Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Lost and Found: Royal Line Blues ❯ Idsarjins to the Rescue ( Chapter 21 )

Chapter 21

"An old enemy…" Bulma asked, then trailed off as Vegeta's muscular body lifted under her shoulder and half carried her to a remote corner of the exhibit.

"Quiet," Vegeta whispered in her ear. He depressed the button on the side of his scouter, and said, "Citrus, this is Simian… threat has climbed exponentially. Am under detection threat…"

"Citrus here… your position is in the exhibit…" replied the voice in his ear speaker.

"Am dampening, but suspect they recognize me. I need to get the woman out of here," Vegeta said.

"We'll give a distraction. Vita C will rendezvous out the side entrance," answered his 'citrus' agent over the scouter link.

"I don't want to leave you," Bulma hissed in his ear.

"Don't be STUPID girl, you do as I say if you want to stay alive…"

"I can help you, Geta-chan…" Bulma whispered back. "Don't you trust me?"

"You come the closest, but this is NOT a time to argue…"

"But you've found nothing…"

"Grrrr… Citrus, VitaC… I need a distraction so I can get into the artifacts repository… can you do it?"

"Of course, Simian. We know your ki, and can duplicate it… rendezvous back at Market auxiliary?"

"Affirmative," Vegeta nodded. "In 45 standard dreem… Simian out…"

"I'm not even gonna ask… but I know you haven't found zip, V-Chan," she said. Vegeta rolled his eyes and snorted at yet another Bulma moniker he couldn't stand.

"Fine, woman, you deduced it. You want a fucking prize?" he snorted. "Because you get the honor of showing me how well you can hack into the Archalisite security system…"

"Oho, that sounds fun," Bulma winked. "Finally you're giving me something USEFUL to do… other than… well you know…"

"Just come on, girl before I change my mind and dump your ass back at the hotel," Vegeta snarled. Cursing in Saiyan, he dragged her off by the hand to shelter beside several larger pieces of statuary.  

"Murderer! I saw the MURDERER! I know he's in there!" someone hollered. Vegeta crept quickly, refusing to use any but the bare aspect of his powers to keep his ki masked.

"Someone's pissy," Bulma whispered.

"Now sir, there is NO reason to act like this in an academic institution…" Professor Malachite's voice echoed.

"I saw the Prince of Death… Frieza's bane! He's HERE and he'll kill you all you fools!" came the scream. "I saw you admit him into the museum! You're helping a demon!"

"Sir, will you SHUT UP?" someone else said.

"He slew my entire race! The blood of Jhuweyll is on his hands and those monsters with him! This whole exhibit glorifies DEATH!" the protester hollered.

"Great Oorzu, what the fuck did I do to deserve this shit," Vegeta rolled his eyes. Unfortunately to get to the back entrance to the repository room he had to go right by the part of the exhibit where his sensitive Saiyan hearing pinpointed the source of the voice.

"Where's Jhuweyll?" asked Bulma.

"I don't know… I think it was one of the first planets that I purged with my squad…" Vegeta blinked. "Right now I’m too fucking involved trying to save your ass as well as mine, so just ignore the psycho…"

"I know you're in there, you devil! I'll fucking hunt you down and destroy you! You can't escape justice…"

"Sir, you will HAVE to leave!" the Professor snapped. A meaty thump and a grunt followed a loud crackling noise.

"Something fell DOWN out there," Bulma shivered.

"Stay here…" Vegeta hissed. Grabbing her he pressed her to the side of the reconstructed Royal chamber. He flattened her body against his, pinning her with the wall as the bottom of the sandwich.

More screams and shouts echoed as the maniac continued to rave, "You can't stop me! You're ALL in Freiza's pay! Even though he died you still carry on his death! I'll kill you all because the blood of my world is on all your hands..."

Bulma whimpered, hearing the sounds of people screaming and masonry falling. Multiple footsteps sounded, and Vegeta's scouter beeped. "Simian, this is Citrus. Some psycho's broken into the exhibit. Bok Choi's security are on his tail, and this madman's killing everyone in sight…"

"Shit… just GREAT… you get your teams out of there! I'll get the woman out myself! I'll signal if I need your cover! I don't want you getting killed by this moron! Good help is hard to find…"

"MY prince we can't…"

"Don't QUESTION ME!" Vegeta hissed. "You focus on getting into the auction hall and you SCOUR it. This fool might be the diversion I need and you need as well! Contact me in a rev!"

"Citrus out! May Felonious and Father Oorzu be watching you," greeted his agent in passing.

"Woman, do exactly as I say if you want to get out of here…" Vegeta ordered, taking her by the hand. She nodded, feeling his arm around her waist. They lifted only six inches off the ground and levitated under the barest minimum of Vegeta's ki to drift towards one of the longer corridors.

Thunder rumbled in an enclosed space. More screams and shouts mingled with what sounded like stray ki blasts. Vegeta lowered Bulma to the ground, and pointed to the keypad to the immediate left of a massive door set in the far wall. "Get this open, and try and be quiet…"

"Okay… but you…"

"I'll mask both your ki and mine," Vegeta said. "If that loser tries anything while you're getting access… you'll know it…"

"Right," Bulma nodded, pulling out her tools. She turned her scouter to electronic detection mode as Vegeta glared towards the source of the sound. His hands formed fists as his teeth gritted. Bulma wiped sweat from her forehead when she opened the panel and began to work out the lock's mechanism.

"Bypass the security…" Vegeta whispered. Through her scouter link she heard him, and grunted her reply. A modest ki of about 5000 was headed their way, and it wasn't Idsarjin, Saiyan or Chikuujin… but a race Vegeta thought long extinct. Energy crackled under Bulma's screwdriver and core extractor while she disabled certain key circuits.

"Prince Vegeta, I saw you, and I know you're there! You'll die for what you did…" the voice echoed. A large boom sounded, and Vegeta sensed the ki only 100 yards away around a bend.

"Woman, get your ass in there… I'm going to take this guy out," Vegeta urged.

"But who is he?"

"I won't know till I see him… but I'll say he's a persistent bastard," Vegeta said. "Are you almost done?"

"Yes… I've got it!" Bulma announced. Vegeta's eyes widened as he felt the ki shoot momentarily. The entire hall flared bright red as someone gathered enough ki for a reasonably decent attack. Not one he'd heard of, but the power was nearly equal to one of Radditz's Double Sundaes.

"Fire-flash-justice!" the voice hollered. Vegeta held up both hands to block the surging fireball that slammed into them. Bulma squealed and hid her face.

"Go woman, NOW! I can handle this LOSER myself!" Vegeta said, grabbing Bulma and throwing her into the gaping door. She screamed as it slid shut, separating her from Vegeta.

Masonry collapsed as the fireball slammed into one of the palace walls. Vegeta snickered, "Show yourself! I don't know who you are, but come out and face me, coward!"

"You DARE mock me!" his opponent answered. "You'll see my face before I sent you to HELL!"

Vegeta's curiosity was satisfied when the figure levitated around the corner. Wreathed in flame, the Jhuweylian came into view, his long braids swirling in his heat energy. Momentarily Vegeta blanked on the race, but knew a worthy opponent when he saw one. "So… you're the one who's causing all the fuss… and in a public place? Can't you be more imaginative…"

"Shut up, murderer! Shut up and DIE!" he howled, thrusting his hands before him. A column of fire hissed out from his fists and slammed into Vegeta's ki shield.

"You're pathetic. A third class Saiyan could block THAT feeble attack…" Vegeta taunted. "Why not try one of MY blasts for size?"

Raising his hand, Vegeta generated a destructo disc, something he'd learned from Krillen. It sizzled and was easily avoided as the Jhuweylian zipped out of view. Vegeta snickered, also vanishing from view. A good fight always was welcome to hone his skills. He'd find out who this clown was, and deal with him so he could join the woman inside.

He zipped behind the assassin, and slammed his hand into the guy's back. Simultaneously a punch landed in Vegeta's chest. They exchanged a quick flurry of punches, and then Vegeta vanished again, to materialize fifty yards back. "You're not so bad. I almost recognize those katas? Did you study under Bok Choi?"

"That is the LEAST of your worries! I've tracked you for ten revs standard… and now you'll die! Buried under the rubble of your own world of death as you should have perished!" the Jhuweylian taunted. His ki blast sizzled over Vegeta's head, hitting the ceiling. Thousands of pounds of masonry crashed down. Vegeta zipped out at hyper speed, and then appeared behind his opponent. However his adversary spun quickly, throwing another blast at the ceiling. Vegeta spun forwards, turning a summersault in mid air before slamming into the guy head on. Not expecting a frontal attack, he flew back.  

From behind the thick door, Bulma gasped at the sound of the battle. Her heart pounded and she moved quickly away from the door. Lights flared on in the huge vault. Shelves draped in tarps stretched for hundreds of yards in the enormous storage area. Antigrav containers were marked with what must be Archalisite symbols. "If I find that Race bank for Vegeta, I might just start here," she nodded. "But they must have a catalogue…"

Bulma cracked her knuckles, approaching what appeared to be a computer terminal. Quickly her blue eyes took in every detail of the terminal, trying to assess its function. Fortunately it was already turned on, so all she needed to do was first decipher the keys. Seemed easy enough, but then came the hard challenge of the language. Outside she heard the shouts and explosions from what must be a heated battle. Vegeta could easily take this guy if his power was only 1000.

Her fingers did the 'walking' when she accessed the first few screens. Standard Chilla tongue was used with a graphical interface, similar to Vegeta's space pod navigational menu from their ship. Radditz' scouter transformed the symbols to Hiragana, including the input keys. Language structure flowed through the green eyepiece while Bulma took stock of the menu.

"Aha, Bulma, you're brilliant," she smiled, accessing the "DATABASE" subroutine. This computer system was little more advanced than the technology in the Namekian ship, although it used the Chilla tongue. Images of various artifacts pixilated.

"Hey, Citrus…are you there?"

"Who is this?"

"Simian's mate! I've gotten into the archive room…"

"But where is Simian?" Citrus answered.

"He's fighting some dude who's got a mad on against him. I'm stuck here, but I've found something… I thought I'd tell you…"

"That's perfect. Stay where you are… one of us will get you out while Simian holds their attention… we must move fast…"

"Do you know what it looks like?" Bulma asked 'Citrus'.

"Yes. Hold on… where are you?"

"Some archive room? Can you hone in on my signal?"

"Yes… it's scrambled… we'll send VitaC's mate," said Citrus. "Hang on, Simian mate…"

"Coolness," Bulma giggled to herself. Wouldn't Vegeta be surprised to find that she'd given him a major leg up? Now she just needed to know which of these artifacts catalogued was the Race bank.

Alarms suddenly blared, and Bulma squealed in alarm. She ducked behind a panel, and then heard angry shouts and footsteps coming from the opposite end of the chamber, not the door she'd come through. Still Vegeta's sounds of combat echoed, but she heard more voices and the sounds of boots hitting floor growing steadily louder.

"Citrus to Simian's mate… Bok-Choi's security squad's storming the place… apparently Simian's facing a trained assassin…" Citrus said. "VitaC is almost there…"

"I can't see Simian… he's still behind the door and there's an alarm…"

"That wasn't you," said Citrus. "Stay there… don't move!"

Bulma yelped as a hand landed on her, and she reached out to punch whomever it was. Spinning around she saw Navel and Ascorbic hunched over her. "Yiee!"

"Quiet! We're here to get you out of here…" Navel said. "Ascorbic, stand guard… you already accessed the archive menu I see…"

"Uh yes…but how did you to…"

"Service elevator," Ascorbic said, punching a button on a Saiyan model scouter as he moved off. "I'll tell you when it's clear…"

"But Bok Choi's squads…"

"Are on a merry chase… thanks to my sister and her mate," giggled Navel, sitting down and cracking her fingers. Gloved hands moved over warmth buttons. "You do very good work, mistress…"

"Huh?"

"You are the mate of his Glory, don't look so surprised," said Navel. "Now… yes… it's HERE… or it WAS here…"

"What?" Bulma asked.

"Look at this record… the artifacts passed through here a week ago, but they were apparently sold under another label… they were only on temporary display with other weaponry from Vejitasei's ruins…" Navel snorted. She banged her fist on the side of the console.

"Shimatta, you mean its not HERE?" she asked.

"Exactly, Mistress. We've got the information we need. Now you have to get out of here with us… and meet back with the Prince later…"

"But Vegeta…"

"Can more than take care of himself… plus he has my sister and her mate backing him up. Ascorbic!" she shouted.

"They're swarming the place… we've got to go NOW! Did you find it?"

"I've got it all here," she said, tapping her scouter. "You'd better come with us, Mistress…"

"But wait… Vegeta…"

"He wants you safe, don’t' argue!" Ascorbic said as he picked up Bulma and threw her over his shoulder. She yelped as both Idsarjins bolted out of the archive room. Not bothering to argue, she kept her mouth pressed tightly shut. Out of the doors they burst, and she yelped at the sight of black suited third class guards.

"Drek!" cursed Ascorbic.

"Go… I'll hold them off!" called Navel. Bulma yelped as shots exploded around them. To her shock Ascorbic was no longer running but flying in his own sizable ki envelope. Glancing behind her she saw Navel throw out both arms and let out a loud caterwaul as she erected a green ki barrier. Raising a clawed hand, she conjured a sphere of the same energy.

"Kuso… she uses Ki too?"

"Yes… this is her specialty… hold onto me because it won't be pretty…"

"But they'll know…"

"To them we're just some annoying pests. We're mercenaries, and as soon as they see they can't take us, they'll leave us alone… as far as they're concerned you're one of us…"

"You mean…"

"I know you're not a native to our world. Your scent is not right… although it is inundated with hat of the Prince. You bear his ki signature, so we knew that he chose you…" Ascorbic said.

"HALT!" barked Sgt. Marrow. A whole line of armored brown guards blocked them. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Now why are you wasting time on me? Huh?"

"Why are YOU running like a lunatic? You MUST be in on the thieving attempt! Surrender now and I might spare your female…"

"No deal, you little nuisances," Ascorbic chuckled. "You really want to stand in my way?"

"Not if you come quietly… I'm counting to ten… one… two…"

Ki's flared around all six warriors, including the main one barking the commands. Bulma saw their power levels climb from 230 to 400 each. She whimpered when Ascorbic laughed, his own ki flaring up to 1000. "Five!" counted Sgt. Marrow.

Six ki beams slammed into him as Ascorbic brought up his hand, and blocked all of them. Spinning his body, he flipped and pivoted on his head, kicking out with clawed feet. Green fiery strokes slashed into the guards. Each scattered, aiming ki blasts randomly. Bringing up the hand that didn't hold Bulma, Ascorbic laughed. "Acid claw!" he roared, slashing at the air before him. Drops of pure green ki shot out, spattering as they formed liquid rain. Smoke hissed when the drops hit their various targets, dissolving armor with contemptuous ease. By the time the stunned squad recovered their quarry was long gone.  

Out front, sky sleds whizzed back and forth. Bulma from her station on Ascorbic's back saw a whole crowd of people punching and hitting into the black suited security guards pouring off each new sled. In the thick of it she recognized green energy kis that were Idsarjin. One male, about battle power 2400, next to a female about 4500. Green ki flared and smashed into the midst of the troops who were firing into the defenseless crowd.

"Take them all! The rioters can't defy Bok Choi!" barked a red armored commander who was gathering his own ki for an attack. Bulma squealed as she saw green lightening snake out from where Mandarin and Tangerine were buried in the living wall.

"You've got no argument with these people. Just back off!" Mandarin yowled. She flipped up over the ground, and landed just before the line of soldiers. Green lightening crackled over them, causing them to back away in fear.

"I should have known it! Princess Mandarin, when are you going to stop these fool attempts to loot the museum?"

"Oh, so you actually KNOW who I am? How quaint?" Mandarin laughed. "Now BACK away before I destroy your lap dogs. Release these people and send them on their way. Your argument's with me…"

"I've got six warrants for your arrest… if not for the fact you paid off the local constabulary, you'd be rotting in a cell by now, bitch!" snarled the red armored leader.

"Ah, Captain Birch… I recognize you from basic. Apparently you forgot I had the same training as you?" she snickered.

"Fall back… I'm going to deal with this bitch personally. After she tells me just WHAT the hell she was after?"

"Your ass…" Mandarin snickered, her eyes glowing green. She pounced on Captain birch as Tangerine attacked the main guard. People screamed and rushed away as his ki field protected them from random fire. Soon it was just the two Idsarijins facing off the squad.

"What was that all about?" Bulma asked as Ascorbic rocketed off. His green ki trail blazed like a meteor as they flew along. Putting as much distance between the museum and them as possible, Bulma sighed with relief.

"I can tell you, since you're the Prince's chosen mate," said Ascorbic. Bulma shivered, because hadn't Vegeta called her simply a concubine?

"Okay, yeah… about you guys. How can you move around without getting nailed?"

"We're all former Bok Choi elite, and because of our reputation for fairness the local authorities turn a blind eye to our presence. My mate, her sister, and my brother and I were all discharged when our fees were paid."

"And what is IT that you do?" Bulma asked, head reeling.

"We make sure that the artifacts sold here make their way back to their original owners if they're alive to claim them… to preserve their cultural heritage. Also, we run arms for those fighting the brigands…"

"Brigands?"

"That madman who attacked Vegeta is a paid assassin. Bok Choi's men exact a price for his elite security to protect against them. The local populous is must pay the same fees so that the elite can protect them from people like us. But we're not the brigands you hear about. We're just mercenaries…"

"Wait a minute! What has THIS got to do with anything?"

"You'll soon see."

"But you guys… who ARE you and how did you learn to harness ki?"

"Members of the Royal family on Idsarsei…" said Ascorbic. "We have many ruling families for each major world we've come to inhabit. There are close to 12 major princesses and princes, each who take a 'protectorate' and watch over to make sure Bok Choi's behaving himself… and stop him from hiring the brigands to harass everyone else. What you saw was just an example of an assassin creating a situation, making the locals panic. Then the black suited goon squad is called in to deal with it, and lots of people die. The assassin from the Brigands is blamed, and Bok Choi is a hero…"

"So that guy after Prince Vegeta was just an excuse to kill people?"

"A very convenient one. But this time, we were there to stop his little plan and save innocent bystanders… with our powers…"

"Wow, so even if Vegeta… I mean Prince Vegeta wasn't here…"

"They'd find an excuse… and the local Archalisites are sore about these looting of their treasury of antiques. But we took nothing but information from there… what we seek is elsewhere…" said Ascorbic.

"So wait, you guys are royalty too?"

"Yes, your Glory. Mandarin's the Princess of one of our major cities on Idsarsei Prime… and I'm the mate of her younger sister Navel."

"Why don't they arrest you?"

"They don't dare. Most of the locals here can't stand Bok Choi horning in and skimming off a sizable chunk of the profits they make in selling antiques. The Archalisites are allies with Idsarsei… we're some of the top paid mercenary fighters in this sector."

"I don't get it… then why don't you destroy Bok Choi directly?" asked Bulma.

"Because it’s not the right time. These fools aren't able to govern themselves. Most of Bok Choi's lieutenants are fair and promote trade. They employ many Idsarjins, in key locations. Without some order, anarchy would reign. Bok Choi is corrupt, but we and others under the command of his successor Pepperjack are trying to get control gradually. The Prince coming here was fortunate because it will provide the excuse for the revolution… then nobody will know any more than they must…"

"I'm confused to hell…"

"Space politics is confusing to those not part of it. Just know that Vegeta's name carries hatred and respect in equal measures here. When we knew he was in the system, we had hope he'd kill Bok Choi, and clear room for Pepperjack to seize control. Then we could return to Idsarsei and continue to clean up the mess of Freiza…"

"So Vegeta's a hero to you?"

"He didn't purge our world. We owe him a debt we can never repay. And his treasury has financed Pepperjack's operation to take Bok Choi apart from the inside…"

"So Vegeta's actually on your side? Damn…"

"He has a reputation to uphold. We didn't know he was alive. And since he is… it's time for him to be repaid for what he did for us… but his Highness will tell you all when I return you safely…"

"Wait, you said that some of your princesses were with him and Nappa and Radditz?"

"Years ago, the three remaining Saiyans who were alive would take shore leave on Idsar 7, a small pleasure moon further out in our system. Prince Vegeta and his two ensigns would always bring supplies whenever they visited. Sometimes it was the extra money they'd gained from a purge… and other times it was just to relax…"

"Nappa and Radditz… you knew them personally?"

"We had the misfortune to know Lord Nappa, but Radditz was tolerable and polite. Both were bitter and lonely because Freiza killed their mates…"

"Frieza? Killed their mates? Yikes…"

"You don't understand, but we like Saiyans mate for life in a pair bond. It's hormonal and psychic…"

"But you have sex outside of it!"

"That is Idsarjin royalty culture, which is not the same as Saiyan," said Ascorbic. "If a Saiyan loses his or her mate, he or she must seek sexual copulation to stop them from going insane. Either that or constantly fight. We kept the two remaining subjects of Prince Vegeta sane. And he in turn took his pleasure with our priestesses…"

"But he never mated for life?"

"He never mated to procreate," said Ascorbic. "A Prince of Saiyans may take his pleasure to stave his natural instincts to avoid insanity. But he only chooses one life mate from the best of concubines… the one most suited to bear his offspring…"

"How does he KNOW?" Bulma asked, nervously.

"I would have thought he'd told you, since you're his choice," said Ascorbic. "You mean he didn't…"

"But I…" Bulma stammered.

Suddenly the world exploded around them as a wave of heat slammed into Ascorbic. He howled in pain, holding Bulma in his arms. "Hold on! We've been… assaulted…"

"No!" Bulma screamed as she saw Ascorbic grab his side. Turning, he hurled a green ki blast in the form of lightening towards whoever had thrown the first.

"I must put you down… if you're killed, Prince Vegeta would never forgive such a failure," said Ascorbic. He swooped down and placed her on a rooftop.

"But wait!"

"Stay there, and let me protect you!" he called. "If I'm slain, RUN!"

"But wait!" Bulma cried as she saw Ascorbic throw out his clawed hands and roar. Green ki flared, and she tracked the progress of his powering up with Radditz scouter. 2500 climbed to a battle power of 3400 around ascorbic.

"Vine whip lightening!" he roared, spinning around and snaking long tendrils of green ki in a wide radius. Sky sleds flew out of nowhere, crackling into Ascorbic's attack. Bulma realized with horror that they were black armored guards as she'd seen before. All trained scouters on her rescuer, and opened fire.

"Ascorbic!" she cried.

"Get away, Mistress! I'll hold them off," his voice ordered over his scouter. Bulma reluctantly ran as fast as she could. Although she wanted to protest, she knew that this brave fool would die defending her. She wondered where Vegeta was.  

"Stop right there, Idsarjin," said a voice. She turned and felt something slam her in the back.

"Wow!" Bulma wailed as she fell on her face. Turning over she backed away from the red suited Elite that advanced on her.

"Ah… you're a pretty little thing. Small for an Idsarjin bitch… did you really THINK you could get away with your stealing?" he laughed.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Commander Kumquat…" he snickered.

"But you…" she stammered. "You weren't supposed to BE here… I thought you were on… Orchydsei…"

"You were wrong. Your entire operation will be destroyed…" laughed Kumquat. "And I'll have you as a prize, if you please me…"

"Oh shit…" Bulma gasped. He picked her up by the front of her costume, and grinned.

"Wait!" someone shouted. "You need her as a hostage!"