AN: Yay! Another update that's on time. As y'all have probably noticed I'm aiming for a weekly update... but I'm back at varsity since this week so pray that I keep it up.

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball z or its Characters; I really wish I owned Vegeta, though..

Chapter 3 (Stranded on a Mudball)

Despite her worries, Bulma made it off palace grounds with relative ease, acquiring nothing but a few raised eyebrows as she left the main gate. It is well known that the Captain does not leave often, but, as Bulma expected she encountered no restrictions; which meant that the Council had yet to be informed of Bulma's… condition. The beautiful teal-haired mermaid set off on her slightly detoured route to the shopping district. Detoured since she preferred the quieter back-alley ways instead on the busy mainstream roads where she would be stared at and gossiped about. Even if she weren't famous and royal, she'd still be able to turn heads. She was a gorgeous specimen and she knew it. In Mer society, one's physical appeal was often attributed to three things: fertility, body-shape and the luminous scale-pattern unique to every Mer. The more intricate and symmetrical the pattern, the more attractive that made a Mermaid (or man). Like all Mer's, Bulma's Cobalt-coloured eyes emitted a faint glow, bright enough to illuminate her path, but not too much so to prevent others from seeing her natural blue eyes. The scales on her chest and tail were mostly ultramarine and depending on how the light reflected off her scales, it would glint in hues from neon green and emerald to the lightest of lilacs and amethyst. Bulma was what one would call a tri-color, a trait unique to the royal line. Her glow-scales,that created her illumen-pattern, shined a searing silver, and was intricately laced into her sapphire-coloured base scales. Her illuminated pattern swirled and spiralled up the sides of her tail and across her chest-scales. Well, it used to until she started loosing them. Her teal hair was highlighted with light-emitting streaks as well and her tail and chest contained just the right amount of blubber to fill her powerful body quite nicely, creating that voluptuous finish without it being overbearing. All in all, she was one of the Queen's most beautiful daughters and that fact, along with her being unattainable (due to her, up until recently, infertile state) also contributed much to her current fame.

As Bulma travelled through the city, she schooled her features with a determined and indifferent mask. She kept a pace brisk enough to ward off any interruptions. She knew her presence was an unusual sight, but she was a fish on a mission, and made sure everyone around her could see it. It was only upon actually entering the shopping district, that she started becoming uneasy. People stopped what they were doing to watch her pass, softly speculating among one another. She wanted to find that servant Orcana, and fast, so she could get her cloak back and blend in a bit better. She could sense herself gaining a couple of tails, trying to be inconspicuous –the media. She sighed and rolled her eyes. She would have to lose them, she decided. Still moving along swiftly, her thoughts occupied with plans of escape and worst case scenarios, she was almost taken off guard, when a hand reached out to grab her on instinct she swivelled and swung her trident –that she unclipped and unsheathed mid-spin–toward off the unauthorised contact, only for her trident to clang loudly against another's. It took a split second for her to realize that the other trident belonged to one of her oldest friends and lieutenant in her ranks: Ray.

'Jumpy much, Bull Shark?' he teased.

'I am not. You know better than to sneak up on me when I'm on a mission, Barracuda.' She snipped, also addressing him by his arena title. 'You're lucky I didn't blast you where you float.'

He laughed, 'Sneaking? I did no such thing –you, my dearest General, were distracted.' He tutted, 'Rookie, error, might I add.' Bulma pouted and her companion chuckled.

'So, what brings you to this part of town?'

'I told you, I'm on official palace du-'

'Cut the kelp Bulma, you're never on official business this far out. So..' he interrupted confidently. Bulma Sighed, sometimes she forgot how sharp most of her soldiers were –living with her ditz of her sister and all.

'Okay, Ray, you got me.' She admitted in a defeated manner. 'I'm actually here getting something for Marina's coming of age party.'

'What? No way –you don't shop!'

'Of course not –I'm a busy fish. I send servants to do things like that.'

'Then why-'

'Because it's Marina. It's not just any sister –I have to make sure my baby-girl's gift is perfect. So I've arranged to meet my servant on the other side of the shopping district after she was done.'

'Kind of defeats the purpose of not coming here in the first place.' He muttered, offering a lame shrug. 'No matter though, we haven't spoken in ages so I can use this to my advantage.' He added slyly.

'Oh really?' she asked, cocking one of her eyebrows in an amused fashion.'

'Yeah… Now you get to grab a bite with the wonderful and awesome Barracuda – you must feel so honoured.' He sniffed arrogantly. Bulma laughed. 'As much as I would love that,' Bulma started, putting much effort into concealing her sadness. 'I can't –I'm on pretend official business remember? Armour?' She stated, gesturing to her attire, 'and with the media already on my tail I really can't afford the added burden of bad publicity. Ray nodded, disappointed, but understanding. It is what made him such a good friend and soldier too. Talking to Ray, Bulma was once again reminded of how many of her friends and loved one's she would be leaving behind and found herself wondering if was all really worth it. Before she could think to deeply on her decision to escape, the warrior-mermaid resolved that it would be best to get out fast, she could feel her mental shield being overwhelmed by her emotions and if she let anything slip at that crucial moment it would have been beyond bad, not to mention that it would only be a matter of time before she would have the whole monarchy out searching for her. She had made up her mind, she chastised herself, and a couple of goodbyes might be a hard price to pay for freedom, but it was definitely worth it.

'I have to go Ray, wish me a successful 'mission'.' She said with a wink, adding a quick embrace, before swimming off, leaving her friend staring wistfully after her.

Vegeta glared distastefully up into the night sky, his lips parting in a vicious snarl to reveal a row of perfectly white teeth, most prominent of them being his overdeveloped incisors. It had been three weeks, he thought bitterly. Three weeks and his blasted –literally –Gravity Training Chamber had still not been repaired. Granted, he was the one who blew it up in the first place in one of his overzealous training sessions, but damn it that idiotic, scatterbrained Doctor sure took his sweet time with its reconstruction. Meanwhile, he was stuck wasting his time with menially light training on one of the planets many uninhabited and completely wild and useless islands. He could not even leave since his only ticket of the 'kami-forsaken mudbull' as he'd like to refer to it, was said Gravity machine that he had destroyed three weeks prior. Even worse: he could not even waste the pathetic life-forms that inhabited the planet as Kakarot would be on his ass with a swiftness that would make even Zarbon seethe with envy.


"Kakarot" Vegeta spat venomously. The mere thought of the human-wannabe filled the Saiyan prince with a clawing rage that could only be subdued with the third class's blood. Vegeta, for the millionth time, wondered how it was even possible that the proverbial runt of the Saiyan litter could have managed to attain the Legendary –the Super Saiyan–with minimal of effort while the Saiyan prince himself, who had nearly been killing himself for months on end, could barely touch it. Therein lie the root of Vegeta's frustration:he had been close to the transformation, he could feel that well of untapped power bubbling up inside of him, ready to explode like a geyser… the only thing that ended up exploding was the Gravity machine. After regaining consciousness in the infirmary three days later and in light of his recent almost-achievement; the prince had, naturally, been itching to continue with his maniacal training regime, eager to find out how much of a power jump his near death experience had gained him. Well, the rest, as the humans say, is history. Vegeta had decided, upon discovering that he would be without the Gravity Training Chamber for a while, that the best environment for training would be somewhere he could blow things up without worrying about Kakarot sticking his nose into his business. Needless to say –the majority of the previously lush island the Prince had chosen for his training territory was now scorched and cratered beyond recognition.

From his reclined position on a bed of sea sand, the fire crackled restlessly beside him, illuminating the skeletal remains of his earlier dinner as well as his hastily erected –or rather 'decapsulated' shelter. Vegeta smirked, knowing the right people definitely made a difference. Vegeta had been introduced to the Briefs couple and their revolutionary inventions shortly after his accidental resurrection. After an epic and fatal battle with the his tyrannical overlord on planet Namek, Vegeta had suddenly found himself on the green-grassed, blue skyed planet Earth; sitting under a tree as if everything was just flowers and sunshine. At first he thought that the big red guy at the check-in desk in the afterlife had made a mistake; accidentally sending him up and not down. Especially since he found himself surrounded by the some of the peace loving green folk of whom he himself had a part in slaughtering in his hunt for the dragonballs. Such thoughts had quickly been shoved aside as he listened to the earthlings discussing the fate of planet Namek, Frieza and the recently turned Super Saiyan, to say that Vegeta had not been happy, but this time he did not wallow in self-pity as he had on Namek when he begged Kakarot to avenge their people and planet –crying like a newborn grimaced, the humiliating memory still and probably always would leave a bad taste in his mouth until the day he reclaimed his destiny and pride and finally bested that goody-two-shoes that called himself a Sayan. No, Vegeta thought resentfully, there would be no time for mourning the ill turn of event that that vindictive bitch –Fate –had bestowed on him. He had decided to resume his training, patiently biding his time until Kakarot's return, and then he would challenge the bastard and reclaim his former status as strongest Saiyan alive.

It was the bald midget that had made the request for the off-worlders be granted accommodation at Capsule Corporation until their planet could be restored by the Dragonballs. He was off course referring to the Namekians, but it was at that moment that the blonde bimbo –whom he had later discovered was the doctor's wife – spotted the Saiyan Prince. It took all of his willpower not to blast the idiotic woman where she stood for daring to lay her filthy hands on his royal person;gushing words like 'handsome' and 'rugged'. Though, it didn't take much to convince him that accompanying the grossly mismatched pair and refugee Namekians back to their residential abode would be very much to his benefit. Very much to his benefit indeed; what with the doctor carrying on about his Gravity Training Chamber that he had apparently invented for Kakarot's use on his way to Namek and the woman (who had still been clinging to his arm like some mutated leech) insistence on preparing him a meal. The Earth fighters, convinced that their hero had not survived the destruction of Namek, had decided to resurrect Kakarot as soon as the two sets of Dragonballs were recharged and that gave Vegeta about 5 Earth solar months to prepare. Of course, when it was time to make the wishes it was discovered that the Super Saiyan had survived after all…

That was about the time when Vegeta stole the gravity machine to start his year long fruitless search for the wayward third class, returning for refuelling only to find that his not-dead, but mechanized lizard-master was on his way to blow their collective asses sky-high for the insult dealt by earth's special forces, especially the still MIA Super Saiyan. Imagine Vegeta's horror –as he had been fully prepared to die bravely (once again) in battle as a true Saiyan should –when some monstrosity with purple hair that claimed to be Saiyan (and turned golden as proof) showed up and wasted the two ice lizards in a matter of seconds. Why does the universe hate him so much, he wondered for the utmost time.

The rest was all a blur of time travelling, golden Saiyans flaunting their legendary strengths and android warnings that apparently meant the end of the world as they knew it in three years. He honestly couldn't care less what happened to the planet, all that stood out for him was that these two tin cans were supposed to end his life in three years time and he would be double damned (since he's already damned once) if he lets a piece of machinery be the end of the him: the Prince of All Saiyans. So he trains, yet not for the preservation of some mudball planet like Earth's moronic forces. trains for the only thing left worth fighting for in his blood-stained life, since his honour is a long time gone; dead by Frieza's had, buried by Kakarot's –his Saiyan Pride.

And once the battle is over and his Pride is saved, he will fight for the resurrection of said dead honour by methodically beating the shit out of Kakarot before mounting his head on a spit.

First things first, though, he needed to become a Super Saiyan. With this thought, the jaded prince stood –now rested and his massive appetite well sated – and resumed his masochistic training regime once again.

Vegeta froze, midway through one of his katas. His brows furrowed as he honed in on the momentary flare of ki he had sensed in his immediate vicinity. No, he thought, not 'immediate' –still far off. Moving towards him –quickly… Coming from… below?If it weren't the fact that this sentient energy he sensed so briefly, seemed so bizarrely powerful –compared to that of an average human, of course –Vegeta doubted he would have detected, much less pay any mind to it. As is, he found the development intriguing, this creature that seemed to be heading in his direction from the depths of the ocean had a power level on par with the human Z-fighters of earth. If it weren't for the fact that he had already become familiar with each of Earth's Z-fighters' kis, he would have pegged the energy to be one of theirs. Curious, and not in the least bit alarmed, the Saiyan Prince made his way over to the general area where he sensed he would encounter this being, that is –if it kept moving in a similar direction as it currently was. He hovered above the island, his senses focused on the erratic spikes and dips he felt in this 'person's' ki as it spiralled its way up to the water surface. It took but a moment for the Saiyan to identify the reason for this anxious flaring: this creature was being followed..no, chased, he guessed, by a stronger, more beastly energy. At that moment, the water began to swirl into the beginnings of a twister and the sky darkened with thunderclouds. The prospect of the impending violence that he was sure would accompany the revelation of this mystery-being sent a pleasant chill down his slight twitch in the corner of his mouth was the only indication of his swelling interest in this conundrum of events.

He watched, as if in slow motion, the silver three-pronged spear burst through the torrents and his breath hitched in his throat when he could finally identify the creature who held it. 'Blue' was his first coherent thought when seeing her. 'Beautiful' was the second. Water-slicked dark-teal hair clung to the side of her face, her Sapphire eyes burned with determination and desperation as she propelled herself from the helix of water and … suddenly his mind went blank as he traced her armour-clad form down to her, what he previously thought had been a dark blue glittering fabric that clung wetly to her voluptuous hips and legs. She shot from the waters at such a velocity that her body was completely revealed and only now could Vegeta identify the glistening ultramarine for what it really was: scales, fish scales. For a fraction of a second Vegeta thought that a fish was latched onto her legs, already having swallowed the lower half of the blue-haired beauty, but Saiyan sight was sharp and Vegeta quickly reassured himself that he was indeed seeing a human-looking woman with the lower body of a fish, there was no time to dwell on the strangeness of the creature as the cause for the desperate look in her eyes and fiercely determined snarl on her face made itself known.

AN: There you have it the first unofficial encounter.

Insert dramatic cliffhanger music here

What Vegeta will do when he sees what Bulma is up against.. what will Bulma do? What exactly is it that's so hot on our little blue warrior's tail... Find out on the next installment of DRAGON BALL Z FANFICTION: DEEP BLUE.