Chapter 6

Zarbon flinched, his golden eyes widening slightly when his scouter shorted out and fell apart.

"Zarbon. What happened?" asked Dodoria.

"I don't know. It must be some sort of malfunction. For a second there, it registered Vegeta's power level at twenty two thousand and then shorted out." he replied.

Dodoria hummed in thought before checking for himself on his own scouter. A moment later, his eyes bulged in shock.

Zarbon looked at his comrade expectantly. "The number?"

"It doesn't make any sense", the pink warrior stuttered out. "The stupid thing can't be right. Now it's reading twenty four thousand!"

"What?! Twenty four thousand?! Are you sure? Because that would mean he's as strong as us, if not more."

Dodoria shook his head, refusing to believe what he was seeing. "No. The stupid thing must be broken. That can't be right!"

"It's accurate." A syrupy voice cut in on their talk, his tail swaying leisurely from his throne.

"Don't forget that Vegeta has spent a lot of his time fighting in the front lines. It makes sense that his power level has risen."

"Lord Frieza…" Zarbon muttered, unease visible on his handsome face.

"Besides, his strength is nothing to worry about since it's nowhere near as powerful as my own." Frieza said, snickering at the truth of his words.

The two soldiers looked at each other and reluctantly let go of the matter, only slightly placated by their emperors words. However, their nervousness returned when Dodoria announced that Cui had been killed.

"He...killed Cui?" Zarbon asked slowly, his unease returning to him.

Dodoria nodded, "Wiped him out like he was nothing."

"Does it really matter that he killed Cui? Honestly I've been meaning to kill that laughable excuse of a warrior for a while now so at least Vegeta did me that small favour." Frieza said in a bored tone.

"In any case, he's not our main concern right now. Our focus should be on collecting all the dragon balls so I can make my wish."

Zarbon perked up as something he heard from the scouter came back to him. "Lord Frieza, I just remembered that Cui had mentioned something about Vegeta bringing a woman to the planet with him. It seems that she's dead now but I still find it odd that he would do that in the first place."

"If she's dead then that tidbit of information is useless to me. If she were alive it would be a different story, since it would mean Vegeta had been dumb enough to form attachments."

Frieza grinned darkly when he saw one of his underlings come back with another dragonball. "That makes four in our collection. This hunt is going exceptionally well. Dodoria, find the location of the next village."

'Just a few more balls and I'll be able to make my wish for immortality.' Frieza thought to himself, his red eyes sparkling with malicious excitement.

'I can hardly wait.'


The wind blew softly around them as they flew in the air, the gentle breeze doing wonders to cool them off from the intense heat from the three suns of the planet.

Bulma had her eyes closed, just enjoying the breeze. She and Vegeta had been flying for a while now, looking for a place that would be suitable as a camp but also be inconspicuous. The silence between them was comfortable for the first time. He was going at an easy pace so the wind wasn't stifling. It was...nice.

'Who would've thought that I would ever think of any situation where Vegeta is involved as nice?' Bulma wondered silently. She wasn't really complaining though. She preferred this to watching him kill someone again.

"I believe I may have found somewhere suitable for our base." Bulma looked up when he said that, seeing his eyes focused on a particular spot. She followed his gaze and saw a cave opening sitting at an odd angle of a large rock, not easily seen unless you're really looking for it.

He lowered them in front of it and they walked in to inspect it. Bulma looked around, taking in the height of the cave and how far it goes.

"I think this will do just fine." Bulma nodded at her observation, happy with what they found. Behind her, she heard Vegeta grunt but he said nothing after that. Immediately, she set up a capsule house and walked in, turning on the lights.

She stood in the middle of the dwelling and spread her arms. "So what do you think?"

Vegeta looked around, taking in the small yet fully stocked abode. He was mildly impressed that all of this was contained in a tiny capsule.

After looking around a bit more, he nodded his approval. "It will suffice for the time being."

Bulma answered with a nod of her own. "Great. Make yourself comfortable, familiarize yourself with the rooms. I'll get us some food and we can eat before going for the first ball."

Vegeta opened his mouth to argue when his stomach let out a loud growl. He narrowed his eyes in annoyance, the tips of his ears going red.

The heiress bit the inside of her cheek to keep from giggling at the look on his face. Call it a hunch but she thought he wouldn't really appreciate that too much. "Like I said, make yourself comfortable. We haven't eaten since leaving Earth. Don't worry, it won't take too long."

She watched him, his body practically vibrating with indecision. In the end, he gave in, reluctantly nodding his agreement.

Bulma got out the ready made meals from the fridge, laughing silently at Vegeta's behaviour.

'It seems it doesn't matter who it is. No matter how much they want something, the moment you mention food to a Saiyan, it's all over.'

A while later, the unlikely couple was seated by the island, eating their meals in silence. Well, Bulma had her one and Vegeta had his multiple meals.

'I didn't have enough to properly fill him up but those should suffice for now.' Bulma mused to herself.

She looked at her captor, watching the way he ate vigorously yet still maintained a smidgeon of grace. In other words, unlike Goku, his food didn't end up all over his face.

"What is it?" Bulma snapped to attention, realizing too late that he'd stopped moving and was looking at her expectantly.

"Pardon?"

"You were staring. It was starting to irritate me." He answered.

Should she ask?

Well, she's been dying to get more information on the man who kidnapped her for a while now, but the moment never came. Maybe now was her chance.

"Can I ask you something?"

He shrugged, silently telling her to continue.

"Can you tell me about the Saiyans? You know, like their way of life, how they worked, what they were known for. Stuff like that."

The Prince raised an eyebrow. Out of all the things he expected her to ask, that certainly wasn't one of them. He looked at her intently, trying to see any deception in her person.

'But what deception could she plan with a question like that?' He thought, taking in her sincere gaze.

Making his decision, he crossed his arms, seeing no harm in indulging his little captive. "The Saiyans were the most powerful warrior race in the universe. They were known for their brute strength and battle prowess. We were fearless, taking on every challenge and pushing ourselves to the edge of our limits. Those were just some of the points that labelled us as the most feared race in the universe."

"And that's where Frieza comes in." Bulma mused.

"Of course. He'd formed an alliance with my father that our people would work for him and provide us with immense wealth in exchange. Of course that 'alliance' was just a way to control us and keep us in line."

"Keep you in line? But why would he need to do that if he was as powerful as he was?"

"It's quite simple. He was afraid of us, afraid of what we could do as a race. When I say we were the most powerful race alive, it wasn't an exaggeration. As a collective, there wasn't anything we couldn't do, there wasn't a job we couldn't complete. Frieza knew this and it was because of that fact that he fought to keep us under his control.

At the time though, the Saiyans knew they couldn't do anything to go against the tyrant since they weren't strong enough to overthrow him but they believed that they would be able to do it someday. Only that day would never come since, not long after, the planet was destroyed by a meteor. Or so says the story they expect me to believe."

Bulma furrowed her eyebrows at that last statement. "Expect you to believe? Are you trying to say that story that says your planet was destroyed by a meteor wasn't true?"

"Of course it's not true."

"But the doctor from planet Frieza said-"

"Malaka only knows what he was told and even then he doesn't really believe it", Vegeta sneered in disgust, "I know for a fact that it wasn't a meteor that destroyed the planet. It was Frieza. He did it without breaking a sweat."

Bulma's face paled at that, her heart beating faster with dread. "But how is it possible for someone to destroy a whole planet? That's just unimaginable."

"To you, it may seem unimaginable. I just know better. I've bared witness to the destruction of countless planets by Frieza's own hand, watching as a planet was destroyed with just the tip of his finger. It really doesn't take much, I've done it myself plenty of times." Bulma shivered, those words a heavy reminder of just who she was sitting across and what he was capable of.

"Yet for some reason, he expects us to believe that a giant rock destroyed the planet, a rock they would have dealt with easily? He may have been able to fool my subordinates, but he's never managed to fool me."

The heiress fell silent, letting herself process all she's heard. It just seemed so unfathomable that one being could be able to destroy a planet so easily, as if it was just a mundane job. Her mind went back to something Malaka said about Frieza.

'He's personally responsible for the slaughter of billions across the galaxies, destroying planets at a whim, pillaging them of their resources.'

At the time, when he said that Frieza destroyed planets at a whim, she thought he meant that Frieza wiped out the entire population of a planet before leaving it in ruins. Turns out that he actually destroyed planets, turning them into space dust.

'And we're currently on the same planet as this monster.' Bulma thought, her body beginning to shudder with fear. Just who in the world were they dealing with?! And how did Vegeta expect to defeat him?!

Bulma's eyes snapped up as she thought of something else. "Hold on a second. So when the planet was destroyed, you, Goku and your two other partners were obviously not destroyed along with it."

He nodded. "We were off planet at the time."

"Okay so then if Goku was on his way to Earth, where were you when it happened?"

It was almost as if she'd flipped a switch because one moment they were conversing amiably and then, as soon as she asked that question, she watched as his face took on a blank, stony expression, effectively shutting himself off from her.

He slid off of his chair, taking the radar from the table. "No more questions. We've wasted enough time when we could've already found a dragon ball. It's time to go." Vegeta said, his tone giving away none of his feelings.

"But Vegeta-"

"Now woman. Otherwise I'll leave you here." He said, his expression unchanged but his eyes cold with anger. Without waiting, he turned and walked towards the door. With a heavy sigh, Bulma followed him out the door. Once they were outside, he pulled her to his side and flew in the direction of the nearest dragon ball. While they were in the air, Bulma went over the last few minutes.

'Damnit. Of all the things I could've asked, why did I go and ask that particular question. I mean, it's not like I knew he was going to react like that but still. He was just a little boy when it happened, I should've realised it would still be a sensitive issue.' She lightly scolded.

For a moment, she and Vegeta had had an actual conversation. Strange as it was, the moment had been comfortable between them. Even though he still knew how to get on her nerves, over time, she'd kind of stopped fearing him.

'And just when had that happened? When did I stop being afraid of him? Stop hating him?' Bulma mused, trying to sort out her feelings.

'It must have been when I started hearing the stories about him and Frieza. They helped me get a closer look at who Vegeta really is and why he does what he does. That's not to say I approve of his actions at all but...I understand him a little better now.'

She didn't know what to make of it, all she knew was that she didn't hate Vegeta, not anymore.

'I still have an obligation to the others to bring them back and I intend to see it through to the end. It just won't be as easy now that I know what I do about him.' Bulma rolled her eyes at her train of thought. 'My stupid conscience is going to get me into real trouble one of these days.'

She wasn't the only one who was lost in their thoughts.

Vegeta was thinking over his conversation with the woman. 'Just where did she get the nerve to ask me questions that were none of her business in the first place?! She had no right!'

In the beginning he'd been about to dismiss her silly questions...until he saw the innocent curiosity in her gaze. Something he hadn't seen in a very long time. For that reason, he'd answered anything she threw at him.

The Prince had told her what she wanted to know, slightly fascinated by the genuine interest in her gaze as he spoke about his formerly powerful race. However, what really caught his attention was her scent. It was untainted by fear, only unlike last time, she was conscious so it seemed like she truly didn't fear him. The purity of it was alluring, taking his thoughts in a completely different direction to their conversation.

But as soon as she'd asked her final question, he drew the line. That was one that she had no business asking him about. The only thing was, her scent still lacked that distinct touch of her fear that he'd become familiar with. In fact, she actually looked remorseful of her word choice. It aggravated him to no end! He was starting to think that she was going to be more trouble than she's worth.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a familiar energy. He smirked evilly when he recognised who it was.

'What are you doing separated from your master Dodoria?'

Vegeta immediately changed course, honing in on his unsuspecting prey

"Hey, why'd you turn around?" Bulma asked.

He looked down at her, his smirk still in place. "I'm just going to take care of...an old friend before we carry on with our search."

Bulma felt a little unnerved by that look in his eye. 'Whoever this old friend is, they really don't know what's coming their way.'

"Stay here and wait for my return." Vegeta dropped her off behind a large boulder and flew to where Dodoria was nearby. Once he spotted the pink warrior, he shot straight down and attacked, flinging him into the water below.

Dodoria surfaced, coughing up water, and pulled up onto the land.

"Why hello Dodoria. Fancy meeting you here."

He looked up to see Vegeta standing before him, arms akimbo and his infuriating smirk on his face.

"Vegeta. I should have known. Shooting people in the back was always your style." He sneered at his foe.

"Careful now. We're all alone. Frieza and Zarbon aren't here to back you up so I'd watch my words if I were you." Vegeta replied, his smirk never leaving his face. "Then again, I suppose it doesn't matter. I'm still going to kill you anyway."

Dodoria fought to keep his composure, feeling trepidation begin to go through him. He still remembered what Vegeta did to Cui, how powerful he's become. "Listen up Vegeta. Before I beat you into a bloody pulp, I'm going to give you one chance to get out of this. Here's the deal: If you hand over your scouter and leave this planet right now, I might be willing to overlook your foolish arrogance this time."

Vegeta looked at his foe, amused at the false bravado he was trying so hard to maintain. It was almost too sad to watch. He scoffed and removed his scouter.

"Here. You can have it." He dropped it on the ground, his gaze never leaving Dodoria's.

Dodoria stepped forward, a smug smile on his face. "I knew you were good for something Vegeta. It's a good thing you can recognise your superiors when the time calls for it."

The Prince chuckled darkly. "You'd think so, wouldn't you?"

Dodoria could only watch in shock as Vegeta stepped on the scouter, destroying it. "You fool! What have you done?! That was the last scouter on the planet! Now you're just as blind as I am!"

"See, now that's where you're wrong Dodoria. Thanks to a new trick I learned during my time on Earth, I don't need the scouter to find my way around. I can simply lock on to a person's ki and find them like that. It's a really handy trick and nullifies the crutch of relying on a machine to find your way. "

Dodoria growled in indignation and pointed at him accusingly. "That's it! Now I understand! You came here with those other two Earthlings, didn't you?!"

Vegeta's eyes widened in surprise. "What are you talking about?!"

"Don't play dumb! You've exposed yourself! This is your final warning! Just give it up and you can walk away in one piece!"

Vegeta shook off his surprise and locked eyes with his opponent. "Consider your final warning ignored. So come at me, you chewing gum reject."

Dodoria didn't waste any time, firing consecutive ki blasts at Vegeta, the force of them shaking the earth. He went on and on until he couldn't see anything in front of him. He stopped a moment later, panting from the exertion of his attacks.

"Looking for someone?"

Before he could react, Vegeta grabbed Dodoria's arms and pulled back, almost pulling his shoulders out of its sockets. He grinned vindictively, committing his foes cries to memory. "Any last words before I send you to hell?!"

"Let me go Vegeta!"

He laughed cruelly. "And just why would I do that?"

"Because I'll...I'll tell you what happened to your home planet if you do!"

What?

"What did you just say?"

"I'll tell you the truth about your home planet! But only if you promise to let me go!" Dodoria spoke, panic present in his tone.

Silence.

After a moment or two passed, Vegeta let his arms go. Dodoria immediately turned to face him, feeling a smirk come onto his lips.

"You better make this worthwhile Dodoria." Vegeta said in a deceptively soft tone.

He stretched out his sore muscles. "Oh I will. Don't you worry."

"Hey, what's the deal? They're just standing there and talking." Bulma observed from her spot. She'd been watching the fight (more like trouncing) from where Vegeta left her. Now they were just standing, looking at each other. She risked getting closer, wanting to hear what was being said.

"You've heard that planet Vegeta was destroyed by a meteor all those years ago? Well, it turns out that that wasn't the case at all. Frieza was the one who destroyed your planet. He'd felt that you'd all gotten out of control and decided to put an end to your race to restore order in the universe."

'So he was right in his guess. Frieza was responsible for his planet's destruction, only now he's heard it directly from the horse's mouth.' Bulma thought to herself.

"And that's not all." Dodoria smiled evilly, "Your father and his royal guard had attempted to rescue you from the bowels of Frieza's ship the day the planet was destroyed. You should have seen him, he was so determined to get you back. Only his noble effort would prove to be useless since Frieza killed him in less than thirty seconds, along with his soldiers."

Holy shit!

Bulma's eyes widened, tears starting to fill them. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Could it really be true?!

Dodoria 'tsked' in mock sadness. "It's a shame really. All of those threats Frieza made to kill your father to keep you in line had all been for nothing. All those beatings, all the torture, all of it...for nothing. Honestly, if it wasn't for you being Lord Frieza's favourite pet, you would've died a long time ago."

The heiress felt her heart break into small pieces. She slid down and fell on her backside, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

'How? How could anyone do that to a small boy? How fucked in the head do you have to be to do that to a living being and still be able to sleep at night?!'

She was fighting to process all that she'd heard. How could any-

Wait a second…

Flashback

"He's defied Frieza multiple times, yet he's the only one who survives." Malaka said, reading the shock on the woman's face. "He's Frieza's personal favourite, the only one allowed to defy him in that manner. However, his deeds never went unpunished."

'The scars on his back.' Bulma thought to herself. He must have gotten those when he went against Frieza.

"What do you mean he's Frieza's favourite? You mean like his favourite soldier?"

The good doctor hesitated for a second. "Something along those lines."

End Flashback

That's what Malaka didn't want to tell her. Vegeta wasn't Frieza's favourite soldier, he was his favourite whipping boy! Frieza had lied to Vegeta for years, beaten and tortured him all for his own sick amusement!

Bulma felt a dark emotion blooming in her heart, growing in intensity the more she thought about what she'd discovered. She'd always been afraid of Frieza from the moment she heard about him. But now she felt something else other than fear for the tyrant.

Pure, unadulterated hate.

She hated him for the hold he had on countless beings in the universe with his tyrannical rule, she hated him for the innumerable lives he's taken away and ruined for his own benefit. Most of all, she hated him for what he did to Vegeta, for ripping the life of the boy prince away from him before it had even had a chance to begin.

"Well, there you have it Vegeta. The whole truth just as I promised." Dodoria said, a mock-friendly smile on his face.

Vegeta remained silent, his face in an unreadable expression but his onyx eyes were filled with a rage so cold, Bulma felt herself shiver as if she could actually feel the chill he gave off.

Dodoria floated upwards, looking down on the silent monarch. "I've kept my end of the bargain, Vegeta. Now, if you don't mind, I'll be taking my leave now."

"Actually, I do mind Dodoria. You see, I promised to let you go so you could tell me the truth about my planet, which I did", Vegeta readied a powerful ki blast, grinning malevolently at his cowering foe, "I never promised to let you live as soon as you were done."

"Master Frieza!" Dodoria cried, flying away as fast as he could manage.

"See you in hell you bastard!" Vegeta fired his attack, the blast easily catching up to his fleeing opponent. Dodoria's scream echoed in the air around them as he was blown to pieces, all traces of him vanishing in the blinding light.

Bulma ducked for cover as dust and debris flew all around her, that ugly toad's yell the final disturbance in the air before everything became still again. She looked up from her place and saw Vegeta standing with his back to her, his arm still extended towards the sky.

'I gotta move while he's still distracted.'

As silently as she could, the heiress went back to her original hiding spot. 'If he found me where I was just now, he'd know instantly that I heard everything. With the way his emotions are probably running high right now, I'm certain he wouldn't hesitate to kill me on the spot.'

Once she got back, she sat and leaned back against the rock with her eyes closed. 'Man, of all the things I expected to hear, the story with Vegeta's father really wasn't one of them.'

Bulma couldn't even begin to imagine what that must feel like. Not knowing that your father had attempted to save you from your captor, being led on for years with the same lie over and over again.

'And yet he still defied his captor, showing him that no matter how much he put him down, he'd always get back up again.'

She knew that Vegeta despised things like pity or sympathy and while she did feel bad for him, that wasn't what she was truly feeling. At that moment, Bulma felt admiration towards him. She admired him for his bravery to stand up against Frieza. She admired him for the strength that he had to always fight to see another day.

'If only things had been different, he could have been a vital part of the team. But maybe...maybe I can try and be the friend that he'd never admit to wanting but that he silently needs. I might be going in way over my head...but I think it's worth a shot.'

"Woman." She jumped at the sudden closeness of his voice, looking up to see him standing over her with his arms crossed.

Bulma stood up and looked him over. "Are you alright?"

The Prince shrugged nonchalantly. "I'll live. I can't say the same for Dodoria though."

"You guys stood still for a while there before he suddenly flew off like that. What was that all about?"

"Remember what I said about Frieza destroying planet Vegeta?" She nodded, "It turns out I was dead on the money. He destroyed planet Vegeta and the Saiyan race."

"Dear Kami." She whispered, trying to seem shocked. It wasn't hard since, even though she just heard it for herself, it was still a lot to digest. She looked up at his neutral face, "You don't seem all that upset about it."

"I already knew it was him, I just needed to hear it directly from the source. But now, that little tale just helped to reinforce my desire to get my wish from the dragon balls." He took out the radar and pressed the button a few times. "We're close by. Let's get this over with."

'I was just thinking how I'm going to try and be more friendly towards Vegeta then he reminds me about the dragon balls. New friend or not, I'm still determined to bring my old friends back. Man, I really am in over my head.' Bulma mused, feeling a headache coming on.

Vegeta wrapped his arm around her waist, bringing her surprisingly gently to his side. He floated into the air and flew off in the direction of their first find.

He deliberately left out the part about the Earthlings being on the planet. It seems that the voices the woman heard after he'd defeated Cui had belonged to her little friends. They must have been suppressing their powers so he couldn't sense them.

He didn't think it was possible for them to make it so far into space but, as usual, they'd managed to surprise him yet again.

'Even though it's obvious they're here for the woman, they must also be here to wish their pathetic friends back to life.'

Vegeta smirked deviously.

'Too bad I don't have any intention of letting them have that wish.'


Author's Note: And so, Bulma finds out the sad truth about her captor. And we finally introduce the show's favourite villain into the story. Like seriously, he's in almost every saga in DBZ.

Okay so a quick note. I have exams coming up for the next few weeks so I'll be away for a while. Varsity is such a pain at times. But I'll be back before you know it with more drama!

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you to RoyalBlueRoses, Rosise, Vukk and Becky L. Sly for your reviews on the last chapter! I really appreciate the feedback!

As always, stay safe and happy everybody! Peace, love and good vibes to you all! See you soon!

RR18