Hello!

The progress is still in its starting blocks, but the competiton of Bulma and Vegeta is of high significance..so you may wanna check this chapter out ;)

People say,

dont let it get you down,

life continues- as you see.

And to see that that's wrong,

it doesn't need eyes I believe.

I can't fulfill my purpose,

like a candle without its wick,

this ship will founder,

there's no white flag.

It had been about a month since the incident and as usual people sucked the information in and hushed. Bulma's parents had woken up the next morning, uncapsuled some artisan-bots and cleaned up the mess while restoring their garden. Surely, the atmosphere had thickened as they started to worry more and more about Vegeta's abilities, but they didn't know he had used it against her and that was probably the best for everyone.

Meantime, Bulma had continuously worked on her biggest and most relevant project ever, the revised GR. She couldn't remember the last time she was so eager about finishing something, but then again it was also of special significance to everyone who was afraid of Vegeta, so this wasn't only for herself.

While working on the outer electronic circuit, Bulma's mind drifted away, making her sink deeply into her own battle of thoughts again.

It was obvious she couldn't fight Vegeta physically, so she had to invent something in exchange to make up for it. Bulma had kept it a secret so far, she didn't even let her dad take notice though she was aware he could've probably added some major advances, but nevertheless she was a fairplayer, so she chose to do it fully on her own.

Vegeta. Fighting him.

The days had passed, her wounds had healed, yet the wierd feeling hadn't left her. She didn't exactly remember what had happened.
Things had escalated, they agreed to fight and then she had passed out.

It wasn't that she started to have doubts about her decision- she had picked it out of her own free will. He wouldn't stop pushing everyone to the edges and who knew what might happen if he randomly lost it? She had to put him to his limits, introduce him to some respect for humans.
However- what did fighting mean? Fight to death? For honor? Fun? What about the winner, was there a prize or something?

It came to her mind that they should've specified all this earlier…not saying she regretted the agreement, but who knew what Vegeta had in his head about all this..

Pulling out a thin silver device, Bulma lit up the bunsen- burner and started heating up the terminal tags. She had to be very careful with the brazing as this was the point of attachment between inner and outer electric circuit and if she screwed this up, the battle would be fairly lost. Unfortunately, the more she attempted to focus on the capillary joint, the more her hand shook and after a brief moment she laid the soldering-iron aside, taking a break. It wasn't long till she closed her eyes, sitting her back up against the wall.
The cold metal felt refreshing at this point, she had probably worked for 8 hours now and her body felt exhausted and overheated.

The tik-toks of the clock hanging on the opposite side of the room filled the empty room, allowing her to figure once more.

She was nervous, no doubt about that, but it wasn't fear. She wouldn't even be able to tell why- frankly speaking, he may kill her, yet in total the battle gave her so much energy to work on stuff. She had missed that feeling. It appeared to her that if anyone of her friends or family knew this, they'd probably call her insane, telling her to refrain and not push Vegeta so much with her attitude. But then again, she had to. She wanted things to calm down, she wanted…

What did she want..?

She seeked to be able to have some faith in Vegeta. He was extraordinary and driven to an extent that turned even her speechless, but it wasn't enough, he wasn't enough. It wasn't only the fact that there was no pave of trust connecting them, but his sheer amount of power that didn't comply with the threat.
The androids would arrive in 2 years and 8 months as predicted by the silverhaired boy and then, it would be all over.
In comparison, Vegeta suddenly seemed so minor, she had issues taking him serious at times.

Bulma sighed another time, struggling not to resign.

Vegeta's life was so…meaningless. She knew he wasn't the type of guy who'd just settle down, accepting that his way of life had been nonsense. It was a seesaw of povs. It seemed so pointless to rule the universe all alone, fighting everyone, getting close to death countless times. To Bulma, it was a bore. Yet, having a family and working for a company could probably not seem any less useless to a person like Vegeta.

She rubbed the corners of eyes with her dry knuckles, reluctantly spreading her fingers more to reveal the depth of the barely illuminated laboratory to her eyesight.

It had been so long since she cried last time. But she did there while having him on her mind. All those images crossed her thoughts again; the brutal fights on Namek, the blood splattered bodies. Vegeta, killed by his most hated enemy, sheding tears.
Krillin and Gohan had told her everything she needed to know and more.

It couldn't have oncerned her less, yet it had caused a crack in her thoughts. Something inside ushered to leak, growing waves.

What a dull darkness this world must be for someone who's isolated and alone, someone who had nothing to hold on to beside his pride. Thinking of it, just how many people was out there, growing up unsheltered with nothing to loose, continuously forfeting themselves in brutal violence and end drowning in depression.
Who would keep on fighting if there was nothing worth aiming at, but nothing to go back to ether. Everyone took this so easily, who has ever pittied Goku for not having a proper family when the smile on his face always wiped all sorrow away. But in the end, if you are alone, stuck with everything in your head, something will happen to you and to escape this faith, you had to push yourself going.

She just awakened out of her endless train of thoughts as a tear dropped down her cheek. Bulma narrowed her eyes at the shaking saltwater that had splashed on her palm.

Then again, Vegeta was surely not much of a human, she could tell that. He was part of a warrior race, having nothing to them beside the drive of fighting and outplaying others.

She was well aware that her human brain was limited in this regard; she couldn't imagine a wicked mind that she hadn't witnessed before. All she could do was recombine and mix the stuff she's seen to create new and that was about it. What a limit way to be anywhere capable of understanding the Sayian race, she might as well just guess and flip the coin.

Neverthless, this wasn't about weakness or being too soft, nether were her tears.

Those millions they murdered, the oceans of blood that were spilled for their aspire. It tied her insides in knots.

If life doesn't mean anything to you, how would you ever value your own?

She put her right hand on the metal paving stones below her, pushing herself up until she had enough balance to stand up properly. Bulma couldn't know how things would develop, but for now, thanks to Vegeta, there were some things she had to do.

It was late after midnight, probably 3 or 4 am when Bulma was satisfied with her work and decided to leave it be for a nap. Taking off the dirty gloves and encapsuling her new GRR, she headed up the stairs from the basement lab to the first floor of the research facility. The neon lights buzzed as she reached the big corridor. All other labs were closed and locked, indicating that there was nobody left in the giant building beside her. Though she was familiar with the large and sterile hallways, it still added a gloomy atmosphere knowing she was alone. Speeding up, the reflections of the gateway door slowly became visible.

Finally!

The door slid open, revealing a crystal clear night sky with countless stars shining down on her. It was a cold, yet beautiful night. The silence wasn't an uncomfortable emptiness at times like these, once it turned dark it became a spacey mild scenery which she welcomed dearly. There was just one thing that bothered the beauty of the garden and that was the massive GR.

She gathered that Vegeta didn't leave it since that occasion, preparing himself. But nonetheless it still wasn't clear what this fight was for and she wondered if Vegeta had thought about this at all. Then again, he probably didn't need anything beside victory itself.

Sighing heavily she followed the tiled path to the original Capsule Corp. house, wondering if she should get in the sheets.

The pressure hit hard on Vegeta when he forced himself up again for the 499th time this night.
The position he put himself in allowed the gravity to exercise its full power on the mass of his body, torturing the last bit out of every muscle-fibre within. The more time he spent in the GR, the more his body would get used to the pressure, so under normal conditions, his potential should rise.

To Vegeta, this seemed to be the only training method available to progress in his personal range of puissance.

Since he had eavesdropped on Piccolo's speech, confirming the silverhair's prediction of Kakarot's death, he had ascended to the most powerful being on earth. Yet again, it was an unsatisfying feeling receiving it without any effort and certainly in no way rewarding to not be the one responsible for the other Sayian's demise. Moreover, beside the halfbreeding called Gohan, there was no Sayian left but him.

They were nearly.. extinct.

His voice hissed deeply as he put his right hand at his back, bearing against the unmerciful gravity with just one hand. The sweat kept dropping off of his chin rapidly, it had already covered his gloves in grey moisture. The room felt so artificial and unreal with its constant drone and the flashing red lights, he started to loose a feeling for where he was and what time had passed, but then again that had a positive effect as well.

He breathed in deeply and suddenly felt something scratching his fauces, causing him to a fit of coughing as he went down on his knees. It was a disgusting, currish sore that spread in the back of his throat and tasted loathsome. He quickly eyed the GR, irriated to what this was due and as nothing caught his attention, he gathered it must've been the air conditioner.

Vegeta jumped up on his feet, releasing his ki and dehisced the GRs door with one hard smack. Within an instant, fresh air came to his lungs and released the seething feeling from his throat.

'Whoa!'

His muscles twitched for a second as the familiar voice hugged his ears, making him turn to his left. There she was, the bluehaired idiot, with a small glowing role tugged in between her lips.

'Ve-'

He quickened towards her, snatching the unknown away to diminish it with his uprising ki. As soon as he had indemnified that it was gone, his head tilted towards her.

'You FOOL! What on earth do you think you are doing next to the suction end of my air conditioner? Is that your filthy way of smoke poisoning?!'

His angry, low-pitched voice yelled out loud in the clear night and it was obvious he had caught her by big surprise.

Bulma had changed her mind about sleeping, deciding to sit down for a little smoke. She wasn't a chain smoker, but she did enjoy a delicate cigarette once in a while. However, she had to admit he was right; she hadn't paid any attention to where she sat down.

'It's a cigarette and I can assure you that wasn't my intention. I'm a fair player if you aren't aware, so don't be so fearful of me ambushing you', Bulma fizzed nervously. Her hand hovered about her pocket, searching for a tissue. Bracing her back against the GR, she leaned forward to offer it.

'Don't you dare touch me with your filthy hands!'

Within seconds Vegeta had jumped backwards, throwing his hard glare at her while spitting out ashes that had covered the back of his throat.

Bulma couldn't believe what she had just witnessed.

'Filthy? ME? Just look at you, covered in dirt, ashes and sweat!'

'Shut up! I don't want to hear any more of your senseless jabbering. It disgusts me to even breathe the same air as you, why do you even approach me! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT before I snap your neck!'

With that said, Vegeta turned around rising his ki once more, about to fly off, when suddenly a huge blast appeared in front of him. He crouched down a little, shunning the massive blast by covering his head with his arms.

'I'm not fully done, but it should still do the job for a JERK like you!'

Vegeta turned on his heel once more, starring at the bluehair from the corner of his eye. This had to be it, the project she had spoken so rhapsodically of.

His eyes travelled back to the fading dust, revealing the giant decapusled bot in front of him. He lifted his arm once just to wave it to his right in a quick schedule of seconds. A massive windblast hit the scene, furiously blowing away anything that blocked his view and exposing a perfect look on his new opponent.

Vegeta expected nothing less than the optimum capacity of technology, a new generation of science. Surely, the earthlings were wasted biological material, but there was certain devices he'd take in consideration of using.

Bulma had held on to a palm that was luckily consolidated by a paving stone, else she would've been blown away by Vegeta's attack. Scree and dirt kept departing from the ground, polluting the air that badly it turned it into a whirl of mud.

Not that again..

The obvious had to be realized once more- Vegeta wasn't a human being, he was something different, an unpredictable threat that was programmed on fighting and fighting only. She watched his muscles tense under the tight blue suit he wore, the excited convulsive smile that emerged and finally, the pitch black starring of his eyes. She couldn't help but see the similarities of a wild, untamed animal in him- he was like a shark captured in his instincts; as soon as the tear of blood was shed and spread, it would drive him senseless, longing to reach out with his teeth for the splattered flesh, aiming to tear and kill as an ultimate fulfillment.
The bluehair couldn't ignore the seizures in her abdomen any longer, it was like having her gut instincts yelling at her.

She knew all this, it wasn't new, she subtly anticipated this all along when she eventually offered him to live with her, but she couldn't help it. It wasn't too long that the feeling of fear started hedging around in her stomach. But it wasn't Vegeta this time but rather herself, her own excitement that turned the sweat on her skin icecold.

'Is that it?!'

Bulma lifted her head carefully, looking at the Sayian who had just yelled at her. Vegeta had his right hand clenched, glaring at her in his usual manner.

The revised GR was larger than the old one, shaped like Kami's spaceship with 2 dark blue front windows framed like devils eyes. Right in between of them there was a double stack of 6 silver shining buttons, arranged in a symmetrical order. It was plastered with countless small white squares, linked with purple wires that sometimes gave off fragile cringle thunderbolts. Additionally, there was a weird blur that lingered on the outside, just as if the air there was a thick mass, it could nearly become fluid.

'It's ready as it is. Try entering if you dare!'

Vegeta had sensed that something was strange about this aura of this thing since the first second it appeared. It gave him little creeps, but then again it also raised his curiosity and militantness. It was a stated fact that technology, as useful and futuristic it was, would still never be able to overcome a true Sayian's strength. He had it proven back then on Vegeta-sei and he wouldn't hesitate to do it again on earth.
Having this said, Vegeta quickly raised his hands, moving them forth and back, shooting his powerballs in a blisteringly fast way.

The earth beneath the new GRR cracked and everything blew up in a massive sequential arrangement of explosions, fully annihilating the flora compassing. Bulma piped down, burying her head as deep as possible in the ground. This was no good..

Vegeta sneered, waiting for his mechanical enemy to appear shattered, but to his medium surprise the bot remained unscathed, glowing even more ridiculous than before.

'WOMAN!'

He looked around, trying to spot Bulma under all the scab, but he couldn't sense her. Narrowing his eyes, he furthered towards the bot, read to just smash it with a direct hit when he witnessed the thick dust to harden even more as he converged. The mass turned into a syrup shape, completely covering him and taping him into it. Vegeta rised his blue fired ki, attempting to burn it off, but the effort was in vain. The purple particles spun around him as if the air had become fluid, incalculably surrounding his torso while pinning onto his fingertips.

Meanwhile, Bulma had exhumed herself to a low level, watching the dirty, yet colourful sky being disturbed by upcoming thunder. Vegeta was obviously stuck and trapped, incapable of moving around.

'You IDIOT, what is this?! Is that what you call fair?!'

Vegeta was high up in the air, but the furious words still struck through to her.

'I..I never said I'm an easy opponent!' Bulma yelled, unsure if he'd be able to hear her, yet what came to her eyes worried her. She knew what Vegeta had in mind and she also knew the consequences. Her eyes searched for a clear picture of the blackhaired Sayian, but the air was still too full of scree to view him.

Vegeta enflamed his ki again, making the veins at his temples pulsate badly. He was ready to just blast it off with all he had when suddenly his intuition passed his mind like a straight lightning. The more he rised the flames enclosed, the more the tagged particles started glowing, acting as if they charged a kind of blood inside them. A dull ache reached his fingertips, numbering everything up until his knuckles. Instinctively, he withdrew his ki, slowly floating down like a leaf in an autumn's breeze. As he had anticipated, the particles loosened up, rapidly untightening their firm grip.

Another arrogant smirk showed up when his feet had reached the churned ground, facing the damping roars of thunders. He cocked his head towards Bulma, who was still adhering to the heavy glazed tile of the palm tree.

'What a dirty trick...I don't know how you designed this, it certainly has something to it..but do you really think I'd fall for that?'

Bulma's gaze had followed the raspy voice, now eyeing the Sayian that was standing about 10 meters across the garden.

'It'd be your own fault to underestimate me...but you found out well I guess' ,she coughed, haling herself little closer towards him. He silently watched her attempts to battle the storm that kept raging before teleporting in front of her and jostling her down to the ground once more. Merely trying to draw upwards, Bulma's eyes met the relentlessness of Vegeta who wasn't grinning disgracefully this time. She wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad sign though.

'Vegeta..what do you even want to do? Destroy it?' , she hissed, noticing that her legs were harmed in a way that she could nether kneel nor stand up. His gaze lingered for a second on her.

'If I wanted to, I would have long ago. But is this all? A progressed Namekian-styled ship with a weird aura?' Bulma flinched when he stepped further, but didn't back away. 'Of course not..it's just a little test for you to see if you're worth entering the revised GR…' She coughed in her hand just to find small washed-out metalpieces in it right after. 'Now it gets interesting. Another GR? How creative, must have taken you long to figure that out'

His smug drowned eyes travelled towards the flashing bot again. 'But it does seem interesting. I hope you didn't take your mouth too full on it. Whats inside?' She narrowed her eyes at his attitude, but tried giving back the same smirk as good as possible. 'As smart as you are I bet you know all this? The door opens with a password of course, but will you even be able to enter it ?'

Bulma sat up, pushing herself to the edge with the strength she had left in her arms while Vegeta tilted his head back to her, viewing her from above with that insane look he used to have when he's excited about something vicious. She figured he must've had something other on his mind than just the GR, but hell there was no time to get a grip on that one.

'Leave that to me. Now tell me already- what is awaiting me inside?' She could hear the cracking of his spine when he angled his head in an even larger extent. It looked to Bulma as if he was about to reach a 200 degrees turnaround and it fully wiped the smirk off her face this time.

'Ve…Vegeta..' The words were stuck in her throat though they had dwelled on her tongue since they agreed on the fight. His eyebrows furrowed, covering his face midway in shadows. She could only see his white teeth shining underneath.

'Vegeta, how are we going to decide who wins this!'

It was a question, but Bulma disgorged it like the poisoned leftover of metal before. The range of Vegeta's mouth visibly enlarged, giving out a look on his gritted teeth. 'Well. We could end this right now with just a quick slash of my small finger, but I know what you are up to'
Out of nowhere he grabbed her arm, pulling her up just by that. She could feel her legs tense when he put her on her toes, yet it felt like they would just squaten under the pressure of normal gravity.

'What? Is that all you got?' His dark laughter filled the former spacey mild air with an obnoxious sound. She helplessly tried to dissociate from his grip, but it was impossible. Ignoring her pathetic attempt, Vegeta slowly hovered towards the GRR, taking Bulma with him. 'Now, out with the password' , he demanded, not even looking at her. She had her eyes positioned on his profile, glancing up to his distant gaze. Swallowing her pride for the moment, she faced the GRR in front of them, glowing in all its familiar threatening glory. 'I wont deny, I got inspired by this one!'

Vegeta scoffed in surprise, starring at her for a blink of a second out of the corner of his eye when her voice shouted out in the dark night.

'STUPID JACKASS!'

A loud cracking noise followed her words when the lower surface of the ship secluded itself, offering them the entrance. Vegeta smirked for a second; he knew that this thing was a chance for him. As he tightened the grip around her arm further, Vegeta ushered heading towards the white staired gateway. Bulma's body continued along with his, he poised it with no effort. It took her a second to realize that they were about to touch the first meter of the stairs when her nails dug into his spandex suit furiously. Her throat was so sore dry and the energy drenched out of her, but panic rose inexorably when she saw his pointed boots were about to land.

'NO YOU IDIOT, DON'T!' She grabbed him as firmly as she could, expecting to be drawn away unmercifully by the electricity that would reach and pulverize them . Pushing her eyelids together, Bulma witnessed nothing but..silence.

Oh God oh God oh God..

Slowly opening her eyesagain , she once more gathered a look on Vegeta's profile. His face was in high suspension, the facial muscles twitching while coping with the upcoming pain that started at his feet.

'Wh..what.. is ...this..'

The muscles at his neck and shoulders bulged, vibrating as he tried to hold off the massive electricity that searched its way through his body. Bulma tried exhaling the air that was stuck in her lungs, but she couldn't. If Vegeta couldn't stop the electric run, it would catch her as well.

'Vegeta you have to lower your powerlevel!'

Surprised by her words, Vegeta tried to loosen the grip on her upper arm, but he couldn't. It was as if he stiffened more and more by time, the pain forcefully making his body flinch in an uncontrollable manner. The sweat ran down his bare neck in numerous drops as he felt the icecold suspension flowing through his body. He tried to open his mouth, but it just twitched irrepressibly, not releasing any proper words.

Bulma anticipated the worst, after all she knew what Vegeta was capable of, but this was not how it was supposed to end up. She wasn't sure if he didn't want to lower his energy or if he couldn't understand her due to the circumstances Whatever it was, he obviously still didn't realize that the GRR was running a permanent electric net of high ampere, ready to give it off when someone of any unusual powerlevel touched it. That also went for the chilled azod-nitrogen mix that surrounded the GRR.
It all worked two ways and it was implemented to exploit exactly the 2 palmary potencies of a Sayian: speed and power. The speed was stopped by the uneven mixture of the gases which changed the mass density for the room it filled out. Being caught up by that, the chilled azoid was reheated quickly by the common air temperature, making it steadily easier for the electricity to slip through and gather their way to the Sayian's body. Normally, when a light beam hits their corps, the suspension of their body was able to block it, but as for unaffiliated electricity, it runs through the smallest and weakest surfaces of your body and Bulma knew exactly that no Sayian was prepared for that. As an automatic reaction of defense, their ki, which was no other thing then concentrated electricity, would rise, charging the electricity in the gasclouds even more. As a backcoupling, the electric run would be increased, literally sucking every drop of puissance out until the powerlevel has sunk down below a certain line.

She had it all thought through, but what she never expected was Vegeta to drag her with him.

'DROP DOWN YOUR POWERLEVEL YOU JERK!', Bulma yelled, aware that if he passed out the spare electricity of his body would reach her.

Vegeta was groaling in unbearable tension, starring at her in a manner that made Bulma fear it would make his eyes pop out.

'Hhhhrrhh….'
She could feel his warm breath at her neck, starring at his face that was now completely covered in shiny sweat. His muscles were vibrating hard under the incoming intensity and Bulma, for once, wasn't sure if he wasn't going to die. She had it planned out for him to become unconscious to win the competition and demand a treaty of peace from him, but it wouldn't work this way anymore. Sayians could take much, endure a whole lot of pain, but it had to be stated that this was not only affecting his outer body but also his organs and somatic system.
Her eyelids twitched at the thought. If Vegeta died by it now, that would be the end of the world. Though his facial expressions were highly diluted due to the suspension, Bulma could still sense that he was conscious and experiencing..god knows what emotion. And though the ones that he did show were mostly an offence to her, she had to admit she was happy to see them at all.

Her free arm reached over to the averted side of his face, cupping it as she shifted her body towards him, facing him properly while rising her soft voice.

'I know that you don't think high of me Vegeta..but as for now, you have to listen and do what I say, because else….This..this won't work otherwise, I know you are proud and even if it seems like giving in, it isn't, call it break if you want..'

She could barely stand her own jabbering, she knew this wasn't helping, but there was only so much frazzles of thoughts she could grasp in a moment like this. Her words were a plead and most likely of no significance to him, but this was an act of desperation that she couldn't avoid, how irrelevant it seemed was no matter. Her fingers lightly aspirated a touch at the side of his face. His skin felt hard, bruised and fractious. She wanted to cry once more, release the feeling of guilt and anger that had boiled inside of her when her plans went so utterly wrong. But she couldn't and it made the anger inside her wave furiously. Nothing worked out, why did she even agree to this in the first place? Her genius brains didn't help here, failing just like Vegeta's powers.

This was it. They were going to die.

Next chapter: Revelation of a Sayian