DISCLAIMER: Go on...sue meeh...I straight dare ya! Come on sue meeh!
*Sighs* In case you still don't know...NO, I do not own DBZ or any of its
characters. I'm just this for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. So
since I don't own, nor do I have any money, suing is just out of the
question. MOVE ON!
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Summary: A chain of dramatic events leave Bulma thinking, will she notice what her life's been missing all along? Will she leave Vegeta and run into the arms of someone else, or will she forgive him? And with the changes going on, how many marriages will be put in danger?
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AN:
Ok I am so sorry to those who actually read this story. I've been so busy with school that I have no chance to write! -_- Isn't that some crap (for lack of better word)? I will try to get chapters out in more of a hurry for those that care, but I can't make any big promises. I'll try. How's that? ^_^
Once more thanks to Son-Kun for all the help that he gives meeh with this story!! It wouldn't be where it is without him. Mai muse. ^__^ So thanks a million, Son-Kun.
Uh...other than that I got nothing. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and feel free to review if you like it. The more reviews, the more I want to write. Nothing makes a writer (if you can call meeh that) feel more loved than good reviews. As always, enjoy this chapter and happy reading to all of my readers.
~LadyB AKA Bulma Briefs
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Broken Beyond Repair
Rated: R
Chapter Five: Go on and run to him.
Written by: The Brilliant Lady Bulma *formally known as LadyBulma24*
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Bulma watched in horror, the world having yawed of its axis. It was impossible. And yet it was the moment that a part of her knew would always come. The clash of two gods--was it really possible? She closed her deep blue eyes; it was like a dream, a bad dream. Vegeta and Goku, now in a full scaled fight, right before her eyes. For a second her insanity cleared, it was nothing to her due to her own sense of now impending loss. What was she going to do with this? In hushed horror she watched, Vegeta lunged forward but found himself stopped by Goku's fists. She winced and forced her mind to stop running in eight different directions all at once. Why could she not feel? Why was she so numb? Her body gave no response.
"Blasted third-class."
The voice echoed hollowly in her ears, like she was not really a part of the room. Suddenly Bulma felt like an on-looker. It seemed to her now that she had floated out of her body, watching her near-lifeless self observe the fight with no reaction. Even if she had wanted to do something, what was there to be done? Had she stepped into the fight the minute the first punch was thrown maybe she would have stood a chance to stop them. Now she was better off being a fly on the wall for the help she could offer them. Bulma brought her trembling hand to her cold pale lips, covering them softly. The smallest of gasps escaped her mouth at the moment; it went unheard. Even if they had heard, would they have stopped? She doubted it.
For a minute she shut her eyes brutally until finally white parches of strain appeared in her closes black vision. What was she trying to do, her mind barked at her. No matter how had she shut her eyes the minute she opened them the sight before her would be there, having never really left her. Maybe she was better off never opening her eyes again for as long as she lived, pondered her mind absently. Maybe she could sleep forever....
A raspy, edgy shout torn in the room, Bulma eyes snapped open.
"G-g-get o-off of m-me!"
What a sight. Bulma dropped her hands from her face, falling with a thump on her lap. What a sight to be hold indeed. There stood her prince with the look of pure murder on his face over the helpless body of the man being subject to his rule. Goku shut one eye, grunting out in pain faintly in a vein attempt to keep what was left of his Saiyan pride. They all had it; it was the curse they were born with. A Saiyan man would rather die than cry out in pain. What an arrogant bunch, the lot of them. Vegeta on the other hand seemed to radiate satisfaction in watching the younger Saiyan hurt. He beamed cruelly as he put more force on his foot as he crushed it down into Goku's chest in hopes of thinning his air. She couldn't believe her eyes, the bastards was actually smirking! SMIRKING! Out of all things, there he stood with aspirations to kill the man that had saved his life on so many countless occasions and all Vegeta could do was smirk.
Bulma felt her blood boil, once again her insanity flickering back and forth. She had to do something, anything, just so she was not simply sitting back watching her best friend take the beating of his life. It was evident wherever it had been that Vegeta had gone he had gotten more than just enough training done. The once mediocre power that had surged from the prince reached astonishing levels, hitting that it wasn't even the tip of his iceberg. Something had to be done, or else Bulma knew that Vegeta would not stop, and Goku would not even stand a shadow of a chance. If given the time she knew her husband would not stop until Goku was nothing but an air- empty carcass. Not knowing what else to do, she took to her feet and screamed as loud as he lungs allowed.
"Vegeta no!!" Screamed Bulma at the top of her lungs.
The men paid her no attention; on the contrary, her voice seemed to fuel the fire that lit the fight. She watched with her tear-streaked, frightened eyes as he husband lifted Goku's limp body up by the collar of his shirt; his head snapping back weakly due to the loss of air trying to fight off the enraged prince. Even still, as the blood began to drip from his pale lips, Goku had to wonder, who was stronger? There had been a change in Vegeta, a major change that he could not place. His power had skyrocketed.
"Know your place!" Vegeta hissed before sending his fist crashing against the face of his enemy. Goku fell back down to the floor with a heavy 'thud' in a response to the hit. For some reason he could not bring himself to fight back. Perchance, a part of him said, it would be useless to struggle.
"You can't fight it. It's in your blood." Mocked Vegeta. "Fight back!" his words were accented each followed by a blow to Goku's face. Bulma watched in horror while her best friend's stunning features were being violated, his visage thrown left and right with each punch he absorbed. Why was he not fighting back?!
Obviously exhausted, Vegeta retracted his fist from the face of his victim, leaving it at a nearly unrecognizable state. They listened as Bulma drew in her breath once more. Vegeta turned to his left with sadistic haste, smirking lightly. The revulsion coming from the woman seemed to amuse him. For once, he mentally noted, her eyes fell on Kakkarot and they were not filled with light. No, this time it was something far worse. Usually if she let her eyes grace Kakkarot's features, Vegeta could automatically watch them light up, like a child on Christmas day. But now things were much more pleasing to his malicious point of view. Now it seemed that a thin line of sickness laced by trepidation floated in the abyss of Bulma's eyes, she even took to backing away from Goku, something she had never done. Vegeta found his smirk widening, for once she appeared to fear Kakkarot. With a contemptible glare he observed the foolish woman bring a greater distance between her and the third-class baka, as if the distance would ease her visual scars. Her actions pleased the prince, subsiding his urge for destruction.
The fallen warrior slid to his side, blood dripping like small cherry rubies from his pallid lips. Goku use all of the force left in his face to slowly move his lips, sound emitting from them vigilantly. "B-Bulma....."
"GOKU!" Bulma's face abruptly blanched, then regained all color all at once.
Vegeta growled. One word from that bastard and she was standing on the tip of her bare feet, ready to leap into his arms at a moment's notice. He frowned, it was time to fix that. Taking a deep lung forward Vegeta brought his fist up into the space over Goku's stricken body. Then just as he prepared to deliver a blow, which appeared to be final one of a fight, something stopped him, something held him back. And that something had attached herself to his waist.
"Vegeta please..." Her profound cerulean eyes glanced up at him in hopes to crack his thick exterior front. She still thought that there was something inside of her that could get through to him, a certain something that could make him change. But those were foolish dreams...nothing but imprudence masked by a thin layer of insanity. "Vegeta...that's enough. S-stop it!" Wavered her voice.
A minute later Bulma found herself standing fully on her feet inches away from her husband. He glared down at her as if silently taunting her, daring her to repeat herself "What was that?"
"I...I said...." She paused briefly, gulping back a lump in her throat. That voice of his...it left her no room for discussion. Bulma stole a glimpse of her fallen protector, his eyes serving as more than enough of a pillar of strength allowing her to form her words. "-Stop it."
For a second, Vegeta could not believe his ears. Had he heard right? Had that onna given him an ultimatum? He fixed his glare on her to the point where he was sure his wife was even scared to breathe. He loomed above her proudly, his eyes unchanging from his spouse in some kind of animal blend of desire and rage. She took a step back trying to escape him, but was stopped when her knees made of led suddenly gave up under her. Bulma's body tilted backwards. A hand came out to greet her, gloved and strangely stiff with a ridged sensation she had never seen before. The dark prince had reached out to her in a blinding swiftness, as if to help her up. Yet just like the rest of her hallucinations compliments of her insanity, that was not the case. The speed he used was inhuman, she never saw the hand that flew towards her. His actions were as unceremoniously as possible, her body never given enough time to process her own sickening thud as her weak body slammed into the concrete wall a few feet from her. It fell flattered on empty air.
Vegeta scowled, he was going to have to teach her a lesson, the hard way. He would not be told what to do, by his woman or not. "Don't you ever cross me again. Onna I give the orders here." Hissed Vegeta, taking a few steps closer to the fallen remains of who once was a proud and powerful woman. An oddly content expression lingered on his face at the sight of the broken woman. It seemed for an instant that he took gratification in hurting her, his sick sense of pride grew at making her shake with the simple act of speaking. Goku balled his fists up at his sides from his position on the floor. How could Vegeta take pleasure in hurting Bulma, a woman who would have never stood for such treatment, in a manner so?
"Get up." The prince ordered his wench insolently. Much to his expectation, she obeyed, weakly bringing her feet up to step on the lush feel of the carpet. Her body hummed in a dull aching pain that only seemed to strengthen as her weight shifted from one foot to the next. Vegeta brought his fingers to Bulma's chin roughly, forcing her to face him while taking one of her wrists, the right one, in his free hand. "Now then..." he taunted her to defy him once more. "What were you saying?"
Bulma shook her head from side to side softly, trying her damnedest to keep her tears in check. It was the smartest move she had made all day because it seemed to allow Vegeta's anger to subside; he let go of her hand slightly. Once more she could feel the sensation of her blood flowing in her veins to her now liberated wrist, the color also returning. Bulma had nothing to say anymore, she feared now that even if she took in a breath too loudly it would upset his highness. That was the last thing she wanted to do. Lowering her face she decided that she should stay in her place, which seemed to be now miles and miles below Vegeta's status. She was not worthy, she told herself, unworthy even to be the desk collecting at the booted foot of his excellence.
Goku watched the change in his best friend with a fevered abhorrence that seemed to take all of his will power to control. A part of him knew that he had to applaud Vegeta, it took one hell of a man to say that they had been in the heart of Bulma Briefs. Yet at the same time that was the reason that he had to hurt Vegeta clear of a recognizable state. Having a place in Bulma's heart was not something that should have been taken lightly. Vegeta took it for granted, as if he were the only man that could ever love Bulma when in reality he was only one among many. The blue haired enchantress would never be without her set of suitors; her beauty was enough to summon men from all corners of the world. Yet, that very same beauty was at the brink of death's door, with Vegeta to thank for it. She was bruised, tattered and broke, left with very little strength to do much else. No matter what she wanted to do or what she wanted to say Bulma knew that it was not her place to speak on the matter. She kept her mouth shut like a good little wench. After a few more minutes of an uncomfortable observation the subject of all attention sent her eyes to the ground inches away from where her fallen savior lay, much to the displeasure of her husband. Her careless act earned her a sharp jolt of the face.
"Don't you ever ignore me, baka!" This time however the words were followed by a stronger even hit to the face of the angel, conveying Bulma back to the confinement of the flooring below her. Goku shut his eyes to the sight, as she landed not even a good two feet from his own body. Bulma had not even had the strength to scream this time. That, along with many of the cumulative actions having passed, brought Goku to his feet once more. He was not going to allow this to happen anymore. Goku vowed that he would put an end to Vegeta's rein of domestic tyranny even if it killed him.
"You've done enough!" Declared Goku, whipping the blood off of his lower lip elusively while he spoke so he did not bring a brake to his words.
Vegeta tore his eyes from the contentment he found in Bulma's threadbare form. "Are you up again, third-class?"
Goku narrowed his eyes, they burned brightly like the hot coals in the heart of a blazing fire of odium. "Hai, I am. And I'm going to stop you."
A near-deafening laugh was heard from Vegeta as his chest jumped up and down with the sound being emitted from his throat. "You seem to think you can stop me?!" Once more the prince laughed after the emphasis in his words wore off. "Take a good look, Kakkarot, the onna seems to be useless right about now. She won't stop me from killing you this time around." As if on cue, both men glanced down at Bulma.
Watching her with careful eyes, Goku could tell that the woman in question wanted nothing more than to vanish at the moment. It was quite obvious that Bulma could not take very much more of the judging eyes of her best friend and the man she was ashamed to call husband and mate. The sight of Bulma at the moment broke every string in Goku's heart, she looked so destroyed. Goku turned and took a few steps forward to Bulma who lay on the floor looking down until she heard his nearing steps. Whether she figured the noise was coming from Vegeta or not was out of the question, the fact that she had nearly leapt a full three feet into the air was all that mattered. The gentle Saiyan watched Bulma's over-sized blue eyes rise from the ground once her body had settled on the carpeted floor yet again. Her face scared him, never had he seen her in a manner so.
Astringent blood dripped softly down the nostrils of her delicate nose creating a trail of scarlet down to her lip, her vulnerable face already swelling due to the pressure of the hit her husband had landed on her. No... Goku shook his head from side to side all the while watching Bulma even more. Vegeta had no right to call himself her husband let alone her mate. A real man would never hurt his own wife in a manner as atrocious as this, both physically and spiritually. But Vegeta had done that and much more, he had stripped Bulma of any pride she had left. He had to be stopped...
"How could you..." Goku's voice trailed off into a dim mumble. "HOW COULD YOU?!" His voice was a low growl now, his hair turned into a brilliant gold with his eyes turning into a dangerous shade of teal to match.
His rival took a step back mockingly. "Oh look, the weak baka finally decided to grace me with his sorry excuse for a power level."
"Hai...grace you..." The golden warrior balled his hands into tight compact fists causing the flare of blinding aura to intensify with his rage. If Vegeta wanted to have things this way, so be it. Kami knew that he always tried to avoid fights but now, seeing the truth behind the passion that Bulma and Vegeta shared, Goku knew that he could not just walk away from this. Something had to be done and that something had to be done now.
"Do you honestly think that you can stop me?"
Amidst of the intoxicating luminosity of Goku's aura the taller Saiyan curved his lips into a cold smirk. "Hai, I do." With that said, he began to power up even more. His figure took on another form, the tips of his sun- kisses hair grow brighter and longer with every ounce of anger that pumped through his veins.
"Enough of the light tricks, you're boring me Kakkarot." Scorned Vegeta while his subject cracked his fist against his open palm to the point where it was damn near painful. Still, he said nothing. Talking would have been a waist of his concentration level and at that point he needed all he could get. He was about to pay Vegeta the lesson of his life. "All you can do is stand there because you know if you were to-" Suddenly the words of the prince were silenced.
Goku had brought his hand up and across Vegeta's stone face, sending it yawing backwards. Before the enraged Goku even knew what he was doing he had slammed into Vegeta, continuing his assault on Vegeta as far from Bulma as he could. Goku facevaulted for a moment as he registered the fact what he was doing then regaining his composure, his anger reaching its limits finally. Even from his fallen position in Goku's death grip, Vegeta still managed to choke out a strained laugh.
"Y-you swear...that this baka...means so much..." Vegeta's eyes traveled over to Bulma's quaking figure, she never met his eyes. "....She does not mean this much...not m-more than your life...."
"You're wrong Vegeta!" Goku frowned at Vegeta's choice of words for Bulma. "She is no baka and as a matter of fact... Bulma is worth much more than you know!" He applied ample pressure to his victim's throat while he pinned him up defenselessly up against the same wall he had slain his wife against. "And for what you've done to her...I'll make you pay tenfold!"
Vegeta could not hold his laughter back for any longer, and even though each chuckle coming from his body at the moment felt like a million knives being plummeted into his chest, a laugh still erupted from his lips. "K- Kakkarot, y-you will never defeat me..."
"Oh? Looks like I am."
"No...you will never! You are too weak...to hurt a prince...you are just n- not strong enough." Vegeta knew that his own words were nothing but a bluff. It was a known fact that Goku could and probably would mop the floor with Vegeta now, even in his normal state the younger Saiyan was much stronger. Not to mention now that his anger had reached its peak and he was at a full Super Saiyan Form Two.
"I don't want to have to hurt you Vegeta." Goku pulled back slightly, allowing color to flow back into the face of his prince. "So I'm going to give you one last chance...get out of here and never look back. EVER! I want you to stay away from Bulma!"
"L-let me get this straight K-Kakkarot, you want me to stay away from my onna?"
"No! I want you to stay away from Bulma!"
Vegeta frowned. "S-she belongs to me!"
The words caused Goku to do the same and continue to power up even more, letting go of any barriers he was holding back on. "She does not! You do not own her!"
"She belongs more to me than she does to you." Objected Vegeta. "You never had her," at that moment a smirk form along the corners of Vegeta's lips. "And you never will." Those words fell stronger than anyone had expected. Goku's eyes gleamed with vicious murder; he would not allow Vegeta to take another breath. Things had gone on far enough. In a second he was his final form, his hair having returned to its customary ebony and his now dark eyes lined with a deep crimson. This only made Vegeta's laughter more fervent still. "Am I right Kakkarot?"
"You're wrong Vegeta." Goku smirked.
"How so, Baka?"
Goku turned for a moment, letting his eyes roam over Bulma who watched the whole thing. She did not move, nor did she want to. The fear vanished from her face for a minute. When Goku pulled his frame to the side allowing her view of Vegeta, he saw the way she squirmed under the shorter male's glare. "Well...Bulma doesn't fear me." The statement was said with pride.
And the effect worked as planned, Vegeta glared knives at Bulma before returning his intense stare to Goku. He was right...that blasted baka had been right. But it would have been a cold day in hell before Vegeta admitted his loss to the younger Saiyan. After a moment of quick, uneasy silence, Vegeta pushed Goku off of him fully. "If you aren't going to kill me get away from me, being this close to you makes me sick." He powered down to his normal state and continued to walk away from Goku, until finally he reached his destination.
Bulma trembled in fear as a taller figure loomed over her with shadows dancing along his stone cold face. "Kakkarot...if this is what you want so be it." Vegeta leaned down on one knee before Bulma, her eyes shooting open to their widest capacity. For a quick moment Goku thought he would strike his best friend once more. The feeling passed when Vegeta took Bulma's face into his gloved hand and brought her face to his stealing a heated kiss from the confused woman. A minute later he pulled back and licked his lips with a smirk. "Keep the whore for yourself. She's not too bad in the sack." With his cold words being said Vegeta rose to a powerful stance taking Bulma up roughly with him. He tossed her as if she were a rag doll in a direction away from his own.
The blue haired woman shut her eyes, with her body being hurled into the air, sure that she would come in contact with a wall once more. However much to her pleasant surprise she was enveloped in the warmth of someone's embrace. Slowly opening her eyes, she was met forward with a face full of orange fabric. A content and relieved sigh spilled from her lips. A force of habit caused her to bring her arms around Goku's neck as if he were dear life, her nose taking in his sent. She decided that his sent was strong... almost as strong as he was. She shut her eyes; his sent...his embrace, everything about him was numbing the pain.
"Take this piece of trash and get it out of my sight!"
Subconsciously Goku found his once relaxed features returning to the familiar territory of displeasure. How could his rival simply disown his wife as if she were yesterday's garbage? He would not allow it, Goku knew that deep down it was merely Vegeta's pride speaking. Anything would have been said at the moment, just so his majesty did not loose his cool.
Vegeta cut through the gentle Saiyan's thoughts. "I said get rid of her Kakkarot. You want her so badly, take her. But it is now you two that must never return here." The prince's booming voice filled the room to the brim, Bulma sought to escape it.
"You can't just tell us to leave like that! This is her home! You are the stranger living here!"
"You will do what you two are told if you want to live!"
Goku frowned even deeper and tightened his arms around Bulma. "We both know I could murder you in seconds Vegeta...." Goku allowed his voice to trail off.
"But you won't do it because you're soft. So leave..."
"And if we don't leave?" Goku pushed Bulma to the side gently, leaning her against the cold bedpost as he walked closer to Vegeta. "What will you do, almighty Vegeta?" Goku spat the last few words out of his mouth as sarcastically as he could possibly muster.
Vegeta backed away from the much taller Saiyan and began to pace the room, a pensive thought filling the lines of his rock solid face. "I would do things that are unimaginable...." something in Vegeta's voice was lacking. The seriousness of the matter was thinning. "Just leave." He was unearthly calm.
The change in Vegeta did not go unnoticed; first it was taken in by his rival and then the woman in his arms. They could not place their fingers on what it was that had now changed distinctly in the aloof warrior. It seemed that all of a sudden his heated words had lost their meaning, his voice no longer crude. No matter how hard he tried to, Vegeta just did not sound as indifferent and irate as he had when the conversation had first begun. Bulma parted her lips softly hoping to form sound but not completely sure. Her throat was so dry; it felt like a desert. She would not be surprised if she did not speak again for days on end. "V-Vegeta..."
"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TWO TO GET OUT!" Roared Vegeta while once more powering up to his Super Saiyan form.
In a startled motion of pure instinct Goku pulled Bulma closer to his chest until her diminutive figure was tightly pressed against his own. This only appeared to infuriate the prince even more. "GET OUT!"
Goku brought one arm down to Bulma's lower back to shield her from any stray debris coming towards them in response to Vegeta's godly power. The other hand, Vegeta quickly noticed, was taken forward away from Bulma's body and leaning more towards his own face. Just when the iron prince was ready to demand an explication, Goku lowered all fingers but two and transported them in front of his forehead in a common style. "This isn't over Vegeta."
"I agree, Kakkarot."
With that said Goku's mind had been made up. In a sudden burst of a blinding white light, the pair vanished from the room leaving Vegeta alone. Alone with his thoughts that nagged him softly like the persuasive voice of Lucifer...What had he just done? Had he openly let the gates of hell swing open by allowing the woman to run off with Kakkarot? He had seen the way that they had looked at each other when he had first come into the room. There was something there that he had always hoped never to see. And now that he was seeing it he knew that leaving them alone was a dangerous thing to do. Things could go wrong, although the woman was in no condition to be raising hell of the nature, if given enough time Vegeta knew what would happen. It was in Saiyan blood; it would come down to instinct at the very end of the situation. Lust would over power them both. The bottom line was he felt that if given enough time he Bulma and Goku would find their way closer to each other than they already were.
Vegeta balled his hands up tightly until the blood had drained from around his knuckles; as a result they turned a pale white. He could not allow that to happen. He would not let Kakkarot take his woman right from under him. If those were the intention of the third class baka, there would be hell to pay. With a slow stride the puzzled Saiyan made his way to the window located at the other end of the room, over looking the dimming scenery of the backyard to the Capsule Corporation complex. Bulma Briefs always had been, always would be, his woman. Not a soul alive could take that from him, vowed Vegeta. A few seconds later he had kicked the window open and had flown off into the night sky heading as far away from Capsule Corps as he could fly. The ice-cold wind chapped at his cheeks hungrily whilst Vegeta took the time to speed up. A part of him was racing madly in an attempt escape the confinements of the Capsule Corps; the other part of him sought to elude his own thoughts. And it was no wonder; his mind was racing at a speed nearly matching to the one he flew at making it quite hard on him to concentrate. But one thing rang loud and clear as he parted the sky with his angelic speed.
Mark my words, Kakkarot, the onna is mine....
Then in a streak across the sky, Vegeta disappeared from even the sight of Kami himself.
~*~
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REVIEW!!
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All comments, flames, suggestions, anything else, are welcome. ^_^
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Summary: A chain of dramatic events leave Bulma thinking, will she notice what her life's been missing all along? Will she leave Vegeta and run into the arms of someone else, or will she forgive him? And with the changes going on, how many marriages will be put in danger?
-----
AN:
Ok I am so sorry to those who actually read this story. I've been so busy with school that I have no chance to write! -_- Isn't that some crap (for lack of better word)? I will try to get chapters out in more of a hurry for those that care, but I can't make any big promises. I'll try. How's that? ^_^
Once more thanks to Son-Kun for all the help that he gives meeh with this story!! It wouldn't be where it is without him. Mai muse. ^__^ So thanks a million, Son-Kun.
Uh...other than that I got nothing. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and feel free to review if you like it. The more reviews, the more I want to write. Nothing makes a writer (if you can call meeh that) feel more loved than good reviews. As always, enjoy this chapter and happy reading to all of my readers.
~LadyB AKA Bulma Briefs
------
Broken Beyond Repair
Rated: R
Chapter Five: Go on and run to him.
Written by: The Brilliant Lady Bulma *formally known as LadyBulma24*
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Bulma watched in horror, the world having yawed of its axis. It was impossible. And yet it was the moment that a part of her knew would always come. The clash of two gods--was it really possible? She closed her deep blue eyes; it was like a dream, a bad dream. Vegeta and Goku, now in a full scaled fight, right before her eyes. For a second her insanity cleared, it was nothing to her due to her own sense of now impending loss. What was she going to do with this? In hushed horror she watched, Vegeta lunged forward but found himself stopped by Goku's fists. She winced and forced her mind to stop running in eight different directions all at once. Why could she not feel? Why was she so numb? Her body gave no response.
"Blasted third-class."
The voice echoed hollowly in her ears, like she was not really a part of the room. Suddenly Bulma felt like an on-looker. It seemed to her now that she had floated out of her body, watching her near-lifeless self observe the fight with no reaction. Even if she had wanted to do something, what was there to be done? Had she stepped into the fight the minute the first punch was thrown maybe she would have stood a chance to stop them. Now she was better off being a fly on the wall for the help she could offer them. Bulma brought her trembling hand to her cold pale lips, covering them softly. The smallest of gasps escaped her mouth at the moment; it went unheard. Even if they had heard, would they have stopped? She doubted it.
For a minute she shut her eyes brutally until finally white parches of strain appeared in her closes black vision. What was she trying to do, her mind barked at her. No matter how had she shut her eyes the minute she opened them the sight before her would be there, having never really left her. Maybe she was better off never opening her eyes again for as long as she lived, pondered her mind absently. Maybe she could sleep forever....
A raspy, edgy shout torn in the room, Bulma eyes snapped open.
"G-g-get o-off of m-me!"
What a sight. Bulma dropped her hands from her face, falling with a thump on her lap. What a sight to be hold indeed. There stood her prince with the look of pure murder on his face over the helpless body of the man being subject to his rule. Goku shut one eye, grunting out in pain faintly in a vein attempt to keep what was left of his Saiyan pride. They all had it; it was the curse they were born with. A Saiyan man would rather die than cry out in pain. What an arrogant bunch, the lot of them. Vegeta on the other hand seemed to radiate satisfaction in watching the younger Saiyan hurt. He beamed cruelly as he put more force on his foot as he crushed it down into Goku's chest in hopes of thinning his air. She couldn't believe her eyes, the bastards was actually smirking! SMIRKING! Out of all things, there he stood with aspirations to kill the man that had saved his life on so many countless occasions and all Vegeta could do was smirk.
Bulma felt her blood boil, once again her insanity flickering back and forth. She had to do something, anything, just so she was not simply sitting back watching her best friend take the beating of his life. It was evident wherever it had been that Vegeta had gone he had gotten more than just enough training done. The once mediocre power that had surged from the prince reached astonishing levels, hitting that it wasn't even the tip of his iceberg. Something had to be done, or else Bulma knew that Vegeta would not stop, and Goku would not even stand a shadow of a chance. If given the time she knew her husband would not stop until Goku was nothing but an air- empty carcass. Not knowing what else to do, she took to her feet and screamed as loud as he lungs allowed.
"Vegeta no!!" Screamed Bulma at the top of her lungs.
The men paid her no attention; on the contrary, her voice seemed to fuel the fire that lit the fight. She watched with her tear-streaked, frightened eyes as he husband lifted Goku's limp body up by the collar of his shirt; his head snapping back weakly due to the loss of air trying to fight off the enraged prince. Even still, as the blood began to drip from his pale lips, Goku had to wonder, who was stronger? There had been a change in Vegeta, a major change that he could not place. His power had skyrocketed.
"Know your place!" Vegeta hissed before sending his fist crashing against the face of his enemy. Goku fell back down to the floor with a heavy 'thud' in a response to the hit. For some reason he could not bring himself to fight back. Perchance, a part of him said, it would be useless to struggle.
"You can't fight it. It's in your blood." Mocked Vegeta. "Fight back!" his words were accented each followed by a blow to Goku's face. Bulma watched in horror while her best friend's stunning features were being violated, his visage thrown left and right with each punch he absorbed. Why was he not fighting back?!
Obviously exhausted, Vegeta retracted his fist from the face of his victim, leaving it at a nearly unrecognizable state. They listened as Bulma drew in her breath once more. Vegeta turned to his left with sadistic haste, smirking lightly. The revulsion coming from the woman seemed to amuse him. For once, he mentally noted, her eyes fell on Kakkarot and they were not filled with light. No, this time it was something far worse. Usually if she let her eyes grace Kakkarot's features, Vegeta could automatically watch them light up, like a child on Christmas day. But now things were much more pleasing to his malicious point of view. Now it seemed that a thin line of sickness laced by trepidation floated in the abyss of Bulma's eyes, she even took to backing away from Goku, something she had never done. Vegeta found his smirk widening, for once she appeared to fear Kakkarot. With a contemptible glare he observed the foolish woman bring a greater distance between her and the third-class baka, as if the distance would ease her visual scars. Her actions pleased the prince, subsiding his urge for destruction.
The fallen warrior slid to his side, blood dripping like small cherry rubies from his pallid lips. Goku use all of the force left in his face to slowly move his lips, sound emitting from them vigilantly. "B-Bulma....."
"GOKU!" Bulma's face abruptly blanched, then regained all color all at once.
Vegeta growled. One word from that bastard and she was standing on the tip of her bare feet, ready to leap into his arms at a moment's notice. He frowned, it was time to fix that. Taking a deep lung forward Vegeta brought his fist up into the space over Goku's stricken body. Then just as he prepared to deliver a blow, which appeared to be final one of a fight, something stopped him, something held him back. And that something had attached herself to his waist.
"Vegeta please..." Her profound cerulean eyes glanced up at him in hopes to crack his thick exterior front. She still thought that there was something inside of her that could get through to him, a certain something that could make him change. But those were foolish dreams...nothing but imprudence masked by a thin layer of insanity. "Vegeta...that's enough. S-stop it!" Wavered her voice.
A minute later Bulma found herself standing fully on her feet inches away from her husband. He glared down at her as if silently taunting her, daring her to repeat herself "What was that?"
"I...I said...." She paused briefly, gulping back a lump in her throat. That voice of his...it left her no room for discussion. Bulma stole a glimpse of her fallen protector, his eyes serving as more than enough of a pillar of strength allowing her to form her words. "-Stop it."
For a second, Vegeta could not believe his ears. Had he heard right? Had that onna given him an ultimatum? He fixed his glare on her to the point where he was sure his wife was even scared to breathe. He loomed above her proudly, his eyes unchanging from his spouse in some kind of animal blend of desire and rage. She took a step back trying to escape him, but was stopped when her knees made of led suddenly gave up under her. Bulma's body tilted backwards. A hand came out to greet her, gloved and strangely stiff with a ridged sensation she had never seen before. The dark prince had reached out to her in a blinding swiftness, as if to help her up. Yet just like the rest of her hallucinations compliments of her insanity, that was not the case. The speed he used was inhuman, she never saw the hand that flew towards her. His actions were as unceremoniously as possible, her body never given enough time to process her own sickening thud as her weak body slammed into the concrete wall a few feet from her. It fell flattered on empty air.
Vegeta scowled, he was going to have to teach her a lesson, the hard way. He would not be told what to do, by his woman or not. "Don't you ever cross me again. Onna I give the orders here." Hissed Vegeta, taking a few steps closer to the fallen remains of who once was a proud and powerful woman. An oddly content expression lingered on his face at the sight of the broken woman. It seemed for an instant that he took gratification in hurting her, his sick sense of pride grew at making her shake with the simple act of speaking. Goku balled his fists up at his sides from his position on the floor. How could Vegeta take pleasure in hurting Bulma, a woman who would have never stood for such treatment, in a manner so?
"Get up." The prince ordered his wench insolently. Much to his expectation, she obeyed, weakly bringing her feet up to step on the lush feel of the carpet. Her body hummed in a dull aching pain that only seemed to strengthen as her weight shifted from one foot to the next. Vegeta brought his fingers to Bulma's chin roughly, forcing her to face him while taking one of her wrists, the right one, in his free hand. "Now then..." he taunted her to defy him once more. "What were you saying?"
Bulma shook her head from side to side softly, trying her damnedest to keep her tears in check. It was the smartest move she had made all day because it seemed to allow Vegeta's anger to subside; he let go of her hand slightly. Once more she could feel the sensation of her blood flowing in her veins to her now liberated wrist, the color also returning. Bulma had nothing to say anymore, she feared now that even if she took in a breath too loudly it would upset his highness. That was the last thing she wanted to do. Lowering her face she decided that she should stay in her place, which seemed to be now miles and miles below Vegeta's status. She was not worthy, she told herself, unworthy even to be the desk collecting at the booted foot of his excellence.
Goku watched the change in his best friend with a fevered abhorrence that seemed to take all of his will power to control. A part of him knew that he had to applaud Vegeta, it took one hell of a man to say that they had been in the heart of Bulma Briefs. Yet at the same time that was the reason that he had to hurt Vegeta clear of a recognizable state. Having a place in Bulma's heart was not something that should have been taken lightly. Vegeta took it for granted, as if he were the only man that could ever love Bulma when in reality he was only one among many. The blue haired enchantress would never be without her set of suitors; her beauty was enough to summon men from all corners of the world. Yet, that very same beauty was at the brink of death's door, with Vegeta to thank for it. She was bruised, tattered and broke, left with very little strength to do much else. No matter what she wanted to do or what she wanted to say Bulma knew that it was not her place to speak on the matter. She kept her mouth shut like a good little wench. After a few more minutes of an uncomfortable observation the subject of all attention sent her eyes to the ground inches away from where her fallen savior lay, much to the displeasure of her husband. Her careless act earned her a sharp jolt of the face.
"Don't you ever ignore me, baka!" This time however the words were followed by a stronger even hit to the face of the angel, conveying Bulma back to the confinement of the flooring below her. Goku shut his eyes to the sight, as she landed not even a good two feet from his own body. Bulma had not even had the strength to scream this time. That, along with many of the cumulative actions having passed, brought Goku to his feet once more. He was not going to allow this to happen anymore. Goku vowed that he would put an end to Vegeta's rein of domestic tyranny even if it killed him.
"You've done enough!" Declared Goku, whipping the blood off of his lower lip elusively while he spoke so he did not bring a brake to his words.
Vegeta tore his eyes from the contentment he found in Bulma's threadbare form. "Are you up again, third-class?"
Goku narrowed his eyes, they burned brightly like the hot coals in the heart of a blazing fire of odium. "Hai, I am. And I'm going to stop you."
A near-deafening laugh was heard from Vegeta as his chest jumped up and down with the sound being emitted from his throat. "You seem to think you can stop me?!" Once more the prince laughed after the emphasis in his words wore off. "Take a good look, Kakkarot, the onna seems to be useless right about now. She won't stop me from killing you this time around." As if on cue, both men glanced down at Bulma.
Watching her with careful eyes, Goku could tell that the woman in question wanted nothing more than to vanish at the moment. It was quite obvious that Bulma could not take very much more of the judging eyes of her best friend and the man she was ashamed to call husband and mate. The sight of Bulma at the moment broke every string in Goku's heart, she looked so destroyed. Goku turned and took a few steps forward to Bulma who lay on the floor looking down until she heard his nearing steps. Whether she figured the noise was coming from Vegeta or not was out of the question, the fact that she had nearly leapt a full three feet into the air was all that mattered. The gentle Saiyan watched Bulma's over-sized blue eyes rise from the ground once her body had settled on the carpeted floor yet again. Her face scared him, never had he seen her in a manner so.
Astringent blood dripped softly down the nostrils of her delicate nose creating a trail of scarlet down to her lip, her vulnerable face already swelling due to the pressure of the hit her husband had landed on her. No... Goku shook his head from side to side all the while watching Bulma even more. Vegeta had no right to call himself her husband let alone her mate. A real man would never hurt his own wife in a manner as atrocious as this, both physically and spiritually. But Vegeta had done that and much more, he had stripped Bulma of any pride she had left. He had to be stopped...
"How could you..." Goku's voice trailed off into a dim mumble. "HOW COULD YOU?!" His voice was a low growl now, his hair turned into a brilliant gold with his eyes turning into a dangerous shade of teal to match.
His rival took a step back mockingly. "Oh look, the weak baka finally decided to grace me with his sorry excuse for a power level."
"Hai...grace you..." The golden warrior balled his hands into tight compact fists causing the flare of blinding aura to intensify with his rage. If Vegeta wanted to have things this way, so be it. Kami knew that he always tried to avoid fights but now, seeing the truth behind the passion that Bulma and Vegeta shared, Goku knew that he could not just walk away from this. Something had to be done and that something had to be done now.
"Do you honestly think that you can stop me?"
Amidst of the intoxicating luminosity of Goku's aura the taller Saiyan curved his lips into a cold smirk. "Hai, I do." With that said, he began to power up even more. His figure took on another form, the tips of his sun- kisses hair grow brighter and longer with every ounce of anger that pumped through his veins.
"Enough of the light tricks, you're boring me Kakkarot." Scorned Vegeta while his subject cracked his fist against his open palm to the point where it was damn near painful. Still, he said nothing. Talking would have been a waist of his concentration level and at that point he needed all he could get. He was about to pay Vegeta the lesson of his life. "All you can do is stand there because you know if you were to-" Suddenly the words of the prince were silenced.
Goku had brought his hand up and across Vegeta's stone face, sending it yawing backwards. Before the enraged Goku even knew what he was doing he had slammed into Vegeta, continuing his assault on Vegeta as far from Bulma as he could. Goku facevaulted for a moment as he registered the fact what he was doing then regaining his composure, his anger reaching its limits finally. Even from his fallen position in Goku's death grip, Vegeta still managed to choke out a strained laugh.
"Y-you swear...that this baka...means so much..." Vegeta's eyes traveled over to Bulma's quaking figure, she never met his eyes. "....She does not mean this much...not m-more than your life...."
"You're wrong Vegeta!" Goku frowned at Vegeta's choice of words for Bulma. "She is no baka and as a matter of fact... Bulma is worth much more than you know!" He applied ample pressure to his victim's throat while he pinned him up defenselessly up against the same wall he had slain his wife against. "And for what you've done to her...I'll make you pay tenfold!"
Vegeta could not hold his laughter back for any longer, and even though each chuckle coming from his body at the moment felt like a million knives being plummeted into his chest, a laugh still erupted from his lips. "K- Kakkarot, y-you will never defeat me..."
"Oh? Looks like I am."
"No...you will never! You are too weak...to hurt a prince...you are just n- not strong enough." Vegeta knew that his own words were nothing but a bluff. It was a known fact that Goku could and probably would mop the floor with Vegeta now, even in his normal state the younger Saiyan was much stronger. Not to mention now that his anger had reached its peak and he was at a full Super Saiyan Form Two.
"I don't want to have to hurt you Vegeta." Goku pulled back slightly, allowing color to flow back into the face of his prince. "So I'm going to give you one last chance...get out of here and never look back. EVER! I want you to stay away from Bulma!"
"L-let me get this straight K-Kakkarot, you want me to stay away from my onna?"
"No! I want you to stay away from Bulma!"
Vegeta frowned. "S-she belongs to me!"
The words caused Goku to do the same and continue to power up even more, letting go of any barriers he was holding back on. "She does not! You do not own her!"
"She belongs more to me than she does to you." Objected Vegeta. "You never had her," at that moment a smirk form along the corners of Vegeta's lips. "And you never will." Those words fell stronger than anyone had expected. Goku's eyes gleamed with vicious murder; he would not allow Vegeta to take another breath. Things had gone on far enough. In a second he was his final form, his hair having returned to its customary ebony and his now dark eyes lined with a deep crimson. This only made Vegeta's laughter more fervent still. "Am I right Kakkarot?"
"You're wrong Vegeta." Goku smirked.
"How so, Baka?"
Goku turned for a moment, letting his eyes roam over Bulma who watched the whole thing. She did not move, nor did she want to. The fear vanished from her face for a minute. When Goku pulled his frame to the side allowing her view of Vegeta, he saw the way she squirmed under the shorter male's glare. "Well...Bulma doesn't fear me." The statement was said with pride.
And the effect worked as planned, Vegeta glared knives at Bulma before returning his intense stare to Goku. He was right...that blasted baka had been right. But it would have been a cold day in hell before Vegeta admitted his loss to the younger Saiyan. After a moment of quick, uneasy silence, Vegeta pushed Goku off of him fully. "If you aren't going to kill me get away from me, being this close to you makes me sick." He powered down to his normal state and continued to walk away from Goku, until finally he reached his destination.
Bulma trembled in fear as a taller figure loomed over her with shadows dancing along his stone cold face. "Kakkarot...if this is what you want so be it." Vegeta leaned down on one knee before Bulma, her eyes shooting open to their widest capacity. For a quick moment Goku thought he would strike his best friend once more. The feeling passed when Vegeta took Bulma's face into his gloved hand and brought her face to his stealing a heated kiss from the confused woman. A minute later he pulled back and licked his lips with a smirk. "Keep the whore for yourself. She's not too bad in the sack." With his cold words being said Vegeta rose to a powerful stance taking Bulma up roughly with him. He tossed her as if she were a rag doll in a direction away from his own.
The blue haired woman shut her eyes, with her body being hurled into the air, sure that she would come in contact with a wall once more. However much to her pleasant surprise she was enveloped in the warmth of someone's embrace. Slowly opening her eyes, she was met forward with a face full of orange fabric. A content and relieved sigh spilled from her lips. A force of habit caused her to bring her arms around Goku's neck as if he were dear life, her nose taking in his sent. She decided that his sent was strong... almost as strong as he was. She shut her eyes; his sent...his embrace, everything about him was numbing the pain.
"Take this piece of trash and get it out of my sight!"
Subconsciously Goku found his once relaxed features returning to the familiar territory of displeasure. How could his rival simply disown his wife as if she were yesterday's garbage? He would not allow it, Goku knew that deep down it was merely Vegeta's pride speaking. Anything would have been said at the moment, just so his majesty did not loose his cool.
Vegeta cut through the gentle Saiyan's thoughts. "I said get rid of her Kakkarot. You want her so badly, take her. But it is now you two that must never return here." The prince's booming voice filled the room to the brim, Bulma sought to escape it.
"You can't just tell us to leave like that! This is her home! You are the stranger living here!"
"You will do what you two are told if you want to live!"
Goku frowned even deeper and tightened his arms around Bulma. "We both know I could murder you in seconds Vegeta...." Goku allowed his voice to trail off.
"But you won't do it because you're soft. So leave..."
"And if we don't leave?" Goku pushed Bulma to the side gently, leaning her against the cold bedpost as he walked closer to Vegeta. "What will you do, almighty Vegeta?" Goku spat the last few words out of his mouth as sarcastically as he could possibly muster.
Vegeta backed away from the much taller Saiyan and began to pace the room, a pensive thought filling the lines of his rock solid face. "I would do things that are unimaginable...." something in Vegeta's voice was lacking. The seriousness of the matter was thinning. "Just leave." He was unearthly calm.
The change in Vegeta did not go unnoticed; first it was taken in by his rival and then the woman in his arms. They could not place their fingers on what it was that had now changed distinctly in the aloof warrior. It seemed that all of a sudden his heated words had lost their meaning, his voice no longer crude. No matter how hard he tried to, Vegeta just did not sound as indifferent and irate as he had when the conversation had first begun. Bulma parted her lips softly hoping to form sound but not completely sure. Her throat was so dry; it felt like a desert. She would not be surprised if she did not speak again for days on end. "V-Vegeta..."
"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TWO TO GET OUT!" Roared Vegeta while once more powering up to his Super Saiyan form.
In a startled motion of pure instinct Goku pulled Bulma closer to his chest until her diminutive figure was tightly pressed against his own. This only appeared to infuriate the prince even more. "GET OUT!"
Goku brought one arm down to Bulma's lower back to shield her from any stray debris coming towards them in response to Vegeta's godly power. The other hand, Vegeta quickly noticed, was taken forward away from Bulma's body and leaning more towards his own face. Just when the iron prince was ready to demand an explication, Goku lowered all fingers but two and transported them in front of his forehead in a common style. "This isn't over Vegeta."
"I agree, Kakkarot."
With that said Goku's mind had been made up. In a sudden burst of a blinding white light, the pair vanished from the room leaving Vegeta alone. Alone with his thoughts that nagged him softly like the persuasive voice of Lucifer...What had he just done? Had he openly let the gates of hell swing open by allowing the woman to run off with Kakkarot? He had seen the way that they had looked at each other when he had first come into the room. There was something there that he had always hoped never to see. And now that he was seeing it he knew that leaving them alone was a dangerous thing to do. Things could go wrong, although the woman was in no condition to be raising hell of the nature, if given enough time Vegeta knew what would happen. It was in Saiyan blood; it would come down to instinct at the very end of the situation. Lust would over power them both. The bottom line was he felt that if given enough time he Bulma and Goku would find their way closer to each other than they already were.
Vegeta balled his hands up tightly until the blood had drained from around his knuckles; as a result they turned a pale white. He could not allow that to happen. He would not let Kakkarot take his woman right from under him. If those were the intention of the third class baka, there would be hell to pay. With a slow stride the puzzled Saiyan made his way to the window located at the other end of the room, over looking the dimming scenery of the backyard to the Capsule Corporation complex. Bulma Briefs always had been, always would be, his woman. Not a soul alive could take that from him, vowed Vegeta. A few seconds later he had kicked the window open and had flown off into the night sky heading as far away from Capsule Corps as he could fly. The ice-cold wind chapped at his cheeks hungrily whilst Vegeta took the time to speed up. A part of him was racing madly in an attempt escape the confinements of the Capsule Corps; the other part of him sought to elude his own thoughts. And it was no wonder; his mind was racing at a speed nearly matching to the one he flew at making it quite hard on him to concentrate. But one thing rang loud and clear as he parted the sky with his angelic speed.
Mark my words, Kakkarot, the onna is mine....
Then in a streak across the sky, Vegeta disappeared from even the sight of Kami himself.
~*~
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