Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Swarm Saga ❯ Of White Lies ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am nothing. I am writing this simply for my own pleasure and am not making any money from it. Dragonball Z and its characters are the property of Akira Toriyama and other various and associated peoples.

Chapter 3

"Over my dead body." Vegeta blasted the door and stormed into the room as it splintered apart. He stopped caring who the bitch was. "There is no way that you are going to leave your problems on this planet. I am NOT some damn babysitter." He stood there breathing in and out hard. How dare the bitch think that she could dump the girl on his planet? He did not just spend half his life protecting this mudball only to have some queen bitch from outer space strand a saiyan here who was probably just going to try to blow the place up anyway. It certainly wasn't in him to just stand there and let that happen. Vegeta had a height that was less than formidable but he had a glare that could etch glass. He turned that glare on the quartet's leader. Bitch.

The fighters in the room stood and stared at the short man who blasted his way in. Somehow, they instinctively understood that moving against the small man would only bring death. They stared again as a taller man followed the newcomer into the room. He stood behind the shorter one, fisted his hands at his side, and managed to look only slightly less irate.

Goku studied the occupants of the room. When they first arrived, there was too much happening outside to get a good look at them. What he was struck most by was their youth. Only the woman who did the majority of the talking seemed to have any years on her. He guessed that she was about the same age as Vegeta and himself. She was tall and pretty. Her hair was gathered at the base of her neck and cascaded down to her waist. She wore her armor with a strange regal authority and her tail was curled expertly around her waist. Her eyes, though, were flat; as if she was disappointed with the life she had been given and felt she deserved better. The others, however, well … the oldest was not even Gohan's age. They were large and built with black, spiky hair and alert, assessing eyes. Yet, they sat there simply gauging Vegeta and himself. They did not move but were prepared to at the snap of the woman's fingers. Even though his boys had been trained, and far outstripped these three for power, they never walked around with that same ferocity, that same sense of feral readiness. It unnerved Goku. Had he and Vegeta ever really been that way? That young? That stupid?

He had to admit he agreed with Vegeta. They could not just dump the girl on this planet. She had pulled back that last attack on Marron, but that certainly did not mean that he was comfortable with the idea. He studied the girl. She looked about ready to explode. Her entire body shook and she had to clench her jaw just to keep it from clicking. The skin covering her face changed color as the blood rushed to the surface. She looked up and met Goku's gaze before dropping her eyes to the floor, her mouth working but no sound came out.

"Exactly what do you think you're doing …?" The woman Goku assumed was the leader spoke up, her voice trailing off as she got her first good look at the two of them. She squared her shoulders and glared (or tried to at least, she backed down when she realized that Vegeta's glare was much more effective than hers) at the two. "Who are you?"

Vegeta just smirked. He had seen her back down from the weight of his stare. She stood there, a seemingly perfect picture of beautiful fury, her eyes glittered with annoyance, the muscles in her shoulders and thighs bunched and relaxed as she watched him. The silky tail around her waist fluffed out and smoothed as the tip twitched. She really had grown to be quite beautiful, and tall. He would love to tell her exactly who he was. He would love to watch her onyx eyes light up in fear as she tried to make sense of his existence. He would love to watch the others scrape, and bow, and stutter, if any of them were old enough to realize who stood in front of them that is. But he couldn't afford it. The Bitch was a first class Saiyan female. Therefore, she was a politician as well as a warrior. Even if the bitch wasn't bred to be one, she would have learned. To be anything else would have cost her; her status, her power, her control over her entire life. Yes, he would get her fear and maybe even her respect, but both of those emotions would be replaced by the cold calculation in her eyes as she tried to figure out how to use him to her advantage.

There was also more than just himself to consider. No, Vegeta couldn't risk it. He had a mate and two children who he loved more than breathing. He had died protecting them once already. He was not going to give this bitch the opportunity to try to take that away; and she would try. Vegeta would be much too precious a pawn in this woman's bid for power. He thought about remaining quiet but decided not to tempt the fates. Besides, one white lie was nothing. "My name is Raditz. The man behind me is my brother Kakarrot. Now, tell me who you are, and where you came from."

Vegeta could almost feel the questions pouring from Kakarrot's brain. He also felt the lazy, relaxed tension that the larger saiyan adopted when waiting for a fight to start and knew that none of his confusion would be betrayed by his body language or smell. `Later,' he promised himself. `I'll explain it all to him later.'

"My name is Aspa. The rest of these are my men." As she made the introductions a faint beep was heard from the scouter that one of them had in his hands. The boy glanced down at its screen and then glanced at his commander. He tapped his fingers against his leg twice. The first tap was just the index finger and the second tap included three fingers. As if Vegeta really wouldn't notice that. Aspa noticed though. At the first tap her eyes widened a little. At he second, her eyes softened, her shoulders relaxed, and a really annoying smug smile played on her face. She turned and faced Vegeta ignoring Kakarrot completely. So, she was stupid as well. She really should have been old enough to realize never to underestimate her opponent. "It's actually lucky we found you. Seloli is staying here as punishment. You can take her place."

The bitch actually thought she was going to order him around? "No thank you. Kakarrot has become … attached to this planet and has no wish to leave."

"I wasn't ordering him; just you."

"Woman, I was an officer in the Saiyan Army and again under Freeza. I do NOT take orders from you."

"No you tailless freak." She walked up to him bristling and got in his face. He had her mad now. "You take orders from the tyrant who tried to destroy the Saiyan race? Have you no pride?"

Vegeta growled. He'd rather have backhanded her to the floor. Even holding steady at Raditz' former power level he was still stronger than her. One of her men stepped forward to assist her, and then backed off as he thought better of getting between the two first class in the room. He felt another power up. Weakling. He flashed his best evil smirk at both of them and crossed his arms over his chest. "Freeza, and his father, died over three moons ago; and they did so at a Saiyan prince's hand. So, you see, the girl did nothing wrong. If anything you should be proud she won. Our tournaments are not easy. Take the child with you as you leave." Vegeta couldn't stop himself. He felt the need to brag about his son, his heritage. He'd crow his pride to the entire universe if he could. Unfortunately, he watched as the bitch processed the only piece of political information in his statement and ignored his invitation to leave. SHIT! It really wasn't like him to make mistakes like that. He had to catch his heart rate and his breathing before his own body began to betray his anxiety. His time on Earth really was softening him.

"Vegeta is alive? Take me to him." How dare this bitch use his name so informally? He did not care if she felt that she had a right to. The fighters in the room stilled. They looked from their commander to the darkened face of the first class soldier that stood before them blocking the room's only exit, the soldier who obviously served under the command of Saiyan royalty. Suddenly, this assignment was more dangerous than any of them had bargained for.

"The Prince died fighting Frieza. I had the honor of burying him." Vegeta almost did not recognize the voice behind him. It was deeper when speaking its native tongue. Yet it flowed from Kakarrot's mouth haltingly, and with a thick accent as vocal cords tried to make sounds they had never before made. It was music to Vegeta's ears. He did not want to question Kakarrot's ability to speak Saiyago much less understand it. It just felt good knowing he could, right somehow.

Odd. He had never been proud of his rival before. When they had entered the room, he was actually afraid of what the baka would do. The prince wasn't sure that it was in the other's moral fiber to allow him to tell blatant lies. Yet here he was, the savior of the Earth, supporting one; wording the truth in such a way as to allow the others to form erroneous conclusions.

The bitch's face fell, loosing the predatory gleam, and he felt the relief wash over him that he hadn't told her. Bitch. She looked between the two brothers. The other men in the room sighed and then smirked at Goku's poor grasp of the Saiyan language, their superiority reaffirmed. Vegeta wanted to laugh at their arrogance. He shoved down the sudden need to transform, allowing that outward manifestation of power to put them back into their place. Living with Freeza had taught him to keep his thoughts and secrets closely guarded if nothing else. He looked at the bitch and raised an eyebrow as if daring her to challenge Kakarrot. She wanted to. He could tell. After all, why would the Saiyan no Ouji have anything to do with a lowly third class?

The first class woman studied him, trying to figure out how far she could push him. She was losing face in front of her team and Vegeta knew it. She could not order him to do anything. Nor could she beat him into submission, he was stronger. He recrossed his hands over his chest and smirked. He almost wished he had his tail back so he could happily wave it in front of her face. He was enjoying himself immensely. She turned to the boy holding the scouter and another small box. "Do you have everything?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"Good. We're leaving." She turned back to Vegeta. "Move."

"Raditz," Vegeta felt Kakarrot's hand on his shoulder. "Let them go. If the girl tries anything you or I will stop it." There was an "hmph" from the problem in the corner. Aspa turned her glare onto Kakarrot. Obviously, she didn't like him speaking a language she didn't understand. Well, she'd just have to deal with it.

"Fine," he growled. He stepped out of the way of the door and raised an eyebrow at the bitch. The four shuffled out smirking at Vegeta and Goku as they left.

"When we get back to Kudaka your existence and your actions will be reported. I'm sure someone will be out to deal with you."

Vegeta ignored her. Someone else would watch them to make sure they left the planet without incident. He looked back at the girl who caused all of this. She stood quietly in the corner cradling her broken arm and fuming. When he caught her eye she snarled. What the hell was she so mad about? He was trying to get her sent home. There was something more going on here. Of course, she was a second class; politics again. He was too out of practice for this.

TBC

A/N: Please review. I don't know how I might be able to make this better if you don't tell me. I promised myself that I wouldn't post this until I had chapter 5 written and at the Beta Reader's. O well, we see how much willpower I have. I'm not getting any hits. I only have 11. I think more people should read my story. The problem is probably with the summary. I'll have to figure out a way to improve it. Hmmm……

Satans Widdle Hellper - Oh ages. Am I the only person who reviews and doesn't ask that question? Um let's see. The girls are 12, making Marron 24, Goten 25, Trunks 26, Seloli 28, and since I reference Gohan's age 36. The three men in Seloli's unit are between 24 and 32. It's called an age set (in this case based on an 8 year cycle. I'll give you a cookie if you can guess why.) I'll be using the Zulu of Africa as my primary basis of the Saiyan culture with some changes and others thrown in. I'm an Anthropologist, what can I say?