#cocky space pilots are my type apparently | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thisspaceintentionallyleftblank · 5 years

Text

Try, Try Again

This is a Rex lives AU where, at the end of the movie, the flux capacitor is not destroyed, and Rex escapes to the past. This time, he arrives early, disguises himself, and takes Emmet’s place in Apocalypseburg. In this way, he plans to toughen Emmet up while simultaneously keeping a closer eye on Lucy.

I have not ever done fanfiction before... so hopefully this turned out okay!

Chapter 1 (2668 words)

The Rexcelsior appeared in a brilliant flash of light, with bright bolts of raw electric power coursing across its hull before flickering away into nothingness. The ship, despite the dark blue of its exterior, stood in stark contrast against the backdrop of space due to the faint glow of its many humming engines. Inside, pacing back and forth across the main control bridge, an increasingly anxious Rex was attempting to re-evaluate his master plan.

He had come much too close to failure for comfort. If he hadn’t used his Deus Ex Block-ina at the last moment in order to teleport back to the ship, then Lucy could have very well destroyed his flux capacitor and, by extension, everything that he’d worked and suffered for. His scowl deepened at the thought of all that planning, effort, and pain flushed down the drain because simply because he’d failed to properly prepare for every possibility.

The weight of failure sat heavily on his shoulders. It’s not fair, he thought. I was so close. His plan had been so perfect, and he’d carried out the execution flawlessly. Tricking Emmet and destroying the Queen’s space temple had been child’s play. All they had left to do was make a clean getaway, but… everything had just started falling apart.

Rex hadn’t wanted to take Emmet to Dryar. If he had had any other option, he wouldn’t have. But, of course, Emmet hadn’t given him a choice, had he? Emmet was just being stubborn; he just didn’t understand.

Rex couldn’t be blamed for that.

He stopped pacing. The repetitive motion had started making him nauseous at some point. With a weary, tough-guy sigh, he walked over to the main console. The instruments adorning the dash lit the room with a soft, ambient blue glow. On top of them sat the Block-ina, a conveniently pocket-sized tool that apparently taken up the worrisome habit of intermittently spitting out sparks and smoke sometime between now and when Rex had first left it here.

Another sigh escaped Rex at the sight of how badly it had been damaged. He wasn’t especially broken up over the loss of the device, after all it had served its purpose well, and he could just build another one pretty easily.

Of course, he thought bitterly, I wouldn’t have even needed to use it if it hadn’t had been for... her.

He had been surprised when Lucy had shown up in Undar, having never entertaining the thought that she might have followed him. Thinking about it made something in his gut twist uncomfortably. She must have… It was… She had probably come there to stop him personally, right? Finding Emmet was just a nice bonus, was all. That made a lot more sense, in Rex’s opinion. After all, Lucy had always been about the world-saving, rebel hero aesthetic. The knot in his gut unraveled, content with his explanation.

However, if Lucy was willing to go that far in trying to save the world, then Rex couldn’t afford to let her get the drop on him a second time. He would just need to keep a closer eye on her this time.

Rex smiled, an easy cocksure grin. A new plan started formulating in his mind, one in which he could easily arrange to keep watch on Lucy, with her being none the wiser.

“COBRA!” He barked out, turning away from the console. A nearby raptor stopped typing, twisting her long neck to look over in his direction.

“Give me a current time readout on the Giant Screen.” At his command, the raptor nodded and clicked a few buttons on her keyboard. Turning back to the windshield, Rex watched as the display flickered to life, printing out the date in an oversized, white, blocky font.

JUNE 4TH | 06:20 | MONDAY

Rex hummed in approval. “Excellent work, team. Looks like we’ve got a whole week left before Our-mom-agedon starts.” With a smug grin, Rex leaning onto the dashboard, adopting a particularly cavalier pose. “Obviously,” he continued, “that’s waaay more time than I’ll need to work my magic.”

A raptor screeched from somewhere in one of the weapon hangers. “Does that mean we could take a day off?”

Rex laughed.

“No.”

If raptors could sigh in resignation, they would have done so now. As it was, they settled for screeching slightly quieter. Unfazed, Rex continued with some gratuitous exposition.

“Here’s the plan, squad. We should begin to break orbit over Apocalypseburg shortly after o’eight hundred hours. At that time, we’ll activate the super secret cloaking technology that I lifted from Wonder Woman’s invisible jet. Once we’ve landed, I’ll find Emmet and get him onboard.”

One of the raptors screeched up at him questioningly. “How will we find Emmet?”

Another raptor, one standing near the fax machine, screeched back. “I could make wanted posters!”

“No need,” Rex replied dismissively. “It’s a Monday.” Mondays were Lucy’s day to patrol the wasteland, which meant that she and Emmet would have to hang out in the morning, before she left. Usually that meant that he that Emmet would start his day off with a coffee run and then meet up with her afterwards.

“If we play our cards right, which of course we will, then we can intercept him at the base of the Statue of Un-Liberty.” Rex tapped a few of the console’s controls, pulling up a large digital map of Apocalypseburg. A blinking red dot appeared at the spot he’d described.

“Everyone got that?” Rex asked, watching as a sea of raptor heads started bobbing up and down in affirmation. “Awesome. Start bringing us into orbit then. Meanwhile, Ripley, Connor, I want you two to start readying the cloaking device.” The raptors screeched to confirm their orders, and then turned to their respective workstations with a renewed sense of urgency.

Leaving them to their tasks, Rex once more turned his attention to the windshield. The sounds of raptor noises and clicking keyboards seemed to fade into the distance. Somewhere beyond the dark glass, Apocalypseburg was waiting. With a start, Rex realized that, after everything that had happened to him, he’d gotten so distracted with time travel and scheming that he had just, never bothered trying to go home.

For a moment, he wondered when exactly that had stopped being one of his goals.

At the thought, a cold, hollow feeling seeped into his chest. It was an almost alien sensation, one that he thought he had left behind in the deserts of Undar. Fortunately, Rex was tough now. He knew how to deal with these kinds of feelings, how to patch and fill the places of him that felt empty. His tool of choice, anger, had never failed him yet.

Summoning strength from his internal well of rage, Rex clenched his fists at his sides and forced his mouth into a vicious grin.

I’m going back home, he thought, and those suckers aren’t gonna know what hit ‘em.

*******************

The sun was shining in Apocalypseburg this morning. Sure, it shone every morning, to the point that it had long since baked the ground into desert sands, but that fact didn’t mean that Emmet couldn’t enjoy a little bit of morning sunshine.

As usual, electronic strains of music were playing in his ears as Emmet jauntily made his way towards the giant statue on the edge of town. He was beginning to consider singing along with the peppy song when something else suddenly drew his attention.

It had only lasted for a second, but Emmet would have sworn he’d just seen a shooting star. Instinctively, he squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating on his wish.

More wishes, he thought as hard as he could, more wishes, more wishes, mo-

“Hey there, buddy!”

Emmet’s eyes snapped open at the sound of someone’s voice. Sure enough, standing in front of him was a stranger, some guy in blue, with disheveled hair and a cocky grin.

“Whoa,” Emmet whispered to himself. Something about this stranger seemed to exude charisma and toughness. Maybe it had something to do with the way he was trying to inconspicuously flex his biceps. Whatever it was, Emmet was definitely intrigued.

“Hi there!” He shouted, causing the stranger to flinch slightly at his volume. Abashedly, Emmet shrugged off his headphones.

“Sorry about that, friendo,” he chuckled. “Um, but my name’s Emmet! What’s your name? Are you new here? I feel like I’ve never seen you before. Which is weird because I know like, everybody here.” Emmet bobbed up and down in excitement.

“Whoa, whoa, slow down there, compadre!” The stranger laughed as he strolled towards Emmet, stopping at his side and giving him a friendly, albeit rather forceful, slap on the back.

“Oh,” Emmet jolted forwards from the impact, juggling his cups in an attempt to not drop either of them. “Sorry about that.”

“Why don’t you just take a breath, and I’ll introduce myself.” The stranger walked over to a nondescript hunk of debris, kicking a foot up onto it and striking a cool pose - one which would have likely made a dope freeze frame.

“The name’s Rex Dangervest,” he announced loudly. “Ace spaceship pilot, world-class dinosaur trainer, and all-around tough guy extraordinaire.”

He took a dramatic pause, before stepping back down, and continuing. “And, I've been looking for you, Emmet.”

“For me?” Emmet asked incredulously. “But why?” For a moment, his face grew uncharacteristically serious. “Did Jeff send you?”

“No, no, no,” Rex replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I’m just a big fan of yours.”

“A fan of mine?” Emmet’s jaw dropped. “But why?”

“Well, you’re the Special, right? Emmet Brickowski? The guy that saved the universe from Lord Business five years ago?” Rex stepped in closer, swinging an arm around Emmet’s shoulder.

“I… I guess?” Emmet sputtered. “I wasn’t really the Special though, you know.”

“So what,” Rex shrugged nonchalantly, causing Emmet to glance up in disbelief.

“So- So what? But it- that- I wasn’t really a hero! That’s so what. I know you’re new here, but seriously, just ask anyone and they’ll tell you that I’m not.”

“Really?” Rex asked, a hard edge entering his tone.

“Yeah,” Emmet’s voice grew soft, as he lowered his gaze. “I’m, um, not tough enough, they say.”

Rex hummed thoughtfully, stroking at his chin in a deliberately pensive motion. “Not tough enough, huh?”

“Yeah,” Emmet replied. “I mean, I don’t really get it, if I’m being honest. Personally, I’m not a fan of all the spikes and stuff, but still. It’s what everyone says.”

“What if I could fix that?”

“What do you mean?” Emmet looked back up at Rex, who was grinning widely now. What a friendly guy, Emmet thought.

“What if I could help you become tougher? Become the guy that all your friends want you to be?” Something eager bubbled up in Rex’s voice as he asked.

“I don’t- ”

“Become the guy that Lucy wants you to be?”

In retrospect, this should have been the moment that Emmet realized something was terribly wrong about this interaction. There was no way that this stranger could have known Lucy’s name. However, in the moment, his thoughts were somewhere else. Yesterday, he’d asked Lucy if he might be able to patrol with her, just once. She’d said no, on the grounds that “things can get like, really real out there, Emmet”. He saw the look in her eyes, like she was kind of scared for him, or maybe just disappointed in him. He saw that look a lot recently.

But, if he was tough… like Rex was promising… then maybe things could change.

“Okay,” Emmet said, his newfound conviction clear in his voice

“Hah! You made the right choice, kid.” Rex reached up and ruffled Emmet’s hair with a gloved hand. “Come on then, and I’ll show you to my ship.” Rex started to walk off, with his arm still around Emmet’s shoulder, but Emmet didn’t move to follow.

“Oh, um,” Emmet muttered, as Rex turned to look at him suspiciously. “It’s just… I’ve got to meet up with Lucy first. I always get her a morning coffee before we hang out and talk. But, uh, if I explain that I can’t stay today, she’ll totally understand.”

“Emmet, I want you to take a look at this.” Rex reached into one of his vest pockets, pulling out a small, colorful flyer. Emblazoned across the front was an advertisement for Rex Dangervest’s Toughness Seminar and Obstacle Course.

“Can you tell me what it says in the small print at the bottom?” Rex asked, pushing the paper towards Emmet’s face.

“Um, it says ‘A Once in a Lifetime Opportunity’.”

“That’s right.” Rex’s voice was low and serious. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Do you know what that means, Emmet?”

“That one of my shooting star wishes came true?”

“No, Emmet. It means that I’m only going to make this offer once.” Rex’s grip tightened on Emmet’s shoulder. “If you don’t come with me now, then you’ll be stuck as a soft, hufflepuff loser forever.”

Dread pooled in Emmet’s gut at the thought. A future of disappointing his friends? When the chance to make them proud was right here?

“I mean, I guess Lucy will understand if I have to miss one hang out sesh...”

Rex’s benevolent smile returned. “Exactly! And think about how happy she’ll be when you show her how tough you’ve gotten.”

“Yeah!” Emmet cheered. “You’re right! And then we can hang out even more because I could do patrols with her and the other guys.”

“Totally,” Rex agreed. And, while maintaining his firm grip on Emmet, the two walked off into the desert.

*******************

It wasn’t very far to the Rexcelsior, but it still took a while. Rex had made it to Emmet so fast earlier because he’d done a super cool flip out of the hanger bay while the ship was still a few hundred feet above ground. Of course, that meant that now Rex wasn’t… super sure where the ship was parked. Fortunately, the Rexcelsior like most top of the line vehicles had come with a keychain dongle that made the ship beep obnoxiously whenever pressed. Rex had pawned the thing off on Emmet, who seemed pretty content with pressing the button over and over. In return, Rex had taken one of the coffee cups and started helping himself to its contents.

Emmet wasn’t really drinking from his cup anymore. Rex had said that drinking black coffee was the first step to becoming tough, but the caustic, bitter taste was making it a pretty tricky first step to master. Little sips made it much more tolerable, but also unfortunately made the drink take even longer. Emmet’s own cup must have been pretty bad too, seeing as how Rex kept making comments about how gross and sugary it was. He had finished it awfully fast, though.

Probably because he’s already so tough, Emmet thought, taking another tiny sip of his still disappointing coffee.

When he next pressed the dongle button, the previously distant beeping was much closer than he’d expected.

“We’re here.” Rex said, as he took the keychain back from Emmet’s hand and stepped past him.

“Really?” Emmet asked, looking around in confusion. “So, is your ship just like… really small?”

Rex snickered. “Not quite.” As if on cue, the ship materialized, looming impressively over the two men.

Emmet gasped, and continued to gasp for such a long time that it almost seemed like an action designed to garner laughter from an adoring studio audience. Rex stood nearby, patiently waiting for him to run out of air.

“This,” Rex gestured dramatically once he had regained Emmet’s attention, “is the Rexcelsior - the absolute toughest ship in the universe.”

A panel hissed open behind him, prompting Emmet to gasp once again. With a huff, Rex took his arm, pulling the two of them together into the maw of the ship. Once through, the door slid shut behind them, and the ship vanished back into transparency.

#the lego movie 2 #lego movie 2 #tlm2 #tlm2 spoilers #rex dangervest #emmet brickowski #hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i'm very nervous #both about posting this and also just in general honestly #but! I'm! posting! it! anyways!

38 notes · View notes

fangirlingpuggle · 5 years

Text

Crog Eva AU- Reveals and Races

Hey here’s part 4 of Crog Eva AU Takes place in Will to Win

Vea is furious, Toros has gone too far.

Way to far

Not only had he destroyed her trident, disobeying the Imperium to be the pilot, destroying her communication devices so she couldn’t report to the Imperium or contact her father

And all that he’d done to Aikka and Rush.

He was violent and unstable.

Crogs may be warlike but they also had order and laws.

They had rules and morals, though they may differ from other species.

But what Toros was doing, it was wrong by all those standards.

And Eva was done.

She was taking her position back.

Even if it meant helping the Earth team win.

And that made her feel sick to her very core.

She didn’t really have a problem with Rick, she’d talked to him a few times and even accepted after she broke his ship their initial races agreeing that he’d been cocky, underestimating her, he was …nice. Vea didn’t bemoaned helping him.

It was the fact this would help Don Wei that made bile rise in her throat.

But she had to do it.

She had to stop Toros.

This was her only chance, she had to stop him here on Alwas because if she didn’t even slip into the finals and be untouchable.

By Kramm would she let that happen.

Even if it meant tearing off her masks revealing herself as biologically human.

She heard all the shocked gasps around her as she pulled them off, and she pushed down the horror at the fact they all knew.

Rush knew, he’d hate her now she knew…she’d realised talking to him he didn’t know who she was, she’s glad he told her about Byrus, she’d not known just how ruthless Toros was, her father had only told her he’d been utterly brutal far more than was needed, setting a wildfire to do the job that a candle could do.

And Aikka…Vea can’t even look, he hates her she knows, he knows now and he’ll despise her. After what Toros did she’s not surprised, that he’d been treating Nourasia like that. They’re meant ot allies not hostages or slaves. Alliances are new for the Crogs yes but this is not how to handle it at all. She curses whoever on the Imperium let Toros have a say in the process, after this she’s going to have to ask her Uncle Iokois to look into it, he actually knows about diplomacy, he’ll sort it out.

That is if she survives, she can still see the blade in the ground out of the corner of her eye.

To the death.

She keeps staring at Toros, his arrogance and confidence is radiating off of him.

Everyone’s still whispering, chattering staring at her.

She doesn’t pay attention to them.

Toros laughs “well well looks like the little pretender finally reveals her true traitorous colours you little human”

Vea bares her teeth and stands tall “I AM NOT HUMAN, I AM A CROG AND I AM THE PILOT THE IMPERIUM CHOOSE” she points at him “AND I WILL COMPLETE THE MISSION GIVEN TO BE EVEN IF THAT MEANS…WINNING FOR THEM”

Toros shifted “you won’t win you’ll die helping a hopeless cause don’t worry though” his eyes crinkled in dark amusement “all your human kin will be joining you soon enough”

She kept meeting his gaze the judges were stuttering someone out clearly lost on what to do

The 2 of them turning away from each other walking towards their ships

Well Vea walked towards the earth team’s ship, she’d only flown tridents for years she knew the disadvantage she was at, but this was also like the ship her mother had flown. She still remembered how it worked.

She wouldn’t lose

“WHAT THE HELL?” came the voice of the gunner Jordsomething she couldn’t remember

Vea glanced at him as he moved between her and the ship while Rick just stared at her wide eyed

“Like hell your flying OUR ship you…I don’t even know what you are!” the boy stumbled out “there’s no way a human would help the Crogs so I you’re the one who destroyed our ship before just NO you’re not flying it”

Vea glared at him “well who else on your team will fly it” she gestured to Rick whose arm was still bandaged the boy faltered looking between them “ I will win this for your team just get out of my way”

Rick was staring at her intently

“If she doesn’t race she forfeits the challenge automatically” one of the aliens in the stands called out to them

“It’s a death challenge the loser will die if she doesn’t race then..” another called out

The earth team both jolted staring at her in shock “are you kidding you…”

“I won’t lose” she snapped looking at Rick, the man met her eyes before reaching up ripping out the communicator in her ear turning it off and Vea could hear yelling on the other end before he did

“Go” he nodded towards the ship, Jordan that was it, moved out of the way and Vea ran past jumping in staring at the controls trying to remember all of them

She saw Jordan begin to move towards the ship also but Toros just laughed “I don’t think so boy, the challenge is between me and her no one else”

The humans gaped in rage and the crowd began chattering loudly

“It’s fine” Vea said firmly cutting off the protests she knew the humans were going to start yelling out “that’s how this works besides I don’t need guns to beat him”

She could feel rage radiating off of Toros at that comment

There was a moment of silence between the earth team “…do you know how to fly it?” Rick trailed off looking concerned

Vea nodded “don’t worry about me”

“You’re literally in a race to the death with a guy whose never lost in a ship you’ve never flown with no weapons” he chocked out

Vea smiled down “well he’s never raced against me before” she nodded down at them “thanks” she said before manoeuvring the ship to the starting point

She could feels eyes on her but she didn’t care, she tore open the control panel, ignoring the shouts of shock and offence form the crowd and earth team, instead she began moving wires around first silencing the radio and remote commands, she didn’t trust Don Wei and the rest of the earth team before starting on more important things (she remembered how the ship had worked in their race, their boosters had been impressive but maybe if she altered power flow to their then she could maybe, also removing powers from guns she could rework it to yes that would work)

She worked quickly, like her training for emergency repairs in crashing ships or during combat, Uncle Hoorus and Uncle Vox had taufght her the quickest ways to assess and rework all types of Crog ships, it was a similar principle with these ships just a little more.

She heard Toros’s yell “Start the race”

Petty asshole she thought to herself

She could hear the judges and crowds displeasure, but she heard the countdown begin

That was ok nearly

DONE.

She hit the power just the signal to start came barley closing the top of the cockpit in time.

But she speed on after Toros

She wasn’t going to lose.

She was pretty sure the earth team wouldn’t be to pissed at her for upgrading their boosters as she activated them during the race speeding past Toros with a satisfied smile in place, tactically she should undo her work after the race, though that would be a dick move….but leaving it would help Don Wei.

She cut her musings off she saw Toros power up and she felt offence bubble up really, he was trying to cut through the ship, use her own move against her.

Vea just smirked and waited til the last moment before putting the ship into a spin.

Easily avoiding that move and using the momentum to toss his trident off course.

He was underestimating her, of course he was, he always had.

And now it would cost him dearly.

The finally stretch was really just a game of chicken, the boosters of the earth ship were keeping pace with his trident and it was just who blinked first.

The thing is her Dad always said she’d stare death in the eye without flinching, and apparently she won’t blink either because he stopped first, she speed through, barley twisting out of the way of his speeding Trident and skidding to a stop.

All she could her was her own breathing and her heart beat in her ears adrenaline coursing through her blood stream.

She let herself smile, she won.

She beat him.

Letting out a laugh of shock she exiting the ship

Trying not to the feel the hunderds of eyes on her.

She leaned moved away from the ship, she wasn’t sure what to do now she needed to call the imperium, to contact her father and her uncles and

“You” a dark rage filled growl echoed out and she spun to see Toros charging at her sword on hand “PATHETIC HUMAN” he screttched

Vea heard gasps and cries in the crowds but spun reaching for her dagger only for a flash of movement to stop her.

A black hand held the sword blade in places

The entire stadium was silence as the void of space

In front of her stood her father cape billowing behind him eye narrowed glaring at Toros in pure seething ice cold hatred.

Toros said nothing eyes wide

“get” Kross began “away” he continued as he forced the sword from the others hands “from” he reared back his fist “my” he punched the other in the gut sending him flying back “DAUGTHER!”

Vea smiled in relief, she hadn’t been able to contact him in days she’d had no idea what was happening with him where he was she felt the grin break her face and without thinking she throw herself at him arms his waist as she cried out “DAD!”

She hears the crowd erupt in a chorus of voices confused, shocked, offended she’s not sure.

Her dad’s here and for a moment

She lets herself not care

Thanks for reading =)

#Oban Star Racers #crog eva au #vea au #general kross #eva is adopted by kross #overprotective dad Kross #don't mess with Vea #Rick thunderbolt #oban rick #oban eva #eva wei #oban toros #toros is a dick #episode related

2 notes · View notes

crytill5am-blog · 7 years

Text

Lapis... Lance? [Part 2]

Hey guys! Here’s part 2 for lapis!lance! I hope you enjoy it as I try to wrestle with my excitement to blow the entire plot for people to read in one big chapter, but I wanna take my time with this au!

ALSO check out honeybunny2488′s art that they made based on this au! it’s so amazing and i cry!

Preview:

But the king was dead, had been for millennia, and Lance’s anger had no outlet. It took too much energy to be consistently angry at the dead.

Then... the ship had begun to act oddly.

It had been well over a month since the mirror incident.

Lance had settled into the rhythm of the ship, a new and strange addition to their life aboard as the humans and Alteans wandered through the universe. The fact that he had, apparently been chosen by the Blue Lion as her pilot only made welcoming him easier.

There were still some... difficulties, however.

When Lance had firt come out of the mirror gem, the team could only stare in both wonder and awe as the young man stood up from his rather mocking bow. How else were they supposed to react? It was so very bizarre to be facing someone who had practically stepped out of a mirror to be a living, breathing being here in front of them. The Lapis, Lance as he’d said, let his eyes roam over the paladins’ faces curiously

Holy shit, there was an actual person stuck in that mirror and they’d been treating it like some weird space television.

They’d yelled, asking him rapid fire question that had made the cocky grin on the gem-persons face waver, brow furrowed. The water from his eyes had been making a larger pile as he continued to stand there. His distress was only obvious through the gushing of the water from his eyes as he held his hands out to them placatingly.

“How long were you in that mirror?!”

“Longer than ten thousand years. I knew the original paladins, though not in the pysical.”

They’d spent well over an hur interrogating Lance, asking him so many question that he’d been dizzy afterwards, the concentration he used to try and hold his form together wavering. They’d only stopped once one of his arms had drooped to the ground, staring at it in horror as the elongated appendage twitched.

“Why does your arm do that?”

“Because my gem is damaged.”

“Is there any way to fix it?”

“Unless you have access to the waters of Homeworld or the tears of a Rose Quartz, then no.”

“We’ll find a way!”

“I don’t doubt you’d try.”

The paladins had been worried, hands reaching out and hovering near him. It was the princess who had tried to touch him, only to have him jerk violently away from her touch.

“Why do you avoid touch?”

“Because my skin is sensitive.”

A lie, but they couldn’t exactly doubt his words, considering they knew nothing of gem kind. They’d asked him many questions, some delving into the aspects of his physical form, some into his abilities, some into Homeworld and the gems that inhabited it.

“What is this Homeworld you talk about?”

“It is the original world from whence my species came.”

“Is there anyway to get there?”

“Only if you have the clearance, and while I do, I was... removed from the registry.”

“Why?”

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

There was a pause, awkward and uncomfortable, before Pidge cleared their throat and moved onto the next question, their eyes glued to Lance’s gem.

“What can gems do?”

“It depends on the type of gem you are. However, we are all capable of similar actions and attributes, such is fusion.”

“What is fusion?”

“Two or more gems coming together to form a bigger version of themselves-according to Homeworld.”

“And according to you?”

“I’d rather not speak of it.”

Lance sighed to himself, watching his legs listlessly through his waterfall eyes. He was getting worse. His physical form took a toll on his mental and physical health. Various parts of himself were stretching or shrinking. The crack in his gem was widening with each yawning day that passed. He slept more than he should, considering gems don’t actually need sleep all that much, and he left puddles of water in his wake.

“I believe we do have something that might help in healing your gem!”

“The pods are not equipped to heal cracked gems.”

“My father left something else! I believe it was a potion of regeneration. If we find it, we may be able to heal you!”

Lance’s chest burned. Anger swirled in his belly as he thought of the Altean King. He’d known. Known the moment he’d held the mirror that there was more to Lance than the Galra who had gifted it to the King had mentioned. And he’d done nothing.

But the king was dead, had been for millennia, and Lance’s anger had no outlet. It took too much energy to be consistently angry at the dead.

Then... the ship had begun to act oddly.

Lance had been resting within Blue, her soothing presence a comfort, similar to that of the waters from the world he’d been born from. It hadn’t been a surprise to Lance that the princess hadn’t been able to find the healing potion that would inevitably heal his gem. He’d been disappointed, surely, but he’d understood. The castle was large and had too many storage spaces to truly check where the potion was. It didn’t mean she’d given up, as she’d set course in the directions Lance had hesitantly given her.

If all went well, they’d reach Homeworld within the week. Lance felt both nauseous and excited at the idea. Perhaps he would be able to wade within the springs of his home planet, visit his sisters, visit hid diamond!

He didn’t know exactly what had happened, but Blue had gone tense, a deep growl rumbling through his mind. Lance, instinctively, tensed as well. If Blue was growling, that meant there was something wrong. If there was something wrong, Lance most probably would not be able to protect himself; there was no water beside that which came from himself aboard the ship that he could try to use as a weapon.

Lance sent Blue soothing thoughts, heading to the cockpit exit and getting out of his Lion. He tensed, it was too quiet, the air too still. Where are the others? He thought to himself, exiting the hangars and wandering the halls. At this time in the day, Shiro and Keith would be sparring one another, Pidge would be tinkering around in the vents, Hunk would be in the kitchen, preparing the evening meal [though Lance never ate, he had no need for it and it felt... strange] and Coran along with Allura would be going over the data they have in the castle.

So why was everything so silent?

Lance paused. He thought he’d heard footsteps a few feet to his right. Turning, he narrowed his eyes as he saw Allura, walking as if in a daze into a room close by. If Lance remembered the lay-out of the castle correctly, that was a simulation training room. Why would Allura be going there?

Curiously, the gem followed the princess. They weren’t close, Lance was still tiptoeing nervously around the other carbon based life forms as they did the same to him, trying to find a common ground with which to work together, but he did care for them. They had freed him from the mirror without asking too much of him, simply wanting him to become the true paladin of the Blue Lion. He had no reason to want to see them hurt.

So he followed the princess. If she knew anything that was happening, he should follow her. Walking into the room, Lance sucked in a shocked breath. His blue eyes wandered over fields and fields full of juniberry blossoms. The anxiety crawling in his gut doubled, and Lance cautiously walked through the fields, eyes wide and watching everything cautiously.

He soon came across Allura, sitting in the fields and smiling wistfully at the blooms. The worry and fear that had been coursing through Lance subsided somewhat, and he paused to watch the princess for a bit. She didn’t seem to even feel his presence as he came to stand before her, something that made his gut clench and twist, “Allura, what are you doing in here?”

The princess turned her gaze lazily to Lance, a happy grin coming over her face as she watched him stand there, surrounded by holographic flowers. Water puddled beneath him the longer he stood there, eyeing her warily as she gestured for him to sit beside her. Her bright eyes were shining with such joy that Lance hesitated in breaking the illusion.

“Lance! Do you see this! There is an entire field of juniberry blossoms here! They were the flowers of Altea and they are here!” She called out, her eyes looking a bit behind him suddenly as her breath hitched, tears coming to her eyes, “Father...?”

“Hello Allura,” A deep voice, one Lance had thought he would never hear again, came from behind him, and the gem whipped around. There he was, face to face with the dead king of a dead world. Lance felt it, the fury crashing within him and twisting him up inside, the water beneath him coiling up his legs as he stood, frozen, staring at Alfor.

Allura ran past him and into her father’s arm, a cry of joy leaving her. Water rushed by Lance’s ears and he felt as if his entire body was boiling-too hot then too cold all at once. They seemed to be lost in their own little world and Lance felt a flash of rage course through him. This holographic was not the king, but all the pain and rage of a millennia of loneliness and fear washed through him.

“You,” Lance spat, Allura and Alfor’s holograph turning towards him in shock at the vehemence in Lance’s throat. Allura’s breath caught, watching in horror as Lance’s eyes glowed a deep blue colour, the water falling from his eyes continuously swirling around him in a blaze of power, “You knew I was in there, and you didn’t do anything!”

Lance snarled, the water coming together to form a large fist, reaching forwards and smashing over Alfor’s holograph, accidentally knocking Allura to the side. The princess let out a shout of surprise, unable to get close to the two forms as water seemed to surround them. She could make them out clearly, the numb shock in Alfor’s face as he lay there placidly, Lance stalking over to him, his voice ringing through the room. The simulated flowers seemed to wilt and flicker, the fields disappearing and reappearing in intervals.

Allura reached over for the emergency control panel, blearily calling all others to this room, her eyes locked on the two in the midst of an ocean of water. She didn’t pay attention to the door opening, allowing the battered and bruised forms of the Paladins into the room. They all froze, gasping, seeing Lance use the water that had been crushing Alfor’s hologram to lift him up and slam him back into the floor of the room harshly.

“Did you even wonder who I used to be?!” Lance’s voice rang out, grief and rage turning it into a loud wail as Alfor just seemed to watch him quietly, calmly, as if he weren’t affected at all by the gem’s anger. Lance gritted his teeth and batted Alfor mercilessly, sending the hologram into the barrier, ignoring the cries to stop from his team mates and Allura’s yelled orders.

Lance breathed deeply, his eyes glowing brighter, movements becoming sharp and precise. He could feel all the turmoil from millennia of silence and loneliness battle against his own common sense. It didn’t matter if this form of the king was only a hologram. It didn’t matter that Alfor was not the only one responsible for Lance’s capture. Lance was too blinded by his own swirling emotions to truly allow any form of logical thinking to wash into him.

“My name is Lance and you can’t keep me prisoner here anymore!” Lance shouted, though it came out more as a wail, tossing Alfor’s hologram so hard that it broke through the water barrier. Lance didn’t even care anymore, too overcome with his grief now as he fell to the floor, kneeling among the swirling, jagged water around him. He sobbed, clutching himself in agony, “Did you even care?!” he called out harshly, eyes shutting tightly as the water froze up, becoming ice to encase him even as the paladins ran towards him.

The ice that had formed around him exploded into shards, so small they looked like glitter. Lance continued to sit there, crying deeply, shuddering and shaking in the middle of the ice that rained around him. The team, hesitantly, stepped towards him, slowly coming to sit at his side, even as Allura and Coran rushed over to the damaged hologram, quickly exiting with the fake Alfor from the room. Hunk was the first to reach out, slowly wrapping an arm around Lance, who crumbled into his side, wailing loudly as the dam finally burst. Shiro and Keith followed soon after, Pidge curling up in his lap as the other two men wound themselves around the crying blue paladin.

They were silent, offering wordless comfort to their team mate, who could only continue to shake and cry. Lance felt so tired, so ancient and exhausted, but... not alone. He took their comfort greedily, lapped it up and helped patch some of the wounds that had been left upon him from his time in the mirror.

“Did you even care about who I used to be?” They could only hold him tighter as he managed to choke out those words, their hearts and minds reaching out to him. For the first time, the paladins were able to connect with their gem team mate, to offer him the comfort and mental reassurance that they were there, they were not going to leave.

#Lapis Lance AU #Lance #Lance VLD #Allura #Allura VLD #Hunk #Hunk VLD #Shiro #Shiro VLD #Alfor #Alfor VLD #Keith #Keith VLD #Coran #Coran VLD #Pidge #Pidge VLD #vld #Voltron: Legendary Defender

126 notes · View notes

sarahw-world · 7 years

Text

My first fanfic: A Dark Heart

Chapter 12: A New Intergalactic Order

Summary:

Bulma and her friends discover a new planet, its people and quite a few things about Vegeta's new life...

Will he be there?

But we must kill them.

We must incinerate them.

Pig after pig.

Cow after cow.

Village after village.

Army after army.

And they call me an assassin.

What do you call it, when the assassins accuse the assassin?

They lie.

They lie and we have to be merciful, for those who lie.

Those nabobs.

I hate them. I really hate them."

[Colonel Kurtz; “Apocalypse Now”]

Yamcha finished getting dressed in his tiny cabin, making sure he would be protected from the harsh weather they were about to face, and he double checked that the belt Bulma have given him was secure underneath his warm clothes.

She really was amazing, wasn’t she? The woman had certainly come prepared for this trip, especially considering it had only taken her about two weeks to prepare for it. Not only had she built a new ship, with the help of his father and a few trustworthy members of Capsule Corporation, but she’d also been extremely foresighted and she’d taken the time to create three belts, one for each of the passengers of the ship, which contained tiny capsules full of food, clean water, medical supplies, a few different types of Capsule Corp. vehicles and clothes suitable for every single kind of weather they might encounter during their new adventure. The capsules were tiny, about half the size of a regular one, and Bulma had commented that they were a new model, entirely her invention, that hadn’t even gone into full production yet because the costs of manufacture were still too high and she didn’t think they would be a profitable product until they found a way to make them more affordable to the general public.

His ex-lover truly was brilliant.

The warrior sighed, shaking his head, knowing where this train of thought would lead him. He had to admit, this trip hadn’t been as easy as he’d thought it would be.

Back in the lab, as he’d held her and basically forced her to allow him to accompany her in this odyssey, he’d truly felt that he’d finally achieved some kind of closure from their past together. But now, he wasn’t so sure anymore. He knew that he’d never attempt to pursue her again, and he really hoped she’d be able to find Vegeta and convince him to give their relationship a shot, but he couldn’t help some of the images that went through his mind when she was near him…

Spending time with her in a closed space hadn’t helped either. Every damn day he was surrounded by her scent, her smile, her soothing words of encouragement, her cooking, that had actually gotten better than it used to be, and of course, her beauty. He’d often catch her standing in front of the main window of the space ship, her tiny shivering body wrapped in that blue blanket, lost in thought, with a slight concerned frown and those pink pouty lips he’d been fortunate enough to kiss so long ago, and he wondered what went on inside that girly but complex mind of hers.

Yamcha shook his head again, telling himself that if that fool didn’t want her back he’d kick his ass.

“Lucky bastard” he mumbled frustratingly as he exited his cabin and he walked towards the main living area, where Krillin and Bulma were already waiting for him.

“There you are!” she said cheerfully, although he could tell she was simply trying to hide her anxieties. She softly patted the couch, asking him to sit down next to her, and he complied.

“Is everything alright?” she asked.

“Uh? Um, yeah…” he replied in confusion.

“I mean the clothes, silly! Do they fit you well? Are they warm enough?”

“Sure!” he honestly replied. “They’re very warm, but light at the same time. You’re really talented, as usual…”

She gave him that Bulma Briefs cocky grin of hers…

“Well, of course! I am a genius, after all!”

He mockingly rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah… Anyway, are we all ready to go? Do you have all the information you needed before we land?”

“I think so…” she replied, her cute face getting serious, meaning that they were about to discuss things of great importance. She held a few documents she’d just printed, no doubt the results of the tests she’d been running ever since they’d reached the planet. The blue haired woman had wisely decided not to land until she was able to find out as much as she could about the planet they were about to visit. As a result, they’d been orbiting it for about two hours, as her computers worked their magic and gathered as much knowledge about it as they could.

“Alright, boys! This is what we know…” she said as she went through her notes. “As you can see, most of the planet is white, and just as I suspected, the white substance is ice, apparently with the same composition as Earth’s water. The air is also constituted of the same elements as the one from our home planet, which means that it’s breathable and it shouldn’t give us any trouble. Mmmm… Let’s see what else… Oh! Here. OK, most of the planet seems to be unpopulated; I’ve only discovered two zones where there seem to be some villages. They appear to be small, and I’ve also detected a few really large hangars near the villages.” She stopped, frowning… “I guess… Maybe they could be some kind of factories? Perhaps? I mean… The weather seems to be pretty harsh in here, so I’m guessing these people don’t make a living from something like agriculture… By the way, can you feel their kis? Are the inhabitants strong?” she asked the two men.

“It’s hard to tell, Bulma”, Krillin said, shaking his head. “I mean… I can feel quite a few kis on the planet, but we’re still too far to know for sure… Also, they could be like us and know how to hide their energy levels… We won’t know for sure until we land”.

She nodded, disappointment written on her face. Landing on that planet without knowing what to expect wasn’t exactly safe, but really, what other choice did they have? Go back home because they were scared? No fucking way. Not without her Saiyan Prince.

“I’m sorry, Bulma…” Krillin said, realizing that the scientist looked somewhat agitated.

“It’s fine, Krillin. It’s not your fault…” she grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently. “I… I wanna thank you guys… Whatever happens down there, you don’t know how much it means to me to have you two here with me…” she smiled, looking at both men.

The warriors looked at each other. Humble, grateful Bulma was certainly something they hadn’t witnessed very often, and they couldn’t help but being surprised.

“You don’t have to thank us” Yamcha replied, putting his hand on her shoulder. “That’s what friends are for… It’s gonna be alright, you’ll see…”

Bulma smiled, swallowing a lump in her throat. No. Bulma Briefs wasn’t going to get emotional. Not today, anyway.

“Well…” she continued after taking a minute to compose herself. “As you already know, we haven’t received any signal from Vegeta’s ship for the last couple of days… This could mean two things…” she stopped, taking a deep breath. “He’s either on the planet and he encapsulated the ship or… Or he’s left the planet with the ship and we can’t receive the signal anymore for whatever reason…”

Bulma suddenly stopped talking, knowing full well there was a third reason: the possibility that Vegeta’s ship had been destroyed and that something bad had happened to him, but she didn’t even want to think about it, so she decided to keep that fear to herself.

“Even if he isn’t in there, Bulma, I’m sure we’ll get some info on him, I mean… He spent at least six days on this planet, right?” Yamcha said cautiously, reading her face like an open book, knowing full well the woman knew something bad could have happened to the Saiyan.

She nodded again.

“Let’s hope the people here are friendly…” she whispered distractedly…

There was silence in the room, until Bulma came back to the present.

“Anyway... These are my plans: we land close to the smallest village, since it would be less risky having to face a smaller amount of people, in case they’re hostile, but far enough that we don’t make a spectacle of ourselves, I mean… This ship can be a bit loud when it lands, and I have to say, I’m not sure how landing on a surface full of ice will work out… If anything bad happens, I have tools and spare parts in one of the capsules in my belt, in case I have to make some emergency repairs…”

Both men nodded in approval.

“It sounds like a plan…” Krillin replied.

“I also think it’s better that we just walk into the village, trying to blend in as much as we can… By the way guys, we will not, under any circumstances, tell anyone where we come from. We don’t want to put our planet and friends at risk, right?”

‘Or our children’ she anxiously thought…

“Absolutely” Yamcha said in complete agreement.

“Then, I think we’re ready… Everyone, take your seats and get ready for a rough landing!” Bulma said, her voice full of newfound determination.

They all walked towards their seats, with the scientist sitting at the pilot’s one, they fastened their seat belts and they proceeded to approach the planet, Bulma typing the landing coordinates on the computer system…

*********************************************

As it turned out, the landing hadn’t been as bumpy as the blue haired genius had expected, and she’d managed to land quite gracefully over the slippery grounds of the planet without damaging the space ship in the slightest.

The three passengers stood up, Bulma’s legs a bit wobbly from the landing, and Yamcha held her arm in order to steady her.

“Are you OK?” he asked with concern in his voice.

“Y-Yeah… I’m fine. Thanks babe!” she replied, trying to hide the nervousness from her voice.

Krillin approached them.

“Alright guys. Let’s do this!” he said resolutely as he opened the gate of the ship. He waited until Yamcha and Bulma were standing next to him, and then the three of them exited the vehicle.

A rush of extremely cold air hit their faces, making the woman flinch, and her ex-boyfriend couldn’t help but feel worried about how difficult it would be for her to handle the harsh environment they were about to deal with. He held her hand, helping her to descend from the ship’s slippery walkway. She grabbed it, gratefully, and she didn’t let go until she reached the ground, taking a deep breath of relief and flashing him a bright smile.

“Thank you, Yamcha.”

The scarred faced warrior nodded, unable to hide the hint of a blush from his face.

“No problem… Boy! It sure is cold in here! I think we should wear those hats you’ve given us, uh? We don’t want our ears to freeze!”

She nodded, putting her cozy wool hat on as both men did the same.

Bulma walked towards the side of the ship and she pushed a button, effectively encapsulating it and safely keeping it inside of one of her zipped pockets.

“So… Do you guys sense any kis? Where’s the village?”

Krillin frowned in concentration.

“This way”, he said pointing to their right. “I’d say it’s not very far, but we probably should fly a little so that we don’t freeze our asses off!”

Yamcha held Bulma in his arms and the three comrades flew towards the nearest village, which they reached about ten minutes later. Just as they were about to enter it, Bulma asked Yamcha to put her down so they’d be able to walk in without drawing too much attention to themselves.

The Earthlings walked, side by side, curiously looking around them and realizing there wasn’t much to see. In the distance, they witnessed the few large hangars Bulma had talked about back before they’d landed, but they really couldn’t see what was inside of them.

As they slowly started to reach the village, they finally saw some people, walking in different directions. They all seemed to belong to the same race, and they looked humanoid, with light blue skin, burgundy hair and large yellow-green eyes. Despite the obvious difference in their appearance, nobody seemed to really pay much attention to them, and they walked past them minding their own business. Bulma couldn’t hide her relief as she realized the inhabitants of this frozen world seemed to be peaceful individuals.

“Well guys, either these people are really good at hiding their power levels, or they’re all even weaker than Bulma…” Krillin finally said.

“Ha! Ha!” Bulma said, laughing sarcastically at his friend’s comment.

Krillin smirked.

“Aww, Bulma! Don’t be like that! This is actually good news, right? That means your friends are the strongest people on the plan…”

Krillin suddenly stopped talking and walking, deeply shocked by the image in front of him. He looked at his friends and he realized they’d both stopped walking too, staring dumbfounded at the new scenario.

They’d finally entered the village, and they stood on what seemed to be the central square of the small town. In the middle, the villagers worked together placing large bundles on what appeared to be something similar to Earth’s primitive carriages. One of the bundles opened a little, allowing them to see what was inside of it.

A hand.

A dirty, bloody hand.

“Oh, Dende…” the scientist whispered in shock.

“Bulma, perhaps you shouldn’t look at this…” Yamcha said, suddenly feeling like the carnage would be too much for the fragile woman to take.

“It’s OK, Yamcha, really…” she replied softly, unable to take her eyes off the image in front of her.

As they tried to absorb all the details of this new situation, attempting to make some sense of it, they didn’t realize that someone was carefully approaching them.

“Excuse me, Miss…” a shy voice said, and Bulma looked in front of her, realizing a little girl was standing right there.

The child cleared her throat timidly and she asked another question.

“Is… Um… Is your hair blue, Miss?”

The woman blinked in confusion, surprised about being asked that question. Of course her hair was blue! Wasn’t that obvious? And then she realized that most of her hair was covered by her wool hat, and she nodded.

“That is correct. My hair is blue” she replied kindly.

The little girl’s eyes suddenly widened and she smiled.

“Wait here!” she yelled as she run towards a group of people that was standing in front of one of the houses in the square.

“What the hell was all that about?” Krillin asked.

Bulma crossed her arms, squinting as she looked at the group of people the kid was running towards.

“I have no idea…” she said, puzzled, wondering what exactly was going on in this planet…

The three earthlings saw the child reach a small group of women and hold the hand of one of them in particular, an older woman; the girl whispered something in her ear and the old lady looked around her until she finally set her eyes on Bulma. She tilted her head to the left, she asked the child something and, after the kid replied to her, she nodded and she proceeded to walk towards the new visitors.

The child was holding the lady’s hand, slowing down her pace so that the older woman could comfortably follow her, and as both females got closer and closer, the scientist realized a lot of the villagers were now staring at the travelers and whispering to each other.

“I don’t like this…” Yamcha said in a low voice.

“Ssshhh… Yamcha, let’s wait and see what is happening here…” Bulma said, trying to remain calm and to appear confident. She could hear the child saying “I think that’s her, grandma!”

The older lady finally reached her and she stood in front of them, trying to catch her breath for a few seconds. Then, she finally addressed them.

“Bulma? Bulma Briefs?” she asked politely.

“Um… Uh, who are you?” the heiress warily asked, amazed that someone in here knew who she was.

“Oh, excuse me, Miss. Where are my manners?” The lady replied embarrassed. “My name is Khalla and this is my granddaughter, Ellah”, she said pointing at the little girl.

“Nice to meet you, ladies. You are correct, I am Bulma Briefs… May I ask how do you know my name?”

“We’ve been expecting you for the past two days”.

“Expecting us?” Yamcha suddenly questioned.

“Not all of you, young man. We were expecting her”, she clarified, pointing towards Bulma.

“But, how…? What…?” Bulma asked confused.

“Lord Vegeta. He left something for you, and he made me its custodian until your arrival.”

The blue haired woman’s eyes widened in shock, and she looked as if she was going to faint any minute…

“L-Lord Vegeta?” she whispered.

“Holy shit…” Krillin murmured…

Khalla nodded and she cautiously looked around her, noticing that the entire village was now paying attention to the new visitors.

“Yes, Lord Vegeta. If you don’t mind, it’s better if we discuss things privately. Our people are harmless, I can assure you, but I get the feeling that you’ll want some discretion, am I correct?”

Bulma looked at the boys questioningly. She got the feeling that the lady’s intentions were honest, buy she still wanted the opinion of her companions. Yamcha and Krillin seemed to be scanning their surroundings, searching for any potential threats and finding none. They both looked at Bulma and nodded in approbation.

“Alright, we’ll follow you”, the heiress finally said.

“My house is right there” Khalla said, pointing towards a small white house.

They all walked towards it: the older lady and the child first, followed closely by Bulma, whose back was fiercely protected by Yamcha and Krillin, acting as bodyguards. The blue haired woman smiled, feeling extremely grateful again for having her friends by her side. They finally reached the tiny home and Ellah opened the door for her grandmother. They all entered and they took the seat their host was offering in what seemed to be a small sofa.

“Would you like a warm drink?” the woman politely asked.

All three of them shook their heads.

“No, thanks. We’re fine”, Bulma replied. Deep down, there was nothing more she wanted right now than a really hot drink, but she still didn’t fully trust the people on this planet, and she could tell her male friends were having the same exact thoughts.

“Very well then… I’ll prepare one for myself, if you don’t mind…” she said, walking slowly towards a little kitchen that was placed in one of the corners of the house. As the older woman prepared her drink, little Ellah stared at Bulma with fascination.

“Can I see your hair, Miss Bulma?” she finally whispered, afraid that her grandma would hear her.

Bulma chuckled, removing her hat and revealing her cascade of blue hair, which had gotten longer after the Cell Games and was now a bit past her shoulders. The little girl’s eyes opened wide, fascinated by the woman’s beauty.

“Can I… Um… Can I touch it?” she said in a really low voice full of curiosity.

“Of course, kiddo…” the earthling said, smiling.

The child carefully run her fingers through the turquoise tresses.

“It’s so soft…” she whispered absentmindedly…

“Ellah!” the older woman reproved. “Please, stop bothering our guests. Go to your room, child…”

“Aww, granny! Do I really have to?” the girl asked, clearly not wanting to leave.

“Yes, you must let the grown-ups discuss our business, understood? Go on! Go to your room!”

“Aaaalright…”

Ellah kissed Khalla on her cheek, and she murmured in her ear…

“She’s so pretty… Isn’t she granny?”

The woman smiled quietly and nodded, fully agreeing with the child. They all waited until Ellah left the room, closing the door behind her in order to give them some privacy, and then Khalla turned towards Bulma.

“She’s right. You are a stunning young woman. I can see how Lord Vegeta would wish to have a friend like you”.

The scientist blushed.

“Thank you, you are very kind. So… I assume Lord Vegeta is not on the planet anymore?” Bulma asked, her mind full of emotions. There was disappointment at the Prince not being there, and then there was that word, ‘lord’, Vegeta’s new title made her internally cringe for some reason…

Khalla shook her head.

“I’m afraid not. He abandoned the planet two days ago.” There was a pause, and the old woman continued, “I’m assuming you were expecting to find him?”

Bulma nodded and she sighed tiredly, suddenly wanting nothing more than being at home, with her baby in her arms, watching some TV wrapped in a warm blanket…

“Then you must be disappointed. I am truly sorry, my child…”

“You said Lord Vegeta left something for Bulma” Krillin finally said, joining the conversation. “Could you please tell us what it was?”

“Ah, yes… I had almost forgotten… You must forgive me… I must be getting old…” the old lady said, almost talking to herself. She stood up and she walked into another room next door. As they waited, Yamcha couldn’t help himself…

“Lord Vegeta? What the fuck, Bulma?” he whispered angrily, fearing that their worst nightmare, the one that depicted Vegeta trying to achieve some form of world domination, had actually come true.

“Quiet, Yamcha!” Bulma whispered back. “We don’t know what Vegeta has really been doing, so just be respectful…”

Meanwhile, their host had silently come back into the living room and she stood in front of Bulma.

“There you go, young lady…” Khalla said, holding a tiny object in her hand, offering it to her.

Bulma grabbed the object in her now trembling hands and she examined it.

It was a capsule.

And not just any capsule.

It was Vegeta’s ship.

“Oh, no…” Bulma mumbled, suddenly feeling tears gather in her blue eyes…

Yamcha was fuming at the sight of his best friend getting hurt. ‘That fucking asshole’…

Krillin observed the scene, trying to remain calm and objective.

“Do you know why Lord Vegeta left his ship in here? Was it by choice, or had the vehicle been damaged?” the bald man questioned.

“Well, I know he left in one of the pods Frieza’s soldiers used to travel with…” the woman said. “As far as whether the ship works or not, I am afraid I’m not an expert about such matters. Our planet’s technology isn’t too advanced…”

Bulma remained quiet for a few moments, trying to gather her thoughts, and then she realized that there was something that didn’t make sense. How…?

“How did Lord Vegeta know we were coming in here? We didn’t mention our intention to visit him the last time we saw him”, she asked.

Khalla shook her head in confusion.

“I… I am afraid he didn’t share that information with me… I…”

“Someone else must have told him, Bulma” Krillin said.

“But who? Was Lord Vegeta talking to someone before he left?”

The old woman shook her head.

“Not as far as I know… I did see him walk inside the ship for a while… And then, we felt something, like… Like… Like an explosion of energy or something like that… It emanated from the ship, and then he exited the vehicle and he… He pushed a button and the ship turned into that tiny thing and, that’s all I know Miss Bulma…”

“Maybe he was talking to someone inside the ship?” Krillin asked again.

“But… Who could he…?” Bulma asked, as if trying to solve an equation. Suddenly, she stood up.

“My dad! Guys! Maybe he called my dad!”

Yamcha shook his head.

“That wouldn’t make any sense, Bulma. He left our planet, why would he call back home?”

“There’s only one way to find out. I haven’t talked to my dad for a while, perhaps we should try to get in touch with him…”

She turned towards the old woman.

“Khalla, is there any place big enough to open this capsule? It should be large enough to fit a space ship.”

Khalla stood up, and she pointed towards one of the closed doors in the room.

“That’s our backyard. It’s empty and it’s quite large, since our house is the last one in the village… You could open it in there…”

Bulma smiled with gratitude.

“Thank you, Khalla. Do you mind if we go in there right now?” she asked hopefully.

“Not at all, child… Go ahead…”

The three travelers walked towards the door, opening it and revealing a backyard covered in ice. Bulma whimpered, internally asking herself how could these people live in these conditions full time. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to get used to this horribly cold weather… She walked a few steps and she pressed the capsule’s button, throwing it at a safe distance…

There it was.

Vegeta’s space ship.

Bulma walked towards it, examining the vehicle with scientific eyes and realizing that it didn’t seem to be damaged at all, at least, not physically. She walked through the walkway and she entered the ship, cautiously looking around her in case there was any internal damage.

There wasn’t any.

Not only that, but the place actually smelled of Vegeta. That masculine, musky scent that was only his, and for a moment, Bulma felt a sharp pain in her stomach.

Gods, how she missed him!

She swallowed her tears and she walked towards the central computer system, trying to switch it on.

Nothing.

She tried again.

And again.

Nothing, it didn’t work.

Bulma sighed in frustration and she lifted her jumper, searching through her tiny belt, looking for the capsule that contained her repair tools.

“There you are…” she whispered as she grabbed the tiny object, pressing the button and throwing it next to her. A heavy red toolbox appeared, and the scientist knelt down next to it, looking for a medium-sized screwdriver. When she found it, she walked towards the central console, she knelt down on the floor again and she proceeded to open the small door that held the central circuits of the vehicle.

“Fuck!” she yelled as she saw what the problem was.

All the circuits were burnt.

“Unbelievable…” she angrily murmured.

She’d been there before, and she knew this kind of thing usually happened when Vegeta had either been overtraining or so angry that he couldn’t properly control his damn energy…

As Bulma looked around her, she realized that it was farfetched to assume that her man had been doing some serious hardcore training in there, given that the room seemed to be in perfect physical condition, so she could only imagine that the Saiyan had been pissed off about something and he’d exploded in rage. But, how? What could have possibly enraged him that much in order to destroy the best space ship he was probably going to own?

The heiress tiredly wiped her forehead as she stood up, hands on her waist, deep in thought, and she realized that the only thing she could do right now was talk to her dad and see if her theory was correct. She’d promised to call him as soon as they reached their destination anyway, so it was still all part of the plan. She walked outside the ship, where her friends and Khalla anxiously awaited her.

“Did you discover anything?” Krillin curiously asked.

She shook her head as she carefully walked through the walkway.

“No guys, sorry. All I know is that the circuits are burnt, and he was probably the one who did it.”

As she reached the ground, she encapsulated the ship again, she opened the zipped pocket that contained the vehicle they’d used to get to the frozen planet and she opened it instead, saving Vegeta’s ship in the same place.

“I’m going to try to call my dad, it’s the only thing I can think of right now… It might take a while, I’m not sure how hard it will be to communicate with our planet from here.”

Bulma walked back inside the ship, she strode towards the console and she typed the secret communication codes of her father’s lab. She knew it would take at least a few minutes for the satellite to catch anything, assuming they’d even be able to reach the Earth from their current position. While she waited, she decided to do something productive with her time: she wanted some answers.

“Yamcha?!” she yelled from inside the ship.

“Um, yeah?!” he yelled back.

“Would you mind asking Khalla to come in here and help her to get inside, please?! I’d like to talk to her!”

“Uh, sure…” The man questioningly looked towards the old woman, she nodded, accepting the invitation and she stretched her arm, seeking his help.

Yamcha looked at the lady, he looked at the slippery walkway and back to her. No, this wasn’t going to work out.

“May I?” He said stretching both arms in her direction. “It will be a lot easier if I just carry you in there myself.”

“Of course, young man…” the woman shyly replied.

The human carefully carried Khalla inside the ship, delicately leaving her on the ground, making sure that she was alright and she could keep her balance before he completely let go of her. Then he turned towards Bulma.

“Is there anything else you need, B.?” he asked.

She didn’t even look at him, too focused on the numbers on the screen placed in front of her.

“No thanks, that’s all… Could you leave us alone, please? I’d like to talk to her in private if that’s OK…”

“Uh, sure. No problem… We’ll be waiting for you outside. Just yell if you need anything.”

Bulma turned towards the entrance door, where Khalla was patiently waiting for her.

“Please, come in Khalla. I’d like to ask you a few questions… If that’s alright with you, of course”, she said politely.

The older woman slowly walked towards the scientist, looking around her in bewilderment, and then back at the beautiful woman sitting on the pilot’s seat. She realized her attributes were more than just physical, and she got the impression that it wouldn’t have been hard for the young Prince to fall in love with this exceptional young woman.

“Please, take a seat” she said, gesturing with a welcoming hand towards the seat to her right.

Khalla sat down, exhaling softly with exhaustion. She was getting too old for this…

Bulma crossed her arms and closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself for what was to come. She opened her blue eyes and, without daring to look at the other woman yet, she softly asked.

“Did he do it?”

Silence.

“I… I beg your pardon, Miss?”

Bulma sighed again, afraid of the woman’s future answers…

“The bodies your people were carrying, I’m assuming to get rid of them. Did Vegeta kill those men?” she asked again, now looking into the woman’s eyes.

“I see…” Khalla finally replied, realizing that Bulma needed to know exactly what the Saiyan warrior had been up to.

“Well, he killed a few of them, but most of them died by the hands of his men, actually…”

“His men?”

“Yes.”

“How many?”

“Um, it’s hard to tell. We were all advised to get into our homes so we wouldn’t get hurt so…”

“What?” she asked in confusion. “Who asked you to do that?”

“Lord Vegeta.”

“Are you telling me he didn’t kill any of the villagers?”

“Of course not, Miss Bulma!” Khalla replied, almost offended. “He only killed Frieza’s men!”

“All of those people were Frieza’s men? What…? What were they doing on the planet?”

“Now I can see that you didn’t know anything about our planet, young woman… Our planet was one of Frieza’s centers of manufacturing”.

“Manufacturing?” Bulma asked, confused.

“Yes… The soldiers brought some raw materials and we built weapons for them, well, only spare parts, since Frieza didn’t allow us to own any weapons. They were manufactured inside the factories located at the outskirts of our villages. Then, every few weeks, Frieza’s men would take them away and his own soldiers would assemble the parts in an undisclosed location.”

Bulma remained silent; she blinked slowly, trying to put all the pieces together…

“So… Your people worked for Frieza?”

The old woman chuckled sadly.

“We were given some food in exchange for our services. Would you call that working?”

Bulma cringed.

No.

She would call that slavery.

She was standing on a slave planet.

‘Holy shit’ she thought, now feeling deeply overwhelmed.

“But Frieza died years ago, right? Were you still working for him?”

“For his father, King Cold. We heard rumors that the father had also died, but we couldn’t tell the difference, to be honest.”

“Cold died.” Bulma firmly said. “I saw him die with my own eyes; a great warrior ended his life”.

‘My son’, she thought proudly.

“I see…” Khalla said, feeling there were certain things the woman was choosing to keep to herself.

“Wait a minute, what do you mean you couldn’t tell the difference after his death?”

“Well, our people aren’t physically strong, and we own neither weapons nor the means to create them. Frieza’s men took control, and things went from bad to worse ever since his death, to be honest…”

“In what sense?”

“When Frieza was alive there was some order, it was horrifying, but he somehow kept everyone in check, and we got food supplies regularly. Now… It’s all full of chaos… A lot of our people have died of starvation.”

“Oh Khalla… I’m so sorry…” she said, holding her hand, feeling her eyes burn with unshed tears.

The woman gawked at Bulma, shocked.

Compassion.

The young woman’s eyes were full of pity and compassion.

That was something she’d never seen in her very long life, a stranger feeling empathy towards her weak race.

“It’s alright Miss…” she said patting her hand comfortingly. “Things will get better now that those monsters are dead, I’m sure…”

“So… Now…” Bulma couldn’t even ask the question, too scared to know the answer. If her worst fears were true, she knew she’d never be able to look at Vegeta in the eye again.

“Are you…? Are you now Lord Vegeta’s slaves?”

“Oh, no! No, my child! Now we are free!” Khalla replied in dismay.

Bulma burst into tears. Hot tears of pure relief.

He’d freed them.

Vegeta had freed a slave planet and he hadn’t abused his power.

“Oh, Dende… I knew it…” she whispered… “I knew he was a good man… I just knew it…”

Khalla nodded, deeply moved by Bulma’s joy about the fact that Vegeta had showed mercy to her people.

“Out of all the warriors that ever visited our world, he was always different.”

Bulma wiped her tears, although some of them kept falling freely, and she looked at the woman in shock.

“You… You’d seen him before?”

“Of course, Miss Bulma. He was one of Frieza’s men; he started visiting the planet at a very young age… Back then, there were other two Saiyans with him…”

Bulma nodded.

“Nappa and Raditz”.

“Yes… I believe those were their names…” Khalla continued, nostalgia and pain in her voice. “But he was always different. He was ruthless, but he was fair. He was occasionally ordered to kill some of our people back then but… But he was quick; he never made them suffer… Some of Frieza’s men, they… They took pleasure in torturing and abusing weaker races… That’s why I was so shocked when I saw him this last time…”

“What… What do you mean?” Bulma asked fearfully.

“Well, he… He didn’t hurt any of us and I heard him forbid his men from touching our people but… Frieza’s men… He destroyed them… I had never seen him fight that way. He… He looked different… It was the first time I actually saw him trying to inflict pain…”

“How did he look, Khalla?” Bulma asked in a whisper. “Did he at least look healthy?”

“I guess… He certainly had the strength to fight… Although…”

“What?”

“His eyes… They looked tired… It’s like he was…”

“Gone?” she finished the sentence for her.

Khalla nodded, realizing the girl probably already knew the warrior was troubled. Was she the reason for his pain? Had she come looking for him to try to heal his wounds?

“He didn’t look like himself. But I can assure you he didn’t kill any innocent people. Bulma, may I ask what your relationship with…?”

Suddenly the screen beeped, making both women turn towards it.

“It worked!” Bulma yelled happily. “It’s my dad, Khalla! Let me talk to him…”

“Of course, Miss Bulma, do what you must…”

The older woman started to get up, and Bulma quickly jumped to help her, offering her arm to her.

“Yamcha!” she yelled.

“Yeah?!”

“Can you please come in here?”

The man was up there in a second.

“What’s up?”

“Can you please help Khalla get back to the house? The connection worked today and I want to talk to my dad in private…”

“Sure thing”, Yamcha said as he carried the woman in his arms again, leaving Bulma alone inside the ship. She went back to the pilot’s seat, wiping her face once more, trying not to look too disheveled in front of her father.

She pressed the “OK” button and, instantly, a blurry image of Dr. Briefs showed up on screen.

“Bulma? Bulma! Oh, Gods! Bulma! It that really you?!”

Bulma looked at her father in shock. Her usually careless father was concerned, really concerned…

“Of course it’s me, dad! Is… Is everything OK?”

“Is he with you, Bulma? Did you see him?” he nervously asked.

“Who?”

“Vegeta! He called, Bulma! Is he with you? Where are you?!”

This couldn’t be her father. He was frantic, clearly disturbed by something, and he looked as if he hadn’t slept for a week.

“Dad, please, you have to calm down…” she said soothingly, fearing that the poor man would end up having a heart attack.

Her father sat down on his lab chair, running his hands through his hair, trying to force himself to cool down.

“We reached the planet a few hours ago, dad, and we’re all fine. It’s really cold, but the inhabitants are friendly people, and they’re not very strong so they’re not dangerous to us.”

“Vegeta?” Dr. Briefs asked.

Bulma sadly shook her head.

“Nothing… He’s not here dad… He… He left me his ship. It doesn’t work though…”

“Did he burn the circuits?” the doctor asked knowingly.

“How… How do you know?”

“I figured…” he replied, sighing, relieved that his daughter at least was alright.

“He called us, Bulma…”

“He did? What did he say? Did something happen to him?”

“He… He didn’t say much at first… He just… I think he just wanted to talk to you, or at least find out how you and Trunks were doing… He asked for you…”

“Oh, Gods…” she whispered.

He’d tried to reach her, to talk to her… Did this mean that he cared? Or did it simply mean that he needed something from her? No. That didn’t make any sense, since someone in his position could literally have anything he wanted right now.

Anything.

And yet, he’d freed those poor people…

“Daddy…” she whispered, her lower lip trembling.

“Bulma” the doctor calmly said, now fully composed after his initial outburst of worry. “Do you have the means to repair Vegeta’s ship?”

She nodded.

“I think so… It seems to be in perfect condition physically, I’d probably just have to replace some of the wiring…”

“Then you must do it, Bulma.”

“Why? What do you mean? Dad… What…?”

“I told him…” he whispered, putting his elbows on the table and holding his head in his hands in frustration. “I may… I may have made a mistake… I don’t know… I was just trying to help…”

“What…?”

“I told him about you and your trip, how you had decided to go search for him because you wanted him back and he…”

“He what, Dad?” Bulma whispered with a shaky voice.

“He got mad, Bulma! Really mad! He asked me why… Why hadn’t I stopped you… I… I didn’t know what to say…”

“B-But, what does that have to do with me having to repair the ship?”

“Well, he… He seemed really, really mad at first… You know what he looks like when he’s barely trying to control himself… He looked so furious, Bulma… But then… He calmed down and he… He asked me…”

“W-What, daddy? Please…”

“He asked how to record a message for you.”

Notes:

Well... This has probably been the hardest chapter to write so far (and the longest!).

Please don't hate me! I promise a lot of things will happen in our next chapter!

You can also find it at Archive of Our Own:

http://archiveofourown.org/works/9066958/chapters/21323423

#vegebul #fanfic #fanfiction #writing #vegeta #bulma #bulma briefs #yamcha #krillin #apocalypse now #love #angst

4 notes · View notes