A/N : Voilà ! I have finally updated this fic ! I am really sorry for the late update but I had a major problem with my computer. All is okay now so I will update regularly from now on. I will probably update Nobility in the next 2-3 days for those who wonder. I hope you like this chapter !

Chapter nine

That said, he threw his cape aside and placed himself into combat position.

Bulma could only do the same, her heart loudly beating in her chest from anxiety.

The king carefully surveyed Bulma, a mocking glint gracing his eyes. He was waiting for her to make the first move but Bulma had other plans. ' Maybe I can beat him if I fight intelligently,' she tought. 'Well, here goes nothing!'

She powered to half her maximum strength, screaming loudly, thus giving the impression that she was fully powered up. The ground shook a bit and some rocks were projected into the mass of ruthless saiya-jin warriors. Everyone, including the king, fell into her trap.

"So this is just how powerful you are? Pathetic! And I wanted a challenge!" the dark king taunted. " Obviously I do not even need to power up to beat you, weakling!" The crowd laughed wholeheartedly at those comments.

Bulma then directly charged at him rapidly which surprised the king since he did not await such a forward move from her. He simply dodged all of her attacks easily. The king was not responding to any of her blows, therefore humiliating and frustrating Bulma.

She was disappointed. She had expected the king to attack her and that was the most important part of her plan : he had to believe that he had the upper hand. She landed a blow on his chest and decided that trying to provoke him physically was a waste of time. She had to find another method to make him angry so that he would retaliate.

"So 'Geta, can't even land a blow on a poor little ugly girl- can you?" she bloated. He did not respond. ' He is more intelligent than I taught. It will be hard to make him lose control,' she realized.

"Too bad your father is not here to see what a loser you are. He would have laughed his head off," Bulma tried.

At that moment, a large probing vein appeared on the forehead of the king. He was not angry : he was furious.

' Touché,' Bulma tought.

He than sent a powerful blow across Bulma's ribs and after flipping himself on top of her, kicked her straight in the back, sending her diving towards the ground.

That was a little more harsh than what Bulma had expected but it was time to set the critical part of her plan into motion. During her fall, she gradually increased her strength until she reached her maximum power. The movement passed unnoticed. She had learned this technique of powering up and down unnoticeably during her secret training sessions.

She stopped her descent just before reaching the ground. She, however, made sure to throw a inconspicuous energy ball on the ground to give the impression that she had fallen on the rough earth.

Vegeta, sure of his victory, remained in his place in the air, unmoving, a mocking smirk adorning his face. Suddenly, he saw a multitude of flying ki disks coming towards him from the ball of smoke. He gracefully avoided each and every single one of them.

' The girl can't even throw a damned ki disk correctly!' he thought, disappointed. He had really expected a challenge.

The flow stopped for a few seconds then began all over again. Vegeta was surprised. 'Why would the girl lose all of her energy on such a pointless attack,' he wondered.

He heard a sound coming from the top of his head and saw the previous ki disks coming back towards him. The only thing he had the time to think about before being assaulted from up and down by the energy disks was, 'the little minx tricked me!'.

The saiya-jin could not believe their eyes. A mere earthling had landed a powerful attack on the strongest warrior of the whole universe. The heat of the explosion reached every person in the stadium. Bardock was astounded. He knew she was good but she had never shown her full potential to him.

A few seconds passed by. Everyone was holding their breath and an electric tension was floating in the air.

All of a sudden, another explosion took place and a blond Vegeta was seen advancing towards a terrified Bulma.

The king stopped when he was about five feet from the blue-haired girl and turned towards the crowd. "Get back to the spaceship immediately. I wish to finish this privately," he barked.

The crowd was sourly disappointed but did not protest. A loud scrambling was heard and soon the stadium was completely deserted.

Bulma quickly scurried to her feet and admired the sight before her. The saiya-jin king stood before her, an incredible amount of raw energy radiating from his persona. He was now half-naked and bleeding from numerous places. The expression on his face was murderous but Bulma saw a hint of admiration and playfulness into his pitch-black eyes.

"I must admit, girl, that I am impressed. In any other situation, I would have easily beaten you, but you discovered my weakness and used it to your advantage. I was wrong to underestimate you but don't worry, it will never happen again.

He slowly approached her, as an animal would stalk his prey, but Bulma stood her ground not wanting to display her fear. Vegeta then circled her, a feral glint in his eyes, and stopped behind her, barely brushing her back with his torso. He whispered huskily in her ear, "this is not finished little one. You won this battle but I will win the war."

Bulma then felt a sharp blow on her neck and fell into a black void.

…………………………………………………

Bulma groggily regained consciousness. She wanted to open her eyes but they seemed impossibly heavy. She felt someone getting close to her and putting an elastic band on her arm. Bulma wanted to ask what was happening but she could not open her mouth.

Realizing that this person wanted to inject a unknown substance into her body without her consent, Bulma found a new force from the deepest depths of her being and weakly struggled. Two hands restrained her movements and she heard the comforting voice of Bardock telling her to calm down, that nothing bad would happen to her.

Bulma slowly stopped moving, trusting him, and too tired to continue moving anyways.

She then felt the needle piercing her skin and calmly waited. Suddenly, a sharp pain seized her body and she felt that she was burning from the inside.

'Bardock, how could you..' she desperately wondered, falling once again unconscious.

A/N : Wow, I can't wait to write the next chapter. This fic is becoming quite exciting! Thank you for all the reviews by the way. I read them with great pleasure and joy!

Don't forget to review! Thanks! Giggles ;)