The Princess

Chapter 18: Transformation

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.

Outside, Recely was stalking through the forest, trying to locate her quarry. Arachne, having made up for her lack of power with speed, concealed herself somewhere within the massive trees. Suddenly, Recely leapt out of the way, letting the power blast hit the ground instead of her.

"Give it up, Saiyan. You can't win." Arachne hissed from somewhere above.

"Can't I?" Recely replied. "If you have nothing to fear then why are you hiding?"

"Sadly, I myself cannot defeat you but..."

"Well that was obvious." Recely interrupted what was sure to be a lengthy rant..

"Polkrif will be through with your son soon. Then he'll set his machine on you!"

"We'll see." Recely replied unconcerned. "I'll still have you dead before then."

Arachne fired again, this time hitting Recely's arm. She hissed in pain briefly, but her shoulder was not too damaged. Recely concentrated hard, then fired at a tree to her left. Arachne screeched and plummeted to the ground.

When Recely found her, she was crawling towards her blaster, several of her metal arms broken off and her chest metal scorched. Recely kicked the weapon away and stood over her. Arachne let out a ki blast of her own, but Recely knocked it away effortlessly.

"You'll never win! That machine has ten times the power you have when you make yourself gold!"

"Really?" Recely replied feigning being impressed. "A saiyan gains that much energy when transforming to an oozaru. So theoretically, if I do two transformations, I will be the victor." She continued, ending with a smirk.

Arachne hissed at her. " I'm not with Polkrif! He forced me to make that machine, I swear! He threatened to kill me! You understand, he made me his servant just like Frieza made a servant out of your son!"

Recely shook her head sadly. "You are a conniving one aren't you?" She crouched down . "I normally spare the lives of underlings and bring them in for trial." Recely replied much to Arachne's relief.

"Thank you." Arachne said.

"But I'm making an exception in your case." Recely replied.

"What?"

"You should have kept your hands off my son."

Arachne tried to protest, but Recely blasted her into oblivion before listening to any of it.

Bra wasn't quite unconscious. Her opponent, for once, had stopped attacking her and was now standing stiff as a board. He stared down at her with a blank expression in his eyes. Bra pushed herself up very slowly, trying to shake off the fuzziness in her mind. She expected her fake father to react to her movement, but it remained still. Apprehensively, she waited for something to happen. After what seemed like several hours, Bra concluded that she was alone, for now.

She brought her knees up to her chest. She was still in pain, but it wasn't as bad as having to deal with Polkrif's creatures. Again she looked up at the blank faced attacker and felt an overwhelming desire to kick it, but she dared no fearing it would re-awaken.

"I wonder how long Polkrif will keep me here?" The thought of growing old in that place, fighting everyday of her life, experiencing so much pain, was too much. Not knowing what else she could possibly do to help herself, she cried.

"I want to go home."

And as if that had been a prayer, an answer came.

Bra felt it all at once. It was faint but it was definitely real. It was her father's energy. Her ki sense picked it up and it instantly warmed her.

"Daddy." Bra whimpered and looked up fearfully at the fake Vegeta. It was still silent and stiff. The feeling gradually became warmer and stronger. "Daddy, where are you?" Bra wailed into the void, standing up, hoping that her father was in this place with her and would rescue her.

"DADDY!" She screamed at the top of her lungs several times. His ki still became stronger at a slow pace. If he had heard her, he wasn't in any rush to get to her.

"Maybe he's not in here." Bra mumbled disappointedly. She closed her eyes and concentrated on his ki for comfort. It felt so warm and reassuring. She let it envelop her as if it were as precious as the smell of a wet spring morning, so very nice, but temporary. Once it was gone a person would have to wait a long time for it to come back. Bra was afraid if she lost sense of her father's ki she would never feel it again. That thought was more unbearable to her than the thought of remaining in that horrid place for all eternity. The ki became stronger and Bra felt the strangest sensation. She thought that maybe she'd be able to touch it, grab hold and keep it with her. The rational part of her mind told her that that was ridiculous, you couldn't touch or take hold of ki.

Not physically, but with my own ki I could.

Bra was even more surprised by that thought. That was just as silly. But having no better ideas she tried it. Knowing she didn't have much ki left, she very carefully released a small amount. She let her ki out to reach her fathers. Amazingly, her ki did grab hold of it and brought it to her.

This..is wonderful. Bra thought joyfully. The sensation was like nothing she had felt before. It sent shudders down her spine, warm, gentle shudders. She didn't feel any pain any more.

Maybe I'm dying. Bra wondered. Then decided against it as she felt more energy than she had ever felt before surging through her veins. Consciously, she reached out for more of this heaven-sent energy, but her relief was soon tainted by the sound of her father's agonized screams off in the distance.

"Dad!" Bra exclaimed, her eyes opening wide. The desert was contorting and fading in and out of her vision.

"What's going on?" She said panicked. She backed up a step, bumping into her fake father. Bra gasped as she watched it collide heavily to the ground. Certain it would awaken and start attacking her, she braced herself for the worst. Luckily the statue-like Vegeta remained in the exact same position as he had been while standing up. Bra exhaled in utter relief, only to be sent into turmoil again at the sound of her father fading away, his yells settling into angry grunts.

"DAD, WHERE ARE YOU?!" Bra wailed and levitated high into the fast fading void. She looked out into the blackness, seeing nothing, but hearing a very familiar laughter as clear as day.

"Polkrif." Bra growled, feeling her power rise.

"You should have taken my offer, Prince." Polkrif stated as he advanced on the now very helpless Vegeta. The energy beam was still pinning him but the blue coils had stopped their attack.

"I'm afraid I can't keep you as a battery. Although, it certainly would be more convenient. That little Saiyan Princess will just have to do. No, I can't chance you somehow cleverly finding your way out of my little machine. "

Off in the void, Bra could hear every word Polkrif had spoke.

"A machine.?" Bra stated and looked around, now hovering in complete blackness, the ground and her fake father now gone. Bra listened again, hoping that Polkrif would give some clues on just how she could get out.

"It's a marvelous device Arachne created, isn't it? Your daughter's body is in chryo stasis. That machine breathes for her and purges her body of toxic buildup. Basically, it keeps her alive and well, all the while infusing her mind with a world carefully created by myself and Arachne. This illusion of a world is populated with adversaries such as that notorious Frieza." Polkrif chuckled, pleased with himself. "Even you fight her there, and she fights back. While the world and its inhabitants aren't real, the power she expels is very real, as is the power used to coax that power out of her. She fights until she's exhausted, we heal her then we start the process all over again. She will spend the rest of her entire life in that machine and not even know it. Originally we planned to use your mother for the battery, but after I discovered that a true Saiyan Princess did exist, I decided to turn a prophecy back on itself. She's quite the little warrior that girl. And you can't do anything to help her. I've won. I've now taken your place as the most powerful being in this universe, Vegeta. And with your daughter completely under my control, supplying my power, there's nothing I can't have. Do you know what the first thing I'm going to do is? I'm going to do what Frieza failed so miserably at, and purge this universe of all you wretched Saiyans, starting with you! How ironic that you will die by your own power." Polkrif said, and cackled jovially.

"No." Bra said in a mere whisper. Her father's ki fell almost out of her sensing ability.

"NO!"

Polkrif was still laughing, believing that not a thing could stop him now. As soon as he turned up that energy dial, the machine, filled to the brim with Vegeta's energy, would pulverize its donor into nothingness.

His hand came to a halt just inches from the dial, his fingers stretched out to take hold of it...

BOOM

The lab shook with the force of a giant blast, water and debris pelted both the prone Vegeta and Polkrif.

"WHAT?" Polkrif screamed. "THIS CAN'T BE!"

Vegeta couldn't see what was going on from under the energy beam, but by the tone of Polkrif's voice, he was pretty sure it was in his favor.

Bra was hovering in mid air in front of what used to be Arachne's control panel. She was soaked, having been completely immersed in some chemically infused liquid. Bits of cords, once used to suck her energy, hung in melted shreds from her skin.

"HOW DID YOU GET OUT OF THERE?" Polkrif demanded.

Vegeta knew that that sentence could only mean one thing.

"Bra!" He yelled.

Bra, who had been staring holes right through Polkrif, was startled into looking in the direction of Vegeta's voice. He couldn't see her, but she could see him, pinned to the floor with his hair black, not the gold of the Super Saiyan.

She returned her attention to Polkrif.

"Let my father go, now." She ordered.

Polkrif sneered at her, utterly enraged that she'd managed to get free and destroyed half his machine. Luckily for Polkrif, the blast had not damaged the cylinders or the controls to the laser. He lowered his hand the inch needed to touch the dial and twisted it up to full power.

Bra was in front of the beam in an instant. She blocked it and with a massive burst of her own energy, sent it back to its source. The laser exploded into a million pieces.

Polkrif was speechless at this. "H.how could this have happened?"

Vegeta pulled himself. to a sitting position just as Bra landed beside him. He looked up at her agape.

"Bra...

Bra smiled down at him, tears falling freely from her green eyes.Green, not blue. Her hair reached towards the skylight in golden waves.

"Are you all right?" Bra asked her still floored father. Vegeta was still too speechless to answer her.

"YOU DAMNED SAIYANS! YOU PROBABLY THINK YOU'VE WON, DON'T YOU? DO YOU SUPPOSE I WAS STUPID ENOUGH TO NOT CREATE SAFEGUARDS? YOU CAN KISS YOURSELVES, AS WELL AS THIS ENTIRE PLANET GOODBYE!" Polkrif screamed at them, then started laughing insanely as he slammed his palm down on the second button on his control panel. The canisters shook violently and the massive steel rims holding them upright started to crack.

Vegeta was on his feet now. Polkrif was running as fast as he could across the laboratory.

"Bra!" Vegeta yelled over the rumbling and grabbing her arm. "We have to get out of here now!" The cylinders were obviously going to blow, and there was enough energy in them to take out several planets.

"What if there are other people on this planet?" Bra protested. "We can't leave them to die!"

"We'll be lucky to save ourselves, now move it!" He yelled and tugged on her arm. Effortlessly, Bra removed herself from his grasp and ran to the cylinders.

"GET AWAY FROM THERE!" Vegeta screamed as he watched Bra put one hand each on two of the cylinders.

Bra concentrated on the trapped energy inside. It was a mixture of hers and her fathers, she focused on her fathers there being much more of his and , like in the void, reached out to grasp it. Vegeta watched as the canisters slowly began to settle, the third however still rattled and vibrated violently. He realized that she was using her power to draw the energy into herself, so that it would not be fired against the planet. Knowing he couldn't just leave her there alone and knowing it was their best chance of survival now, Vegeta let her continue. Then he chose another task.

He ran as fast as he could in the direction Polkrif had fled. He went through ajar doors to see Polkrif fumbling with the controls of a spaceship, his back turned to the door. Vegeta walked up to him, his footfalls drowned out by the noises coming from the lab. Polkrif must've sensed something behind him, because he turned his head. Finding Vegeta a mere foot away, his mouth dropped to allow a yell that never got past his throat. With a swift side chop, Vegeta took Polkrif's head clean off his shoulders.

He watched until the head stopped rolling, then spit on the shocked face.

Vegeta returned to the lab, just as Bra collapsed to the floor. The two cylinders she'd been draining were harmless now, but she hadn't even started on the third, which was still enough to destroy the planet.

Vegeta didn't care about that. He ran to Bra, picking her up off the floor. She slipped from Super Saiyan and her ki plummeted into near non existence.

"NO! GOD NO!" Vegeta bellowed and shook her. "Bra! Wake up!"

Bra did not respond. He pulled her to his chest, devastated that he'd gotten her back only to lose her. Then he looked up at the shaking cylinder threatening to explode at any second.

Bra's not dead yet. Vegeta reminded himself. I have got to get her out of here.

It took nearly everything Vegeta had left to fly. He forced himself to go as fast as he could through the skylight and outside, ignoring his protesting muscles and his dizzy head. He had to get his family to safety and he hoped that his mother would not be difficult to find.

"Vegeta!" Recely yelled as she approached them in the air. A wave of relief washed over Vegeta, at least one thing had gone right that day. She was instantly at his side, helping him to support himself.

"Is Bra alive?" She asked.

"Barely." Vegeta said. "We'll all be dead if we don't get out of here now!"

Recely reached into her armor and pulled out a small control device. She pressed a few buttons with her thumb and seconds later, Letta had their ship off the ground, waiting in the air to take off. Recely flew as fast as she could, pulling her son and granddaughter along with her.

"Polkrif must've pulled some nasty tricks to do this to you, Vegeta."

Vegeta grunted. "Technology can be a nasty thing."

"I doubt that Letta or Bulma would agree." Recely replied. Vegeta couldn't help but smile.

Less than ten minutes later, they were in orbit, just in time to see the planet explode and far enough away that they weren't in any danger of flying debris.

"She wanted so bad to save it." Vegeta said with a barely noticeable hint of sadness in his voice. He stared out at the now empty space where the planet had been. Another dark hole in the universe.

"She tried her best." Recely reassured him.

"She certainly did." Vegeta agreed. "If it hadn't have been for her, I would be dead right now."

Recely hugged him, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I would rather be dead than her." He added.

"But she's not dead, Dearest. I'm sure she'll recover."

Vegeta shook his head. "I don't know. This happened before.. her ki fluctuating. What if she was just lucky the last time? She sucked up a lot more power from that machine than she did from that boy. What if...what if it was too much for her?"

"But she's a Super Saiyan now." Recely reminded him.

"That means nothing." Vegeta said quietly.

Recely ran her hand through his hair comfortingly.

"Things will work out, I know they will."

Letta came out of the sleeping quarters onto the bridge.

"What do you think?" Recely asked her. Letta having spent years administering first aid to battle worn saiyans had a knack for assessing injuries.

"I wish I could say something other than what you already know." Letta replied. Vegeta's face fell, that's not what he wanted to hear.

"I cleaned her up a bit." Letta replied. "She's in Sala's quarters, Vegeta. I made a bed on the floor so you can be there when she wakes up."

"Thanks Letta," Vegeta said as he walked towards the room. He stopped beside her and added. "For everything. We couldn't have gotten her back if it wasn't for your help." Vegeta said as he continued on to the room.

Hesitantly, Vegeta went into the room where his child lay lifeless save for abruptly rising and falling ki. Vegeta looked at her for a few minutes, then said.

"If you die, I will never be happy again Bra-chan."

He then settled down on the bed Letta made for him on the floor beside her and fell into a deep sleep.