Vegeta’s breath heaved in and out of his chest as he finally emerged from the entrance to The Dungeons. In his arms, he held Bulma, who was still breathing but mildly so. His gloved hands that clutched her to him were soaked with the dark green blood of Tajil, who he had thoroughly slaughtered to his hearts desire. Vegeta’s eyes were wide and unfocused. He had let the Sayajin lust for blood overcome him, and in the end, had brutally disemboweled the Storkrin and spread his innards throughout every inch of the halls.

Now, as he stood in front of the dark entrance, panting, he lifted off into the air and headed for Stifelons. Bulma’s wounds were not serious enough to be life threatening, but with Fortricres in her system, Vegeta did not know what could happen. And no one but Strifelon would know. He held her to him and flew straight for the dark mound to the west that signaled the Storkrins underground cavern.

* * *

Stifelon glared angrily as he threw back the latch above his head and stared up at the unwanted visitor.

"Arden!" Strifelon hissed, straightening. "What are you…" he trailed off when he saw the limp and rather bloody Roctorn in the guards massive arms.

"Pleassse." Arden looked pleadingly at the older, wiser Storkrin. "The Prince...he…asssked me to take him to you…"

Strifelon nodded and quickly waved the guard and his precious bundle in. "Of courssse, of courssse…" he mumbled as he let the big man pass him, closing the latch tightly behind him. "What hasss happened?" he asked when he turned back to him.

"It…" Arden began, but was caught off as a rough banging signaled yet another visitor. Strifelon growled impatiently and threw back the latch again. Vegeta stood, covered in blood and…entrails…holding a limp and unconscious Bulma. Stifelon’s eyes grew wide.

"Get in!" he grabbed Vegeta’s arm and hauled the Sayajin down after him, slamming the latch shut. "ONYX!" he bellowed loudly down the stairs. He waved Vegeta and Arden after him. As Vegeta passed the guard, his eyes drifted over the whimpering form of Spider, and he felt an undeniable tug at his heart. He knew Bulma would not die from this. Spider very well might…

Onyx appeared at the bottom of the stairs just as the three landed. "Father?" he looked past Strifelon and at the bloodied, battered forms behind him. He paled, and stepped hurriedly into the next room without another word. He appeared seconds later with an armload of potions.

Vegeta stumbled over to the kitchen table and, without waiting for the O.K, gently lay Bulma down on it. He turned back to Stifelon, who immediately assessed her wounds. The Storkrin looked up. "Tell me what hasss happened, Prince."

Vegeta shook his head. "Heal her." He commanded, in the tone of voice he had not used for years. "That is a direct order, old man. Heal her now, and do nothing else until she is well."

It did not take much for the others in the room to understand what Vegeta meant. Bulma was top priority, and was to be held at a level of importance much higher than anything else until she was awake and well. Strifelon nodded and took one of the potions from his sons waiting arms. He popped the top and spread a dark blue liquid over a cloth. He then bent to the gaping cut above her collarbone, a deep slash due to a swipe of Tajil’s claws, and applied it gently. Bulma moaned and whimpered, but her eyes did not open.

While Stifelon evenly applied the salve, Vegeta turned to watch Onyx as he fussed over Spider. The Roctorn’s belly lay open and exposed by a deep, sideways cut that ran from his shoulders across his midsection. The other wound was worse; it drove deep within his spine, and Vegeta knew without asking Onyx that it may have hit a vertebrae and paralyzed him.

The Prince knelt by Spider and lay a hand over his head, gently stroking his matted fur and staring reassuringly into his huge, watery orange eyes. Spider’s tails lay limp over the edge of the table where Arden had lain him, but he managed a weak, half-hearted wag when Vegeta smiled at him. He was not surprised to find that this was nearly breaking his heart; he could find more compassion for animals than he could for humans.

He rose and turned away from the sight, and looked back to Bulma. She was bruised and battered, but she would be fine. Tajil did no real damage.

"How is she doing?" Vegeta asked. His head was spinning. He had not experienced unbridled savagery such as the sort he had experienced with Tajil for many years. His pulse still pounded.

"Ssshe will be fine." Strifelon said with a sigh. He bent over her for a moment while he stuck some sort of black appendage over the cuts above her eyes. He looked back up and shook a finger at the Prince. "You had better tell me what hasss happened." Stifelon looked over to Arden, who shrank back at the glare. Stifelon did not appreciate Storkrin guards, nor did he appreciate their company in his own home.

"And why would you be here?" he asked as he smoothed the hair across Bulma’s sweating brow.

Arden folded his arms and looked not unlike Vegeta. "I…there hasss been…"

Vegeta interrupted him. "Strifelon…Bulma will be all right, will she not?"

"Yesss. Ssshe needsss sssleep. Time to heal." Stifelon said. "Ssshe hasss sssuffered sssome nasssty bruisssesss and cutsss, nothing more."

Bulma’s eyelids fluttered once at the mention of her name. With a moan, she came awake, and looked up blinking unsteadily into Stifelon’s face. Stifelon smiled, but the moment was ruined by Vegeta, who shoved him aside like a piece of paper and took her hand.

"Woman…you…" he tried his best to frown, but broke out in a relieved smile instead. He squeezed her hand gently. "You’re awake." He finnished.

Bulma smiled weakly. "My…face…hurts…" she said. "I can taste…blood…"

"You’ve got a couple of wounds." He replied. "Nothing serious."

Large blue eyes stared through him as she began to remember the events nearly an hour past. She suddenly looked worried. "Vegeta!" she whispered. "Spider…where…"

Vegeta pointed to his left, where Spider was lying quietly under Onyx’s ministrations. She felt her eyes tearing up. "He…won’t die…will he?"

Vegeta shook his head. "We can’t be sure. Tajil…" his blood boiled as he remembered the mans grinning face. "Tajil hurt him fairly badly."

"Don’t let him die…"

"Woman, I can’t do anything about it if he does."

"He’s a hero…" she paused. "He…saved me."

Vegeta rose from her side and looked over at Arden, who, despite his obviously intimidating appearance, was trying to mould in with his backgrounds and avoid any confrontation. Vegeta waved him over.

"Look. I don’t know about you, but we can’t very well let something like this go on." Vegeta surprised them all with his words. Bulma looked at him, shock written all over her face. Strifelon paused in his work.

"What do you propossse?" Arden asked him.

"I propose that we take this to Treskor." Vegeta said, "And that we try and get Koru out of there."

Arden immediately shook his head. "He won’t allow it." He assured the Prince. "Hisss feelingsss for Koru are not mine. He will not allow her presssence on R’haksssin again."

Bulma’s hand managed to catch Vegeta’s. "Vegeta." She said. "Please…? Take Koru out of there…?"

Arden and Vegeta exchanged a look. Vegeta looked back at Bulma and tried to smile. "Look…I’ll try my best." He said. "I make no promises. In the meantime, get better." He said gruffly. Bulma caught the intent and they both shared a look that no one else in the room would have understood.

Then, Arden and Vegeta were gone.

* * *

Treskor’s face was ripe with madness.

"No!" he glared at the two of them as they stood before the 16 elders. The room was silent as they waited for more words. The air was cool and the wind whistled lightly through small cracks caused by the recent storm. Vegeta looked down at his hands at his sides and realized that he had not yet disposed of his soiled clothing. The blood of a very respected Storkrin was thick on his hands. He made no move to hide them, however, even when the prying red eyes looked at him with full suspicion.

"Look," Vegeta said. "I killed Tajil." He said bluntly. "I killed him, as I have killed many of you before. Perhaps my doing so in the past was wrong, but today was a good reason." He stepped forward. "Tajil wronged Bulma, and another good friend of mine." He seemed to struggle with the words.

An elderly Storkrin rose from his seat. "Do you mean the Roctorn?" He hissed. "It probably attacked Tajil. He wasss most asssuredly defending himssself!"

Voices rose in a roar of agreement. This time Arden was the one to step forward. His friendly eyes gazed over the Storkrins. "No," he shook his head, shocking them all, "Tajil wasss wrong. The Roctorn attacked him to sssave the life of the earthling female, who he had attacked." Arden said.

The voices now faded to a dull murmur. They knew Arden spoke the truth; they knew he had been Tajil’s most trusted friend for many, many years. The Storkrin sat down shaking his head with disbelief. Treskor stepped up to them anger twisted in his features.

"Prince, you come to usss bearing many cassualitiesss." He growled.

Arden shook his head. "Tressskor, it isss with truth and regret that I ssspeak thisss of Tajil." He paused. "He wasss my friend. But he wasss wrong…and…perhapsss dessserved what became of him. Yet the Prince ssspeaks the truth."

Vegeta appreciated the man’s words, but time was running short. "We must dispose of the body, and I intend to release Koru and the remaining women from The Dungeons." He turned to the council. "Are you not in agreement? Strifelon suspects that the Psytrim will grow more plentiful in the coming years. Your women do not have to be treated with such barbaric means, as mine were." He said to them. "They can be put to rest with more peaceful means in the future. You are diminishing your own race by doing this. It is foolish."

Murmurs rose, some with hesitant agreement, but most with years of dealing with the mannerisms of their people. They could not so readily turn their backs on what had become such a solid law. The Storkrins were shaking their heads, and Vegeta could see that he would lose this battle.

Verbally, anyway.

He shook his head with disgust. "If you will not listen to me, then I will take it upon myself to destroy The Dungeons." Turning from them, he began to walk toward the double marble doors, waiting for what would most definitely hit him. It did not come until he placed a filthy hand upon the doors and pushed outwards.

Treskor whirled him around by the shoulder; his face contorted with the madness of old memories. "Prince!" he hissed, his voice teetering on the brink. "I will not allow thisss."

Vegeta eyed him evenly. "Will you stop me, Treskor?" he asked calmly. "If you believe you can, then," he spread his arms, "prove yourself to your waiting people."

Arden swallowed hard. Inside, he was waiting for blood and battle. Inside, his heart was quarreling with the feelings he still had for Tajil, and those of the Prince that were forming. He found that within these last few hours, he had lost what little respect he had ever held for Tajil, and now was forming plentitudes for this fellow warrior who was now challenging his very leader. Respect was what held him back. Awe was what stopped him. Fear what was paralyzed him. He was ashamed to admit to himself that here and now, he was experiencing excitement. Something came alive inside him for the first time in years.

Vegeta waited for a reply, then growled with anger and pushed the Storkrin back with ease. "Don’t make this any harder for yourself." He spat. "I’m doing you a favor."

Treskor whirled on him, throwing his bulk against the doors. "Ssstop thisss!" he cried.

Vegeta crossed his arms and smirked without humor. "This is quite a predicament you’ve gotten yourself into, Treskor. Here you are, so noble and full of good intentions, so ready to stop me and defend a long-standing tradition. Yet, you know you cannot defeat me." He looked up at the huge alien and shook his head. "What will you do?"

Arden’s battle trained eyes saw it coming. The glint of Storkrin weaponry that was pulled swiftly from the concealment of dark robes. Treskor meant to kill this man who opposed him in the only way he could.

By cheating.

But the Sayajin proved to be faster. The glint of metal swung down directly at Vegeta’s face at the same time that a thick muscular arm reached up and grabbed the hilt of the weapon. It was a sword. Vegeta had dealt with swords before, and he could easily do so again. With a twist of his arm he wrenched the hilt from the man’s fingers and plunged the blade deep into Treskor’s gut, twisted it once, then yanked it free at a different angle. Treskor’s eyes bulged in their sockets, and he stumbled backward, his fingers twitching as they shook around the perimeter of the gaping wound. Vegeta’s hand relaxed and the sword clattered to the floor. Arden saw the rage burning in his eyes.

The 15 other elders that sat around the table stared, wide eyed. None so much as spoke as Treskor crashed backward into a chair, tripped, and fell on his back. Vegeta had struck gold with his marksmanship; the blade had pierced Treskor’s liver and major intestine. He was bleeding internally.

It would be only a matter of moments before Treskor would die. His chest heaved with his last breaths as he stared directly at Vegeta. Vegeta was not fazed by the stare; he had always made a point to look directly into his victim’s eyes as they died.

Vegeta turned to the council. "I have killed your leader." He announced. "Arden will take his place."

Arden balked. "Prince…" he stuttered, turning to look at the council. It was such an odd thing; none of the watching Storkrin’s seemed ready to oppose him. He looked back at Vegeta.

"I…sssomething like thisss…" he tried to figure out what to say.

A Storkrin rose from his seat at the table. He folded his arms and nodded to himself. "Prince, what you have done will not go unnoticed ssso easssily. You have killed our Leader, our king…" he paused." Yet while you have broken the law and thrussst our planet into what may turn out to be a war, I underssstand your caussse."

The other Storkrins gasped in disbelief. Another rose, his face angry. "You cannot be ssseriousss!" he hissed. The other Storkrin turned to him. "I am."

The Storkrin turned his gaze to Arden. "Arden, you are a trusssted guard among usss." Arden nodded in response. "It appearsss that to challenge the Prince would be insssane." He eyed him squarely. "Would you ssstep up where Tressskor ssstood, now, and accept all that he hasss controlled in the passst?"

Arden looked helpless. "I…I am not in a posssition to anssswer that. I know, however, that the Prince’s judgmentsss of character are true. I sssaw what Tajil hasss done," he gestured to the fallen Treskor, "and now you have ssseeen what our leader would have done."

The Storkrins were beginning to nod their agreement. "We need a Leader." The Storkrin said. "Would it prove ussselesss to fight over sssuch an isssue? Arden, you may very well ssspare usss that."

Accepting himself and their words, Arden nodded. When he turned to see what the Prince had to say, Vegeta was already gone. He looked fleetingly at the fallen Treskor and pursed his lips.

"Firssst order of busssinesss." He announced. "Clean this sssshit up."

* * *

Apart from her throbbing headache and her tender bruises, Bulma was pleased to discover that the bastard Tajil had not, in fact, hurt her enough to threaten her life.

She was sitting propped up against a number of pillows, staring across the room at Spider, whose belly was rising with slower, more labored breaths. Tears fell freely down her face. Beside her, Stifelon periodically reached up and wiped them away as they fell.

"He was only trying to save me…" She whispered.

Stifelon nodded. Onyx had retired from his work; there was nothing more to do for Spider. His fate was in Kami’s hands, now. Onyx stood beside him and gently stroked the areas of unbandaged fur, running his fingers in-between the grooves of rock that covered his skin. Panting, Spider gave them all a sideways smile, his tongue lolling out of him mouth.

Bulma turned away, unable to watch any longer.

* * *

Koru was terrified to smell the Sayajin coming down the stairs. Having had to watch what he had done to Tajil, she wasn’t sure if she was in the mood to deal with a temper like that. The footsteps stopped and she found herself facing him.

"Koru." He nodded in greeting. The other guard, Arden, stood behind him. "How would you like to come outside?"

Koru blinked dumbly. "Pardon?"

Vegeta slipped off his gloves, as they were too slippery with innards to be holding iron bars, and stepped toward her cell. "I said, how would you like to go outside? We’re taking you out of here, for good. You don’t have anything to worry about. Treskor is dead."

She gasped. "Dead? But how…?"

Vegeta put his hands on the bars and looked between them at her. "I killed him. That’s how." He set his feet apart. "Now shut up." Grunting, he began to pull the iron apart. Koru watched in unbridled fascination as the two tanned, powerful hands slowly opened a hole large enough for himself to fit through, but too small for her. He released the bars and stepped through the opening sideways. Approaching her, he bent to where she sat and gently took her chain-bound ankle in his hand. Ebony eyes rose to meet hers.

"Now, I’m going to ask you one more time. Do you want to come outside?"