Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Starting Over ❯ Chapter 1: Escape ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

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Starting Over

Chapter One: Escape

"Their technology is quite astonishing for such an underdeveloped species," commented a cool and detached voice as its owner twirled a metal cylinder between his delicate fingers. He compressed a tiny button on the cylinder's end before tossing it into the middle of the room.

Poof!

In less than a second, a small hovercraft appeared where the cylinder had been just a moment before.

"Encapsulation, they call it. What a clever manipulation of physics." He chuckled. Picking up another capsule from a pile of technological gadgets, he examined it more closely. "Capsule Corp. What a fitting name too."

Lord Freeza would definitely want to know about this.

. . .

Bulma's heart pounded as she started up the hovercraft and pressed a complicated sequence of buttons on the control panel. She ran through her mental catalogue again, accessing the list of tasks she needed to complete before she retrieved her parents. They were getting off of this planet and fast.

She'd already made sure the ship she'd designed with her father was ready for launch. The Briefs, unlike the rest of the planet, had considered that this would happen. Invasion. Extinction. They were ready to make their escape.

At least she only had to retrieve her parents, she thought in reassurance. Trying to turn the death of her friends into something positive rather than heartbreaking and macabre caused her stomach to tighten. She hadn't been able to mourn them. Hadn't had a moment to process what happened in the outskirts of Capitol City. It was fight or flight. So far, the fight part hadn't been successful.

Arriving in the small hangar at the base of a mountain, Bulma found her parents packed and ready to make an escape.

They piled into the back of the hovercar, Bulma's mother narrowly avoiding hysterics. She didn't need this. She couldn't bear watching them break down. Not when the wounds were so fresh. Not when she was so frightened, herself.

"Mom," Bulma said calmly and quietly. Years of dealing with the histrionic woman had helped her cultivate an even and effective tone. "Mom, you need to calm down until we make it back to Capsule Corp." The sobs quieted to the occasional gasp or hiccup, but otherwise, the flaky woman seemed to be holding it together.

This is all temporary. This is all temporary. Bulma chanted to herself. If the plan she devised with her father works…

Upon arrival at the launch pad, Bulma took in the ships she built for deep space travel. They were relatively small, nothing gaudy like typical Capsule Corp models. They were coated in a reflective metal polymer, a first-defense that supplied moderate stealth capabilities.

"Have you gone over the launch checklist, Honey?" Dr. Briefs asked Bulma. His voice was subdued but still had an edge of detached clinical precision.

Bulma nodded her head up and down, perhaps a few more times than necessary. She always got jittery when she was nervous.

"Okay, let's clear out."

Bulma placed her hand against an unassuming panel on the ship's hull. A line of green light appeared on the surface, tracking over Bulma's palm. After the light disappeared, the panel beeped enthusiastically.

"Bulma Briefs, requesting entrance." The panel beeped again and a hidden door slid open. At least the computer recognized her voice, even when it was shaky.

Dr. Briefs ushered his wife to a small set of quarters while Bulma made her way to the bridge. She deftly ran her fingers against the controls and felt a gentle rumble as the engine powered up.

Breathe, Bulma, she mentally commanded herself as she exited the ship and observed the laungh.

. . .

Vegeta's small ship had barely landed when he was summoned before Freeza. And as he walked down the hall to the bridge, the steady clank of his heavy boots and brush of his thick cape against the metal floor beat out a sort of weary percussion. He'd been gone for months, half of that time without proper nutrition or sleep. Though these considerations meant little to the lizard he served, Vegeta was tired and not in the mood.

Through the glass windows that surrounded the ship's hull, the stars raced by as if they were trying to flee the inevitability of Freeza's conquest. Vegeta pressed forward. Escape, for him, was not an option.

Run run, little stars, Vegeta thought, It will do you no good.

Once at the bridge, Vegeta placed his hand against the communication pad.

"I have come at your request, Lord Freeza," he spoke softly and the door slid open. The metal was thick and heavy, designed to close off the bridge as a modified escape pod should the impossible occur-breach of Freeza's head fleet ship. It had never and would never be used. It existed only as a relic of the civilization from which they'd seized the ship hundreds of worlds ago.

The room, as was Freeza's preference, was dark. Only ambient light from the passing stars lit the large empty galley. Freeza's planet had been a dark place and the creature, despite his near thousand-years of intergalactic travel, was still ill-adjusted to the intrusive light sources on most ships.

In the dim light, Vegeta noted assorted devices scattered throughout the large room. The technologies were not particularly advanced, but obviously from a civilization on the brink of space travel.

"Do you know what this is, Vegeta?" asked an icy voice as Vegeta advanced through the room.

"Yes, my lord, it appears to be some sort of hovercraft."

"How right you are, my dear prince." Freeza stepped out of the shadows, his pale face ethereal and ghostly as the star glow cast him in stark contrast with the darkness of the rest of the room. "But how did it get in here?"

Vegeta glanced at the hovercraft and back at the steel-plated door through which he had entered. The craft certainly hadn't made it into the room the same way he had. Perplexed, he turned back to the lizard who was holding something small and metallic in his hand before catching it midair as Freeza casually tossed it to him. Upon closer examination, it was a small cylinder with the word "Jetskii" printed on the outside in Standard.

What the hell is a jetskii?

"Press the button on the top then drop the capsule to the ground a few feet ahead of you," ordered the Ice-jin. Accustomed to promptly following commands, Vegeta complied.

Half of a second later, a new device appeared from almost nowhere. Presumably, a jetskii.

While he was primarily a soldier, Vegeta was no fool. He had received significant education in mechanical engineering and physics. Whoever had invented this would be indispensable. The applications for a technology that bent the laws of physics in such a way were nearly infinite. Vegeta raised his eyebrows appreciatively, the question on his face apparent as he met the gaze of his lord.

"During the purge of her planet, the scientist who designed this technology escaped. Crafty, little beast she is." Freeza smirked, his unchanging eyes belaying the softness the smirk should have afforded his expression. "You will leave immediately to retrieve her. The girl's file has already been uploaded to your ship."

Vegeta continued to stare at the Ice-jin, even as he turned away from the Saiyan prince and made his way towards the opposite end of the room.

So, Freeza wanted this woman, and alive at that.

Run, girlie, the prince thought, there's no escaping this nightmare once we find you.

Within an hour, the prince was on his way.