Chapter 8
Bulma was running blindly, breath
panting as she pulled Gohan along, who was doing a much better job at
keeping the pace she was setting.
“B-Bulma—slow down!”
She shook her head and continued to
run. Run from those images Vegeta had long ago planted there. Run from
the image of him standing between them and an enemy. He was their enemy
right? He was—
“Bulma!”
She ignored him, running headlong to
the desolate canyon between two cliffs, twisting and turning with the
rock. “He said we had to run. We’re running.”
“But dad’s right there.”
Bulma skidded to a halt as two large
hands suddenly grabbed her arms. She choked on a shriek and stared
wide-eyed—
—at Goku.
She panted in the beaming man’s face
as he suddenly enfolded her in a giant hug, picking both her and Gohan
off their feet. “You’re alright! I felt your ki’s and I was so worried
cause I couldn’t get near the ship without being caught. Oh thank Kami
you’re okay!”
“Go— Breath—”
He immediately released them, setting
them on the ground. His grin was almost infectious. Almost. “Sorry.”
Bulma placed a surprisingly steady
hand on the man’s shoulder. “Believe me; I’m glad to see you too.”
Goku’s head suddenly snapped upward
and he grabbed Bulma’s wrist, dragging her further into the labyrinth
of the canyon and pressing her against the wall. Gohan followed without
complaint, eyes also on the sky.
“Guys—what—?”
“Sssh.... Vegeta....”
Her blue eyes widened and she trained
them on the sky. She couldn’t see anything. Was he—coming to take them
back? Or—what? She had no idea. She was—just so confused.
“Come out, come out wherever you are.”
Bulma’s breath hitched at the mocking
tone of the voice she more than recognized.
‘Woman? I can feel your ki. Come on
out. We have to enact the rest of the plan.’
She looked at Goku, but his attention
was on the skies, grip lax on her arm. He probably figured she wouldn’t
want to leave. Well—she didn’t....
She heard them yelling at her as she
took off, running toward the opening of the canyon. Vegeta swooped down
suddenly at the mouth and she heard the two behind her come to a
skidding halt.
“Bulma, look out!”
It didn’t surprise her when two arms
grasped her and held her tightly to a muscled body. It did surprise her
when those arms loosened slightly. “You said I had to wait and the
dragonballs would come to me.”
The words were a harsh whisper and
she felt the other’s chest move as he chuckled at her indignant tone.
“That was a line of bullshit just to get you the hell out of there.” He
echoed her tone before snapping his head back up at the two men still
inside the canyon.
“Looks like the woman knows the
wisdom of giving up now. It’s futile, Kakarott. Hand over the
dragonball. I know you’ve got it....”
He watched the other Saiyan’s lips
thin, watched his stance tense. Vegeta laughed. “You fool. What are you
going to do—attack me with the woman in my arms?” Bulma almost shrieked
as she was suddenly twisted around so that she was facing Goku and
Gohan.
“Ass....”
‘Aware na onna. Be quiet for once in
your life.’
“I’m not stupid. You’ve hidden the
dragonball somewhere.” He tilted his head to one side and grinned at
the boy and his father. “But we can negotiate. I’ll have the woman at
Lord Frieza’s ship. You know, that big metal thing a few miles from us?
You bring the dragonball; the woman won’t be harmed....
“You don’t bring the dragonball....”
Bulma’s breath hitched as one of the
arms holding her fell slack and a hand trailed up her side and over her
neck, resting on her cheek and cupping her head upwards. “Frieza seemed
to show great interest in her....”
“You bastard!”
Vegeta laughed as his arm again
encircled the woman, pulling her in close to his body. “So righteous!
What will you do righteous one? What can you do? Your answer! Now!” The
last two sentences came with an abrupt change of tone and facial
expression. Bulma could feel the body beside her tense like stone.
Goku seemed to teeter on some edge
for a split second before his face darkened and he nodded slowly.
Vegeta chuckled and Bulma felt his body relax again. “Wise choice,
Saiyan.” The last word was mockingly uttered. “Meet me in fifteen
minutes. If you’re not there in time I’ll hand her to Frieza—after I’m
done with her.”
Smirking at the other’s grinding
teeth, Vegeta took off from the ground, flying back to the ship.
‘Woman, if Kakarott doesn’t get there in time....’
“He will.... But—then Frieza will
have all the dragonballs.”
Vegeta chuckled, his arms holding
Bulma securely to him as they flew closer to the ship. ‘And then we
will have all the dragonballs.’
There was a pause as Bulma digested
this. “You—set us free to bring Goku here?”
Vegeta let out a sigh and craned his
head down to glare at her. ‘I’m playing this by ear, woman. I have no
idea what’s going to happen, but I know that Frieza is suspicious. As
he should be. We have to tread carefully.’
He landed in front of the hole he had
made and gripped Bulma by one arm, dragging her brusquely after him.
His eyes were intent on their destination and Bulma had to struggle to
keep from falling down. She was sure if she did he’d just drag her
along after him.
‘This is a dangerous place, woman. I
want you to keep your mouth silent. Speak only if spoken to. And do
whatever Frieza says. If he tells you to clean his tail with your
tongue, do it. Fifteen minutes doesn’t give him much time to do
anything else....’
She swore she heard the thread of
doubt in that last sentence. The way the end trembled and trailed off.
She briefly wrapped her hand around his wrist and squeezed before
letting go and concentrating and keeping her feet.
It wasn’t long before the curving
corridor started to reveal doors that were closer together. Every door
looked the same, so Bulma didn’t know how Vegeta knew where he was
going.
Soon though, Vegeta stopped at one of
the doors. And since it was the only one open, Bulma assumed it had to
be the control room. As she was dragged into the room and
unceremoniously pushed to the ground in front of Vegeta, she let out a
small grunt. She took the time to look around. The roof was domed.
There was a slit at the very top too. Probably a hatch. She noted that
and the window in front of them. The window in which a shadowy figure
stood in front of.
The figure moved and Bulma watched
the tail swish behind Frieza as he approached them. She stayed where
she’d been thrown and watched as Frieza’s red eyes searched over her.
She quelled a shiver as his eyebrow rose. “What’s this, Vegeta?”
She didn’t have to look to tell that
the reason for Vegeta’s muffled voice was because he was bowing. “The
key to the last dragonball. It was with good fortune that I managed to
run into both the woman and the boy just outside the ship.
They’re—friend met up with them, but not before I grabbed the woman. I
gave him an ultimatum. The dragonball or the woman.”
“And he chose the woman?”
Frieza stood before her now, looking
down at her with an expression, a look in his eyes, that chilled Bulma.
“Of course. It is a weakness for
these humans, to care so much about one another that they sacrifice
everything...including reason.” It almost seemed to her that Vegeta was
speaking to her rather than Frieza.
As the other’s sharp gaze pierced the
still-bowed man, Bulma feared that Frieza had heard it too. “How much
time?”
“Kakarott will bring the ball in
approximately thirteen minutes, my lord.”
Frieza turned to the window, hands
clasped behind his back. “Good.” He spun on his heels. “What did you
say his name was?”
Vegeta blinked at Frieza before
straightening slightly. “Kakarott, my lord.”
Bulma’s eyes shifted over the floor
on the room, until they caught something golden on the ground. Her eyes
widened as she caught sight of six dragonballs. They were huge! Much
bigger than their Earth counterparts.
“That’s a Saiyan name. He’s Saiyan?”
Vegeta seemed to hesitate and Bulma’s
head snapped up as Frieza suddenly disappeared from in front of her.
She could, instead, feel his tail just behind. She stiffened, imagining
Vegeta was doing the same.
“You’ve been keeping secrets, Vegeta.
Secrets displease me. You’ve been such a good toy up till now...and I
simply don’t know where this rebellious streak in you has come from.
Bad parentage perhaps?”
At those words Bulma could hear the
words in her mind crescendo to an explosive series of curses and
condemnations. She winced and was glad her back was to the white
lizard. He would’ve most certainly noticed her expression.
“Perhaps, my lord.” The words were
tightly controlled, coming from a mouth thinned and a carefully
schooled expression. And Bulma knew exactly how tight a rein Vegeta was
keeping on his emotions. She didn’t know how he was doing it.
Frieza chuckled and Bulma felt his
tail move past her, brushing over her legs and back several times. She
resisted the urge to shrink back from it. It was then that the feeling
of nausea rose in her. It was not her own feeling, but it was so strong
that she gagged on it.
The tail swished past her and Frieza
was suddenly in front of her, eyebrows high on his pale face. “Humans
are such interesting creatures, aren’t they Vegeta? They look Saiyan,
but that’s where the distinction ends.”
She did shrink back as a clawed hand
ran over her hair. The hand whipped down and grabbed her underneath the
chin. She winced as the claws dug into her skin. “So fragile too. I
could crack her neck with a mere twist of my wrist.”
Frieza’s eyes moved from her up to
where she assumed Vegeta was. “But I did promise her to you once you
got the dragonball for me...and technically you have gotten the
dragonball.” He grinned, and the grin was so jovial as to sicken Bulma.
She felt an echo of her revulsion in her mind. “Such a good monkey.”
She was more than happy as Frieza
rose, releasing her head. She turned it slightly to the side, wishing
the pulsing where his talons had touched her would go away. Still
feeling a tingle from the cool touch of his hand.
The lizard walked back to a hover
craft of some sort, practically crawling into it and then turning it
around by use of some control panel in the front. Bulma’s eyes lit up.
“Bring her over to me, Vegeta. I want
such a pretty jewel beside me when we have our company. Oh! And open
the top hatch. You’ll wait at the top for them and show them inside.”
She felt herself suddenly wrenched
upwards, the grip on her arm hard enough to bruise. She winced a little
but did not complain. Vegeta’s voice was still giving a running
commentary and it was on where the lizard could put his tail. With all
the details Vegeta was giving on such an act, Bulma was afraid of the
implications.
She was barely able to lift her own
feet as she was dragged to where Frieza was hovering, grinning at them
both. Shoving her down at the base of the craft, Vegeta quickly moved
away toward the window and where the controls were.
“Come now, Vegeta. That’s hardly the
way to treat a woman. You don’t manhandle them— I think you’re going to
need supervision when you—have your way with her.”
The voice in her head went silent as
Vegeta’s fingers danced over the keys on the control panel. Bulma kept
her eyes down and stiffened when clawed fingers went through her hair.
Was he—petting her?
Gritting her teeth and narrowing her
eyes to slits, she carefully looked at the hovercraft around her. She
was perfectly positioned.
She ignored the sound of the hatch
opening above her with a swish of gears and grind of metal. Vegeta’s
eyes carefully stayed on the movement, watching as the two parts of the
hatch moved away from each other.
As soon as they were open enough to
allow it, he rose into the air and up through the doors, perching
himself on the edge and looking out toward where he assumed the other
would come from. It wasn’t like the man would be foolish enough to
attack him, considering who they had.
A/N: Boy, that was quick. What was
that? Two days? O.o A two day update. I’m spoiling you guys. You don’t
mind, right? ^_~ Well, review me here. This woman doesn’t live by bread
alone. She requires the words of you guys. ^____^
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