The Tower
Chapter 1 - Why You Should Avoid Psychics
Bulma sat in her lab tapping her pencil against a pad of paper. Things were going unusually slow at Capsule Corps considering that the threat of androids annihilating the planet was just a short year off. With a sigh Bulma glanced down at her empty paper. She was supposed to be designing a new-and-improved gravity machine for Vegeta. But, Bulma thought that in a perfect world Yamcha would have proposed to her by now. Things were never as they should be Bulma thought with a smirk.
"If I have to live with disappointment, so will Vegeta."
She was just about to abandon any attempts at working for the day when she heard an explosion from outside. Bulma looked up in time to see a large chunk of the current gravity machine blow past the window and crash into the swimming pool.
"On second thought, maybe I should at least come up with a new sketch."
***
Bulma stumbled into the kitchen a few minutes late for dinner. She had gotten carried away with the plans for the new gravity machine. Getting started was the hard part; all the rest came naturally to Bulma. She looked over at Vegeta with disgust as he woofed down a chicken leg, bone and all.
"What woman?" he asked with a scowl.
"Nothing, nothing. I was waiting to see if you would choke but it seems my wish did not come true." Bulma seated herself at the table.
An uncomfortable silence filled the kitchen and Mrs. Brief's took it upon herself to fill the void with mindless chatter. Bulma only caught bits involving soap operas and fashion and gossip about the neighbors. She wasn't really paying much attention to the conversation and she doubted that her father or Vegeta were either.
".So I thought that you and Vegeta could go for us." Mrs. Brief's finished with a smile.
Bulma's head snapped up, "Wait, what? Go where?"
Vegeta had obviously missed it too, so Mrs. Brief's elaborated. "To the Town Carnival. Someone has to run the Capsule Corps booth tomorrow night and your father and I can't do it because we are going out of town. We talked about this weeks ago don't you remember?"
"Ohhhh. Now I vaguely remember having a conversation about this. Sure, I guess that I can go. Yamcha cancelled our date for tomorrow night anyway. All I have to do is hand out free capsule prizes for games, right? We can handle that, can't we Vegeta?"
"Woman I have no intention of going to some stupid human gathering." Vegeta stood up and stalked away from the table.
"Whatever." Bulma muttered. If I have to go then he is soooo going with me.
***
The next day Bulma pestered Vegeta every chance that she got. When she realized she was getting nowhere fast she finally decided to take to bribery.
"Vegeta if you go with me then I promise to have the new gravity room built by the end of the month."
"No."
"The end of the week."
"No."
"The end of the week and I will show you my tits."
Vegeta raised his eyebrow, "you promise?"
"Vegeta you pig! Will you just please come with me? I can't lift all the boxes by myself. I need a big strong man there to help me." Bulma knew that appealing to his ego would eventually wear him down.
"Fine woman. I will carry boxes, but I will not interact with people. And if any small crying children come near me I will--"
"I get it Vegeta, no small crying children. Thank you. You won't regret this. Maybe you will even have some fun." Bulma started across the lawn.
"What about your tits?"
Bulma turned and stuck her tongue out at Vegeta.
***
By 9 o'clock that evening, things were well under way and Capsule Corps had made quite a profit from the Capsule Cotton Candy. Vegeta had held up to his end of the bargain and delivered the crates. He was currently at the back of the booth trying to look bored. Bulma was getting hungry. Smelling hot dogs and pizza all day and not being able to eat was annoying. When the crowd started to slow down at the booth she turned to Vegeta.
"I am going to get something to eat. I will be back in a few minutes. Do you think you can contain your dislike of humanity long enough to run this booth?"
Bulma didn't get an answer. She only got a glare from Vegeta.
"I will take that as a yes. Try not to kill anyone."
Bulma worked her way through the booths seeing things that she wouldn't mind buying if she weren't so busy. Her objective now was food. After covering a small portion of the fair grounds Bulma finally settled on a giant cheese pretzel and lemonade. She sat on a bench and watched the lights of the Ferris wheel move around and around as she ate. When she stood up to throw away her trash she noticed a dark booth that she hadn't seen before.
The sign read "Tarot readings $1"
Bulma shrugged her shoulders, "Eh, what the hell." She pushed aside the curtain and stepped inside the booth.
An old woman sat across a small table. The woman was veiled but Bulma could tell that she was old because of her hands. The woman looked classic Hollywood gypsy fortune-teller.
"I was expecting you Bulma."
"That was an easy one. Everyone knows who Bulma Briefs is. You're going to have to try harder to impress me." Bulma took a seat at the table and handed the woman her dollar.
"Ah, a tough cookie. Let' s see what the cards have in store for you." The old woman unraveled her cards from a black silken cloth. She shuffled and cut the cards 3 times. Then she laid the cards into three even piles. "Pick a pile please."
Bulma chose the pile of cards on her left.
The woman turned over ten cards in a pyramid shape and frowned. "This is not god. Not good at all." She murmured.
"What? What's not good?" Bulma leaned closer in to the cards.
"This card," The woman said pointing to the top of the pyramid, "This card is called the Tower. It is not a very fortunate card to have as your future."
"Why are there flames and lightning coming out of this tower? That can't be good!" Bulma wailed. "Does it mean that I am going to die???"
"No. I don't know. For some reason I can't get much out of this reading. I know what I can see though. Changes are coming. Your current lover is cheating on you and I think that deep down you know that. Don't worry . . . another love is on its way. But there are so many clouding issues here. I have a vision of a tower, a real tower, for some reason that will come into play soon too. Good luck."
"That's it?"
"I'm sorry dear. That is all that the spirit will show me."
"Well, uh, thanks I guess." Bulma said as she got up and left the tent.
What does it all mean? What is going to happen? Find out in the next chapter! Bulma puzzles over the meaning of the message, sees Yamcha with another woman at the carnival, and is the infamous break up on the way??? This chapter was short, I know, but I am new at this. I hope you like my first story. Please R&R!
Chapter 1 - Why You Should Avoid Psychics
Bulma sat in her lab tapping her pencil against a pad of paper. Things were going unusually slow at Capsule Corps considering that the threat of androids annihilating the planet was just a short year off. With a sigh Bulma glanced down at her empty paper. She was supposed to be designing a new-and-improved gravity machine for Vegeta. But, Bulma thought that in a perfect world Yamcha would have proposed to her by now. Things were never as they should be Bulma thought with a smirk.
"If I have to live with disappointment, so will Vegeta."
She was just about to abandon any attempts at working for the day when she heard an explosion from outside. Bulma looked up in time to see a large chunk of the current gravity machine blow past the window and crash into the swimming pool.
"On second thought, maybe I should at least come up with a new sketch."
***
Bulma stumbled into the kitchen a few minutes late for dinner. She had gotten carried away with the plans for the new gravity machine. Getting started was the hard part; all the rest came naturally to Bulma. She looked over at Vegeta with disgust as he woofed down a chicken leg, bone and all.
"What woman?" he asked with a scowl.
"Nothing, nothing. I was waiting to see if you would choke but it seems my wish did not come true." Bulma seated herself at the table.
An uncomfortable silence filled the kitchen and Mrs. Brief's took it upon herself to fill the void with mindless chatter. Bulma only caught bits involving soap operas and fashion and gossip about the neighbors. She wasn't really paying much attention to the conversation and she doubted that her father or Vegeta were either.
".So I thought that you and Vegeta could go for us." Mrs. Brief's finished with a smile.
Bulma's head snapped up, "Wait, what? Go where?"
Vegeta had obviously missed it too, so Mrs. Brief's elaborated. "To the Town Carnival. Someone has to run the Capsule Corps booth tomorrow night and your father and I can't do it because we are going out of town. We talked about this weeks ago don't you remember?"
"Ohhhh. Now I vaguely remember having a conversation about this. Sure, I guess that I can go. Yamcha cancelled our date for tomorrow night anyway. All I have to do is hand out free capsule prizes for games, right? We can handle that, can't we Vegeta?"
"Woman I have no intention of going to some stupid human gathering." Vegeta stood up and stalked away from the table.
"Whatever." Bulma muttered. If I have to go then he is soooo going with me.
***
The next day Bulma pestered Vegeta every chance that she got. When she realized she was getting nowhere fast she finally decided to take to bribery.
"Vegeta if you go with me then I promise to have the new gravity room built by the end of the month."
"No."
"The end of the week."
"No."
"The end of the week and I will show you my tits."
Vegeta raised his eyebrow, "you promise?"
"Vegeta you pig! Will you just please come with me? I can't lift all the boxes by myself. I need a big strong man there to help me." Bulma knew that appealing to his ego would eventually wear him down.
"Fine woman. I will carry boxes, but I will not interact with people. And if any small crying children come near me I will--"
"I get it Vegeta, no small crying children. Thank you. You won't regret this. Maybe you will even have some fun." Bulma started across the lawn.
"What about your tits?"
Bulma turned and stuck her tongue out at Vegeta.
***
By 9 o'clock that evening, things were well under way and Capsule Corps had made quite a profit from the Capsule Cotton Candy. Vegeta had held up to his end of the bargain and delivered the crates. He was currently at the back of the booth trying to look bored. Bulma was getting hungry. Smelling hot dogs and pizza all day and not being able to eat was annoying. When the crowd started to slow down at the booth she turned to Vegeta.
"I am going to get something to eat. I will be back in a few minutes. Do you think you can contain your dislike of humanity long enough to run this booth?"
Bulma didn't get an answer. She only got a glare from Vegeta.
"I will take that as a yes. Try not to kill anyone."
Bulma worked her way through the booths seeing things that she wouldn't mind buying if she weren't so busy. Her objective now was food. After covering a small portion of the fair grounds Bulma finally settled on a giant cheese pretzel and lemonade. She sat on a bench and watched the lights of the Ferris wheel move around and around as she ate. When she stood up to throw away her trash she noticed a dark booth that she hadn't seen before.
The sign read "Tarot readings $1"
Bulma shrugged her shoulders, "Eh, what the hell." She pushed aside the curtain and stepped inside the booth.
An old woman sat across a small table. The woman was veiled but Bulma could tell that she was old because of her hands. The woman looked classic Hollywood gypsy fortune-teller.
"I was expecting you Bulma."
"That was an easy one. Everyone knows who Bulma Briefs is. You're going to have to try harder to impress me." Bulma took a seat at the table and handed the woman her dollar.
"Ah, a tough cookie. Let' s see what the cards have in store for you." The old woman unraveled her cards from a black silken cloth. She shuffled and cut the cards 3 times. Then she laid the cards into three even piles. "Pick a pile please."
Bulma chose the pile of cards on her left.
The woman turned over ten cards in a pyramid shape and frowned. "This is not god. Not good at all." She murmured.
"What? What's not good?" Bulma leaned closer in to the cards.
"This card," The woman said pointing to the top of the pyramid, "This card is called the Tower. It is not a very fortunate card to have as your future."
"Why are there flames and lightning coming out of this tower? That can't be good!" Bulma wailed. "Does it mean that I am going to die???"
"No. I don't know. For some reason I can't get much out of this reading. I know what I can see though. Changes are coming. Your current lover is cheating on you and I think that deep down you know that. Don't worry . . . another love is on its way. But there are so many clouding issues here. I have a vision of a tower, a real tower, for some reason that will come into play soon too. Good luck."
"That's it?"
"I'm sorry dear. That is all that the spirit will show me."
"Well, uh, thanks I guess." Bulma said as she got up and left the tent.
What does it all mean? What is going to happen? Find out in the next chapter! Bulma puzzles over the meaning of the message, sees Yamcha with another woman at the carnival, and is the infamous break up on the way??? This chapter was short, I know, but I am new at this. I hope you like my first story. Please R&R!