Everything Went Wrong
Chapter 19
Vegeta paused mid-flight and sneezed. It echoed into the air like a thunderclap and he was left dazed for a moment wondering what had happened. He growled at the thought; someone must have been talking about him. He continued his flight without hindrance, surveying the Namekian grounds under him. He would have to give the earthling some credit before he got rid of her; for a weak, fragile human she was smart, genius even. He recalled her muttering something about inventing things; he really wasn't listening to her. As much as he hated admitting it, she had escaped him using pure wits, something most people couldn't boast about. Vegeta was never one to let down his guard and because he misjudged her intelligence, she saw his weakness and grasped it, tearing it open like a fatal wound. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
He had smelled the smoke when he landed by their dwelling. There was a battle, or at the very least, Ki slung around. If there was a serious fight he would have sensed the spike in power with his new found abilities. If there was one thing he was thankful for the earthlings for it was the knowledge of Ki sensory without the aid of a scouter. Vegeta only hoped that the ones who had found her hadn't killed her, or worse, before he got to her that is. He had a sneaky suspicion it was none other than the Ginyu Force that had found her. The thought sent an icy chill down his back. For some reason, the thought disturbed him. He knew of Ginyu and his men, the way they treated women like toys and rags. He had seen what was left of the women when they were done, if they survived. Some of them were mangled beyond belief, left with just enough energy to maintain life and nothing more. Others never spoke again, and wandered the halls of the ship with vacant stares and haunted eyes. Yet, for whatever reason, no matter how much he hated the blue human at that moment, he couldn't bear the thought of her breaking like the rest of them.
Yes she defied him, brought him trouble, but there was a fire in her. It was odd to see a woman with such a thing. Under Freeza's rule women were submissive and subsidiary. There hadn't been a female soldier in Freeza's rule since the destruction of his planet. The earth woman had feared him, but for some reason she had grown at ease around him and her eyes lit up with something other than fear when he glared at her. She grew defiant and bold. A dangerous combination, one he didn't tolerate. At the same time he couldn't help the way her look sparked something in him as searing as hot iron on his skin. It was alarming, and he would be foolish to disregard what he knew as lust. Only the weak and imprudent ignored the obvious and lied to themselves. He was neither. He faced them off at full speed and conquered them. This was no different. After he retrieved his Dragonballs and destroyed Freeza, he would deal with the woman in whatever way he saw fit. He knew it wouldn't be hard. He recognized the look in her eyes when he kissed her. She desired him. He would be able to break her will and submit to him. She was his. He would own her.
For now he just had to locate her, which was difficult. Her Ki was tiny, and with his new found abilities still fairly new to him, it became obscenely difficult. He only hoped he wasn't too late. All at once a powerful Ki slammed into his radar with such intensity it nearly knocked him out of the sky. He turned to stare towards the east, where he felt the power spike. Vegeta instantly recognized it as Recoome, having fought him and witnessed his power first hand. It was…over-powering, and fighting a group of four other Ki's. Vegeta's eyes widened when he recognized them as the remaining Ginyu members. What was this? A revolt? Was the giant oaf actually fighting back? He knew the hulking colossus was dense, but he didn't believe he was that stupid. A smirk curled on Vegeta's lips and a laugh soon emitted from his throat. Maybe luck finally will turn in his favor and the Ginyu members will kill each other off for him. Not that he needed it now. After fighting Recoome, he could feel his strength double and he itched to try out his newfound strength.
He continued his bout of laughter until he felt the powers wane and finally drop. Unfortunately, he couldn't figure out which ones survived and which ones had perished. Not caring which ones had bit the bullet, Vegeta began flying once again, his direction unidentified. He would find her; it was only a matter of time. This game of cat and mouse would soon come to an end. The Dragonballs would be his.
Bulma stared blankly at the backs of the Nameks as they spoke to each other. Her mind was still trying to grasp what was asked of her, but she kept finding dead ends and holes in the concept. Nothing was making any clear sense and the Namekian Elder was giving her no comfort either. He offered her no more information that what she was already given, with no elaborations. He seemed to be just as clueless as she was. This frustrated her beyond comprehension.
"So a man who wants to gain immortality and control the universe is the only hope of salvation?" Bulma rose, exasperated.
"That is not what I had said," The Elder sighed, shaking his withered green head. "I made no mention of anyone wanting power. I only mentioned of a Legendary Warrior."
"Yes, who happens to be someone I have feared and unbelievably strong." Bulma rolled her eyes.
"You have feared many in your life, Daughter of Earth." The Elder reminded her and Bulma looked away, pointedly ignoring that stab to her ego.
"So are you saying it's not Vegeta?" Bulma huffed, still avoiding the Elder and crossing her arms.
"No I am not," He spoke. "I do not know of this man other than what your eyes have shown me. He has the potential however for great things."
"He's evil and power hungry." Bulma sniffed, refusing to believe. "How could he be destined for great things?"
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." The Elder recited.
Bulma turned to look at the aged Elder and sighed. "Fine, how can I find this hero anyway? And how will I know that it's him?"
"You will know, Bulma of Earth. But you must make haste; our time is slowly running out."
The woman in question sighed. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay I'll do it. Though, it will probably get me killed." She grumbled and began to walk away.
"Before we part," The Elder stopped her and Bulma looked behind her curiously. Her eyes widened as a large orange ball stood glimmering before her. She could see her distorted reflection in the alien stone. It was the Dragonball, the one she tried unsuccessfully to steal from Freeza.
"How did you—"
"Our people are very gifted," The Elder smiled, "And we can sense where are magic is present. Once the ball was out of the hands of the Tainted One, we only needed to call of it."
"You mean you can summon the balls at will?" Bulma stared amazed, taking the Dragonball in her hands.
"Not necessarily," The Namek frowned. "We are held by limitations and by laws. We cannot call upon the Mystical Orbs if they are in the possession of someone else, furthermore, they cannot be called with ill intentions. It is terribly confusing my dear, and nothing you should concern yourself with. Take it with you on your journey and bring forth the prophecy our Great Elder foresaw."
Bulma nodded her head and turned to leave once more, when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. Nameks' hands were clawed and their nails were black. It was rather intimidating to look upon. As soon as she felt the pressure on her shoulder Bulma immediately felt something wrong. She felt like her body was suddenly split apart and she was observing the things around her from a different view point. She was beside herself as visions and voices began filling her head. Her mind felt twisted and pulled, like someone had raked their claws over her mind and forcefully pushed things inside. It all happened in a matter of seconds, but Bulma would never forget that feeling for as long as she lived.
The hand left her shoulder and Bulma stood there in a daze, feeling suddenly light headed and collapsed onto her knees, holding her head as the world spun around her. She associated it to the feeling you get when you stand up too suddenly and became dizzy.
"Wh..what…?" Bulma called out helplessly. Her mind felt invaded and strange, something almost different, but the same.
"A gift." The Elder's voice rang over the confusion like a light tower to a ship lost in fog. "Our tongue will become useful to you along your journey. You shall need it."
"I…Thank you." The dizziness passed and Bulma was able to stumble her way back onto her feet. It was only then did she catch what she had spoken, and it was decidedly not her native language. She then realized that she had just had an entire conversation with the Namek Elder in the Namekian tongue without even realizing it. Bulma blinked.
Elder Lute smiled knowingly and wished her farewell, the other Nameks that had gathered around all bidding her friendly waves and smiles as well. Bulma nodded her head and turned to her capsules, pulling out another vehicle. It was her last one. Placing the newest Dragonball in the storage compartment, Bulma revved up and blasted off. She could find Vegeta; she had just the tool for it. Bulma pulled out one of her capsules and read the label she gave it.
'Scouter Model Z'
Her only problem was convincing Vegeta not to kill her.
A hard thing to accomplish, Bulma realized. As much as she thought and rethought about the upcoming confrontation, all her ideas always ended with her death. Bulma had tricked him, drugged him and then stolen the objects of his mortal aspiration. Vegeta was a murderer; he committed acts of genocide for the purpose of wealth and power. Convincing that someone, who you had so intimately deceived was next to impossible. Even her genius mind was having a hard time figuring it all out.
The only possible way she could conceive was to strike a bargain. She had learned that the Dragonballs can grant three wishes. Maybe it was possible for her to negotiate some form of agreement. The only problem was how to convince him not to kill her the moment he set eyes on her. It was a long shot, but Bulma was fairly sure of her abilities. Her father was a diplomat in some matters, and she had learned from him. She could only hope that Vegeta would listen to her.
Her scouter blipped with the varying signals across the globe. Having enhanced it, she was able to pick up every form of life on the planet no matter how insignificant the energy may be; furthermore, she was also able to safely register power readings at high levels without fear of malfunction. The first time the device nearly look off her eye when it exploded was all the incentive she needed to improve the model.
Freeza's power stood out the most from the bunch, like a lighthouse off the shore of an empty dark ocean. The reading was so overwhelmingly powerful, Bulma physically felt the effects. The astronomical number reached the million digits, and she recalled catching her friends still in the hundreds place. It was plain fearful.
Among them she had spotted Vegeta's. She knew it to be his because it was singular. Freeza was obviously the most powerful, but his men were always clustered together in groups of two's and more. Vegeta's power however was separate from the rest. His power was amazing, but sadly she realized it was not even a quarter of the number Freeza's power level was. Her heart felt heavy at the realization. She needed Vegeta to be strong enough to help fight Freeza, but now her spirit was crushed slightly. The Dragonballs really were her only hope.
Bulma came to a stop in front of the familiar characteristics of the cave she had been previously dwelling in. She knew without assessment that Vegeta had been there and probably ransacked the place. She ignored the mess she saw about, ignored the hot tub that seemed to call out to her, and stood her ground. Dropping the Dragonball by her feet, Bulma went to shed the uniform. First came off the hard plated armor. It fell heavy to the dirt below. Her gloves were removed next, followed by her boots. Bulma was left standing there in nothing more than the skin hugging material of her battledress. She read the readouts on the scouter, and Vegeta's energy was close by. She knew she could draw him in.
She went about her emergency capsules and found the first aid kit. Opening it her blue, determined eyes found purchase of the small flare. Steeling herself for what she was about to do, Bulma pulled it out and set it off. It hissed as it soared up into the sky, a skirting trail of smoke trailing behind. Bulma shut her eyes tight as she heard the loud explosion it made upon dispersing in the clouds. The seconds to follow were the longest moments of her life. Her heart was drumming faster with each breath she took. These could be the very last breaths she would ever take again. Vegeta wanted her dead, she knew this. She was risking everything just for the sake of what the Elder Namek had told her.
Bulma was not a religious person by any means, but as she tightened her eyes and bit her lips, her ears tracked the steady bleeping of her scouter as his energy began to approach, she did one thing she hadn't done since she was five.
Bulma prayed.