One second she was laying hidden, quietly waiting for an opportunity to escape, and the next second she was sprawled out on the filth-stained gravel, her body wrapped around itself in a tight ball, her arms protecting her head. Cardboard boxes full of left over refuse - disposed of by the take out Chinese restaurant attached to the alleyway - flew in every direction. Utterly exposed, she waited for the gauntlet to fall. At first, she couldn't to move – as if her refusal to acknowledge the danger she knew was there would be defense enough to make the danger go away. Like a child hiding under the bed covers; if you couldn't see the monsters, the monsters couldn't see you. The sound of her own harsh breathing and the feel of blood pulsing with wild strength became her only focus.
Bulma stayed like this until something nudged her face. She flinched with such violence she suddenly found her back pressed up against the broken bricks of the wall behind her. Instantly, her eyes flew open and darted to the first object she could see. A single, armored boot.
The boot that had poked her in the face was now toying with the translating device. Without thought, she released a breathy squeak and darted to retrieve it. The stupid thing likely got her caught when it beeped, so why she was so protective of it, she didn't know. But once it was safely in her grasp and she had checked to ensure it was undamaged, she felt better. Yet, now she had nothing left to distract her. The bed covers had been torn away and she couldn't pretend she hadn't been seen. Her device was safely in her possession. The time had come.
She took a deep breath and slowly her eyes moved upwards.
She knew he was a Saiyan, but she only had Radditz and Goku as a basis of comparison. Had she not known the three were a part of the same race, she would not have believed this being could have anything in common with the other two. He was dark and menacing and held himself with certainty and confidence. The aura of complete malevolence – so pure it was almost beautiful in its perfection – was made complete by the predator-like metal helmet and mask he wore that hid his features. Somehow, being unable to see his face made him more terrifying; though she knew he was humanoid, the mask allowed her imagination to manifest her worst fears.
She blinked in surprise when he reached to disconnect tubing that joined the mask to his body armor. One tube hissed, followed by another, as they were released. He then reached with gloved hands, and with deliberate slowness, removed the mask and tossed it away. She watched it as it fell in slow motion, rolled a bit, and then came to rest in a puddle of sewage water near her feet.
Balancing on the balls of his feet, he crouched before her. His face was so close to her own, she could feel his breaths against her cheek. Still, she couldn't look at him. She didn't want to provoke him unintentionally, and she was sure he would consider eye to eye contact provocation.
He spoke then, his voice flat and low as it reverberated against the walls of her ears. She didn't understand the words, but she knew his meaning. Especially when he grabbed the device from her hands and placed it over his ear. This device didn't belong to her. What was she doing with it?
She didn't know if she wanted him to bat her hand away to save her from having to communicate. But.. Tentatively, she reached her fingers towards the device and indicated that she wished to touch it. When he didn't back away, she pressed the button, instructing the contraption to translate out loud. When it beeped, she flinched and snatched her hand away. He cocked his head at her reaction, as if amused by her fear of a simple beep. She steeled herself. She had decided to communicate, and for now, he was showing an inclination to do the same. She took a deep breath and tried to speak in a voice devoid of uncertainty. "A Saiyan called Radditz gave it to me."
As she spoke the words, they were translated into the language of his people - audibly and in phonetic written form. She watched his face intently, but the only emotion she saw was so brief, she almost didn't catch it. Surprise? If he hadn't been staring at her before with interest, he certainly peered at her intently, now. He had known from whom she had acquired the device. He wanted to know how.
She took in a shaky breath and tried again, "Before he died –"
Her words were choked off as a hand shot out from nowhere and wrapped around her throat. His face was expressionless, but his eyes were full of fire. "He is dead, then."
When his words were translated into English, again the look of surprise came over his face. This time he allowed it to show, "You.. you altered the scouter-"
"So that's what it's called!" she practically hollered in his face. When he frowned, she realized it probably wasn't the smartest thing in the world to interrupt someone who needed a reason not to kill her. Hastily, and with her blood sizzling with anxiety, she tried to find that reason. At least, she hoped that's what she was doing instead of annoying him with her nervous babbling.
"I think Radditz came here looking for Goku, who is also, surprisingly, a Saiyan. But you probably knew that. After all, one came looking for the other. Um. Well. They started fighting," she furrowed her brows as she thought out loud. "- but if I didn't know any better, I'd have thought they were undergoing the Saiyan version of saying hi, like when dogs sniff –" she caught herself and changed what she had been about to say. "Um – like they weren't really serious. Just.. testing each other's strength." She paused and panted lightly, looking at the alien before her. When he continued to stare at her stonily, she forced herself to continue.
"B-but then everyone attacked all at once. They wounded him, but before he died–"
Her words were choked in her throat when he squeezed his hand. "Who killed him?"
Then the pressure on her voice box was lifted, presumably so she could speak again. "My friends. They are warriors, like Goku, but not as strong. But they can control ki –"
Again her voice was cut off. If it hadn't been, she'd have barked out her frustration at the continual interruptions. It was foolish of her, but she couldn't help it. She would get to what he wanted to know if he just let her finish! But, maybe it was for the better that she literally couldn't make a sound. Hopefully he didn't notice that her eyes had narrowed in a brief flash of annoyance.
He didn't speak; instead he looked away and appeared to be deep in thought. No longer the object of scrutiny by those fiercely penetrating eyes, she was able to study them. There was no discernible difference in color between his pupils and irises, which made it hard to tell where he was looking – or, more likely, hid that he was looking everywhere at once. His irises were much larger than that of a human, and barely any of the bluish-white sclera showed at all. There was a silvery light-reflective sheen that likely allowed him to see in near total darkness; it gave a depth to his eyes, making them shimmer in the low light of alleyway and gave the impression that his eyes were lit from within.
They were – beautiful. Dangerous and mysterious- very alien and very terrifying.
When he suddenly flicked his gaze back to her face, she quickly looked away. Had he known she was staring at him?
He brought his face to within an inch of hers and examined her, as if this was the first time he had actually seen her and he was weighing her worth. It seemed as though minutes ticked by, and still he did nothing but stare at her raptly.
And then she felt it. The tendrils of an alien consciousness touching her own. She did nothing as his mind pierced its way through defenses she hadn't raised to protect herself. Her body convulsed as her eyes rolled to the back of her head. The pain was blinding, and she was distantly aware that her nose had started to bleed. But she didn't fight him. She wanted him to know—
Images of what had happened the day Radditz had arrived rippled past her awareness. It was like everything she had seen, experienced, even felt over the past year was being fully relived within a matter of moments.
And then just as suddenly, the invasion ended. Her eyes fluttered open and her head rolled. The Saiyan pulled away from her, as though trying to put distance between them. Distantly, she was satisfied by this. Hopefully the bastard had felt her revulsion when Radditz had raped her mind. It was rude to break in to people's thoughts and leave them a jumbled mess. At least this time there wasn't any creepy alien residue lurking in the hidden corners of her mind, waiting for a chance to plague her with nightmares.
And now he knew everything she knew about Radditz, the scouter, and her theory on Radditz's purpose on Earth. She felt her stomach roll in anxiety. He also knew about her visions of laughing boogey men, bloody hands, and torn flesh dripping from her lips.
Bulma's head snapped up.
And now she knew that he was the one….
"You! Radditz meant that I should watch for you! That I would know you -"
His face twisted in a sneer as he backed further away from her. He looked as though he were about to say something, but shook his head as though talking himself out of it. Instead, he peered at her once more and turned his back to her. He stood there a moment before glancing over his shoulder to consider her. He narrowed his eyes briefly, then reached to his face and removed the scouter. Scowling as if he already regretted it, he tossed it in her direction and jumped into the air. Within moments, she could no longer see him.
She stared at the scouter, but didn't move towards it. For long minutes, she reflected on what had just happened. She concluded that he had been hesitant to read her mind because in doing so, he opened his mind to her as well.
She had been right all along. They had been looking for allies.
To defeat the white lizard.
