Woohoo! Chapter two is finally up! I was so glad everyone liked the first chapter…I'm pleased with all the nice reviews! I hope you like this one…I've discovered that by pacing myself instead of rushing to finish my fics I do a much better job…but anyways, enjoy!
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Gero's smile didn't fade as he waved a hand toward the dining area. "Do come Mrs. Briefs. I don't bite you know."
"No, you send your androids to do it for you." Bulma muttered under her breath. She noticed Gero had started to walk away, so she begrudgingly followed.
They both sat down at the table and picked up a menu. After scanning it for a moment, she decided on chicken wings with vodka. Gero shrugged and read off the first thing he saw, explaining to Bulma he didn't have that much of an appetite at the moment. She tried to force a smile on her face, but failed miserably. Whatever expression came on her face that moment must have disturbed Gero, because he set down his menu and frowned.
"Is something wrong, Mrs. Briefs?"
"I um, well maybe, I mean er, no. Nothing at all."
The waiter came and took their orders. After he was gone, Gero's face turned very serious and he stared at Bulma.
"Mrs. Briefs, I have a little proposition to make. You see as of late I have taken to experimenting with DNA… pet project, as it were. I was wondering if you would be interested in helping, seeing as how you seem to be an expert in the field of genetics."
Bulma raised an eyebrow. She knew exactly what Gero's 'experiment' was, but she just couldn't help herself.
"So, exactly what would we be doing with this DNA?"
Gero smiled. Obviously he thought he had her.
"I've been trying to construct a being made entirely of organic material, particularly human DNA. You see in my old age it gets increasingly difficult to do the things I did in my younger days, and I would love to have a hand around the lab."
"But why not just make a robot? Or have your computer programmed to run certain things for you? Wouldn't it be easier?"
Gero nodded. "Yes it would, I'll admit that. But you must see Mrs. Briefs that as scientists it's our duty to expand our research as far as it can go. And besides, in my old age you need someone to talk to. Today's youth just don't respect their elders."
Bulma forced a smile on her face. "Well Gero, you must forgive me if I decline your offer. It goes beyond just about every boundary I've set for myself as a scientist AND a person to ever try and create a human being."
"But it is your duty to our field-"
"No Gero, it isn't. Life is a miracle that is given not something that can be whipped up in a lab. You go ahead with your little experiment. I wipe my hands clean of the whole matter."
Gero nodded solemnly. "So be it Mrs. Briefs. But rest assured, you will live to regret this decision."
She smiled faintly and got up. Deciding it wasn't worth it to argue any further she left, please with how the night had went.
The waiter arrived a few minutes later with their food. As he set the table, he asked politely, "What happened to your lady friend?"
Gero shrugged. "We had a falling out. But it is of no matter. She wasn't important anyways."
The waiter nodded slowly and walked away, wondering what had happened at table ten that night.
****************************
Bulma collapsed on her bed and closed her eyes. She was exhausted. The night had been physically as well as emotionally exhausting. She still couldn't believe she had come so close to the person who in three years would end up destroying the world.
Bored, she began to play the events of the evening over in her mind. Gero wanted her to help with the androids, of this there was no doubt. But should she have said yes? From a scientific standpoint yes, she should have. But she had a duty to mankind, to the Briefs name and to Science in general to make sure evil like this never happened. The things Gero did in his lab were crimes against humanity, plain and simple.
Her lids suddenly became heavy. This was just too much of a mental overload for her this late at night. She just wanted to lay down and rest for a while…
*Chink*
Bulma was instantly alert. Something was in the room with her. Her senses perked up. Whatever it was had better be careful, 'cause she wasn't taking any prisoners…
A pair of hands covered her eyes. Letting out a shriek she grabbed at the hands, attempting to pry them off her eyes. After struggling like this for a while, the hands came off and she could hear a deep male voice laughing at her. Her face flushed and she turned angrily to face her attacker.
"Vegeta!" She shrieked again. He chuckled at her and rested a hand on his hip.
"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen anyone make as pathetic an escape attempt as that. What happened to all that strength you magically acquired the other day?"
She glared at him through the darkness and turned angrily to avoid his gaze. Much to her surprise he was sitting on the end of the bed and grinning at her.
"You jerk! How dare you come into my room! What the hell do you think you're doing?"
He tossed her a playful smirk and rested his chin in his palm. Shaking her head, she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.
It suddenly occurred to her how handsome he was. He didn't seem as threatening now that it was night and they were both relaxed. Not to mention the fact that he was pretty much naked except for a pair of shorts. She could feel herself blushing and was glad that he couldn't see her very well.
He raised an eyebrow at her. She was just sitting there staring at him, and he couldn't figure out why. It was making him feel self-conscious and he didn't like it.
"So, where have you been all night? You didn't make me dinner." He said smirking.
Bulma rolled her eyes, forgetting her earlier admiration. "Gee, how could I have done such a thing? Go out for a night to myself and forget to come home to make you dinner? What was I thinking?"
"Gee I don't know. What were you thinking Bulma?"
"Arrrg!" Bulma yelled, and grabbing her pillow she tossed it at him. He caught it easily and clutched it, not even bothering to throw it back.
"Wow, what a nice pillow! Thanks a lot for the gift!" Getting up, he walked across the room and out the door.
"You better give that back Vegeta! I'll have you know that cost me forty bucks! Vegeta? Vegeta!"
Bulma growled under her breath and plopped down onto her now pillow-less bed. Vegeta had taken her extra pillow when he moved in, and she had a feeling he wouldn't give back this one either. Sighing, she closed her eyes and gradually went to sleep.
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Vegeta yawned and looked at the clock on the gravitron wall. Ten o' clock. Pausing his training exercise for a moment, he floated over to the window and looked out.
A couple was walking down the sidewalk in front of the house, pushing a little baby carriage in front of them. He could hear the cars honking on the freeway about a mile or two away, the occasional chirp of a cricket or trill of a katydid. It was nice, relaxing. He had to admit this dust ball did have its good points. Very few, but some none the less.
It was the noise outside the house that got his attention. Frowning, he looked over and could have sworn he saw a woman skulking around. But when he blinked, she was gone.
He rubbed his eyes and checked again. Nothing.
"I must be training too hard." He grumbled to himself. His stomach noisily agreed with him, and Vegeta trudged out of the Gravitron toward the house to get something to eat.
Once inside, he proceeded to raid the fridge. It didn't matter that Bulma had stocked it just yesterday. She could just as easily run down to the grocery store and buy some more tomorrow.
He dropped everything on the counter and proceeded to make himself a Vegeta surprise: Mustard, jelly, ham, peanut butter, chocolate, syrup, some sliced banana's, rice and chicken all stuffed between two slices of bread. Hey, if Kakkarot could eat it so could he. And besides, it tasted pretty good too.
Just as he was about to sit down to eat his snack, Bulma came trudging in. She didn't even notice him, and it was no surprise since he hadn't bothered to turn on the kitchen lights. She walked upstairs and he heard her door close.
'I wonder where she went all night…she looked pretty tired…'
All of a sudden, a most evil idea popped into his head. Grinning, he slinked after her, being careful to close the bedroom door behind him. Unfortunately, he neglected to notice the scissors sitting on the floor and stepped on them, causing a small slicing noise to echo across the room. She was up instantly and lest his plan be spoiled he leapt into the bed behind her and put his hands over her eyes. She of course screamed and started to struggle, which Vegeta thought was the funniest thing in the world. Her just loved to hear women scream…heck, he loved to hear anyone scream. Especially when they were begging for his mercy, there lives in his hands as he strangled them slowly to death…
"Wow. Way to get your mind off track Vegeta." He muttered to himself grinning.
But still, it had been fun. As he walked down the hall to his own room, he had no regrets about the evening. In fact, he was already planning new tortures for his helpless victim…
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Sare pushed a lock of hair behind her head. Her tail swished angrily behind her and she crouched down into a fighting stance.
Her opponent grinned. "You sure you can take me on girl?"
Sare grinned revealing a pair of sharp, nasty looking canines. "Bring it on big boy."
The hairy man leapt at her. She dodged easily and swung around her foot to connect with his belly. But before she could spin all the way around, the guy appeared behind her and grabbed her tail. She hissed through her teeth and raised her elbow, slamming it down onto his arm. The guy grunted but just squeezed harder, but Sare refused to give. She continued to jab him, over and over and over, until finally he shouted and let go. Snarling, she whirled around and stared him in the eye. He returned her gaze, and then leaning forward whispered something into her ear.
Her eyes widened, and for a moment her hard gaze softened. And then abruptly the man wrapped a hand around her neck and began to squeeze. Gasping for air, Sare reached up to pry the fist off her. But it didn't work. Pink dots flashed before her eyes. She looked into the bushes and could have sworn she saw someone…someone familiar. And then he let her go, throwing her roughly to the ground.
She massaged her throat and stared at the man in front of her. He was grinning at her, insulting her and her pathetic abilities.
"You stupid bitch. Can't even fight properly. All those other guys you fought must've been real weaklings-"
The man was caught completely off guard as she rammed a fist into his face. He stumbled around a bit and fell to the ground, clutching his now broken jaw. She grinned at him again, canines glistening in the light.
"You wanted to play, big boy. Well, you've had your fun. Now it's my turn…"
"Sweet, Sweet Sare…"
Bulma awoke with a start. Her body was bathed in sweat and she felt so cold. That dream…it had been so…vivid.
Outside the window, dawn was just beginning to show its face over the horizon. There was the occasional flash of pale yellow on the horizon, then nothing. Bulma frowned. She should probably go back to sleep, but she wasn't tired anymore. Instead she hopped out of bed, and walking to her closet pulled on a baggy sweatshirt and jeans. Even though it was the middle of summer, it was still pretty cold out this early in morning, and she had to be careful.
She left the house and drove her car out to the mountains. The roads were empty that time of the day, so she was able to run through a few red lights without getting noticed by the cops. She finally arrived at her destination, a huge cliff overlooking the surrounding countryside.
She walked to the cliff's edge and sat down. Sighing, she tilted her head back and stared at the rising sun.
In that moment, Bulma's world was turned upside down. As she looked back on the event one day, she knew there was no way to describe it. It was like she had become aware of herself for the first time, not just in body, but in mind and spirit as well. She felt a power surging through her, as penetrating as the sun beams on her body. She was being lifted out of her body, floating in the air. Below her lay the entire the world, a tiny blue marble in a huge ring of stars. She was on top of the universe. For a moment in time, Bulma felt like God.
But then a light formed in the tiny ring of stars where earth was. She frowned upon the light. It threatened to stop her power, her happiness. She tried to push it away, but it only got brighter. Covering her eyes she held out a hand and started to back away.
'No! Stay back!' She shouted in her mind.
"Sweet, Sweet Sare…you must do it…the fire.."
Violently, she returned to earth. It was a shock, coming back into her body. It felt weird, like it couldn't fit her right anymore. She pulled at her skin like she was trying to stretch it and adjust it, but of course she only succeeded in bruising herself.
She lifted a trembling hand to her face. She could just barely see a faint aura coming from it. A smile spread across her face, and tilting back her head she let out a long, chilling scream.
***************
Goku awoke with a start. Barely a hundred miles or so from his home he could sense a huge ki signal flaring. And then it disappeared almost instantly, like a candle getting snuffed out.
"There's no way that was anyone I know…Vegeta couldn't have gone Super Saiyan yet…but who was it then?"
A slender hand reached up and tugged on his arm. "Mmm…Goku…waz wrong?"
"Huh? Oh, I didn't mean to wake you Chi-Chi-chan. Go back to sleep; I'm sure it was nothing."
"Uh." She grunted, and dropped back down onto the pillow.
Goku concentrated and tried to get another signal, but there was nothing out there. Shaking his head, he dismissed the information for now and was obliged to go back to sleep until breakfast.
*******************
"Hello, woman. You're looking particularly ugly today."
Bulma ignored him and kept washing dishes. She still couldn't get over the exhilaration of her power rush that morning. While she wasn't nearly as strong as she had been scarcely two hours ago, she could still see the faint aura around her body. Another smile crept across her lips as she thought about it…but then it fell just as quickly. She couldn't remember. The more she tried the faster the memories of the event slipped from her. She just couldn't recall what had happened at all. And to her dismay, the glow that surrounded her was rapidly fading.
She wanted to cry. She felt like she'd just died, and in a sense she had. The wonderful feeling of peace and unity with her self was gone. She was back to being plain old Bulma, heir to Capsule Corp. and single for life. She couldn't help but choke back a sob as she ran a towel over a plate from the sink.
Vegeta's keen ears of course, heard her sniffling like a baby. He wondered what was wrong with her; his insult hadn't been that bad. Probably her boyfriend or something dumped her again…that would mark the third time this summer they'd split up. Why didn't they just break up and get it over with? He may not be the world's greatest expert on relationships, but it was obvious that there was no way the two would ever work out. Shaking his head he sipped his orange juice and looked up at her again.
It was in staring at her that he noticed something…different about her. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he knew he detected something coming from her, a power of some kind. Tilting his head, he tried to sense her power level.
'Her? With a power level? Ridiculous…she can barely fight much less have…a…power level?'
There was a steady pulse of ki waves entering his mind. He didn't believe it; refused to believe it. But it had to be true! Even though it wasn't very strong, he could feel it…and that worried him. A lot.
Bulma walked to the table and sat down in front of her plate. She attacked it with zeal, shoveling food into her mouth faster than she could possibly swallow. And yet she was already onto her second plate, never slowing, just scooping food in…
Vegeta reached out a hand and grabbed her wrist. She looked up in surprise, their previous argument coming back to her. What did he want from her now?
"Alright. Quit lying to me. I know you've been training, and I probably shouldn't care, but who trained you? I find it quite miraculous that in the space of three days you've increased your power level so high. So who was it? Yumcha? Kakkarot? Some machine? Tell me."
She very calmly set her fork down, pulling his arm down with her. She looked up into his eyes, azure blue reflecting off his cold black ones.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know? That's not possible!"
"I said, I don't know. I went outside to watch the sunrise this morning and while I was out there this huge power surge overcame me. I don't know where it came from or what it is, but for the past few hours I've been on top of the world. Don't ask me to tell you anything else, because I don't know. And you'll just have to live with it."
He released her wrist and stared at her. A huge power surge? She didn't sound like she was lying, but he didn't know her well enough to detect whether or not she was lying; he'd just have to take her word for it. But that didn't stop his burning curiosity about the incident. Where had this power come from? Why didn't he get it? Not like he needed anymore power; he was the strongest, greatest being in the universe. But still…
"Where did it come from? I find it very suspicious that you just happened to be there when it-"
"God damn it Vegeta, I just said I don't know! Why the hell do you care anyways? I don't question you every time you walk through the door, so don't even try that crap with me!"
"Well Well, aren't we being temperamental this morning?"
"You're the one who started it Vegeta!"
"Only because you won't tell me what really happened!"
"What the hell do you think- no, you know what forget it. You're just no worth it. I refuse to bother with you and your crap. I'm going to my lab."
Grabbing her plate, she got up and stomped off through the door and down the hall to her lab.
"Whatever. I'll deal with her later." Vegeta muttered to himself as he went outside. He had plenty of time to worry about her; right now he was gonna train.
He opened the door to the gravitron and stepped inside. Flicking on the light switch, he turned his gaze into the room…and saw Bulma leaning against the wall.
"What do you think you're doing in here?" He demanded.
"I want you to train me...I figure it'd be a waste to have all this power just sitting here doing nothing. So, I want you to make me better. And besides, it'll give you a chance to hit me, because I know that's exactly what you wanna do half the time."
He played the pros and cons of this in his mind. He's have to tone down a bit for her, not to mention the training he'd lose preparing for the androids…but it would give him a sparring partner, and she would probably fix the gravitron if it broke while they were both in there. Not to mention that yes, he would get to hit her.
"Alright. I'll do it."
"Well then," Bulma said smirking. "Let's get started."
