Disclaimer: I own nothing but this story and my characters; Recca, Sage, Macki, Elani, Noel, Miranda, Margo, Meryl, and any one else I decide to drop in. Everything else belongs to the great Mr. Akira Toriyama and I am not looking to make any profit off of this.

This is chapter 8! Hee hee! I know that chapter 7 took a while to be posted, but patience is a virtue and you need patience to write a fic and also to sit down and be dedicated to reading each chapter. I am so glad you guys like it so much! Thanks lots.

Princess

~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Chapter 8

Bulma walked slowly over to the lab system.

"What is this doing here?" she asked as she ran her fingers over the smooth surface of the control panel.

"Shouldn’t you know? Your father makes this crap, I’d think you’d take it as your responsibility to keep track of what he puts in these things." Vegeta said.

Kakarot, Vegeta and Turles had stayed in their spots near the door.

Bulma paid him no heed as she continued to inspect the machinery. She played with some of the keys on the panel.

"How do I make it work?" she asked as she sat in the rolling chair.

She leaned over the keyboard to study the screen and the light green dots showing on it and jumped back when the screen lit up.

"What did I do?" she asked as she looked around. Her elbow had hit a button.

"So…" she said as she concentrated on the graph that popped up on the screen. "What does this mean? It looks like the surrounding area."

Some of the green dots grew larger and turned to body outlines. "What?" she asked as she turned around towards the three Saiya-jins. The outlines on the screen matched almost perfectly to the Saiya-jins. She turned back to the screen and looked at it in confusion.

"What is this? Does this have something to do with Saiya-jins?" she asked herself.

 

"What is the wench staring at?" Vegeta asked angrily.

"I don’t know." Kakarot said as he looked at her.

She had stared at them then turned around suddenly with her focus back on the screen. Turles frowned.

"Well, why don’t we go see what she finds so interesting on that dumb contraption." Turles said as he sneered.

"What is it that you find so interesting in the Chikyuu-jin? Let her do what ever the hell she wants. It’s not like she has anything that can harm us." Vegeta told Turles.

"Besides, you don’t move unless I say so." Vegeta growled.

"Hai, sire. I’m sorry that I forgot my place." Turles said nervously.

Kakarot smirked at his brother.

Turles glared back.

"Stop it you two fools. Something’s happening." Vegeta said seriously.

He tapped the connection button on his scouter. Turles and Kakarot did the same.

Bulma narrowed her eyes at the screen as something else came up on it. A green dot that started to increase rapidly in size yet stayed just out of range so she couldn’t see what shape it took. Numbers started to shoot across the screen and she observed them carefully. The numbers started to slow and a thought struck her.

‘Maybe this is a power level reading.’ She told herself.

Chichi, who had long since removed herself from the presence of the group came bounding out of the forest. The three Saiya-jins ignored her entry, as their attention seemed to be fixated on the numbers flying over the little glass panels over their right eyes.

"Kakarot!" Chichi shouted as she ran past Bulma and came to a halt near her mate.

"Did you feel it? Do you know what that is??" Chichi asked with worry evident on her pretty features.

"Shh… yes, I felt it. But I don’t know what it is." Kakarot whispered as he placed a gloved finger on her lips to quiet her.

Chichi frowned as she turned her head away.

She looked at the numbers still playing across the window of her scouter.

Bulma saw the numbers come to a halt.

"It reads 290,000." Bulma told them out loud.

The Saiya-jins snapped their heads towards the lavender haired human.

"That’s what it reads." Bulma said as she stared back at them.

Chichi stomped over to Bulma as she pulled the scouter from her ear and held it in her hand. The numbers were still going by.

"How do you know that?" Chichi asked as she sneered her nose at Bulma.

Bulma frowned at the Saiya-jin woman.

"I don’t know. This thing is what came out of the first capsule I opened and it seems like it’s a tracking device of sorts." Bulma informed.

Chichi rolled her eyes. "And that justifies that this thing can read power levels?" Chichi asked.

"The power level reads two hundred ninety thousand." Kakarot relayed after he read it off his scouter.

Chichi raised an eyebrow.

"So… what could have such a very high power level? The prince’s isn’t even that high…" Chichi said in disbelief.

(A/n remember this isn’t regular DBZ timeline, but if it were it’d be in the Saiya-jin saga. I remember Vegeta’s power level was like 18,000 and Goku’s was like 12,000 or something so at this moment his power level is in the hundred thousands yet he’s weaker than 290,000. Ok? Clear? u.u Sigh. I didn’t think so…)

Bulma heard Chichi’s words.

‘Stronger than the prince?? But he destroyed my planet! If this thing is stronger what will it do with all that power?’ Bulma asked herself.

Vegeta angrily walked over to the two women with Kakarot and Turles following closely behind.

"Locate the coordinates of that power!" he ordered Bulma.

Bulma jumped at his loud orders.

"Do you think I know how to work this thing? Why don’t you just use your ‘special powers’ and locate the damn thing yourselves. You know you’re just going to blow it up before you even know what it is. I won’t help you murder something." Bulma said angrily.

Vegeta glared at her.

"Well… I don’t think we can beat whatever it is…" Kakarot said.

Bulma snapped her head and focused on the warrior.

"What?" she asked him.

He frowned as he clicked on his scouter.

"Your power level’s 25,000, Turles’ is 53,000, Chichi’s is 21,000, mine is 69,000 and the prince’s power level is 147,000." Kakarot said after he had read the readings off his scouter.

Bulma glanced at the stocky prince.

‘He’s the strongest here… yet not strong enough.’ She thought to herself.

Vegeta felt her eyes on him and turned his head to stare at her. She knew that he had discovered her watching him yet couldn’t take her eyes off of him. Vegeta’s frown deepened.

"Well," he said as he turned to the Saiya-jins.

"I guess we fight."

"Fight?" Chichi asked.

A vein popped up on Vegeta’s forehead.

"Yeah like the thing you were fucking born to do!" he yelled at her.

"Oh, gomen ne, your highness yet I thought this was a peaceful mission. I wasn’t expecting to have to fight." Chichi said reservedly.

"And we didn’t expect you to accompany us, now did we? I guess new things always pop up, don’t they?" he asked her.

Kakarot frowned.

"Well, Chichi’s not going to fight." Kakarot said.

"Every Saiya-jin we have will fight." Vegeta said as he bared his fangs at Kakarot.

Kakarot was ready to retort when Chichi grabbed his arm.

"It’s all right, Kakarot." She said as she smirked. "I can fight perfectly well, and I’ll be careful."

Kakarot frowned.

"But your highness…" Kakarot said as he looked at his mate.

"Chichi and the human girl are too weak to fight this new enemy. We should leave them here so we don’t risk the chance of casualties."

Chichi felt like she had been smacked.

"Are you serious?" she asked.

Vegeta smirked.

"They both will fight. Even the little human wench." He said as he smirked at Bulma.

Bulma ground her teeth together and growled. "You’re out of your mind! I said I wouldn’t help you!" Bulma angrily yelled.

"Oh, you will if you’d like that little purple faced girl to live a few more days." He told her.

Bulma’s eyes fell to the ground. She balled her hands into fists. She didn’t even know where Elani was right now and feared that maybe with this new threat that Vegeta wouldn’t be the only thing placing her life in peril.

Bulma turned and walked into the house.

Chichi followed.

"Women." Turles laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Miranda flew low over the city. The place already looked deserted. She could sense the five highest power levels a couple hundred miles away. She smirked.

‘But first I have to take care of these Checkisu-jins for my mistress.’ Miranda thought as she landed.

In the corner of her eye she saw a small purple face look through a window. When she turned fully to it, the small boy ducked down. With her sensitive hearing she heard a woman’s voice scolding the boy. She whispered about the evil dragoness.

Miranda’s smirk widened. ‘So I am famous already?’ she asked herself.

She floated over the ground opting for the easy way to go about killing off the entire village.

"People!" she called in her taunting voice. "Come watch the fireworks!" she said as she flew upwards into the sky. She had blue colored ki balls in her hands as she flew higher. She threw one in one direction and the other one in another.

People had come out to see what the commotion was. They all looked up at the sky expectantly as the black and purple colored woman shot two balls from her palms. The blue balls floated about five feet away from Miranda in opposite directions.

"Yoo hoo!" she called to fully gain their attention.

She used her powers to lower one of the balls until it was floating in the center of town.

"It’s a surprise." She said as she turned her back.

"You’ll get a real bang out of it."

She flew away to drop the other ball into the other part of the village. She called out those people in the same way she had done before. She smirked as she started to fly away. She was counting down in her head when she heard a loud explosion.

Her little ‘presents’ had blown up.

~~~~~~~~

"Why should Kakarot restrict me from fighting??" Chichi asked as she angrily slammed her fist on the kitchen counter.

Bulma watched as the marble chipped off and fell to the ground.

"Hmm, I don’t know, maybe because a ‘lowly human girl’ defeated you?" Bulma asked Chichi innocently.

Chichi growled.

"Keep your mouth shut, bitch! This trip has been nothing but torture to me! I thought, hey, I’d just drop in, kill a couple of the natives, and zoom out. Simple as that, right? But no Kakarot insists I do no fighting and sticks me with census work, the nerve!" Chichi said.

"Well, it’s obvious that Kakarot cares very much for you… well, to the small amount of care Saiya-jins can have." Bulma said.

Chichi gave Bulma a poignant look.

"You talk big like you’ve known us all your life but you haven’t and you don’t understand us… I don’t know why you are so vehement towards us. Yes, a group of Saiya-jins destroyed your life but you should be honored that you are still alive right now. Vegeta has low tolerance for insubordinate women, I know that for a fact, yet he is highly infatuated with you and seems to have no thought of harming a single one of those purple hairs on your little human head. It’s a disgrace really. For you and him. He’s being cursed at and insulted by a weakling yet does not care. And you are being subjugated to taking orders yet you barely fight to get your way. You haven’t noticed changes like that? You two are bad to have together in the same place… just bad.

But with me and Kakarot… well, Kakarot is the sweetest Saiya-jin I’ve ever laid eyes on. People say he was dropped on his head and that’s why he’s lost his barbaric Saiya-jin ways but I’m sure he just has a good heart. His brothers, Radditz and Turles, although you can’t classify them as ‘nice’ Saiya-jins, have honor and consciences; they would know what was right or wrong when faced with a decision. I think it all depends on the line of Saiya-jin you are. It seems the upper class are the cruel and hypocritical type while the lower classes are kind and humble. High class Saiya-jins like Prince Vegeta think they are better than everyone else and that they have the freedom to give orders and dictate, although that right is appropriately Vegeta’s since he is the crown Prince of Vegeta-sei. What I don’t understand is why he is so cruel. All Saiya-jins know that his mother was kind and beautiful and modest while his father was a fair yet boastful greedy ruler. They were like night and day. Shouldn’t Vegeta have gotten something from his mother? Maybe the ability to love? But no… it seems all his traits, right down to his looks, were inherited from his father. But, see, lower class families share everything. Like Kakarot’s… everything they had was from someone else. Mostly attributed from their mother and father. Kakarot and Turles took after their father with that strange hair, while Radditz had the long messy hair of his mother. *sigh* Bardock, Kakarot’s father, was a wonderful man." Chichi said as she stared out of the window.

"Was?" Bulma asked in curiosity.

She was perplexed as to why the Saiya-jin woman was opening herself up to her. She figured Chichi must have just needed a shoulder to cry on.

"Bardock and Radditz were killed on a mission a while ago… That’s the only reason Kakarot and Turles let me come. They hadn’t been attacked and left the planet quickly after receiving a warning message from a dying Bardock. They believed that the supreme ruler of the universe, Lord Frieza, did the horrendous deed and would come looking for them to wipe out Bardock’s entire family. I think, since Kakarot and I are mates, that I would have been included in that count." Chichi said as she let out another heavy sigh.

She turned around and looked at Bulma.

"I don’t know what motivates me to fight. My existence has never been threatened, yet I fight and train with a vengeance… Why? Why do I fight when I could be sitting happily in a house raising six or seven kids while only using my power for trivial things like drying my hair? It’s odd though because everything has come easy in my life… It doesn’t make sense why I like to train other than the fact that this addiction to power runs through my blood because I am Saiya-jin. But you… you confuse me. Why do you fight?" Chichi asked her.

Bulma looked down at her gloved hands in contemplation.

"That’s a hard question. At first it was to avenge my parent’s deaths and the destruction of my home planet but now… it’s to protect Elani and Macki… to be able to defend myself, to be able to guard and protect every one on this planet. It wasn’t about having the blood of the Saiya-jin who had stolen my life away on my hands anymore, but today that awoken again although the pure liquid rage that went along with it was gone, has been for more than a year now, and I don’t know why I fight… Why should I fight?" Bulma asked.

Chichi locked her dark eyes on Bulma’s blue ones and knew that they had formed an understanding.

"What’s your name again?" Chichi asked as a means to break the silence.

"Bulma… Chichi, right?" Bulma asked.

Chichi nodded once then smirked.

"Do you think ‘his highness’ is cute?" she asked.

Bulma’s eyes widened.

"What?? Why would you ask me a thing like that!" Bulma asked as she felt her cheeks start to burn.

"Oh nothing… it’s just because I know he’s smitten with you. You’ll probably be coming with us back to Vegeta-sei to work those machines and no one knows what things could conspire there." Chichi said with a smile.

Bulma opened her mouth to speak but couldn’t form words. She could feel how hot her face was. She closed her mouth, turned her face to the side, and pouted.

Chichi burst out laughing.

Bulma was shocked.

Her voice was rich and pure, filled with real happiness and true emotions.

‘Are Saiya-jins as bad as I assumed? If not then why did they attack my planet… I just don’t understand it. Kakarot, Chichi and Turles seem to be very close to humans. But then there’s Vegeta, who is cruel and determined.’ Bulma thought as she frowned.

Chichi noticed this and pulled up a chair next to Bulma.

"What are you thinking about?" Chichi asked.

Bulma looked at her and shook her head.

"Nothing." She said.

"You’re lying." Chichi told her. "I can see it in your eyes."

Bulma looked down at her hands again.

"Well… why then, if Saiya-jins are not as bad as I think, did my planet get destroyed? If they aren’t cruel and heartless than why would they kill off an entire thriving race of people??" Bulma asked distraughtly.

Chichi sighed.

"Not all Saiya-jins are good, you know. But the ones who destroyed your planet, the prince and his guard, well I can assume that it was an order." Chichi said.

"An order? Who does a ‘prince’ take orders from??" Bulma asked.

Chichi frowned and Bulma knew she had hit a soft spot.

"The person you ask about is a cowardly disgusting lizard who has been ordering around the Saiya-jins from way before I was born. This vile creature’s name is Frieza… no I’m sorry," Chichi said sarcastically, "Lord Frieza. I can imagine that it would have been a direct order from the lizard himself for Prince Vegeta and Nappa to destroy the planet Earth. Most of us Saiya-jins believe that the current King of Vegeta-sei is only endangering us by continuing the treaty with Frieza although breaking the treaty off might trigger Frieza into attacking us." Chichi said as she thought about the possibilities.

"Well, if the Saiya-jins are the ‘mightiest’ warrior race why don’t you guys just kill this Frieza guy?" Bulma asked.

"Because, Frieza is the strongest warrior in the universe. No one can defeat him, all who have tried have failed, and no one tries to defy him, knowing that it will only result in a painful death." Chichi said.

Bulma frowned.

"So, this Frieza ordered the prince and his companion to destroy Earth, is that right?" Bulma asked Chichi.

"I can only assume. I don’t really recall the purge yet I am pretty sure it was by Frieza’s call. Saiya-jins don’t usually purge planets. No, that was a trend Frieza started." Chichi told her.

"But why??" Bulma asked desperately.

"I don’t know." Chichi said.

"Well, then my fight is really with Frieza then?" Bulma asked.

"Everyone’s fight is with Frieza. He has more enemies than he has friends." Chichi said.

Chichi frowned and glanced towards the door.

"What is it?" Bulma asked worriedly.

"It seems the men are approaching." Chichi said.

Bulma nodded slowly.

"Can’t let them see we’re friends." Bulma said as she stood up and stretched.

Chichi glanced at Bulma.

"We’re not friends. So we had a heartfelt conversation. That doesn’t make us buddies… acquaintances, maybe, but friends no." Chichi said as she too stood up.

She walked to the other side of the room and leaned against a wall.

Bulma’s mind was racing with thoughts of confusion.

She couldn’t understand why Chichi had brushed her off like that.

But the answer was clear as day: She had beaten Chichi, therefore, had dishonored her name making her a sworn enemy.

"That’s too bad." Bulma finally said.

Her kitchen door swung open and in marched Vegeta, Kakarot and Turles.

Vegeta glared at the two women.

"What the hell are you doing standing around for?? We have to leave to fight this strong power." Vegeta said angrily.

"We don’t have to go anywhere." Bulma said as she glanced out the window.

The clouds were darkening and the earth trembled.

"It’s coming to us." She said softly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nappa looked around his cell in worry.

After the king had been killed and Frieza had taken rule, all elite Saiya-jins were forced into tiny cells. Hi voltage ki suppressants were secured around their necks and they were all left at power levels around 20.

His real concern, however, was for the prince.

As soon as Vegeta returned he’d be ambushed by Frieza and his guards.

‘If I had only been allowed to keep my scouter… God dammit!’ Nappa thought angrily.

He would hate to see the young, prideful prince be cut down and degraded by the one being he hated the most.

‘Ouji-sama.’ Nappa thought to himself.

‘Don’t return. Please don’t return.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vegeta frowned as he glanced up towards the sky. Something felt drastically off and he didn’t like it.

"That being with the large power should be around here somewhere, sire." Turles commented as he glanced around.

The three male Saiya-jins had walked out to the forest behind Bulma’s house to await their challenger. The women were still at the house.

"I can’t imagine what could have such a extreme power level." Kakarot commented.

A giant gust of air whooshed past them.

The heard a twig snap behind them and they all turned around to face the opposition.

They were surprised to see a young woman leaning against one of the trees.

Vegeta raised an eyebrow as he checked his scouter.

Her power level only registered as five.

"This can’t be what we felt, sire." Turles said.

Vegeta ignored him and regarded the woman carefully.

‘She can’t be one of those Checkisu-jins… she looks more like a lizard with those scales…’ he thought to himself.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked her.

She smirked and slid into a fighting position.

"Who are you?" she asked him.

The air around her started to crackle.

"Hey! Her level is rising!" Turles shouted.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes and let a feral growl escape his lips.

"I am the crown prince of Vegeta-sei, who are you, wench? And do not make me ask it again!" he said as he also started to power up.

Her smirk widened.

"I am Miranda, legendary dragoness of Checkisu-sei. And I will be the last beautiful face the three of you will see. If you are who you say you are, I will have much pleasure in tearing you apart limb by limb!" she said as she bared her fangs to him.

Vegeta pulled his scouter off of his face, convinced that it would blow because the numbers continued to climb. He turned it off and threw it to Kakarot who fumbled it but caught it.

"I will fight this wench. You get back to the house and make sure there are no intruders there." He growled out to Kakarot and Turles.

"Ouji-sama! Are you sure you can defeat her??" Kakrot asked.

"Don’t question my ability soldier." He said angrily.

"Now leave!"

"No, no, no." Miranda said as she wagged her finger at the two retreating Saiya-jins.

She fired twin spiraled ki blasts at them sending them flying through the trees.

"It won’t be necessary for those two to leave. I’ve come alone. Besides, I’ll have to kill them two along with you anyway. It’s orders, you realize. If not, I would rather kiss you than kill you." She said to Vegeta as she rolled her tongue over her lips enticingly.

"Who commands you?" Vegeta asked, ignoring her obvious flirtation.

"The all mighty goddess." Miranda spoke with venom in her voice, angry at his indifference to her attraction.

"And you will feel her wrath!" she screamed as she charged at Vegeta.

~~~~~~~

Chichi shot up from her seat.

Bulma who was going through the capsules glanced up at the Saiya-jin woman.

"What’s wrong?" she asked.

"Kakarot’s hurt." Chichi mumbled as she clutched her head.

"Something bad is happening to him…" she groaned.

"What? Wait, how do you know that?" Bulma asked as she stood up.

"I-It’s a Saiya-jin thing… you wouldn’t understand." Chichi said lightly.

"Are you okay… you look very pale." Bulma said.

Chichi grabbed the railing to the stairs and started to float slowly up them with Bulma following behind them.

As they entered the kitchen Chichi plopped down in a chair.

"He’s very hurt… I can feel it. He has a wound in his chest. Do you have any healing equipment leftover?" Chichi asked her.

"Yes," Bulma said as she opened her capsule case and fished through it.

"I have a first aid kit in this one." She said as she held up a white capsule with a red cross across it.

Chichi nodded slowly.

"I-I have to get to him. I won’t be able to function properly if he doesn’t recover. I think Turles may be hurt too, Kakarot’s thoughts are telling me something like that." She said as she got to her feet again.

"His thoughts?" Bulma asked as she hurried to support Chichi.

Chichi leaned on Bulma and chuckled.

"It’s that Saiya-jin thing that I was talking about downstairs. I can hear little whispers of his thoughts because we are a mated pair…" she said.

Bulma nudged the kitchen door open with her shoulder.

"Where do you think they are?" Bulma asked as she stepped outside.

"I get stronger signals from the middle of the forest but I don’t have enough energy to fly and we won’t get there in enough time if I don’t." she said to Bulma.

Bulma looked through her capsule pack again and found the one she was looking for.

She pulled it out, clicked its top, and threw it on the ground in front of her.

Chichi winced at the loud sound then blinked rapidly.

"What is that??" she asked.

"It’s an air bike. Come on, it’s the fastest way we’ll get there." Bulma said as she helped Chichi on the red and blue bike.

Chichi smiled softly as she listened to Bulma rev the vehicle.

Bulma pressed down on the acceleration making the bike jerk forward and into motion. Chichi clung to Bulma’s waist for dear life.

Bulma laughed as she started to drive over the trees.

"What’s wrong?" Bulma asked.

"Nothing." Chichi spoke quietly.

"Are you worried about Kakarot?" Bulma asked.

"Of course I am. He was such an idiot to get himself hurt like that." Chichi said.

Bulma smiled softly, knowing that Chichi was trying to cover her concern.

~~~~~~~~~

Vegeta felt a solid punch connect with his stomach and heard the sound of his armor cracking.

He stepped back, shocked by the sheer strength the woman contained.

She laughed as she took notice of his surprise.

She dropped low and kicked his feet out from under him.

Vegeta stopped himself from falling and aimed a punch at her face.

She caught his fist looking at him with her cold, violet eyes.

She tilted her head to one side and let an innocent smile pass over her face.

He growled and raised his knee to hit her in the stomach. She deflected this by raising her knee to block his and still holding tight to his fist.

He angrily slammed his head into her sending her flying backwards and forcing her to release his fist.

He followed after her sending a bright blue ki ball at her form. He heard a shriek and then a giant dust cloud formed. He sent volley after volley of blasts at her, knowing that just one wouldn’t do the job. As the smoke cleared he watched her walk out of it. Her hair was disheveled and she was bleeding from various wounds.

He smirked.

She clasped her hands together and the center of her palms started to glow.. She gave him a look that spoke millions of forms of hatred.

Vegeta looked on in shock as the glowing turned to a bright ball of ki.

"You will pay for that mistake, dearly, Saiya-jin!" she screamed as she launched a powerful blast at him.

Vegeta was thrown backwards by the force of the blast and could feel the strong ki beam searing his skin.

He screamed in pain and fury. He landed heavily on the ground and skidded backwards a couple of feet.

He laid still, growling with pain and at the effort it took him to sit up.

‘I will not let my pride be whittled away by some damn female!’ his mind screamed.

He shot to his feet and charged at the dragoness.

She sidestepped he punch and prepared to bring her knee up into his stomach when he, too, dodged her attack.

She gasped in surprise and was too late to evade the solid kick that connected with her spine.

She screamed in pain as she heard the cracking of her scales under the pressure of his attack.

She dropped to her hands and knees panting.

Miranda glared at the white boots of the Saiya-jin prince.

He had done substantial damage. Her scales were as hard as diamonds and if they hadn’t been there her spine would have snapped in two, yet her scales were broken and her spine was bruised. She knew that to stand and fight him now would be dreadfully painful.

She turned her face upwards to see his frowning one.

"You Saiya-jins are an odd bunch. Using tricks and the like to win your battles." She said as she spat at his feet.

He growled angrily as he grabbed her neck and pulled her upwards to be face to face with him.

"Tricks? Wench, you do not know of what you speak. An evasion technique is a trick to you, huh? So what do you call what you did to my men? Self defense?" he asked her with a sneer.

"No." was her snide reply as she placed her hands on his chest.

Vegeta’s eyes widened in shock as he saw a smirk appear on her black painted lips.

"I call it the ‘Eternal slumber’." She said as she let loose the spiraled blast.

Vegeta barely had enough time to raise his ki to protect himself before the blast hit him square in the chest. He was hurled backward with a force unknown to him. His body was flung through a tree and he landed heavily on the hard forest ground. His mind registered weakly that Kakarot and Turles had landed nearby.

This time, though, Vegeta didn’t have the strength to get up again.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Bulma’s air bike faltered as a gust of energy waves rode underneath it. "Whoa!" Bulma said as she gritted her teeth. Chichi clung even more tightly to the human.

"What’s going on?" she asked frantically.

"I think that was the blunt edge of a powerful ki attack." Bulma said as she tried to steady the bike.

They were high enough above the trees to see below them and had singled in on the spot the Saiya-jins had occupied once before.

Bulma chose quickly top land because the air bike was refusing to operate correctly.

She started to lower the bike when it lost all power and started to plummet.

She screamed as she felt her body being pulled from the vehicle, forcefully.

She was placed on the ground as the bike crashed and exploded behind her.

Bulma glanced around searching for her savior.

Chichi was standing over her panting.

"Y-you saved my life." Bulma said.

Chichi frowned down at her.

"You saved me when all I’ve tried to do is kill you… You could have let me die, why didn’t you?" Bulma asked feeling extremely confused.

"You were carrying the medical supplies that Kakarot and his brother need. That is the only reason I saved your pathetic life." Chichi said briskly.

Bulma noticed the state that the Saiya-jin woman was in. Her face had lost more of its healthy color and she looked like she could barely stand.

"Are Kakarot’s injuries doing this to you?" Bulma asked as she came up to Chichi and offered her a shoulder to lean on.

Chichi brushed Bulma off as she leaned on a tree instead.

"I do not think it the time or the place for me to explain to you what you get when you mate with a Saiya-jin." Chichi said as she closed her eyes.

"However," she continued.

"More of it is bad then good. Yes, you get a very strong mental, physical, and emotional connection to your partner there is always something bad about it. Mentally, you always hear their thoughts about you when you are angered, physically you can be killed if your mate is injured or is killed himself. You see, the bound intertwines souls… it is very dangerous for high-ranking soldiers to do this, because we fight a lot more and against much stronger foes. The chance for death is higher… When Kakarot and I bonded, he had just been promoted to a second class and we believed her wouldn’t go any further than that. But then I got promoted from being a second class to being a first on the same day that Kakarot was promoted to an elite… It was strange how it all happened. Kakarot, Turles, and I had foiled some attempt at assassination towards the prince and were rewarded for our show of loyalty by getting our ranks raised. However, Kakarot and Turles, who were both exceptionally strong to begin with, were pushed to elite standings… Weird, huh?" she asked.

She was now wheezing with the effort it took her to breathe.

Bulma frowned at Chichi’s condition, fearing for the young woman’s life.

She opened her mouth to comment on it but thought better of it when Chichi gave her a disapproving look.

"About that ki-blast that had knocked us out of the sky." Bulma said after awhile.

"It wasn’t a blast from either one of the men." Chichi stated.

Bulma placed her hands on her hips.

"How do you know that?" she asked the Saiya-jin.

"I’ve been with Kakarot and Turles for almost four years now and being around the prince was a must because my mate and his brother are elites hence the fact that I know their signature ki moves and that wasn’t one of them." Chichi stated as she clicked on her scouter.

"Well… maybe one of them were trying out a new attack?" she asked.

"No, I doubt it." Chichi said as she frowned.

"Because that high power, however reduced, is still around and the scouter isn’t picking up Turles, Kakarot, or the prince."

Bulma bit her lip.

"I don’t like this… not one bit." She said as she looked up at the sky.

"Let’s… not… just stand around… here…" Chichi said through struggled gasps of air.

Bulma watched in fear and shock as the Saiya-jin sank to her knees.

She rushed over.

"Wait! What’s happening?" Bulma asked frantically as she caught Chichi as she tumbled over.

"Kakarot’s life force is almost snuffed out… I can’t go on... anymore, takes too much energy… please… please get to him." Chichi said as she clasped Bulma's hand.

"Please don’t die!" Bulma said hysterically.

"Stupid human… we have to… even the scores… I-I won’t die until I defeat… you. Go, and I’ll wait… right here." Chichi whispered.

She closed her eyes as she let go of Bulma’s hand.

Bulma immediately pressed two fingers to Chichi’s neck in search of a pulse. Where her pulse beat the strongest was where she found a small scar. She disregarded it as relief washed over her.

Chichi was still alive.

She unhooked the scouter from around Chichi’s ear and placed it over her own as she got to her feet.

‘I won’t let you down… and after this, we’ll settle our match.’ She said to herself as she sprinted into the forest.

~~~~~~~~~~

Miranda stalked over to the fallen prince.

She hissed at him as she watched him struggle to sit up.

She placed her boot in the middle of his chest and pressed down.

Vegeta screamed in pain as he felt his ribs giving way.

She snickered.

"Oh, I guess you’re not as high and mighty as before, are you?" she asked as she removed her foot and slid down to sit on his chest.

She traced her sharp nails over his face leaving a trail of bloody slashes. Vegeta winced but promised himself that he would not give into her torture.

She stood up, grabbing her neck, and taking him upward with him.

"Do you know what my specialty is, hmm?" she asked as she stared into his deep black eyes.

"As a dragoness, the dragoness, I perform a little move called ‘venom bath’. Can you guess what that is?" she asked as she grinned madly at him.

She threw Vegeta to the ground as she opened her mouth wide spewing thick black venom.

Vegeta, knowing what that would do to him used his limited energy reserve to phase out and back in behind a tree.

Miranda blinked noticing that he had disappeared.

‘My venom never did this complete of a job. It would usually leave a corpse or something to prove his death.’ Miranda thought to herself.

She growled angrily as she picked up on Vegeta’s dwindling ki signature. By now she had familiarized herself with it.

"Oh, and you sat you have no tricks, Saiya-jin!" she mocked.

"What is this another ‘evasion technique’?" she asked him.

Vegeta cringed from where he was hiding.

‘She can sense my power without any form of a scouter…’ he said to himself.

Miranda blinked as she felt another surge of energy come from behind her.

"What?" she asked as she turned.

But it was too late as a foot connected with her face.

She screamed as she was thrown backwards landing in a pile of dead leaves.

She immediately shot to her feet, seeing nothing but a small framed purple haired human girl.

She glared at the uninvited guest.

"It wouldn’t happen to have been you who entered so rudely, would it dear?" she asked the girl as she approached her.

Vegeta, hearing Miranda’s scream and her referral to someone else, listened intently.

"Don’t know." Bulma answered innocently.

"You wanna test me out to see my real strength?" she asked as she slid into a fighting position.

Vegeta gasped in surprise.

"The earth girl??" he whispered angrily.

"The dumb bitch is going to get herself killed."

Miranda glared at the girl, trying to hide her shock at the power of the kick.

She rubbed her jaw tenderly.

"So, you’ve got attitude? That can easily be beaten out of a person, you know?" she said as she started to power up.

Bulma backed up, preparing herself to dodge any form of attack.

Miranda smirked as she flew at Bulma.

Bulma struck out blindly hitting nothing but air. She felt herself being slammed into the ground.

She felt her head hit the ground and she saw stars.

Miranda laughed manically in the background.

"You are no challenge. I was foolish to even be worried." She said.

Vegeta was ready to step out and save the idiotic human when he heard her comment.

"You have never had a challenge as powerful as me and you will regret not fearing me!" she screamed as she formed a white ki ball in her hands.

Miranda glanced at Bulma seeing something in her eyes that terrified her.

"No, no… you... you can’t be!" she screamed as she felt the white light approach her.

She tried to twirl out of the way but the blast caught her on the arm, taking the appendage with it. Miranda screamed with pure rage as she let loose an ‘eternal slumber’ headed right for Bulma. Bulma was consumed with fear and could not move. She put up her arms up as a shield while the purple and black beam approached. She heard an angered yell as the ball made contact only she was still standing and in one piece. She looked around only to find Vegeta in front of her.

He had a powerful ki shield around the both of them deflecting the blast, but the force of the clashing powers sent him flying backwards into Bulma.

Miranda cursed at the Saiya-jin prince.

"I see you have hidden assets, ouji-sama. You lied to me! You and your dirty tricks." She cursed angrily.

Bulma had managed to catch Vegeta although they had both ended up on the ground. She glanced remorsefully at the weak and exhausted prince.

"Vegeta I…" she started as she realized that he had saved her life.

"Woman… shut up…" he ordered her right before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he passed out.

Miranda walked closer to the downed couple. She sneered. She was grasping her wound as it leaked black blood.

"You, you witch." Miranda seethed as she pointed her finger at Bulma.

"Don’t worry, I will destroy you." she promised as she disappeared in a black smoke.

Bulma looked around in surprise as she felt herself able to breathe again.

* * * * *

(This is a very shall we say important chapter… it kicks off the plot! Yeah, celebration!!!)

Well, that is all. It is fairly shorter than planned and is like this for a reason. I thought that since it took a long time to get the chapter out that people would be happy that it was so long… but a lot of people aren’t. So, as to your wishes, I have made it smaller.

Also, I will be taking a short reprieve from writing this, and any other fic, because of my own lack of confidence in my writing. I think, that it is slightly losing its spark and I am suffering from a bad case of writer’s block. There is also the fact that I have had a run in with a very vulgar and rude reviewer… so I have to get that straightened out.

Please don’t be angry! As soon as I have ideas for a new chapter I will come out with one. I just don’t want you to be checking daily and to only be disappointed that I let you down…

Um… to end it all, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Lots of love.

Princess


Table of Contents
Chapter 7
Chapter 9