Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Majik ❯ The Search ( Chapter 8 )

DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ.

~*~ Chapter 8 ~*~

Seventeen's charming little cabin was furnished sparsely but comfortably inside. The main living room had real log walls; the floor was made of polished hard wood boards and what little furniture there was seemed to be made out of solid oak. There were three huge wooden chairs with brown velvet cushions thrown carelessly on them and a long wooden table with a vase full of snapdragons perched in the centre of it.

On the floor was a thick fur rug. What kind of animal it might have come from Bulma had no idea, but the fur was red and soft to the touch. Aside from these few furnishings there were two landscape paintings hanging on the walls and, of course, on one side of the room a fire burnt in a stone fireplace, the flames flickering warmly and invitingly. All in all, the cabin had a friendly and warm inside that was at odds with the couple that lived there.

Goku, Eighteen and Seventeen sat in the huge chairs in the sitting room while Bulma huddled on the rug on the floor, sitting as close to Goku as she possibly could. From the corner of her eye she could see Seventeen watching her with a smirk on his face. He didn't bother to hide the appreciative gleam in his eyes as he looked Bulma up and down several times, however he quickly ceased his peeping when Goku growled something at him that Bulma couldn't quite hear and wasn't sure she wanted to.

Idly she wondered if Seventeen had been such a womanising jerk before he'd sold his soul. It was possible that the sly, sneaky aura he gave off was merely a symptom of being soulless but somehow Bulma doubted it. Whatever the cause of his current demeanour, whatever it was that Goku had said to him had apparently scared Seventeen stiff and he hurriedly looked away form Bulma and swallowed hard.

"We need a game plan." Eighteen murmured to no one in particular. She was perched precariously on the edge of her wooden seat, sitting on the edge as though some unseen force balanced her out. Bulma tilted her head to the side and watched her, wondering if she had invisible wings or something like that.

Eighteen was one weird woman - that was for sure!

"Yeah." Goku agreed tiredly. He yawned loudly several time in succession and blinked rapidly as though he hadn't gotten enough sleep. "I guess that if worse comes to worse I can always fight Vegeta while you get Bulma to a safe place - assuming he can find us that is."

Goku didn't look too thrilled with this idea. But wether it was at the thought of losing Bulma or at the thought of fighting Vegeta, Bulma didn't really want to find out. She had a sinking idea that he was less thrilled at the though of fighting his archenemy. So far Vegeta had certainly shown a side of himself that Bulma would have never guessed was there. She could still see that manic glint in his eyes as he'd rounded the corner of the house armed with that shotgun…

"I suppose." Seventeen reluctantly agreed, interrupting Bulma's thoughts as he apparently considered Goku's idea. He chewed his lip as he mulled it over, then finally with a shrug he sat up straight in his chair and leaned close to Goku. "Look, I'm probably the best fighter here apart from you…"

"Hello? Heavenly Being within earshot." Eighteen interrupted, her full red lips shaped in a perfect pout. "I'm way stronger then you are, mortal." She tossed her fine blond hair over her shoulder and glared ridiculously at her counterpart.

"Are not!" Seventeen squabbled fiercely, his blue eyes flashing as they clashed with Eighteen's.

"Are too!" Eighteen argued just as stubbornly, sticking her tongue out rudely.

"SHUT UP!" Goku roared, silencing their childish fighting with an inhuman bellow. "It doesn't matter which of you is stronger! Your both going to fight this time! The main point is that in the unlikely circumstance that Vegeta does managed to get Bulma, he cannot find out that she's pregnant. If he does he'll turn nasty and could probably end up killing my girl and my kid." Goku slumped back in his chair at this thought and looked down at Bulma as though she was already lost to him.

"Girl?" Eighteen raised her eyebrows at the term Goku had used to refer to Bulma.

"Kid?" Seventeen's eyebrows rose to a similar height as Eighteen's had and the two of them exchanged a look. Snickering quietly amongst themselves as Goku reddened. Bulma wearily leant back against Goku's legs and tried as best she could to ignore the pointless planning.

Somehow she knew that when the time came nothing would go smoothly.

Nothing ever did.

~*~

Yamcha growled angrily to himself as Vegeta hung up the phone with a sigh. God had been his usual forgiving self - although he'd still been pretty pissed off about them losing the girl. He'd said something about Vegeta and he being as useless as each other and then had given them his usual blessing and had cut the communication.

Yamcha didn't know wether to be happy that God didn't smite him or unhappy that God was angry with him.

"The cops are being very helpful." Vegeta told him as he lounged against the kitchen counter top and crossed his arms across his chest. "I managed to get in touch with Piccolo - you know, my contact. He said that he'll put out a call to all police cruisers in our area to keep a watch out for their car." Vegeta shrugged and continued. "He also said that he could call up the milk carton factory and could get her photo on the back as a missing person." Vegeta looked away suddenly, his face drawn and unhappy looking. "I hope she's ok. I hope that bastard doesn't hurt her or anything." Vegeta's voice was calm despite his inner turmoil.

"She'll be fine. Satan's always had a soft spot for her." Yamcha's jaw clenched and his eyes hardened. "We all know that." He stood up and was about to relay to Vegeta exactly what God had said when Marron came prancing into the room, happily smiling at them both as she opened the fridge and pulled out a tin of soft drink.

She was dressed in an indecently short pink and white chequered skirt that showed off miles of her long legs and a white tank top which left absolutely nothing to Yamcha' imagination.

Not that he hadn't seen it all before.

"Hey guys, what's up?" She giggled as she sidled over to Yamcha and lent up against him, attracted to his angel aura as most woman were.

"Bulma's missing." Vegeta stated flatly, his eyes dull as he continued to agonise inwardly on her kidnapping. "You know the guy she was with? Goku? Well he kidnapped her." Vegeta watched as a naïve shock spread over her young features.

"Kidnapped? Oh, how horrible!" Marron gasped, her hands rising to clutch at her throat dramatically.

"You have no idea." Vegeta glanced out the window at the bluer then blue sky and sighed to himself.

Yamcha frowned at Vegeta's behaviour and gave Marron a quick hug. "Marron, if Bulma calls you then you have to tell us everything she says. She might even be rambling from shock so don't take any notice of what she says, just keep her on the phone for as long as possible and then tell us what she said." He spoke slowly, not wanting Marron to misinterpreted the importance of what he was saying.

"I will." Marron said sincerely, her blue eyes shining with unshed tears. She looked sadly down at her drink and then dejectedly walked out of the kitchen, her face still fraught and scared looking as she worried for her friend.

The two men watched her leave and when the kitchen door had shut behind her Yamcha spoke up again. "Where do you think he's taken her? You know him better then I do." Yamcha sat down on one of the kitchen chairs and rested his head in his hands.

"I don't know him well at all." Vegeta scoffed. "Nobody does! He's too damn unpredictable! My top guesses would be that he's taken her to a hotel in the hope of seducing her or that he's left the country. It's even possible that he's gone off somewhere to seek help from one of the many people in the soulless hoard that worships him." Vegeta spat in distaste frowned angrily. "I don't know where he's taken her but I do know that whatever happens he is going to try to get her pregnant. If he succeeds…"

"Well have to kill her." Yamcha finished for him.

Vegeta looked frightening angry for a second and then, hesitantly, he spoke up again. "Not necessarily, we could wait for her to give birth and then…kill it." Vegeta's voice was deceptively soft. He didn't like the thought of killing a baby, but he liked the though of killing Bulma again even less. His ebony eyes became unfocused as Vegeta remembered the last time he'd killed her.

"You like the girl don't you?" Yamcha brought Vegeta out of his thoughts and he slowly shook his head in disgust. "You do know that she's just as bad as he is don't you? Whatever you think you feel for her you have to remember that Bulma is just as impure and dirty inside as he is." Yamcha earnestly looked into his friends face, willing him to fight the lustful hold that Bulma had on him.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Vegeta ground out angrily. He impatiently began to pace around the kitchen, his hands gesturing wildly as he spoke. "She's almost totally human now! She isn't the person she used to be and we can't judge her by past sins." Once again Vegeta looked at the window at the blue sky, smiling slightly as he linked the colour to Bulma's eyes.

"You love her don't you?" Yamcha's mouth dropped open in surprise and he shook his head in disbelief. Vegeta's eye twitched and he tried to suppress his rage as Yamcha began to chuckle as though he found this hysterically funny. "Don't worry old buddy, I wont tell God that one of the Fallen gets you hot." Yamcha laughed again as Vegeta growled under his breath. "You know, maybe I should request God to replace you with another angel. Obviously you've become personally involved in this mission, in fact you should probably stay here while I go and fid the woman." Yamcha condescendingly stood up and placed a hand on Vegeta's shoulder.

"Shut up!" Vegeta yelled, his eyes flashing as he jerked away form Yamcha, picked up the car keys on the bench and threw them at him as hard as he possibly could. "Fine then! If you're so pure and untainted then you go and find Bulma! You can let your angelic senses guide you!" Vegeta opened the kitchen door that led outside and watched as Yamcha collected the car keys from off the floor and skulked through the door as though expecting Vegeta to hit him.

Vegeta slammed the door behind him and took the phone in his hand again. With a heavy heart he flipped through the phone book until he came upon the first phone number of the motels with a twenty-mile radius. Somehow he knew Goku wouldn't have gone too far. He'd stay close to home until he though the heat had died down and then he'd take off for some place far away.

Vegeta grinned maliciously, he knew far more about Goku then he'd ever tell Yamcha. He'd once been best friends with Goku when they had been in heaven together. Oh yes, he knew the demon better then anyone else in heaven and earth did.

On the other end of the phone someone picked up and Vegeta immediately launched into his prepared speech. "Hello? Yes, I was wondering if two people might have checked into your motel lately. Well one is a blue haired woman about 5'3 tall and the other one is a man about 5'9 with spiky black hair. Yes I know you can't give out confidential information. I know that. It's just that the girl is my girlfriend and she's been kidnapped. Well, here's my number so call me if they do show up: 555 0932 876 61. Yes. No thanks. Yes, okay. Thank you, goodbye." Vegeta hung up with a barely restrained shudder and flipped through the phone book to the next number.

~*~