Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Dragonball AU ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

         "Are you alright, Vegeta-Sama?" Nappa asked. He'd been summoned to Vegeta's quarters, for some reason. With the way Vegeta's moods had been lately, it could be anything from an order to have Raditz unclog the ship's toilets to a dressing down for some imagined slight or weakness. His highness had really been in a snit lately. Well, to be honest, his highness had been born in a snit, it just seemed to have gotten worse since the onset of puberty.
         "Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?"
         "You look a little red, sir. I was just worried that you might be getting sick" Nappa amended.
         "I do not look red! It's the lighting!" He touched a glove to his cheek, it felt unnaturally cool to his flesh. Dammit, he must be red.
         "Oh, Of course, Vegeta-Sama. I didn't realize." Nappa stared at him expectantly.
         It took a flustered Vegeta a few moments to realize that Nappa was waiting for him to tell him why he'd been summoned, "The child, Kakarrot, how much has his power reading increased?" He turned his back on Nappa, after he realized that the more he tried to will the red from his face, the more he thought about the reason behind his blushing, and the redder he turned.
         "I think you will be pleased with his progress..."
         "Spit it out Nappa! I didn't ask for your opinion!"
         "It's almost doubled. He's up to 93."
         "Doubled? In one day!? Are you sure Raditz was reading his scouter right?"
         "I retested him myself, Ouji-Sama."
         "You're as stupid as he is! That's not possible!"
         "Ouji-Sama, remember, he's just catching up to normal children his age. He's sitting on years of unused potential"
         "Keh!"
         "I thought you'd be happy with how the boy's getting along, Vegeta-Sama."
         "Go away, Nappa."

         *                          *                         *

         " Raditz-San..?" Goku peered up at him.
         "What is it now, you little trouble-maker?"
         "I'm bored. Can we go see the Bulma-girl again?"
         "Uh"Raditz blushed, "Um"
         "Onegai?"
         "Uh, I guess so."
         "Arigato!" Goku led the way from his room to Bulma's room, chattering like the little monkey he was.
         Raditz pressed the button and opened her door.
         "Ya didn't knock." Goku chastised.
         "Don't matter. She isn't here anyway."
         "She isn't?" Goku sauntered into the room, calling at the top of his lungs, "Bulma! BUUUUULMAAAAA!" He peered into the bathroom, under the bed, and even in the closet before turning to Raditz and announcing, "She's not here."
         "That's what I told you, stupid." He sighed, "We're gonna have to find 'er if you wanna see 'er."
         "Okay!" Goku took off down the hall, hollering, "BUUUUULMAAAAA! BUUUUUULMAAAA!"
         "Kakarrot! Get back here!"
         Goku turned and ran back to Raditz, "What?"
         "We have the intercom, remember?"
         "Oh, yeah, I forgot!" Goku reached up to press a button on one of the ubiquitous intercom consoles.
         "Kakarrot!"
         "Oops. I'm not s'posed to touch it, huh?"
         Raditz grumbled under his breath before pushing a button on the console, "Raditz to Nappa-san or Vegeta-Sama."
         He waited for a response.
         "What do you want, Baka yaro?" Nappa replied.
         "Kakarrot is looking for the girl again." He turned and glared at the aforementioned Saiya-jin, "Kakarrot, Hold still.Stop trying to climb me! What are you doing!?"
         "Lookin' for Nappa-San! I can hear him!"
         "That's because of the intercom.Now stop that! I'll explain later!"
         "She was in the engine room last time I saw her. Stupid little bitch is probably still there."
         "Sumimasen, Nappa-San." He ended the transmission.
         "Where'd he go?"
         "He's not here! We can just hear his voice over the thing!"
         "How come?"
         "Because of advanced audial defrag-refrag technology that uses fiber optics as well as radio waves to transmit signals from one end of the ship to another."
         "Oh." He had no idea what he was talking about, "what does that mean?"
         "I don't know, but I know how to fix it when it breaks. Now are we gonna go see your little friend or what?"
         "Yeah!" Goku once again took off running down the hall.
         "Kakarrot!" He growled, "You're going the wrong way!"

         *                          *                         *

         Once again, the door to the engine room zipped opened behind Bulma, "Oh, who is it now!?" she glared over her shoulder, "Oh. It's you." She said frigidly as Raditz's form darkened the doorway. "What do you want?"
         "Heh. Me? Nothing, sweetheart. The brat wants to see ya."
         "Hiya. Bulma-girl!" Goku grinned, "Whatcha doin' in here?"
         Bulma was so glad to see a friendly, non-threatening face after her ordeals that day, that she could have cried. Instead, she did something that was almost as unexpected, she reached around Goku's shoulders and gave him a small, one-armed hug "Hey, there, kiddo. Not much, just trying to play around with the gravity. How about you?"
         "Well, I got to train, an' fight an' Gageta-Sama got mad cuz I can do this" He extended his arm, preparing to blast.
         "Kakarot! Not in here!" Raditz practically tackled him, wrapping an arm completely around the boy's body, pinning his arms to his sides, "This is no place for ki blasts!" He let go of him and turned him so they were facing each other. Then he backhanded him with enough force to knock him onto his rear.
         "Ow." Goku laughed, getting up, "That don't hurt so much anymore. I think I'm getting' used to it."
         "Baka desu yo! Nah, you're just getting stronger. I'm going to have to hit harder from now on."
         "Okay." Goku turned back to Bulma, "Wow! I never seen you this messy before! I didn't know girls got dirty."
         Raditz smirked to himself, amused at the double meaning of his innocent brother's words.
         She absently tried to brush the scum from her clammy outfit to no avail, "Well, that's why I try not to let anyone see me when I'm working," she hated looking anything less than beautiful, and Goku's unintentional reminder that she did not exactly look her best was slightly grating.
         "I like it. Now I ain't so scared of breakin' ya or somethin'." He grinned.
         "I'm just messy, you little jerk!" She thwapped him over the head, "I'm still the same pretty, graceful, delicate li'l thing I've always been!"
         He giggled up at her, "Yer funny."
         "Goku, I swear! You can be the most"
         "What are you doing to my engines!?" Raditz pushed past her and the boy to stand in front of the console he'd just realized had been taken apart.
         "Your engines?" She crossed her arms, "Doesn't this ship belong to that annoying little creep?"
         "You stupid earthling! Do you have any idea how long it's gonna take me to fix this?" He ignored her question, "You've taken apart the energal relay system, totally screwed with the environmental controls' power source, and defragmented the artificial mass generator's backup system! What the hell do you think you're doing?"
         "I'm trying to find a way for you and your little friends to play your training games without squashing me to a pulp! And as for the energal relay systems, if you'd get the hair out of your eyes, you'd see that I've increased engine efficiency by at least 32 %."
         He unconsciously brushed the hair off of his face, thereby complying with her order,     "That's impossible."
         She showed him the energy readings on a nearby console, "read it and weep!"
         He blinked several times, before recovering, "yeah, well, I knew you had to have something to make up for being such a weakling."
         "Ha! When you look as good as me, you don't have to be a muscle-head!"
         "What'd you call me?"
         "What? Are you deaf too? Or is all of that hair hard to hear through?"
         "You're such a little bitch!" In a mercurial change of mood, he grinned, looking surprisingly like his brother, "I love it!"
         "Yeah, well, take a number, big guy." She waved at him dismissively as she got back to work.
         "You know," He leaned up against the console she was working on, "I do know how this ship works better'n anyone. I could show ya around." He tried to smile charmingly.
         "I've managed to get this far on my own. I don't think I'll be needing any help, especially not from a big, clumsy hair-ball like you." She didn't even look up at him as she spoke.
         "Ouch!" He leaned closer, "That hurt. C'mon, aren't you through playin' hard to get yet?"
         "Hard to get? Please! And waist my babe-itude on the likes of you?" She snorted, "Get lost!"
         " 'Nii-San, You're makin' Bulma mad" Goku announced, as if Raditz were unaware of this fact.
         He glanced over at Kakarrot, who was standing on his head kicking his feet in the air, "Shut up, Kakarrot!" He turned back to the girl, "It's not like you got a whole lot of choices." He put his arm around her, "There's Nappa, Vegeta, an' me."
         She paused in her work, "Move your hand, or you'll regret it!" She said between clenched teeth.
         He let his arm fall, because he knew that she was quite capable of making him regret touching her, and just nasty enough to do it.
         " Hey, 'Nii-San? What's this rubber thingy?" Goku had a length of plastic-coated cable wrapped around himself.
         "It's just a bunch of wires. And, I told you to shut up!"
         " 'Kay!" Goku proceeded to untangle himself.
         "Where were we?" Raditz frowned, "Oh yeah, like I said, Nappa and Vegeta. Great fighters, but not so hot when it comes to other matters, if ya catch my drift."
         "Look, you overgrown hedgehog!" she advanced on him, waving her wrench like a madwoman, and he backed away, "I'd rather throw myself out the airlock than be with any of you! Especially that short, annoying, pointy-haired" She caught herself, clapping a hand over her mouth.
         "Go on" He prompted, grinning. "What had Vegeta-Sama been doing to get the little hotty all worked up? Maybe there was hope for the monarchy after all," Raditz thought.
         "I'm going back to my room!" She turned and stomped out of the engine room.
         " 'Bye, Bulma-Girl!" from his position on the floor, Goku waved at her retreating back.
         "How many times do I have to tell you! Call me Bulma-San!" She yelled over her shoulder.
         Raditz smirked down at his brother, who resembled a rubber band ball with all the wires wrapped around his chubby little body. "C'mon, kid." He reached into the pile of wires and extracted one tiny, dusty little Saiya-jin child. He held Goku up by the back of his armor, and lightly slapped him, sending up mini-clouds of dust, "Ew. You need a bath, brat."
         "Noooo!" he whined, "But that Bulma-girl gave me a bath this many days ago!" He held up several fingers.
         Raditz gaped, "Bulma gave you a bath?"
         "Ya-huh!" He said eagerly, hoping to get out of having to take another one.
         "Do you have any idea how lucky you are?"
         He furrowed his brow, "That's what she said."

         *                          *                         *

         For the third and final time that day, Goku dried off. He hummed under his breath, tunelessly.
         "Raditz, ya look like a girl sittin' over there playing with your hair!" he pointed and laughed.
         "I wouldn't laugh if I were you. It's your fault I have to do this." Raditz glared over his shoulder as he attempted to braid his layers of hair. What he ended up with didn't even remotely resemble a braid.
         "My fault? How come?"
         "If I don't want your scrawny little butt all tangled up in my hair again, I gotta do somethin'." He grumbled. There was nothing else he could do to repair his hairstyle, so he untied the strip of cloth from around his thigh, and tied it around the end of his "braid." He then changed into what passed as pajamas for a Saiya-jin, and tossed a set to Kakarrot. It was like the stretchy body suits that were worn under armor, except it was just the bottom half, which resembled black bicycle shorts.

         *                          *                          *

         He couldn't sleep. It's not like Vegeta wasn't plagued by unpredictable bouts of insomnia, but this time it was different. He couldn't seem to relax, or even close his eyes for a moment. Though, it wasn't because of fear, as it almost always was. Usually when he was in the grip of a night terror or anxiety attack, he could pull through it by turning on all of the lights in his quarters and mentally talking himself down. Besides, his attacks of fear had diminished, becoming less frequent since childhood.
         Sometimes he wondered if the other Saiya-jin suspected that their prince was a coward. Little more than a mealy-mouthed, panicky, weakling. He was a member of royalty, capable of destroying entire nations effortlessly, and yet he cowered in the safety of his own bedchamber from imaginary monsters. And some that were not so imaginary He sat up in bed, as if he could leave these unpleasant thoughts lying on the pillow.
         None of that mattered right now, anyway. He knew why he couldn't relax, and it wasn't fear. He tried to tell himself that it was anger that kept him awake, but he knew that that was not the true reason for his agitated state. It was that girl. He could almost sense her presence on the ship and he couldn't stand it. For the hundredth time since that morning he mentally cursed himself, wondering what had compelled him to press his lips against hers like that. He didn't even know what that attack was called Well, to be honest it really wasn't an attack. He'd only ever seen anyone else do that once. It was Zarbon and his little orange-skinned friend. At the time, a fourteen-year-old Vegeta couldn't fathom why they would do that with their mouths, hell, until that morning when the urge struck him, he still didn't understand why they did it.
         He dashed the back of his hand across his lips, as if to wipe away they psychic residue of that contact. It might as well have been an attack, every time he thought about what had happened, his lips felt swollen and tender. She couldn't have affected him more if she'd smacked him.
         "Especially not with a power level like that," he said aloud. However, what irked him the most was a recurring mental image of her sleeping like a baby, utterly unaffected.

         *                          *                          *

         It was approximately 10:00 hours when they received the hail. Since the ship was on auto pilot, the computer was programmed to broadcast the hailing klaxon all over the ship, so that whomever was in charge of that particular vessel could receive the hails from any view screen on board.
         Vegeta glared up at the inopportune interruption. He'd been preparing to blast Kakarrot during a training exercise, when that discordant whine indicated that there was someone out in space who wished his highness' attention. "Nappa, answer that." He ordered, allowing his outstretched arm to point toward the floor.
         The mohawk-tipped giant did as he was ordered, "Nappa here." He said after pressing a button and waiting for the screen, which was conveniently located in the training room, to light up. From what was visible of the being that appeared, it was huge. He, presumably it was male, had scales of varying shades of green and brown, and a decidedly lizard-like face.
         "Ssssurrender your Sssship!" demanded the creature, "Or faccce my wrath! I know that you're probably ssso terrified, that you can't think ssstraight, but pleassse hear our demandsss before you beg for mercccy. Now, lower your ssshields and we will board you."
         "Where'd he come from?" Goku peered up from in front of Nappa, standing on his tip-toes to see the screen.
         "Go away, brat." Nappa pushed him away. He turned to look at Vegeta, "Ouji-Sama, do you want me to take care of them?"
         "No," Vegeta gave Nappa his best chilling smile, "I say we let them board. Consider it a training exercise for the runt."
         Nappa turned back to the view screen and said, "Uh, okay."
         "Excccellent! Prepare to be boarded!"
         "Whatever." Nappa turned off the screen, and turned to Vegeta expectantly, "What do we do now?"
         "Lower the shields, of course."
         Nappa started to leave the training room to go to the bridge, "And then what?"
         "We wait, stupid." He answered.
         It was not long before a slight change in g-force told them that the shields had been lowered. Soon after that, a slight tremor indicated that a connection had been made between their ship, and the much larger pirate ship. If it was anything like the technology Furiza's armies used when boarding other ships, it resembled a short, tubular hallway that closed the gap between the two ships' airlocks, making unsuited travel possible between them.
         "Looks like we got company, Ouji-Sama." Raditz grinned as Nappa led their guests into the training room.
         "It's about time. Apparently our new friends are slow as well as stupid."
         There were at least a dozen of the reptilian beings. Aside from their sheer ugliness, their size was the most impressive thing about them. The smallest of them was still taller than Raditz, and there were several who towered even over Nappa. However, a quick check with his scouter assured Vegeta that none of them had a power level that topped 45.
         Their leader strode into the training room as though he already owned it, "Mossst of our conquessstsss prefer to admit defeat in a more aussspicccious placcce than thisss."
         Vegeta just smiled.
         The strange creature's face bore an expression akin to a frown. He'd never encountered prey who was this calm when faced with the prospect of his imminent demise. He glanced at the other three sentients. The only one who wasn't leaning boredly against the wall was gawking at them, not with fear, but avid curiosity, and he was so small that the Lizards suspected that he was some kind of larvae. He turned his attention back the other short warm-blood, "I have a proposssition for you." He used the his two-and-a-half- foot height advantage to it's fullest effect, "I sssaw your little essscape podsss in the docking bay. If you and your crew get in them and leave thisss ssship now, we'll let you live."
         Vegeta chuckled , "I've got a better idea." he levitated up to stare the leader of the Lizard-men in the face. "If your strongest warrior can beat one of my fighters in unarmed combat, I may let you and your men escape with your pitiful lives."
         The Lizard emitted a staccato hissing sound, his species' equivalent to laughter, "The three of you? Againssst my entire crew? You're very funny, Warm-blood."
         "Oh, not the three of us." Vegeta replied calmly.
         He snorted, "Do you mean the maggot?" He gestured towards Goku, "Or do you exxxpect us to believe that sssomeone is coming to your aid?"
         Vegeta gave the Lizard another mute smile.
         "Very well, then, warm-blood. My men have been in ssspace a long time, and I'm sssure they're eager for sssome excccitement." He glanced behind him, at his incredibly homogenous crew, "Mander, would you agree that you are my ssstrongessst fighter?"
         The enormous reptile just smirked and hissed self-satisfiedly.
         "Alright. Now, which of you feels like dying first?" The Lizard looked pointedly at the largest of the warm-blooded fighters, which just happened to be Nappa.
         "Kakarrot, come here." Vegeta commanded, without even glancing at the boy.
         "Yes, Gageta-Sama?" Goku meandered over to him, "Am I in trouble again?" He peered up at the prince, with his tail waving behind him playing with the nyoi-bo strapped to his back.
         "No, Kakarrot," Vegeta raised his voice to be heard over the raucous laughter of the Lizards, "Do you see that large green man over there?"
         "I see a whole bunch of 'em, 'Geta-Sama."
         "That one, Baka!" Vegeta pointed.
         "Oh. Ya-huh I mean Yes, Gageta-sama."
         "You're going to fight him."
         "Ya mean it!?" Goku bounced around excitedly, "Yay! I get ta fight! I get ta fight!"
         Vegeta slapped the little monkey in the face, "Stop that, Kakarrot! You're acting like an idiot!"
         "Oh, Sorry. I jes' got happy 'cuz I get ta fight someone I can beat"
         "What makesss you ssso sssure that you can beat me?" Mander strode forward, and stared down at the Warm-blood who did not even come up to his knee.
         "Well, for one thing yer stance is all wrong." Goku wrapped his arms around the Lizard's right calf, maneuvering it back about a foot. He then pulled the other foot forward,    "Ya gotta keep yer feet as wide apart as yer shoulders. An' bend yer knees a little." Goku put his fists up, in a defensive stance, "An' you should do this with yer hands."
         "Heh, You're right, this is better"
         "Kakarrot! What are you doing?" Vegeta bellowed
         At the same time the leader of the Lizards exclaimed, "Mander, You're sssupposssed to be crushing the maggot, not playing games with him!"
         Goku turned to face Vegeta, "Sorry, Gageta-Sama, I just thought it wouldn't be fair ta fight someone who doesn't know what they're doin'"
         "Doesn't know what they're doing?" growled an incensed Mander.
         " but, umGageta-sama?"
         "What!?"
         "If we're gonna fight, can I have some more room? It's kinda crowded." He scratched his head and peered around the training room.
         "Fine!" He turned to the Lizards, "You heard the brat, get out of the way!"
         They did so.
         "Okay," Goku looked back up at Mander, "Are ya ready?"
         "Of course I am, you little" he was cut off as Goku leaped up to his eyelevel and planted a forceful punch right between the monolith's eyes, knocking him flat onto his back.   Mander let out one last hiss, and then unconsciousness claimed him.
         "That's it?" Goku bemoaned, crestfallen.
         "Not bad, Kakarrot. Now finish him." Vegeta instructed.
         "Do what, now?"
         "Finish him, baka yaro! Blast him! Your attacks may be puny, but it will be enough to take care of that weakling!"
         "But, Gageta-Sama, the fight's over." He pointed at his opponent, "See? He ain't movin' no more."
         "Are you questioning my orders, Kakarrot?!?" he roared, "If I have to finish him, you're next!"
         "But, Gageta-Sama"
         "Shut up, Kakarrot!" How dare that little moron try to undermine the authority of the Saiya-jin no Ouji!?
         "But, Gageta-Sama" He cried more insistently, grasping one of Vegeta's crossed arms,     "You can't keep hurtin' your enemy when he can't fight no more! That's wrong!"
         "I said shut up!" Vegeta wrenched free and backhanded Goku hard enough to send him crashing into the wall, "Soft-hearted idiot!" He blasted the prone Lizard with more power than necessary, reducing him to little more than ash.
         The rest of the Lizards, upon witnessing this display of incredible power, cowered against the far wall, hissing fearfully.
         Goku got to his feet, "That was bad, Gageta-Sama." There was sadness in the boys eyes. Sadness and something else. It was as though the boy held some deeper knowledge, buried somewhere within all of his guileless stupidity, that Vegeta could not quite fathom. It almost made him regret destroying his enemy. Almost. His own near-remorse fueled his rage even more than Kakarrot's initial disobedience.
         "You think I'm "bad" Kakarrot?" He muttered in a calm, concise voice that was even more terrible than any of his previous shouting and roaring had been. "You haven't seen anything yet!" With a cry of fury, Vegeta began killing the Lizards in the training room with his ki at full power, relishing the cries of pain released by those who didn't die immediately. The ship began shaking, and the other Saiya-jin were fearful that he would destroy ship as well as the enemy. Within seconds there was nothing recognizable left of the Lizards.
         Vegeta's power blazed around him, like an electric flame. He grabbed Kakarrot by the back of his neck, and started walking out of the training room.
         "Vegeta-Sama" Raditz choked on his words, when Vegeta turned to face him, staring him down with pupil-less eyes.
         "What is it?"
         "I just II don't mean to"
         "Spit it out."
         "Are you going to kill him?" For some reason, the thought of the boy dying disturbed Raditz.
         "What concern is it of yours?" He scowled.
         "N-noneOuji-Sama"
         Vegeta made a small noise of disgust, and left the training room.
         "Where are ya takin' me, Gageta-Sama?" Goku's short body dangled helplessly.
         "I'm going to teach you a lesson, Kakarrot." He sneered down at the child, "It's called "kill or be killed." Vegeta knew that there were many more of the Lizards than the one's who'd boarded, and he intended to find them. He was headed toward the link between the two ships, intending to board the enemy vessel.
         He ended up not having to go to their ship, as scores of the reptilians were pouring into the docking bay through the connection between the crafts.
         "Who are you?" One of the creatures demanded of Vegeta, "And what are you doing still alive?"
         Vegeta just crossed his arms and stared at them, waiting for a question worth answering.
         "Where's Nuto?"
         "Nuto?" Vegeta smirked, "If that's your leader, he's dead." He held Goku up, "This is who killed him." he lied.
         "What? That little Warm-blood?" An angry murmur passed through the crowd of Lizards. They were out for blood.
         "You want him?" Vegeta threw Kakarrot into the midst of them, "Take him."
         They fell upon the hapless child like starving vultures. For the briefest instant, Vegeta thought that they would kill him, but with an almost volcanic spewing of scaled bodies, Kakarrot fended them off, not even using his newfound ki abilities at first.
         He pulled the stick on his back out of its case, and used it to knock several creatures unconscious simply by spinning while balancing up on his tail. Unfortunately, by sheer luck, one of his opponents managed to wrench the stick out of his grasp and fling it away. Almost by accident, Goku released his ki in a sloppy burst, killing half a dozen of the Lizards. it was with all new ki-users, it took a lot out of him. Vegeta saw him stagger, before he caught himself and resumed fighting. His once-flawless technique became slack, but he still took down every reptile that came at him.
         Several of them attacked in one powerful wave. The battle-fatigued boy, fearing for his life, released everything he had. A pale whitish-blue bubble of light seemed to come from somewhere within him. It spread, enveloping him and every fighter near him, flinging them backward. Or more precisely, flinging their corpses backward. The ship began shuddering violently, as Goku gave a desperate battle cry.
         The energy was even somewhat painful for Vegeta to stand in its wake, but as quickly as it had emerged, it was gone. Swallowed back into Goku's tiny body, and the boy collapsed face-down. For a moment, Vegeta wondered if he was one more corpse littering the impromptu battle field of the docking bay. Upon closer inspection, however, it was apparent that he was breathing.
         Vegeta approached him, and with one white boot, he kicked him, rolling him onto his back. Goku's eyes squinted open, and he panted.
         "You don't seem to have any problem killing when it's your life at stake, boy."
         "I" Goku started to speak, but his throat was too dry to accommodate speech.
         "Well, What?"   
         Goku cleared his throat and swallowed "I didn't mean to."
         "Hn. Whatever, kid." He picked Goku up once again by the back of his neck. Vegeta knew that, deliberate or not, Kakarrot had killed, and that meant that Vegeta won. His raged had faded somewhat with this knowledge.

         *                          *                          *

         Take the little weakling back to the regen tank." Vegeta more or less flung Kakarrot at Raditz, "And make it clear to him that if he defies me again I won't be so tolerant."
         "Hai, Ouji-Sama." Raditz tucked the semi-conscious boy under his left arm, and, placing his right hand over his chest, he bowed at the waist.
         "Now, get him out of my sight!"
         Raditz nodded rapidly, and hurried toward the medlab.
         Vegeta turned to Nappa, "Get rid of the link between the ships. Destroy the other ship."
         "Hai, Ouji-Sama." Nappa nodded "The ship nearly came apart, what'd you do to the kid?" He got to his feet.
         "Taught him a lesson." he replied taciturnly, pausing mid-stride, before retiring to his room in a typical teenage manner.

         *                          *                         *

         Raditz sighed, leaning back on his haunches, watching the tank fill with fluid. "Damn, kid," He said to the unconscious Goku, "In less than a week you've managed to piss off Vegeta more than I have in twelve years." He rolled his head around on his shoulders, "Tell ya what, though, we sure got the hell knocked out of us with all of that shaking. If those lizard-looking things hadn't already been dead, getting banged around like that might have taken care of them for us." Raditz stood up suddenly, "Kuso! The girl!" he didn't want to know how she'd fared through that ordeal. "See ya in a while, Kid." Raditz practically ran out of the med lab.
         Raditz figured that she would be in the engine room again, and started jogging in that direction. He turned a corner and nearly collided with Vegeta-Sama.
         "What are you doing, you idiot!?" He glared up at his subordinate.
         "Gomen Nasai, Ouji-Sama!" Raditz gave a quick bow and started down the hall again.
         "I asked you a question, Baka! Where are you going in such a hurry?"
         "Uh, I'm, uh" Raditz scratched the back of his head nervously, "I'm going to check on Kakarrot's little friend With all the banging around and stuff" he trailed off.
         "That stupid woman would get herself into trouble." Vegeta remarked mordantly, "Well? What are you waiting for?" He asked, already having taken a few steps in the direction of the engine room.
         "N-nothing, Ouji-Sama.
         When they arrived, the first thing they noticed was that the engine room was in total disarray.
         "It doesn't look like she's here." Raditz murmured more to himself that to Vegeta.
         "Idiot." he replied, "She's right here." He gestured to a spare console that had fallen over, and was laying at an odd angle. "Under this." He tossed the enormous hunk of metal away as though it weighed nothing.
         Even in her cataleptic state, she let out a cry of pain. He bent over and picked her up, and Raditz noted that the prince was being surprisingly gentle with her.
         The pain of having her crushed limbs moved brought her rapidly to consciousness, she let out a weak combination of a moan and a scream.
         He gave her a harsh look, "Be quiet, woman. Crying isn't going to help anything, and it will only annoy me."
         Biting her lip, she clutched the armhole of his armor tightly with the hand of her unbroken, left arm.
         He started walking gingerly, but not gingerly enough, with every tiny movement, she whimpered involuntarily.
         In what seemed like an eternity to Bulma, they arrived at their destination. Pain was causing her vision to go black and spotty and nausea lurched in her stomach. In her sheltered, pampered existence, she had been unaware that such pain was even possible.
         "Prepare the other tank." Vegeta ordered.       
     &nbs p;   Raditz did not immediately respond.
         "What are you waiting for, kuso yaro?"
         "Ouji-Sama These tanks are made for Saiya-jin I don't know what it would do to her It could kill her."
         "Are you questioning my authority, Raditz?" His arms involuntarily tightened, and she screamed again.
         Raditz could barely believe his own eyes when he saw Vegeta wince as she cried out.      "No, Ouji-Sama."
         "Prepare the tank."
         Raditz nodded and did so. Within moments, the regen tank was ready for occupancy. Vegeta placed one foot on the floor of the tank for balance and set her down gently on the seat. She whimpered and arched her back, still gripping his armor.
         "I told you to be quiet!" He uncurled her fingers from under his armor, "and let go of me!" His tone was harsh, but he spoke quietly.
         He stepped back out of the tank, "Begin the process." He did not even pause or look back on his way out of the door.