Disclaimer: Though I love and worship DBZ, I do not own it, nor any of its characters. So please don't sue me. I'm broke, anyway.

Cruel Games

Chapter 1 Let the games begin

Cool night breezes caressed the blue-haired woman. She stands in the open balcony window, the moonlight reflecting off a single tear running down her cheek. Bulma had just gotten off the phone with her long time boyfriend, Yamcha. He had canceled their date tonight, a date she had waited for especially...The way he had been acting lately...distant, indecisive, it made her feel as if he really didn't care for her as much anymore. When he had asked her to dinner last week, she readily accepted, even though she had an important inventor's club meeting the night of the date...tonight...

Sighing, she left the balcony window and walked to her closet, changing into a short, light blue silk nightgown. She didn't feel like going to the meeting now, it would hold no interest for her. Sitting at her mirror, she looked at herself critically. What was wrong with her? She was attractive, she knew, and could be as fun as the next girl, and rich. Then why would Yamcha act the way he did? Why is he growing so distant? In fact...she thought, tilting her head to the side slightly, a delicate frown creasing her brow...He didn't even give a real reason why he cancelled...

Her hand stopped halfway to the phone, sitting on the table beside her. Did she really want to call him back? What if she learned something she didn't want to know? No, she would spare her heart for now...

Bulma got up and made her way downstairs, thinking that since she wasn't going to dinner, she should get a snack at least. Crossing through the living room to the kitchen, Bulma noticed a damp towel haphazardly draped over the back of a couch. Picking it up, she felt it was still warm, meaning...His Royal Highness is about...Probably in the kitchen. At least he's clean, she thought with a little smirk she couldn't stop. Halfway out of the living room, she looked down at the towel in her hand and dropped it on the floor; the cleaning bots' would take care of it, and thank god for them, since said sayain never cleaned up after himself.

Of course, Vegeta was in the kitchen, finishing what appeared to be a smorgasbord of food, as was customary for a sayain. He looked up as she entered the room, onyx eyes absorbing her. If the nightgown she was wearing had any effect on him, he hid in masterfully. Bulma shivered inwardly, as she walked past the table. She always felt chills with his gaze on her. Too late, she realized what she was wearing, but steeled herself not to show any embarrassment or nervousness. She wasn't thinking about dressing properly after that phone call.

Have to be careful,...Sayians can smell fear, She thought, trying to amuse herself a little. Her thoughts were rudely interrupted by Vegeta's rough voice,

"I thought you were going out." He rumbled, after swallowing.

"Since when are you privy to my affairs?" Bulma threw over her shoulder loftily, opening the fridge and scanning the sorely depleted contents as a result from Vegeta's nightly plundering.

"It's impossible not to overhear your incessant babbling, about that pitiful excuse for a warrior and your dealings with him." He said gruffly, finally looking away from her.

"Something came up and he had to cancel, not that it's any of your business." By this time she had given up on the fridge and opened a cupboard to grab an instant cup of noodles.

"Hmph!" He grunted. "More like something with a chest and legs came up."

Instant noodles in hand; Bulma whirled around, a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

"WHAT did you say!?" She asked, shocked.

Vegeta, not liking to repeat himself, was annoyed. He had assumed she knew about the other women.

"You are not his only interest, woman. He carries around the scents of at least two other females, so strongly I wonder why you haven't noticed it, even with your feeble nose."

Completely thrown off guard, Bulma stood stricken, hoping this to be some sort of prank for Vegeta's amusement. Vegeta seemed not inclined to offer any more comments, so finally Bulma managed to get out; "That can't be true...I know that can't..." Still holding the instant noodles, Bulma turned and walked out of the kitchen, up to her room, and picked up the phone, driven by a force she couldn't control, a need to know...

Clutching the phone in one hand, the instant noodles in the other, Bulma dialed Yamcha's number, and listened to it ring.

After ringing about three times, he picked up;

"-Haha-Hello?"

For a moment, Bulma could say nothing.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Yamcha,...It's me." She could feel her heart turning to lead, beating heavy in her chest.

"Bulma! Oh! Ithoughtyouwouldbeasleepbynow!"

"I just got off the phone with you, about 15 minutes ago, how could I be asleep? It's only 8:00 anyway..." She trailed off. On the other side of the phone, Bulma heard a soft noise, like a voice...a girl's voice...

"Yamcha, is someone there with you...?" She felt numb all over.

"No, no, that's just,..."

She didn't let him finish. "Just something with a chest and legs!" She nearly shrieked, inadvertently using the same frase Vegeta had used. Downstairs, a sayian's sensitive hearing picked up the loud words...and a sayian's lips turned into a smirk. Her hand tightened around the innocent instant noodle cup, crushing dry noodles inside.

"No! Wait, Bulma, it-" The phone made a hurt sound as she slammed down the receiver, like the ringing of a broken bell.

Surprisingly, she didn't feel angry, just sad. So very sad, and tired. How much time had she invested in him? The least he could do is break up with her before messing around. In a daze, she started walking, not really knowing where she was going, not really caring. She just watched the floor move past her until she stopped, at the gravity room's door.

What was she doing here? She thought she knew...

She stepped inside, closed the door behind her. The lights were dim; to conserve energy, but the sayian's recent workout was still evident. Dents around the walls and floor told better than words the ferocity the room had seen.

The control panel glowed a soft green and blue in the twilight setting, glowed almost invitingly. In a trance, Bulma reached out, and pressed her finger on the Increase G button. She let it rest there, the weight of her finger making the numbers climb faster and faster.

3G......

She could feel her feet pressing into the floor with increased pressure,

5G.....

Her head bowed, even her hair felt heavy....

8G.......

Holding her finger to the button now was impossible, as her limbs felt as though they were made of cement. They dropped to her sides and it was all she could do to keep standing...or to stay conscious...

Bulma slumped to the floor, free for the moment of the depression that plagued her.

About 10 walls away, watching TV, Vegeta heard the gravity room power up, and then activate the artificial gravity. This was not uncommon, for Bulma regularly checked the gravity room (when she wasn't fixing it) to make sure it wouldn't break any sooner than it had to. What was uncommon was she usually didn't do it in the middle of the night. Dropping the remote, he got out of his favorite lazyboy and went to investigate.

"What is that infernal woman up to?" He growled.

Vegeta paused when he got to the gravity room door. He glanced at a console in the wall beside the door, where Bulma usually turned the gravity on from when she was testing it...she couldn't be in the room while testing it, she was to fragile...

Not wasting any more time, Vegeta forced the door with his awesome strength to slide it open, as it was automatically locked when gravity was being used.

Vegeta stepped into the room, immediately feeling the increase of gravity, (though it had little effect on him) and spied Bulma lying near the consol in the dim light. Quickly he ran over and pressed the CANCEL button, turning the gravity off. Bulma, still lying at his feet, gave no sign of life he could readily discern.

He bent low near her face, and seeing a slight flutter of her eyelids, picked her up as gently as he dared in spite of his rush to get her to the regeneration chamber. It wasn't far, since his recent accident in the old gravity chamber outside made Bulma decide to construct a gravity room built right into the house, closer to the regen-room, also built after the accident..

Vegeta slipped the unconscious Bulma into the chamber and switched it on, then watched the readout.

Looks like she wasn't injured too badly, He saw that the pressure had closed her lungs, but the chamber already had that fixed, and besides a small concussion when her head hit the floor, she looked all right.

Vegeta couldn't fathom why the woman had done this to herself. He feared he would never understand humans, particularly the females. Not that he wanted to. As long as they served his needs, he didn't have to understand them. That was why he had to save her. She was the only one besides the old man who could repair the gravity room, and he took longer to do it. Vegeta stared at his reflection over the chamber, Bulma floating below it, her hair waving in a small current.

The minutes passed, and Vegeta remained, watching the woman in the chamber, lost in thought.

That's why I had to save her...to fix the gravity room.

His thoughts wandered back to the time in his life where he had been around other females, back on planet Vegeta, where his father was king, and he was heir.

Females seemed everywhere then, females of his kind, and others, wild and stubborn. Some almost as powerful as the males, but decidedly craftier.

Relationships between sayians were short and practical, though certain amounts of unbridled lust was felt. Few allowed themselves to become attached, as sayains were not inherently that kind of people. When sayains mated, it was usually for elevation of the social status, or simple animal attraction. The few who did become loyal to a single mate were looked upon with disdain, for they had let feelings make them weak. Those feelings could be used against them to win a battle easily. Being prince, Vegeta had been pursued by quite a few females who were eager to bear the next heir, thereby gaining status in the social class. He paid them little mind, having planets to conquer, civilizations to crush, and other more important things to worry about.

Only occasionally, more for appearances than desire, he would take one to his bed. While those encounters were physically satisfying, he sensed something missing. Of course, he would never admit that to anyone, including himself.

Anyway, after Freiza killed his father, (along with his race) Vegeta knew that he would never have a female sayain again. There were other races compatible to his own, but if he ever grew attached to anyone, Frieza would only use it to hurt him.

Looking down at Bulma now, he could feel the slightest stirrings of that same feeling. Something was missing, reminding him of its absence. Then Vegeta noticed that the liquid made Bulma's nightie virtually transparent, and he had been staring.

Shaking his head roughly, he sought to clear these thoughts from his mind. It was bad enough he hadn't been with a woman it some time, but he didn't have time to contemplate feelings which could make him weak. Vegeta stalked from the room like someone trying not to run.