With Vegeta severely injured and trapped in a cage it seems it's Bulma's turn this round. How will her Earthly physique hold up against these alien warriors? Stay tuned!
Ding, Round 2
Even after thoroughly examining the room twice Bulma could find no means of escape. The bastard child had taken to the screens in the middle of the room that were showing some show where a bunch of fighters were battling it out.
Just as Bulma had taken to inspecting the large double doors on the opposite side of the room for the third time a small metallic robot seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
"Why hello there!" It chirped as it whirled around the room over to Bulma. "Welcome to Meuhvachidor! And good luck on your upcoming challenge!" it chirped as it unlocked the double doors, allowing them to swing open.
For a moment Bulma was blinded by the sudden contrast in lighting, but her eyes quickly adjusted and she could make out a large arena filled to the brim with all matter of alien life. The arena reminded her of the coliseum in Rome and in her Saiyan armor she felt like a gladiator.
The ground before her was made of compact dirt, stretching out before her in all directions. She took a few tentative steps forward when a loud slam informed her that the doors had shut behind her, blocking any retreat. A quick scan of her surroundings indicated that the arena was long and elliptical, but as she turned her gaze toward her right her eyes locked onto a humanoid looking figure in the middle of the arena.
Whipping around to face her would-be attacker she raised her hands to ward off an attack she was sure would follow, but the figure never moved. Lowering her arms Bulma took a few tentative steps forward, her eyebrow raised in confusion. As she inched closer she noticed the figure was on its knees with its arms extended to either side, bound by chains. The chains were attached to large circular weights half buried in the dirt.
Bulma froze in her steps, unsure how to proceed. Could this be a fearsome warrior chained so it would not tear her to pieces immediately, or was it another prisoner bound so that they could be torn to pieces by some unseen beast? Swallowing her fear and gathering her courage Bulma ran toward the figure, ready to free them should they be friendly or flee should they be a monster.
As she drew closer she felt fear creep up her spine as she realized the figure still hadn't moved, not even an inch. It was on it's knees, it's torso bent over with it's head hanging forward and it's short mane of flame red hair in disarray. It's well toned and muscular arms flowed into enormous shoulders covered in scars.
As Bulma approached it lifted it's head and it's blood red eyes locked onto hers and she felt her blood turn to ice. She could feel panic shoot through her spine, willing her legs to turn and run but she could not move. She tried to think, to blink, to move but muscles were no longer her own. She felt the blood red eyes boring a hole through her mind and into her soul.
"Don't look it in the eyes!" shouted the bastard child as he flung himself into Bulma, freeing her from her trance and knocking her from her feet. As her senses returned Bulma noticed a black shadow on the ground before her. Terror filled her as she flung herself away from an unseen foe. As she staggered to her feet she cast her gaze upwards and once again was struck motionless.
Above her hung a cage, small and short, containing the scariest monster in the entire universe, her monster.
Her eyes locked with Vegeta and all the anger she had felt melted away as her heart filled with dread. One side of his face was oozing blood and every vein in his face was black and bulging. Even the veins in his eyes where stained black with death as those stone cold coal eyes looked at her. The ragged sound of him desperately sucking in each gulp of air filled her ears and she could see the sheen of his effort on his forehead. As her eyes moved down she cried out in horror as the black and purple oozing bruise that remained of Vegeta's chest caught her eye. Even as she tried to avert her eyes she caught sight of his arm, the veins all the way up to his shoulder were black, and his hand was all but burnt black.
Without a word her eyes returned to his and she placed a hand over her heart as if trying to hold it so it wouldn't fall from her chest.
"Look out!" screamed the bastard as Bulma's vision blurred and she felt herself lifted from the ground and flung backward. As her back slammed against the ground she felt the white-hot pain erupt from her back as she let out a blood-curdling scream. Before her the world erupted in flames of white as millions of needles plunged themselves into her mind, drilling deeper as the pain from her back spread all over her body.
Bulma could hear noise but she could no longer understand what the words were saying. As the ringing in her ears ebbed and the world slowly melted out of the fog before her eyes she could feel someone tugging on her arm. "We must keep moving!" she finally understood. Without thinking she could feel herself hauling herself to feet before stumbling forward on shaky legs.
As Bulma stumbled forward the ground behind her erupted in chunks of earth and clouds of dust. Once again without thinking she could feel her legs running beneath her, dodging eruptions of dirt and cutting through thick plumes of dust. As she looked back she could see the flame red figure, standing, using his chains to swing the large weights around over his head before hurling them toward her.
Realizing this Bulma took a sharp turn left and ran in the opposite direction, putting distance between them instead of running parallel to him. As she ran she heard a furious roar from behind her as the figure could no longer reach her with his ball and chain.
Out of breath Bulma stopped and looked back, glad to see the bastard child had been following closely behind her. She quickly grabbed him and pulled him to her chest, stroking his fuzzy head in an attempt to reassure him.This will be a game of brain versus brawn, she thought to herself as she observed the beast glaring at her with its blood red eyes but she forced herself to look away.
She quickly took stock of her assets. The ground was hard and compact but it shot up thick clouds of dust when struck with the beast's fierce attacks. The walls were far too high to climb, even with assistance from the bastard child. The crowd was clearly enjoying the spectacle and Bulma knew they would be of no help to her. The bastard child was scared and weak, with no armor to protect his brittle skin. With pleading eyes she gazed up at Vegeta, but he was clearly fighting to stay conscious. His stone cold eyes were glazed over with a film of horrible pain and her heart sank to her heels as she realized he could never help her, it was taking all his strength to help himself.
Bulma was pulled from her thoughts as she watched in horror as one of the weights came out of nowhere and rammed into Vegeta's cage, sending him soaring through the air. But just as he was about to slam into the arena wall the chain holding the chain pulled taut and swung the cage back toward the center of the arena where the beast waited.
Bulma realized in horror that the beast would kill Vegeta if she did not distract him. Turning her attention back to the beast she could see him whipping both his chains over and around his head, swinging both weights in great circles around him as it awaited the return of its new punching bag.
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Vegeta could fell himself falling, falling through the floor of the cage and through the floor of the arena, falling through the planet itself. The toxin may have been reduced from his lethal dosage but it still coursed through his veins and left a trail of burning pain as it flowed through him.
He couldn't think. He couldn't feel the cage beneath his feet, or the clothes on his skin, all he could feel was the pain surging through his body. For a brief moment the pain had subsided, and the vision of an angel with teal blue hair had appeared in the distance, but the brief ray of relief quickly faded and he was plunged back into darkness.
Without warning the pain in his body exploded violently and his vision was blurred by a red haze. After a few blinks Vegeta faintly wondered if it was his blood but his thoughts were becoming hard to grasp and soon they thought slipped away and he once again found himself in the vengeful embrace of mind numbing, burning pain.
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Bulma ran as quickly as she her feet could carry her across the dirt, torpedoing her directly toward the red-eyed monster. The monster paid her no attention as he watched his punching bag make its return swing. Bulma watched a forked black tongue escape from the monsters lips as it watched the blood drip from Vegeta's cage.
Rage fueled Bulma's adrenaline powered muscles as she barreled toward the monster. Just as she reached the limit of the monsters reach she leapt into the air, narrowly missing the first weight as it surged under her feet. As she sprinted forward she flung herself to the ground as the second weight went whizzing just over her head. Relentlessly she jumped to her feet and kept running.
The monster now directed all his attention toward Bulma as it brought both weights around, intent on killing her. As Bulma saw the weights emerge in her peripheral vision she launched herself forward, flattening her body to be parallel with ground before she twisted between the two weights as they whirled by. With a roar, the monster brought his arms to his side then back then arced them over his head as he plunged the weights down toward Bulma. Without thinking Bulma frantically rolled herself sideways but she didn't roll far enough as the weights came crashing down.
Bulma's right hand was desperately trying to pull itself to rejoin the rest of her body as she rolled but as the weights came crashing down it didn't escape in time. Horrific pain shot through Bulma's arm and rammed into Bulma's brain like an angry bull. Bulma shrieked as she desperately tried to pry her arm free from beneath the weight but her feeble strength couldn't budge the weight from her crushed hand. As she frantically flung her body against the weight she froze in fear as a tall dark shadow loomed over her.
Stiffening her lower lip she looked up at the beast standing before her. With a devilish grin it placed it raised it's foot and with a tap of its toe the weight rolled away with ease. Snatching her crushed and bloody hand Bulma boldly looked the monster square in the eye and snarled – like Vegeta would do in the face of danger. As the monster approached to wipe the grin off Bulma's face the ground behind it exploded in a cloud of dirt as the bastard child launched himself out from the ground and sank his venomous fangs into the monster's thick neck. The monster roared and tried to rip the bastard child off its back but it was restrained by it's own chains and its arms could not reach.
Bulma clutched her hand to her chest as she watched the monster fall to its knees before her. As she looked him in the eye she felt her heart thud with regret as the blood red eyes gazed up at her with sadness. The monster turned its head to gaze upward, and as Bulma followed its gaze she realized another cage hung above the arena. This cage contained a small shaking child, it's mane of flame red hair clinging to its tear stricken face.
The monster let out a pitiful roar and reached its arm upward toward the cage as the child reached its arm outward but it was too late, the monster fell into the dirt as the blackness of death corroded its veins and seeped into its pores.
The bastard child did not release his hold from the monster until he was satisfied his venom had ended its life. Once he was satisfied he slowly removed his fangs and pushed himself to his feet. Once he spied Bulma's crushed hand he fell to the ground before her and apologized profusely for not killing the monster soon enough.
But Bulma hardly heard him, her eyes were still gazing sadly at the small child who clearly had just lost a parent. But a dull thud snapped Bulma from her trance as she realized that Vegeta's cage had been released and had fallen to the ground. Ignoring the pain coursing from her back and surging from her hand she got up and ran to him.
As she fell to her knees beside his cage she gasped in horror at the large gash in his head that now bleed black. Fumbling with the lock she couldn't contain the whimper that escaped, as her shaking left hand could not unlock the cage on its own.
Slowly and without a sound the bastard child approached and calmly unlatched the cage and pulled back the crushed metal that contained Vegeta.
Bulma wiped her eyes with her good hand and forced herself to take a few steady breaths. Grabbing the side of the cage with her left hand she glanced at the bastard child and wordlessly he bent and grabbed the other side of the cage. Together they lifted Vegeta in his impromptu stretcher and carried him from the arena and back through the double doors from which they had come.
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As Vegeta slowly opened his eyes his groggy mind realized he was gazing up at the ceiling of the infirmary, where he had been not so long ago. Will I ever leave this place? Sensing Bulma by his side he turned his head ever so slightly so that he could glare at her.
The hate burning in his heart was stunned into submission upon the sight of her mangled appearance. Her face was caked in dirt and blood, her hair dirty and knotted, her hand wrapped in blood soaked linen, and her body adorned in a saiyan battle suit. She was sitting in a chair beside his bed, her head resting on her good hand as she dozed lightly.
Vegeta tried to call the anger and hate he had felt when she dared raise her hand to strike him, but he could not find the strength. The pain that had blinded and bound him was now dull and he could once again grasp his thoughts. A voice over the intercom was announcing the surprise victory of a prize over a contender. No, he thought, impossible.
Slowly he began to sense another life form on his other side and he turned his head ever so slightly to investigate. On a bed adjacent to his lay the bastard son of King Aracono, curled into a ball and fast asleep. But still his senses tingled with the presence of an unknown life. Past the shape of the bastard child Vegeta could just barely see the tip of another bed, but it was impossible to tell what it contained.
With a grunt Vegeta forced his sore and pained muscles into submission as he painstakingly moved himself into a sitting position. With a moan Bulma stirred and Vegeta found himself holding his breath. Silently he watched her sit up and rub her eyes with her good hand as she let out a yawn.
Sleepy eyed she gazed up at him and for a moment her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Then realization pronounced itself in her features as her eyesbrows shot upwards, her eyes opened wide, and her mouth curled upwards into a smile as she gasped in surprise. With a burst of excitement she flung herself upon his chest causing Vegeta to let out a moan of pain as his brain pounded against his skull threatening to break it in two.
With another gasp Bulma yanked herself away, holding her hands in the air as her face contorted with worry. Vegeta growled as he clenched his fists and waited for the pain to subside. Once he recovered his composure he turned to look at the woman who dare touch him a second time.
"Oh Vegeta I'm so sorry!" she squealed as she clutched the front of her armor with her good hand while the other hung limply at her side.
Ignoring her Vegeta prepared to stand when the door burst open and the face of the bastard muehvache strode through the door. With a snarl Vegeta leapt from the bed, only to be overcome with a gut wrenching pain that turned his legs to liquid beneath him and once again he felt himself falling.
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Bulma watched in horror as Vegeta tried in vain to stand before he toppled to the ground. She heard his name escape her lips and felt herself attempt to reach over the bed and catch him. She watched helplessly as the image of Vegeta suddenly receded as she was yanked away by her tormentor.
Screaming and kicking she fought against her captor with all her might but when it grabbed her already crushed hand in it's fingers and squeezed she was reduced to a sobbing pathetic captive as it hauled her away.
She reached for Vegeta as it yanked her past but her tears blurred her vision and her hand smacked painfully against the edge of the metal bed.
The bastard child had leapt to its feet but Bulma watched helplessly as the Muehvache slammed the door in its face and proceeded to drag Bulma away.
"VEGETA!" Bulma heard herself scream before a flame red fist reduced her consciousness to blackness.
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Ding ding, round two is concluded and it seems our heroes are a little worse for wear. Finally reunited for the briefest moment will Vegeta be able to salvage his strength in time to save Bulma, or will this be Vegeta's final chapter? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z!