It is nothing
Even if I try to forget
I cannot get rid of your words from my head
Your hurtful words
They are stinging me all day
Those are bothering me
Do you know about me?
How much do you know about me?
What do you know about me
why do you rate me
you cannot judge me by the way I look
you are snobbish
If you open your mind and read my mind
Then you will get to know that I also have a hard time
Please, open your ears
At lease once, if you were me
Do you thing you can react differently?
If you were me
From your hurtful words
I bow my head
Even though you said no
My mind is still for you
Can I go back to the past and change your mind
So we can love each other again?
If you were me
Until the scar will be cured which you gave me
Only the trace is visiting me which you left
It makes me think about you
Why am I looking for you today as well, why?
If you open your mind and read my mind
Then you will get to know That I also have a hard time
Please, open your ears
At lease once, if you were me
Do you think you can react differently?
If you were me
When the cold wind is blowing
I can hear your voice
The words in my heart
They hurt so much
Even if I try to fall asleep
I can hear your voice
The words in my heart
They hurt so much
If you open your mind and read my mind
Then you will get to know that I also have a hard time
Please, open your ears
At lease once, if you were me
Do you thing you can react differently?
If you were me, have it changed a bit?
If you were me, are we still a couple?
If you were me,is it not that bad?
If you were me .
- If You Were Me" by AOA
(Hwayugi OST)
Episode 6
Training Starts
"I know I am ready, Papa. I'm now willing to share your burden as ruler of the Saiyans and the Planet Vegeta." The Prince said as he averted his eyes on the empty throne behind them.
"Tomorrow morning, assemble the royal council and announce my upcoming regency. I will take over the throne on an interim and rule temporarily for your sake. That way, I will sniff out all of our enemies in the council, one by one."
"B-But you cannot kill them, Yon. The Saiyan Law protects them. If you do that, you will be dethroned."
"Who says I'm going to kill them? No papa, I will play with them. A game of chess. Blood might spill but I won't be the one doing it. I promise."
The king nodded, trusting in his son's words. He knows his son isn't someone who is easily manipulated or fooled by anyone. He was suddenly reminded of his queen's feisty personality. He is indeed her son. "I believe in you, Yon. My son."
The Prince smiled up to his father, "I know. But… from this day onward, I wish for you to be always at my side who will support me on my fights, who would stay with me even on my worst and weakest days and defend and protect me from my enemies. Be my father. If you do that for me, I promise you, I will do the same for you no matter what."
The king let out a warm hearted and grateful smile at his son. "Yon…"
"Do you promise me, papa?"
The king nodded. "Yes, my son. I promise."
"That's good to know." Prince Vegeta said. "For now, let's pretend this never happened. Let's make them believe we aren't still in good terms, this way I will be able to know their schemes."
An evil grin stretched upon his wide lips.
~=-o-O-o-=~
At the royal council's office, the members were completely devastated by the news of Prince Vegeta's awakening. They cannot believe the prince has survived that beating. If they knew any better, the experience only made his powers grow exponentially. A Saiyan who has survived a near death grows more powerful than before, most especially if their opponent used to be more powerful than them. The stronger their opponent, the more powerful they become. And the fact that Prince Vegeta who was already powerful and has grown even more powerful because of the experience made the ministers feel threatened.
"I don't know how strong he has become, but considering his level of power this morning and what he has attained from that near death experience… and also the way he must feel after that great humiliation in his pride… I can't imagine what he's going to be like!" Kabu panicked.
"The prince has been fully healed within thirteen hours even in that condition? I can't believe how fast that has happened! Did the doctors discover a way to heal our warriors that quickly?" Horenso said as he turned to Nasu, who is the Minister of Technology.
"I heard the doctors talking about it." Nasu said. "They said something happened to Prince Vegeta while he was inside the medical machine. The earthquake earlier was indeed his doing."
"What happened?" asked Kabu.
"They say they found his ki changing color."
"Changing color? That's only normal. The prince's ki is normally blue in color but it changes to purple or white depending on his mood."
"No! It is completely different!"
"How different?"
"They said his ki suddenly turned…" Nasu flicked his hand and fired a small ki beam towards the candle's wick. "Like this. A crimson flame."
"Crimson flame? A fire?"
"And when it did, all his injuries begin to heal quickly, almost instantly. At the same moment, they think they have also seen his hair flash red."
"Red hair?"
"Yes, and I have no idea what that meant either."
At the end of the table, Paragus listened to their conversation with great interest. The three ministers turned to their leader.
"It's completely different from what Broly could do. We have no idea if this form is stronger than what Broly is capable of. If this keeps up then Prince Vegeta might really be able to become a Legendary Super Saiyan or something more than that." Paragus thought.
No one should be stronger than the Legendary Super Saiyan himself! His son, Broly was the one who has achieved that form long before. However, they kept the boy's powers a big secret to the royal family who strongly believes that Prince Vegeta is the one prophesied to become the Super Saiyan. Paragus do not trust anyone of them to be kind enough once they learned of Broly's powers. They might have him killed because they would see him as a threat to Prince Vegeta.
So with Nasu's help, they sealed the boy's true powers and kept it under controlled by the jewelries he wore on his body. With these things, Broly was able to live as a normal Saiyan warrior, without the uncontrollable rage, power and bloodlust of the true Legendary Super Saiyan.
Prince Vegeta was completely different from Broly. While he has enough rage, power and bloodlust in him whenever he feels like it, he can still control himself and his actions, making him fully aware of them. Maybe it was the reason why he doesn't transform yet or he was not powerful enough or maybe he wasn't really the one meant to be. After all, the Super Saiyan of legend only appears once in every three thousand years. And Broly is the Super Saiyan of Legend on this time.
It's possible the doctors only hallucinated when they saw Vegeta's hair changing color, but how do they explain his impossibly quick regeneration? Even Broly cannot do that thing. Is it a new level of power or transformation nobody has ever achieved? How does it par against the powers of a Super Saiyan?
Paragus was threatened by this.
~=-o-O-o-=~
After hearing the words of his father, Vegeta felt a lot better. He was glad and relieved, his earlier foul mood already forgotten. He decided he would want to see Bulma right now and decided to dress up as Sadara. He didn't find her in the kitchen or the cooks' quarters so he decided to search out for her ki signature instead. His senses brought him to his meadow, where he found her lying on the grass and looking all sad. He watched at her behind the trees for a moment and heard her mutter something which made him laugh from the bottom of his heart.
"Aren't you an excited one, pup?" he surprised her with his words and she quickly shot up from the grass like someone who had her back pricked by cactus and to look at him with huge, appalled eyes.
"Sadara-sama." she gasped his alias with a tone of relief. She sounded like she was happy to see him tonight. He looked into her dazzling blue eyes and drowned himself at the sight of it. He was grateful of her, that she was one of the people who saved him from death because she was waiting for him. It doesn't matter if she sees him as another person and not his true self, after all being Sadara is just a disguise to show the world that the crown prince of all Saiyans has a good side. They're like the two sides of the same coin. They are still the same.
Vegeta sauntered forward towards Bulma and asked, "What are you doing in here at this late hour, woman? Our training session starts tomorrow. Don't be so excited of something I know you will regret someday."
Bulma pouted back, looking like a child who was told by her parents to go to bed. "I can't sleep." she mumbled.
Vegeta leaned forward, looking up at her blue eyes and smiled mischievously, "You cannot sleep because you miss me, don't you?"
Bulma rolled her eyes, and hit him on the back of his head playfully. The nerve of this little brat! "Tch! Stop being so conceited! Who says I'm missing you?"
Vegeta froze when she abruptly hit him like that. Scowling deeply, he sent a murderous glare but she didn't notice it. He shook his head and decided to let that one slip and forget it.
"Bwahahaha!" Vegeta laughed, "Well, you haven't seen your master for the entire day! Come on, it's only natural for a pet to miss her master."
"I am not your pet, you crazy monkey!" Bulma immediately spat back.
"Hmmmm..." Vegeta made a doubtful expression just to tease her.
Bulma gritted her teeth in annoyance, "Aaaaargh! Believe what you want! So what the hell are you doing out here? Aren't you supposed to be protecting that jerk you call your 'crown prince' you were so loyal to?"
"I'm done with my nursing duty and I'm not on guarding duty as well." Sadara replied.
"Aren't you his protector?!"
"I told you I'm not on duty today! Kakarot and Raditz do!" Vegeta said as he sat down on the grass. "And the crown prince has recovered now. I think he's back in his palace and resting on his bed."
Bulma sat beside him, looking at him with disbelieving blue eyes, "Really? But I heard he was dying! I mean, I heard he was beaten to death by that Galactic Emperor, right?"
Vegeta abruptly looked at her, anger flashing in his dark eyes at being reminded of that.
"Why? You wished for him to die, didn't you?" he said in a low voice. Bulma completely missed the cold anger in his tone.
She shrugged her shoulders and said, "Well, I'm not going to lie that I thought he deserved to rot in hell for all eternity but I didn't want him to die yet! I was the one meant to kill him, remember?"
"Tch!" Vegeta snorted at her words at he averted his eyes away from her.
"Of course, he cannot die when I never had my revenge against him!"
"Pffft..! Hahahahahahaha!" Vegeta laughed, his anger immediately fended off by her dream of killing him one day. That's the reason why he was so fascinated of her. He was looking forward to that day. "Of course, he doesn't die that easily, woman. I told you he's perfectly fine now."
"That's good then. I was worried I won't be able to land even a single punch on his ugly face!"
"Hmph! You cannot judge a person's looks and say he's ugly when you never even met him in person!"
"His monstrous heart is what makes him ugly!" Bulma told him. Then she looked at him curiously, "Anyways, what does the crown prince look like?"
"Why are you so curious now?" Vegeta grinned as he leaned at her and glowered his dark eyes up to hers. "Just look at me." he said thoughtlessly.
An awkward silence came in between them as she stared at him wide eyed. Vegeta froze when he realized what he was saying, silently berated himself for his stupidity and decided to joke about it so she won't get suspicious about what he just thoughtlessly blabbered. "Look at me! He is as handsome as I am! Bwahahahahahahahaha!" he threw his head back and laughed boisterously to cover up his actions.
"Argh! You're so full of yourself!" Bulma growled as she pulled away from him, completely irritated with his high-handedness but she immediately relented. "But I have to admit, you might look more handsome than he ever was. You know how to smile and laugh, while Prince Vegeta only knows how to frown and scowl."
"You're wrong." Vegeta told her. "He smiles and laughs too you know."
"Perhaps whenever he was killing people and destroying planets!" Bulma huffed with a sarcastic exclamation.
They fell into silence. Vegeta was aghast at her cruel words and stared at Bulma with pained eyes, feeling hurt by her show of hatred and disgust of the real him. He quickly realized how much this situation was a difficult one for him. He was interested on this woman and now they formed an unlikely camaraderie and became comfortable with each other. It was a good feeling but the knowledge that she only sees him as a good person when he disguises as Sadara is uncomfortable for him. She sees his real self, the Saiyan Crown Prince Vegeta, differently. She hated the true him so deeply. Somehow, Vegeta finally understood how his father might have felt. Hiding so much pain and sacrifices even your true self for the sake of not losing someone important to you. The things he despised of his father was something he was exactly doing now with Bulma. He was afraid that he will lose her once she finds out the truth about him. He shrugged upon such discovery within himself, and angered, for he was living on a lie and he thinks of how unbecoming of a warrior this action was. He decided that he would tell her the truth soon, once he thinks the timing is right.
For now, he has to find a way to ease off the situation. He has to make her trust him so it would be a lot easier for her to accept him once he admits the truth to her. Whatever happens next, he guessed it shouldn't matter to him though.
~=-o-O-o-=~
The next morning… The royal family, the council and a few news writers have assembled in the throne room.
"I have summoned all of you in here to announce the crown prince's upcoming regency!" King Vegeta, who was sitting on his throne, declared.
The opposition in the council's eyes went as huge as saucers as they looked at the king in shock. They cannot believe the things they heard. Has Prince Vegeta agreed upon taking the throne? They all turned their disbelieving eyes towards the crown prince who stood confidently at the right side of his father. He was glaring down at them with his cold, calculating eyes and they shrugged fearfully as they put their heads and eyes down.
Prince Vegeta's eyes narrowed at their obvious actions. Just as he thought, these fools are a bunch of cowards.
"As you all know, Prime Minister Paragus suggested for this measure in order to teach the crown prince his actual responsibilities once he has taken over the throne. I will not actually go down as king but I am willing to give the prince the throne temporarily in order to prepare him on his duties as future king. I have also found myself to be incoherent and stressed with my own duties that is why I seek some time to rest as well. The crown prince will take over my position for the time being. Prepare yourselves for the declaration of the Crown Prince's Regency in two weeks!"
"Yes, your Majesty!" The royal council said in unison.
Prince Vegeta looked down upon the bowing Saiyans below him and sorted out each and every one of them. Basing his observation on his ki senses and their body language, he exactly knew who his enemies were. He turned his dark eyes over the Prime Minister's direction, the leader of the opposition, his greatest enemy in the council. If not for Saiyan Law, Vegeta would have killed all of them and find new and trustworthy people to be on his side. But he's not a fool. He doesn't trust anyone among these old men, most especially that Paragus.
~=-o-O-o-=~
An hour after the council assembly, Paragus and his men talked about the news of the crown prince's upcoming regency.
"So he has decided to take over the throne?" Horenso snickered. "He's crazy! Everyone knows he's still a child and never had any experience to rule! What does he think of becoming a king? A child's play?! Tch!"
"Come on, Minister Horenso. We all know he's not a fool. Have you felt how he glared at us earlier in the throne room? It seems he has an idea we are his enemies!"
"Impossible, Minister Kabu. Everybody knows Prince Vegeta is an abnormal one! And glaring at everyone is his favorite hobby so what's new about that?"
"I still couldn't shake a bad feeling about this. It feels like he's planning something that's why he agreed to take the regency."
"What else do you expect from a haughty, bossy and overconfident brat? We all know the crown prince isn't ready yet. And I am sure he knows it himself but he was clinging to his pride so he does not show his doubts of his abilities." That was Nasu.
"Like the Prime Minister said, it is much easier to dethrone him that way." Horenso said.
The guard standing outside their office suddenly announced in a loud, declaring voice, "His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince has come!"
At that announcement, the council members' eyes widened unexpectedly. What is the crown prince doing in here? The door opened and revealed Prince Vegeta who entered the council office in his graceful royal walk. All ministers present, including Prime Minister Paragus, rose to their seats and lowered their heads in fake respect.
"Yo," Vegeta smirked smugly at the council members. He fixed his cold, bossy glare at each and everyone before him.
~=-o-O-o-=~
Bulma was strolling around the palace when she found Gure outside the second prince's palace gates. The dainty, round headed girl was wandering around just like her.
"Gure!" Bulma called as she sprinted towards her friend. The gray skinned little girl turned her head and smiled.
"Miss Bulma!" Gure joyfully recognized with a bright grin as she jumped towards her.
"I haven't seen you in a while! How have you been?" Bulma asked.
"I'm good. Prince Tarble and Master Onio have been very kind with Gure all this time."
"I see." Bulma said. "So Prince Tarble isn't here too? I heard Prince Vegeta isn't in his palace too."
"Yes, they're all in the throne room for a council assembly. How about you? It must be pretty tough and intimidating working in the crown prince's palace."
"Not as much as I expected. I'm being treated well by Chef Celerie and my co-workers. Also, Sadara and Kakarot too. They were all being good to me. I guess the Saiyans in the palace are different than those on the outside."
"So, have you ever seen Prince Vegeta?"
"No. The palace has always been very strict every time he's around. Nobody is allowed to look directly towards him except for his four generals."
"Well, he is the ruthless and most powerful crown prince after all. So it is true he is very different from his brother. Prince Tarble is very humble and polite towards others and he treats us as if we were his equal. He's like a friend of ours instead of a royalty whom we serve."
"Well, it's good he is unlike his brother who is a jerk."
Gure giggled and whispered on Bulma's ear, "Hey, did you know what the other palace workers call the crown prince around here?"
"What?"
"They say he is a half blooded prince. Half demon-half-monkey. A Saruyasha!"
Bulma laughed at the nickname. "Saruyasha! That's a good one. Hahaha."
"Who are you calling a Saruyasha?!" a voice abruptly came out of nowhere and the two girls turned their heads up in the wall where a small shadowed figure stood with arms crossed over white plated armor. His dark hair rippled with the wind like a small burning flame. Because of the bright sun rays, Bulma could not see his appearance clearly. His sharp, narrowed eyes coldly looked down upon the two slave girls who both gaped at him in awe and fear.
Bulma suddenly felt her chest hardened at the sight of the boy, anger and fear swelling upon her pounding heart, "Is that… Prince Vegeta?" she muttered to herself. She didn't know he was so small.
"No, that is Prince Tarble, Miss Bulma."
The figure snorted out loud and he jumped off the wall to land gracefully before the two girls like some cat before he rose and straightened himself. He gave a light hearted chuckle.
"How funny, someone actually did mistake me for my big brother." Tarble said, amused.
"Prince Tarble," Gure said as she bowed down before her master. Bulma awkwardly stared at the second Saiyan Prince and found his physical looks looking quite familiar. He does remind her of someone…
"So you must be Miss Bulma, I heard many great things about you from Gure. I'm Tarble, pleased to meet you." The second prince said as he offered his hand towards Bulma, who was gaping at him.
He really does look familiar. He looks almost exactly like… Sadara?
After a few awkward seconds Bulma smiled back and took the boy's hand. "I-It's my pleasure to meet you too, your highness."
"I heard you are working for my brother as his cook. I hope it's not too toxic for you."
"Chef Celerie and the other cooks are kind to me."
"That's good to hear. Hey, come in and let's chat for a while. I would like to know you more."
Bulma accepted Tarble's invitation and as they chat along with Gure, Bulma realized how she finds this prince to be very polite, gentle and kind at heart. An innocent one. Very far from the evil, heartless bastard his older sibling is. She thinks she likes this boy too.
"So Miss Bulma, what planet are you from?" Tarble asked. "Your coloring is unique. I've never known anyone with such beautiful colors as you."
"I am from a planet called Earth."
Tarble's brows furrowed, "Earth?"
Bulma averted her eyes down, suppressing her ire upon remembering what happened, "It was destroyed a very long time ago. I was taken here to be a slave."
"Your planet was purged and destroyed by a Saiyan. It's awful." Tarble said.
"Yes."
Tarble found Bulma's expression to be very dark and so he apologized.
"I'm sorry but I didn't mean to upset you. I was only curious because I find you very unique. Whoever led that purge must be an awful person. Alien slaves on Planet Vegeta were all taken from different purges of planets they find profitable for sale. You said your planet was destroyed immediately after taking worthy slaves away?"
"Yes, your highness." Bulma muttered.
"I've never experienced going on purging missions because I totally disagree with the ways of my people. But as far as I know, destroying a planet isn't allowed during a purge."
Tarble's eyes narrowed. He thinks he knows who destroyed Bulma's home planet already. For the fact that only a royalty is capable of leading the destruction of a purged planet due to reasons unknown.
"Unless the leader finds your planet and your people as a big threat to the Saiyan Empire or to himself," Tarble said. But why would his brother see the Earthlings as a threat? He couldn't understand. The girl has no fighting potential or any power at all. He refused to believe Vegeta did it because he just wanted to satisfy his blood lust because if he did, this girl shouldn't be in here.
"A threat? Why would we become a threat to your people?" Bulma asked, completely at loss.
Tarble smiled, he didn't even know the answer to that question. "I have no idea. But enough of that. Let's talk about something else. Something less gloomy. Let's see… Why don't you tell me some happy things? I would like to hear good stories from you."
~=-o-O-o-=~
"What has brought you in here, your highness?" asked Paragus, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling in his chest and spine upon feeling the pair of evil eyes focusing on his direction.
The crown prince's eyes narrowed, "A delivery has arrived at the palace gates just now. I was especially curious because it was addressed to one of your lackeys in here. Do you have any idea what it is?"
The three traitorous ministers behind Paragus flinched uncomfortably.
"Why did you order a lowly casket for one person when there are so many of you in here? Do you wish for me to fit all of you inside that thing? It seems too small for you all. Anyways, it's your choice. You'll be the one dealing with it anyways."
Vegeta's wide, imperious smirk shifted into a cold furious scowl, his eyes darkening with his wrath.
"Did you honestly think I would die yesterday and you were all too excited to prepare for my funeral?!" He roared all of a sudden. The bowing old men flinched and Vegeta hissed indignantly at them, baring his teeth. "Bad news, fools! Hell isn't ready to take me now! Rushifah told me I should send him the souls of my enemies first!"
He took a few, slow steps forward towards Paragus and it took forever for the council members until he was before the Prime Minister face to face.
"But before that, I will play along with your little game. A game for the throne, isn't it?" The glare he was giving Paragus narrowed to slits of dander.
"I'll have you know by now that I don't play fair. Even so, I am no coward like you or your peons to attack someone from behind and manipulate others' greed for political power in order to win."
Even his voice turned dangerously low and chilly. He pulled his lips and showed them his creepiest grin that stenched with the blood of the hundreds of trillions of lives he savagely murdered for the entire eighteen years of his life. The air around the room abruptly turned icy, sending chilling waves of dread coarsing up through the spines of the foolish council and freezing them in their positions as if their bodies turned into ice statues.
"If you think you're smart because you outsmarted my father through manipulating his greed, you should know by now that it wouldn't work on me. I'm way smarter than you or anyone else on this planet. I'm giving you fair warning, back off and don't you dare provoke my ire any further. If you continue this foolishness, I will make sure you wouldn't like the consequences of my wrath. I know you have a general idea what it means, right?"
Paragus' wide eyes were dilated with fear. Yes, he knew very well what the prince meant by that. Vegeta pulled away and tilted his chin up arrogantly as his smile turned genuine.
"About the casket, I appreciate the thought but I think you should keep it to yourselves as preparation for your own funerals. Thank you. That's all for now." he sarcastically announced.
After giving his fearsome warning, the Saiyan Crown Prince's petrifying evil eyes passed through each and every Saiyan in the room then he turned his heels and regally walked out of the office. But before he could walk out of the door, Paragus snapped out of his frozen state and exclaimed: "Y-You know very well that you cannot kill us! We are protected by Saiyan Law! And this act of threatening the council could be considered as an attempt to kill us! A grave threat!"
"Hmph!" Vegeta snorted loudly before he threw his head back and laughed out loud like a madman. "Bwahahahahahahahaha!" The sound of his vicious laughter made the council members shudder with dread. Has the crown prince snapped and lost his mind?
"What's so funny?!" demanded Paragus furiously, feeling terribly insulted by the crown prince's behavior.
"Your words, old man!" Vegeta answered, heaving for a breath. He slowly turned around and looked at the Prime Minister with his crazed, psycho looking eyes.
"I'm not the one attempting to kill anyone in here, fool! And I'm not even threatening you. It was a mere warning, Paragus. Why are you being so afraid? When I say to prepare for the consequences of the wrath, I didn't mean to say I will shed anyone's blood. Killing isn't in my options for now. I wouldn't want to return to the monster I was in order to deal with pathetic creatures like yourself. I have several other options to play with you and your little game, but none will require anyone's blood."
For the bloodshed on his part would trigger his bloodlust that he was trying to control within himself, he wouldn't want a repeat of the gruesome murders he just did yesterday. He thought he was about to lose his mind as he killed and fought the soldiers of the Galactic Empire. He wouldn't know what would happen to Planet Vegeta, the North Galaxy, the entire Universe or to himself if he truly lose control of his powers and his own bloodlust. He could become an uncontrollable killing machine. Something he wouldn't want to regret doing.
"You see, why would I waste my powers on someone like you when I could defeat you through simple methods such as speaking with sweet but poisonous words?"
Paragus gritted his teeth, going mad with the arrogance and pride of the brat before him. Seeing this reaction made the crown prince smile malevolently at him before he disappeared on the door.
"Why you little brat…" Paragus hatefully thought as he glowered at where the crown prince had gone to. "One day, Broly will laugh as he kills you slowly and painfully and you will realize that your mouth will only bring you your death, fool!"
~=-o-O-o-=~
After his 'meeting' with the council, Vegeta decided to come to his personal library to read some books. He was welcomed by the librarian whose name is Goyo. He went over the shelves of old books and read lots of information about politics and basic martial arts, thinking of something he could teach his student tonight.
"Oh! Sadara-sama!"
Vegeta nearly jumped at the voice that shouted not far away from him. He turned his head to find Bulma approaching him. His eyes widened at the sight of her and he quickly put his book on his chest to cover his white armor. He also stepped back so he would be hidden behind the books piled on the shelf.
What the hell is this woman doing in here of all places? And how could he let himself off guard?
He felt his heart pounding with dread on his chest. He hoped for her not to get any closer to him or he would need to teleport himself away from here. Seconds felt like an eternity for him, and it was uncomfortable. Vegeta thought this could be the unexpected and inevitable revelation of his secret to her. He already imagined a lot of plans to escape his way out of this situation, and feeling stupid at any of those thoughts. He shrugged, feeling cowardly and unbecoming of a Saiyan Warrior these options were.
Oh well, if it comes to that then he guessed he had no other choice but to reveal the truth now.
"Ah… Bulma, what are you doing in here?" he asked, rather awkwardly.
It was good that someone has arrived to save him on time. Goyo, the old Saiyan librarian approached Bulma once he found her and demanded, "What the hell are you doing in here? Only the Crown Prince of all Saiyans is allowed to enter here!"
Oh shit!
Instead of feeling grateful that a savior has arrived for him, Vegeta only felt more panic. That fool! Saying those words only brought him closer to the inevitable. He stepped back again to avoid Goyo to see him and calling him 'Your highness!'.
Bulma turned to the old librarian, "The Crown Prince is here?" she asked with doubt and surprise.
"Yes, so please leave quietly." Goyo responded in a low voice.
"Go and leave, Bulma…" Vegeta silently commanded.
Goyo immediately left after telling Bulma to leave. He was busy looking for some books the Crown Prince ordered for him to find and bring him earlier. The blue haired cook turned her head to where Vegeta was standing, and instead of following the librarian out, she made his way towards him. Vegeta grew more anxious with every step she makes towards him.
"Shit! Go away! Damn it!" his panicked thoughts screamed on his head.
Luckily, Bulma turned to the other side of the bookshelf Vegeta was hiding in so the shelf was in between them. As she approached nearer, he playfully pointed behind Bulma.
"Hey, Bulma, what's that?"
Vegeta used the opportunity of Bulma looking behind her to get rid of his red cape and let it fall on the floor.
"What?" Bulma complained as she turned her head back and looked at Sadara with a childish pout.
Vegeta smiled awkwardly back and laughed, "Ah! I was just kidding around! Hehehe…"
She simply shrugged, "Sadara-sama, he said only the crown prince is allowed to come in here."
Vegeta averted his eyes on the side, "Yes, that's right."
"So what are you doing in here?" she asked.
"Huh?" Vegeta mumbled as he looked away, uncomfortably. He has to find an excuse quickly and he tried to look for a more believable lie. "Ah! I'm the assistant librarian in here. My duty is to provide the crown prince his reading materials."
"Oh, so that jerk is really in here?" Bulma said rather loudly, which made Sadara to put his index finger in front of his gritted teeth.
"Sssh! Quiet woman, or he might hear." he warned .
Bulma nodded, pouting.
"You, what are you doing in here?" he asked.
"Uh… I was just walking around and I got lost in here." Bulma responded as she grinned sheepishly.
"You should have asked anyone outside to tell you how to get back to your quarters."
"No one is outside so I thought this is a nice place. Didn't know it was the Crown Prince's personal library. I was surprised to find out he's such a bookworm too."
Vegeta's eyes narrowed at that. No one is guarding outside the library and prohibiting anyone to enter this place? And he is certainly not a bookworm!
"Now you know this is a restricted area for someone like you. Get out now before the crown prince notices."
"Where is he anyways?" Bulma asked, peeking behind her friend.
"Bulma! Get out if you don't want to die!" He growled at her, annoyed by her persistence.
She glared at him and shouted, "This is also a restricted area for you! Let's go out together!"
"No, I'm the assistant librarian! I can't just walk out of my duty or the crown prince would kill me! He's been in a terrible mood right now and I do not want to deal with such bad temper. Just get out and leave or we'll be in big trouble if we get caught."
She just stared at him, feeling bad about her Saiyan friend seeing him anxious about his and her well being like this. The Crown Prince sure was a terrible man.
"Go now, Bulma…" he pleaded as he motioned his hand towards the door.
"Hmmmm… Okay."
Bulma turned around with a pout and walked away. Vegeta sighed with relief before he decided to say something. He somehow felt bad for lying to her yet again. She must have thought something bad about the real him again.
"Bulma!" he called her name.
The blue haired girl turned to him, "Yes?"
"Let's eat dinner together tonight on Bardock's house before we start your training, wait for me outside your quarters after the crown prince's dinner, okay?"
Bulma's sullen mood quickly changed and she finally grinned happily, "Yes! Sure!" And then she sprinted out of the library. She asked Goyo how to return to the crown prince's cooks' quarters and the old librarian pointed her the directions.
Vegeta watched as Bulma left before he closed the book he used to cover his chest plate, put it back on the shelf rather angrily and picked up his red and orange cape on the floor.
He strolled out of his hiding place as he pinned his cape back to his golden shoulder pads and sat on his chair in front of a long reading table. He scowled deeply, feeling pissed off at himself for being too absorbed with reading and having caught off guard by a mere slave. He was almost been caught red handed! He lost his interest with reading now and wanting to train his senses to be more sensitive. But for now…
"Goyo!" He roared indignantly. The old librarian came running fearfully and immediately fell down to his knees.
"Yes, your highness?" The kneeling librarian said.
"Why aren't there any guards outside?" Vegeta demanded harshly.
"It's because it's changing duties, your highness." Goyo responded.
"So what if it's changing duties?! They know that I'm in here, they should not leave this place unguarded!" the livid prince shouted.
"Y-y-yes, your highness." Goyo agreed out of his fear of the prince's temper.
Vegeta growled angrily as he took his scouter, put it over his left ear and eye, pushed a button on the side of the device to turn it on. He harshly commanded his attendant, "Nappa! Come to my library and know who the guards who were supposed to be outside prior and after the change of duties and have them all fired! Don't wait until I come out or I might kill them for their incompetence!" Then he hung up and glared down at the kneeling librarian on the floor. "You! Aren't you supposed to be on the front desk?!"
"Yes but you ordered for me to look for some books for you." Goyo answered.
"Still, how could you let a cook go further inside my library like that?! You should have accompanied her until she was out and not just leave like that after you told her to do so!"
"My apologies, your highness." pleaded Goyo, fearing for his life. Such a mistake is unforgivable for the ruthless Saiyan prince and death was inevitable now.
The fearsome Crown Prince growled with unrestrained annoyance, "Get out of my sight before I send you to the next dimension!" he ordered.
"Y-Yes, your highness! Thank you for your mercy!" Goyo quickly scampered away from the presence of the angry prince as fast as he could. He was grateful that he was spared this time.
"Tch!" the prince frowned. Mercy? He was sure that he was in the perfect mood to blast these irresponsible fools to oblivion but he felt like he shouldn't do it. Whatever stopped him has something to do with what Bulma carelessly thought about him. He didn't know why he does not wish for her to think of him that way. He never cared about his cruel and belligerent reputation or what people thought about his ruthlessness before.
Why is he trying to be merciful now? Is this the price he pay for playing around as Sadara?
Vegeta growled indignantly, rose to his seat and walked out of his library to find Nappa scolding the ten elite guards outside. The eleven Saiyans bowed before him and he simply ignored them as he strolled away. He heard Nappa fire the ten Saiyans without much explanation before he sensed his attendant follow his steps.
"Your highness, what happened and you fired ten of the elite palace guards?" Nappa asked.
"They have been incompetent to their duties. They left their post knowing I was in the library. A palace worker was able to sneak inside my library without a single guard or even Goyo to stop her."
"A palace worker? Should we also punish this palace worker for entering prohibited grounds?"
"She didn't know. It's the irresponsibilities of the guards and the librarian that has led into this. I'll take care of this palace worker myself. For now, prepare my training chamber, Nappa."
"Yes, your highness."
~=-o-O-o-=~
Training was a good time killer after all. But Vegeta didn't do any martial arts kata today. All he did was to sit at the center of the room the entire time in a deep, concentrated meditation. He practiced his ki and five senses to be more sensitive even to the smallest movement or change in his surroundings. The problem he found with today's encounter with Bulma is that he became too occupied with his readings that he lost his concentration with his surroundings. This could become a serious problem if anyone dared to attack him on the blind side. It's the second time that has happened; the first time was with Nappa while he watched at Bulma stare at the stars two days ago. He shouldn't allow such stupidity become his weakness and have someone catch him off guard again. There are a lot of enemies lurking around him, biding their time to catch him off guard and kill him after all. He decided it's time to notch up his training until all of his senses and reflexes become as easily as breathing air.
It was evening and Bulma was excited to see Sadara tonight so as she waited for the crown prince to finish his sumptuous dinner prepared by her, Bulma's thoughts came with imagining what would happen tonight. And she was smiling in anticipation.
Vegeta, on the other side, was concentrating and training his senses around him as he ate bit by bit with his eyes closed. The food he was busy nitpicking little by little was beginning to get cold. He nibbled through his food and was able to tell all the ingredients used in each meal.
The slow pace of the way the crown prince eats his dinner has made Nappa worried. He was being like this since he started training today.
"Your highness, is something the matter?" Nappa asked anxiously.
"Why?" Vegeta replied lowly, not opening his eyes.
"It's just that you're eating in such a pace. Do you not trust the food taster, your highness?"
"Not really, it's only part of my training. Don't worry about it."
~=-o-O-o-=~
Bulma was getting rather impatient on the other side. How long would it take for this stupid prince to be finished eating his dinner? It felt as if she was already waiting in here for over three hours!
Time passed rather slowly before Vegeta was finally done over the last tiny bit of food before him. It took him five hours to finish his food and as he opened his eyes, he found those around him already asleep. He angrily slammed his hands down the table and they all woke up with a startle.
"What the hell are you all doing sleeping before me?! Do your jobs right!" He yelled imperiously at his servants, making everyone flinched in terror.
"Y-Yes, your highness!"
Vegeta angrily walked out of his dinner room. Bulma let out a sigh of relief. "Finally!"
~=-o-O-o-=~
Twenty minutes later, Bulma and Vegeta, dressed as Sadara, met outside Bulma's quarters. They made their way towards the house of Bardock where their friends waited. Vegeta has contacted Raditz to have Gine prepare dinner for all of them. "It's a special Nokma from the Pepa Mountains! A native cuisine!" Gine exclaimed as she placed a plateful of what it looked like chicken thighs on the table. Bardock, Kakarot, Raditz, Broly, Vegeta and Bulma were present on the dining table and cheered.
"Cool!"
"Yeeeaah!"
"Nokma is a rare meat only the royalty are able to eat. But the Crown Prince was feeling generous today so he gave us a few of it to eat!" Sadara exclaimed.
"Lucky!" Raditz grinned.
"Here, have some." Vegeta told Bulma as he handed her a drumstick. "You should be grateful. You won't get a chance to eat this in the palace because Prince Vegeta loved eating this meat." he said smiling and he bit into his piece of Nokma and chewed.
Bulma accepted the offer and ate. This meat completely reminded her of chicken meat on Earth. It was incredibly delicious.
The other Saiyans looked at the two in silence. If they knew better, Vegeta told Gine to prepare lots of Nokma for dinner because it's one of his favorites. He never shared Nokma with anyone ever until tonight.
"What are you all looking at? Let's eat!" Vegeta snapped at them.
Though Gine was a vendor in the royal market, Bardock, Gine, Kakarot and Raditz never had a chance to eat Nokma before since Vegeta always had it all for himself. The fact that he's in the mood to share his food tonight made them grateful.
"Uwaaah! This is tasty!" Kakarot shouted.
"No wonder the crown prince liked this so much. It's very different from any other meat on the planet." Raditz commented.
Vegeta smirked at his friends, he was finished with his first piece. He took another and chomped it down quietly.
"By the way, I've met the second prince earlier." Bulma said.
Everyone's eyes turned to Bulma.
"Second prince? You mean Prince Tarble?" Sadara confirmed.
Bulma nodded, "Yes, he is a very kind and friendly prince."
"Yes, he is." Kakarot agreed, smiling.
The Saiyans turned their eyes to Vegeta, who looked like he was tensed.
"So, did you speak with him?" Sadara asked Bulma.
"Yes, we just had a small chat." Bulma answered. "And you know what, I like him. He is gentle and friendly, unlike his big brother."
"Ah… What did you two talked about?"
Bulma chuckled as she turned her eyes to him, smiling rather playfully. "Why? Is it your business to know what a prince told me?"
Vegeta looked away as he rolled his eyes. Of course, it should be his business.
"By the way, do you know that the palace workers have a nickname for the crown prince? It's quite well known in the palace." Bulma said with a wide grin upon her rosy lips. Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Here we go again," Vegeta sighed, looking like he really wasn't interested. "What's this all about, woman? Another rumor you heard again? You gossip girl."
"No, this is funny. Do you guys know?" Bulma insisted as she looked at everyone in the room.
"What? Handsome and almighty prince?" Vegeta guessed as he chuckled but the nicknames his generals quickly and thoughtlessly mentioned out loud made him scowl in offense.
"Troublesome prince," Bardock mumbled, chewing at his food. Vegeta's eyes widened in warning.
"Selfish brat." That was Kakarot.
Shing!
Vegeta indignantly slammed his fork down the table as he glared up towards the completely clueless general.
"Abnormal bastard." Raditz muttered following Kakarot's comment causing Vegeta to pick his bread knife in front of him, giving Raditz a murderous look.
"Saruyasha," Broly nonchalantly spurted out with an uninterested tone.
Before Vegeta could react, Bulma cheerfully exclaimed, "Ding-dong! Correct!" as she snapped her fingers towards Broly and winked back at him.
The others turned their heads in his direction in surprise. There was a sudden but momentary silence in between them. Did Broly just made a correct answer in what it seemed was a lame joke?
The Saiyan soldiers quickly looked down in apology and guilt when they finally noticed the malevolent glare upon their offended Crown Prince's dark eyes, silently cursing and threatening them down to the deepest pits of hell.
"Saruyasha?" Vegeta repeated in an icy tone, wondering what that meant but he didn't take his intimidating glare off his subjects.
Oblivious to the dangerous tension going on between the Saiyans, Bulma continued to incessantly blather like some annoying talking machine. "They say that the crown prince is a half blooded prince! A half demon and a half monkey! A Saruyasha! Bwahahahahahahahaha! I think that nickname suits him perfectly. Looks like everybody knows just what kind of monster that son of a-"
(*Woof! Woof! Woof!)
"Shut your mouth, woman!" Sadara yelled as he put a piece of Nokma meat inside her mouth, cutting her annoying words off. Bulma indeed shut up as she chewed on the food he placed on her mouth.
Broly, Bardock, Kakarot, Raditz and Gine laughed before they found that the malevolent glare Vegeta was giving them turned more sinister and they all tried to stifle their laughter.
Bulma was amazed to find Broly laughing for the first time, "Hey, did you seriously just laugh at that? You laughed, didn't you? Gosh, I thought something is wrong with his face!"
Broly coughed while he tried to stifle his laughter to make an excuse by forcing his expression to become neutral once more, though he terribly failed to do so. While the others howled in laughter. Sadara was the only quiet one who was glaring at the Saiyans with a deathly look.
"Sadara-sama, you saw him laugh, didn't you? Hey, what's with that look, huh? And here I thought Broly is the serious one in here!"
Broly cleared his throat, his face was forced to remain as neutral as possible. "I did not laugh." he defended with his usual cold tone.
But the cold anger on Sadara's face didn't even falter. This made every Saiyan shut up and look down in apology.
"I saw it, Broly! Don't make pitiful excuses! You must find the Crown Prince's nicknames funny. Huh?" Vegeta said, making a threatening expression.
Broly coughed, choking himself as he realize the uptight situation he's in. Bulma and the other Saiyans broke in laughter again and Gine rubbed on Broly's back. "He must have caught something in his throat." she giggled.
Sadara abruptly slammed his hands on the table as he rose from his seat, extremely annoyed and pissed at what just occured. He shouted to Bulma, "Enough of your worthless jokes! Let's go and start your training! You better prepare yourself because I won't go easy on you!"
"Training? What training?" Bardock asked curiously.
"I'm going to train her so she would last at least a second or two longer when she try to kill the crown prince." Sadara said.
"You're crazy! You're not going to train her like some dog! You'll train her to kill… the crown prince!" Raditz protested.
Vegeta just sent a cold glare at Raditz that silently told him to shut up before he walked out and ordered Bulma to follow him.
"Why is he angry?" Bulma wondered, looking at the other Saiyans hoping for anyone of them to answer her question.
"You called the Crown Prince a nickname he didn't like, of course he'll be mad." Bardock mumbled sarcastically while rolling his eyes.
Bulma's brows furrowed in confusion as she finally noticed how much Sadara tends to defend Prince Vegeta towards her, or sometimes, feel offended, especially whenever she calls the crown prince certain offensive nicknames. She never thought he looked up to the prince that much.
"Why? Does he idolize the Crown Prince that much?" she asked innocently when Sadara suddenly shouted.
"Bulma! Don't make me wait for you!" Sadara called outside. Bulma thanked Gine for the awesome dinner and ran to where Sadara waited for her.
"Good luck on your training, woman," Raditz shouted at her. "I don't think you'll last with him training you! Especially now that he seems to have lost his good mood earlier."
Bulma looked at Sadara in confusion but he simply remained stoic. She slowly approached him but he started walking as soon as she got out of the house, ignoring her and expecting her to just follow him. She chased him most of the way, he walks so damn fast.
"Wait up! Wait for me! Sadara-sama!"
As they strolled towards the meadow where they decided to do their training after she was able to minimize their gap, Bulma finally asked, "Hey, Sadara-sama. Are you angry that I called Prince Vegeta nicknames you didn't like? I mean… The way you answered my question, you seem to be fond of defending that bastard and saying nice things about him when everyone speaks ill things about him."
"You know nothing." Sadara snapped at her without bothering to look back at her.
"And you think you know him?"
"What if I say that I do?! What if I know every little thing about him?! Things no one else know about! You know nothing of the crown prince and you dared to speak ill of him before his generals! I couldn't care less about any of it, or if he learns about it and destroys you to atoms but…" Vegeta said indignantly, his teeth gritted so hard as he tried to control himself. "Why do you anger me so much?" He growled.
Why does her opinion of him matter to him anyways? She knows nothing of him and yet she dared to judge him for a simple sin he did and the rumors she heard about him.
"Forget about it and let's just begin your training!" He snapped at her with an annoyed look.
She just looked at him and mumbled obediently, "Okay..."
~=-o-O-o-=~
Bulma realized that Sadara was true to his words. He was indeed a harsh trainer. Even if he started from the basics for a novice like her, he didn't hold back. It started to dawn on Bulma what kind of hell she has gotten herself into. He was indeed right when he told her he won't go easy on her. His training was physically punishing.
"Hmm," crossing his arms over his armor, Sadara watched with bored eyes at Bulma who stood on her right foot, which she has been doing for eight minutes. She looked so tensed as she tried to keep her balance and every part of her body ached to relax. "Tsk, you're a weakling indeed. Now, do you see I'm not kidding around when I told you I'll train you until you puke blood?"
Bulma shot him a hard glare and he smirked in satisfaction.
"I tried warning you and yet you were determined to go through this. Remember you wanted this! I won't let you quit just because you're tired!" Sadara harshly told her.
Bulma flinched, "I'm not… going to quit…" she hissed back at him.
"Well, you look like you're about to whine!" Vegeta mocked. Bulma growled and put her other leg down to hit him but he simply glared at her.
"I didn't tell you to put your leg down! Repeat what you've been doing right from the start!"
"Whaaaaat?!" Bulma complained.
"I never told you to attack me. Don't get too excited on that part, I might end up killing you. Do as I ordered you to do."
Bulma raised her left leg and stood on her right again for ten minutes.
Vegeta chuckled, "Hehehe… you're quite entertaining to watch…" Amusement in his dark eyes. "You look like those bubble headed figures in vehicles that moved side by side. Hehehe…"
Bulma just frowned at him, feeling aggravated at his teasing. "You enjoy this, don't you?"
"Of course. Like I said, you're quite entertaining to watch." he smirked.
"Hmmmmmph!" Bulma mumbled. "We'll see if you still see it fun when I beat you down using what you taught of me!"
Sadara gazed at her with huge eyes, a sign of warning. "Woah! You're still at the bottom and you dare to threaten your master, huh? Fine, add another ten minutes!"
"What?!"
"If I hear another complaint then you'll stand on your right foot for thirty minutes!"
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"Add another ten minutes! Now you have twenty-seven minutes left."
"I swear -"
"Do you wish to stand on your foot for over an hour?"
Bulma pouted back. He really enjoyed this, no doubt about that.
Balancing exercises are quite a pain. An hour later, she found both of her legs shaking due to extreme pain and fatigue. Vegeta scoffed at how weak this girl is.
"That's all for today's training. Tomorrow, we'll start with practicing your punches. Rest and regain your strength."
"Huh? That's all?" Bulma blinked.
"What? You still want more?" Sadara mused, "Listen, your body won't be able to last on training if it's all tired and stressed. We'll continue tomorrow, okay?"
She shrugged, "I see."
They sat on the grass and looked up into the stars for a moment. Bulma laid on her back and stretched her aching legs against the ground.
"Ah! That training was indeed tiring! You were right, I needed to rest." Bulma said.
"You should go back to your quarters and rest there." Vegeta suggested.
"But Sadara-sama… I don't think I could walk at this rate. My legs hurt like hell." She complained.
"W-What?!" He snapped at her. Is she suggesting for him to carry her back to the palace? "No way! I-I will not carry you! Crawl your way back to your quarters!"
"Oh come on! You can't have a lady crawling on those rocks! If you let me do that, then I won't be able to train tomorrow. Your choice."
He rolled his eyes, "I fail see that as my problem. I'm not the one trying to kill Prince Vegeta in here."
"Oh come on! Please, Sadara-sama!" she whined, like a demanding child wanting to get what toy she wanted when her parents refused to buy it.
Bulma made a puppy look with a childish pout and winking blue eyes and Vegeta's jaw twitched in irritation.
"What?! You think you're cute doing that! No!"
"Please! Pretty please! Sadara-sama…" she whined like a puppy. Vegeta's jaw twitched again as he looked at her disgustedly. In the end, he sighed. The female species are indeed an enigma.
He growled indignantly as he finally relented and crouched down in front of Bulma.
"Fine, but I will only do this once and for all!" He growled her. "The next time, I'll simply leave you here and let you crawl your way back! Understand?"
Bulma smiled in victory as she wrapped her arms around Sadara's neck from behind. He pulled her legs up against his elbows and carried her on his back.
It was good that Vegeta knows the palace routes very well and that his senses have been sensitively trained to perceive any presence, so he was able to walk back to the palace using the path he knew no one was able to go through.
"What are you made of?" Vegeta asked Bulma. "You're as light as a feather. You don't even have a slightest mass. Any Saiyan could simply flick his finger towards you and you will be thrown off towards the other side of the planet."
Bulma, on the other hand, was biding her time behind him. He is indeed a very strong being despite being so small. She liked being with him this way.
"You know, if you are this light, speed could be your advantage. After I trained you to do physical attacks, I will teach you how to use this advantage you have to dodge incoming attacks. If you are fast enough, then you might survive and catch the crown prince off guard."
"Do you think I could win against Prince Vegeta?" Bulma asked.
Vegeta stopped in his tracks at her question.
"What I think should not matter to you. The only thing you should believe in is yourself. If you believe you can win against him, then you can. I will teach you everything I know. Harnessing the skills I taught you and how you will use it on the actual combat will be up to you." He answered after a few seconds of silence.
"Yes."
"The thing is… strategy."
"Strategy?"
"If you really want to win against Prince Vegeta, you should have a fair strategy. You will not just fight the most powerful Saiyan on the planet; he is also known to be a great tactician. If you manage to over smart him then it's going to be your greatest chance to win. But… it might also be your last."
"I see… Thank you for that piece of advice. I think I can take it from here now."
Vegeta let Bulma stand on her trembling feet. They were now in front of the cook's quarters.
"Thank you very much for today. I'll see you tomorrow, Sadara-sama."
After she gave him a half bow, Bulma turned around to enter her sleeping quarters quietly. Vegeta watched at her for a while before he decided to teleport himself back to his own bedroom.
~=-o-O-o-=~
Thirteen days later…
Vegeta continued to train Bulma every night; he taught her how to properly punch and kick well, and then a series of different combos. He demonstrated and explained her lots of things and she observed and listened very carefully, and was able to do as he showed her. She was a quick learner, Vegeta noticed that and he was impressed by that and her unyielding determination to learn.
Soon, the two of them begin to spar with each other. While Vegeta simply used to block all attacks Bulma threw at him these past days with his hands, it went completely different tonight.
It's because he fought back this time. One unanticipated punch had sent Bulma rolling on the ground in pain. Of course, Vegeta held back so much of his prided superhuman strength on her but it still hurt her though.
"Hey! That's no fair! Why'd you attack me like that?" Bulma cried out, feeling betrayed at not being warned.
"I didn't say I wasn't going to attack. I think it's time to teach you how to dodge." Vegeta said.
"Dodge?"
"Watch closely at your opponent and anticipate his next attack and move away as fast as you could."
"How am I going to predict your next move?"
"Watch very closely, observe carefully. Try to get a read at your opponent's movements and feel his killing intent."
"Okay." Bulma nodded.
Vegeta smirked and opened his right hand on his side, his palm facing down. Blue sparks of ki and bio electricity snapped off his hand and his fingers into the ground and then the dust quickly rose around them, spiralling in their surroundings like a maelstrom.
"What is that? Iron sand? He's using electromagnetism through his ki to control the iron sand from the ground?" Bulma thought in awe.
Vegeta's smile widened. "It seems that you know about what I'm doing after all. By controlling bioelectricity and channelling the ki within my body, I can cause magnetism to attract the iron sand within the ground and manipulate it as I wish!"
He concentrated his powers and the iron sand collected towards his right palm, it eventually coalesced into a long sword humming with the vibrations of the particles within it. He took it in his hand and drew it towards Bulma who looked at what he just created with dread. A leaf floating in the air caused by the release of his powers made contact with its deadly blade and it was sliced in half effortlessly.
"This is a weapon which I could create by using this technique. By vibrating the particles of the sand, I can make its blade a lot deadlier and sharper than a typical chainsaw." he swung the sword towards Bulma, his dark eyes showing no hesitation with using such a deadly weapon for training her.
"Let's begin." Vegeta declared coldly at her.
Hearing those words, Bulma stepped back fearfully, holding up her hands in front of her, "Heeeey! That's not fair! You will slice me in half using that thing!"
"The more you should dodge it!" Sadara shouted as leapt to charge at Bulma who screamed with horror in the air.
"Gaaaaaaaaah!"
"If you wish to survive, you should learn how to dodge!" Vegeta yelled as he attacked her.
"B-b-but… Hey!" Bulma dodged to the left, merely avoiding a swing that would have her beheaded. "Can't we do this another way!" She dodged again to the right.
"Shut up! I don't want to hear any complaints!"
Vegeta stopped flailing his iron sword around and raised his left hand to fire several ki blasts towards her direction.
Bulma quickly stepped back as fast as she could in panic, merely avoiding the energy explosives Sadara was throwing at her. A moment later, she fell to her behind on the ground. She realized the ki blast barrage has halted but she was unable to heave a sigh of relief when she found Sadara revealing himself in the smoke created by the blasts' detonation. Bulma froze in shock as she looked at the murderous intent flashing upon his onyx eyes as he swayed his deadly iron sword towards her.
"Die!" Sadara exclaimed.
Bulma's horrified cry reverberated in the air.
"Nooooooo!"
~=-o-O-o-=~
An hour later… the two found themselves sitting on a nearby lake.
"Goodness, I thought I was going to die!" Bulma was in tears as she panted out of exhaustion. Vegeta chased her like some murderous demon for an entire hour and all she could do was to dodge each and every attack coming to kill her the best she could. Sadara didn't hold back his assault, which made Bulma wonder if this is really training or a death battle.
Vegeta was laughing out loud behind her, very amused. Though he held back much of his prided superhuman strength and speed against her, it was so much fun playing around with her.
"Bwahahahahahahaha! You're good! You're very good. You dodged well! I'll give you that! It seems that you take my advices very seriously. Plus, I like your new haircut." He laughed.
Bulma shot him a hard glare, childish pout on her lips as she sniffed and tried to keep her tears at bay. Her ponytail had been cleanly chopped off by Sadara's iron sword. And now, he's fixing her hair to look more suitable for someone like her.
"It's time to get rid of that stupid ponytail. It will only get in the way during a battle. Your enemies could simply grab you by the hair and toss you around." Sadara explained.
"Are you trying to be a barber now? From the prince's protector, to a guard to part time cook to a nurse then an assistant librarian then a martial arts trainer and a barber. Seriously, what the hell are you?"
"Heh! You wouldn't want to know." He snorted.
"Don't tell me that you are also the Galactic Emperor one day!"
He laughed with dry humor, "Heh! Who knows I might become one in the future?"
After he fixed her hair, Vegeta glowered at her with a haughty smirk as if he has made an art masterpiece.
"There! That's much better!" He praised his work with a proud nod.
Bulma looked at herself upon the lake's water and found her new image. Her new hair was layered and reached the top of her shoulders. Seeing her puffy red eyes caused by her crying, she wiped her tears with the back of her hand and sniffed once again.
"It's strange. I never had a short haircut like this before." She muttered.
"You never did?"
"Slaves are required to tie their hair."
"Oh…"
Another moment of silence passed in between them.
"Uhm, Sadara-sama, can I ask you a question?" Bulma asked after a minute or two.
"You just asked one, idiot." Vegeta said, rolling his eyes in annoyance but immediately relented. "Fine, what is it?"
"Do you prefer girls with long or short hair?"
"Short hair." Sadara muttered, he didn't know why she was asking that stupid question.
Bulma turned her head towards him and smiled. Was that the reason why he purposely cut her hair short?
"I guess I'll have to keep my hair short then." she said.
"…"
Vegeta didn't say anything about that.
"So, how do I do on training, so far...?" Bulma asked.
"Now, you said just one question." Vegeta muttered.
"Aw, come on!" she quickly whined.
He snorted and decided to answer just so she could stop being so annoying. "You've impressed me so far, woman. You have a pretty sharp memory. You pick things up rather quickly and you seem to have a good eye for observing and analyzing things. I guess you're not an idiot after all." Sadara praised her.
"Hmph! Don't underestimate me! You have no idea what kind of genius I actually am!" Bulma huffed arrogantly as she puffed her chest with pride.
"Heh! Genius? You're being too conceited!" he teased.
"No! I'm actually serious!" Bulma insisted, frowning at his mockery. "I was a daughter of a genius inventor! I can create amazing things back when I was a child!"
Vegeta scoffed, not believing her claims, "Amazing things? Like what?"
"Like an electromagnetic laser gun!"
Vegeta's eyes narrowed at that. A memory of his first meeting with a certain blue haired Earthling girl flashed on his mind. (Refer to Episode 2)
"I had one as a child. It has a destructive power that can destroy an entire island. I bet if I was given a chance to create such a thing again, I can create one that could kill that ruthless crown prince!" Bulma was saying.
Vegeta gasped at the sudden realization he had upon hearing those words from her. This slave was the same girl he met on Earth thirteen years ago back when he was a child! That twin pigtailed little girl who he once thought would be a dangerous threat to him if Frieza gets his hands on her. He stared at her blankly with huge, appalled eyes as she continued on blabbering things about her intelligence and childhood inventions.
Until now, she has never ceased to amaze him.
And annoy him at the same time.
"Bulma..."
This made her shut up. She looked at her trainer with confused eyes, wondering why he was looking at her on that uncomfortable manner.
Vegeta cleared his throat as he averted his eyes away, shrugging his shoulders uncomfortably. "Even if you say you are that intelligent, you still have a long way to go, woman! Prince Vegeta is not a fool too. I wonder how your claims of being a genius par with his unparalleled intelligence!"
"Yeah! We'll see about that. I'm sure I can beat your almighty future king!" Bulma announced haughtily.
"Hmph! Don't be so sure. He can still destroy you with his thoughts alone!"
Vegeta rose to his feet, having enough of the uncomfortable atmosphere he perceived in the air. "We'll have a day off training tomorrow. The Crown Prince is about to take the throne in regency tomorrow." he said.
"Oh, okay."
"We'll resume your training the day after tomorrow. I'll see you here then. Rest and regain your strength." Those were the last words he told her before he teleported himself back to his quarters. His mind filled with confused and unacceptable thoughts.
He was right. She was alive. And she was determined to kill him and make him pay for his sins.
His chest tightened with anger, guilt and fear but another emotion also mixed with them. It was strange because he has no name for it. He didn't even like it.
It felt like wonder, awe, a warm, alien feeling he has never felt before. Something that made him want her to be on his side. To be his, forever. Not as a slave, but as someone better than that.
What is this?
~=-o-O-o-=~
The next morning, the Crown Prince's four Generals waited for the heir to the throne to accompany him towards the throne room where he will be declared to take over the throne temporarily. As soon as Prince Vegeta walked out of his palace and made his way to the throne room where everyone waited for his arrival, the four Generals walked side by side behind him. They were greeted by Prince Tarble's group who were on their way to the throne room as well.
"His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince has arrived!" Nappa announced as Kakarot and Raditz opened the doors to the throne room for the prince to enter.
The throne room was empty. Not a single council member was inside to officially declare the regency of the crown prince. They only found a box of scrolls at the corner.
Despite the shock of everyone behind him, Vegeta remained stoic and calm at the situation at hand. He strolled regally towards the box of scrolls and read each of it.
He dropped each scroll on the floor with a displeased look on his face. The scrolls were written with poor excuses of sick leave. He closed his eyes and concentrated, stretching his ki senses all over the planet and immediately picked up the ki signatures of all members of the royal council. It made him more unimpressed.
"Your highness, should I remind them of the assembly today?" Nappa asked.
"Read the scrolls, Nappa. These pathetic old men are not going to come. Let them have their sick leave. For now, have everyone leave. I'll speak with Broly, alone."
Everyone bowed down and obeyed the orders of the crown prince. Once he was alone with the son of the Prime Minister, Vegeta turned his intense gaze towards Broly. "What do you know in this, Broly?"
"My apologies, your highness. My father didn't tell me anything about this… plan."
"Hmph! How dare your father make a fool out of me?! He was the one who suggested this, wasn't it?"
"Yes, your highness."
He looked down at each of the scrolls on the floor with narrowed eyes. Broly looked at the crown prince with a look of guilt and sympathy. It's true his father made a fool out of the prince and that he has no idea what his father had been planning all along.
Vegeta suddenly chuckled in a dark way, one that sounded cold and psychotic.
"I see. I see. So that's how you want to play, huh?"
He threw his head back and howled with a crazed laughter.
"Bwahahahahahahaha!" He laughed out loud. Broly just watched at the prince and thought he has finally snapped and lost his mind. "Funny, I have been anticipating this since the last time I talked with your father. Fine!" His grin turned completely malevolent. "If they wanted to play this way, then I'll join in.
"If they're not going to come in here to declare my regency, then I will come for them. It's all that simple."
Then he turned towards the doors and shouted, "Nappa! Summon Malaka before me immediately!"
