Author's Note: This chapter will conclude the "Unhappy Ending" saga, and resume the original timeline. Enjoy! I'll update soon.
Vegeta and Apple had lived in peace up until this point. The threat of Frieza had never reached their doorstep thanks to Vegeta's royal lineage. But a bitter cold morning, would soon prove to them that no one was safe from Frieza's all consuming hatred. Vegeta awoke to a loud knocking on his and Apple's chambers.
"What the hell is wrong with you people?", bellowed Vegeta as he finally stood up, no longer able to ignore the persistent noise. Apple stirred awake sleepily. "Who is that Vegeta?", she called out gently. As soon as Vegeta had opened the door, eight pairs of arms had forcefully latched themselves to Vegeta.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?", he roared. Vegeta immediately revolted, practically pushing back all eight seasoned Saiyan warriors in one fell swoop. But he was immediately silenced by an electro-collar placed around his neck. The shooting pain brought him to his knees. It was Frieza's most notorious enslavement device, the ones he used on every soldier he enlisted into his personal army. Apple immediately shrieked in surprise. "Vegeta! What are you doing to him? Who do you think he is? Vegeta!" Two other Saiyan soldiers held back Apple as they literally had to drag Vegeta away (despite the electro-collar). Vegeta mustered the strength for one final reply before disappearing entirely from Apple's sight: "Don't worry! I will keep you safe! I will come back for you!"
Another sharp shock from the collar left Vegeta momentarily stunned, long enough to allow the soldiers time to toss him into a ship carrying other newly enslaved Saiyan warriors. King Vegeta stared wistfully out of his throne room window, his fists clenched so tight that blood dripped down them. For once, he was absolutely powerless to stop the scene unfolding before him...his own son...
Vegeta sat seething in silence, everyone in the darkened passenger ship did, as they headed towards an unspecified location. Thoughts of Apple flashed through Vegeta's mind. Hopefully, his father would be able to keep her safe until he found a way out of this worsening situation. Finally, after what seemed like a whole day, the group of captives arrived at their final destination: Frieza's mothership. Vegeta stumbled out first into a brightly lit arrival bay. Frieza's minions lined up all the Saiyan's in front of a large screen - the reception from Hell. Frieza's face flickered onto the screen.
"Welcome my pets", purred Frieza. "You must all be slightly confused as to why you're here. Well, I must say, you should be flattered instead. You have been chosen as the creme de la creme, the best Saiyan muscle your planet has to offer. Some of you are peasants, others soldier's sons, and one of you even a Prince!" A very uncomfortable feeling was settling at the pit of Vegeta's stomach. He did not like the direction in which this briefing was heading. "In short", continued the lizard, "I didn't discriminate. I just sought the best soldiers. And from now on, you will forget your allegiance to Planet Vegeta and all its inhabitants, surrendering your strength entirely to me. Now, I'm not cruel. I won't leave you with those vicious collars around your neck - no, you Saiyans are too smart for those. I trust you won't try to escape. That is all." The room filled with a series volatile snarls and growls, the kind only a really pissed off group of Saiyans could emit.
"Oh", added Frieza, "but I did provide a little bit of incentive for your compliance. It was your blood brethren who surrendered you to me, you know?" Vegeta felt surprise rise in his chest. His father had given Vegeta, his only son and heir, to Frieza? "I know what you must all be thinking. How could they, right? You Saiyans don't love your families, but you at least trust them, don't you?", continued Frieza. The lizard took a moment to chuckle at the thought. "Well that trust has not been misplaced. I gave them an ultimatum. Either I have you, or I take all your women, ravage and kill them, deliver their filthy corpses back to your shithole of an excuse for a planet, and destroy all of you along with the planet. How's that sound? Not so good I presume?" The Saiyans were stunned into silence. "I didn't think so. And apparently your families didn't either. So they assumed you would be prefer this, for the sake of your race that is. And so I propose this: if you're good and do exactly as I say for the remainder of your lives, however short that may be, then I won't follow through with my threat." The silence in the room persisted. Vegeta's heart hammered in his chest. Was this truly happening? Was this his fate? And Apple? What of her?
"Luckily for you, you'll be able to make occasional contact with your home planet through a primitive communication form - letters. That is, of course, if you do as you're told. Now, aren't I a benevolent master?", finished Frieza. The Saiyans hesitated momentarily before allowing themselves to nod. There was a mixture of emotion in the room - hate, desperation, loathing. Vegeta was beginning to feel claustrophobic. He wanted off of the ship, but he knew it would never happen.
The months began to pass by slowly. Frieza would send the Saiyans on only the most difficult of missions. Oftentimes, they would return in near dead states. Some, not at all. Two of Vegeta's fellow comrades Nappa and Raditz, Saiyans he had known prior to their enslavement, would often talk of escape. Vegeta agreed only half-heartedly. He would love to split open and eat the intestines of the infernal lizard, but he feared for Apple's safety. She could be seriously hurt.
Finally, the promised letters came. The Saiyans attacked Frieza's envoy as if he were a banquet table, pulling and yanking at the letters he brought in. Vegeta quickly ripped open the letter addressed to him. It was from his sister, Brocolz. Vegeta scanned over the letter's contents. After a few minutes of reading Vegeta froze in place. He could read no further. Time seemed to stop all around him. Was this letter real? Vegeta looked over the handwriting - it was unmistakable, it belonged to the now sixteen-year-old Brocolz. In it she had written something Vegeta couldn't process. She stated that Apple had fallen extremely ill after Vegeta's abrupt disappearance. Several doctors later, it was concluded that Apple was pregnant. Vegeta's heart would've swelled with pride if it hadn't been for the devastating sentences that followed. Due to her illness, and suffering from the loss of Vegeta, Apple and the baby had died during childbirth. There had been too many complications, and the child, a boy, was born too weak to survive for more than a few hours. For a while, Vegeta sat in silence considering his next course of action. Nappa wandered over to Vegeta, wondering what news the Prince had received from his family.
"What's going on Vegeta?", asked Nappa carelessly. When Vegeta didn't move, Nappa shuffled around to get a closer look at Vegeta's face. Nappa froze in place. Something was completely off. Vegeta always carried a scowl on his face, but the look of pure hatred that burned in his eyes sent a shiver down the usually confident Nappa. He did not ask any further questions. And Vegeta said nothing to no one. He had no reason to. There was no reason left for him to live, other than killing Frieza that was. When Vegeta went to sleep at night he pushed all thoughts of Apple out of his mind. Pretend she never existed. Instead, he would dream of how to kill Frieza. And one calm summer day as Vegeta sat eating one of Frieza's disgusting energy bars on yet another poor, wretched planet the Saiyans had been forced to conquer, Vegeta received the news that Planet Vegeta had been completely obliterated by Frieza.
Vegeta said nothing as he continued to eat in silence. His mother, his father, his sisters, Brocolz, the palace he had called a home, the giggling Saiyan girls who crushed on him, the grassy field where he and Apple met & later consumated their love as mates, Apple herself...It simply ceased to exist from one moment to the next. Vegeta simply grunted in disinterest, swallowing the pain and hatred, letting it wash over every fiber of his being. He would destroy Frieza even if it meant surrendering his own life. He really no longer cared. Nappa walked over to him a short while later with Raditz in tow, the living remnants of a once mighty race. "Vegeta, our scouters are telling us that there's still another living Saiyan on a planet called...Earth. Raditz claims it's his biological brother, Kakarrot." Vegeta considered this factor for a moment before speaking, "So then we go to Earth, use whatever resources it may have, and collect Kakarrot. He will join us in our fight to defeat Frieza." "And if he refuses?", inquired Nappa. Vegeta symbolically picked up a small rock and pulverized it with his fist in front of the two other Saiyans. Raditz smirked in understanding. The three, however, failed to notice another faint blip on the scouter...
XXX
After experiencing defeat at hands of Kakarrot, and during his final battle with Frieza on Namek - that's when he first met the blue-haired heiress. She had been absolutely terrified of him. It was nothing like his initial encounter with Apple. He had no interest in her, didn't find her nearly as attractive as Apple either, and he certainly didn't like her dominant attitude. All things considered, the circumstances were entirely different and so was Vegeta.
After the whole affair came to an end, Vegeta was essentially left with no other choice but to live on planet Earth. And worse, to live with the dreadful woman. But as the weeks began to pass, something changed. His perspective changed. The new threat of the android invasion and the potential to become Super Saiyan excited him. But it was the woman who called herself Bulma that ignited something in him, something that had long been dead. She couldn't have been more different from Apple. She was rude, bossy, noisy, prone to tantrums, inconsiderate, selfish, outrageous, and rough. But she was everything he needed. Vegeta couldn't bear the thought of being around someone who was exactly like Apple. It would've been too painful, too risky. So, slowly, he gave in to Bulma. He began to see how attractive she truly was. She was easy to relax around. There were no pretenses with her. It wasn't love, and it wasn't friendship, but it also wasn't just camaraderie. He felt something for her, although what, he didn't know.
All of these thoughts passed through Vegeta's mind as he trained on the barren planet, a month after having abandoned the Capsule Corp household. He realized that the only reason the woman's words had stung him so much, had been because they had brought forth the truth behind his bad memories. Memories of an unhappy ending. She had seemed so hurt at the time. Vegeta punched into a boulder, practicing his form. Why did the woman seem so hurt when it was she who had insulted him? What had she said exactly? Not an android, not a Saiyan, not a brunette at some party...wait...what? Vegeta stopped to think for a moment. A brunette at some party? The memory flooded back into his mind. Bulma's party. The woman looked absolutely beautiful. Sex with some brunette under a tree...Oh shit. He finally understood what had incited the woman's outburst. She must've seen him having sex with the brunette from the party, and took it as a betrayal. But why? It's not as if they were mates. Was she jealous? She had never displayed any real interest in him. But then again he wasn't familiar with any human courting rituals. Perhaps being a bitch was one of them. In that case, the woman was doing an excellent job.
Vegeta made up his mind then and there. Once he achieved Super Saiyan, he would march straight back into Capsule Corp and demand an explanation from the woman. With a new goal in mind, Vegeta focused all the angst and anger in his body, his desire to surpass Goku, and his thoughts of Apple and Bulma into his energy charge...
Back at Capsule Corp...
Bulma finally decided she couldn't take it anymore. She needed to do something. Staying cooped up in a lab, with her father of all people, wouldn't change a single thing. Bulma frowned. Now that the whole gang had gotten insanely strong, her technological genius had become null and void. She was one of the expendable ones. Furthermore, other than friendship she had no real connection to the rest of the group. At least Chi Chi could say she was the mother of Gohan. Bulma paced back and forth in her room, considering what her next course of action should be.
She knew she should do something that would keep her out of everyone's way during the oncoming battle. True she felt horrible and worthless, but that wasn't a good enough reason to spread out her angst amongst the people she loved most. Bulma had never been one to play martyr, and she wasn't about to start now. As far as everyone knew, she was perfectly alright.
And that's when it hit her. An adventure. To get the dragonballs. No. That would only bring back memories of a time when things were actually good. What she needed was a new adventure, or a time machine. Wait, that was it! She would build a time machine. She already had the layout for the plan from years ago. She had the materials. Now all she needed was a place to build it - far from the city, and she knew just the place. It was a cave she had discovered during one of her many travels, in the middle of a jungle a continent away. It was isolated, beautiful, and dangerous. Just what she needed. The winds of motivation were blowing as Bulma packed for the trip. She loaded up one of Capsule Corp's rugged terrain vehicles and jumped in.
Right before she left, her mother rushed up to see her off. "Bulma honey", Bunny started, "are you sure this is a good idea? What if your friends come looking for you?" "It's fine mom", replied Bulma, "my friends don't need me right now. And if they ask, just tell them I'm off on a trip somewhere. No details." "And if Vegeta returns? What should I tell him?", asked Bunny. Bulma chuckled sardonically. "Don't worry mom, he won't be back", replied Bulma. With that Bulma, activated the vehicle's touch screen and drove off into the distance.
