Chapter Five
Return
By Moon Knight
"Where is she?" Vegeta asked concern drowning his voice. He paced back and forth in the gravity chamber where he, Goku and Gohan had slept the last few weeks, "She said she'd call! But we haven't heard a damn word!" he paused paling and looking at Goku, "Do you think they found out about the call? Do you think they would hurt her?"
"I don't know, Vegeta." Goku replied slowly, "I can't say that they wouldn't but I can't say that they would, or that they have."
"Besides, Vegeta, Bulma's a strong woman. She'll be fine. All they want is the time-machine, right?" Gohan added, "Well, Bulma will finish and then they'll let her go."
"Yeah…I guess." Vegeta sighed leaning against a wall and closing his eyes. A beeping interrupted the silence and Vegeta's eyes sprang open. Gohan pushed the button to reveal a distraught Bulma. Her face was tight from tears and she looked as though she had been awake for days. Vegeta charged over to the panel and shoved Gohan to the floor, "Bulma, what's wrong?"
"Nothing…" Bulma lied shifting uncomfortably, "I finished the time-machine. He's leaving tomorrow and he's going to drop me home before he leaves. He's going to the year 2020. March 15 to be precise…" Bulma paused, "His target is a fourteen year old, Vegeta. Whoever it is, is the same age as Trunks. We can't let him."
"But, what are we supposed to do about it?" Vegeta asked ignoring the question of what had happened that his spirited wife looked and sounded so empty, "He has the time-machine, not us."
"I made a second one. We can go back to a week before he does and find this mystery person. They go to a high school called, Monavali High. Surely this person would have an exceptional power level."
"Are you sure your up to it?" Vegeta asked not bothering to hide his worry.
Bulma paused thinking. Dorei had taken advantage of her again, she did not know where she was, and she was exhausted. Bulma had practically nothing left to give and sleep did no good. She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, "Yes."
* * * * *
Bulma stood quietly next to the entrance of the cave as Ja'kunah prepared the time machine. He entered the code Bulma had given him (which sent him a week after his original target date) and waited for the computer to verify it as a valid code. Dorei walked past her and winked.
Bulma turned away abruptly and walked to a nearby tree. He followed her and grabbed her from behind.
"How about a little more fun before I leave?" he whispered in her ear. He grasped her buttocks and Bulma felt her lunch inching up its way to her throat, "Come on, honey, what d'ya say?"
That was all she could stand. Bulma threw up on the ground in front of her. She felt the waves of nausea threatening to take her over and make her pass out. She grasped to the tree for support and held her hair behind her ear with a shaky hand. When she was done a hand appeared in front of her holding a handkerchief. It was Ja'kunah. Dorei was nowhere to be seen as Bulma wiped her mouth with the cloth.
"I must thank you. The time-machine seems to be in perfect condition." he said quietly. Bulma glared at him angrily. He smirked at her anger enjoying it thoroughly, "You think it was wrong of me to allow my servant pleasure? Deal with it. I could've killed you instead."
Bulma stood up slowly, glaring at the tall man, and walked away without a word.
"Oh, and by the way, I've decided not to take you home. I think you can find your own way home."
"But, you promised!" Bulma shouted hoarsely. Even as the words escaped her throat, she knew how pathetic she sounded, "I gave you the time-machine in return for protection for myself and my family, which you did not fulfill. Then you say that you'll take me home but now you break that promise? That isn't fair!"
"Deal with it." he replied simply.
"But I don't even know where West City is from here!" Bulma argued.
"Find it. Maybe you can use that transmitter of yours to contact your husband again."
Bulma paled. This was her fault. Everything that had happened to her over the past few days had been due to her own stupidity. If she hadn't called Vegeta to tell him that she would stay, Ja'kunah would have kept up his end of the bargain. No he wouldn't have, she thought, he would have probably done the same thing.
She walked to the entrance of the cave and grabbed her capsules out of her bag. She threw one down that made her house and went inside. When she reached the desk she opened the drawer and found the transmitter. It was smashed to a hundred pieces.
A lump settled in her throat as any hope that she had had (which hadn't been much) dissipated. She slumped to the floor and began crying softly. She rubbed her now large stomach and wondered how she was to survive this ordeal. She knew that physically she would be fine, but emotionally and mentally? That was still up for the toss.
Bulma hugged herself and began to hum softly but sadly. Her voice cracked several times and her throat felt dry. Outside she could hear the time machine firing up. Then it hit her. She still had her time machine! And it was attached to an airplane! Bulma could've laughed if the situation was different and she could remember what it was like to feel joy again.
After the two men had left, Bulma closed the house and put it away. She then pulled out her plane/time-machine and climbed in. Her radar showed that West City was approximately 100 miles to the south of her. She took off and flew as quickly as she could. It was a five-minute flight but Bulma dreaded going home. She knew that in a month she had completely changed and facing her family, however much her heart longed for it, would torment her. She set the plane to autopilot and entered the code for landing into the computer. She leaned back in her chair and sighed. Her hands were trembling as she covered her face with them. Before she knew it the computer let off a beeping sounding telling her that they were landing. She lowered her hands when they were on the ground and looked at her house. It seemed empty, almost as if it were a ghost house. Bulma froze. Ja'kunah hadn't kept his other promises….
She jumped out of the panjandrum that circled and swirled through her mind and went into the quiet house. She ran to the backyard, which seemed normal. Bulma looked around before running upstairs to find Trunks bleeding and unconscious on the hallway floor. She ran to her son and checked for a pulse. He was alive, barely. He had a head trauma but he would be fine for a few minutes while she located the others. She wondered for a moment why she hadn't felt any emotions or pain from Vegeta but she knew the answer. She couldn't feel his emotions when she was so detached from her own.
She ran down the debris littered hallway to the next room. It was her mother and father's. Nothing. She went to the next and so on but she didn't find anything until she reached the guest wing. Goku lay sprawled out on the floor moving slowly towards an unconscious Gohan.
"Goku!" Bulma shouted running to her two friends. She checked Gohan's pulse and smiled to Goku, "He's fine. Just hurt." She looked swiftly around, "Where's Vegeta and Goten and my parents?"
"Vegeta was-was in your room the last time I-I-I saw him. He had been s-sleeping and Goten left last night to watch Ch-Chichi and Videl…" Goku said slowly, "Your parents are with them…"
His voice was raspy and Bulma knew that he was in pain. His body was terribly battered. A brief moment of emotion passed through her. It was minimal, but it was enough for her to sense Vegeta's pain. It hit her directly in the heart. She stood up and ran farther down the hall to her room. The door was slightly ajar but still open. She pushed the door open and looked around. A large hole had been blasted through her wall and most of her things were on the floor. The bed was sunken and tilted from a missing post.
"Vegeta?" Bulma asked moving into the room. She looked in the bathroom, which looked just bad, if not worse, than her room. She ran back into the main bedroom and went to the balcony, which was also a wreck. When she was certain that Vegeta was not there she ran back into the room determined to search the whole house. Suddenly she saw something. It was a crumpled heap next to the bed of sheets and blankets. She looked at it with no more than a glance and spotted a foot emerging from the pile. She kneeled by the pile and ripped the covers away to show a bloody and bruised figure. Only his jet-black, spiky hair made him recognizable and even that was sticky with blood. She turned him over on his back and gasped putting a hand over her mouth in horror.
Vegeta had a large wound in the center of his chest that was now oozing blood. The beige carpet was soaked with his blood and she knew that he must have lost almost all of it. Remorse washed over her as she stared at the lifeless body until she saw the tiniest motion of breathing. She reached down and felt a pulse. She felt emotions pour back into her as well as Vegeta's pain. Her head spun as the waves of pain hit her hard.
She fell backwards dizzily onto the floor. 'No, Bulma! Snap out of it!' She told herself angrily, 'Close off your emotions again!'
She did. Bulma stood shakily and disoriented. She stared at her husband in shock. How had he survived? She didn't know, but she did know that she would ask him as soon as this was over. She froze, IF this was ever over. She shook off her fear of his death and grabbed his wrist. She pulled him out of the corner between the wall and the bed and stood him upright. She paused taking in a breath before she threw an arm over his shoulders and used her other hand to hold onto his left hand, which was across her shoulders. She dragged him across the room, to the door and down the hall to Goku. She laid him down and ran to Trunks without a word. She dragged the teen back to them and asked, "Goku, do you have enough energy to use the instant transmission?"
"No." he moaned. He passed out and Bulma just stared.
"If only I had some cenzu bean-" she stopped mid-sentence. Bulma bolted down the stairs and began rummaging through her clothes in the plane. After a few moments, she found what she was looking for. She grabbed the cenzu beans from her pocket and smiled. They had survived the first encounter she had shared with Dorei. Bulma frowned and her brow furrowed. Had it really only been a month? 'You don't have time for this now!' she thought.
She turned away from the plane and ran back into her house praying with all her might to Kami that her family was still alive. She reached group of Saiyans and woke her son long enough for him to chew, "Come on, Trunks. You can do it. Chew sweetie."
"Hey, Mom…" he said weakly. She felt the power of his muscles in his arm slowly return as she held her son close. After a moment he sat up and looked around, "Where's that sneaky underhanded criminal?"
"What are you going on about?" Bulma asked in surprise. She put a hand on Trunks's shoulder, "Who?"
"Yamcha! He was with that man, Dorei! He let him in the house!"
"But Yamcha was killed! Murdered!"
"No, it was a set-up I guess. He led that man right into our home and helped him fight! He preyed on our trust in his friendship to attack!"
"But Yamcha's a lot weaker than you are!" Bulma exclaimed trying to take in her son's ramblings. She felt betrayed. Once again pain stole over her. She went to Vegeta and put a cenzu bean in his mouth, "Vegeta, if you can hear me, CHEW! I need you to chew this Vegeta! Live please, Kami let him live! I need you around lot more than I let on…! Breathe!"
A tear slid down Bulma's cheek and landed softly on his eyelid. She closed her eyes and sank into despair, but she could no longer feel his pain. Her eyes opened and she realized that Vegeta was sitting up, examining his now full chest. He still had his bruises and his energy was still low but he was alive. Bulma lunged at him and wrapped her arms so tightly around her husband that for a moment she forgot her trauma from Dorei.
"Vegeta! You're alive!" she sobbed, "Alive! I thought you had left me! I-I thought that I'd never see you again!"
Vegeta looked at Bulma and smiled. She seemed to be okay. Unscratched, alive and embracing him as if he had just given her a surprise birthday party or something. He smoothed her silky hair and closed his eyes. She was alive and well.
Bulma felt Vegeta's hands settle on her back and security stole over her. She pulled away after a moment. She sat on her knees and stared at her husband.
"Bulma?" Vegeta asked quietly, "Bulma, what's wrong?" When she didn't answer Vegeta reached out to her, "Bulma?"
She accepted his touch, "Nothing's wrong. I just have to heal everyone and I'd like to see my parents…. Okay?"
Vegeta stared at her a long moment. She was staring at the floor and only dared to steal a glance at him once. That was all Vegeta needed to see the single tear that was tracing the outline of her nose. He nodded, "Okay, Bulma."
She smiled weakly at him seeing the way his eyes settled on her stomach and felt more tears welling up. She fought them back and closed herself off from any emotion. After she had given a couple cenzu beans to each of the Z warriors, she slid the bag into her pocket once again.
"Come on. We should go to the lookout and see what Dende knows." Goku said helping Gohan to his feet. They began to walk down the hall but Bulma didn't move. She just stood there watching the others walk away. Goku turned back, "Aren't you coming?"
Bulma nodded and attempted a smile. It would seem normal to anyone who didn't know Bulma very well, but the others noticed that the sparkle in her eye was gone and that she seemed completely lifeless. They paused before Goku nodded and herded the others out.
Bulma sank to the floor as soon as they were downstairs and closed her eyes. She had wounded Vegeta. If she had not been so damned public about the goings on in her lab, Ja'kunah would have never found out about the time machine: Vegeta would have never been hurt, nor would have Trunks and the others. Bulma opened her eyes and stared at her hands, surprised that the only emotion she could muster was self-loathing. Vegeta had only been happy that she had been alive and well. She had felt it. But he was wrong, oh so wrong. She wasn't well. She doubted if she would ever be well again.
Bulma sighed as she stood slowly and trudged down the stairs. They would soon be leaving in the time machine but Bulma didn't dread being alone with an entire group of men as she thought she would, she dreaded what might happen to them if they didn't find the child in time. She shuddered at the thought as she stepped into the living room. What if Ja'kunah caught up to them in the time stream? She knew what would happen when Ja'kunah realized that she had sent him to the wrong date. He would be pissed.
The guys were all waiting for her news. And by the look on their faces she was stuck. They didn't have enough time to learn how to drive it as well as her, and she didn't have the patience left to teach them. No matter how she looked at it, Bulma was going. She was going right back to Dorei's greasy clutches…and she was leading her son and her husband right along with her.
*******
Return
By Moon Knight
"Where is she?" Vegeta asked concern drowning his voice. He paced back and forth in the gravity chamber where he, Goku and Gohan had slept the last few weeks, "She said she'd call! But we haven't heard a damn word!" he paused paling and looking at Goku, "Do you think they found out about the call? Do you think they would hurt her?"
"I don't know, Vegeta." Goku replied slowly, "I can't say that they wouldn't but I can't say that they would, or that they have."
"Besides, Vegeta, Bulma's a strong woman. She'll be fine. All they want is the time-machine, right?" Gohan added, "Well, Bulma will finish and then they'll let her go."
"Yeah…I guess." Vegeta sighed leaning against a wall and closing his eyes. A beeping interrupted the silence and Vegeta's eyes sprang open. Gohan pushed the button to reveal a distraught Bulma. Her face was tight from tears and she looked as though she had been awake for days. Vegeta charged over to the panel and shoved Gohan to the floor, "Bulma, what's wrong?"
"Nothing…" Bulma lied shifting uncomfortably, "I finished the time-machine. He's leaving tomorrow and he's going to drop me home before he leaves. He's going to the year 2020. March 15 to be precise…" Bulma paused, "His target is a fourteen year old, Vegeta. Whoever it is, is the same age as Trunks. We can't let him."
"But, what are we supposed to do about it?" Vegeta asked ignoring the question of what had happened that his spirited wife looked and sounded so empty, "He has the time-machine, not us."
"I made a second one. We can go back to a week before he does and find this mystery person. They go to a high school called, Monavali High. Surely this person would have an exceptional power level."
"Are you sure your up to it?" Vegeta asked not bothering to hide his worry.
Bulma paused thinking. Dorei had taken advantage of her again, she did not know where she was, and she was exhausted. Bulma had practically nothing left to give and sleep did no good. She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, "Yes."
* * * * *
Bulma stood quietly next to the entrance of the cave as Ja'kunah prepared the time machine. He entered the code Bulma had given him (which sent him a week after his original target date) and waited for the computer to verify it as a valid code. Dorei walked past her and winked.
Bulma turned away abruptly and walked to a nearby tree. He followed her and grabbed her from behind.
"How about a little more fun before I leave?" he whispered in her ear. He grasped her buttocks and Bulma felt her lunch inching up its way to her throat, "Come on, honey, what d'ya say?"
That was all she could stand. Bulma threw up on the ground in front of her. She felt the waves of nausea threatening to take her over and make her pass out. She grasped to the tree for support and held her hair behind her ear with a shaky hand. When she was done a hand appeared in front of her holding a handkerchief. It was Ja'kunah. Dorei was nowhere to be seen as Bulma wiped her mouth with the cloth.
"I must thank you. The time-machine seems to be in perfect condition." he said quietly. Bulma glared at him angrily. He smirked at her anger enjoying it thoroughly, "You think it was wrong of me to allow my servant pleasure? Deal with it. I could've killed you instead."
Bulma stood up slowly, glaring at the tall man, and walked away without a word.
"Oh, and by the way, I've decided not to take you home. I think you can find your own way home."
"But, you promised!" Bulma shouted hoarsely. Even as the words escaped her throat, she knew how pathetic she sounded, "I gave you the time-machine in return for protection for myself and my family, which you did not fulfill. Then you say that you'll take me home but now you break that promise? That isn't fair!"
"Deal with it." he replied simply.
"But I don't even know where West City is from here!" Bulma argued.
"Find it. Maybe you can use that transmitter of yours to contact your husband again."
Bulma paled. This was her fault. Everything that had happened to her over the past few days had been due to her own stupidity. If she hadn't called Vegeta to tell him that she would stay, Ja'kunah would have kept up his end of the bargain. No he wouldn't have, she thought, he would have probably done the same thing.
She walked to the entrance of the cave and grabbed her capsules out of her bag. She threw one down that made her house and went inside. When she reached the desk she opened the drawer and found the transmitter. It was smashed to a hundred pieces.
A lump settled in her throat as any hope that she had had (which hadn't been much) dissipated. She slumped to the floor and began crying softly. She rubbed her now large stomach and wondered how she was to survive this ordeal. She knew that physically she would be fine, but emotionally and mentally? That was still up for the toss.
Bulma hugged herself and began to hum softly but sadly. Her voice cracked several times and her throat felt dry. Outside she could hear the time machine firing up. Then it hit her. She still had her time machine! And it was attached to an airplane! Bulma could've laughed if the situation was different and she could remember what it was like to feel joy again.
After the two men had left, Bulma closed the house and put it away. She then pulled out her plane/time-machine and climbed in. Her radar showed that West City was approximately 100 miles to the south of her. She took off and flew as quickly as she could. It was a five-minute flight but Bulma dreaded going home. She knew that in a month she had completely changed and facing her family, however much her heart longed for it, would torment her. She set the plane to autopilot and entered the code for landing into the computer. She leaned back in her chair and sighed. Her hands were trembling as she covered her face with them. Before she knew it the computer let off a beeping sounding telling her that they were landing. She lowered her hands when they were on the ground and looked at her house. It seemed empty, almost as if it were a ghost house. Bulma froze. Ja'kunah hadn't kept his other promises….
She jumped out of the panjandrum that circled and swirled through her mind and went into the quiet house. She ran to the backyard, which seemed normal. Bulma looked around before running upstairs to find Trunks bleeding and unconscious on the hallway floor. She ran to her son and checked for a pulse. He was alive, barely. He had a head trauma but he would be fine for a few minutes while she located the others. She wondered for a moment why she hadn't felt any emotions or pain from Vegeta but she knew the answer. She couldn't feel his emotions when she was so detached from her own.
She ran down the debris littered hallway to the next room. It was her mother and father's. Nothing. She went to the next and so on but she didn't find anything until she reached the guest wing. Goku lay sprawled out on the floor moving slowly towards an unconscious Gohan.
"Goku!" Bulma shouted running to her two friends. She checked Gohan's pulse and smiled to Goku, "He's fine. Just hurt." She looked swiftly around, "Where's Vegeta and Goten and my parents?"
"Vegeta was-was in your room the last time I-I-I saw him. He had been s-sleeping and Goten left last night to watch Ch-Chichi and Videl…" Goku said slowly, "Your parents are with them…"
His voice was raspy and Bulma knew that he was in pain. His body was terribly battered. A brief moment of emotion passed through her. It was minimal, but it was enough for her to sense Vegeta's pain. It hit her directly in the heart. She stood up and ran farther down the hall to her room. The door was slightly ajar but still open. She pushed the door open and looked around. A large hole had been blasted through her wall and most of her things were on the floor. The bed was sunken and tilted from a missing post.
"Vegeta?" Bulma asked moving into the room. She looked in the bathroom, which looked just bad, if not worse, than her room. She ran back into the main bedroom and went to the balcony, which was also a wreck. When she was certain that Vegeta was not there she ran back into the room determined to search the whole house. Suddenly she saw something. It was a crumpled heap next to the bed of sheets and blankets. She looked at it with no more than a glance and spotted a foot emerging from the pile. She kneeled by the pile and ripped the covers away to show a bloody and bruised figure. Only his jet-black, spiky hair made him recognizable and even that was sticky with blood. She turned him over on his back and gasped putting a hand over her mouth in horror.
Vegeta had a large wound in the center of his chest that was now oozing blood. The beige carpet was soaked with his blood and she knew that he must have lost almost all of it. Remorse washed over her as she stared at the lifeless body until she saw the tiniest motion of breathing. She reached down and felt a pulse. She felt emotions pour back into her as well as Vegeta's pain. Her head spun as the waves of pain hit her hard.
She fell backwards dizzily onto the floor. 'No, Bulma! Snap out of it!' She told herself angrily, 'Close off your emotions again!'
She did. Bulma stood shakily and disoriented. She stared at her husband in shock. How had he survived? She didn't know, but she did know that she would ask him as soon as this was over. She froze, IF this was ever over. She shook off her fear of his death and grabbed his wrist. She pulled him out of the corner between the wall and the bed and stood him upright. She paused taking in a breath before she threw an arm over his shoulders and used her other hand to hold onto his left hand, which was across her shoulders. She dragged him across the room, to the door and down the hall to Goku. She laid him down and ran to Trunks without a word. She dragged the teen back to them and asked, "Goku, do you have enough energy to use the instant transmission?"
"No." he moaned. He passed out and Bulma just stared.
"If only I had some cenzu bean-" she stopped mid-sentence. Bulma bolted down the stairs and began rummaging through her clothes in the plane. After a few moments, she found what she was looking for. She grabbed the cenzu beans from her pocket and smiled. They had survived the first encounter she had shared with Dorei. Bulma frowned and her brow furrowed. Had it really only been a month? 'You don't have time for this now!' she thought.
She turned away from the plane and ran back into her house praying with all her might to Kami that her family was still alive. She reached group of Saiyans and woke her son long enough for him to chew, "Come on, Trunks. You can do it. Chew sweetie."
"Hey, Mom…" he said weakly. She felt the power of his muscles in his arm slowly return as she held her son close. After a moment he sat up and looked around, "Where's that sneaky underhanded criminal?"
"What are you going on about?" Bulma asked in surprise. She put a hand on Trunks's shoulder, "Who?"
"Yamcha! He was with that man, Dorei! He let him in the house!"
"But Yamcha was killed! Murdered!"
"No, it was a set-up I guess. He led that man right into our home and helped him fight! He preyed on our trust in his friendship to attack!"
"But Yamcha's a lot weaker than you are!" Bulma exclaimed trying to take in her son's ramblings. She felt betrayed. Once again pain stole over her. She went to Vegeta and put a cenzu bean in his mouth, "Vegeta, if you can hear me, CHEW! I need you to chew this Vegeta! Live please, Kami let him live! I need you around lot more than I let on…! Breathe!"
A tear slid down Bulma's cheek and landed softly on his eyelid. She closed her eyes and sank into despair, but she could no longer feel his pain. Her eyes opened and she realized that Vegeta was sitting up, examining his now full chest. He still had his bruises and his energy was still low but he was alive. Bulma lunged at him and wrapped her arms so tightly around her husband that for a moment she forgot her trauma from Dorei.
"Vegeta! You're alive!" she sobbed, "Alive! I thought you had left me! I-I thought that I'd never see you again!"
Vegeta looked at Bulma and smiled. She seemed to be okay. Unscratched, alive and embracing him as if he had just given her a surprise birthday party or something. He smoothed her silky hair and closed his eyes. She was alive and well.
Bulma felt Vegeta's hands settle on her back and security stole over her. She pulled away after a moment. She sat on her knees and stared at her husband.
"Bulma?" Vegeta asked quietly, "Bulma, what's wrong?" When she didn't answer Vegeta reached out to her, "Bulma?"
She accepted his touch, "Nothing's wrong. I just have to heal everyone and I'd like to see my parents…. Okay?"
Vegeta stared at her a long moment. She was staring at the floor and only dared to steal a glance at him once. That was all Vegeta needed to see the single tear that was tracing the outline of her nose. He nodded, "Okay, Bulma."
She smiled weakly at him seeing the way his eyes settled on her stomach and felt more tears welling up. She fought them back and closed herself off from any emotion. After she had given a couple cenzu beans to each of the Z warriors, she slid the bag into her pocket once again.
"Come on. We should go to the lookout and see what Dende knows." Goku said helping Gohan to his feet. They began to walk down the hall but Bulma didn't move. She just stood there watching the others walk away. Goku turned back, "Aren't you coming?"
Bulma nodded and attempted a smile. It would seem normal to anyone who didn't know Bulma very well, but the others noticed that the sparkle in her eye was gone and that she seemed completely lifeless. They paused before Goku nodded and herded the others out.
Bulma sank to the floor as soon as they were downstairs and closed her eyes. She had wounded Vegeta. If she had not been so damned public about the goings on in her lab, Ja'kunah would have never found out about the time machine: Vegeta would have never been hurt, nor would have Trunks and the others. Bulma opened her eyes and stared at her hands, surprised that the only emotion she could muster was self-loathing. Vegeta had only been happy that she had been alive and well. She had felt it. But he was wrong, oh so wrong. She wasn't well. She doubted if she would ever be well again.
Bulma sighed as she stood slowly and trudged down the stairs. They would soon be leaving in the time machine but Bulma didn't dread being alone with an entire group of men as she thought she would, she dreaded what might happen to them if they didn't find the child in time. She shuddered at the thought as she stepped into the living room. What if Ja'kunah caught up to them in the time stream? She knew what would happen when Ja'kunah realized that she had sent him to the wrong date. He would be pissed.
The guys were all waiting for her news. And by the look on their faces she was stuck. They didn't have enough time to learn how to drive it as well as her, and she didn't have the patience left to teach them. No matter how she looked at it, Bulma was going. She was going right back to Dorei's greasy clutches…and she was leading her son and her husband right along with her.
*******
