The new replacement door to Washu's lab is pushed open by Saiyan hands as Vegeta leaves the unnatural dimension of technology and knowledge which he abhors being within. His tired and weary eyes fix onto the two people already within the front room of his house, the two fair Juraian maidens. Both Ayeka and Sasami turn to look at him with Ayeka's burgundy eyes widening at the completely and utterly battered and punished state in which the prince's body is in. Crimson drops from the tattered and charred remains of the front of his outfit as the still open wound from his blasting continues to ooze. The princess of Jurai takes a step towards him and is about to speak her worry and concern for his obviously ailing health as she notices two glittering gems of amber above his broad but slouched shoulders. Ryoko moves herself more into the light as her amber eyes narrow maliciously on her intended target.
Vegeta senses the great tension and barely bridled anger growing behind him as he continues to stand in the doorway and block Ryoko's way forward. She places her hands onto his shoulders, her fingers digging into his exhausted flesh as she begins to slightly push against him to move him forward. The warm breathing he can feel against the nape of his neck changes into low and menacing growls. He resists her efforts to budge him and telepathically tells her to wait for a few more seconds. Most of the force against his body stops, but not all of it. With one of his free and ungloved hands he wipes at the raw patch on his stomach and passes some of his last remaining ki into his hand to staunch the bleeding with an ugly burn.
" You two have fun … I will be in the training room as always." He limps halfway to the great, metal bulkhead leading to his training room and a slender and fair skinned hand stops him. She cannot bear to see him him so masochistically put himself through so much needless pain and so Ayeka tries to persuade Vegeta to stop what he is doing. A space pirate stands in the doorway to Washu's lab, her hands clenching into tight fists as she remembers the horrid emotions that she was forced to endure during the time she spent in Washu's realm. Vengeance is all that is going through her mind now as a red haze drifts down and clouds her vision. Teeth grit and knuckles whiten as she awaits her turn to teach the princess what happens when you mess with a former member of the Cold Empire.
"Lord Vegeta, please stop. Look what this suicidal training regime is doing to you, please I must insist that you wait until you are rested and healed before you continue."
"Pain is temporary, the shame and dishonour upon my name will not be shifted if I were to quit every time I got tired or hurt. I train till I cannot train anymore." The time at which he cannot train anymore has already passed but in his stubbornness he will not admit it. Vegeta shrugs off Ayeka's hand and sluggishly makes his way into the training room. The large door closes as Ayeka's outstretched hand falls to her side, she turns to look at her sister who asks if Vegeta is going to be OK. A fist smashes into the bridge of Ayeka's nose and floors her as someone lunges across the room and pins the Juraian to the floor. She screams aloud in pain and both her and Sasami become very fearful of the cyan haired demon birthed in rage. Small Sasami scrambles over to her sister's aid and side but is casually pushed over by the criminal out for blood.
" What by Jurai do you think you are doing Ryoko? I demand you release me at once or else-"
"Or else what you inbred Juraian whore! Don't be deluding yourself now, Vegey left me to have some fun with you so now it's just you and me. Not fancying your chances too much now are you?" Ryoko leans her head in close to Ayeka as she chuckles maniacally and sinisterly. She feels the feeble motions of the pinned princess beneath her trying to squirm free of her tight hold and pitilessly applies more pressure to cause more pain to Ayeka and to stop her trying to escape. Sasami stands back up and once again tries to dislodge Ryoko from atop of her beloved older sister. A hand lashes out and savagely backhands the small Juraian causing the young girl to cry out in pain. In a bemused manner the furry cabbit Ryo-ohki enters the room, its allegiances being tested as the small creature does not know whether to side with her mistress or the girl who has become her friend.
"No, he would not do that, he would never do that. Now get off me you liar and leave Sasami alone!" Ayeka shouts back angrily at the one who would dare to harm her sweet and innocent sister. Sasami says her sister's name, not knowing what to do. The petite and blue haired princess stands scared and afraid for her sister and confused by what's going on and why Ryoko is acting like this as she rubs at the red sore on her cheek.
"I'm not lying princess, after what you did to me he's seen your true colours and wants you to pay as much as I do."
"What I did? You're not making any sense Ryoko, I haven't done anything at all, I've just been with Sasami and-" Ryoko rapidly releases one of Ayeka's wrists and strikes the princess across the face for the second time and then a third time before she re-secures Ayeka's hand again.
"No! You are the one who asked Washu to make me her prisoner in her lab, to experiment on me and … and do all that other shit in that dark, fucking hell-hole. But, your plan failed Ayeka." She darkly laughs again as she sees the princess wince from her blows and the fear creep into her eyes and her speech. Ryoko savours this moment of sadistic superiority over the princess at her mercy yet again, the princess begins to bleed from her nose and her already fair skin pales out of fear of what Ryoko is going to do. She has been in this situation before and Ayeka dreads the thought of going through it for a second time.
"What plan? I don't have some evil scheme. All I did was ask her to dig up some dirt on you, I will admit that, but even then that was before Lord Vegeta passed away. Ryoko, let go of me." Ayeka tries to reason with Ryoko even though she doesn't fully understand what is going on. Her words do not penetrate through the veil of hatred that has built itself around Ryoko's mind, rationality has been thrown to the wind as the pirate imagines how she can amuse herself with the defenceless woman underneath her. A quiet meow sounds from beside Ryoko but is completely ignored.
"Don't expect me to believe that crap, so you're just saying that it was a coincidence that yesterday your mother happened to visit and make you the ball and chain attached to Vegeta? That Washu said that I … You're trying to drive Vegey away from me. You want to split us apart!"
"I can't split up what doesn't exist in the first place. Lord Vegeta is not yours!" This time it is Ayeka who speaks up due to rage. Neither woman will ever back down on the issue of Vegeta and they both know it. Ayeka struggles again against the might of Ryoko pressing down on her but she is too weak to move her, if she were to try and use any sort of blast on her attacker then she fears that her sister might get caught in the crossfire. Sasami picks up the cabbit by her feet and fearfully holds it close to her. A loud crash is heard upstairs and momentarily draws the attention of the girl.
"No shit, and who is that thanks to? But remind me, you worthless cow, who was it that Vegey kissed and who is it he is allowing to beat your sorry ass to hell?" Holding both of Ayeka's arms up so that she now only has to use one hand to keep the princess from retaliating Ryoko elbows her mercilessly in the sternum, slaps her about several times and then grips and squeezes Ayeka's jaw. Ryoko malevolently smirks down at her helpless rival. Her hand loosens though when she sees a similar smile grow on Ayeka's face.
"For your information Miss Ryoko, that night Lord Vegeta kissed me too. After you forced him to give you your sordid, little prize he came straight over to me and freely kissed me of his own free will." The Juraian of noble blood spits these words at the pirate and then spits in Ryoko's face. With a look half of smug triumph and the other half of being scared of the pain that is sure to follow, Ayeka watches as her words pierce through Ryoko's anger and cause her to hesitate. The golden eyes looking down on her slowly blink. For a brief instant Ryoko's mind dangerously wavers on the precipice of the despair that had previously consumed her. Releasing Ayeka's face Ryoko retracts her hand towards her own and wipes at the spittle on her cheek. She looks down at her hand and the saliva on it and then at Ayeka. Those golden eyes of hers narrow and her lips curl into a snarl. Ryoko rams the back of Ayeka's head against the floor and painfully holds her by her hair.
"Liar! Vegey would not betray me like that, he wouldn't! You sodding Juraians always have to lie and deceive, but it won't save you now. You belong to me now and I will make you pay!" Ryoko hisses out this threatening promise as Ayeka's vision momentarily darkens from the slight concussion. The princess worries where her prince is to save her from this wroth fuelled demon, where the brave and valiant knight is who saved her before from this same peril has gone to. But she knows where Vegeta is, she just isn't willing to accept the fact that she has been abandoned to the woman who nearly killed her by the man she loves, she does not want to believe Ryoko's words. Then the two of them vanish. Both gone, leaving Sasami alone and frightened with only a cabbit for company.
The young Juraian whispers her sister's name as she cautiously looks about her for any sign of her elder sibling. Ryo-ohki meows with unease, flattening her long ears against her body with her hackles raised. She calls out again. No one responds, all she can hear is the hectic commotion from upstairs. A great fear for her sister's safety has already set in and is gnawing away at her mind. She is just a small girl, she has no supernatural powers or supreme physical attributes. She is just a scared, young girl who is desperately worried for her sister and needs help. One man's name immediately springs into the forefront of her anxious mind. Sasami hurriedly races over to the imposingly large metal door and begins banging on it, muffled clunks ringing out from her raps. There is no response. She knocks again several times and jumps up to try and see through the small porthole. Within the training room she can see Vegeta hunched over the main console and facing away from her so that she cannot grab his attention this way. Her dainty hands grab a hold of the crank handle to open the door but try as she might she just cannot budge this literal tonne of metal.
Getting increasingly more worried and frightful concerning the well-being of her sister as time creeps onwards, Sasami makes her way to the base of the staircase in search of whatever aid she can find. The angry shouting and ruckus coming from the first floor intimidates her, making her even more nervous than she already is, however her sister needs help and so she is going to do the best she can to make sure she gets it. Braving the irate raised voices which she dislikes, Sasami recognises the voices as belonging to Yamcha and Washu and sure enough as she reaches the top of the stairs she sees them stood at the opposite end of the corridor. The vagabond of the desert is backing away from his lover at a considerable pace as Washu stares him down with murder in her eyes and a broken chair leg held in her hands. The woman of knowledge does not say anything to Yamcha anymore, she has already said what she needs to say, all she does is gradually keep on inching her way closer and closer towards him with her makeshift club held above her head. A thin line of red still escapes from her mouth after the barbaric dental surgery of Vegeta.
"Come on now Washu, l-let's calm down and talk things out. I-I haven't done anything, whatever you've been told was a lie, a total lie. I told you before that I'd never ever do anything like that to you and I meant it, just trust me would ya." Yamcha continues to reverse away from Washu as he attempts to pacify her over the false information that Vegeta gave her in exchange for her tooth. All she does is let out a low cackle at the word 'trust' as she carries on her way towards him and at that point Yamcha turns and runs into the nearest door. Slamming the door behind him, Yamcha hides as Washu takes up position waiting for him on the opposite side of the door. Sasami sees that these two adults will be of no use to her in getting her sister back from wherever Ryoko teleported off to but at the minute she does not know where the two policewomen are as they are the only people left she can think of to turn to.
Right on cue as Sasami starts wondering where Mihoshi and Kiyone are but not wanting to go near the scientist with a crazed look in her eyes, a shrill scream is heard resounding out from the room in which Yamcha tried to take refuge. Less than a second after the scream dies down several shots ring out, startling both Washu and Sasami. The door is thrown open and Yamcha sprints out, somersaults over Washu and leaps down the flight of stairs whilst shouting his apologies out to an angry Kiyone who he just accidentally walked in on as she was getting out of the bath. Washu's eyes narrow seeing this woman with which her man just went and blatantly peeped on whilst she was right there. She turns and passes Sasami with her crude weapon being dragged along the floor behind her, the blunt instrument of wood clunking down each step, and marches out of the house in steady pursuit of the one she believes to be guilty of adultery.
More unnerved by the behaviour and sudden aggressive demeanour of Washu than confused over what could have agitated her so much, Sasami lets out a timorous whimper because of all the sudden violent happenings going on around her. Holding Ryo-ohki close to her for comfort, Sasami walks towards the open bathroom door and timidly knocks on it. A brusque 'What?' is sent her way and so the girl steps into the doorway and the towel wearing Kiyone quickly lowers her gun, almost to the point where she drops it.
"Miss Kiyone please come quick, Ayeka's gone!" As soon as Sasami shouts this, Kiyone is straight to attention and rushing over to her clothes. Swearing under her breath, she hurriedly gets dressed and within a minute is knelt down in-front of Sasami asking for details about what happened, her long, teal hair still dripping wet.
"... Well, I don't really know. I'm sorry but I don't know where she's gone or anything. Ryoko just took her, please help." Sasami apologises for her lack of useful information as she recounts the events that led up to this point. Kiyone notes down everything said within her head and nods reassuringly at the young and distressed Juraian princess.
"Don't worry, me and Mihoshi will get Ayeka back and put Ryoko to justice. I promise."
As the officer runs to her room she shares with her partner she tries to repress the foreboding in her gut, she might seem confident to the girl but inside she is seriously doubting her effectiveness and her chances of solving this case. Ever since arriving on this planet the use of her as a law enforcer has been put into question. So far there hasn't been a single crime or criminal she has been able to stop to any degree and now with the princess' life in danger it is paramount to her that she turns this clean sheet of failure on its head and starts producing some results. All Sasami cares about though at this moment is the safe return of Ayeka, not the self questioning and inner doubts of Kiyone that she is unaware of. Coming to Mihoshi and Kiyone's room the woman and girl stop and the policewoman lets out a loud moan and sigh as she sees Mihoshi lying face down on the floor with a large bump on the back of her head and the pieces of a broken chair scattered about the room. Both females are startled and worried by this scene though only one shows it whilst the grown woman merely swears not too quietly this time. It is not hard at all for her to decipher the events here, she saw Washu brandishing part of a broken chair and could tell that the law breaker she tried to chase for years had a clear dislike of Mihoshi. Though she cares for her partner and best friend she has higher priorities at this minute in time. Kiyone is in a rush and has no time to spend on the unconscious Mihoshi but even so she carefully puts her in the recovery position before hurriedly leaving the room and running out of the house.
Sasami jogs up to the uniformed policewoman stood by the lakeside, her youthful energy enabling her to keep up with her speed, and looks at this figure of authority as to what they should do next. Having just left the house herself, Kiyone's sharp blue eyes fruitlessly scan the horizon for any sign of the one she was assigned to protect at all costs. The only Juraian princess in sight is the small Sasami stood by her side and the only other noteworthy thing of interest her sharp eyes can perceive besides that is the woman guilty of assaulting a police officer jumping up and down to reach the hovering Yamcha. She has failed. There is nothing within her power that she can possibly do to find Ayeka's position before it would be well too late for it to be any good. Kiyone howls in impotent rage, surprising and slightly intimidating the young girl at her side.
" Dammit, the hell am I supposed to do now? How am I supposed to find and track some teleporting freak, I'm not psychic!" She grumbles to herself over the unfairness of the situation, how she, a mere mortal, is supposed to somehow handle and deal with cases concerning planet destroyers who can fly and teleport. A light and gentle tug at the base of her navy jacket is felt as she wipes at some of the moisture running from her wet hair and into her face.
"... But Mr. Vegeta is, or at least I think he is."
"You're telling me that I'll have to ask that psycho murderer for help at my own job, I'm sure there's another way." Kiyone immediately dismisses Sasami's idea of having to go begging to Vegeta for help concerning police business, her business. Although nowhere near in the same league as Vegeta when it comes to pride she still will not consider having to ask him of all people for help merely out of principle. That man is nothing more than a criminal to her, she will not debase herself so far as to require the aid of a fugitive in trying to uphold the law. Sasami pouts at her.
" Kiyone, it's either that or we have to go find Trunks and I haven't seen him for a long time. Please just ask Mr. Vegeta for his help, if not I'll tell father what you've done!" Taking Kiyone by surprise, Sasami raises her voice and, indirectly, threatens the policewoman to do as she asks. Rarely does she ever exercise her power as a Juraian princess but with her sister in danger Sasami has bigger things to worry about than modesty and humility. The threat of the emperor of Jurai being told about her failure in safeguarding his daughter does its job of eradicating Kiyone's prejudices against asking for help.
"... O-of course, I'll go … go get psycho. So there's no need for you to tell any of my superior offices, OK?" The policewoman nervously laughs as she agrees against her will to what the junior Juraian wishes. It would utterly ruin her if she failed this case or if word leaked out that she couldn't guard someone for even one day, she cannot risk her career and Ayeka's life over her intense distrust of Vegeta. Sasami chirpily nods at her, smiling up at her and happy that progress is being made towards saving her sister.
"Good girl, now whilst I go fetch the Saiyan, can you go and try and wake up Mihoshi?" Kiyone reluctantly smiles as Sasami accepts this task given to her. The small girl goes jogging off back into the house and up the stairs quickly before stopping to descend the stairs again to fetch the first-aid kit from a cabinet in the kitchen. Watching from the front room, the police woman sees that her partner is in capable hands as twin tails of blue whisk out of sight as she squares up to the large metallic door. She can clearly see Vegeta stood in the room but he is crouched down and with his broad back turned her way and he seemingly cannot hear her insistent pounding on the door. Kiyone places her hands on the handle for the door and strains against the weighty bulk for several seconds before she has cleared enough room to squeeze through the gap and into the room. She takes a few steps into the room before realising that there is no enhanced gravity, which she is thankful for otherwise she wouldn't have made it past the doorway. Marching up to the Saiyan she sees that his attention is fixed upon one of his legs, when she gets within a metre proximity to him his head snaps around to face her. He stands up, his stone cold eyes staring at this unwanted intruder with one of his eyebrows raising and asking the question of why she is disturbing him.
" Psycho, we've got a problem-"
"Your trivial problems do not concern me, woman. I am training so leave." Vegeta brusquely interrupts her before she can finish her sentence. He stands with his arms crossed as Kiyone growls slightly at his rude tone of voice, she is a policewoman, a respected figure of authority and should be treated as such.
" Didn't know the almighty Saiyan could train so much sat on his arse without his machine turned on." Letting her irritation and animosity for the genocidal murderer out, she insults the apathetic Saiyan. She sees his brows furrow and instinctively she jumps backwards away from him as her fingers creep towards her holstered gun. He casually yawns and looks back down at his leg, he is sure that he felt the fracture grow and needs to know how much this limb has left to give him.
"If the problem you had was whether you needed to lose a lot of blood quickly then you are on the right tracks to me solving it for you. Leave me alone and go play police somewhere else." His mood is worsening with every second of his time she wastes. He wants her gone so he can carry on his careful inspection, not daring to show such weakness in front of anyone hence the need for solitude. Kiyone's teeth grit and she is in good mind to draw her gun after such blatant mockery of her job, the job she has worked all of her life for. To him what she does is just a meaningless game, he knows that he is so far above the law that he can and does ignore it at his own discretion. She hates him for that way of thinking.
"Look you idiot, this is about Ayeka. That pirate of yours has gone and abducted her."
Vegeta stops and blinks a few times as his mind tries to process what Kiyone just said. Apparently he has made a mistake in judgement and placed too much trust in Ryoko to behave herself. He knew she wanted revenge but he clearly gave her rules to abide, not rules to find a loophole in and take advantage of his current state. Vegeta does not like being tricked or lied to, or made a fool of, Ryoko will have some explaining to do when he finds her.
" … Abducted?" He repeats the word, making sure his senses are not failing him as the rest of his body is.
"Sorry, that word too big for you? Yeah, she went and teleported off with Ayeka and I'm told you can find her." Kiyone is quick to draw her gun as she sees him move. She turns around quickly and trains the gun on him as he grabs her collar. He swats the gun from her hand as he deals with the fact that she was capable of following all of his movements with her eyes. Vegeta is weaker than he thought he was, formerly able to surpass photons and now he can't even fool the eyes of a non-warrior.
" You insult me again and I will execute your clown of a partner before your eyes. Now, as her abysmally pathetic bodyguard, what exactly were you doing during this time so that I now have to do your job for you?"
"I was taking a ba- that's not important right now. You think if I was there I could have stopped it, just go do what you gotta do and get Ayeka back." Vegeta releases Kiyone, walks over to the door and grates it open as he lumbers out of his house. The policewoman goes to retrieve her one and only weapon before she follows the Saiyan who she easily catches up to even though she is walking with no haste. He grumbles under his breath as Kiyone stares at him, tapping her feet on the floor as she waits for him to do whatever it is he is going to do. The Saiyan breathes in the fresh air of the outside world and tests out how his ki sensing abilities are holding up by trying to identify the woman stood by him. Barely, he is only just capable of discerning Kiyone from the natural background ki of the planet, his grumblings get louder.
The air vibrates in-front of Vegeta as a smirking, feminine face warps into existence before his eyes. Her smile grows seeing the beat-up Saiyan. Kiyone though gasps as she notices what the space pirate is holding in her hands; torn rags of fine and ornate clothing.
"What have you done to her? Where is she?" The policewoman draws her gun for the second time in such a short amount of time but Ryoko seems unfazed as she tosses the ripped pieces of clothing into the air to flutter down like confetti around Kiyone's head. Kiyone growls as she swipes the falling cloth out of her vision and in that time Ryoko is already behind her with her sword drawn.
"I ain't done nothing to that Juraian that she doesn't deserve. She's still alive if you must know, for now." Ryoko contently chuckles to herself as the police officer reluctantly holsters her gun. She lifts her feet off from the ground and hovers over beside Vegeta and hugs him. His face shows no signs of emotion or warmth.
"Ryoko, where is Ayeka?" He asks her without even looking at her and feels her body tense as he speaks her rival's name. She hugs him tighter and presses herself closer to him as if her closeness to him will somehow make him forget about the princess she abandoned somewhere on Earth.
" She's where I put her, you're the one who said I could do what I want with her so don't pretend you care now." She says nonchalantly as if it isn't anything to worry about at all and that he should drop this line of enquiry.
" Ayeka. Where. Now." Her tail goes stiff and then meekly curls in-between her legs, her body ever so slightly recoiling from his angered, no-nonsense questioning. Vegeta is still staring off into the distance instead of looking at her, his weary eyes picking up movement on the other side of the lake but his tired optics are completely unable to identify the people in the distance as Yamcha and Washu. Ryoko stops levitating and walks around in front of him and only then do his eyes meet hers. Black staring at gold aloof and stoically.
"But … But Vegey, you told me I could. You said I could get her back for getting me locked up in the dark. It was dark and I couldn't move or see and then ..." Ryoko speaks quietly and timidly, unnerved by his callous speech towards her as she is still in a sensitive emotional state. She doesn't get why he seems mad with her, she asked for his permission, she followed his rules and feels no guilt over what she did. His penetrative gaze does not let up, accusing her of some wrong that she is unaware of. Full of unease, she breaks eye contact with him.
"Yes, you have a fear of imprisonment and the dark, get over it. I never said though you could-"
"No! I'm not scared, I'm not afraid." The space pirate raises her voice and stomps her feet in a childish manner as she repudiates the idea that she suffers from such phobias. She doesn't want Vegeta to think of her as weak because of the mental scars that her incarceration caused, or for anyone to find out about this personal weakness of hers. This small tantrum of denial though persuades no-one. Kiyone is trained to spot liars and Vegeta is not in the mood to play along with her pretence.
"Don't lie to yourself Ryoko, you were petrified even when I only immobilised you when we sparred. Fear is the destroyer of minds so learn to overcome it, but for now tell me where she is." Ryoko goes silent as he asks again. Vegeta stares at her, her form fuzzy and unfocused to his blurred vision, and then he haltingly limps away a few steps. He stands facing away from her.
"Fine, if you are going to be of no help then go." The Saiyan icily states, the flame that is his conciousness flickers dangerously and he knows that he hasn't long until he will lose the battles to stay standing and to stay awake. With this in mind there is no time for him to dilly-dally with Ryoko, if she is not going to be part of the solution then she will stay as part of the problem. His heavy eyelids close and he lifts his aching and protesting right arm upwards as he places his index and middle finger against his forehead. He cares not for the stunned and hurting woman behind him who appears utterly devastated by his dismissal of her. The space pirate looks on at him as confusion and sorrow at the greatest fear she has starts coming true before her eyes; because of what happened within Washu's lab Vegeta is shunning her and instead focusing his attention on the Juraian. Gritting her teeth as the same torrent of painful emotions begins to swamp her afresh, Ryoko teleports off with her thoughts screaming about the unfairness of it all and cursing Vegeta for being the cause of all this unwanted pain.
"... The damn fool hasn't raised her ki to a level I can spot. Grrr, pinpointing a weakling like this is taking too long." Vegeta talks to himself as his great frustration builds, not frustration for Ayeka though but at himself for allowing himself to fall into such a weakened and pitiful state that he is struggling with this menial task. His sixth sense continues to whiz across the globe in search of a Juraian ki signature and continues to hit nothing but the plebeians and wildlife. A planet is a large place to search and the time constraint is pressuring him to hurry and rush as best as his sluggish brain can. His mind gets instinctively pulled towards the large source of ki that is the low class Saiyan's family but he will not find the Juraian princess there so his unseen search widens over further horizons.
"Do you need some sort of help, like her scent or something?" Not being able to tell what, if anything, is going on, Kiyone interrupts his scour of the planet's ki levels to see if she can be of any aid of him. Her actions though act to the contrary of what she wished.
"I am not some mangy mongrel! Shut your face or I will rip your vocal chords from your throat." Vegeta roars at her as his concentration is interrupted. If Ayeka were close enough for his olfactory senses to be able to smell her out then it would also be entirely possible for Kiyone to easily find her and he would no longer be needed for this search and rescue mission. Letting out a snarling growl to follow up his threat, he descends back down into focusing all of his mind into ki sensing. The policewoman falls into silence, impatiently tapping her feet as he triangulates all positions of higher than average ki levels. He spends a minute narrowing down one fast moving power level only to finally recognise it as Tien. Vegeta loudly cusses and clenches his fists tightly. Then after several more tries he finally notices a source of ki in a very remote region. He places two fingers onto his forehead again and forfeits some of the ki he was using to keep his leg metaphysically bound so that he can instant transmission. The man who has been dancing on the brink of collapse for days disappears and takes the waiting Kiyone by surprise.
"Wait! You weren't supposed to go and leave me behind." Kiyone yells at nothing but an empty scene. Without being able to tell how close Vegeta was to finding her protectee she was far too late in trying to stop him. Stood on her own, she sighs and goes back inside to see how Sasami is doing and thinks to herself at least she didn't lose her as well. Once inside the house she does not notice the pirate lounging morosely on top of one of the wooden beams with the thoughts of Vegeta betraying her because of her different biology running rampant in her mind.
Snow. Hail. White flakes of ice pierce the grey sky, propelled like spears by the gusting gales. Each bullet of frozen water stings as it strikes his injured and vulnerable flesh, his arms, legs, face and torso being relentlessly peppered with glacial darts from every direction. The frozen precipitation is coming down so fast that he can barely make out what is in-front of him although that could also be due to his hazy vision, a shiver runs down his broad back as his internal temperature begins to dip: the eternal warmth of ki having left him in this cold wasteland with no defences. His breath is ripped from his lungs as he tries to speak, the name of the Juraian princess stolen from his lips by the savage winds. He calls again. The thundering roar of the harsh polar landscape is the only response he gets. He wants to just waft his hands and cast away this snowstorm but that option is no longer viable for him. The old fashioned way is the only one left for him, he teleported more or less to the ki signature and so he slowly lumbers and wades through the thick drifts of still falling snow.
Trudging along, forcing his path through the rising banks of blanketing white and feeling the frozen precipitation chilling his exposed patches of flesh on contact, Vegeta is thankful for the numbing sensation of the cold. Snow accumulates on the peaks and in the valleys of his hair and settles thick on his brow. His vision, though far from being 20-20, spots a darkness amongst the pure whiteness of this landscape. For a moment he believes it to be his consciousness fading him or a lack of blood reaching his brain but as the patch grows when he approaches it he realises it is not a trick his eyes are playing on him. His leaden and frozen legs halt as he reaches the crouched and huddled form of Ayeka.
" Lady Ayeka, I am here." He speaks loudly so as to assure that she will hear him. Her purple hair has a dusting of snow on it and lays atop the snow around her. She ever so slightly turns her head to look at him, shivering down to the core and clutching at the torn patches at the front of her outfit. Ayeka blinks when flakes fall onto her eyelashes as she looks up at the prince stood by her side. The princess's skin is chill and pale, her lips tinged with blue and her fingers are numb. She quietly says the Saiyan's name. His knees feel weak and the pain within his leg has been steadily growing so Vegeta kneels down besides the princess, panting heavily with his breath steaming in her face. Now being closer to her he can see the dried blood on her face, her black eye and the constant shivering of her whole body as she tries to cover herself up as best as she can with her ripped open robes.
A blue training top that is nearly as much hole as it is fabric gets placed over Ayeka. The dark red eyes of the princess look into his with a look of thanks in them as her numb fingers fumble before grasping it. Wishing that he was covered in fur like he is when in Oozaru form, Vegeta sits in the snow as the feeling of fatigue in his body is anaesthetised by his dropping temperature, it is not long before he begins to shiver like the princess is.
" … Ryoko has overstepped her mark, it was cowardly of her to try and dispose of you like thus. Your discipline was too harsh, my judgement to trust her with this task was in error." Vegeta breaks the icy silence between the two, his words tinted with the anger he feels at being taken for a fool. He apologises to her, however the second sentence he states alarms the princess, tearing a great rift of betrayal in her heart. She had been thinking to herself over Ryoko's words, as to whether she was truly abandoned to this fate or not, and learning that she so coldly was by Vegeta hurts her terribly.
"L-lord Vegeta? You mean to say that you actually wished for her to hurt me? Wha- How could you?!" Her shouts are protests from her heart. The keen wind cuts like a razor through her frostbitten limbs, she can barely move her body but out of pure outrage she stretches out her arm and feebly slaps the Saiyan's face. His own gnarled hand lightly grabs a hold of her wrist. She yanks her hand free and quickly puts it back to use in holding the front of her ruined outfit together out of modesty and embarrassment more than to insulate her.
" How else should one's discipline be given out? When my son does something wrong I hit him to remind him to never do that again, it is effective and works."
" I am not a child and such casual violence is barbaric!" She is enraged by his unconcerned coldness towards her, it's painful enough for her to live with and deal with the fact of her unrequited love but for him to apparently care so little for her really hurts. Ayeka is wise enough to know that his high levels of fatigue and exhaustion have regressed him somewhat to the cold killer he was but that is no excuse for allowing someone to attack her. The temptation to strike him again is high but that would only serve to undermine her argument against violence. She fidgets around to face away from him, not caring that he is her only ticket out of this place. The cost of her forgiveness is a heartfelt apology not for underestimating Ryoko's ire but for failing to do right by her.
"We've had this discussion before, I do not care for what others think of the Saiyan culture. We are bred for violence and live with it, we embrace this side to life that others would rather forget. There is nothing a stern word can teach that a fist cannot. I suppose Juraians think physical punishment uncivilised but do you think anyone is persuasive enough to make Ryoko let you off with just a verbal warning?" He has a good point about not being able to dissuade Ryoko but Ayeka does not care for such a feeble reason. Whether or not it was possible to prevent Ryoko assaulting her he could have at least made the effort or warned her, but no he just immediately gave her up to the space pirate. She curses herself for having to have fallen in love with such a man. Helpless before her emotions for him and the pain his blasé attitude causes, Ayeka pulls the opening in her furisode closed as much as she possibly can, holding it with both hands as she lets Vegeta's offered top get picked up by the wind and blown away.
" You are a cruel man, Vegeta." Ayeka's voice holds the same frigidity as the blizzard enshrouding the pair. The Saiyan watches the speck of blue that was his clothing disappear behind a veil of ice, the sensation within his hands and feet is greatly diminishing. With her huddled back still shunning him Vegeta knows he will have to regain her favour before he can try to get them back to her house. He will not say it to her but if Ayeka decides to offer resistance he no longer has the power to force her. People are irrational when emotional, he knows this from experience, and even if staying here means she will freeze he can guess she has no want to return with him, or go to the place where Ryoko resides.
Vegeta attempts to stand up and grits his teeth as the bitter elements play havoc on his destroyed body. His broken leg gives out. The Saiyan warrior crashes heavily to the floor, a grunt of pain rasps from his throat, and Ayeka only slightly turns her head to look at him. He lifts himself back up into a sitting position and shuffles himself in-front of the princess who averts her eyes from him. A small part of her is worried for him, seeing him so weak and unable to stand properly, but Ayeka crushes those feelings of sympathy beneath the grudge she is holding against him. He does not understand what it is doing to her loving a man like him, how the man she adores above all others betrays her and fails to accept her feelings.
" Yes, I am. I am cruel. I am a Saiyan. … But, I promise you that under no circumstances will I strike you myself. You may think of me barbaric but that I will not do. Ryoko and Trunks are both fighters, I have no problem teaching either with my fists if need be, Washu … that damn woman deserves it, but you and Sasami, no." His emotionless black pits are met by the narrowed eyes of a woman wronged. He means what he says even though he cannot explain himself how he came to a point in his life where there are people he would voluntarily choose not to hit or why she is one of them. Violence should mean nothing to him, before he treated all who were not Saiyan equally, as insects to be stepped on, but now he distinguishes between people and treats individuals differently. Yet, being told that he will never hit her or her younger sister does not move Ayeka in the slightest even with it being combined with the thought of him striking Ryoko.
" And so what made the Prince of all Saiyans choose to allow Ryoko to do to me what he could not?" Ayeka bitterly asks. Her eyes not leaving his, her gaze probing him for answers. The Saiyan shakes his head side to side like a wet dog to rid himself of the snow accumulating on his head and bare shoulders. An observation pops into his mind.
"Sneaking in the shadows to set up some elaborate trap to make Ryoko go through some psychological hell. You may call me cruel but what you did to Ryoko was in a different league altogether." His not so keen eyes keep a careful watch on the princess' expression. He needs a large reaction or else his vision will fail to see it, hence why he threw in the insult at the end. His hypothesis brings back conclusive results immediately. Her face tells him all he needs to know. She has no knowledge of what he is talking about, Ayeka is innocent of what Ryoko accused her of. She is innocent and angered by all these false accusations and what they have cost her. The aggravating slander from Vegeta pushes her over the edge, she snaps and lets her fury take the reins.
"I never did anything! I asked Washu for information on Ryoko, that's all. That is all I did. … I don't know what Washu did to Ryoko but it was not me who told her to do it. So now, why did you let me suffer just because Ryoko told you I was at fault? Why didn't you check first to see if I actually was guilty or not? Why am I always in pain with you deciding not to protect me?!" Ayeka's heated breath steams in his face as acrimony weeps from her words, her contorted, snarling face scorning him as her eyes fix him with daggers. Her breathing is hard, panting almost, as the writhing emotions within her boil up and heat her blood and fire up her soul. The fingers clutching at her furisode would whiten from her vice-like grip if the digits were not already as pale as they could be due to the severe weather.
Vegeta can see the burning rage within her red eyes, the rage directed at him, and he understands her animosity. He knew insulting her would not be the brightest move but with his senses sending less and less information to his brain with each second he needed some reaction that would irrevocably prove her words to be true. Anger was the first to come to mind. She has every right to hate him for what he allowed to be done to her but now he has to quell the emotions he provoked and earn some kind of forgiveness from her. His mind has already performed the simple task of tracing back the blame to its original culprit, an overeager scientist who will be in for some surprises once he is rested. That is about all his mind can currently do, no tricks or smart words come to mind to quickly complete his task. If he doesn't act quickly then he fears the ice may claim him. There is nothing left but for him to fall back onto just telling her the truth of his decision.
" … Damage limitation."
The Juraian's harsh breathing slows to a stop, her eyes drop their stare but this is a short lived reprieve for the Saiyan for as soon as he brow shows the first signs of confusion it furrows again. Her womanly wrath comes back with a vengeance of its own at his confusing and seemingly contradictory words.
" Damage limitation? How can this be justified as limiting the harm done to me? She was trying to freeze me to death!" She fumes and seethes. Her passionate heart bleeding from his uncaring nature and the physical pain she is in which he is trying to pass off as best course of action he could have chosen for her. Vegeta saved her from her planned out future on Jurai and has even ended up in slapdash arranged marriage with her, but nothing he has done for her has been for love. Maybe her expectations of this grieving, terracidal warrior are too high but she cannot allow anyone to dare treat her like this, no matter who they are. The two royals from polar opposites sit across from one another in the tundra, Vegeta uneasily shifts about and looks down at the white blanket beneath him. His two mighty fists rest themselves upon the snow, his head hangs low and the great Saiyan's broad back gets covered in a frosty dusting.
" I had to. I cannot protect you anymore."
Vegeta lifts his head and raises his weary eyes to look at the Juraian princess. Her animosity falters. His squinted eyes hide no lie behind them. As much as it cuts at his pride to say so, he admits to her his own growing weakness.
"Look at me, I have been training non-stop for days and you have commented on my failing health many a time, so is it that out of the question that … that my power has decreased to such a degree that I am now worthless as a warrior. … I would have been hard pushed to stay awake long enough to make sure Ryoko wouldn't have attacked you this day. Come night she would strike, I cannot go without sleep indefinitely. She would have her way with you or if she were not patient she wouldn't even have to wait, Ryoko could and would get past my defences and then she would attack you, maybe even kill you. Do you see now? Allowing her to attack you I restricted her, I got her to promise to stay within reasonable levels of power and to not put your life in danger. Her getting her vengeance, whether justified or not, was inevitable. This way the least amount of harm would befall you, or so I thought. I am sorry Lady Ayeka."
Vegeta falls silent after his apology. His freezing hands clench tight, his pathetic and weakened state bringing on feelings of self loathing and worthlessness. Without his power he is nothing and he is devoid of use. The bruised and haggard face of the Saiyan prince snarls at his wounded and diminishing pride, detesting the fact that he has been brought down to such a lowly level. Ayeka stares at the prince deep in thought, her face and mind still not yielding to the thought of letting him off the hook as her harrowing gaze sweeps over the emotions displayed upon Vegeta's face.
Vegeta did think about her and her well-being. He weighed the options within his mind, inspected the paths before him that he could take and then chose the one that he believed would cause her the least amount of pain. Ayeka sees this now. She also sees many other ways in which he could have resolved this issue and most of those would leave her better off than this approach. However, the fatigue and exhaustion riddling his body and mind is also plain for her to see, the cunning prince's mental abilities are not what they once where and his patience has all but disappeared. Though the fact remains that he failed to think of simply bribing or threatening Ryoko to do no harm unto her and because of that she has suffered the second attempt on her life within the last 24 hours she cannot help but feel some of her anger fading away. The Saiyan prince does in fact care about her. It is not enough to appease her though or earn her forgiveness. Him having good, or as close as they can get to being good, intentions does ease her heart's woes and her hatred towards him but it does not clean away what he allowed to be done to her.
The blizzard still rages around the two royals crouched in the snow as the inner storm within Ayeka lessens. Ayeka's forgiveness must be bought with something greater than this, however it is a start. She looks down at him shivering in the cold, with his scarred torso exposed to the elements and the fresh burn on his stomach of where Ryoko blasted him.
" … You wouldn't have treated your wife like this..." Speaking to break the silence, Ayeka voices her mind. Some of her resentment shines through as does the odd envy she feels towards this dead woman. Vegeta looks down in thought as if actually pondering upon what she said. He takes his freeing hands out of the snow and flexes his fingers to try and get the blood flowing properly within his digits and goes to brush the snow off of the maiden's shoulders. She stops his hand and pushes it aside. His emotionless eyes do not react to this rejection of his touch.
" If it were Bulma then I could always count on my son to protect her in my stead, but the hypotheticals can wait till we leave this blizzard. " Vegeta reaches out to her again. He needs physical contact with her to teleport them from this Arctic wasteland and back to his home. Ayeka holds up her hand to signal for him to stop.
"Wait. … First, you have to promise me that you will never allow something like this to ever happen again. Ever." Her voice is authoritative and commanding, her tone unyielding and her face serious. His response to this demand is of great importance to her and her feelings towards the callous prince.
"Lady Ayeka, I promise you that the prince of all Saiyans will protect you and your sister with his life if need be. Good enough?" Vegeta responds immediately and without hesitation. A harsh gale gusts into the princess's face as she sits in a stunned silence. She wasn't expecting an answer like that. It goes above and beyond what she thought he would say by quite a degree. She silently takes his hand with her own. Conflicted on how to reply to the man she loves saying that he will lay down his own life for her whilst still not conceding her grudge, she says nothing and awaits for him to take her away from this place. He lifts up his spare hand to his head and places his index and middle finger to his forehead. Ayeka tries her best to hold her outfit together with only one hand but with the powerful wind conspiring against her she loses grip and the front of her outfit billows and flaps wildly. She blushes even though Vegeta's eyes are closed in concentration.
" … Ayeka..." His eyes half open and she looks at him still with a miffed off look of anger. She averts her eyes from his face and tries to angle her shoulder and body so that her what he can see of her unclothed spot is minimised.
"Please, don't look. What is it Vegeta?"
" … I … I need to borrow some of your energy. For instant transmission. … I don't have enough." Vegeta's eyes close again as he speaks to her, his brow furrowing as he has to make this feeble request of her. It shames him to do so but for the sake of her life he has to do the weak thing and ask for aid. Though she does not know exactly how to transfer ki, Ayeka silently nods and sends a small charge to the hand he is holding. Very gradually she releases the ki out of her body and into his, being extremely careful not to inadvertently blast off his fingers. He feels this welcome warmth enter his body and takes them from this barren snowscape and back to hearth and home.