Everything Went Wrong
Chapter 6
They found the next ball in a small Namekian village, much to Bulma's surprise. She had first thought that the Namekians had hidden the balls outside their villages in order to prevent the fiendish from attaining their powers. As Bulma realized however, as she walked through the village, there was something terribly wrong.
Where should have been small huts and gardens, now lay only smoking ruins. Houses were steaming and destroyed, char markings around large holes she knew from experience was caused by chi blasts. The ground was leveled, crops burnt, and the most disturbing of all were the amount of bodies strewn mangled on the ground.
Bulma had to cover her mouth to keep the bile from rising. There was so many. Green figures in togas similar to what Piccolo adorn were scattered across the terrain. All had deep a violet liquid dripping from several wounds, blood dripping from cracked skulls and dismembered limbs. Their faces were frozen in expressions that read pain and suffering. No one was blessed with a quick death.
Bulma turned around, suddenly over-whelmed by the tremendous sight and smells that assaulted her. What she was seeing before her was barbaric and disturbing. This wasn't just murder, it was a holocaust. By her side she saw Vegeta step forward. Despite her, the Saiyan didn't seem at all bothered by the scene before them. He walked calmly through the village, stepping over cracked mortar and mutilated corpses casually, like he was used to such butchery, and Bulma had no doubt that was exactly the case.
Finally he seemed to stop and look around, as if suddenly aware of his surroundings. His carefully locked face surveyed left and right and viewed the village with a disgusted snarl. His eyes landed on her where they contrasted with her blue orbs. Then, his voice came as if he had heard her unasked question.
"Freeza." The word left his mouth with all the adoration as a wad of mucus would.
Bulma gasped at the name, and surveyed the dreadful area again. Her blue eyes suddenly grew wide as the meaning sunk in. All this pain, all this disaster, was caused by Freeza. Bulma was appalled. How could one being be so sick? Her eyes found a lowly body, it was small, that of a child. Its head was smashed in, its purple blood angrily spilling out and painting the ground.
"This…this is horrible!" Bulma voiced, forcefully removing her eyes from the little boy.
She heard the Saiyan sneer. "Compared to this, you must think I'm a fucking saint."
Bulma didn't say a word, for in fact, as much as she disliked him, he hadn't shone nearly the brutality to her as these innocents were dealt. Even when she witnessed the death of the blue man –Zarbon if she was correct –he hadn't been as brutalized as they had. Zarbon could fight back, while these poor people were defenseless against such adversity. Still, Vegeta didn't need to know how she felt.
"Is the Dragonball still here?" Bulma asked somewhat timidly.
"I don't know." Vegeta answered. "Why don't you check your locator device and see."
It was a demand, straight and simple and Bulma had no trouble following it. To her relief a little orange light began to sing on her radar, happily announcing its presence to her.
Bulma found herself smiling in relief. "Yeah, it's still here, about four meters in that direction."
Vegeta turned to where she pointed and began to walk to the waters edge, he peered over and spotted the orange ball through the clear waters. After he retrieved it, his face had that frightening smirk on it again.
"Freeza you fool, you couldn't find the Dragonball when it was right under your nose." He began to laugh, not a pleasant sound to Bulma. It was cruel and full of mockery.
He turned and faced Bulma, his smirk still in place, and looked at her differently then before.
"You have done well woman, locating the Dragonballs for me." He approached and Bulma stiffened, uncomfortable by the unfamiliar change in his tone. "I think compensation is due."
Bulma stared at him, wondering what exactly he meant. He stood directly in front of her now, his eyes locked intensely with her own. Did he plan to reward her efforts to locate the Dragonballs for him? Maybe he planned on releasing her. That thought made Bulma excited, and she couldn't help the small incline of anticipation well up inside her.
All too sudden Vegeta grabbed a fist full of her hair and roughly pushed his lips to hers. The kiss was brutal and almost painful. She could only muffle out her protests as his tongue forcefully pushed into her mouth. Then, just as quickly as it happened, he released her and she toppled over onto the ground.
Bulma wiped her mouth off with her sleeve and glared venomously at Vegeta who was licking his lips and looking thoroughly pleased. "How dare you!" She spat in anger as she stood up, never taking her furious azure eyes off him.
Vegeta only smirked triumphantly at her. "What did you expect? That I would release you of your duties?" Her eyes flashed and he knew that was exactly what she thought.
He chuckled scornfully and walked towards her, Bulma inching back as he advanced.
"Let go of me you pig!" Bulma screamed as he grabbed her and took off into the sky with the Dragonball safely under his other arm. As they soared through the sky, only the sounds of Bulma's infuriated cries and huffs filled the air.
Though the skies remained sunny, Bulma could instinctually tell that it was way passed sunset on her home planet. Her internal clock was counting down as heavily as her eyelids were soon drooping, and the woman had to more then a few occasions jar herself back into awareness; the good firm shakings and irritated shouts of the Saiyan carrying her helped to bring this into affect as well, apparently, he didn't appreciate being used as a pillow.
They landed suddenly, the effects of which nearly caused Bulma's stomach to rise into her throat. Glancing down at her radar, her brows furrowed when she noted they were nowhere near a Dragonball. Before she had even time to voice her confusion, a rough white gloved hand clasped around her mouth and a strong arm pulled her against his chest. He leaned against the closest towering mountain, her back held to his chest. Bulma's eyes shifted nervously to the Saiyan, and she doubted even if the hand holding her mouth was not present that she could even make a sound. His back was pressed against the rocks, his eyes, narrowed and focused, darted the corner and peered out at some unseen force.
Bulma heart began to thump wildly in her chest at his close attentive contact. She could feel the body holding her stiffen and tense, like a tight wounded coil about ready to spring.
"Keep silent." The words were spoken in no more then a harsh whisper and she knew with out asking that someone or something was nearby. His vigilance alarmed her more then his close proximity. Vegeta was trying to actually stay hidden, meaning the foe lurking close by was possibly more deadly then even Vegeta himself. That thought alone was enough to make Bulma nod quickly in compliance.
All at once Bulma could feel a rush of wind smack against her, as if a plane or a train just sped by. Instinctually Bulma looked up and caught the first few glimpses of a dot flying across the sky like a jet. The hand clamped around her mouth tightened as the coiled body of the Saiyan holding her tensed in anger.
Bulma took a brave glimpse at Vegeta's face and all at once she felt her throat constrict tightly. Vegeta's eyes were narrowed but oh, so enflamed. She could almost see the fire burning so intensely threatening to consume him. He must have had a lot of restrain to keep the fires from bursting free. His thin lips were drawn back in a snarl, giving her a glimpse of his perfectly white teeth. She watched as his jaw clenched, and a bead of sweat ran down the side of his forehead and down his cheek. Bulma began to feel suddenly light headed and woozy. His unnecessarily tight grip on her mouth was cutting off her oxygen, not to mention was getting down right painful. The arm constricted around her upper chest just above her swelling stomach (which she was somewhat thankful for, for had he grabbed any lower he would have noticed the hard density of her stomach).
If Vegeta was so worked up over some little dot in the sky (which she knew from growing up with her martial arts friends that dot was actually a person) he could only be the one he had referred to as Freeza. Bulma gulped down the tight ball of fear that rose in her throat as she remembered the devastation he caused at the Namekian village. When the dot was finally out of sight range, Bulma made a small moaning noise desperate to breathe in some precious air.
The reaction was almost instant, as soon as she familiarized her presence with her pathetic squeak, Vegeta released her immediately and she collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. By the time she calmed down and looked back at the Saiyan's face, he was still glaring at the sky, as if the little dot known as Freeza was still looming above the clouds and mocking him.
His facial expression for once didn't elude her. Where once she could only see a strong mask of cold-hearted detachment now showed hints of flaws. Between the growing cracks of his cold façade she could see the barest hints of deeper emotions seeping through. Anger was present, but not just the overbearing hatred that completed his ideal cold heartedness, but the kind that burned an image on one's soul, the kind that only forms when a great pain is inflicted. The kind of pain that manifests into the deepest places of your body and soul and slowly tears you apart from the inside out.
She could also see his fear. Fear was one of the last things she thought she would ever see in the great Vegeta's eyes. Escaping through the lapsing moment of his vulnerability she saw it in his eyes. Was he that afraid of Freeza? Bulma didn't know, but he didn't seem like the kind of man to fear something so easily. Maybe a fear of inner turmoil, Bulma's mind wracked. She always had a gift of reading people. Vegeta was a pride-filled warrior, one who never cowers in fear of a shadow of a being just because he is measurably weaker.
She could see it in his eyes, and she could all too quickly pick up on just a few hints of the inner workings of his mind. His mind was fighting off with itself, pride clashing with perseverance. She guessed he knew he wasn't strong enough to destroy this creature to whom he hated with such fervor, but his pride refused to let him believe such a thing. He knew he couldn't kill him, and the fear in that is what damaged his already bruised psyche and caused a whirl of conflict to his demented mind. Maybe, just maybe that was it.
She never expected to see any emotions on the cold blooded Saiyan's face besides bitterness and evil, but now –now, with one little flaw in his façade, she could see the flurry of emotions that no crazed, blood-lusting monster had. No, with the flicker of emotions, he almost looked–
'Human.' The small word ran echoes in her mind, but its meaning had a bigger impact on her then kick to the gut.
She may not have realized it, but at that moment, she no longer saw him as a monster. He was no monster, no mindless beast who only caused fear and destruction. She saw a man who had many flaws and unhealed scars. Monsters didn't have emotions. He had a heart that beat just like hers, he was made of flesh and blood, not some indestructible force, and most importantly, he felt emotions just like she did, even if he tried to cover them up. The fear of this man slowly began to dissolve the longer she contemplated these things, and the more she grew curious as to what hidden mysteries this man held.