Empire: A Family Affair
Chapter 7: Round 1
Bra walked down the main street in Kohl in broad daylight. The young princess stuck out like a sore thumb among the bleakly-colored aliens. She winced as dust was kicked up around her and into her eyes. Oddly enough, no one had taken notice of the abnormally-colored Saiyan princess yet. Thinking nothing of it, Bra followed her mother's energy all the way to Cooler's enormous base in the center of the city.
Two guards were standing in front of the gates. Bra took note of their size. One was big, like Brolly. The other reminded her of the alien Brolly had told her to stay away from him she saw him. They did not seem to be taking their jobs all that seriously. Bra smiled and skipped right up to them. The larger one noticed her first.
"Hello!" Bra squeaked.
"Get lost, runt," the big one said. The short one glanced over at them.
"What do you want, kid? Get out of here!" he yelled at her. Bra looked at him, her smile never faltering.
"I wanna go inside. Can you let me in?" she asked sweetly. "Please?"
The big one made one mistake. He made eye contact with Bra. He nodded like an obedient dog and stepped to the side. His partner looked at him quizzically. He noticed the slightly dazed expression and how cloudy his partner's eyes were. Then he glared at Bra, who had already entered through the gates.
"You little witch!" he yelled at her. Bra turned around and stuck her tongue out at him before running away. She heard a struggle behind her and knew that the two guards were involved in a battle to the death, just like she had planned.
Bra climbed a tree to stay hidden. She searched for her mother's energy in the large compound before her. A smile crept to her face when she felt Bulma's minuscule signature in the rear of the compound.
I'll take her by surprise! the little Saiyan thought as she flew off.
Denni's space pod landed in the port of Kohl. After yelling at some of the workers, she was finally shown to the private hangar where Bulma's ship was being kept. When she got there, she found it in utter chaos.
Engineers were putting the panels back on the engines, nearing the completion of their work. Tools were in disarray. What confused Denni the most was that the queen was nowhere in sight and neither were any of her detail. She immediately boarded the ship and headed for the control room. Brolly was in his usual spot. He looked up when he noticed her.
"Before you start talking, let me ask this question." Denni sat across from him. "Do I even want to know?" she asked. Brolly just sighed.
Bulma stood on a balcony, holding a goblet of wine. Cooler had been drilling her with questions since she had arrived. Most of them had to do with her technological advances in warfare. After all, that was Bulma's area of expertise.
"It doesn't bother you that you build weapons of mass destruction, queen?" he asked. Bulma leaned forward against the railing of the balcony.
"Cooler, I'm MARRIED to a weapon of mass destruction. I don't see why building them should affect me when I know my own husband is capable of the same kind of destruction. Besides," she took a sip of her wine, "I don't sell weapons to mass murderers."
Cooler watched her for a moment. Bulma tried not to notice him looking at her. Instead, she turned to look at the city over the wall. Then she felt the air displacement behind her. Bulma stood up straight with a subtle movement, continuing to stare directly ahead.
"Would you sell me any weapons, queen?" Cooler asked from behind her.
"No. Knowing the way your foul, little mind works, genocide would be the outcome of such a transaction," Bulma said.
"You have mistaken me for my brother, queen," Cooler said with a chuckle. Bulma turned her head to the side, knowing he was still behind her.
"Have I?" A long pause followed as Cooler contemplated just what she was getting at. Bulma smirked and faced the wall again. "Besides, they'd only go to waste, Cooler. You'd never use them."
"Why would you think such a thing? Of course I would."
"Your EGO wouldn't allow you to. You prefer to watch your victims die; the up close and personal approach to butchery," Bulma said dryly.
"You know me far too well, queen," Cooler said with a smirk.
"I suppose I do. Anything else you wish to ask?" Bulma faced him.
"Yes." Cooler stepped closer to her and leaned in to her ear. Bulma did not flinch. "How is your baby girl?" he asked as she was taking a sip of her wine.
Bulma's breath caught as she swallowed. She watched Cooler step away from her. As quickly as the surprise had appeared on her face, confusion replaced it as she furrowed her eyebrows in question.
"I don't have a daughter, Cooler. Just a slacker son," she said. Cooler just smiled. "What?"
"How easily the lies come to those luscious pink lips of yours, queen. And I suppose you didn't go to Grexia, either?" he asked. Bulma's face did not change, but her fear was steadily growing.
How does he know all of this?
"Choose your next words carefully, queen."
"I didn't go to Grexia. What would I, Queen of Vegeta-sei and Earth, look like in a place like that?"
The words had barely finished being said before Cooler's hand closed around Bulma's tiny neck. Bulma dropped her goblet, spilling wine around their feet. She began to claw at Cooler's hand. Cooler just smiled evilly at her.
"You little, little liar. Queens shouldn't have to lie, Queen Bulma. Why would you lie to me?" Cooler asked. Bulma narrowed her eyes at him.
"What makes you think I am lying?" she ground out.
"Why else would you be way out here, queen? Certainly not to make a house call on me." Cooler loosened his vice grip on her a bit. "Why were you there?"
"Why do you care?" Cooler pinched her. "Equipment!" she yelled.
"I see. As good a reason as any other, I suppose. I have no interest in your scientific endeavors for the moment. What does interest me is your daughter."
"I already told you that..." Bulma gasped loudly when Cooler's nails dug into her skin.
"Why do you lie? I thought we were friends, queen. Do you not trust me?" Cooler asked. Bulma glared at him.
"Do you really want the answer to that question?" she mumbled. Cooler smirked and tightened his grip.
"Where is she?"
Bulma could no longer gather the air to scream. Her lungs would simply not fill. In a moment, they would begin to burn. Cooler was slowly killing her. She was really going to die right here, right...
A blue light flashed between Bulma and Cooler. Bulma blinked and stumbled backwards out of the wine she had been standing in. She fell on the floor, wheezing. Then she realized that there was a hand and forearm extending from her neck. She immediately pulled it off and noticed that Cooler was indeed missing his right arm from the elbow down. He did not seem too concerned about it, though. Something to his right had caught his attention. Still rubbing her neck, Bulma looked to her left. Her eyes widened.
Bra, she thought.
Sure enough, the six-year-old was levitating a few feet from the balcony. She was glaring maliciously at Cooler. Bulma got to her feet. She had never seen such venom in Bra's eyes before. It was as if the child was possessed.
"Don't touch my mommy," Bra said. Cooler smirked. He glanced over at Bulma.
"Just a slacker son, eh?" he mused aloud. Bulma looked away from him and back at Bra.
"Bra, go back to the..." Bulma stopped as Cooler pulled her closer to him with his left arm. "I'd release me."
"I'm curious about the runt's power. Does she always exhibit such raw fearlessness?" Cooler asked.
"Bra's always been fearless; she's half-Saiyan." Bulma wriggled free of Cooler. As she turned to face him, a blue blur flew by her. Bulma blinked and noticed that Cooler was gone. She turned her head to the right. "Bra?"
Bra was holding Cooler against the stone wall. In his weakened state, the alien could not do much against the six-year-old. It took Bulma a moment to realize what was happening. She took a step forward, but another voice stopped her.
"Queen Bulma!" Denni called from behind Bulma. She landed next to Bulma and looked the shocked queen over. "Where's the pri..." Denni glanced towards the wall. "Oh..."
Bra narrowed her eyes into slits. Cooler just smirked down at the child. He did not believe that she was in control of any of her actions. Unfortunately, that was an assumption he would come to regret.
"Don't ever touch my mommy again," Bra said.
"Or what, youngling? Your mommy and I go way back. Do I have you to fear if I 'touch' her again?" Cooler taunted. Bra placed a tiny hand on his abdomen. For a moment she looked nothing like Bulma; she resembled Vegeta.
"Yeah." A big blue blast that had no business whatsoever coming from a six-year-old girl shot through Cooler, the wall, and several rooms behind it. The alien looked down at the gaping hole in his body before glaring back up at an even more shocked Bulma. The three watched Cooler fall back.
"Is he..." Bulma started. Denni chuckled.
"Dead? Far from it. He's been through worse." An alarm started to sound. "He'll be pleasantly pissed when he's regenerated himself, though. I think we should leave," she said. Bulma nodded and glanced at Bra.
"Bra honey?" She began to approach her daughter. Bra turned around, yawning and rubbing her eye.
"Mommy, I'm sle..." The child passed out. Bulma managed to catch her. She faced Denni just as some of Cooler's guards appeared. Denni moved quickly towards Bulma, scooping her up and flying off.
Back at the ship, Brolly had it already in the air. Denni made it to the gate with the queen and princess. He immediately had the gate closed after they flew in. Without a word, Bulma took her daughter to the infirmary. Bra was not hurt, but she always woke up with a headache after one of her episodes.
After sitting with her daughter in silence for a moment or two, Bulma left for the control room. She stopped in her lab for a certain object that she had to drag because of its weight. Then she continued on to the control room. Denni and Brolly were waiting for her there.
Brolly stood as Bulma approached him, dragging the large object behind her with an effort. She was two strides from him when she put both hands on the object and swung it. It went clear across Brolly's face. Denni winced as she heard bones crack. Brolly held his head to the side for a moment and then glanced back at the queen. Her whole body was turned and she was breathing hard.
"Why... No... HOW the FUCK did my daughter get into Kohl? How did she find me?" Then she looked at Denni. "And how or why are you here?"
"Well, the king sent me to help, your majesty," Denni said. Bulma stared at her for a moment, considering her answer. Then she nodded.
"Fair enough." She turned her murderous glare back on Brolly. "Brolly?"
"She escaped somehow," he answered. Bulma squeezed the object. She swung it again across Brolly's head. Denni winced again. Brolly spit out blood and with it a tooth. Bulma's momentum was so great that she had to release the heavy object in order for her to stop. Someone in the front of the control room caught it before it could do anymore damage. Bulma glared back at Brolly.
"Brolly, she's a fucking QUASAR when it comes to energy! How did you not notice THAT much energy sneaking past you?" Bulma all but yelled. Brolly did not answer. Denni looked between the two.
"Perhaps the princess has learned to disguise her power. It would make sense. She is very, very smart," Denni said.
Bulma thought about that for a moment. Bra was her daughter. Plus, she did train with Vegeta sometimes.
I should give that man a piece of my mind... Bulma looked towards the video screen.
10 minutes later...
"YOU WHAT?!" Bulma yelled.
Vegeta had just told her that he had held the search party back. Now Bulma was holding a stress ball, wishing it was Vegeta's head.
"Calm down, woman. This just shows that the bratling's survival techniques are far better than expected. This sort of thing builds character in a good monarch. You're not having enough faith in your daughter," Vegeta said.
"Vegeta, she's six! If she was ten, perhaps I'd be a little more understanding." Bulma sat down. She was starting to get a migraine. "Bra attacked Cooler."
This interested Vegeta. He knew of his daughter's violent outbursts. He also knew that Bra was well aware of what she was doing in one. It might not have been the most rational train of thought, but she knew what was going on.
"So what happened?" Vegeta asked. Bulma sighed.
"Cooler lost an arm and got a hole blown through him." A smirk came to her face as she glanced up at Vegeta. "I think it's safe to say Bra won." She began chuckling.
"Just come home, woman." Vegeta cut the transmission.
Trunks and Goten strolled through the marketplace in Halcyon, the capital city of a planet in the empire called Aurelius. The inhabitants were humanoid, mostly blonde, and from what Trunks and Goten could tell, all female. Some looked at the Saiyan teenagers with disdain while others appeared intrigued.
But they were all in absolute awe of Trunks.
"I think you have fans, Trunks," Goten whispered. Trunks took notice of the women, young and old, occasionally ogling him. "Maybe it's these luscious locks of yours." Goten ruffled Trunks' hair. The young prince had let his lavender hair grow to his shoulders.
"Shut up, Goten. Why are we on a planet full of women, anyway? How did we get stuck with this mission?" Trunks asked. He watched a particularly pretty, half-naked lady walk past him. She smiled sheepishly at him. "Not that I'm complaining or anything."
"Of course not. Why would you?" Paris said from behind them. As usual, Liss was standing quietly beside her.
"What do you want?" Trunks asked. Paris produced a transcript Trunks could only assume was their mission.
"You left Hadrian Nine without it, YOUR MAJESTY," Paris said snidely.
"What does it say?" Goten asked.
"We have to pick up something from the mines for your mother," Liss said. Trunks crossed his arms and frowned.
"Since when have I become an errand boy for Mother? Doesn't she have techs for this sort of thing?" he complained.
"Apparently, this is something that requires a bit of muscle to protect it." Goten looked back at Trunks. "It's a Level Zero mission."
This got Trunks' attention. In the Saiyan military protocol, there were 10 different ranks given to missions. The ranks were given based on importance and/or difficulty to complete the mission. Chance of survival was taken into account as well. The levels ranged from 0 to 9; 0 being the highest and 9 being the lowest. This potentially dangerous mission the teenagers had been given evidently ranked among the most lethal.
"So where is this mine and what are we looking for?" Trunks asked.
"The mine is outside the city. We're getting an adamantine ormulo. There's a warning that says it's toxic. We head straight to Vegeta-sei once we have it," Liss said quietly. Trunks nodded.
"Well, let's go." He started walking. The other three followed, knowing that the prince was the unspoken leader of the group.
The adamantine ormulo was an oddly-shaped red stone no bigger than your average uncut diamond. It was emitting its own light. The miners seemed to know of the queen's request. One of the miners approached Trunks with a box containing the precious stone. Before she handed it over, she looked Trunks firmly in the eye.
"This substance is very, very dangerous. Not only is it toxic, but it is very sensitive. The slightest bit of jarring could set it off. If it is tampered with, it will create a rip in time and space, not explode."
"A black hole?" Trunks questioned.
"Something of the sort," the woman replied. "It is also the target of space pirates. It's a very valuable asset on the black market. Be safe, your majesty." She handed the box over to Trunks.
For something so ridiculously lethal, it was surprisingly light. Trunks turned towards Goten, Liss, and Paris. His whole countenance had changed; it was time to take care of business. The others stepped in closer to listen to their prince.
"At every checkpoint, we will hand it off. There are exactly four checkpoints from here to Vegeta-sei. If we stop at all four, when we arrive at Vegeta-sei, I should have it back. Let's go," Trunks said. The others all nodded. Trunks took the air and the other three followed.
Slowly, the repaired gate of Bulma's ship lowered in front of Vegeta. He stood with his arms crossed, feet shoulder-width apart, cape billowing out behind him, staring vacantly out at the forlorn ship. Since his last talk with his wife, they had not spoken. He assumed she was either working, fussing over Bra, or both. His money was on the third option. The woman always worried too much.
But in her "radio silence," a new problem had arisen. She had Vegeta's permission to be concerned when she heard about it.
"DADDY!"
Before Vegeta could brace himself, his daughter had plowed into his abdomen. The sheer force of her momentum sent them flying a few feet back and into the ground. Vegeta had honestly NOT expected that. AT ALL. Now Bra was sitting cross-legged on top of him, rambling about her adventures like nothing had happened. And he was under her, completely winded.
She really doesn't know her own strength, Vegeta thought. He had zoned out and had not seen his daughter coming. Still, the most he should have felt was a punch to the gut. He took note that Bra had grown a few inches. She can at least hide it well...
"Is there a reason you two are on this dusty ground?" Bulma stood over them, blocking out one of the suns. Bra looked up and smiled.
"I knocked Daddy down," she said with a deceptively innocent giggle.
"Did you now?" Bulma smiled and crossed her arms. The look in Vegeta's eyes promised all sorts of revenge if she laughed. Instead, Bulma pulled Bra off her father and Vegeta stood. "Bra, go find some... one to beat up, hmm?"
"Okay!" The child skipped off towards the palace, leaving her parents behind.
Vegeta and Bulma moved at a slower pace. Bulma was more or less following Vegeta. He still had yet to say anything to her. Bulma realized that he was heading towards a relatively secluded area in the palace. No one but Vegeta (and Bulma) was allowed. It was the Rose Garden.
When they entered the greenhouse, Bulma stepped around her oddly-silent husband. The roses were everywhere. They were in different colors, too. Red, white, canary yellow, pink, etc. Bulma walked over to the center of the garden and faced Vegeta. She opened her mouth to speak but before she could, Vegeta finally spoke.
"The Galactic Police sent me a notice yesterday," Vegeta said. Bulma raised an eyebrow.
"What? Have some overdue parking tickets at one of the docks? I swear they are always trying to find a way to milk us for money," she said with a laugh. She sat down on a fountain's edge and played with the water. After a moment, she noticed Vegeta's silence again. "What is it, Vegeta?" She did not face him.
"There's a warrant," Vegeta sighed, "for the bratling's arrest," he finished.
Bulma turned on him so fast that her hair fell out of the knot it was in. She stood up, squeezing her fists together at her sides. Vegeta raised an eyebrow. So far, she was taking it rather well. Ten years ago, Bulma would have been ripping down rose vines. Now she was just trying to draw blood from her palms. He prepared himself for the screeching that was sure to come.
"But she's SIX! Who arrests a fucking KID?" Bulma took a few deeps breaths and looked down. Then she crossed her arms and looked up at her husband. Vegeta noticed she looked like a totally different person. "On what charge?" she asked calmly.
"Assault and attempted murder of a high-ranking official," Vegeta said dryly. Bulma blinked.
"Assa... atte... mur..." Bulma could not even form the words. She looked away from Vegeta. "High-ranking official? Who?"
"Cooler."
"What?"
"He does rule several planets, woman." Vegeta pinched the bridge of his nose. Bulma watched him. It was such an... un-Vegeta-like action. She cleared her throat.
"We're going to Sentra Five to clear this up right now." Bulma started to walk towards the exit past Vegeta. Vegeta grabbed her arm. She turned and faced him. "What, Vegeta?"
"What are you doing, woman?"
"I'm not letting them take my little girl. They aren't coming to my home to drag her out like some common criminal. The council will know of my wrath." She shrugged Vegeta off and left the garden. Vegeta sighed and followed her out at his own pace.
Damn she's beautiful when she's mad, he thought with a smirk.