Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Price You Pay ❯ Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

Insert standard disclaimer here.

 

The Price You Pay: Chapter Four

 

The onna had been standing outside the door to the GR watching him train for about 20 minutes now. He thought that after the first training bot fell, she would've flipped the emergency shutdown switch and come in screaming at him. Especially after the events of the previous night. But to his extreme disappointment, nothing happened.

 

I've never seen her focus her attention on anything for more than five minutes if it wasn't some scientifically up-to-date piece of technology.

 

It was disconcerting. But if the little onna wanted to watch, let her watch. Bur he wasn't going to stop or try anything reckless just because she was standing there. He may like to show off his talents, but he certainly wasn't foolish. The ki blasts he was using were far too strong for anything of the sort.

 

She was starting to look impatient, and as much as it irked him, he decided maybe it would be wise to stop for the moment. If she used the emergency switch, and he happened to not be looking, he would slam into the tiled ceiling again.

 

After absorbing the last ki blast and telling all the bots to cease fire, Vegeta lowered himself down to the cracked, tile floor and walked to the control console, pushing the button controlling the gravity pressure.

 

As soon as Bulma saw Vegeta turn the room to its usual gravity, she entered her password on the keyboard outside the GR door and entered.

 

"Do you actually have a good reason for coming down here, onna? Or do you just enjoy watching me get blasted?" Vegeta asked without even turning to her. He was quickly typing commands into the room's computer and appeared to be acting like he didn't have time for her.

 

"Yes, and yes," was Bulma's simple reply. She had to admit, watching him wield that much power was exciting. It was like the latest action thriller, and Bulma never missed one of those. He grunted. There were a few minutes of silence as Bulma tentatively watched Vegeta work his magic on the commands.

 

"Okay, so now that we've established that you're here for a reason, what is it?" Apparently, Bulma didn't realize that she'd been staring at him, mystified, for about five minutes. Vegeta's patience had started to wear thin.

 

"Oh, right. Sorry," Bulma muttered before regaining her composure. "I was working on that piece of your breast plate again—"

 

"I thought I already told you that I didn't know what it was made of," Vegeta stated, rudely interrupting her, and turning in her direction.

 

"Yes, yes, but my question was concerning some of the compounds, not the actual material." Vegeta was looking down at her with his eyebrows raised as if he had no idea what she was talking about. Seeing that she was getting nowhere with just that information, she continued. "About half of the substances aren't found here on Earth."

 

"Obviously!" Vegeta exclaimed as if Bulma was the most idiotic creature he'd ever met. "What did you expect? The processing and manufacturing did occur on Vegeta-sei."

 

A slight twitch was starting to develop in Bulma's right eyebrow. If he kept interrupting her, she wasn't going to get anywhere.

 

"Would you stop interrupting me already? I'm trying to ask you a question here and so far I haven't been able to get out what, five words without you cutting in?"

 

"Then ask it already! The Saiya-jin no Ouji has little time to waste on pathetic onnas. And you'll do well to remind yourself that no one orders around the Saiya-jin no Ouji," he said, throwing his hands in the air and then nearly poking her shoulder with his index finger to emphasize his point. He was willing to exchange conversation, but not touch her in the process. Who knew what damage he could do to her frail body?

 

Bulma sighed deeply.

 

"Do you happen to know the chemical equations to any of the compounds? It would be really useful if you did." She felt much better after finally getting out what she had originally come to ask.

 

"I'm sure I know the majority of them," he replied begrudgingly and then turned back to the control panel.

 

"That's great!" Bulma exclaimed.

 

Now maybe I can finally figure this thing out.

 

Vegeta grunted low in his throat.

 

"It's taken you long enough to ask me. It's been what, two, no, three years since you started working on that armor? Really onna, how stupid can you be? It can't be that difficult to sort out." Vegeta enjoyed insulting her intelligence, even though he knew that, on a few levels, her technological knowledge greatly surpassed his own. He savored the times when she had to come to him for help.

 

"Well, if you're so smart Vegeta, then why haven't you tried re-creating any of your battle armor?" Bulma threw back. She was the one trying to do something that could possibly benefit him. It did help that she had an interest in it. He could say whatever he wanted about her I.Q. What it all came back to was the fact that she could beat him, or at least she thought she could, at a battle of the wits, any time, any day. It also came back to the fact that Vegeta himself was just too lazy to figure it out on his own.

 

"How dare you question me?" Vegeta added, now offended. "If I had need for any battle armor, I would certainly make it myself rather than have some weak onna do it for me. Wouldn't want to risk the armor being as weak as its maker."

 

"That's really low of you, Vegeta. I know I don't have an unfathomable power level, but that doesn't mean that everything I make or do is as worthless as you seem to think anything with a power level under a million is!" Bulma pointed out.

 

"Onna, I don't need, or want for that matter, to listen to your pathetic squabbling right now. I have more important matters to attend to," said Vegeta dismissively.

 

"What, like sticking your head farther up your ass?" Bulma mumbled in an attempt to keep her tone below that of a scream. She would let him see her mad, but she would not let him have the satisfaction of seeing her lose her control.

 

"Onna, you best watch your tongue before it's removed!" said Vegeta, once again turning on Bulma and approaching her. It was more a promise than a threat. This time she could see that he was truly angry. Those chocolate brown eyes she'd admired just a few minutes earlier were now black with rage.

 

"Oh, really?" It was the only thing she could think of at the moment. She could feel the heat and ki radiating from his body as he moved closer to her. She may not have been scared of him, but having that iron grip of a glare focused on her for a few seconds definitely made her think about bolting. Hell, she was sure it would have made anyone wish they were ten thousand miles away.

 

~~~~~~~<(((((|||)))))~~~~~~~

 

Things had ended without a bang.

 

Thank Kami. The bang probably would have involved my face.

 

They had exchanged a few more poignant insults, but in the end, when the argument was over, both partners left feeling that they had won. Neither of them realized that it was a perfect stale mate.

 

Vegeta hadn't agreed to give Bulma any of the precious information stored in his brain regarding the chemical formulas, but she knew that she would find a way to pry it out of him one way or another. It wasn't like he'd disagreed.

 

For now, it was still early in the day. The perfect time to call and reconcile with Yamcha. She was starting to get annoyed with herself. She'd been pushing this off for far too long. Wasn't her relationship with Yamcha supposed to be one of her top priorities?

 

Kami, before you know it, I'll be completely emotionally detached like Vegeta.

 

"Better late than never, right?" Bulma asked her father's cat as it laid on the counter, looking rather content. A meow was all she got in return. "I'll take that as a yes," she said with a smile, and picked up the portable handset to dial Yamcha's number.

 

~~~~~~~<(((((|||)))))>~~~~~~~

 

The onna really had no idea how ridiculous she looked. Her hair was frizzling out of a loosely-tied bun and the glasses she wore looked like they would fall off the tip of her nose at any moment.

 

There she was, in all her pathetically defenseless glory, threatening him, the Saiya-jin no Ouji of all people. One simple twist and it all would have been over. A flick of his pinky finger really, and her neck would have been broken.

 

Before moving in with the Briefs family, Kakkarot had made it very clear to Vegeta that if anything happened to Bulma, or any of her family for that matter, Vegeta would pay the consequences. Despite Goku's usually care-free attitude, Vegeta knew not to take the threat lightly.

 

Well, if I can't physically harm the onna, I can always take pleasure in emotionally scarring her.

 

Besides, he liked their rare interaction. Bulma was the closest thing to a Saiya-jin on Earth. She wasn't exactly his first choice person to communicate with, but after one look at Goku's cheery face and uplifting demeanor, Vegeta had decided Bulma was the better choice. It wasn't like she was completely terrible to look at anyway.