Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z, and claim no rights to the characters, you see. To do so, though, would be so grand... um... I play the flute in the high school band?? (Damn... I wanted to make a GOOD rhyme...)
Notes: Thankies on all the good reviews!!! ^_^ Someone even called me a genius... although if they knew me in person their opinion might sway more towards "weird." Anywho, I know the "chapters" are somewhat short, but this story wouldn't be suspenseful without... erm... suspense! ... I need a thesaurus...
Chapter Nine: Swallowed
Oh, Dende, no. Please. Just let me be. Please... - Vegeta
Same day
Vegeta didn't fall for very long before he landed right on a rock surface, getting the wind knocked out of him. He had fallen into a cavern.
Cavern? Wait a minute... He slowly stood up and looked around, recognizing his surroundings. It was the cavern from his dream.
The cave from his nightmare.
Vegeta looked straight up and saw the hole he had fallen through, illuminated by the dull, gray light of the cloudy sky.
"Vegeta!" he heard Bulma scream from far above.
He moved to fly out of the cave, only to be interrupted by the voice. The cold, chilling voice that was so warm and soothing at the same time.
"Vegeta..." it called.
No no no no...
Just go. Fly. Get out.
As in the dream, Vegeta moved to obey the woman's beckoning call.
"Vegeta!" Bulma yelled again. She was outside now. Vegeta looked up and saw her face in the hole in the ceiling.
He went to escape the cave again, but the voice stopped him in his tracks.
"You can only hear me, Vegeta."
Bulma's voice faded away, along with the image of her in the cave entrance.
No no no no no...
"You do not see the light, Vegeta."
The dim glow also vanished, and the cavern became pitch black
This can't be happening. It was only a dream!
"Come."
No. No no no no. I won't. I won't.
But he did anyway. The voice was putting Vegeta in a trance. His mind was becoming foggy. He could barely think. He no longer had control over his body. He obeyed the order, making his way across the cave.
He could see the woman's faint outline in the dark. Suddenly he could think again, but only of razor-like teeth piercing his skin and long, black claws raking across his back. Vegeta began to panic, remembering the feeling of her nails digging deep into his tissue, carving out chunks of flesh and drawing streams of warm blood.
No. What are you doing, Vegeta? Run. Run damn you.
But he couldn't. He continued to approach the woman.
Oh, Dende, no. Please. Just let me be. Please...
He stopped a few feet from the woman. Even in the dark he could see the fiendish grin on her face.
"You are mine," she whispered.
Then there was blackness.
"Vegeta!" Bulma screamed from the open window. She raced out of their bedroom, down the stairs, through the kitchen, and out into the backyard. She dashed across the wet ground over to the hole that he had vanished into. She fell on her knees, not giving the mud that splattered on her pants a second thought, and peeked downwards.
"Vegeta!" she hollered again when she spotted him about thirty feet below.
He looked back at her, seeming to break from deep thought, and Bulma thought he was going to fly out.
"You can only hear me," an icy voice hissed from deeper within the underground cavern, its resonance snaking from the dark and making Bulma shudder.
Vegeta froze, and his eyes seemed to glaze over.
"V- Vegeta?" she called to him.
"You do not see the light, Vegeta," the frigid voice continued.
His eyes became cloudier. His body remained still.
"Vegeta!" Bulma shrieked, reaching into the cavern.
He didn't answer her.
"Come," the voice commanded.
"Don't listen!"
To Bulma's dismay, Vegeta turned his face from hers, and began to slowly walk towards the voice's origin.
"Vegeta!" Bulma screeched, crying now. "Stop!"
He couldn't hear her. He continued to walk; she watched as he disappeared into the darkness, enveloped in a curtain of ebony.
"Come back!"
Suddenly the hole closed up by itself, quickly and easily; Bulma barely had time to withdraw her arm. The yard became clear of any blemishes other than the round patch of dirt she kneeled upon.
Bulma remained on her knees, shaking in disbelief of what had just happened. She became aware of something warm on her skin, and turned her face upward to see that the sun had emerged from the heavy veil of clouds, casting its warm, comforting glow on the soggy ground.
She glanced back down at the ground, tears streaming down her cheeks.
She screamed.
Bra set Relena down in the driveway, and they hurried towards the front door.
Then an anguished scream erupted from the backyard. The two girls ran around the house into the rear yard.
Bulma was screeching, clawing at the earth desperately. She was crying, splattered with mud, and completely out of control.
Bra ran to her okaasan, pulling her to her feet. Her okaasan writhed in her grip, still shrieking, trying to get back to the ground.
"'Kaasan!" Bra yelled. "Calm down! What happened?"
"He's gone!" Bulma yelled. "It took him!"
"Who? 'Kaasan! Calm down! What took who?"
Bulma was suddenly more tranquil, the tragedy finally taking its toll on her. "Your father," she whispered. "It took your otousan."
" 'T-tousan? What took him? What?"
Bulma replied, still a bit incoherent. "I don't know. The ground opened and he fell.... I yelled to him but it.... it hypnotized him or something.... he couldn't hear me..."
"We're too late," Relena said. "It got to him before I could."
Bulma looked up at the girl. "W-what? What do you know about what happened to Vegeta?" Bulma became angry. "What happened to him?"
"I- I'm not exactly sure."
"But- but aren't you Bra's friend? How would you know anything...Who are you?"
Relena hesitated, unsure how to explain. She took the direct approach. It was time to come clean anyway. "I... was sent by an agency to stop an evil power from taking a conduit. But I didn't know who it was. I... I did some investigating but it didn't produce any conclusive information to who it was..."
She stopped when she saw the glare Bulma was shooting at her. The enraged woman marched over to her, looked her in the eyes and slapped her across the face.
Bulma pointed to the clawed ground. "There's your fucking conclusive information! The ground opened up and swallowed my Vegeta-chan. Then some... some thing took him from me!" She fell to her knees, sobbing into her soiled hands. Bra knelt down next to her and hugged her.
Relena remained calm, despite the slap. "I'm sorry. But I promise you, ma'am, I'm going to do all I can to get your husband back."
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I stand in my lair, a cavern much larger than the one I formed under the Briefs' backyard. It is barren and frigid, the perfect spot to continue my plan. Above me is where I will attack. Where I will begin my domination of the earth.
In my arms is the unconscious Prince Vegeta, prince of the mostly obliterated Saiyan race, my conduit. He is almost lifeless, his only movement his slow, steady breathing. His fear is so fresh in my senses, still exhilarating to me. In his trance, it was easy to induce his blackout. It will be just as simple to have complete authority over him.
I lean over and kiss him, almost crushing his mouth with my lips. Through the lip-lock I suck out all of his free will; he is now under my power.
It is heavily arousing having such a powerful man at my mercy. I kiss him again, this time for my own pleasure, biting his lower lip. I nip so hard that blood flows and I lick the blood from the tear in the flesh. I have the tantalizing urge to ravish him, to feel his warm body against my cold skin.
I would prefer to do even more, but there will be plenty of time for sexual indulgence after my plot is carried out.
As I said to him, he is mine.
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So whaddaya think of my villainess? What? You want to know her name? Well, you'll just have to wait until chapter ten ^-^ I'll give you a hint though. I got her name from a song that I believe was written by Hole (I'm pretty sure it's Hole anyways o.o). So depending on what music you listen too, the answer could be obvious or still nonexistent.