destroying them yet again. If they could grow this fast, then in no time at all it would pass his own group of scientist, and that was something he could not forgive. Was it the work of one person or the effort of a group? If it was just one person, then he could easily take him away from Vegeta-sei and have that person work for him. But if it was the whole team there, then it could be troublesome. He clenched his fist and suddenly electricity surrounded him, his anger was doubling, to understand fully what was going on, he would need a monkey, he would need Vegeta one last time and to have Vegeta, he would have to plea with Gero. Freeza didn’t think Gero would give him up so easily. He hated bowing before that Chikyuu-jin, but it had to be done. His path had yet again turned into a wall. The messenger took his leave, understanding his lords displeasure. Freeza didn’t care, he would have to think of a way to pleasure Gero.

**********

Freeza walked into Dr. Gero’s lab, half furious, half fearful. The twin monsters were there, leaning against a wall, seemingly looking bored. He hated those two, they had almost completely destroyed his body and had destroyed his pride, his belief in being the strongest. They hardly paid any attention to fact he entered the room and that in itself made him even more furious, though he could do nothing about it. He stood there for a few minutes before anyone noticed him, even then, they didn’t even look at him. It was something he would pay them back for as soon as he could. Gero’s raspy voice greeted the silence, making Freeza flinch.

“What do you want Freeza?”

“I need Prince Vegeta, it seems his planet is proving to be useful once again to my empire.”

“Why do you need him? I am going to destroy them all, it would be useless to use him as a tool for your empire.”

“I will return him once I ascertain the reasons for the sudden change in Vegeta-sei’s usefulness. Of course, I will not ask for him freely, I do believe I have something you might desire.”

Gero’s looked at Freeza from the corner of his eye, there was only a few things he could want from the metal lizard. “And what is that?”

“My father’s DNA strand.”

“Oh, you make a tempting offer…but I want more then just that.”

“Would new technologies interest you? That is one reason I need to send Vegeta, I need him to oversee their science division, only monkeys can watch over monkeys.”

“More…I will give you to him for a year if you give me one more thing.”

Freeza clenched his jaw, Gero seemed impossible to please. “Name it then.”

Gero smirked, “…You, and Zarbon….make a pretty pair…entertain me, and yes, I’ll let you have the Prince for a year.” In a year, he’ll have finished his new god, so it really didn’t matter to Gero, he would get what he wants in the long run. Even though he wanted revenge on the Saiya-jins first, right now he had to think of his little creation and perfecting it.

Freeza knew, with what laid wait on Vegeta-sei, could possibly help rid himself of this nightmare. New inventions and updates, new medicine and control systems, if he obtained those things that had been newly created by those at Vegeta-sei‘s lab first hand and customized to fit his needs, he could make these three pay sooner then he hoped for. But he needed to determine what was really happening over on Vegeta-sei. “I guess we have a deal then, I’ll send for Zarbon this afternoon.”

“I want you two to wait for me in my sleeping chambers, Freeza, because I want to record the entertainment for later use.”

“So be it, Gero.” Freeza noticed the appalled looks on the twin monster’s faces. He understood what they felt, he was feeling it too. He hated them for their obvious acknowledgement of what was going to take place. He is going to enjoy killing these Chikyuu-jins when the time came, especially Dr. Gero.

**********

The ship was cold but Vegeta couldn’t feel it nor could he feel his arms or legs. All he knew was that he was being dragged somewhere. The lights were blinding him and his head was heavy. When they came to pick him up, he thought that they would finally kill him and had tried to fight, but he hardly stood. So he let them drag him upright by his arms. His tail dragged behind him, it was now the color of his blood. He didn’t want this to be his last, he still had many things to do, many things he needed to accomplish. He had dreamed the night before of Bulma giving him a son to train and to teach, an heir that would be smart like his mother and strong like him, a fine ruler that would bring his people glory. Vegeta had thought of becoming Legendary, fulfilling his destiny and showing his people who was really the strongest. He would have to reach his potential now, so that he could return to his reluctant bonded, his other half. When he was dragged into a vaguely familiar room, Vegeta thought that perhaps fate was having him head down a different path. The two that had been dragging him, held him up on his knees. He could see the fuzzy image of Freeza standing in the middle of the room. Vegeta looked around and couldn’t see the Chikyuu-jin pair and for once he was grateful for Freeza’s presence. He saw the warlord walk towards him and wondered what was to become of him now.

“So, we meet again monkey, I thought our last meeting would have been truly our last, but it seems that won’t be so.” Vegeta really couldn’t hear him, his blood was still dry in his ears, so he just stared at the ugly metal lizard.

“Freeza…”

“What? Does the monkey wish to talk to me about my betrayal? Save it, I am your Lord and you will do I say. Right now, I am allowing you to return to your planet to watch over your precious Science and Technology Division. Once you have collected all of the correct data on it, which data I want will be sent to you once you reach your filthy red planet, you will return to me. I don’t think it’ll be wise to run from me, my reach extends all over the universe. You will return or I will come and get you and I will have every limb torn from your body, then I will give you back to those two monsters for their plaything.” Looking at the broken body of Prince Vegeta, caused Freeza to be repealed by the sight of it, he turned to the officers who were holding the weaken Saiya-jin, “Get him out of my sight and ship him back to Vegeta-sei.”

Vegeta had no idea what just took place, but he did hear something about his return to Vegeta-sei. When the two began to drag him out of the room and away from Freeza, he could honestly say he was happy, if he returned, he would set things straight with Bulma then finally set off to his rebellion and begin his journey to rid the universe of Freeza and anyone else that had damaged his pride and threatened his planet. He was glad, as well, that he chose Bulma to lead the Engineering and Development of New technology lab, he had done so because he felt that she had the potential to do the impossible. Now he felt that his return had something to with that decision of his. Things were finally going down the right path, if Bulma truly lived up to what he felt was in her and if he finally becomes the legendary, then he would show the universe how truly evil he could be.