(A/N: The last two chapters showed what happened with Gohan, Bardock, and Goku. This chapter will reveal what happened to the rest of our heroes.)
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 55: Searching For Answers
They'd been searching for five days now, and still they found nothing. Some people would say that five days is a short amount of time, others would say it was a long time. For the three travelers, it was both. Time seemed to drag by as they continuously searched and came up with nothing, yet it also seemed to fly by knowing that every second that passed, more and more people were falling under Baby's control.
"Are you sure this isn't a lost cause?" Tarble asked. "I mean, you saw what happened."
"That's the thing." Bulma replied. "No one really saw it happen. We all just assumed the worst."
"But I felt it." Tarble told her. "And I can't sense him anymore."
Bulma glared at him. "It almost sounds like you want your brother to be dead."
Tarble looked horrified. "Of course not! I love my brother! I want him to be alive just as much as you do."
"So does Gure." His mate replied. "And if Miss Bulma says that he's alive, then he's alive."
Tarble sighed. He was still skeptical, but there was no changing the blue-haired woman's mind. During the fight with Baby, none of them had actually seen Vegeta die. He'd simply been carried away by Baby's energy blast, which then exploded somewhere in the atmosphere. No body had been discovered, though everyone suspected that it had simply been obliterated in the blast. Also, those that had learned to sense others' energy could no longer feel him, which could only mean that he was dead.
But Bulma wouldn't believe it. "Trust me. This is woman's intuition, and nothing is stronger than that, not even your senses."
"Then where is he?" Tarble asked. "Why didn't he come back? We both know my brother would never give up. So why hasn't he returned?"
Bulma shrugged. "Maybe he can't. He was injured pretty badly, and that was before getting caught up in that explosion. He could be so badly hurt that he can't travel, not even by flying. He could be paralyzed, or maybe even in a coma."
The last two thoughts really worried her. If Vegeta was unable to get around, that meant he'd gone for five days without food or water. The latter concerned her the most. She knew that a human could only last three days without water, four if they were lucky. She just prayed that, being a saiyan, Vegeta would be able to hold out longer. Or maybe his stubborn refusal to die would simply keep him going.
Even though she believed he was still alive, she was deeply concerned for the condition he was in. What if he really was paralyzed, or what if he was missing some limbs? Senzu beans and that healing liquid they used couldn't fix those things, nor could they regrow limbs. Hell, they couldn't even grow back his tail.
"Bulma…" Tarble said quietly, "I don't want to give up hope, but we need to face reality. The odds of Vegeta being alive are slim at best."
"Trust me." Bulma told him. "He is alive. I know he is."
"How do you know?"
Bulma hesitated for a few seconds. "I don't know. I just feel him beating in my heart."
Tarble studied her for a few moments. "It sounds to me like the two of you have Bonded."
Bulma shrugged. "Well, we're definitely a lot closer than when we first met."
Tarble shook his head. "No, I mean that the two of you have mated."
Bulma blushed. There was no use denying it. Though they never actually told anyone, everyone knew that she and Vegeta were lovers. "Yeah, well, so what? Sex is a perfectly natural thing."
No!" Tarble cried in aggravation, trying to get her to understand. "I mean that the two of you have become mates. Like Gure and I have."
Bulma finally seemed to begin to catch on to the young prince's meaning. "Wait, what's that supposed to mean. Are you saying that Vegeta and I are… are… married?"
"More or less."
"What do you mean, more or less?" she demanded. "We're either married, or we're not! There is no in between, unless you count engagement. We haven't even had a wedding. How can we be married?"
"A wedding is just a celebration." Gure explained. "It's just a formality that's done with those who are mates or who plan to become mates. It's just a public display, not a necessity. Becoming mates is a biological transaction."
This was new information for Bulma. But thinking back, she had noticed a slight changing in Vegeta's DNA when she studied his blood that hadn't appeared in other saiyans she studied. She just thought it was related to him being a Super Saiyan, not because he was Bonding with her.
"How did this happen?" she asked. "Shouldn't he have asked me before just letting this happen?"
Tarble shook his head. "It doesn't work like that. It happens through… well, intimacy. Constant, uh, coupling with the same partner for a long enough time causes the Bond to occur. The body begins to recognize that this is their partner, their mate, and so the Bond forms."
This was beginning to remind Bulma of a conversation she had with Goku back when she was still adjusting to being a slave. He talked to her about taking on mates, and Bulma was able to conclude that saiyans were monogamous, but she never expected it to play out like this. And with the way she and Vegeta were, no wonder a Bond had formed.
'So now I'm basically Vegeta's wife.' She thought, although she didn't find the thought unappealing. 'I'll bet his father would just love that.' She sighed, trying to take all this in. "Why didn't he tell me we're mates?"
Tarble shrugged. "He probably doesn't know. It's not noticeable right away. The Bond forms, but it can take a little time before symptoms occur."
"Symptoms? You make it sound like a disease. And what do you mean by symptoms?"
Tarble pointed at her. "Well, you somehow knowing that Vegeta is alive, even though all evidence proves otherwise is one thing. Mates can feel each other. They have a special connection."
She glanced at him. "Hold up, you mean this affects me too?"
Tarble blinked. "Of course. Why wouldn't?"
"Because I'm not a saiyan. You said the biologic changes happen to saiyans."
"To whoever becomes their mates too. When a saiyan's body begins recognizing someone as their mate, they start to unleash hormones into their mate's body during…" he cleared throat, "during sex that will start to affect their mate's body, even if they're not a saiyan."
"You're kidding!" She didn't know if she liked the idea of her body going through unknown changes without her knowledge or permission. She turned to Gure. "And this happened to you as well?"
Gure nodded. "Of course, Miss Bulma. But don't worry, the connection is a good thing. Gure is so glad to be Bonded to Tarble."
"Great." Bulma muttered. "So what other symptoms are there besides sensing each other?"
"You'll also feel a 'pull' towards him. Like you'll want to be with him a lot, or you'll feel distressed if you're separated for so long. You also won't feel a desire to couple with anyone else. Eventually, you'll be able to communicate through it to an extent."
She hoped that didn't mean what she thought it meant. The thought of anyone, even Vegeta, being inside her head was unsettling. "You mean we'll be able to read each others' minds or talk telepathically."
It was Gure that answered. "Nothing like that. But you'll be able to sense if something is bothering the other, or you'll know if they want something and what it is. Things like that."
"Great." She repeated. She would need to learn how to prevent Vegeta from feeling her desires for him; otherwise they'd never leave the bedroom. "And this is a permanent thing? It can't be undone, or changed, or transferred, or anything like that?"
"Once you become a saiyan's mate, the Bond won't allow another one to form, so no, it can't be changed or transferred. And it's a physical change in the body's system, there's no undoing that. Once you grow up, can you become a child again?"
He had a point, but who knew what science was capable of. Perhaps she could find a way to remove the Bond.
She immediately shook her head to rid herself of the thought. She didn't even know why she was thinking about this now. She hadn't even had time to consider if she wanted to be Bonded or not. Besides, there were more important things to worry about right now.
Six hours later, with Bulma still driving while Tarble and Gure flew overhead, fortune finally smiled upon them when the small alien suddenly cried out, "I think I see him!"
Instantly heading in the direction Gure pointed out, they discovered that it was indeed Vegeta. Or what was left of him anyway. He was in bad shape. All that remained of the once proud Super Saiyan prince was a broken man that laid unmoving on the ground. He looked very much dead, but the slow rise and fall of his chest proved otherwise.
"Vegeta!" Bulma cried, running to his side.
She immediately felt for his pulse. It was weak, very weak. It was a miracle that he was even alive. His injuries needed tending to right away, and days without food and water had taken affect.
"He needs water!" Bulma cried, noticing his dry cracked lips.
Pulling a water bottle from her bag, she set it down. Next she reached into her pocket and pulled out a Senzu bean. Looking at it, she said a small prayer. This was the last of the precious beans she had. Any others had yet to grow. Not that they could have gotten to them anyway with Baby and his followers around.
Crushing and grinding up the bean, she poured the contents into the water bottle and brought it to Vegeta's dry lips. She somehow managed to get a few mouthfuls down him, with no help from the saiyan prince, who remained unconscious.
"Why won't he wake up?" Gure asked worriedly.
Bulma felt tears prickle her eyes as one of her worst fears was confirmed. "He's in a coma."
Tarble looked at her hopefully. "But he'll wake up now, right? The Senzu bean will bring him out of it, right?"
Bulma wiped her eyes. "I don't know. It'll heal his injuries, sure, but I don't know if he'll wake up. It's never been used like that before."
Vegeta began coughing and sputtering as the bean took affect. His body shook as if he were having a seizure and he thrashed around violently. Bulma and the others did their best to hold him down as his wounds slowly healed. But when his injuries were gone and he finally settled down, he remained asleep.
"I was afraid of this." Bulma said tearfully. "The bean didn't wake him up."
"No!" Tarble cried. "Maybe it just takes some time!" He grabbed his brother and shook him. "Come on, Vegeta! You have to wake up! You're the proud saiyan prince, the legendary Super Saiyan! You can beat this! Don't let Baby win! We need you! Our people need you! You've just got to wake up!"
A fist came out of nowhere and slammed into Tarble's jaw, sending him flying. "You're… too… loud…"
"Vegeta!" the two women cried.
Slowly, Vegeta's eyes opened. His throat felt as dry as a desert and burned like it was on fire. "Water…" Bulma quickly handed him the water bottle. He snatched it out of her hands and guzzled down the whole thing. "More!"
He was given another and he drank down over half of it before finally stopping to catch his breath.
"Big brother!" Tarble cried, rushing over to embrace him. "We were so worried about you!"
Vegeta elbowed him in the gut to get him off. "Don't touch me! I'm just fine!" He looked around with a confused look on his face. "Where are we? What happened?"
Bulma and Gure shared a look. "You don't remember?" the former asked.
"Remember what?"
"The fight with Baby."
"Baby?" The name brought everything back. "Baby!" He jumped angrily to his feet. "Where is that miserable Tuffle? I'll show him not to make light of a saiyan!" He received no answer to his question, only sorrowful looks. "Well, start talking!"
Bulma opened her mouth to reply, but couldn't find the right words, so she closed it again. So Tarble spoke for her. "Vegeta, you're fight with Baby, that was five days ago."
Vegeta looked at his brother in disbelief. "What?"
Bulma nodded. "It's true. It's been five days since the two of you fought. Everyone thinks you're dead."
"But not Miss Bulma." Gure told him. "She knew you were alive."
Bulma blushed, but Vegeta didn't seem to notice as he processed this information. "Five days. How could it have been five days?"
"You were in a coma." Bulma replied. "We only just found you."
Vegeta looked like he wanted to kill something. "Tarble, our father…?" A frown appeared on the younger brother's face and he shook his head. Vegeta's eyes widened and he looked away. "So then… it wasn't a dream… He really is…"
"Vegeta…" Bulma whispered. "I'm so sorry."
He ignored her. "DAMN IT!" he punched the ground, the impact creating a large fissure as far as the eye could see. "What else has happened? What's that Tuffle freak been up to while I've been out."
Bulma sighed. "It's bad, Vegeta. Really bad."
"Baby has completely taken over." Tarble told him.
"He's infected almost everyone and turned them into his willing slaves." Gure added.
"Those he hasn't gotten to are on the run."
"He's hunting them down like animals."
"Friends, family, everyone is turning on each other. The only distinction are those loyal to Baby, and those that aren't. I've seen parents attacking their children, mates fighting each other, friends holding down other friends so Baby can slip inside them. It's horrible!"
Vegeta's teeth clenched together as he tried to hold onto his anger. "I can't believe this. And it's all because I lost to some freak that should have died when the rest of his people became extinct. How could I lose to a Tuffle?"
Bulma placed a hand on his shoulder. "You can't blame yourself. None of us were prepared for this."
Vegeta ignored her. "I have to fight him again. But how can I win when he finds fighting a Super Saiyan to be child's play?" Overcome with anger, he transformed. It lasted a split second before he reverted back to base. Confused, he looked at his hands, wondering what just happened. "What the…?"
Bulma groaned. "I was afraid of that. You can't even become a Super Saiyan right now."
He glanced at her, looking horrified. "What do you mean?"
"It's the Destron Gas." She told him. "Baby created these machine that generate some type of gas that's slowly killing the planet and everyone on it. The gas also prevents anyone from using energy blasts, and, it seems, you becoming a Super Saiyan."
"Except for those that Baby infects." Tarble added. "The eggs he lays in their brains provide an immunity to the gas."
Bulma nodded. "He's using the gas to basically smoke everyone out of hiding, or to kill them if they stay hidden. By my calculations, all life on the planet will die in 70 days if he doesn't infect it."
Vegeta growled. So that's what that strange smell in the air was. It was barely noticeable, only able to be detected if one were actually searching for it. "It seems that Tuffle freak has been busy."
"You don't know the half of it." Bulma replied. "What he's working on now is even worse than the Destron Gas generators."
That didn't sound good. "What's he working on?"
Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her laptop. "I'm not entirely sure, but it's some type of super machine he calls Hatchiyack."
"Hatchy-what?"
"Hatchiyack." Bulma repeated. "Truthfully, I have no idea what purpose it serves. I was able to wirelessly hack into its computer system and get a generally idea though. I don't know how else to describe it, but it seems to be a machine that's designed to absorb grudges."
Vegeta blinked. "Absorb what?"
"Grudges."
"How in the hell can a machine absorb a grudge?"
Bulam looked through the files on her laptop. "It focuses on the type of energy given of by negative emotions, such as anger and hate. The greater the emotion, the more energy it gives off. And it seems to be focusing on the negative emotions felt towards the saiyans. It's absorbing the energy from everywhere in the universe. And, no offense, but the saiyans have made a lot of enemies, mostly from those whose planet they've conquered."
For some reason, this irritated Vegeta. The saiyans may have taken over many planets, but it was all on Frieza's orders, and the planets were conquered in his name. The hatred these people felt should have been towards the Planet Trade Organization.
"So what's this Haczhihyahku-thing supposed to do?" he asked.
Bulma continued going through her computer. "I don't know, but its storing all that energy up for something. Whatever it is, it's certainly not going to be good."
Vegeta growled again. "And we can't even do anything to stop it."
A smirk crept up Bulma's face. "Now, I didn't say that. Don't forget, I am a genius! I've been working on something that will be able to neutralize the Destron Gas. You guys will be using energy attacks again in no time." She frowned. "The trick is to get close enough to the generators. They're guarded day and night, by Broly no less. But don't worry, I have a plan for that too."
"And my people?" Vegeta grumbled. "I don't suppose you have a plan to free them of that parasite's control."
She cut her eyes at him. "As a matter of fact, I do."
Vegeta's eyes widened. Clearly he hadn't expected a solution for this from her. Was she planning on performing brain surgery on everyone that was infected?"
"And then what?" he demanded irritably. "We'll just be back to where we were before when Baby first revealed himself."
Bulma chuckled "You really underestimate me."
The saiyan prince snorted. "Oh, you have a plan for this too? This I've got to hear." He took another drink of water.
Bulma smirked, anticipating his reaction. "What if I told you I was working on a way to make you 500 times stronger than you are right now?"
The reaction was exactly as she expected. Vegeta spat out a mouthful of water, coughing uncontrollably, and turned to her in disbelief. "Are you serious?"
She winked at him. "I wouldn't kid you about something like this." She began going through her files again. "The theory first came to me when I was doing research on you. It's well known that a saiyan's true power comes from their tail." She glanced at him. "And you're already really strong, even without your tail."
"What's your point?" he demanded impatiently.
Bulma rolled her eyes. "I was examining the saiyan's ability to transform. Under the right circumstances, a saiyan can turn into either a Super Saiyan or a Great Ape. But with the latter transformation, a saiyan loses control of his senses." She looked at him again. "However, you're still in complete control of yourself, even when you become a Great Ape. So you should be able to activate the Super Saiyan transformation while in that state. And since a Great Ape transformation makes a saiyan 10 times stronger and a Super Saiyan transformation makes a saiyan 50 times stronger, combining the two should make one 500 times stronger, maybe more." She looked through some notes. "At last reading, your power level was 830,000 at base. If we pull this off, you'll gain a power level of 415,000,000."
It sounded good in theory, but there were still several flaws. "And how would I pull this transformation off without a tail or the moon?"
"Still underestimating me." She muttered. "You and I both know that a saiyan's tail can grow back under the right circumstances. As for the Great Ape transformation, it's not even the moon that's needed, merely the Blutz Waves, which the moon provides. I can make a way to replicate that, only take it much farther. With enough Blutz Waves, we'll be able to force the transformation on you, even without a tail." She gave him a smile. "Does that sound good?"
"Yes!" Vegeta cried, crushing the bottle of water in his hand. "Get ready, Baby; it looks like the race isn't over yet."
(A/N: Vegeta is alive, and Bulma has a plan. Also, if you picked it up, Bulma's reaction to Vegeta is similar to how Videl's was with Gohan when everyone thought Majin Buu killed him. Also, it looks like the two have become mates, meaning they're basically married. Cheers!)
