Chapter 10

Cold.

Why was it so cold?

This was the first thing Bulma thought about as she slowly regained consciousness. She was moving relatively fast and it was really breezy. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she took in her surroundings.

'Oh, that's why it's so chilly. I'm in the air right now. Vegeta must be leading us to the next dragon ball. He could slow down a little though.'

She closed her eyes and relaxed, deciding to enjoy the ride while it lasted-

'Hold on a second!' She thought, her eyes snapping wide open. 'When the hell did I fall asleep?!'

Bulma looked down and saw a white cape fluttering under her nose. How in the world had she missed that the first time around?! Vegeta didn't wear a cape with his armour!

But she knew the man who did.

Her heart began to race as it all started to come back to her. She'd left to find Vegeta and bring him back to the Capsule house. She eventually did find him, looking only a minute away from certain death. Bulma had just been about to get him into an airship before they were apprehended by the one who injured him in the first place. That beast Zarbon. He'd knocked her out and took the both of them, but not before mentioning where he was taking them. Or rather who he was taking them to.

Her eyes went lower and, with the occasional shift of the cape, she caught a glimpse of the Saiyan Prince. She'd only seen what his back looked like when she found him. Now she could see his face. He looked absolutely dreadful. He was bleeding out of his nose and mouth, he had a nasty bruise on his cheek, his face was swollen and his armour was damaged.

The heiress' breaths started to come out in short silent gasps, panic beginning to wash over her. Vegeta was also completely oblivious to the amount of danger they were in. They were about to come face to face with his tormentor, a being Bulma had hoped beyond hope that she'd never have the misfortune of coming across.

Frieza.

This was bad. Very bad.

Bulma felt their captor slow down a notch. She scanned the image below her and saw people dressed in armour milling about on the ground below them, looking completely relaxed and unbothered. They were obviously Frieza's lackeys. Seems they had nothing to do since they've presumably collected all the dragon balls they could find.

Zarbon started to descend. Bulma just managed to catch sight of the ship when they found themselves inside. This was it. They were in the lion's den.

"You there!" Zarbon called out. She heard footsteps coming towards them at a quick pace before they stopped.

"Yes, Lord Zarbon?" An unknown voice said.

"Take the Prince to the infirmary and get him in a chamber now! He doesn't have much time!" He barked out.

"At once, my Lord! And the woman?" It said, causing her breath to hitch.

"She stays with me. You have your orders, now go!"

In her peripheral vision, she saw a pair of boots and reptilian hands grab hold of Vegeta before going out of sight. Taking a chance, she raised her head and watched a soldier dash down the hall before making a left turn.

Zarbon marched down the walkway. Bulma scanned the area as best as she could, trying to memorise the layout as much as she could, hoping she'll remember the way to Vegeta once she escaped.

"I know you're awake my dear. You have been for a while if the violent beating of your heart against my back is any indication." He said in a smooth voice before coming to a stop.

He moved to place her down, slowly sliding her against him before putting her on her feet. He took her chin between his fingers and made her look up at him. Bulma barely managed to suppress a shiver at the blatant desire in his eyes.

'This guy is a total creep!' She thought, gritting her teeth together.

"A word of advice. I noticed you have a bit of a wild temper so if you want to stay in one piece, you'd do best to keep that mouth of yours in check." He said, his expression serious. Zarbon pulled her behind him, "Now stay there and don't make a sound."

As much as she wanted to fight him, Bulma begrudgingly complied. She knew when to pick her battles and knew she couldn't try to cross him. He was so much stronger than she was, he could end up killing her by accident if she tried to escape. She needed to stay alive so that she could figure out a way to get herself and Vegeta the hell out of dodge.

Zarbon knocked on the door and waited.

"Enter." A muffled voice said.

The door slid open and Zarbon stepped in with her directly behind him.

"Ah Zarbon, you've returned. I trust you've succeeded in your mission?" The voice said, much clearer this time. The sound of it made goosebumps break out all over her body, she got instant chills.

"Indeed my Liege. And I came back with something or rather someone who I think you'll be very pleased to see." Zarbon said, his tone dripping with satisfaction.

'Oh Kami, I'm gonna throw up!' She yelled internally.

"And who might that be?"

Zarbon roughly pulled her out from behind him and brought her forward. She caught herself before she fell and quickly righted herself. Her gaze flew up and she tensed, her blood turning to ice.

"This is the woman Vegeta was alluded to have killed when he arrived on the planet. I recognised her scent from when I had my little scuffle with Vegeta." Zarbon explained. She could practically imagine the horrible smirk on his face when he said that.

The being in front of her was shocked for a second before a chilling smile crossed his face. It was him. She was sure of it.

Frieza.

"My, my. How utterly peculiar." He said, his raspy voice filled with dark fascination. She couldn't stop herself from shivering when his eyes took her in, his very presence chilling her to the bone. It was unnerving.

He started walking towards her and instinctively she started to backtrack, wanting to get as far away from him as she could. Bulma felt Zarbon push her forward. He did it a bit too hard and she ended up on her hands and knees.

"Zarbon, don't be so rough." He reprimanded his right hand mockingly. "You need to be careful with this delicate creature. I'm sure Vegeta wouldn't appreciate finding her all bruised up."

The heiress saw his three toed feet stop in front of her and she raised her head to look up at him, his dark red eyes gazing down at her.

"Stand up my dear."

Bulma stood up on wobbly knees, hating herself for showing weakness but unable to do anything about it. Frieza circled around her, presumably taking her in. She could feel the heaviness of his gaze on her.

The tyrant stopped in front of her, seemingly satisfied. "Well, I can certainly see why Vegeta took a liking to her. She is quite exotic."

"Indeed she is, my Lord."

Kami, they were talking about her like she was a piece of meat. It made her feel gross.

"Another thing, Lord Frieza. Vegeta was more than a bit ruffled when I had mentioned taking her for myself before our battle. A strange reaction considering she was supposedly dead. And she was very defensive of the prince when I had mentioned bringing him here. It seems that their relationship could transcend beyond the physical aspects."

The heiress' shivering worsened when he settled his gaze on her, his eyes sparkling with demented glee after hearing Zarbon's words. Her stomach felt close to giving out.

Frieza chuckled slightly. "My, how precious. Vegeta managed to find someone who's willing to put up with him. She has similar features to those two shrimps we encountered earlier. They must all come from the same planet."

'He's talking about Krillin and Gohan.' She mused, panic racing through her.

"Though I must say, it is quite pitiful that he's chosen someone from such a weak species. But I guess it can't be helped. Since the Saiyans were destroyed, he'll settle for weak look-alikes."

'You mean since you destroyed the planet.' Bulma thought bitterly.

"And how did you know about that?" The lizard lord asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

Fuck! She really needed to get a hold of her tendency to speak before thinking! It was literally going to be the death of her!

Clearly she kept silent for much longer than he liked since he narrowed his eyes at her in warning. "Cat suddenly got your tongue? I suggest you answer me when I'm speaking to you."

The young genius gulped audibly, trying to steel her nerves. "I overheard one of your soldiers, Dodoria I think it was, tell Vegeta what he said was the truth about the destruction of his planet before he was killed by him."

"But of course Dodoria did that." Frieza sneered, his eyes darkening with disgust. "Well at least Vegeta did me a favour and killed that imbecile. He took away the opportunity for me to tell him what really happened myself. I was so looking forward to seeing the fallen expression on his face once I revealed his planet's true fate."

How she wished she had the strength to take that bastard on so she could kill him herself! Bulma's hands clenched into fists and she tried very hard to keep her features blank. Unfortunately, he spotted the flash of anger in her eyes.

"What's the matter? Does that idea not appeal to you?" The tyrant asked, his tone laced with sarcasm. He snickered at her poor attempt at a blank face. "You must feel quite strongly for my little monkey Prince, yes?"

"He's not yours." She said before she could stop herself.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I said he's not yours." She repeated, her voice gaining power as she spoke. "Vegeta doesn't belong to you, he's not your property."

"Oh really? So he's yours then?" He asked with a mocking smirk.

Screw it. She'd already started, it was too late to stop now.

"No, of course not. Vegeta isn't the type to be owned, no matter how hard anyone tries. The more you try to control him, the more determined he is to rebel. I would think that an all powerful tyrant as smart as yourself would know that but apparently not." She spat out.

Bulma knew from the moment she heard Zarbon's sharp intake of breath and saw Frieza's expression go flat, that she'd said too much. But she refused to show cowardice!

The emperor caught her horrified expression before she steeled herself and glared daggers at him. The stench of her fear permeated the room but she stood tall in front of him. She had guts, he'd give her that much.

"Well, now I really understand why Vegeta took a liking to you. You have a temperament identical to his own, a fiery volatility. It's very intriguing. However…"

Bulma suddenly gagged when, faster than her eyes could follow, the lizard wrapped his tail around her neck and brought her down to meet his eyes, slowly tightening his hold. She pointlessly grabbed it and tried to ease the pressure, to no avail.

"While the royal monkey may tolerate your attitude, I do not find it amusing. Especially not from some slip of a girl who dares to look down on the emperor of the universe!" He yelled.

The heiress choked out a scream when she felt a burning pain radiating from her arm. It felt like knives were slowly being dragged down her arm, her blood flowing in tiny rivulets.

"Address me in such an ill manner again and next time I won't be so lenient. Do you understand?"

'This is his idea of lenient?!' She thought, nodding as best as she could.

The heiress screamed when he dug his claws deeper into her arm, the pain was near unbearable.

"I can't hear you." He whispered fiercely.

"Yes I understand!" She exclaimed, tears running down her face.

"Splendid." He said, a malicious smile on his lips. He let her go and she fell on all fours, gasping and coughing for air.

"Zarbon, take her to the infirmary for a patch up and then lock her up when she's done. We'll retrieve her once Vegeta wakes up."

"At once, my Lord." The handsome warrior bowed. He stepped forward and took Bulma by her good arm and dragged her out the room, Frieza licking her blood from his fingers the last thing she saw before the door slid shut.

The door to the infirmary slid open and the duo stepped in where a purple being with an elongated head was there to greet them.

"Lord Zarbon, you're back so soon." He said, not even looking over at Bulma.

"I have someone else for you here Appule. I need you to tend to this woman quickly and call for me when you're done." The warrior explained.

Appule seemed to finally acknowledge her presence, looking her up and down, as if trying to think what was so special about her in the first place.

"She's a crucial part of Frieza's...plans for Vegeta. Need I say more?" Zarbon said, seeing the unasked question in the medic's face.

"No my Lord. I completely understand. I'll see to it right away." Appule said with a bow.

"Good. I'll be outside." With that, he left the room, leaving Bulma alone with a complete stranger.

'Not that I care. I'd rather be alone with this guy than be around that creep.' She thought wryly. Bulma looked around the room, seeing the layout was very similar to the one on Planet Frieza, only the tech looked slightly more advanced. She turned her head to the left and her eyes widened at the sight before her.

There was an isolation chamber there and a person currently occupying it.

Vegeta.

"Hello?! Did you hear me?!" Appule yelled out.

Bulma snapped out of her thoughts. "What? What did you say?"

"I said staring at that monkey isn't going to get him out of there faster! Now sit on the table and we can get this over with! Idiot." He said glaring at her before turning to gather his tools.

She narrowed her eyes at him but said nothing and sat on the table behind her. If she wasn't in a world of pain right now, she would've ripped him a new one for speaking to her like that, consequences be damned!

The heiress took a deep breath and released a sigh, trying to calm her nerves. She looked over at the isolation chamber again, hearing the steady beep of the heart monitor, watching Vegeta through the glass. He looked much better than before, his wounds were healing nicely. This was the first time she'd seen his features look so relaxed. When he wasn't scowling he actually looked young and...cute.

'Man, I really must be going crazy if I'm describing Vegeta of all people as cute.' She mused with a small smile on her face before she quickly shook her head. 'Focus Bulma! You need to figure out a plan to get the two of you out of here!'

That wasn't the only thing she needed to figure out.

When Zarbon had first taken her to Frieza, she'd been too shaken up to pay too much attention to her surroundings. Now that she was more calm, she remembered something. Behind the tyrannical ruler, there had been five dragon balls sitting on the floor in front of a huge window. It really frustrated her that they were so close to them but couldn't do a damn thing about it.

'I know Krillin and Gohan said they wanted to storm the place and cause a big enough distraction to get the dragon balls but it's too risky. Frieza and Zarbon are already aware of their presence because of their rescue attempt and are going to be on the lookout for them.'

Zarbon on his own had been a real problem for Vegeta. Now add Frieza into the mix and the situation just seemed that much bleaker.

'If I'm being honest with myself, there's absolutely no way I can get the dragon balls and get us out of here. As much as I have the brains for it, I don't even have the strength to take on Frieza's foot soldiers. It'll have to be one or the other.'

"Let's get this done." Bulma jumped when she heard Appule's voice. He took her arm and cut off her demolished sleeve, exposing her wound. She winced at the sight, feeling woozy. The sight was sickening. It looked like some hellhound decided to use her arm as a chew toy, blood slowly oozing out.

The medic wrung a cloth in water and wiped her arm down. She had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. Once he was done, he turned around and retrieved a bottle with some type of liquid in it and some cotton balls. He poured the liquid on them and started dabbing on her skin. This time, Bulma couldn't keep from crying out. It hurt like hell!

"I forgot to mention, this is going to sting quite a bit." He said in a bored voice

"More like quite a lot." She mumbled.

"Pitiful weakling."

After a few minutes that felt like a few hours, of disinfecting and cleaning her wound he was done. He put on a latex glove and opened a jar that had a blueish-green substance in it. Wary of the stuff, Bulma steeled herself for more unbearable pain when he started applying the salve. She was relieved to find that it had a cool, soothing effect. She could almost feel her skin healing that much faster.

"What is this stuff?" Bulma asked, her curiosity winning out.

"It's a salve made with the concentrated ingredients that make up the isolation chamber's healing liquid. It heals wounds quicker than leaving them to heal naturally. It's only used to treat small injuries, it won't work with bigger ones." Appule answered mechanically.

'Wow. Unreal. I need to learn how to make this stuff. It'll be super useful to the guys when we get home.'

He wrapped her arm in bandages and took a step back. Apparently he was finished.

"You'll be fine before an hour has passed." He said in a detached tone.

Without thinking, her eyes swung over to the chamber again. Appule followed her gaze and chuckled slightly.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you."

Bulma looked over to see a sly smirk on his face. "His injuries are too great. He may not even wake up at all, no matter how long he sits in there. So sorry."

He then walked over to the door to call her captor. She looked back at the chamber, feeling her heart constrict when she ran over that toad's words.

'That's not true. You're going to make it out of here alive and send these bastards to hell where they belong.'

"Are you ready, my beauty?"

'Starting with him.' Bulma thought as she watched Zarbon waltz up to her. Before she could move, he grabbed her good arm and dragged her out the infirmary, ignoring her sounds of displeasure. They walked down the hall before coming to a stop in front of another door.

"Here we are. Your home away from home." He said as he punched in a code and pushed her in the dark room.

"Where the hell am I?!" She demanded

"Oh, she's got her fight back. That's good. I was starting to worry that you'd given up so soon", he said with a smirk. "As for where you are, this is your lover's old room. I figured it would be nice for you to wait here until he wakes up, then the real fun can begin."

The warrior stepped closer to her. Bulma stood her ground, unwilling to back down, and held his gaze. He smiled at the ferocity in her eyes.

"You truly are something special. I do hope Frieza decides to spare you when it's all over, then I can take proper care of you." He said as he ran a finger down her cheek. His touch made her skin crawl.

'How could a guy as attractive as him be so vile?' The way he spoke to her, touched her. He reminded her of dark chocolate laced with an undetectable poison. The intention to kill was there, but the victim wouldn't know because they're too busy being seduced by what's on the surface. And they wouldn't know until it was too late.

"And don't try anything funny. There'll be a guard outside watching the door intently. See you soon." Zarbon flashed her a sinister grin before leaving the room. Outside, he signalled for a soldier walking by.

"Yes my Lord?" He asked.

"Guard the door and make sure the girl doesn't escape. I'll come for her later." Zarbon explained.

"Of course, sire." He bowed.

"Good." Zarbon left him alone, feeling very satisfied. Everything was going extremely well if he said so himself.

"Fucking leech." She sneered at the closed door.

The heiress sighed and looked around the room. It was still too dark to see. She went around and felt the wall for a light switch, flipping it when she found it. She hissed at the bright lights before adjusting and taking in her surroundings.

"Oh...wow."

Whatever she'd been expecting, this certainly wasn't it. It wasn't lavish but it wasn't decrepit either. It looked like a showroom at a house for sale. It had a single bed, a wardrobe and another door which she presumed led to a bathroom. The room was cold, empty.

'Much like the monster who owns this ship.'

Bulma walked over to the bed and sat down, taking the down time to think about recent events. She remembered what Vegeta said to her about Frieza when they'd stopped at that first planet.

Flashback

"I remember you speaking about Frieza before we left Earth. At first I assumed it was just the name of the planet. You're obviously talking about an actual being. So, who is Frieza"

They stopped in front of a door and the Prince turned to face her, his face cold and expressionless. "Frieza is the emperor of the universe. A tyrant known across the galaxies. And a creature you better hope you never crossed paths with."

End flashback

Understatement of the century right there. She'd known from what he and Malaka had told her that he was a monster but nothing could have prepared her for what she'd encountered. His voice alone had been enough to shake her up more than a little bit. When she first laid her eyes on him, while he wasn't physically imposing because of his stature, his eyes had a knowing glint in them. They spoke of a being who knew he was powerful and that no one could stand in his way. He had an intimidating aura that had radiated with evil.

While Vegeta had been created in the darkness, Frieza was the darkness, determined to crush any bit of light in his path with a vicious grin on his face. She winced as her mind went back to her 'small' punishment he had given her for speaking out of turn. That was one of the worst things that had ever happened to her. It had been unspeakably painful. For as long as she lived, she'd never ever forget that moment.

'And Vegeta had to live with that beast for almost two decades, going through much worse than what I'd experienced.'

Now he was back in his prison, waiting to be presented to his master on a silver platter and that this time, he wouldn't make it out alive.

Her eyes took on a determined look.

'Not on my watch.'

She stood up and took in the room more carefully, trying to find a weak spot. She didn't bother trying the door because it was pointless. It was her last option. She wouldn't get very far without getting caught. Her only option was to find a way to the infirmary and bust Vegeta out and make and escape. She knew it was risky considering he was still healing but something told her that he wouldn't want to die at the hands of his lifelong tormentor without at least putting up the fight of his life.

"Dammit. There's nothing here." She said, thoroughly searching the room. Bulma marched towards the other door and went inside, confirming her guess of it being a bathroom. It had a shower, a sink and something that looked like a toilet. She looked around, trying to find anything.

"Ah hah!" Above the sink was what looked like a ventilator with a grid. Hoping it was sturdy, she climbed onto the basin and looked through it. From what she could see, it looked big enough for her to crawl through. She just needed to loosen the screws and she was home free.

Jumping down the basin, Bulma patted her pockets and released a relieved breath when she found her capsule case was still with her. She closed the door and pressed the button, throwing it to the floor. The capsule burst open and produced a toolbox. She took out a screwdriver and got back on the basin.

"This is almost too easy to the point of being anti climactic. Then again, they have no clue that I'm not a girl who only knows how to spread them wide." The young genius said with a cocky smile.

When the last screw was out, she removed the grid and looked inside, not able to see to the back. It was dark, really dark. She got back down and got a small, powerful flashlight from the box, encapsulating it when she was done.

Bulma climbed back up and turned on the light, taking in the dusty space. "Man I really hope there aren't any spiders or rats in here."

She hooked the light behind her ear, climbed into the vent and began her journey.

"I take back what I said. This isn't easy. Not one bit." She grumbled out.

For almost half an hour, Bulma had been crawling through the vent system trying to find the infirmary. She tried using her memory of the walkway layout but failed to think about how the vents path would probably be different. Twice she thought she found it, once she almost lost her shit when she found herself in the throne room. For once, the gods were on her side since Frieza hadn't been paying attention so she'd slid past as quietly as a church mouse.

Now here she was, dirty, sweaty and frustrated as hell.

She took a left turn and came to a halt when she heard voices. She strained her ears and listened. It sounded like Zarbon's voice and he was speaking to...Appule! Could it be? Did she make it?

Bulma followed the voices and when she saw a light ahead, she turned off her flashlight. Creeping forward, she almost squealed with happiness when she found herself in front of the infirmary. Yes! She made it! Now the question was, how was she going to get out of this one?

"How much longer is he going to be in there?" She looked down to see Zarbon and Appule looking at Vegeta in the chamber.

"I'm not sure sire. His injuries were too great but he should recover soon."

"You better do all you can to make sure he wakes up. Otherwise Frieza will have both our heads."

Bulma narrowed her eyes after hearing that. Was that...a small tremor she picked up in his voice? Was he afraid of his precious master?

'Seems somebody isn't as chummy with Frieza as he led me to believe.' She observed with a smirk.

"I'll report to you as soon as he awakens my Lord."

"Excellent." Zarbon then swaggered out the room.

Appule went back to Vegeta, working the knobs on the machine. He took a step back, arms akimbo.

"That ought to keep you for a while. Tell you what, I think I'm going to take a little break."

'Yes, do that! Take all the time you need!' Bulma nodded vigorously. This was the chance she needed to get them out.

"Just promise you'll sit tight until I get back. I wouldn't want you to wander off and get hurt." He said, sarcasm laced in his voice.

Suddenly, the Prince's eyes burst open, looking straight at the medic, a bright light emitting from within the chamber.

"What?!" He cried out

'Holy shit!' Bulma's eyes flew wide open before she backtracked as fast as she could, knowing what was about to happen. A moment later, a huge explosion rocked the ship. She screamed, putting her arms on her head. When everything settled, she moved back to the front, seeing the grid was now loose.

"They just keep underestimating the power of the Saiyan Prince." She smiled when she heard that. He was alive! Thank goodness!

Not wanting to waste another second, she gathered her strength and pushed the grid once, loosening it more before giving another mighty push, throwing it to the ground.

"What the...Bulma?!" She turned her head to see Vegeta standing next to the demolished machine, his expression bewildered

"The one and only." She said with a smile. She crawled forward, determined to get out of that cramped space.

"Can you help me out here-ahh!" She screamed when she fell out, closing her eyes and bracing for impact.

It never came.

She opened her eyes to see Vegeta, his face in its usual scowl. "Imbecile! What the hell are you doing here?! Do you have a death wish?!"

The heiress blinked at him before launching herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, ignoring how he tensed at the action. "Thank Kami you're alright! They kept saying you wouldn't make it. I nearly lost hope."

Vegeta staggered back, almost dropping her. He couldn't believe his ears. He had so many questions. How did she get here? Why was she here? Why had she ignored his order to stay in the house? And most importantly, why did she seem so damned happy to see him?!

The Prince looked to the door when he felt two large ki's approaching. Frieza and Zarbon. The questions would have to wait, it was time to leave. He peeled her off of him and threw her over his shoulder, ignoring her protests. He held out his hand and fired a massive blast at the wall, rocking the ship with a bigger explosion than before. He kicked the door down and ran down the hall, hiding behind a small opening.

"Put me down, you big oaf!" Bulma yelled, hitting his back.

"Quiet woman!" He said but put her down none too gently. He stuck his head out and snickered when he saw Zarbon flying around looking for him, Frieza right behind him. Perfect! This was his chance! He stepped out from his cover.

"Hey! Are you looking for someone?!" He yelled out to them before firing a blast at a pipe, damaging the ship and filling the hallway with smoke. He quickly grabbed Bulma and flew down the opposite end of the walkway, blasting faceless warriors on the way.

"We need to get to the throne room! That's where the dragon balls are!" Bulma yelled out.

"Where did you think I was going, foolish woman?!"

A moment later they arrived, the dragon balls sitting unguarded. He set Bulma down.

"Frieza you fool! You were so confident no one could take them from you. I wish I could see your reaction when you find them gone!" Vegeta said, his heart racing with excitement. He didn't notice Bulma rolling her eyes with a smile at his little speech.

"He's over here!" A voice called out. They looked over to see more soldiers coming towards them. Vegeta fired a blast at them, killing them effortlessly. He turned and fired a ki blast at the window.

Bulma heard more voices coming down the hall. Quickly she got out her Capsule case and threw one up, catching a machine gun in her hands. She stepped out and fired, her eyes widening when the bullets ricocheted off of them. She heard a hissing noise and saw a broken panel close to the oncoming fighters, gas coming out from the pipes behind it.

"Eat this!" She aimed and fired, the sparks causing an explosion, throwing them all back. She jumped back in the room to dodge the debris.

"Woman! Let's go!" She heard Vegeta yell behind her.

She encapsulated her gun and ran towards him. The Prince grabbed her, pulled her to his side and sped out the window.

Frieza and Zarbon dashed back to the throne room, only to find the dragon balls had vanished.

"No! That impudent monkey took my dragon balls!" Frieza cried out, his tail lashing violently behind him. Could this get any worse?!

"Lord Frieza! Lord Zarbon!" A voice called out. A soldier ran in and instantly dropped to his knees with his head bowed.

"What is it?" Zarbon demanded.

"The girl my Lords. She's...she's gone." He said, his voice quivering.

"What?! What do you mean she's gone?! I told you to keep an eye on her!" Zarbon yelled, his expression deadly.

The poor man started shaking in his place, fear running through him. "I was, my Liege! I stood in front of the door the whole time. When the explosions started, I went in to check on her and found she wasn't in the main room.

I went to the bathroom and found that she wasn't there too, only to see the ventilator grid had been removed. She must've crawled through and escaped through there. How she managed to do it, I'm not sure. Please forgive me for my failure!"

Before he could say another word, his eyes widened in shock and a second later, his head fell off his shoulders. Zarbon and a few spectators turned to see Frieza with his arm extended, a purple ki blade radiating around his fingers. It disappeared and he turned to face his quivering subordinates.

"Remove this worthless piece of garbage from my sight. And clean up the mess! I don't need his blood staining my floors. And you." Zarbon gulped when Frieza turned his murderous gaze on his, his expression eerily calm. "You either come back with Vegeta, the girl and my dragon balls all at once...or you don't come back at all. Do you understand?"

"Yes my Lord." Zarbon choked out.

"Go." He whispered.

The elegant warrior immediately flew out the window, flying a short distance away from the ship. He stopped and looked around the area.

"I know they're around here somewhere. They couldn't have gotten very far." He mumbled. Zarbon looked to the side and flew in that direction, determined to find them and complete his mission.

He never noticed the ripples in the water below him before they vanished completely.

Author's Note: I'm back! And I bring to you all another chapter. Yay!

A lot happened in this chapter, like a lot. I even came up with a healing gel in here, like what! But I'm happy with how it turned out. Hopefully it was worth the long wait lol.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! As always, thank you to Rosise, RoyalBlueRoses and Becky L. Sly for your reviews on the last chapter. You guys rock!

Stay happy and healthy everyone. I'll see you soon.

RR18