Facing the Future
Chapter 11
They all watched the sky, various emotions and reactions running through everyone present. Vegeta looked disgusted, his upper lip rolled back as he glared at the green sky above them. Goku looked curious, shooting a wide-eyed glance towards his brother before studying the clouds. Gohan and Krillin stared at the sky with everyone else, the young boy curious and wary of how everyone was reacting. Krillin shot a nervous glance towards the long-haired saiyan before glancing at his long time friend. Goku was watching the sky above with a thoughtful expression, his hands balled into fists.
Bulma peeked out from behind the open doorway to the ship, swallowing at how everyone had reacted to that name Raditz had spat out. Frieza. Who was Frieza and what was the person doing here? Her gaze fell on Vegeta, biting her lip as she studied him, noticing the muscles bunching underneath his uniform. His tight uniform. She bit her bottom lip harder, feeling her face flush. Bulma licked her lips, watching the Prince as his brows narrowed further, crossing his arms over his chest. He suddenly looked over, causing Bulma to squeak, embarrassed he had caught her ogling him.
"Get your ass out of here woman! And take the girl with you!"
Bulma jerked to attention at his command, taking a hesitant breath. Should she just leave her best friends? What if they needed her genius mind for anything? And not only that, Bulma thought, how the heck was she going to transport Athea. She wasn't Goku!
"Do what he says Bulma," Goku said softly, causing Bulma to focus on him. He hadn't looked away from the sky as he spoke, his body tense as if ready for a fight. Bulma pressed her lips together in irritation for a second before she said anything. "How am I going to move Athea, Goku!?" She stated, planting her hands on her hips.
"Take the brat," Vegeta snapped, his gaze already focused above them, dismissing her. Bulma huffed out a breath, resisting the urge to stamp her foot. He didn't have to be a brute!
"Fine!" She stated loudly, letting her irritation show, but no one seemed to notice. Or care! What did a girl have to do around here to get noticed?
"Hey Vegeta-"
"Stupid woman!" Prince Vegeta snarled, his eyes snapping to her, assessing her before looking away, dismissing her once again. "Stay and die. See if I give a damn."
Bulma's mouth dropped at the saiyan's statement, hurt and disbelief running through her. He doesn't even care if she lives or dies!? She felt her face start to crumble before sucking in a breath, firming her resolve. She clamped her jaw shut, her hands balling into small fists. Fine! She thought as she stamped her foot in anger. I won't give the jerk the time of day after this! She turned to go back to her bunk, only to stop short. Athea was standing behind her, the young woman's eyes unfocused and staring over her shoulder.
Bulma hesitated for a moment before saying anything. "Um...Athea?" she whispered, not wanting to scare the girl like she did last time. Bulma swallowed with Athea didn't respond, swallowing nervously before gently touching her fingertips to the girls' arm. Athea jerked, sucking in a startled breath before blinking, finally glancing at her. Bulma's eyebrow rose. She was studying her like she'd never seen her before.
"He's coming...isn't he?" Athea whispered, her mouth barely moving as she uttered the question.
Bulma's head tilted in puzzlement. "Who?" She asked, noticing the young woman hadn't bothered asking where the men, or rather, Raditz was.
"Frieza," Athea breathed out, her throat working as she swallowed with difficulty.
Bulma blinked, shooting her young friend a reassuring smile. "Oh him," she stated, waving her hand. "Don't worry girl, Goku can handle anything! He's gotten so strong. He won't let anything happen...to...us..." She trailed off as Athea furiously shook her head.
"No," Athea's voice cracked, fear etched in her features. She shook her head again. "No," she said again, "They will die..." A small whimper came out of her mouth. "We all will."
Bulma blew out a breath. "I have faith in Goku, Athea. He won't let anyone harm his friends. You shouldn't be afraid," she stated with conviction, patting Athea's arm and turning. She squeaked as Athea suddenly ran past her, disappearing through the opening of the ship.
Bulma gulped, too surprised to shout at the woman to come back. She crept to the doorway, her ears perking up at the raised voices.
Athea let a shuddered breath out as she ran towards her friends, terror creeping through her chest. Frieza! Frieza was here!? She shouldn't be surprised, and in actuality she wasn't, she was just scared to death. They weren't ready to face the tyrant. They weren't strong enough. Goku wasn't strong enough.
They would all die.
She hit the ground running, watching the men turn in surprise as she quickly ran towards them.
"You..." She gasped out, her eyes filling with tears. "You can't..." A sob escaped her mouth, cutting off her words. Goku stepped towards her, settling a hand on her shoulder as he looked down at her with concern.
"Athea," he said softly, his gaze searching. "Are you alright?"
Athea felt her breath catch, desperation appearing on her face. "You can't fight him!" She cried out, her gaze going erratically around the group. Goku blinked, raising his brows.
"You know what will happen?" he asked, ignoring the searching gazes of Vegeta and Raditz.
"What is he talking about woman?" Raditz asked, slapping Goku's hand off her arm and pushing him to the side, shooting him a glare before focusing back on Athea.
She looked from Goku to Raditz, noticing Vegeta was watching with keen interest as well. Athea hesitated. Raditz face was suddenly inches from hers, their noses almost touching. Athea's eyes went round with surprise.
"What do you know woman?" Raditz asked gruffly, his voice low and gravely. A shiver went through Athea at the sound, swallowing with difficulty. She was having difficulty breathing with the man so close, resisting the urge to lick her lips. They both studied each other for several seconds.
"FOR THE LOVE OF-"
Athea jumped at the barked words, her eyes widening as Vegeta shoved Raditz away, irritation shadowing his features. "Tell me right now what you know dammit!"
Her mouth worked for a moment before she swallowed, glancing at Goku. Athea hesitated, looking back at Vegeta.
"I...um...I just know that..." Athea swallowed, fidgeting nervously. "You shouldn't fight Frieza," she whispered, her gaze going to the ground. She stared without seeing, memories of what happened before, of what was supposed to happen, flitting through her mind.
Vegeta scoffed, dismissing her words with a flick of his hand. "I'll not let some girl tell me what I should and shouldn't do." A sneer appeared on his face. "I'll fight the fucking lizard and kill him," Vegeta stated simply, his eyes narrowing. "I do not fear the pansy, if that's what you think," his words were soft. Deadly.
Athea shook her head, slowly lifting her head to meet his gaze. She studied the saiyan prince for a moment before a tear fell from her eye. "I don't want you to die." She whispered, her focus going to Raditz and Goku. "None of you."
Vegeta snorted, dismissing her once again as he turned, taking up his stance he was in before. "Pathetic," she heard him mutter, his tail slapping the ground. She winced, jumping a little as a hand settled on her shoulder. She looked up, meeting Goku's soft gaze.
"It's okay Athea," Goku shot her a small grin, his eyes shining with confidence. "We'll beat him." He straightened, rubbing the back of his head and letting a small chuckle out. "I mean, he can't be that strong! And if he is, well, you have all of us," he indicated all the fighters with a wave of his hand, "to take him down."
Don't worry," Goku stated, patting her shoulder softly before going back over to his best friend and son. Gohan was watching her, an almost calculating look in his eyes. It reminded her of Piccolo. Athea bit her lip, noticing Krillin turning back with Goku to look at the sky. There was a grunt behind her, and she looked over her shoulder. Raditz was still studying her in that calculating way of his, the look in his dark eyes assessing, his features giving no clues as to his thoughts.
Athea swallowed, wincing as the aches in her body became apparent as she focused more on herself, just now noticing the scrapes and bruises along her arms and hands. Her eyes shot up as she heard boots scrape against the rocks and dirt. Raditz slowly walked over to her, a muscle ticking in his jaw. She watched him with wide eyes, wandering what was going through his mind. What was he thinking about? His gaze suddenly moved, and Athea felt her lips tingle. She resisted the urge to back up a step. Raditz presence was almost overwhelming, the heat and power coming off him had her softly gasping for breath.
"Raditz?" Athea whispered, watching as his gaze flitted back to hers for a moment before he looked away, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
"You doubt our power?" he softly snapped, his focus still on something in front of him. "Mine?"
"N-no," She exclaimed, feeling weird and nervous all of a sudden. "I don't doubt...you. I just..." Athea trailed off, averting her gaze when she felt the long-haired saiyan look back down at her. She watched his hair shift against his legs, feeling a flush rise at the sight of his very muscular physique. She watched his muscles jump underneath his skin, the red cloth around his thigh shifting with every twitch. Athea swallowed. Hard.
"Woman," Raditz muttered, "Leave."
Athea jerked her head up in surprise, her wide-eyed gaze going to Raditz. But he wasn't looking at her, he was glaring at something else. She felt a shiver go through her. She knew. She could feel it. Athea slowly turned her head, her breathing stopping as she saw the very real presence of the ice-jin tyrant. Frieza.
A small disbelieving breath escaped her, noticing everyone was focused on the lizard, not bothering with checking to see if she had left or not. Athea couldn't swallow, her tongue and throat felt like sandpaper. Oh, she knew this feeling well. Too well. Terror. A shiver went through her, staring in horror at the lizard who had everyone under his thumb. Athea felt like bawling. She knew, she KNEW, that no one was going to make it out of this alive. Not even Goku. He wasn't ready. None of them were. She slowly slid her foot back, tensing as a rock rolled away from her shoe. Her heart stopped. It was like a gunshot going off in the very silent terrain. Frieza's gaze settled on her. Athea froze, her heart stopping. Oh no...no no no no. She felt everything in her jerk in horror as Frieza slowly smiled. Athea's eyes went round, watching in disbelief he raised his hand, pointing a finger straight at her.
"Bang," The whispered word reached everyone's ears in the silence, bodies diving to the ground as a blast rang out.
Then fate intervened, once again.
Athea tripped, her back smacking the ground mere seconds before the blast hit, the ball of power grazing her cheek. She let out a scream of pain. Then all hell broke loose.
X
X
X
A loud roar burst from Raditz, the large saiyan shooting towards the tyrant before anyone could move. He brought his arm back, intent on beating the shit out of Frieza. His fist didn't get a chance to connect. The saiyans' body went flying backwards through the air, an island bursting as he impacted the ground. Goku and Vegeta watched in stunned silence for a moment before turning back towards the icejin in front of them. Vegeta's eyes narrowed to slits as his tail slashed the air behind him. Goku's lips firmed into a straight line, his face becoming deadly serious.
"Gohan," Goku said softly, not taking his eyes off of Frieza, "Take Athea to the ship. Get everyone out of here. Krillin, you go as well."
Neither male said anything, Gohan giving a nod before rushing over to the woman and picking her up. Him and Krillin carried Athea to the ship, meeting a frantic Bulma at the opening of the ship. The saiyans' could hear her frantic voice echo over the air before the ships' door closed.
The sound of the ships' engine firing up bounced around the vast plains, reaching everyone's ears. Both Vegeta and Goku tensed as Frieza suddenly smirked, slowly looking up towards the sky. The ship was almost out of the atmosphere, picking up speed as it got closer to space. Raditz finally joined them once more, a low feral growl coming out of him as his gaze landed on Frieza.
The icejin suddenly smiled, the malevolence in his eyes making all three saiyans' uneasy.
"I never said anyone could leave," he stated softly, his feminine voice at odds with the tyrants' power.
Raditz' and Goku's eyes widened for a split second before both screamed "NO!"
A blast cut through the sky towards the ship, going too fast for any of them to stop it. The brothers' watched in horror and disbelief as the ship hung in the air for a second before imploding, nothing but dust left as the smoke cleared. Vegeta's eyes widened for a moment before whipping his head around at the painful and manic screams coming out of his fellow saiyans. His eyes twitched and his fists tightened painfully as both brothers' power sky rocketed. What the fuck is happening!? How the hell did these bastards raise their power so high!?
Frieza let out a chuckle, making both Raditz' and Goku snap their heads towards him. The icejin froze, studying both men as static frantically crackled down their bodies. Raditz' tail was going crazy, creating a dust storm behind him as it continually smacked the ground. Both brothers' seemed to clench their bodies at the same time, before throwing their heads back and letting out identical screams.
Vegeta took a few steps back, his nostrils flaring. There was suddenly a burst of bright light, causing him to shield his eyes with an arm, turning his head to lessen the painful glare. He finally looked back, his lips pursing in pissed amazement.
WHAT THE FUCK!?
X
X
X