Dawn has arrived and beams of sunlight shine around the curtains in Vegeta's room. Vegeta rolls in his sleep as his consciousness dredges itself from the depths. Heavy eyelids flicker and settle at a squint, three silhouettes dance in his field of vision blocking his doorway and a cacophony of noise rouses him further. The sounds turn into voices, two female voices … in a heated argument, venom dripping from their tone, his mind loosely tries to piece together these nerve impulses but draws a blank as his mind tries to drift back off into the abyss again.
" Dad! Wake up dad. Get up, it's an emergency!" Trunks yells frantically at his prone, slumbering father.
The word emergency seeps into his thick skull and in the blink of an eye Vegeta is up, out of bed and ready for action - more or less. His combat instincts conspire against him. Fully awake now, he sees his son by his bedside and Ryoko with another woman in the doorway at each other's throats in the most fierce argument he has been witness to. The extreme sudden movement of Vegeta's rising draws their attention as they stop quarrelling and look at Vegeta. The women see the many scars of battle riddling every inch of Vegeta's abused body, the toned muscles of a Greek god … and the fact that he isn't wearing any clothes whatsoever.
" O-Oh my!" The new woman exclaims as she hides her face in her hands and quickly turns away blushing from her first sight of a man in the nude. This is not the greeting she was expecting when being led to the homeowner. Her face flushes deep red as that single image of a man is ingrained in her mind.
Ryoko doesn't seem to mind in the slightest and just begins ogling at Vegeta with lust filled eyes. She tuts thinking how fun her midnight rendezvous could have been if he allowed it. Trunks sighs and hangs his head low in embarrassment by what his dad has done. Realising all too late his state of undress and there being female company in his house, Vegeta stutters incomprehensibly whilst blushing and concealing his privates. Stood on display in front of two women he barely knows having just woken up, the Saiyan prince regains his composure and gets dressed into his dark blue outfit faster than the human eye could ever decipher. This predicament has not put him in a good mood.
" Trunks, what's this emergency and who is this woman?" Before Trunks can answer the woman steps forward back into the room, now the situation presenting itself has been dealt with, introducing herself.
" I-I am Ayeka Masaki Jurai, crown princess of the Juraian empire. I apologise for a-awakening you like this at such an early hour in the morning, but this is a matter of utmost urgency that it is my duty to attend to." Ayeka is a young woman: with long, flowing, purple hair loosely tied back in two ponytails, a royal wooden headdress nearly all but covered by her violet fringe, large eyes with dark red irises and wearing a long, ornate dress of many light and summery colours.
" I am also of royal blood, for I am Prince Vegeta of the proud warrior race of Saiyans." Vegeta announces proudly. His mood somewhat lightening, but at the back of his mind he is thinking how his first interaction with someone of similar birth to his in a long time started as it did.
" I thought you said there were only two of you left." Ryoko interjects. Vegeta sweat-drops, his mood darkening again.
" Yes, well …. Lady Ayeka, I take it the reason you came into my home has something to do with her." The prince looks at Ryoko who is pouting innocently at him like a little puppy … a puppy sat next to a steaming pile of incriminating evidence.
" Indeed. I am here to arrest the villainous space pirate Ryoko." Ayeka looks disdainfully at Ryoko who is still trying to feign innocence. Her first deed upon her arrival being to attack Vegeta and admitting to having once been in the service of the Cold family's empire makes the efforts of Ryoko too little, too late.
" Very well, take her. This is none of my concern." Vegeta offhandedly consigns Ryoko to Ayeka with no second thought. The cyan haired space pirate immediately goes to Vegeta and starts begging and pleading for him to reconsider, throwing all of her feminine charms and wiles at him as she clings to one of his muscle-bound arms.
" No! Vegeta, please! Help me. You can't do this to me Vegeta." Ryoko's pleading falls on deaf ears as she sinks to her knees, her lips trembling and eyes gathering moisture. A nonchalant Vegeta ignores her, being immune to these charades of emotion and Ayeka lets a small smirk of triumph show on her face. Ryoko's plan of seduction to gain herself protection is not working on this uncaring killer.
The princess takes a slow step forward, encroaching on her prey. Realising that no aid will be gifted from Vegeta, Ryoko's eyes dry and harden as she loosens up her wrist. She turns to lash out at Ayeka with a vicious backhand. Small cylindrical wooden logs appear hovering in the air surrounding Ryoko causing a slight hesitation in her attack. That small delay was all that was needed to allow the floating wooden guardians to detain Ryoko in a spherical containment field. Every minute struggle the criminal makes in her captivity is harshly punished with a swift jolt of searing energy. As Ryoko finally and solemnly settles down, Ayeka approaches the captive and a small tablet device spawns into her hand as the regal lady reads Ryoko the charges against her.
" Space pirate Ryoko, you are hereby charged by the authority of Ayeka, crown princess of Jurai, for the crimes following: 72 counts of murder, 192 counts of grievous bodily harm, 1,605 counts of armed robbery, 6 counts of attempted murder, theft and vandalism costs going into trillions of Arian Sterling and the total destruction of 2 lunar objects." The contempt in Ayeka's voice is palpable, a look of disgust shot at the detainee whilst Ryoko resigns herself to her temporary fate in captivity as she tries hatching a cunning escape plan, and one that would win Vegeta's favour so she can strike at this Kakarot fellow. However, one sound disturbs Ayeka's moment. A faint, low laugh escaping from the lips of the man who's house she is in.
" What do you find so amusing about this? Did I deliver the charges wrong? All of these horrendous crimes are capital offences against the Juraian empire." Ayeka turns on Vegeta viciously snapping at him, her composure cracking and anger showing through at being mocked..
" Trunks, go fetch Lady Ayeka my criminal record."
As his son runs out of the room, Ryoko looks inquisitively at Vegeta wondering what he is up to and hoping it will get her out of the barrier imprisoning her. Pink and purple fabric rustle against each other as the princess backs away from him, unsure of his intent. Vegeta rubs the sleep from his eyes and cricks his neck to the right producing a sound like a gunshot as he stands waiting for his child to return. Not before long, Trunks jogs back into his father's room carrying a small metal tablet and hands it to Ayeka. Ayeka reluctantly takes the object from Trunks and fumbles with it trying to find how to work it. Eventually she manages to locate the correct button and turn it on, the screen flashes and lights up projecting its data in a 3-d field above it in the common galactic tongue. As Ayeka's eyes flash over the data skim reading it, Vegeta recites it too her.
" Vegeta, Prince of the Saiyan race, wanted universally dead hereby for the crimes of: pillaging – 576 counts, Aggravated assault - 7 counts, attempted murder – 9 counts, murder … -17,034,576,929,042 counts, genocide – 214 counts, planets destroyed - 37 … and you princess are out of your depth." Vegeta callously states to Ayeka who is now visibly shaking, the projected words becoming unreadable from the trembling in her hands.
The colour drains from her face and her eyes widen as she begins to fear for her life at being at the mercy of a being capable of so much destruction, devastation and death. It all becomes too much for the faint hearted maiden as she swoons and faints falling to the floor, or she would have had it not been for Vegeta gently catching her. Her lack of consciousness causes her guardian logs to dissipate into the ether along with the barrier encapsulating Ryoko. Vegeta casually flings Ayeka onto his shoulder in a fireman's lift as Ryoko enthusiastically applauds Vegeta for her release, joyfully laughing at the sweet taste of freedom and the fact that the prince came to her rescue after all. He has proven himself capable to her, and with a track record beating her own he is someone she can definitely rely on.
" We better get her back to her spaceship." Trunks suggests to his father, having let her in he feels a tad responsible for the mess and confusion sprung on their small family of two. Ryoko, still overjoyed at Vegeta helping her to escape from Ayeka, continues to shower thanks on Vegeta, drawing his attention and eyes as keen and sharp as a hawk's to her again.
" You too." Vegeta says as he reaches out and grabs her jacket collar. She tries to pull away from his strong grasp but no amount of squirming will win her freedom. As Vegeta makes his way through his house and down the staircase with an unconscious princess over his shoulder and a space pirate being dragged along he thinks to himself that this day will not be peaceful nor productive in terms of training.
With his kid Trunks leading the way, Vegeta exits his house nearly losing Ryoko when she phases through her own jacket and his hand. She gets no more than two feet away before his hand has discarded her jacket and locked securely around the scruff of her neck again, but this time his fingers are charged with energy hopefully inhibiting her phasing ability. Over the lake, Ayeka's spaceship majestically hovers suspended in the air by no visibly detectable means. Seemingly organic in nature and structure being made up mainly of an alien wooden material projecting from and encircling a large biosphere for the crew. Vegeta looks on at the hand carved spaceship gifted to those high in the Juraian empire. This ship differs immensely from all Vegeta has seen during his space faring days, even now when he is starting to know where he heard the name Jurai in his past, yet despite its lack of aerodynamic design he can sense a great power emanating from within the ship itself as though it were alive.
Trunks and Vegeta take off and fly towards the ship, scanning the exterior for an entrance or hangar but yielding no results. At a loss, Vegeta still continues to lug the two women around in the air with Ryoko not helping one bit, struggling and fidgeting the whole time when a misfortune occurs. His hand charged with ki keeping Ryoko under control grazes alongside the outer hull of the ship's biosphere. One long bolt of power surges over the hemispherical dome then all is quiet. The Saiyan hopes what just happened did not as a chain reaction of small explosions course through the circuitry and electronics of the ship. All of the high-tech equipment that harnesses the power of the tree rooted dead centre in the bridge of the ship and enables it to voyage into the vast unknown that is space begin to fry, spark and disintegrate from exposure to the energy Vegeta's fist laid bare. Every fuse shorts.
Ryoko recoils as does Trunks, Vegeta just lets out a long sigh and sets off back to shore cursing this stroke of bad luck. Gracefully kissing the ground with his feet and setting down Ayeka on the grass before releasing Ryoko from his grasp, his sixth sense quickly scans over the doomed spacecraft. Ryoko backs away slowly from the lake and Vegeta as the noise of the descending ship acts as smelling salts to Ayeka. The ship's fall is losing elegance and gaining speed as more flames dot and scatter across its burning surface.
Trunks looks up to his father, Vegeta looks down at his son and they both nod at each other in unison before they set off and soar towards the soon to be wreckage. Ryoko curiously eyes them from the shoreline as she witnesses the Juraian vessel touch the lake's surface and billows of smoke rise up as fire touches water. Destruction of Juraian property she likes, as does she grin at this turn of events for she cannot be carted off to prison any-more. On the cold, damp grass Ayeka slowly rouses herself to this vista. Her eyebrows frown in befuddlement and then her eyes open wide in dread and astonishment as her spaceship is swallowed up before her very eyes by the vast lake. Two figures land by her side and place down two additional humanoid forms on the ground beside her.
" Wha …? No, no, no! Ryuoh, my ship, what happened? Sasami's on there!" Ayeka frantically exclaims, glancing about herself in disorientation and alarm.
"It wasn't me, I had nothing to do with this. Hunk was the one to take it out and save me again." Ryoko sniggers in her innocence and surveys the hungry blue waves engulf the last few parts of Ryuoh's hull.
" Well Trunks, looks like our 'guests' won't be leaving here anytime soon." He turns to face Ayeka and confronts her look of anger with apathy and resignation. " It appears the ship's sensitive electronics overloaded due to excess energy being emanated from Ryoko's restraints. I … apologise but we did rescue the rest of the crew, those two." Vegeta points to the two young girls on the ground looking about with no idea what is going on or how they got there. Ayeka notices one of the girls in particular: a youthful girl, younger than Trunks – only just though - with pink eyes, a freckled face and two long, bright blue pigtails.
" Sasami! Oh Sasami, are you OK? I thank you ever so much for saving my sister." Ayeka's anger is forgotten in her loving care for her bemused younger sister who still seems to have no clue what her sister is talking about and why she is outside Ryuoh. As Sasami tries to question her older sister about what happened, Vegeta thinks onto the shockingly poor space travelling capabilities Earth has to offer, only two people he knew of could manufacture anything with a decent enough propulsion drive so that it took days not years to get anywhere. One is now a frail, old man who's genius mind has begun to slip with old age as has his body and the other was his daughter whom he knew so well.
" … Bulma would know how to fix your ship, even build a new one…" Vegeta says to no-one in particular, thinking out loud to himself more so than anything. Voicing her name out loud after so many months casts a dark shadow over his mind. Trunks looks at his dad forlornly as princess Ayeka turns to him beaming at this ray of hope.
" Really? Oh that would be marvellous."
" Yes, it would wouldn't it. Well …" Vegeta can no longer hold Ayeka's hopeful stare and looks down at his booted feet, his fists curling in their white gloves and uncurling slowly. " … Bulma, my wife, she … she passed away. About a year ago i-it … it was a virus, w-we could have cured her damn it!" Vegeta's fist remains clenched and tightens, the tormenting memories of his past life breaking down the floodgates he has constructed around his soul.
Those words wipe the happy smile straight from Ayeka's face, a word to say how sorry she is for his loss is halted as she feels the hairs on her arms and head slightly rising from a massive static build-up. Ayeka believes she sees yellow run through his hair for a split second but disregards it as a trick of the light. The more his teeth grind together the more the rocks beneath Vegeta's white boots crack and crumble. The Saiyan blinks twice and shakes his head side to side to rid himself of these unwanted emotions. One small jolt of electrical discharge leaps from one of Ayeka's fingers to the other and arcs towards the ground as the cool and frosted aspect returns to Vegeta's face. She got so swept up in the moment of Ryuoh's sinking that the Juraian princess forgot what the man stood before her truly is; a walking extinction event.
" Oh you poor thing, you must be so lonely." Ryoko sees her opportunity and seizes it, teleporting from the side-lines and going for another hug with Vegeta. Grasping nothing but air and with Vegeta stood another 2 feet away from where he last was, she gives up the attempt. The Saiyan slowly raises one of his hands and points past Ayeka and Sasami to the other, still unidentified girl, who has started to stand up and brush the dirt from her and take in her new surroundings.
" You there. Who are you?" Vegeta quizzes the other young girl. Older and taller than Sasami and Trunks, seeming to be in the awkward stages in-between childhood and womanhood with a shock of red hair tied back in a ponytail. When she has finished brushing herself down and sorting out the creases in her clothing she looks at Vegeta with gleaming emerald eyes.
" I am Washu, the greatest and brightest scientific genius in the universe. But you can call me Little Washu!" She smiles innocently as they stare at her dumbfounded. Whilst they still recover from her most unusual request for her name, she briskly walks up to Vegeta and begins to inspect him. Her prying, all-seeing eyes discomfort Vegeta but he sees no reason for physical dissuasion, yet.
" Very impressive I must say: musculature exceeds the norm for most known species, demonstrates feats of great agility and control of ki, spiked wild hair. No doubt you must be a Saiyan or descend from a common ancestor, though the lack of tail is curious. Face exactly like their King's. This is so exhilarating, I never thought I would get the chance to study your species after their supposed extinction." Washu starts getting excited at the possibility of having a new test subject. Vegeta on the other hand sees no amusement in her facts or the prospect of being someone's guinea pig.
" What are you blathering on about, fool. I am Prince Vegeta, not some low class lab rat." He shrugs off Washu and turns away to face the lake as he steps toward it until his feet balance on the edge of the blue waters. In a single bound he leaps and dives to the centre of the lake, a trail of bubbles tease across the surface and then suddenly stop. As the ripples dampen and cease, the women continue to observe puzzled until a deep and ominous rumbling shakes the surface of the lake. Ripples become waves and intensify around a central disturbance in the lake as something begins to rise. Water pours from every charred orifice as it emerges from the lake. Straining beneath the spaceship, Vegeta manoeuvres it over dry land and discards it in a heap by the forest's edge. Dripping wet, he lands back by the stunned women not saying a word. Steam swirls around him and explodes outwards when the Saiyan dries himself with energy before walking confidently towards Washu.
" It's time to back up your claim, woman. If you are indeed the greatest scientist alive then go ahead, fix this spaceship." Washu realises the trap but cannot deny the challenge Vegeta has lain down for her as Ayeka hopefully looks to Washu. The reason Washu was on her ship in the first place was as she is one of the few non Juraians qualified to work on their crafts. The adolescent slowly looks to the capsized ship and the flotsam still bobbing in the water before self-assuredly turning back to meet Vegeta's challenge.
" Nope. No can do, not until I finish my little research project anyway and you start calling me Little Washu." Her reply catches Vegeta off-guard, seeing her counter-attack had its intended effect she smirks.
" What research project is this Miss Washu?" Ayeka inquires, naturally curious as to why her escape from this planet is going to be delayed. Spending more time in the company of killers is not a welcome thought.
" Him, of course." Washu points at Vegeta as her smirk widens into a toothy grin.
" You have no lab or equipment woman, I will agree to no such thing." Vegeta seethes as he tries to climb out of Washu's cunningly laid trap.
" Don't worry about that, I can easily set up an inter dimensional portal to my lab from any doorway within your house. " Washu continues pushing the attack, testing Vegeta's limits. Ayeka notices Vegeta's extreme reluctance and growing hostility, and how it could cost her becoming stranded on this primitive planet. He might be some dangerous and genocidal warrior but right now he is her only ticket to getting off this planet and back on the move.
" Please prince Vegeta, I realise it is a lot to ask of you and we have only just met but any help would be most appreciated. I see it is only just that for destroying my spaceship you do the honourable think in seeking its repairs. Jurai will pay you back most generously for aiding me and pardon some of your … lesser crimes." Ayeka pleads to the prince, he looks at her face then back to Washu and then to Ryoko who in her boredom has taken to sunbathing on the roof of his house. Finally his gaze returns to Washu and her confident smile and pushes back the surging temptation for violence.
" …Very well … and as it is my fault that all of you are stranded on my planet you will be … welcome in my home until you can leave." Ryoko and Washu's faces light up, Ayeka graciously smiles and thanks Vegeta for his hospitality but at the back of her mind a seed of fear is germinating at the prospect of her and her sister having to live under the same roof as the same man who is responsible for deaths of her people.
" Trunks, it's time you got yourself off to school. Get a move on or you'll be late." Vegeta tells his son as Trunks heads back into the house to gather his school bag and books.
Leading the entourage of women into his house, he asks them to make themselves comfortable in the main living room. As they settle down Sasami's eyes drift and beam with childish glee as she notices a soft, brown fur ball that is Ryo-Ohki quietly padding into the room. Vegeta stays stood up, still pondering over the circumstances and his current predicament as everyone else sits down on one of the large sofas in front of the television. Pink eyes veiled under amethyst tresses see one item on the low, wooden table between the seats and the large TV, a photo delicately framed in engraved gold. She is being observed as she takes in the image, Vegeta knows all too well what Ayeka is looking at. Only for his son's sake does he even keep that object there, he has no use of a gateway to a past full of memories painful to him.
Brought out of his reverie by Washu walking past him to the storage cupboard under the stairs, dismissively he agrees that she can set up there. Trunks quickly says his goodbyes before he takes off for school and Vegeta decides to leave his guests to their own devices as he goes back upstairs to his room, grumpily trying to devise a best course of action. Sitting on his bed staring at the wooden floor whilst massaging his temples Vegeta broods. Peace and quiet, no one to disrupt or disturb him from his training, that is all that the Saiyan prince has wanted for the past year. Once again Ryoko silently traverses through the floorboards of his room out of sight and hovers inches above the floor towards his flank. She finds herself staring towards his open palm aggressively pointed at her.
" One step close and I'll finally turn this whole planet to rubble." Ryoko's reaction of pure terror draws some badly needed amusement for Vegeta as she stays perfectly frozen in place, fearing for her life." What do you want now Ryoko?"
Vegeta lifts his head from his hands and faces her with those cold, black eyes of his. Lowering his arm, she sighs with relief and gently lands on the floor regaining her composure.
" Washu's all set and ready for you Vegeta." She can't contain her giggles as Vegeta snarls and sourly goes to the beckoning of Washu. Riling him up like this could cause him to break his bargain and let her keep her freedom, if not she has Ryo-Ohki to fly away on. Ignoring Ayeka and Sasami who look on, he cautiously enters his former unused storage space and ventures into a realm beyond his own. As he steps inside the doorway he emerges in an expansive, brightly lit chamber with all manner of pipes and other foreign objects branching from the walls in geometrically abstract ways.
The door slams behind him, drawing his attention to the single exit of this place and to his alarm the door simply vanishes into thin air leaving him staring at the array of alien flora that encompass the far side of the room. Hearing a rapidly clicking and tapping noise he turns once again to see Washu sat on a hovering seat typing on a semi-translucent computer. Heading over to the outcrop that she is situated on, Washu swivels herself around in the seat with her long ponytail swishing around her to look expectantly at Vegeta like a cat waiting for a mouse. The same smile has been on her face ever since she successfully blackmailed him into satisfying her thirst for more knowledge.
" Let's get this over with before I change my mind." Vegeta threateningly says to Washu as he tries to gain dominance over this woman, standing a clear foot taller than her even after she dismounts her seat. His greatly amplified muscles seem to fascinate her more than intimidate. Washu appears in no rush at all, slowly leading him off into the dark recesses of her lab. Through winding corridors and labyrinthine mazes Vegeta struggles to keep his bearings, passing innumerable doorways he thinks to himself that he is in her territory now.
Ending up in one of the many dark, branching off rooms filled with gadgets, gizmos and many technological wonders the short scientist stops. To Vegeta there is no difference between their end destination and everywhere else they passed except for the main feature of this dimly lit room being an upright metal table heavy enough to put bulkheads to shame with restraints thick enough to dissuade most beings from escaping it. Knowingly, Vegeta approaches the table and turns to Washu who is tinkering with monitors and equipment far beyond any level Vegeta understood existed. Explaining to Vegeta the tests she is going to run and the various experiments, she gathers all the necessary apparatus needed on a nearby workbench with Vegeta pretending to listen and thanking that he does not have Goku's crippling fear of needles.
" Just place your clothes here, strap yourself in and the fun can begin." Washu exclaims. Her over excitement does not reassure Vegeta in the slightest, neither does the fact he has to remove his garments. Discarding all but his boxer shorts, Vegeta hovers in the air to centre himself in the restraints. With a press of a button, Washu clamps the restraints down and they weld themselves together and to the slab… and Washu begins with an evil chuckle to herself.
Meanwhile in the living room, Sasami joyfully plays with Ryo-Ohki, petting her and letting Ryo-Ohki climb on top of her head. The spaceship is most pleased with this new person and the affectionate attention it is receiving. Ayeka and Ryoko however do not seem to be enjoying each other's company in the least, each sat as far away from each other as possible. Ryoko is sprawled on top one of the large, wooden oak beams protruding near the ceiling. Within minutes of Vegeta entering the doorway Ryoko loses patience and has to fight with boredom. Restlessly fidgeting on the narrow slat of wood, she scans the room for any source of enrichment before jumping off of the beam to examine the items on the shelving units she noticed.
" Whatever do you think you're doing Ryoko?" Ayeka asks disparagingly. The fair Juraian had been examining the curious photograph depicting the man responsible for so many horrendous actions living out a normal family life. A father, a husband and a murderer. She can't help but wonder to herself whatever caused this woman named Bulma to marry such a monster and if his son has taken up the mantle.
" Mind your own damn business, I'm bored." Ryoko tries to dismiss her inquiry as she continues trying to work out what the objects on the shelf are and if they are of any value.
" Oh of course, being but a common pirate you would know nothing of the virtues of patience." Ayeka quips, Ryoko is about to rise to the bait when one item on the shelf takes her eye. A small, rectangular box slotted between many others of the same exact size, this one however has a picture of Vegeta on the side. She slides the box out from the others it is sandwiched between and holds it up close to her inspecting it closely but unable to make out any of the markings on the box for she doesn't know the language of Earth. Grinning, Ryoko starts to open this intriguing box but by now Ayeka has noticed what she is doing and has risen from her seat to get a better look at what the petty criminal is doing.
" That does not belong to you Ryoko. I demand you put it back at once and respect Lord Vegeta's privacy as we are guests in his house." Ayeka politely demands of Ryoko. Ryoko – a thief by nature - continues to open the box to reveal a small, circular disc made of a reflective metal and admires her reflection in its shiny surface until she sees Ayeka's disapproving face reflected also. Purposefully disobeying what the princess said, she throws the box away and searches around the room for the device with which this disk might be used with. Infuriated by this insubordination, Ayeka grits her teeth as she retrieves the box and puts it back in its rightful place. She is appalled at this lack of manners or understanding of basic etiquette demonstrated in who she is now stuck with.
Happy that she has finally found a device that has an opening that will take this disk, Ryoko inserts it in hearing a nice, little whirring motion of the inner mechanism of the machine. Nothing happens. Ayeka marches over to Ryoko and hassles her for the return of the disk and for the criminal to start behaving in a more appropriate and ladylike manner. Ryoko responds by pressing every button she can see on the larger black box she put the disk in and the television above it. This random button mashing leads only to maddening Ayeka further until she tries to forcefully take the disk back, faster then she is prepared for Ryoko slams an open palm into Ayeka's stomach sending her sprawling and winded on the floor. With bloody murder in her eyes, Ayeka stands back up after recovering from the unexpected blow. She advances on the smug Ryoko despite the pleas of Sasami for her to calm down and for the fighting to stop.
" Happy Birthday Vegey!" The screen blares on and draws the attention of both women as Bulma's face appears on the screen.
" I know how much your training means to you so I got you this gift with a wish from the eternal dragon Shenron. It's all your fights that you've been in since you first landed on Earth so you can tactically analyse them, relive old victories, learn new moves or whatever it is you fighters do." The blue haired woman disappears from the screen and it transitions to a rocky wasteland with a younger, leaner Vegeta standing on top of a rocky outcrop looking down at another man. The women seem intrigued by this recording and sit down on the sofa with Sasami separating them.
" Interesting, of all the places on your planet and you choose this as your grave-site" The young Vegeta announces in his full Saiyan armour complete with jutting pauldrons and kusazuri. The raging battle grips their attention, learning of Vegeta's past they watch amazed. His cold and ruthless behaviour on the battlefield. How he has no regard for the lives of others. His sadistic pleasure from causing pain to his opponents and the shock of his mighty Oozaru form. Ayeka shields Sasami's eyes as this is not something a child should witness.
" Goodness, he's worse than you are Ryoko. What a vile monster he is." Ayeka remarks in disgust as Sasami loses interest in not being able to watch Vegeta pulverising Goku and crushing his legs and wanders off to explore the house.
" Yeah and his face is nearly as hairy as yours." Ryoko retorts. The recording carries on and Vegeta loses his tail and ultimately the match. Retreating in shame and disgrace, hauling his battered and broken body to his escape pod, he jets back off into the sky.
" He really can take a beating, that amount of damage would have crushed all of Jurai into dust. Oh well, someday that wish will come true." Ryoko continues to goad Ayeka, self restraint being tested Ayeka continues to shun Ryoko and chooses not to listen to her. The scene drastically transitions, Vegeta is healed and at a different place, the sky is a different hue and a purple fish faced humanoid in similar armour is challenging the confident prince. The following murders of Cui and Dodoria shock the women with the relative ease in which he executes both. Ayeka feels bile rise in her throat witnessing murder first hand, her only solace being that those killed are also of Frieza's ranks. All of Vegeta's past battles are flashed before them, all of them slowed down an awful lot so that the average human can view the fights and percieve what is going on.
" Kakarot... please... destroy Frieza... .He made me what I am... Don't... let him... do it... to anyone else, whatever it takes... Stop him. ... Please." Vegeta coughs up blood from his punctured lung and breathes his last breath as the women watch him die. His blood and tears mingling on the floor beneath his head as his spirit departs his body.
" H-he died? But … if he is dead how is he here?" Ayeka asks, moved as she was by his bravery and demise against Frieza, she cannot wrap her head around the apparent resurrection of Vegeta.
Out of all the other fights Ayeka saw, this one is sticking in her mind. He was not fighting for fun or for sport, but for the memory of his species that was brutally wiped out when he was a child and the freedom of all the many races from the oppressive regime of Frieza. Juraians know full well of Frieza and the wars that frequently raged between their own galactic empire and the rapidly expanding one threatening their borders, her people owe him a debt for playing the part he did in stopping the tyrant.
" I don't know but he … he actually stood up and defied Frieza. The mightiest being in the universe and he challenged it, without a thought for his own life. Idiot." Ryoko's past history with the Cold family leaves her speechless in amazement that anyone could take on Frieza and supposedly still be alive. Not one soldier she ever saw when serving Frieza ever openly contemplated mutiny or opposing their ruler, the power of fear kept everyone in line but him.
More epic fight scenes entice the women: his ascendency to Super Saiyan and the eradication of android 19, his defeat at the hands of 18, how he surpassed Super Saiyan and fought Cell and then the spawn of cell. Half way through his match with the female android they realise that the young, oddly familiar man in the fights alongside Vegeta is Trunks. A different version of Vegeta's son somehow from the future and all grown up, his mood nothing like that of the playful, happy child they met. Still trying to piece together who or what this green guy called Cell is, they see a massive change sweep over Vegeta as a beam of death flashes past his face and carries on through his alternate son's chest. They bear witness to his pure fatherly rage when he watches his son's murder at the hands of Cell and the earth shaking retribution with which he pays back the 'perfect' monster, the actions of a father not the cold blooded killer he was.
" Not even a wince? Most people scream in agony when I drain bone marrow from them, hmm and this data is still wrong. I've reset the system twice now and it still shows your heart only beating once every two minutes. Never mind the fact you have an entry and exit wound on the right-hand side of your chest that completely envelops where your heart is, yet somehow the organ is not damaged at all. No signs of any surgery." Washu's intellect and knowledge on anatomy is being broken down bit by bit from the wildly off the charts information being gathered from Vegeta. The Saiyan does not shed light on her many queries and questions of his body and gains satisfaction that even a genius cannot comprehend his power he has worked all his life to obtain. Deciding to meditate to pass the time and get some benefit out of this humiliation, Vegeta ignores all external stimuli: the needles, the electric shocks, the pain and Washu's building frustration at not being able to understand.
" OK, I'm all ready now." Washu giggles stir Vegeta from his meditation to see Washu has changed her clothes and sliding latex gloves onto her petite hands. Her attire is an all white gown and a nurses hat, how she came to know of the uniform of Earth nurses is beyond him but the way her gaze is firmly fixed on his only remaining piece of clothing unsettles him. Her giddiness in her approach to him, her manic grin and roaming hands relight his fires of anger as he forcefully shoves her back with ki.
" What the devil do you think you're doing woman!?" Vegeta shouts loudly at Washu who is struggling back to her feet. Her hat was knocked off so she bends down to put it back on her head so her costume is complete once again.
" Calm down, I'm just getting a sample and like I said call me 'Little Washu'." Washu innocently defends herself. " The last sample remaining: a sample of your spermatozoa." Vegeta freezes and then snarls, his fires of anger raging inside of him as he wrestles against the restraints. With a push of a button more chucks of metal come down and seal Vegeta onto the table, each restraint thicker than the last and leaving him no room for movement or leverage.
" Just give yourself up. It won't hurt, not much anyway. I've got magic fingers. … It's impossible to break out of those restraints, I designed them myself." Washu's grin returns but quickly fades as she sees the strain in Vegeta's tense muscles and hears an ominous groaning vibrating the whole room.
" We'll see about that!" Vegeta smirks and continues his assault against the restraints. The groaning continues and is soon joined by the roars of Vegeta struggling for freedom. Suddenly Washu panics and quickly leaves the room. Hurrying away when her nerve breaks as Vegeta ascends to Super Saiyan and then to ascended Super Saiyan, doubling his muscle mass, crushing some of the restraints from his enlargement as if they were no more than paper. His roars die down and continue to echo through the empty passageways as he smiles and with minimal effort cracks the whole table into four pieces, tearing it from the wall. The restraints still attached to him, the table pieces still attached to each of his limbs and all the supports, rivets and girders from the wall still welded on are dragged as he slowly but assuredly marches through the mazes of Washu's lab with vengeance in his heart.
The duo watching the screen are totally engrossed as they witness Vegeta's finest moment. The moment he was completely selfless, when he sent away his son and friends to stand alone and hold the line. Where he took a last desperate measure to protect the planet and his family, sacrificing himself in a blazing inferno caused by his own life force to try and exterminate the menace of Majin Buu. A 2 mile radius supernova of flame as he pours everything he has and more into this final attack. Tears well and fall from their eyes as they witness the proud warrior's body begin to burn up within the small star he has created. The pain etched on his face as he sustains the explosion for as long as he physically can and the agonised screams thundering as loud as his attack. A petrified corpse tumbles and shatters in the cold hard glassy crater created. Vegeta's body turns to dust, scattered by the winds. Both women try and hide their tears and shows of emotion created from this valiant feat from each other unsuccessfully. Ryoko and Ayeka have seen enough to see how much the years on Earth have altered and changed him. He is not the same man now who went around blowing up planets, despite his best efforts to hang onto the appearance of a ruthless warrior. Ayeka admits his calibre is worthy of the title prince if he is willing to sacrifice himself with a smile upon his face.
Quickly the scene moves on to him facing a much more intimidating Majin Buu again but with a halo above his head, relieving the women and also raising serious questions religious and philosophical. But those thoughts are soon removed as an oddly dressed Washu rushes out of her lab and slams the door behind her. Washu pants before catching her breath and seeing what the women are watching before she drew their attention. Hiding behind the sofa they are sat on, she peeks over it watching the screen with them, both women thinking they rather wouldn't know what she is doing as it can not be as interesting as what has kept them occupied now for several hours.
Many minutes later, the door Washu had procured for her lab is kicked down into sawdust as a glowing, raging man clunks awkwardly through with the restraints still encumbering him. The burning fury in his eyes settle on the cowering adolescent. Reverting to base form, he takes a few steps into the room before effortlessly disintegrating the shackles and shrugging off the falling atoms. Terrified as his stare stays focused on her, she sprints out of the room and house in terror. With her out of the picture he glances towards the two other women and notices what they are doing. He sees himself on the television and that can mean only one thing, they are watching his most personal item he owns and learning everything there is to know about him. That is a present from his wife. They have no right to it. The fires in his eyes return, leaving the women scared stiff by the malice directed at them as his eyebrows furrow.
" 10 … 9 … 8 …" Vegeta calmly commences a countdown, the women take a few seconds to realise why he is counting backwards from ten then follow Washu's example and flee as fast as they can.
With her sister running for her life and Ryoko phasing through the window, Sasami sits confused with Ryo-Ohki in her lap enjoying a nice belly rub as Vegeta vanishes from view. She asks the glowing Saiyan why he is angry and that he should calm down. To speak to him whilst he intends to intimidate he commends her bravery and tells her to wait. Ayeka and Ryoko manage to catch up with Washu who has stopped out of breath with sweat pouring down her face, her body built for intellectual not physical stamina.
" …1" Alarmed they all turn to see Vegeta standing behind them with his arms crossed. Ayeka attempts to reason with the Saiyan but the murderous glint in his eyes dissuades her from attempting further so she falls back onto the Juraian technique of summoning a large force field in front of her. Ryoko places herself behind both women as shields.
" 0!" Vegeta bellows as he thrusts both arms out to his side and begins to gather energy in his palms. The women scream in unified terror as he slams both hands together in front of him facing them. Sizzling with energy, his hands glow from the energy built up in them.
" Final Flash!" Vegeta cries as he expels the energy in his signature planet ravaging attack. The sky lights up as the heavens are torn asunder by his power. The women's cries are silenced in the thunderous wave. Vegeta cuts off his attack and the beam of ki abruptly dissipates as he looks down at the women. Scared to death, they all fainted in shock before he lifted his arms and aimed his blast directly above him – most probably on its way to ruin someone else's day- sparing their lives. Laughing at their cowardice, he picks up all three females and carries their unconscious bodies back to his house and upstairs to one of the many spare rooms. Disposing them on the bed he turns to leave the room before a dark thought crosses his mind and from ear to ear his smile widens sadistically.
Back in his element, Vegeta is training at a measly seven hundred times the Earth's gravity, barely breaking a sweat as he continues doing one handed handstand push ups. Sasami is busy in the kitchen as she has decided to thank Vegeta for his hospitality by cooking a meal, but is overly unimpressed by the ingredients at her disposal. Extreme high protein food and drinks, hardly any greenery to be seen but an abundance of meat - enough to count as a zoo. She sighs and turns on the stove, surprisingly knowing her way around a gas operated oven and hob.
Simultaneously a tired groan emerges from Ryoko as she comes back round. Wearily she lifts her head from the comfortable 'pillow' and groggily opens her eyes. Blushing with a start as she finds herself lain entwined with a slowly waking Ayeka, the pillow turning out to be her breasts. Both stare eye to eye before pulling away from each other blushing. Still recovering from that stupefying fright, Ayeka hears quiet muffled shouts coming from one of the corners of the room. The shouts originate from a gagged and crudely restrained Washu: twisted girders, bent and warped metal and her own restraints incarcerating her. Anything to distance herself from the space pirate, Ayeka crosses the room and removes the gag but cannot budge any of the manacles distorted around Washu.
Warming down practising martial arts with weights in his hands in one hundred Earth's gravity, Vegeta prepares to end this training session. He gets interrupted abruptly by Ryoko and Ayeka storming through the door … and being crushed, immobilised to the floor. Releasing them by immediately deactivating the artificial gravity he waits as the women recover from that ordeal.
" H-how dare you! I am the royal crown princess of Jurai! You have threatened my life and … a-and you.." Ayeka blushes from the embarrassment, no longer able to continue venting her anger. Vegeta smirks and walks towards them, they flinch away even though he makes no signs of aggression.
" I believe Washu has learnt her lesson now so I will release her, you two can … I don't really care." With that he leaves the two women and goes back up to where he imprisoned Washu, the women hear an almighty crack as he tears the metal to pieces. A calm Vegeta descends the stairs with a timid Washu nervously following, stopping outside the entranceway to her lab.
" So now that I have complied with your wishes you can begin work on repairing Lady Ayeka's ship. Or would you prefer another practical experiment … Little Washu?" Vegeta questions Washu, making sure she remembers her place in the pecking order. A hand resting firmly on her head and yielding her no escape as it presses down on her skull.
" Yeah, about that. Well I can't exactly repair the ship, it's … umm the materials they can't be found on this planet. Would if I could, but ain't nothing I can do without the proper stuff to work with. Juraian ships are very specialised and very sensitive concerning their construction." Washu tries to dig herself out of the hole she has made for herself but her excuses do not fool Vegeta.
" Ah, so the truth comes out at last. I suspected as much. Lady Ayeka, seems you and your sister will be shipwrecked here a while longer than first thought." Vegeta is satisfied at this victory over the scientist and leaves Washu to Ayeka who has overheard and is not in the least bit happy for Washu lying to her and being unable to get her off this rock.
" Consider yourself lucky, punk." Vegeta nonchalantly says to the disembodied head of Ryoko poking through the wall as he passes her towards the kitchen.
" Hey Vegeta …" Vegeta stops walking and turns back round to where Ryoko's voice came from but her head is no longer halfway through the wall. " … you didn't go and take advantage of a poor and defenceless woman when she was sleeping did you?" Her face drops down into view in front of his own as Ryoko hovers upside down in the air with a cheeky little smile on her face. Vegeta replies that he did not and decides that the conversation is over and turns back around to leave.
" Dinner's ready!" Sasami calls excitedly, bringing Ryoko, Ayeka and a relieved Washu to the dining room table. The table is heaving under a banquet of lovingly prepared food with Vegeta already sat at the head of the table and courteously waiting for his guests before starting. Ryoko and Washu are elated by the sight of such bountiful food, plate upon plate of steaming meats drizzled in velvety sauces. As the females sit down to prepare to eat, the front door opens and closes and Trunks is instantly sat at his father's side looking longingly at the food. The women are too reluctant to sit at the other side of this powerful warrior, even Ryoko, but Sasami sits next to Trunks, happy for company of her own age group.
The women then find out to their dismay the eating habits of Saiyans are as overwhelming as their power, before most of them can get any food on their plates Vegeta and Trunks have made a sizeable dent in this feast. Dumbstruck by this insatiable appetite and disgusted by the lake of table manners, high-born Ayeka tries to set an example by eating with extreme care and ladylike delicacy. With the meal over and all the dishes cleared, Sasami is shocked when both Trunks and Vegeta inquire as to whether they can have seconds and are disappointed when she reveals that they have eaten all the food she cooked. Vegeta compliments Sasami on her incredible cooking ability and skill, she is proud of the praise but the other women are shocked by this act of kindness from him. Turning to face his guests Vegeta sighs.
" So … you two know of my past, my failings, my defeats and shame … even my deaths. I take it you even know about the alternate future version of Trunks, my son." Vegeta states in a solemn fashion, thinking back over all the times his strength was surpassed and he was shoved into the side-lines.
" Prince Vegeta, I do not condone the use of such excess violence that you seem so ready to show. Nor do I think someone's life should ever be forcefully taken from them as you have done to countless others. … Yet what that footage of you showed is something your criminal record does not. You have a great sense of pride and honour, yet I cannot see how you really think of yourself as a failure. In all those fights I witnessed you fought admirably and greatly aided your allies, allowing for victory and the safeguard of this planet. Dare I say it, the universe itself would not be here were it not for your bravery and strength. All of us here are indebted to you and Goku or Kakarot for defeating Frieza and this Buu and on behalf of Jurai, and personally, I thank you for it." Humility and bitterness is all he has when thinking of his past, he cannot accept the kind words of Ayeka.
" You mean I softened them up for Kakarot, whilst I was humiliated and pummelled into the dirt like a helpless child." Vegeta retorts, frustration rising at the thoughts of Goku - his rival.
" So? You tried and you're still here ain't ya? Taking on Frieza, that took some serious balls but you still did it. You pulled yourself a decent looking wife, though nothing compared to me of course, and have a son. Even though you've died -" Ryoko tries to comfort Vegeta, taking her lead from Ayeka.
" Ryoko, I have died and gone to the underworld. I was damned for my many sins and when I die again I will still be eternally damned, never able to see my wife. As I believe you will too for your crimes." Vegeta snaps, he will not hear some random space farer talk about his wife in such a way. Ayeka smugly looks across at Ryoko to see a stunned look on her face. With a sob she phases from the room, the Saiyan immediately regrets that outburst – no-one should live with the knowledge of what awaits them beyond the gates of death. Vegeta stands up to follow, her feeling guilty for what he has said and to try and attempt for reconciliation. Ayeka helps the children, Sasami not having understand that conversation, to clear away the dishes. Sneaking back off into her lab smuggling the disc that contains Vegeta's fights on them, a scarlet ponytail disappears through her rebuilt door.
Outside his house, Vegeta follows the sounds of Ryoko's distress and sees her perched on the roof of his house. In a single bound he is by her side but unsure how to comfort someone told of their fate after death - death itself being a hard enough topic to talk about in normal conversation. Ryoko has never had to consider this. All her life she has opposed Jurai and thus shunned its religious overtures, living without regret and doing as she pleases. For all her skill she knows she can only outrun death for so long. She hears the awaiting punishment she has been told exists.
" We have made our choices in life, we have to accept the consequences of our actions. No amount of penance could pay off my debt, even if I lived for a thousand more years. But you have your whole life ahead of you. I'm sure if you wanted to you could get yourself into heaven with only those minor offences Piccolo was like you and he managed it and all he did was save one child's life." After saying his piece. Vegeta leaves Ryoko on the roof with her thoughts as he goes to train in the training room with his son. Washu silently analyses the footage off the disc, making notes and running tests on it whilst comfortable in her lair. Ayeka and Sasami have returned to the capsized Ryuoh to scavenge what possessions they have undamaged by the waters of the lake.