Earth
Bulma's work was interrupted by a call on her phone. She looked at it with a puzzled expression. Why would someone be calling, this late in the evening? It was almost 2 in the morning. Nevertheless, she closed her book, slowly got out of her chair, and walked to the outlet against the wall. It better be something important.
She picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hello! Are we speaking to Bulma?"
She glanced around. The person on the other end sounded very panicked. "Yes, this is she."
"We need you at King Castle ASAP! We just received drastic news from the Saiyans!"
She nearly dropped the phone from her hands. No. They couldn't have done so, already. "I'll be there in a half hour." She quickly hung up the phone and raced out of her room, not even bothering to change out of her pajamas. She grabbed a coat off of the coat rack, ran outside of the house and jumped into one of the copters. Then, she took off towards the capitol.
Bulma made good on her promise, reaching Central City in just under twenty minutes. Under normal circumstances, it would have taken an hour. She would worry about obeying traffic laws another day. Central City was one of the Earth's biggest cities, home to the Earth's main bureaucracy. The League of Leaders, a group of the planet's most notable leaders and rulers, met in summits every month, and King Furry took care of the Earth's affairs from his home in King Castle. It was hard to miss - it towered over most of the city.
She quickly pulled up to the castle, granted permission to land on King Furry's private take-off and landing strip. She didn't stop to tell anyone where she was going, and practically sprinted all the way up the tower.
By the time she finally reached King Furry's office at the very top, she was exhausted. Furry was alone, with one of his assistants. The King of Earth was once a prestigious and powerful title, but the Earth's population quickly outgrew the need for a single man ruling over it. Now, he acted as a spokesperson for the planet more than anything else. Nevertheless, he was an important figurehead for the people of Earth. Furry's family had been in that position for generations - an achievement for a man who looked like a dog.
"Bulma," he said, as he hopped out of his chair. "Thank goodness you came." He was a short man and, as the name suggested, covered in fur from head to toe. His face resembled more of a dog than a man.
She was desperately trying to catch her breath. "I came as fast as I could. What's happened?"
He looked equally as distressed as she was. "I don't know! I received a message from the Saiyans just a moment ago and… well, perhaps it would be better if I just showed you." He turned to his assistant. "If you please."
The assistant took out a remote and rewound the tape to the beginning. On the screen, a Saiyan guard was speaking to the camera. When the tape finished rewinding, they heard him speak.
"Leaders of the Earth. I am informing you that we will not be continuing our relationship as normal. Due to a crisis on our planet, the Saiyan council has chosen to halt our alliance. We have reason to believe that your planet is involved. Therefore, we will be cutting off contact until further notice. This will be our only message on the matter."
Then, the tape cut out.
It was just as Bulma had feared. She didn't think they would do it so soon. This was bad. Very bad.
"We have tried getting through, but they refuse us each time," said King Furry. "Perhaps I would be accepting if I knew why. But crisis - I have no idea what he's talking about! Please, is there anything you can do, Bulma? I'm at the end of my rope."
"I don't know," she said, "but I can try. Bring up the communicator." The assistant began taking it out and setting it up.
She glanced at King Furry. He likely had questions about what this crisis was. It was on a need-to-know basis and if the Earth was involved, then he needed to know. "This is very sensitive information, so please don't share this unless it's absolutely necessary. The Saiyans have been facing a crisis - someone is going on a killing spree against them back on Planet Vegeta. Now, this is the sensitive part. We've been investigating and found out that whoever's behind it has ties to the Red Ribbon Army."
"The Red Ribbon Army?! That's impossible! They were deposed over a decade ago!"
"I thought the same thing. But that's what the evidence says."
Before she could elaborate further, the communicator was set up. Bulma pushed everyone and began fiddling with it. She put in the contact number for Planet Vegeta and pressed enter. She could hear it ringing, as they waited with baited breath for someone to pick up.
Soon, the screen flashed on. A Saiyan soldier was on the other end. He groaned. "How many times do we have to tell you?! We are not speaking with your planet right now! We explained why on the tape!"
She raised an eyebrow. "I think there were some details you missed."
The soldier looked up and his eyes widenned when he saw Bulma. Almost instantaneously, his attitude went away. "Forgive me, Bulma," he began, "but rules are rules."
"I want an explanation. Why did you do this?"
"That is not something I am at liberty to tell."
"Then I want to speak to the king. Now."
He sighed, glancing around nervously. He was practically squirming in his seat. "I can't let you do that. We have strict orders not to let anyone from Earth contact us for any reason, regardless of their status. I'm breaking those orders by just talking to you."
"So are we supposed to just sit here until the council allows us to talk to you again? We have Saiyans living here on Earth. Are they supposed to just… stay here and never go back?"
"Not never - just until this is over."
She was slowly growing irate. "And you did all of this without contacting us first?"
The door to the communication room opened. Another soldier, a woman, walked into the room. "What's going on? I thought we told you to not take calls from the Earth, again."
The first soldier sighed. "Ma'am, I did, but they keep calling."
The other one pushed past him to look at the screen. "What is so important that you have to disobey our requests?"
Bulma was getting tired of explaining this. "I just want an explanation as to why you did this without consulting anyone on Earth first."
"With all due respect Bulma, you of all people should know how dire this situation has gotten. By the time we started negotiating, more Saiyans could have died. We simply did not have the time. As I said, it is temporary, so any of your concerns are void. If anyone on your planet tries to contact us again, we will be ignoring it. Now, if you'll excuse us."
Before anyone could say another word, the transmission shut off.
Bulma stared at the black screen, before lowering her head. That did absolutely nothing. She sighed. "I'm sorry, your majesty. I thought they might listen, if I were here." She shook her head. She didn't know what was worse: being cut off from Planet Vegeta or the knowledge that her snooping might have pushed them to this decision.
"It isn't your fault." He took off his glasses, wiping the lenses on his jacket. "I supposed there was nothing more we could do. Before you go, I have one more question." He slipped them back onto his nose. "If the Red Ribbon Army is truly involved, does that put our planet at risk? Last time they struck, even our finest armys couldn't compete."
"I don't know. None of the evidence says that the army is back - they think it's only one of their members. I'm keeping an eye out for them, but for now. I can't know for certain."
King Furry nodded. "I suppose that's how things are going to be, for the moment. All that's left to do is tell the people." He grabbed onto the lapels of his jacket and turned to his assistant. "Get the press room set up and contact the news stations. We'll be making an announcement immediately." The assistant nodded and left the room. "That will be all, Bulma. You're dismissed."
Bulma left King Castle feeling dejected and lost. She had tried to stop this and it failed. What was going to happen, now? If anything else happened to the Saiyans or to Planet Vegeta, she wouldn't be able to help. What if an even worse threat showed up, and she wasn't any wiser? She didn't want to even think about it.
She put a hand on her stomach. Vegeta still didn't know she was pregnant. She had come close to telling him when they last talked, but had lost her nerve. She didn't want to feel like a burden, especially during times like these. She truly hoped this was as temporary as she was told. But something in her gut told her that it might become bigger. She hoped it was just her anxiety talking.
When she made it back to the copter, she turned the radio on. As she had thought, news about the paused alliance was already being shared. King Furry was speaking to the people of Earth directly. Something he only did in the most dire of circumstances. He told everyone not to panic, and that the arrangement was only temporary until a crisis was resolved.
She still had the feeling that it wasn't going to be the case.
When Bulma made it back home, ZTV was playing on the television. An anchor was explaining the developing story and everything they knew, at the moment. Her mother and father were watching with a look of concern on their faces. Raditz was pacing around the room, his fingers in his hair and his face growing pale.
As soon as she walked in the door, Raditz ran up to her and grabbed her shoulders. "Bulma, is what they said true?! Is Planet Vegeta really cutting us off?!"
She pried his hands off of her. "Yes, it's true. I just got back from King Furry's place. I tried to talk to someone back there, but they wouldn't let me."
"Not even you," said her father. "Well, I'll be damned. They must be taking this really seriously."
Bulma sighed. "They said it was temporary, but… I don't know. I just have this… this feeling that something bad is going to happen."
Bulma's parents looked at each other. Her mother turned off the TV and walked up to her. "Sweetie, what do you mean," she asked.
She shrugged, holding onto her arms. "I don't know, it's just… this feeling I have in my gut. I-I'm kind of scared."
Her mother immediately hugged her. "Oh, Bulma. It's probably just your motherly nerves talking. I'm sure everything is going to be fine."
Raditz stopped his pacing. "Motherly nerves? What do you…," His eyes widened. "You're pregnant?!" His voice cracked, as he asked.
Bulma closed her eyes and nodded. Well, that cat was out of the bag. "Yes, Raditz. I'm pregnant."
"You… you let me take you to an old military base while you were pregnant?!" He looked like he was two seconds away from passing out. "What if something happened?! What if you had gotten hurt?!" His reaction puzzled her. Why was he getting so upset? They made it out okay. Did he think Vegeta would kill him, if something did happen?
"Old military base," her father questioned, as he stood up. "What's going on? What is he talking about?"
She was hoping that would stay a secret, too. No point in lying about it now. "I went investigating in the old Red Ribbon Army Headquarters the other week. But it turned out fine. I'm safe and I had Raditz with me."
A stern expression formed on his face. "Bulma, I told you to be careful with your searches."
She paced to the other side of the room. "There was no other way. All of the books and articles could only get me so far. I had to do it for the sake of the investigation. If I can't figure out what happened to Gero or where he is, this whole thing will be for nothing!"
There was a long pause. Her father took a deep breath and walked over to her. "You won't be able to help at all, if you get hurt." He adjusted his glasses. "I had wanted to leave you be and let you do your research, but I fear you've left me no choice. I don't want you doing any more of your investigations. Not about Gero and not about the Red Ribbon Army."
She turned around, a confused expression on her face. "Excuse me, what?!"
"If I can't trust you to do this research safely, then you won't be doing it at all."
Her jaw dropped. She laughed. "Are you grounding me?! I'm not a child, dad. I'm an adult, and I can take care of myself!"
He shrugged. "That's true. But you're an adult with a child on the way. You cannot be thinking about just yourself or your own interests. You have to be more cautious and careful. And if you can't do it on your own, then I have no choice but to step in, myself."
Her mother walked up next to him. "Your father's right, Bulma." She sounded uncharacteristically serious. "You're not just looking after yourself. You need to be more responsible."
She felt like she was having a stroke. Both of her parents were always encouraging of her studies and her passions. But just because she went snooping around in a defunct military's business, they want to start policing her? "This is ridiculous! You can't be serious!"
"I promise you I am," her father replied. "You can complain about it all you like, but those are my rules. And so long as you still live under my roof, you'll have to follow them. If you don't want to, then you're free to leave." He pointed at the door.
Bulma sputtered, her words dying in her mouth. She looked at her parents, and neither of them said anything. She looked back at Raditz, who hadn't said a word during this entire exchange. None of them were standing up for her. It was insane. She let out a shriek of frustration and stomped up the stairs. She marched to her room and slammed the door shut.
She needed to be alone for a little while.