Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Danger in the horizon ❯ Testosterone rears its ugly head ( Chapter 20 )

Chapter 20 - Testosterone rears its ugly head

Note: I don't own DBZ.

Thanks to Susan (where would I be without your lovely encouraging reviews) and EmberMaxximus (No lemon here but I promise you will get some in chapter 23!)

When Bulma woke the next morning, she found Vegeta already dressed, standing by the window, looking out at the stars within the darkness of space. For a moment, she thought that he had been there all night, then the nightmare came back to her and Bulma remembered that he had been beside her in the bed. He did not stir or make any comment as she made her way to the bathroom to shower and dress.

Bulma emerged from the bathroom some 15 minutes later, and Vegeta turned to look at her, his eyes unreadable. Bulma wanted to be able to breach his mental barrier to discover what was happening in the dark recesses of his mind, but knew she could not, his defences were too strong. Even so, she could still pick up on a strange energy enveloping them both. It was almost as if Vegeta wanted to tell her something important, but could not.

Slightly unnerved by his intense gaze, Bulma turned away, putting her boots on, deliberately taking her time in lacing them up. That way, she reasoned, he would either stop staring at her, or at least speak to her. It seemed to have the desired effect when Vegeta finally spoke to her. "Woman, stop wasting time. We are leaving now." He rasped out, trying to keep emotions from his voice.

"Fine." She replied equally emotionlessly. Bulma knew that something or someone was bothering him, but he would not tell her.

Vegeta in turn narrowed his eyes at her toneless, dead reply. He was not fooled by Bulma's feigned disinterest. He had realised that Bulma was able to pick up on the energy surrounding them both and wanted to probe his mind to discover what exactly it was. Not yet. Soon I will tell you everything…Bulma.

Silently both left the room, entering the elevator in the hall. Vegeta broke the almost unbearable quiet as they descended. "Nappa will be escorting you today, I have training needs to be attended to. Where is this training facility you spoke of?" He spoke harshly, causing Bulma to whip her head around in anger. She fixed him with her most venomous glare before replying. "It's on level 35. They are expecting you."

"Excellent. First I will inform Nappa of the day's activities, then leave you in his care. I expect the weapons to be ready when I contact you."

The elevator stopped then on the 14th level, both Vegeta and Bulma exited and made their way to Nappa's room. The burly, bald-headed giant was already up and waiting for their arrival, distaste for his day's assignment curling his lip. He kneeled and listened carefully to Vegeta's instructions, never once questioning his prince's authority. His job done, Vegeta left Bulma alone with Nappa and proceeded towards the 35th level. As Vegeta did so, he could almost feel a pull on his body, trying to force him to stay with Bulma. With some effort, Vegeta brushed it aside and concentrated his thoughts on the workout he was about to get.

Once Vegeta had left, Nappa grabbed Bulma by the neck and spoke roughly to her. "I don't know what witchcraft you used on those two, but it will not work on me. If you pull any shit, you are dead. Got that?"

Bulma nodded slowly, her eyes wide in fright. She had realised that Nappa hated her, but not as much as to physically threaten her. She swallowed back the bile that had risen in her throat and motioned to Nappa to follow her to the elevator to take them both to the docking bay, where she would complete the weapons system.

The rest of the day seemed to pass without any incident. None of the other technicians working on their respective tasks even gave her a passing glance or enquired about what she was doing. Occasionally, Bulma would feel the familiar prickling up her spine, but she ignored it, assuming it was her trepidation at having a large violent hate-filled man observing her. All day, Nappa had merely watched her complete her work, never speaking even when food arrived for both of them.

Bulma was not listening to her instincts, as she should have been. As she was so engrossed in her work, Zarbon was able to observe her from a fairly close proximity. He was surprised to see Nappa with her and wondered why he would be acting as her bodyguard. At first he assumed it was because Nappa had some attraction to her. He let out a derisive snort. It was very unlikely. Zarbon knew from the past that Nappa had not one iota of interest in the opposite sex. He had never indulged in the whores on Freeza's flagship or at any of his bases in all the time the Saiyans had been in Freeza's service. It didn't matter anyway. Zarbon was not interested in what he was doing with her. He knew that Nappa, while being a strong elite Saiyan, did not have the power to match his own, and therefore would not be able to stop him from taking Bulma by force. Despite this, Zarbon wanted to wait until he had Bulma's routine timed down to the last moment. He had observed Bulma on several occasions and knew she did not leave until much later than the other technicians, always heavily absorbed by her work. Grinning maniacally, he moved away, his groin tightening in anticipation at what he was hoping he would soon be feeling. See you soon Bulma.

Vegeta meanwhile, had made an impressive start as a lab rat. The gravity chamber the scientists had constructed appeared to do as they claimed. Once he had learned to ignore the constant observation of his performance under his starting mark of 100g's by the scientists, he relaxed somewhat, launching himself into his normal intensive training regime, testing out new attacks on the bots installed in the chamber. He could not believe the power he was forced to use, just to stop being squashed by the gravity. Vegeta soon realised that if he continued with this level of training he could increase his power quickly, thus bringing him closer to the so far elusive level of Super Saiyan.

"Finally! I am a genius!" Bulma triumphantly cried, drawing the attention the other technicians around her. She had finally finished the weapons system and, she felt, in record time. Nappa just grunted at her.

Looking around her and ignoring the curious looks of the other workers, she lifted the weapons into a storage box she had set aside for safekeeping. Just as she was doing so, Vegeta arrived, interested to see how much work she had completed while he had been training. To his immense surprise, he noticed that Bulma had finished and was now ready to leave the docking bay.

He rose an eyebrow at Bulma's flushed and pride filled face. "Quite finished gloating, woman?" he questioned, effectively tearing her good mood away.

"Oh it's you." She replied rudely. "As requested, I have finished your first little task."

"Good." Vegeta turned to Nappa. "Take them to your quarters and ensure that no one is aware of what they are. Go now."

Nappa bowed and obediently hefted the heavy box onto his shoulder, disappearing towards the elevator, visibly relieved at being able to leave.

Bulma sat down again in her chair, equally relieved at Nappa being dismissed. After the incident first thing in the morning, she was happy to see the back of him. Yawning, she rubbed a hand over her brow, trying to wipe away the sweat that had collected there during the day. "God, I need a stiff drink." She murmured. Suddenly she remembered the previous days call from Lisa.

Pulling out her portable comms unit she called Lisa, totally ignoring Vegeta's presence. "Hey Lisa!" she called out when her friend answered. "Yeah, I know, I'm sorry about yesterday. Had a lot of work to do." Bulma cast a quick glare in Vegeta's direction.

Lisa smiled warmly back at Bulma. "Hey, it's forgiven. How about a drink?"

"I was hoping you'd say that. Sure. I'll see you in say, an hour? At the usual bar?"

"Great!" Replied Lisa. "Hope there's some prime man flesh around tonight! I'll see you in an hour! See ya!" Bulma winced at Lisa's comment. The connection was then cut, leaving Bulma with static. She switched off the unit, then realised that Vegeta had listened to every word.

"You are not going anywhere without me." He stated simply.

Bulma rolled her eyes. "I was not intending to go alone. You can come as well. Although it might not be your scene." She grinned at him, hoping that he would be uncomfortable with the social scene and stay away.

He snorted at her attempt to dissuade him from going. "You think I'm an idiot, do you? I'll be there. I can't let my asset slip through my fingers now can I?"

"Shit head." She snapped back, her temper rising.

"Now, now. No more compliments woman. Shall we leave?" He retorted sarcastically, his black eyes flashing in amusement at her expression. Vegeta then stretched out and encircled her waist with his arm, moving her in the direction of the elevator.

Over an hour later, Bulma and Vegeta had made their entrance to the bar. No one noticed their arrival apart from Lisa, who enthusiastically waved at Bulma, beckoning her over to the bar. Vegeta took this as his cue to merge into the crowd, obscuring himself from Bulma's view. He knew he would be able to keep an eye on her without any real trouble.

Feeling strangely disappointed with Vegeta vanishing into the crowd, Bulma ordered a triple shot of vodka from the bar tender and, once she had the glass in her hand she threw the clear liquid down her throat, relishing the warm glow the drink gave her.

"Whoa, Bulma! What's the hurry?" giggled Lisa, slightly tipsy.

"No hurry, just feeling a little wrecked. God, those guys from the tech grab are more trouble than they are worth." She groaned. "But I don't want to talk shop with you. Let's talk about something else, okay?"

"Sure" Grinned Lisa, scanning the room for attractive men. "Let's check out some of the talent here tonight, huh?"

"I knew that was coming. Oh hell why not." Replied Bulma, half-heartedly looking around herself. Every time she scanned the room, however, she found herself looking for Vegeta and no one else. No one else seemed interesting enough to her. What is wrong with me? Why him?

Lisa seemed not to notice Bulma's disinterested participation in her usual routine. All she was interested in was finding a man for the night.

Bulma for her part ignored Lisa's chattering and withdrew into herself, starting to worry about Goku and his family on Earth. She had no way of contacting him, and prayed that Kami had contacted him somehow to let him know what evil was about to arrive. Bulma was going to attempt to buy him a little time by not giving Vegeta his exact location on Earth. All things considered, Bulma felt it was the least she could do. She stared down at her empty glass, and considered ordering another to drown her sorrows. The whole situation was weighing heavily on her now. She felt she had condemned the Earth to death, just to save her own worthless hide. God, I ask again, forgive me.

Her melancholy thoughts were interrupted by an excited squeal from Lisa. "Bulma, Bulma! Look at that guy over there!" Lisa was positively drooling at the sight of some man, just entering the room. With a sigh of slight annoyance, Bulma looked in the direction Lisa was staring. "Sure Lisa, that's what you said about the last one." She replied lazily.

Then Bulma realised who it was. Radditz. Caught like a deer in headlights, Bulma was frozen to the spot, unable to move.

"Bulma, what's wrong?" Lisa spoke with a concerned tone in her voice.

"Nothing. Look, I should really go, I've got a lot of work to do………….."Bulma's voice trailed off. It was too late. Radditz was standing directly in front of her, cutting off her path of escape.

"Bulma…"He whispered softly as he gazed at her intensely. "We must talk. Now."

She turned, attempting to move away from him, but before Bulma could disappear into the crowd, Radditz grabbed her arm, ignoring her yelp of protest and dragged her away from Lisa.

"Radditz, stop it!" her voice rose to a loud shriek causing several heads to turn towards the disturbance. "I don't want to talk to you. Leave me alone!" Bulma then turned in Lisa's direction and yelled. "Call security, quickly!"

Slightly stunned, Lisa did as she was instructed, hoping that they would arrive soon and stop this before the whole thing got out of hand.

"Shut up Bulma, I must tell you this now, before…."Radditz stopped mid sentence, suddenly shocked into silence by the appearance of Vegeta. He released her arm from his grasp, glowering at his Prince.

"Before what, Radditz?" Vegeta growled, raising his power slightly, the blue aura around him sparking into life. He had also observed Radditz's entrance into the bar and knew what he was trying to do. Fuck off Radditz; the woman will be my mate.

Radditz took a deep breath to bolster him before replying. "Before you get here, Highness" he replied caustically. "I know now you want her for yourself. But you can't have her, she is mine!" His own power rose, a red glow visibly swirling around him.

Vegeta laughed at the larger man, the cheerless sound chilling Bulma to the core. "Yours?" He smirked, unfurling his tail from his waist and wrapping it around Bulma's pulling her close to his body. "You dare to presume that this woman is yours? You know the laws, soldier. The stronger warrior has the right." He paused looking closely at Bulma's slender neck. "Besides, I don't see your mark."

Bulma was outraged. She was being treated like cattle at a farmer's auction. "I'm no ones anything!" She yelled. "Release me!"

Vegeta responded by putting his muscular arms around her, turning Bulma to face him. "Woman, you have no say in this." He spoke softly, almost comfortingly.

Radditz threw his head back and let out a roar of anger, enraged at Vegeta holding Bulma so closely. "I challenge you Prince Vegeta, for this woman!"

Vegeta narrowed his eyes before replying to the challenge. "As you wish, fool. Be prepared for your death!" With that he released Bulma and launched himself at Radditz, ignoring the crowd of people around them both. Bulma was rooted to the spot, unable to tear her gaze from the two warriors about to fight to the death.

Shocked at the speed at which Vegeta was coming at him, Radditz barely had time to block the flurry of blows attempting to land on his midsection. He stepped back and delivered a powerful kick to Vegeta's head, sending him back several meters. Vegeta landed heavily, then he rose to his feet wiping away the blood from his mouth. "Nice, Radditz. But it will be the only blow you land, I promise you.' He smirked.

"I will kill you, Prince or not!" Radditz responded angrily.

Both of the Saiyans advanced on each other, circling and looking for a weak spot. Vegeta struck first, delivering a quick succession of crushing blows to Radditz's ribs, the sickening cracks clearly audible throughout the room. He gasped, the pain rushing through his body and forcing him to the floor. It was obvious to the now silent crowd around them that Radditz was by far the weaker fighter. As Vegeta took the opportunity to strike him viciously in the face breaking his jaw, Radditz weakly tried to block the blow and retaliate with his own. Vegeta, sensing that the fight was close to it's end, quickly phased out and reappeared behind the ailing warrior, wrapping his tail around Radditz's neck, squeezing tightly, cutting off the air supply to Radditz's lungs. "Still want to kill me, Radditz?" He mocked. "Should I let you live?"

"No, kill…. me…. now." Choked out Radditz.

Vegeta looked over to the horrified face of Bulma, pale faced and shaking, her eyes fixed on the gruesome scene. With a growl of triumph, he released his tail from around Radditz's neck; allowing the larger Saiyan to slump to the floor, gasping and coughing, blood pooling around him.

The crowd stepped back as Vegeta advanced towards Bulma, Radditz's blood spattered on his clothing. Bulma could feel the power and emotions radiating from Vegeta overwhelm her and fainted, falling into Vegeta's waiting arms. Carefully cradling her limp body in his arms, Vegeta carried her away from the bar, oblivious to the crowd's stares, just as the security detail arrived to quell the disturbance.