Chapter Text
Art by Royal Owl Rose
For the thousandth time that night Bulma turned the device over in her hand, fingers running over its smooth surface. She needed to know more about it, to master all its secrets, because she feared if she didn’t, she would finally break down and lose it. So much had happened in the past several hours, and working on a project was the only thing keeping her sane. If she fixed this thing, maybe they could get her lousy ex, find Tien, and warn them of the impending danger to the Earth.
A shudder went through her. For years, she thought the most frightening thing she would ever encounter was Piccolo and his father, but yesterday her whole world was shaken. That Saiyan had been terrifying. It was hard to believe that he was Goku’s brother. He was nothing like her best friend. The brute was hulking, merciless, and so powerful.
She swallowed and put in the last screw. That should do it. Closing up the casing, she turned it over one last time. This was it. She placed it over her ear and activated it with the press of a button and stared out through the green lens. The color distorted her vision and she wondered how anyone could get used to wearing it.
It beeped to life and the word CONNECTED appeared in her field of vision. Connected? Connected to what she wondered.
A voice suddenly filled her ear. It was gruff and harsh, but carried an air of authority with it.
“For the last time, Nappa, we don’t need him. That fool was more of a hindrance than a help anyways. I was sick of always having to save his sorry butt from Frieza’s wrath.”
Frieza? Who was that? And who was speaking? It had to be the Saiyans she realized. Before she could wonder any further a second voice responded. “Yeah. You’re right. Man... Now there’s only two of us left.”
“You forget, Nappa. They plan on wishing Kakarot back. Perhaps he can be of some use.” The voice both filled her with fear and fascinated her. Who was this man? Part of her wished she could put a face with this voice. Was he huge and terrifying like the first Saiyan? Or more like Goku, tall, lean, and muscular? “I could always use another lackie. At least he sounds halfway smart, unlike his brother.”
“That runt? Don’t make me laugh!” The other voice was rough around the edges but sounded older.
“Nappa, you’re getting on my nerves. Sign off. I need the silence.”
“Yeah, yeah, fine.”
There was a beep and the second voice, Nappa the first had said, was silent. She was about to press the button on the side to do the same when the first voice piped up again. “I know you’re there; I can hear you breathing.”
She gripped the table, holding her breath. Did…did he really hear her? As if reading her thoughts, he spoke again. “Quit holding your breath. You must have Raditz’s scouter. Who are you?”
So that’s what it was called.
Summoning all her courage, she drew a deep breath. “My name is Bulma. And your buddy killed my best friend.”
The voice chuckled darkly, sending a flutter through her chest, seeming to almost rumble through her. “So, you’re Kakarot’s friend. You must be quite clever to have figured out our technology.”
She furrowed her brow. “For your information, I am a genius. I hold several doctorates and more patents than I can count.”
“Tch, whatever that means.” He paused, and when he spoke again, he lowered his voice dangerously. “You know we're going to kill you all when we arrive." Cold dred filled her.
But she couldn’t let on that she was fearful.
"You're not going to win. When Goku comes back, he's going to be stronger than ever!" Nearby, Krillin rolled over in his sleep. If she kept this up, she would wake them all. Quietly, she made her way outside to continue her conversation. As she paced the front yard of the island home, she felt the cool sea air biting at her skin. It felt good as her temperature had risen over the course of this unexpected conversation.
Laughter filled her ear. "Goku? Oh, you mean Kakarot. If you think he could defeat me, you are sorely mistaken, woman!"
Woman? How dare he! That arrogant prick. "I told you, my name is Bulma!"
"Whatever."
"And I'm beautiful to boot! You'd be lucky to get with someone like me!" She wasn’t sure why she was arguing with him, but there was something about this man that just made her furious. It could have been the fact that he was a threat to her and the rest of her friends, but for some reason, it felt like something more.
"Tch. How vulgar. As if I'd ever sully myself with the likes of you."
"Rude! Who do you think you are?"
"In matter of fact, I'm Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans." He chuckled, and she could almost feel his smugness.
He was a prince? "Still, that doesn't give you the right to treat a lady in such a way!"
His tone changed once more, growing threatening and dark. "Do you really think it matters how I treat you? I've killed thousands like you without so much as a thought." A knot formed in her stomach and she swallowed hard.
"I don't think you'd hurt me." She wasn’t exactly sure why she had said this, but there was something that kept tugging at her.
"Heh, you are a fool. Now tell me, what made you pick up the scouter, and how are you able to use it."
"Why should I tell you, jerk?"
"You could have ended this conversation a long time ago, I have a feeling you are just as curious about me as I am about you." He was curious about her? Why?
Her guard was down and she found herself answering his questions. "I wanted to use it to find my friends to tell them what happened, so I reprogrammed the language so I could use it."
"Interesting." He seemed to muse over this.
"Hey, Bulma! You outside?" She heard Krillin’s voice coming from inside the Kame House. Crap. She had to hang up.
"Well, this has been enlightening, but I've gotta go."
"Excuse me?" The Saiyan’s voice sounded upset at this. "I did not—"
With a swift press of a button, the scouter beeped and his voice was cut off. The word CONNECTED was replaced with END. The screen went back to scanning once again, looking for power levels.
The door opened with a creek, and the diminutive fighter joined her on the sand shore. "Hey, were you just talking to someone?"
"Uh, no. Just myself." She swiftly lied. Honestly, she wasn't sure why. He held no loyalty to this man. His companion had just killed her best friend after all. What was wrong with her?
That female had been both intriguing and frustrating. He had never spoken to anyone like her before. Over the course of his travels he had met many females who were brilliant, but all had been meek or too consumed in their work to really have much of a personality. This one had a fire in her. She presented a mystery and a challenge for him. Part of him hoped that she activated the scouter once more. After all, a year was a long time to wait, and he would be in his pod for most of that time. It would give him something to do. He guessed that she was as interested in him as he was her, and he hoped he was correct.
He was lightly dozing when he was awakened by that voice once more. “Hey, jerk.”
Vegeta felt a smirk tug at his lips. “So, you decided I was worth talking to again?”
There was a pause on the other end before her voice lost it’s bite. “You said you were curious. If you are just coming here to kill us all, why the interest?”
He chuckled to himself. So his assumption was right. She was just as inquisitive as he was. “As a scientist, you wish to understand things better, am I right?”
“Yes.” Her voice was wary.
“I am much the same way. I try to learn and observe as much as I can when meeting an opponent.”
The response he received was dry. “Am I your opponent, then?”
“Hardly,” he chuckled, amused at her. “You are a mere diversion for me while I bide my time. But if I can learn something from you, then perhaps I can more swiftly find the Dragon Balls when I arrive.”
“Drop dead, moron. Like I’d ever help you.”
He found he really liked her voice, especially when he got her fired up. “No, I doubt you would, willingly.”
“Good.” She huffed. She was silent for a time, and he could hear her gentle breathing on the other end. What did she look like? He imagined that she was tall, slender, and probably didn’t have much in the way of a figure. Probably passingly pretty, but not much more than that. The people of that planet resembled Saiyans he had discovered when he looked Earth up following his conversation with her, but there was little other information about the place other than it was out of the way and not worth Frieza’s time to have anyone check on it further. “You know, Goku’s not like you at all.”
“Yes, I was going to ask you about that. You keep calling Kakarot that. Is it a title?”
“What? Title? No, oh, no, not at all. That’s his name! Son Goku.”
He found himself amused by this. So he took an Earth name. Another curious thing. “No, his name is Kakarot. His real name. But as Raditz noted, he forgot all about that and his past.”
“None of us knew. Not until your pal arrived.” Her voice dropped at the end. “I’ve been wondering if we were all better off not knowing.”
“Not knowing? I’m surprised, as a scientist, isn’t your life’s goal the quest for knowledge?” He now found himself mocking her.
“Sh-shut up! You don’t get it!” Was she...crying? Why? Just a moment before she had been full of fire and fight.
For a split second, he felt a twinge of guilt, though he wasn’t sure why. He pushed it away and began to prod her again. “Perhaps. It’s not worth getting upset over though.”
“You know what, I don’t know why I even bothered.” Once again, she cut the connection before he could respond. Furrowing his brows he stared out into the blanket of stars that he zipped past. What had he said to make her so upset? He began to mull it over. He had little else to do anyway.
What was wrong with her? She knew talking to that...that monster was a mistake, but she had been overwhelmed with the need to know more. And apparently, so had he. But he was a massive egotistical jerk, that much she knew.
She laid back on her bed and set the scouter down on the nightstand. They had just been to see Tien and Launch, and now she was home, leaving the others to their training. She felt helpless. She wasn’t a fighter like them, how could she help prepare them for this imminent danger?
"I try to learn and observe as much as I can when meeting an opponent." The prince’s voice echoed in the back of her mind. A smile slid across her face.
Well, two could play at that game.
Perhaps she could help them after all.