Hey! Sorry for the delay in uploading this chapter. This summer has been incredibly busy! I've been off camping and traveling :)

This chapter is unfortunately a little short, but that's because I haven't had very much time to work on it, and I wanted to upload what I could. Luckily, the next chapter is being worked on now, and you shouldn't have to wait as long for it!

The tall saiyan named Goku yawned and stretched, reaching out to put an arm around his mate and pull him close. And then he blinked.

Vegeta wasn't there.

Goku sat up apprehensively, wondering where his prince had gone. It wasn't like him to leave in the middle of the night. He reached out with his ki, and felt Vegeta's presence over by their waterfall. But something was definitely strange... his ki was much lower than normal. Almost as if he was sleeping, or...

Goku bolted upright and put two fingers to his head. In an instant, he had arrived by the unconscious prince. He knelt down beside him and breathed a sigh of relief; Vegeta looked fine. But why was he sleeping over here? And... Goku frowned, noticing a golden collar around Vegeta's neck. What...? Who did this to Vegeta? Goku glanced around to ensure that they were alone. He saw no one, but he felt decidedly uneasy. Clearly all was not well..

The collar would have to come off. Goku could sense a strange pulsating energy around it, like it was blocking Vegeta's ki or keeping him asleep.. He would have to break it. He leaned in to do so, but as soon as his fingers touched the collar, he gasped and fell back wide-eyed. The collar had shocked him with more electricity than he could recall ever feeling... His whole body was burning and shaking! And that wasn't all. Vegetas body jolted upwards momentarily, and he whimpered in his sleep, clearing feeling the same effects as Goku.

Goku clenched his fists and ignored the pain, rushing over to hold the prince in his arms. Vegeta was breathing hard, but he still did not awaken. Goku's heart was hammering, but he knew he had to keep his cool if he was going to help his mate. "I'm sorry, Vegeta... Don't worry, I'll figure this out!" He promised him, feeling guilty. He planted a kiss on his mate's forehead lovingly.

"..There'sss nothing for you to figure out, Sssaiyan."

Goku spun at the sound of the slithery voice. Two snake-like creatures were standing in front of him with nasty gleams in their eyes. Goku put his mate down tenderly and stood, sizing them up. They were male, and didn't look particularly powerful... but he had a nagging feeling not to underestimate them. He couldn't feel their ki at all. They must have surprised Vegeta..

"Hello. My name is Goku. Who are you?" He asked them quietly, his mind racing. He needed information before he could do anything else. He wasn't sure if he could break the collar on his own.

"Yess, we know who you are. Our namesss are not of any importance... At least not to a Ssaiyan!" One of them hissed in disgust, anger flashing in his eyes.

Goku sighed. They didn't like Saiyans. Not surprising, really. Saiyans weren't known for being particularly nice... "If you know who I am, then you know that I mean you no harm... Unless you plan to harm me or anyone I love. In that case, I won't hold back." He didn't get a response from them, and he could feel himself starting to lose his temper. He needed to have his prince at his side.

The tall saiyan pointed at Vegeta, his voice rising. "What have you done to him?!"

"Your preciousss prince will live... Asss long as you do as we command. Otherwise..." The one who was talking glanced over at Vegeta. The prince began squirming in his sleep, gasping in obvious pain. Goku began to smell burnt skin... His prince was being tortured!

"STOP IT!" Goku turned supersaiyan and darted over to Vegeta's side, reaching for the collar in a panic. He gritted his teeth as he pulled with all of his might, feeling his own fingers burning. As he watched, they began to turn black. He started to see stars, and he felt himself begin to pass out, but he couldn't let go.. He had to do something! Vegeta was being burned alive! The collar wasn't breaking... Suddenly, a huge jolt of electricity threw him backwards into a tree. He gasped in pain, but continued to ignore it as best he could, only thinking about his mate. Vegeta was still moving around in his sleep, and Goku couldn't stand seeing him like that. He knelt beside Vegeta and pulled the prince to him. He felt hot tears run down his face as he turned to look at the cold, angry faces staring back at him. "Dammit! Leave him alone! What the hell do you want with us? We haven't done anything to you!"

Vegeta stopped moving and whimpering, the brutal treatment apparently over for the moment.

The voice that responded was cold and authoritative. "Wrong. You Saiyans are destroyers of all that is good... Even those who are no threat to you... Your people, led by your prince, have committed evils that can not and will not ever be forgiven. You will both be punished for your crimes against the universe...against us Luiens..."

Goku trembled in anger and glared at them. What they were saying was only partially true. He didn't know who the Luiens were, but they were clearly seeking revenge for whatever wrongs had been done.. "Look, I am sorry for whatever you had to go through... I know what it's like to lose those you love...But that does not make this right! The Saiyan race has done terrible things, but that's all in the past...and how can you claim to be any better than we are? You are hurting two innocent people!"

The one who had been talking walked calmly up to him and spit in his face. "It is the passt to you, perhapss, but not to uss! Sssaiyans are not people.. You're the sscum of the universe. We are entitled to our revenge!"

Goku leapt up into fighting stance, breathing hard. "I have tried to reason with you...I do not take life if I don't have to...But if you do not take that collar off of Vegeta right now, I will-"

"-Fight uss? Kill uss? How predictable, Sssaiyan. And no, you will not. If you take one step, I will dessstroy your mate...And then you."

Goku had to remind himself that he had no way of knowing how powerful they were. They had already taken down one of the strongest fighters in the universe, and they clearly weren't scared of him, even though they knew who he was. Still... He would be damned if he let them get away with this! This was Vegeta that they were hurting. His mate.. his love... his everything. "I don't understand what you want from us!"

"Ah, now we're getting ssomewhere at lasst. We want Prince Vegeta to ssuffer in the ssame way that we have ssuffered. We will take the one that he lovesss most away from him... You. You will wear a collar, jusst as he doess, and you will never see him again. In return, we will allow him to live... For that will be the worst punishment of all... Living without his mate, but knowing that you are alive...Never being able to power up and save the one he lovesss.." The Luien was speaking in an almost lustful voice, reveling in his power over the Saiyans.

Not for long.

With a yell, Goku transformed into Super Saiyan 3, the energy around him pulsating and vibrating. He IT'd behind the Luien an in instant, and slammed him into a tree. The Luien fell, stunned and gasping for breath. Goku then turned his attentions to the other Luien, but he had vanished. Goku began to focus his energy, looking all around him and knowing that the alien would be somewhere close.

Suddenly, Goku felt a prick in the back of his neck. With a grunt, he spun around to kick the creature behind him, but the creature wasn't there. Goku turned again and blinked. Why was everything suddenly so hazy? What was....going on...?

His last thought before blacking out completely was of Vegeta.

Vegeta awoke with a moan. He opened his eyes, feeling unbelievable amounts of pain in his body. Fuck... What had...?

He leaped to his feet in an instant, his eyes darting around the little clearing by the waterfall. He was alone. The aliens were gone. Or maybe they were hidden again.. He tried to power up, and instead felt like he'd been hit by a dozen lightning bolts. He fell to his knees in agony, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

Shit!

He pounded his fist into the ground, refusing to cry, and gradually the pain subsided into something manageable.

Shaking his head, he realized that there was something heavy around his neck. A collar? It was obviously the reason why he couldn't power up, and he growled in frustration, pawing at it frantically. Touching it only resulted in more pain, but he kept pulling at it, needing it off now. After a few minutes, he passed out.

He woke up a little while later. He couldn't move for a few minutes, and just breathed hard. The pain was excruciating. Dammit, where was Kakarott? Shouldn't he have noticed him by now? Unless... Vegeta felt a chill go down his spine. What if something had happened to Kakarott? No, something HAD happened... He couldn't feel him anywhere!

Vegeta growled loudly. He needed to find his mate. Through their bond, he knew that Kakarott was still alive, but where, he did not know.

The prince of saiyans forced himself to his feet. Realizing that he wouldn't be able to power up enough to fly, he started walking slowly and painfully in the direction of Capsule Corp.

Yikes... Goku's gone, and Vegeta can't power up! What's a Saiyan to do?

Author's note: I will be explaining more about how the collar and their bond works in the next chapter. Also, sorry it was so short! The next one will definitely be longer, and it will be up as soon as possible! It's going to get pretty dark for awhile...

Any thoughts? :) You know I wanna hear 'em!