Chapter 10: Incarceration
By: senzubean
I do not own Dragon Ball Z in any way. I make no profit from this story. I just wrote it for fun.
Prince Vegeta was blind. He was awake, his pounding head told him that much, but he was blind.
"Unhand him and go!"
Vegeta could see her silhouetted against the pitch black before his eyes. An angry scowl twisting her beautiful face. Mo..Mother?
"Oh I'll go, but I'm taking your brat with me."
Don't Mother! Vegeta warned seeing the expression change form one of anger to one of pure rage.
"Over my dead body!"
Recely charged at her son, getting closer and closer and then a blinding white flash.
Then, Recely was dead. Floating In the oblivion stretched out before Vegeta, blood dripping slowly from her body turning the black void red.
Mother!! Vegeta whined mournfully as blood flooded his vision, submerging his mother and causing her to disappear from his view.
"I'm not going lose you, Vegeta"
Vegeta tried to make his eyes see Recely. A flat plane of red was all that appeared.
Where are you mother?
"You hear me? I'm not going to let that happen, I promise!"
Where are you!?
…I promise…
He tried to see, he tried to hear, but the echo of his mother's voice was slowly being replaced by that of methodical beeping. The beeping got louder and louder and then bubbles floated through the red plane.
Vegeta strained to see and his vision slowly became clearer.
The face of a strange race of alien came into his view. This alien was floating in the bubbles and was speaking, but Vegeta couldn't hear his voice. He felt himself to be floating as if in water, but he was breathing quite easily.
Motors started whirring and suction was started. The liquid drained from around Vegeta, leaving him sitting on a cold floor. Something about his face fell off into his lap. He blinked to try and un-blur his vision.
Things came to be clear a bit too suddenly. He saw that he was in a rejuvenation tank, but the doctors and technicians he did not recognize. He scanned the rest of the room in paranoia and realized that that too was unfamiliar.
"Vegeta?" one doctor asked mechanically.
Vegeta turned his aching head towards him and nearly swooned under the dizziness.
Vegeta? The Prince wondered quite annoyed. Merely, Vegeta? He was certain that he hadn't heard right.
"Vegeta?" The doctor repeated his address.
Again!
Vegeta blinked in confusion. The situation perplexed him, but more importantly, it frightened him and he did not like being frightened.
The doctor turned to two orderlies standing behind him. "He needs assistance exiting the tank."
The two men obeyed without response. They immediately went to assist the patient.
The one on the left, gently took a hold of Vegeta's upper arm and spoke to him in a calm voice explaining what he was doing. But Vegeta didn't hear the calm voice, he just felt the man's grip on his arm, gentle as it was ,it was still holding him and Vegeta had not asked for assistance. Therefore, The Prince instinctively thought that he was being attacked.
Vegeta growled viciously and threw himself at the orderly's face clawing and punching in a fit of rage. He could've easily distanced himself from this man but for some reason, he wanted to hurt him.
He needed to hurt someone.
The other orderly grabbed hold of Vegeta's torso in an attempt to pry him from his wailing partner's face. Vegeta wrenched himself out of his hold and then turned on him. It didn't matter who he was doing the damage to, as long as someone was in pain, he was satisfied. This orderly was prepared and was able to knock the child down and pin him to the floor of the tank. His partner, bloodied and still somewhat shocked managed to help.
Snarling, Vegeta tried to force himself away from his restrainers, but the efforts of both were enough to hold him in place. The uninjured orderly made the mistake of putting his hand too close to the saiyan prince's face. Vegeta grabbed the two closest fingers between his teeth and snapped them off like they were candies. He finished the attack of by swallowing them.
A few technicians soon joined the ailing orderlies in restraining the livid patient. Vegeta , unable to budge, responded by yelling at the top of his lungs. His rage fast turned into intense fear as he found overpowered by a group of complete strangers. His protest was cut short by a sharp pain in his right upper thigh. He felt liquid injected into the muscle and promptly began yelling again. He yelled until his head and eyes went heavy and every muscle in his body completely relaxed. Then he was hoisted off the floor and transferred to a stretcher, where he had no choice but to submit to the doctor's examination. Eventually, he drifted into unconsciousness, once again oblivious to the universe.
"He caused quite a disturbance in the treatment room, yesterday." A doctor ,a member of some lizard race, commented as he observed Prince Vegeta through a picture window. On the other side, Vegeta didn't know he was being observed through the tinted glass and wouldn't have cared if he did.
"Well, what did you expect?" Replied Nappa sourly. He was observing the Prince as well and was quite displeased at the appearance of his appointed charge. Vegeta was practically cowering in the small, dark cell.
"We had to tranquilize him," The doctor continued. "And he's remained in that same body position since the drugs wore off. He's lucky, If it had've been up to us he would've been strapped down on that bed in there, but lord Frieza wouldn't hear of it. He refuses to eat or talk and.."
The doctor's report was cut short by Nappa heaving a sigh of frustration. "I don't care, let me in there."
"C..certainly." the doctor replied and went to a control panel across the room. "The door is to the left."
Promptly, the opening to the cell was revealed. Nappa walked through and was annoyed by the fact the door nearly slammed shut on his tail. A light went on as soon as he entered giving him a better view of his Prince. He was sitting up at the upper corner of the bed against the wall. His body was curled into a tight ball with his knees touching his forehead. He had been stripped of his armor, boots and gloves and was wearing only his undersuit. Upon hearing someone enter he curled up tighter into the protective ball he had made himself into.
"Prince Vegeta?" Nappa said gently. The warrior waited apprehensively for a reply, suspecting he might get none considering the child had been traumatized.
"Nappa?" replied the Prince in an almost inaudible voice.
"Yes your highness"
"What are you doing here?"
Nappa sat on the end of the bed, causing it to shift under his weight and nearly dislodging the Prince from his protective ball. Nappa was concerned that the Prince hadn't yet dislodged himself from it.
"I have been appointed your care-taker."
"I can take care of myself!" Vegeta spat angrily. Nappa heaved a silent sigh of relief, that was more like it.
"Well, after your little display in the treatment room yesterday, I suppose Frieza feels you need constant supervision. Your father didn't think it was a bad idea either."
Vegeta growled, still in his ball, but unmistakingly un-pleased. "I don't know what you're talking about Nappa! I wasn't in any treatment room, I woke up in here! I didn't do anything!"
"What's the last thing you remember?"
"I remember my mother being murdered, that's what I remember!" Vegeta snapped at Nappa in fury.
"All right." Replied Nappa in an effort to calm his charge down. Apparently it worked. Vegeta was silent for a good while.
"And Sala?" Vegeta asked, forcing the syllables of the words past his lips, afraid of the answer he might get.
Nappa lowered his eyes and remained silent not knowing how to reply.
"The Ginyu got her, didn't they?" Vegeta answered his own question. It was the answer he had expected to get.
"I'm afraid so , my Prince."
Vegeta fell over on his side in disappear and curled up tighter.
"Prince?" Nappa asked concerned by the child's actions.
"Why? Why did Frieza do this?" stammered Vegeta, trying contain his mixed up emotions. The thought of Sala cringing under his bed as the Ginyu force advanced on her broke Vegeta's heart. He knew how terrified she was, much more than he had been. "Father was going to bring me to him that day! Why did he have to be so impatient!?"
"He wasn't impatient Vegeta. Your father went to Frieza that morning in order to refuse his request for you."
"Why!?" Vegeta erupted in astonishment and pushed himself from the bed and confronted his newly -appointed care-taker. "Why would he do something so…so…. foolish?" He never thought that his father loved him enough to do that. He never really thought that his father loved him at all.
"He wanted to spare you Frieza's influence."
"Hmph!" Vegeta scoffed, his rage fast taking precedence over his devastation . "And while he tried to save me from this, he doomed everyone who happened to be in the palace."
Vegeta thought about everyone who had been lost. All his families loyal servants. His friend and nurse-maid, Beana. His tutor Zorn. His best friend, Sala, and most of all, his Mother, who had always loved him for who he was under the guise of the perfect Saiyan Prince, and never hesitated to tell him so. Prince Vegeta began to shake all over. Sparks of energy flew from his body.
"Vegeta.." Nappa started in warning but was unable to stop the Prince, as he leapt from the bed, throwing himself against the metal door of the cell.
"LET ME OUT! I WANT TO SEE FRIEZA!" He shouted at the top of his lungs and pounded the door with his little fists.
"Vegeta stop! It's no use, Frieza isn't even on this ship!"
The Prince stopped his barrage and glared at Nappa, his chest heaving in anger as he breathed through flared nostrils.
"Father…" He slowly stated and then went back to his banging and yelling.
"I WANT TO SPEAK TO MY FATHER! NOW!"
"VEGETA!" Nappa yelled at the child. He knew that he had to stop him for his own good. His job was to keep the boy in check, but he was afraid of this boy. This time, the Prince wasn't listening. He was set having his demands met. One of his punches put a dent in the thick steel door. Nappa could tell that another few like that would set them free.
"He couldn't wait any longer. Nappa grabbed hold of the prince and pulled him away form the door and held him against his chest armor with his massive arms, only Vegeta's head was visible over them.
"LET ME GO IMMEDIATELY!" Vegeta ordered.
"Not until you calm down!" Nappa said.
Vegeta screamed enraged at being given a condition by a servant. "THAT IS AN ORDER,NAPPA! DO IT NOW OR I'LL..i'll.." his voice trailed off, unable to think of a suitable threat at the moment.
"You'll what? Scream some more? Face it Prince, you are not stronger than me yet. So, until that happens this is the way things are going to be. You are the child I am the adult. I'm the only friend you have in this place." He dropped Vegeta to the floor. The Prince looked up at him enraged, yet held the expression of a pouting child.
"We are in no position to make demands. Frieza is angry at your father's refusal and most likely always will be. If you want to keep on his good side you're going to have to be very, very obedient and gracious."
"I will never be obedient to that..that monster!"
"You will be." Nappa disagreed. "If you want to live, you will do whatever he says."
Vegeta scowled, helpless, and knowing it. That just pissed him off even more.
Nappa smirked, understanding that he'd won the argument for now. He doubted that would happen very often.
"Now," Nappa continued, sitting back down on the bed. "That Zarbon guy informed me over the telecom that we're headed for Frieza's base #547. You'll be released upon arrival and we'll be given our own quarters somewhere. He didn't give any details about what kind of food or how much of it there will be…"
"Are you telling me that we'll be doing nothing but living under Frieza's supervision?" Vegeta asked appalled and angered.
"No, you didn't let me finish!" Nappa spat right back. "You'll start occupational training the day after we arrive. Then I assume we'll be going on occupations as directed by Frieza."
"Occupational training?" Vegeta wondered aloud, crossing his arms over his chest. "How is that different form the training I've been doing?"
"I don't know." Nappa shrugged and looked around his surroundings. He was getting hungry. A saiyans faltering attention span was always a sign of being famished.
"Well how do you expect to train me when you don't know how?!" Vegeta crankily demanded.
"I'm not going to train you, Zarbon is."
"What?!"
Nappa shrugged again, then his stomach growled.
"This..this.." Vegeta stammered not knowing how to express the rage slowly welling up again. "This sucks!"
"Yeah," Nappa agreed half -heartedly. "Listen, if you're going to do some more screaming , how about demanding some food? I'm starving!"
Vegeta stared at him dumfounded. He had a feeling that this was just the beginning of hardships for him.