Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Slave ❯ Unravelling ( Chapter 45 )

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters.

 

A/N - Ow…I got eye-cream in my eyes. It's really burning. Aside from pain, sorry this has taken me some time to get out. I have every intention of finishing this fic.

 

 

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“How close are we to Saiyajin territory?” Frieza drawled sleepily as he lay reclined on his throne, watching Zarbon as he knelt in front of him. Behind Zarbon stretched the giant viewing screen that showed a seemingly endless blanket of glimmering stars.

 

A million stars…most of them with planets circling around them, and it was the mighty Icejin Empire that had conquered each planet, no matter how inhospitable. Some worlds had been mined, some had been sold to other races and others had been purged and settled by his people. Large as his Empire was, Frieza still felt the same drive to expand it as he always had. One planet more was never enough. He wanted, no…needed, to own the entire galaxy. It was the only was he would ever be truly content: to be Lord of the entire Universe.

 

“Not far now, Sire.” The pale blue man looked up through his green hair. “Another day or travel and we will reach the border.”

 

“Excellent.” Frieza allowed himself a pleased smile and he turned attention to the stars. He would begin with the Saiyan Empire…an easy target if his recent surveillance were to be believed. The woman, Bulma, would come around eventually. Brolly had seemed sufficiently shaken after being led through the remainder of his collection and had simply told him that he would do his best to talk Bulma into `helping' him.

 

Regardless of wether Brolly was actually spying for Vegeta or if he was telling the truth and had left of his own free will, Frieza didn't for a minute doubt that he'd managed to scare the saiyan into seeing things his way. Saiyans were such weaklings. They had no control over their own power! They couldn't even lower or raise their power at will! They were nothing but weak pathetic creatures! They had defended their empire through sheer aggression and numbers in the past, but now the Icejin Empire had grown large enough to be more then a match.

 

The once powerful and mighty Saiyajin Empire had become weak and corrupt. The mindless hedonism of the old King Vegeta had reduced his court to fickle warriors whose skills had long since rotted away. The entire saiyajin council were shadows of their former selves, and a weak government led to a weak people.

 

Prince Vegeta, although desperate to halt the fast sinking Empire had risen to power too late to reverse the damage his father had done. Oh, he had managed to save his race from becoming completely helpless, but his desperate quest to train all saiyans into the brutal warriors they had once been was only succeeding with the easily led lower class soldiers. The upper class was too reluctant, too dumb, too smug and convinced of their own superiority to train themselves as Vegeta wished them to do.

 

It was a pity Vegeta was so headstrong. He would have made a good second in command if he hadn't been so…dominant. The boy was powerful, unbelievably so. But he was also proud. Proud of his saiyan heritage and determined to see his race survive the coming war. Unfortunately, it was impossible to allow Vegeta to survive. He would have to be conquered, killed and replaced with the child that was growing inside of Bulma.

 

Bulma. Frieza frowned as he thought upon their last meeting. The girl had defied him. Her refusal to help him could not go unpunished, even if Brolly managed to convince her to help them, she still needed to be taught to respect her betters. She wasn't a slave with him as she had been with Vegeta, but she still needed to respect that she was dealing with the ruler of a very powerful Empire. Disobedience was not tolerated, not even from someone as important as she was.

 

“Zarbon?” Frieza straightened and glanced down at the man who had once sabotaged his own race's rebellion against the Icejin Empire. Zarbon was the loyalist of his followers. His power was fuelled by a love of fighting and a cold calculating mind. He was also the closest thing Frieza had to a friend and a confidant.

 

“Sire?” Zarbon stared up at him through his tawny eyes.

 

“I want you to pay Bulma a little visit and take her to visit your little friend Nixot. If she wants to sympathise with creatures in cages then she can spend a little time with them.” Frieza smirked at the thought of the petite human being thrown into Nixot's room. Nixot looked harmless but she was a wild thing at heart. She'd killed more of his guards then any other single being who was still alive.

 

“Is that wise, my Lord?”

 

“Does it matter? Nixot will not kill someone who has had such a piteous life as Bulma. The girl may be a tough cookie, but she won't be able to help but sympathise with Bulma - especially when she hears her sad story of rape and abuse.” Frieza smirked to himself. “We'll win that little human to our side yet.” He added as an after thought.

 

Zarbon nodded, ducked his head in submission and then turned and strode away, his footsteps loud in the silent throne room. Frieza watched him go through reptilian eyes, wondering, as he often had, why it was that Zarbon was so blindly loyal to him. Several times it had been Zarbon who had saved his life in battle, Zarbon who had killed those who would have killed Frieza…and yet Frieza had done nothing to inspire such love. He had paid Zarbon in power and wealth, made him into a more powerful warrior then ever, but it still mystified him. If Zarbon hadn't proved his loyalty time and again Frieza would have been suspicious…but Zarbon had proven himself.

 

“I won't let you, you know.” Ilandra's voice crackled across the throne room and Frieza inwardly cursed himself that he had been so distracted he hadn't felt his daughters approach. She stepped out of the shadows and gave him a brittle smile as she stalked towards him in a floating red dress that billowed out behind her.

 

 

“You won't let me what?” Frieza asked innocently, wondering how much of his conversation she had heard. Aside from being a stunning beauty, his daughter was far stronger then most people suspected. Even Frieza himself had no clear idea how strong she was or what her skills were. She was too much like him; too devious.

 

“I won't let you cage her up like an animal.” She took another few steps forward so she leant over him, her red talon-like fingers curling around the arms of the throne so that she had him trapped. “I don't give a damn what you plan to do with the Saiyan Empire or what you plan to do with Vegeta's child that Bulma is carrying, but I'll be damned if I'll let you take her away from me and screw with her head.” Ilandra's pale skin was almost illuminated with anger as she snarled in his face. “Leave her to me! If you want her co-operation then let me deal with her!”

 

“Ilandra.” Frieza sat up and brushed her arms away easily. For a moment he contemplated hitting her for her insubordination but the moment passed, after all she had no real power to back up her threats. She might be strong but she was a small fry compared to him. She was a silly little girl who was letting her anger get the best of her. “You don't seem to be doing a very good job of that so far.”

 

She jerked back like he had slapped her and for a moment Frieza thought was would hiss at him like a startled snake about to strike. “How dare…” She swallowed back what ever she had been about to say and smiled at him again. “You're right, of course, I haven't been doing a very good job. A job that hasn't been helped by your interference.” She stood to her full height and rubbed her forehead as though troubled by a headache, when she opened her eyes they were a more bloody red then Frieza had ever seen them. “I'm sick of fighting to keep Bulma happy when you're slithering around like a snake, whispering poison in her ear.” She leant close her father again. “In fact I'm beginning to realise almost everything you say is poison.”

 

Frieza considered his daughter for a moment and slowly let a lazy smile play onto his face. “You're only beginning to think that? You must be stupider then I gave you credit for.” He stood up in one quick motion and shoved Ilandra hard enough to send her sprawling to a heap in front of him. “I like you Ilandra, you're my daughter after all.” Frieza stood over her, his tail lashing back and forth. “But don't think for one moment that you're any different to the rest of them. I don't care if you don't like me coming near your little human, you'd just better get one thing into your thick little skull…” Frieza reached down and grabbed Ilandra by the front of the dress, tearing the flimsy material as he jerked her up. “You and everything you own is mine, including your human. I could have her the same way I have you. In fact considering what I've heard lately she'd probably like that a whole lot more then she likes having you in bed with her…”

 

“No!” Ilandra tore away from him and staggered to her feet. “Don't you touch her! Don't you dare!” She held her torn dress up to her front, trembling from fear or anger or both. “Everything I've done in my life has been for you! Are you telling me that none of it mean anything to you?”

 

Frieza took a deep breath. “I think you should leave.”

 

“Did anything mean anything to you?” She took a step forward, ignoring his command.

 

“It something to me and that should be enough for you.” Frieza kept his face blank. He sank back into the throne and reached across to pour himself some wine. “I don't want to fight with you anymore so I suggest you leave before I change my mind.” He glanced up and met her furious eyes. She glared at him for a moment more and then collected herself and strode from the room with all the dignity of a queen.

 

“I've had enough.” She tossed over her shoulder at him as she slammed the throne room door behind her so hard she warped the metal frame. Frieza merely sipped some more wine and smiled.

 

“So have I.”

 

 

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A/N - I know this is a short chapter but my eyes are really burning. Hopefully next chapter we might get some more action…and yes, I do mean that kind of action.