Chapter 5

Bulma screeched and bawled against Vegeta's back as he flew across the sky. Her legs kicked furiously and her fists beat vainly against his strong armor-plated back. The fact that this was the same creature she feared to death moments ago hadn't crossed her mind. It felt as if a dam broke and all her pent up frustration and anger suddenly exploded in one gigantic eruption.

"You monster!" She screamed, hot tears flooding down her face like liquid fire. "You bastard!" Her body raked another sob as she beat her enemy against the back with all her strength, which, not surprisingly, had next to no effect on her capturer.

"Will you quiet down?" Vegeta growled over his shoulder. Even against her wild movements he hardly showed any effort to restrain her. "I left the boy alive didn't I?"

Bulma sniffed but her frantic bawling quieted down. Her struggling slowed and soon came to an all together stop. It was true, though he was beaten and bloody, Vegeta had left Gohan alive, if only to convey a message. Her tears were in reality, totally pointless. Throwing a fit and sniveling like a child was not nor ever the answer.

Bulma sniffled again, took a gulp and quieted down, then finally realized exactly who she was yelling at. She could hear Vegeta grumble something before slowly losing velocity. Bulma's clouded mind wasn't aware that they were approaching the ground until she felt the solid impact of their landing.

"What are we doing?" Bulma looked around as she was once again carelessly shrugged off his shoulder.

"If you must know we are taking a rest. All that incessant bawling of yours has upset my ears." He grumbled over his shoulder.

Bulma watched from her position on the ground as Vegeta took the Dragonball and placed it in-between some large jutting rocks, using them to successfully conceal it. To anyone flying over they couldn't make out the faint ball's bright surface even in the brightest hours of the day.

With the ball securely hidden, Vegeta turned on his heels and stared hard at Bulma.

"After we find the Dragonballs we shall bring them back here. You're going to help me find the remaining without anymore fuss. Understand?"

Bulma could only nod.

"Good." He nodded his head and headed toward her again. He paused in front of her. "Where is the next closest Dragonball?"

Bulma looked down at her dragon radar. "Th-there is a cluster of three of them about-"

"Freeza…" Vegeta growled viscously, causing Bulma to look up in alarm.

Something about the way he uttered the word, as if it were the vilest name in history, jolted her with a sudden eerie dread. His fists were clenching and his eyes narrowed hatefully at some unknown object. His teeth were gnashing together and that horrible growl left his lips.

Freeza… Where had she heard that name before? Bulma's eyes lit up. Wasn't he that man that Kuririn and Gohan mentioned about? The one that they said had an energy level that dwarfed Vegeta's? Bulma chanced a glance at Vegeta, her eyes bewildered at the sight of his obvious rage. An energy began to sparkle and zap around his clenched fists. His face contorted into one filled with rage and, even though she couldn't sense energy like the other Z fighters, she could almost feel the power he was emanating in the very air she was breathing. His muscles tensed and bulged under the alien spandex, and his whole body seemed to shake with power and dread.

How could there be someone stronger then that? Son-kun had hardly managed to defeat him and even then, the man kept bouncing back. How could there be a being out there that could make Vegeta edgy? But she knew, if this creature could make Vegeta uneasy, then he was definitely one-hundred times worse then Vegeta himself.

"Are- are you sure that it's him?" Bulma asked, half wishing that he was wrong. "Maybe you're mistak-"

"I know it's him!" Vegeta bellowed. The energies around him crackled. He turned his rage-filled eyes on her. Bulma shirked back at his outburst and mentally scolding her self for being brave enough to speak to him.

"That bastard…" He clenched his fists again and glared at the ground, his eyes losing focus as if he were reliving some old agonizing memory across his mind.

It was hard for Bulma's mind to comprehend; wasn't Vegeta working for Freeza? Kuririn said that Vegeta's armor matched that of Freeza's men, so didn't that logically mean he was working for him as well? It didn't make sense then, why would he be cursing his leader and illustrating such intense hate for him? As a matter of fact, that blue guy Vegeta killed mentioned something about Vegeta betraying their lord. Did that mean Vegeta betrayed Freeza and rebelled against him? Is that why he wanted the Dragonballs?

Things didn't add up, and Bulma had no intention of clarifying things with the Saiyan who looked about ready to kill anything that breathed the wrong way. She had every intention of staying alive through this. She didn't know how she was going to do it, she didn't know how long it would take, or what motives she would have to pull, but she was going to survive through this just like she had through everything else.

Carefully Bulma stood up, placing a careful hand over her bulging stomach. "The next closest Dragonball is north west from here. With your speed, we should get there in about fifteen minutes."

Bulma mentally patted herself on the back for not once stuttering through a sentence. She saw the Saiyan look at her again, his face once again changing into that blank look of cold indifference, before he nodded curtly and advanced towards her.

This time, Bulma took a step back and dared to hold up her hand to halt him. "I know you have to carry me, but can you not fling me over your back like a sack of potatoes this time? It makes me nauseous."

Vegeta snorted, but said nothing more as he approached and, thankfully, grabbed her to his side before blasting off. She was thankful for the armor he wore, as she felt her stomach smoosh against his own. If he was wearing any other type of clothing, he would have felt the unnatural hardness of her stomach against his body, and would know instantly that it was too solid to be a child. The dense material of his armor absorbed the impact the thick Dragonball would make and thankfully, kept her pregnancy an illusion.

They had landed not far off, on what looked like a barren island. Unlike the various masses of land she had experienced so far on the planet, none of them were as dry and fruitless as this one. Bulma took a few staggering steps onto the cracked earth. The land looked dead, spider web cracks framed ground, bold jutting rocks of monstrous proportions stared meanly around her, and to edge on her discomfort, a large eroded stairway sat bleakly in the middle of the island, leading down into the infinite corridors of darkness.

Bulma gulped down the tense dread she felt just being in such a place. It reminded her of an old horror movie, where the unlucky characters were about to walk head first into a creepy tomb that would ultimately lead to their inevitable deaths.

She took a hesitant step forward, staring at the stairs as if they lead to the gates of hell themselves. Shifting her gaze upward slightly, her blue eyes reflected the faces of the long podiums. An ugly sort of beast rested on each, their faces contorted into a grotesque form of a snarl. The nasty looking expressions on the beast's wore did little to settle her discomfort and Bulma faintly wondered why a supposed peaceful race would even consider creating such bloodcurdling manifestations.

"Move!"

The shout from behind by a certain Saiyan cause the already jittery woman to jump. She made a sound that resembled a pitiable apology, and quickly moved forward to the foreboding flight of stairs. Bulma approached the entrance warily, when her mind came to a sudden, though dreary conclusion;

Whatever was down the stairway couldn't be quite as daunting as the monster following behind each of her steps.

As her feet led her deeper and deeper into the dark recesses of the stairway, Bulma couldn't help but think how much this reminded her of a cheesy episode of the old series Tales from the Crypt. She could almost hear the thumping of the dreary sounding music that haunted each step she made through the dark staircase that lead to his torture chamber, and in her memory, her body tensed in waiting to hear the old Crypt keeper's shrill cackle that always sent shivers down her spine.

Bulma knew it was a stupid comparison, and all too suddenly she couldn't control the notion that slipped into her mind, that no victim from that show ever really came up alive in such circumstances –or at least, still partially sane.

However, having her mind on an old horror series that died in the nineties did help her forget about the daunting figure looming behind her like death itself. And it took no time for Bulma to deduce, that she would gladly take on the Crypt keeper's chilling company over the Saiyan's any day.

In reality, there was no harsh blood chilling music following her footsteps as she believed. All there was the tapping of their feet as they ascended deeper and deeper into what she appropriately dubbed the 'Crypt', and the faint echo of dripping water overhead. The vast looking stalactites caused her to be uneasy, so Bulma refused to look upwards, as if in fear that glancing at them too much would invoke their wrath and they would spear her.

As they ascended deeper, Bulma had no choice to pull out her flashlight, the darkness soon becoming so thick she could not make out her own hand in front of her face. This as you can guess, made it even harder for her to descend. The corroded stairway was cracked and uneven; leaving many gaps she could trip on and plummet the rest of the way down the flight. Then it happened, one small step onto a weak spot, and the step gave way. It crumbled under her foot, sending the rocks and debris clanking down the steps loudly. In her alarm Bulma tried to steady herself from tumbling over, but the noise alerted something else in Crypt and thousands of loud screechings filled the stairway. Her thought process kindly compared the screeching to the old Crypt Keeper's chilling laughter, and Bulma shrieked out in panic, lost her footing and stumbled down the stairway.

She howled as she made solid contact with the ground, thankful somewhat that the end of the stairway was not as far as she first thought. Gingerly the woman tried sitting up, noticing at least that her flashlight did not break. She winced when she felt her shoulder sting and burn.

"Pathetic." Came the harsh deep voice.

Bulma looked up startled, and was met with the face of Vegeta as he finished descending the stairway. His face looked so dark and sinister against the flashlights pale brightness. The light reflected off his face, and shadowed under his eyes and cheekbones, making him look very threatening and frightening.

The injured woman could not find her voice at all. Instead, she stared up into the menacing features of the short Saiyan before her. He stopped just close to on top of her, and stared down at her with his arms crossed. The darkness played tricks with her eyes and Bulma could have sworn she saw two black wings protruding from his back, and she imagined at that moment, that's exactly what the angel of death would have looked like had he come for her.

"Get. Up." They were spoken through clenched teeth and smoldering onyx eyes that seemed to sear into her very deepest places in her soul.

Bulma tried to stand, used the damp wall for support, inwardly cringing as her fingers slid across the wet surface. As soon as she put weight on her foot however, the woman gasped loudly. She had no time to grovel in her pain however, before a very irate Saiyan was pushing down her throat.

"Hurry and read out the locations for the Dragonball, girl." He demanded. "I don't want to waist another second down in this stinking rat hole than I have to."

'You're not alone.' Bulma thought to herself, taking one look around. She didn't want to be down here anymore then he did.

Bulma reached down and picked up her flashlight, one she was now eternally grateful she put into a capsule. Taking out the Radar, its creator pressed the tab, causing its green face to light up and paint everything in its radius a shining pale green.

"This way." Bulma's voice was small and quiet, as she slowly lead on forward into the accursed Crypt. To her surprise the Saiyan grunted and took the lead, and Bulma would have been lying if she said she wasn't relieved somewhat by it. She followed close behind as they approached passage ways and directed him in the proper direction, getting only a simple grunt as his single reply.

She was shocked that the Saiyan didn't seem to need her flashlight as guidance, seeing as he had almost bitten her head off when she offered him hers. How good was Saiyan's eyesight anyway? Even with the flashlight, Bulma had already stubbed her toe twice and he had yet to even falter a step, as if the room were as brightly lit as a house on Christmas Eve. Bulma sighed as she trudged on, trying to ignore her intimidating surroundings and the surly Saiyan in front of her. Pretty soon she had completely zoned out her surroundings, having envisioned herself soaking in a hot Jacuzzi, the feel of the water jets slowly relaxing away her stiff muscles. She was so far gone in her daydream; she couldn't even hear the Saiyan's foot steps ahead of her.

She never understood why the Namekians would have hidden the Dragonball in such a desolate place. When word spread around that there were evil forces trying to use the mystical powers of the Dragonballs, the Namekians devised a plan to hide the balls in hopes that they would never be found. At least, that's what Kuririn said their elder told him. In fact, now that she thought about it, hiding the Dragonball in such a place was actually quite ingenious. For sure, no one would have ever thought of stepping foot down into a decaying Crypt looking for a Dragonball.

For a moment Bulma wondered if this place was actually a Crypt after all. As much of the planet as she had seen –which was surprisingly small –she hadn't seen any cemeteries or mortuaries at all. Could it have been possible that they did in fact, bury people in creepy looking Tombs and Crypts like this one, and that she was in fact, surrounded by a bunch of dead, rotting corpses? A cold chill dripped down her spine at the thought and Bulma quickly shook herself of the terrifying thoughts. Instead she focused her attention to guiding the one force she knew was stronger then any dreadful dead body.

Only to realize he was no where in sight.

Bulma swallowed her pathetic yelp and ironically became aware how drafty and quiet the Crypt was… and how completely alone she was in the middle of it. The woman began to panic, fear racing into her heart causing it to begin to pick speed. She must have taken a wrong turn somewhere and was now left completely alone and vulnerable. She tried to calm her nerves, her genius mind working over her fear slightly and forced her to look around to see anything familiar she could backtrack to. No such luck.

She found herself only surrounded by darkness, the stench of stale air, and the sound of her own heart beating away at her rib cage.

Bulma back peddled until her back slammed against a hard surface. Her senses suddenly picking up every little detail of the grim place she was in. Paranoia took control of her mind, and each shift of wind, scratching echo, and faint fluttering caused her mind and heart to pound fiercely with terror. As if on cue, her flash light began to flicker, and her blue eyes widened. 'Oh, this is just so predictable.' Her brain screamed as the last remaining shreds of light died.

She beat the flashlight with the palm of her hand, trying to bring It back to light, but all attempts failed. She was about to give up and cast the useless device as far from her as she could, when it suddenly relit and shined into her face. She winced slightly, until the light permitted her eyes to be aware of exactly what she was leaning against.

Slowly Bulma turned her face to the side, her flashlight still poised unmoving in her sweaty grip, and stared into the face of a decayed scull.

Her shriek in terror bounced off the walls and echoed in the dark corridors. Bulma leaped from the corpse and ran as fast as she could away from it, only to come face to face with the opposite wall, and as her flashlight dropped to the floor in horror, it revealed more skeletal corpses on the opposing wall. She collided with them and they rained down upon her, as if to feed off her flesh and regain some of their vital signs. She frantically struggled against the knots of boney arms and sculls as they webbed around her. She continued to screech and howl, panic gripping her body like the dead skeletons hanging around her.

Bulma cried out as the things refused to let go, she jumped around, shook and grasped wildly at the decayed corpses in a frantic panic to be rid of them and to get out of there. Every where she turned, she saw a ghastly pale scull staring dauntingly at her, or boney limbs, still decaying with flesh around her. Each time she moved, she only collided with more walls and having more dead bodied thrown on her like she was a tasty morsel. Shrieking and crying, Bulma clawed for escape, howled for help, and screamed in fright.

Bulma felt a strong grip grasp her upper arm and she let out a panicked screech. Her mind was so consumed in her terror; she didn't notice the owner of the hand bat off her skeletal companions like house flies and roughly pull her free. She landed with a thud onto the person's chest, sobbing away in both relief and fright. Her mind didn't process who could have rescued her, she only knew that she was out of the corpses' hands and that she now more then ever, wanted to get out of there.

"Are you mad?" Came the aggravated tone from none other then Vegeta. He roughly pulled her off his chest like she was some kind of disease and glared angrily at her. "What were you thinking running off you stupid girl?"

Bulma stiffened and growled defiantly. "Stupid?" She glared at him, her close encounter paralyzing her fear of the monster in front of her. "I just got attacked by The Crypt Keeper and his zombie henchmen and you think I'm stupid?!"

His face displayed annoyance. "What I know is that I heard you screeching like an idiot because some rotting bones fell on you. I don't know who this Crypt Keeper is, or what the fuck a 'zombie' is, but you can sure count on joining them if you ever try disappearing like that again, got it?!"

Bulma shirked back as the hand that still held her arm tightened painfully. She understood his threat perfectly and nodded her head.

"Did you find the Dragonball?" Bulma asked.

"Yes." She only then noticed the large orange ball underneath Vegeta's muscular arm. "No thanks to you."

"Then can we just leave now, please?" Her voice was still shaky, she hadn't gotten over what had just transpired minutes ago, and she didn't think she would for a long time. All Bulma knew, was right now she would do almost anything to get out as quickly as possible. Fortunately for her, Vegeta shared her distaste for the place.

He nodded he head and, refusing to let go her arm, dragged her back the way they came and towards the steps that would lead them out of that accursed place. The only thought that ran through Bulma's mind, as they took their first step above ground and walked into sunlight, was that she was never watching another episode of Tales from the Crypt ever again.

A/N: I have to apologize for taking so long to update. I have been having electric problems because of issues that I don't feel like getting into, and my computer was out of commition to close to a month. Luckily the electricity is back on and running smoothly and updates will be more frequant. To celebrate, I added this extra long chapter (it was originally broken into two seperate chapters, but I thought you guys diserved this after patiently waiting so long) I also want to give a special thanks to earlschibiangel for agreeing to be my beta.

I want to shout out to my annon. reviewer Emily who has been continuosly supportive. Thank you doll!