As soon as Bulma reached clear air,
she was on the phone, ordering
supplies for carrying cases, and hiring
extra hands to help with the heavy
workload ahead. From her first bare
glance at the room, there were about
25 of those...things...down there.
Bulma shivered at just the thought of
what was underground for who knows how long.
'What if it is a new enemy?
What if it's incubating, waiting to take
on another form to take over the
universe...like Cell?' A deep frown
creased her usually smooth features as
she placed one final call.
The phone on the other end rang forever
and just as she was about
to hang up and try another number, she heard
the distinctive click of a
pick up. "Moshi moshi, Briefs residence.
How can I help you?" A small
squeaky voice traveled over the airwaves.
Bulma smiled. "That was a very professional greeting, Bra-chan!"
A burst of giggles filled Bulma's ear. "Hi, Kaasan! Did I do good?"
"Yes, Bra-chan, very good. Is
your Oniichan home? Or your
'Tousan?"
"Hai!" She chirped.
"Can I talk to one of them, sweetie? It's rather important."
"Hai!"
Bulma paused for a minute, hearing
nothing on the other line.
"Bra-chan, can I talk to them now?"
Bra giggled on the other side of the
connection. "Heehee! You
should have said so, 'Kaasan!"
Bulma heard the click of being put
on hold. She sighed. "You have
to tell that girl to do everything--she
can never take the initiative."
Finally she heard the annoying music
go away. A deep masculine
voice filled her ears. "What?"
Bulma rolled her eyes. "Oi...you
should take lessons from Bra-chan
on how to answer the phone, Vejiita."
"I knew it was you. The brat
threw me the phone when I was
coming out of the chamber." He snorted
into the receiver. "What do you
want, Onna?"
She sighed. Always to the point. "Is Trunks home yet from class?"
There was a slight pause before he
spoke again. "He's headed in
this direction with Kakarotto's spawn.
He'll be here soon. What do you
want, Onna? You know I hate this thing."
Bulma chuckled slightly. "Hai,
I know. Listen, when Trunks and
Goten get there, I need you three to come
out to the job site I'm at
working. We found something...weird...and
I want you guys to be here."
"What did you find? Why do you
need our protection?" Vejiita's
voice went deeper as he spoke. Bulma
called it his 'worried tones.' Vejiita
called it 'nonsense--I don't worry about
anything.'
"I'll explain everything I know when
you three get here. I'd just
feel better if someone was here, okay?"
Vejiita's eyebrows softened slightly--but
not enough for anyone to
notice. If she needed to ask, then
she was concerned. "Fine, Onna. As
long as you don't whine when I get there.
You owe me big." He let the
threat dangle in the air.
The large knot that seemed to have
balled up her intestines began
to unwind. "Arigatou, Vejiita.
I'll make it up to you...tonight."
"Hmpf. Don't throw sex in my
face, Onna. I'll get that no matter
what."
Bulma could picture that smug smirk
on his face. "That may be--but
I will wear *the outfit*." She purred
softly.
Vejiita almost dropped the phone.
"Fine, Onna. We'll be there as
soon as the gaki get here. What do
I do with the other one?"
"Bra? Well, I'll call ChiChi,
and you can drop her off at her place.
She can play with Pan."
"Hn." And with a beep she was disconnected.
Bulma sighed and let the cell phone
dangle in her hand. "That
man...sometimes..." She let a smirk
escape and straightening her posture,
she walked over to Tokuei. He was
talking to a couple of his crew
members. "Tokuei-san, are the lights
and the structure in place?"
He turned to her and nodded.
"Hai, Briefs-san. We have several
spotlights down there, and the metal support
beams are on the ceiling and
the walls."
She gave him a happy smile. "Great!
You guys are fast workers. I
appreciate that."
"Well, we're good at what we do, Briefs-san."
She nodded back. "Hai."
Tokuei's bushy eyebrows came together
in thought. "Are you going
to go down there again, Briefs-san?
To remove the..."
She cut him off. "Hai.
I want to take a look at what is actually
down there. I can get better details
at Capsule Corp. But I'm not going
down until my husband and my son get here."
Tokuei raised an eyebrow. "Are
you sure you want to risk them
down in the cave?"
Bulma countered with her own thin ridge.
"You've never met my
husband, have you, Tokuei-san?"
One of the crew members snorted.
"I have, You won't have to
worry about him, Tokuei-san. He's
got a never-ending temper, and attitude
to match." He blushed deeply and bowed
his head. "Gomen nasai,
Briefs-san."
Bulma chucked lightly. "Don't
be. You're just being nice." She
turned to Tokuei and smiled. "You
won't have to worry about him. Or my
son. He's just like his father."
***************
~~Capsule Corp~~
Vejiita walked into the main living
area of Capsule Corp (CC from
now on), slamming the door behind him.
"Blasted female--always worming
her way under my skin." He grumbled
his way into the kitchen, his favorite
room in the entire complex. The Saiya-jiin
no Ouji snorted loudly when he
discovered where his youngest heir disappeared.
Bra sat in the middle of
a large chocolate-marshmallow-caramel-peanutbuster
puddle of mess.
Otherwise known as Bulma's secret stash
of her coveted ice cream. "Your
Kaasan is going to tan your hide, brat."
Bra glanced up at her father, blue
eyes blinking innocently, standing
out from the brown mess that covered her
face...her hair...her
clothes...basically the entire kitchen.
"I was hungry, Papa--and I couldn't
reach the bowls."
"Don't pull that one, B-chan.
We all know you have some flight
abilities." Trunks moved into view, Goten
behind him. "It's been tested,
and been proved a failure."
Goten made a disgusted face as he surveyed
the damage. "Yeah,
when we were little."
Vejiita grunted and turned around.
"Clean her up, Trunks. We need
to go your 'Kaasan."
Trunks screwed his face up in disgust,
and backed up a few steps
when Bra held out her arms to be picked
up. "Why me, 'Tousan?" Bra
giggled at his look.
"I said so. Now do it, or I'll
haul you into the gravity room. You are
getting to be a whimpering weak link."
He glanced at Goten with disdain.
"So are you, spawn of Kakarotto. You
will take her to your house so the
wench can watch her, then come to our location."
Goten blinked a few times, and scratched
his head. "She's going to
my house?"
Vejiita growled, becoming impatient
with the young demi Saiya-jiin.
"Do I have to spell everything out to you?
Do what I say!" He snorted and
left the room. Their sensitive ears
caught his last command: "Clean that
mess up while you're at it."
Both Goten and Trunks glanced at each
other and sighed. Bra
giggled again and they sighed even louder.
"I don't want to touch her."
Goten made a funny face at the messy
female. "She's your
imouto--she's your responsibility."
Trunks moved to a wall, and called
for some service bots to start on
the kitchen. "Fine. I'll carry
her, but you have to wash her." He bent
down and grunted as Bra threw her arms around
Trunks' neck. "I'm gonna
need a bath myself."
"So then you can wash her! It
all works out fine!" Goten smirked
and followed the growling Trunks and giggling
Bra into farther recesses of
their home.
********
After Trunks and Goten cleaned up Bra,
and then themselves, the
four Saiya-jiin met in the backyard.
Vejiita turned to Goten. "The
Harpy is aware of her arrival. Hurry
and follow us."
Goten nodded and swooped Bra off her
feet, putting her on his
back. "I guess you get to go play
with Pan-chan."
Bra clapped her hands. "Yay!
I like Pan-chan! She's fun. But not
when she gets mad."
He chuckled slightly. "I know
what you mean, B-chan. Hang on
tight!" A strangled squeak escaped
his throat. "Not that tight!
I...gotta...breathe...Ba.....Bra-chan!"
She loosened her grip on Goten's neck
slightly. "You said tight!"
She giggled at her Papa's snort.
Goten jumped into the air. "Okay, see ya in a bit!"
Bra craned her body around. "Bai-bai
Papa! Bai-bai,
Trunks-oniichan!" She waved frantically,
a large smile alight on her
chubby, yet clean, cheeks.
Trunks waved back. "Have fun,
B-chan!" He turned to his father.
"So what did 'Kaasan want?"
Vejiita just grunted and leapt into
the air, ki flaring around him.
"We'll find out when we get there.
She found something."
Trunks pondered that for a minute before
jumping after his sire,
and following in his vapor trail.
"But what would she find? She was only
digging for ore today."
~~Job Site~~
Bulma glanced around, watching the
trucks she ordered arrive with
the supplies for the containment units for
the...things...underground. The
extra workers assembled the long, rectangular
boxes rather quickly. She
had them pad the interior with straw and
other assorted packing materials
so they would be cushioned in the transport
back to CC.
A jerk at her senses made her look
up and with a sigh she watched
Vejiita and Trunks descend from the sky.
"I told you guys not to fly
around people. They don't understand
your abilities." She scowled as one
worker, who saw their unusual arrival, fainted
from shock.
Trunks smiled cockily. "Relax,
'Kaasan," waving the human off.
"We're here, aren't we?" Vejiita just
smirked.
"Honestly!" She stabbed her fists
into her hips and scowled at
Trunks. "You're getting as bad as
your father!" She sighed and waved to
Tokuei, who slowly came over to the family.
He eyed Vejiita and Trunks warily--the crew
had been informing him
of Bulma's 'husband.' "Are you
ready to go down, Briefs-san?"
She nodded, and put on a hard hat.
"You bet, Tokuei-san." She
glanced around. "Where's Goten-kun?
I thought he was coming with you
two?"
Trunks answered her. "He took
Bra to his house. He'll be coming
soon." He looked around and pointed
to the containment boxes. "What's
with all the coffins?"
Bulma started, startled by his description
of the boxes. She had to
admit, now that it was pointed out, they
did look like caskets. 'Fitting,'
she shuddered mentally. "They're to
take back what we found back to CC.
And they're containment boxes--not coffins."
Trunks shrugged. "Whatever. They look like coffins to me."
She sighed once more--she's been doing
that a lot lately--and
turned to a random crewman. "Another
male will be coming shortly: black
hair, bad haircut. Expect him to arrive
in the same way they did." She
pointed 'up.' "He'll find us by himself."
"Hai, Briefs-san."
She stepped onto the waiting hovercraft,
Vejiita and Trunks
following. "All right. We're
ready to go down, Tokuei-san." He nodded,
and the four of them slowly descended into
the dark hole.
"So what did you find, 'Kaasan?
The vein of ore you wanted?"
Trunks asked immediately, as he watched
the walls of dirt pass by him.
"Actually, no, Trunks. We haven't
struck it yet. The crew was
digging in this sidecave," she indicated
to the branch they turned into,
"When they discovered a hidden room."
Vejiita finally spoke. "What
does this have to do with us, Onna?
Why are we here?" He was getting irritated
that he didn't know all the
answers, and was unprepared to the upcoming
situation.
The hovercraft touched down, and the
four of them disembarked.
"The room is just ahead." She turned
to Tokuei. "Turn on the spotlights."
He nodded, and plugged in the bright
lights. One by one, they
warmed up and illuminated the mystery contents
of the hidden room.
Bulma blinked a few times, getting
used to the glare and stepped
into the room. She immediately went
over to the one she touched earlier.
She reached out her hand and shook her head
in wonder. "Vejiita, come
over here and feel this. This is the
reason I asked you to come."
He tore his eyes away from the rest
of the room and concentrated
on Bulma and her object. He moved
closer to her. "What is it, Bulma?"
She stared at the white object in front
of her. "I don't know." She
pulled his hand up and rested it in the
center.
He ran his fingers lightly over the
surface, feeling the texture, and
testing the elasticity. He stopped
and with a small hint of ki made his
hand glow. Within the white rubber
material, a dim light 'answered' him.
"It's alive, that's for certain."
He murmured, eyes glued on his hand, and
the dim glow from within. "It has
ki. Very weak--almost non-existent, but
there is ki." He pulled his hand away,
almost reluctantly.
The purple-haired genius nodded and
ran her hand through her
short locks. "I know. I felt
it's heartbeat."
"Otousan, Okaasan, come here.
I think I discovered something."
Bulma turned to her son, on the other
side of the room. "What is
it, Trunks?"
He knelt next to a damaged one.
"It's starting to decay here on the
bottom. Watch what happens when I
push on it." He demonstrated, and
the once rubbery white material fell away
in rather good-sized chunks.
Trunks continued to push at the decayed
material, until he moved the
entire length. All four of them gasped
at the sight that was revealed to
them.
"Oh, Dende--it's a dead body."
The state of the corpse was very apparent
to them--as pieces of
rotted flesh clung to brittle bones.
A shiny, flimsy material of unknown
origin was scattered over the body and the
ground. The skull was
completely bare, and the sunken eye holes
stared at them blankly.
Another reason the body was definitely
dead was the permeating
odor that overpowered everything else in
the small room. "Oh, Dende--the
stink! I think I'm going to be sick..."
Bulma turned away, nauseated. She
buried her face in Trunks' chest, trying
to block some of the smell.
Vejiita quickly held up his hand, and
with a small burst of ki,
disintegrated the body. "It's taken
care of."
Bulma raised her face from her son's
muscled chest. "But it still
smells!"
Vejiita snorted. "My ki is not a deodorizer."
Tokuei spoke, his hands covering his
nose. "It looked human. Was
it human? Are they human?" He
indicated to the still alive ones.
Trunks shook his head. "It was
not human. It was a humanoid form,
but not completely human." Trunks
continued at Tokuei's unbelieving stare.
"It had too many vertebrae, and the skull
was shaped wrong."
Bulma slowly took inventory of the
room, moving from object to
object. "There are twenty damaged
ones--more than likely all in the same
state as the first. And four undamaged.
Each of these is warm, and has a
heartbeat." She turned to Tokuei.
"Let's start moving them out. I think
there are about 30 coff--containment boxes
up top. Let's try to get as
many as possible back to CC intact."
Trunks raised an eyebrow. "You're bringing them back to the labs?"
She raised her own. "And leave
them here? In the open? Not
likely." She turned back to Tokuei.
"Got it?"
He nodded. "Right away, Briefs-san."
He started to leave, but
paused. "I'm taking the hovercraft.
Do you need a ride back up top?"
Bulma glanced at her mate, who was
staring at one of the live
bodies. "No--I'll find my own way
back up." He nodded and left.
"So what's with the Retro Pod-People thingees?"
Trunks snorted and glanced over his
shoulder. "What took so long,
Goten-kun?"
The taller Saiya-jiin smiled guiltily.
"'Kaasan was making cookies."
He glanced around. "Are these what
you found Bulma-san? Rejects from
'Attack of the Killer Pod People from Planet
Pluto?' They're nasty
looking...and what's that smell?"
He walked over to one of the undamaged
'pods' and placed a hand on it the surface.
He quickly snatched it away.
"Woah! It's alive, isn't it?
It has ki!"
Trunks moved over to his friend.
"Hai. That's why 'Kaasan called
us here."
Bulma let out a sound of frustration.
"I guess that's the best way
to describe them, ne? Pod People."
Goten blinked a few times. "Nani?
I was just joking--" he glanced
at the 'pod.' "Sort of."
Bulma shrugged. "It's a good
an assessment as any other. They do
look like pea-pods." She pushed on
the flexible material of the pod. "I
just wonder why they're here. And
for how long? Why are they in pods?
Do they need them to regenerate? Or
to evolve?" Bulma's eyebrows
knitted together as her mind whirled over
the infinite possibilities.
Goten scrutinized the pod. "It
looks more like a cocoon of a
caterpillar. Before it turns into
a moth, or a butterfly."
Bulma turned to the silent male next
to her. "What do you think,
Vejiita?"
He shook his head, frowning.
"I know of nothing like this, Bulma.
There are several species in the universe
that use a chrysalis stage to
evolve into higher, more powerful, forms.
But they are on the other side
of the universe, and are not humanoid in
shape." He glanced at her.
"Humans do not have this ability, or technology,
ne?"
She shook her head. "Iie.
Cryogenics are the only thing that is
remotely similar, but they need to be frozen.
And these definitely are
not." She frowned. "Do you think
they are like Cell? Here to try to take
over Chikyuu? And now they're in a
metamorphosis stage to gain more
power?"
Vejiita snorted and crossed his arms.
"They will fail if it comes
down to that. There is no evidence
on how long they have been in this
state. Something must have gone wrong,
or they were in here for too long.
I don't think they were here to die."
He nodded toward the damaged, and
most likely dead pods.
Crew members started to file into the
room, and begin working.
She turned to Goten and Trunks. "Stay
down here and watch over things.
If one of the damaged pods breaks open,
take care of it. We definitely
don't want that smell anymore." She
wrinkled her nose at the thought.
Trunks nodded. "Hai, 'Kaasan."
Goten looked confused. "How do we do that, Trunks?"
He smiled slightly. "With a neatly
placed ball of ki, my friend."
Goten smiled back, understanding.
"All right. Vejiita and I will
be topside if you need anything." She
gave a last glance at one of the still-functioning
pods. "I just wonder what
they are..."
The Dark Prince snorted softly, and
muttered under his breath.
"The question you should ask first, Onna,
is when are they going to wake
up?" He stepped out of the room.
Bulma stared at his retreating back.
"That would be the question
of the hour, wouldn't it?" She sighed
again and followed him out of the
room.
**********
As Trunks and Goten surveyed the loading
and packaging of the
damaged and undamaged pods below, Bulma
was on the phone with the labs
back at CC, preparing for the arrival of
the new objects.
When the last transport took off from
the job site, Trunks and
Goten made their appearance and reported
the total. "A lot of the
damaged pods started to break up once they
left the room." Trunks
explained. "Three made it intact.
Plus the four undamaged makes seven
total."
Goten nodded in agreement. "Hai,
but something weird happened to
the four pods with ki when they passed through
the door."
Bulma looked interested. "What was it, Goten?"
He scratched his head in puzzlement.
"When they passed the
entranceway, there was a flash of light
that came from where their hearts
would be. It didn't last long--just
a few seconds--but it just seemed
weird."
Bulma glanced worriedly at Vejiita,
who just looked away. She knew
that it meant something important--something
big. But what it was the
unanswered question. "Okay.
Thanks a lot you two. You've been a big help
here. Can you pick up Bra-chan on
your way home, Trunks?"
He glanced at Goten, who shrugged.
"I guess so. Are you cooking
tonight?"
Bulma just stared at him.
Trunks shook his head, a small smile
tuning the corner of his mouth.
"Right. I'll call." He nodded
to Goten and both jumped into the air. "See
you back at home!" They waved and
blasted away, vapor trails bright.
Bulma moved closer to Vejiita, who
was staring down into the hole.
"What now?" He muttered quietly.
"The scientists and I are going to
dissect the dead bodies--try and
determine what they actually are.
I want to have some general tests run
on the live ones." She paused and
asked him a question. "Do you think that
flash of light Goten saw meant something?"
He shrugged noncommittally. "Might.
It could have been a
reflection of the spotlights."
"Or it could mean that we are going to have visitors soon."
Tokuei walked up to the mated pair.
"Everything's ready to go
again, Briefs-san. Did you want to
continue to dig for the ore vein today?"
Her eyes widened. "I forgot about the
ore!" She shook her head.
"Cancel that job for now, Tokuei-san.
This site is off-limits until I've
cleared what we found down there."
Tokuei nodded. "I understand. What about the men?"
She frowned. "Everyone's on leave
with pay until I call you back.
Make sure what we found doesn't get around.
Too many people know what
went on here already."
He nodded again. "My men are trustworthy.
Especially since they're
going to get paid for doing nothing."
He smirked a little.
She smiled back. "Good.
I knew you were a good man for the job,
Tokuei-san. I appreciate all you've
done so far."
He bowed to her, showing respect.
"It's been a pleasure to work
for you, Briefs-san." He nodded to
Vejiita and turned back to his crew,
who were still waiting for the go-ahead.
Soon, a rousing cheer went
through the ranks as Bulma and Vejiita watched
them depart.
Bulma turned to her mate. "Ready to go home?"
He grunted. "For a long time, Onna."
She smiled and wrapped her arms around
his neck and gave him a
peck on the cheek. "Thank you for
coming out, Vejiita. It means a lot to
me--especially since I didn't know what
I found. Still don't know, but I'll
figure it out."
He grunted again and wrapped his arms
around her small waist, pulling her to
him tightly. He nipped her on the
nose. "I don't doubt that for a minute." He
flared his ki, letting it ripple around
the two of them. With a coiled leap, the pair sprung into the air,
quickly becoming a bright dot on the horizon.
*****************
Oops--forgot the disclaimer--DBZ and
its characters are Toriyama-sama's--not mine...only originals like Tokuei-san
are. But you can use him--just ask, onegai? Let me know what
you think if this. I do need the feedback.
Gie-chan
