Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of its characters.
Chapter 3
Battle plans
Vegeta stood in the center of his new room. His eyes swept critically over it taking in every detail, finding nothing in the room that could be considered a threat. "So this is where I will be staying" he growled. The room was much larger than Vegeta was used to. He had practically grown up in a cramped space pod. Traveling for months or sometimes years to the next planet he was supposed to cleanse. Even when on a ship, the private room a prince was allowed was about the size of his current room's closet. Throw some Saiyan armor into that closet instead of the one black silk robe and it would be the room Vegeta had always felt he deserved.
Casually Vegeta stripped off his armor and tossed it to the floor. Once freed from its confines he silently padded to the shower tuning the water as high as it would go. While standing under the forceful spray of the shower the day's events replayed in Vegeta's head. Vegeta was thoroughly disgusted with the day's emotional outburst from himself. "Emotions are a weakness! And, for me to show them in front of those weaklings was unacceptable." Still he could not deny the over whelming relief created with Frieza's death. If he had known the song "Ding dong the witch is dead" he might have sung it, killing all witnesses of course. But, now he had had a chance to absorb the day's events and was completely disgusted with himself. But, no more. He had control of himself now. He was once again the perfect warrior.
As he fiercely scrubbed away the dirt of Namek that had embedded itself into his flesh Vegeta pondered his current living circumstances. Vegeta knew that his reason for being here was to wait for Kakarrot to return so he could learn how a third class Saiyan had achieved Super Saiyan status so that he could achieve his birthright. What Vegeta was not sure of was why that blue haired woman had invited him to her home to stay. As far as he could tell she was close with at least one of the warriors killed by Nappa or the saibamen. Being that he was their leader she should hate him. A smirk graced his lips as a reason came to him. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." Vegeta quoted.
Most likely she hoped to keep him distracted so that he would not destroy too much while he waited for Kakarrot's return. She may even wish to ferret out if his had a weakness. For there was no way that Vegeta could see any of those weaklings accepting him in their mists willingly. He remembered that when she was talking to that one dead fighter she had said that she had always been the brains of their outfit. So it could stand to reason that she was going to try to manipulate him. Though, remembering her reaction when she first saw Zarbon on Namek and how she had acted towards him when she invited him to stay, Vegeta had to wonder. "Maybe she is truly idiotic and is just going to try to seduce me." Whatever her reasons Vegeta was sure she was not going to just leave him alone.
With a cold smirk Vegeta decided to play her games. Frieza had often played mind games for entertainment as well as to break the spirits of the stronger fighters that he acquired. While Vegeta preferred physical battle, he was also skilled with mental battles. Years under Frieza had assured that. Vegeta was proud to say that Frieza had never been able to break his will with any of the Mind games he had played with Vegeta. While Vegeta did not have any weaknesses for them to find, he could benefit from learning if Kakarrot had any.
Once he had decided to play her little game, Vegeta began to think out his strategy. Since the woman had mentioned he was "invited" to eat breakfast with them, that it would probably be one of their first battles. Many people let their guard down while they eat. First Vegeta needed to decide if he was going to resist meeting them for breakfast to see how the woman would try to bribe or force him to join or would it be better to go and demand that they feed him since he is their superior. The first way would force her to try to bribe or force Vegeta immediately. Since Vegeta did have 130 days to play he decided to go with the second way and enjoy treating them as the inferiors they were.
With a mental smirk, Vegeta turned off the water and grabbed a towel. After drying off, Vegeta padded over to the bed. Without bothering to get dress, Vegeta sat in the middle of the bed to meditate. He often meditated while traveling in his space pod. He would block out all emotions and thought till he could focus purely on his ki, gaining better control. Vegeta felt a need to reinforce his mental walls so there could be no more emotional outburst like todays. And so, Vegeta once again focused on being the perfect warrior, looking forward to the mental battles he foresaw.
Bulma tried to let all off her stress seep out of her body and into the water. After about an hour of soaking, Bulma decided with a sigh that it was time to face the world. While on one level she realized it was irresponsible for her to just leave Vegeta to his own devices to quickly, Bulma had not been willing to deny herself a long missed bath in her favorite sanctuary. With a final sigh, Bulma stretched and stepped out of the tub. Bulma could not help looking herself over in the mirror as she dried herself off. "Looking good girl! Running around Namek certainly helped my already perfect physic." Bulma twisted to look at her backside and flexed her leg muscles before dropping her towel and going to choose an outfit.
"Guys are always nicer to the pretty girls" Bulma thought while looking over her options. Since she was going to be dealing with a mass murderer that could easily destroy her planet any slight edge would be welcome. "Though I don't want him to get any ideas" she mumbled as she rejected a few of her smuttier outfits. Finally Bulma found what she sought after. One of her most comfortable outfits that looked pretty damn good as well. It was a pair of blue Capri pants that matched her hair and a snug fitting tank top made out of a fascinating material that changed color depending on which angle you looked at it from. Top it off with a low slung leather bet to attack whatever gizmos she felt like wearing and it was perfect.
Once she was dressed Bulma set to fixing her hair. It takes a lot of work to look like you are beautiful without trying. It was another 45 minutes till her hair and face shined with a "natural" beauty. Satisfied that she looked appealing enough without looking like she was trying Capsule Corp's princess set out to brace the beast.
"I guess the first order of business will be to get him some cloths" Bulma mused. "All he has right now is his beat up armor and the guest robe. And I'm sure he is going to make a fuss"
Standing in front of Vegeta's door, Bulma boldly knocked. "Vegeta! It's me, Bulma." There was a pause with no answer. Bulma knocked a second time a little louder. Pounding might have been a better word for what she was doing to the door. Still there was no answer. With a huff Bulma threw open the door. "Where could that shithead have gone," Bulma muttered darkly as she walked into the room to confirm her fear that Vegeta was not in, but, off creating mayhem.
"I do not know where said shithead is" said a cold voice from the bed. "But, I'm right here." Vegeta was a bit perturb that she had just let herself into him room.
"Vegeta why didn't you respond to my… OH MY GOD!!! YOU'RE NAKID!!" Bulma's eyes took in every detail of Vegeta's exposed body before she firmly forced herself to look him in the face and only the face. *God what a body* she thought. However, Bulma's shock was quickly turned to annoyance when she noticed the amused smirk planted on Vegeta's face.
With feigned innocence in her voice Bulma sweetly said "oh, where you not able to find the robe? Here let me get it for you."
"I do not wish to wear that." Vegeta growled pointing at the robe Bulma was offering. Vegeta was coldly amused that his nudity seemed to unnerve the perplexing woman. That and he disdained wearing such a flimsy garment. He would wear his armor or he was going to stay nude.
Bulma felt a strong need to exit but did not want to seem like she was running. *This is my house and I will go anywhere in it and no one will make me uncomfortable in it.* She silently declared to herself. Luckily out of the corner of her eye Bulma spotted the discarded Saiyan armor. "Ah, that's what I came here for." Suddenly a bit overly cheerful Bulma bent and picked up the armor. "Well sexy. I've got to go and figure out how to replicate this. We can't have you walking around nude all day, not that I don't mind the show."
"What makes you think a servant girl like yourself could replicate the ingenious design of Saiyan armor?" Vegeta snorted. He was thoroughly annoyed by her erratic behavior and intrusion into his privacy.
"SERVANT GIRL!! I am no ones servant girl. I am Bulma Briefs, the heiress to the Capsule Corps Empire, and the most intelligent and beautiful woman to grace this planet. Not only will I replicate your Saiyan armor. I will improve upon whatever shoddy design you Neanderthals had come up with." With a huff Bulma turned and stormed towards her lab determined to have Vegeta's improved armor ready before dawn.
Vegeta was actually a little taken aback. He had never expected such a weakling to have the nerve to speak to him as she had done. She needed to be put into her place. However, "If the woman is able to improve my armor, she might have other uses." And Vegeta was not one to let something useful go to waste. He may not kill her, but, he would put her in her place. Breakfast for the next few months was going to be interesting. With that final thought Vegeta went back to his meditations.
