Indebted
Mom, dad, I'm so sorry... But you will understand, right? I might never have this opportunity again!
Bulma tried to keep her mind focused and not think of the consequences of her actions for the moment. Chaos soon occurred when news got around the Prince had gotten heavily injured during his training. The Saiyans themselves seemed a bit taken aback, not sure how that could be possible.
Even Kakarot had an alarmed expression. Slowly walking away from her desk, wearing the scouter once again to use and avoid meeting any Saiyans on her way out. It was only a matter of time before they figured out, she had been the cause of this.
Bulma had installed a hidden self-destroying software should the training-bot lose during the training. The bot would attach itself to its opponent and with incredible explosive power would self-destruct. The chances of one surviving were slim. Even a Saiyan.
Bulma assumed the blast had been so effective it had also damaged the ship, hence why it could be felt so clearly. The idea was a result of her encounter with Raditz, during his attack she had noticed that in proximity she was able to inflict some damage on the Saiyan.
Though it was hard to hide a victorious smirk as she walked through the crowd, Bulma tried to keep her cool. People were already eagerly awaiting instructions to aid the Saiyans. This ship and its crew profoundly confused her. Half of them were slaves, the other half delighted by bloodshed. Yet the news caused them to forget this, and for a moment they seemed to be united in confusion.
Her petite frame compared to the others, made it easy for her to move around and walk by unnoticed. The Saiyans hadn't abandon their post but their attention was definitely diverted.
Hastily picking up her pace and entering the restroom, she passed a Saiyan who didn't even notice her presence. And to her surprise she wasn't alone in the restroom, a few others were trying to calm themselves down, spraying some water on their face. It made her aware how some were still constantly living in a state of fear and not everyone took honor and pride in working for the Saiyans.
A pang of guilt went through her chest for abandoning them but not giving herself the time to dwell on it all, she entered one of the toilets. She knew this one had a big roster that was a part of the ventilation system. There wouldn't be a lot of room, but she was just small enough to get in and worm her way to freedom.
Using a small laser-pen, that she always kept hidden and with her, she opened the roster up. For a moment she hesitated but shook her head at the thought of doubt.
Tiptoeing on the toilet, she barely got herself in, having to use arm muscles she rarely did.
It was hot in the narrow airduct and sweat made her hair stick to her face. Suddenly she could hardly breath, out of nervousness and the proximity.
Push through, Bulma Briefs, she sternly told herself.
Managing to move forward, though it did take her a while to get to another room but luckily for her, she found one free of Saiyans and got back out. Taking a deep breath, she tried to think of her next move. Her eyes went to the air vent she had just crawled out. I thought I could worm my way out of this, but it is like a labyrinth. I can't get out that way, it's too narrow to continue…
Taking a few deep breaths Bulma tried to think of something new. She hadn't thought of such a setback during her escape.
What am I doing?! I don't even know where I'm going! How could I just abandon mom and dad like that?
A part of her almost wanted to go back. But it's too late now. I can't. They probably have noticed I'm gone by now…
Suddenly instant regret followed, and it took Bulma all she had to just start moving again. Her body no longer co-operated out of fear. It would be all over for her if she got caught.
Cursing her impulsive personality and the brash decision to act up on it, she checked her scouter. Her heart sank when seeing the many power-levels surrounded her. Looking around in the room, she figured was still in the science department and this simply was another stockroom.
Instantly her mind thought back to her encounter with the Red Ribbon Army.
She had been younger and more frightened. More of a coward then she was today.
The countless deaths of innocents she had witnessed and the pathetic reason why they had done so, had changed her. And so, one day, instead of wanting to fulfil a silly wish, she became determined to stop them. Thinking back to the girl she had once been, she smiled triumphantly. It had been a hard lesson to learn but eventually she had managed to move her shaking legs in the right direction. Now her legs rarely shook in fear. She had always wished for a hero to come and safe her… But she had ended up being her own hero numerous times.
Bulma let out a deep sigh. But simply wishing for the organization to have never existed isn't an option now…
It wasn't just one man with a bunch of followers either. It was an army far superior than any on Earth.
An army of god-like strength creatures that showed no mercy to the weak. With the Dragon Balls in the back of her mind, she had always felt invincible. But now… It all deemed to be impossible. One wish wasn't enough. One could not make it all better like she had always thought.
Holding the Dragon Ball tightly in her hand, Bulma mustered up the strength to finally start moving again. She was probably in one of the wings that newcomers weren't allowed to enter. Figuring this meant she was closer to the core of the ship, this also meant that perhaps there were ways out in this section. This could mean I'm close to the hangar or a boarding ramp. After all, they need us because they obviously lack any intelligence to repair or upgrade their own systems… I still have a chance!
Noticing the hallway was clear of high power-levels, Bulma decided now was the moment to make a move. Peeking through before boldly entering the hallway, she noted she had been right. A few alien men were dragging a heavy cargo somewhere. Noting there weren't too many people around, she warily started walking and kept her eyes wide open. A ray of light was at the end of the hallway.
Suddenly feeling a light breeze on her skin, Bulma felt goosebumps all over. Taking a sharp breath when realizing this was Earth's wind and that the light at the near end of this long hallway was the sun shining, she is quickening her pace. Glancing around, she noted no one was paying much attention. Perhaps with the explosion of her training-bot some had been called for help, hence why this place looked abandon. All of what she was feeling, combined with the wide-open space she in, was suddenly overwhelming.
This ship is huge…
Looking up, this place alone had the ceiling height of a church. The cargo was stacked up so high that it made her head spin. Shaking the fear off, she determinedly started walking to the opened-up hatch. It felt so unreal to be so close to freedom without anyone's notice.
'I wouldn't do that if I were you.'
Bulma closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew that voice.
It was going too smooth anyway... A little voice scolded at her.
'I've been looking all over for you,' he said.
'I don't know why you bothered to run away. There is no escape.'
Bulma turned her head, looking at the Saiyan with the long black spikey hair. His brother had been alarming but him… She didn't quite know what to expect. He probably held a grudge against her for shooting him in the hand. Raditz didn't smirk or even show any sign of emotion.
'So, we meet again,' she simply said.
'Come here and you'll stay out of trouble,' Raditz said.
'I doubt that. Besides I'm so close…'
'I'll have to kill you if you set foot outside this ship,' he informed her. 'Which I wouldn't mind doing but it seems you are quite the inventor... Was it on purpose?' he curiously asked. 'That explosion?'
Bulma's eyebrows went up. So, he wasn't quite as stupid as she had thought. Tucking her hair behind her ear and shrugging, she pretended to not to know what he was talking about.
His eyes went over her, making her wince. Be strong, Bulma, she reminded herself.
Raditz had a strange look in his eyes and she could tell he wasn't quite as confident as last time she met him. Which was odd because so far, all Saiyans she had met had this air of arrogance around them that she couldn't quite stand.
'Well?' he yelled, getting annoyed with her passive stance. Most would crumble in fear and beg for forgiveness. She didn't even move a muscle. She had guts, he'd give her that.
Her scouter began beeping, suddenly noting his power was rising. …He had been hiding it!?
When he moved, she took a step back. His hand was aimed at her, ready to kill. Annoyed with her, he explained that she was lucky to still be alive.
'Any other would've been killed on sight, you are not unique in this universe! The next scientist in line is waiting, do you understand?'
'Calm down, Raditz,' Kakarot said, appearing out of nowhere. He placed a hand on his brother's shoulder while giving Bulma a smirk. Raditz stopped moving and lowered his hand.
Surprised at his sudden appearance, Bulma let out a gasp. Tapping the scouter, she noticed how his power-level was below 200, meaning he too could hide it!
Could all Saiyans do that? And if so, just how powerful were they?
Her heart sank. Without saying a word Kakarot disappeared again, only to stand before her in the blink of an eye. Before she could even register, he grabbed her by the wrist and said, with a false friendly smile, that he was going to escort her back to her station.
'I'll take care of this, Raditz. Don't worry,' he said to his brother, who didn't respond but simply kept his eye on Bulma.
Something fell very off with the way he said that. These two… What were they up to?
Before she could even think about it, she was dragged along with Kakarot to the opposite direction of the sun, back to the artificial light of the ship. Passing Raditz, he gave her a strange look. It was filled with hate and… something else. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. She could feel his eyes linger on her back for the longest time.
'You know that was quite foolish of you,' Kakarot started once they were walking alone.
Bulma tried to squeeze her wrist lose but he allowed no such thing. Walking at too quick pace for her too keep too, which he simply ignored.
'I'll cover for you,' he then said. 'But only so your debt is greater to me.'
'Why do you think I care how much I owe you? Maybe I'll—'you seem like an honorable woman,' he said, glancing at her. His dark eyes again seemed to be only amused by her sight. She gave him a glare in respond.
'What the hell is your game!?'
'Game?' he asked amused. 'I know you see us as beasts but believe me, Bulma, some of us have honor. Don't become a beast yourself.'
The words silenced her. The way he said her name annoyed her and suddenly she couldn't remember if she had ever actually told him hers or not. It also irked her how his words seeped in, making her wonder if she was indeed losing her own humanity. But why? Why would he do all this?
Odd looks were sending their way from everyone who they passed but Kakarot ignored them and kept walking.
'At least give me a reason to trust you,' Bulma bit out.
Before opening the door that led back to her prison, he halted. Pulling her closer, 'I'm all you have,' he simply answered.
The doors slide open and he let go of her wrist and walked in casually. Not having much of a choice, Bulma did the same and followed him.
It suddenly occurred to her she indeed should be grateful. Although she had no idea why he did all of this, she could've ended up dead mere minutes ago. Her regrets from earlier came back to remind her that she had gotten lucky and had gotten a second chance.
Ilkm, sweating like a pig, was screaming at a few of his assistance and informing the rest that indeed the ship had taken damage and they needed to help wherever and however they could.
'Cease all your projects, top priority is to repair the damage!'
'Briefs!' he screamed when noticing her. 'You stay put!'
Bulma wondered if he knew of her escape. He waltzes to her, his face in an angry scowl.
'I've been ordered to keep you here until the prince is recovered,' he snapped.
'I don't know what you did but it's all on you! I'm not taking the blame for this mess!'
'I don't think I ever asked you to,' Bulma said on a cold tone, remembering what one of his assistance had said about him taking credit for other people's inventions.
'Shut up!' he yelled. His beady eyes looked at Kakarot. 'Could you keep an eye on her?'
His tone was more polite and it was obvious the man feared the Saiyan.
'With pleasure,' he snickered while looking at Bulma.
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she simply walked to her desk and, as Ilkm had said it himself, stayed put. To her surprise, Kakarot followed but remained silent the entire time. All he did was glance at her from time to time. Hours passed and Bulma wondered just how long she would have to wait. She didn't allow fear to run havoc in her mind again and numbed herself to soly think of what needed to be done.
Feeling tired, Bulma laid her head to rest on her desk. Letting out an exhausted sigh, she glanced at Kakarot, who now seemed bored as well. They were all alone at this point, everyone else had been ordered to go to help fix the damage caused by the explosion or await in their personal quarters to rest so they'd be ready to switch shifts.
With tired eyes Bulma studied the Dragon Ball, counting the seven stars repeatedly, while wondering where Kami could be and hoping he was safe from the Saiyans.
Finally, the door opened. Kakarot got up from his seat and didn't even spare another glance at her, his eyes focused on the figure coming in. Intrigued Bulma's eyes went from him back to the door. A few Saiyans stood before the prince but he barked at them to move.
'Fools, leave!'
His voice was rough. His tone arrogant and rude. Bulma could feel herself tense up and tried to remind herself to stay calm. She had a few more tricks up her sleeve. Talking to Kakarot had reminded her of what Raditz once told her, they were a warrior race. She would have to exploit that in the best way she could.
Her eyes widened when seeing the prince. Suddenly the memory of him in that tank came back and she remembered that they, unbeknown to him, had already met once before.
He wasn't quite as tall as the other Saiyans to her surprise but his aura… it was far more intimidating than any other. Her eyes quickly went to the scouter on her desk before looking back into his dark eyes. He smirked when seeing her making her halt her movements.
'Prince Vegeta— 'Leave, Kakarot, I do not feel like dealing with you today.'
Kakarot didn't seem too taken back, as a matter a fact Bulma could tell he had anticipated the reaction. He only gave the prince an amused look and nodded but not before mockingly telling him he was glad to see him well.
'You had us all worried there for a moment,' Kakarot said.
The man remained silent, only giving him a stern look of disapproval. Crossing his arms, he waited for Kakarot to actually obey the order and leave. The Prince and Kakarot exchanged a peculiar look with one another and Bulma realized these two were not on the best terms. The animosity between the warriors made it hard to breath, and for a moment Bulma thought she'd be witnessing a gruesome battle between the two but Kakarot bid her goodbye and left without looking back.
The prince, annoyed, asked her with a snarl who she was.
'Bulma Briefs of Earth,' she simply answered, trying not to falter even though he had just yelled at her and his presence was quite intimidating. However, she wouldn't back down now.
And besides if he was annoyed with Kakarot, he didn't have to work it out on her.
Stepping towards her, Bulma took him in. His face was stern, posture straight. A man with a lot of proud. His armor was different from the other Saiyans, probably because he was royalty. The closer he came, the more she could feel the alarm bells ringing inside to start running. Balding her fist and defiantly keeping her chin up and posture straight, mimicking him in a way, she fought the feeling off. Her eyes stayed on his and that seemed to be something he could appreciate. Though she wished he'd stop coming closer.
'Most don't live to explain themselves,' he started, at this point he stood on the verge of invading her personal space.
'Excuse me?' Bulma asked, genuinely confused.
'You tried to kill me,' he smirked, realizing his presence was having an affect on her.
'I did no such thing,' Bulma answered with a stern voice. 'I simply did what was asked of me.'
'Is that so?'
'Well, from what I've heard, you are the prince of a warrior race. And your main goal is to become the very strongest, is it not?'
His dark eyes stayed on hers, the annoyance from earlier had vanished but to her dismay he held the same amusement in his eyes that Kakarot had when looking at her. He looked her up and down and when she followed his eyes, she realized her grey jumper was rather dirty from crawling through that air-vent. Trying to hide that this was something that embarrassed her for some reason, she crossed her arms and gave him a frown. The corners of his mouth only went further up.
'I believe you were explaining yourself to me,' he said.
Not wanting to lose her temper at his behavior, Bulma took a deep breath and nodded in agreement, getting back to her train of thoughts from earlier. Use his pride against him…
'I figured it would be rather insulting to not give you the very best of my capabilities. I apologize for the harm I've caused you; I suppose I just… overestimated you.'
He stayed silent and his face remained unreadable. Her mocking little undertone hadn't gone by unnoticed and for a moment it looked like he was going to strike her, but he then just laughed it off.
'And I was told Earthlings were nothing interesting! Just a bunch of pathetic puny little creatures…'
Aggravated by the insult, Bulma couldn't help herself.
'Well, it's those puny little creatures you have to worry about,' she smiled mockingly, 'it's those who get you when you least expect it!'
His laughter faded, seemingly ignoring her last comment. His eyes went over her desk. Bulma cursed for having the Dragon Ball out in the open when seeing his eyes linger on it.
'Woman, I demand you to make more of those training-bots.'
'Of course,' Bulma spat. As if she had any say in the matter!
When his white gloved hand reaches out for the Dragon Ball all the anger evaporated and fear filled her heart. Noticing her intense stare, his eyes went from her the Dragon Ball and back to her. He had noticed!
'And what is this?'
'Nothing,' Bulma said all too quickly, making her want to kick herself for falling out of character so easily. He, out of all people, could not know what the true power of the Dragon Balls was!
'Just trinket from home. It brings me luck,' she added a shrug to emphasize its meaningless, but he simply smirked at her explanation. Placing the ball back down while his eyes went over the messy desk.
'And how lucky you have become,' he said.
He turned around and suddenly Bulma realized how close they had gotten. Though it had been her who had crossed the line by taking a step towards him when he had reached out for the Dragon Ball. She had done so without thought.
Now it looked as if she was invading his personal space and by the look on his face, he didn't seem to mind. As a matter of fact, he found it completely and utterly amusing. Which made her feel like a fool. Feeling heat rise to her cheeks, Bulma tried to remain her composure.
'So, woman, you are to make plenty more of those. And you better keep me surprised…'
'Or else?' Bulma blurted out, absolutely hating the man before her. This was the source of her agony.
'Or else you'll end up regretting it,' he hissed, now getting annoyed with her rather bold attitude.
Understanding suddenly she was indeed playing with fire, she reluctantly bowed her head politely and stayed silent. Unexpectedly he grabbed her chin and made her look back up. Her blue eyes widened at his intense gaze.
'Do you have any idea how lucky you are to still be breathing, woman?' His low voice made the hair on her neck stand up. Swallowing her fear, she did her best to answer him.
'I-I'm telling you I didn't mean for— 'Your father begged us for help, promising you were of valuable essence to the science department. I could've just as easily ignored his request.'
This time the words silenced her completely, her mind stopped working. Regret, fear and uncertainty made her immobile while the image of her desperate father haunted her.
'Behave appropriately and you just might live through this and have somewhat of a decent life despite the pathetic race you are from.'
To her surprise his voice sounded genuine, as if he was indeed meaning well and giving her good advice.
'Just this once I'll let this incident pass and pretend to believe your lie but you,' bringer her face closer to his, making her think her heart will burst through her chest any moment now, 'will never dare to think of betraying the Saiyan Empire again.'
'You owe me your life,' he reminded her. 'This means you aren't just like any simple servant. You are indebted to me, do you understand, woman?'
Thanks for reading and all the lovely reviews! I hope you enjoyed this extra-long chapter!