Everything Went Wrong

Chapter 8

Bulma stared at the Saiyan in confusion.

"The what?"

Vegeta growled, teeth and fists both clenched. His eyes continued to stare unfocused on the ground, refusing to meet her questioning gaze.

"The Ginyu Force." He repeated forcefully.

A wave of anxiety hit her as she took in Vegeta's reaction. She had only seen this kind of response when Freeza was mentioned. This however, was more of a dread then a fear.

"I don't understand."

"They are Freeza's personal army." Vegeta grit out. "They are his most powerful elite fighters in his entire Empire, only ever brought into battle when Freeza has a particularly hard time."

"Are you sure it's them?" Bulma asked. "Maybe it could just be something else…"

"No, it's them." Vegeta interrupted. "There are five of them. I can feel them getting closer, and there power levels are astounding." His fists clenched again.

"Damn you, Freeza…"

Bulma took a gulp and took a nervous step away from the Saiyan before her. Whoever these Ginyu people were, couldn't be that awful, right? Vegeta was one of the most powerful people she had ever met; for sure he could take on these creatures. Bulma might not have cared if Vegeta got himself killed, but right now he was the only means of defense she had.

There was a sharp sound coming from Vegeta and Bulma turned to see him staring up into the sky. Bulma followed his vision and gasped when she saw five spheres falling from the green skies like meteors. After a few seconds loud crashes were heard even from their area and the ground rumbled in outrage under her feet.

"We have to hurry now!" Vegeta bellowed running towards her, the Dragonball under his arm. "We have to find the remaining Dragonballs quickly!"

"But that's impossible!" Bulma squeaked in panic. "Doesn't Freeza have three of the Dragonballs? How are we going to get those with those Ginyu guys there!?"

She heard Vegeta growl loudly. He grabbed her anyway, and with a diminutive squeak from Bulma rocketed off the ground, a crater in the earth forming from the blastoff.

"Hey! Where are we going?" Bulma yelled.

"We have to get as far away from them as possible." Vegeta grit. "They can sense power ratings with their scouters and while I can hide mine, you cannot. However pitiable it is, they will pick it up since we are so close by and I don't feel like being caught because you can't mask your energy."

"It's not my fault!" Bulma glared at Vegeta. "If you didn't kidnap me in the first place, you wouldn't have this problem!"

"Shut up!" Vegeta roared.

Vegeta lurched to a stop so suddenly Bulma felt her stomach slam into her skull. Her eyes momentarily crossed as the nausea overcame her. An unpleasant groan fell off her lips. Shaking her head to relieve the queasiness, Bulma glared angrily up at her captor.

"Why the hell did you--!"

There was a deep-throated chuckle from in front of her. It was cracked and jagged, and rough like sandpaper. She cringed inwardly. That was not the same sound Vegeta made when he laughed manically…

"Well, what did we find here, boys?"

There was now a voice that matched the terribly crackling laugh. It was disgusting sounding, like there was a clot of phlegm permanently stuck in his throat as he spoke. How did someone get in front of them so fast? Dreading what she was about to do, Bulma lifted her head and stared at the painful sight her vision offered.

Purple, the thing that was talking was purple, Bulma noted. Her teeth ground together to keep from letting out the sickening sounds that fell on the tip of her tongue. It was hairless, two horns sticking out of his skull, which was much larger then any humans. There were veins straining against the skin of his skull, poking out in a disgusting web-like pattern.

There were people behind him. Tallying in her head she counted five in all. Bulma cringed. The Ginyu Force? They were all as sickening looking as the previous. The tallest one was blue, and reminded her of a salamander for whatever reason. Another was mostly humanoid, if it wasn't for his colossal size. He looked rather dopey; a peanut shaped head, and a Mohawk of messy orange. The other two were small, even compared to human standards. One was a shade of red, with long white hair and the other was…she wasn't sure. A four-eyed frog? She shook her head. For Freeza's personal army, they sure looked more fitting to be a circus attraction.

"Ginyu… what the hell are you doing here?" Vegeta growled, addressing the purple one, who must have been the leader.

"Well, Vegeta how nice of you to ask… Men!" The disgusting voice cackled. He turned his head and addressed his men with a nod. The all jumped into place, shocking Bulma even further when they all started striking ridiculous poses.

"Guldo!"

"Jiece!"

"Recoome!"

"Burter!"

"Ginyu!"

"And together we are…The Ginyu Force!"

…yes definitely the circus.

Vegeta seemed just as speechless as she did. There was a hint of annoyance in his gaze though, almost as if this was not the first time he had seen it, but found it no less irritating.

"Freeza called us personally. He was getting tired of threatening the Namek trash for the Dragonballs and chasing after you. And I see you must have known, since you already brought one of the Dragonballs to us!"

Vegeta only growled.

"But Ginyu, look!" Came the voice of the red one. How the hell did he have an Australian accent? Her thoughts broke when all eyes fell on her.

"So who's the dame Vegeta?" Came the snickering of the dopey one.

"Yeah, how did someone like you get with a sweet little filly like her? I don't think I had ever seen you with a girl before, Vegeta. All the boys always figured you swung the other way!" The group laughed at their leader's remark.

"Yeah!" Jeice said, as they all continued to laugh. "And look! He even got her pregnant! I knew he was up to something more when he went to Earth!" They screeched in laughter at Vegeta, who was eerily silent during the whole act.

Looking nervously to her side, Bulma gulped when she noticed the rather large bulging vein on Vegeta's forehead. His teeth were gnashing together and the arm holding her to him was beginning to get tighter and tighter. Bulma suppressed a small 'eep' when his eyes, painted red with fury, rose to stare murderously as his enemies.

Then it was gone. All the look of malice fled his face and was replaced with a look of mild amusement. Bulma had to blink to make sure she saw correctly, and had not imagined it at all. How did he do that?

"Well Ginyu, at least I can find a woman who would consent to baring my offspring." It was Vegeta's turn to smirk. "The only women you can get willingly are the ones that make ten credits an hour! Even then, I hear none of them are nearly as satisfied when they're through, not that I'm surprised. At least I'm pleasing to the eye."

Their laughter died and they glared hatefully at Vegeta. Ginyu growled and flew forward slightly, locking eyes with the smaller warrior in anger.

"Listen here, Prince Vegeta. You know you are absolutely no match for me and my men, so why don't you just give up the Dragonball," his eyes darted to Bulma and a purple tongue darted out to moisten his lips, "and the woman and we might let you live."

The arm around her tightened possessively. "No deal." He replied quickly. "The Dragonball and the girl belong to me. Why don't you just run back to Freeza like the lapdogs you all are."

"As I recall Vegeta," Ginyu growled. "You used to be one of those 'lapdogs'."

"Yes, that was until I realized how much Freeza was holding me back. My superior Saiyan strength was wasted serving Freeza, and soon I will rid the universe of his pitiable presence, along with all of you!"

Another loud round of guffaws echoed in the air. Ginyu and his men threw back their heads and bellowed loudly in laughter.

"You crack me up, Vegeta. But there's still no way you could ever match Master Freeza's power. You're nothing but a weak little monkey pest, that's exactly why Freeza wiped out your pitiable race from the universe."

Bulma gasped slightly, unsure if she should trust the words coming from the enemy. However, when she stared into the inflamed eyes of Vegeta, she knew undoubtedly he was speaking the truth. Freeza destroyed his planet just like Vegeta came to do to Earth.

"You can try to act as tough as you want, but the truth is, you were weak. That is why Freeza was able to destroy your planet, because you were too weak to stop him. And now, you are still too weak to avenge them. Don't you see it, Vegeta? You're nothing but a failure. A failure to your race, and a failure as a warrior."

Vegeta was absolutely livid. Bulma wanted nothing more then to run as far away from Vegeta as she possibly could. The look in his eyes dropped a notion of fear in her that she had never felt before. He looked frightening, even worse then when she had first seen him. She could almost see his eyes glowing red in rage. The words; Kill! Burn! Maim! Swirling in his mind and letting little else dissuade him.

The Dragonball slipped from his arm. Bulma watched frighteningly as it ascended onto the ground below, almost in a blur of slow-motion. His free hand clenched and before Bulma could even voice a word, lunged forward. Bulma left her lungs somewhere behind them as Vegeta rocketed forward, raising an angry fist and striking the purple alien right in the face.

The others around them looked surprised by the sheer amount of anger and power he possessed, even more when he came reeling back and landed another blow to the face of his opponent with the sickening sound of a fist hitting flesh.

Ginyu looked more then phased by the on-coming attack made by Vegeta, as he grabbed his abdomen painfully and stared at him with a mixture of surprise and confusion. Vegeta landed shortly after, dropping the hindrance in his arms that kept him from fighting at this true capacity.

Bulma grumbled as she was again shoved off of Vegeta carelessly. Surely, how could he treat a woman like that? Bulma bit back voicing her anger, knowing right now would be the worst possible time to yell at the maddened Saiyan. Instead, she crawled her way over to the Dragonball.

"I'm surprised, Vegeta." Came Ginyu's voice as he lowered from the sky. "You truly have gotten stronger then we last saw. You still can't take all five of us on." He said arrogantly.

Vegeta growled, shifting into a fighting stance she had seen time and time before.

"Hey Ginyu, let me have a shot at Vegeta." It was the dopey one, and he sounded just as dopey as he looked, as if is his tongue was too big in his own mouth.

Ginyu chuckled. "Alright then, knock yourself out."

Vegeta sniffed. "Fool."

They engaged in battle, and Bulma couldn't tell you who was winning, as her eyes could not follow their movements. Every now and then they would pause for a second when contact was made, and a grunt in pain was filtered into the air. She did not however, miss the torpedo of navy blue and white that rocketed into the ground near her and caused rocks and debris to come flying in her face. Shielding her face, she saw Vegeta pull himself out of the remains of a boulder. His armor was cracked and broken in some places, places on his alien suit were ripped and angry blood dripped from his skin.

His face was bleeding, one eye almost completely swollen shut. How could so much damage be done to him so quickly? They were only fighting for a few minutes. Looking up, she held in a surprised gasp to see his colossal opponent hardly branded a scratch. His uniform was torn in some places, but he hardly looked like he was even breaking a sweat.

She heard Vegeta growl and blast off again, fists raged and locked onto the giant man. She squinted her eyes, trying to follow the quick throwing punches and kicks, but could only make out blurs of colors and sounds. She finally gave up on it, promising herself that if she ever got home, she would learn how to keep up with this.

There was a flash of light and the woman looked skyward. Her blue eyes widened when they fell on Vegeta, his hands connected in a similar pose she had seen Son-kun and the others do before preparing the Kamehameha wave they were so fond of.

"Gyarriku Ho!"

A whirr of light gathered into his palms and shot forth in a burst of energy. It lead with a train of light behind it smack into the towering warrior, engulfing him completely. The brightness became too much for her eyes so she closed them, and turned her head away. When she felt the light fade, Bulma opened her eyes to see the monstrous damage caused. The ground was cratered like a train had burst through, leading up to the calamity of rocks that collapsed from a nearby mountain. The giant warrior was nowhere in sight. Bulma inwardly cheered in victory, both relieved and impressed by the massive display of power shown by Vegeta.

He was left gasping there, suspended in air, but looking thoroughly pleased. He shifted slightly as he landed on the ground, staring up into the faces of the remaining Ginyu Force in sheer arrogance.

"So much for him." Vegeta smirked. "It seems you're going to need a new member for your ridiculous cheerleading choreography."

Ginyu only answered with a knowing smirk, one that unnerved her. Both she and Vegeta both gasped when there was movement to their left. Rocks snapped at each other as they rolled off the body of the Ginyu force member as he pulled himself free. Bulma could feel dread wash over her as he stood there, looking unshaken in the least by Vegeta's mega-sized blast.

'How could he have survived that?' Bulma panicked, letting her eyes stare over his ugly form. He was standing in another stupid looking pose, even when his armor and hair were completely vaporized and steaming.

"Impossible!" Vegeta stammered, taking a step back in shock.

The tall one laughed and opened his mouth wide. For a moment she thought he was going to say something, until a light began to grow from down in his throat and shot out of his mouth. To her shock, she realized that the such a blast would vaporize her if he unleashed it so close by. Bulma squealed in fear, blocking her face as the blast grew closer. There was no way she could dodge the blast even if she tried.

Just as she thought she was going to be blown to pieces, she felt strong arms secure around her and a gust of wind as they took off. Opening her eyes, Bulma looked with a gasp at the face of the man that had rescued her. Vegeta was staring at Recoome with obvious hate, a growl rumbling in his throat. He was carrying her bridal style. Bulma felt an unknown feeling in the pit of her stomach, and a clenching in her throat. He saved her…

Her hand rose by itself and caressed his cheek. His eyes widened and immediately snapped to her. She could only smile and stare, unable to hide her enthrallment of staring into his bottomless eyes. His eyes studied her own with a mixture of shock and confusion, his mouth unable to even voice his obvious perplexity. Her innocent gesture no doubt left him bemused as well as her, but she couldn't deny the sudden spark she felt shoot through her at the simple contact. Where his cheek lay against her hand spread a warmth throughout her body she couldn't explain. And his questioning eyes, so black and consuming, sucked her in and swallowed her whole. She couldn't look away, as his smoldering gaze left her speechless, yet alit a fire in the pit of her stomach she was left wondering if she really wanted to be put out.

The tender little moment was shattered by the shrilling sound of a mocking laugh. The grip on her tightened as she saw a blast of light shoot at them. Vegeta only had time to turn his back to it to shield the package in his arms, unable to get away fast enough. The brunt of the blast made solid contact with his back. Bulma heard his garbled gasp and cry of pain as his armor was burned away and part of his back as well. He fell to the ground, his hold on her slipping and she plummeted with him. Fortunately the fall wasn't large and he hadn't fallen on top of her. She landed with an 'oof' but cringed when she saw Vegeta land on his stomach, his back sizzling, pieces of his armor melted against his burnt skin. He wasn't moving.

There was laughing overhead and Bulma took her terror stricken gaze onto the five members floating above them.

"Why I do think you killed him Recoome, or came pretty close to it." Ginyu laughed. Bulma had the sudden urge to scream at him.

Recoome laughed. "Yeah, I nailed him head on with that blast. Most would have been vaporized on the spot, stubborn monkey."

Recoome landed a few means short of Bulma, and she let out a shriek in terror, unconsciously crawling her way closer to the steaming body of Vegeta. He leaned down and picked up the discarded Dragonball and hefted it under one of his bulky arms. Then he stared at her, his mouth twisting into a grin of missing teeth.

"You sure are pretty, girly." He said. Bulma tried to stand to run away, but couldn't find the strength in her legs to do so. Instead, her hands shakily began to tap on Vegeta's shoulder, desperate to wake him so he could defend her. He stirred and moaned in pain, shifting slightly but made no move to get up. Bulma gulped and turned to the five men.

"Looks like he's still alive after all." The red one said.

Recoome shrugged. "Bah, he'll die eventually, probably will bleed to death." They all shared a laugh and began to rise in the air. Bulma sighed in relief as they seemingly forgot about her.

"Hey, what about the girl?"

Bulma's back went straight.

They all stared at her and Bulma closed her eyes, silently cursing her fate.

"Nah, just leave her. The monkey has already touched her and I don't want to catch any diseases."

With that said they all took off with their Dragonball into the sky. Bulma let out a relieved sigh and rubbed her bulging stomach. This was twice the ball had saved her life.