A/n
This chapter is currently unbetad due to life getting in the way for me this week so I apologise in advance for any mistakes. I will upload the corrected version at my beta's convenience.
Hope you enjoy it, a huge thank you for your follows and comments so far! They mean a lot and give me motivation.
Bulma's head was spinning with the events of the day. She had broken the lockdown and evacuated everyone, keeping the scouter switched on to get a warning if the Saiyan made good on his promise to kill them all.
She stood with a confused group of her team on the front lawn, at a total loss as to what to do.
Emergency services were already on the scene, taking statements and reporting into their offices in the city.
Bulma's scouter beeped and lit up, indicating a power level nearby. Her blood froze and she remained rooted to the spot, watching it approach.
How could she have let the Saiyan influence her so much? How could she have let her guard down and let him escape? And what would his 'friends' do when they got there?
She felt like crying with relief as Goku, Gohan and Krillin came around the corner and started trying to make sense of what they were looking at.
She ran over and embraced Gohan with all her might.
"Am I glad to see you guys!" She exclaimed, "We could be in real trouble here!"
"So, you experimented on him, then let him escape?"
Goku wore a serious expression as he spoke. His words made Bulma shrink a little in shame.
"I just wanted to help, besides-he killed our friends!" She replied, imploring him to see it her way.
Goku's frown became more pronounced and he stayed silent.
Krillin stepped forward.
They were on the balcony at Capsule Corporation several hours later. The grounds had been cleared and the company was in a state of shut down while the authorities determined all was safe again.
Attempts to find either the Saiyan or Dylan Freeman had come to nothing and Trisk was busy conducting emergency board meetings with her father.
The monk put his hands on Bulma's arms in a gentle manner and smiled at her.
"No one blames you, Bulma, you were upset, we get it!"
She smiled down at him but the look Goku shot her told her all she needed to know on his opinion.
"You said there are ships on their way too? Maybe we should focus on that?" Krillin suggested.
Goku nodded and Gohan squared his stance.
"What do we know, Bulma? What did Vegeta tell you?" Goku asked.
Bulma cast her mind back and tried to recall the comments she had at the time dismissed.
"He said that someone 'owns his ass'... I don't know how literally he meant that...and he kept saying we'd all die horribly… and the word 'Freeze' kept coming up...jeez, I'm sorry guys, I didn't think he was serious!"
Her Saiyan friend wore a stony expression, though his eyes had softened towards her.
"That's all we need to know. They aren't friendly and they're not going to talk. Got it."
"When are they due here, Bulma? Do we have time to train at Popo's or anything?" Gohan asked.
Bulma shook her head and looked towards the darkening horizon.
"Our equipment is in the lab and the police have it all cordoned off down there. They were approaching fast though. I'd say we have a couple of hours, maybe less…"
"Nothing to do but wait then." Came Goku's reply.
All three warrior's heads jerked up all of a sudden less than two hours later. Bulma looked at the shocked faces and placed her drink back on the living room table top.
They had moved indoors as the night had brought with it a chill. She sensed the cold in the form of fear enter the room.
"What is it?" She asked frantically, "Why are you all looking so shocked?"
"This can't be right!" Krillin answered, getting to his feet and shaking his head, "And we thought the Saiyans were strong! These powers! They're-they're monstrous!"
Bulma shuddered and held herself, unsure of what to do. Goku took a few moments to compose himself but finally spoke:
"Gohan, I need you to get down to your mother and get her safely to Roshi. You are to stay there until I come get you, is that understood?"
The boy looked frustrated and as if he was about to argue but a look from his father silenced his objections and he took off into the night without a word.
Krillin and Goku watched him go before both turning to Bulma.
"You should stay here." Goku told her, "I know Vegeta may come back but it's safer if you stay in the city and we can draw them out away from people. They don't know where Vegeta is so we should be able to trick them into following us."
Bulma nodded before her mind performed a full stop.
"But...there was a leak in the newspaper...it's all over the news, Goku, if they are watching Earth communications they'll find out we had him here!"
Goku looked shocked and slightly shaken before arranging his face into a neutral expression again.
"Then at least we'll know where they're headed. You go hide, we'll wait on the roof and draw them away when we can!"
Bulma did not need telling twice. Krillin was looking skyward with a terrified expression so she decided to get as far away as she could.
She bolted downstairs, taking the stairs two at a time, until she came to the kitchen at the lower levels. She stopped at the door and looked into the room, shocked.
The kitchen had been trashed. All the food had been eaten, the containers had been strewn across the floor. Mixed in with the broken glass and shattered plates was bright red blood.
Bulma gulped but decided to follow the trial. She ducked down and followed the globules along the floor and under the table, ending at a body clad in a lab coat.
Bulma turned away from the mutilated corpse. Her stomach ached with the urge to vomit and her vision started to sparkle. She dry retched and bent over, her hands on her knees, choking back tears.
Who was it? Who could have done such a thing?
As the shock cleared from her mind, she realised it must have been Vegeta who was the killer. She had seen his barbarism first hand on the battlefield where she had lost her friends, she knew he was more than capable of killing.
She turned and steeled her nerve. She realised also who the victim must have been: Dylan Freeman.
"You moron!" She said quietly, "what did you think you were doing, helping that monster?"
A crash from above drew her attention and the room darkened as the sky turned black. She ran as fast as she could to the other side of the room and grabbed a frying pan out of the cupboard. She sat down, shaking with fear, staring at the door.
Hoping her mother was out and her father was still in the meeting with Trisk, all Bulma could do was wait to be rescued-a position the proud scientist was never happy being in.
There were some bigger bangs from outside followed by a crash so loud it shook the ceiling. Bulma dived towards the door, desperate to get away from danger. She crashed into a large pair of legs and screamed.
"I got something…" the owner of the legs called.
Bulma screamed louder and lashed out with the frying pan, only to have it snached from her hand.
She was dragged along the floor by her hair, kicking and yelling all the while, clawing at the hand holding her. Her only thoughts were those of frantic panic, hoping that her friends were only seconds from saving her.
She was thrown in front of her captor and she curled into a defensive ball, too afraid to move.
"Here she is, Lord Frieza. You asked for Earth's greatest mind, here it is as promised."
Bulma's brain engaged for a moment. She knew that voice!
She lifted her arm off her head slightly and stared. There, in a chair by the kitchen door, was Trisk.
Just as she was about to yell in confusion, she caught sight of the being he was clearly speaking to.
He was reptilian in appearance, white as snow with an armoured chest plate of shocking lilac. A long, serpentine tail whipped back and forth behind him and a sadistic smile played on his black lips. His eyes were red like a demon and he turned a air cold around him.
Bulma could not help herself. The creature was more terrifying than she had ever seen and she was overcome with sobs and hysterical crying.
Her vision whited out as she tumbled into an abyss of pure horror, pleading for help which never came…
She awoke with a start and immediately felt a crushing yet floating sensation. She found she could not open her eyes and was aware of a mask on her face.
She tried to move but found herself pinned down somehow.
Her mind leapt to the memories of the beast in the kitchen and she started to struggle harder, the need to get away taking over her every thought.
"Heelo! Heelo mataya coltra!" Came a strange voice from all around her.
Bulma did not recognise the language but the voice sounded like it was being reassuring. She stopped struggling and tried to answer but her words were swallowed by her own mouth.
Just as she was ready to panic again, a rush of air hit her head and started working down. The crushing-floating feeling vanished and she felt heavy and cold suddenly.
The mask was removed and finally, she could open her eyes.
She yelled in horror at the being standing before her.
He was small and bird-like with a long beak and talons in the place of feet. His eyes were yellow and he boasted two sets of hands under his long cape.
She stared after her outburst, her mouth hanging open. He stepped towards her again and held the top set of hands up in a calming gesture.
"Heelo!" He said again.
Bulma looked down at herself at realised she wasn't wearing any clothing. She covered herself with her hands and pushed back against the metal tube she was in. The fluid she had been placed in was still running out of the tank and her body had been overcome with shivering.
"Where are my clothes? Where am I? What's going on?" She bellowed.
The creature before her looked confused for a moment before coming to a conclusion and reaching for his scouter. He placed it on, pressed a few times on the button on the earpiece and nodded.
"...CALM…" he tried again, very loudly. He looked to her for confirmation and she shook her head in response.
She started to cry.
"Please let me go…" she begged.
He looked at the scouter and held his hands up again.
"I...DOCTOR...YOU...ARE...ON...A...SPACECRAFT...YOU...UNDERSTAND?"
Bulma realised the scouter must be being used as a translator and her spirits lifted slightly. A doctor? He wasn't likely to hurt her then…
She leaned forward and nodded slightly to confirm she had understood. He smiled as much as his beak would allow.
The doctor gestured behind himself to a towel-like fabric laid over a bed with a leotard in blue next to it. She ran forward and covered herself, enjoying the warmth the towel provided. She turned back to the doctor who gestured to an alarming number of glass shards held in a jar beside the bed.
"TOOK OUT YOU…" he explained slowly, "YOU...HEALED...NOW…"
Bulma shook her head in confusion. Had she ended up covered in glass when she was dragged across the floor? If so, why heal her?
And where was Goku and Krillin?!
"Were there others who were taken too? Did you heal anyone else?"
The doctor nodded but looked grim.
"YOUR...WARRIORS...LORD FRIEZA...SPEAKING TO...THEM...WOMAN...HERE...WITH...CUB...HEALING..."
Bulma tilted her head, the last part had made no sense. Cub?
The doctor read her confusion and pointed to two tanks at the other side of the room.
There, suspended in liquid and wearing breathing masks, were Chi Chi and Gohan
