I

She just couldn't shake these creeps, could she?

"See, I told you she was lying!" The humanoid soldier scolded his bipedal, crocodile comrade.

Just a few minutes earlier, Bulma had emerged from the murky depths of the namekian lake, at which point she thought she had finally lost Frieza's two henchmen to the giant crab that had ambushed them underwater. But, like dog shit on her boot, she just could not get rid of these guys.

The reptilian soldier walked forward, sopping wet and quaking with anger. "You BITCH! You tried to kill us!"

"Hey now!" Bulma recoiled, hands flailing. "I didn't know a giant crab was going to come out of nowhere! I just fled instinctively – you can't blame me for that! The dragon balls are down there, I swear! You guys want your wish, right?"

"Enough! Enough of your lies. You are coming with us to Lord Frieza. He is going to have fun with you, Girl."

"Oh yeah?" she countered. "Well, wait til I tell him you two were willing to betray him and use the dragon balls for yourselves! If I'm going down, you two are going down with me."

She thought she had them with that, as both men appeared visibly shaken by her threat. But it was clear her strategy had backfired when the alligator's jaws contorted into what Bulma could only interpret as a wicked grin. "Well," he said, "we'll just have to kill you then and take that dragon ball. Pretend none of this ever happened."

Bulma paled. Shit.

Slowly, they walked forward. She backed away, but soon found herself up against the rock wall of the plateau behind her. Her mind was racing. This can't be the end. It just can't be! Isn't anyone going to rescue me?

She clenched her eyes shut as the men closed in on her, and waited, expecting to feel the hands on her to drag her away. Instead, she heard a slight swoosh, and what sounded like feet connecting softly with the ground in front of her.

Krillin? she speculated, eyes still shut. Relief flooded her chest. She just knew it; she knew someone would save her. Someone always did.

Hesitantly, she cracked an eye open. But when she did, her relief was replaced with heart-stopping dread.

It wasn't Krillin. It was... "V-v-v-v..."

Vegeta.

He was just a few feet away, facing down Frieza's underlings. His very aura exuded such authority, such an otherworldly intensity, that becoming aware of his presence was akin to being punched in the gut. Bulma's whole body seized. Her breath caught in her throat, her stomach dropped, her blood ran cold. There was just something about him that induced a visceral reaction. He was no ordinary villain, after all. Sure, one might say he appeared human enough. But beneath the surface, peering through the seams, was something pathological and monstrous. Something infernal, morally void, utterly inhuman.

This is not what she had meant by 'rescue.' Vegeta's arrival was arguably worse for her than if she had been taken to Frieza. Sure, she had never seen this Frieza guy everyone was talking about, and he sounded frightening and all, but Vegeta was a devil she knew all too well, a beast she could assign a face to. She had seen his atrocities. She knew what he was capable of.

Seeing him once that day had been more than enough, and she had been lucky to survive their earlier encounter. She only hoped she would be as lucky this time.

"Who are you?" Vegeta asked the men. His voice was incredibly gruff and held a menacing impatience.

The soldiers seemed to recognize the Prince immediately. Dread instantly spattered their faces, and the two burly men suddenly reminded Bulma of frightened puppies. If the circumstances hadn't been so dire, she would have found it hilarious. "V-vegeta," stammered the reptile as he made a poor attempt to bolster himself. "We... serve Lord Frieza. We know you have the dragon balls. You must relinquish them and return with us to the ship at once."

Vegeta hadn't even waited for the crocodile to finish his sentence before he rose his hand, a ball of yellow light igniting in his palm. "Sorry," he replied with a chilling smirk, "I stopped listening after 'Lord Frieza'."

The light burst from his hand like a rocket, slicing through the air and engulfing the soldier in a brilliant display of light so bright Bulma had to shield her eyes. She heard a bloodcurdling scream – which could very well have been her own - but when she opened her eyes all that remained was smoldering pile of ash. The nauseating pit in her stomach sank deeper, hitting her very core.

The other fighter clearly mirrored her sentiments. He stood frozen, eyes wide as saucers as he stared down at the pile of what used to be his partner. Vegeta shifted slightly so that his hand was now directed at the remaining soldier. The man looked up. "Wait, Vegeta! H-have mercy! Please!"

But Bulma knew from his time on Earth, that mercy was not really a word the Saiyan was familiar with. She watched in horror as the soldier's plea was answered with the same ki blast. When he, too, was rendered into dust, Vegeta let out a sinister chuckle. "Weaklings," he sneered, turning to face Bulma. "Speaking of weaklings..."

When the Prince's eyes locked with hers, she just about melted inside – and not in a good way. His eyes were ominously dark, deep-set in his stern, square face and shadowed by a heavy brow. The gaze itself was empty, yet strangely arresting, like death itself.

She sank down to the ground as a wave of defeat crashed over her. His stare was imposing enough that she felt compelled to speak, though she did not know what to say. Her brain was short circuiting, trying desperately to make sense of what just happened, trying to make sense of what was going to happen now.

Absently, she stuttered, "Y-you saved me..."

"Don't be ridiculous," the Saiyan scoffed. "I came for the dragon ball, obviously - not to save you. Good thing I got here, too, or else the dragon ball would probably be in Frieza's hands by now. Would have caused me a lot of trouble. But now..." He smirked, brushing past Bulma to retrieve the magical orb. "It's almost too easy. Like taking candy from a baby."

Something about seeing that ball in his hands, with that smug look on his face, snapped Bulma out of her stupor. A ferocious courage overtook her, and she leaped up and charged the Saiyan without thinking. Silly? Maybe. All she knew was that she couldn't let Vegeta make his wish. It would literally be the death of them.

She pounded on his back over and over with all her strength, yelling, "You can't take it – you can't! I won't let you take it!"

Unfazed by her assault, Vegeta nudged her off him with ease. She could tell the push was slight, but his strength was so that it was enough to send her reeling. She grunted as her butt collided hard with the ground.

He turned and looked down at her with an expression of genuine amusement. "You 'won't let me'?" His head flung back in an eruption of laughter. "Oh, that is too good! And here I was wondering why chrome dome and that brat brought you along. Clearly for comic relief." The palm of his hand was suddenly pointed right at her, radiating that familiar yellow light. "I would call you brave for attacking me - but seeing as you are the weakest life-form on this planet, I think stupid is the better word."

If she were a normal person, she would have responded like that soldier had – fearful and begging for her life. But, Bulma was not your average person. Her mouth notoriously had a mind of its own, and, for better or for worse, it oftentimes possessed her when she was angry. And boy was she angry. No one insulted her intelligence.

She rose to her feet, hands on her hips, and advanced on the Saiyan, stopping only once she was close enough to poke him in the chest. "Now you wait just a minute!" she commanded - and, surprisingly, Vegeta did. "I'll have you know - I am probably the smartest person on this planet! You know the dragon ball radar that found all those precious dragon balls? - I invented it! I created it! So don't you dare call me stupid."

Vegeta looked dumbfounded. Bulma backed away and crossed her arms.

"Plus, you can't kill me! Do you even know what to do now that you have all the dragon balls? The dragon doesn't just appear, you know. There's a special thing you have to do!"

The Prince blinked at her. " . . . A special thing?"

"Yeah! Like a ritual. A password. The balls are useless without it." It could very well have been a lie, but Bulma was thinking fast, saying anything that would bide her a bit more time - alive. "Krillin and Gohan are off chatting with the green people right now, probably finding out what it is! You think they'll tell you if you murder their best friend? Fat chance, buster!"

"What!" Vegeta growled through gritted teeth. "A password?!" His flash of anger brought out the fright in her once more. But then, unexpectedly, his building rage seemed to melt away, and that devilish smile returned to his face. "Well, in that case," he began - and before Bulma could register what was happening, he had her hoisted over his shoulder, dragon ball tucked under his free arm, "you will serve nicely as leverage."

"Hey, what are you doing! LET ME DOWN!" Bulma writhed frantically. "What do you mean leverage?"

"I'll trade your friends: this dragon ball password for their whiny companion."

What? Bulma's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. Was she hearing him right? Vegeta was kidnapping her?

"And if they don't give me what I want, I'll just have to kill you."

"...W-WHA-"

But the wind swallowed up any further protest, as Vegeta propelled them up into the air with such force that it felt as though her insides would shoot out of her body.

So much for being lucky.