More and more, Bulma found the perfect they were working on irritating. Not because of the new technology itself, but more because she did not have the time to examine everything as closely as she would normally have wanted to. Time constraints were annoying.
She didn't particularly like the Saiyan prince either. He was constantly spouting off about how some things were beneath him, but she suspected it was a defensive response to the culture shock. Luckily, Nappa was rather forthcoming. Oddly enough, as violent as he was when they first came to the planet, Nappa was polite and non-threatening to Bulma, and deferential to Goku. Bulma couldn't quite tell if the deference was due to fear or respect, but she theorized that it was a mix of the two. Despite looking like an idiot, Nappa was rather sharp, and quickly picked up on how different things worked. He was especially fascinated with the concept of the gravity chamber, and hung around the bay where it was being constructed. His strength had come in handy more than once, and it was serving the construction process well, such as right now, as he held up a beam that needed to be welded to another support strut.
"A little downwards...to the right...and there!" Bulma swung in and quickly tack-welded the joist, then began properly welding the rest of the connection. The second it was done, she swung back out, turning slightly on the swing that was fastened to a makeshift crane. Nappa released the beam and stepped back. "Impressive work," he said. "However...have you ever thought about learning ki attacks yourself? You can use ki to weld things, you know." Bulma's eyebrow rose.
"Really? You'd still need flux though, right?" The Saiyan groaned internally as he realized he had hit another geyser of questions.
"It depends on the material. Many of Frieza's mechanics had some sort of ki ability, even to a small degree. It saved the Organization a fair amount of money on welding and joining equipment." Nappa picked up two scrap pieces of metal and ran some ki through them. "Of course, you have to know how to control it so it heats up whatever you're using it on properly. If I just run my power along its length, it will cover it in energy, but won't use any to heat it up. If I specifically aim it though, it'll cause resistance and the ends will join." Here, the ends of the two pieces began to glow an intense white and Nappa touched them together, then dropped the piece on the floor with a clang. "For the metals you're using, yes, you'll still probably need flux, but that's not a problem." The now joined metals had cooled enough to see that they had connected, but the join was obviously brittle and weak, having not been intended as a serious weld.
Bulma's eyes lit up with the possibilities. "So if we can get people with ki abilities to help, this will go a lot faster!" she exclaimed. Sensing danger, Nappa attempted to escape, but he was too late. Bulma had already smelled out her prey, and Nappa only made it a few steps before he heard her singsong voice ask ever-so-politely, "Oh Nappa, would you mind helping me with some of this?"
For humans, King Kai's planet was a tough, unforgiving place to train. Simply breathing was an exercise in and of itself. At first, when they had landed on the planet, the warriors had been pumped with adrenaline and excitement, having FINALLY made it to the end of Snake Way. Thus, they had barely noticed the gravity. When the rush had left them, though, they noticed immediately that gravity was pulling them to the ground. Piccolo's stern demeanor meant that he showed little sign of the strain he too was under, but his physiology did allow him to better withstand the pressure. The Kai was fairly hands-off, but did promise to teach them some techniques once they were able to handle the gravity on his planet without issue.
Poor Bubbles had his work cut out for him. On the third day, all of the fighters had managed to begin walking without too much difficulty. However, attempts to run resulted in craters on the Kai's grass, which he was decidedly unhappy with.
This fiasco came to a head when Bubbles scooted over the Kai's newly fixed car and Yamcha, determined to catch him, tried to leap over the shiny vehicle - and slammed down hard into the hood of the cherry-red Chevy Bel Air.
"MY CAR!" shrieked the Kai. "You VANDAL!"
Still buried in the car's engine block, Yamcha could do little aside from groan in pain. Bubbles resumed his scooting across the pockmarked planet. Chiaotzu tried, unsuccessfully, to use his psychic powers to slow down the speedster monkey. Gohan (who had arrived shortly after the others, having taken a detour much like his father had), made a grab for the primate's legs and missed completely. Piccolo elongated his arms and tried to corral Bubbles, but received a mocking hoot in response as the monkey sped up his arms. He turned to make another break for it, but whooped in surprise as he was confronted by four very smug-looking Tienshinhans, each sporting four arms. The monkey tried to dodge, but even with the power drop of using Multi-Form, there were just too many arms. The hapless monkey was seized and bound.
Gohan grinned excitedly. "We did it!" Piccolo smiled ever so slightly at his pupil's enthusiasm. "We didn't even have to really chase him too much thanks to our techniques and teamwork!"
Gregory, who had seen the whole thing from the window of the Kai's house, ducked below the windowsill and quickly disposed of all the hammers in the house. He knew that the green one wouldn't take time to be gentle.
Deep in the vacuum of space, a ship floated and drifted. A gaping hole was blasted in its side, and fading, flickering lights were all that showed it had once been a hive of activity. Docked with it was a larger, almost parasitic-looking craft. Through the windows, one might have been able to catch a glimpse of the occupants: a tall, red-skinned man in fancy clothing and horns in his head, a cruelly grinning white-armored alien, and a short, grasshopper-like being in robes. They were surrounded by a shimmering bubble of magical energy as they scoured the ship.
"Master, it seems like nothing is here. Should we move on to the next shipping lane?" the red-skinned man asked.
The little man frowned. "Yes...but gather the bodies first. Yakon is hungry, I think."
In a hidden laboratory, far away from prying eyes and ethical regulations, a madman toiled. Mad he may have been, but his genius was none the worse for it. If anything, his lack of morals pushed his work forward even further.
As brilliant as this aged scientist was, he now faced a problem, a wall that seemed insurmountable. Goku had somehow achieved power far, far beyond anything that the backwater planet Earth had ever seen. His tiny robots were completely unable to get near him without shorting out. This meant he was unable to gather samples from the powerful fighter.
A coughing fit overcame the aging man, and a screwdriver slipped from his hand. Cursing, he picked it back up and feverishly continued working on the project before him - Android 19, the last step in his plan for revenge. He wanted to be around to see his revenge enacted, and this was his ticket there...
In another sector of space, far away yet not nearly far enough, Frieza's ship coasted through the vast, freezing emptiness. Quietly, with deceptive calm, the emperor of all he could see waited in his hoverchair, swirling yet another glass of chilled wine. The atmosphere in the ship's bridge was wintery and tense, none daring to break the frigid silence, for fear of death. Two personnel had already been executed with icy precision since the week began, and more were sure to follow as the cold-hearted lord's temper worsened.
Frosty words broke the silence. "How much longer till we reach our destination, Cui?" Frieza requested, politely and quietly.
Frantic taps answered first, then a shrill voice said, "Two weeks and four days, Lord Frieza. We have almost burned out the engines, however, going at the rate we are. Should we put an order in for replacements, my Lord?"
Frieza considered the request, then lazily replied, "Do so, then. Have them delivered from the nearest resupply depot and sent to our destination, to arrive after we do."
A succession of beeps followed this order, then Cui confirmed that the request was placed. Frieza sighed, and raised the glass to his mouth, to find it empty yet again. "Cui?"
"My Lord?"
"Fetch me more wine, and order some more of this vintage from Darleek Pinros."
I apologize deeply for the late and short update. I can now only guarantee an update every two weeks, as I have an ill family member and my cat just died. Deepest apologies.