With a yell, Bulma swung her leg around in a round house kick and send the head of the mannequin flying off and smashing through one of the remaining windows of the Capsule house. Panting and grinning happily to herself she took a brief moment to catch her breath before she swiftly lunged forward, thrusting one fist towards the mannequin's stomach. There was a satisfying crack as thin lines etched across the torso. With another well placed kick, the remaining arm flew off and shattered on the ground and Bulma let out a crow of triumph.

"I think I might actually be getting better at this fighting lark!"

She turned to get a bottle of water from her bag, when she noticed a strange man standing and watching her. Despite his relaxed stance, and non-threatening manner, Bulma could not help but remember what Vegeta had said about a Wasteland's bandit. Her eyes widened in panic and she looked around frantically, desperately hoping to see a certain Saiyan Prince nearby, but she had no such luck. Realising that she was all alone, she dived for the baseball bat and ran at the man swinging.

"You keep away from me! You horrible bandit! Don't you dare go touching me, I don't care how you threaten me, you're not getting my money... or anything else you might want! Stay away you pervert! Stay away!"

Completely forgetting all the fighting skills she had been taught by Roshi, she reacted simply in panic and instinct, aiming to hurt the man as quickly and badly as she could so that she could run away and hide.

"My father will have you cast into a pit and locked up forever, and the key will be thrown into the deepest ocean! So get lost, be gone! Or... or I'll hurt you really badly!"

His hands unfurled from his chest as he swiftly stepped back, raising his arms in front of his face and dodging each swing from the bat.

"Miss... I... am not... here to... hurt you."

He took another step back, and kicked up from the ground and floated into the air high enough to get out of reach of the female. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head and forced the angered, spiteful look from his face.

"I am not here for your money, or anything else you have, jeez. What is with you people out here? Too much sun or something? I heard you in trouble yesterday and tracked you in hopes of returning some of the belongings I had scavenged. But your friend destroyed them."

The red haired man hovered in a tight circle around the frightened woman, making it so she was slightly disorientated and had to keep moving to keep her eye on him.

"Are you going to calm yourself so that I can come back down now?"

The warrior was more than a match for the blue haired female, but he did not make any threatening gestures as of yet.

He crossed his arms over his broad chest and allowed his glittering emerald eyes to gaze approvingly over her. She was easy to anger is seemed, and obviously irrational. Suddenly his mind flickered hack to her friend, no wonder they got along, so well. He smirked and resisted the urge to chuckle as he thought of the pair as a couple.

Panting heavily, she gripped the baseball bat harder with both hands, running forward and aimed to crack him across the head. But then he flew straight up into the air, causing her to shriek in frustration. Why was it that every damn male that crossed her path could fly? Was the universe mocking her or something? Bulma gritted her teeth, and was considering trying to jump up and flail the bat around in an attempt to hit him, when he mentioned that he once had some of her belongings, but her friend had destroyed them.

She lowered the bat, eyeing him suspiciously as he circled her, not quite sure what to do next. It seemed like he was lying, he had to be. None of her friends would come here, apart from maybe Goku, but if he was in the Wastelands she would know about it by now. She frowned and tapped her foot in an agitated fashion, wondering if perhaps her mother or father had come out here looking for her. No, that can't be right. Her parents generally allowed her to do what she wanted and rarely worried about her because she usually had the Z Fighters around. And anyway, why would her parents destroy her belongings. They wouldn't.
Her eyes narrowed as she thought of one other person who she knew who was in the Wastelands right now. Someone who wouldn't hesitate in destroying her things simply because he felt like it, and because he could. But... he would never call Bulma his friend... she glared at the man above her and tapped the baseball bat threateningly on her shoulder, her eyes burning with blue fire.

"Tell me... what does this friend of mine look like?"

Her voice was low, very different from the screeching she was doing earlier. She actually sounded almost dangerous.

He floated there in the sky, that fiery red hair whipping behind him in the ever constant wind. Watching as she seemed lost in thought, and then gaining a very eerie look about her, almost threatening to demolish him should he answer incorrectly. For someone this untrained she was truly a scary being. A very small shiver reached down his spine, eding in a tingling in his groin. Yes, she would be a fun toy to have around.

Quirking a brow he slowly descended towards the ground once more. The man landed nimbly in front of her, never taking his bright emerald eyes from her fiery blue ones

"A short male, with spiky black hair. Wearing some sort of outfit from a television show. Likes to attack people for no reason, threatening them repeatedly."

Confident with his description he nodded and a little smirk played on his lips.

"He accused me of spying before asking for the capsules I had intended on returning to you. But he took them, and crushed them into a ball of metal and that was that. None of it was worth salvaging after that."

Watching how irritated she was he was beginning to believe that perhaps they had not been friends after all.

"Am I incorrect in believing that rude man was indeed your friend? With him helping you down the mountain and all, I figured you knew him somehow."

Taking a few steps over to where that dummy of hers sat, he looked over the quality of it and grunted, fingertips touching to where she had cracked the surface. That was not bad at all for someone so un-disciplined.

"I am truly sorry that I do not have anything to return to you now."

"Vegeta..."

The Saiyan's name rolled off her tongue in a growl of barely contained disgust and malice. Gripping the baseball bat in both hands again, she strode up to the mannequin and let out a scream of frustration before smashing it to several pieces. Once there was nothing left of the dummy to smash, she rested the baseball bat on her shoulder and turned back to look at the red haired man, panting slightly, sheen of sweat on her brow.

"I shall have you know that that man is NOT my friend! He is an arrogant, self centred, condescending, aggressive, bone-headed, stupid MONKEY!"

Bulma booted a small piece of the smashed mannequin at the destroyed Capsule house causing a part of the wall to crumble and fall to the dusty floor. And to think she had actually been worried about him when he wandered off on his own and didn't say anything. How dare he destroy her things, how dare he?! She now officially had nothing out here, those Capsules were her backups should anything go horribly wrong out here. And something bad did happen.

Vegeta happened.

The way things stood, she had two choices. He could stick it out here and hope she survived with the meagre supplies she had managed to salvage, or she could go home with her tail between her legs and admit defeat. Bulma sat down on a large rock and tapped the baseball bat in a contemplative manner on the floor. She was not very good at admitting when she was wrong, so the latter was out of the question. But could she really survive out here alone?
Alone...? No, she wasn't alone, was she. This strange red haired man was here... she was sure if he posed a threat she could deal with him, unless of course he flew away with her.

Hmmmm..... tricky...

Seemingly making up her mind, she stood and smiled sweetly at the red-haired man and blushed prettily.

"I am so sorry about before, I was just so frightened... and being out here all alone has been very hard on me. Especially since that Vegeta was no help and left me all alone."

She offered her hand to shake and gave him a friendly grin.

"I'm Bulma, who are you?"

He closed the gap between them, and gave her his most charming smile before gently taking her small hand into his large warm one. "

"My name is Serigon. It is a pleasure to have almost been killed by you, Bulma."

His eyes glittered in amusement as he realised that the blue haired beauty was flirting with him. This would be far easier than he had previously thought.

"Why have decided to come all the way out here by yourself? No offense, but you do not seem to be the type to survive in such an environment. I do hope that man was not your reliable source of security, it doesn't seem that he wishes to have much to do with those who are weaker than himself."

He settled himself down to sit on a large rock and smiled up at her, encouraging her to sit beside him. He himself looked the part of a traveller, with only the bare minimum on his person. His clothing was thin but looked durable, allowing him movement as well as protection from the sun. His skin was tanned a honey brown giving him the look of someone who spent most of his time outdoors, and his fiery red hair fell down to his waist.

Her smile wavered a little as Serigon questioned why she was here. Why did everyone think that she was ill-suited to be out here on her own? Just because she was a woman, and had lived a pampered and luxurious life did not mean that she couldn't be out training in the Wastelands. Not the type indeed! She took a deep breath and imagined she was out shopping with her friends. There is a beautiful red dress in front of her. It is the last one, and it is in her size. And, she has her Father's credit card. Instantly a beatific smile spread across her face and her bright blue eyes sparkled with joy.

"Well, I know I may not look the type to be out here, whatever the type may be. But I am here to train. The city is so crowded, distracting and far too close to luxury and convenience. Out here at least I can test myself, body and soul and train in peace."

She chuckled and scratched the back of her head sheepishly, her cheeks flushing a deeper shade of crimson. It would be rather easy to make herself flirt with this young man. Despite reminding her of the innocence of Goku, the man was tall and muscular and she could not help but find his hair enticingly beautiful.

"Unfortunately, it seems I haven't been doing very well so far. A dinosaur destroyed my house, I ended up losing most of my food and belongings, and Vegeta decided to throw a hissy fit and leave me out here."

She lowered her head, hiding her face behind her hair, but secretly peeking out through her mass of blue hair to watch the warrior's reaction.

"Vegeta was supposed to be my body guard. He was hired by my father to look after me, and help me with my training. But....but..."

She allowed a slight tremble to enter her voice as she dug her broken finger nails into the delicate flesh of her wrist to make tears appear in her eyes. Once the tears began to roll down her face, she looked up at Serigon and gave him the full force of her big blue eyes.

"We had an argument, and he left me. Now I don't know what to do."

He forced himself to looked saddened and concerned for the young woman, but inside he was chuckling darkly to himself. So, that bad tempered man was her body guard, which meant there was no one else out here to come to her aid.

"Really now? That is quite a bad set of circumstances. If you so wish I could probably bring you back to your home. You could restock and return a little more prepared?"
You do seem you wish to train, anyone remotely not serious would have already found a way out of here or simply perished. If you truly wish to remain here, I would be willing to offer my assistance. After all I could use a training partner myself. Though your skin is fragile, your strength is actually quite the contrary. It is probably why you can keep head to head with the type of your frie... I mean this Vegeta person."

He gently wiped away her tears and hooked two fingers under her chin to raise her head up to look at him, and he spoke to her in a soft voice.

"There is no need to cry Miss Bulma. You are not here all by yourself. If the dinosaur and loss of your luxuries has not scared you off, then there could be hope for you yet."

Bulma felt like doing a merry little dance. This man was easier to manipulate than Yamcha had been! What luck! Just a few more well chosen words and he was as good as hers! She'd have him doing chores and running around after her every whim! Reaching up, she wiped her eyes on the backs of her hands, smudging blood and dirt onto her pretty face.

Hmmmm..... he doesn't look to have much on him, but I suppose he'll do. He is obviously a trained fighter, and he sees my potential. Yes, I think he'll do quite nicely!

She gave him an embarrassed smile and tucked a few strands of blue hair behind her ear. Looking down at the ground, she shuffled her feet and gave a nervous little laugh.

"I would be most grateful to you if you would be so kind as to help me. I have a favour to ask, if you would not mind granting it? If I was to go back now, I do not think my pride and..."

what would Vegeta say? .... something about....Honour! Yes, that's it

"Honour! My honour wouldn't be able to take the blow of having gone out into the Wastelands to train, and then come back the next day..."

She bit her lip and looked up at the warrior hopefully.

"So, I was wondering if you could go to Capsule Corporation and pick up some supplies for me from my parents? They are very kind people, and will probably pay you for your troubles. Then when you come back, we could train."

Come on... agree... please agree! I can't let anyone else see me like this... I'd never live it down...

"Oh, and if you see Vegeta again, just ignore him. He's really not worth the hassle."