My Immortal

By: Cabalistic

Disclaimer: i, sadly, yet to ur fortune, do not own dbz

:REVIEWERS:

catherine:Yes, toall of you fans thatare waiting for more of the Vegeta/Bulma, that'scomingup in the next chapter!

Chapter 20

Running Out of Time

Trunks laid for a long while, his mind steadily growing all the colder. His muscles were tensing up and he felt every joint in his body clenching, ready for something, preparing for something he didn't know. He felt like there was a knot was twisting in his stomach and every passing minute it twisted into a more tangled mess.

His breathing quickened as he tugged desperately against the chains against the walls. He felt fear crawl up his backbone and enter his throat as bile.

He coughed and shivered from the cold. His breath came out in front of him, in a steady trail of smoke. The pain from the clutching tension was killing him and his mind was tightening and loosening like a opening and closing fist.

Suddenly a burst of pain exploded from his mind the same time the door opened. Malui stood there, a cruel smirk curling on his lips. "It is time," He said sinisterly.

His heart pounded in his head as the room fell apart, the walls sinking into the ground and the scene shifting around him. The floor spun from beneath him and he fell, gripping the uneven stones for support as the room spun faster and faster.

Suddenly it jerked to a stop and Trunks was flung into the wall.

The entire setup had changed from a prison cell to what seemed to be a fighting hall. Up above, he could see Frieza sitting there with the same sickening smile on his face. Malui still had a dark smirk on his face.

Goten wasn't there but he glimpsed the guards carrying out what seemed to be a corpse. His heart fell as realization gripped him.

Malui stood in a fighting stance and called mockingly to Trunks, "I hope you will be more of a challenge than your pathetic saiyan friend. He didn't last as long as the legends claimed they did."

Trunks didn't respond, trying to get everything to sink in. What his mother had taught him, what Goten's advice had given him, what Mirai Trunks had told him. His head was still spinning with all these thoughts as he positioned himself in a fighting stance.

Suddenly Malui flew in with no warning, diving in to Trunks' weak side. Trunks was driven back a step by the older man and screamed one of his mother's frequent attacks, "Gigara!" A blue lightening ball sizzled into the Lea'ohto and burned him while he cursed the Orgahan.

His mind pounded as Malui flew in again, bringing a complicated set of punches, kicks and series of hits. Trunks tried to follow with his series of blocks but his opponent drove in a successful hit after another until he jumped backward. Trunks was already halfway depleted of his energy.

He realized his condition and Malui probably realized it as well, for he was smirking again.

Bulma jogged down the hallway, attempting to keep up with the saiyans. They were already attempting to go as slow as they could for the Orgathan but Vegeta's impatience along with Goku's eagerness, Vegetsa's anxiousness and Korn's nervousness drove them on faster.

Bulma wasn't keeping up. Korn's hit must have done a number on me, she decided quietly.

Suddenly her foot caught in something and she tripped, face flat on the floor. She looked behind her and let out an ear-splitting scream. The wall had melted and seeped onto her ankle and was pulling her backward, into a melting cement pool.

The female saiyans, who were closest to Bulma reacted first. Korn gently took hold of her wrist and pulled while Vegetsa shot ki shots at the melting pool. Soon she was up to her knees in the sticky, hot liquid.

Vegeta and Goku had apparently realized what had happened for they were there too. "What the hell is going on?" Vegeta roared, shooting a long beam into the pool. That only made the water boil hotter and Bulma screamed as the intense heat burned her.

Vegetsa did a quick calculation and said, "It's a doorway, it probably leads to Frieza. He's been expecting us to come." Bulma closed her eyes and opened them again. "There's something about Frieza I need to tell you."

Vegeta shook his head and snapped, "Not now!" Bulma was now up to her stomach in the liquid.

Korn looked at the pool and grimaced. "I suppose we'll have to jump in with her. It's not as though this water is giving up any time soon."

Bulma was up to her chin now. "Listen! You guys have to let me explain about Freiza befo---" She was cut off as the liquid covered her mouth, devouring her almost completely like quicksand. Her eyes darted around frantically.

Korn drew in a steady breath. Then she stepped into the pool with Bulma. The liquid sapped her up around the ankles. Vegetsa understood and followed.

Goku, who had been silent the entire time, looked horrified as his sister began sinking in the liquid. Vegeta acted first, "I don't like this. This could be another trap that could lead us all to another hell."

Vegetsa snapped at her brother. "We don't have a choice. Bulma's already down there and we have to do something." She gestured to Bulma's hair, quickly disappearing in the liquid.

Goku shook his head as he stepped into the pool as well. Slowly, the liquid grappled him, as though the pool already hadenough to deal with."She's going to be alone with Freiza." He hissed urgently. "There's got to be a faster way."

"How's this one?" Vegeta snapped as he dove into the liquid—headfirst. His feet kicked around frantically until his ankles disappeared underneath.

Vegetsa laughed bitterly and said, "Ahh, true love."

The first thing Vegeta realized was that it was boiling hot. It was like being stuck in a hot, sticky muck on a burning summer day, trapped inside of a phoenix egg and waiting to be born. He couldn't open his eyes for fear that he would be forever blinded but he had a sense that the liquid was a deep, crimson red. He wedged himself around more faster, frantically as he began running out of air.

His hand hit air first.

Without pausing to hesitate he pulled himself outward, towards the burst of air. His other hair hit the air then his foot. Slowly his other foot.

Then he broke away, landing hard on the floor, apparently the pool was on the ceiling of this new room, the sticky mass of liquid steadily releasing him. He gasped for air for a few minutes, sucking in mouthful greedily.

Vegeta stood then, ready position, looking for his mate.

He found Bulma but what he saw made his stomach twist in the most unsettling way.

Bulma was there but she was unconscious and her foot was bound with a heavy weight, he waged around a few tons. Orgathans were creatures of magik, not of strength, and she was in no condition to lift herself. She was hanging above water and there was no way she could swim away.

And some other minor detail?

Freiza was holding her above the water, the one thing separating his mate's life and death.

A/N: YET AGAIN ANOTHERCLIFFIE!
sorry for not updating in a long time! Here's the next ch. hope you liked it! I'll try to get the next one updated but I don't have a lot of spare time on my hands now...

REVIEW OR I WILL DRIVE A DOZENNAILS THROUGH YOUR COMPUTER AND SMASH PLAY-DOUGH IN THE HARDWARE AND SMEAR QUICK-DRYING CLAY OVER YOUR KEYBOARDS!(and steal all possible chairs in your houses)MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!

What's coming up (yipee another one): Vegeta will have to choose between fighting for his long-wanted revenge or saving Bulma from drowning death. Trunks struggles as he fights with Malui and finally realizes what he had to do.