Chapter Four: New Faces, Old Acquaintances

(Bold is a dream, italics are thoughts)

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...We're moving...

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Hey...I said we're moving….

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What is this….this feeling?

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This aura…it feels familiar…does it not?

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Hello? You still there?

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Oh, NOW you are silent? Tsk…

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Ugh, I cannot hold on anymore….my mind is slipping…Riimu, I am scared…this aura is…..comforting….but I…I do not under…stand….

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…I..…Para…gus..…

(She slipped into total unconsciousness about the time the group landed on Capsule Corporation's lawn.)

v^v^v^v^v^

Pomegra launched a determined left hook at the young intern from a distant planet, known for their distinctly fox like appearance. This particular Trodaí warrior had quickly become the Saiyan female's closest friend and team mate. They understood one another, and more importantly they each trusted in the other's abilities with absolute confidence after the many years of tested mettle.

The cheeky fox slid out of the way and tapped Pomegra on the shoulder, not attacking, but proving she could have. It was an effective tactic, a taunt that served to distract opponents into a blind rage. Most fighters would loose their cool and not be able to fight as proficiently, but Pomegra had been sparring with the sneaky vixen for years now, and knew what the fox was playing at.

Pomegra grit her teeth, then leapt back and away from her friend, only to leap back in immediately, hoping to throw the vixen off, but as usual, the fox was always on guard and dodged to the left. Yosh, Pomegra kept coming, predicted the fox's dodge direction correctly, for once, and managed to move into her path with a right hook, which grazed the surprised vixen's shoulder. The two smiled, both learning so much from the other in the time they spent training.

Pomegra had trained with all the other Saiyans in her class, but no one gave her the challenge the fox provided. She stuck to sparring only with the intern warrior, and her upper classmate, Riimu, who had a major crush on her. No one knew that at the time, except Ethne, her foxy friend, who liked to instigate training matches with their sempai to get the two Saiyans together because she "just had a feeling". The tricky Trodaí was always causing minor mischief like that, but it was all in good spirit.

Awhile into their sparring match, the Saiyan prince, Vegeta, floated down from a balcony adjacent from the open training grounds where he had been watching the pair of girls spar all morning with interest.

Pomegra and Ethne sprang apart at the sight of the young lord's approach, and both bowed dutifully. The smug prince only smirked at their obedience.

"What do you need, Veggie?" The fox quipped up moments later. Pomegra had to suppress a smug smile at the hated nickname her friend had bestowed on the young prince, but she herself had never dared to use.

No. She had a healthy respect for the young warrior who would someday be her ruler, no doubt. His cruel reputation did have something to do with it, but even that did not stop Ethne. Sometimes Pomegra really admired her for that.

"Can't I come by to check on my troops?" The young lord asked, curiously trying to ignore the insult, but not able to completely hide the effect the nickname had on him. His fingers flexed on reflex, Pomegra noticed.

Pomegra and Ethne exchanged a disbelieving glance, then both turned back to the prince, "No," They stated together.

"Very well, I have a side project for you two," the prince stated with a hint of deception in his voice, but nothing too malicious. Also curious.

Pomegra sighed and rolled her eyes. The prince occasionally would give them "special side projects" to get them out of the training grounds that he wanted to use, which always seemed to be the one the girls were using and always interrupted them whether they refused or not.

"Right, what meaningless chore is it this time?" Pomegra glared at the prince with as much courage as she dared to display to the royal nuisance. Her confident, foxy friend by her side certainly helped.

"Well, if you are not interested, I can get Raditz and Riimu to do it for me," the smug prince stated, then turned to walk away casually. His red cape waved in the air as he left, his tail peeked out from under it.

The curious girls both exchange a glance, shrugged, then turned back to the slowly retreating prince.

"What kind of project are we talking about?" Pomegra shifted her weight to one foot and crossed her arms, impatiently waiting for the details of this new task.

Vegeta turned back to them with a victorious smirk, " Well, I've been hearing reports about a monster over in the high mountain caves of sector nine."

"A monster?" Pomegra asked with piqued interest.

"It is said to be unbeatable," Vegeta added, baiting them further.

The girls both smirked assuredly and Ethne spoke up first, "Consider it done." The fox's bushy red tail curled excitedly in the air. The two girls both beamed at one other with determination.

"Yes, consider it done, my prince." Pomegra echoed with a slight head bow.

Pomegra's dream of her childhood friend then shifted in a flash of white light to a more recent, not so pleasant memory. Pomegra could be seen thrashing about subtly to anyone who happened to be looking through the clear window of the regeneration tank; her red hair shifted in the suspended blue liquid that was currently helping with her body's recovery. Her fingers twitched uneasily. Though she remained unconscious, her mind still obliged her with it's dream collage.

Riimu, Pomegra, and Beetu sped through the foreign sky, fleeing the facility that had just mutated or killed all their comrades. Barely making an escape, the trio tried to get as much distance between them and that horrible place as they could.

"We need to find somewhere to lay low for awhile. That mountain to the north looks promising, lots of caves, I bet. Probably would not be a bad idea to stop using our ki, to hide it from…" Riimu did not finish his thought as his brows furrowed in anger at their commander. He grit his teeth.

Pomegra flew up next to him, "The ship, Riimu. Let's get the hell out of here!"

Riimu shook his head, "No, look at your scouter! There is no ki but our own, so the two soldiers I had stay and guard the ship are…are those...things, or gone in the ship, or dead." He stated with disdain, clearly upset by the recent, sudden turn of events.

"Still! It is our only hope, Riimu! We need to go to it-" Pomegra halted mid air and mid sentence as her mate stopped and grabbed her by the shoulders with a sigh, "If you insist, Red, but I really think we need to find a cave on that mountain to lay low for awhile."

Beetu floated around the pair, looking anywhere but at them out of respect. There was blood splattered on his armor where he had bravely fought off many of the mutants let loose on them in the facility. If it wasn't for Pomegra's quick thinking, they too would be dead right now, or worse.

Pomegra nodded but insisted they check on the only way to escape the planet and get back to their own. Riimu eventually relented, and the trio changed directions and sped off towards the ship that had brought them here.

They approached the open field where the ship had been, but it was nowhere to be seen. It it's place still stood the two Saiyan soldiers Riimu had assigned to guard the canine king, but they were now infected by the virus, and the king was nowhere to be seen. Neither of the soldier's had a favorable reaction by the look of them. Both were shambling around with no real direction or purpose, just a newly formed bitor now in Saiyan armor. Pomegra grinded her teeth at the sight of her classmates, two she had know for most of her adolescent life. Riimu looked down with pity and a hint of guilt in his eyes at his subordinates, who had trusted him with their lives, which were now forfeit.

"Ok, we really need to-" Riimu abruptly stopped talking as his scouter beeped in his ear. His head whipped around and he bared his teeth. A streak of energy was coming for them, and it could only be one person.

"Paragus…" Riimu stated with a bitter undertone. He turned to Pomegra and Beetu, "You two fly off towards that mountain! I am going to try and lure him away-"

"No! No, come on, Riimu! I won't leave your side. You fight, I fight, right? Saiyan's are a warrior race, right? Right?!" Pomegra stated defiantly, reciting the prince's own words to force his hand.

"Pomegra, there is no time for thisss. For once, just do as I say, please." Riimu's eyes begged her to listen. She gave in with a sigh, never liking to run away, but had done so twice now.

"Yosh, ok you two fly off towards that mountain behind us. When the commander and I are in battle, drop down and suppress your ki. Hike towards that mountain and I will find you. I promise." Riimu spoke with great haste as their former commander made his approach.

Pomegra grabbed Beetu's upper arm and yanked the dim wit to make him follow her without questions.

"You better come back to me Riimu, or I swear I will find you, and I…I will…well, I'll beat the shit out of you." She threatened bitterly as she smiled sadly.

Riimu nodded his head with a small smile, kissed her with passion on the lips, then pulled away from them with a two fingered salute. He mouthed the word "always" to Pomegra, double pounded his chest just above his heart with the side of his fist, then rocketed away bravely towards their former commander. Pomegra watched him go until he faded into a white light.

Her dream shifted again. Pomegra and Riimu now stood in the middle of a different field, surrounded on all sides by snarling mutants. They had successfully survived together as a group for several years, but Paragus eventually found them time and time again. After murdering Beetu, the commander had his reptilian eye set on the last of his platoon that dared to defy him. Pomegra's head pivoted left and right in the recovery tank semi violently as she again relived the explosion that took her mate. The same dream sequence had plagued her dreams for quite some time now.

Paragus stood arrogantly across from Riimu and Pomegra, grinning wickedly, "Come on, did you two really think you could hide from me for long? Riimu, I am so disappointed in your lack of understanding on how important this could be for our race. I feel so…so STRONG!"

Riimu bared his teeth as he stood protectively in front of his mate, who scowled in a fighting stance behind him at the thing blabbering nonsense to them.

"Commander, you fail to realize the instability of this mutation. Just because your body accepted the new DNA, doesn't mean ours will. LOOK at our platoon! They are all essential dead now, or might as well be!" Riimu chided, hoping to change the infected Saiyan's mind about turning him and his mate.

Paragus let out a harsh bark of laughter, "Weaklings, all weaklings that do not deserve this gift! You will survive it, Riimu, I know your strength. Come, come join me and rule as my second. And you, woman," he started as he leaned to the side and glanced at Pomegra from around Riimu's bulky frame.

"It is Pomegra," Pomegra stated through gritted teeth, still glowering.

Paragus chuckled, "Hmph, you may bond with it, heh heh, and I encourage you to try, of course! I wouldn't want my second to be without his puss-"

Riimu's fist flashed out and uppercut the mutant forcefully in the chin, silencing him. Paragus was tossed backwards a ways, but righted himself quickly. He snarled at them, "Fine. If you insist on defying your commander then I will have no choice but to put you DOWN!" He rushed for Riimu; fists collided in a cross counter as the pair started a deadly dance of death high in the sky over the foreign planet. The fight between the two males raged on as Pomegra blasted several ki waves at the overwhelming number of mutants littering the ground below them, trying to thin them out, but with little progress. Blast after blast disintegrated the ugly beings, but a stray blast from Paragus a short time later hit her square between the shoulder blades unexpectedly. Pomegra plummeted from the air, barely registering her mate's call to her. She hit the ground, dazed.

Riimu rocketed down after Pomegra just after he socked the mutant in the jaw, then kicked the former commander away with a roundhouse kick.

Riimu landed next to his mate and started to blast every bitor that sniffed the air and shambled towards them. The thick sea of mutant bodies tightened around them, but Riimu kept up his blasts, all the while watching his mate's prone body, calling her name to call her back to him. The commander, now recovered from his second's vicious attack, was now flying slowly towards them.

"Riimu, tsk tsk tsk, what do you hope to accomplish? If I snap my fingers and howl, every mutant around you will rush you. Can you defend yourself and her? Heh heh heh, I think not." Paragus taunted from the air as he watched Riimu futility blast mutant after mutant. When one fell, it seemed two more closed in to take it's place.

Riimu was fed up with the whole ordeal. He kept blasting as Pomegra regained her senses and slowly rose behind him. She immediately crouched, bared her teeth and stood back to back with Riimu, blasting the mutants attempting to flank him.

Riimu assessed their grim situation, then quickly formed a bitter plan. He turned his head ever so slightly to address Pomegra quietly while keeping up his attacks, "This is not working. I need you to go engage the commander and keep him busy. Can you do that for me, lover?"

Pomegra blasted a red burst of ki energy into a mutated amphibian alien, dropping the hideous thing to the ground in a blueish green gooey spray of entrails, "Psh, of course," she said with unconvincing bravado. She rolled her shoulders as she blasted two more mutants with two quick bursts of red ki. She winced at the burn from the blast she took, but stubbornly kept it from her mate.

"But tell me what you are planning Riimu." The ever curious Saiyan asked, without asking.

The brave Saiyan male at her back shot two more powerful blasts, one at a group of mutants currently making their way closer to his left side, the other at Paragus to distract him, "I have something in mind. For now, just go engage the commander," he then turned while the commander was distracted, wrapped his arms around Pomegra for the last time, squeezed her tenderly as silent tears rolled down his cheeks, "Know that I will be with you, Red. I'll still have your back, even if you cannot see me. Be strong, lover. Heh, seems you were right, this was a stupid mission after all." He squeezed her one last time, kissed the crown of her head, then grabbed her by the waist and tossed her forcefully up into the air.

Pomegra caught herself with flight as she looked down on her mate. His eyes were watery, but his resolve was set firmly into his strong facial features. Pomegra's eyes widened, fearing the worst, but was obliged to do as he asked, one last time.

Pomegra engaged the commander, distracting him further from her mate. Their battle was fierce, but halfway into it, both the mutant commander and Pomegra stopped to watch as Riimu let go of all his ki in a super ki explosion, effectively obliterating every mutant in a hundred foot radius. Pomegra watched wide eyed in shocked horror as Riimu's body started to disintegrated into nothing. His mouth was open in a scream of pain and defiance.

Thinking quickly, Pomegra knew she had to capitalize on this tragedy. She tore her misty eyes away from her dying lover and rocketed over to the commander, who was currently mesmerized by Riimu's action and ignoring Pomegra altogether. She landed a flying kick to his ribcage, reappeared behind him and punched him several good times in the kidneys, then she ended with a brutal downward kick that thrust the mutant headlong into Riimu's climaxing ki blast.

Paragus fell with a howl of surprise into the blast. Pomegra did not wait around to see what happened next. She rocketed some distance away, then dove for a thick forest. Once she landed, she quickly suppressed her ki and hid among the strange, exotic flora. Tears fell from her eyes as she sat sobbing quietly, for the first time, at the loss of her mate.

Pomegra's head tossed subtly from side to side in the regeneration tank. Her mind slowly came back to full consciousness, but she felt strange, restricted. Her cobalt eyes opened tentatively, only to close again at the unexpected liquid that invaded and stung. Something is definitely not right about this, she thought, then tried to remember what had happened.

She remembered Paragus had found her, and they had fought. Her recent activities came flooding back to her faster and faster, until she remembered trying to sacrifice herself, only Paragus had thwarted her. She tightened her shut eyes, trying to remember what happened next, but all that came to mind was the outline of a blue silhouette. Growing angry, she soon mustered up the courage to open her eyes again, determined to find out where she was.

Fighting through the sting of the sterile liquid, Pomegra glanced through the tiny window in front of her and could just make out a blurry blue figure as it walked across the window's view looking down at something in it's hand. After a few moments, Pomegra slammed her eyes shut again and made the only logical conclusion she could. Somehow, Paragus must of transported her to a containment facility, probably to watch her mutation. She closed her eyes once again and began to growl with unbridled rage.

Bubbles erupted from around the mask on her face as Pomegra made up her mind to break out of this place if it was the last thing she did. Her fingers flexed, balling into tight fists. She then realized that she actually felt better than she had in recent years. Her normal bodily aches, she realized, were greatly lessened now. Still believing the scratch she had received in her earlier battle had begun her mutation, the girl figured the unexpected strength was coming from the virus. She thought about the small dormitories she had seen in F157 that housed all the various mutation projects and thought, no! Not me! Riimu sacrificed himself for me, just so I could be captured and turned! No!

Pomegra grit her teeth and began to exhale. More and more bubbles erupted from the mask on her face as she built up her ki. The tank started vibrating with red energy, which quickly cracked the front window, then bulged the pod on it's hinges altogether, until the sheer power the girl was building climaxed to a point where it shattered the entire tank, spewing blue liquid, glass and chunks of metal every which way in the tiny room.

Pomegra collapsed onto the newly slickened floor, landing on her hands and knees. Shards of glass and twisted metal dug into her palms and shins, but she barely felt it through her outrage. She reached up and fumbled with the breathing mask still attached to her face. After a violent tug, the mask was tossed aside and she sucked in a fresh breath as she rose up slowly to her bare feet.

The figure that Pomegra had seen through the glass was apparently a woman. The woman shrieked loudly when the tank exploded, and now the blue haired female stood wide eyed, gawking at Pomegra, the chart she held now forgotten.

Pomegra bared her teeth and crouched into an aggressive fighting stance, "You will not take me ALIVE!" Pomegra shouted with conviction as her ominous red ki energy began to swirl around her. The elite Saiyan warrior held her palm out parallel to the ground and grinned wickedly at the terror on the female's face as the frightened woman backpedaled towards the room's only doorway. Pomegra's tail swished back and forth as her palm grew warm from her eminent ki blast. I'll show you…

Vegeta sped through the hallways of Capsule Corporation, turning down one long corridor after another until he finally reached the medical ward. He felt the girl's energy spike and just made it to the doorway in time to yank a now paralyzed Bulma back and away from the red ki wave that blasted through the doorway and through the wall across from it as well in a red whirl of energy.

Vegeta held Bulma protectively against his chest and away from the blast, then released her as it dissipated. Ignoring the bluenette's frantic yelling beside him, Vegeta made his way to the jagged remains of the doorway and stood still. His onyx eyes locked with cobalt blue ones, eyes he had not seen since his childhood, or ever thought he'd see again.

She stood there, dripping wet from the sterile fluids of the regeneration tanks. Her red hair was stringy from neglect, not the short look she had before. She stood panting slightly with blood dripping from her palms and beading up around new wounds in her shins. She glared at him, unfazed, and clearly not recognizing him.

Pomegra released her ki blast, but somehow the female she had targeting was pulled out of the way at the last second. She grit her teeth and was about to step towards the door frame and finish the job-

When a man, clad only in tight black shorts, stepped into what was left of the doorway and stared her down. His mouth was set in a deep scowl and his long black hair was apparently damp as it clung to his shoulders. Pomegra could see water here and there on his bare skin as well.

Pomegra tilted her head at the newcomer. Somehow, she felt like she should know him, but she dismissed the thought. He was just another obstacle in her way. She crouched again and bared her teeth, "Let me go, or else." She threatened, her fist quickly igniting a crimson ball of ki.

The man scoffed at her, "Or else what? You are in no condition to be making hollow threats, woman."

Pomegra growled low at the obvious slight, "I assure you, there is nothing hollow about them!" She grunted out the last bit as she leapt forward, leading with the hand that held her ki energy. She tossed it at the under dressed male as she shadowed it's path towards the man. She would get out of this place through him if she had to.

Vegeta batted the weak ki blast aside and crossed his arms against his bare chest, absorbing the red headed Saiyan's surprisingly strong blow. To his further surprise, the girl kept coming, but Vegeta countered or dodged out of the way, which infuriated the girl further, he found.

Pomegra could not seem to land a single blow on this newcomer. Frustrated, she remembered her sparring matches with her feisty fox friend, and one incident in particular made her grin as she decided to change her tactic.

Vegeta watched as the girl suddenly backed off from him. She aimed her hand up to the ceiling and before he could move to her and stop her, the girl blasted another hole in the room, opening it up to the bright, morning sky. The girl leapt up into the air, stuck her tongue out childishly at Vegeta, then was out the newly created hole in a red streak. Vegeta's eyebrows furrowed in disbelief as he too rocketed out the new hole, quick on her trail.

Pomegra sped away from the containment area without another look back. She looked around as she flew, looking for any hint as to what part of the planet the bastard had taken her that had that strange looking alien female, and that new male, but she quickly noticed the landscape had changed. She pulled up to an abrupt stop and gaped slack jaw at her surroundings, utterly confused now.

The lush greenery of the land was interrupted here and there with multiple blackened pathways and large clusters of buildings that rose up high into the sky. The pathways were littered with metal contraptions of different sizes and shapes, all moving seemingly on their own in little outlined lanes. Distant traffic noises Pomegra was not familiar with hummed steadily in the background. Pomegra shook her head, "What?" She muttered to herself as she began to wonder just what the hell was going on.

Vegeta flew to a stop behind the girl, watching as she looked about wildly, no doubt confused about her surroundings.

"Are you done yet?" He asked, annoyed at this detour in her recovery.

Pomegra whirled on the male that had followed her and crouched in an aggressive fighting stance once again, "What the hell is going on here? Am I dead or something? Where am I? And who the fuck are you that can block my attacks so easily!?" She asked the new guy hastily. She needed answers, now, because she feared she had finally gone crazy. At least he didn't seem infected, and his shirtless body brought up more questions in her mind then she had answers to.

"Hmph, you are on a planet called Earth. I found you. As for who I am, well, you will figure that out soon enough, I am sure." The man crossed his arms across his bare chest, smirking subtly as he watched her struggle with his cryptic words.

Pomegra furrowed her brows at the male's words. It did not make sense. How could he of found her, then transported her here, when she was stranded on that planet without a ship or any kind of communication devise. Her only guess was he just so happened to land on the planet at just the right time. Still, it did not add up, and she was about to question him further, maybe beat some answers out of him, but she noticed two other figures fast approaching their location from behind the male. Pomegra found it was a male and a female, the latter of which made her pause her thoughts and forget about everything else around her. She recognized the female right away from her bushy red tail to her anxious, black rimmed eyes. Pomegra gasp in surprise, "Ethne…"

Pomegra felt the corner of her eyes grow moist. She floated around the man, ignored him completely now as the familiar, yet very much older Trodaí warrior pulled up to a stop, then slowly floated up closer to her. Pomegra reached a hand out. It was too good to be true. This has to be a trick…

"Is that really you, Vixen?" Pomegra asked quietly, still uncertain. The Ethne she saw in front of her was slightly disheveled. Her lip was bleeding and her hair was tousled, a look the Saiyan had hardly seen on her, so is it really her, she questioned herself. Her fears were soon laid to rest as the woman in front of her flattened her ears in a sign of affection, "Red," she murmured with watery eyes before throwing her arms around Pomegra.

Pomegra returned her friend's embrace, a bit apprehensively at first, but she realized she could feel and smell her friend in her arms, so she knew it had to be real.

Vegeta watched the two girls, two women now, that he used to know. He soon found his gaze lingering, almost noticeably on Pomegra's backside, which was clad in short black shorts, just as himself, but the roundness of her-

"Oh little Red, what did you get yourself into." The fox chided softly, breaking Vegeta's strange thoughts. Did I really just think that?!

Pomegra stared at her dearest friend in awe of her luck, and it was then she noticed something strange. Her vixen friend was wearing what appeared to be a collar now.

"I could ask the same about you! Is that a collar?" Pomegra asked, curious about the black devise around her friend's neck.

Ethne touched her collar with some trepidation, but a loud buzzing from a devise on her hip distracted everyone from the girls' happy reunion.

"Fuck," Pomegra's warrior friend muttered with distaste, clearly upset by the communicator's interference, then added, "I'll be right back."

Pomegra watched her friend float past her to Pomegra's great disappointment. She would be left with just these two new guys now. As her friend left, Pomegra did not turn around right away to face the two guys, but she did smile at the string of familiar curses she heard from her friend's mouth. As she was contemplating this comforting thought, she heard something else the fox said which shocked her to the core, to say the least.

"Not bad, Veggie." The vixen said, shameless flirting in her voice, then a giggle and the fox was floating off by the time Pomegra whirled around at the very familiar nickname. No…..it could not be!

"Vulgar Trodaí," Vegeta grumbled as the fox, always a nuisance, floated past him. His onyx eyes then locked with Pomegra's again as the Saiyan female whirled on them. Vegeta smirked at her startled expression. Priceless.

"Ve-Vegeta?!" Pomegra stuttered out in disbelief. The man across from her, not the tall one with the goofy grin, but the shorter, annoyed looking one with his arms crossed, smirked at her.

Pomegra immediately felt her cheeks grow warm from her pervious thoughts on the male's body. She shook her head to clear it, then floated forward slack jawed.

"My-my prince, oh, please forgive my rudeness," she then bowed a low bow of respect for her ruler. Is he king now? She did not know, but knew he deserved a bow at least. She righted herself again and continued to gawk in wonder.

Vegeta's smug smirk broadened at the respect he was rightfully owed, though the girl did not know their planet was destroyed, a fact he would have to share with her, but not right now. Before he could comment, his rival chimed in.

"Heh heh, hi there! It's nice to meetcha! My name's Goku, what's yours?" The tall male with the spiky black hair came forward and asked innocently. Pomegra turned her attention to him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Pomegra. Nice to meet you, Goku." She smiled, playing nice, but skeptical of the male's over enthusiasm.

"Hey, you're a Saiyan too, right? You wanna spar sometime? I mean, when you get better?" The one named Goku beamed a smile that went ear to ear.

Pomegra raised an eyebrow and tilted her head in wonder, "Uh, sure…..I guess?" She looked to her prince with a look that said 'Is he serious?'.

Vegeta rolled his eyes, "Perhaps another time, Kakkarott. Right now," he turned back to Pomegra, "you need to come back and rest."

Pomegra furrowed her brows. Kakkarott? Sounded Saiyan, but she did not think hard about it. She did find the logic in her prince's words, and decided to just go along with them. Ethne seemed to trust them, and that was good enough for her. Plus, she knew her prince would not do harm to his people unless they deserved it…right?

Pomegra nodded her head, then mumbled, "Sorry about…destroying your lab. I thought-"

"Save it for Bulma. She's the one you need to apologize to, not me. I could care less." Vegeta smirked again as he began to float towards Pomegra, then right past her, back towards Capsule Corporation.

Pomegra scrunched her brows, not knowing what a 'Bulma' was, but smiled at the tall Saiyan before she too turned and floated after her prince.

v^v^v^v^v^

"…so then Paragus found me and destroyed my cave, and I….I was so tired of running away! Hiding and sneaking, it is not the Saiyan way!" Pomegra wrapped up the telling of her survival on the desolate planet.

Vegeta nodded in confirmation, "So that is when Kakkarott and I showed up."

Pomegra was laying in a bed with an IV drip hooked to her arm, resting. She looked to the man sitting across from her bed, now fully dressed in a blue button down shirt and tan pants, curious attire to the female Saiyan, but she said nothing, just filed it away. His hair, dry now, proved to Pomegra he was her prince. No way to fake that particular hairstyle of spiked locks, or predominant widow's peak.

"You said that name before, who is that? Was he the one I saw with the blue aura?" Pomegra questioned, very curious about the comforting aura that enveloped her shortly after her battle with the commander.

Vegeta snorted, "The half wit you met earlier. He goes by his Earth name, Goku, but he is a Saiyan too. You don't remember him because he was sent out on mission when he was young."

Pomegra's eyes widened in understanding, then furrowed again, "My prince, if I may be so bold," she paused to look up at the man, then continued at his expectant stare, "where is your tail? Or his for that fact….that is why I did not recognize you."

Vegeta liked the way she always referred to him by his title, a fact that everyone else seemed to glance over, but he did not let it show as he answered her, "Kakkarott's tail got chopped off when he was a kid, and mine did shortly after I landed on this planet. Earthlings feared our Osaru form." He smirked proudly.

Just then the blue haired female from before came into the room. Pomegra had been introduced to her upon arrival, but the woman was upset about something and seemed way to busy to be bothered. Now, however, she came to check on her patient, "Do not lie to her, Vegeta!" She chided harshly, then turned to Pomegra, smiling, "He was trying to destroy Earth. Goku and his friends saved us all by chopping off his tail." The woman checked the IV drip bag as she talked.

Pomegra felt herself grow angry at the woman's blatant disrespect for her prince, but kept it to herself, "I see. So… will I have to….?" She could not even finish the thought as her hand sought her tail and laid over it protectively.

Vegeta snorted, "We will deal with that at the next full moon. In the mean time, tell me again what happened at the facility once you got there. Paragus and the others killed the giant, then what happened. How did you guys escape?"

Bulma rolled her eyes, scribbled something in the chart at the foot of the girl's bed, then left the room, leaving Vegeta and Pomegra alone once more.

Pomegra sighed, then started again, "The old scientist mutt let out a small group of bitors, which we quickly dispatched, but I SAW him take a phone call in the room, then he came back to the loud speaker and said, "Looks like you handled that well enough, a gruff gruff. How about a few more?" Pomegra recited in her best impersonation of the alien canine, albeit a bit more sarcastically. The salt and pepper mutt had a smugness in his voice that did not sit right with Pomegra, and she had spent many years thinking about it.

Vegeta snorted unintentionally at the red head's baritone impersonation, but quickly silenced himself with a feigned clearing of his throat, "So that is when Paragus became infected?" He asked, remembering the former commander more, once the girl had named him.

"Yes. The scientist pushed a series of buttons in the room he was in, then all the roll up doors around the perimeter of the room we were in started to roll up. Hundreds of mutants, my prince, started shambling out towards us. We were able to fly, or course, but the old mutt prepared for that too. That is why I believe our mission was premeditated. It was too organized to be otherwise."

Vegeta again nodded his head, "Continue."

Pomegra sighed, "The scientist had the floor rigged, my prince. Once all the bitors were out of their confinement rooms, I watched the scientist between blasts, and saw him shake another scientist's hand, they nodded, then the two men started walking away out a door in the back of the room, right after the old mutt pushed one last button on the control console," she sat up straighter and Vegeta saw the anger sweep her face, "Then the floor began to rise up."

Vegeta nodded, remembering her telling him this part at the beginning of her tale. Honestly, he remembered everything she said just fine, but for some reason, he wanted an excuse to keep talking to her. He dismissed the strangeness of this, vowing never to share it with anyone, and told himself he just wanted to get the facts straight.

"Riimu, Beetu and I flew to the top as some of the others freaked out. Some were mauled by mutants in their panic…" She trailed off. Vegeta watched her eyes dance in remembrance of such a gruesome affair.

Pomegra gulped, then looked back up at the prince, "That's when I blasted a hole in the ceiling and we made out escape. We were hoping some of the others would follow, but only Paragus did awhile later. When we were going to check on the ship…" She trailed off again, her mind conjuring up the image of Riimu, her wonderful, brave Riimu, saluting her with a smile as he left to fight Paragus. She twirled a strand of the grey and maroon blanket coving her around her pinky, then unraveled it, over and over. He DID find us that time, like he promised, but then-

"Are you ok, woman?" Vegeta asked, curious about the look that past over the female's face. She stopped talking and was fidgeting uneasily and her mood seemed to be declining in a hurry.

Pomegra's head snapped up on reflex, "It is Pomegra! Damn it!" She then immediately sucked in her breath and covered her mouth with both hands. Her cobalt eyes glanced up at Vegeta, caught his briefly, then she closed hers as she bowed her head to her lap. She had disrespected the prince. He was always such a hard ass and was well known for his quick temper and even quicker response. Pomegra could not believe she-

"Whatever, woman. It is about time for you to get some rest," he rose to leave then with his usual air of self assurance, "I will send a servant in with some food for you. You look like you need it, even after your lunch earlier," He smirked, then started walking towards the door.

Pomegra's head popped up from her bow in bewilderment. This is prince Vegeta?! He is acting so…so…so friendly! What the-? ..… Oh gods what have I missed!….

Vegeta cocked his head at the weird face the girl made, apparently in thought, but again he dismissed it, "Hmph, ja matta (later)," he stated dryly as he stepped towards the doorway.

Pomegra came out of her thoughts and looked up at the man walking out of her room. She decided in that moment to see just how different the prince was now, because the man in front of her looked like her prince, but he did not act in a manner that she remembered. Something has happened to him….but what would make him this…..this placid?

"Th-thank you, my prince," she then curled her lip in a half smile, " Or am I allowed to call you Vegeta now, too?" She smirked, gaging his reaction.

Vegeta paused in the door frame to the small room, and glanced back at the Saiyan in the bed. The way his named rolled off her tongue had a curious effect on him. He stiffened his back, but his pride was hurt for her even asking. "What makes you think that?" He questioned her.

"Well, you let the Earth woman keep her tongue for one," she mused, smiling coyly at her pre-determined response, "surely I out class her," Pomegra sneered dismissively.

Vegeta worked hard to suppress a smile, and succeeded, but inside he wanted to burst out laughing. If only Bulma had heard that. Now there is a fight I would watch, he thought with pleasure to himself.

"Get some rest. We'll talk later," he then left the room before she could respond again.

Pomegra settled back on the pillow in wonder. She yawned loudly as she recapped all that had happened that day. This morning, she woke up to a nightmare, and now she felt like she was in a dream, but she decided if she was, then she did not want to wake.

Ethne….I sure hope you come back soon and help me make some sense of this place….

She fell asleep, and for the first time in over thirty years, she slept soundly.

Author's notes:

Whew! Cool! So Ethne found Pomegra! Yay! But….some strange things are going on in the universe around them…

Come back and read more! I love how Pomegra is shocked at how drastically different our prince is from his younger self…she thinks he's PLACID! Lol, Vegeta…placid…..

….your thoughts?

I wonder how that will play out…?

Reviews, questions, comments all welcome!

Until next time,

~K

(P.S. Don't forget to catch up on Ethne's tale to find out where she is going….and what do you think is up with that collar? *wink*)

All reviews and feedback are GREATLY APPRECIATED by myself, and my fiery vixen friend! (DemonessOfHelheim)

Look for Pomegra on the PS4 Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 server! I am on there, level 90 now, and accept all challenges! Come fight my survivor! *wink*