CHAPTER ELEVEN:

Bulma Briefs sipped her coffee quietly and stared at the breakfast in front of her. Pancakes (very well done too), top with whipped cream, butter and syrup…her favorite. She couldn’t believe it. This seven-year-old girl had created something this sinful in just a few minutes and with that ever-present grin on her face. She was like a walking happy machine.

“Do you want anymore?” Sasami asked lightly, skipping up to the table and staring at the blue-haired woman in front of her.

“Nah!” came the reply. “I think this will do for now.”

Sasami nodded and began to head towards the dishes to wash them, when Bulma’s voice rang out again. “Hey, there is no need to do that. The robots will take care of them.”

“Huh? What robots?”

As if on cue, two small drones zoomed into the room effectively stacking away the dirty dishes into the largest washing machine ever seen. In a space of a few minutes, the sink and kitchen in general looked as spotless as ever. Princess Sasami was impressed.

“Wow! That is really awesome!”

Bulma grinned. “Yep! It sure is! I bet you guys don’t have anything like this on Jurai now, right?”

Sasami nodded and jumped off the stool she had climbed on earlier. “Oh we do. Much better ones too, but we are not allowed to go into the kitchens except on very rare occasions.”

“Oh…”

“Your earth machines are a little bit more primitive.” Sasami continued, not noticing the disinterested and bland look on her listeners face. “Now Ayeka, she has invented a lot of cool stuff herself…”

“Ayeka invents stuff?” Bulma asked sharply, nearly choking on her coffee.

“Uh huh! She loves mechanical stuff. She just doesn’t like showing it. My father says that she should not be interested in things like that, so she doesn’t like to show off a lot.”

Bulma felt herself get even angrier. Not only was Ayeka a princess, a beautiful princess, a beautiful princess that was to inherit an entire planet, a beautiful princess that was to inherit an entire planet with the power of an entire galaxy at her grasp….she was also smart!!

“GRRR….”

The sudden sound of something breaking snapped her out of her angry reverie. Looking down at her hands she realized that she had broken the mug that she had been holding. Raising her head, she saw that Sasami looked just as stunned…a small look of fear crossing the younger girls’ face.

“Oops!” She said lightly, grabbing a paper napkin and wiping the spill quickly. “So…umm…where is your sister?”

“She is in the gravity room with Vegeta.”

Bulma stopped her wiping motions and stared in disbelief at the simple statement. Gripping the edge of the table in a death grip, she tried to speak as calmly as she could.

“Really? What are they doing in there?”

Sasami shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“How long have they been in there?” she asked sharply. Her mind already filling with images of the two royals locked together in a wild, hot…

~ ACK! ~

“Umm…for maybe an hour…” Sasami began saying, before realizing that she was speaking to an empty room. Bulma had disappeared.

~*~*~*~*~

Piccolo flew at a moderate pace, his cloak billowing away around him. He was supposed to be with Goku and Gohan at their training site, but the negative energy surge had been felt again…much closer this time and he was now going to investigate. He knew he shouldn’t be doing this alone, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling. He had to at least know what they were up against.

His sensitive nerves kicked in as the strong ki was sensed again. Looking at his surroundings, he floated slowly to the ground and with a silent thump; he landed onto the grassy terrain. He was in the middle of what looked to be a lush forest and scanning around the deceptive calm, he growled softly as he noticed the cat/rabbit looking creature that hissed and then darted back into the woods.

~ Come out, whoever you are. I can sense you. ~

“A Namek. Stranger things have happened.”

Piccolo spun around, bracing himself for an attack as he noticed the tall-cloaked figure behind him.

“Who are you?! Show yourself!” He shouted angrily.

The figure tossed off the cloak, revealing tell tale spiky blue locks. Sharp eyes that mocked stared in defiance at the green-skinned being. “I am Nagy. A bounty hunter…and I are sure that you know what I am here for.”

“What do you want here on earth?” Piccolo asked, already knowing the answer.

“I am here to pick up a certain bounty. Surely you know of what I speak about.” Nagy replied lazily, reaching down to stroke her agitated cabbits’ ear. “Be still now, Ken-Oki…this Namek poses no threat to us…”

Piccolo bristled at the insult. “I wouldn’t be so cocky if I were you!” he roared angrily. “I sense that you are up to no good and I will be damned before I let you get to the princesses.”

Nagy snorted and straightened up, reaching quickly for the sword that was always kept within the confines of her cloak. “Enough talking Namek!” she said loudly. “If I have to get rid of you to get to my bounties, so be it!” And with a loud yell, she leapt into the air, swinging the deadly blade at an angle clearly meant for Piccolo’s head.

With similar agility, Piccolo leapt out of the way, flying swiftly to a safe distance. He was a bit surprised to find himself being chased at an alarming rate and it was taking all of his skills and concentration to dodge the wicked slices.

“Stop running away, Namek!” Nagy screamed. And in a move so fast, that Piccolo barely had the time to respond, she swung the sword and somehow managed to give him a gash on his arm.

“You little….AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!”

Nagy had little time to react as the bright energy beam from Piccolo’s palm, sent her crashing into a mountain. Landing with a painful thud to the ground, she staggered weakly to her feet, wiping the small trail of blood off the side of her lips. Looking at the red stain in irritation, she wiped it off and glared at Piccolo.

“I do not want to stay here and waste my time with you.”

“You need to leave this planet. The princesses will leave at their own time.” Piccolo replied coldly.

“Hmph! We will see about that! Come Ken-Oki!!”

And in a flash of speed, Nagy vanished into the clear afternoon sky, leaving a very agitated and worried Namekian behind.

~ I have to warn the princesses before it is too late. ~

~*~*~*~*~

Vegeta fired another blast at the robots and with a tired grunt, fell to the floor, rivulets of sweat pouring off his heated skin.

The last bit of conversation with Ayeka was still eating away at him. He knew of how proud he tended to be when he could not achieve something…heck! Look at the way he had felt when Kakkarrot had become a super Saiyan and not he; the way he had been defeated by the pathetic Saiyan on his arrival to this planet. Shaking his head angrily, he wondered if he wouldn’t have acted the same way. He could understand her pride being shattered. He had had his cut down to size one too many times.

~ Maybe it’s time she learnt to swallow her defeats too. ~

She had said she would wait for him to get done in here and how long ago was that?

~ I better get going before… ~

“VEGETA!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?”

Growling in irritation, he spun around and faced the angry looking female on the large screen.

“LEAVE ME ALONE, ONNA!”

“Where is she?!” Bulma screeched, her eyes darting up and down.

For a minute Vegeta blanked out at the question before realizing that she was asking about Ayeka. Placing a smirk on his face, he folded his arms and retorted,

“What is it to you?”

“Vegeta!” Bulma yelled, her face reddening.

“Yes, onna…” came the lazy reply, as he walked over to switch off the machine. Waiting for the room to get back to normal, he began to towel himself dry, all the while eyeing the sputtering female on the screen.

“You bastard!! After all I have done for you! You and that woman are…are…”

“Are what? Screwing each other stupid…hence the sweat on my body from all the punishing lovemaking techniques that she and I have been through. Ahh…onna…if only you knew the passion that was created…”

“THANK YOU VEGETA! I THINK I HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH INFO!!”

And with an angry snort, she switched herself off.

Vegeta smirked coldly.

~ About time…she is like a fucking broken record. A really bad broken record. ~

Stepping outside, he shut his eyes and sucked in the cool fresh air, and stretching languidly, he sauntered back into the house.

~ Alright, princess, I guess I have kept you waiting long enough. ~

~*~*~*~*~*~

Ayeka stared blindly at the sparkling indoor lake within the indoor garden that was within one of the larger domes in the compound. She had been walking blindly around for the past hour, not caring about anyone or anything at the moment and had somehow found herself in here. Feeling something nudge her hand lightly, she jumped up in fear before realizing that it was just a cute looking baby dinosaur that had been following her. Smiling softly, she raised the creature to her eye level and began to speak to it.

“What are you doing here, you little thing? Where are your parents, hmm? Lost them? Or you just feel like staying with a miserable, old hag like me, ne? Well guess what little friend…you are right…I am an old hag and nobody loves me or ever will…especially not…”

She stopped and sighed, feeling ridiculously close to tears. She had been doing a lot of that lately…crying that is…and she was getting really tired of it.

“Oh, there you are…”

Ayeka swiveled around and grit her teeth as she watched Bulma stroll into the room. She was dressed in a short, skintight red halter neck dress and her hair had gone from its’ flat bun to a puffy, wavy sort of thing…that Ayeka disliked.

“Did you want something from me?” she asked coldly, wishing that she was in anything but this ridiculous looking outfit.

“Actually…” Bulma replied lazily, enjoying the anger she was eliciting from the princess. “I was just wondering if you knew where Vegeta was? We were supposed to go out this afternoon and I haven’t seen him yet…oops!”

Ayeka watched as the small heart-shaped locket fell out of her…wherever the hell it had fallen out from…and land onto the floor. Unable to stop herself, she bent down and picked it up, noticing that it was diamond encrusted and had the words ‘I love you’ written on it.

“Clumsy me…” Bulma said sheepishly, taking the locket away from the princess’s grasp. “I dropped this precious locket that Vegeta gave to me on my birthday. Isn’t it beautiful?”

Ayeka swallowed the lump and the pain that had arisen in her. “Yes. It is.”

“I know.” Bulma gushed. “I mean, it was a real surprise. I can still remember it like it was yesterday. He came up to me that night and ooooohhh…I can’t believe I am telling you all this.” She finished, her face going into a blush as she placed her hands against her cheeks.

Ayeka could have slapped her. “I am sure it is a really nice story. But I have to be somewhere right now…”

Trying to make her way out of the now stifling room, she felt her arm being grabbed by the other woman. Stiffening at the contact, she faced Bulma.

“I hope you don’t think Vegeta has any interest in you.” She said coldly, a sweet smile placed on her face. “I would hate to burst your little bubble of joy, but…Vegeta and I have a thing going. Got it? And you are just going to be in the way.”

Ayeka snarled and with calm deliberation, she peeled away the other woman’s fingers off her arm. “I really do not give a damn about you and your relationship, Miss Bulma. I have no designs on him and if he had any on me…I was not aware of it. Good day, Miss.”

Bulma huffed and folded her arms across her chest. “Just wanted to remind you, that’s all.”

Princess Ayeka froze at the doorway and turning around she replied with a smirk on her face. “I find it odd that you should claim that you and Vegeta have a thing going and yet…you do not trust him around me. Strange…perhaps he has tired of you and wishes for something…new.”

And with a haughty spin and toss of her purple locks, she grinned and stalked out of the room, satisfied that she had at least left the blue-haired woman speechless.

~*~*~*~*~

The figure on the rotating chair groaned weakly and dragged her hands across the floor once again.

“I am sooooooo hungry…”

“MEOW!!”

“Yeah…yeah…I know…but I can’t find anything right now. I can’t go to any stupid planet without the Galaxy Police right on my tail.”

“MEOW! MEOW! MEOW!!”

“Huh? Do you see some thing?”

The figure sat up eagerly and pushed several buttons on the control panel in front of her. A gasp of disbelief and happiness flowed through her being.

“AHA! Good job Ryo-Oki!! We are going to land on that planet and no one can find us! And we are going to find some food!! WHOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!”

~ I wonder what planet this is anyways? Hmm…according to the scanner, it looks to be the planet…planet Earth, huh…well then…. ~

“ALRIGHT PLANET EARTH…HERE WE COME!!”

And with an energetic burst of speed, the star-like shaped spaceship flew towards the peaceful sphere.