Vegeta Muyo!

by Llwchwr

A year after the Buu saga the Z warriors continue life in peace until tragedy strikes, a family is shattered and hearts broken. One Saiyan excommunicates himself and lives as a hermit training day and night until one day a visitor crashes into his life.

15. Vegeta Muyo! Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Vegeta, Ayeka and Ryoko arrive at the beach. Fine pale sands, a crystal clear blue sea with almost no surf to it (with no lunar object orbiting the Earth anymore tides are a thing of the past) and most importantly not a soul in sight. The Saiyan has chosen this patch of coastline well, if things go wrong – which he knows damn well they will – then there shall be no bystanders to get in the way. Still with Ryoko and Ayeka linking arms with him and following his every step, he leaps off of the promenade to land with his feet sinking into the sun heated sands. A few more metres forward and closer to the salty smelling waters he sets down the many bags he has been burdened with. Three new bags since the earlier shopping spree, one containing attire suitable for a day at the beach for each of them … he did not enjoy the time spent buying these.

Never again shall he dare go clothes shopping. Getting himself some swimming shorts proved no problem, a quick in and out procedure of going into the shop, finding some and paying for them. That was not where his problem was though. With him all done he then had to go and wait for the two women to make up their minds on what swimming costume they shall wear. Forcefully dragging Ryoko away from the bikinis made of apparently nothing but a few pieces of string created quite a scene, he will not allow her to be seen near him if she goes around so scantily clad. Such an obvious ploy from her, especially after he had to dissuade her from going swimming in the nude and having to explain that human's have laws concerning public acts of indecency like that. So embarrassed he felt, a proud Saiyan crusader, stood in the aisles of women's swimwear. The space pirate being so barefaced about her attempts to seduce him with the revealing clothing, holding up different items of clothing to see if he has a positive reaction to any – which he didn't – and even going as far as pretending to need help with something in the changing room. The cunning mind of a warrior of thousands of battles will not fall for a petty ruse like that and ignores the attention seeking behaviour to check on how Ayeka is doing. Him being around her proves counter productive though for as soon as she sees him she blushes brightly, having to get and later on wear revealing clothes such as these is testing her sensibilities. Vegeta is glad when it is all over, taking 20 more minutes than it would have done if her went alone.

Removing his arms from the women clinging to him he bends over and rummages around in the carrier bags for some towels, finding them he takes them out and lays them down on the ground with a good 2 feet distance between each towel. The women are enjoying the view: Ayeka of this mystical place she has dreamt of for so long and Ryoko of Vegeta bending over. In a flash the Saiyan is laying down on the central towel in his plain black swimming shorts with a neat folded pile of his clothes next to him that sinks deeply into the sand from its enormous weight, he'll have to dig them out later. Not since before his death has he lain down and he welcomes the relaxation. After being brought back from the eternal sleep – and thinking what probably went on during his absence in that bed - he had no want for visiting his place of rest and so tried to make up for a month's amount of lost training. From dusk till dawn he strove for more strength. Stress and a night's worth of built up tension and fatigue seeps out from his muscles as he lounges in the bright sunlight. Vegeta feels two pairs of eyes on him, he opens his eyes to look up at the rogue and royal stood above him. Cat like yellow irises are absorbing every facet of his near naked body and lapping it up as the bashful princess seems to be hiding her glances at the man laying at her feet. Ryoko dives for her purchase, seeming very eager to join Vegeta and show off her body with Ayeka Jurai also fishing out her own. The relaxation of Vegeta comes to an abrupt end as he stands up and puts his hands on Ryoko's arms to stop her in taking her dress off in plain sight.

" Ryoko there are changing rooms over there, use them." Ayeka was tentatively looking for someplace to switch into her swimming costume and heads off in relief seeing the small building designed for such purposes.

" Oh but that's no fun Vegeta. C'mon, I know you want to see." She cheekily winks at him and strokes his bare chest, his face shows no change in emotion.

" I explicitly told you to behave yourself Ryoko …"

" Not even a little peek?...You got changed right here though so why can't I? Not like there's anyone else around to see but that snooty oppressor." Vegeta does not see why she always has to continue to persist, a good sign of a fighting spirit he'll give her that but this is not what he requires on his day out.

" Can you move faster than all physicists say is possible, if not then the changing rooms are still over there." She trudges off in a huff with a sullen look of defeat on her face, she hates these rejections from him of her body. Vegeta settles himself back down and closes his eyes, keeping company with both of those women is more draining than any rigorous exercise he has ever put his body through … he wonders if it's all just some test that will improve him in the end. The joys of doing nothing rarely appeal to him but the ability to be able to do so is something considering where he was but less than two days ago. Last time he was at the beach was a couple of years before the whole Majin Buu incident, he loathed it: sand everywhere, people everywhere and Trunks was little more than a toddler crying and whining all the time.

Several minutes pass as Vegeta ponders a few things, just some private time to mull certain things over in his mind. His brain never comes to a conclusion over it as two shadows block out the Sun, he already knew they were there though but despite that he waited for them to make their prescence known to him. Opening his eyelids he is greeted to a very welcome sight, men would give their lives for a glimpse at women like this and all he is doing is betting to himself how long it takes for another argument to occur. Ryoko is wearing a red bikini with frilled crimson and black material decorating it, for the price paid for it Vegeta thought it might have some gems hidden within it or humans are just greedier and stupider than he gave them previous credit for. A great slash revealing the unblemished midriff of Ayeka on the perfect white one piece swimsuit is making her feel uncomfortable and on display like her alabaster legs. Well they definitely look better in outfits like that than Bulma did is all Vegeta can say. Sly grin and slight blush set themselves down on either side of him with Ryoko edging her towel right next to Vegeta's as she lays on her side looking at him, or to be correct looking at his chest. Remembering something, the prince of Saiyans takes out two small blue bottles from the plastic bags and chucks one to both Ayeka and Ryoko, good reflexes allow them to catch the objects and look at them and the weird opening of the top designed for spraying.

" Sun cream, apply it on your skin and it will not get burnt by the direct sunlight. This planet has an extremely weak ozone layer after all the fights that have taken place on it as you may have noticed." Staring straight at the Sun as he says this, he thinks of at least 20 ways in which things could hastily worsen into a major problem.

" I thank you Lord Vegeta, it is most considerate of you to go out of your way on behalf of my own personal wellbeing." Ayeka sweetly smiles at him as he accepts her words of gratitude and both women start to rub the sun cream into their exposed skin – Ryoko being Ryoko, she is trying her darnedest to make the simple act the most provocative it can possibly be and having as much luck in succeeding as she ever does. All is peaceful for a while just Sun, sea and sand. Until, that is, he feels fingers being traced on one of his massive pectoral muscles by the fingernails of a most wanted criminal.

" Vegeta, can you help me? I can't reach my back properly." He turns his head to the side to face her as her fingers claw lightly along the rough grooves of scar after scar. " I won't try any funny business I swear, I've been good today haven't I?" Thinking about it he would have to agree with her on that, he saw her pass by the whole financial district and not rob any of the buildings and banks though he saw how much she desperately wanted to. He pushes himself up onto his elbows and exhales lengthily, relinquishing himself to doing her bidding for the time being. She rolls over onto her back giggling happily as she caught a look at Ayeka's face as Vegeta moves away from the princess and onto her towel.

" Be gentle with me Vegeta, hehe." The prince of Saiyankind cannot use any of his preternatural swiftness here, the lotion would evaporate and render moot any of his efforts, he has to do things the old fashioned way like most mortals. Content purrs of a thoroughly happy and gleeful Ryoko grate as fingernails on a chalkboard down the Juraian princess' mind. That look of pure enjoyment radiating from the woman her prince is touching, oiling and with the hands of someone experienced at doing so. Her annoyance is rising, the thin strands restraining her are pulled taught and all but snap when Ryoko sticks her tongue out in an impertinent manner.

" Umm … Vegeta? What're you doing?" As a punishment for pulling faces, he decided to stick his finger coated in sun cream on her tongue so she would learn not to do so, for some reason the foul tasting liquid did nothing to her. He quickly withdraws from her and sits back down on his own towel with her confused eyes lingering on him with a rosiness spreading on her cheeks.

" N-nothing! There, I did as you asked. … By any chance do you happen to have no taste buds?"

" Taste buds? What are they?" Vegeta knew it, he was sure he smelt one of the wine bottles from lunch being badly corked yet she did not notice and it was one of the first bottles she consumed so it couldn't have been the senseless oblivion of alcohol that caused this.

" Lord Vegeta? … C-could you umm …" Vegeta takes this excuse to drop his conversation with Ryoko he didn't want to have - how she is missing one of the five major senses. Ayeka is holding the bottle of sun cream close to her chest and looking at it whilst talking to him. " … It would seem that I also require aid in applying this to my back. Would you be so kind as to help me as well in this matter?" As she apprehensively asks this question she holds out the sun cream to him and faces him with a nervous and embarrassed look on her face. He perfunctorily concedes to doing the same thing for her he did for Ryoko though her bathing costume does reveal much less of her that would require to be sun creamed. Roles reversed, Ayeka feels the strong and firm fingers kneading her flesh as Ryoko can look on and stew in jealousy. The purple haired maiden has never had a man ever touch her in such an intimate manner before, she would be lying if she said she did not enjoy it but should a high princess of the hallowed courts of the Jurai royal family be enjoying pleasures such as these. Vegeta gets the job done quickly and finishes when he hears a very quiet moan escape the princess, he just wants to try and get some rest not go through the hassle of appeasing two needy women. Two ears beside Vegeta's picked up on that sound and prick up as her eyes narrow, biting her lip throughout observing the Saiyan's hands caressing her pale skin she can abide this no longer.

" Vegeta! I'll do your back now, hehe." Ryoko lunges as fast as she can across the short distance to his unprotected flank, he nimbly dodges this gainless attempt with no effort at all. Ayeka lets out a scream seeing the pirate rocketing towards her as Ryoko phases out of existence and back in again directly above Vegeta to approach him from another angle. Diving down at her top flying speed with gravity on her side still means naught to Vegeta. He clamps his hands around her wrists and holds her upside down in front of him as the blue bottle spills from her hand onto the scorching sands of the beach. Disheartened golden eyes stare into his ebony pupils and the eager smile on her face has washed off.

" Saiyan skin is not so weak that it requires protective chemicals, our hide is tough enough to withstand the most extreme levels of all nature's elements." Vegeta releases his grip on her and lounges back down onto his drying cloth, she continues to hover in the air as he left her. With gravity acting on her in this manner her hair bears a distinct similarity to that of the raised spikes of Vegeta.

" Aaaw, I was just trying to have some fun you grump. Can't you be just a teensy bit less serious all the time, live a little." Ryoko's sullen face drifts down into his view as she lowers herself closer to the earth and the Saiyan prince's lap.

" I am living a lot more than a week ago, isn't that enough for you?" She struck a chord he does not want to be reminded of – besides his defeat at Goku's hands his deaths are his most shameful memories.

" So insensitive Ryoko, stop pestering Lord Vegeta." Ayeka, feeling left out of the conversation, jumps in, she sees an opportunity to belittle the space pirate and gladly will take it. Ryoko simply looks at her then back at Vegeta, choosing to ignore the royal decree of Ayeka. Floating down and rotating round so she is the right way up, the cyan maned woman sits down cross legged next to Vegeta and looks down at him.

" Hey, Vegeta." He lazily drifts his eyes across to her. She has her gaze fixed on his face and is smiling gaily. " So … did you prefer touching my soft and delicate skin or Ayeka's?" Vegeta was not expecting that, he did not foresee this line of inquiry and so freezes with an awkward and uncomfortable look at being put under the spotlight like this. The princess perks up hearing her name mentioned and although taking offense at the obvious insult from Ryoko waits to hear the prince's verdict. Vegeta's eyes close as he moves one of his hands to his temples to massage it whilst he thinks. This is a good sign for both women, or they think so, because if he is taking the time to make a judgement in his head then surely he must have strong opinions on the matter – opinions concerning their beauty. Ayeka and Ryoko's eyes flash at each other and back at their prince awaiting his words to see who he favours. The silence is broken by a deep grumbling from Vegeta's stomach, he immediately opens his eyes and sits bolt upright.

"Lady Ayeka Masaki Jurai had the softer skin I believe, hard to tell." He says this and prepares for the repercussions.

" What?! NO! Vegeta!" It is safe to say that the space pirate is not too happy with his choice, in fact it would be closer to horror she is feeling. Vegeta was asked to choose and so he did, if it doesn't please her then that is her problem.

" Hahaha, oh come now Ryoko you didn't expect him to pick your old, wrinkled skin over mine which is still so youthful. Maybe you're just going senile." Ayeka could not be any happier with this result, praise from Vegeta on her supple and velvety skin and Ryoko coming in second place behind her.

" I'M NOT OLD! … Right Vegeta?" Her eyes lock onto him full of hopefulness that he didn't mean what he said or that is was some kind of sick joke. She can see no hint of amusement in his eyes, just the normal deadpan. Giggling from Ayeka claws at Ryoko's mind.

" I think we should let the numbers speak for themselves, the fact is you are 5 times older than me and you are sagging 5 times as much." She said it, that one word Ryoko hates above all others, 'sag'. There is no going back from that, any other insult she could have wiped off or ignored but with this there shall be blood one way or another.

" Grrr, I hate you! This is just some mistake, he meant to say my name but he just got frightened when he saw your ugly mug." Ryoko will not admit defeat on this, she can't accept it. How her little harmless question backfired so badly for her is something she just doesn't understand. Even though she continually looks to Vegeta for support he appears to have taken an entirely neutral stance, supporting neither woman after those fateful words he said.

" Poor Ryoko, you obviously haven't looked in a mirror for a good few decades if you think that I am the one with a face that causes small children to cry." Ayeka pushed it too far, Ryoko's fist flies straight and true for her face to rectify what the princess said. Fear grips the purple haired woman's eyes as she sees the violence intended for her and the pure rage of Ryoko directed straight at her. The punch is stopped by Vegeta. Putting his open hand out he catches it and takes the impact without flinching or causing him any pain or harm.

" You already broke the rule concerning flight Ryoko, are you about to go and also start a fight? Disobedience must run in your blood." Only now with the inevitable occurring does Vegeta step in and cease any escalations. His hand closes over Ryoko's but she yanks it away.

" I - I don't believe this! You're taking her side again. How could you? First you say you don't like my body and then- " Cyan hair flies out of its holdings and flows long and free once again as she wrenches out the bobble and throws it at Vegeta. The small ring of cotton combusts before it gets close to him.

" Ryoko I said her skin was softer than yours, it is hard to detect with palms as callused as mine but there was one main thing I could distinguish between. You have a scar received from battle, Ayeka has never been in a true fight and so never collected the mark of a warrior." The space pirate pauses. She looks over her bare shoulder to see the same scar he is referring to, the one racing down from her right shoulder blade to the bottom of the left-hand side of her ribcage. A horrible and nasty imperfection that runs jagged and rough down her otherwise unblemished back.

" … My scar? …" Vegeta nods sternly as she says this. His own body – nearly every square inch - riddled and ravaged with the souvenirs of war, the permanent reminders of when he was too slow, too weak or overconfident. " You think I'm ugly because of my scar, don't you?" Her face and heart sink, always so proud to show off her body whenever possible but always she forgets the thing on her back.

" My that is quite a horrible disfigurement, you won't find anything like that on my perfect skin." Neither of the others pay attention to Ayeka, her mockery of Ryoko goes thoroughly ignored. Vegeta's attention is on the space pirate alone, his own defaced back turned to Ayeka.

" Ryoko you don't know much about Saiyans, in our culture scars are proof that we are true fighters. The more scars a Saiyan wears and still remains alive, the more respect their comrades will have for him or for her. I will admit that I have cheated the system and have more than a life's worth of scars rendering them moot but yours looks as though it was a deep slash by an energy weapon. Unless your vital organs differ from the average humanoid then that would have pushed you close to death. You fought hard to survive and endure and that is the Saiyan way."

" Vegeta … y-you mean it?" There is no lie hidden in his eyes. He nods in response. " You think it isn't grotesque but … something to respect me for?" For a second time he nods in a positive response to her question. Vegeta's signature smirk appears seeing the look of pure mirth and relief on Ryoko's face. The widest smile of blithe happiness grins back at the Saiyan prince as she pounces on him and the smile only gets bigger as she sees Ayeka's look of irascibility. Disconcerted by the bodily contact with a woman in not a lot of clothing, Vegeta stays absolutely still feeling the warmth of her body pressed against his pronounced slabs of muscles.

" Unhand Lord Vegeta you shameless wench." Much to her surprise Ryoko does let go of Vegeta and lays back down on her own towel, with that shocking compliance to her wishes Ayeka also relaxes back down to bask in the glorious sunlight. A great sandstorm encompasses the towels with a great wall of sand thrown up into the air in a straight line heading towards the waters edge. Vegeta's form did not fade from either woman's vision as he stood up, went to the ocean, caught a fish, chargrilled the unlucky sea creature and came back to sit down at his place between them. Wiping the sand from their eyes and out of their hair, Ayeka and Ryoko hear the sound of bones and scales crunching as the Saiyan feasts on the bounties of the ocean. A picked clean skeleton is discarded back into the waters from which it came from and the beach becomes an oasis of serenity for the trio just relaxing in each other's company.

The silence and calm is broken after close to an hour of nothing, Vegeta is pleasantly surprised that hell on earth did not break out during that time. Ayeka awakes from the nap she drifted off into with a start and looks about widely at being woken up so suddenly. She finds a beach ball by her side and sees a group of young men not too far away, the culprits who woke her so rudely. One of the carefree beachgoers is jogging towards her following the cardinal rule of you kicked it you fetch it. She picks up the spherical object in her hands as she stands up to return his possession back to him, her ill feelings towards him gone now she sees it was accidental and not deliberate. Detecting movement, the two others lounging about sit up, nothing else is happening so they might as well watch what Ayeka is doing.

" Sorry 'bout that, didn't mean to hit ya. Didn't hurt you did I?" The bronzed skin of the man shows he spends quite a good deal of time at the beach. His day has brightened up seeing these two exotic women on the beach, he believes he is in luck, but his blood and very soul freezes seeing Vegeta. Although an incredibly fit human by most standards he pales into nothingness in comparison with the honed bulk of the Saiyan, the older alpha male with his females sees no threat from this new comer. A gracious acceptance of this apology and the princess gives him back his ball to continue his game with his mates. The random person is just about to turn back and go on his way when he decides to take the plunge.

" Hey little missy, I was just wondering, well you see we're a man down, so wouldya like to join us? I'm sure your ma and pa won't mind if you ditched them to come play with me and the lads." Ayeka has no mind to leave her prince for some commoner, much less for some ball game, but what his ill chosen words have done Ayeka likes. The Saiyan contemplates that in all honesty he is within an age range that could have sired her but it is Ryoko who has a problem with this man. Quite a big problem.

" Mother!" She seethes through her gritted teeth at the man, fires of fury lighting. Vegeta stops her from jumping up and eviscerating the man where he stands, with one strong arm he holds her in place so she cannot commit the murder she would so love to. Ayeka is grinning slyly to herself witnessing the great upset in her rival. Whispering in hushed tones for her to calm down and behave herself, Vegeta is still trying to soothe the infernal wrath of the woman scorned - albeit unsuccessfully.

" I am sure that dear old mother wouldn't mind but -"

" Oh it's Ok son, go ahead and have fun. You could do with making a few friends." Ayeka's chuckles are cut short as Ryoko escapes from Vegeta's imprisoning grasp, utilising phasing and teleportation at the same time he couldn't stop or touch her. " He's always been like this but don't treat him any differently." As gobsmacked as the man is by a bikini clad woman materialising out of thin air to stand in front of him the cogs in his head slowly churn against each other in realisation at this false information. Ayeka and Vegeta look at Ryoko as though she has totally lost the plot, not understanding what craziness she is saying. However, they don't look half as confused as the guy holding the beach ball – mentally disoriented and scared of this situation.

" Uh… yeah umm … well, uh …. Woah is that the time, I totally need to be, err, got important stuff to do. Goodbye, see ya later sir." The man is gone, a trail of sand in his wake as he runs back to his friends. A pirate is nothing if they don't know how to exploit certain aspects of people and this time she counted on humans having unreasonable prejudices against people not seen as conforming to the norm, that is something human beings have in abundance. She heartily and blissfully laughs at how she got her own back on the princess, her revenge could only taste sweeter if she knew what the taste of something sweet was. How the tables have so quickly been turned. Ayeka is fuming. She is mad, horribly mad. Never before has she reached this level of pure, undiluted, sheer anger for one person.

" SIR!" Venom milked from malice runs in rivulets with her words, a terrible anger distorting her face into a countenance that would leave the bravest souls quaking in their boots. " The … The outrage! He …, THAT DIMWIT, actually believed your filthy lies! How dare you!" Steely eyes fix onto Ryoko with malice and contempt in her tone. Ryoko continues to laugh in Ayeka's face, uncaring at the enormous rage before her. " Never before have I been so insulted! YOU WILL PAY!"

" What's the matter? Just got rid of that bothersome nuisance for you, see I was doing you a favour … transvestite prince of Jurai." A fresh burst of belly laughs escapes from Ryoko at her teasing and mocking of Ayeka. The burning fury within has built to terrifyingly high levels, she has been gravely insulted and slandered as a princess and as a woman, she will not stand idly around. The sand crunches under her feet and fuses into miniscule glass craters, slowly advancing towards her target Ayeka's Juraian powers awaken. A host of miniature guardians spawn and hover around like satellites to the princess. Vegeta concludes this is the end to their nice day out in the wide open world, neither woman is responsible enough to be trusted in public situations. A Saiyan stands between the two women, nearly able to feel the palpable rancour manifest. One arm grabs Ayeka roughly and the other Ryoko as he holds them apart from each other. Shame befalls him as his short height means that both women have longer arms than he and so are capable of almost getting to each other still. Instant Transmission whisks them away from the coast.

Sand is replaced with long tufts of grass and sparse bushes growing on this mountainous plateau towering high and tall above an expansive forest of conifers stretching from horizon to horizon. The temperature has plummeted to the freezing point of water and the Sun has long since ended its journey across the night time sky – Vegeta traversed a good dozen time zones in that one instant. The Saiyan prince does not relent in his grip on them, both pushing with their great strength against his arms to reach their arch nemesis. Hot breath steams and clouds into his face as goosebumps erect on their bare arms, Vegeta does not feel the cold for his ki always maintains his bodily temperature without fail. The high misty mountaintop is engulfed in a bright light from the two women as the man who has escaped the reaper three times amends the poor choice of clothing the women are wearing for a fight at a location such as this. Nothing fancy just some copies of his blue jumpsuits altered to fit to their body sizes, a good deal better protection from the frosty winds than beach wear. Not for a second, though both being moved thousands of miles and their garments being magically transformed, do Ayeka or Ryoko get undeterred from the other.

" Listen to me, it's about time both of you got this out of your system. I have provided a place and will not intervene. I do not wish for a fatality so tournament rules: no killing, victory is decided by whomsoever is knocked out or touches the ground outside of this arena." This will be some good sport to amuse him, getting to truly see their power and fighting styles. No amount of words will ever solve their hatred they share unconditionally, Vegeta believes in fighting and so that is the means he is exercising in which to sort out their erratic and irritating behaviour. They care not for his petty rules of engagement, murder is in the princess' eyes and Ryoko has never been one to turn her back on a fight. The more time that passes barring them access to the other the more he feels them straining to engage in this fight, eagerness growing and showing by the fingernails raking his exposed arms and flesh.

" Good, good. GO!" Vegeta moves out from the middle of them to stand at the precipice of the vertigo inducing cliff face. Without an obstacle to bar them the long awaited match between Ryoko and Ayeka commences. Eyes turn to slits as a bloodcurdling snarl erupts from Ayeka, SMACK! She slaps Ryoko right across the face, her nails clawing five small bloody welts high on her check. Falling face first to the dirt, Ayeka gets back up rubbing the back of her head. Ryoko hovers in the air where she just teleported to with her leg still outstretched in the position it was when she kicked the monarch.

" Pretty good princess, that hurt. This match is mine though, give it up before I start to play rough." Ryoko brings her leg back down as she descends to the ground, her tongue darting out and licking the blood flowing down her cheek.

" I will not surrender to someone as villainous as you, never!" A feminine fist flies through the body of Ryoko as she watches this feeble attempt to harm her when non –corporeal.

" You don't know who you're messing with do you?"

" I know enough that the universe would be better off with you dead and buried." Several dozen small Jurai guardian logs hover in the air around Ayeka, revolving and circling endlessly. The space pirate knows all about the powers of Jurai and especially those of its royal family, confidence blooms a dark smile on her face.

" Strong words, but can you back them up?" Quickly elbowing the not so empty space behind her, Ayeka growls seeing her pre-emptive attack blocked. Pushing against her in this not so ideal position with Ryoko at her back, Ayeka's balance is upset when Ryoko changes her body so that it doesn't have any physical properties. One short yelp of pain is all the princess will allow to escape her when her fall is stopped half way by Ryoko tugging on one of her long purple ponytails. " … How about we raise the stakes a little, make this more fun. If this is a tournament then surely there is a prize. I think we both know what, or who, that is." Heavenly azure light coalesces in a sphere around Ayeka. Summoning more power to her and the protective shield, Ryoko is forced to let go from the building energy and sidestep quickly in avoidance of a sharp kick as the barrier is instantly dropped from around the recovered Ayeka.

" I don't need a prize. Wiping that smirk off your face will be satisfaction enough for me." Left leg, right leg and right leg again hit against Ryoko's blocking forearms, not one attack getting through. Ryoko's smirk is still there, a crimson flare charges in her palms and is let loose in the general direction of the one fighting her. The blast was easily dodged as it was planned to be a warning shot at best, with Ayeka's eyes taken off of her and fixed on the explosive projectile hurtling past her Ryoko makes another assault. Somehow the Juraian caught the fist meant for her gut with both her hands, now it is the fair maiden's turn to smile. Lime coloured light builds in the hands holding tight to Ryoko's fist and the spawned protectors of the princess swarm around the space pirate. Her own trap was turned against her by someone with no battle experience. Thinking fast she brings her knee up to connect with Ayeka's wrists and with her right hand released Ryoko jets up vertically as the prematurely released blast cancels out the encapsulating globe.

" You don't want the prize? I was gonna say when I win this and leave you black and blue with that skin of yours you pride yourself so much on torn apart then I will claim my reward; a kiss from Vegeta." Red sword clashes against blue shield, striking the defence around Ayeka repeatedly trying to find a weak link in this impenetrable ward.

" Fat chance, you wish to kill him with that disease ridden mouth of yours you filthy courtesan?" Anger is amplifying the already formidable powers of both women to new heights, the stalemate reached between them grinding energy based weapons and screens is not all too interesting for Vegeta to watch. Tactically he is surprised by Ayeka's capabilities but he senses something, they still have much more power to tap into. As much fun as it is to not be involved in a fight and watch what is basically two people stood next to each other growling insults at the other, he has to interrupt their idea of what a fight is to clear something up.

" Do I get a say in this?" If he is being offered as the grand reward besides the pride and honour of victory he thinks at the very least he should have been told this was the agreement before letting them go all out.

" NO!" Both women give a very firm response. He is mildly startled at the way they shouted at him and his perfectly reasonable question, he'll just chalk it down to the bloodlust of battle.

" Fine, whatever. Go ahead with your game, I'll be watching." Vegeta sits down on the cold hard ground twiddling his thumbs to pass the time. The more time they take to settle the score the less time he gets to train, at the rate they are going he'll be here all day.

" You hear that Ayeka, he's gonna sit there. Watching and not lifting a finger as I pound you into the ground and humiliate you … this couldn't possibly get any better." Ryoko disengages from this pointless attempt to shatter the Juraian energy shield, flying high above the head of her enemy she looks down trying to conceive a new plan of attack without having to resort to her secret. Nothing immediately comes to mind that would sufficiently hurt and injure Ayeka to satisfy the sadist in Ryoko, plenty of things that could make her lose the match instantly but there would be no fun in that. Ryoko starts to toy with Ayeka, the worst possible insult in a battle is to not be thought a threat and that is exactly how the space pirate sees the spoilt royal from the lavishly pampered background. Just hovering, making no threatening actions, daring Ayeka to take to the skies also.

" No Miss Ryoko, it will be you who will taste defeat by my hand. It is my duty to protect Lord Vegeta from the likes of you, abhorrent wretch!" Ayeka's rage makes her fall for the bait, uncaring at the distinct disadvantage she has in aerial combat. A headlong charge with clenched fist extended, she could not announce her attack any louder to Ryoko. Fist hits fist, Ryoko's knuckles meeting Ayeka's as both women glare at the other. A flash of leg darts across the princess' peripheral vision aimed for her side. The feint takes away her guard, no protection is left to her when the second fist of Ryoko rockets into her stomach. Wind knocked from her and a grinding pain as the clenched hand drives further, the hand previously engaged with her own slams next to its partner as Ryoko cackles.

" What's the matter? This all you got? You're pathetic." Catching another punch in her left hand Ryoko grabs Ayeka's fringe and with her right and forcefully tears the ornamental headpiece signifying her aristocracy off, flinging it as far as she can. Too slow is Ayeka's kick, Ryoko blocks it with her own leg. A wickedness clouds the mind of the space pirate, the potent drug of battle making her all the more ruthless and merciless. With nothing on the royal's forehead anymore the buccaneer savagely head-butts the face in front of her, a wet crunching sound as Ayeka's nose breaks. Sent backwards by the force of the attack, the injured woman clutches her bleeding nose grimacing in pain. Fluttering away in the gale force winds go the purple strands of hair torn from the scalp of Ayeka.

" Argh! YOU – Y-You won't get away with this!"

" Yeah right, keep talking all you like if it makes you feel better." Ryoko flies casually towards Ayeka to stop right in front of her, grinning like a psychopath all the way. This nonchalant manner towards her best efforts make something snap inside Ayeka. Manicured fingernails cut into Ryoko's throat as both hands of the princess grip her neck and begin to squeeze tight. The smile that had been featuring for so long on the cyan haired beauty quickly fades as she senses the flow of Ayeka's ki into her hands, there will be no escape as her air supply is cut off. Fizzing and crackling fills the night-time sky as the small log-like guardians of Ayeka make a reappearance around the space pirate.

" Hahaha, I have you now you disgusting piece of dung. HAHAHA!" Activating on her command the guardians discharge their power straight into the captive held imprisoned in their midst. More and more of Ayeka's power flows into the attack, the power of high birth striking down the scum of the universe. Screams of pain try to tear out of Ryoko as raw energy sears her flesh all the while the death grip on her tightens. Even Vegeta sitting on the side-lines is getting quite disturbed by the crazed laughter of Ayeka echoing off the valleys and mountains. This is getting more interesting by the second, such promise for strong fighters so close to the surface, but his body yearns for activity. Still observing at the top of the cliff he lifts himself up onto one finger and, as always, begins to relentlessly exercise. A hand lashes out through the globe of energy being violently channelled into Ryoko and it goes straight for Ayeka's face. Both hands occupied strangling the life out of Ryoko, the princess has no means with which to defend herself as the pirate's hand fixes onto the side of her face and the thumb slowly starts pressing painfully into her eye socket in an attempt to gouge out one of her dark pink eyes. Fearing for the loss of her eyeball and with its vision already greatly decreasing, Ayeka frantically starts to pull at Ryoko's hand to dislodge it.

" Ain't laughing now are you!" Bright red light ignites in Ryoko's hand clamped onto Ayeka's face as a knee slams into the princess' diaphragm. A sharp rod of solidified crimson energy is thrust at Ayeka's side whilst the hand of Ryoko still on her face releases the charged ki point blank. Saved by an unintentional spasm caused by the pain of a blast to her face, the stab from Ryoko's energy sword misses and barely grazes the intended target. Ayeka is sent sprawling back and dives for the safety of the ground, all the time holding the side of her face. Ryoko stays in the air regaining her breath and putting more of her ki into her sword to strengthen it. " Not so pretty now are you. Boohoo, what a pity." Ryoko gloats over this small victory and her successful escape. Watching the dripping of blood from Ayeka pleases her.

" My- M- MY EYE! I-I-I can't see! No, no, no, no, NO! Ryoko I will kill you! YOU HEAR ME! I WILL END YOU!" Blood pours from her eye socket, eyelid closed as more sanguine fluid seeps from her blinded eye. If what she felt before was pure rage then this emotional state has no word to describe it, enraged into an animalistic feral state where only blood is on her mind.

" Come on then bitch !" This time Ayeka does not move from her spot, she stands her ground. Depth perception is impossible with just one working eye, the shock of the pain is still riding high in her body. Vegeta took his eyes off them for a split-second to retrieve their belongings left behind at the beach and it has all gone to hell. Ayeka's face is covered in a sheet of blood and both women seem even more hell bent to destroy the other. He decides a second trip is in order, one to get senzu beans for the ways things are going they will certainly need them. This fight has only just begun.

In defiance of her handicapping injuries Ayeka stands strong. The strong cerulean sphere of energy defending her from most of Ryoko's attacks. From his grandstand seat Vegeta understands what the princess is trying to do, the technique she is employing takes much less energy from her body than she is getting by resting and recuperating within its safety. Smart, but it won't win the duel anytime soon. He is not the only fighter from the stars that sees this delaying tactic for what it is, all Ryoko has to do is simply wait. A cat prowling right outside her mouse hole, Ayeka struggles through the pain of a broken nose and burnt eye to think of what she can do.

" As entertaining as it is to watch you slowly stare each other to death, are you going to actually do any fighting any time soon?" Two sets of eyes brimming with hate fix their attention onto Vegeta with 'The look', the one honed by females of all cultures and places of birth down every generation, the look designed especially for grinding down males into dust. " Thought not …" Kicking the hornets nest was unwise, sheepishly looking away and concentrating back on his perpetual exercising he tries to fade back away into the background.

" You stay out of this! This does not concern you." Nasal tones break through the princess' words as she coughs out the blood running freely into her mouth.

" Yeah, this is between me and her." Ryoko and Ayeka agreeing on something during a death match, there is something Vegeta thought would never happen. If he were fighting Goku the last thing he would want would be anyone coming between him and victory so he understands their feelings and respects them.

Stars continue to turn in the heavens as time trudges on with the two fighting women. Not before long the surface of the natural arena is malformed with small craters, cracks running its full length and one quarter of it just gone. Strafing the mountain with bombardments of dark red death Ryoko flies high and untouchable. Exploding flares flash bouts of illumination showing the silhouette of Ayeka brushing off these blasts with short bursts of her defensive powers, dirt and debris tearing thin shreds and rips in her clothing. Still standing resolute, she will not back down. Surrendering now she might as well pack her bags and leave this planet forever, Ayeka is not even contemplating the thought of giving up. Suddenly all is quiet, the sky is empty and the flames on the mountainside being to extinguish themselves.

Fists, elbows, knees and feet bash against each other. All the while their eyes fiery with adversarial hate keep locked, extreme hand to hand combat does nothing to distract them from the visage of the one they detest above all others. Scuffs and abrasions dot their borrowed clothing and limbs as knuckles become red and sore from overuse. The pirate is only just getting warmed up throughout this hour of vicious sparring against the crown princess to the throne of Jurai. Years have passed since Ryoko had to fight at this level to take down an opponent, not including Vegeta, and the thrill of this fight is exciting her and getting her blood boiling again like when she was the scourge of the universe.

" Whoops, oh dear looks like my hand slipped." Incandescent light from her bright red sword lights up Ayeka's face as she smells singed hair, one of her long ponytails flops onto the floor.

" Why you! AHH -" What was an equal trading of blows descends into a life or death game of dodge for the princess as lightning quick arcs tear apart the air, bursts of heat searing the ground and her skin as the sword of Ryoko edges ever closer. Slash after slash drifts dangerously close to the woman postponing the event of impalement or dismemberment with all her energy and agility. This dance of death wearies and tires Ayeka awfully, never able to act in an offensive manner and constantly having to defend herself with a nimble sidestep here or summoning her shield to deflect an unavoidable lunge there.

Finally, an opening reveals itself. Ryoko's guard is down during a particularly inaccurate stab and Ayeka takes this chance to even the playing field, she grabs nothing but air as the afterimage fades away. One hand seizes the back of her neck and forces her down onto her knees and a searing hot lance rests on her shoulder.

" Kneeling before me now are we princess? I am honoured …. Oh no, don't try and move. my hand just might go and slip again and we wouldn't want that would we?" Ryoko's mocking as she stands victorious makes Ayeka forget all about the sword by her throat, her noble birth will not allow her to be made fun of and humbled like this.

" Huh, what's Vegeta doing over there?"

" Ooh I want to see!" Reminded of the Saiyan, every other thought leaves Ryoko's mind as she glances about to see what interesting thing he is apparently doing. Vegeta is currently holding his head in his palms and cringing at her stupendous idiocy, how ever could a pirate be fooled by the simplest trick that wouldn't even fool Sasami.

" Hey he's not doing anything Ayeka … SHIT!" Looking back to her captive of war she remembers the fight she was in the middle of and roars in rage seeing no one next to her sword. Instead of her royal majesty at her feet lie miniature Juraian guardians humming full of energy. " Uh-oh." Ryoko teleports out of range of the potent shock Ayeka's guardians discharge into a transformed battleground. Dotted about in regiments around every square meter hover still more of the princess' summoned protectors, all alternating the power within them at random intervals. So many things producing or radiating ki completely inhibits the sensory abilities of Ryoko that Ayeka does not have, flashes of blues and greens here and there to mask any visual cues. A hefty rock smashes against the back of the pirate's head, Ayeka follows through quickly with a hard kick to the back and springs high into the air to finish off the wounded enemy.

" Naughty, naughty." Arms appear out of the air with the rest of Ryoko and wrap around Ayeka's forearms in a full Nelson as the cyan haired one quickly teleports for a second time. Deep in the uninhabited valleys below with just a foot to the floor both women appear, Ayeka sees the ring out and technical loss looming too close for comfort. Instinct kicks in and Ayeka grabs the only thing her hands can, the elfin ears of Ryoko, and a piercing screech of a banshee scares all the roosted birds happily asleep out of the trees. The hands of the princess, once so delicate and ladylike, lose contact with the facial appendages when Ryoko phases to escape the pain. Her hands are clasped to either side of her head when a bony elbow slams into her face, the built up Juraian energy within it cancelling out her lack of physical being. One oversized canine falls from the gums of Ryoko, she disappears into the night leaving just a bloody fang to splash into a small, muddy puddle.

Ayeka doesn't trust the quiet, like everyone else in a dangerous situation before her she believes it to be too quiet. In the silence she returns to the designated place for the tournament for two. Only Vegeta is there holding a tooth in one hand and her headpiece in the other, Ryoko is nowhere to be seen. His eyes are on her for she is the only one there to look at, he knows where Ryoko is but turning his gaze there would be unfair. Fresh tears mix with the congealed scabs of blood, she turns her head from him and covers her face with one hand – the side ruined by Ryoko. She can't help thinking what his views on her are now he has seen her in this disgraced state; her beauty diminished and all traces of nobility washed away in rage. Ryoko is the one to blame for all this she deems, this thought is unclouded in her mind and if the she-demon is responsible for ruining her chances with this man, the first man she has ever come to develop feelings for, every breath in her body will be given to vanquishing her. Amber traces diffuse into the fabric of the eastern sky, this night will soon be over.

" Hiding like the coward you are, face me damn you!" Snapping her head side to side reveals nothing to Ayeka. Trying to make up for the blind spot that is the left hand side of her face she could really use the ability to sense ki and if she had it then pinpointing Ryoko would be a piece of cake. Unfortunately for her though she is left with little hope in locating the one stalking her, a phantasm in the mists swirling about unseen. Rising up out of the shadow of Ayeka comes a ghostly hand. Pale fingers move and get into position, the princess is none the wiser. First thing Ayeka knows of this is when something grips her ankle and yanks hard. Reaction saves her as Ayeka puts her hands out to stop the fall she is tumbling into. Her foot was too slow in paying back the hand as it disappears back into the ground. On her hands and knees Ayeka cautiously glances about so she can defend herself from the next attack. Ryoko's sword smashes through the rock. Diving to the side just in the nick of time Ayeka is spared from being stabbed, rolling down into one of the more sizeable craters she catches a glimpse of two gleaming irises vanishing back into the stone. Several more times a deadly thrust bursts forth from the ground and for the most part Ayeka dodges them, all but the last one that leaves a thin gash on her collarbone. Ryoko's aim is purposefully sloppy, if she wanted to stab Ayeka through her heart it would already be so but Vegeta did say no killing so for now she will abide that limitation as she whittles down her opponent.

The Saiyan prince has observed all that has unravelled and pieced together the plans of attack, he has to say he is impressed with their ability to analyse a situation. Ryoko is making the very ground beneath Ayeka's feet dangerous to force her to fly so that she can be trapped in the favoured element of the space pirate. In-between his hanging sit-ups, where only his feet stay on the battleground and his body droops over the drop, he calculates how much longer Ayeka will be able to hold out. At this rate it is only a matter of minutes before another injury befalls her and her beaten and bruised self loses. Royalty from a proud race being defeated in close combat, déjà vu for Vegeta. In the short time it takes for Ayeka to finally rise back to her feet and minimise the area of herself in danger from the stabbing energy sword Ryoko is already in position, coiled and ready like a cobra.

" YEEAAARRGGH!" A rod of burning red embeds itself into her calf. Vegeta smells roasting flesh, he is mutually let down that it isn't the aroma of food and how only a sprinkle of minutes passed since he predicted the downfall of Ayeka Jurai. " GAAAAAAH!" Bone is bored through, the blade of Ryoko has penetrated straight through Ayeka's lower leg. Dark chuckles of mad laughter resound from the rock as a woman's face pops into view. Tears well up in the single eye of the princess, teeth grit and grind as she battles the pain destroying her will to go on and so she uses her healthy leg to stomp and crush Ryoko's hand.

" AAH FUCK!" Fingers dislocate, knuckles displace and phalanges shatter under the full force directed unto them. Contorting in agony the hand shoots back underground with the skewering sword dissipating into nothing. Rivers of sweat brought on from pain intermingle with the red fluid oozing from Ayeka, panting hard as shock tries to take over her battered form. Menacing eyes of gold pierce through the night as Ryoko comes into being not too far from Vegeta holding her disabled hand. " I was going to go easy on you. I was going to let you walk out of here and still be able to hold your head up high. I was maybe going to just let you go with a handful of bad injuries. I was." Two blood ridden fingernails fall from her injured hand. "Now … now you can wave goodbye to all that. Die." The gloves are off as a guttural roar rises from Ryoko as her secret is unleashed, the monumental increase in her physical strength and ki abilities from the training she underwent during Vegeta's death. Small red flames lick around her body as she raises her palm slowly. Something the size of a small car impacts into the hastily thrown up shield of Ayeka, a maroon fireball colliding against the azure barrier. One faint hairline fracture splits the Juraian's defence down the middle. Imploding in on itself as it shatters like glass the shield fails, it cannot cope with this amount of power and the one it is meant to protect shrieks in terror. A hard leathery foot cracks into the smoking hole in the back of her calf, embers and blood ridden ashes gush forth. Ayeka's leg gives way just as the ki blast carries on its path of destruction where her head previously was, the concussive wave following pins her flat on the ground. A thin trickle of blood spurts out the charred hole in her leg as Ryoko continues to prod it with her foot and a great crimson pool spreads out from the princess' face, the great agitation of rock floor hitting her at speed pulverising more cartilage in her nose.

" Give up Ayeka." Yet another newly spawned white hot staff presses like a blazing poker against the back of the princess' neck. Empathy, sympathy or any humanoid emotion have been lost from Ryoko's speech.

" No, I … will … beat you … yet."

" It's over Ayeka, surrender." The sword moves and hovers over the right hand of Ayeka as Ryoko offers her last drop of kindness. She awaits the response from Ayeka.

" I WILL NOT!" Ayeka is not thinking about what will come next, she has set her mind in mule-like stubbornness against ever giving up to her bane even when in no position to fight back. With the pressure relieved from the nape of her neck she starts to squirm, trying to get back to her feet even with an injured leg.

" So be it." Red falls and red drips. Granite turns molten beneath Ayeka's hand right where the sword passed through her ring finger, most of the digit instantly vaporised. Not one scream or sound passes from Ayeka's mouth, still she tries to rise and face the pirate. Unexpected help comes as Ryoko lifts her up and turns the princess to face her as she places a hand on Ayeka's shoulder and the other on her forearm. The fatigued and free arm of Ayeka whacks into the icy cold face next to hers, she retracts it back and continues to let loose as each feeble attempt gets more pitiful than the last. Bone and socket disconnect from one another after a push on Ayeka's now dislocated arm, Ryoko releases it and it flops limply by the side of the slumping royal. Blood and tears are all Ayeka has to offer to this fight now, her strength and spirit have left her, she held out valiantly but against an insurmountable power. This ending was inevitable. What started off as an angry feud for vengeance has led to pain, shame and grave wounds; she can take it no more and collapses forward onto Ryoko.

" This … this p-proves nothing. J-just let me … me rest and then … and then you're going down." Ryoko will gift Ayeka the rest she asks for and moves aside so gravity can complete its job and take Ayeka down onto the jagged and broken ground. Soft and gently she impacts, but no peace will find her when laying prone on the ground. The heel of Ryoko cracks down on the back of her head and stays there holding her in place.

" Ayeka, say it. Say you surrender." Toes dig into the purple hair as they grind the bloodied face of Ayeka into the dirt and the trusty weapon of Ryoko is back in her clawed hand that isn't mangled.

" I will … I will never, never … never say those words." Those mumbled words were the wrong answer, the penalty for a wrong answer is a brutal stomp. Still clinging to consciousness, Ayeka remains obstinate through the pain.

" Be reasonable, I could kill you right now. The longer you keep up this stiff upper lip the more damage I can do to you and you know what? I don't think Vegeta really likes badly malformed blobs of flesh like the one I seem to have stepped in."

" Go to hell … go and die." Faint words seep from the stone surrounding Ayeka's face, tailing off at the end into a hushed silence. Ryoko blinks slowly and when her feline eyes reopen they have the devil within them, the sword lowers.

" Poor Sasami, gonna grow up without a sister. Let's just have one more bit of fun before I exhaust all possible use I can have with you. Ha-ha, you won't enjoy this. No, not one bit." Dark smiles and dark laughter, a sword with the taste for sweet flesh and a helpless woman.

" Do what you want. … See if I … Gah!" Flesh burns away before the sabre in scrawled handwriting. " What … what are you - "

" R … Y … O …" With her one hand still able to hold the sword, Ryoko carves slowly and carefully, she would not want to mess up this violation of Ayeka's body. " … K …"

" No! Stop!" Pleads for mercy fall on deaf ears. More tears fall from Ayeka's working eye realising what Ryoko is doing, she can't bare the thought. " Please stop!"

" … O …" Such sweet music, the anguished cries of the defeated Juraian princess as she desecrates her previously unscarred back. " … apostrophe … and there we go, S! All done. Now, beg for your life." Branding Ayeka as her own personal property has made Ryoko feel a whole world better since the injuries she sustained. Complete with punctuation she surveys her handiwork, savouring the cries of Ayeka. " I said beg! Beg like the worthless dog you are." Just for a bit of encouragement the space pirate sheathes her sword back into the readymade hole in Ayeka's leg.

" AAAARRGH! Just stop, please, please, please stop! The pain … it's … it's too …" The princess' tearful voice fades into sobs as the sword continues to worm about in her open wound. " Ryoko, have mercy! … STOP!"

" Come on, you can do better than that. I thought with your life depending on it you would put in a little more effort. Again." Ryoko takes out the sword from Ayeka's calf and moves it over to her other leg. Just leaving it there hanging ominously for a few seconds before lowering it against the princess' flesh.

" Ryoko stop, I …. I-I beg of you please just stop. Y-You … You win. You win Ryoko. Just stop hurting me, please stop, please stop, stop, I –I can't …. Stop. Ryoko." A great shuddering sigh escapes Ayeka when the lance of fire stops piercing her lower leg. With her physical suffering dying down her mind contemplates the dreadful words she was forced to utter, being debased to pathetically pleading to this woman standing above her.

" That wasn't so hard was it. Now since you lost you know what that means, I get the prize. Go back to Jurai, Ayeka. I don't want to see your ugly face again. Vegeta is mine." Gloating and bathing in the warm sensation of victory at hearing the concession of Ayeka, Ryoko takes this opportunity to rub salt into the fresh wounds and kick the princess when she is down with the thing most guaranteed to hurt.

" NO! Noooooo. I will not let you! Vegeta is not yours! He can't be, he won't be!" Though left with not a single ounce of energy left in her body, Ayeka still tries to lift herself up with her arms. Weakly struggling to hold up her own weight she raises her head to look across the ravaged battlefield to the man sat at the side-lines of it all. " Vegeta, help me. Vegeta please …" Her distant and quiet words are picked up by the Saiyan ears, being stuck in the role of observer for this match he now stands up tall.

" My aid will firmly announce your forfeit of this fight and Ryoko will be the victor." He might be a knight that occasionally dons shining armour but rescuing damsels in distress was never something he ever went out of his way to do. Ryoko's attempts to make her rival in romance the least appealing she can be is only affecting Vegeta through this grovelling, he cannot stand the weak and the helpless. A show of such woeful feebleness from this woman, although under such circumstances it is not unreasonable to see someone not used to fighting in a state like this.

" I don't care Vegeta, just make it stop. I love you!" Three special words don't change anything for the cold hearted prince. He already had full knowledge of the true extent of her feelings for him and saying them out loud does nothing for him. She opened her heart to him and he stands there debating whether to get involved in this matter. A duel between two people should never be interrupted by an outsider is his firm belief yet this is hardly a duel, this is torture before the final blow is struck.

" No more talk princess. Your time is up." Cyan hair billows outwards as the space pirate zooms into the sky with great concentric rings of power converging on her functioning hand. Ryoko did not want Ayeka to say what she said, it could complicate maters and her plan was going as smooth as they ever do. Reaching the zenith of her ascent, she somersaults into a spiralling dive and a magnificent flash of orange and red power manifests in her clenched fist. Speeding up to her top speed in this deadly descent she draws back her fist bloody from use and lets out a last battle cry to end the match. The punch lands.

Craggy boulders violently hewn out of the mountainside blast into the sky and disintegrate with the secondary shockwave, coating the landscape in a fog of dust and rocky debris. Something is wrong. Ryoko can detect it, even with this blinding film obscuring her view two other senses work in unison to give her the answer. The sense of touch tells her she hit someone stood vertically upwards and not laying inert on the ground, a high ki energy reading just confirms her thoughts. What she did not want to happen above all other things shows its face: a pronounced widows peak, the frown of a man who has seen and caused too much death and a thin red line escaping his mouth. Vegeta stands in the way, having taken the brunt of the blow to intercept what otherwise would have ended Ayeka's life.

" V-Vegeta, get out of my way." Ryoko retracts her fist back to her side as she touches back down onto terra firma. His eyes follow her, unblinking like a reptile as his hand moves to crack his broken jaw back into place.

" She conceded victory to you twice Ryoko, she said it herself and called for aid. I said that killing would not be permitted so I am here to enforce that one single rule, I stood by as you had your way with Lady Ayeka even though by any right I should have ended the match there and then. You won Ryoko, congratulations." No applause, no words of praise just a straight and simple congratulations. Ryoko wants more, she is hungry for more after all the hard work and large amount of time she spent.

" Humph, I wasn't even trying and just look at that cry-baby. I should finish her right now but I guess you ain't gonna let me. So how are you going to make it up to me then, robbing me of finally being able to get rid of her. I seem to remember some sort of prize being promised." The Saiyan is glad that Ryoko is not pushing for the execution of Ayeka but this reminder of another thing she wants is something he'd rather do without. A knowing look is exchanged between the pair, both understanding perfectly what the other is thinking.

" Yes, I do recall you saying something along those lines. Don't think I ever said I agreed to it though." If she thought just saying something would cause Vegeta to do it she needs to work on her persuasive skills, if he decides something it is permanently set in stone. Vegeta smirks seeing her childish frown at his decline, winding the women up is exactly like using puppets – just pull a string and watch their reaction.

" But I won. I won fair and square, I should get my reward. Look I even caused you to bleed like you asked me to do all that time ago." Shivers run down the mountain as she stomps her feet in tantrum.

" Calm down Ryoko. You trained whilst I was dead and it shows, it shows a lot. Fighting like that impressed me, if you continue like this one day you will make a fine warrior indeed. But for now you will get what you deserve." Bright and happy eyes shine at him then go back into a scowl looking at the small grey bean held out in his hand. She can't refuse what he is offering though and sullenly takes it from his hand and swallows the Senzu bean whole as flesh knits itself back together, her broken fingers repair and the gap in her teeth refills. Left alone without aid the basic regenerative properties of her body could have healed the wounds within an hour but she did expend more energy than she wants to let on during that marathon of a fight.

" I deserve a kiss. A kiss on the lips, not any of this cheek business. Full of passion and - " Ryoko is shut up mid argument in a most pleasing way. Taken by surprise at the suddenness of it all her yellow eyes open wide before her mind catches up with what is happening and she sinks into it willingly. A slight blush tinges the prince's cheeks as he gives her what she has desired for a long time. She completely yields herself over to the subtle strength of his lips as her heart flutters within her chest. Overcome with ecstasy she hardly notices when the kiss ends and Vegeta's lips part from hers still so eager to continue. The man steps back from her seeing her all misty eyed with a womanly glow, a femme fatale on the point of murder turned to a blushing love-struck maiden. Ryoko's eyes let loose one drop of pure happiness as she turns from the Saiyan prince who has put her in such an unfamiliar state for her, she watches the red Sun rise over the horizon and leaves him to deal with the one she bested. Contently she sits on cloud nine uncaring about anything else.

Vegeta kneels down next to the princess unable to rise under her own steam, laying in a pool of her bodily fluids – tears and blood staining the clothing he spawned. Gently rolling her over into his arms he pushes a Senzu bean into her mouth which she weakly chews. The magical vegetable might rejuvenate all wounds and heal all of the horrendous injuries she received during the fight but her weeping only gets stronger when she feels his touch and her second eye regains its tear ducts. Cradling her head in his arms, he places the headpiece back where it rightfully belongs, only at that time do her eyes open and sorrowfully look at him.

" I … I have f-failed you Lord Vegeta. I lost … I lost you to her." Still more fresh waters seep from her bleary eyes as he wipes them from her smooth cheeks, Vegeta's eyes searching whether every injury was successfully healed. Beans grown at Korin's tower have restorative powers unseen by any other edible material, yet they fail when it comes to scars as he finds out with his hand on her back. His fingers feel the cleft of a letter.

" Lady Ayeka I understand how you feel. Losing fights cuts deep, I know this unfortunately from more experience than I would prefer." Goku, Zarbon, Recoome, Frieza, Android 18, Cell, Majin Buu, the list of ones who made him swallow a slice of humble pie. " But I am not some stuffed toy to be won at the carnival, winning a fight does not entitle the winner to a Saiyan prince." With her strength returning to her she starts to fidget in his hold, trying to pull away from him and this awful sense of betrayal.

" B-but … you and her, you … kissed her." Her salmon eyes shy from him as her whole body turns and shuns away from him. The hand on her back can feel her body trembling, an undying amount of sobs ushering forth. She fought so hard and tried her absolute best, she went to the brink of death and suffered so much just for it all to be thrown back in her face. All her efforts for naught, like standing next to the ocean's of her dreams and wishing for the waves to stop moving. But now it was the man who frequents her dreams that has cut a traitorous hole in her heart. What hurts the most isn't the loss but how easily he gave into that woman's desires whilst she lay broken.

" That I did. She was victorious in your grudge match and as was decided between you two she got to claim her prize." Vegeta speaks the truth. There is no point in playing complex word games, she needs to hear what he has to say despite her reluctance. Juraian muscles tense from his blunt exclamation as a pained breath is inhaled. " But Lady Ayeka, does Ryoko's physical prowess and combative skills prove anything except she is a hardened veteran of many years of fighting with the roughest the galaxy can throw at her and you an inexperienced young woman born to a higher social class with no need to fight? You showed the attitude and perhaps even the aptitude to be a fighter but that is not what you are, no more than Sasami would be a swordswoman if I gave her Trunks' sword."

" Shut up. I've had enough insults today to last me a lifetime. I don't need Lord Vegeta to tell me how bad I obviously am at what he thinks the whole world revolves around. Can you … can you just leave me be." She has had enough of hearing his gruff voice. Standing up she moves away from him and takes her hair out of the lonely ponytail she has left. Blackened charred stumps intermingling with the flows of radiant purple.

" You fail to understand what I am getting at. Yes my life is devoted to battle, that is what I was born to do, what I was raised to do and what I have chosen to do. Ryoko has also chosen this path but you Lady Ayeka have a different destiny. Kakarot's wife attempted fighting and that was how that clown and she proposed to each other, poor unlucky woman got stuck as a house wife with an imbecile and only got a break when he was dead for seven years. Ayeka, not everyone is meant for war and this I understand: Washu is a scientist, Sasami is a cook and you are Lady Ayeka, high princess of the Juraian empire."

" Is that supposed to make me feel better? That I am of a different world than you two who seem to have so much in common, like sadism for example. … Why didn't you stop her? … I was in pain, it hurt so much. I thought I was going to die Vegeta. I was so scared and afraid yet you did nothing. Why? Tell me why I was left to bleed!" A wash of amethyst hair whips around as the princess demands answers from the prince. Her ragged breaths puncturing the night as Ayeka barely keeps herself under control from the tempest of emotions broiling inside. Vegeta, still in just his swimming trunks, walks bare foot across the jagged rocks and slimy pools of dark red to stand before her and look deep into her angry eyes.

" I don't know, I saw what Ryoko was doing but I stood idly by. Exacting pain is more my cup of tea. I thought that stepping in would belittle all you had done, showing you to be dependent on others not the strong and capable woman you are. I take full responsibility for the wrongs that were done to you."

" Responsibility, what good is that to me? All I want is her to feel what I felt and see how much she enjoys it."

" Revenge is what got you in this mess, it will not solve the problem unless you dramatically increase your strength. Calm down."

"Calm down? After all that has happened you just want me to forget about it … after you and her- "

" Lady Ayeka, Ryoko said first place received a kiss from me but as runner up I believe you should get a consolation prize. If you want first place then you are going to have to work for it. Life does not give freely." An arm able to crush lunar objects pulls her close to him. Anger gives way to fear which in turn gives way to uncertainty, with her arms pinned between both of their bodies she can only watch as his head moves closer to hers. It's all so quick, so sudden for the princess. Ayeka was not prepared at all, her first kiss is but an all too fleeting touch. Heat radiating from the ki of Vegeta echoing the growing heat on her face. For a second place prize she did not expect anything of this magnitude; like the gentle touch of the tide gracing the wet sands of the shore. The Saiyan calls Ryoko over, now only lightly holding onto the Juraian currently going through the same mixture of emotions that captivated Ryoko for that amount of time. The space pirate being away with the fairies and fantasising as she watched the break of a new dawn definitely made Vegeta's job easier. Joyfully obliging, the first one to receive his kiss teleports and hugs onto him with even greater affection than she normally has and totally ignores the other woman shyly looking at her hands.

One Instant Transmission later and back through the threshold of Vegeta's house the three walk, their day out well and truly over as the blackest depths of night only just begin at this lakeside retreat. The Saiyan trusts them to enter the house and behave together while still in their partial bliss induced trance when he remembers the bags of their belongings he forgot and left behind on a cold mountaintop. Ryoko and Ayeka are oblivious to the other as they amble into the front room and get snapped out of what idyllic thoughts they were having by the scene they aimlessly walked straight into. Yamcha and Washu look up at them; him topless, laying sprawled on the sofa with the cushions thrown to the far corners of the room and with a certain scientist straddling his abdominals. Ryoko can only think how she would quite like Vegeta to act like that with her when the two caught canoodling break off and disengage from the other after this unwanted interruption. Yamcha's wingman Puar hovers up and drops off the top half of the bandit's clothing as he struggles trying to put it on with Washu unmoving from her position. A long stream of pinkish hair tickles his belly and chest still, having given up on putting on his clothing when trapped beneath whom he was passionately kissing not so long ago.

" You took your time didn't you, seems like you two had a busy day. What happened, did he make you train for the whole day in those stupid getups?" Washu is more inquisitive about the change of garments and rips and tears in them than she is embarrassed by the compromising position she was found in. The trackers she hid on them before they left stopped reporting in not long after they departed when an extreme power surge she has taken to just calling Vegeta knocked them offline.

" If you must know Washu I believe this will be of great interest to you, for you see it was not training that left these gifts from Vegeta in this state but a fierce battle staged between me and that halfwit girl. Needless to say little miss prim and proper can be quite mean when she wants to be and if you thought she looks hideous now, well you ain't seen nothing yet. Against this brute though I persevered and with the power of love on my side I overthrew the tyrannical princess in this perfectly fair contest of force." Ayeka bristles as Ryoko twists what truly happened against her. She did not mention the appaling horrors she suffered through or the true nature of Ryoko she had the misfortune of witnessing first hand. Attempting the exact same thing and expecting different results to occur is a sign of madness, or so people say, but that does not stop Ayeka. Having only been back on her feet a very short time after the walloping she took her claws are out and she is ready to pounce.

" Seems I misjudged you again. You two should come with a safety label reading 'requires supervision at all time'. Apparently letting you two fight it out doesn't seem to have settled anything between you. Control yourself Lady Ayeka, you're just playing into her hands." Vegeta stands in the middle of the room like he has been there the whole time, setting down the bags on the floor his eyes drift onto the couple entangled on his couch. Before either woman can continue their everlasting argument he strides towards the two and continues speaking leaving them no gap to poke fun at the other, grievously insult the other, misbehave or disturb the peace in any way, shape or form.

" Today has been a busy day for you Ryoko and Lady Ayeka, I suggest you go to bed and get some rest." Without a second word the Juraian princess goes up to the room she shares with her younger sister who at this late time has been asleep for a few hours already. Ayeka has no wish to stay in the same room as the villainous space pirate who desecrated her body, she has a lot to think about as so much happened today and would prefer to be alone during that time. Ryoko on the other hand sees sleep as something not specifically for her at this minute in time and would prefer to spend a good deal more time with Vegeta now Ayeka has left. That is not to be. Vegeta points up the stairs and sternly looks at her. " Ryoko. Bed. Now."

" Whatever you say Vegeta." She didn't require as much persuading as the Saiyan thought she would do to leave him in peace as she phases up through the ceiling after blowing him a kiss and mischievously winking at him. His attention fixes on the two adults making use of his furniture in ways he was never going to, Vegeta does not seem amused.

" Children reside here, leave antics like that for behind closed doors if you must indulge yourselves with such tomfoolery."

" But Vegeta you seem to forget … I am a child." A fairly comical look of shock plays across Yamcha's face as the woman on him regresses backwards through to the beginnings of puberty. He cannot recoil further back into the chair at this sudden change. Kicking her shorter legs to the side, she gracefully dismounts her stunned lover, such inexplicable confusion at what he witnessed though he knew full well she was capable of it. Washu seems bored now, Vegeta is never the life of the conversation and what enjoyment her and Yamcha were just beginning to get into can no longer continue in this place, she heads back towards the door under the stairs. No sooner does she get her hand onto the doorknob and begin to twist then a low gravelly voice breaks the silence of the house.

" I worked it out, fitted all the pieces of the puzzle together. I know what you are … Tuffle." All of Washu's motions stop, her hand retracts from the portal into her laboratory and confidently she turns with her own little smile to meet the smirk of Vegeta. Yamcha is none the wiser as to what direction this conversation has taken and they are not about to explain it to the human who has seen so little of what is beyond his own planet.

" I was wondering how long it would take you. Well done, you broke most of my estimates. Thought it'd take you at least another week to figure it out. Heh, apparently not all Saiyans are barbaric dunderheads."

"Indeed, you did not leave me with much to go on. The Tuffles were the most scientific and advanced race known, that I've heard of at least, it makes sense that you are one. One thing though I don't get: how did you stay quiet about it for so long, that even he who you share bed with had no idea, when you were staying under the same roof as the son of your race's harbinger of doom." He might not have been born till after the ten year Saiyan-Tuffle war had being waged and the planet taken but during the short time prince and king had together his father always recounted the story of how they took hold of the planet he named after himself. Washu does not appear to be exhibiting the kind of emotion he would normally think a sapient creature would when with someone of the species responsible for their own species' extinction, he's come across a few before holding a grudge born from similar events.

" You think the sins of the father are passed onto the son? True I have no love for your kind, except for research purposes, but you think someone as smart as me would hate an individual for something that they themselves did not do? As a genius I am above petty racism like that. You had nothing to do with what your cunning father did, or how he lucked out on our lunar cycle. We are both victims of the genocides that occurred on Planet Plant now, neither of us having our original homeworld and being more or less the last of our kind." Both have been stripped of all family and kin by an overpowering might, both having that blood coloured planet ripped from them permanently. A moments silence passes between the two opposing sides of life; the creative genius and the destroyer of worlds as they respect those who fell during the extinction events.

" Not all of the Tuffles who survived were so sympathetic. Another scientist called Dr. Raichi did not seem to share your beliefs, were you aware of the Hatchiyak project?" Vegeta tests the waters with this question, he needs to know whether she is really a wolf in sheep's clothing or not. He doesn't trust her much as it is but with her species being wiped out by King Vegeta, finding out if there is any residual blame placed on him and a chance she will focus her attention on making his life a greater misery might as well be done.

" Hatchiyak? Don't tell me he actually got that child's toy of mine to finally work, it was hardly worth my genius being wasted on a bucket of bolts like that. No power source I ever tried was efficient enough for it to be a viable weapon. Vegeta, tell me, what did he use?" Vegeta can rest easy tonight, Washu does not seem to care that an attempt to eradicate the Saiyans failed at all.

" You obviously underestimated what that machine was capable of. Grudge amplifying device is all he said about it really … when he was still alive and it wasn't busy taking on 4 super Saiyans at once." At the mention of its true capabilities she goes giddy with excitement and the laughter of a mad scientist soon follows.

" 4 like you and Goku? HA! I amaze even myself sometimes."

" Throughout the whole time that he wasn't being scraped off my boots do you know what that other Tuffle said of you?" The ego of Washu is baited as she goes silent and Vegeta's smirk widens. " Nothing. Nothing at all, he did not credit you or mention your name. Why is it that one of your inventions could nearly kill me, the future counterpart of my son, Kakarot and his kid yet still you could not defend yourselves from a hundred Oozaru?" A quick one two punch from the Saiyan there as he knocks Washu down a few rungs. Frankly she looks majorly pissed and Vegeta is having trouble deciphering which of his taunting slights angered her the most: was it that someone stole years of her life's work and claimed it as their own whilst surpassing it with a brilliant idea she ought to have thought of or the mockery he made of her inability to save the lives of her science academy friends as they were burned and crushed by monstrous apes.

" Yamcha, we're leaving." Washu turns and exits into the single place she can call her own with Yamcha standing up and following her. He says goodnight to Vegeta, who ignores him, and slowly goes to the closing doorway unsure about Washu's bodily change and whether she will go back to an appearance of someone of legal age.

Chimes call in the midnight hour in the front room for only Vegeta to hear, he looks to the clock and sees it is indeed the witching hour and his ears were not deceiving him. It is late, too late for him to do the training he wants to do. Having not gone to sleep the previous night and having a lightning fast metabolism he is ready for a few hours rest before he goes back to the daily grind. Faint scratching at the door as he passes it on his way to the land of nod alerts him to one forlorn Ryo-ohki having been accidentally locked out and forgotten about, mewling to be let back into the warm house. Letting the cabbit back in his house she jumps straight onto his shoulder and meows at him contently, he shrugs off the critter thanking him and continues his march towards his room. Thin streams of light seep between the cracks of the door to his bedroom, he doesn't recall inadvertently leaving on the light switch but guesses he must have. Although one other possibility does arise in his mind but his senses do not confirm it.

No-one is in his room as he opens the door and closes it behind himself. Crossing the small distance to his bedside, he stretches his arms out and yawns. Vegeta has no need of changing his clothes, not one for wearing pyjamas his current attire of swimming shorts will do him just fine. Closing the thin drapes over the window, he is all set and ready for what will be a sleep his body urgently needs. Baby blue bed sheets are pulled back from his bed as he sits down ready to rest his body weary from being awake for so long. No act of surprise or shock comes when he hears a faint hiss in the air behind him, his senses start picking up a ki at a very close proximity and arms wrap themselves around his neck.

" Why are you in my bed Ryoko?" The space pirate's head rests on his broad muscular shoulders, nuzzling his cheeks with her own as he sits there. Ryoko's full eyelashes fluttering as she strives to get more from Vegeta than that one rapturous kiss she was blessed with.

" It's what you told me to do, remember? You said we got a full day with you so let's continue our time together right here, right now." Her sultry tones are whispered with a deep seated desire into his ears. The warmth of her body against his, her face next to his own, he begins to feel her straining to pull him down onto the bed properly and he resists. Vegeta stands up, pulling her arms off from around him.

" Ryoko it is past midnight, that day has been and gone. Sleep is what I need now not what is going through your mind." Vegeta's face is set in hardened stone, no smiles just a small frown of exasperation. Ryoko is kneeling on his bed looking up at him and Vegeta quickly turns his head away from her. The temptress of the night is not wearing the outfit from the fight she won but instead something she bought with his money, one of those private outfits she said she would show him one day and she has kept her word.

" You don't want me?" Her hurt and dejected eyes beseech him as he looks away from her, taking this avoidance as another heartless rejection of her feelings not that he is getting uncomfortable looking at a woman wearing what she is currently dressed in. Ryoko sitting in black lace lingerie and Vegeta stood in nothing more than underwear, he doesn't want to be going through things like this now.

" I want to sleep, in my own bed and alone. I trained through all of last night and am tired, let me rest in peace." Vegeta brusquely replies, hazarding a glance at her seductive nightwear she is wearing especially for him. He tries not to look for too long at the enticing female lest he fall victim to the siren's call. His harsh response hurts her, she looks down not knowing what she will have to do to earn his affection that she so longs for.

" Tell me Vegeta … do you love me?" Her golden eyes stare into his. Vegeta takes half a step back from this sudden intimate question, he can't tear his eyes from those locked on his own. His throat goes dry as any intelligent answer to her question flies out of his mind. Tongue tied, he stands there stuttering. " … Y-you love Ayeka, don't you..." Vegeta has no idea what to say under these circumstances as Ryoko continues to press her questioning. Sweat forms on his forehead as the prince's brain continues to draw blanks on shutting her up. Her voice is getting louder as Ryoko carries on her train of thought. " … You don't love me because I'm not a princess like her, I'm not ladylike or from high birth like you two are. You always call her 'Lady' but not me, why?"

" Did you get hit hard on the head during that fight? What's with these questions, you had all day and you choose now to bring this up. I'm tired, this can wait till morning." Vegeta finally comes back around to his senses but Ryoko continues pressing on the matter.

Noises are disturbing her rest, only having just laid her head down on the feather pillows of her bed Ayeka opens her eyes. Eyes that are red and puffy from crying. Getting ready for sleep she caught a glimpse of something new. Her blood froze as she saw it, flashes of the fight and the pain race through her mind as she sees the word etched across her back. She believed that the healing beans had got rid of what Ryoko did to her but they hadn't, just like they didn't regrow the locks of hair cut from her head. She felt pity for herself and disgust at her own body, no princess should be scarred in such a way.

The voices drifting through the walls get louder and louder till she can ignore them no longer. A female voice and a male voice, her depression has built an apathy to these sounds. A man and woman's voice that she begins to recognise. They sound as if they are both in his room talking to each other about something but Ayeka cannot think what they would both be doing talking at a time like this in his room at night-time alone. Immediately she springs out of her bed and barges open her door, waking up Sasami as she storms out down the corridor.

Vegeta and Ryoko turn to look at Ayeka as she slams open the door, bloodshot eyes with the same look they had in them when Ryoko called her a transvestite scan the room. Her fine and thin purple eyebrows frown and furrow as she takes in the scene seeing what Ryoko is, or mainly isn't, wearing.

" What are you doing here in Lord Vegeta's room?!" The Juraian seethes as she stomps towards the space farer.

" What's it look like? Same as you princess, just paying Vegeta a little night time visit."

" Th-that is not what I am doing here!"

" Um, so why are you dressed in only your nightie then?" Ryoko raises her eyebrows in accusation, her sly tongue finding something to halt the princess' offensive. Ayeka stands still and looks down realising too late her state of dress hardly being any better than that of who she is complaining to concerning her indecency. Their attention is drawn to the groaning Vegeta, he is getting tired of the repetition of going through the same song and dance all the time.

" Can both of you exit my room, I am going to go to bed." Each second he is awake is more energy he is burning through at an alarming rate. Being a Saiyan is like being a candle five times as bright as all others, it isn't long before the wick is all gone and it is time to recharge.

" Oh you can go to bed all right, you won't be getting much sleep though, hehe." Another of Ryoko's winks is directed towards him as she pats next to her on the mattress. Snarls are elicited from Ayeka by such a lewd comment. Hands grab onto Ryoko's shoulders as she tries to prise her from the bed of her prince. Her efforts are in vain, neither woman is going to use their reserves of strength at a time like this so Ryoko simple has to put herself so her body is visible but unable to interact and be interacted with.

" What? What is it princess, you want to join in too? Sorry but that's not my style Ayeka." A faint redness seeps into Ayeka's cheeks at the insinuation as she backs away from the dirty minded pirate.

" Wha- no, no! It's not like that, I – I was just trying to -"

" Ok, I give up. If you two are going to continue bothering me and keep me awake I might as well go and train." Vegeta's patience has waned into nothingness. His form vanishes from the room leaving the two women. For the second night in a row he trains till the Sun rises and beyond. There is no rest for the wicked.