Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Dimensions of You ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

He came awake at the knock on his door and looked out the window, shocked to find it dark outside. He must have fallen asleep.

“Vegeta?”

He tensed. What was the woman doing here?

He didn’t move from his position on the bed and snarled. “What?”

Bulma took this as an invitation and opened the door to stick her head in. “Dr. Briefs said to come down to the lab. He wants to test the gravity room and insists that you do it.” She grinned, finding the thought of Dr. Briefs fearing she would come to some kind of harm amusing. Nice, but amusing.

Vegeta grunted and gracefully got up from the bed, scowling when he saw that Bulma hadn’t left. “Was there anything else?”

Bulma looked at him for a second before shrugging. “I see you got some rest.”

Vegeta rolled his eyes. “What are you doing, woman? Spying on me? Why don’t you just worry about getting that ship fixed and getting off my planet?”

Bulma’s eyes narrowed. “Working on that, human.” She shut the door and he heard her make her way down the steps. He opened the door back up and followed after her, only catching up to her once in the backyard.

Dr. Briefs smiled at him. “Ah, there you are, Vegeta. I heard you didn’t eat lunch. Sometimes I forget to eat a meal too, although I’m surprised you could do it with how you eat.”

When Vegeta did not reply except to glower at the man, Dr. Briefs cleared his throat and turned to the round machine that was twice his height behind him. “Ah, this is the gravity room. What do you think?”

Vegeta crossed his arms. Obviously he’d been away from the old man for too long. “What am I supposed to think? It’s big and round. Lots of metal in it, I’m sure.”

Both Bulma and Dr. Briefs sighed at him and he snorted at their matched reactions. They’d rubbed off on each other.

Dr. Briefs grinned at Bulma. “I should’ve known better, eh?”

Bulma grinned back at him and nodded.

“Vegeta, we need to test the machine. All you have to do is step inside. Tell us if the gravity’s working or not. Maybe try to move around some. We’ll set it on two times—”

“Ten.”

Dr. Briefs’ eyes popped open. “What?”

Vegeta grinned, enjoying the shocked look on the doctor’s face. “Set it to ten G’s.”

“But, Vegeta—”

A hand on his arm stalled him. Bulma was looking at Vegeta intently. “Do it. If he wants to squash himself like a pancake, let him. Might serve him right.”

Dr. Briefs was shocked at the level of hostility in Bulma’s voice, but Vegeta merely smirked at her and stepped into the Gravity Room before Dr. Briefs could say anything.

Dr. Briefs worriedly watched through the small portal at the waiting Vegeta as Bulma’s fingers flashed over the keys of the manual control box outside of the room.

The light inside the room turned red as the gravity increased to ten G’s. At first, Vegeta’s knees buckled at the sudden pressure that was applied over his whole body. He gritted his teeth and straightened his knees stubbornly, well aware of the woman watching him.

Now that he had overcome the first part, it was time to make known exactly why he was the best.

With a triumphant grin, he raised his ki as if to power up and turned it out of himself, as if he was covering his body with it. As the ki that covered his body overrode the gravity, he tried to walk.

His grin widened. The pressure against him was minimal now. He did he few back flips, feeling his muscles protest slightly. A few days of this and he’d reach a new level of power.

He could feel the stares at his back and turned to look at Bulma and Dr. Briefs shocked faces. The gravity returned to normal, and he felt a thrill at the sudden buoyancy he seemed to have. The door slid open and a very disturbed-looking Bulma stalked in.

“How did you do that?” She came to stand before him.

Vegeta plastered an innocent look on his face. “Do what?”

Bulma scowled and glanced out of the corner of her eye at Dr. Briefs. She lowered her voice so he wouldn’t hear. “How’d you manipulate your ki like that? It takes years to learn that much control and no one else on this mud ball knows how to.”

Vegeta frowned. “It may have taken you years, woman, but control comes naturally to me. You saw how I did it.” He raised a brow. “I wouldn’t mind learning more though….”

Bulma blinked. It was like there was suddenly a different man before her. The change threw her off, and she just stood there as Dr. Briefs hesitantly came up beside her. “Well, that’s done. It works. Thank you, Vegeta. You can inform the others that it’s free for their use.”

Vegeta turned to the president and smirked. “I’d be surprised if any of them could use it.” He sneered at Bulma before moving around her and out the door into the night air.

She growled low in her throat and followed after him, leaving Dr. Briefs to stand in the Gravity Room and sigh before deciding to make some last minute adjustments to the machine.

“Vegeta!” She yelled then stopped and looked around in confusion as he was nowhere in sight.

He was suddenly there, just behind her, and she felt his warm breath on her ear as he whispered. “We could learn from each other.”

As she whirled around he agilely leapt back out of her reach, grinning from ear to ear at her wide-eyed expression. His eyes lit with amusement.

She narrowed her eyes. “Why are you doing this now?”

Vegeta scowled, frustrated at her lack of enthusiasm. She’d sure seemed eager to train with him when she’d first asked. “Feh! Must you ask so many questions? As of right now, Kakarott is getting training from you and becoming stronger and more skilled. I will not allow that idiot to surpass me. Besides, you need to fight this Frieza character and you can hardly do so if someone could just sneak up behind you and plant a knife in your chest, now can you?”

Bulma relaxed slightly, recognizing that the man felt he was lowering himself. Yet, this whole thing seemed planned. As if something had happened to make this decision.

Despite her reluctance, she nodded. “Fine. We start tomorrow morning. Meet me at the ship. I assume you’ll want to train without the others there?”

He merely grunted in answer and walked back into the house, leaving her to stare after him, wondering. *   *   *

Bulma shot up out of bed as something tapped her on the shoulder, landing poised in a fighting stance on the other side of the bed.

“Vegeta! What are you doing?” she shrieked at the smirking man.

He shrugged casually. “You said we would start in the morning. It is morning.”

She gaped at him before glancing out the window. “I meant sun’s up morning, Vegeta!”

He merely smirked at her. “Well you’re up now, woman, so I suggest we start this.” He looked her up and down with a raised brow, smirk still in place. “You should dress in something more appropriate.

Bulma looked down at the short and thin nightgown Mrs. Briefs had loaned her and looked back up at Vegeta with flashing eyes. She quickly advanced on him, intending to wipe the smirk off his face. “GET OUT!”

Vegeta backed quickly away from her advance, smirking all the way out the door, which Bulma soundly slammed in his face. She turned back to her room with a scowl. She didn’t like the sudden change in Vegeta. He had become very—should she say relaxed? No, he was never that, but he certainly wasn’t as uptight as he had been.

She shrugged as she changed into her bodysuit. She would pay him back today. Shoving his face into the dirt a few times should calm her down.

With that in mind, and a smile on her face, she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen.

Vegeta had his head stuck in the fridge. His butt was sticking up, and Bulma grinned. It was like there was a sign on it that said ‘kick me’. He rose before she could do so though, hands full of various items that couldn’t possibly have all been breakfast foods. Not that Bulma cared. Food was food.

After a hearty breakfast, in which she ate double what Vegeta did, they both took off to the ship.

Landing softly, Bulma looked around. The trees would provide for a break in scenery and might just test Vegeta in—All thoughts stopped as she realized that Vegeta was nowhere to be seen.

She cursed softly and looked around. He couldn’t have gone into the trees. She had been watching that. So, she would just concentrate on the other three sides, turning her back to the small grove.

Of course, this was exactly the wrong move, as she found when she suddenly had to turn and block a roundhouse that had been aimed for the back of her head. She concentrated a jolt of ki down her arm and made it solidify outward, pushing Vegeta’s foot away.

Vegeta grinned at her and leapt back, allowing the force to carry him. “Didn’t I tell you to use your senses? Not the physical ones, your ki sense.”

Bulma nodded. “You used the ki in the gravity room in the same way I just did, just center it in one spot and make it solid.”

Again they came at each other, trading blows and blocking attacks, then breaking off to exchange advice and explanations. They were both immensely enjoying themselves, which was no surprise, as they hadn’t had anyone that was able to keep up with the other, without being a worse or better fighter.

They broke off again, neither speaking for lack of air, not really needing to as they already knew each other’s styles and were able to tell what the other had done. Bulma suddenly grinned devilishly and put both her hands slightly behind her. Vegeta’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t remember Goku ever doing a Kamehameha Wave in front of her.

He shifted his stance. Anything she threw at him would be too big to deflect or override with a blast of his own. He would have to try another tactic. Hopefully, it would work.

Bulma’s hands came to her front. “GALLIC GUN!”

Vegeta was surprised the by the change of name but kept his focus. He stood his ground as the blast came at him and watched with amusement as Bulma’s eyes widened as he still didn’t move. At the last possible second he leapt straight up as high as he could. He strained to pull his legs up farther, not imagining that the blast hitting his legs would be a good thing.

Bulma gaped as the ki blast sailed right under him. He had to have jumped almost six feet in the air! Vegeta landing on the ground only slightly unbalanced after its passing.

He chuckled at the look on her face.

Suddenly he tensed, reminding her of that night not so many years ago when he had attacked that unknown person.

As the shinobi shozoko, camouflaged-colored form rushed Vegeta from the trees; katana to his side and slightly behind him, Vegeta twisted his body around. The assassin swung the sword skillfully to his front left, trying to catch the retreating body with the sharp blade.

Instead, the assassin found the wrist of his sword-wielding arm grabbed by Vegeta’s hand as it passed, and both, now unbalanced, landed on the ground.

Vegeta was at a decided disadvantage as he found himself beneath the taller, weapon-brandishing assassin, who was using these advantages to slowly press the sword closer and closer to Vegeta’s exposed throat.

Vegeta gritted his teeth and glared at the assassin, who did not meet his eyes, too intent on finishing the job to worry about his surroundings. Vegeta’s arms visibly shook with strain.

As the blade touched Vegeta’s flesh, the razor-like edge drawing blood, the assassin was suddenly tossed off Vegeta as if he were nothing more than a rag doll. His flight through the air did not halt until his back, with a sickeningly snapping sound, met with a tree trunk. The assassin’s limp body thumped to the ground, very still.

Vegeta had already risen, but seeing the assassin dead he put a hand to his throat, grimacing when he saw his blood. Anger and rage made the air around him shimmer with a yellow color.

He glanced at Bulma to see her giving him a calm gaze that disturbed him. “What was that? I don’t remember inviting any extras.”

Vegeta frowned, not looking at her. He had more things to worry about than explaining anything to the woman. One of the three candidates had decided to go against Autolycus’s ruling and Vegeta couldn’t do anything about it.

It wasn’t unprecedented for an assassin to go against the ruling of the Guild. It was considered extremely suicidal. There was no way Vegeta was going to run to Autolycus for protection though. Truly, it was his own ineptness, putting down his guard based on the word of his enemies, which had almost gotten him killed.

“Vegeta, I asked you a question.” Bulma was close now, almost in his face.

He had to force himself to stay where he was. “I heard you, woman. I have more important things to do than stand here and answer your inane questions. Get out of my face!”

Bulma growled at him and his eyes narrowed at the sound. She pointed back at the corpse. “I believe that is more important than anything else you have to do. And since I killed him, it has now become my concern. Therefore, you will make the time to answer my inane questions.”

Vegeta’s back straightened. “I don’t have to answer to you, woman! I didn’t ask you to kill him so keep your nose out of my business and LEAVE ME ALONE!” He roared the last and took off in the opposite direction of Capsule.

Bulma made a move to follow him but a voice stopped her. “Princess?” She turned to see Nappa looking at her with disturbed eyes. “We need to train. We need to fix the ship. We need to leave this place and find allies. You need to become the Legendary.”

Bulma silently looked at him. She needed to focus on the reason for coming here in the first place instead of chasing some human around and prying into his business. She nodded. “You are right, Nappa. You have reminded me, once again, of my duty.” Her eyes softened. “I do not know of any other Saiyan I would rather have with me than you.”

Nappa bowed his head at the complement. “Shall we commence?”

Bulma sighed and looked one last time at the corpse before firing off a ki blast and incinerating it. “Yes. Let’s.”

That night, Bulma made her way to the kitchen, not turning on the light. She sighed and rubbed a hand through her blue hair. She shouldn’t have been doing this, but she still found herself sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting in the dark for Vegeta. The man hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast as far as she knew, so she figured he would come straight here.

She figured right as Vegeta strolled into the kitchen a few minutes later, not turning on the light. He stopped just inside the entrance, posture rigid, and then continued to the fridge. “What do you want, woman?”

Bulma hopped off the counter and came up behind him as he opened the door and rummaged through the food, picking and choosing what he wanted. “I want to know what’s going on.”

Vegeta, selections chosen, kicked the door shut with his foot and walked around Bulma. “I have no idea what you mean.”

Bulma put her hands on her hips and glared at the shadowy figure. “Don’t play dumb, Vegeta, because your not and we both know it. Someone’s trying to kill to you, or some-ones. They almost succeeded today. I want to know why. Maybe I can help.”

Vegeta laughed mirthlessly. “You could hardly help, woman.” He sat down the table and she sat across from him. “You know that the Briefs aren’t my real parents?”

Bulma nodded. She figured out that little fact quite quickly. Not only did Vegeta look nothing like the Briefs, but also their relationship was too lax, not as parent and child.

“It’s simple really. Before I lived here I was on the streets. I made enemies. They are merely trying to collect their dues.”

Bulma frowned. For someone who had almost been killed he seemed awfully calm. She couldn’t have told her own past that calmly.

“So.” Vegeta looked at her. “Why are you trying to kill this Frieza?”

Bulma looked back at him in confusion. “Why wouldn’t I? He destroyed my planet and he’s enslaved the Prince. It seems quite obvious to me.”

Vegeta nodded. “Granted. But from how you and the barbarian talk, he must be extremely powerful. Why are you trying to meet him head on? Why not use a knife and stab him in the dark?”

A man holding a knife over a sleeping child suddenly flashed before her mind. “He has done more than just kill and enslave my people. He must pay in full. I want him to know who has killed him. I want him to know that he has brought about his own downfall. I can’t do that if I kill him while he’s sleeping.”

Vegeta blinked. Right then, the woman had sounded just like him. He shrugged. “Makes sense I suppose. But how are you going to get powerful enough to kill him in a battle?”

Bulma’s eyes glazed over with memories. “There is a legend among my people of a powerful Saiyan who broke all the limits of a Saiyan’s power and became the Legendary. Every thousand years, another of these powerful Saiyans is born. I was born that way. I must become the Legendary. I must obtain the level of Super Saiyan. Hopefully, this gravity machine will accelerate the process.”

“What does this Legendary look like?”

Bulma shrugged. “No one can say. It hasn’t happened in a thousand years after all,” she chided.

Vegeta chuckled and rose from his seat. “Yes, I suppose that would hinder anyone having seen a Super Saiyan, eh?” He started for his room.

“Vegeta?”

He turned to her, feeling a strange kinship with the Saiyan that he found slightly disconcerting.

“What happened today does not change our schedule. I expect to see you in the morning, just not so early this time.” she grimaced. “I’m not a morning person.”

Vegeta grinned wickedly. “I could tell.” With that last retort, Vegeta left the room.

Bulma sat there for a while, smiling. Why did he always seem to get the last word? She shook her head and got up from the table, heading to her own room for sleep.

She entered her room and closed the door, locking it this time and hoping it would stop Vegeta from entering. She sighed and immediately went to take a shower; the sweat and stress from the day made her feel heavier than she was.

Fifteen minutes later she stepped out of the shower and toweled herself off. She frowned, hearing a strange noise from next door, in Vegeta’s room. Curious, she leaned her ear against the wall and was rewarded by a soft, sliding sound. The window?

She walked to her own window and watched as a dark shadow jumped down off the roof and walked into the city.

‘…Before I lived here I was on the streets. I made enemies….’

Bulma frowned. So he had made enemies. Did that also mean he had allies?

A part of her, it probably had the label ‘Nappa’ on it, insisted she forget all about it and go to bed. It was none of her business. However, the biggest part of her was named ‘curious’, and so it was that she found herself pulling her bodysuit back on and creeping out her own window.

She floated down to the ground, making sure to hide her ki, and quickly reviewed her options.

Vegeta was better at this sneaking stuff than she was. If she followed him, he would know it immediately. She looked up at the sky in thought and suddenly grinned at the sight of the rooftops above her. She floated back up and landed on the roof of the building right next to Capsule Corporation.

From here she could see Vegeta’s form still walking into the city, keeping to the shadows while looking as if he was taking a casual, but eccentric, stroll through the city. Bulma crept along the rooftops, jumping gaps between buildings with ease, able to keep a good distance from Vegeta while still being able to see him. She smirked.

Vegeta walked on like this, unknown spy following, until he got to the alley that led to the KouKon. He entered in as casually as he had been walking and stopped, waiting. Autolycus’s assurances that he wouldn’t be attacked had lifted quite a weight from his shoulders. Part of the reason Bulma was able to follow him unnoticed.

By the time Bulma had managed to catch up, Vegeta’s wait was over. She peered over the edge of the building over the alley, laying on her stomach, and watched as a dark-haired man approached Vegeta from the end of the alley. The shadows hid most of his face.

Vegeta gave the man a nod that told Bulma that he not only knew the man but also respected him. “You have decided?”

“Of course, Prince. It didn’t take me that long at all, especially considering the new information I’ve received.”

Bulma felt like she’d entered in the middle of a conversation and wondered how anyone started a discussion like this. Didn’t they know it was inconvenient for her?

“New information?” Vegeta replied, looking slightly tense.

The man smiled. “Yes, you’ve been hiding something, Prince.”

Vegeta frowned. “I’ve been hiding nothing.” He sounded offended.

The man shook his head. “Perhaps not intentionally, but you should always come to me with new information. Maybe I wouldn’t have to do this now.”

Vegeta’s brow furrowed but he said nothing. The man continued. “Three years ago, there was a report of a flying saucer. The report was never confirmed and so was put off as some drunken man’s fantasy. However, I find it strange that two ‘people’ have suddenly taken up residence with the Briefs and that at least one has an unusual amount of power, I believe it was a she.”

Vegeta stiffened. “You think these people are somehow connected with this flying saucer tale?”

The man chuckled. “You’re not fooling anyone, Prince. You forget that I have eyes and ears everywhere. If it happens, I know of it.”

Vegeta’s eyes narrowed. “What do these people have to do with the Test?” Bulma noted the capitalization of the word. “The Briefs merely offered them a place to stay until they get back on their feet. Then they leave.”

Autolycus chuckled again. “Well said. They have everything to do with the Test, at least the female does.” Bulma’s eyes widened. “You see, she has an enormous amount of power that I myself wouldn’t mind having. I’ve gotten my hands on a device that will transfer the kind of power she has into something or someone else, namely me. She’s not too bad looking either. She’d have many uses.” He smirked.

Vegeta was vainly trying to keep his temper in check, but the telltale glow of his energy surrounding him, not to mention the rage in his eyes, gave him away.

The man frowned in true displeasure. “Prince, it is not wise to form attachments. You know this.”

Vegeta visibly calmed. “I have no attachments to anyone. I didn’t know that your tastes ran to such repellent lengths.”

The man looked shocked. “You are a man, Prince. It never hurts to indulge. It is good to clean oneself of such desires. If they are kept bottled up, when they do come through, they may well be too strong to ignore. That would be fatal.” The man languidly waved a hand, as if this line of thought wasn’t important. “The Test is simply for you to bring her to me, alive, of course.”

Vegeta shook his head. “You have no idea how powerful she is. What makes you think I can capture her if I couldn’t even kill the target that got me in this mess in the first place?”

The man smiled. “I’m sure you’ll find a way. I’d really hate to see you fail the Test, Prince. You know how badly that would end.”

Vegeta grunted and folded his arms across his chest before turning around and stalking back toward Capsule Corporation.

Bulma edged herself away from the lip of the building and sat down, eyes wide in shock at the content of the discussion she wasn’t supposed to have heard.

She felt a very keen sense of betrayal. More pieces were falling into place. A target who hadn’t been killed, all those assassins, Vegeta’s aptitude at stealth, all those comments about knifes in the dark, this Test, this man who wanted her power, and…other things. She knew she had enough pieces to see the whole picture but she wasn’t sure she wanted to see it. She’d always known that Vegeta wasn’t good, not like Goku or Yamcha, but she’d never seen him as being ‘evil’. He’d sort of hung between the two, as if indecisive of which to be.

She couldn’t stay on the roof, but she couldn’t go to her room either, Vegeta might hear her and she really didn’t think she could sleep tonight, let alone sleep with him next door. She leapt across the alley she never wanted to see again and flew off into the night. NEXT