IMPORTANT: Warning: I suck at action sequences, so sorry! And, also, it's not going to be cutesy. They aren't just going to leave these guards unconscious. Don't like? Sorry. Skip it. It won't be horribly graphic. Remember I suck at writing this stuff. So, I'll put (warning!) at the beginning and end of the scene.
Prettystupidgurl- I know Rall's evil, and unfortunately he'll be around for a while yet. Mu haha just remember. He's only one of the bad guys. There's the Cold's, and another yet-to-be-revealed bad guy, possibly two. Not sure yet! Thanks for reviewing!
Tsume-Hiei luver- Yeah. I didn't exactly want to kill her off, but it was just right for the story, unfortunately, because I love the idea of Vegeta having a sister. But he has his mother yet and two younger brothers besides Rall that are mentioned in this chapter. Thanks!
Mela- Thank you for the review! Enjoy!
SilverWing145- Yep. Indara's dead. Sadly. I wanted to keep her around a little longer, but it just wasn't happening. Bulma is still very naïve and young. She's a princess. She's been sheltered her whole life. She'll get a better. ;-) Thank you very much for reviewing!
Fujutsu- Hey! Thank you so much!
Kataan- Yep! Veggiekins and Akira are best friends. You'll see later on why he's so protective of her, too. ;-) Bulma will start to develop feelings for Vegeta soon, and possibly vice versa! I can't wait for Arthos to come into the picture either! It's going to be great. I haven't decided if dragon balls are going to be incorporated into this fic, so I doubt that Indara will be making any reappearance. Thanks for reviewing!
Garowyn- It's cool. I didn't mean to ignore your question. I just wasn't sure how to answer it truthfully. Bulma and Vegeta are the main characters and the main couple, but I have a tendency to get indepth with the other characters just as much. Maybe I shouldn't have put this under any specific characters. Sorry! Unfortunately, Indara is really dead. Thanks for taking the time to review!
DarkPristess- Thank you very much, and yes! Akira is going to get better. She'll mellow out with Bulma soon. She's just trying to snap Bulma out of her naivety. Bulma will be getting better, and so will some of the other characters.
Fiby- Thanks! I'm glad you like it. It means a lot! Rall is an evil bastard, and ya'll don't even know the half of it yet! Mu hahahaha.
KarineD- Thanks for the review! Much luv!
Shades of Crimson- Word up, G! hahaha j/k! What's going on? So, Gilmore Girls? How about that? This season was freakin' great! I'm a bit off topic here, huh? Anyhow! Bulma considers Akira a friend, but Akira's never really allowed herself to get close to Bulma before. They'll get better in the future. I promise! We can't have bitch fights going on all the time. Bulma and Vegeta fight enough for that! Haha. Oh yeah. Goku and Chichi will be getting together along the way. I gave ya'll a nice long chapter too to make up for the long wait! (hugs) Luv ya! Thanks for reviewing!
TheWarriorFormerlyKnownAsPrince- Hey! Sorry, for the long wait! Thank for reviewing!
Manga Devil- Wow, and I was worried no one would care that Indara was killed. Thankfully, most everyone did. Thanks for reviewing, and the kind words! Much appreciation! Thanks!Chapter 6: We Like to Challenge Ourselves
"You've got quite the reputation," the old man complimented as he extended his hand to shake.
Vegeta just glared at the man in return, refusing to give up his trademark stance. "And you've got quite a pair on you the way you were jerking me around."
Gero retracted his hand, letting it fall back against his side, and smugly raised his chin in the air. "I had to make sure you were serious about this job."
"I answered your query, did I not," Vegeta replied evenly. "Now, are you going to quite fucking around, or are you going to try and pull something else on me? I warn you, I'm not to be messed with."
"I see," Gero observed, growing slightly nervous as the ex-prince raised his power level just enough for him to get the point. "Then, let us get down to it, shall we?" He pulled out a small envelope from beneath his ankle-length coat and held it out for Vegeta to take. "A down payment," he offered.
Vegeta refused to take it. He could tell it unnerved the old bag of bones standing in front of him, which is exactly why he was doing it. Intimidation had always been his strong point. Akira managed to keep a straight face as she reached forward and snatched the envelope from their client. The man blinked at how quickly she'd moved, not believing it until he saw her pull out several flimsy, transparent cards. She inspected them carefully.
"Twenty-thousand," she announced to Vegeta. More than both Saiyans had expected, but less than they planned on walking away with. She lifted her gaze to Gero and his two bodyguards. "We want half."
The two bulky men flanking Gero growled, and reached for their weapons, but the old man held up a hand to stop them. "That was never part of the plan," he spoke firmly, looking Vegeta straight in the eye. He ignored Akira completely.
Vegeta's demeanor changed suddenly, and he shrugged. "Have it your way then. Find someone else." He turned his back and walked toward the door. His fingertips just barely brushed against the button to open the portal when he was stopped.
"Twenty-five then," Gero called out quickly, reluctantly.
"Very well. I'm listening." He turned back around and waited.
"There are just two crates." He turned to the man on his left. "Have Juuri bring them up."
Vegeta exchange a quick glance with his companion. She nodded minutely and handed him the envelope of money. He took it from her and slipped it into the dark gray coat he'd pulled on before they left the ship. The days were beautifully warm and sunny here, but the nights were very cold. It wasn't that either one of them was affected greatly by the temperature, but they had to blend in with the crowd.
"I've authorized my men to give you a slight bonus if the packages arrive on time and undamaged."
Akira narrowed her eyes. They way he said it, made it sound like a threat. Obviously, Vegeta was thinking along the same lines. His power level shot up again slightly, and he took a menacing step forward. "Are you suggesting I'll be unfaithful to my word?"
"Of course not," Gero answered quickly. "I merely meant to stress the importance of privacy."
"And I'm merely going to stress the importance of choosing your words extremely carefully in the future, or you might find yourself on a one way trip to the next dimension!"
(Change scene)
"I have a really bad feeling about this," Akira told him. Her eyes were fixated on one of the enormous crates in front of her. "Perhaps we should just take them back and tell him no deal."
Vegeta scoffed. "I'm not afraid of anything that could possibly go wrong."
"But we don't even know what's inside these boxes," Akira went on.
"We need the money to reach Vegetasei, do we not?" He demanded condescendingly.
She frowned and looked away out the window. "I suppose we do," she answered. She hated when he talked to her like that. She felt the transport shuttle come to a halt and sighed. "I'm not going to argue with you, Vegeta. I just have a sinking feeling in my gut about all this."
Vegeta rose to his feet and slid the hatch open, stepping out of the vehicle Gero had arranged to take them and the cargo back to the spaceport. "Let's get these onto the ship. I'm sick of this planet, and I want to leave."
Radditz and Nor were waiting for them in the hanger just outside the large ramp which lead into the cargo hold of the ship. They wasted no time in moving forward and helping Akira and Vegeta lift the heavy, cumbersome boxes. Chichi and Bulma walked in and watched the Saiyans as they displayed the strength their race was known for. Both human women knew that no two human men could probably lift, let alone carry, the crates with the ease of their companions.
Vegeta set his end down carefully and then stood up straight, wiping his hands off on his gray jacket. He glanced at Chichi. "Where's this gang's base located?"
All eyes were on the dark haired woman suddenly, and she swallowed painfully. "The north district, I think."
(Change scene)
Bulma watched as Radditz flipped several switches overhead with one hand and piloted the ship with the other. She was faintly reminded of her and Akira's not-so-long-ago crash. "Were you the one who taught Akira to fly?" She asked, desperate for any kind of conversation she could get her hands on.
"No," he stated evenly, concentrating on the task of landing. He'd become so accustomed to compensating for the faulty hydraulics, that he was actually having trouble landing the ship now that he, Nor, and Akira had fixed it. Go figure!
The princess refused to back down. "Then who taught you?"
He ignored her for a moment, flying low over a small clearing. Here was as good as any to sit and wait for the other to call on him. The Onbei gang's bas was only two miles from here.
"Well?"
"We were taught how to fly in academy," he finally replied.
Chichi, who'd been sitting in the back of the cockpit quietly, finally spoke up. "I thought women weren't allowed to attend academy, even on Vegetasei. So, how'd Akira learn?"
"I had my ways," the woman in question spoke up from the entrance. She locked eyes with her brother. "We're going now."
Nor walked into the room as well and tossed Radditz a scouter. "We'll call for you when we need you."
Radditz snatched the device out of the air effortlessly and nodded. "Just contact me. I'm going to try and hack into their databases once Nor gets in and hooks me up via scouter." He smirked. Hacking was in expertise of his, and he was one of the best, rivaled only by Vegeta and Akira.
"Speaking of hacking," Vegeta spoke up, standing behind Akira and Nor. "Try patching into the underground channels from their locale, and see if you can get any information on the Colds."
"You got it." Radditz stood up. "But just to be on the safe side, I want to put a blocker on the scouters. The Cold's might have someone monitoring, and I don't want to run the risk of them being able to trace the Onbei's link to us."
Vegeta stepped aside to let Radditz lead the way to the cargo bay where they had a small corner devoted to their weaponry. Bulma stood up and called out to her bodyguard before the woman could leave.
"What's wrong?" Akira asked.
Bulma bit her bottom lip slightly. "Well, I."
Akira chuckled softly. "It'll be fine. This little mission is nothing. It'll be over before you know it. You worry too much," she went on, turning toward the door. "Have a little faith."
"But what do we do if something does happen to you guys?"
The Saiyan sighed, getting irritated now. "Nothing is going to happen, but if for some strange reason it does, then follow Radditz to Vegetasei. There are more than enough credits to sustain you two and him."
"What if the Cold's do trace this link Radditz was talking about?" Chichi cut in. She was worried. Before she only had to be cautious of the Onbei, but after a couple hours with these new people, she realized she was now apart of something much, much bigger. She was rather scared about it.
"He's just being cautious," Akira assured them. "I'm fairly confident that my brother can move around undetected within the Onbei database. He's good at what he does." She turned toward the door. "Just relax. We'll be off this rock before you know it."
(Change scene)
He passed through the shadows undetected, which wasn't really hard for a Saiyan to do in the dead of night. These morons, the Onbei gang, had horrible security. Rescuing the others was going to be easy as cake! He pressed his back up against the base of the watchtower and looked up. There were only two guards. 'How did such unorganized morons get their hands on the others?' He thought in disgust. He was ashamed of his comrades, and especially his brothers. Nor sighed heavily and hit the heel of his boot just loud enough to gain the attention of his targets. With his sensitive ears, he heard them talking in suddenly hushed voices.
He quickly and quietly slid along the rounded wall as the door swooshed open. A long, black gun barrel slowly came into his view, and he suppressed the urge to laugh. 'Like taking candy from a baby,' he thought as he snatched the metal barrel in one hand and twisted his elbow up and back. The butt of the gun whacked the guard under his chin hard and successfully knocked him out. Nor stepped around the corner and caught the man's body with one hand—not a sound was made. Carrying the unconscious guard, he sighed. If it was this easy to get in, Vegeta was going to kill the others for wasting so much time.
He bound the guard's hands with some rope and gagged his mouth. He didn't want him waking up and alerting everyone just yet. They had to find the others first. He deposited the body in the bushes as quickly as possible and snuck back to the lookout tower. The other man was still up there. Nor entered through the open door and closed it behind him.
"Shay? What was it?"
Nor smirked and walked up the steps. "Nothing much," he spoke up, startling his next target.
This one jumped to his feet and tried to reach for his rifle, but the Saiyan was much quicker than he had expected. Nor grabbed his wrist and twisted it, causing the man to yelp.
"You're not playing nice," Nor taunted. "I think it's time for a long nap."
(Change scene)
Bulma glanced over Radditz shoulder as he typed furiously away at the keyboard. "What exactly are you doing?"
"You know what I'm doing," he muttered. "I explained it before. Now, will you please be quiet, princess? I need to concentrate," he told her.
She rolled her eyes. "Fine," she sighed. Turning to Chichi, she smiled. "You know how to cook, right? Can you help me fix something to eat? I'm starving," she admitted.
Chichi was stunned. One, the princess of her home planet was asking her politely to help her make something to eat, and two, how could she eat at a time like this? Chichi was on the edge of her seat here! She felt so guilty and horrible—like it was all her fault somehow.
"Um, yeah," she stuttered. "Let's go."
Radditz growled under his breath, "Did they have to mention food right now?" He hadn't had a change to eat a full-sized meal at all today. The screen in front of him blinked at the bottom left, and he leaned closer. "Bingo," he whispered, grinning. He clicked on the icon. "I'm in," he said into his scouter as he pressed the button.
(Change scene)
Vegeta took a deep breath. "Good. See what kind of activity the Colds have along our path to Vegetasei," he ordered through the scouter to Radditz. "We need to know what to avoid."
"I'm already on it. There isn't much. We might luck out," came the other man's voice.
Akira looked over at Vegeta. "I just saw Nor give his signal. We're clear," she told him.
The ex-prince nodded once, and they both moved out of the cover the thick foliage had provided them. They spotted the guard tower where Nor was. Their eyes allowed them to make out every detail. He was leaning over something, a computer most likely. Vegeta pointed ahead of them. There was a large wall surrounding the small base, and Nor had managed to override the controls to get them in quietly. Part of the wall was sliding open for them.
"Why did Nor get the fun job?" Akira jokingly whispered.
Vegeta smirked. "Our job is going to be more fun. Trust me," he promised.
Akira returned his smirk with a mischievous smile of her own. "Anytime you've ever told me to trust you, you've gotten me into trouble."
"Trouble equals fun."
"Only with you."
They both moved through the shadows stealthily, making mental notes that there were no guards patrolling the inner grounds. They placed all their security on the wall and the towers. Reckless! Vegeta leaned his back against the wall of the building.
"Very lax security," he murmured.
Akira nodded, peeking around the corner. "Makes me wonder what kind of technology they've gotten their hands on that enabled them to capture a small group of extremely powerful Saiyans."
"They're too small of an outfit to have any buying power or influence. Look how easily we got in," he countered.
"True." She reached up to her scouter and pressed in the button. "Rad, do they have any kind of system wired up here?"
"Yeah. I haven't tried tapping into it yet, though. Give me a few seconds. It can't be too complicated."
Vegeta frowned. "Now I'm bored." He peered through the dirty window next to him. It was dark inside; obviously there was no one around. He gathered a tiny ball of ki around the tip of his pointer finger and ran it around the perimeter of the frame.
Radditz' voice filtered clearly through their scouters. "This is laughable. I can have it down in less than a minute," he boasted.
Akira shook her head as she watched Vegeta pulled the pane of glass from the wall as quietly as possible and lean it against the wall by his feet. "Well, then stop your blabbing, and do it," she told her brother.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Who's the one in the ship who can strand your sorry ass on this rock?"
Vegeta hit the call button on his scouter. "You're stalling. You haven't done this in months. I would have had it shut down the second I saw it," he taunted.
Nor finally cut into the chitchat, "You're all having an awful lot of fun, aren't you?" Complete silence. "Let's stop acting like we're a bunch of teenagers in academy on a training mission, and get the guys out of this place," he scolded.
"Yes, sir," Akira replied as if addressing a drill sergeant. She saluted Vegeta.
"I can see you from the tower, you know," Nor countered.
"Good," she told him. "See this?" She raised her hand and her middle finger.
Vegeta smirked and climbed in through the window he'd just disassembled. He immediately frowned as he glanced around the darkened room. Behind him, Akira slipped in through the window without a sound and stood next to him.
"It's just a storeroom," he muttered irritably.
"Strike one," Akira said. The lights suddenly flickered to life above them, and they both dove behind a stack of crates.
"Who's here?"
(Change scene)
Radditz chuckled and leaned back in his chair. "Hope you guys have some fun," he spoke into his scouter that he was holding up to his mouth. He sat it back down next to the computer.
Bulma and Chichi, having just returned from grabbing a quick bite to eat in the kitchen, gave him an odd look. They had no clue what was going on. Vegeta's voice filled the room through the scouter. Bulma guessed Radditz must have linked into the computer so he didn't have to wear it the whole time. They did look like they could be annoying to wear.
"Very cute, moron. You'd better hope this doesn't alert the whole base."
Bulma frowned. "What'd you do?" She asked Radditz.
He ignored her question. "Oh, please," he responded to Vegeta. "If you two can't take out four pathetically inept guards without causing a scene, then I think you need to abort this mission right now."
Chichi was shocked. "You mean, you set those guards on them purposely? Whose side are you on?"
"Just paying Vegeta back for calling my hacking skills sub par!"
"They obviously are," Vegeta replied.
"I can't believe you did this?" Chichi screeched.
Bulma regarded the situation quietly. After all she'd learned from the five years she'd had Akira as her bodyguard, she knew what was going on here. She placed a hand on Chichi's shoulder. "This is fun to them," she explained, receiving a slight glare from Radditz for her comment.
Chichi scrunched up her nose. "How the hell is this fun? Their friends could be dead."
"They aren't," Radditz spoke up.
"He's right. Akira told me once that Saiyans have the ability to sense life forces, ki," she went on. "If any of them were dead, they'd be burning this planet to the ground."
"Bravo, Princess. You got one thing right," Radditz said.
Chichi was shocked. "So this little rescue mission is just a game to you Saiyans?"
"There's no real threat on this planet, so yeah," he told her. "We're treating this like a training mission of sorts. It's good for us to keep our senses sharp. This is a perfect opportunity for that."
"You're barbaric." With that said, Chichi walked out of the room.
Bulma sighed. "Is everything going alright?"
(Change scene)
Cradling his broken arm, Kakkarot winced. His twin had been unconscious for over an hour, not a normal thing for a healthy Saiyan warrior. He wondered what happened. Turlis' wounds didn't look that bad really. They'd all sustained much worse and lived. No, something else was going on! To his left, Nappa was tying a strip of his shirt around a deep cut on Brolly's upper arm to stop the hemorrhaging. Brolly gritted his teeth and sucked in a sharp breath.
"Too tight," he groaned.
"This cut is all the way to the bone," Nappa grumbled. "You've already lost too much blood. It's turning you into a pansy," he taunted.
Brolly clamped his mouth shut and glared down at the floor while his older brother finished dressing the wound. Nappa knew that'd shut him up for a while at least. It didn't help that the drug they'd been slipped was so strong.
"Vegeta's never going to let us live this down when he finds out," he muttered.
Kakkarot nodded. "Tell me about it." He sighed, looking around them. They were enclosed within a thin-layer energy shield. Normally, he could power up and just cause an electrical short in the device, but he was too weak. He couldn't gather any energy without feeling faint. "I wonder what's taking them so long?"
Brolly finally found his voice again. "Knowing Vegeta, he's pissed, and is taking his dear old time as punishment."
The three of them nodded simultaneously and sighed. Turlis startled them all by rolling onto his side all of a sudden and coughing up blood. Kakkarot moved forward to help his twin sit up straight, but Turlis knocked him backwards. It was all Kakkarot could do to stop himself from colliding into the energy wall. That'd surely knock him out, again!
"Don't touch me," Turlis growled, hunching himself into a tight ball and shaking visibly.
His comrades had never seen him like this before. He looked feral and lost. Nappa immediately recognized something familiar about his state. "He," Nappa paused glancing into Turlis' eyes cautiously. "Something's happened on Vegetasei. Hasn't it?" He'd seen that look before in Turlis' own mother, Jadora, when she'd felt the bond she'd shared with Bardock break when he died along with the king.
Turlis glared at him. "He killed her," his tone sent a tingle down the other's spines. "He killed my mate."
(Change scene)
The Saiyan queen stood before the alter, staring down at the body of her only daughter through teary eyes. How much more of this would she have to endure? First, the love of her life, her mate, the greatest Saiyan king to rule the empire was taken from her by her own son's hands, and then, her eldest child was banished from his home, from her. Now, this! She dropped to her knees and clutched the cold, lifeless hand in her own. She buried her face against it and wept in anguish, not caring who might be there watching her, the proud queen, having an emotional breakdown.
Ava moved toward the queen's side quickly and knelt beside her. "Lisdore," she cooed sadly.
"My daughter is dead," Lisdore cried out. "How could this happen? She was a strong woman."
The priestess glared at the stone floor. She knew it wasn't suicide that had taken the princess. No. Rall had gotten to her. Somehow, he found out about Vegeta contacting Indara, and he killed her for it. She desperately wanted to say something to the queen, but she was so distraught. Ava didn't think she could handle knowing that Rall had killed his sister to stop his brother from returning home.
"I'm not stupid."
Ava shook herself from her daydream and looked into Lisdore's eyes. "My Queen?"
She seemed sober for the moment, and her face was devoid of emotion as she spoke," I know she didn't kill herself." She wiped her tears and stood up. "I know, Ava. I'm no fool. Do you think I've been blind to what Rall has been doing all along? What he did to his father and brother?"
"But if you knew," Ava started, confused.
"Why didn't I do anything about it?" Lisdore finished. "What kind of mother would I be to ignore the one who needs me the most?" She dropped her voice to a whisper. "Rall is sick, there's no doubt about that. He needed me more than the others. I had to stick by his side, though it killed me to see Vegeta sent away because of Rall's treachery." She closed her eyes. "But Vegeta is strong and intelligent. He will rule Vegetasei one day, as he was meant to," she proclaimed fervently.
"Not everyone can be helped," Ava argued. "He's taken your mate and eldest child from you, and now, your daughter. What's to stop him from trying to kill the other children? Cass and Arro are vulnerable. They're just children yet, barely teens. What's to stop him from killing you or me? He has no conscious, Liz."
"He will not touch them," she kissed.
(Change scene)
"This better be it. I'm so bored."
Vegeta climbed in through the fourth window of the night and glanced around watchfully. "Keep your pants on, little one."
Akira glared at him. "If we weren't trying to be stealthy, I'd punch you for calling me that," she growled into his ear.
He pointed over the top of a crate. "There they are."
"Energy shield," she observed. "A low power one, too. Why the hell didn't they just power up and bust out if it," she wondered aloud.
"I don't think they can." Vegeta scanned the room. "There has to be a manual controls for the damn thing around here somewhere. Do you see anything?"
A door slide open nearby, and they both dropped into a crouch position to keep out of sight. That's when Vegeta spotted the box. It was only about seven or eight feet away to the right. He peered around the corner. There were now five guards in the room, not that he was worried about them. They were easily taken care of, but he was treating this as a sort of challenge. Turning back to his partner in crime, he reached up and pulled small, silver pin from her hair.
Akira cocked an eyebrow at him, and gave him a 'what the hell are you doing' look. He just shrugged playfully and peeked around the corner again. The guards were all talking--completely off guard! He flicked the pin over their heads and watched it fall on the opposite side of the room behind them. The five men all turned abruptly toward the faint noise, and Vegeta used the distraction to slip across the open space toward the control box. Akira rolled her eyes and kept an eye on their soon-to-be victims. None of the morons even bothered to look around. They just shrugged it off and continued mulling over who slept with some sluttish trollop from the nearby town first.
Meanwhile, Vegeta was prying off the metal cover with his fingers. It came off easily in his hand, and he examined the wires inside. He'd done this a thousand times before. 'Academy was good for a few things,' he mused mentally. Quickly, he ripped out the blue and gold wires.
Akira smiled as the purple energy shield surrounding her friends dissipated. Vegeta finally stood up, not caring to be stealthy anymore. The guards were all crowded around the four huddled together Saiyans in the middle of the room—far too preoccupied to notice Akira and Vegeta stalking them from behind.
"What the hell just happened?"
Turlis looked up and past his captors. His eyes locked with his younger sister's. One guard happened to notice his gaze and followed it. He nudged his comrades and pointed. "Look there! They must have done it!"
"This better be the fun part," Akira said to Vegeta.
He smirked, keeping his attention on the guards. "Women," he sighed to them. "They can be so damn impatient sometime."
(Change scene)
Bulma tapped her foot impatiently and crossed her arms over her chest. Radditz was struck with the sudden comparison to Vegeta. He chuckled to himself. It was an amusing thought! She glared at him.
"What is so funny?" She began to pace.
He sighed. "Well, he doesn't pace. There goes that mental image," he murmured.
The blue haired princes stopped in her tracks and placed her hands on her hips. "This is taking way too long! Akira could have done this by herself five times already! What are they doing out there?"
Chichi decided to cut in at this time. "Maybe they're in trouble and need our help?"
Radditz glared at her. "Vegeta won't get caught."
"How do you know? What if they shot him with an injection dart full of that drug, and they're all locked up in a cell right now?" Bulma went into full-blown conspiracy mode.
The Saiyan man's expression turned blank, and he just stared at her. "Riight."
"It could happen," she argued.
"In another dimension where we're humans, and you're the Saiyans," he jabbed.
Bulma's eyes narrowed. "Are you mocking my race?"
"Yes."
His quick admittance threw her off for a second. It didn't last long, though. Bulma always had the ability to bounce back quickly! "At least we're civilized," she countered. "You Saiyans are just a bunch backwater barbarians with no brains."
Radditz nodded his head a couple times. "In that case, Princess," he began, standing up from the pilot's seat. "You're obviously smarter than me. You can land the ship right in the middle of the Onbei's base."
The smug look drained from Bulma's face. "W-what?"
Chichi swallowed as the ship started to descend toward the ground. "Someone please grab the controls!"
Bulma looked frantic. "Radditz, fly the damn ship!"
He shrugged. "Why? I'll live through the impact crash. I have nothing to worry about." He grinned at them and leaned against the doorframe. He motioned toward the controls with his hand before crossing his arms. "Have at it."
The two human girls jump toward the controls, desperately trying to right the ship so they didn't die.
(Change scene)
(Warning! Laughable attempt at a fight scene!)
Three of the guard charged at Vegeta all at once, while the other two set in on Akira. Vegeta threw a fist into one guards face, sending him through the air. The guard hit the wall and slumped to the ground in pain. Akira dropped into a crouching position and swept one of her attacker's legs out from under him. He yelped, falling onto his back, and when he sat up, she kicked him square in the chest.
Nappa shot to his feet and managed to grab Akira's second attacker by the arm before he could sucker punch her. The man pulled a small knife from his leather belt and was about to jab it into Nappa's wrist, but Vegeta Brolly stepped in from out of nowhere, snatching the knife from his hand and turning it toward him. It sunk cleanly into the man's neck, spraying blood everywhere.
"One down," Nappa said to his brother. Brolly nodded grimly.
Akira turned to them. "Thanks. Are you guys going to be good to walk?" She eyed the first attacker as he crawled back to his feet.
Brolly moved into a defensive stance next to her. "I feel a bit better now that we're not surrounded by that shield."
"I've got this one," she told them. "Get to the ship. Radditz should be right outside this building any second."
Vegeta snapped the neck of one of the guards while another sat on the floor before him, watching. He released the dead man, and the body fell into a heap before the other guard. A cry drew his attention toward Turlis. Kakkarot was trying his best to pin his brother to the floor, but Turlis was bucking against him. Vegeta's brow creased in slight concern. He narrowed his eyes and turned toward the cowering guard at his feet.
"What did you do to him?" he demanded. Suddenly, this wasn't a game meant to see how sharp his senses were.
"We. I. Nothing," he stuttered, sliding backwards on his rear and shaking his head furiously. "I swear! We just drugged him at the bar," he admitted.
"It's not what they did, Vegeta," Kakkarot called out.
Vegeta held out his hand, palm facing the shaking guard, and send a powerful blast through his chest. The room was suddenly very quiet, except Turlis. He kept groaning and growling, and sobbing? It was unnerving to Vegeta. He'd never seen his comrade like this, not even when his parents were killed.
"What the hell is going on?" Vegeta hissed.
Nappa was about to open his mouth when the door busted open and about ten more guards filled into the room to surround them. Akira moved to Vegeta's side. "I'll get Turlis. I think the other's can stand to fight their way out."
(Change scene)
Nor ran toward the ship, firing ki blasts at pretty much anything that moved. The ramp opened, and he spotted Radditz. They'd both heard Akira over the scouter. Turlis was hurt badly and acting strangely.
"I'm going in," Nor called out.
Radditz shook his head. "No way! You got to have your fun. Stay with the humans."
"No need," Nor pointed out.
They spotted Akira walking toward them. She had Turlis' unconscious body slung over her shoulder. Her older brother's ran over to her and took the burden from her. She glanced back at the building.
"I've got to get back in there. They're like rats. I don't know where they're all coming from," she panted.
Radditz pushed her toward the ship. "Go with Nor and look after Turlis. I'll go. I could use some action."
She nodded. "Fine, but hurry. The others aren't much help to Vegeta, and they're only going to get hurt even worse if the fight prolongs."
Bulma walked toward the ramp, despite the rude order issued to her by Radditz a few minutes earlier telling her to stay in her room until they were in space. She gasped when she say Nor carrying Turlis into the ship. The poor man had obviously been tortured. Unfortunately, the grisly shape that he was in couldn't have prepared her for the appearance of her bodyguard. The beautiful Saiyan woman was covered in blood. Bulma gagged, covering her mouth and turning away.
Akira regarded her curiously. "Something wrong, princess?"
"You're c-covered in," she couldn't finish.
"Blood. Yeah, I know. It's not that big a deal, and you shouldn't be on the ramp. One of the Onbei's could fire at us anytime now. We're not out of the woods yet."
Bulma tried her best to ignore the blood, and looked her straight in the eye. "You were all treating this like a game," she spoke disgustedly. "People died. You killed them," she whispered.
"They tortured my kin. It stopped being a game the second I saw the four of them huddled under an energy shield in the middle of a bunker." She fixated Bulma with a hard glare. "You've got a lot to learn about the universe, Princess," she stated harshly. "Sometimes you have to fight, and just beating an opponent in combat isn't enough to stop them."
She extended her arm to the right and shot a ki blast at a guard that had been sneaking up on their side. Bulma jumped, glancing at the man's body as it landed in the dust. Akira looked over at him, too. "He was about to kill you. Would you have rather I let him do it? Would you rather fail our mission?"
A series of earthshaking blasts came from the building, and Akira turned to see the other Saiyans running toward the ship. Vegeta was bringing up the rear, blasting everything he thought was part of the base. The Onbei's were destroyed.
(Change scene)
"Anyone going to speak, or do I have to start threatening?" Vegeta inquired angrily.
Nappa was the only one that seemed to have the nerve to say it. He took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. "This isn't easy, Vegeta." Especially for Nappa! He'd done this once before, and he hated being the barer of such things. "We'll have to wait until he wakes to know for sure, but I think." He looked the ex-prince straight in the eye. "I think your sister is dead."
Vegeta stood stock still as the information sunk into his brain. Of course it was true! Turlis was mated to Indara, and it explained his strange behavior. Suddenly, he felt a bout of rage coming over him. 'Rall did this,' he seethed. 'He killed our little sister.'
Everyone watched him turn away from them and walk quietly out of the room. Nappa slouched into a chair and massaged his temples. He'd been the one to give Vegeta news about his father, too, all those years ago. "He's going to kill me for all the horrible news I've dealt him," he groaned.
Brolly just sat quietly next to his brother. He was still a little shocked by the day's events. Kakkarot was sitting at the lounge table with his two eldest brothers, and Akira was standing with Bulma and Chichi near the doorway. It was then that Nappa looked over at them. His eyes drifted to Chichi, and he cursed.
"You're the bitch that waited on us," he accused, jumping to his feet. He was still a little tipsy from the drugs, but he was strong enough to strangle the life out of the black haired girl!
Akira stepped in his way, pushing Chichi back behind her. "Back off, Nappa," she warned. "If it wasn't for her, we might not have found you so quickly."
Brolly frowned. "She was working for them, Akira! She drugged us."
Kakkarot slammed his good hand down on the table. "Knock it off! You're scaring her to death. We're all fine, mostly. It's not her fault."
Bulma cut in. "Definitely not her fault! They threatened her. She didn't have a choice."
Nor stood up. "Enough bickering. Leave her be, Nappa. She did what anyone of us would have done in her situation. Vegeta spared her, so don't get on his bad side. I have a feeling it's not a good idea right now."
(End chapter….finally! hahaha)
Long chapter, huh? I don't know exactly how I feel about it, so honesty is very appreciated! It did, however, fit in with the story, so I'm not changing anything.
Next time: Rall confronts Ava. Goku and Chichi talk, the sparks begin for them, and Bulma, Vegeta, and Akira decide where to go from here. It'll probably be a shorter chapter. Not sure yet.
PANDORA ;-)