Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Saiyan Games ❯ Sonja blade wins ( Chapter 4 )

Ok this is the disclaimer. I don't own the rights to DBZ that's the privilege of Akira Toryiama I am not profiting by writing this story, I'm just a huge fan with far too much time on her hands *^_^* please don't sue!

Part four

Vegeta landed silently outside the Capsule Corporation buildings. It had been four days since he had visited Bulma's bedroom and left the Senzu bean for her. He had left for the forest to try and detach himself from the situation, but as always it hadn't helped. He had just become more unsure and confused. Standing staunchly in front of the domed buildings he closed his eyes and felt for her ki. She wasn't in the house and so he had to broaden the search slightly into the grounds and factories that surrounded the living quarters. It was so hard to trace her. She practically had no life energy at all, but he managed to find her. He growled under his breath as he walked up the steps to his gravity room. How dare she go in there without his permission! "What are you doing in here?" he demanded before he had walked many feet into the room.

Bulma wheeled herself out from deep inside the circuitry and smiled at him. The look on her face sent a thousand strange and almost unbearable emotions through his cold heart. "We had a deal remember?" she grinned looking the Saiyan up and down. "I'm upgrading this machine for you. It's not like I have anything better to do! I'm only in charge of one of Japan's largest companies whilst my dads on vacation you could at least try and sound a little bit grateful."

Vegeta smirked and looked down with satisfaction at her knee, "Why would I thank you? It's you who's getting your own way. I'm just the fool who agreed to train you!"

"So does that mean you're still going to teach me?" she asked seriously.

"I guess I've got no choice." He replied icily.

"Wow this is going to be so much fun! Let me go get my scouter!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands and walking towards the door. She was almost out of sight, but stopped, "Oh and Vegeta?"

"What?" he spat.

"The senzu was a sweet thought," she smiled knowing how much describing anything sweet would annoy him, let alone about something that he had done himself. "Thank you."

Vegeta wasn't sure what to say, he felt his cheeks burning red and couldn't believe what this woman was doing to him. "Don't think for a minute that this changes anything between us!" he retaliated. "Just because I had a brief moment of insanity doesn't mean that I am in any way going soft!"

"Whatever you say Vegeta!" she teased before walking out and leaving the Saiyan to his own thoughts. She returned not long afterwards scouter in hand and sat down on the floor in a similar way to how she had found him playing it before.

"So are you ready for this?" he asked sitting down opposite her. He clipped his scouter securely to his ear, letting the visor fall over his left eye and laid the small projectors carefully on the cracked, fire blasted tiles of the gravity room floor.

"As I'll ever be!" she replied, trying to sound more confident than she really felt.

"Ok there are a few things that need to be gone through before we begin." He stated almost as though she was four years old and back at nursery school.

"Yes Sensei!"

Vegeta growled, but secretly liked the way it sounded. "The mistake you made when initialising the Link last time was attempting to control the images as they tuned into your brain frequency. Simply speaking, the electric currents that run through your brain fought with the information being transferred from the scouter and overloaded the system, which in turn caused you to black out. This time I don't want you to so much as try anything so obviously stupid. I don't fancy taking another trip to see that strange cat thing. When the pain hits just let your eyes phase out of focus and let your mind go blank. If you can get passed that wall then the rest is easy. Do you understand?"

Bulma nodded and he carried on. "All instructions will be transmitted via the scouter. When we are both in the Link our physical bodies will no longer matter and the computer will set up a telepathic link between the two of us. The only sounds we hear outside the game are each other's voices, any other instructions will automatically be uploaded straight to you brain."

After this speech he paused and staring straight into her eyes let his scouter turn on. The modules left the floor and hovered before him. The iridescent screen flashed up in-between them and he skipped through pages and pages of relevant data with an ease that left Bulma completely in awe. "Well?" he asked looking through the screen at her.

"Well what?" she retorted, pained by the harshness in his voice.

"For Kami's sake woman!" he exclaimed indignantly "I've missed enough training as it is. I haven't got all day. If you want me to train you then I suggest you turn you're damn scouter on before I change my mind!"

"Oops!" she laughed, "Sorry about that, here goes." She forced her mind to work and allowed the machine to turn itself on. Vegeta kept a close watch on her progress and let his fingertips hover over a button that she had seen and accidentally pressed before. He looked sternly into her eyes trying to figure out if it was ok for him to continue. She smiled back and watched as his finger touched the sensitive icon and the pages flipped and separated in compliance.

There was no time to try and prepare for the intense feeling that pressed at her synapses and caused a flood of pain throughout her body. It rushed over her in wave after wave of ever increasing pressure. She felt her whole body burn as it hit and twisted every nerve and muscle, blocking the luminescent light of gravity room and replacing it with complete confusion. The colors of the room blurred into unfathomable shapes, contorting the very fabric of reality and creating its own. She tried not to focus and blank her mind as Vegeta had instructed, but it was hard. The same pressure to close her eyes that she had felt on the first misadventure with the Saiyan game reappeared and she had to fight the urge as her eyelids tried to touch. She managed to snap them open just as the lashes met only to be met with a fresh suggestion of pain. It began its torturing journey into existence and just as she was beginning to feel as though she couldn't take anymore, clarity struck causing her entire body to relax. She couldn't do anything, she felt as though time had frozen and forgotten about her mind. A darkness surrounded her that was eerie in its silence and daunting in its emptiness. No matter where she looked endless nothingness glared back. She was floating in a total void. No light, no sounds, no nothing.

She wasn't destined to stay alone for long though, and an energy sparked into life opposite her. It hovered inches above her and sent an ethereal glow into the vast expanse surrounding her. What she saw made her gasp. Vegeta floated into the void in front of her, but there was something different about him. He looked a lot younger than usual, possibly his early teens, and was before her in a daze of sparkling armor. It was different to the every day mundane Saiyan combat suit that he had worn on Namek. It looked a lot more expensive and regal. The extended shoulder pads had a red cloak that hung over them. It was attached at the front by two polished metal buttons that had some sort of royal insignia engraved onto them. Touches of gold highlighted the fabric that stretched out behind him and bellowed in the nothingness that eked out in every direction. The spandex body suit he wore underneath was more of a midnight blue than usual and had a shimmer to it that reminded her of velvet. She was impressed. He truly looked like a prince dressed as he was.

"Looks like you're going to have to modify that scouter of yours a little more!" came Vegeta's laugh from inside the depths of her head, making her jump.

"Shit!" she exclaimed and looked down to see what he was laughing about. The first thing that she noticed was that she was wearing Saiyan armor. It was similar to Vegeta's, only more practical and less showy, but what freaked her out more than anything else was the prehensile tail that was wrapped neatly around her waist. "I'm, I'm!" she tried to frame words but they wouldn't come.

"What did you expect!" he laughed sarcastically, "It was his scouter!"

"Well at least I'm not ten years old!" she screamed back.

"Fourteen!" he growled, "But at least I'm the right sex!"

"Oh shut up and train me!"

"Ok," he grinned "Whatever you say Raditz!"

Before she could shout any abuse back large Saiyan letters appeared between them. The small ball of light that hovered above her grew in size before splitting in two to make small balls of energy that drifted gently into reaching distance. The letters vanished.

Unhesitatingly Vegeta picked up his tennis ball sized orb and threw it deftly into the air. It flew effortlessly into the void before falling back into his waiting hands. The light of it radiated and glowed against the eternal darkness, leaving light trails behind that reminded Bulma of watching a child with a sparkler. "Pick it up!" he ordered whilst still looking at the energy in his hand.

Bulma looked at the ball hovering inches above her hands, unsure of whether she should do what he told her or not, "Is it safe?" she asked nervously.

"This whole area is computer generated, it has been uploaded straight to your brain. The space that your floating in does not exist" he replied matter-of-factly, "So stop sounding so weak and pick it up! You can't be hurt by something that physically you aren't touching."

Tentatively she reached out and curled her hand around it. It was amazing! She could feel the energy emanating from it. It was like holding a pint size power station in the palm of her hand. "What now?" she asked holding the energy away from her, still unsure of its safety.

"Now we absorb it." He said blankly and thrust the small ball into his abdomen. Shards of light streamed out and caused his image to flicker. She could hear him laughing in her mind as a blinding aura flattened and wrapped itself around him before exploding out in every direction.

Bulma raised a hand to shield her eyes from the light as it poured over her. It streamed out into the far reaches of the void before rushing back to completely envelope the Saiyan a few feet away from her. The explosion subsided and Vegeta stood in the midst of it all completely unfazed. "Now it's your turn." He ordered.

"Absolutely not!" she screamed still cowering from what had just happened, "There's no way in hell that I'm going to do that to myself! I can feel the energy radiating off this thing," She held the ball of light up to emphasize her point. "I'm not like you! That much power would kill me!"

"But you won't be doing anything to yourself!" he stated plainly, "Your body is completely out of the equation. It's only a computer simulation! You won't actually feel anything! It's Raditz's body that is going to absorb it!"

"Your absolutely sure that it won't hurt me?" she asked looking at him nervously.

"Yes!" he replied testily, "Now hurry up and absorb the energy already, or we'll never get onto the next stage!"

Trying not to think about what she was then going to do to herself, she thrust her hand into the space where her stomach should be and felt it explode around her. Vegeta had told the truth, she didn't feel pain at all. What he hadn't told her was the feeling that tingled through her whole surreal existence. The energy it created felt unbelievable, and for the first time she felt something close to the feeling of pure power that having a significant ki created. The clumsy body of the fighter that her brainwaves haunted, no longer felt awkward or heavy as they had done moments ago. Every muscle tightened and flexed as the energy coursed along every vein. It reminded her of the feeling the senzu created only about five times stronger. "This is amazing!" she shouted out as she made Goku's brothers body do loop the loops and pirouettes in the obscurity of the void.

"Humph!" he replied amused at her enthusiasm, "There's something I haven't seen Raditz do before! Now snap out of it! I'm about to initialise the next level so we can actually start training. There's no turning back. This is the real thing! Are you ready?"

"No wait Vegeta!" She exclaimed, trying to tame the palpitating of blood that rushed around her brain, "What exactly am I supposed to be doing? What's the aim of the game?"

"Simple." He answered as colors filtered into the vacuum, starting at the corners, flowing across the darkness, and merging in the middle, "Kill the bad guys!"

Once again the pain hit and made her loose concentration. This time, however, she knew what she was aiming for and the pressure felt a lot more controllable. The darkness was replaced, by an expanse only slightly smaller than the void before it. Light poured in and clashed against the stagnated and stuffy air that hung around her now masculine body. Shards of light hit walls of dust and a smell somewhere between must and polish washed over her. Two large white pillars either side supported an elaborately plastered and painted ceiling. The frames of the carved windows were in a similar stone to the pillars and shone in comparison to the obscurity of the rest of the room. She looked down and saw Raditz's face glaring back up at her in the highly polished tiles that stretched out to the far distant walls. They were a dark blue mirroring the overall décor of the room and reflected the beams of light, contorting the perspective and making the room appear even larger than it already was. The grandeur was unmistakeable, in its impressiveness. She appeared to be standing in some sort of elaborate hall.

Ignoring the other Saiyan lurking in the shadows, she ran up to the window and looked out. A small plateau stretched across the horizon and abruptly dropped away into a sheer cliff face. The light was strange and unfamiliar. The sun burned a bright red even though it wasn't getting dark and refracted off the atmosphere creating a purple sky instead of the blue one she was used to.

"Welcome to the Royal palace of Vegeta." Spoke her companions voice in the depths of her head, "You should consider yourself privileged to be standing where you are. You are the first non-dignitary alien to do so. Even if this is only a simulation."

"T-this is V-Vegeta-sei?" she stammered, breathless by the revelation.

"What were you expecting?" He asked, emerging from the shadows, "This is a Saiyan game!"

"I know, but, but?"

"Ha, well! More important things than your idiocy need to be concentrated on. Any minute now Frieza's troops will be storming the palace and we have to be prepared!"

"Frieza's?" She repeated in astonishment.

"Yes Frieza's." he growled.

"But I thought that the Saiyans and Frieza were allies! Why on Chikyu have you got a simulation of the palace being over-run by his men?" she asked nervously looking about the room.

Vegeta sighed, "The game is Saiyan. Frieza never knew about it. Only the trust worthiest Saiyans were ever trained to use it. I presume my father just wanted to be prepared for every eventuality. Now stop asking me pointless questions! Can you hear that?"

Bulma strained to hear whatever it was that Vegeta was listening for, "What is it?"

"Oh nothing much to worry about!" he exclaimed grinning evilly at her, "There's only about twenty of Frieza's foot-soldiers heading this way."

"WHAT?" she shouted grabbing his shoulders and ducking behind him. "What are we going to do?"

"Well I don't know about you, but I was going to opt for defending myself." He said removing her hands.

"And what about me?"

"You can look after yourself!" he grinned walking forward.

"Oh and just how am I going to do that?" she exclaimed indignantly, "I had kickboxing lessons when I was younger, but I really don't think that it's gonna help just now!"

"Ha, you learnt martial arts?" he sneered.

"Well you don't have Goku for a best friend and Yamcha as a boyfriend without wanting to learn something!" she laughed.

"This should be more entertaining than I had originally thought." He said occupied with an intriguing idea. "That is if you can manage to manipulate the energy you just absorbed, of course. The process is different to gathering normal ki. It's more mental effort than physical prowess. Using the power should be fairly simple for you to master. The energy is preprogrammed and should automatically distribute itself around your body in relation to your brain capacity. The power is there. It all depends on whether you can workout how to use it or not. If you can control it then you might be useful to me. Do you think you're up to it?"

"I-I!" she stammered hearing footsteps rushing up the corridor towards her.

Vegeta sprung into action. He leapt off the floor and went full force towards the on coming enemies. He moved so quickly that it was hard for her to follow his movements. Opponents fell at his feet as he manipulated the energy surrounding him and rained down blow after blow into the mass of bodies.

He was just about holding his own even though the sheer number of fighters were proving to be a problem.

Bulma had mechanically stepped back not wanting to witness the carnage that was taking place only meters away from her. She froze and didn't know what to do. There was no way she was going to be able to defend herself the way Vegeta was! He was used to it. Violence came naturally to him, but it wasn't the same for her. "I could use some help woman!" he shouted amidst the battle cries.

"I can't do it Vegeta! I'm not like you!" she shouted back.

"Your right!" he retorted, "Your weak minded as well as weak bodied. I don't know why I even bothered showing you this, I should have known that it would be too advanced for you to cope with!"

Speaking to her made his concentration slip and a frog-like alien managed to connect a good punching sequence into his mid section, the computer program compensated for the hit and made his body crunch up in pain. He screamed out as the short green fighter vanished from in front of him and reappeared above, one hand clasped in the other and brought them both down onto his back.

"VEGETA" she cried out as he fell hard against the floor. The tiles cracked and a crater appeared around his body as he carried on into the earth beneath. The explosion of dust that was sent hurtling into the air, took a while to settle, but when it started to clear she could see him trying to get up. He looked pretty beat up as he tried to get to his feet. What was happening? Surely Vegeta was stronger than that! Then it hit her. Vegeta had said himself that fighting and manipulating ki in this environment was different to normal. It made perfect sense! There was no way he was as strong mentally as he was physically and that was being reflected in the program. The consciousness of what this implied would have been satisfying to her at any other time, but not just then.

The troops closed in around Vegeta's body. A flash of light made her able to see what was happening. A blue man stepped out from the crowd of soldiers and grinned evilly. His antennae twitched and an energy ball hovered inches in front of his fins/hands. The blast was aimed straight for Vegeta's head.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she cried out as the weird fish like alien sent the light speeding towards the stricken Saiyan. Without thinking about what she was doing Bulma rushed passed the throng that surrounded him and knocked the powerful blast away from its planned course, and into a Saiyan armored man looking on from the myriad of unusual faces.

"Well looks like you've got some guts after all," spat the Saiyan behind her, getting gingerly to his feet and holding his bruised abdomen. "Now shall we continue?" he asked reinstating his original stance, but breathing heavily.

"With pleasure!" she grinned and copied his posture.

"Remember, they're only computer projections they're not real." He encouraged.

"I'll try and bear that in mind," she smiled feeling the newfound power surging through Raditz's body. "And try not to slow me down too much!"

"You've figured it out then?" he said grinning slightly. "Just don't let the power go to your head. This isn't reality."

"Ha you're telling me!" she laughed, "I knew I played all those arcade games when I was younger for a reason, this is just like it. You just gotta figure out which buttons to press right?"

Vegeta growled and eyed the remaining fighters, not noticing Bulma doing some experimental front snap kicks and mumbling something about, "Sonja Blade wins!"

He let his ki out full force and as soon a Bulma returned from her mortal combat shadow fighting session she copied him. The calculations she had to make to increase her power were mind-bending in their complexity, but she was right. Her power was almost identical to Vegeta's and she burst into a bright ki and flew at Frieza's henchman, knocking them effortlessly out of the way, growing in confidence at every new challenge and glorying in the feeling of being able to fight alongside the formidable Saiyan.

Hours passed but neither cared. Level after level was followed in quick succession, each time the number of fighters decreased, but this was no compensation for the power increase they gained after each round. The location altered slightly each time. They started in the halls, but carried on into servant quarters, the kitchens, (Authors note- I say kitchens, but that hardly describes the warehouse size cooking area that stretched out into oblivion. What? Saiyans have to eat, right?) The gardens, and even some of the family rooms. Every challenge brought new pleasures to the genius in a Saiyans body. It was so refreshing for her. The feeling was unbelievable and she revelled in it. For once in her life she was living up to her full potential. She didn't need to hold back.

Hardly any conversation had passed between her and Vegeta, but they didn't need to speak. The energy gave her the ability to sense his presence, and just knowing that he was close was comfort enough. The last battle had taken place on the battlements. The alien had been unbelievably strong. Bulma could feel the sweat pouring off Raditz's body. She looked over at Vegeta. He hovered above her looking down at the defeated purple alien sprawled out at her feet. His eyebrow ridges seemed even more pronounced than normal as his scowl was set deeply at the bridge of his perfectly proportioned nose. He turned away almost in disgust from the scene before him, and looked out at the horizon, "Finish him!" he said hollowly, not even so much as blinking.

Bulma smiled at the term, but sensing something unfamiliar in his posture, remained quiet. She started the calculations and let a small ball of highly concentrated energy form on the palm of her hand. She didn't take her eyes off the Saiyan staring off into nowhere as she let her arm fall behind to deliver the final blow to the incapacitated warrior. "So what's next?" she asked him, noticing that the level hadn't automatically switched this time.

"I don't know." He replied, still looking away.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I never got this far before."

Bulma's mouth dropped, "You're joking right!" she said.

Vegeta growled and she realised that he wasn't messing with her. He was serious. She could see a coldness rush over his countenance. It was something similar to an expression she had seen him use before when he was anywhere near Goku. Was it jealousy? No it was more than that. His pride had been wounded! Maybe him training her hadn't been such a good idea after all. There was another barrier between them and just when she thought she was starting to win some sort of respect from him.

Time to sit and contemplate the perplexities of a Saiyan mind wasn't allowed, however, and the now familiar Saiyan writing reappeared in front of her. Vegeta had translated it all for her before, but this time he kept resolutely silent. His scowl relaxed, and his eyes grew wide in astonishment. He looked unsure of what was going to happen next. "What is it Vegeta?" she asked, worried by him looking so out of character. He didn't answer, but stared at her in a way that told her he didn't want to be spoken to.

Again the level changed. A blanket of darkness covered them before new colors crept into existence. Bulma still wasn't entirely used to the sensation and it took her a good minute or so to get her bearings.

When some of her senses returned she found herself in an imposing room. It was similar to the hall they had started in except that there were slightly more touches of splendour. The blue ceiling and walls were embossed with gold leaf. Candles sat on elaborate holders in-between the window recesses creating a soft subtle light that was completely different to the stagnated and glaring sunlight of the previous levels. Pairs of stone pillars were set in an aisle formation down the centre. A red carpet stretched out through them and up the stone steps at the other end. They rose up to a simple platform on which sat an impressive and ridiculously large carved throne that had been gilded in a similar manner to the plaster above it. A red cushion placed in the expanse of the seat area, looked completely out of character with the rest of it, but was obviously a poor attempt to make it more comfortable for the intended occupant.

Vegeta was the only other person in the room. "Where are we?" she asked him, but didn't get a reply.

A door opened next to the platform and a cortège of eight men entered. They were all wearing dark blue robes and didn't look anything near as threatening or imposing as the warriors they had faced earlier. They didn't look as though they were there to fight. They carried on up the steps and set up positions behind the throne four either side. One of the men seemed to be more important than the others and held a twisted gold and silver staff. He looked straight over to where they stood, lifted the staff and brought it crashing down onto the stone, creating a thud that echoed in the spacious hall.

A noise behind her made Bulma spin around. Vegeta had dropped to his knees, his arms creating a triangular shape next to his body and he rested on his forearms. She couldn't believe it! Was Vegeta bowing? "Get down and show some respect woman!" growled his voice in her head.

She was immovable from surprise and the door opened once again. "I said get down!" hissed Vegeta angrily. This time she did as she was told and adopted a position similar to Vegeta's, looking down at the floor. There was no way she could see anything that was happening at the other end of the room, but it was very evident that someone important was coming. Long strides could be heard as whoever it was entered the room and took up a position on the throne.

"Vegeta, Prince of the Saiyans! You may rise and take your rightful place!" echoed a deep voice that sounded almost familiar. Bulma continued staring at the floor, but heard a soft padding as the Saiyan next to her got up and walked along the red carpet towards the throne.

A couple of minute's silence passed and nothing had happened. All she could see was the hint of a reflection of the candles as she knelt staring down at the polished wooden floor. "Raditz, son of Bardock. You may rise also!" stated the voice.

It took a moment for Bulma to remember it was her that he was talking to, and at the request of whoever it was she got up. She pulled her shoulders back and stood with her legs together facing the speaker and the young Vegeta at his side. What she saw made her take a step back in astonishment. The man that sat on the throne looked surprisingly familiar, and she switched her head between the stranger and the Saiyan she knew so well and felt so many differing emotions for that stood next to him.

There was no mistaking who she had just knelt before. They looked so similar. Only a good twenty years and facial hair separated them. It was strange to think that even Vegeta had to bow before him, but then again his father did outrank him.

"Vegeta," said the king, turning to face his son, "You and Raditz have completed the two player program of the Link. As you are well aware this program has been designed to help stimulate and enhance reaction times and culture mental capabilities. Fighting isn't just about how strong you are. The thought process in all battles is fundamental to securing victory. Therefore, I am extremely pleased that you have been able to achieve so much." He turned to face Bulma, "You are an intriguing fighter Raditz. It is very rare for a third class Saiyan to complete this game. Maybe it would be wise to retest your powers after you disengage." He let his shoulders relax and once again addressed his son, "By completing the link, you have confirmed what I already knew Vegeta. You are indeed a strong, powerful fighter, and I look forward with great anticipation to your completion of the one player game. You will be an incredible ruler when I am gone. One day you will rise and claim your birthright. Take strength from this. You have the power inside of you to become Super Saiyan and you must train extra hard. It is your destiny!"

What passed next didn't go unnoticed by Bulma. The mighty King of Vegeta-sei actually smiled at his son. It wasn't just a smug or superior smirk that she was all too used to see falling from Vegeta's lips, but a true, proud, heart-felt smile that shone out in its sincerity.

Vegeta's reaction didn't go unnoticed either. He stepped back unsure of what had just happened. His look seemed to reflect a hope that it was just the computer program malfunctioning.

"There is only one thing left to do!" stated the king turning away from Vegeta and looking back in Bulma's direction, "As in life, there can only be one winner! Please take your positions." He gestured towards the centre of the room and as he did so the dynamics shifted. The pillars were put aside to accommodate a circular fighting area. A line each side denominated the starting location for each fighter.

Bulma looked over at Vegeta. He was staring back at her intently. Those dark black orbs burnt into her vision in a look that she read in a moment. "So this is why you agreed to train me?" she smiled, "You want to test me?"

He didn't answer, but a slight curl of the mouth was confirmation enough that she had got pretty close to the mark. "Ha, I see!" she continued walking towards the battle arena and adopting a fighting stance.

"May I suggest that you stop trying to understand me and start defending yourself!" he said breaking the silent treatment, and reaching the corresponding point opposite her.

"The following fight will last for five minutes!" Bellowed the King's loyal staff bearing subject, "The King will decide the winner, he will be looking for technique, damage and aggression. Your energy attack and flying capabilities will be disabled. This will be a full contact sparing session. Please turn and bow to his royal highness, King of Vegeta-sei."

Both herself and Vegeta complied. The robed Saiyans staff was raised several inches above the floor. "Face your opponent," he shouted and they both turned, staring one another down. The staff was brought crashing to the floor. "Hajime!"

The two fighters stayed in the same positions only lowering their stances slightly. Bulma shifted her weight over to Raditz's back foot and twisted the other into the floor in anticipation of Vegeta's on coming onslaught. Her instincts proved to be right as the Saiyan lunged forward and towards her. He got to within millimeters of her face before fazing out of focus.

Bulma continued to stare straight in front of her. She felt for his energy signature. He was behind her and quickly pivoting on the balls of her feet she turned and punched what to any onlooker was thin air. The Saiyan fazed back into focus where her hand tried to connect, but she was a fraction of a second too late, and he just managed to pull his head to the side before the blow came at him. She tried to pull her arm back, but Vegeta caught hold of it. He pushed at a pressure point in the inner part of the elbow and stepped through to twist until it doubled up. Surges of electronic pain rushed through the stricken limb, brining Bulma to her knees. Whilst he kept the hold on there was no way that she was going to be able to move. She cursed herself. Surely this wasn't it. There was no way she was loosing to him so quickly. Trying to block out the pain she managed to recover enough to get one leg so that the foot was flat on the floor. With her free arm she grabbed at the Prince's fingers that were holding and pushing down on her twisted arm. It didn't help and she saw his knuckles turn white as he piled on more pressure. She screamed out at the increased pain.

Still holding onto her wrist Vegeta transferred his weight onto his left leg and planted a roundhouse kick to her head. The momentum carried him through and his grip loosened just enough for her to escape. The kick had been well placed and caught her a little off guard, but lacked the power behind it that she was expecting. It slightly dazed, but by no means stopped her.

Vegeta sprung at her to follow it up and she managed to roll out of the way just as his fist drove into the space she had moved from. It didn't slow up as it impacted and cracked the floorboards sending splinters flying into the air. Awkwardly pulling his fist out of the debris he flipped back up to his beginning stance facing her off and smirking ever so slightly.

Bulma regained her composure and had just enough time to get up to one knee and cross her arms in defense before Vegeta leapt at her again. He delivered a string of obviously well rehearsed punches that struck at her arms and skimmed by her head. Managing to get to her feet she skipped back dodging the barrage of blows that looked so impressive but were hardly inflicting any damage. Through his sheer determination Vegeta soon had her backed up so far that she could feel the cold plaster of the walls against her bare legs. He had her cornered. Desperate to do anything that might protect her she brought her right leg high up to her chest creating another barrier between them. Turning her standing foot she blocked his punches with her arms.

Not letting up on his attack he drove her into the plasterwork sending an explosion of dust spewing into the throne room. Undeterred by the distraction she pushed her heal out against his stomach, getting a clean kick into his midsection and sending him bouncing along the polished wooden floor. She ran at him to follow it up and reached him just as he was starting to control the slide. She wouldn't allow him enough time to recover and jumped into the air, landing knee first in his groin.

He doubled up under the pain. His head rose in reaction to it and Bulma brought her hand back to her waist, pulling the fingers back to deliver a well-timed palm-strike to his forehead. It sent him back down to the floor with a thud, leaving an impression of his head in the floorboards.

As he landed she jumped back and readopted a long stance anticipating a quick recovery. He didn't move. He lay on the floorboards with his eyes closed and a trickle of computer-generated blood running down his young angular chin. Her evasiveness was lost in concern and she returned to where he had landed wondering if loosing in the link was at all harmful in reality. She stood over him looking down unsure of what was expected next and shook the hand that she had hit him with even though it didn't really hurt that much.

His eyes suddenly flashed open as her attention slipped and he grabbed a handful of hair. He wound it around his hands until they were face to face. "I always told that low class weakling that he should cut his hair!" growled Vegeta's voice in her head. He yanked her head down and simultaneously brought his foot into her abdomen.

She crunched up in pain as the Saiyan kept his foot where it landed and extending the knee threw her over his head. The power behind it sent her sprawling face first through one of the multitude of stone pillars and across the expansive hall. She came to rest inches from the royal steps. Her face burned and she could feel that her nose was broken. Again the computer modified the settings for Raditz's character and she felt herself become dizzy as the profuse amount of blood that poured from it inhibited her breathing. Frustrated at her lapse in concentration she pushed at the ground and launched her body clean off the floor.

It was a lucky move. Vegeta was about to follow up on his previous technique and had started to do a baseball slide into her head. As it was, the momentum of her jump coincided very neatly with it. She dodged the attack and landed on his spine bringing her knee down hard just for good measure. It snapped as her knee impacted and he screamed out in pain. She jumped back up to her feet and kicked him in the kidneys lifting him off the floor and sending him spinning into the air. As he started to descend she brought her right knee up into his stomach finishing the attack. She could hear him wheezing as he slumped off and onto the floor.

For a couple of minutes he didn't move, but learning her lesson from last time Bulma kept her stance low and watched him keenly the whole time. He spat out a mouthful of blood and tried to push himself up. It was unbelievable! She had just broken his back! There was no-way he should be able to continue! By some sort of miracle he got back to his feet. He staggered backwards, trying to keep his balance and looked up at her through those dark eyes, "You beat me!" exclaimed his voice from deep in the recesses of her mind. "Amazing!" he continued, "Who would have guessed it!" As he spoke a surge of pain raced through his body making him crumple back down to one knee. Under the pain he seemed to loose all stability and flopped to the floor unable to move.

"Matte!" called the King after a short pause. "Prince Vegeta is no longer able to battle. I declare Raditz to be the winner!"

As he spoke the fabric of the room shifted and Vegeta's body flickered out of existence. "This has been a well-fought contest and you have earned my praise." He continued talking to Bulma and ignoring the departure of his son. "You must have an amazing fighting spirit and well-developed brain to beat Vegeta. He is one of the strongest of my men, both physically and mentally. You are an asset to the Saiyan armed forces and a true warrior. You have now completed the link. The program will disengage and you will return to reality."

Bulma just about managed to bow her acknowledgement before the colors and light of the great hall fazed out of focus. The crippling pain once again crowded and influenced her thoughts as the computer program shut itself down. The darkness and surrealism of the link was gone and all at once she was thrown back into the reassuring plains of reality.

A little of the power still buzzed around her head, and she could sense Vegeta standing in front of her. Tentatively she opened her eyes and tried to stand. Her whole body ached and felt heavy as it adjusted to not having the power of the link. "Wow!" she exclaimed, "Now I know why you're so hell bent on reaching new power levels. I would love to feel like that the whole time. Woohoo! What a buzz!"

Vegeta didn't speak, but turned to look at her over his shoulder. His face was contorted into an expression that was such a mixture of emotions that it was hard to tell which predominated. He twisted his body around, staring and studying her in the same glance. The look that was concentrated and spun into so many unfathomable expressions in the depths of those charcoal eyes almost dared her to move and she was pinned to the spot under his powerful gaze. He Stalked out of his corner deliberately moving over to where she stood. "You beat me!" he exclaimed still incredulous.

Bulma nodded, but it was an effort. Every nerve in her body was strained and over-worked. Her head still ached from the after affect of the link and her legs gave way as the pressure increased in the depths of her mind. She didn't loose consciousness this time, but had to put an arm out to steady herself. To her amazement she felt her hand press up against bare skin and Vegeta's perfect pectorals tensed as his chest stopped her fall. The pressure subsided a little as she looked up at the Saiyan. His eyes were closed and he swallowed hard. Quickly regaining her balance she stayed where she fell, enjoying the feeling of being so near to him.

Vegeta almost forgot himself and a couple of minutes passed before he realized that he was letting her get too close, "Are you recovered?" he sneered.

"Just about." She answered surprised at his cold concern.

"In that case I would like you to leave. I have training to do and you have distracted me long enough!"

Bulma stood her ground.

"I said leave!" he shouted defensively

Confused, she turned away from him, "If you really want me to then I will." She said disappointedly, "But sometimes I wonder why I even bother caring about you!"

"What?" he said shocked at her words.

Bulma blushed at the thought of what she had just let slip, "That's right baka!" she shouted, "I actually care about your worthless butt! I must be going insane!"

"I know the feeling." He muttered incoherently under his breath.

"What was that?" she asked angrily.

"Nothing!" he spat back, "Now leave me alone before I come over there and literally kick you out!"

"Fine! I'm going Vegeta! Bust just remember who kicked whose butt!" she grinned.

"As if you'll ever let me forget!" he replied sarcastically, "Now leave!"

At his repeated appeal she gave in. She saw that he wasn't trying to be mean, but really wanted to be left alone. "Ok I'll go!" she said heading for the door, "And thanks for the training session, we should do it again sometime!"

"Definitely!" he growled, "And I promise that next time I won't go so easy on you! I will beat you."

"Yeah, yeah, me and Goku right Vegeta?" She smiled. In an instant Vegeta's expression changed and she ran out of the room before he could even begin his almighty, "I am ten times more powerful than that low class weakling!" speech.