Vegeta had had his problems before. But nothing like this. This... thing, this… monster, was a lot stronger that him. His instincts were going crazy, his mind filled with the ki signature that it was producing. Only the pain-filled moan of his woman snapped him back into reality. The white beast threw its head back and laughed. The high-pitched, almost feminine voice seemed to taunt Vegeta's very being.
Pulling himself back into the chamber, he slowly took deep breaths, bringing the wind back into his body. "Who… What are you?" This only caused more laughter to emit form the being. It sounded as gruesome as nails on a chalkboard.
"Why… none other the infamous Artica!" (A/N – Okay, okay, corny, I know. But really, what else is there!) Vegeta took the information stone-faced. The name… he knew where Artica came from immediately. He had heard of them, in legends, but never knew they existed. The infamous heirs of Frieza, that had escaped the Saiyans wrath. Long ago, in the day of the Super Saiyans, this would have been an easy task to defeat him. But no more. Long gone were the days when the descendants of Goku and Vegeta had enough Saiyan blood in them to reach the status of the Super Saiyan. By the time they met the colony, and moved to Farad, all was in vain. It just couldn't be accomplished anymore. Vegeta had trained all his life to reach this, but not yet. How was he expected to now?
Once again, the woman jolted him out of his thoughts. Artica ceased his laughing and inspected the girl, in seeming amusement. "You know, it's been along time – my family has been in hiding from you Saiyans. A long time where we able to train. We were much stronger, yes, but the time was not right. So we waited. And waited. Revenge was going to be perfect. We would avenge our fore fathers death. Freiza, Kold, Cooler, all of them. Looks like I found your weakness, Vegeta. And hers… too." He took a pause for dramatic effect, then cackled to himself.
Before Vegeta could even move, he had his arm in front of Bulma and was charging up an attack. He cocked his head to the side, in an almost innocent manner. "Revenge is sweet, my dear Veggie."
Vegeta shook with indignation. He was going to destroy the woman, before he even got to apologize… second NO on EVER called him VEGGIE! Right before the blast was shot, Vegeta rammed himself into Artica, causing him to swing his arm, and blasting a hole through Vegeta's chest, and charring half of his body.
Artica was pissed. Beyond pissed. He let out a frustrated, but very loud, growl. Then all of a sudden, his scowl turned into a smirk as he thought of a devious scheme. Talking to the barely conscious Saiyan prince, he said flatly, "Well, then, I guess I just get to have even more fun, then, don't I?"
With that, he picked up the two unconscious forms, and throwing them over his shoulder, prepared to blast off.
~*~*~*~*~
Kinas, standing outside of the door, heard the growl, and immediately went in to investigate. When he came in, he saw an unconscious Bulma and Vegeta, thrown over Artica's shoulder.
"Hey! Just what do you think you are doing! Bulma is mine! Take the shrimp, but leave her for me!" He stood tall and proud, but one look from Artica and cowardice once again became his ruling trait. With nothing but a grunt, he simply grabbed Kinas under one arm, and then took off into the sky.
~*~*~*~*~
Goku, Chichi, and Nappa were also drawn to the scene by the growl and the appearance of the large ki, though only came in time to see the fading streak of aura left by Artica. Chichi, upon realizing the predicament, silently turned to sob into Goku's shoulder, while Nappa and Goku could only shake their heads and wonder.
It was a long time before anyone spoke, but it was Goku who did. "Well… what now?"