Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z or Full metal alchemist. Funimation brings us these master works of anime on DVD. Toriyama created DBZ. Captain Scarlet is inspired by Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons owned by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson even though he's a bad guy here! I can only claim responsibility for the plot and the character of Tomic, Merlot, Cabernet and other fan characters here. The only pay I get is your reviews so please keep them coming! And my thanks to those who have already reviewed! Kudos and hugs to you!

Second Chances for the Sons of Bardock

Capsule Corps Princess meets Saiyan Prince

By Trynia Merin


While the 23rd Budakai transpired, Bulma had not been idle. She had watched the proceedings from the tiny TV in the lab Piccolo so generously provided. Sweat blistered on her forehead, which she wiped away with one hand.

"Whew, I hope I can get this done. They aren't busting their asses to save mine," Bulma lamented.

Next Goku strode up to the platform, and faced off against the mysterious female warrior known as Majatomic. It didn't take a genius to figure out it was the female Saiyan Tomic in disguise. Although the turban and collar mimicked Piccolo's garb, the female still could not hide her alien-fighting stance. She and Goku whirled in and out of the camera's movements astonishing the crowd all around them.

Then she had watched Krillen face Piccolo. They had exchanged a vicious series of attacks. Krillen had barely survived with his life. If not for the announcer calling time, Krillen might have been seriously hurt or dead. As it was, Piccolo had broken a few of the little guy's ribs as well as temporarily knocking the breath from him.

When she had seen Yamcha eliminated by the strange new Z fighter she was worried. Yet the tall warrior with spiky hair had not harmed him seriously. Yamcha watched in disbelief as the tall figure held a hand out to help him up. Both men high fived and slapped one another on their backs. Another match had come and gone to leave one more. She then resumed her fiddling while the one known as Hero fought someone called Captain Scarlet. To her shock the guy had almost bested Piccolo's henchman. If not for a last minute punch it would have been a draw. Humiliated, Scarlet left the ring because he tripped over the mild mannered guy tying a shoelace.

"Well folks now we're down to the wire! Four fighters have been eliminated leaving us with four contenders for the top spot. Who will it be? Hero, Son Goku, Majunior, or Son Radz? Stay tuned for the semifinals!" crooned the announcer. Bulma popped her head up from the space pod.

"Just two more wires and I'm outta here," she said. Drops of sweat dripped into the Saiyan pod. A knock slammed on the door.

"Hold your horses! Jeez!" Bulma snapped. Suddenly a hiss of steam filled the room. The door swung open to reveal one of Piccolo's henchmen.

"What on earth…" he coughed.

Bulma grabbed a wrench. She swung it hard on the back of his skull with a sickening crack. He toppled to the floor seeing birds and stars in whirling orbits. Flipping the wrench in her hand, Bulma laughed triumphantly. "Hahha! Don't mess with Bulma Briefs, you jerk!"

She jumped up and down with glee before grabbing up the pack of Hoi Poi capsules the guard had confiscated. With a BOMB she capsulated the Saiyan pod and the Regeneration tank she had been working on for the last day. Quickly Bulma rushed off down the hall protected from noxious fumes by the gas mask shielding her face. Alarms blared their stunning klaxons all around her. AS she raced through the halls of panicking footsoldiers she threw down other small spheres that released choking rotten egg fumes.

"Have some H2S on me, boys!" she giggled through her mask. Smoke pooled around her racing body out in the empty courtyard. Reaching down she tossed a 7 capsule on the ground. Another BOMB of smoke later produced a hydrojet. She leapt into the cockpit, punching control buttons to fire up the engines.

Thankfully the guard was stupid enough to keep her capsules on his body. They wouldn't get the secret devices she had been forced to repair under Piccolo's stern urgings. Unfortunately the inventor neglected to consider the radar beams tracking her small hydrojet's launch. Angrily one of Piccolo's henchmen saw it rising out of the smoke and fuss of Piccolo's fortress.

"Prisoner's escaped!" he shouted. "Get Captain Scarlet!"

"At once sir!" shouted a soldier. He saluted, rushing off towards the communications scrambler.

Bulma swallowed hard, pressing the control stick forwards. She had figured that they would discover her exit. On her hip bleeped the small scouter she had taken from Tomic. Opening it up she fixed it on her right ear so the eyepiece fitted over her face. Traces of ki tracked across in bastardized Japanese.

"Oh crap I knew it was too good to be true," she cursed. Two traces of 1000 each rose slowly up from the horizon, rocketing towards her at great speed. What stunned her was another that shot out from the direction of the Budakai.

Over the radio crackled an incoming message. She depressed the key to see the angry face of Captain Scarlet. "So, you managed to escape, did you? Naughty girl!"

"Get bent freak!" She stuck her tongue out at him. "Aren't you fighting in the tournament?"

"Thanks to your foolish friends I'm not. But no matter. I'm giving you one chance to turn around and land. Lord Piccolo will be furious!" Scarlet barked.

"Eat my dust," she laughed, pressing the control to banish his face in a swirling hiss of static. Soon the BUDDA BUDDA of machine gun bullets pinged her wings. She pressed a button in the side panel while taking the controls in her left hand. In her right she grabbed the yoke of a machine gun handle. Through the telerad system she spotted the fighters scrambling after her. Soon she answered their volleys with a percussive tattoo of her own.

Explosions blossomed all around her. Alabaster cheeks split with her grin, then she threw back her head and laughed, "HAHAHAH! Score one for Bulma! WOOHOO! This girl CAN take care of herself!"


Outside the hydrojet the pursuing craft exchanged fire. Unfortunately it was all too clear that Bulma wouldn't give up without a fight. In the midst of the melee rocketed the black and blue uniformed figure of a defeated Captain scarlet. Over his headset he shouted, "Let her go!"

"What sir?" came the confused reply.

"Break off. I'll pursue! That bitch won't escape Captain Scarlet!" vowed Piccolo's henchman. He knew it was only a matter of time before Piccolo won or lost. Either way he would come out ahead. Tearing off the mystery tribe uniform he revealed the Red Ribbon uniform beneath.

Two figures shot out alongside his ki trail. He rocketed through the atmosphere flanked by the Frankenstein no. 8, and the alluringly beautiful 7. She adjusted her newly installed cybernetic arm with pride. "I will have to thank the good Doctor for the upgrade, Captain."

"As you were, Lieutenant Violet," he nodded in appreciation. She blew him a kiss, shooting ahead of them by five hundred yards.

"Why must we chase a defenseless female?" lamented no. 8.

"You're not programmed to ask questions. You're programmed to obey your father and creator. So if you don't want to be sent to the genetic scrap bin you will obey my commands!" Scarlet barked at him.

"Sorry number 6," No. 8 apologized, veiling his face with one hand in fear. Captain Scarlet, known as Android 6 brandished his fist crackling with red ki.

"There she is I've spotted her!" shouted Violet from ahead. She gestured to a contrail made by a hydrojet.

"Shoot her down!" said Captain Scarlet.

"Foo fighter!" Violet shrilled, whirling her hand around. White spheres flatted into disc shapes, speeding after the hydrojet. Whirling about they punched holes in the wings before she could bat an eyelash. Scarlet and 8 watched the movement of Violet shifting her hands to and fro. Smoke poured out of the engine of the jet, billowing up into the blue skies.

"But you said she wouldn't die!" said no. 8.

"What are you doing?" Scarlet yelled, zipping after her. "Stop it!"

"I brought her down! I only hit her engine. She should have a parachute!" 6 glanced over her shoulder at him.

"I said that to Piccolo. Besides I just want her crashed, not destroyed!" he called out. "8, 6, get down there and stop that jet!"

Around her fire and smoke obscured the forward view. Sparks crackled over the control panel, causing Bulma to jump back and yelp. "Oh no, no!" she cried. Angrily she slammed her fist down, then seized the small CO2 cylinder to put out a small fire seeping out of the far panel.

Her belt yanked her back into the seat in response to the deck pitching forwards. Her stomach left far behind in the corkscrew dive her plane plummeted in. Desperately she clenched the control stick to yank the nose up to no avail. Heart pounding Bulma hit the eject button. She had learned her lesson well the first time this happened with one of her hydrojets. Shot down over Goku's West Province 439 wasn't an experience she cared to repeat. Although his power pole had shot through her shirt and pinned her falling body to a cliffside, the resulting crisis of having peed in her underwear was enough to prompt Bulma to install a safety device.

Past her face shot the glass, propelling the seat up. She didn't count on the parachute tangling up in its own cord. Bulma shrieked as she spiraled head over heels out of the control cockpit. All around her the world blossomed with fire in a deadly garden of explosions. Sounds rumbled through her bones nonstop. Winds slashed through her hair, whipping it around her face to blind her. From her field of vision flickering numbers alerted her to a powerful reading of 3000 zipping around. She caught sight of a blue uniformed figure aiming his finger towards her. Sizzling beams sliced through the safety harness of her seat. Bulma next felt the seat dropping and empty air on her posterior from the seat dropping away.

Empty space swallowed her up despite her urge to hug her body into a tight ball. Something told her to spread herself wide out instead with a potent shriek of warning. Bulma responded to that warning flag by hurling her arms and legs wide. Although it might not bleed off much velocity it might stop her long enough for a Z warrior to stop her.

"Oh crap, I'm dead," she whimpered.

"Quiet small one. You aren't dead," spoke a deep male voice, raspy with wildness she couldn't identify. The words were spoke with odd guttural annunciation, as if the native language it normally spoke was like that.

Something latched around her wrist with a gentle firm grip. Bulma sensed the warmth of another body in proximity to hers. And the smell of ozone marred silence. A musk scent filled her nostrils, causing her to blink up at the body plummeting next to hers. Ebony eyes flickered into her blue ones, scrutinizing her through every level till her soul felt it was laid bare to the bone. She squeaked in fear, grasping onto the muscular figure sheathed in white armor. Under her body two solid muscular arms rested, cradling her against a hard contoured surface. Hot breath pulsed against her neck, while her fingers touched feathery soft bristles.

"Who... what are you?" Bulma stammered. Astonishment replaced pounding fear. For a second a flickering series of images chronicled her time on Earth in incredible detail. Everything pixilated till the experience was arrested by the sensation of this male being who had saved her.

"Prince Vegita of all Saiyans. You may address me as your Majesty, blue female," he rasped.

"You have GOT to be kidding me," Bulma panted, blinking in the light of the sun blasting her suddenly in the face. Her stomach stopped free falling along with her body, but still felt like the rest was floating. If she peered over her side not blocked by him, she saw the contours of wrinkled mountains and shimmering seas glistening under fluffy clouds. Billowing black smoke curled from down below, while they hovered almost a mile up.

"I'm in no mood for frivolity, woman," he said quietly. "You will not try to escape. You will not scream or attempt to distract me in any manner or I won't hesitate to drop you. I won't endanger you unless you give me sufficient reason."

"Excuse the hell ME?" Bulma blinked at him. "Do you know who you're TALKING to? My name is not Woman; it's Bulma Briefs. MS. Bulma to you, buster!"

"Enlighten me," he smirked. Gloved hands locked her body under the back and the knees in a grip of steel. Bulma squirmed but could not break free of the Prince's hold. Not that she wanted to so high above the earth, yet she felt quite uncomfortable with the way in which his hands were positioned. One was precariously close to her breast while the other was sliding down to her butt. She shoved her face into his neck, squeezing her eyes shut to keep out the terrifying blur around them.

"You're talking to the Vice president of Capsule Corps, probably the largest company on this planet, your Highness. And you're NOT going to order ME Around. Thank you for saving my ass, but that gives you NO right to..."

"Shut up will you! Enough of that screaming. I'm going DEAF!" he snapped at her.

"You will NOT speak to me like that buster!"

"If you want my respect earn it, otherwise zip it!" he snarled.

"What sort of 'Prince' are you?" she gasped.

"A warrior who will stop at nothing to defend what is his," he answered. "Now remain silent. I shall land soon. And you will NOT try anything funny. I saved your for a very specific purpose. And if you behave I shall reveal to you what it is."

"Oh how GENEROUS of you," she glared at him. He cocked a brow in amusement at the audacity of the female. She had an attitude and a tongue that seemed disturbingly familiar.

"You don't know what you're talking about, woman," he muttered. "Unlike you, I take what I wish. It isn't simply GIVEN to me."

"Butt out, jerk! I don't care if you ARE royalty, you won't speak to me like this!"

"I shall speak to you in ANY manner I chose woman because I'm the one holding you a mile above your miserable third rate planet!" Vegita shouted back. His voice drowned hers out, causing her to shiver in terror.

"Stupid spoiled BRAT," she mumbled under her breath.

"Takes one to know one, woman," he mumbled back, wondering what the hell he had saved her life for. The next moment he achieved his goal of silencing her, so he simply flared blue ki around them both to keep enough oxygen in the envelope so she could breathe. Bulma left her stomach behind when Vegita rocketed from a dead stop to nearly mach 1. Fortunately his ki cushioned her body from the massive G force.


The three androids stopped to hover over the flaming wreckage that had once been Bulma's plane. Captain Scarlet snarled as he whirled on 7 and 8. "You IDIOTS! She's nowhere to be found!"

"Sir, we don't detect her anywhere inside the wreckage," said 8 sheepishly. He prodded the wreckage unaffected by the flames licking around it. Raising his hand he opened the nozzle to emit a stream of CO2 coolant. Quenched under his flames the wreckage soon ceased its incineration.

"Idiots, must I do everything myself?" he snorted.

"Sir, Piccolo's troops are not far behind us. Apparently they're asking if we need backup," said 7, tapping her ear.

"Damn it that's all I need. You go back and tell them I've got this under control. No. 8, you go that way, and I'll go this. Trace her warmth and ki trail."

"But I'm detecting larger kis that are off the scale," said 8.

"Probably her friends trying to save her!" snorted Scarlet. "Go now!"

"But they're all at the Budokai!" said 7.

"No, apparently the ones who were eliminated have already left according to Piccolo's observations," said Scarlet.

"Why didn't you tell us?" asked 8.

"Don't ask questions, go! Violet, you take the shock troops and hunt down those large ki readings. I'll get the woman!" said Scarlet.

"Dr. Gero will want us to redenzvous with him soon, in three hours," said 6. "Do we have enough time?"

"Humph, if we don't then it's 9 and 10," he snorted. "And you know I hate being shown up by that blithering idiot and his ape of a son!"

"White you mean? He's just had the upgrade too, right?" asked six.

"Yes, and 5. That idiot let himself get beaten by that three eyed freak," Scarlet mumbled remembering Mercenary Tao's humiliating defeat.

Nodding to his subordinate Androids he rocketed off after Bulma. Seven and Eight rocketed off in the direction of the other powerful traces, guessing it might be Yamcha, Tien, and the other stranger who called himself Son Radz.


Prince Vegita lightly touched down in the middle of a vast open space interrupted by tall spikes of upright rock piles. Buttes and mesas also dominated the landscape stretching for miles. Bulma shakily clung to the Prince's arms as she saw the hulking giant striding up to them. Gold and white armor gleamed over the bald warrior's chest. Beneath his moustache and goatee his face twisted into a Machiavellian smirk. In a harsh language he laughed something to the Prince. Bulma yelped and buried her face in his neck. Trembling she clung tightly to Vegita.

"Stop terrorizing the humans Nappa. We're here for a reason. Haven't you located our two subordinates yet?" Vegita asked.

"Found yourself a female already, sire?" Nappa laughed. "You want my advice?"

"Shut up! You do remember WHY we came here?" Vegita glared at him. He seemed to have forgotten about the female in his arms.

"Please… put me down, your Majesty," Bulma interrupted.

"Silence," Vegita cut her off.

"Excuse me, thank you for saving my ASS your Majesty but could you please put me down?" Bulma firmly stated.

"Humph, I take orders from no one," Vegita snorted. He set her on her feet. Before Bulma could run away his gloved hand latched around her wrist with blinding speed.

"Let me go, please!" Bulma gritted, trying to twist her wrist out of his grasp.

"Not till you tell me where the others of my kind are woman," Vegita said firmly. "Now face me and answer. I didn't have to save your life."

"Shall I punish her sire?"

"Shut up and keep looking for them. The two should be nearby," he said.

"Please Vegita, I'll tell you whatever you want to know, just let me go," she said, swallowing hard. Vegita saw the sincerity in her blue eyes, then released her wrist.

"Who are you, Woman. You seem to think yourself of some importance on this rock pile," Vegita said curtly. "Well, speak."

"I'm Bulma Briefs. My dad runs Capsule Corps, the richest company in the world, your Majesty," Bulma said boldly, staring Vegita right in the eyes. "And if you're any threat to this world, you should know we don't go down without a fight. And it would be worth your while to see that we might have something to offer you."

"My my you're bold, blue hair," Vegita clicked his tongue. "You presume much. Are you of Royal blood?"

"I'm the heir to Capsule," Bulma answered, folding her arms across her chest and glaring at the Prince.

"Humph, she acts like a princess," Nappa said in Saiyanese.

"You will remain my guest, then if you represent authority on this small planet," Vegita said. "And tell me what I wish to know. And I might see fit not to lose my temper. But know that I don't like being made a fool of. And I'm not here for sightseeing."

"What do you want to know?" Bulma asked.

"Why should I spare your planet," Vegita asked.

"Because whoever trains here gets awfully strong. Two of your people landed her, your Highness, and they're almost five times as strong as when they first came," she said.

"Then you HAVE seen my subjects. You will tell me all you know and I'll be hospitable. Lie to me, and you will be VERY uncomfortable," Vegita said with an icy glare.

"If you're talking about Raditz and Tomic, they're taking place in a martial arts contest and trying to stop Piccolo from taking over this planet," she said.

"Well now, that's interesting news. So you expect me to swallow that my warriors are embroiled in your planet's measly politics?" Vegita snickered.

"Yes. Can't you tell if I'm lying, your Majesty?" Bulma smirked. Flashing lights flickering across the red lens of his scouter interrupted her staring match with the Prince. The small device at Bulma's hip bleeped simultaneously to Nappa.

"Vegita, I'm getting a whole bunch of readings coming this way. They're pathetically weak, but there are some that are the same energy levels as Saibamen," Nappa said, punching the controls to narrow the focus.

"Well now, why don't we give them the chance to introduce themselves," Vegita said.

"Oh crap," Bulma swallowed. "Look, please let me go! They're after me?"

"Don't talk so familiarly to the Prince, woman!" Nappa snapped at her.

"Please, let me go! I was trying to get away from them! They're piccolo's troops… they must have found out that I got away!" Bulma pleaded. Nappa blocked her way.

"Then you'd be wise to remain here, woman," Nappa glared at her. "Vegita?"

"Leave her with me. Amuse yourself. But first I want some Saibamen planted. This planet seems to have rich soil," Vegita said. "How many do we have?"

"Ten sire," said Nappa, reaching into his boot and pulling out a vial. He tossed it to Vegita, who caught it up easily.

"Excellent. Go play, but don't be TOO destructive. We don't want to tip our hand JUST yet…" Vegita said.

"What's he going to do?" Bulma asked.

"Don't ask questions of the Prince, woman!" Nappa snapped at her. He rocketed off in a white streak of blinding ki, knocking Bulma off balance. Bulma landed against Vegita's booted knees at the shockwave loosed from his taking off.

"Wait a minute!" Bulma gasped. A white gloved hand shot down and grabbed her arm. Roughly Vegita yanked her to her feet to stand near him.

"Stand there and say nothing if you wish to remain alive," he snorted.

"Don't you DARE threaten me buster! You're the one who shot my plane out of the air!"

"I was the one that SAVED your ass, woman! Your life belongs to the Prince of Saiyans so SHUT UP!" Vegita bellowed at her. Immediately her mouth clapped shut in shock. Bulma bit her lip so intensely she felt the blood welling up. No male had ever dared talk back to her.

"Jerk," she mouthed, sticking out her tongue at Vegita. Still holding her wrist he scrabbled at the dirt with his other hand. One finger probed the soil while the other three still wrapped around the vial.

"Hold that," he snorted, shoving it into her hands once he straightened up. "Humph I suppose this will have to do."

"What is this?" she asked, almost dropping the vial sloshing with liquid in its lower half. Small seeds rattled in the upper. She saw Vegita bending over to scrabble holes in the dirt.

"Ordinarily that fool Nappa would do this, but if I didn't let that idiot run around after six months of flight he'd blow something ELSE up," Vegita mumbled. "How humiliating, a Prince planting his OWN Saibamen."

"Cranky aren't we, your Highness?" Bulma couldn't resist quipping.

"Who asked you. Give me that!" he snapped. He snatched the vial from her grasp, opening the top to pour the seeds into his hand. One by one he dropped them into the holes he had made before covering them up. Once done he poured the liquid in the lower half of the vial overtop. Casually he tossed the vial over his shoulder.

"Hey, don't throw that away! Haven't you ever heard of recycling, sheesh!" Bulma snapped, catching the vial in her hands. Vegita saw her tumble backwards to receive it with her whole body. Unfortunately Bulma gathered momentum in her fall and summersault down the slope of the gentle hill he had landed upon. Once she landed at the foot she rolled to her feet and took off running.

"Idiot," Vegita groaned, realizing this female was going to be trouble. "Come back here fool! I didn't give you leave to depart!"

Quickly Bulma sprinted across the desert. Her heart pounded violently in her chest. She threw down her last capsule. With a puff of smoke an airbike popped up from nothing. Not wasting time Bulma leapt on and fired up the engine. Within five seconds she rocketed at full tilt away from the Prince. Instead of frowning, Vegita's cheeks twisted into a lopsided smirk.

"So you want to run, do you, female? Well, I enjoy a good hunt. You're a feisty one," he snickered. Lazily he levitated up from the hillside. Beneath him the soil buckled and shook from the growth swelling beneath it. Claws protruded from the sandy top layer, grains dropping from the arms popping up. Six slimy heads shot out of the soil resembling new baby cabbages. Squeaks and grunts filled the air as six Saibamen clawed their way to the sunlight-burning overhead.

"Remain there!" Vegita shouted down from above. "Await my command! You two secure the perimeter with Nappa!"

"Kreeaght!" two nearest said, lifting their claws. The other four spread out in all directions to guard the space pod.