The Soul and The Flesh~Frieza Saga Part VIII Raimi raced to the cave, and landed in front of Bulma. Her friend jumped, startled, but Raimi didn't have time to apologize. She stalked into the capsule house, pulling her ruined clothes off as she went.
"Raimi! Raimi, what happened? You were attacked weren't you? Man, your clothes! What's going on?" Bulma gasped as she followed Raimi into the bathroom. Ignoring her, Raimi stripped completely and jumped into the shower.

"Yeah, I got attacked, and I'm lucky to be alive! Can you grab my armor for me?" Bulma dug out the capsule that her armor case was in for her and chuckled.
"Well, you look ok now! Man, I'm glad I can't fight; I couldn't handle being all raggedy! But you always look good! Hey, did you find any Dragonballs?" Raimi laughed as she scrubbed the Iso-tank goop out of her hair.

"Yes, you could say that I did, but I couldn't get them away from where they were." Bulma frowned at this, but then Raimi stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel. "There is no time, Bulma. Kurilin will be here soon, and I gotta be ready, since Vegeta is out there too." She wrapped her hair up in another towel and popped her armor case. She pulled on the black stretch suit and then the gold-tipped boots. She wriggled into the battle jacket, and tugged on the gloves, then motioned Bulma ahead of her as she left the room, dropping the towels as she went.

"Wait outside, I gotta get a snack." She said, and Bulma smiled.
"You and Goku, always hungry!" She went outside and Raimi grabbed about twelve health bars and a gallon of milk and went outside too. She sat on the ground in front of Bulma, and munched contentedly.
"So, you are expecting some trouble, aren't you? You haven't worn the armor since the big fight, so it makes sense." Bulma said as Raimi looked over her shoulder. She nodded.

"Yeah, I'm in for a tough couple of days I think. Even if I'm not, I need more protection, that Fuku was just making me a target! Yeesh, It's not easy being a Saiyan, everyone hates us, no questions asked! I guess it's understandable, if you look at Vegeta." She sighed, and tore into the fifth bar. She reached out with her senses, and felt Kurilin coming, with not only Vegeta, but also Zarbon on his tail.

They were way out there, but all three were putting out so much power that she could feel them clearly. She growled and her tail lashed angrily. She climbed to her feet and waited, swallowing the last of the milk. She stepped back behind Bulma and sure enough, Kurilin appeared quickly. Bulma should have been expecting him but wasn't. She fell behind the rock she was sitting on and peered at him warily. Raimi was watching the sky, ignoring the argument as Bulma chewed him out. Then she looked down and smiled sadly as they admired Iishinchu, the one-star Dragonball, which was huge in Kurilins arms.

"Wow, it's so big! These must be very powerful!" Bulma said, eyes sparkling as she dreamed of wishing her Yamcha back. Kurilin asked about Gohan, and was informed that he was retrieving the Dragonball that Vegeta had left in the last Namek village. Kurilin grinned evilly and outlined a plan to take them to Saichorou, the eldest Namek, so he could awaken both Gohan and Raimi's sleeping powers. Bulma smiled at this chance to see something other than the walls of a cave while on Namek. Then she saw a spark of light in the distance.

"Look, here's Gohan now!" She said, sounding excited. Now they'd have two Dragonballs!
"No, I'm afraid its not. Bulma, Kurilin, get behind me!" Raimi said, and stepped forward. Kurilin gaped in horror as he saw Vegeta drop to the ground in front of them. He smiled at them, eyes gleaming as he saw the Dragonball in Kurilins arms.

"Aw, shimatta! How'd he find me?" Kurilin gasped. Raimi crossed her arms as she smiled evenly at the Prince. He looked over her shoulder, and his eyes fell on Bulma. Raimi was surprised to see his eyes widen, and a blush creep over his cheeks as he saw her friend. Bulma was shivering behind Kurilin, scared to death of the Saiyan, whom she'd never seen before in the flesh. Raimi turned back to Vegeta.
"I see you found us." He didn't respond at first, but slowly moved his eyes to her.

"Um, yeah. Well, you didn't try to hide yourself. And I saw Baldy with my last Dragonball, so, here I am. And who… " They both felt Zarbon's approach and looked in his direction, even though he wasn't visible yet.
"It will have to wait. We have company." Vegeta said, ginning in anticipation. Raimi tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at the blue skinned man when he gracefully hung above them, grinning just like Vegeta. The two warriors stared at each other as Bulma went wild for Zarbons good looks.

"Well Vegeta, you didn't really think you could escape from me, did you? And you," He pointed at Raimi, "I don't even have to break a sweat with you; Frieza doesn't care if I kill you now. But first I have to subdue Vegeta, so… " With that he dropped to the ground. Kurilin swallowed heavily as he recognized Zarbon as being part of Frieza's personal guard. He wondered at what Zarbon meant about Frieza not caring about Raimi anymore; just what kind of trouble had she gotten into this time?

"I see that your little bald-headed friend has just what I'm looking for… " He leered at the Dragonball, but Kurilin leaned on front of Bulma, more worried about her safety than the Dragonball. She rather ungratefully leaned out into the open and waved at the handsome villain, cooing happily at his pretty face. Raimi and Vegeta both turned and looked at her, and then Vegeta chuckled.

"Silly girl, too bad she doesn't know him like you do, eh Kirei?" Raimi sighed and blushed at her friend's silliness.
"I don't care about them, Vegeta, all I want is the Dragonballs. Now, what did you do with them? " Vegeta smirked and pretended to ponder this stupid question, and shrugged.
"I lost them." Kurilin and Bulma were shocked to hear that Vegeta had some of the Dragonballs, and wondered when this was going to end.

"All right hotshot, now you've done it. I was prepared to go easy on you, but I guess you don't know a good deal when you see one." Zarbon said. Raimi edged over towards her friends, and glared at Zarbon when he looked at her, his gaze promising even more pain than last time. Vegeta smiled and laughed at Zarbon, enjoying his gullibility. Zarbon had no idea what he was in for, now that he and Raimi had been healed.

"I'm tired of all this talk. Its time to put up or shut up." He said. Zarbon growled and jumped into it.
Raimi Kurilin and Bulma watched as they fought. Vegeta seemed to have the advantage, though he played with Zarbon at first, allowing him to feel stronger, until Vegeta showed how much stronger he was.

Finally, Zarbon had to transform (Grossing Bulma out in the process) and tried again to defeat the Prince utterly. Vegeta taunted him, and showed far superior fighting skills, leading the larger creature a wild chase all over the sky before closing in on him. Finally, Vegeta landed a punch into Zarbons back, which shoved the huge monster into the the water far below.

When Zarbon emerged from the lake, he was obviously very battered, his armor shattered, clothes shredded, and covered with cuts and bruises. He panted heavily, but refused to accept the obvious fact of Vegeta's superior strength.

"Give it up or else Vegeta!" He yelled. Vegeta laughed at him and shrugged.
"Give it up or else what? I'm just getting warmed up. So, I suggest that you leave now, while I'm feeling good!"

Zarbon laughed at this as well. "I see you must have gotten brain damage; you have forgotten how easily I defeated both of you last time!" Kurilin looked up at Raimi, realizing that this monster must have attacked both Vegeta and Raimi very recently. But if that was true, how come they looked fine? There wasn't a bruise or cut on either of them… Raimi's face showed that truth of it though, he'd never seen her so angry and ruthless. Her smile was positively cruel as she watched Vegeta toy with Zarbon like a cat with a mouse.

"I see you don't understand about Saiyans and our special powers. Every time we fight, we get stronger; the closer to death we get and then recover, we get even more powerful yet. So its you who will suffer this time, Pretty-boy!" Raimi said loudly. Zarbon growled at her, as Vegeta laughed uproariously.

"Aw, you told him! But she's right, you can't beat me now, Zarbon." He said, adjusting his stance slightly, sure that the last attack was coming. Sure enough, Zarbon rushed at him, and they sparred for a few seconds, before Vegeta suddenly rained blows into Zarbon's huge abdomen. The monster was stunned by the pain and shock, and stood, holding Vegeta's head in his hands. Bulma and Kurilin yelped in disbelief as they stood still as statues.
"Ah, but… But Vegeta, wait for a moment… I just want the Dragonballs… just give them to me and I'll… "

"Still in denial, Zarbon? You cannot defeat him… " Raimi said, looking excited. She couldn't help it, she had felt the same watching Goku and Vegeta fight before, it was her Saiyan nature. Vegeta rolled his eyes to her, and smiled grimly. His fist, still buried into Zarbon's belly, began to glow as he powered up. Zarbon's back began to swell outwards, and he made a terrible noise in his throat. No one could move as the swelling exploded, blue white energy shooting into the sky behind him. His eyes seemed to go blank, and Vegeta sort of hitched his shoulders; the body flew backwards, and landed back in the lake with a huge splash. There was a long silence as the scene sank into everyone's minds. Bulma sort of gagged; Kurilin felt cold terror scramble inside his belly; and Raimi realized that she was stuck now, and had to somehow give him the Dragonball without seeming to want to do so.

"Oops, he got wet! I know how Zarbon hates to get wet… " Vegeta smirked, and straightened, turning to the three watchers. He frowned for a second, and then smiled almost kindly.
"I almost forgot!" He walked towards them, as they eyed him warily. "Now, I'll just take that, if you don't mind. You don't mind now, do you?" He said, holding out his hand. Kurilin drew back, turning so the Dragonball was behind him.

"No way! I'll die first!" He said bravely.
"Yes, you will." Vegeta nodded. "So I guess I'll kill you first, and then her… " He looked at Bulma, who shivered.
"You leave her alone, Vegeta!" Kurilin said in panic. Raimi was waiting, seemingly forgotten for the moment.

"I will leave her alone, if you give it too me, I don't care about you guys at all, I only want the Dragonball." Kurilin looked down at Iishinchu, and realized that he had little choice in this. He remembered that Raimi had been "programmed" to not allow Vegeta to be hurt, and probably couldn't fight him herself either. He looked up at the gloating Saiyan, and started to hand it over…

When Bulma of all people grabbed it from him...