Dragon Ball Z: Unlikely Romance
By Eric Jacobson
Chapter 7: The Kidnapped Saga
Episode 17 - "The Joruney Within, Part One"


Vegeta managed to pry himself away from the Amazon long enough to collect his thoughts. He hadn't fought like this since his battle with Freiza, and Kakkarot before that. 'It's going to take some doing to finish this one off. He's certainly no slouch.' Once his mind was done wandering, he focused his renewed sense of determination towards his adversary. "Alright, I've had just about enough of this whole nightmare. First you take away the only thing I love. Then I find out that you plan to use us for your own personal gain. And to top it all off, I find out that I have a brother, only for you to beat him down like he was some sort of pest. You've managed to accomplish only one thing, Amazon. And that's making me very angry. You won't like me when I'm angry."

The Amazon looked at Vegeta and laughed. "You Saiyan's are all the same. All talk, and no muscle to back it up. We're doing the universe a favor by getting rid of you! You're the bane of existance, the bottom of the food chain. They broke the mold when they made Saiyans, alright. They broke it because they realized they made a horrible mistake. You're that mistake, monkey. I'm actually pleased to find that you're the last of your kind here."

"I may be the last, but I won't become the last do die that easily. Super Saiyans or not, the Saiyans from your dimension are absolutely nothing like me."

"Is that a fact? Compensating for not being a Super Saiyan, are we?"

That hit home rather hard for Vegeta. All his life, he'd dreamed of becoming a Super Saiyan, and worked hard to achieve the holy grail of his entire race. It was bad enough that a third class moron like Kakkarot had reached the plateau first. Then came Rico and his team. Vegeta felt his anger swell within him. "You'll pay for that remark, and you will pay with your life!" His Ki exploded around him, glowing a vibrant blue as he built up his energy. "I'll make you pay for all the hell you've caused!" In a flash of rage, he released a blast at the Amazon.

"That's right, Saiyan, let your anger flow. That's what makes you all so weak. Your anger and your pride cloud your judgment. You get sloppy, just like the dirty monkeys you are. Your true colors, Vegeta. So get angry. Get really mad, Prince of Chimpanzies. Show me what you've got!" The Amazon released his own blast to counter Vegeta's. The energy waves collided, exploding in flashes of brilliant blue and orange.

The Saiyan's blood began to boil as the words echoed in his mind. 'How dare he insult my kind like that? Who the hell is he to say such things of a proud warrior race? But his is right in one respect. I allow myself to get too angry. I've got to control my anger, no matter what he says or does.' It was hard for him to control his rage, though. But after a few moments of attempting control, Vegeta felt himself grow slightly stronger...

By this time, Bulma had managed to drag Rico back to the room where she and Mizuki had been held, dressed his wounds, and taken up a worried vigil at the door, watching her Prince do battle with that horrible creature. She had never really seen Vegeta fight before, other than his mock battles in the GT. This, this was something else.

She first saw him on television when he arrived on Earth with the other Saiyan, Nappa. But then the networks went dead and she lost track of him until they reached Namek. After Namek, he'd gone off on his own, occasionally sparing with Goku until his Saiyan cousin mentioned the GT. That lead to his living in the next room from her. Never had she dreamed that this would have all transpired in the last five years.

And now, here she was. Watching him lay his life on the line to save her. She never thought that was possible. Yamcha would have surely never done it, he was too much of a coward. But Vegeta, he was a proud fighter. She knew in her heart that he would do what it takes to defend her. He'd never admit to it, yet there he was, proving it right before her adoring aqua eyes. Of course, she was very worried about her Prince. But she also had a feeling of calm and control. And it was all thanks to the man who once came to destroy her and her entire planet without a second thought.

Sweat ran down King Kai's brow as he stood, concentrating on the battle down on Earth. 'He's begun to feel it. The anger inside of him is coming under control. There's your first clue, Vegeta. You're one step closer to your goal...'

Somewhere over the ocean, Krillin was having a dickens of a time taking Mizuki back home. Between screaming sessions and lumps on the noggin, he'd taken more than his fair share of abuse given what he went through to get her out.

"What the hell was that all about, Krillin? Does this kind of crap happen to you on a regular basis, or was this just a freaky one shot deal? Would you mind explaining to me how the hell you can FLY!? Where the hell were those beams those guys were shooting come from? Do they have rayguns or something in there? " On and on she went, stopping only to complain about the way Krillin was flying or to pound on his head.

"Mizuki, OUCH! MIZUKI! You need to calm down! There's a logical - OWW! - explination for all of this, I swear! OUCH! Will you stop hitting me for two minutes so I can - DAMN! That HURT! - explain things to you? Mizuki, are you even listening to me? OWW! Hey! Come on now, those are my ears! OWW! OUCH!" Every once in a while, her onslaught of fists and flapping gums caused him to lose his balance and wobble about through the air for a moment, only to draw more criticism and violence from his passenger.

"Well, since you can fly, don't you think you should be a little more cautious and fly straight? Where'd you get your flying license, at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box?" She smacked him upside the head twice as he wobbled some more under her ever-shifting body weight. "Ugh, you think you could keep that to a minimum, you little freak?"

Krillin could only sigh as he flew off towards the horizon. At the first bus station he could find, he would drop her off and buy her a ticket home. He couldn't take the trip to Korin Tower with her in tow...

"You know what, Vegeta? I think I'd like to have some fun. There's something I haven't seen since I came to this dimension. Maybe you can show me!" The Amazon formed a Ki ball and threw it at Vegeta. Then another and another. Each time, the Saiyan dodged and moved to another part of the immense hangar. Each time he moved, another blast would follow. No matter how fast his opponent moved, the Amazon was right there to greet him. "That's it, Saiyan! Let me see you run! Run and hide, run and save your own worthless hide!"

"You will find that what you consider running is very differant from the deffinition I abide by. If you think I'm just going to stand there and take one of your attacks, you've got another thing coming. This isn't running."

"Whatever you want to call it, Vegeta. It still looks like the same thing every other Saiyan has done when I come around. Run, run like the little frightened primates you are. You're no differant than they are."

Vegeta took serious offense to this. Again, the Amazon had insulted his race. There may have been Saiyans by the gross in his dimension, but in Vegeta's, there were only two, one of which being himself. And since he represented half of this dimension's pure Saiyan population, this only added fuel to the fire already burning deep within him. "I'm warning you for the last time, Amazon. You'ld best stop insulting my people and do it soon. Or else you alone will be held responsible for the consequences."

"Warn me all you want, Vegeta. It still won't save your life!"

Without warning, the Amazon sprung into action, darting behind Vegeta with near blinding speed. The Saiyan Prince barely noticed the movement at all despite his highly developed battle senses, and before he knew it, fists were being driven into his back with tremendous force. Before he could recover and attack, the Amazon was suddenly face to face with him.

"Now you die, Saiyan..."

Bulma's senses suddenly sprang to life, and immediately she knew that something was wrong. She felt confusion and some pain, but she couldn't tell why. In the background, the constant noise of the battle had suddenly ceased and the room was ominously quiet. "Kami, what's going on out there?"

A split second later, the wall came crashing down a few yards from where she and Rico were hiding. Vegeta lay motionless in the rubble, having been driven through the structure by a tremendous blow from the Amazon. Bulma was completely overcome by shock and fear, and found herself unable to move, unable to speak. Her Prince had been decimated by that creature. In her mind, her thoughts began to race, and then almost as suddenly as they began, they sorted themselves out and she was able to focus it all on Vegeta.

Vegeta opened his eyes to see... Black. Nothing but black. "What the hell happened to me? Where am I? Where is that Amazon? Where is Bulma? What is going on here?!?" His mind did laps as he tried to collect his wits, his head pounding as if someone were attacking it with a large steel mallet.

Amidst the confusion, he thought he heard someone call out his name.

"Vegeta!"

"Where is that coming from? Who's calling my name? Answer me!"

"Vegeta, wake up!"

"But I am awake, you baka! Now tell me who you are, where I am, and what in the blue hell is going on!"

"Vegeta, you're unconcious. You've got to wake up!"

'I'm... unconcious? Then how can I be aware of what's going on?' Sweat poured from Vegeta's brow as he attempted to put two and two together. Nothing made sense in this place, and he kept coming up with 22 as an answer.

"Vegeta, you've got to wake up! I need you..."

"Bulma? Bulma, is that you?"

"Who else would it be, moron? Now get off your ass and get up!"

"How? How do I make myself wake up when I feel as if I'm not even unconcious? What kind of place is this?"

"You tell me. It's your mind we're sharing. I've learned a bit about this bonding thing through your thoughts, and I think I've managed to control it. That's how I'm talking to you now."

In a blinding flash of yellow light, a figure appeared before Vegeta. The light surrounding it was too intense for him to make anything out at first. But as his eyes adjusted, he managed to identify the person standing amidst the strange yellow glow...


Since I'm updating content for FanFiction.Net, I really won't be writing much down here. It'll all be the same. Heck, you've probably read this very sentance already! Probably several times. Sorry. I'm in a hurry to convert these. Anyway, please review, and please make sure any criticism is CONSTRUCTIVE!!!" Flamers need not apply ^,^