Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Danger in the horizon ❯ A new plan ( Chapter 25 )

Chapter 25 - A new plan.

Note: I don't own DBZ, so don't sue.

Another note: Violence.

Special thanks to: Psyfire (thy wish shall be granted..), Jadedbest, Kandi and last but by no means least, Susan (I totally understand the reading thing - I spend most of my time reading anything I can get my hands on!) You are all wonderful people for taking the time to review!

Gradually Nappa began to rouse from unconsciousness, groaning and coughing as his eyes fluttered open. As he rose onto his elbows, Nappa swallowed heavily, his mouth curling in revulsion at the sharp metallic taste of his own blood that had collected. His head still throbbed unmercifully from Bulma's attack, stabbing like a dagger with each movement and his arms were seemingly drained of any of his usual strength, causing him to slump back onto the floor. Nappa knew that for a few magical moments he had been given the opportunity to snuff out Bulma's life and completely blown it. Now he would have to face the consequences of his mindless action.

Painfully resting the side of his face against the cold metal of the docking bay floor, he looked over to where Bulma's dead body should have been laying. As Nappa had deduced, Vegeta must have come and taken her away, to prevent another attempt on her life. Idiot…you have failed your Prince……and lost your chance….

As he lay slowly drifting back into darkness, Nappa caught a brief glimpse of a figure in his peripheral vision, moving far too quickly for him to deduce exactly who or what it was. Before he had time to react, the figure had swiftly advanced on his weakened body, uttering a vehement curse before a heavy blow was dealt to the back of Nappa's head, snapping his spinal column and crushing the back of his skull. A loud juicy cracking noise reverberated throughout the empty docking bay, and then thick red blood sprayed out from the force of the blow staining the deck and into Nappa's now unseeing eyes. Nappa let out a grunt of pain as his eyes rolled back and gratefully he succumbed to the dark embrace of death, joyful now that he would see his life mate once more.

Nappa's body was then dragged, leaving a bloody trail behind it towards the incinerator and thrown without ceremony into the waiting flames to dispose of his body totally. Nappa's murderer spoke clearly, without any emotion to the rapidly burning corpse, "I told you that I would have your head…you fucking bastard." Then, the first part of the job done, the figure turned away, moving back to clean up the trail of blood left behind, leaving no evidence. With the disgusting clean up finished the figure melted into the shadows leaving not even the smallest hint that Nappa had been disposed of so viciously.

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Many decks above the now rapidly burning body of Nappa, Zarbon cracked his knuckles, wincing at the sound they made as he sat back on the bed in his quarters, musing on his next move. Despite his normal cool, calm and collected nature, he had found himself becoming increasingly excited about finally getting what he wanted, namely Bulma. Zarbon had been dreaming for days about Bulma, regarding what he was going to do once he got his scaly green hands on Bulma's lush body. Now he knew that he had only 2 days or less to accomplish his own personal mission, before anyone discovered it.

Lying on his back, Zarbon reflected on the arrangement made with Lisa. It had been a simple plan, designed to give both parties what they most desired. Of course, Lisa's ambitions were obviously a little more involved than merely a permanent sex slave. She wanted control over a multi billion-dollar company and the space station. It was just a shame that her dreams would not be realised as Zarbon had already marked her for "disposal" as he called it. To call it murder was crude to him. She had been necessary to his plans and if she was too ignorant to see that she was now surplus to requirements then death was the best option for her in his not so humble opinion. He held no affection for Lisa, in fact Zarbon considered her to be lower than the large rats that habitually resided in Freeza's bases and ships, feeding off the blood and fear of other life forms that were unfortunate enough to come in contact with them.

Remembering the real reason for his extended stay, Zarbon had relayed the information obtained from Lisa to Dodoria who had left the station earlier, en route to connecting with Freeza's flagship with all the relevant information on the Earths defences. But if Freeza chose to he could just destroy the planet without setting foot on it. Zarbon snorted softly knowing that this course of action was unlikely. The challenge of bringing Prince Vegeta to heel was too much of a temptation for Freeza. With anything concerning the renegade Prince Vegeta Freeza had his own personal agenda.

His mind set on the task of attaining what he desired ahead of him, Zarbon rose from his relaxed position, smoothing his long hair away from his face and adjusting his armour slightly. Then, with a malicious grin firmly in place, he strode from his quarters, clearly determined to rid himself of the one of the last obstacles in the way. Lisa…….

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Vegeta carefully cradled the semi conscious Bulma in his arms, a fearful expression discernable on his face. She moaned and thrashed, reliving the attack, incoherent mumbling coming from her lips. For reasons of speed and safety, Vegeta carried her to his own quarters on the 14th level. He laid her gently on his bed, caressing her face, wiping away the drops of blood, which clung to her pale cheeks like bloody tears. Vegeta could see that Bulma had bitten through her lower lip with the strain of repelling Nappa's murderous attack, her slender pale neck decorated with a sinister necklace of bruise giving her battle weary. He growled deep within his throat. Nappa had been trusted implicitly to ensure her safety, and as the reward for Vegeta's now obviously misplaced trust in the older Saiyan, a man Vegeta had put his faith into since he was a very young child, Bulma had very nearly died. He clenched his fists forcing pain into his joints, vowing silently to repay Nappa in kind, in the most excruciating way he could think of.

"Bastard…." He hissed, his teeth grinding.

"No, don't kill him, Vegeta." Bulma's soft voice cut into Vegeta's thoughts of a painful death for Nappa. She tried to sit up on the bed, before Vegeta softly, but forcefully pushed her back down on the soft mattress. "He did it for you, Vegeta. He believes that this bond we have formed will kill you in the end. I saw his thoughts."

Vegeta sat on the edge of the bed, his hands returning to stroke her face. "Bulma, I don't care what that deluded brainless fool thought. I gave him his orders and expected them to be carried out. Not for him to attack my life mate. For that he will die."

Bulma took a deep breath through her painfully shredded lips before speaking hoarsely, the near strangulation having taken its toll on her voice. "That's what he wanted. Death. He was pining for his mate; he has for years, and wanted to join her in death. By attacking me he thought that he would save you from the same torment and see her again by being killed at your hands."

"I will still kill him, Bulma." He paused, looking over her body once more, grateful that apart from the busted lip and injured throat, she seemed to be physically all right. "You are blocking me. I want to know you did that to Nappa," he questioned, strangely eager to discover the source of her until now hidden power. He also wanted her to share her pain with him as he had with her, letting his mind take some of the strain.

Bulma frowned, closing her eyes in intense concentration, attempting to remember the source of the terrible power she had wielded if only for a few seconds. She had blocked off her mind to Vegeta not wanting him to know how she had done it. The technique she performed could so easily be used on another person. "I think, no I know, that what I can do does not come entirely from within me. I don't have enough pain and rage to draw on in my short life to warrant that kind of mental attacking power. The bulk of it came from you, your memories." A small trickle of tears made their way down her face as Bulma forced herself to remember. Vegeta remained silent as Bulma continued to alternate between sobs and speaking, barely able to believe what he was hearing.

"When I called out to you, we were linked, not just mentally but physically. I seemed able to draw on your strength to keep myself alive for a few more moments before striking at Nappa with my mind. I drew on your rage and my ability, and bounced the pain back at him." Bulma turned on her side and closed her eyes, trying and failing miserably to block out the grotesque image of Nappa's face, contorted with pain and drenched in his own blood. Vegeta moved closer to her shuddering body, curling spoon fashion behind her, clasping his hands around her waist and nuzzling her sensitive neck.

They lay together for a few moments, Vegeta still holding Bulma firmly within his arms. Bulma slowly but surely calmed herself down, her mind feeling decidedly less turbulent. Breaking the long silence, Vegeta spoke again, his tone steady and calm. "We must leave as soon as possible."

Bulma cracked open her eyes and turned in his arms, pressing her body against his. "I know."

He moved closer to Bulma, gently nibbling on her neck. "Have you enough to breach the shield?" he murmured.

"Regretfully, no." Bulma replied, running her hands through his unruly hair, resisting the temptation to kiss him. Even in her present injured state, Bulma could feel the heat grow between them, causing her to respond to his supposedly innocent way of caressing her body to comfort her. "I would still require another day and a half to crack the codes."

Vegeta scowled, and moved away slightly, obviously irritated that his plan had indeed turned to dust. "Forget the codes then. I am out of time and options."

Bulma wrinkled her face in concentration, trying to come up with a feasible plan to depart from Station Delta. She looked deep into his dark eyes as she spoke. "Okay, I think I might have something. Firstly, the ship. We will need to be down in the docking bay as early as possible so that I can fit the camouflage and the weapons. For that I'll need approximately an hour. Agreed?"

Vegeta nodded his head in agreement, surprised at her ability to bounce back from such a horrific event, before asking the obvious question, "What about the shield?"

"Well that's the tricky part. All ships are fitted with vid screens as far as I can tell, so that makes the second part slightly easier. As you are well aware, my father has a company called Capsule Corporation on Earth. It is the most technologically advanced company on Earth or in this galaxy and of supreme importance to the Earth." Bulma paused, trying to gauge if Vegeta was following her. "I propose that you use me as a hostage to force the shield controllers to open a portal. We will allow them to see you and I on the screen with you threatening my life. My father is very powerful and so as not to alienate him, the shield controllers will surely bend to his instructions. He won't want his only child to be murdered. Once that is done, the camouflage is activated, allowing us to travel without fear of reprisals and land."

Vegeta raised his eyebrows in astonishment at the carefully laid out plan proposed by Bulma, unable for a moment to put words together. "Excellent, woman." He replied somewhat caustically, aggravated that Bulma could think up a plan in a few moments. "But what of the tracking device you have implanted?"

" I can disable that myself after we reach Earth." She replied pridefully.

"Smart bitch." He retorted.

Bulma caught the tone in his voice and gave him a smile despite the serious situation before them both. Then she realised that her precious laptop was still down in the docking bay, unattended. If any one of the tech staff saw what she had been working on, the plan would be sunk. "Shit, shit, shit! I've got to go back down to the docking bay. My laptop……"

"Hurry up then woman," interrupted Vegeta, pushing Bulma off the bed onto her feet heedless of her still faintly throbbing head. Gracefully he rose from the bed himself, and grasped her arm firmly, half dragging her out of the door to the elevator.

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Radditz was surprised to say the least, as his Prince and the object of his unrequited affection entered the docking bay. He was taken unawares at their unexpected arrival, clumsily going down on one knee, with his head bowed in front of Vegeta. Bulma appeared radiant, glowing like a goddess to Radditz despite the trials forced upon her earlier in the day of which he was well aware. His own throat clenched in sympathy as he gazed at the bruises adorning her neck. In the one glance he gave her, he knew by the look on her peaceful face that absolutely she had bonded, but not to him. Inside, his heart almost seemed to shatter like glass, shards forcing into every joint and organ, making his tawny face grimace with the pain that only he could feel.

Flashback

He had been observing Bulma and Nappa earlier, hoping to catch a single moment whereupon he could speak to Bulma, alone. What had transpired shocked him. Knowing that he was not strong enough to defeat Nappa at full strength, he had to his eternal shame watched from the shadows as Nappa brutally attacked Bulma. Once Bulma had repelled the attack, Radditz was about to emerge from the shadows when Vegeta arrived to take Bulma away, leaving an unconscious Nappa on the floor.

Taking the only chance he would ever have to redeem his cowardice, Radditz disposed of Nappa.

Flashback ends

Vegeta passed a scarcely concealed look of disgust over his fellow Saiyan. "Radditz, stop grovelling like the dog you are." He snapped. "My plan has changed. We leave tomorrow." Vegeta then paused, looking around in slight confusion. "Where is Nappa?"

"I don't know Highness," Radditz lied smoothly, grateful that his facial expression was obscured by his bowed head. "I came to see if I could assist in any way."

"Liar!" shouted Vegeta, his rage beginning to flow through his veins once more. "You were given direct orders not to come near the woman."

Radditz's skin paled, his stomach clenched painfully and inwardly he braced himself for the inevitable blow; which never came. "F, Forgive me, Highness, it will never happen again, I swear on my own life." He stuttered, disbelieving of his own dumb luck.

"Best that you do that, third class, because the next time will result in you being left a small pile of ashes under my boots, do you grasp that concept?" Worm, She is mine, as I am hers, you will never take her from me.

"Yes, Highness."

"Report here tomorrow at 0400 hours and speak to no one of this. Now, get out of my sight."

Radditz bowed once more and departed, relieved that his little secret had not yet been discovered. As Bulma watched him leave her heart ached for the large Saiyan, she wanted to explain what had happened and why, but realised that it would serve no good purpose. Vegeta was running out of allies, fast. Any interference from her could only cause more problems. He would need all the help he could get even from another possible renegade in his ranks.

Vegeta walked away from Bulma towards the pods, which had transported himself, Nappa and Radditz to Station Delta. He could not find any trace of Nappa anywhere. It was as if he had vanished. With Nappa missing, Vegeta felt uneasy, not because he considered him necessary but more if someone else had somehow been able to dispose of him. The thought crossed his mind that it could be Zarbon, but no. Zarbon in his experience was more likely to go for a head on confrontation in battle, not a sneaky attack on a man who was down. He shook his shook his head to dislodge the disturbing thoughts that were building up. Vegeta recognized that now was not the time to worry about one insignificant Saiyan solider, and fall prey to paranoia. He had to focus on his personal mission. Nappa would turn up sooner or later.

Bulma took the opportunity to grab her laptop and then, edging closer to Vegeta, snaked an arm around his waist, causing him to stiffen slightly with the sudden physical contact. Without a word he moved his hand up her back, revelling in the small shiver that travelled up her spine at his touch, before coming to rest at the base of her slender neck, gently stroking the bonding wound. "Shall I suggest we leave?" Bulma whispered coquettishly, bringing her own hand down to the base of Vegeta's tail as she observed the first technicians arriving for work. After a momentary silence Vegeta replied huskily, his voice betraying the first traces of lust. "Yes…"

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Zarbon meanwhile had arranged another meeting with Lisa, this time on the pretext of finalising the details of her imminent takeover of the station; only this time the meeting was in his quarters, away from any prying eyes. It was common knowledge throughout the entire workforce that he and Lisa had been intimate and therefore her disappearance would not be noted for several days. Also, she was his appointed "baby sitter" as the humans put it. As luck would have it, Lisa had informed him of some down time she was due for recreation, a total of 4 or 5 days, starting that day. Perfect. By the time anyone had realised she was gone; Zarbon would be thousands of miles away, with a beautiful companion for his journey to meet up with Freeza's ship. He leaned back casually on his chair and waited for his intended victim to arrive. Oh yes, it will be a pleasant journey indeed, Bulma, it will.