Disclaimer: Still don't own Dragonball Z

Chapter 19

Flee

Gohan stared blankly at the screen in front of him, wishing that it was all a bad dream, that none of this was true. But it was. It was there before him. The image of his mother, handcuffed, being dragged away by soldiers, along with Bulma and the pair being tossed literally into the back of trucks and being driven away. The image changed. They were showing it again. His hand left Goten's sleeping head and he ran it through his hair. How many times more were they going to show this? The moments when the soldier's strange bullets had hit his father. He had been floating high in the air above Capsule Corp when the bullet had hit him in the shoulder. He had jerked and frozen, his hair changing from the golden colour of his Super Saiyan form back to its usual black, his eyes returning to their normal colour too. Then Son Goku had started to fall from the air, crashing into the ground. He was the last to fall.

Vegeta and Tarble had already been on the ground when they were hit and were already surrounded by soldiers when Goku had fallen. It was what had happened next that broke Gohan's heart. He watched the footage of his father trying to stand up. He couldn't even get up off his knees. All his strength was gone. Something terrible was hidden in those bullets. Gohan couldn't sense his father's ki anywhere. He watched as the soldiers lifted Goku up by his arms and threw him into another truck, along with Vegeta and Tarble. Whatever was in those bullets, it drained the men of everything that made them who they were, leaving them weak and helpless. Goten was just beginning to stir on the sofa next to Gohan as the programme returned to the news studio.

"It has been revealed by World Army officials that while three targets were apprehended, five more escaped. They have been identified as popular singer, Apple Vee, or Appura Vegeta, her fiancée Son Gohan, their younger brothers, Trunks Brief and Son Goten, and their infant son, Son Kabu," the reported sat behind the desk said, "If anyone has any information on the fugitive aliens whereabouts, they need to call the number on screen."

Gohan felt sick. These soldiers had come into his home and ripped his family into pieces. His mother was imprisoned, along with his father. His mate's family was just as broken. Appura. She had broken into tears at the sight of her father being felled. She had compared it to seeing a superhero losing their powers; it was like he wasn't her father anymore.

"Gohan, I don't understand," Goten said, pulling on Gohan's sleeve, "What did we do that was so bad? Why were those soldiers trying to hurt us? And what have they done to Mom and Dad?"

"I don't know," Gohan lied, his voice hoarse, "I don't know what we did to make them fear us." He hated lying to Goten. He knew damn well what they had done to make the soldiers do what they did. They existed. They had killed Cell, they had saved people from falling buildings, displayed their strength over the years. The human race feared what they did not understand, and they did not understand that the Saiyans weren't here to hurt them, but to live here in peace and quiet. The humans were scared, and now they were hunting down a young family and two little boys because of what they were.

"Gohan?" Goten questioned.

"Go back to sleep, Goten," Gohan said, his eyes not leaving the screen as the images of their faces appeared on the screen. There was a live video feed coming from outside Capsule Corp. The soldiers were still there and he had just seen Videl.

Two weeks later…

Vegeta hated this feeling. Not being able to crush these human maggots into dust, teaching them a lesson for disrespecting the Prince of All Saiyans. He could barely stand and walk now. Daily doses of that pink liquid kept them unable to channel their ki, unable to access it and their Saiyan strength. Daily doses of humiliation as he was pinned to the ground so the men in white coats could stick that needle in his neck. He knew Tarble and Kakarot were struggling just as much as he was. Kakarot was too weak to even struggle away from the needle that he feared so much. There was a klaxon and their door began to slide open. Odd, the dose was not due for another ten hours by his reckoning; maybe they were upping the dose in case the Saiyans bodies began to fight back. Six soldiers walked in and stood two by each Saiyan.

Then the Satan girl walked in. Her uniform indicated her recent promotion. Vegeta barely suppressed a growl at the sight of her. He had seen her at the house, seen her with the soldiers that had been firing at them. Damn her! She was supposed to be their friend! She had come by to try to apologise, to explain, and to plead with them. Vegeta had managed to summon a smirk when even Kakarot had rolled over on his bed to face away from her, leaving a hurt expression on the girl's face. Even Kakarot, the only Saiyan with a heart bigger than his stomach, couldn't forgive her for what she had done. Leading a team into the house, telling them about the Saiyans abilities, their numbers and even how to hack into the houses security systems.

"Vegeta, Tarble, Goku, I've been told to escort you to see General Greed," she said, staring at the blank wall ahead of her. The cell was plain with white walls and a grey reinforced steel door at one end. It had four green beds in it. Clearly they had been planning to hold Gohan in here as well.

"Stand," the girl snapped when none of the Saiyans moved. They had worked out how to use their muscles and slowly regained the ability to walk over the last few days and she knew it. Vegeta had seen her watching them through the grate on the door.

"I said, stand!" she barked and with that each soldier grabbed an arm and yanked the three Saiyans to their feet.

"Good," said Videl, her voice shaking slightly, "Now, follow me." She turned on her heel and marched out the room. Reluctantly, they followed. She led them down the hall; they could hear Bulma and Chi-Chi yelling at someone in the distance. Vegeta smirked when his wife's voice became even more audible. Someone had displeased her and she was making sure they knew it. The walk seemed to take forever but Vegeta knew they were merely moving from one side of a building to another. He could tell by the windows. This place, their prison, was in the middle of a city, disguised as an office block. No doubt the humans thought Gohan and Appura would begin tearing military bases apart looking for them. But for two weeks, there hadn't been a peep out of the pair, or the younger boys. They were being sensible and lying low. They finally arrive at their destination, a room within the middle of the building. Vegeta could already tell there would be no windows in there. Videl swiped a card on a panel next to the door. There was a beep and the door opened. She pushed the door open but did not enter. "Go in," she said. Vegeta felt a prod on his back and stumbled forward. Kakarot and Tarble were pushed into the room after him and the door quickly slammed shut and locked.

Vegeta looked around. The room seemed massive, but his view was probably skewed by the nine by six of his cell. It was dark, but light was coming from somewhere. Vegeta looked up and realised that the room had no ceiling. It merely opened up onto the outside. If only they could tap into their ki, they could fly out. Then three specks appeared in the light above them and began descending. Vegeta took a couple of shaky steps back as the three specks turned into shapes of Saiyans. They landed in front of the other three Saiyans, but their faces were shrouded in darkness. The two lines looked at each other for a moment before the centre one laughed, "How disrespectful! Do they not know they should kneel before their King?" Suddenly more Saiyans dropped from the roof. One pressed a button on the wall that shut the roof whilst three more forced Vegeta, Kakarot and Tarble onto their knees. A light came on, almost blinding Vegeta. He blinked and slowly his world came back into focus. Stood before him, dressed in blood-red armour was an almost identical figure to his father, but with red hair.

"Well, hello, little nephews," said the red-haired Saiyan, "I am your King, Kuda."

"You are not the true King, our father was!" Tarble snapped, "And my brother will be King!"

"Silence!" barked Kuda, "Clearly my brother neglected to tell you all of his history. Did you know we are twin brothers?"

"Our father was still the eldest," Vegeta growled.

"How do you know? No one cared to make note which one was born first, except our mother, but she died soon after," Kuda said, smirking, "Now, let your uncle tell you a stor…" His attention suddenly focussed on Kakarot.

"Who's he?" he asked someone over his left shoulder. A shadow moved and came into the light. Vegeta tensed at the sight of that frog-like face. Puchin.

"His name is Kakarot, son of Bardock," Puchin croaked, "He is the father of the Princess's mate. He is a third-class."

"Ah, yes, I remember Bardock, and I think he remembers me," Kuda chuckled, "I left a nice reminder on his face. Now where was I, ah yes, my story. Well, you see, when we were growing up your father, Vegeta, and I had an agreement that I was the eldest. I was always bigger than he was when we were young, bigger, stronger, and more skilful with the women of our world too." Vegeta had the urge to roll his eyes or vomit.

"But the moment our dear father left this life, he suddenly decided that he was the eldest and challenged my claim," Kuda continued, "That blasted civil war tore our people in two, claimed millions of lives and would never have happened if your father had had the pride and honour to fulfil our agreement. I would have made him Captain of the Elite Guard, a title which would have passed down his bloodline if only he hadn't been so impulsive."

"You ran him off the planet!" Vegeta spat.

"I did what I had to in order to bring stability, I put my people's lives ahead of my own wants and desires," Kuda spat back.

"Then why did Puchin get involved?" Vegeta growled.

"Puchin agreed with me that it was time that our people moved out of the darkness, a darkness that the Temple of Thuranz was keeping us in, imprisoning beautiful women in a so-called Temple and allowing the soldiers to take their pleasure with them was not the vision I had for our world," replied Kuda, "However, the curse on Priest Kabu's life was uncalled for. As was the deaths of his daughters."

"Well I hope Puchin is happy, he finally got the last one, your soldiers killed Ima for no damned reason," Kakarot finally spoke.

"No reason? She was standing between them and the Princess I intended to save," Kuda said.

"No, she was protecting her pregnant daughter," Kakarot replied.

"I think that's enough of a history lesson for one day, it is time I told you why I came here," Kuda said, drawing himself up to his full height, "It is my intention to save the Princess Appura."

"Save her?" said Tarble, "From what? A happy life with her mate and son?"

"To save her from the shame of being mated and bonded to a half-breed," said Kuda. Vegeta had almost felt sympathy for Kuda until that point.

"Filthy, disgusting half-breeds, her son as well," Kuda continued, "No, I will capture Appura. I will kill the half-breeds. Princess Appura will be cleansed and reintegrated into the Royal Family of Vegeta Prime. Vegeta Prime has been without a Queen for too long."

Vegeta felt sick to his stomach. If he'd had the strength he would have ripped Kuda's head from his neck. "Yes," Kuda said, his voice quiet as if he were day dreaming, "Have Puchin cleanse her, take as my mate, and make her my Queen. She has the blood of Thuranz flowing through her veins. She will give me sons who are Super Saiyans, the first Super Saiyan in a thousand years." Kakarot looked like he was about to say something but Vegeta sent him a warning look. Kuda clearly didn't know that both of them had achieved Super Saiyan along with Appura and the boys. It could be to their advantage.

"My daughter will never agree to be your Queen," Vegeta growled.

"Who said she had a choice?" Kuda smirked.

King Kai wrung his hands as he looked down over Earth. "Oh this is bad, this is very very bad," he mumbled, "I have to do something. The Earth is in danger and her special forces are scattered. Oh, what do I do? What do I do?"