Chapter 8

Bulma rose early the next morning. She was excited as today was finally the day she was going to test out the gravity machine she had been constructing for almost two years now. Everything seemed to be in place, all she had to do now was test the machine and also the strength of the outer wall. If the frame of the machine wasn't strong enough to withstand the level of gravity the generator was creating, the whole purpose of the machine would be pointless as the entire structure would just crumble crushing whoever was using the machine. Of course she hadn't told anyone yet about the machine, currently only she and her father knew about it. She wasn't too sure if it was going to work properly and she didn't want to get anyone's hopes up considering how useful the machine would be if it actually worked. However if everything went well today and the machine passed all the tests, she would notify the king about its creation. With this machine the entire saiyan population would be able to increase in strength which of course would put her on a very high stead considering she was its creator. Of course there was still a lot to be done before she would be able to put it into mass production, but this was the first step to actually putting the machine to use.

Ever since that whole ordeal with Yamcha, she had become even more determined to get this machine up and running. She knew that this machine was her ticket to getting herself to become one of Vegetasei's most influential scientists and she had worked long hours non-stop to make sure that it was a success. She would show that bastard that what he had done to her did nothing to her but make her stronger. Oh yeah, she would show him!

Heading towards the labs to get a head start before breakfast, she knew that she had to make sure this machine worked, although she was pretty confident in what she had done seeing as how she was a genius.

Bulma bounced into the dining hall covered in oil and grease, still wearing her lab coat and her hair in a messy bun. She received quite a few strange glances from those already sitting at the table, but she didn't care she was in such a good mood. So far the machine had passed all of the tests with flying colours although there were still quite a few more tests they had to pass it through, things were looking good for now. Smiling to herself she looked up and noticed Vegeta staring at her strangely.

"Hey Veg-head, how's it going?" she asked helping herself to a slice of toast

"Woman why are you filthy?" he asked ignoring her previous question

"Oh, it's a surprise" she said smiling

"Whatever"

Turning back to his breakfast he began to eat as much as he could before Kakarot ate it all again. Just at that moment the doors opened once again revealing his mother and father. Ignoring them and focussing his attention on his food he was brought out of his silence when his father began talking to him.

"Vegeta I need to see you in the throne room after breakfast. I have some important matters to discuss with you and dress appropriately we are expecting guests"

Vegeta groaned. He was planning on pushing himself further in his training today, even though he knew he was already doing the maximum the facilities allowed him to do. His thoughts then drifted to the recent plateau he had reached in his training. There was simply nothing more he could do to try and increase his strength. He was doing everything he could. What he needed was something; he didn't know what yet, but something that would allow him to push himself to the max continuously throughout all his training exercises. Something that he could use to push his boundaries and further his strength. He knew it sounded ridiculous but that was the only thing that he could think of to try and overcome this obstacle in his quest to super saiyan. However, his thoughts were soon broken off when he heard his father cough trying to get his attention. Looking in his direction he realised that he was still waiting for his response.

"Fine, whatever"

"Good" the king said pleased that his son had agreed. The king had a surprise waiting for his son. He was pretty sure Vegeta wouldn't be happy with what he had done, but in all honesty with the way things were going right now, it needed to be done. Glancing at his wife through the corner of his eye, trying to read her reaction to what he had just said, he noticed that she wasn't suspicious of him. Good, things were going well. He hadn't told her yet what he had done, she would find out when Vegeta did. She probably wouldn't agree with him either, but knowing that his son was just like him he knew that this had to be done. Smirking to himself as to what was to unfold he turned back to his breakfast a strange glint in his eye.

Vegeta strolled through the palace corridors making sure to take his time in getting to the throne room. He was in no hurry to hear what his father wanted to tell him as he was almost certain it had something to do with this mate business. As far as he was concerned, he didn't need a mate, but law stated that he needed a mate in order to become king. Stupid laws he thought scowling to himself. Since he had no option but to take a mate, he wasn't going to just settle for just any female. He was going to get the best, the strongest, the one who could match up to him in both strength and mind, the one who would be perfect for him in every way possible. Doubting whether such a woman even existed, he soon found himself standing outside the throne room doors. Taking a deep breath, preparing himself for whatever his father had to say to him, he slowly pushed open the large doors however nothing could have prepared him for what lay inside.

In front of the thrones were about 20 saiyan females lined up facing the king and queen who were seated in their respective thrones. The king was saying something to them which Vegeta could not hear as he was too far away standing rooted to the spot in shock. The queen however had her head upturned facing away from them a disgruntled expression on her face. She was clearly unhappy with what was going on and to be honest, he couldn't blame her; he himself was feeling his anger slowly rising as he took in the sight of all the women who were no doubt here for him.

Regaining his bearings he decided to let himself and his anger be known "What the hell is going on?!" he shouted across the throne room, angrily making his way towards his parents.

As soon as he had spoken all 20 women and his parents turned towards his voice. With annoyance he noticed that the women started fussing about themselves and fixing their outfits as he approached them. Growling furiously, his eyes glinting dangerously, he pushed passed the women and stood directly in front of his parents, his back to the females.

"Why Vegeta, so glad you could join us" his father said calmly

"What is the meaning of this?" Vegeta growled through clenched teeth

"Well, your father thought it would be a good idea to help you choose a mate" his mother said distastefully

"Oh calm down Vanessa, I just thought I would make Vegeta's search a lot easier for him since he seemed to be putting so little effort into finding a mate" he said brushing her anger off. Turning back to his son he continued "You see Vegeta, I have here 20 of the best females on the planet from which you can choose a mate. They will be spending the remaining months until your 21st birthday here in the palace so you can get to know them better, and you can choose which one you want as a mate. However I am not forcing you to choose one of them but seeing as how much progress you have made so far in finding a suitable woman I highly doubt you would actually put in the time to find someone else and these are the best women the planet has to offer."

Vegeta tried his hardest not to blast his father into the next dimension right now. How dare he think he could do something like this without even asking him first?! He was the prince of all saiyans for kami's sake, he didn't need his father's help to find a mate!

Glaring at his father and then turning around to assess the women his father had chosen, he noticed that they were all quite beautiful and their ki reading was pretty high. So they were strong too, but he knew their type from experience. They were probably here for the title of queen and all the benefits that came along with it.

Shifting his gaze towards their faces, some of them dared to make eye contact with him, others were staring at their feet nervously and others were too busy checking out his physique. Scowling to himself, he realised his father had absolutely no taste in choosing women. As far as he was concerned, he would not be able to find a worthy mate in this group of women. Sure they were some of the most beautiful females he had ever laid eyes on but they were lacking in certain qualities he was looking for in a mate, and as he turned towards his father to tell him so, his father cut him off.

"So Vegeta, I will leave you alone with them so you can get acquainted" Standing up from his throne the king made his way towards the exit, the queen following angrily behind him. However as he passed Vegeta he whispered "If I were you I would keep my eye on Tomara over there" pointing towards a particularly beautiful saiyan female "She's quite the woman if you ask me." Winking at Vegeta he left the throne room with the queen behind him.

Vegeta glared angrily at the closed doors through which his parents had just left. Clenching his fists at his sides, he tried to rein in his anger before turning around to face the females looking at him expectantly. Running a hand through his hair he knew that he couldn't directly disobey his father's orders so he would just get the formalities over with and then ignore them for the remaining months.

"So, tell me a little about yourselves" he began unwillingly. As soon as he spoke those words, he wished he hadn't said anything and gone with his gut to run the hell away from here, for all 20 females started talking animatedly at the same time. Feeling a headache starting he rubbed his temples with his forefinger and thumb, looking towards the ceiling praying to kami that this day would just end already.

Bulma walked quickly through the palace corridors hurriedly studying the blueprints in her hands. She was looking for any last-minute glitches in the gravity machine that she had not yet discovered. However she doubted that there was anything wrong, since the machine had passed all the tests with flying colours and now she was on her way to notify the king of her invention. This was it; this was the day she finally revealed her true genius to the world. After so many years of building, upgrading and modifying she had finally done it. She had created a machine that improved the one thing saiyans truly cared about, their strength. Surely after today she would be looked upon as a hero of sorts, she would finally get the recognition that she had worked all these years to achieve. She would show the world, not to mess with Bulma Briefs because she would just get back up stronger than ever before.

She barely recognised pushing open the throne room doors and walking towards the thrones as she was still absorbed in the blueprints in front of her.

"Your majesty, I bring great news" she said her head still in the blueprints, not noticing that the king was not present.

Finally she lifted her head up noticing the silence that met her. However she was not prepared for the sight that lay before her. There in the middle of the throne room stood Vegeta with an irritated scowl on his face, his arms crossed over his chest as he glared at the females that surrounded him. That was what had surprised her the most. Why were there so many saiyan females here and what was Vegeta doing with them? Whatever was going on, he didn't look too happy about it. Smirking, she knew it probably had something to do with him finding a mate.

All the females had turned towards her looking at her curiously, as she stood there analysing the situation. That was when she shifted her gaze towards Vegeta. Her eyes met his and she noticed he no longer looked angry; instead he was looking at her strangely. It was a look she had not recognised before, but for some reason it made her feel warm and tingly on the inside. Brushing away these strange feelings she made her way towards Vegeta pushing past the other females in the process.

Vegeta had just about had enough with these babbling females, and he was debating between blowing them all to the next dimension or shutting them up permanently by blasting their heads off, when the throne room doors opened. Thanking kami that somehow all the females had heard the doors open and had quietened down immediately he looked towards his saviour. The women around him had turned towards the door so he had a clear view of who had entered. He was more than surprised to see Bulma walk in, her nose buried in blueprints, her clothes covered in grease and oil and her hair in a messy bun with a few blue strands falling out of their unsecure holding effectively framing her face.

It was then that he noticed that even covered in oil and grease, Bulma looked far more beautiful than the women standing around him. His father had hand-picked the most attractive women that the planet had to offer, yet when he looked at her he couldn't help but notice that she was leagues ahead in beauty than any of the females surrounding him. She held herself with an unrivalled feminine grace and pride that accentuated her perfect body. The way her lab coat hugged her curves, the way a little bit of cleavage was visible from the top of her shirt, the way her long legs moved gracefully as she walked, the way her rosy lips curved into a smirk as she analysed the scene before her had him looking at her in a way he never had before. His eyes met hers and he sensed her nervousness at his gaze. Seeing her mentally shake away her feelings, he too regained his bearings as he saw her approaching him.

He had to pull himself together before he got carried away and got ahead of himself. He needed the perfect mate remember not just anyone he found attractive. But then again, this was not just anyone, this was Bulma. They had basically grown up together and he knew her better than her own mother did. Shaking his head to banish his thoughts he knew it would probably be better to forget about these strange feelings they were probably just a reaction from all this pressure on him to find a mate. Yeah that was right, it was not his rational mind thinking and these feelings were nothing of importance. Controlling his thoughts he waited for her to reach him, acting as if nothing had changed.

Bulma had finally managed to shove her way past the females to reach Vegeta. Kami, those saiyan women were really annoying. They had refused to let her pass and had stood stock still, rooted to their spots. No matter how much she pushed and shoved she could not get them to budge. She had to eventually dig the heel of her shoe into their feet to get them to move. Emerging from the crowd she found herself in the centre, facing Vegeta. Huffing and straightening her clothes she glared at the women behind her before turning to Vegeta.

"Hey, Veggie tell your women to learn some manners"

"They are not my women" he said frustrated crossing his arms across his chest and turning his head to the side.

"Sure, I guess that is why they are crowding around you like a pack of hungry wolves" she said trying to hold in her laughter.

Turning his head to glare at her he replied angrily "I told you woman, they do not belong to me. I had nothing to do with this. My father thought it was a good idea to bring them here, to make it easier to choose a mate for myself"

"Oh, I had a feeling this had something to do your mate situation" she smirked

"Whatever woman. Now why are you here?"

"I came to see your father, I have something important to discuss with him" she said excitedly

"Well whatever you need to discuss with my father, you can discuss with me" he said knowing what her reaction would be to his answer and a plan forming in his mind

"Look Veg-head, I understand you are the prince of all saiyans and whatever, but this is really important and I need to speak with the king personally"

Vegeta smirked; she had reacted just as he had anticipated. Now all he had to do was play his cards right and he would have a valid excuse to get the hell away from these females.

"If you insist, I will take you to him" he said starting towards the exit.

Bulma was flabbergasted. Never ever had Vegeta given in to her that easily. In all the 15 or so years she had known him, he had never given in to someone else's demands without putting up a fight first. Something was up for sure. That was when she remembered the saiyan females surrounding them. Oh so that was his plan, surely he didn't think she was that stupid?

"Oh no Vegeta, it's okay I can find him myself. I can see you are busy here" she said smirking at him and making her way towards the exit.

Vegeta stopped in his tracks. No! This might be his only chance to get away from here and he was not going to let it slip through his fingers! Walking towards her he stood in front of her stopping her from leaving. "You probably won't be able to find him without my help"

"I'm pretty sure I would" she said trying to step around him

Vegeta moved to stand in front of her again "The palace is large he could be anywhere, it might take you hours"

"I know the palace as well as you do, I doubt it would take me long" she said once again trying to step around him.

Vegeta blocked her again "But you don't have access to all areas of the palace"

"Actually I do, your father insisted as deputy head scientist that I have access to everything" she replied smirking trying again to move around him

Vegeta just blocked her easily but this time he grabbed her arms to prevent her from moving "I'm pretty sure you would need my help" he said desperately

Bulma seeing that he had run out of reasons for helping her knew she had won this one. However she wanted to see how far she could push him "I'm pretty sure I don't" she smirked

"You do!" he growled out. With that Vegeta pulled her towards the doors and exited as fast as he could. Pulling her behind him down the palace corridors he made his way as far from the throne room as possible. Bulma felt as if her arm was being torn out of its socket with the way he was pulling her.

"Owwww Vegeta you're hurting me!" she screamed. Vegeta stopped in the middle of the corridor, looking around anxiously to see how far they had gotten from the throne room and to make sure none of the females had followed them. Finally satisfied that he was safe he let go of her arm and turned to face her.

"Well woman, it seems that you do have your uses"

Bulma who was rubbing her arm lifted her gaze from her arm to look him square in the eyes "Well, it's not my fault you are afraid of women"

"I AM NOT AFRAID OF WOMEN!" he shouted the top of cheeks turning red

"So you say, but it seems that you were pretty eager to get out of that room filled with saiyan women" she smirked at him

"That was because they were annoying me!" he said still blushing

"Sure" she sang dropping her gaze to make sure that the blueprints she was carrying had not been damaged in the commotion. Vegeta looked curiously at the blueprints in her hands, wondering what it was that she so eager to show his father.

"What are those for?" he asked pointing to the blueprints

"Oh just the blueprints for a new machine I invented that is going to improve the way you saiyans train" she said casually still examining the rolls of paper in her hands.

"Let me see" he demanded trying to snatch the blueprints away from her

"No!" Bulma shouted pulling the rolls away from him before he could get a grip on them. "I will show it to your father first, get his approval and then I'll show it to you!"

"Woman, I am the prince of all saiyans and I demand that you show me this machine immediately" he said sternly slowly walking closer to her.

For each step he took towards her, Bulma took one backwards hiding the blueprints behind her back. However soon she felt herself pressed against the wall with no escape. Vegeta closed in on her placing his hands against the wall on either side of her head. He lowered his head to whisper in her ear.

"If I were you woman, I would do as I say" he said his voice deep barely above a whisper

"I already told you Vegeta, I will show you the machine until after I show your father. I need his approval first before I release any new machinery, it's part of the code we scientists work with" she said confidently. She was not afraid of him and she was well aware that he knew this, so she didn't understand why he was trying to scare her. As far as she was concerned, she knew that he would never hurt her so why was he acting like this? However before she could think any further on the subject she heard a noise behind them in the corridor. Looking over Vegeta's shoulder she spotted one of the saiyan females who were in the throne room earlier.

"Sorry my prince" she said bowing deeply. "The other women and I were wondering if you would show us to where we would be staying for the remaining months. We were informed by the king that you would do so" she said shooting Bulma a dirty look while Vegeta's back was still turned away from her.

Bulma watched Vegeta close his eyes in frustration before sighing deeply and pushing himself away from her. Turning around to face the saiyan woman he began irritably "I will do so in a moment. Go wait for me in the throne room"

"Yes your majesty" she said bowing once more before turning around to leave. However before she left she shot Bulma one more dirty look and then made her way, head held high and hips swaying, down the corridor.

Once she had gone Bulma just stared down the corridor where the saiyan had disappeared, shaking her head she breathed "Man, what a bitch"

"Now you know why I wanted to get out of there" Vegeta said running a hand through his hair. Turning around to face her, he smirked "And it looks like she doesn't like you too much"

"Whatever, I don't care what she thinks" she shrugged rolling up the blueprints in her hands

"You'd better be careful; you don't want to get on the wrong side of that woman"

"I can handle her easy. Plus how would you know about her, you just met her" she asked curiously lifting her head to look at him

"My father told me about her, apparently her name is Tomara and she was one of my father's finer choices. However knowing my father and his judgement when it comes to women, she would probably be as saiyan as you can get which means she would stop at nothing to get what she wants. You just got on her wrong side, for some reason, so you might want to watch your back" he said crossing his arms over his chest

"Well as far as I am concerned I didn't do anything wrong to her so she can do whatever the hell she wants, I could care less about her right now. I have more important things to worry about" she said looking down at her blueprints

"Speaking of important things, you'd better show me that machine once you are done with my father woman" he said his eyes narrowing

"Yeah, yeah sure Veggie" she said waving him off. Turning around to go find the king she shouted over her shoulder "Wish me luck" and then she was off. Vegeta just grunted at her before he too left making his way back to the throne room.

Bulma bounced happily into the dining area to get herself some dinner. She was still in her dirty lab coat and clothes, but she didn't care, she was too happy about the success of her gravity machine. Needless to say the king had loved her idea and was all praises for her remarkable intelligence. They had both made plans to begin construction on more machines, after she had shown him the actual machine and he had taken it for a test run. To say he was impressed was an understatement and that did nothing but boost Bulma's already large ego. They had decided that first she would build some for the royal family to use and if everything went well with use of the machine after a few months, they would begin mass production of the machine so that the army could also have access to the machine and eventually one would be placed in every town so that ordinary saiyans could also use it.

She entered the dining room all smiles until she spotted who was seated at the table. The smile immediately fell from her face as she spotted the saiyan females from earlier sitting at the table. They were all dressed in exquisite evening dresses, their hair done in the most magnificent of ways and they were sitting up poised as lady-like as they could manage. Groaning to herself and running a hand over her face she slowly made her way towards them trying to find an empty seat. Finding one next to Goku she sat down and met the gaze of the other occupants seated around her. Smirking to herself she noticed Vegeta looking very uncomfortable seated next to Tomara and his father. No doubt Tomara had probably arrived early just to get that seat next to him she thought amused. Vegeta however was not too happy at being so close to her and Bulma noticed had in fact scooted his chair closer to his father's side. The king however seemed to be in a very good mood and was smiling brightly, completely contrasting with his wife's attitude. The queen looked beyond pissed. Her face was pulled into a scowl as she glared at the saiyan females seated around her.

"Ah Bulma we were just waiting for you" the king smiled at her

"Oh thanks, sorry I'm late I was just finishing up some things in the lab" she smiled back

Giving her a nod to excuse her tardiness he continued "As you have noticed we have guests with us this evening, and I thought I would introduce you"

"Oh there's no need, I actually ran into them this morning and Vegeta explained everything to me" she said politely

"Oh really, well that makes things easier for me" he laughed. Bulma was having a hard time hiding her surprise; she had never seen the king this happy in … well ever. She didn't know what had made him so happy, maybe it was her gravity machine or maybe it was the fact that his plan to get Vegeta a good saiyan female was going well in his eyes she didn't know, but whatever it was it was creeping her out. It was unusual to see the king in such a good mood and frankly she had to admit it didn't really suit him as much as the arrogant, cold and proud exterior he usually put up did.

"Okay then, now that the formalities have been taken care of, let's feast!" the king said enthusiastically throwing his arms up in the air.

Vegeta looked at his father strangely. The king was normally not this … joyful? Quite frankly his behaviour was making him feel even more uncomfortable than he was now, if that was even possible. It was then that he noticed Tomara reach out for the salad in front of him, her arm brushing his on purpose, her chest pushed outwards as if she was trying to get him to notice her breasts that were barely staying in her dress. At first he was disgusted when she had walked in wearing a very revealing evening dress that made her look like nothing but a whore, but now he was pretty sure he had lost his appetite for food completely. Trying to scoot his chair even further away from hers towards his father, he caught Bulma trying to hold in a laugh. Glaring at her, he turned to the food on the table. Not feeling like eating any more he stood up to leave, immediately gaining the attention of everyone at the table.

"Where are you going son?" the king asked frowning

"To train, I just lost my appetite" Vegeta growled out through clenched teeth and then left the dining room doors slamming behind him.

The king sighed to himself rubbing his temples with his forefinger and thumb while the queen just smirked satisfied. "Sorry about my son's behaviour, he can be quite stubborn sometimes" the king apologised to the saiyan females who were still looking longingly at the doors through which Vegeta had just exited. After a few minutes everyone went back to their meals, the saiyan women looking slightly disappointed. The queen turned back to her food smirking as she looked at Bulma through the corner of her eyes who was trying, rather unsuccessfully, to hold in her laughter.

Author's note:

And sooooooooo...the drama begins! I wonder what kind of mischief these female saiyans will get up to next?

Feel free to drop a comment/review if you are enjoying so far!