Chapter 5
A couple of days later…
Steam billowed around the sleeping aristocrat, attempting to wake him from his slumber. Vegeta came to slowly, taking in his surroundings. He felt something on top of him and belatedly remembered that he had the woman sitting on his lap. She was leaning against him, her even breathing telling him that she was still asleep despite the ship's attempts to wake her.
He opened his eyes and the first thing his gaze fell upon was her blue hair.
'Such odd colouring.' He thought as he took in the silky strands. Bulma shifted in his lap, trying to find a comfortable position.
The movements had her head shifting to the side, unknowingly exposing her pale neck to him in her sleep. Her natural scent drifted over to him, untainted by the smell of her fear for the first time. The Prince leaned into the crook of her neck and took a deep breath, her sweet scent causing his body to come alive with desire, and exhaled, smirking at the resulting shiver that wracked her small frame.
"Vegeta?" She said in a soft voice, wariness present in her tone. Looks like she's woken up.
"We'll be landing in a few minutes." He whispered in her ear, his smirk growing when he saw the pulse on her neck move erratically as she nodded her acknowledgement. He couldn't help but wonder how different his name would sound if she was saying it in a more intimate setting.
Vegeta may be a lot of things but a blind man he is not. He had long since acknowledged that the woman sitting on his lap was gorgeous, since he first saw her on Earth if he was getting technical. However, he had pushed those thoughts aside in favour of finding the dragon balls on Namek in order to obtain his wish for immortality with the help of said woman. He was prepared for her to be afraid of him. He was prepared for her to try and escape.
What he wasn't prepared for was the wrath of her fiery temper and her sharp tongue.
She had a short rein on her temper and could spit venom from her blue eyes. Bulma let him know when she was displeased with him, not afraid to hide her true emotions. Her fire drew him to her like a moth to a flame.
That wasn't the only thing that attracted his attention.
He'd seen her form in the outfit she'd had on before she changed into her current outfit. Her ridiculously short skirt had shown off her shapely legs and her top had hugged her curvy body nicely. But the one thing that had really caught his eye was her blue hair, the peculiar shade instantly snagging his attention.
Blue is one of his favourite colours after all.
Really, considering her physical appearance and the temper to rival his own, it was no surprise that he was attracted to her. And he knew he wasn't alone in that department. No matter how much she tried to hide it, he knew she was attracted to him as well. He wanted to see her face flushed with pleasure, he wanted to hear her scream his name in ecstasy instead of anger.
There were just a few problems with that idea.
First off he was pretty sure that she would rather slit her own wrists and bleed to death than admit that she wanted him, let alone touch him with a ten foot pole. But most importantly, he never let a woman live when he was done with her. He seduced them and gave them a night to remember, only for him to snuff the life out of them when they were done.
With this woman, he couldn't afford to do that. Loathe as he was to admit it, he needed her to help him find the dragon balls with that radar of hers. He didn't put it past her to try and mess with it somehow so that he couldn't work it without her. Plus he was positive she had her own motives for coming with him to Namek, like stealing the dragon balls from him so she could wish her friends back, so he had to make sure he kept his guard up with her. As much as he wanted to bed her, he needed to find the dragon balls more, so he'd have to shove the idea aside for the time being.
"Thirty seconds to impact on Planet Namek."
Vegeta's thoughts were interrupted when the ship announced their impending arrival.
'By now, Frieza's probably collected a good number of the dragon balls. I just need to find one of them and keep it out of sight. After that, I'll need to find a way to get the others out of his clutches.'
A moment later, they landed on the surface of Namek. Vegeta reached out to open the door.
"Wait!" Bulma said, panicked at his reckless move.
"What is it, woman?" He asked in a bored voice.
"You can't just open the door like that! We don't even know the oxygen content on the planet. We don't even know if there's oxygen at all! We could die as soon as we open the door!"
The Prince rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Don't be ridiculous. Nothing's going to happen to us."
Bulma still wasn't convinced. "How do you know? You didn't check when we left. For all I know, you can survive on this planet and I can't so-"
"Computer, run a background check on our current location."
"Planet Namek. Oxygen level is at eighty five percent, Water vapour is ten percent, Nitrogen is at five percent. The terrain is hospitable and the inhabitants are amiable."
Vegeta gave her a look that said "Are you happy now?" and opened the door, allowing the unlikely duo to get out of the cramped space and take in the scenery.
"This is Namek?" Bulma asked, disappointment laced in her tone. It certainly wasn't what she was expecting. The land stretched on forever, which would've been pretty if it didn't look so...barren.
Vegeta looked around at the empty lands that seemed to go on for miles. "Fitting that something as powerful as the dragon balls would be on a planet as desolate as this one. It's so dead that no one would even suspect that it harboured something so valuable unless you actually knew they were here."
He had a point, she'd give him that much. Deciding that they'd wasted enough time gazing at the scenery, the heiress threw the capsule with her backpack on the ground and got the radar out.
"Let's see what we've got here." She pressed the button to turn it on and waited for it to give her the location of the nearest dragon ball. Hopefully the first one wouldn't be too far away and-
"What the…?" Bulma whispered under her breath. That couldn't be right...
"What is it?" She jumped when he spoke, not realising he was standing so close to her.
Bulma shook her head at the reading on the screen. "It's showing me that there's four dragon balls gathered in one area. In that direction." She pointed roughly west of their current location.
Before she could blink, the radar was out of her grasp.
"Hey!" She turned to Vegeta, irritation evident on her face.
He ignored her and focused on the screen, watching as four yellow dots blinked in one spot. This could only be the work of one person.
"Frieza." He growled under his breath.
At the name, the anger she felt at him for his childish move vanished and dread took its place. "Did...did you just say Frieza? What about him?"
"He's the one who's gathered the dragon balls. And I'm willing to bet he didn't get them by asking nicely."
'Oh Kami.' Bulma paled at his words. 'All those innocent people, slaughtered by that monster.'
"So now what's your plan?" She asked in a soft voice, trying hard to quell the anxiety that was slowly building. Now she had more than just Vegeta to worry about so that she could get her wish. It was just her luck.
"Well, ideally I would simply take them from him but doing so at my current strength is basically suicide. " He scowled as he said this, clearly displeased at his weakness. "For now, the best course of action would be to find a dragon ball and hide it from him. That way, he won't get his wish as soon as he expected and it'll give me more time to come up with a way to swipe the others from under his nose."
Suddenly, Vegeta's head snapped up towards the sky, focusing on a particular spot.
"What? What are you looking at?" Bulma asked looking into the sky, trying to see what he's seeing. She looked back at him and was slightly concerned to see a dark grin forming on his face.
"Woman, I suggest you find a place to hide."
"Why do I need to hide?"
The Prince looked over at her, his sinister smile never leaving his face. "Because I'm about to do away with that pitiful excuse of a warrior who decided to follow us and I really don't think you want to be around to see that."
Bulma shivered at the underlying violence in his voice, suddenly feeling very happy that she was not the warrior he was talking about. Not needing to be told twice, she spotted a boulder and dashed behind it, making sure she was out of sight.
Vegeta watched Cui's ship break into the planet's atmosphere and turned on his scouter, waiting for his adversary to make the first move.
"Vegeta. Where are you? Come out, come out wherever you are." He heard Cui taunt in a singsong voice over the scouter. Vegeta crossed his arms but said nothing.
"Ahh. There you are. Now it's time for us to have a little fun."
"I'm right here and waiting for you Cui. While I do commend you for your bravery, I'm afraid it isn't going to be enough to save you from my wrath." He snickered, feeling himself get excited at the prospect of destroying the fish faced fool.
"Take a peek at your scouter Vegeta. My power level clearly dwarfs your own. Really, somebody ought to teach you to respect your superiors."
Not a second later, Vegeta jumped into the air, dodging Cui's surprise attack. He looked down and saw his opponent standing with his arm extended into the space where he was standing just a moment ago.
He landed behind Cui, his face a picture of smug satisfaction. "Oh and who's going to teach me about respect? You? Don't make me laugh."
"Oh but of course it's going to be me. My power level is far above yours which means our battle won't last longer than five minutes. But...I still intend to have fun with you before I destroy you."
Cui chuckled, arms akimbo. "Speaking of fun, where's that snivelling girl of yours? Don't tell me you did away with her already." At Vegeta's indifferent shrug, he shook his head in mock disappointment.
"Such a shame. I'm sure Frieza would've loved to meet the woman you took without his permission. Fortunately, I personally take it upon myself to deal with you accordingly so Lord Frieza doesn't have to sully his hands with your blood."
Vegeta scoffed at those words. "Like I give a damn what you or Frieza thinks. I do what I damn well please. And right now, nothing would please me more than seeing you beg for your miserable life, fish face."
He snickered, slowly starting to raise his power level. "You see Cui, while you've been at your Master's beck and call, I've been getting stronger and stronger. My recent trip to Earth was very rewarding since I managed to learn a few new techniques."
"Oh yeah and what's that? Running away?"
"I've learned to hide my power level!" Vegeta yelled, unleashing his hidden power.
Cui stood back, appalled at what he was seeing. According to his scouter Vegeta was stronger than him by a little under half! That was impossible! He could barely reach eighteen thousand when he last checked!
"No. It...it can't be." He whispered, dread beginning to course through his being.
"Are you really so shocked, Cui? This is what happens when you allow yourself to grow soft while working for Frieza while I continue to break through my limits!" Vegeta laughed at the shock on his adversaries face. "You should be honoured, since you'll be the first one to get a taste of my true power!"
On the sidelines, Bulma watched as that ugly bastard's scouter broke while trying to measure Vegeta's power level. With the way he was quaking in fear, she had a feeling he knew that he stood no chance against the monarch.
Cui knew that he was in deep trouble now. He needed to find a way to kill Vegeta and fast!
"Oh look! It's Lord Frieza!" Cui pointed behind Vegeta.
"What where?!" Vegeta whipped his head back.
Barely a second later, Cui fired his most powerful attack, firing at the spot where Vegeta was standing in rapid succession. He relented after a minute, gasping for air. He began to laugh hysterically, thinking he had managed to destroy his Saiyan opponent.
"You poor fool. You really thought you managed to defeat me with that pathetic attack."
Cui's laughter instantly died when he heard that mocking tone. He slowly turned and jumped back when he saw Vegeta standing behind him, his lips turned up in a malicious grin.
"That was a neat trick Cui. Now it's my turn." Vegeta walked forward, his grin still in place.
"Wait! Hold on Vegeta! I have a suggestion. Why don't you and I join forces and go against Frieza?" Cui bargained, fighting in vain to keep the desperation out of his voice.
"Join forces, eh?"
"Yes of course! I mean, it only makes sense. Frieza has been in control for too long and he needs to be stopped. I really believe that if we work together, you and I will be able to bring him down!"
Vegeta stayed silent, his expression betraying nothing.
'He can't seriously be considering this moron's offer can he?!' Bulma silently wondered, her eyes not moving from the scene in front of her.
She should've remembered that with Vegeta, nothing was what it seemed.
"That is an interesting proposition you make, Cui." He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling at Cui's form slumped in premature relief. "There's just one problem with it."
"What is-" He never got a chance to finish his sentence. Faster than he could follow, Vegeta phased right in front of him, grabbed the back of his neck and ran his fist through his abdomen. Cui gurgled in pain, his eyes wide in disbelief.
Vegeta leaned in closer, making sure his eyes were locked with his dying foe's. "That you thought I would be ignorant enough to believe the desperate words of a two faced leech like you."
He shoved his fist in deeper, feeling his body sing with bloodlust at his enemies cries of pain. "I'll defeat Frieza by myself. Don't worry though, he'll be joining you in hell soon enough."
At the sight of his malevolent smirk, it was then that Cui, in his dying moments, understood why Vegeta was known as the Prince of Darkness.
"See you in hell!" Vegeta charged a powerful ki attack in his buried hand and fired, Cui's screams echoing through the wastelands.
Bulma slid down the boulder and fell onto her bottom, her heart racing at the callous display of violence.
'There's no denying that guy was a creep, no doubt about it. I knew Vegeta was going to kill him but...I really wasn't expecting him to die like that.'
Throughout their whole fight, the heiress had seen the mischievous glint in Vegeta's eyes. He knew that he was superior to his opponent by a long shot and yet he took his time, gaining sadistic pleasure in toying with his weaker adversary. He'd reminded her of a predator playing with its prey before it makes the kill.
'Sleek, graceful and deadly. Just like a wild cat on the hunt.'
"Bulma!"
What was that?
She looked around the area, not seeing anything.
'I could've sworn I heard someone say my name. But how can that be? Everyone's back on Earth.'
"What are you looking at so intently?"
Bulma looked up to see Vegeta looming over her, his arms crossed. "Nothing. I just...I could've sworn I heard someone say my name just now. Like a really loud whisper."
He raised an eyebrow and did a scan of the land, not seeing anything suspicious. "This planet's atmosphere has clearly affected you negatively, woman. There's no one around here except us."
The heiress glared at him heatedly. "Haha. Very funny."
She stood up and dusted herself off. "So, what now?"
"Now, we go and get ourselves a dragon ball." Vegeta indicated to her for the radar and she pulled it out, switching it on.
"Hmm", she hummed while studying the radar, "Oh, here we go! We can go and get this one. It's about five miles east of here."
"Excellent. Then let's-"
"Hold on! I have a suggestion."
"What is it?" He bit out, not wanting to waste any more time.
Bulma pursed her lips, not appreciating his snippy tone. "Why don't we set up camp first before finding the dragon ball? We can find a cave somewhere in this place and I'll set up a capsule house as our makeshift base. Just so we have somewhere to go on the off chance that Frieza or one of his pals finds us."
The Prince went silent, thinking over her proposal. It had merit to it. Having a safe place to keep the dragon ball sounded much more appealing than stashing it somewhere random for anyone to find.
"I suppose that wouldn't be the worst idea." He looked at her, a smirk forming on his lips. "I knew you'd be useful for something eventually instead of being dead weight. Good job, woman."
Vegeta's smirk widened when he saw Bulma's face flush with anger. Three, two, one…
"Dead weight?! Oh you little creep! How dare you insinuate that I'm nothing but a carry on! Why I ought to-" Bulma screeched when Vegeta hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her into him.
"As much as I'd like to hear the end of that little threat, there are more important matters to attend to. Thanks to my little stunt when killing Cui, I pretty much let Frieza know that I'm here. That means I need to use as little of my energy as possible while trying to find our hideout."
"Meaning?" She asked, trying to ignore her reaction to their close proximity.
"I'm going to fly without an added boost until I find what we're looking for. Hopefully it won't take too long."
"And you need to hold me like this in order to fly in that manner?"
"Would you prefer it if I threw you over my shoulder like a carry on?" She said nothing, merely scorching him with her fiery gaze. "That's what I thought." His face was a perfect example of arrogant satisfaction.
Bulma reluctantly looped her arms around his neck. "Pretentious ass." She muttered under her breath.
"I heard that."
Vegeta floated into the sky and flew off.
Back on Earth…
Chichi opened the door to Goku's room and found him shadow punching an invisible enemy from his bed.
"Goku, try and take it easy. You don't want to hurt yourself more than you already have." She scolded lightly.
The young Saiyan sighed. "I know Chi. It's just, I have a lot of restless energy that I'm trying to work out. Ever since Gohan and Krillin left for Namek, I've been feeling anxious."
Over a month ago, after Vegeta had kidnapped Bulma, Master Roshi had gone back to the airbus they'd come in and called Dr Briefs, asking him to come and get them. When the good doctor asked why Bulma didn't bring them back, Roshi told him he'd rather relay the news in person, prompting Dr Briefs to make his way to the wasteland.
When he arrived, the gang had already loaded Goku into the airbus on a stretcher. Dr Briefs mentioned that he hadn't told his wife where he was going, not wanting to scare her. As he flew them to the hospital, Roshi told him about what had happened to Bulma and why she wasn't with them.
After hearing what happened to Bulma and the rest of the gang, he became understandably distraught. Goku had felt horrible, telling the doctor that he had tried to stop Vegeta, only for the doctor to wave off his concern, telling him he didn't blame the young warrior. He blamed the monster that took his daughter from him. Afterwards they had tried to brainstorm different ideas to rescue her, none of them showing any promise, until a certain deity had made himself known.
King Kai had told Goku, who relayed it to everyone else, that Bulma and Vegeta were on their way to planet Namek and that if they could find or build a ship, they could get her back. Dr Briefs had come alive again with hope until he'd heard the coordinates of the planet.
9045XY.
He'd explained to the group that it would take centuries, heck millenia, for them to reach Namek since their technology just wasn't advanced enough to travel that far in a short amount of time. Just as he had begun to lose hope, Goku had suddenly remembered that he'd arrived on the planet in a ship that could travel at those speeds and cover long distances.
As soon as Goku told him the information, Dr Briefs had contacted Capsule Corp and assigned five of his best employees to find the ship located around Mount Paozu. Once they'd arrived at the hospital, Goku, Gohan and Krillin were admitted and treated for their injuries, with Dr Briefs promising to return the following day.
True to his word, the good doctor had returned and explained that overnight, they had found Goku's ship, only that it had been destroyed. But they had salvaged whatever parts they could find and took them to their labs for further analysis. The only problem was Dr Briefs didn't know how long it would take for the results to return, nevermind if it was possible to rebuild the ship.
Almost like he'd known that they were in need of assistance, Mr Popo had made himself known from his floating carpet outside the hospital room. He'd come to tell them that Kami had told him about a ship he had come to Earth in a long time ago and that he could take one of them to see if it still works. It was, of course, a no brainer that the good doctor went to investigate.
A little while later, Dr Briefs had returned with an excited glint in his eyes. The ship Kami used was fully functioning and travelled at dazzling speeds. He'd informed the group that it just needed a few repairs and for someone to learn the Namekian language and they would be set to leave in no time.
After much arguing between Chichi and her son, it was decided that Krillin and Gohan would make the first trip to Namek with Kami's ship and Goku would follow as soon as his ship was ready and when he was fully healed.
It's been a month and ten days since that announcement, a month since Krillin and his son left the planet and Goku was no closer to leaving the planet himself. To say he was frustrated was an understatement.
Chichi ran her fingers through his unruly hair, trying to get him to relax. "I know you're worried about Gohan. I'm worried about him too. But we both know you can't do anything while you're still injured."
Goku wrapped his good arm around her waist, hugging her close to him. "You're right. I don't like it, but you're right. All I can do is wait."
Their peaceful moment was interrupted when Yajirobe came in, the doctor following close behind him.
"Oh, hey Yajirobe. What's up?" Goku asked.
"Special delivery from Korin. The senzu beans are ready."
The young Saiyan's eyes widened, feeling his heart race with excitement. "Alright! Thanks Yajirobe, you're a lifesaver!"
Ignoring the doctor's protests, the samurai flung a bean in Goku's direction, who caught it in his mouth. A moment later, he was out of bed and out of his bandages, feeling good as new! He dressed in his gi and stretched, elated that he could finally be out of that horrible hospital and their needles!
"Awesome! I feel amazing! But now, it's time for me to head out!"
Goku walked over to his wife, his smile dropping slightly when he caught the disappointed look in her eyes.
"Hey", he softly gripped her upper arms, "Don't worry Chichi. I'll take care of our son as soon as I get to Namek. Okay?"
"Yes but...he's not the only one I'm worried about." She said softly. "Goku, you just got wished back. I'm scared that I'll lose you again."
He cupped her face and looked into her dark eyes. "Listen Chi. I'm not planning on dying again. Once we rescue Bulma and wish the others back to life, Gohan and I will be back on Earth before you know it. Then we can live our lives as a family again. Okay?"
She nodded, a soft smile on her face.
Goku leaned down and kissed her, sealing his promise to her. He pulled back and leaned his forehead against hers, breathing in her scent. "I love you."
"I love you too." She whispered.
He pulled away and walked to the window, senzu beans in his possession. "Flying Nimbus!"
As soon as the yellow cloud came into view, he jumped out of the window, much to the distress of the other residents. Goku landed steadily on the cloud and flew off. "See you later guys!"
He performed twists and turns in the sky, enjoying the feel of the wind against his face. "Man, it's so good to be out in the open again! I almost forgot what this feels like!"
He played around a bit more until his expression slowly became stony with determination. "Alright! I need to get serious. Bulma, Krillin and Gohan are counting on me. I can't let them down!"
A moment later, he steadied himself out, flying full speed towards Capsule Corp. There was no time to waste!
Author's Note: Another one bites the dust! Our unlikely couple have officially begun their mission to gather the dragon balls and it seems like they've got company! Both friendly and...not so friendly. We also have Goku and Chichi making themselves known here! Whoop whoop!
To be honest, I was kinda stuck writing this one but eventually I came up with this! I hope you guys liked it! As always, thank you to arag7, Rose and Vukk for your reviews on the last chapter! I really appreciate it!
Honestly, at this point, 2020 is just a movie. I hope everyone's safe and healthy during these trying times. Please don't forget to review! Peace, love and good vibes to you all. Until next time!
RR18
