Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Within You ❯ Doors Inside My Head ( Chapter 3 )

The Prince stared blankly at the crumbling plateau while quickly becoming enveloped in his thoughts, waiting for the drowning sound of collapsing earth to settle. He mindlessly nursed his hand as he backed away from the destruction he caused, slowly descending from the sky until he touched down upon the dusty Wastelands' surface. The sound of beeping finally drowned out the silence and forced Vegeta to snap to attention in search of the source of the commotion. Eventually, he found the culprit to be the folded up Scouter within the pocket of his training gear.

The Scouter continued to annoyingly pulse until he retrieved the device and opened it up to investigate its detections. On the highlighted LED screen, the technology indicated that there were exactly two other higher than average power signatures in the nearby area, one of which being just beyond a row of plateaus to the south of him. Vegeta looked in the indicated direction but couldn't see any visible sign of the close being, only desolation and dust for as far as his eyes could reach.

After checking his Scouter for a second time, he confirmed that the signature was still there but was now travelling further away from him. The power level of the scanned individual wasn't anything worth worrying about but the proud Saiyan was curious as to why anyone with such insignificant strength would be wandering about such an incredibly harsh region of the planet.

It was that curiosity that overcame the better of him. Vegeta surveyed the area one last time before he leapt into air and took flight cautiously in the direction his Scouter mapped for him. It wasn't too long before he managed to find the signature, which upon further investigation proved to be an indistinguishable human woman running to the base of an accessible plateau. The Saiyan Prince continued to keep his distance and stay out of woman's sight, unfortunately staying far enough away that he couldn't steal a look at her face for his own recognition.

He would have to wait until night fall before he could get closer. It wouldn't be long; the sun was beginning to set behind the mountains.

 

Just after darkness settled about the Wastelands, Vegeta silently hovered to the mouth of the cave he had watched the woman enter. He felt awkward in the sense he wasn't used to sneaking around in this fashion, being a rather straightforward and bullheaded man in any situation. On the other hand, he couldn't shake the familiarity of the woman randomly out in these arid lands.

He stood at the entrance of the large crevice with the nearly full moon to his back, casting an enormous shadow over the cave floor and the belongings scattered upon it. A faint scowl quickly arose to his countenance as he identified the stranger. It would figure that one of the only women stupid and stubborn enough to venture alone into the dangerous Wastelands was also a well known genius.

Vegeta shook his head and turned abruptly on his heels, leaving the entrance of the cave and walking to the very edge of the steep plateau. He was greeted immediately by the unwelcome sight of a well sized Tyrannosaurus stalking in the area. It must have picked up either his or Bulma's scent and followed it to this location.

While he contemplated leaving and letting Bulma fend for herself against the wandering predator, a glimmer of conscience prevented him from doing so. The Prince sighed haughtily and walked back to the cave entrance, only to stay outside and keep a vigil. He leaned his back against the uncomfortable, jagged rocks and crossed his arms tightly to his chest.

After hours of night spent watching the dinosaur wander the area, still unable to figure out where his prey had wandered off to, the weary Saiyan began to nod off. Before he knew it, he had fully kicked into a lean against the menacing stone and his heavy lids shut, slipping into a light sleep.

 

.........................................................

It was only when the heated fingers of sunlight touched her cold skin that Bulma realized she had been shivering. Still wrapped in the heavy blanket of sleep, she groggily reached out across the cave floor with a blood caked hand in search of her quilt which had probably fallen off the bed during the night. When the quilt could not be found, Bulma groaned and painfully opened her eyes. Pain rushed her with the force of an express train and she groaned again, holding her head in her hands.
There was no doubt at all in her mind that she looked absolutely awful. The palms of her hands and the soles of her feet had been cut and blistered from running around out in the Wastelands and climbing the side of the mountain. The blood had dried and cracked, mixed with the sand and dirt of the cave making it look a lot worse than it actually was. She had problems opening her left eye and there was a dull throbbing pain above it. Reaching up, she could feel the swollen lump and healing cut above her eye from the nasty gash she had gained from slipping down the side of the mountain. She was having trouble opening her eye due to the now dry and cracked stream of blood from the gash.

“Wonderful... just wonderful...”

Her entire body ached and throbbed with pain, cold shivers shooting through her from sleeping on the cold, hard surface of the cave floor. Bulma simply was not used to this. She was used to sleeping in a King sized bed covered in feather stuffed duvets and piles and piles of soft fluffy cushions and pillows. Right about now, her mother would be cooking her breakfast and making her a large mug of tea, just as she liked it. After breakfast, she would take a swim in their pool, and then perhaps ring her friends and go shopping, stopping for lunch in the most expensive and luxurious restaurants of course.

 

Shakily, she staggered to her feet, hissing softly as her body rebelled against the sudden movement. Some of the cuts and scrapes on her feet and legs reopened, causing Bulma to grimace and look around for something to stop the bleeding. For the worst one, just below her knee, she tore off a section of the blanket she was wearing as a skirt and tied it tightly around her leg, the other cuts and scratches; she made do with trying to clean them with the napkin her mother had put in with her lunch.
The pampered woman didn't need a mirror to know she looked awful. Her long blue hair had fallen from its sensible bun, and had curled in the heat, causing her usually sleek and perfect hair to be a messy mass of curls and ringlets. She had dark shadows under her eyes from a restless night's sleep, and her whole body was patterned with blood and dirt. Definitely not one of her proudest moments.
Deciding it was time to go out into the world and try to find her way back to her demolished Capsule house; she turned to the entrance of the cave and stopped dead in her tracks. There was someone out there. All she could see was the curve of one shoulder, and the person's leg, the way the sun was shining into the cave cast everything into strange shadows, so she could not get a proper look at the person without getting closer. She wasn't quite ready to simply walk up to a stranger who happened to be sleeping outside her cave... actually, what was this person doing outside her cave? Was he a stalker? Someone from the press waiting to get a picture of the genius Bulma Briefs in a less than flattering state? Or was this something far more sinister?
Slipping the steak knife from her pocket and gripping it tightly in her right hand, she slowly bent down, keeping an eye on the figure and picked up a fist sized rock. Taking a deep breath then letting it out slowly, she flung the rock at the stranger and took a few quick steps back into the shadows.

 

The Saiyan Prince's eyes had just begun to drift open when a large rock struck him in his relaxed triceps. His muscles immediately tightened from the attack and bulged against the conforming fabric of his training suit. The rock itself didn't hurt the Saiyan as much as the overwhelming shock of being attacked in his sleep had.

Again, his face was distorted with an expression of anger at the quick realization of where the rock had come from and the remembrance of why he slept outside of a cave all night. Vegeta growled and whirled away from the cliff side, stepping into the mouth of the cave to face Bulma. His image seemed more like a standing shadow and his facial features were unrecognizable in the darkness now that the morning sun was rising against his back. However, it was quite clear who he was by his distinguishable mess of hair spiked wildly toward the cave ceiling.

His head rolled along the bearings of his shoulders to loosen up, accompanied by the sickening sound of his muscles and joints popping sporadically as he worked them over.

“What the hell do you think you're doing?”

He called out to the blue haired woman, his rough voice scraping soundly through the hollow cave. Vegeta's voice was harsh and biting, and was clearly irritated by his lack of sleep and rude awakening.

“Next time, I'll just feed you to the Tyrannosaurus and save myself the trouble.”

A ray of light peeked over the ridge of his shoulder and cast sunshine over the ragged looking genius, who appeared to have been a victim of the brutal terrain and obstacles of the Wastelands. The image of her did bring him a small sense of satisfaction, knowing she was used to being pampered and that this adventure seemed to be a bit more than she could chew.

“It looks like you've been enjoying your stay out here,”

 

He smirked as he openly mocked the haggard looking woman, but then returned to his stern and commanding nature.

 

“You must be stupid or have a death wish. Why are you out here all alone, Woman?”

Vegeta stepped to the side of the cave entrance, letting the sunlight illuminate a portion of his profile to her—just in case she hadn't figured out who he was already. He considered for a moment why he even bothered to lecture her, knowing his words would only fall on deaf ears. Her stubborn attitude was the only one on this planet that rivalled his own, although he would never openly admit it.

He turned away from her and gazed out over the dry landscape. The signs of another extremely hot day could be seen on the sand and rocks in the form of heat vapors distorting the air. In his silence, his stomach broke into a low grumbling, reminding him that it had to miss lunch due to training and dinner due to guarding.

Vegeta thought about the second power level his Scouter had picked up momentarily, and noted that it seemed to have faded off during the night when he last checked. He wasn't entirely sure that the person or being was gone but he didn't let the concern overtake him for much longer. He was more obligated to finish his business here and retire to an enormous breakfast and a comfortable sleep.

 

Bulma yelped as the person moved swiftly around and yelled at her. She closed her eyes tightly and began slashing the knife around in front of her and fumbled for the hair straighteners, trying to switch them on with shaking fingers.

“No! Get away from me you pervert! My father will have you jailed for this you great big, stupid... Vegeta?”

One eye cracked open as the familiarity of the voice sank into her tired mind, and she looked at the imposing shadow, the gravity defying spiked hair looked like black flame against the rising sun.
She sighed with relief and slumped against the wall of the cave, feeling grateful that it was the disgruntled Saiyan that stood outside the cave, and not some enemy about to whisk her away and hold her to ransom. But the obvious relief in her eyes quickly turned to anger as she stalked up to the proud Prince and waved the steak knife in his face.

“What am I doing? What the hell do you think you're doing? Sneaking up on me like that! How dare you just turn up and...and... well... be you!”

Bulma huffed and held the knife between her teeth as she reached back and tried to do something with her hair. But no amount of teasing, petting, twisting or combing with her fingers would calm down the unruly mass. With a growl of frustration and a stomp of her foot, she crossed her arms and glared at Vegeta, looking like a mirror image of the Saiyan's normal arrogant stance.

Bulma snorted at his words and turned her face away from him, her nose stuck up in the air in a haughty manner.

“Stupid? Death wish? I shall have you know, Vegeta that I am in the middle of my training and you are interrupting!”

She slid narrowed blue eyes over to look at the arrogant Saiyan and allowed a nasty little smirk of her own to grace her ruby lips. She couldn't let him know that actually, she was quite glad he was here. Her first day of training hadn't gone as well as she had expected, in fact she was tired, hungry and frightened. Despite being a pain in the backside, Vegeta was a big scary Saiyan, she doubted there was anything bigger and badder in the Wastelands than him, so at least she was safe. And it was this surety of her survival that made her arrogant.

“I was doing just fine, I'll have you know! I survived being attacked by a dinosaur, and some lunatic blowing up the mountains! I even found myself a shelter! My first shelter was a lot better, as it was near water... but I like this one. It means I can watch out for enemies and such.”

She slid narrowed blue eyes over to look at the arrogant Saiyan and allowed a nasty little smirk of her own to grace her ruby lips. She couldn't let him know that actually, she was quite glad he was here. Her first day of training hadn't gone as well as she had expected, in fact she was tired, hungry and frightened. Despite being a pain in the backside, Vegeta was a big scary Saiyan, she doubted there was anything bigger and badder in the Wastelands than him, so at least she was safe. And it was this surety of her survival that made her arrogant.

“I was doing just fine, I'll have you know! I survived being attacked by a dinosaur, and some lunatic blowing up the mountains! I even found myself a shelter! My first shelter was a lot better, as it was near water... but I like this one. It means I can watch out for enemies and such. We'll see how high and mighty you are when I'm flying, controlling my Ki and kicking your ass!”

She flicked her unruly hair out of her bright blue eyes and smirked. If she trained really hard today, she might be able to fly by night fall, then she'd show him.

The proud Saiyan had turned away from Bulma as she rambled about her ongoing training and all the accomplishments she achieved while being stuck out here in the Wastelands. Vegeta's body shook a little bit as he attempted to refrain from laughing but it was a fight he wasn't meant to win. He cackled with roaring laughter at the mere thought of the Capsule Corporation's princess training to become anything more than a genius inventor. In fact, his eyes were on the verge of tearing up when his heinous laughing finally died down.

Vegeta turned to face Bulma directly, staring at her sternly with his cold glare. He took a single step closer to her and took a casual stance with one arm hung loosely at his side while the opposite hand grasped at its elbow.

"Training? This isn't kind of place you come to play dress up and be Daddy's little girl. You are lucky I found you,"

The arrogant Prince spouted, mocking Bulma in the same fashion that he turned his head to the side and lifted his nose into the air. He continued on to mumble about how he was unlucky to find her, on the other hand.

Vegeta brought his hands together and pressed his fingers outward, cracking them in unison with one another. Now that he thought about it, he should probably continue with his own training but it was against his better judgment to leave her out in the Wastelands alone. He sighed deeply on the inside as his inner conflict subsided and he retired against the wall again.

He grinned lightly at the thought of her attempting to fight him. Even if she did manage to learn the art of Bukujutsu, she was still a long way off from ever harming him.

"Unless you mean you'll be annoying me to death, I don't think I have to worry too much about your idle threats."

Bulma's face flushed with anger as the arrogant Prince laughed at her. How dare he?! How dare he laugh at her? HER! Bulma Briefs, the richest, prettiest and most intelligent woman on the planet!
She stood with her mouth gaping open for a few moments, blinking her large blue eyes at the audacity of the Saiyan. Gaining her composure, she narrowed her eyes at him and lifted her chin in defiance. She wouldn't allow him to make her feel inferior, even though it seemed to be one of his strengths.

“I have not come here as 'Daddy's Little Girl!' When I leave here, I will be a warrior in my own right, and you men won't be able to fly off on your little adventures and leave me behind anymore! You will have to respect me as a warrior, and not just use me as a coin purse, or to use my GR!”

Just being in the man's presence irritated her to no end. She felt her fists clench at her sides as the urge to punch him in his smirking face over-whelmed her. She hated how he had picked apart her entire reason for coming here by simply implying she was weak. She was quite proud of herself for what she thought was quick thinking, and bravely facing the cruel elements of the Wastelands.

“Idle threats? These are no idle threats, your Highness. In fact, I think you're afraid!”

She allowed a small smile to grace her lips as she placed her hands on her hips.

“You're worried I'll beat you, aren't you? The great Prince of all Saiyans, beaten by a small human woman! You would never be able to show yourself in public again!”

She stood grinning at him, feeling a little like one who had just spend the past few minutes poking a crocodile with a stick.

 

“Hah.”

He laughed once to himself as he heard her last words before he was about to take to the high skies. Vegeta was unable to resist the temptation of calling her on the claim of might she spewed so dramatically. A moment later, he dropped back down to the plateaus ledge, continuing to keep his back turned to her. The Saiyan only tilted his head mildly to the side, allowing him to peer back at Bulma out of the corner of his eye.

”Maybe you aren't as smart as everyone thinks you are. Openly challenging a Saiyan to combat?”

Vegeta's sadistic grin lent him an arrogant charm which he used to weaken Bulma's false sense of control.

“Do you wish to try your hand at your claim?”

Gradually, he turned to face the ragged looking woman, whose hair was currently as outrageous as his own. A single hand was drawn from his side, from which he pointed a finger directly at the genius inventor.

“Or is your bark bigger than your bite?”

His hand rotated at the wrist to turn his palm upside, letting his fingers bend and beckon Bulma to test her strength against him.

His power level slowly began to rise. Vegeta made the gathering of his energy noticeable in order to shave down Bulma's determination. Small rocks and dust began to pool at his feet, turning over and revolving in the turbulence his summoning of power created.

The winds about him shifted awkwardly, rapidly changing their course to avoid contact with his body and creating a constant stream of howling air into the occupied cavern. His spiked hair flailed wildly and loose areas of his training shirt flapped in the same manner. The faintest hint of an evolving aura blossomed around the Saiyan Prince's figure, glowing weakly in fluctuation of blue and white colors.
With Vegeta at the only exit to the cavern, it was easy to say that she was definitely stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Bulma's eyes widened a little and her mouth became suddenly dry. Watching the Saiyan openly flaunt his power, made her want to scream and run away, but where would she run to? Aimlessly into the darkness where anything could happen to her? What if there was a dinosaur was back there. That last thought turned her blood to ice as she realised just how foolish she had been. Anything could live in the depths of this cave, and she hadn't even thought to check.
Licking her lips nervously, she shifted her feet into a stance Roshi had taught to her when she was younger. She was poised to move quickly out of the way should she need to.
The rise in his power level continued to increase until his energy output suddenly ceased without any warning. Changes in the weather went back to normal as if nothing had ever disturbed them, letting the winds die down and breeze freely as well as allowing the risen fragments of dust and earth to fall back to the ground with a clatter. His grin still jerked mildly, as he took another intimidating step closer to Bulma.

“I can feel the change in your power level as you get nervous.”

His body's image seemed to distort a bit as he continued closer to the war-torn looking woman, flickering off and on with a hazy blue appearance and accompanied by heavy gusts of air rising from nowhere. Finally, he came to a stop just a few inches in front of Bulma, where he glared at her for a moment.

Vegeta's hands pushed forward bearing the steak knife and hair straighteners Bulma previously wielded, which he dropped to the dirty cave floor with an amused laugh. His dark eyes narrowed as he walked steadily towards the trembling blue haired woman, enjoying the obvious fear in her eyes.
Bulma gasped and her eyes widened as she felt her back hit the cave wall, and yet Vegeta kept coming. She jumped as both the Saiyan's hands slammed on either side of her head against the ragged cave wall. With a deadly smirk, Vegeta's head descended down to whisper in the trembling woman's ear.

“You can lower whatever guard you have left. I'm not going to harm you.”

His amused appearance wouldn't fade as he took a step to the side and leaned into the cold embrace of the cave wall.

“I would feel like I'm taking a victory away from the Wastelands, who have beaten you down considerably already.”

In the back of his mind, he could feel the presence of the power level from the day before approaching, which caused the small hairs on the back of his neck to rise. The approaching signature was much closer to Bulma's than his own but as a trained warrior; he was always on his guard even if things appeared to be easy.

Bulma gritted her teeth against the scathing comment that threatened to escape her lips. Swallowing hard she licked her lips nervously and ran a hand through her unruly hair. Perhaps she needed to stop goading the Saiyan. Maybe.
Gathering her composure, she crossed her arms and gave Vegeta a smug smile.

“So you've got a few tricks of your own... doesn't make you better than me. And I have not been beaten down thank you very much! I had a little problem with a dinosaur that wrecked my house is all, hence my attire! And I'd like to see you climb part way up a mountain and not get a few cuts and bruises!”

She approached him slowly, her muscles tense, and adrenaline rushing through her body. She hated that a part of her was still very much afraid of him, but then again, she figured that she was glad she was afraid. It meant she wasn't insane.

“Well, if you're so amazing, Vegeta. Why don't you train me?”

She came ever closer, bright blue eyes flicking over the where Vegeta had thrown the knife. She couldn't see the hair straighteners, which sparked her annoyance. They'd been expensive, and she wanted to sort out her mane of hair.
“You think you know everything about being the perfect warrior, and how to train effectively. I bet you think you know these Wastelands like the back of your hand don't you? Well, prove it!”
Bulma stopped when they were mere inches away from each other, her chin raised in defiance and her eyes gleaming with challenge.

His strong arms were lifted and his gloved hands were tucked beneath his head to use as a makeshift pillow as he watched Bulma advance in a predatory manner. The look on his face steadily began to change as she started to run her mouth, until it was eventually stone solid without any hint of expression. When she finally stopped talking, he took a long pause to gather the perfect words that would ultimately sum up the flawless answer to her probing questions.

Why wouldn't he train her?

“You're too annoying.”

He grumbled loudly, fighting with all his inherited Saiyan strength in order to prevent the pleased smile he wanted to crack.

It was true that Vegeta would probably be a great teacher to the up and coming Bulma but he wasn't sure if his nerves could take the constant pressure. At every twist and turn he would expect whining, questioning, and resistance. The Prince of Saiyans momentarily imagined the outcome of a hypothetical situation that was bound to happen more than often, resulting in the two of them face to face in flushed anger and screaming at the top of their lungs.

The imagery itself bothered him, and he shook it from his mind with a shake of his head. He opened his eyes and looked at Bulma again, as if she waited any further reasoning as to why he wouldn't train her but that is the only reason he had.

After he continued to think about the situation, he wondered if there was actually anyone on the Planet Earth that would be able to handle Bulma as one of their pupils. He imagined Roshi being assaulted after one of his lewd remarks and the poor old Kami shaking his head and sighing in frustration once the woman refused any work out that might mess up her hair.

“I'm too what?!”

Bulma stomped her foot and shrieked at the arrogant Saiyan, her eye narrowed, blazing with blue fire and her pearly white teeth clenched in fury. She balled her fists, and for a moment, it looked like she was going to hit him, but she turned swiftly and began to pick up the pink lunch box, the knife and then wandered around the cave looking for her hair straighteners. When she finally found them, she switched them off and placed them securely back in her pocket.

“I'm annoying? I'M annoying?! I think you should take a good look in the mirror, your HIGHNESS! You have to be the most irritating male I have ever met in my entire life! You know, most men would be honoured at the chance to train me! I am Bulma Briefs! I am a very important person!”

She huffed and looked around the cave to make sure she hadn't left anything before zipping the lunch box into her Capsule Corp jacket and striding defiantly to the cave entrance.

“Well, you know what, Vegeta? I don't need your damn help! I'll become a warrior all by myself. I suggest you stay out of my way, as the next time I see you I'll... I'll.... well, I don't know what I'll do, but I promise you it will hurt a lot!”

Bulma stormed out of the cave and stood nervously on the edge looking down towards the ground. It was only now that she realised how high up she really was. She swelled with pride a little that she'd managed to climb all that way and only come away with minor injuries.
Licking her lips nervously, she knelt down on the very edge and began to lower herself over the side.

“This would be so much easier if I could fly...”

She muttered softly to herself and she began the long climb down the mountain.

 

Vegeta watched on as the Capsule Corporation genius lost her control and blew up in a fit of rage. She was more like him than even she realized, stomping around like an ape after she didn't get her way.

When he was awakened this morning by the rock that struck his arm, the Saiyan royal was certain that it was only the beginning of a horrible day. On the other hand, he was having quite a great time taking out his own frustrations on the helpless human woman.

He glanced at Bulma as she bounced back and forth through the cave, nearly steaming from the ears as she assembled her mess of goods and began to climb back down from the huge plateau. Following slowly after her and tracing her steps up to the ledge, Vegeta stared down at Bulma as she awkwardly and cautiously descended.

The wind seemed to embrace him as he walked over the cliff; his energy flowing freely as he slowly hovered down to float behind Bulma. Now equipped with a mocking grin, he crossed his arms over his chest in a taut fashion while still keeping in time with the proud woman's slow movements.

“You should know, there is someone out here. I've been keeping track them ever since they were picked up on my scouter. It could be another dinosaur or it could be a Wastelands' bandit.”

 

It wasn't his intention to scare the Briefs' princess but it was always good to be aware of one's surroundings.

“Decent weather today, it's humid and hot.”

 

He was lying, of course, he hated the humidity but he was sure it was much worse for Bulma who was in the midst of physical activity.

 

“Not the best kind of weather to climb down a mountain, though. Your hands will sweat and holds will be slippery. I'm sure you knew that before you hastily made your way over the edge, though.”

 

Bulma's entire body was quivering as she made her way painfully slowly down the mountain. She was hungry, tired and thirsty. Her pampered body was dehydrated and not used to being out in such rough conditions. She whimpered softly as a particularly sharp jutting piece of rock re-opened a gash on the soft flesh of her hand. Gritting her teeth she tried to ignore the pain, not wanting to look weaker than she already did in front of the arrogant Prince.
She yelped in surprise and nearly jumped off the mountain when Vegeta spoke from right behind her. She had been concentrating so hard on clinging to the side of the mountain whilst at the same time trying to get down that she hadn't even noticed he'd moved. Clinging to the side of the mountain for dear life, she turned her head slightly and snarled at the Saiyan.

“You know, you're really not helping right now, Vegeta! I am sure I can deal with one or two bloody dinosaurs! I managed with the last one, so I doubt very much that any others will pose much of a problem for me! And as for a Wastelands Bandit, I dealt with Yamcha, so anyone else will be a piece of cake! I do not need your advice, and I most certainly do not need your help, so if you don't mind get lost so I can get down this damn mountain!”

Muttering expletives and not so nice things about the Saiyan Prince, she carried on struggling her way down the mountain, ignoring the stabs of pain and the aches of her tired body. When Vegeta spoke again, waffling on about the weather or something, Bulma ground her teeth in frustration. She was about to lash out with a scathing remark when her foot slipped. Her hands moist with sweat were unable to get a proper grip and she slipped away from the small ledge she had been clinging to. Frantically, she scrabbled to grab hold of anything as she scraped down the side of the mountain. She dug her fingers into the hard rock in an attempt to stop her fall, but all it did was slow her slightly and tear up her finger tips.