Machina
By: Kichi
DISCLAIMER: Akira Toriyama created
DBZ and all its characters. Not me. I make no money from
writing or posting this on the internet.
PAIRING: Vegeta and Bulma
ARCHIVED:
www.geocities.com/kichisama666/index.html
RATED: R for swearing and violence
(NC-17 for later chapters)
NOTES: ALTERNATE UNIVERSE.
Radditz and Nappa die on Earth but Vegeta is never able to get away and
find out why, until years later during a skirmish between Frieza and
Cooler. He finds Earth but almost everything is destroyed by the
jouziningen. Except, of course, a little blue-haired scientist
who finds him after 17 and 18 kick the snot out of him. Woah..
Did I give away too much? NAH!
Chapter 1 - Deus ex Machina
He fell out of the sky and slammed into the hard earth below without a
sound.
"I think you killed him." 17 said with a light smirk. 18
shrugged.
"Oh well. Wasn't he strange though? He had a tail!" she
mused.
"Ha! He's obviously a genetic freak. Just like that Goku.." her
brother said, she nodded in agreement.
"Well, I'm just glad that's the last of them. Those things always
wear down my energy." 18 said. 17
snickered.
"Ho! Tired are we? Need a nap?" he sneered. 18 glared at
him angrily.
"Go to hell Juuhachigou." She snarled and took off. 17 blinked in
surprise. He had only been joking.
"Women!" He huffed and flew after her.
Bulma sighed in frustration. Whoever that had been, his power had
been way above Goku's, but the
chance that she could make it to him
before he died wasn't good.
Her ki-radar had informed her of a fight between the jouziningen and
someone that reminded her of a
Saiyan. Whatever it had been,
it was still alive and if she could find it in time, perhaps she could
help.
After all, anyone who had the balls to attack the androids was
definitely on her side.
She gathered some medical supplies and tossed her jet capsule in front
of her. The Jet appeared
with a loud ‘pop’. She hopped in and
began lift-off, gunning the engines just as she rose above tree-level.
The tiny radar was similar in appearance to the Dragon radar but it
measured ki and the one she was
following was slowly fading.
She pushed the pedal down, the engines screamed in protest and the
frame
of the ship began to rattle.
"Come on, you piece of shit! Go!" she growled. It didn't
speed the ship up at all, but the ship ceased
its nerve-wracking rattle. The
radar began to beep loudly and she slowed the craft and began her
descent.
There had been a devastating attack on the area, the scorch marks were
still fresh and she could hear
small rocks bouncing off of debris as
the rubble re-settled. This had once been a beautiful
forest. She
wished she'd never seen it before the
destruction. To look on the twisted landscape now, you could
never
tell that stately trees had once
stood there.
The ground was blasted flat with large piles of rock and tree-fragments
littering the area like disrupted
graves. It was a miserable
sight. The sky rumbled ominously and the roar of the wind sounded
like a
descending airplane. But there
hadn't been a man-made vehicle in the sky for almost a year- not
counting
hers.
Rain began to pour down and she shivered, scanning the area.
Where was this individual she had
come to find? From the corner
of her eye she saw movement and a sudden agonizing moan sent her
scurrying over to a lump on the
ground.
She gasped in surprise when she knelt down next to what was obviously a
young man. His clothing
and armor was in ruins and in some
areas had been burnt. Bleeding gashes and scrapes covered almost
every patch of exposed skin. Then
something else caught her eyes and she gasped. A long, brown,
monkey tail shivered behind
him. So, he was a Saiyan after all, but he was so small compared
to Radditz,
Nappa, and even Goku! Who was
he?
She returned her eyes to his face and pulled out a tiny antiseptic wipe
and began to clean the blood off
of his skin. She quickly taped
a cut on his temple that had produced most of the blood, and then began
to
clean the black crust that covered
half of his face.
And as the blood was removed her eyes began to widen in surprise.
He's gorgeous! Bulma thought. His features were relaxed, but
occasionally a scowl would darken his
features giving him that impression
of a pouting little boy.
But he wasn't a boy, his sculpted body was perfectly proportioned, each
muscle clear cut and defined,
but compact, like the rest of
him. Well, except for the hair, she tousled it idly as she
cleaned the blood from
his face. Just like Son Kun's,
she thought sadly. She pulled her hand away and saw his blood on
her skin.
She gently felt his scalp and found a
massive lump that was bleeding lightly, matting the dark auburn locks.
Well, you aren't too big, this shouldn't be so hard. She
thought. He groaned again and his head
tossed a bit but his eyes didn't open
and after a moment he relaxed again.
"Hmm. No neck injuries apparent." She muttered to herself. She
slid her arm under his neck and tried
to pull his head up- and after
raising him up about an inch she fell on top of him with a startled
cry. "What
the hell?" she cried and sat up, then
stood. She bent down and grabbed his wrists and pulled-
"Shit!" she cried trying to lift him. But it was
impossible. He weighed a ton. But how? He was so
small! She went to his side and
poked him. His muscles were like stone, they were so solid.
But still, he
was maybe about as tall as she was,
at 5'7 he couldn't weigh more than 180 pounds at the most by his
size. But it felt like he
weighed more than two hundred. Bulma frowned.
"How the hell am I going to get you home?" she murmured to the
unconscious Saiyan. "I can't just drag
you to the jet." Maybe..
She ran to the jet and began to rifle through her capsules. She
pushed the plunger
on the top and tossed it and with a
small puff a larger medical case appeared. She rummaged through
it
and with a cry of triumph pulled out
a bottle of smelling salts. Her mother had been a fainter and so
they'd
always had some around.
She took it over to the unconscious Saiyan and uncorked the vial,
waving it under his nose. The effect
was startling. His eyes shot
open, then snapped shut again, and he shuddered violently. He
tried twisting
away but was unable to move save his
arms twitching feebly. She pulled the vial away and corked it,
noting with concern that he was still
shivering. Slowly his eyes fluttered open and he took several
shuddering breaths. Then a pair
of onyx eyes met hers and she was startled by the fierce anger burning
in
them.
"What happened?" he croaked. A spasm of pain forced his
eyes shut and he choked harshly. He
quickly turned away and a small gout
of blood splashed the ground.
"You got into a fight with the jouziningen, don't you remember?" he
blinked, his eyes slowly opening
and closing and for a moment she
feared he would lose consciousness again. He took several deep
breaths and from the tensing of his
muscles, she guessed he was trying to get up. "Don't move." She
said
softly, placing a dainty hand on his
chest. He immediately froze at the contact, his eyes shot open to
glare
murderously at her. "Look, I'm
sorry," she snapped, "But your injured incase you haven't
noticed. And right
now, I'm the only one who can and
will help you. So relax all right?" he sighed and closed his
eyes. Bulma
began to clean off the rest of the
blood on his face.
"I remember a girl with yellow hair and a man with black hair.
They both had odd-colored eyes… like
yours except lighter." He
rasped after a moment.
"That was them. This place right here-" she gestured to the area
surrounding them "This spot used to
be a beautiful forest with massive
trees. The tallest in the country. And they destroyed it
all. They've
destroyed everything, killed all my
friends, my family." She said softly, her voice trembling.
The Saiyan’s eyes opened and trained on her. He studied her
intently, forcing her to break eye
contact. She flushed in
embarrassment and began to clean a huge gash on his shoulder. He
stiffened as
soon as she touched it, but made no
sound or complaint.
"I know someone like that." He said. At first Bulma didn't know
what he was talking about.
"Radditz said that your planet was destroyed. You are a Saiyan
right?" Immediately his eyes shot
open and he struggled to rise.
"No, what are you doing?" he growled in fury over his inability to move
and
the ferocious, animalistic sound
halted Bulma in her tracks.
"Radditz.. was here then!" he gasped, his burning eyes boring into
hers. "And Nappa?"
"Yes. Both of them. But they're dead. And we can't
wish anyone back anymore either." The Saiyan blinked and shook
his head.
"I know that. That's is why I came. To find out why.
I needed them." He grated.
"Oh." Suddenly his eyes clenched shut and he was barely able to
stifle a groan of pain. He rolled onto his side and gagged and
she saw black blood splatter the ground. Suddenly a shrill beep
made Bulma jump in surprise and the young Saiyan flinched away as she
jumped to her feet. Her jouziningen warning device was going
off. They had to be close. “Shit!” she hissed. The
Saiyan’s eyes blinked groggily and she knelt down and shook him.
“Listen to me, you have to get up and get in the jet! They’re coming
back!” She tugged his arm with all her strength and with a soft moan he
struggled to rise. She supported him as much as she could and
they staggered towards the plane. The alarm grew more shrill as
they drew near and suddenly the Saiyan slipped out of her grasp as he
stumbled and his knees buckled. “Shit!” Bulma cried and grabbed
his elbow as he fell, forgetting his unusual weight, she fell with
him. “No Kami, no!” she cried as the alarm grew to a shrill
unbroken whine. They had to be right above them!
"Leave me alone! I don't want to hear your shit right now! I'm going to
find something else to wear!" 18
yelled at her brother high above the place they had just beaten that
strange alien to death.
"Fine!
Go ahead! See if I care! I wish you would shut off your stupid emotion
chip, you are so annoying
like this!" 17 snapped back. His
sister's eyes narrowed to slits of fury.
"The
only person who is being an annoyance is YOU!" She screeched before
flying off in the opposite
direction.
"Fine,
whatever." he snapped. "I'm sure I'll have more fun without you!"
he flew off in another direction.
He
shuddered violently beneath her and just as suddenly the alarm began to
fade. Bulma breathed a
sigh of relief and returned her
attention to the Saiyan beneath her. Sweat stood on his brow and
he was
shivering uncontrollably.
His breath hitched in his throat and he choked again. Blood began
to leak over
his bottom lip.
"Hey,
are you awake still?" she said, lightly slapping his cheek. His
eyes slowly opened and he nodded
weakly. She threw open the door
of her plane and tugged his elbow until he slowly gripped the side of
the
jet and used it and her to pull
himself to his feet.
That
small act seemed to take a lot out of him and he drew in quick, shallow
lungfuls of air. His skin
was alternating between white and red
and she prayed he wouldn't pass out again before she got him to
her home and the infirmary.
"Can you stay awake for a bit more?" she said softly as she pulled him
inside
the cabin and helped him to the
co-pilot's seat. She didn't have anything for him to lie down on
unfortunately, but she reclined the
seat for him and he lay back, his eyes screwed shut as his cracked and
broken ribs protested the movement.
"I think
so." He said softly, his eyes drifting close. She had to keep him
awake during the short flight
and began to question him as they
rose into the air and took off.
"What is
your name?" she said, his eyelids fluttered for a moment before he
raised his head and
glanced at her.
"Vegeta."
Bulma frowned wondering why the name sounded so familiar. She
certainly didn't know
anyone by such a strange name.
Then she remembered. Radditz had mentioned him.
"Prince
Vegeta?" she gasped before she could stop herself. He tried to
laugh but all that came out was
a wheezing choke.
"How am I a
prince of anyone anymore- I am the last of my race!" he snarled
bitterly. Bulma frowned
sadly, had he known Radditz and
Nappa?
"Your still
a prince." Bulma mused. "Even if everyone is dead. Weren't
you raised to be king one day?
Or did you have older
brothers?" He eyed her for a moment, as if perplexed.
"A King
needs only one son. Unless his heir is killed." He replied.
"I take that
as a no. Well the point is, that you were raised to be king one
day, right?" she asked, taking
her eyes off her path and gazing at
him.
"Yes." He
said after another questioning glance.
"Then that
is a part of you, and it doesn't just go away because all of your
subjects are gone." She said
with a faint smile.
"No, it just
loses its importance." He hissed, his brow furrowed in anger.
"Maybe but-"
he silenced her with a short growl.
"I do not
wish to continue this discussion." He said softly, and she saw a flash
of pain in his eyes. She
bit her lip, let the subject drop,
and returned her gaze to the windshield. Capsule Corp was
close. She
dared another glance at her passenger
and saw his eyes slide shut and snap back open a second later as
he struggle to stay conscious.
She wasn't
too worried anymore; they were seconds away from home. She began
landing procedure
and the craft settled smoothly in her
back yard. She jumped out and ran to his door. She opened
it and
saw that his eyes were clenched shut
and he was shaking again.
"Vegeta?"
she said softly. Open eye cracked open and he sat up and slowly
began to rise. She
grabbed his elbow to help him but he
growled and pulled away. His feet hit the ground and his knees
buckled as a wave of dizziness washed
over him. His surroundings grayed out and he could hear
someone drawing in quick, harsh
breaths. He suddenly realized it was him, although how he
couldn't tell.
He could barely hear anything and his
whole body was growing numb.
She
gasped as he fell and gripped his elbow in an attempt to steady him,
but he slid from her grasp
and lay on the ground gasping like a
landed fish before his whole body gave a violent shiver and he lost
consciousness.
"Shit." She
huffed in frustration. He weighed too much! There was no way she
was going to be able to
get him to the med center. She
had to wake him up again, but decided against it at the moment.
If she let
him rest a moment, perhaps he would
make it farther after he woke.
She sat down
beside him and watched the color return to his face and his breathing
slow. His skin was
darker than hers, and his hair had
faint hints of auburn in the light. He was maybe a shade darker
than
Yamcha who had spent most of his
early life in the desert. She wondered vaguely what his planet
had
been like. What kind of person
would Goku have been if he'd grown up there? If he would have
turned out
anything like Nappa or Radditz, she
was glad he had been sent to Earth.
He was
really cute. But what the hell kind of person was he?
She didn't know, but she prayed that he
wasn't an evil prick like Nappa and
Radditz were, but then again- he apparently knew them or at least, of
them. She just hoped that
maybe he would feel enough gratitude to not kill her when he was healed.
A horrible
smell assaulted him again and he almost retched. He could hear
his agonized gasps and
felt a small hand rubbing his back.
"…Ok.
Just breathe, you'll be fine in a second." The human female assured
him. He hated this. Those
fucking androids would pay for this
humiliation. He couldn't seem to focus. He was dizzy from
lack of
oxygen. Breathing was painful
and each hitching breath drew up blood. An involuntary moan
escaped
him as another wave of vertigo hit
him. The woman's voice was becoming unintelligible.
This wasn't
good. His eyes were sluggishly opening and closing. She
smacked his face lightly, then
harder when he moaned weakly.
He was struggling to wake. His head tossed and the pained
expression
on his face made her heart clench in
sympathy.
"Come on
Vegeta, you can do it. I know your tired but we have to get
inside so you can rest. I can't take
care of you out here. We need
to get inside."
Her soft
voice drew him back. For some odd reason, he was compelled to do
as she asked. His eyes
finally opened, and then closed to
slits, but he was aware. He slowly sat up with her help, took a
few
hitched breaths and painfully got to
his feet. If she hadn't been tugging his good arm the whole way
up, he
probably wouldn't have made it.
He swayed unsteadily and she quickly maneuvered under his undamaged
left arm.
Slowly they
made it inside. Each time he staggered, she nearly panicked as
she struggled to keep
him upright and walking. The
wound on his shoulder had reopened, and was steadily dripping down his
arm and soaking into the cast
material. His skin was paling again and she thanked Kami when she
spotted the door to the med center.
She opened
the door and helped him in, trying to hurry despite his pained
gasps. Finally she got him
to the closest bed and sat down with
him on the bed, and still holding his arm got him on his back and
tugged his legs up and onto the
mattress. She tugged his boots off and leaned against the
bed a
moment, trying to regain her
breath. The effort had been exhausting, and she wondered how
Vegeta was
faring. His brow was furrowed
as she turned her head to look at him and he slowly opened his eyes,
his
expression clearing.
"Can you sit up? We need to get your armor off." He frowned
as if to say she was asking too much,
but he did as she asked anyway, he
face revealing no discomfort to her. To her surprise, he tugged
the
shoulder strap and the whole entire
thing began to stretch. She gripped the strap slid it off of him
and then
over the broken arm with relative
ease. She held the lightweight material in her hands with an
expression
of awe. "This stuff is
incredible!" she murmured.
Vegeta sat back with a sigh, but she shook her head and tugged him
forward again. "Your shirt." She
replied at his questioning
glance. He frowned and simple began to tear it when she had cut
his sleeve off
earlier all the way down the side and
shook his good arm until it flew off and landed on Bulma’s head.
She bound his chest to keep his ribs from setting incorrectly and let
him lie down. His eyes slid shut
immediately. Some color had
returned to his face and his breathing seemed to ease and deepen.
She
thought he was asleep, when those
dark eyes opened again.
"You need to get some rest." She chided gently.
"No." He gasped and she frowned, thinking him in pain. "S-someone
might come looking for me."
"You'll be safe here-"
"No." he rasped, struggling to sit up. She easily held him in
place with one dainty hand on his firm
chest. He scowled at her hand,
but it seemed more annoyance at his own weakness than at her
effrontery.
"You don't understand. If he
comes looking for me- he could kill you easily just for helping me if
he was in
that mood! He's- he's a
monster! Even worse than those stupid androids! He-" he faltered,
paling again,
and she gripped his elbows to stop
him from falling back too forcefully. She thought for a moment he
might pass out again, as his eyes
rolled back in his head. With a visible shudder he grit his teeth and
opened those midnight black eyes, his
gaze pinning hers again.
"He what-?" she prodded, even though she dreaded the answer.
"He is the person who made me what I am." He snarled, his eyes boring
into hers. His glare was
challenging her to rebuke him, and
she realized that he was more like Nappa and Radditz than she had
first thought. Nappa and
Radditz had been very proud- of their near-extinct race and their own
awesome
abilities. She could sense that
pride was the only thing that had kept him from howling in pain several
times as she’d treated his injuries.
"He trained me to slaughter millions
upon millions as if they were nothing- as if they deserved it. I
did
everything he asked, so he wouldn't
kill me and everyone on my planet. But he did it anyway. I
finally got
away a little less than a year ago
and it took me this whole time to get here." He raised his eyes to meet
hers and she winced at the agony and
fear in those black depths. "I- I don't want to go back.
I'd rather die.
You shouldn't have helped me.
It will only get you killed if he comes here and finds me." her
eyebrows
lifted in surprise at that, maybe he
felt a bit of gratitude, perhaps his pride was was a little more
flexible
than the older two Saiyans.
"I'm not as defenseless as I appear, Vegeta. And your
insane if you think I would have just left you
there to die."
“Why not?! Don’t think I can or will repay you for this." he
snapped his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“I don’t want anything from you!” she spat, offended by the idea.
“I just don’t want those fucking
androids to kill anyone else! I
don’t give a shit who it is! They have taken everything and
destroyed it for
nothing more than their own twisted
amusement! Well I’m sick of sitting here unable to do
anything! I’m
going to try and save anyone that
they hurt, even you, Vegeta no Ouji! And if there is any payment
involved it’s the satisfaction of
knowing that I have taken away their power of life over death for even
one
person!” He frowned as she
finished her tirade. She really wanted nothing more than to
defeat those
mechanical freaks, even in such a
small way? “And as for this Frieza person-“ she huffed, glaring
at him.
“I could care less if he does come,
I’ll shoot him with my fucking huge cannon!!” she cackled. Her
eyes
slid over to Vegeta and saw his eyes
widen comically. “Kami, Vegeta, lighten up!” she said with a
grin. “I
still have to test it on the
androids. And if it doesn’t work they’ll kill me and then I won’t
have to worry about
wether or not this Frieza person
comes, now will I?”
“You are out of your fucking mind.” he said and then yawned.
“You might be right.” she said with a soft laugh. “These androids
have taken everything, why not my
sanity too?” He glanced at her
out of the corner of his eye. She was rather.. Attractive.
Her lame attempt
at humor was almost amusing in
itself. She was obviously not insane, he had seen insane people,
and
they really looked crazy. She
looked completely sane, maybe she was just feeling the whip like he
himself
had on many occasions, literally and
figuratively.
“Well I hope it does, because if Frieza comes looking for me,
especially now, we’ll both be dead and
probably the whole planet with us.”
"Just sleep, Vegeta. You'll feel better once you heal a bit." He
shook his head stubbornly, and she
somehow sensed that either he still
didn’t trust her, or he was just too afraid. His earlier warning
replayed
in her mind. "It's all
right. I'll make sure no one bothers you." He met her eyes again
and she saw the
apparent confusion in them.
"Look I'm not going to heal you just so you can die from
exhaustion. Either
you lay back and close you eyes and
try to sleep or I can make you." He tensed suddenly, and she saw the
flash of anxiety in his eyes and
winced. He was having a hard time deciphering her motives and
obviously
had a hard time trusting anyone.
"You can't make me do anything!" he snapped defensively.
"Drugs can make you sleep, not me. I can go get a needle, stick
you with it, pump you full of sedative,
and you'll fall asleep in less than a
minute. Although you might not feel so good when you wake
up. SO
you might as well just listen to me
and go to sleep yourself." She said with a smirk. How many times
had
he himself worn that very expression
before he killed someone?
She almost slapped her forehead when he tried to back away from her.
"Vegeta really. I just want you
to get some rest so you can
heal. I'm not going to try and hurt you." She pleaded. He
seemed to relax
then, and his eyes closed
wearily. Then moments later snapped open again. "Vegeta…"
she said.
"If Frieza comes.. Don't fight him. Just let him have me." He
said softly and his eyes slid shut. She
watched him for several minutes as
his breathing slowed and grew even and when she was assured the
he was finally asleep she went to her
kitchen to get some food.
She ate quickly incase he woke and after making a stop at the bathroom,
returned to the med center.
She smiled when she saw that he was fast asleep, and sat down on a
chair next to the bed. He
couldn’t be all that bad. He was willing to allow this “Frieza”
person to take him
without a fight if he even came
looking. If he really was an evil bastard like Nappa and Radditz
he
undoubtedly wouldn’t have even
bothered to warn her at all.
He suddenly moaned in his sleep and her hand reached out of its own
accord to caress his smooth
cheek. He leaned into her hand
and she sighed sadly.
“I’m already attached to you and we just met. Has it been so long
since I’ve had someone to care
about? I’m not even sure I
should care about you. You are kinda... Scary. But you are
very, very cute.
Which is a kinda odd combination.”
she sighed again and shook her head. “I just hope your worth the
trouble.”
To Be Continued...
I re-wrote quite a bit, Vegeta was
too ooc, hope everyone likes the changes better! 11-7-04
Well, that's it for chapter
one. I wrote the first ½ page of this fic like 2
years ago and recently felt like
working on it. And today I think I wrote like
7 pages.
Kichi 9-6-2004
Chapter
2
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