Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ What You Wouldn't Expect ❯ You Stupid Bastards Can't Even Stop Me ( Chapter 36 )

Chapter 36: You stupid bastards can't even stop me

 

Run. Faster. Must run faster. Faster....

He ran through the dank and dirty halls, frantically searching for the room she was in. He ran even faster, hearing tormenting screams and cries of the other prisoners that were locked away. He hoped that he didn't hear her scream, but he wondered if it would be a good thing, because he would be able to find her faster.

He looked into every room as he went past, seeing a different torture scene each time he flashed by. He was scared to death that the same thing was happening to Videl, and he swallowed, running as hard as he could down the hall that seemed to go on forever, the lights blurring by and flashing past him as he ran...ran....

He came to some creaky-looking old metal steps that went down in a dizzying spiral, and he ignored the safety hazard, only caring about Videl. He felt the urge to hold her now more than ever, felt the need to be with her and make sure she was alright.

There was one single door in a large black room, barred, locked, bolted, and latched. He broke right through it with ease, his eyes widening at first sight.

There she was, chained and strapped to a wall, her arms pulled painfully high above her head, and her long and slender legs dangling below her. Her hair had grown much longer somehow, and it was a straggly mess cascading down her back, and running down her front in even more tangles. His eyes widened even further as he took a few hesitant steps into the room. She was almost naked, the only thing she was wearing was some skimpy little blood and dirt stained white skirt, which wasn't much more than a disgusting moth-eaten rag. Her top was literally her hair, and it looked like someone had purposefully combed it forward to hide her breasts. Not that he couldn't see through the ratty and dirty strands, which led him further to believe that it had been done that way to entice the men even more in the first place. He growled as he walked forward, seeing some ugly creature come into the impossibly hot room, and blasting it straight to hell without even looking.

She lifted her head with barely an ounce of energy, her eyes not even opening to see who it was. He swallowed as he came up to her, and he hesitated to touch her in any way. She looked like she was in so much pain, all the blood, dirt, bruises, cuts, scrapes, gashes, and slices decorating her lovely body made her look like she was somebody else, not the spirited and gorgeous woman he knew. She looked like someone who had almost been tortured to death.

He swallowed hard again, his eyes watering as he brought up his hand, placing it as gently as he could on her right cheek, which was smeared with dried blood and had a small cut dashed across it. She turned her head away in a jerky movement, her legs instantly drawing together and locking as she whimpered. He hesitated for a moment, his hand pulling away before he placed it back on her turned cheek. "Shh...Videl, it's ok. I'm here now. Don't worry," he whispered, searching her bruised face.

Her eyes fluttered open, and he tried not to let the fury loose inside him as he saw what he did. The pain, all the hurt and anger, the hate...all of it shown in her eyes, which were pitch black, no tender emotions in them whatsoever. When her vision adjusted and she really saw him, her face instantly softened, her eyes going back to their normal beautiful color. He saw the tears gather in them as she cried out, trying to jump forward into his arms. The chains however, held her tightly and painfully in place, causing her to flinch as she fell back to the metal wall. He almost panicked at her display of pain, and he immediately broke the chains with his bare hands, catching her before she fell to the cold and dirty metal floor.

He pulled her down, knowing that she wouldn't be able to stand in her weak condition. She looked so thin and malnourished that it was a wonder that she was still alive. Even her face looked hollow, abnormally pale, and the hurt the reflected across every feature was tearing him apart.

His mind taking a different track as he watched her try to desperately cover herself, he tore off his armor, ripping off the top of his spandex suit with his hands. She gave him the most wariest and frightened look he had ever seen, and he said softly, "I promise I won't look."

Her eyes closed, and he watched as her dry and cracked lips trembled involuntarily as he kept his eyes on her face, drawing it over her head with some difficulty. He was in constant fear that he would hurt her, but no sign of discomfort came to her battered face.

Once he was done, she opened her eyes slowly, and looked into his, as if searching for something. He stared back, his hand going back to her cheek to try and comfort her as much as he could. They were both still kneeling in front of each other, his arm around her back to hold her upright. He tried to smile to encourage her, but it didn't seem to want to come up. "Videl...please talk. I-I want to hear your voice."

She swallowed and tried to clear her throat, but it didn't work. She brought up her weak dirty hand and closed it around her throat, shaking her head as she looked back at him with sad eyes.

He blinked. "You...you can't talk?"

She shook her head again, opening her mouth and trying once more. Tears came to her eyes when she didn't hear her voice, and she looked down as he drew her into his arms, holding her close in his safe embrace. He felt her shiver, and he wondered if she was cold. But wait, he thought, looking around. There was fire burning in pits everywhere, and it was roasting in the room. She's so terrified she shaking, he thought.

His face hardened as he picked her up carefully, feeling her trying to get as close to him as possible. She was clinging to him like a lifeline, which in reality, he was. All he could think about as he sprinted out of the room and up the stairs, was getting her back to the ship. She needed a regeneration tank worse than he probably ever would.

He heard the familiar screams and cries of pain as he ran as carefully as he could down the halls and corridors, seeing Videl cringe at every single one of them out of the corner of his eye. He held her closer as she sobbed, her arms tightening around his neck. He whispered to her that it would be alright, and he would make sure nothing would happen to her ever again. Her only response was to shiver again, and to bury her face in the crook of his neck. He felt warm tears pelt his skin, and he felt such anger go through him that he knew that nothing would stop him if he ever got a hold of Babidi or Dabura.

He almost ran smack into his father, Vegeta, and the Supreme Kai, and every single pair of eyes widened when they saw what he held in his arms. He motioned them to keep running, and they all nodded, taking off in the direction they had come from. They heard a sudden alarm go off above their heads, and flashing red lights came on almost everywhere, practically blinding them. They all put on their sun visors, thanking Bulma again silently as they ran harder, down the halls and just plain blasting through the doors. They heard men running behind them and shouting, and everyone stopped except Gohan, telling him to go ahead so they could hold off the bastards behind them. Gohan gave his dad a look that told him to be careful, and Goku nodded grimly, telling his son to go now. Gohan nodded back, leaving his father and everyone else to get Videl out of there as soon as possible.

He closed his eyes as he heard blasts behind him, and the ground started shaking as he ran, along with the screams of pain and yells from his father, Vegeta, and the Supreme Kai. He prayed that they would be alright, it was all he could do.

He found himself outside of the ship in no time, the storm Bulma had been talking about roaring to life around him in an intense blizzard of pelting sand and small rocks. He shielded Videl as best as he could with his body as he ran back to the ship, seeing it through the haze of red sand flying around him.

He ran up the metal ramp that led to the now-open door of the enormous ship, sighing heavily with relief as he ran through it, seeing Bulma dashing towards him. She almost screamed when she saw what he was holding, but held silent, telling him to follow her quickly. She hurried as fast as she could down the halls until she got to the Regeneration Room, immediately opening the first tank she came to, and telling Gohan to stand her upright and close his eyes as she stripped Videl of what was left of her clothes. He heard Videl give a small protest as Bulma took away her clothes, but Bulma shushed her in a soothing motherly voice, telling her that everything was going to be alright and that she would be better in no time at all. He felt her taken from his arms, and he had to wonder at the strength of Bulma for a second as he heard the door close to the regeneration tank.

Bulma told him he could open his eyes, and he saw a flash of bruised skin before a shield that Bulma herself had designed covered Videl's nakedness. Instead of just the normal glass, it was plastic shield. He gave her a brief smile, and then followed her out of the room to the cockpit, listening to her yell into a speaker that led outside and telling the two small boys to get inside right now. He watched an external camera that showed the happenings outside and saw them run up the ramp, and through the open doors. A few moments later they came huffing into the cockpit, asking where everyone else was. Bulma looked at the interplanetary clock on the wall, biting her lower lip. They only had about ten minutes left until the auto-programmed computer started to kick in and leave the surface of the planet. She watched the outside screen like a hawk, her hands clasped as she prayed that they would make it back in time.

The ten minutes went by, signaling that they were about to take off. She was bawling her heart out even as she strapped her son and Goten in, and then herself. Trunks didn't understand what was happening, but when he saw his mother upset like that, it made himself cry. Goten just started crying period because everyone else was, even if he didn't understand like Trunks.

Gohan took in a deep shuddering breath as the ship lifted off the surface of the planet, and he closed his eyes, trying to block out Bulma's heart-wrenching wails and Trunks' and Goten's sobbing.

They were out of the atmosphere faster than they had thought they were going to be, but no one noticed. Bulma was still crying her heart out, wailing that Vegeta was gone and that she was never going to see him again. "Stupid bastard...he didn't even tell me goodbye...he didn't even kiss me goodbye!!" she whined, burying her face in her hands as her shoulders shook from her crying. Gohan unhooked himself, walking over to Trunks and Goten, whose faces were both red and tears still in their eyes. He told them that everything was alright, even if they didn't believe him. They could still hear Bulma, and it wasn't helping any. He was about to lead them out of the cockpit and leave Bulma alone in her misery of losing Vegeta when he felt three familiar ki's appear. His eyes widened as he saw his dad, Vegeta, and the Supreme Kai appear, his father with his fingers still on his forehead. He watched as Bulma sniffed, lifting her head and going into complete insanity as she saw Vegeta, standing there and watching her. She ripped herself out of the seat, literally jumping in his arms and crying into his chest that she had thought he was dead and that she was never going to see him again and that she was going to have to raise Trunks all by herself and....

"Shh, Onna, don't cry like that. I'm fine, I'm right here. You should have more faith in me than what you have. I'm here, aren't I?"

She nodded, lifting her tear-streaked face up to his. He smirked, placing a small kiss on her lips. She smiled back at him, holding onto him like she would never willingly let him go. Vegeta was stuck there holding her, even though he didn't mind, in fact it felt rather good just to be holding his mate.

Goku grinned his face off as he headed over to his son, letting him lead him to the Regeneration Room so they could both see Videl. The Supreme Kai yet again disappeared into thin air, but no one noticed. Trunks and Goten ran off, knowing that since Bulma was alright then everything must be ok.

"Dad, what happened after I left?" Gohan asked quietly, happy that what Bulma had thought wasn't true. He himself had started to wonder if they had been killed, but they weren't, and that's all that mattered.

Goku smiled. "We ran into a bit of trouble, but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle easily."

Gohan shook his head, wondering about his dad as they walked into the Regeneration Room. Gohan went silent as he walked over to the tank she was in, watching as her hair flowed about her in the healing fluid she was submersed in. He placed his hand over the plastic-covered glass, staring at her peaceful and sleeping face covered with the breathing mask.

Goku stepped up behind his quiet son, watching the young woman as well. Gohan jumped when he suddenly asked, "So...what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know, dad...I don't know."