Crossover Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Vendetta ❯ Chapter Five ( Chapter 5 )

Present, Elsewhere in Space

 

Ami remained calm by doing things that were familiar to her. Locked in the small bedroom on the spaceship, she had quickly felt uncomfortable with her surroundings. True, nothing had really threatened her since she had been taken from earth, but she had no idea where she was or where she was going. So, she took out her computer and began typing furiously, focusing the whole of her attention on studying diagrams of the ship.

 

Unfortunately, the technology of the ship exceeded even that of her computer. It was only capable of generating vague pictures and formulated theories that Ami considered flawed. After a time, she grew frustrated with her lack of information, and decided to pursue a different course. One bit of information she was sure her computer contained was a layout of the universe. After a few quick keystrokes, she could clearly see the course she had traveled since leaving earth.

 

The distances astonished her. Even the most advanced shuttles on earth would take thousands upon thousands of years to come as far as she had, and yet she had hardly even felt any kind of acceleration. As she sat back, pondering the enormity of the universe, a nock sounded at her door. Before she could get a word out, the door opened, and a woman stepped in.

 

The woman looked human, though Ami had learned quickly not to assume anything. She was pretty, with a ponytail of shiny blue hair and clear blue eyes. The lab coat she wore suggested that she was involved in some sort of scientific or medical field, and Ami could immediately sense her confidence. The woman gave a friendly smile, and sat down casually in the room's only chair. Ami, who sat cross-legged on her bed, turned herself to face the woman directly.

 

“My name is Bulma. I understand you come from Earth...well, one of the Earths, anyway.”

 

Ami blinked. “Earths?” she asked in confusion. Bulma heaved a sigh.

 

“There are a limited number of elements present in the universe. I'm sure you know this. Since the Universe is infinite, it would be stupid to assume that the same combination of elements that created your earth would not happen again somewhere else,” Bulma explained.

 

“I suppose that makes sense.”

 

“Yes. “Earth” in its simplest form is one of the most common types of planets in the known universe. Species, languages and ways of living differ to some degree though, depending on the planet's stage of development. Judging from your clothing and language, I would guess that your planet is just a few decades behind the Earth I'm from.”

 

Sensing that Bulma had no more to explain, Ami asked, “Why am I here?” Bulma grinned.

 

“You'll be assisting me on my research. Technically, you're a slave. But if you have to be a slave, you want to be a slave in the science community. You'll assist me for six hours a day, and the rest of the day is free time. You will be given time and materials for experiments of your own, and you get three hot meals a day cooked for you. Best cafeteria food in the world, I promise.”

 

Ami giggled, despite herself. Bulma took this as a good sign, and continued to explain the benefits of being a slave in the science department. She made sure to emphasize that, if you were a genius like her, you could earn your freedom within a year. Ami was especially interested in that part. While this Bulma person seemed nice, all Ami really wanted to do was gain her freedom, find her friends, and go home.

 

Elsewhere in Space

 

Her new master expected his guests to arrive any minute, and Michiru started to get a bit nervous. She did not know how these aliens would receive her style of music. She had practiced for a couple of hours, re-familiarizing herself with a goodly number of pieces. She did not want to run out of songs before they finished listening to her. Truly, they would probably not notice if she played the same song twice, but she did not feel like running the risk.

 

When the appointed time arrived, her master appeared before her, stiff and cold as he had been earlier that day.

 

“We will be entertaining in a different room. This way,” he said.

 

She took what she needed, violin, bow, cake of rosin and a plain cloth, and followed the man from the room she had been warming up in. It took only a few moments of walking to reach their destination. He opened the large, ornate double doors and ushered her in gruffly. The room was dim and smoky, and smelled sickly sweet. A long, low table set for some ten people filled the center of the room. The plush carpet and the walls were dark in color, and at intervals along the wall, grates poured smoke into the room. Whatever burned in the grates provided the only light in the room. The large chandelier hanging from the ceiling seemed more artistic than functional.

 

She was hesitant to enter the room. The smell was nearly overpowering, and she started feeling lightheaded quickly. However, she had no choice, and settled herself into a chair situated at the corner across from the door. She felt slightly better sitting, but she wondered how he expected her to play if she were close to passing out. She thought better than to argue, and raised the violin to her shoulder.

 

Feeling she would not have the reserves to play something difficult as the evening wore on, she began with a relatively fast piece. Mozart's Pantalon and Columbine was meant to be played by a full string group as the backdrop for a puppet show, but it could stand on its own quite well. The violins had the melody for most of the whole movement anyway.

 

The first few guests arrived shortly after she began playing, and were ushered into the room. The two men wore armor like most of the men she had seen since being captured. The woman with them wore a gown similar to hers, though far more ornate which clung to her voluptuous figure and dipped precariously low. She wore make-up almost to the point of being garish and large, flashy jewels. Her dark hair, graying slightly in places, was piled in a mass of curls atop her head. Michiru silently estimated the party to be in its mid to upper forties, though all looked healthy.

 

Similar groups in twos or threes showed up every couple of minutes as Michiru worked her way through a couple more movements of the Mozart piece. Often the guests would stare at her for a few moments, the women with sneers and the men with undisguised lust that made her slightly uncomfortable. She kept playing, though, and pretended not to notice. She finished with the final movement of the Mozart, and moved on to a piece by Tchikovsky. The composer wrote better parts for the cello, but she made do quite well with the violin.

 

The scent of the smoke in the room was starting to take its toll. The first course of the meal had been brought out, and the guests were eating and talking jovially. They did not seem so lightheaded as she felt, but they grew to act more intoxicated as the evening wore on. Michiru chose simpler songs with long, haunting melodies, and went on autopilot. She could no longer properly concentrate on playing, but the guests did not seem to mind.

 

At some point, she was vaguely aware of someone taking the violin from her. Strong arms lifted her out of her chair and carried her for a short distance. After that, she blacked out.

 

Vegeta's House

 

When Goku landed with the two girls in front of Vegeta's house, the prince had already vanished inside. He set the two down, and Usagi tripped immediately and fell. She was shaking with fright. Rei normally would have said something about the girl's clumsiness, but she did not feel much better than Usagi looked. They were not accustomed to flying in such a manner. Once Usagi had gotten to her feet, she looked up and almost fell over again.

 

“Wow...”

 

Neither girl had ever been so close to such a large house, let alone inside one. It was only three stories high, but it sprawled for nearly as far as the eye could see in either direction. It had to contain at least a hundred normal-sized rooms. Goku looked at them in confusion, shrugged, and then ushered them inside. He, being used to the large buildings in space, didn't understand why they were gawking.

 

Vegeta was sitting on a chair in the kitchen, shirtless and scowling at the ground. Angry red welts covered his torso, bleeding in more than few places. Old scars were only partially visible. The cook had taken out the first aid kit, a large box that sat in a corner in a nearby room, and was pulling out bandages and various tubes and bottles of ointments and setting them on the counter. She looked up briefly as the group entered the kitchen, but then turned back to digging in the box.

 

“Shouldn't you go see a doctor or something?” Usagi asked innocently. Vegeta turned and glared at her. She whimpered softly, but then scooted over next to the old woman. “Which one is antiseptic?” she asked, picking up the bottles and frowning. The aliens all seemed to speak the same language, but they didn't have the same style of writing.

 

“This one,” the woman replied.

 

She handed Usagi a large tube. The blond took the tube, a wet wash cloth and a roll of bandages and went over to the table next to Vegeta. Without waiting for him to protest, she began cleaning the wounds with the wash cloth. He winced ever so slightly at the pressure on his ribs, but stayed composed. When she put on the antiseptic, he seemed immune to the sting. In a few minutes, she had his wounds bandaged and had stepped back to admire her handiwork.

 

“What do you know, odango? You're good for something, after all,” Rei teased.

 

She immediately regretted using the nickname, realizing that it must bring back memories of Mamoru. Usagi looked close to tears for a moment, but managed to keep herself calm. Rei sent her an apologetic look, but didn't say anything lest she keep the subject up.

 

“I still think you should see a doctor if you think you have internal injuries,” Usagi said to Vegeta.

 

“You don't know what you're talking about, girl. I'll be well enough by morning,” Vegeta snapped, glaring at her.

 

There was an awkward silence, which was interrupted shortly by a loud peal of thunder. Usagi jumped and let out a squeak, clinging to Vegeta. He growled and pushed her off toward Goku. Rei rolled her eyes at Usagi's childish fear. Goku put a hand behind his head and chuckled.

 

“We should probably go before it starts storming. You should probably change the bandages in the morning and keep him out of the gravity room tomorrow. I don't think training will be a problem, but don't overdo it,” the taller Saiya-jin suggested.

 

Under normal circumstances, Vegeta would have made some sarcastic remark about Goku playing doctor, but he was tired. He stood and followed Goku and the girls to the door, telling the old woman over his shoulder to make up a room for Rei. Then, he scowled as Rei and Usagi hugged each other and started crying as though they'd never see one another again. Once Goku had left with Usagi, he sent Rei back to the kitchen to get some food. Telling her that the old woman would show her to her room, he stalked out of the kitchen and went to bed.

 

Frieza's Spaceship

 

Hotaru was surprised to find that the ship had a library on it. It was a fairly small library, true, but it was something to keep her occupied. Aside from meals and fittings for an ever-increasing wardrobe, she had little else to do. At times, talked to Frieza about Earth, but he was extremely busy, and those were rare occasions. Once she had discovered the library, she spent hours picking books that were written in a language she could understand. Only a couple of them were in Japanese, but a number of them were in Latin.

 

Michiru had been teaching her Latin for four years, ever since Hotaru had expressed interest in the history and mythology of ancient Rome. The fact that she had been learning English in school for years before that made Latin a lot easier than it was for other students. Many of the words had similar meanings, and Hotaru picked the language up easily. It still took her much longer to read and understand things in Latin, and occasionally she would run across a word she had never seen before, but she could usually come up with a meaning based on other words.

 

After a while, she picked a book that looked interesting and settled down in a comfortable leather chair. She tucked her legs up under her and tugged at her long skirt in an attempt to get comfortable. In a way, she enjoyed the feel, but sometimes it was annoying to have to continuously look out for the extra cloth. Finally, she got herself adjusted and picked up the book to begin reading.

 

Hotaru chose the book because it seemed to be less militaristic than the others. It was still about a war hero, but it went much more in depth about his life. It began with his parents, his childhood and his siblings. She made it through the beginning of his training with an old hermit when she felt eyes upon her. She finished the paragraph, only half understanding the Latin, and looked up.

 

Frieza stood in the doorway with another man in armor, a slightly bemused look on his face. The other man seemed a bit creepy, with beady eyes, but Hotaru was used to sinister looking people running around the ship and wasn't fazed. Instead, she stood up and took a few steps toward the two men.

 

“I see you have found something to amuse yourself with. What are you reading?” Frieza asked. She held up the book and he nodded in approval, though he looked a bit surprised. “You know the language of scholars?”

 

“It's called Latin on my planet. It's no longer spoken, but those who spoke it had my favorite myths and legends, so I decided to learn it. It's more interesting to read ancient stories in their original language,” Hotaru explained.

 

“Well, it is very late. Young ladies should be in bed by now. Why don't you take your book and retire for the night?”

 

Hotaru nodded silently, and slipped out of the room. She could hear hushed voices beyond the door as she walked down the hall, but could not make out any words. As she reached the door to her room, she felt eyes on her again, and looked around. Seeing no one, she brushed it off as being tired and entered her bedroom to change for bed.

 

Now that she wasn't wrapped up in her book, she realized that it was indeed late and that she was very tired. Reluctantly, she left the book on the nightstand next to the bed and changed into the nightgown she had been wearing for the last two nights. Then, she slid into the bed and snuggled tightly under the covers. Closing her eyes, she immediately began to think of Haruka. Again she tried to hold back the tears, but it was more difficult this time. She felt so guilty, dressing up in pretty gowns, eating exotic meals and reading fascinating stories while, for all she knew Michiru and Setsuna were suffering or had also been killed.

 

She cried for some time, until she had no tears left to cry. Curling up in a ball, she tried to sleep, but just as she was drifting off, she heard the door to her room open. She wiped her eyes and sat up, looking in the direction of the door. The man she had seen earlier with Frieza stood there, his beady eyes staring at her with a look Hotaru had never seen before. It made her extremely uncomfortable, but before she could ask him what he was doing in her room, he had moved to the side of the bed.

 

The second his hand reached out to touch her, she tried desperately to fight him off. His intentions became clear almost immediately, and Hotaru was terrified. He was obviously a seasoned warrior, far stronger than she could have ever imagined. He growled things at her in a language she'd never heard before. She kicked and bit at him ferociously, but to no avail. If anything, her protests seemed only to encourage him. The smirk on his face showed clearly his amusement at her pathetic attempts to pull away from him.

 

When he started tearing at her nightgown, she screamed. He silenced her with a slap across the face. Dazed, she fell limp to the bed, her head spinning. Faintly, she heard the sound of cloth being ripped, but she was too out of it to fight back. Tears welled in her eyes as she felt him touch her. She felt ill, in part from the dizziness from the blow to the head, and part from the feel of his hand.

 

And then, the hand, the weight of his body was gone. She closed her eyes and curled up into a ball, tears rolling freely down her cheeks. Faintly, she heard the door to her room open, and a brief scuffle. Then, someone entered her room and came over to the bed. Through her tears, she vaguely recognized a green braid, but it didn't really register. Instead, she allowed herself to be pulled up, wrapped in strong arms. Words of comfort were whispered in her ear while she cried.

 

For a short time, she huddled there and wept. After a while, though, she felt safe and warm, and she fell to sniffling and shaking. Her cheek throbbed from the blow, and her head was still spinning. Once her sobs had died down, she was released and tucked into bed. At some point, the woman who had showed her around earlier had entered the room. She was given a brief set of instructions and settled down in a chair next to the bed, stroking Hotaru's hair and whispering words of comfort to her.

 

Zarbon left Hotaru's room with a slight smirk on his face. Immediately, he headed to Frieza's suite of rooms to make a report. He found the tyrant in his sitting room, drinking a glass of wine and reviewing a report on the recent overthrow of a particularly stubborn planet. Zarbon bowed quickly, and spoke.

 

“It is done, my lord.”

 

Frieza nodded. “I trust the girl was not harmed to badly.”

 

“She'll have a nasty bruise in the morning, but nothing irreparable was done. Sire, what of the purging mission he was to go on tomorrow?” Zarbon asked.

 

“I am going to send Vegeta,” Frieza replied, smirking. “She knows it was you who saved her? It would be a shame to waste such effort.”

 

“She knows my lord. She even let me comfort her, which was surprising.”

 

“Excellent. Do not hurt this one too much, though. I have already grown quite fond of her, and I would hate to have her mope about with a broken heart.”

 

“Of course my lord. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to retire for the night.”

 

As Zarbon returned to his room, he could not help but feel excited. From the moment the girl had appeared with her friends on the ship, he had wanted her. At first, Frieza had only agreed to keep her around for his sake, though he was glad his lord liked the girl. It had upset him to know that she was so angry with him for her friend's death, so he and Frieza had hatched a plan.

 

The warrior they had used was growing far too powerful too quickly, and needed to be taken care of. What's more, Frieza had managed to work punishing Vegeta into the whole scheme as well, which Zarbon found rather ingenious. Now, all that was left was convincing the girl to trust him. And that was where Zarbon excelled.

 

Present, Somewhere in Space

 

Makoto sat on the edge of the cot, glancing around the room suspiciously and scowling. Four other cots were scattered about, and each was occupied. The other women were all older than she was by at least a decade. Two had fallen asleep, while the other two, who seemed to know each other, sat talking in hushed tones. The women had been dumped in the room after being taken from the large space ship and put in a smaller one.

 

The man who had purchased them seemed like an uptight, albeit not particularly cruel, businessman. He did not wear the standard armor like so many men in the area, and he did not seem to be all that influential compared to others. Still, he seemed wealthy enough, buying five women. Makoto silently wondered at his purpose. Nobody had bothered to talk to her since she was questioned on the large ship.

 

The only thing the women seemed to have in common was the fact that they seemed overly domestic. Makoto probably did not appear so to the other women, but she knew her own domestic skills and the other four were housewives, based on their dress. If her future lay in cooking some pig's meals, she figured that she could deal with it. Cooking would be an easy enough task, and perhaps she would be able to run away or earn her freedom in some way. She didn't know how these things worked, but she had a feeling that she would be able to accomplish something akin to success if her cooking skills became a focus.

 

Deciding optimistically that things would not be terrible, she settled down on the cot. It was hard and the pillow was a bit lumpy, but she was pretty tired after the long days since she'd been taken from Earth. The emotional strain of being separated from her friends weighed especially hard on her. She had no way of knowing where the other girls had been sent, and she was worried about Usagi. She could only imagine how the girl was handling Mamoru's death and the subsequent enslavement of herself and her friends. She didn't have much time to ponder the emotional state of her friends, though, as she almost immediately began drifting off to sleep.

 

She woke with a start and jumped out of the bed the second she heard the door open. It was a soft noise, and none of the other women woke, but years of training and fighting as a senshi had trained her ears to pick up the slightest noise. Two men had entered the room. One was the businessman who had bought her, and the other was obviously a warrior. He wore the standard armor Makoto had seen so many others wear, and his muscles bulged. He was also extremely attractive. The businessman motioned to her silently, and she followed the two men out of the room.

 

“What's going on?” Makoto asked, looking warily at the two men. The warrior spoke up.

 

“You will not speak unless spoken to, slave. But I will explain why you are here. You appear to possess a unique combination of talents that makes you extremely valuable. The universe is constantly at war, and war always leaves orphans. Most of these children are of weak blood, and are put to work or killed. However, some possess the potential to become great warriors.”

 

“And what does this have to do with me?” Makoto asked. The warrior struck her in the stomach, and she doubled over in pain. He may have looked nice, but he was certainly not a nice person. She made a mental note not to get herself attached to him.

 

“You had your warning. Next time, things will be much worse for you. Now, as I was saying, there are a number of strong, orphaned children in the universe in need of training. Most warriors cannot be bothered to spend their valuable time training children. So, as you claim to possess skill at both fighting and raising children, that is what you will do. More of the details will be explained to you later today, but for now, you need to get situated in your new home. We landed during the night. You will be shown to your new home, and a child will be put into your care. You will be responsible for the child's health, and will train him to the best of your abilities. You will also be given your own lessons in flying, ki manipulation and anything else you are not already capable of doing. This afternoon, you will be tested to determine your skill level. If at any time you prove to be inefficient, you will be removed from your position and sold. If you prove to be extremely efficient, once your child reaches his age of majority, you will be given the option of leaving with your freedom, or staying on to work with considerable compensation. For now, follow Jakkin. He will show you to your home.”

 

Makoto kept her mouth shut this time, and followed the businessman without complaint. She much preferred him to the crazy, muscle-bound drill sergeant, despite his inferior looks. She was lead off of the spaceship, and through the hanger to a large complex of functional looking structures. One of these turned out to be some sort of cross between a barracks and an apartment building. She was assigned a set of four smallish rooms on the second floor. The businessman left her for the time being, and Makoto went immediately to the bathroom for a shower. Never in her life had she been more excited to take a shower than she was now.

 

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Technically, I'm a day late with this chapter. But, whatever. Anyway, more feedback would be appreciated. Thanks for reading!