Flaming Ki: Part One Introduction and Author's Notes
Flaming Ki is the first Bulma/Vegeta romance story that I've written. It actually spins in some drama, comedy, action and pretty much everything in between. This story also introduces one of my own characters- Vibra, an overconfident female fighter. Actually, Bulma/Vegeta stories are some of my favorite ones (besides Trunks/Pan, which is also kind of in Flaming) and when the concept for this story came into my head, I was thrilled that I'd finally be able to write one. Before this, the majority of my fan fiction work was Trunks/Pan and stories primarily about the next generation Zers (Bra, Pan, Trunks, Goten, Marron, Ubuu). Needless to say, they kind of leak into this story too…sorry.
I tried to stay true to the story line after GT (ie. no Goku, no Piccolo) and even though it's a tad cliché, I matched up the NGZers (T/P, B/U, G/M), so please don't flame me about the way I matched things up. That's just the way I like things, ok?
In part one, there's a kind of spicy part at the very beginning of the story (which contributed to the rating of the story), but don't worry, it doesn't get graphic or anything. This is actually the closest I've gotten to writing anything that was even slightly suggestive, so give me a hand clap, ok? There is also some language, as with most of my stories, but I don't throw it around just because I learned how to type four letters. A monkey could type a string of meaningless curses if you gave it enough time. My language is written primarily for effect and characterization. If you have ever seen Japanese Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z or Dragon Ball GT, then you know that Vegeta is very fluent in curses. He would be horribly out of character if those words weren't included, and I always try to keep the characters in character to the best of my abilities. I don't use much Japanese fan fiction vocabulary (arigato, gomen nasai, ja ne, ect.), which is actually pretty odd for one of my stories. If you've read Mirai No Terror, then you can see how much Japanese I like to smush in to my stories (one of my fics- "and their eyes met" is even worse…). I guess it just didn't seem to fit this story. (Mirai has more suspense and action, heightened emotions… and I strongly recommend you read it, but not just because I wrote it…)
Feel free to email or review this story. I don't mind flames (constructive critisism is a good thing..) but don't flame about how I matched everyone up…That's just annoying…Anyway, I'll try to respond to any and all questions and comments, so don't hesitate. I also take requests for fics. I'll write for the following:
DBZ, Tenchi Muyo, Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing, Cowboy Beebop, Outlaw Star, Card Captor Sakura, Xmen (I have a rather limited knowledge, so nothing complicated or outside of general Xmen knowledge), Xmen Evolution,
Harry Potter and Ender's Game (best book ever written)
Enough with the advertisement and on to the story. If I get enough reviews, I'll write and post part two. So enjoy and R/R!
- Genesis Nightshade AKA The Angel
FLAMING KI
By Genesis Nightshade
Authors Notes: This is one of the longest DBZ fics that I've ever written, and I have to say, I'm pretty darn proud of it. It takes place after GT, and as with most of my fictions, I tried to stay pretty consistent to the series.
This won't be one of those stories where Goku miraculously finds some way to come back to life or a new saiyan suddenly appears without explanation or Vegeta and Goten get it on in a night of passion…
What kind of story is this then?
I'm not quite sure.
It might just be a chance for me to unveil an original character of mine, or show how Vegeta is my favorite Z character. I dunno, maybe I just got bored…Anyway, feel free to email me with comments and criticisms, may they be good or bad…
Bulma lay on her back and sighed. She hadn't had an experience like the one she'd just had for years. She felt a little flushed and hot, so she threw the bed sheets to one side and they landed carelessly on the floor. Now she was wearing nothing, but a layer of sweat still lay dormant on her skin.
"Vegeta, could you open a window?"
Vegeta grunted, but did not resist. Bulma rolled her head over to face him as he sat up in bed. She smiled and sighed again. Vegeta was always so submissive after sex: trading roles with her as quickly as he dominated her. It was only at night that she would control him, and the next morning he would be as competitive as ever.
Bulma felt the bed shift as Vegeta got up to open the two French doors that led to their balcony. He too, was naked, but he hadn't worked up the sweat that Bulma had. Actually, he was as dry as a bone, but his body seemed to gleam, the light reflecting off of his muscles. Of course it wasn't a full moon, or half of the house would have already been rubble. It was five days away, and Bulma couldn't wait. They always had the best sex when the temptation of the full moon was there. It made Vegeta more animal-like. It was the best thing she had ever done, helping Vegeta grow his tail back. Not only was Vegeta happy with the increased power that it gave him, but it was sexy to boot. Bulma couldn't resist, and she reached out to grab it. Vegeta's tail was the biggest temptation around, because if Vegeta wasn't careful, it waggled around behind him with a mind of its own.
Vegeta felt Bulma's touch, and the hairs on his sensitive tail stood up in an excited manner. He let Bulma gently grab it and pull him back over to the bed. He climbed on top and straddled her, his face only inches above hers. Bulma gazed longing into his ebony eyes.
"Vegeta, do you love me?"
Vegeta was silent, but he licked his lips sensually and began to kiss her neck softly.
"No, Vegeta. I'm serious." She said, pushing him away from her. " I really want to know. We always just come in here, you jump on top of me and we never talk."
Vegeta's demeanor quickly changed, and he rolled off of Bulma and lay motionless next to her.
"I thought this was what you wanted, woman."
"No, Vegeta. You're the only sex fiend around here. All you ever have on your mind are the three f's: food, fucking and fighting."
Vegeta smirked.
"Is there a problem with that? I leave for two months, and all you want to do is talk."
"Just answer the question."
Vegeta grunted and climbed out of bed. Without another word, he began dressing. Bulma sat up startled.
"What? What's wrong? Why can't you just answer the question?"
"If you have to ask me that question, then you're dumber than you look, woman."
Vegeta now dressed in his blue spandex pants and white boots, leapt from the balcony. Bulma grabbed the sheets off of the floor to cover her dignity and ran out on the balcony to follow him.
"Damn it! If I could only fly!" Bulma exclaimed as she watched Vegeta become a speck in the night sky. Just when she thought she had him on a short leash, he would pull some stunt and disappear for a month at a time. There was no telling when she would see him again, and until that time came, not only would Bulma's sexual frustration would have a permanent place in her being, but she would be stuck wondering why he had avoided answering a simple question.
Sometimes, Bulma wondered if Vegeta really did love her. It wasn't why she had asked the question; it had just come in a moment of desire. Sure there were those rare occasions when he would be the least bit romantic, but he would always go back to being an arrogant bastard then next morning. Maybe he was just using her…
Bulma sighed and went back inside. She slipped a nightgown over her head and settled down into bed to get some paperwork done. There was no way that she was going to get any sleep tonight.
***
Vegeta was still flying at sunrise. Truthfully, he didn't know what had set him off, but all he knew was that he needed to get as far from Capsule Corp as saiyanly possible and do some training to blow off some steam.
As he neared his usual spot in the desert, his head snapped sideways when he felt a strong ki to the west. Vegeta stopped in mid-air and smirked.
"Kakkarot! It has to be him or the Namek. Either way, I'll get a good spar."
Vegeta took off towards the west, and sure enough, a few miles away; he could see the flaming ki of someone doing some solo training. The power certainly rivaled Vegeta's from what he could feel, but he still couldn't tell who it was. Vegeta took another look and saw that the ki wasn't golden in color, so it couldn't be a super saiyan. Piccolo. It must've been Piccolo. Amused at his realization, Vegeta flew over and landed as close as he could without getting a face-full of dust.
"Come on, you green giant!" (Author takes a moment to laugh at the reference ^_^) " I need a good spar!"
Immediately, Vegeta felt Piccolo power down and the dust began to clear out.
"What the hell did you just call me?" asked a surprisingly feminine voice. A figure walked through the dust. It was indeed a woman. She was about Vegeta's height, with short, black spiky hair that had red spikes placed intricately throughout. She was dressed in nothing but a purple sports bra, long purple spandex leggings and white boots. "Are you trying to get hurt, shrimp?"
"Hey! Who do you think you are?! Do you know who you are talking to?! I am the prince of the-"
"You're just a shrimp who needs a haircut and needs to go home before he gets himself seriously hurt. I don't have to time to deal with you, pipsqueak."
"WHAT!" Vegeta yelled, taking a fighting stance and powering up. "YOU ARE TWO SECONDS AWAY FROM DEATH!"
"It's okay, I didn't expect you to recognize me, I don't compete in tournaments, you know. No good competition. Oh, allow me to introduce myself. I am Vibra, the strongest woman alive. I suggest you leave now, little man."
"LITTLE MAN?! No woman could compare to the prince of saiyans! Bring it on, woman!"
"I warned you." Vibra said, and she powered up herself, enough to cause the ground below her to form a crater where she was standing. Vegeta, who had had enough of being insulted, charged at Vibra, barely able to keep himself from flashing into a super saiyan. He began with a barrage of swift punches that Vibra easily blocked. He then leapt in to the air and executed a roundhouse kick aimed at Vibra's face, but she simply ducked under it and attempted to sweep Vegeta's feet out from under him when he landed on the ground. He jumped over her head and attempted a front kick to her back, but she back flipped over his head and struck him in the back with a sidekick. He was stunned for a moment and stumbled a bit. Vibra took this opportunity and tried to hit Vegeta with a spinning back kick, but he grabbed her leg and spun her around, letting her fly a few meters away. She landed on her hands and sprung into a stance where she shot a small ki blast at him. Vegeta easily dodged it, but a confused look grazed his face.
'Where did she learn how to use ki?' he asked himself silently as he watched Vibra catch her breath. She was surprisingly quick and strong; she had taken over one hundred of Vegeta's punches without so much as a flinch.
"You're good," Vibra said, "but not good enough. You've never seen anything like that before, have you? I picked that little trick up at the Tenkaichi Budokai a few years back." She stood up straight and ran her fingers through her sweaty hair. "You know what? If you leave now, I'll spare your life. I have no problem with killing if the occasion calls for it."
Vegeta couldn't keep himself from laughing and he almost became hysterical. After all of his experiences: planet conquering for Freiza, his murders on Namek, and even dying a couple of times, SHE didn't have a problem with death?
"What do you know about killing, woman? I could take down an army of men with both hands tied behind my back and a blindfold over my eyes."
"And so could anyone with decent training. What's so special about you, besides that fact that you've got a freaking tail?"
In response, Vegeta's hair flashed blond and golden energy began to radiate from his body. Vibra began to sweat profusely, but she didn't so much as budge from her stone-hard stance.
"Never seen a super saiyan, have you?" Vegeta said, and his signature smirk crept onto his lips arrogantly.
"A…a super saiyan? What the hell are you talking about?"
"You couldn't have possibly thought that this tail was just some kind of strange deformity. I'm not human, woman. No human could possess the kind of power that I have. Now what was that comment you made about me needing to leave? Before I get hurt?"
"Wait a minute…I get it now… You're like that guy, Goku, right?"
"Kakkarot? I am nothing like that weakling, that wimp. He disappeared five years ago because he was afraid to fight me."
"Yes, yes you are…" Vibra said, more into her thoughts than the golden haired alien in front of her. "When Goku fought in the tournament years ago, he had a tail. I remember that little detail. And he fought the best fight I've ever seen in my life. Then you show up, with a tail, doing some amazing moves that I didn't think I would ever see again…"
"What? Woman, what is your problem?"
Vibra arched one eyebrow and smiled at Vegeta.
"I've got it now…it's that tail. It what makes you…you saiyans strong."
Immediately, Vegeta's tail wrapped around his waist.
"Don't worry, PRINCE. I wouldn't dare to bother your precious tail, but I DO need a sparing partner. As you may know, there is a shortage of people strong enough to last for even a few minutes. You said yourself that you also need a good spar."
"Why should I? As you can clearly see, you are a weakling compared to me. There are two more levels after this one, and I become stronger with each transformation. I could kill you before you could even THINK about moving."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you probably could, but why would you? Who else would you spar with? I'm a fast learner, and I'm sure I could get up to your super saiyan level in a few weeks."
Vegeta debated this in his mind for a minute. He did need a good sparing partner. He had to admit, Vibra was good. If she were a saiyan, she would be more than a match for him, and probably the strongest person on the planet. Vegeta had occasionally gotten a good spar from Trunks and on occasion Bra, but they could never match his power without having to go super saiyan. It would be a relief to not have to go looking for the Namek every time he felt like fighting someone. This woman would prove useful. Vegeta powered down and his hair became its natural black once again.
"Fine." Vegeta said. "You could prove useful to me. So let's go, if you claim to be so strong, then fight me, woman."
Vibra raised one eyebrow again and went into a cat stance.
"As long as you keep the super saiyan trick on hold, I'm ready for you, shorty."
***
"Mrs. Briefs? Mrs. Briefs?"
Bulma shook herself from a trance as she sat at the Capsule Corp. Board meeting. She hadn't been herself all day, worrying about Vegeta and her relationship with him. She hadn't gotten any sleep the night before and now she was zoning out during meetings. Saiyans did strange things to human women.
"Uh, yes, go ahead with it. I'm totally behind you. Sell."
"Mrs. Briefs, I just needed to know if you needed the recalls done by tomorrow morning." Mr. Kazama, the second vice President looked at Bulma strangely.
"Oops, sorry." Bulma said, and adjusted a pair of reading glasses on her face.
"Ok second order of business…" Mr. Kazama continued, "Is whether or not we will be sponsoring any of the competitors in the Tournament this year."
Bulma bit on the tip of her pen and thought for a moment. Of course they wouldn't be sponsoring Vegeta; he had outwardly protested against it the year before, claiming that he would rather die than wear a logo. But there was always Trunks. Bulma glanced across the table at the Vice President, who was hiding his face behind his laptop.
"Trunks, are you going to compete this year?" Bulma asked him. He looked up sorrowfully.
"I hadn't planned on it, but if you can't find anyone else, then sure. I think Bra was going to compete. I'm not sure about Goten and Marron." Trunks said.
"Ok, well I'm sure one of them would agree to be sponsored this year." Bulma said, directing her voice back towards Mr. Kazama, who made a note of it.
"Well, if you gentlemen and ladies don't mind, I think we all need to break for lunch." Bulma grabbed her laptop and her bag and stood up. "Meet back here in an hour." She began to leave the room and Trunks grabbed his things and rushed after her.
"Kaa-san?"
Bulma turned around at her son's voice.
"What's wrong? I've never seen you space out at a meeting."
Bulma smiled and waved a hand.
"I'm fine, just fine…" She turned around and continued to walk away.
'It must be Tou-san.' Trunks thought to himself as he watched his mother walk towards the elevator. Suddenly, a huge amount of weight fell on his back and he went tumbling to the ground, his briefcase being thrown one way and his laptop flying the other.
"Trunks-san! I thought you would never get out of that meeting!"
Trunks turned his head up and saw his best friend Goten sitting on his back with the classic goofy Son smile on his face. Trunks gathered up a bit of his energy and threw Goten off of him.
"What's wrong with you? This is a new suit you know!"
"Oops, sorry! I was just making sure you didn't forget about lunch today. At the Golden Dragon restaurant, remember? Bra, Pan, and Marron are probably there by now. Uubu is waiting outside. He didn't want to be left alone with the girls by himself. He said Bra is already enough for him to handle!"
"Pan is coming? I didn't know she was going to be there." Trunks said, with an emotionless tone. His mind drifted back to two years ago, when he and Pan had gotten into a fight so brutal that one whole wing of Capsule Corp had been blown completely off. They hadn't said much since then, but Trunks thought about her occasionally. He had no choice, since she was permanently engrained in his brain. Not long before the fight, Pan had defeated Trunks in battle, so they were officially mates by saiyan standards. It was human standards that Trunks wasn't so sure about.
"Ok, let's go." Trunks said, and loosened his tie. The two of them went to an open window, and amongst the stares of all those working in the office, they jumped and began flying in the direction of the Golden Dragon Restaurant. Uubu, who was sitting on the entrance steps to the Capsule Corporation's Tokyo branch looked up and saw the two flying away.
"Hey! Wait for me!" He caught up with them easily enough, but Uubu was a little upset. They often did that to him, leaving him behind or forgetting that he was even there sometimes.
"Sorry, Uubu." Trunks said, "but you know that Marron will beat Goten's face in if he's late. I don't even want to think about what Bra will do to you."
Uubu swallowed hard as he imagined the blue haired demi-saiyan bashing his brains in.
"Yeah, but what will Pan do to you?"
Trunks gave Uubu a look of death and then turned his head back forward. No comment.
"You and Bra weren't dating then, but Pan and Trunks are kind of an ex- couple." Goten said. "Their fight was fatal and people almost died."
"Oh." Uubu said, "Bra told me that Pan still has a thing for you. But maybe I heard it wrong…"
"What?"
"Trunks! Watch out for that plane!"
Trunks swerved and avoided a fatal collision with a jumbo jet.
"Watch where you're going, man." Uubu said as Trunks joined their group again.
"What do you mean, 'Pan still has a thing for me'?" Trunks asked.
"I'm just saying what Bra told me, but don't let her know I couldn't keep a secret, or she really will bash my brains in."
"I'm kind of thinking that she did that on purpose…" Goten replied. "We all know how devious Bra can be sometimes, and since Ubuu is both friends with you AND Pan, of course she would tell him, knowing that he can't keep a secret to save his life."
Both Uubu and Trunks looked at Goten strangely. It wasn't often that he came to conclusions like that on his own.
"You've been spending too much time with Gohan." Trunks said
"Huh?"
"Never mind. Anyway, here we are, and I can see the girls out front."
Trunks pointed to the entrance of the Golden Dragon, which was now right below them. Pan, Marron and Bra were standing out front, looking rather impatient. All of them were dressed nicely, Bra in her classic red number, Marron in a cute blue sundress with a matching hat. Pan however had kept her usual orange bandana and was wearing an orange spaghetti strapped tank top and black pants. Her hair was much longer than Trunks remembered it, coming down past her shoulders and resting on her back. Trunks couldn't keep his eyes off of her, but she as she turned to face him, he locked into her icy gaze. She was obviously still pissed at him.
"Goten!" Marron screamed almost at the top of her lungs, and she flew up in the air to greet her boyfriend. Ubuu looked for Bra to do likewise, but she only looked at her watch and then gave Ubuu a look that was so hot it could have melted him.
"Sorry, Bra." Uubu said to her as he landed beside her. "You know how those two can get." Bra smiled at him, knowing exactly how Trunks and Goten were sometimes.
"It's ok. No problem." She flashed him another smile and kissed him on the cheek. "Let's go and scare some cooks."
"You know, this will probably be the last time they let us in here." Goten said, recalling the last time all of them had gotten together to eat lunch. Most restaurants were not equipped to feed four demi-saiyans; they just didn't have enough food to quench their killer appetites.
"Trunks, are you coming?" Bra asked, looking up at her brother, who had not budged from his spot in the sky. "Get down before someone sees you."
Trunks complied and landed beside none other than Pan. She shot him another ice-gaze and followed behind the others to go into the restaurant. Trunks rushed behind her to help her open the door, but she opened the door as hard as she could without ripping it from the hinges. It bashed him right in the face.
Trunks stood outside alone, rubbing his nose, which was probably going to have a bruise. This wasn't going to be a good day.
***
"Hey Vegeta, you got a little sloppy on that last attack. I was about to snap your arm in two." Vibra commented, picking up the saiyan's terribly graphic style of talking. "But you would take so long to heal, I didn't want to waste weeks of good training waiting for you." She raised one eyebrow and smirked like she had seen Vegeta do so many times that day.
"I was compensating for your lack of speed, woman." Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest and turned his gaze somewhere else, not wanting to look at the woman who could have easily matched him if she were a saiyan. Yes, he had gotten a bit sloppy, but he would never admit it, not even to himself. There was no way that a woman, a HUMAN woman, could ever hope to try and match his talents. He was the prince of the most powerful race to ever live. She was a weakling.
"Compensating or not, I almost got you again. You really should watch about leaving yourself open. That kind of thing may not matter with slower opponents, but you certainly can't do that with me."
"What do you know about fighting? This is a waste of my time. I don't even know why I'm wasting my time with you."
"Because there is no one else to spar with. We've been over that twenty times before. Hey! Wait a minute! I just had the best idea that I've had in years! What would you think about entering the Tenkaichi Budokai on Saturday? We could keep each other from getting bored. What do you say?"
Vegeta looked at Vibra with a look of shock on his face. How dare she even suggest that he enter that tournament! It was a showcase of fools, and there was rarely any decent fighting, except for the years that Trunks and Bra decided that they would compete. Even then, the competition was pathetic. It was an insult for her to merely suggest that he subject himself to the cavalcade of freaks that presented themselves every year.
"I know what you're thinking, and I just thought it might be a good idea to remind people what fighting really is, you know? Plus we'll get to spar for money. I think its a good idea, don't you, Veggie?"
"DON'T EVER CALL ME THAT!"
"Fine, fine, but what do you say? Wanna try it? Or are you scared?"
Vegeta gave Vibra a look of death. Scared? He didn't get scared, at least not on this planet. But was he scared of Vibra? No woman had dared to speak to him in such a manner. Besides Bulma, that is…
"The full moon is that night." Vegeta said, and knew that he wasn't going to get away with a comment like that. Sure enough…
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Saiyans lives are directed by the moon. On the night of a full moon we become uncontrollable." He looked at Vibra and smirked. "I could kill you."
"I'm ready to take my chances." She said, and raised her eyebrow in reply. "So you had better be there on Saturday or I'll personally hunt you down, Vegeta."
Vegeta snorted, and turned around just in time to watch Vibra fly away. My, she did have a nice ass... WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?! Vegeta slapped himself to get the thought out of his head. Vibra had already slowed his training considerably, and he was going to have to stay longer just to make up for it. But Vegeta had to admit that he was looking forward to Saturday's fight.
No more time to waste. Back to training. Vegeta immediately flashed into super saiyan and began his usual exercises under the intense heat of the desert sun. What he actually needed was a cold shower.
***
"Alright, give me two more Grilled Dragon Specials." Goten said to the waitress as he licked his lips. He had already had three of the massive meals.
"Goten, I just don't see where you put it all." Uubu said as he worked on his large bowl of fried rice. Unlike the demi-saiyans in the group, Uubu's stomach had its limits.
"A guy's gotta eat…" Goten replied. "Besides, Bra's picking up the check and you know how much money they've got!"
"Just because you have money doesn't mean you need to spend it all, Goten." Uubu said. "You have to save it sometimes."
"Speaking of money," Marron said, "Is anybody planning on entering the tournament on Saturday?"
Trunks held his head down and pretended like he was completely interested in his food.
"I think I might fight." Bra said. "It's been a while since I had a good one. Trunks is always WORKING."
Trunks sank down lower in his seat. Just set me up, why don't you?
"Trunks, are you going to fight?" Pan asked, the only thing that she had said to him since they arrived at the Golden Dragon.
"My mother said she needed someone to sponsor this year, but if Bra is fighting, then I don't have to."
"Pity." Pan said, and went back to her food.
An unbearable silence followed as everyone either went back to eating or pretended that they actually wanted to eat what was in front of them. Goten broke the awkwardness when he belched loudly.
"Goten! That's disgusting!" Marron exclaimed and gave Goten a tap on the head. Of course, a hit from Marron could barely be called a tap, because even if she was the weakest among those in the group, she was still one of the strongest people on the planet. She was certainly near if not at the top of the list of human females. " I can't take you anywhere, can I?"
"Not anywhere with food…" Bra said, and the two couples started laughing.
Trunks and Pan remained silent, glancing at each other yet trying not to glance at each other, every few minutes.
"What's with you guys?" Bra asked suddenly, looking at Trunks and Pan. "It's like you two are still in love or something…"
Trunks turned bright red.
"Who are you kidding, Bra? *Chuckle, chuckle* you know I've been dating that girl from…uh...from marketing! Yeah, that's right…the girl from marketing!"
"What girl from marketing? I never..."
Bra was silenced when Trunks kicked her under the table.
"Oh! THAT girl from marketing! The one with the huge battle scar over her..."
Trunks kicked Bra again, this time harder. She reached down and rubbed her shin, which was completely red.
"Ok, ok…" she finally said, and went back to eating.
"You guys are weird." Goten said.
"Will you guys excuse us for a minute?" Marron said, and gestured for Bra and Pan to follow her. They all climbed out of the booth and went to the restroom, and as soon as the door was closed, Marron dropped her act.
"What's your problem, Pan? Why are you being such a bitch?"
"What? What are you talking about?" Pan said, as she went to check her make- up in the mirror.
"You know what she's talking about." Bra said. "Ever since Trunks got here you've acted like there's a stick stuck up your ass. Why don't you just apologize for that fight and forget about it? Then you guys can get married and stop acting like children."
"I'm not acting like a child, Bra. I'm just being serious. Not only is your brother 14 years older than I am, but you heard him, he already has a girlfriend."
Bra couldn't keep herself from laughing out loud.
"That story? Trunks is just trying not to look pathetic. He hasn't been on a date since the two of you broke up."
"Seriously?" Pan asked.
"He's hopelessly devoted to you, Pan." Marron said. "If you can't see that then you're blind."
Pan was speechless as she tried to piece everything together. She hadn't dated either, always hoping that Trunks would come back to her. There was still hope!
"Wait!" Bra said. "I've got a great idea! Why don't you enter the tournament on Saturday without telling Trunks? Odds are that you two will end up fighting in the final round, and then you can claim him again to remind him how much he loves you! I won't enter, that way he'll have to. For Capsule Corp, you know?"
"Won't your mother be upset if I beat Trunks? Especially if Capsule Corp is sponsoring him?"
"Capsule Corp can sponsor you too!" Bra said as she continued with her scheme. "But you won't tell Trunks. That way we wont lose money, no matter who wins! Am I a genius, or am I a genius?"
"That is a pretty good idea, Bra." Marron said, agreeing. "I can keep both of my parents out of the tournament too, so you won't really have any competition and be guaranteed to fight him."
"Ok, fine." Pan said, and began to walk back out to the table.
"Pan?" Bra called after her. "Drop the bitch persona, ok?"
Pan smiled back. Things were going her way. In just a few short days, Trunks would be hers again.
***
It was around five o'clock in the afternoon when Vegeta came home. He hadn't really prepared for a long-term trip and with the full moon on the way, there was no telling what he would do if he was left alone. Unfortunately, he needed Bulma's distractions to keep him from going wild. Or maybe to make him go wild? There was always Vibra to do that…WHAT? Vegeta hit himself over the head again as he walked through the backdoor of Capsule Corp. Vibra was the only real distraction that he was facing right now, and she was miles away.
"Veggie-chan?"
Vegeta turned around quickly and saw a figure behind him. It was none other than Vibra, now dressed in a black tank and black leggings. Her hair wasn't as spiky as it had been earlier, and it was slicked back like she had just taken a shower.
"What are you doing here? How did you find me?" he asked.
"I followed you, Veggie…"
"I TOLD YOU NEVER TO CALL ME THAT!"
"I just like seeing you get mad…So, wanna spar?"
"No." he said. "Go away."
"Oh come on," she said, and walked closer to Vegeta, resting her head on his shoulder and running her hands over his chest. She reached down to touch his tail, but he quickly moved back.
"How dare you touch me, woman!"
"Don't fight it, Vegeta. You know you want to spar. It's an irresistible urge in you. I can tell, because even though I'm not saiyan, I have it too. Fighting is the reason for your existence as it is the reason for mine. It's taking every once of will power in you not to kick me in the head, isn't it?"
It wasn't exactly kicking that Vegeta was restraining himself from doing. He turned to go inside, but he felt Vibra come closer to him, and her hands clamped onto his tail. He turned quickly and knocked her off, and then made a small ki ball with this right hand. He tossed it at her, but she jumped out of its way and sprung at Vegeta. He grabbed her hands and flipped him over his head and she went flying towards the Capsule Corp building. Instead of hitting, her legs touched the wall and she sprung back at him, in position for a front kick to his head. He blocked it, and the four roundhouse kicks that followed. Then he did three quick back flips and shot another small blast at her that she efficiently batted away. She shot one at him and he batted it away.
"You see, Vegeta? You can't resist it either, can you? If you turn around and go into that house, then you'll always be wondering why you're denying the urges that drive your life."
Vegeta couldn't take her babbling anymore; Vibra was hitting a little too close to the truth. He dropped into a horse stance.
"Show me what you've got, woman."
***
Bulma sighed as she turned the corner towards Capsule Corp. She had been completely spaced out all day and had decided to come home a little early. She had planned to take a nice long shower and maybe relax with a book. Anything to get her mind off of Vegeta. If someone had told her that he would be so much trouble when she first met him, she would have thought twice about getting so involved with him. Sometimes Vegeta was actually more trouble than he was worth, since he was only around for a few months at a time and then he would leave for another few months with no explanation as to why.
Bulma sighed again. Nevertheless, she still loved Vegeta, despite all of the bickering and the strange behavior that came with him. He was still a good father most of the time and a good husband whenever it counted. Husband by title, of course, since he would never admit that he was bonded to her for life. Nothing was good enough for the prince of the saiyans. Not even his own wife.
She pulled up in the driveway and climbed out of her Capsule Car. Even if Vegeta didn't come home for a couple of months, she would inevitably rush back into his arms like nothing had happened. It was a vicious cycle between the two of them. Vegeta would do something to make Bulma pissed of at him or vice versa. Then they would have a huge fight and separate for a while, always to come back to each other in one night of passion. It was bound to happen again, but the question was when Vegeta would come back.
As Bulma was processing her thoughts, she went to grab her briefcase out of the car only to be knocked back when it exploded into a million pieces around her. She fell backwards into a patch of bush by the roadside.
"What the fuck! Trunks! Bra! VEGETA!" She yelled and tried to stand up, but her ankle was twisted and a pain shot up her leg. She fell in a heap back on the ground, began to crawl back towards the house, making sure that her ankle didn't drag on the ground.
"TRUNKS! BRA! VEGETA! What the hell is going on around here! Just when I get things civilized, you want to live like a bunch of barbarians! VEGETA! I know it's you!" Bulma reached a tree and stood up uneasily on one leg. She began to hop around to the backyard, when she suddenly heard voices.
"I've got you pinned, Vegeta!"
"Not for long woman…"
"You're such a tease, princey…"
Bulma hopped around the house and saw Vegeta, with a woman on top of him. She had magnetic blue eyes and short black hair. Her face lowered closer and closer to Vegeta's.
"VEGETA!" Bulma yelled, and the saiyan sprung up, knocking Vibra easily off of him. He had heard Bulma come home, but didn't think she would use the back door.
"Bulma…" Vegeta said, and the two of them stood staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Tears suddenly began to run down Bulma's cheeks uncontrollably and she struggled to keep from breaking into sobs.
"Who is this…this woman?"
"Vibra. Nice to meet you. Don't tell me that little ki blast has got you all hurt up…"
"I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU, BITCH! VEGETA! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
"What does it look like he's doing?" Vibra said, and Bulma tried to run at her, a vision of blood in her eyes. She was going to do whatever she could to kill this cocky woman who was trying to steal her husband! Unfortunately, she tried to run on her ankle, and it wouldn't support her weight. She began to tumble to the ground, but in a flash, Vegeta was by her side and he caught her in mid-air.
"PUT ME DOWN!" She yelled as she struggled against his grip.
Vegeta turned to Vibra and gave her a look of death. She got the point.
"Fine…See you Saturday, Pincey." She winked at him and was off in a flash.
Vegeta flew into the air, and through the window of the bedroom that he and Bulma shared. He placed Bulma on the bed. She seemed to calm down quickly, and she propped herself up with her elbows.
"Vegeta, what was she talking about? Saturday…that's the full moon isn't it? What are you planning on doing, Vegeta?"
Vegeta was silent, and he turned his body away from her and scoffed.
"Vegeta, tell me you aren't going to…"
"What I do is not your concern, Bulma."
"And that's another thing!" Bulma said. "Why do you keep calling me Bulma? You never call me by my name!"
"I thought that was what you wanted." Vegeta said, in an echo of the incident that had occurred the night before.
"No, Vegeta…no. I just want the truth."
He didn't answer her. Vegeta stood silently looking out onto the balcony. Bulma began to wail. She picked up his pillow and threw it at him.
"If you can't answer me, then you'll sleep on the couch tonight!"
"I'd rather sleep outside."
"THEN GO!" Bulma screamed at him, and he complied by flying out of the window. Bulma watched him leave, and then buried her face in the bed sheets and cried.
***
Tuesday morning. Trunks climbed out of bed and groaned. It was four in the morning, and he was forcing himself to do some training for the tournament on Saturday. He hadn't had the chance to do much fighting lately, and if he didn't remind himself of some of his better moves then he was going to be embarrassed. It was unusually quiet around his house. Even at four in the morning, his mother was usually yelling at his father for waking her up so early. It was pretty unusual. Even Bra, thanks to her saiyan instincts, was usually awake and doing some kind of exercises in the gym downstairs. Alas, the gym was empty when Trunks walked in, so he began to do some of the warm- ups he had done a few years back. When he was actually strong that was.
After about 200 repetitions with his 500-pound weights, Trunks started out to the gravity room. Sure weight training would help, but it was no substitute for the room. Especially since he probably wasn't going to be able to go super saiyan during the tournament. Ok, so a few days weren't going to help much, but Trunks needed all of the help he could get. As he neared the gravity room, Trunks saw the red light on the door that signaled that someone was training inside. Trunks opened the door just in time to see his father's simple ki blast ricochet all over the room, since Vegeta had used so much force in the previously high gravity. Trunks ducked as it flew out of the door and over his head. Both Vegeta and Bra looked at him angrily.
"Can I join?" Trunks asked, a sweat drop sliding down in his face in embarrassment.
Vegeta gave a harrumph.
"Why are you training all of a sudden, boy?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"There's a tournament on Saturday, and I'll probably have to sponsor Capsule Corp. since Bra said she wasn't fighting."
Vegeta looked back at Bra, who shrugged her shoulders. So, she had finally learned that the Earth tournament was a circus of no talent nobodies. But then, why was he taking part in it in less than a week? Why had he worried Bulma so much over this stupid tournament and that stupid Earth woman? Vegeta shook the thought out of his head. He didn't have to cater to anyone's needs but his own. Then why was this bothering him so much?
"Dad, are you okay?" Bra asked, sensing the inner turmoil that her father was having.
"Leave me the hell alone." Vegeta said curtly and exited the gravity room, slamming the door and flying off into the distance.
"What's with him?" Trunks said. "He wouldn't normally give up the chance to take both of us on at one time."
"He and Mom had a fight last night. Didn't you sense his ki change? Oh, well I guess you wouldn't. So what's going on with Saturday?"
"I'm trying to get some training in." Trunks said, almost snarling at his younger sister.
"Need some help? You know I'm in better shape than you are."
"Do you have to be so stinking arrogant?"
"Sorry, I can't help it." Bra said, crossing her arms over her chest and imitating her father's smirk. "Look who raised me. Now do you want to fight or not? I'm not going to let you embarrass us."
Trunks flashed into super saiyan and charged at his sister, who turned blond just as quickly as he had. He attempted a front kick that Bra easily dodged. He followed up with a roundhouse kick and when Bra dodged it, he shot a ki blast to her new location. She batted it away and shot one back that caught Trunks by surprise. He only had enough time to thrust his arms over his eyes to protect them from the blast. In the time it took him to recover, Bra knocked him in the ribs and he went flying into the opposite wall.
"Damn, you're out of shape!" Bra exclaimed.
"Even so, there's no one in the tournament that will stand a chance." Trunks said, regaining his composure. The backs of his arms looked a little singed.
"But what if someone half decent decides to enter, Trunks? Dad would never forgive you if you disgraced him. And think how much money Capsule Corp would lose!"
Trunks was not about to let himself be beaten so easily, or be insulted by his little sister. If he had learned anything from his father, it was to not stand by and let someone insult you when you could do something about it. He quickly shot a ki blast at the unsuspecting Bra, who did just as Trunks had done not more than a minute before and thrust her arms over her face to protect it. Trunks then delivered a sidekick to Bra's crossed arms, which sent her stumbling backwards. Trunks then knocked her in the head with a quick roundhouse kick that sent her to the ground. Trunks lunged at Bra to send an elbow to her stomach, but she rolled out of the way and Trunks caught nothing but the floor of the gravity room. Bra quickly came to her feet and shot a ki blast at Trunks, but in a flash, he was behind her and shot a small ki blast into her back. Bra screamed out in pain as her back arched and she fell to her knees.
"Who is going to disgrace who?" Trunks asked, with a smirk signature of the Vegeta family on his face.
"You got lucky." Bra said, coming to her feet. She quickly blinked out of super saiyan. "Remember, you can't go super saiyan in the tournament, so you won't have that to depend on, will you? I'd like to see you beat me without that little crutch." Bra smirked back at Trunks and he scowled at her.
"Get the hell out of here." Trunks said, and his hair went back to its regular lavender color.
"Fine." Bra replied, and flipped her blue hair over one shoulder. She turned her back to him and walked out of the gravity room, a tiny smile on her face. She had done her job. That inherent arrogance in him would make sure that he was more than ready for the tournament on Saturday. Pan would have a good fight; Bra was sure of it.
***
Bulma awoke the around noon, her hair a matted mess and her pillow drenched in mascara that had run the night before. The same black substance was present on her face, running down her cheeks like two small streams. Bulma sat up, but as she began to move, a pain shot up her leg. She looked down at her ankle, which was black, blue and swollen: a constant reminder of the events from the night before. She collapsed back on to her pillow, the pain from her ankle taking over her face.
"How am I supposed to do anything?" She said to herself as she turned her head to one side. On the bedside table, she spied a small green object. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was a senzu bean. Bulma quickly reached over and grabbed it with her left hand and stuffed it into her mouth. In a matter of seconds, she felt the swelling on her ankle go down and the bone heal itself. The bean hadn't been there the night before, so obviously, Vegeta had left it there in the middle of the night. Bulma smiled a bit, happy that Vegeta had been so thoughtful. But then again, there was that raven-haired bitch that she had caught him with yesterday. The one that he was going to spend the full moon with. Bulma shut her eyes in anguish, imagining the two of them going at it like wild animals. But Vegeta had never been one to grab anything in a skirt. He was very selective with his women, and the only reason that Bulma had qualified was because she had the gravity room and the testicular fortitude (Author takes another moment to laugh at the phrase used by her band director, that is meant to mean "balls" or extreme courage...^_^) to challenge his authority. So there had to be something special about this woman that would even cause Vegeta to take more than a glance at her…
Bulma suddenly sat up, struck by a revelation. Saturday was the tournament! That's what Vegeta was going to do! He hadn't mentioned it to Bulma in fear that she would ask him to be sponsored by Capsule Corp. Bulma heaved a sigh of relief, glad that Vegeta hadn't betrayed her like she had previously thought. But even if Vegeta was as faithful as an old bloodhound, that didn't mean that the bitch was going to have any reservations about sleeping with her husband. Maybe she even knew about the saiyans' mating habits and how she had to claim Vegeta in a fight before they could ever do anything. That was the problem. Bulma would be no match for her physically, and there was nothing that was going to keep Vegeta from a good fight. Unless…
Bulma reached for the phone beside her bed. She quickly dialed Capsule Corp.
"Hello? Ms. Okaida? This is Bulma. Cancel all of my meetings for this week, ok? And let the board know that I might not be able to attend the tournament proceedings with them on Saturday. Something suddenly came up in my schedule." Bulma hung up the phone, and with a devious smile on her face, grabbed the dragon radar out of a drawer. She grabbed a pack of Capsules and started downstairs.
"Bulma-san?"
Bulma jumped in surprise when she saw Pan standing in her living room.
"Pan-chan? It's been so long!" Bulma exclaimed and embraced Pan in a hug. "To what do I owe this visit?"
"Um...I was just wondering if Capsule Corp needs anyone to fight in the tournament on Saturday, because I was thinking about fighting and wanted to check with you first. Before I cost your company money, you know…"
"Oh. I'm sorry Pan, but Trunks is going to fight for Capsule Corp this year."
"But can't you sponsor both of us? It will increase your chances of winning."
Bulma brought her hand to her chin and began to scratch it, deep in thought.
"Oh, I get it. This has to do with Trunks, doesn't it? You want to claim him again, but don't want to hurt the company."
Pan turned bright red.
"No, um...it's not that...I just…"
"It's ok, Pan. We can sponsor both of you this year. And I promise not to tell Trunks."
"Thank you, Bulma-san." Pan said, and bowed before she left the house. She couldn't help but wonder why Bulma had been holding the dragon radar…
***
"What's wrong, Vegeta? It seems like you can't keep up today…" Vibra asked as she caught her breath from their last skirmish. "You're moving so damn slow that you're about to bore me!"
"Shut up woman! It's your fault!" Vegeta snapped back at her. "First you show up uninvited and then you won't leave me the hell alone!"
"This doesn't have to do with your wife, does it?" Vibra inquired, raising one eyebrow. "If I'm so annoying and I'm ruining your life, then why don't you kill me?"
Vegeta hesitated. It was actually funny. A few years ago, he wouldn't have hesitated to blow her into a million pieces, just for the sheer thrill that it gave him to do so. Now he was weak. Not physically, but emotionally. Now all he could think about was what Bulma would say if she found out he had killed again.
Bulma. She would never speak to him again after what he had done. He had almost allowed himself to fall prey to another woman. A human woman, nonetheless. During Vegeta's courtship with Bulma, he had always been the dominating force, the one controlling what happened, and when it was going to happen. It wasn't so much the fact that Bulma had caught him with Vibra, but the possibility that he had almost allowed himself to be captured by her. Vegeta had the woman he wanted, and any other was just second rate, no matter how strong or fast they were. This thing with Vibra was strictly on a competition level. Nothing more. Vegeta mouthed the words: Nothing more. He didn't bother to think whether or not he was reminding himself or convincing himself of the fact.
"So, are you going to kill me or not?" Vibra said, bringing Vegeta back from his inner turmoil.
"You really are annoying me, woman." Vegeta said, without the slightest tinge of sarcasm in is voice.
"Then why don't you kill me? I'm beginning to think your threats are as empty as your head, princey."
In response, Vegeta extended his right hand and effortlessly blew a mountain to smithereens. It exploded in a shower of pebbles and dust.
"Does that answer your question, woman?"
"Fine, fine, I believe you. So, back to sparing? We only have a few days."
Vegeta gazed at the young fighter, barely able to take his eyes off of her. She had to be a good ten years younger than he was, but she looked like a twenty year old. She was a goddess carved out of marble, or diamonds, or something else just as precious. Vegeta quickly tore his eyes away in disbelief of his own thoughts. Nothing more, he mouthed.
"I will be training alone until the tournament." Vegeta said, struggling to keep his voice from wavering. Nothing had ever shaken him as much as this woman. She occupied every corner of his consciousness when he was with her, except when he was thinking about…
"Does this have to do with that blue-haired woman?"
"Get the hell out of here." Vegeta said, demandingly. "I wish to train alone."
"You wish? Oh, I see…" Vibra said. "Whenever you don't know what to do, you just go back to that princely demeanor of yours, don't you?"
Vegeta scowled and blinked into super saiyan, sending dust flying away from him in all directions.
"I SAID LEAVE!" he roared, in the true nature of a saiyan.
"Fine, fine." Vibra said, slightly shaken by the prince's change in personality. "I'll see you Saturday, but I'll find you if you stand me up, Vegeta."
The prince replied by sending another ki blast flying towards Vibra. It wasn't close enough to hit her, but she was sprayed by rocks and dust from the impact of the blast.
"Ok, I get the point!" She yelled and flew off without another word.
Vegeta was left alone in his usual training spot. With his thoughts. His confusing, screaming thoughts.
***
"So, Pan, have you had enough?" Bra asked her friend as she powered down. It had been a rather eventful day of training for the two of them. They were both exhausted, but neither was going to admit it first. Pan gasped for breath as she rested her hands on her knees and tried to ignore the tickle of her wet bangs dangling in her face.
"I just don't think its enough, Bra. What if Trunks is still stronger than I am? I don't know what I'd do if he beat me."
"Oh come on, Pan. You've seen how Trunks is now…he doesn't stand a chance against you as long as you keep up your training. Don't worry about it."
Pan nodded in agreement, but she still wasn't sure. She had seen Trunks training that morning, and he looked so intense that it had almost scared her into not competing on Saturday. Still, she had the overwhelming desire to truly become his mate, so her saiyan instincts (no matter how small they were) crept through. She had to win; there was no excuse for her to lose.
"All right. Let's get back to work. " Pan said, and powered up. However, she was only able to radiate a bit of her energy before she collapsed onto her knees in exhaustion.
"Ok, I think that means we're done for today…" Bra said. "You're tapped out."
Pan fell down on all fours and banged her fists into the ground.
"Damn it!" She yelled. "I thought for sure that I could go for longer!"
Bra walked over to her friend and helped her to her feet.
"It's fine, Pan. I'm on the verge of collapsing myself. We've been going at it for about twelve hours now. There's no way that Trunks is training this hard, no matter how intense he seemed. It's in the bag, Pan. Who else is there to challenge you?"
Pan swallowed hard. She knew that none of the other Z fighters would be entering the tournament; her parents were too preoccupied with work at the moment to even consider it, Kullilin had given up fighting for good this time, Tien and Chao-zu hadn't been seen for years, Bra Uubu, Goten and Marron had promised that they wouldn't enter and Eighteen was pregnant with her second child. There really was no one else left to challenge her, besides Trunks. Unless…
"But Bra, what about your dad?"
In response, Bra laughed louder than she had in a long time.
"My Dad?! You must be kidding! All we've heard for years when we try to get him to enter is 'What the hell is wrong with you woman', and 'I'd rather kiss Freiza than wear the logo of the Capsule Corporation'!" Bra fell to the ground in hysterics.
"I was just asking…" Pan replied, feeling a bit abashed.
"It's ok, but the idea of my father fighting in one of those tournaments is just silly. What if he accidentally got mad and went super saiyan?"
Pan almost growled at Bra's comment. She had yet to become a super saiyan. She was the last of anyone with saiyan blood to tap into her power, and Bra loved to rub it in whenever she got the chance. She may not have been intentionally trying to make Pan feel bad, but she did it every time she mentioned the very idea of a super saiyan.
"Isn't there the chance that Trunks will do the same thing?" Pan said, actually trying to take attention away from the fact that she was obviously weaker than her best friend.
"No, Trunks has much more control than my father."
"Ok, I'm rested up now… Back to work." Pan said.
"Good, I was getting bored with all of this talking."
Both girls went into fighting stances and locked in a gaze. Bra immediately went super saiyan and charged at Pan, who disappeared and then reappeared behind Bra. She attempted a small ki ball to Bra's back, but since Trunks had got her with the same trick earlier, she was on guard and disappeared quickly. Pan did the same, and in a matter of seconds the two were engaged in combat in the air over the Son house. Fists, sweat and blood mingled, as the two seemed take part in a battle dance. Bra connected a hard right and Pan spiraled to the ground, barely missing the house.
"Pan! Take that somewhere else!" Videl exclaimed from the window where she was watching the two girls fight.
"Sorry Kaasan!" Pan replied, but went charging back at her counterpart. She executed three left jabs in quick succession, followed by three right ones. None of them connected.
"You're never going to beat Trunks like that, Pan!" Bra yelled. "You can go faster. You know it! Stop being a weakling!"
"SHUT UP!" Pan yelled, but instead of racing towards Bra in a barbaric display of anger, she began to float down to the ground, her head hanging in anguish. "JUST SHUT UP, BRA! I'M NOT A FUCKING SUPER SAIYAN, OK?!" Tears began to run carelessly down her cheeks as she landed on the ground. "There's no way that I'm going to beat Trunks, or even you at the rate that I'm going! So just shut up about it, ok? I'm going to train alone!"
With that last outburst of temper, Pan flew off into the distance to be alone. With the wind blowing through her hair, she shed a few more tears. Who was she kidding? There was no way that she was going to be able to defeat Trunks at the tournament. If he was strong enough to become a super saiyan at age 8, then there was no telling how strong he was now. Plus, Pan was only a quarter saiyan, while everyone else was at least half saiyan. She was the lowest of the low. Not even fit to stand in the same ring with Trunks.
"No…no, it's not true…" Pan said silently to herself, and didn't even notice when she began to slow down in a clearing surrounded on all sides by monumental sized rocks.
***
END PART ONE
Flaming Ki is the first Bulma/Vegeta romance story that I've written. It actually spins in some drama, comedy, action and pretty much everything in between. This story also introduces one of my own characters- Vibra, an overconfident female fighter. Actually, Bulma/Vegeta stories are some of my favorite ones (besides Trunks/Pan, which is also kind of in Flaming) and when the concept for this story came into my head, I was thrilled that I'd finally be able to write one. Before this, the majority of my fan fiction work was Trunks/Pan and stories primarily about the next generation Zers (Bra, Pan, Trunks, Goten, Marron, Ubuu). Needless to say, they kind of leak into this story too…sorry.
I tried to stay true to the story line after GT (ie. no Goku, no Piccolo) and even though it's a tad cliché, I matched up the NGZers (T/P, B/U, G/M), so please don't flame me about the way I matched things up. That's just the way I like things, ok?
In part one, there's a kind of spicy part at the very beginning of the story (which contributed to the rating of the story), but don't worry, it doesn't get graphic or anything. This is actually the closest I've gotten to writing anything that was even slightly suggestive, so give me a hand clap, ok? There is also some language, as with most of my stories, but I don't throw it around just because I learned how to type four letters. A monkey could type a string of meaningless curses if you gave it enough time. My language is written primarily for effect and characterization. If you have ever seen Japanese Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z or Dragon Ball GT, then you know that Vegeta is very fluent in curses. He would be horribly out of character if those words weren't included, and I always try to keep the characters in character to the best of my abilities. I don't use much Japanese fan fiction vocabulary (arigato, gomen nasai, ja ne, ect.), which is actually pretty odd for one of my stories. If you've read Mirai No Terror, then you can see how much Japanese I like to smush in to my stories (one of my fics- "and their eyes met" is even worse…). I guess it just didn't seem to fit this story. (Mirai has more suspense and action, heightened emotions… and I strongly recommend you read it, but not just because I wrote it…)
Feel free to email or review this story. I don't mind flames (constructive critisism is a good thing..) but don't flame about how I matched everyone up…That's just annoying…Anyway, I'll try to respond to any and all questions and comments, so don't hesitate. I also take requests for fics. I'll write for the following:
DBZ, Tenchi Muyo, Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing, Cowboy Beebop, Outlaw Star, Card Captor Sakura, Xmen (I have a rather limited knowledge, so nothing complicated or outside of general Xmen knowledge), Xmen Evolution,
Harry Potter and Ender's Game (best book ever written)
Enough with the advertisement and on to the story. If I get enough reviews, I'll write and post part two. So enjoy and R/R!
- Genesis Nightshade AKA The Angel
FLAMING KI
By Genesis Nightshade
Authors Notes: This is one of the longest DBZ fics that I've ever written, and I have to say, I'm pretty darn proud of it. It takes place after GT, and as with most of my fictions, I tried to stay pretty consistent to the series.
This won't be one of those stories where Goku miraculously finds some way to come back to life or a new saiyan suddenly appears without explanation or Vegeta and Goten get it on in a night of passion…
What kind of story is this then?
I'm not quite sure.
It might just be a chance for me to unveil an original character of mine, or show how Vegeta is my favorite Z character. I dunno, maybe I just got bored…Anyway, feel free to email me with comments and criticisms, may they be good or bad…
Bulma lay on her back and sighed. She hadn't had an experience like the one she'd just had for years. She felt a little flushed and hot, so she threw the bed sheets to one side and they landed carelessly on the floor. Now she was wearing nothing, but a layer of sweat still lay dormant on her skin.
"Vegeta, could you open a window?"
Vegeta grunted, but did not resist. Bulma rolled her head over to face him as he sat up in bed. She smiled and sighed again. Vegeta was always so submissive after sex: trading roles with her as quickly as he dominated her. It was only at night that she would control him, and the next morning he would be as competitive as ever.
Bulma felt the bed shift as Vegeta got up to open the two French doors that led to their balcony. He too, was naked, but he hadn't worked up the sweat that Bulma had. Actually, he was as dry as a bone, but his body seemed to gleam, the light reflecting off of his muscles. Of course it wasn't a full moon, or half of the house would have already been rubble. It was five days away, and Bulma couldn't wait. They always had the best sex when the temptation of the full moon was there. It made Vegeta more animal-like. It was the best thing she had ever done, helping Vegeta grow his tail back. Not only was Vegeta happy with the increased power that it gave him, but it was sexy to boot. Bulma couldn't resist, and she reached out to grab it. Vegeta's tail was the biggest temptation around, because if Vegeta wasn't careful, it waggled around behind him with a mind of its own.
Vegeta felt Bulma's touch, and the hairs on his sensitive tail stood up in an excited manner. He let Bulma gently grab it and pull him back over to the bed. He climbed on top and straddled her, his face only inches above hers. Bulma gazed longing into his ebony eyes.
"Vegeta, do you love me?"
Vegeta was silent, but he licked his lips sensually and began to kiss her neck softly.
"No, Vegeta. I'm serious." She said, pushing him away from her. " I really want to know. We always just come in here, you jump on top of me and we never talk."
Vegeta's demeanor quickly changed, and he rolled off of Bulma and lay motionless next to her.
"I thought this was what you wanted, woman."
"No, Vegeta. You're the only sex fiend around here. All you ever have on your mind are the three f's: food, fucking and fighting."
Vegeta smirked.
"Is there a problem with that? I leave for two months, and all you want to do is talk."
"Just answer the question."
Vegeta grunted and climbed out of bed. Without another word, he began dressing. Bulma sat up startled.
"What? What's wrong? Why can't you just answer the question?"
"If you have to ask me that question, then you're dumber than you look, woman."
Vegeta now dressed in his blue spandex pants and white boots, leapt from the balcony. Bulma grabbed the sheets off of the floor to cover her dignity and ran out on the balcony to follow him.
"Damn it! If I could only fly!" Bulma exclaimed as she watched Vegeta become a speck in the night sky. Just when she thought she had him on a short leash, he would pull some stunt and disappear for a month at a time. There was no telling when she would see him again, and until that time came, not only would Bulma's sexual frustration would have a permanent place in her being, but she would be stuck wondering why he had avoided answering a simple question.
Sometimes, Bulma wondered if Vegeta really did love her. It wasn't why she had asked the question; it had just come in a moment of desire. Sure there were those rare occasions when he would be the least bit romantic, but he would always go back to being an arrogant bastard then next morning. Maybe he was just using her…
Bulma sighed and went back inside. She slipped a nightgown over her head and settled down into bed to get some paperwork done. There was no way that she was going to get any sleep tonight.
***
Vegeta was still flying at sunrise. Truthfully, he didn't know what had set him off, but all he knew was that he needed to get as far from Capsule Corp as saiyanly possible and do some training to blow off some steam.
As he neared his usual spot in the desert, his head snapped sideways when he felt a strong ki to the west. Vegeta stopped in mid-air and smirked.
"Kakkarot! It has to be him or the Namek. Either way, I'll get a good spar."
Vegeta took off towards the west, and sure enough, a few miles away; he could see the flaming ki of someone doing some solo training. The power certainly rivaled Vegeta's from what he could feel, but he still couldn't tell who it was. Vegeta took another look and saw that the ki wasn't golden in color, so it couldn't be a super saiyan. Piccolo. It must've been Piccolo. Amused at his realization, Vegeta flew over and landed as close as he could without getting a face-full of dust.
"Come on, you green giant!" (Author takes a moment to laugh at the reference ^_^) " I need a good spar!"
Immediately, Vegeta felt Piccolo power down and the dust began to clear out.
"What the hell did you just call me?" asked a surprisingly feminine voice. A figure walked through the dust. It was indeed a woman. She was about Vegeta's height, with short, black spiky hair that had red spikes placed intricately throughout. She was dressed in nothing but a purple sports bra, long purple spandex leggings and white boots. "Are you trying to get hurt, shrimp?"
"Hey! Who do you think you are?! Do you know who you are talking to?! I am the prince of the-"
"You're just a shrimp who needs a haircut and needs to go home before he gets himself seriously hurt. I don't have to time to deal with you, pipsqueak."
"WHAT!" Vegeta yelled, taking a fighting stance and powering up. "YOU ARE TWO SECONDS AWAY FROM DEATH!"
"It's okay, I didn't expect you to recognize me, I don't compete in tournaments, you know. No good competition. Oh, allow me to introduce myself. I am Vibra, the strongest woman alive. I suggest you leave now, little man."
"LITTLE MAN?! No woman could compare to the prince of saiyans! Bring it on, woman!"
"I warned you." Vibra said, and she powered up herself, enough to cause the ground below her to form a crater where she was standing. Vegeta, who had had enough of being insulted, charged at Vibra, barely able to keep himself from flashing into a super saiyan. He began with a barrage of swift punches that Vibra easily blocked. He then leapt in to the air and executed a roundhouse kick aimed at Vibra's face, but she simply ducked under it and attempted to sweep Vegeta's feet out from under him when he landed on the ground. He jumped over her head and attempted a front kick to her back, but she back flipped over his head and struck him in the back with a sidekick. He was stunned for a moment and stumbled a bit. Vibra took this opportunity and tried to hit Vegeta with a spinning back kick, but he grabbed her leg and spun her around, letting her fly a few meters away. She landed on her hands and sprung into a stance where she shot a small ki blast at him. Vegeta easily dodged it, but a confused look grazed his face.
'Where did she learn how to use ki?' he asked himself silently as he watched Vibra catch her breath. She was surprisingly quick and strong; she had taken over one hundred of Vegeta's punches without so much as a flinch.
"You're good," Vibra said, "but not good enough. You've never seen anything like that before, have you? I picked that little trick up at the Tenkaichi Budokai a few years back." She stood up straight and ran her fingers through her sweaty hair. "You know what? If you leave now, I'll spare your life. I have no problem with killing if the occasion calls for it."
Vegeta couldn't keep himself from laughing and he almost became hysterical. After all of his experiences: planet conquering for Freiza, his murders on Namek, and even dying a couple of times, SHE didn't have a problem with death?
"What do you know about killing, woman? I could take down an army of men with both hands tied behind my back and a blindfold over my eyes."
"And so could anyone with decent training. What's so special about you, besides that fact that you've got a freaking tail?"
In response, Vegeta's hair flashed blond and golden energy began to radiate from his body. Vibra began to sweat profusely, but she didn't so much as budge from her stone-hard stance.
"Never seen a super saiyan, have you?" Vegeta said, and his signature smirk crept onto his lips arrogantly.
"A…a super saiyan? What the hell are you talking about?"
"You couldn't have possibly thought that this tail was just some kind of strange deformity. I'm not human, woman. No human could possess the kind of power that I have. Now what was that comment you made about me needing to leave? Before I get hurt?"
"Wait a minute…I get it now… You're like that guy, Goku, right?"
"Kakkarot? I am nothing like that weakling, that wimp. He disappeared five years ago because he was afraid to fight me."
"Yes, yes you are…" Vibra said, more into her thoughts than the golden haired alien in front of her. "When Goku fought in the tournament years ago, he had a tail. I remember that little detail. And he fought the best fight I've ever seen in my life. Then you show up, with a tail, doing some amazing moves that I didn't think I would ever see again…"
"What? Woman, what is your problem?"
Vibra arched one eyebrow and smiled at Vegeta.
"I've got it now…it's that tail. It what makes you…you saiyans strong."
Immediately, Vegeta's tail wrapped around his waist.
"Don't worry, PRINCE. I wouldn't dare to bother your precious tail, but I DO need a sparing partner. As you may know, there is a shortage of people strong enough to last for even a few minutes. You said yourself that you also need a good spar."
"Why should I? As you can clearly see, you are a weakling compared to me. There are two more levels after this one, and I become stronger with each transformation. I could kill you before you could even THINK about moving."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you probably could, but why would you? Who else would you spar with? I'm a fast learner, and I'm sure I could get up to your super saiyan level in a few weeks."
Vegeta debated this in his mind for a minute. He did need a good sparing partner. He had to admit, Vibra was good. If she were a saiyan, she would be more than a match for him, and probably the strongest person on the planet. Vegeta had occasionally gotten a good spar from Trunks and on occasion Bra, but they could never match his power without having to go super saiyan. It would be a relief to not have to go looking for the Namek every time he felt like fighting someone. This woman would prove useful. Vegeta powered down and his hair became its natural black once again.
"Fine." Vegeta said. "You could prove useful to me. So let's go, if you claim to be so strong, then fight me, woman."
Vibra raised one eyebrow again and went into a cat stance.
"As long as you keep the super saiyan trick on hold, I'm ready for you, shorty."
***
"Mrs. Briefs? Mrs. Briefs?"
Bulma shook herself from a trance as she sat at the Capsule Corp. Board meeting. She hadn't been herself all day, worrying about Vegeta and her relationship with him. She hadn't gotten any sleep the night before and now she was zoning out during meetings. Saiyans did strange things to human women.
"Uh, yes, go ahead with it. I'm totally behind you. Sell."
"Mrs. Briefs, I just needed to know if you needed the recalls done by tomorrow morning." Mr. Kazama, the second vice President looked at Bulma strangely.
"Oops, sorry." Bulma said, and adjusted a pair of reading glasses on her face.
"Ok second order of business…" Mr. Kazama continued, "Is whether or not we will be sponsoring any of the competitors in the Tournament this year."
Bulma bit on the tip of her pen and thought for a moment. Of course they wouldn't be sponsoring Vegeta; he had outwardly protested against it the year before, claiming that he would rather die than wear a logo. But there was always Trunks. Bulma glanced across the table at the Vice President, who was hiding his face behind his laptop.
"Trunks, are you going to compete this year?" Bulma asked him. He looked up sorrowfully.
"I hadn't planned on it, but if you can't find anyone else, then sure. I think Bra was going to compete. I'm not sure about Goten and Marron." Trunks said.
"Ok, well I'm sure one of them would agree to be sponsored this year." Bulma said, directing her voice back towards Mr. Kazama, who made a note of it.
"Well, if you gentlemen and ladies don't mind, I think we all need to break for lunch." Bulma grabbed her laptop and her bag and stood up. "Meet back here in an hour." She began to leave the room and Trunks grabbed his things and rushed after her.
"Kaa-san?"
Bulma turned around at her son's voice.
"What's wrong? I've never seen you space out at a meeting."
Bulma smiled and waved a hand.
"I'm fine, just fine…" She turned around and continued to walk away.
'It must be Tou-san.' Trunks thought to himself as he watched his mother walk towards the elevator. Suddenly, a huge amount of weight fell on his back and he went tumbling to the ground, his briefcase being thrown one way and his laptop flying the other.
"Trunks-san! I thought you would never get out of that meeting!"
Trunks turned his head up and saw his best friend Goten sitting on his back with the classic goofy Son smile on his face. Trunks gathered up a bit of his energy and threw Goten off of him.
"What's wrong with you? This is a new suit you know!"
"Oops, sorry! I was just making sure you didn't forget about lunch today. At the Golden Dragon restaurant, remember? Bra, Pan, and Marron are probably there by now. Uubu is waiting outside. He didn't want to be left alone with the girls by himself. He said Bra is already enough for him to handle!"
"Pan is coming? I didn't know she was going to be there." Trunks said, with an emotionless tone. His mind drifted back to two years ago, when he and Pan had gotten into a fight so brutal that one whole wing of Capsule Corp had been blown completely off. They hadn't said much since then, but Trunks thought about her occasionally. He had no choice, since she was permanently engrained in his brain. Not long before the fight, Pan had defeated Trunks in battle, so they were officially mates by saiyan standards. It was human standards that Trunks wasn't so sure about.
"Ok, let's go." Trunks said, and loosened his tie. The two of them went to an open window, and amongst the stares of all those working in the office, they jumped and began flying in the direction of the Golden Dragon Restaurant. Uubu, who was sitting on the entrance steps to the Capsule Corporation's Tokyo branch looked up and saw the two flying away.
"Hey! Wait for me!" He caught up with them easily enough, but Uubu was a little upset. They often did that to him, leaving him behind or forgetting that he was even there sometimes.
"Sorry, Uubu." Trunks said, "but you know that Marron will beat Goten's face in if he's late. I don't even want to think about what Bra will do to you."
Uubu swallowed hard as he imagined the blue haired demi-saiyan bashing his brains in.
"Yeah, but what will Pan do to you?"
Trunks gave Uubu a look of death and then turned his head back forward. No comment.
"You and Bra weren't dating then, but Pan and Trunks are kind of an ex- couple." Goten said. "Their fight was fatal and people almost died."
"Oh." Uubu said, "Bra told me that Pan still has a thing for you. But maybe I heard it wrong…"
"What?"
"Trunks! Watch out for that plane!"
Trunks swerved and avoided a fatal collision with a jumbo jet.
"Watch where you're going, man." Uubu said as Trunks joined their group again.
"What do you mean, 'Pan still has a thing for me'?" Trunks asked.
"I'm just saying what Bra told me, but don't let her know I couldn't keep a secret, or she really will bash my brains in."
"I'm kind of thinking that she did that on purpose…" Goten replied. "We all know how devious Bra can be sometimes, and since Ubuu is both friends with you AND Pan, of course she would tell him, knowing that he can't keep a secret to save his life."
Both Uubu and Trunks looked at Goten strangely. It wasn't often that he came to conclusions like that on his own.
"You've been spending too much time with Gohan." Trunks said
"Huh?"
"Never mind. Anyway, here we are, and I can see the girls out front."
Trunks pointed to the entrance of the Golden Dragon, which was now right below them. Pan, Marron and Bra were standing out front, looking rather impatient. All of them were dressed nicely, Bra in her classic red number, Marron in a cute blue sundress with a matching hat. Pan however had kept her usual orange bandana and was wearing an orange spaghetti strapped tank top and black pants. Her hair was much longer than Trunks remembered it, coming down past her shoulders and resting on her back. Trunks couldn't keep his eyes off of her, but she as she turned to face him, he locked into her icy gaze. She was obviously still pissed at him.
"Goten!" Marron screamed almost at the top of her lungs, and she flew up in the air to greet her boyfriend. Ubuu looked for Bra to do likewise, but she only looked at her watch and then gave Ubuu a look that was so hot it could have melted him.
"Sorry, Bra." Uubu said to her as he landed beside her. "You know how those two can get." Bra smiled at him, knowing exactly how Trunks and Goten were sometimes.
"It's ok. No problem." She flashed him another smile and kissed him on the cheek. "Let's go and scare some cooks."
"You know, this will probably be the last time they let us in here." Goten said, recalling the last time all of them had gotten together to eat lunch. Most restaurants were not equipped to feed four demi-saiyans; they just didn't have enough food to quench their killer appetites.
"Trunks, are you coming?" Bra asked, looking up at her brother, who had not budged from his spot in the sky. "Get down before someone sees you."
Trunks complied and landed beside none other than Pan. She shot him another ice-gaze and followed behind the others to go into the restaurant. Trunks rushed behind her to help her open the door, but she opened the door as hard as she could without ripping it from the hinges. It bashed him right in the face.
Trunks stood outside alone, rubbing his nose, which was probably going to have a bruise. This wasn't going to be a good day.
***
"Hey Vegeta, you got a little sloppy on that last attack. I was about to snap your arm in two." Vibra commented, picking up the saiyan's terribly graphic style of talking. "But you would take so long to heal, I didn't want to waste weeks of good training waiting for you." She raised one eyebrow and smirked like she had seen Vegeta do so many times that day.
"I was compensating for your lack of speed, woman." Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest and turned his gaze somewhere else, not wanting to look at the woman who could have easily matched him if she were a saiyan. Yes, he had gotten a bit sloppy, but he would never admit it, not even to himself. There was no way that a woman, a HUMAN woman, could ever hope to try and match his talents. He was the prince of the most powerful race to ever live. She was a weakling.
"Compensating or not, I almost got you again. You really should watch about leaving yourself open. That kind of thing may not matter with slower opponents, but you certainly can't do that with me."
"What do you know about fighting? This is a waste of my time. I don't even know why I'm wasting my time with you."
"Because there is no one else to spar with. We've been over that twenty times before. Hey! Wait a minute! I just had the best idea that I've had in years! What would you think about entering the Tenkaichi Budokai on Saturday? We could keep each other from getting bored. What do you say?"
Vegeta looked at Vibra with a look of shock on his face. How dare she even suggest that he enter that tournament! It was a showcase of fools, and there was rarely any decent fighting, except for the years that Trunks and Bra decided that they would compete. Even then, the competition was pathetic. It was an insult for her to merely suggest that he subject himself to the cavalcade of freaks that presented themselves every year.
"I know what you're thinking, and I just thought it might be a good idea to remind people what fighting really is, you know? Plus we'll get to spar for money. I think its a good idea, don't you, Veggie?"
"DON'T EVER CALL ME THAT!"
"Fine, fine, but what do you say? Wanna try it? Or are you scared?"
Vegeta gave Vibra a look of death. Scared? He didn't get scared, at least not on this planet. But was he scared of Vibra? No woman had dared to speak to him in such a manner. Besides Bulma, that is…
"The full moon is that night." Vegeta said, and knew that he wasn't going to get away with a comment like that. Sure enough…
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Saiyans lives are directed by the moon. On the night of a full moon we become uncontrollable." He looked at Vibra and smirked. "I could kill you."
"I'm ready to take my chances." She said, and raised her eyebrow in reply. "So you had better be there on Saturday or I'll personally hunt you down, Vegeta."
Vegeta snorted, and turned around just in time to watch Vibra fly away. My, she did have a nice ass... WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?! Vegeta slapped himself to get the thought out of his head. Vibra had already slowed his training considerably, and he was going to have to stay longer just to make up for it. But Vegeta had to admit that he was looking forward to Saturday's fight.
No more time to waste. Back to training. Vegeta immediately flashed into super saiyan and began his usual exercises under the intense heat of the desert sun. What he actually needed was a cold shower.
***
"Alright, give me two more Grilled Dragon Specials." Goten said to the waitress as he licked his lips. He had already had three of the massive meals.
"Goten, I just don't see where you put it all." Uubu said as he worked on his large bowl of fried rice. Unlike the demi-saiyans in the group, Uubu's stomach had its limits.
"A guy's gotta eat…" Goten replied. "Besides, Bra's picking up the check and you know how much money they've got!"
"Just because you have money doesn't mean you need to spend it all, Goten." Uubu said. "You have to save it sometimes."
"Speaking of money," Marron said, "Is anybody planning on entering the tournament on Saturday?"
Trunks held his head down and pretended like he was completely interested in his food.
"I think I might fight." Bra said. "It's been a while since I had a good one. Trunks is always WORKING."
Trunks sank down lower in his seat. Just set me up, why don't you?
"Trunks, are you going to fight?" Pan asked, the only thing that she had said to him since they arrived at the Golden Dragon.
"My mother said she needed someone to sponsor this year, but if Bra is fighting, then I don't have to."
"Pity." Pan said, and went back to her food.
An unbearable silence followed as everyone either went back to eating or pretended that they actually wanted to eat what was in front of them. Goten broke the awkwardness when he belched loudly.
"Goten! That's disgusting!" Marron exclaimed and gave Goten a tap on the head. Of course, a hit from Marron could barely be called a tap, because even if she was the weakest among those in the group, she was still one of the strongest people on the planet. She was certainly near if not at the top of the list of human females. " I can't take you anywhere, can I?"
"Not anywhere with food…" Bra said, and the two couples started laughing.
Trunks and Pan remained silent, glancing at each other yet trying not to glance at each other, every few minutes.
"What's with you guys?" Bra asked suddenly, looking at Trunks and Pan. "It's like you two are still in love or something…"
Trunks turned bright red.
"Who are you kidding, Bra? *Chuckle, chuckle* you know I've been dating that girl from…uh...from marketing! Yeah, that's right…the girl from marketing!"
"What girl from marketing? I never..."
Bra was silenced when Trunks kicked her under the table.
"Oh! THAT girl from marketing! The one with the huge battle scar over her..."
Trunks kicked Bra again, this time harder. She reached down and rubbed her shin, which was completely red.
"Ok, ok…" she finally said, and went back to eating.
"You guys are weird." Goten said.
"Will you guys excuse us for a minute?" Marron said, and gestured for Bra and Pan to follow her. They all climbed out of the booth and went to the restroom, and as soon as the door was closed, Marron dropped her act.
"What's your problem, Pan? Why are you being such a bitch?"
"What? What are you talking about?" Pan said, as she went to check her make- up in the mirror.
"You know what she's talking about." Bra said. "Ever since Trunks got here you've acted like there's a stick stuck up your ass. Why don't you just apologize for that fight and forget about it? Then you guys can get married and stop acting like children."
"I'm not acting like a child, Bra. I'm just being serious. Not only is your brother 14 years older than I am, but you heard him, he already has a girlfriend."
Bra couldn't keep herself from laughing out loud.
"That story? Trunks is just trying not to look pathetic. He hasn't been on a date since the two of you broke up."
"Seriously?" Pan asked.
"He's hopelessly devoted to you, Pan." Marron said. "If you can't see that then you're blind."
Pan was speechless as she tried to piece everything together. She hadn't dated either, always hoping that Trunks would come back to her. There was still hope!
"Wait!" Bra said. "I've got a great idea! Why don't you enter the tournament on Saturday without telling Trunks? Odds are that you two will end up fighting in the final round, and then you can claim him again to remind him how much he loves you! I won't enter, that way he'll have to. For Capsule Corp, you know?"
"Won't your mother be upset if I beat Trunks? Especially if Capsule Corp is sponsoring him?"
"Capsule Corp can sponsor you too!" Bra said as she continued with her scheme. "But you won't tell Trunks. That way we wont lose money, no matter who wins! Am I a genius, or am I a genius?"
"That is a pretty good idea, Bra." Marron said, agreeing. "I can keep both of my parents out of the tournament too, so you won't really have any competition and be guaranteed to fight him."
"Ok, fine." Pan said, and began to walk back out to the table.
"Pan?" Bra called after her. "Drop the bitch persona, ok?"
Pan smiled back. Things were going her way. In just a few short days, Trunks would be hers again.
***
It was around five o'clock in the afternoon when Vegeta came home. He hadn't really prepared for a long-term trip and with the full moon on the way, there was no telling what he would do if he was left alone. Unfortunately, he needed Bulma's distractions to keep him from going wild. Or maybe to make him go wild? There was always Vibra to do that…WHAT? Vegeta hit himself over the head again as he walked through the backdoor of Capsule Corp. Vibra was the only real distraction that he was facing right now, and she was miles away.
"Veggie-chan?"
Vegeta turned around quickly and saw a figure behind him. It was none other than Vibra, now dressed in a black tank and black leggings. Her hair wasn't as spiky as it had been earlier, and it was slicked back like she had just taken a shower.
"What are you doing here? How did you find me?" he asked.
"I followed you, Veggie…"
"I TOLD YOU NEVER TO CALL ME THAT!"
"I just like seeing you get mad…So, wanna spar?"
"No." he said. "Go away."
"Oh come on," she said, and walked closer to Vegeta, resting her head on his shoulder and running her hands over his chest. She reached down to touch his tail, but he quickly moved back.
"How dare you touch me, woman!"
"Don't fight it, Vegeta. You know you want to spar. It's an irresistible urge in you. I can tell, because even though I'm not saiyan, I have it too. Fighting is the reason for your existence as it is the reason for mine. It's taking every once of will power in you not to kick me in the head, isn't it?"
It wasn't exactly kicking that Vegeta was restraining himself from doing. He turned to go inside, but he felt Vibra come closer to him, and her hands clamped onto his tail. He turned quickly and knocked her off, and then made a small ki ball with this right hand. He tossed it at her, but she jumped out of its way and sprung at Vegeta. He grabbed her hands and flipped him over his head and she went flying towards the Capsule Corp building. Instead of hitting, her legs touched the wall and she sprung back at him, in position for a front kick to his head. He blocked it, and the four roundhouse kicks that followed. Then he did three quick back flips and shot another small blast at her that she efficiently batted away. She shot one at him and he batted it away.
"You see, Vegeta? You can't resist it either, can you? If you turn around and go into that house, then you'll always be wondering why you're denying the urges that drive your life."
Vegeta couldn't take her babbling anymore; Vibra was hitting a little too close to the truth. He dropped into a horse stance.
"Show me what you've got, woman."
***
Bulma sighed as she turned the corner towards Capsule Corp. She had been completely spaced out all day and had decided to come home a little early. She had planned to take a nice long shower and maybe relax with a book. Anything to get her mind off of Vegeta. If someone had told her that he would be so much trouble when she first met him, she would have thought twice about getting so involved with him. Sometimes Vegeta was actually more trouble than he was worth, since he was only around for a few months at a time and then he would leave for another few months with no explanation as to why.
Bulma sighed again. Nevertheless, she still loved Vegeta, despite all of the bickering and the strange behavior that came with him. He was still a good father most of the time and a good husband whenever it counted. Husband by title, of course, since he would never admit that he was bonded to her for life. Nothing was good enough for the prince of the saiyans. Not even his own wife.
She pulled up in the driveway and climbed out of her Capsule Car. Even if Vegeta didn't come home for a couple of months, she would inevitably rush back into his arms like nothing had happened. It was a vicious cycle between the two of them. Vegeta would do something to make Bulma pissed of at him or vice versa. Then they would have a huge fight and separate for a while, always to come back to each other in one night of passion. It was bound to happen again, but the question was when Vegeta would come back.
As Bulma was processing her thoughts, she went to grab her briefcase out of the car only to be knocked back when it exploded into a million pieces around her. She fell backwards into a patch of bush by the roadside.
"What the fuck! Trunks! Bra! VEGETA!" She yelled and tried to stand up, but her ankle was twisted and a pain shot up her leg. She fell in a heap back on the ground, began to crawl back towards the house, making sure that her ankle didn't drag on the ground.
"TRUNKS! BRA! VEGETA! What the hell is going on around here! Just when I get things civilized, you want to live like a bunch of barbarians! VEGETA! I know it's you!" Bulma reached a tree and stood up uneasily on one leg. She began to hop around to the backyard, when she suddenly heard voices.
"I've got you pinned, Vegeta!"
"Not for long woman…"
"You're such a tease, princey…"
Bulma hopped around the house and saw Vegeta, with a woman on top of him. She had magnetic blue eyes and short black hair. Her face lowered closer and closer to Vegeta's.
"VEGETA!" Bulma yelled, and the saiyan sprung up, knocking Vibra easily off of him. He had heard Bulma come home, but didn't think she would use the back door.
"Bulma…" Vegeta said, and the two of them stood staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Tears suddenly began to run down Bulma's cheeks uncontrollably and she struggled to keep from breaking into sobs.
"Who is this…this woman?"
"Vibra. Nice to meet you. Don't tell me that little ki blast has got you all hurt up…"
"I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU, BITCH! VEGETA! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
"What does it look like he's doing?" Vibra said, and Bulma tried to run at her, a vision of blood in her eyes. She was going to do whatever she could to kill this cocky woman who was trying to steal her husband! Unfortunately, she tried to run on her ankle, and it wouldn't support her weight. She began to tumble to the ground, but in a flash, Vegeta was by her side and he caught her in mid-air.
"PUT ME DOWN!" She yelled as she struggled against his grip.
Vegeta turned to Vibra and gave her a look of death. She got the point.
"Fine…See you Saturday, Pincey." She winked at him and was off in a flash.
Vegeta flew into the air, and through the window of the bedroom that he and Bulma shared. He placed Bulma on the bed. She seemed to calm down quickly, and she propped herself up with her elbows.
"Vegeta, what was she talking about? Saturday…that's the full moon isn't it? What are you planning on doing, Vegeta?"
Vegeta was silent, and he turned his body away from her and scoffed.
"Vegeta, tell me you aren't going to…"
"What I do is not your concern, Bulma."
"And that's another thing!" Bulma said. "Why do you keep calling me Bulma? You never call me by my name!"
"I thought that was what you wanted." Vegeta said, in an echo of the incident that had occurred the night before.
"No, Vegeta…no. I just want the truth."
He didn't answer her. Vegeta stood silently looking out onto the balcony. Bulma began to wail. She picked up his pillow and threw it at him.
"If you can't answer me, then you'll sleep on the couch tonight!"
"I'd rather sleep outside."
"THEN GO!" Bulma screamed at him, and he complied by flying out of the window. Bulma watched him leave, and then buried her face in the bed sheets and cried.
***
Tuesday morning. Trunks climbed out of bed and groaned. It was four in the morning, and he was forcing himself to do some training for the tournament on Saturday. He hadn't had the chance to do much fighting lately, and if he didn't remind himself of some of his better moves then he was going to be embarrassed. It was unusually quiet around his house. Even at four in the morning, his mother was usually yelling at his father for waking her up so early. It was pretty unusual. Even Bra, thanks to her saiyan instincts, was usually awake and doing some kind of exercises in the gym downstairs. Alas, the gym was empty when Trunks walked in, so he began to do some of the warm- ups he had done a few years back. When he was actually strong that was.
After about 200 repetitions with his 500-pound weights, Trunks started out to the gravity room. Sure weight training would help, but it was no substitute for the room. Especially since he probably wasn't going to be able to go super saiyan during the tournament. Ok, so a few days weren't going to help much, but Trunks needed all of the help he could get. As he neared the gravity room, Trunks saw the red light on the door that signaled that someone was training inside. Trunks opened the door just in time to see his father's simple ki blast ricochet all over the room, since Vegeta had used so much force in the previously high gravity. Trunks ducked as it flew out of the door and over his head. Both Vegeta and Bra looked at him angrily.
"Can I join?" Trunks asked, a sweat drop sliding down in his face in embarrassment.
Vegeta gave a harrumph.
"Why are you training all of a sudden, boy?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"There's a tournament on Saturday, and I'll probably have to sponsor Capsule Corp. since Bra said she wasn't fighting."
Vegeta looked back at Bra, who shrugged her shoulders. So, she had finally learned that the Earth tournament was a circus of no talent nobodies. But then, why was he taking part in it in less than a week? Why had he worried Bulma so much over this stupid tournament and that stupid Earth woman? Vegeta shook the thought out of his head. He didn't have to cater to anyone's needs but his own. Then why was this bothering him so much?
"Dad, are you okay?" Bra asked, sensing the inner turmoil that her father was having.
"Leave me the hell alone." Vegeta said curtly and exited the gravity room, slamming the door and flying off into the distance.
"What's with him?" Trunks said. "He wouldn't normally give up the chance to take both of us on at one time."
"He and Mom had a fight last night. Didn't you sense his ki change? Oh, well I guess you wouldn't. So what's going on with Saturday?"
"I'm trying to get some training in." Trunks said, almost snarling at his younger sister.
"Need some help? You know I'm in better shape than you are."
"Do you have to be so stinking arrogant?"
"Sorry, I can't help it." Bra said, crossing her arms over her chest and imitating her father's smirk. "Look who raised me. Now do you want to fight or not? I'm not going to let you embarrass us."
Trunks flashed into super saiyan and charged at his sister, who turned blond just as quickly as he had. He attempted a front kick that Bra easily dodged. He followed up with a roundhouse kick and when Bra dodged it, he shot a ki blast to her new location. She batted it away and shot one back that caught Trunks by surprise. He only had enough time to thrust his arms over his eyes to protect them from the blast. In the time it took him to recover, Bra knocked him in the ribs and he went flying into the opposite wall.
"Damn, you're out of shape!" Bra exclaimed.
"Even so, there's no one in the tournament that will stand a chance." Trunks said, regaining his composure. The backs of his arms looked a little singed.
"But what if someone half decent decides to enter, Trunks? Dad would never forgive you if you disgraced him. And think how much money Capsule Corp would lose!"
Trunks was not about to let himself be beaten so easily, or be insulted by his little sister. If he had learned anything from his father, it was to not stand by and let someone insult you when you could do something about it. He quickly shot a ki blast at the unsuspecting Bra, who did just as Trunks had done not more than a minute before and thrust her arms over her face to protect it. Trunks then delivered a sidekick to Bra's crossed arms, which sent her stumbling backwards. Trunks then knocked her in the head with a quick roundhouse kick that sent her to the ground. Trunks lunged at Bra to send an elbow to her stomach, but she rolled out of the way and Trunks caught nothing but the floor of the gravity room. Bra quickly came to her feet and shot a ki blast at Trunks, but in a flash, he was behind her and shot a small ki blast into her back. Bra screamed out in pain as her back arched and she fell to her knees.
"Who is going to disgrace who?" Trunks asked, with a smirk signature of the Vegeta family on his face.
"You got lucky." Bra said, coming to her feet. She quickly blinked out of super saiyan. "Remember, you can't go super saiyan in the tournament, so you won't have that to depend on, will you? I'd like to see you beat me without that little crutch." Bra smirked back at Trunks and he scowled at her.
"Get the hell out of here." Trunks said, and his hair went back to its regular lavender color.
"Fine." Bra replied, and flipped her blue hair over one shoulder. She turned her back to him and walked out of the gravity room, a tiny smile on her face. She had done her job. That inherent arrogance in him would make sure that he was more than ready for the tournament on Saturday. Pan would have a good fight; Bra was sure of it.
***
Bulma awoke the around noon, her hair a matted mess and her pillow drenched in mascara that had run the night before. The same black substance was present on her face, running down her cheeks like two small streams. Bulma sat up, but as she began to move, a pain shot up her leg. She looked down at her ankle, which was black, blue and swollen: a constant reminder of the events from the night before. She collapsed back on to her pillow, the pain from her ankle taking over her face.
"How am I supposed to do anything?" She said to herself as she turned her head to one side. On the bedside table, she spied a small green object. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was a senzu bean. Bulma quickly reached over and grabbed it with her left hand and stuffed it into her mouth. In a matter of seconds, she felt the swelling on her ankle go down and the bone heal itself. The bean hadn't been there the night before, so obviously, Vegeta had left it there in the middle of the night. Bulma smiled a bit, happy that Vegeta had been so thoughtful. But then again, there was that raven-haired bitch that she had caught him with yesterday. The one that he was going to spend the full moon with. Bulma shut her eyes in anguish, imagining the two of them going at it like wild animals. But Vegeta had never been one to grab anything in a skirt. He was very selective with his women, and the only reason that Bulma had qualified was because she had the gravity room and the testicular fortitude (Author takes another moment to laugh at the phrase used by her band director, that is meant to mean "balls" or extreme courage...^_^) to challenge his authority. So there had to be something special about this woman that would even cause Vegeta to take more than a glance at her…
Bulma suddenly sat up, struck by a revelation. Saturday was the tournament! That's what Vegeta was going to do! He hadn't mentioned it to Bulma in fear that she would ask him to be sponsored by Capsule Corp. Bulma heaved a sigh of relief, glad that Vegeta hadn't betrayed her like she had previously thought. But even if Vegeta was as faithful as an old bloodhound, that didn't mean that the bitch was going to have any reservations about sleeping with her husband. Maybe she even knew about the saiyans' mating habits and how she had to claim Vegeta in a fight before they could ever do anything. That was the problem. Bulma would be no match for her physically, and there was nothing that was going to keep Vegeta from a good fight. Unless…
Bulma reached for the phone beside her bed. She quickly dialed Capsule Corp.
"Hello? Ms. Okaida? This is Bulma. Cancel all of my meetings for this week, ok? And let the board know that I might not be able to attend the tournament proceedings with them on Saturday. Something suddenly came up in my schedule." Bulma hung up the phone, and with a devious smile on her face, grabbed the dragon radar out of a drawer. She grabbed a pack of Capsules and started downstairs.
"Bulma-san?"
Bulma jumped in surprise when she saw Pan standing in her living room.
"Pan-chan? It's been so long!" Bulma exclaimed and embraced Pan in a hug. "To what do I owe this visit?"
"Um...I was just wondering if Capsule Corp needs anyone to fight in the tournament on Saturday, because I was thinking about fighting and wanted to check with you first. Before I cost your company money, you know…"
"Oh. I'm sorry Pan, but Trunks is going to fight for Capsule Corp this year."
"But can't you sponsor both of us? It will increase your chances of winning."
Bulma brought her hand to her chin and began to scratch it, deep in thought.
"Oh, I get it. This has to do with Trunks, doesn't it? You want to claim him again, but don't want to hurt the company."
Pan turned bright red.
"No, um...it's not that...I just…"
"It's ok, Pan. We can sponsor both of you this year. And I promise not to tell Trunks."
"Thank you, Bulma-san." Pan said, and bowed before she left the house. She couldn't help but wonder why Bulma had been holding the dragon radar…
***
"What's wrong, Vegeta? It seems like you can't keep up today…" Vibra asked as she caught her breath from their last skirmish. "You're moving so damn slow that you're about to bore me!"
"Shut up woman! It's your fault!" Vegeta snapped back at her. "First you show up uninvited and then you won't leave me the hell alone!"
"This doesn't have to do with your wife, does it?" Vibra inquired, raising one eyebrow. "If I'm so annoying and I'm ruining your life, then why don't you kill me?"
Vegeta hesitated. It was actually funny. A few years ago, he wouldn't have hesitated to blow her into a million pieces, just for the sheer thrill that it gave him to do so. Now he was weak. Not physically, but emotionally. Now all he could think about was what Bulma would say if she found out he had killed again.
Bulma. She would never speak to him again after what he had done. He had almost allowed himself to fall prey to another woman. A human woman, nonetheless. During Vegeta's courtship with Bulma, he had always been the dominating force, the one controlling what happened, and when it was going to happen. It wasn't so much the fact that Bulma had caught him with Vibra, but the possibility that he had almost allowed himself to be captured by her. Vegeta had the woman he wanted, and any other was just second rate, no matter how strong or fast they were. This thing with Vibra was strictly on a competition level. Nothing more. Vegeta mouthed the words: Nothing more. He didn't bother to think whether or not he was reminding himself or convincing himself of the fact.
"So, are you going to kill me or not?" Vibra said, bringing Vegeta back from his inner turmoil.
"You really are annoying me, woman." Vegeta said, without the slightest tinge of sarcasm in is voice.
"Then why don't you kill me? I'm beginning to think your threats are as empty as your head, princey."
In response, Vegeta extended his right hand and effortlessly blew a mountain to smithereens. It exploded in a shower of pebbles and dust.
"Does that answer your question, woman?"
"Fine, fine, I believe you. So, back to sparing? We only have a few days."
Vegeta gazed at the young fighter, barely able to take his eyes off of her. She had to be a good ten years younger than he was, but she looked like a twenty year old. She was a goddess carved out of marble, or diamonds, or something else just as precious. Vegeta quickly tore his eyes away in disbelief of his own thoughts. Nothing more, he mouthed.
"I will be training alone until the tournament." Vegeta said, struggling to keep his voice from wavering. Nothing had ever shaken him as much as this woman. She occupied every corner of his consciousness when he was with her, except when he was thinking about…
"Does this have to do with that blue-haired woman?"
"Get the hell out of here." Vegeta said, demandingly. "I wish to train alone."
"You wish? Oh, I see…" Vibra said. "Whenever you don't know what to do, you just go back to that princely demeanor of yours, don't you?"
Vegeta scowled and blinked into super saiyan, sending dust flying away from him in all directions.
"I SAID LEAVE!" he roared, in the true nature of a saiyan.
"Fine, fine." Vibra said, slightly shaken by the prince's change in personality. "I'll see you Saturday, but I'll find you if you stand me up, Vegeta."
The prince replied by sending another ki blast flying towards Vibra. It wasn't close enough to hit her, but she was sprayed by rocks and dust from the impact of the blast.
"Ok, I get the point!" She yelled and flew off without another word.
Vegeta was left alone in his usual training spot. With his thoughts. His confusing, screaming thoughts.
***
"So, Pan, have you had enough?" Bra asked her friend as she powered down. It had been a rather eventful day of training for the two of them. They were both exhausted, but neither was going to admit it first. Pan gasped for breath as she rested her hands on her knees and tried to ignore the tickle of her wet bangs dangling in her face.
"I just don't think its enough, Bra. What if Trunks is still stronger than I am? I don't know what I'd do if he beat me."
"Oh come on, Pan. You've seen how Trunks is now…he doesn't stand a chance against you as long as you keep up your training. Don't worry about it."
Pan nodded in agreement, but she still wasn't sure. She had seen Trunks training that morning, and he looked so intense that it had almost scared her into not competing on Saturday. Still, she had the overwhelming desire to truly become his mate, so her saiyan instincts (no matter how small they were) crept through. She had to win; there was no excuse for her to lose.
"All right. Let's get back to work. " Pan said, and powered up. However, she was only able to radiate a bit of her energy before she collapsed onto her knees in exhaustion.
"Ok, I think that means we're done for today…" Bra said. "You're tapped out."
Pan fell down on all fours and banged her fists into the ground.
"Damn it!" She yelled. "I thought for sure that I could go for longer!"
Bra walked over to her friend and helped her to her feet.
"It's fine, Pan. I'm on the verge of collapsing myself. We've been going at it for about twelve hours now. There's no way that Trunks is training this hard, no matter how intense he seemed. It's in the bag, Pan. Who else is there to challenge you?"
Pan swallowed hard. She knew that none of the other Z fighters would be entering the tournament; her parents were too preoccupied with work at the moment to even consider it, Kullilin had given up fighting for good this time, Tien and Chao-zu hadn't been seen for years, Bra Uubu, Goten and Marron had promised that they wouldn't enter and Eighteen was pregnant with her second child. There really was no one else left to challenge her, besides Trunks. Unless…
"But Bra, what about your dad?"
In response, Bra laughed louder than she had in a long time.
"My Dad?! You must be kidding! All we've heard for years when we try to get him to enter is 'What the hell is wrong with you woman', and 'I'd rather kiss Freiza than wear the logo of the Capsule Corporation'!" Bra fell to the ground in hysterics.
"I was just asking…" Pan replied, feeling a bit abashed.
"It's ok, but the idea of my father fighting in one of those tournaments is just silly. What if he accidentally got mad and went super saiyan?"
Pan almost growled at Bra's comment. She had yet to become a super saiyan. She was the last of anyone with saiyan blood to tap into her power, and Bra loved to rub it in whenever she got the chance. She may not have been intentionally trying to make Pan feel bad, but she did it every time she mentioned the very idea of a super saiyan.
"Isn't there the chance that Trunks will do the same thing?" Pan said, actually trying to take attention away from the fact that she was obviously weaker than her best friend.
"No, Trunks has much more control than my father."
"Ok, I'm rested up now… Back to work." Pan said.
"Good, I was getting bored with all of this talking."
Both girls went into fighting stances and locked in a gaze. Bra immediately went super saiyan and charged at Pan, who disappeared and then reappeared behind Bra. She attempted a small ki ball to Bra's back, but since Trunks had got her with the same trick earlier, she was on guard and disappeared quickly. Pan did the same, and in a matter of seconds the two were engaged in combat in the air over the Son house. Fists, sweat and blood mingled, as the two seemed take part in a battle dance. Bra connected a hard right and Pan spiraled to the ground, barely missing the house.
"Pan! Take that somewhere else!" Videl exclaimed from the window where she was watching the two girls fight.
"Sorry Kaasan!" Pan replied, but went charging back at her counterpart. She executed three left jabs in quick succession, followed by three right ones. None of them connected.
"You're never going to beat Trunks like that, Pan!" Bra yelled. "You can go faster. You know it! Stop being a weakling!"
"SHUT UP!" Pan yelled, but instead of racing towards Bra in a barbaric display of anger, she began to float down to the ground, her head hanging in anguish. "JUST SHUT UP, BRA! I'M NOT A FUCKING SUPER SAIYAN, OK?!" Tears began to run carelessly down her cheeks as she landed on the ground. "There's no way that I'm going to beat Trunks, or even you at the rate that I'm going! So just shut up about it, ok? I'm going to train alone!"
With that last outburst of temper, Pan flew off into the distance to be alone. With the wind blowing through her hair, she shed a few more tears. Who was she kidding? There was no way that she was going to be able to defeat Trunks at the tournament. If he was strong enough to become a super saiyan at age 8, then there was no telling how strong he was now. Plus, Pan was only a quarter saiyan, while everyone else was at least half saiyan. She was the lowest of the low. Not even fit to stand in the same ring with Trunks.
"No…no, it's not true…" Pan said silently to herself, and didn't even notice when she began to slow down in a clearing surrounded on all sides by monumental sized rocks.
***
END PART ONE