Chapter 7

My head was almost swimming when I opened my eyes. It was early morning aboard the Korna, and I was sitting up right on the couch that I laid upon. I looked to the left of me and saw Mei sleeping soundly on the loveseat, curled up in a ball. I stood to my feet, stretching a bit, and made my way to the love seat. I gazed down upon my little doctor, and yanked the small throw blanket from the back of the love seat, spreading it over her. I took the wine glass from the coffee table before her, and made my way to the canteen through a small door way ahead of me. I tossed the glass into the sink and then opened the cabinet to see the damage. Of course. I killed off the entire six pack of beer she had brought, seeing the bottles that filled the trash can underneath the sink. If I recalled, we both were talking until we both were so drunk we passed out in the small living room quarters. A buzzing sound from the entrance of the Korna echoed in the morning air, and I made my way to the ships console. I ran past it and looked inside the sick bay, making sure that Trunks was still there. He laid there, seemingly unconscious, and I darted for the entrance way of the Korna. Who the hell was trying to enter the ship at this hour was beyond me and I intended to find out, hailing the ship at this hour in the morning. I finally made it to the doorway of the ship, breathing heavily from the brisk walk I made, and punched the small square to the right. Instantly I scowled at the receiving individual. " CAN I HELP YOU?" I yelled.

What happened next wasn't what I had expected none the less. Faster than I can explain, I was hit in the gut by a strong hard fist and thrown heavily against the near by wall. My head hit harshly against the wall behind me, and I lost my vision quickly. I was met with something circular around my neck, which sprouted semi circular things that wrapped around each of my hands, and brought them simultaneously behind my back and clasped bindingly together. Something else emerged from this gadget, striking & forcing me to be adjacent to the wall behind, rendering me helpless. I struggled to get away, but it seemed I was stuck and trapped to this wall. I looked up and saw a face accompanied with wildly spiked black hair I had almost forgotten from long ago. What the hell was going on. The figure leaned down and peered at me. He was wearing armor similar to what Trunks had left of when I found him, a white chest plate with brown padding around the abdomen. Beneath it he also wore a form fitting blue suite that extended up around his neck as well as his arms and legs. His hands were covered by white gloves that extended almost to his elbows, and white boots that reached the middle of his shins. To top it all off, a red cape draped his shoulders pinned together in front on his collar bone, and was long enough to be inches away from the floor.

"Where is the boy?"

"Ve-Vegeta-sama" I managed to get out. Why was he acting this way? I remember the man to having a short fuse as far as his temper was concerned, but this wasn't right!

"Where is the BOY!" he cried out at me again, eyes hard and cold.

"What the fuck is going on?" I demanded. I had no clue as to why Vegeta was here, or how he found my ship. "What has happened to . . .?"

"NO! STOP!" a female voice cried as Mei entered the hallway of the cockpit.

"NO! Mei! Run away!" was all I could manage out. I couldn't have her involved in this. Never the less she was more in this as much as I wanted. She stood in the middle of the cock pit, staring down the most powerful Seiyajiin I knew to be living. He stared at her, his intentions unknown. The closer he drew to her the more I struggled to gain my freedom from the restraints that held me captive.

She backed away from Vegeta, and was nearly at the hull of the ship. "What…what do you want from us?" she begged as her back was against the ship.

"I seek the boy you harbor…" he heartlessly replied.

"Leave them alone!" a voice called from the right, and I saw Trunks wrap his arms around Vegeta as he bull dogged him, sending them both hurling past me. Impossible! How could they fight at a time like this! How can Trunks attempt to fight in the condition that he was in at the moment? Before I knew it, Mei was at my side as the two continued their battle. Shocks filled the air as she tried to remove the restraints from my neck with her hands.

"I…eh…it won't let me…. I can't get it off, Haido!" she shouted.

"STOP! Don't try it anymore, Mei! It's ok!" I struggled against the volts of lightening as she tried to remove the restraints. The two tumbled past us again, and Mei grabbed the collar of my shirt, shuttering as she sat on the floor next to me.

"What's happening, Haido!" she screamed.

I started to try to console her, but a thunderous noise ramming the side of the Korna diverted my attentions from Mei to the front of the ship near the entry way to the sick bay. Vegeta had slammed Trunks into the door frame so hard it shook the interior itself. Trunks was pinned against the wall, but not with out effort.

"Not a good way to start a morning, kid…" Vegeta uttered, holding tightly to one of Trunks's wrists and neck.

"I . . . didn't . . . start it … " Trunks managed out as he tried to pry his opponent's hands from his neck with his free hand, and pushed his captive arm towards Vegeta. "They have nothing to do with this. Let them go." I could see Trunks flinch in pain a bit as he said this.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. One of them is Seiyajiin. He gets a free trip with us." That was a bit hard to hear from Vegeta. So he did realize who I was and yet still attacked? I must have been staring at them for a few seconds, because Vegeta's head jerking sideways towards me caught me off guard. "You're old fashioned tattoo gave you away, my friend. Must have been a part of the high ranking military ops, when they were still around, weren't you, old man?"

I cursed under my breath. None of this was making any damn sense! I remembered him to be a bit hardened, but why of all things would he attack his own son? A Ki power drew me back in to reality. I gazed up at Trunks and watched his hair sway in the air as he was raising his power up. "Trunks!"

"Ah, I don't think so, boy. You're not getting the luxury of that." Vegeta swung around with Trunks in hand and tossed him against the other side of the ship behind them, and Trunks crashed against the wall not too far in front of where Mei and I were, closer to the entrance of the canteen. With a cry he slid down, sitting on the floor, his back against the ship, holding his head. After shaking his head a bit, Trunks placed his palms on the floor and raised himself back to his feet. But there wasn't a thing he could do when Vegeta quickly punched Trunks in the chest, and the boy was back against the wall of the ship yet again. Another left hook from the powerful Seiyajiin sent Trunks slamming into the side of the navigation console at the front of the Korna. It was like watching a grown man toss around a small kid.

I heard growls from behind me as Neko entered the area, the hairs on her neck raised, teeth bared. I jerked my head away from the fight and called out to her. "STAY! No, Neko!" She blinked those huge green eyes at me, giving me the impression she was thinking the very same thing I had been thinking since I found myself trapped against this stupid wall. Another bang and shake of the ship, along with a wail of pain from Trunks regained my concentration to the fight to my right again. Vegeta towered over him at the left side of door frame, still near the entrance of the canteen. Trunks was back on his hands and knees again, this time trembling from trying to keep himself upright. The boy reached to his left, grabbing a ledge of the door frame, trying to pull himself back up. I pulled my hands away from each other behind my back, striving to break away from this wall, and of course, failed as the small volts from this damn contraption zinged all over me. Mei withdrew from my shirt with a small shriek of fright by my sudden act. I darted my eyes back to Trunks, only to witness him falling to the floor, also failing his ambition to stand, and lye on the floor on his left side. Then the unthinkable was developing in front of me. "MEI!" I watched helplessly as my small cute little doctor ran forward past me towards the fallen and the warrior Seiyajiin. By the time she had gotten to them, Vegeta had the kid by the collar of the shirt he wore with his right hand and Trunk's back was against the wall, Vegeta's left fist raised.

As little as she was, she was tiny enough to squeeze herself in between Trunks and Vegeta, her back shielding the boy. Vegeta was a bit caught off guard when he realized his fist wasn't careening to meet with a boy's face, but a face of a small woman. He instantly stopped his punch, just mere inches from her small head. Mei's eyes were shut, waiting for the impact that never occurred. When she grasped at the fact that this huge man wasn't and didn't hit her, she opened one eye and looked up at him. She was full of fear for maybe a few seconds, then "Haido" came out of her. She was enraged, staring up at him. "Stop this right now! Killing him on this ship isn't getting him to who ever you want to take him to! He CAN'T fight back!" she shouted up at Vegeta as she adjusted her glasses with a finger.

Vegeta blinked hard at her, still gripping Trunk's shirt behind her. "He chooses to fight me and then not defend himself. That's a disgrace to the engagement itself." he bellowed out to her.

"He's sick! Even if he wants to fight you, OBVIOUSLY he can't! Are you that THICK that you fail to see that?" the small doctor persisted.

"Mei! Don't provoke anything!" I yelled at her. It was bad enough that she was in between the two of them, but even I knew the Vegeta from years ago would not take kindly to such words.

"What are you speaking of, woman!" Vegeta looked past her and back to Trunks, who wasn't even looking at anything at the moment. From what I can tell, Trunks had passed out from the last blow to the head when Vegeta had pinned him there.

"I'm a doctor, and that is why I am here." Mei continued. As much as I didn't want her to give him any more details about herself, asking her to stay silent was like trying to get blood from a vegetable. "He has blood poisoning and without treatment he can die. Haido asked me to come to the ship to see if I can help him."

Vegeta scowled as he looked away from Trunks, and gazed back to Mei. "How in the hell did he manage to get that? Eh, never mind that. Move away."

"Not unless you tell me that you will let me to continue treating him, or I'm not moving!" Mei interjected as her nose wrinkled up again.

"Fine, I need him alive anyways, but you'll do so at my discretion. You have my word. Now move." He reached behind his back beneath that cape of his and returned his hand with another small device. I recognized it as the thing that held me in my spot as another restraining device, and watched as Mei stepped aside from Vegeta. As soon as it was around Trunks's neck the same turn of events occurred, only this time I got to see it in action instead of being the target. Trunks, obviously still a bit out of it and groggy, awoke a bit due to this sudden jolt of movement against his will. He winced as his arms were forced behind and bound tightly. Just as the same with me, a small but strong spear like hook ejected from the cuffs themselves, and drove in to the wall behind him as he sat on the floor now, Trunks's knees bent slightly upright ahead of him.

"Oblige a small request from an old Seiyajiin, Vegeta, and stop punching holes in my ship." I was getting annoyed. The old girl was already in need of some repairs, and now I have new spots to fix because of our situation.

Vegeta smirked. "As long as you behave I won't have to then." He walked away from Mei and over to the console of the ship. "I obviously am not stupid enough to release you to fly the ship."

"Fly the ship? Are you serious?" I hadn't realized that I was trying to move away from the wall again, but was reminded quickly and stopped. "So you're taking me and my ship I see."

He eyed the keys a bit, and then his face looked as if he was processing what to do. He gazed back at Mei who was standing still in front of Trunks, and saw Neko behind me, still growling. "You, lock the animal in the cargo hold below. I'm assuming that there is one on board?"

Mei darted her eyes back to me, a bit more fear now in her than from before. I didn't like what he was asking, but understood the logic.

"Do it, Mei. It's alright." With that from me, she left Trunks's side and walked past me, retrieving Neko and lead her to the back of the ship. "Let the girl go, Vegeta. She doesn't have anything to do with the three of us." I desperately wanted her off this ship, whether she made the deal with him or not with Trunks.

"You brought her in this when you asked her to meet you here for that." He replied, his hand gesturing to Trunks without even turning around.

"Well, would you at least have the decency to –."

" 'He's not what he's…supposed to be…eh' "

I must have hit my head hard when I was shoved, because now I was hearing Trunks's voice in my head, but he wasn't speaking in front of me! Then I remembered something from way back when I was in my younger days. Seiyajiins had learned long ago to communicate with each other with out vocalizing their words by using their Ki power, and concentrating their thoughts to another Seiyajiin. I had almost forgotten the art because no one else had any knowledge of this trick that I could use this tool. Never the less, I focused on Trunks's small Ki and used my own to push my thoughts back to him. "What do you mean? Trunks, why is your father fighting you?"

" 'He doesn't realize what he's doing . . . he's under . . . someone else's control . . .' "

"Who's?" I wasn't aware of a capable being that could sub due someone against their will under mind control still alive today. This notion seemed impossible!

" 'Cooler . .' "

I blinked harshly and jerked my head to look at Trunks as soon as this was revealed to me. His head was hung, rendered useless to the wall as I was, his purple locks of hair quivering slightly. "He's alive?"

" ' Very much. He came to our home planet a few years ago and –' " Trunks stopped as Vegeta had walked over and knelt down, grabbing the back of head, lifting his face to see his own.

"You're not allowed to die once we enter hyper space, so use that will to fight for your own life, boy, and not for anything else. Other wise I WILL kill that girl and old man where they stand and keep you alive myself. They're alive for that purpose." These words from the prince, no, now King of Seiyajiins, were so cold and heartless, it struck even me a bit, let alone how they impacted the young man staring into the face of the force that spoke them.

Trunks's narrowed his eyes, looking right back at his oppressor. "Still just . . . following orders aren't you?" He stopped and shut his eyes, shaking slightly, and then stared at Vegeta again.

"Do you understand what I just said, boy? I didn't track you down to some back water planet just to have you die in space."

"What? Enter space? When?" Mei was back in the room, watching the scene in front of us.

"Immediately. Before the space ports open. We won't have to wait for clearance from any air towers." Vegeta replied, releasing Trunks from his grip, standing back to his feet.

"And how do expect to manage that? This is a pretty old ship. What, you're going to fly it?" I interjected.

"Nope. You're going to direct in telling her how to." Vegeta coldly responded, pointing to Mei.

Now I KNEW he was crazy. Mei couldn't fly the ship! Even if I had given her a lesson or two before hand, having me verbally directing her was ridiculous. "She's a doctor, Vegeta. She's never flown a ship before. You're asking for the impossible, and even if I could try –"

"Don't play coy with me, old man. All I have to do is get this heap in space, enter the coordinates to where I need to go to my first check point, and so on. Once we arrive where I want to go, the receiving ship will take care of the rest." Vegeta interrupted me.

I felt my face flourish with anger, because there wasn't any way in hell I was going to go through with this. I would rather fly the ship myself than to keep Mei on board and making her try this. "Forget it. Besides, going to space at this moment is signing the child's death warrant." I said, gesturing with my head towards Trunks's direction.

"Then she's got her work cut out for her, doesn't she?"

"You take him to space and you WILL lose him!" Mei's eyes were almost filled with tears.

"Just do as he asks . . . Haido-san . . ." Trunks interfered. I closed my eyes for a moment when hearing this, and recalled the scene from last night in the sick bay. I wasn't surprised that he was asking me to do this, because I now knew what he was referring to last night. This whole mess with his father not knowing who he is and fighting against him. It explained why he had so many wounds. Cooler had found the ultimate weapon to use against Trunks for whatever purpose he was aiming for to acclaim from the kid. It was baneful and sinister to use his own father against him, something Trunks couldn't willfully make himself fight back against.

Vegeta slightly smirked, crossing his arms as he looked down at him. "Finally learning your position I take it."

"I won't have any more blood other than my own on my hands." Trunks glared back. "No matter who it is."

"If I can get us in…" Mei stopped to swallow." In space, you have to fix this arrangement with Trunks because I can't even get another IV in with him this way once we enter hyper space."

"Mei, this is insane. Do you realize what you're saying?" I was now begging her to now even entertain the idea of her trying to raise the Korna on her own.

She just half smiled at me. "You offered a flying lesson last night, didn't you?" She stood beside me now looking at me with those deep blue eyes. Surely she was afraid of what was happening, but this bravery in her was a first for me to see.

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind! Mei, I never wanted to –" I started but stopped when she knelt down in front of me, wrapping one arm around her knees, and placed two fingers on my nose.

"I'm scared, Haido-kun. I haven't had a patient to die on me willingly yet." She interrupted quietly. "I've lost patients before yea but if I don't do this, it will be a death on my hands. I can't handle that." She was in that mode I wasn't used to. Right now I didn't like it. I wanted my bubbly silly little girl Mei back, not this Dr. Akagi one, thinking about her responsibilities. "I know you can talk me through it." With that she rose up, and made her way towards the console, passing Vegeta on her left. "You might want to grab a seat, or don't blame me if you fall on your ass during take off."

I wasn't going to have this. I closed my eyes and tried to break away one last time, sending the volts sparking again. "I am NOT telling you how to run this ship, whether you want to pilot this ship or not, Mei. You let her go and leave her here on Miranda and I'll pilot the damn thing!" I wrestled a bit more, and then finally had to stop because now the shocks were actually starting to hurt more. A sudden flare of a Ki power grabbed my conscious and I watched as Vegeta grabbed Mei's left arm with his right, and simultaneously formed some sort of small energy ball with his left hand. Mei's cry filled the Korna as he held it only inches from her side.

Trunks's Ki flared as well. "NO! Leave her alone!"

"You need to figure out how we're going to get along, right here, right now. You know as well as I do that I can still hurt her, but not bad enough to where she CAN'T fly this ship." Vegeta growled towards me. "And stop wasting your breath, you fool. Power down. You have nothing left in you anyways." He scolded Trunks. "And I've told you before, you are a Seiyajiin, a threat, as is the boy, so you stay put, old man."

The anger in me was building, and I wasn't even aware that my Ki had shot up enough by this gesture to make my own spiky locks sway to and fro. Mei, however, as scared as she looked, took notice of my actions. "Haido-kun please…" she pleaded. Her eyes were full of fright, and I didn't want that anymore. If I wanted her to be safe, I was just going to have to take her out of harms way, and let her sit in that pilot's seat. At least she is more safe piloting this old ship, than in the clutches of Vegeta with his Ki as high as it was.

I powered down, and took a long pause to breathe, and exhaled, calming my nerves. Damn, now is one of those moments where a cigarette would be good. "Release her, Vegeta, please just don't harm her. I'll tell her how to pilot the ship and then I'll have her set it in auto pilot to jump into hyper space. Just, let her arm go and power down yourself." It was like knives striking my stomach to even utter the words. Sure, I knew how to fly the Korna on instinct by now, but talking someone through it was not going to be an easy task. "I assume you expect to make it out before we can be questioned with clearance, and you're wrong. They operate on a twenty four hour cycle on Miranda. I'm going to need Mei to use her phone for a voice command recording for me for the tower. They record that type of thing." I watched as Vegeta powered himself down, his hand releasing Mei's captive arm, and he closed his fist canceling out the small energy ball with a smirk.

"Really? Is it THAT air tight?" Mei was shocked, rubbing her arm with her other hand, glancing only at Vegeta for a second, and her eyes were back to me.

"Annoyingly so. Security here is tip top, although with him making it in unseen is a wonder to me." I gestured to warrior to the side of her with a nod.

"I didn't use the Space Ports, obviously." Vegeta responded. He seemed agitated for half a second, and was at Trunks's side almost instantly. He moved so fast I didn't even catch it! He's gained so much power than I remembered him to be. He took hold of Trunks's shirt collar, who's attention he had from this entire time. "Do you REALLY want me to knock your ass out in order to get you under control? You're wounded enough as it is, boy. Power down, now…"

"Trunks… you asked me to do as asked, and I'm heading you to take your own advice." I shifted my weight slightly, as I felt his Ki was still trying to rise.

"I.. but–"

I quickly interrupted him. "Trunks…"

His face filled with torment, but then he settled in, sinking into the wall behind away from his father as he powered down completely. He hung his head low and Vegeta released his shirt from his tight grasp. "Understood."

Vegeta stood to his feet once more and stared down at his prisoner. "The sooner you come to terms with the situation you're in boy, the better off you'll be with this trip...and dealing with me." He readjusted his cape around his neck, and looked back without turning his body to Mei. "Get this heap in the air."