Author's Note: Hey everyone. :3 Here's chapter two. Don't forget, the outfits are in the first chapter. Also, remember, I have taken a few liberties with a few things. Borderlands is just a game, and so to make everything more realistic I've taken a few liberties with a few things. But nothing huge. Let me know what you think? Reviews make me happy face. No reviews make me sad face.
You won't like me when I'm sad face. /stares hard
Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z and Borderlands all belongs to their respective owners and creators. I take no credit for anything other than mixing the two together. This is just for funsies. So don't sue me. 'Cause that's not nice.
Keep Your Eyes Open
Chapter Two: The Doctor Is In
"See ya next time!" the little orange and white rusted robot turned towards the disappearing bus and waved vigorously. He then turned towards the two males and two females standing in front of him, the blue sphere that served as an 'eye' lit up and looked at each one of them. "Welcome to Fyrestone! I am CL4P-TP; you may call me by my locally designated name, 'Claptrap'. Before continuing, please accept this ECHO communication device and heads-up display provided free of charge by the Dahl Corporation!" Claptrap announced, producing two items for each member to take. Bulma took hers first, smiling a little as she placed the flat rectangular wristwatch on her right wrist. She felt the bottom portion of it warm up, before she felt a sharp pain in the top of her wrist.
Wincing slightly, she lifted parts of the watch to see two metal prongs deep in her skin, before the watch lit up. Staring at it mild wonder, it seemed to be calculating something before displaying a meter for her health, and a meter above it that was empty on the left hand side. In the center was a linear compass that told her which way she was facing as she turned. On the right hand side was another empty meter and two small icons next to each other. One looked like a grenade and had a 0/4 number on it, and the next small icon was blank. Finally, in the top left hand corner was a simple number one. She thought it was weird but it didn't seem to be doing her any harm. She was aware of Vegeta's intense stare on her face, checking for any signs of injury as well. He was always so untrusting. Holding the other object Claptrap gave her, it looked like a small hearing aid. Placing it in her ear, the longer end piece was still hanging out of her ear. She didn't think that was right so she turned to the small robot.
"Hey, Claptrap, how do you use this?" the blue haired woman asked. Claptrap motioned for her to come closer, which she did, and he reached up and grabbed the loose end with a clamp, and placed it behind her ear. Once the round object at the end came in contact with the skin on her head, it sprung to life, two metal prongs ejecting from the circle and piercing her skin. This time Bulma wavered and let out a hiss of pain. Vegeta reached forward and gripped Claptrap's arm, prying it off of Bulma and glaring at him, but Bulma held her hand up before he started yelling. "It's alright, it just stung," she told him. She could hear a faint buzzing in her ear, and then static.
"The communications device has two settings. One setting to talk to your immediate group, and the other setting for any long distance communications. You're currently on the second setting, and you'll hear static until somebody tries to contact you, in which you'll hear a beep. Switch to the first setting to stop the static, and await to see if it works with the other members of your party," Claptrap informed, sounding like a talking instruction manual. Far be it from Bulma not to listen, she reached a delicate finger in her ear and deftly felt the piece of metal, finding a small switch, and flicked it upwards. The static stopped and it was dead quiet then. She smiled and nodded. "All right, guys, your turn," she said smiling. "This stuff is actually pretty neat, but you'll have to tell us what some of these other meters mean. I get this one for health and the compass, but everything else is empty. And what's with the grenades?" Bulma asked Claptrap while the others followed Bulma's example.
"The red meter lets you know how your health is. Right now you're fully healthy. The meter above it is to let you know the status of your shield, which you have yet to purchase yet. The display in the center is your compass, and it will also tell you where you need to head once you have a mission selected. The meter in the right hand corner is your ammo status. You currently do not have any ammo. The first icon is your grenade status. You currently don't have any grenades. The second icon is your special ability, which you cannot use until you've reached a level five. You are currently a level one," Claptrap said. Bulma blinked a few times and raised her eyebrow at the little robot.
"Sounds like something for a video game. Does everybody have stuff like this?" she asked him.
"Yes," Claptrap told her, turning to the others who had placed their devices in as well. "Great! I detect that your ECHO devices are fully functioning! This way, please," Claptrap said, turning and heading across the street and towards a large pole next to a large old water tower. Bulma pressed her fingertip to the device in her ear.
"Vegeta, can you hear me?" she asked quietly, wondering if the device worked.
"I'm right next to you, woman," Vegeta said, annoyed. Bulma turned to him and stuck her tongue out at him.
"I was testing this thing out," she explained. Vegeta shrugged, and another knowing look came over his face.
"Dahl Corporation, it rings a bell," Vegeta explained. The group stopped in front of the large pole, a small screen in the center with a large button below it that looked like a hand print fit inside of it.
"Step right up! This is the New-U station. When you use this device, your DNA profile is automatically identified and stored. Please activate the New-U station now," Claptrap instructed, waiting patiently next to the pole. Nobody moved and Chi-Chi let out a sigh, adjusting the light tan tulip cape she was wearing and placing her hand on the plate, the screen lighting up as it scanned her fingerprints. Goku put a reassuring hand on her lower back, looking at the screen. It showed a full picture of Chi-Chi's body, along with her biology and genetic stats. The slate her hand was on suddenly started to glow, and a bright light shot out of it and ran up through Chi-Chi's arm and into her body. With a painful yell she retracted her arm and slumped backwards, Goku catching her immediately as she felt to the ground. Goku turned to stare at Claptrap.
"What did that do to her?" he asked. Claptrap motioned towards the heads up device on her wrist, and Goku took a look at it.
"Her health has not been affected. The New-U station was delivering her new skill, which can only be activated when she hits a level five," Claptrap explained. Vegeta aimed a hand at Claptrap and attempted to form a Ki ball, despite Bulma and Goku's warning. Fortunately for Claptrap, nothing happened. Vegeta stared at his hand, wide eyed and stunned.
"I can't…I can't gather my Ki," Vegeta said, looking to Goku. Goku held his hand in front of him and concentrated. A moment went by and nothing happened. Goku shrugged and looked back up to Vegeta.
"I can't either. That's weird," Goku said quietly, helping Chi-Chi stand back up and placing his own hand on the New-U station. As with Chi-Chi, a light traveled up his arm and made him stumble backwards. He shook his head a little to clear it and then let out a huff of air. "Whew, that was a rush!" he said with excitement. Chi-Chi rolled her eyes. Bulma reached for the New-U station, but Vegeta grabbed it, stopping her.
"I don't like this," he warned. Bulma titled her head to the side and looked at her husband, thinking about it for a moment before shrugging.
"It's not like there's anything else we can do. The goal is the vault, right? Let's just do this. I have no doubt that once we're home everything will go back to normal. So, it's just for a little while. Think of it…as a challenge," she told him, noticing the way Vegeta's eyes narrowed. She knew her irate husband far too well for his own comfort. With a snort, and still gripping her arm, he placed his own hand on the station. Bulma glared at him. "Hey! No cuts!" she complained, completely ignoring the smug smirk Vegeta sent her way. After Vegeta's information was displayed, a light traveled up his arm and into him, making him retract his hand and stumble back a little. Bulma gripped his leather jacket in her hands and steadied him, and then sighed and placed her own hand on the station. The same thing happened to her, but she felt much worse. In fact, she felt a little sick. Even though Vegeta had steadied her, she sunk to her knees.
"I felt like that, too. Stupid Saiyans," Chi-Chi muttered under her breath.
"Excellent! Now that your DNA is registered, you have the best in horrific death and dismemberment insurance!" Claptrap announced, sounding exciting, earning wide stared from all four members.
"I'm sorry, did you just say death!" Bulma yelled, standing up and brushing the dust off the black skinny pants she was wearing.
"Yes! Should an unfortunate fatal incident occur, your 'new you' will appear at the nearest station. Now we can head to the peaceful town of Fyrestone," Claptrap finished, heading over to the gate.
"So if we die…we don't really die? Well, that's nifty," Bulma said with a smile, a building to her left catching her eye. She stopped and turned to look at it, frowning a little, and then headed over for it. It looked like a large abandoned shed.
"Woman! Where the hell are you going?" Vegeta asked her, following her towards the shed. Goku and Chi-Chi stopped to watch them for a moment, before looking at each other and shrugging, following along. Claptrap stayed at the gate and waited for them.
"I'm going to go check that out," Bulma said, almost as if stating the obvious. Vegeta glared at her, stomping his black combat boots into the ground as he followed after her.
"You're on a strange planet and you've just been told you can reappear if you happen to experience a rather painful death, and you're going to go check out some abandoned shed?" he asked her, shaking his head. "And yet you keep claiming you're a genius," he finished.
"This genius is going to deny a certain Saiyan a very special activity that he particularly enjoys if he doesn't shut up," she warned over her shoulder. Even from behind him Vegeta could hear Goku laughing.
"Ouch! I hate when they play that card," Goku whined, looking down at his own wife who was currently refusing to look at him. Vegeta flicked Goku off and then stalked off after his wife. Coming to a dumpster next to the building, Bulma frowned and opened it real quickly, jumping back just in case there was something gross in there. Looking in, she actually found a wad of paper, which looked oddly like money. Smiling a little, she pocketed the little wad of cash and went around the back. There was a smaller shed attached to the back and she found two metal boxes that resembled a bank safe, except it had a light pad on it instead. She frowned, activating the pad. It asked for number. Damn.
"The front door was locked," Vegeta stated, peeking his head in after a moment.
"Hey, do you at least still have your super strength?" Bulma asked him. Raising an eyebrow, Vegeta held his fist out and rammed it into the shed wall, his arm ripping through it as if it was paper.
"Seems like it," he told her, ignoring her glare.
"A simple yes would have sufficed. So, Hulk your way through this, then," Bulma told him, offering one of the metal boxes to him. Glaring at her Hulk comment, Vegeta snatched the box from her and muttered something under his breath, punching a hole in the box, and reaching for whatever was inside with his hand, pulling his hand out with a wad of cash in it. "Hey! That's neat. We could use any money we find lying around. We'll probably wind up needing some supplies sooner or later. Not to mention some weapons, if you can't use your energy," Bulma said, handing Vegeta the second box which he easily tore through and retrieved the money from there as well. "We'll have to keep our eyes open for stuff like this," She said, motioning towards the box. She left the shed to see Chi-Chi and Goku at the back door.
"It's locked as well," Chi-Chi said, looking up towards the roof of the shed. "But, I keep feeling this odd need to jump. Is that weird?" she asked the group. Bulma frowned a little.
"No, I kind of got that, too. That's so weird," she admitted. Chi-Chi shrugged and made her way down the metal steps, backing up a bit and facing the shed.
"Well, let's see how this works," she said, taking off at a run towards the shed. When she was at the railing she stepped up to it, using it as leverage to jump higher. She jumped up towards the top of the roof; only to find out she didn't need that running start after all. She jumped so high into the sky she actually scared herself, crying out in alarm for a moment before composing herself, and pointing her toes towards the metal roof. She landed with a thud and bent low, so her knees wouldn't absorb all the shock from the fall. Looking back towards the ground, she gave everyone thumbs up. "That was fun," she said with a grin. Bulma bit her lip and looked at the smaller shed was just in, and crouched low the ground. Using her legs, she jumped into the air, jumping way higher than was normal for a human. Landing on the smaller roof, she jumped again and landed on the main roof, grinning at Chi-Chi.
"That was fun," she admitted. The boys followed them moments later and Vegeta shook his head.
"We could already do that. How boring," he said, looking along the roof. There were more metal boxes, which he got to work on opening. There was also a large chest that Bulma walked up to, leaning down to look at it. It didn't have the same lock on it the boxes did, but instead just looked like it had a release button. Pressing it, the chest opened to reveal a toolbox design, two smaller chambers opening up to the side to reveal a deeper chamber. The two smaller chambers held ammo, and the large chamber held four guns. Two of them looked like revolvers, and the other two looked like very small sub-machine guns. Bulma picked up a green SMG, turning it over in her hands. She liked it, and grabbed some ammo rounds for it, placing it in the gun. Chi-Chi picked up the brown SMG, loading it as well. Neither of them were strangers to guns, after all. Leaving the two revolvers for the boys.
Vegeta grabbed the red and yellow revolver, loading it, and looking at it. Satisfied with it, he looked around for anything else of use on the roof. Goku picked up a black revolver with an odd look on his face. He wasn't used to guns, and never really liked them all that much.
"It's necessary, honey. You don't have your Saiyan powers, so you'll need it to protect yourself. This land doesn't exactly look peaceful and inviting," Chi-Chi told him, slipping her hand in his. He sighed and nodded.
"I guess," he said halfheartedly.
"Don't be such a baby," Vegeta told him, turning and jumping off the roof. He landed with a thud and the dust under his feet went flying, and he walked off back towards Claptrap.
"He's always so grumpy," Bulma muttered, following his example and jumping down. She almost expected the impact to hurt, but apparently, whatever power she inherited from the New-U station was doing her good right now. Goku and Chi-Chi followed after them, finally reaching the gate where Claptrap was still waiting. He turned to punch in the code for the gate when both he and the two Saiyans heard something off in the distance. Claptrap turned towards the small rocky mountain over looking the gate, and let out a whine when finally a few large engines could be heard just as the gate started to lift up.
"Oh no, not again! Ruuuuuuunnnnn!" Claptrap yelled, taking off for a small metal compartment next to the gate and hiding within, sealing it shut. Suddenly, a large looking 4-wheeler jumped from the Cliffside and over the gate, landing harshly in the dirt before speeding on. Two more large vehicles did the same thing, the last one doing donuts in front of the gate and shooting at it. The group stayed hidden behind a rock rather than standing in front of the gate; getting shot at didn't seem like very much fun. After the vehicles disappeared, Claptrap opened the metal compartment he was sitting in and rolled out; taking a look around to make sure it was safe. "Are…are they gone? Whew!" he sighed in relief, wiping the imaginary sweat off of his imaginary brow. "Those bandits really have it in for us Claptraps. Using us as target practice is not part of our programming!" he announced, stepping back over to the control panel and punching in a few numbers. "Open!" Claptrap yelled, heading under the gate. Unfortunately, he banged his head on the way in. Bulma rolled her eyes at the little guy. He reminded her of some of the Capsule Corporation robots.
The group ducked under as well, carefully making their way into Fyrestone. It looked like they were still in an enclosed area, with a few small sheds being used as houses. The whole place looked like a junkyard desert, to be honest, and definitely a wasteland. Vegeta wondered how something like the Vault was supposed to be in a dump like this. Claptrap stopped ahead of them and yelled, turning and running for some kind of cover. Around the corner came two men that were dressed in all black, and they looked like old motorcycle riders, and even had red helmets on. They caught sight of Bulma first and stopped, raising their gun to the group.
"Who the hell are you?" the first bandit asked.
"I'm Goku, and this is Chi-Chi. That's Vegeta, and that's Bulma. We're looking for the Vault," Goku said with good nature. Vegeta rolled his eyes at the younger Saiyan and raised his own gun as the two bandits laughed a little.
"Vault hunters, huh? What a bunch of shit. You picked the wrong day to come strolling into Fyrestone. Let's blast them!" the second band yelled, firing off his revolver at the group. In a flash they scattered, ducking behind various covering. Vegeta fired off his first round and hit the first bandit in the shoulder. The two didn't stop shooting as Bulma crouched behind a rusted metal panel, noticing it had an opening to the left. She was feeling a deep instinct feeling again, similar to the jumping one. Rather than ignoring it as she did last time, she followed that feeling. Coming out through the small opening, the bandits were too busy firing at their cover spots to notice Bulma had left hers. Keeping low to the ground, Bulma crouched behind a small metal worktable from behind, and stepped up behind the first bandit. Placing the barrel of her gun at the back of his neck, she fired, and he went down immediately. The second bandit turned around, ready to shoot, and Bulma gripped his arm to stop him from aiming and bent low, pointing her gun at his Adam's apple and shooting. Like the first one, he went down, dead.
Bulma stood up and heard more shooting, turning to see Chi-Chi running right past her. She ran in an arc, the bandit missing her completely with the rusted revolver he was holding and obviously getting frustrated. As Chi-Chi got closer, he cursed and tried backing up, but Chi-Chi was too fast and slid into the dirt, her foot colliding with the back of his knee. He hit the ground as Chi-Chi stood and aimed a bullet at his back, pulling the trigger just as another bandit approached her from behind, which she quickly did a roundhouse kick to send him flying.
"Go Chi-Chi!" Bulma yelled, getting excited. She wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of killing people, but if it was between her life or theirs she was going to go with herself every time. Bulma took off after more bandits and Vegeta watched her with an odd expression on her face.
"What is it?" Goku asked, crossing his arms and looking at the older Saiyan. Vegeta regarded Goku with mild annoyance before scoffing and stalking forward.
"Powers or not, we're Saiyans. I don't know about you, but I don't feel like being upstaged by my wife," he explained, taking off at a sprint towards a few bandits that heard the commotion and ran out of the make shift hut they made. Jumping clear over his wife, the bandit that was shooting at her didn't even see him coming. He punched him so hard in the face that his fist went through the material of the helmet and Vegeta heard a satisfying snap as his head lurched sideways and he fell to the ground, twitching. Goku sighed at the three and walked forward, shaking his head a little. He watched with mild amusement as Chi-Chi shot another bandit in the chest and kicked another one away from her, making him land in a heap at Goku's feet. The bandit stood up and shook his head, grunting a little.
"Bitch, I'm going to have some fun with you before you die," he said angrily, reloading his gun. Goku placed his revolver to the man's back and got his attention.
"Don't talk to my wife like that," Goku said quietly, pulling the trigger and watching the man fall to the ground with distaste. He looked at the revolver he was holding and scrunched his nose up. He was never one for guns, but if that's all he could use then so be it. Bulma shot off her SMG at the last bandit standing and he fell to the ground, and then it was quiet.
"Okay, I'm not going to lie…that was kind of fun. Well, not the killing part. That was just gross. But the rest was kind of fun," Bulma said with a coy smile.
"Not bad for level ones. Your strength, stamina, and skill usage will increase with each level you gain. This way, please," Claptrap informed them, rolling past the now dead bandits and stopping in front of a chest to open it. Inside there was another revolver, which Vegeta looked at, but it wasn't stronger than the one he currently had, so he turned to Claptrap.
"We found money lying around, but is there a place to sell stuff like this for cash?" Vegeta asked the little robot.
"Pandora is equipped with the best vending machines around. You can sell and buy any items you find at any vending machine," he informed the Prince, who grunted and pocketed the small weapon. The only other thing in chest was some ammo, which the group grabbed and placed in their pockets as much as they could.
"We need a bag of some sort," Chi-Chi stated, and smiled softly. "We'll find one somewhere or something. For now, this will have to do. All right, Claptrap, take us into Fyrestone," she told him. Claptrap turned and rolled over to another gate, attempting to punch in the code. Unfortunately, the code box seemed to be broken and Claptrap yelled at it in frustration. The group looked at one another for a moment before Vegeta suggested breaking the door open, but Claptrap just rolled over to one of the walls and banged on it, a piece of sheet metal falling.
"Ah hah! Right this way, please!" Claptrap chirped, rolling into the small space and to the other side. Vegeta walked forward first, crouching into an almost sitting position to walk through the opening. The others followed behind him, and followed Claptrap through the junkyard compound. Bulma pulled a face as they passed piles of what looked like trash and bile.
"This is pretty gross," she commented. They jumped over a wall of sheet metal separating the land, and followed Claptrap all the way into the town compound. Turning the corner, Bulma came face to face with a bandit, who yelled in surprise as Bulma quickly aimed her gun and fired. Unfortunately, that attracted the attention of the other bandits in the area.
"How many of these damn people are here?" Vegeta asked hotly, kicking a man away from him and shooting another in the face.
"They all have the same insignia on their clothing. So they're in the same group," Bulma answered, shoving one away from her and kicking him so hard in the jaw his head snapped back and he fell to the ground, dazed. Bulma shot him and moved on to the next one. "Whoever they are," she finished, only to be pushed onto the ground by a female bandit. A red cloth was tied around her forehead and she was missing most of her teeth. Not to mention she was covered in dirt. Bulma stood and glared hard at her, shooting her with the SMG. The bullet hit the bandit and a blue light surrounded the girl and the bullet bounced off, Bulma's eyes widening.
"You should invest in a shield, whore," the bandit told her, raising her own revolver and shooting at Bulma. She ducked backwards, the bullet grazing her shoulder as she let out a yell of alarm. The woman laughed and ran for Bulma, knocking her down again. Bulma grabbed the girl's shoulder and barrel rolled with her, catching her foot on the girl's stomach and pushing up and over, sending the girl flying over her and landing hard on her back. They both scrambled up at the same time and lunged for each other, the brunette kneeing Bulma hard in the stomach, who doubled over in pain.
"You're really starting to piss me off," Bulma said through clenched teeth, aiming a good kick to her face. The bandit fell back in surprise, but caught her self lunged at Bulma again, gripping her arms behind her hard and knocking her down to the floor. She reached for the second revolver in her holster and pulled it out, aiming it at Bulma's head. Chi-Chi shot off her weapon at the girl in alarm, distracting the bandit as the blue shield light reacted to the bullets and started to deplete. Noticing this, Chi-Chi kept shooting. The girl scowled and dropped Bulma, heading over to where Chi-Chi was, who was still shooting and backing up to keep her distance. Bulma growled and crawled after her, grabbing the girl's ankle and pulling backwards and making her fall to the ground. The bandit turned and kicked Bulma in the face, loosening her grip on her ankle and she climbed up, aiming her gun at Bulma's head again.
"Time for you to die," she said, spitting out a bit of blood. Bulma looked at the barrel with wide eyes, knowing she couldn't dodge from this distance. Before the girl could pull the trigger, however, a powerful kick connected with her face and sent her flying sideways. Vegeta growled and yanked the girl up by her hair and aimed his revolver at her throat.
"I don't think so," he said coolly, pulling the trigger. The shield couldn't protect against contact bullets, and the bullet entered her throat easily. She choked on her blood for a moment, clawing at Vegeta's hand before her head rolled back. Vegeta dropped her to the ground with a glare and turned to see Goku killing off the last two male bandits.
"What the hell was that all about?" Bulma asked, standing up to brush the dust off of her and catching her breath.
"That was a level five bandit," Claptrap announced, coming out of the hiding place he was in.
"Are there a lot of level five bandits here?" Chi-Chi asked him, but the Claptrap was going past her and towards the center of town.
"A few," he told her, and then turned towards an oval shaped building. "Attention citizen of Fyrestone! There is no cause for alarm. This new visitor has resolved the problem!" he yelled, heading up to the control panel in front of the building. The four surrounded the robot and looked at the panel as it displayed static for a moment, and then a fuzzy picture of a man appeared on it.
"Well shoot, I thought I was a goner that time! Damn bandits won't leave us alone. Had to lock the place up tight. I'll let ya in," he said, after a moment of nothing happening the man cursed. "Come on! Damn it. Blasted circuits are on the fritz again. Give it a go from the switch out there, would ya?" he said, the screen switching off. The button below the screen was red in color, and Chi-Chi leaned forward and pressed it as it switched green. A large portion of the metal wall started to rise like a garage, and in the opening were a worktable and a man behind it. He wore a green shirt with a tan medical apron over it and a green medical gloved. He also had a medical mask on and a bit of a blood over himself. With a tan complexion and slicked back brown hair, he looked human. "Thanks fer openin' her up again. Name's Dr. Zed. Of course, they don't let me cut on folks anymore since I lost my license, so now I keep the med vendors 'round here runnin'. From the vendors you c an buy all the healin' you could ever want from a real doc, thankfully without a 'vault-is-a-myth, -'you'll-get-yourself-killed' lecture," he said, eyeing the four of them.
Goku already knew he was going to be a good ally while they were here.