Vegeta city might as well be the center of the planet. The world only had three major cities with the rest being land they use to farm the resources of the planet. The rest of the economy was focused on military and space travel.
The capital city lay around the overhang of a mountain. On top of that is where the saiyan king's castle rests. A tall tri-steepled building made of glossy white steel. It stood above all else–a testament to his Majesty's pride.
In the distance a jet of fire propelled four bodies, three carrying their severely injured comrade. Their speed is matched by Kappa, their beloved and fearless leader. In his arms he holds Zukki, his precious daughter.
Zukki doesn't complain that her father holds her just a bit too tightly. Their tension is shared and she gripped at his upper body suit as tightly as she could.
They flew uninterrupted until trying to reach the closest entrance. A platform midway up the structure. Before even the heat of the flames could touch the ground the royal guardsmen halted them. The captain scanned a lot of them with his scouter.
"Stop right there. Don't you dare dishonor his majesty by stepping foot up here. You don't enter here" The men spoke in unison.
The captain flashed them some slight recognition before smirking. His red body suit set him apart from the rest while all them were the typical blue, each also wearing a special set of armor with a symbol representing the elite class.
"But she's injured" Jetto spoke first. Causing them to inch and float forward.
"Yeah!" Zukki chimes in. "Let-" only for her father to interrupt with his hand over her mouth.
Kappa had been thinking this over since they left. The royal capital could be so predictable, yet he couldn't help but hope for something to be different.
"Let us in!" Says not only Karada with his voice raising with impatience, but Ringu as well who found his ability to be straight to the point; No drawl just contained anger.
They moved forward and a beam shot at them from above. It seared into one of Jetto's limbs causing her to lose balance and nearly dropped her side of the effort. Regardless they were slowly descending.
"Bastards.." Kappa let slip through his lips, a rare crack in his powerful facade. Clearly heard and processed subconsciously by Zukki.
"That was a warning shot, you do not have permission to land here. Though his majesty waits for your audience at his throne" The captain rejects their plea for help. It only fuels the raising curl his lips to lord the little bit of power he held.
When the flame Squadron recovered to quickly change their entry point, the Captain raised his hand to stop the line of rifle holders above from firing again. He looks down on them from above as they scramble around the perimeter of the building.
"I'll catch up..." Jetto says with her breath ragged, sweat forming at the temple due to the pain.
Part of her shoulder was burnt and bleeding. The fact that the beam didn't go right through her was a testament to the body conditioning she constantly works on. The beam might have even felt like a regular old stab if it were one of her thighs that got blasted.
"Alright, join up fast Jetto" responds Karada.
"Mhmm" Ringu acknowledged.
"Heal quickly. Assess your situation, and make the right decision." Kappa gives her vagueish orders, ultimately respecting even her independent decision making when it counted.
Jetto watched as her comrades and leader flew off without her. Clutching her shoulder like that was going to stop the pain. She would heal, but it was agonizing and barely perceivable to the eye.
"Save Hikari!" She calls out to their backs.
"Yeeaaaah!" Zukki is the only one to respond, looking back at her antie laying on the ground with her back to the building.
The rest of their trip to the throne room would be uninterrupted. None lending a hand to the injured, the hallway filled with scoffs, eyes of contempt, or the typical cowardly aliens getting out of the way.
***
"They are here, your majesty" said the Captain, sending him a message from the Scouter once the flame squadron was out of his sight.
"Good, keep a tight grip on who comes in and out" commanded King Vegeta.
"Yes, your majesty"
The transmission cut off with the touch of the King's finger to the red buttons on the side of the scouter.
"Father, I will be able to test myself against these zealous freaks won't I?" Prince Vegeta only quirked his eyes sideways. Arrogance that his own father practically approved of.
"Correct my son, it will be very amusing to see you crush those fire bugs. Teach them their place, under our feet"
"Of course father"
"And do not let their tricks fool you, it's just a waste of your time to humor them"
"Yes, father, i know" the prince responds with a simmering frustration at being spoken down to, even by the only person that he truly respected. "Just like you I will get this done"
"Hmmph" The king nods with a moticum of approval. His sharp eyes relax as he sits back fully on the throne.
He and his son watch the throne room's large doors in anticipation of their guests.
In the next moment the doors flew wide open.
***
Zukki watched as Ringu acted brasher than ever before. Meeting Karada as they both basically kicked the doors in. The former was furious, one could tell at a glance, but to the girl his whole vibe was different.
Ringu's anger radiated off of him–literally the heat rose off him like a radiator. While Karada emanated a similar heat, which was normal for him in tense moments. Zukki felt as though the bald man was the type to get like this when his comrades were threatened. It moved her that Ringu could be like this.
All five of them, including the battered and bloody Hikari who was looking worse off by the minute had entered the room.
"Don't get blood on my floor, I just had it wiped off from the last mess." Demanded the king with indifference to one of his own dying before him.
"B-" Karada catches himself before he can complain, eyes shaking with recognition that acting impulsively would get him killed.
"Bastard!" Roared Zukki for him, her ignorance letting loose the rage building within all of them.
Beep
Only King Vegeta had a scouter on, which reacted to the sudden spike in the young girl's power level. He barely registered the number before the moment continued on.
All eyes were on Zukki, from the floor she glared at the duo of King and Prince.
"Help Hikari!" She demands loudly for the silent room to hear.
"Give–" Ringu starts only to be stopped by the prince. "Help trash? Why would royalty subject itself to assisting weaklings like that one."
Prince Vegeta only nudged in the direction of Hikari with his chin.
Just hearing one of her comrades being referred to in such a way stunned the little girl. The indignation she felt was so sharp her eyes widened and her mouth gapped.
Kappa was teaching out to stop his daughter rather than call out only to miss her shoulder. Zukki. Had already shot forward. Boots clapped the metal floor as she sprinted forward.
By the time Kappa had realized his daughter's horrible mistake and lunged after her a clear light of warning shone brightly in his peripheral vision. He stops and looks up at it.
King Vegeta with one hand lit a ball of energy, the ball creating a high pitched noise as it formed. A purple ball of energy pointed behind Zukki as she approached. Like the man was saying only she had permission to approach. He barely lifted his wrist, that violent energy could cause unsuspecting targets catastrophic damage.
That same thought that entered her mind every time she fought Negi returned. ("I want to smash my fist into that bastards smug face")
"Shhhaaaa" she cried out all the frustrations thus far. Her cocked fist flies straight for its target. No one to interrupt the charge.
Smack
Prince Vegeta had lifted his own hand, mirroring his father just a few steps above on his throne. The strike stopped in the palm of his hand. Raised high to intercept the high straight right punch.
"All that anger" the prince confidently condescends to the girl. "A beast indeed"
"Zukki!" Kappa calls out immediately to his daughter while the others look stunned.
The ball of light clearly threatens their interference as it points to kappa in particular.
"A beast.." she barely even gives herself a second to question the remark before thrusting another fist forward.
The prince simply tilts his head to the side. The light breeze of air brushing the side of his cheek.
When she pulls back her fist to alternate striking it's grabbed.
"Going somewhere?" He says before raising a knee into her side. Letting her hand go
She couldn't react, spit escaping her parting lip. Zukki bent her body, but was already slowly flying in the air. Slow motion to nearly all the eyes in the room.
The pain had her thinking about defending, but if it happened at the same speed as a moment prior it didn't matter what she did. When the pain finally subsided her eyes darted to the sides, right and then left, anticipating an attack that never came.
The prince let her fall to the floor.
"Good, now stay down there where you belong" commanded the prince.
The king laughed at this, holding his hand to the audience before them, keeping them in check.
"Gahaha, Kappa what have you been doing? Depriving this beast of its meals." The King was in fact amused and this put a smirk on his son's face. His free hand slapping the arm of his throne.
Kappa watched as the prince kicked his daughter over onto her back. He grit his teeth harshly while cooly running through all the impossible scenarios. This confrontation came way too early and way too acute. His eyes darted to Hikari who looked paler than ever.
It's not just his eyes that met the sight of the woman on the brink of death. Zukki from her position on the ground caught an upside-down reminder of why she was fighting.
The girl's eyes widened before she whipped her head up. Eyes glaring past the princes, past the glowing orb, into the strongest man on the planet.
"Give us..A HEALING CHAMBER" she roared out to him, making demands beyond her worth.
The prince did a double take, realizing that he was being overlooked. His lips quarked in a slip of fury. So he rose up from the ground, flying to block her gaze with his own.
"Bugs on the ground don't deserve our resources" The prince pronounced.
For a second Zukki had to process the word "bug", squinting her eyes before calling out "and bastards don't decide who gets help!"
Vegeta was taken aback. Both the Prince and the King were appalled and yet confused. Of course the King only had one wife, and the Prince was confident he knew his parentage as well. There was this whole selection process, however that was besides the point.
The prince quarked his head to the side and pulled back slightly. Opening and closing his mouth for a response.
"Haha, wow Kappa, are you sure this one is your daughter? The mouth on her is unlike you at all" The King's amusement hits a peak as he laughs again.
Meanwhile Karada gulped, thinking about how he and Jetto may have influenced the girl badly. If he got out of this he might have hell to pay along with Jetto.
"I am!" Zukki declared for her father.
"Son" the king speaks with an edge that leads the prince to look back, the miniscule glare makes him float to the side.
"You want your healing chamber. Land one hit on my son" there was an unbelievable pause where hope could build. "Fail or bore me and I'll kill you all"
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
(A/N) My bad for the late chapter..life be life-ing.