Disclaimer: Once again, for those of you with the brain capacity of a
peanut (not that I have ANYTHING against peanuts, mind you), I DO NOT own
Dragonball Z. __ Fine then. Just rub some more salt into those wounds,
why don't you!
*~~*~~*~~*
She walked among the flowers in the colorful field, the sweet fragrance drifting from the petals and into the air around her. The sun shone brilliantly in the springtime sky, illuminating the area for miles around. Bounding gracefully across the field, she felt like a child once again, so simple and carefree, her silky hair drifting behind her like a flowing cascade of crystal blue water. Smiling and giggling softly, she came to a stop and lay down in a bed of wildflowers, sighing and stretching as she looked up at the bright blue sky. Everything seemed so peaceful, so serene. She inhaled deeply, taking in the perfumes and the fresh air that her surroundings offered her. Sky, sunshine, peacefulness and tranquility were all that her mind registered. She closed her eyes with the intention of dosing off for a bit in this little utopia of her own.
She frowned when she noticed the sky darkening behind her closed eyelids. Peeking one open, her eye scanned the area above, noticing a large group of dark and ominous clouds crawling over the warm rays of the sun. A chilling wind blew across the bare skin of her arms, causing tiny little goose bumps to rise on it. She sat up and wrapped her arms around herself, warding off the shivers that ran down her spine. Slowly getting to her feet, she turned in a full circle. The clouds continued to draw nearer, building up into massive black towers, their thunderous rumbles causing the ground itself to tremor. The wind whipped Bulma's hair around her head, further adding to the chaos surrounding her. She shrieked when flames leapt up in a circle around her, licking at her feet. She backed up quickly, but was stopped by a hard object. Spinning around, she was brought face-to-face with a pair of warm, dark eyes.
"Yamcha!" she exclaimed as she flung her arms around her ex-boyfriend. "I thought I'd never see you again!" Tears welled up in her eyes as she clung to him. He was alive! He was real flesh and blood, there for her to hold him and never let go. The only problem was that there was no response from the warrior. She backed up a little to look into his eyes again, noting the distant expression in them. "What's wrong, Yamcha? Are you okay?"
She shrieked as Yamcha's body became enshrouded in light, slowly dissipating from her view. She moved backwards, only to have her path blocked once again by the flames. The body finally completely vanished from her view, leaving behind a frightened and confused Bulma. She continued gazing at the spot where Yamcha disappeared, willing him to come back. She let out a relieved gasp as a figure reformed in that same spot.
The body started forming at the feet, slowly moving up the legs and to the waistline. Bulma's eyes trailed the path of the strange light, following the formation of the torso, the hands, the arms... the body seemed shorter and more compact than that of Yamcha's. She could see a neck emerging, and slowly a face appeared as well. A strong chin, high cheekbones, and furrowed eyebrows were visible, and the light continued up until it reached a point where the figure's hair ended. Bulma's eyes widened and she resumed her backwards retreat, ignoring the searing pain of the flames at her heels. Standing before her was the most menacing figure she had ever laid her eyes upon. Sure, the dark, scowling eyes and the muscular build could intimidate anyone, but what scared her most was that smirk on the man's lips. It was that smirk that had haunted her dreams for countless nights, refusing to give her a good rest. She stumbled and fell to the ground, her pulse pounding in her ears. It was him. It was him.
Vegeta began taking slow steps towards her, his smirk widening until it broke into a psychotic grin, the flickering light accentuating the especially pointed canines. He took his time in approaching her, obviously enjoying the power he had at the moment. Step-by-step he approached her, reveling in the smell of her fear. She had no power. He was in control here. Standing directly in front of her, he raised her up using his ki, hearing her squeal as she floated up. His face inches from her own, he looked deep into her crystalline eyes. She squinted them shut tightly in order to block him out as best she could. She wasn't here. He wasn't here. It wasn't real. He wasn't real. A single tear rolled down her face.
She felt a hand lightly grip her chin, turning it in a forward direction. It was in no way painful. In fact, it was gentle, as if there was no malice in those hands. Half hoping to see Yamcha again, Bulma opened her frightened eyes. She was greeted with a pair of coal-black ones that seemed to look directly into her soul. No longer did she see the twisted smile on Vegeta's face. Instead his eyebrows were frowning in the manner of a confused child, seemingly seeing something for the first time. He... he wanted to know something. He was looking for it in her eyes. Where was it? What was it? He didn't seem to find it, however, as he finally began to draw his face away from her own. She wasn't really afraid of him anymore. She was just very, very lost. What the hell was he doing? She sent him a questioning look.
Big mistake.
The change in her expression seemed to snap the Saiyan out of his daze, and that returned the freakish smile to his face. He took another step forward, officially invading her personal boundaries, and placed his hand on her stomach. It began to heat up as he formed a small ball of condensed ki in it. Leaning in and placing his lips near her ear, she heard one thing before he blasted her into ashes.
"You lose."
*~~*~~*~~*
Bulma shrieked and rolled off her bed, hitting her head on the cold tile floor of the spaceship. She stumbled around on her hands and knees, crawling through the scattered junk she neglected to pick up earlier. After gathering herself and glancing at her surroundings, she breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was all just a nightmare. Rolling back on her heels and plopping herself firmly onto the floor, she moved her hand to her head.
"Owww..." she moaned as she rubbed it with her palm. Squinting her eyes shut so as to somehow make the room stop spinning, she leaned her back against the sofa bed she had fallen out of. No more horror-novels for her to pass up the endless hours on this boring ship. What had started off as another one of her pointless dreams of frolicking in a beautiful field of flowers turned into one of the worst and most realistic nightmares of her life. She shivered, as the room seemed to drop a few degrees from just thinking about it.
"Bulma?" a tiny, high-pitched voice called to her through the slightly ajar doorway. "Are you alright? You sounded frightened. Is everything okay?"
Bulma yawned and stretched her arms, trying her best to forget about the dream as quickly as possible. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just so bored that I fell asleep and had a nightmare." She chuckled at her misfortune. Oh, well. She'd get over it.
"Oh. Okay. Well, Oolong and I are playing cards, if you want to join us."
Bulma once again looked around at the mess on her floor. "Actually, I was wondering if you guys would pick up all this junk. After all, there's a lady in here!"
Puar's eyebrow rose. "Um, Bulma, that's your mess. Oolong and I have already cleaned up our garbage."
Bulma huffed and stood up. "I'm busy! After all, I have lots of things to think about. All you two have to do is sit around. The least you could do is be considerate to a delicate lady!" Not really giving the little cat another chance to object, she walked out the door. "Busy, busy, busy," she chanted as she made her way to the pilot's seat. Puar sighed and shook his head as he began work on the filthy room. Didn't she just say that she was bored to death?
Pulling out the scouter that she brought along, Bulma used a small pair of screwdrivers to reveal the circuits within. Tampering around with the various wires, she thought of different modifications she could make to further assist in their mission.
"Let's see. That Vegeta guy was pretty banged up when he left Earth, which means that there's not much of a chance that we'll run into him anytime on our trip. Now that I think of it, though, you can never be too safe..." Bulma chewed her lip thoughtfully. What could she do to keep anyone from finding her? If she had a scouter, what's to say that someone else, a potential enemy, didn't have one as well? And if they could sense energy like her friends could, then they were really screwed. She continued her tinkering, moving circuits here and there. Well, if this thing could sense energy, why couldn't it scramble other things from doing the same? She grinned and set to work on the scouter.
Oolong slowly crept up behind her, sticking his snout over her shoulder to look at what she was working on. What in the world was she doing to keep herself entertained on this dull trip, he wondered. Well, looking down on her from above proved to be entertaining enough, he found, as she was wearing nothing more than a small tank top. He couldn't contain the snort- like snicker that popped out. Bulma dropped her tools and leapt up out of her seat.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, pig?!" Her face was red and fuming as she put herself into a threatening position, ready to leap at the porker. Oolong gulped and took a few steps back, holding his hands out in front of him.
"N-nothing, Bulma. I was just wondering what you were working on!" He laughed sheepishly. Why didn't he feel like he was getting out of this alive? He squealed as Bulma charged at him, her arms waving wildly.
"Get over here you third of a BLT!" She chased him around the small ship, running past the open door to her quarters. Puar could be seen reclining in the doorway, munching on a bag of popcorn. Those guys might be bored, but as far as he was concerned, Puar was very well entertained.
*~~*~~*~~*
The trio of earthlings stepped off of the ship, gaping in awe at their surroundings. So this was Namek. Bulma had been a little peeved when Puar and Oolong stepped out before she had a chance to test the atmosphere; but hey, as long as their heads didn't expand to immense proportions and explode in a horrible gruesome death, she was fine with that. She shrugged. Right. Being cooped up in that tiny ship for so long with nothing to do was finally getting back at her.
She took a deep breath of the fresh air, the smile never leaving her face. She reached in to her bag and pulled out the Dragon Radar. Pressing the button at the top a few times, the circular green screen came to life, yellow dots blinking in sync with the beeping noise the instrument emitted. Her eyes nearly began to tear up.
"There really are Dragonballs here, guys! We actually did it! Guys, we did it!" Bulma grabbed Oolong's hands and began to do a little dance with him, all three of them laughing excitedly the whole time. A small lizard off to the side stared at the strange, loony intruders with his reptilian eyes. Feh. Tourists...
Pi piiiiiiiii
Bulma's scouter put a hold on the celebrations. It was detecting a life form. Letting go of Oolong's small hands, Bulma pressed the button on the device. It was detecting two power levels, heading directly for them. Neither was as powerful as some of her old friends. She figured that even Krillin would probably be able to do away with them easily. However, that wasn't saying that she or her companions could stand any chance against them. She motioned towards Puar and Oolong.
"I've got a reading. They look stronger than us, so I don't want to take any chances. Lets scram for now and find a place to set up camp or something." Pulling out a small case from her pocket, she opened it to reveal rows upon rows of tiny Capsules. Pulling out a pink one, she shut the case and tossed it. It exploded to reveal a large hoverbike, the words "Capsule Corp. 21" written across the side. Pulling her white backpack on her shoulders, she expended one leg across the bike and straddled it, revving it up for the ride.
"Um, Bulma?" She turned around at the sound of Oolong's voice. "Don't we want to take the ship with us?" He expended a pudgy little finger to point at the Namekian ship. Bulma sweatdropped.
"Eh-heh. I knew that!" She hopped off her bike and went around the side of the large ship. "Now where did Dad put that encapsulating button?" She patted down the ship's external walls, hoping to find it. Her scouter continued beeping, making her aware of the presence that continued to draw nearer. Well, they were safe for now, since she had modified the machine to keep their small power levels hidden for the time being. She frowned and continued her search, though a little more frantically. Come on... Where was it? She began to sweat, thinking she wouldn't find it in time.
"There! Found it!" She lifted her hand, ready to slap the elusive button. The hit never came in time, though, as a large explosion resounded not five feet from her, knocking her and the other two off their feet. After regaining her composure, Bulma waved the hindering smoke from her face, looking for the source. She shrieked when she found it.
"The ship! My baby!" The woman ran to the gaping hole that continued to smolder in the side of her ship. A panicked look across her face, she peeked through the large incineration, only to draw her head back in right away. There on the other side of the hole were two... men... dressed in armor resembling that of the Saiyan's. Both were nowhere near human looking, but they sure didn't look like her idea of Namekians, either. She snapped out of her thoughts as she listened to their conversation.
"Where do you think this puppy came from? Sure doesn't look like one of Master Frieza's ships," the first one stated. His scaly face possessed an obviously confused look. The other shrugged and scratched his head with his free hand, as the other possessed a gun of some kind.
"Now how the hell do you think I would know, moron? We've already rendered it useless, and besides, there are no ki readings anywhere around here. Let's just scram and tell Lord Frieza that we didn't find anything."
"But wait! Did you forget that everyone saw this thing falling from the sky? They'll expect some kind of explanation, you know. We can't get away with it that easily."
The other one shrugged his indifference. "We'll just tell the boss that it was a meteorite. He shouldn't care too much, especially since there are no significant readings around here. Heh, it's not like this is Vegeta's ship or anything." Scaly-face's eyes widened.
"Lord Vegeta?! You're kidding! I thought that was just a rumor!"
The larger man turned away and slowly rose into the air. "Naw, I heard Lord Zarbon and Lord Dodoria talking a few days ago. Appears the monkey has become somewhat of a traitor to Master Frieza. Went off in search of these Dragonball things for himself. Failed the first time, though. But I did hear that he plans on coming here to get this other set."
Scaly-face shuddered. "Damn, I'm glad we didn't run into him. We'd be screwed if we did."
"Yeah, well, don't get too happy. Now we have to go back and mop floors again. I'd almost prefer fighting Lor... I mean, that monkey instead of cleaning the mess hall after one of Lord Dodoria's raids." Scaly-face snickered as he followed his comrade back to the ship, agreeing with him wholeheartedly.
Bulma, Oolong and Puar released the breath they had been holding and stepped out from behind the ship. The coast was finally clear, but everything they overheard did far from clear their worries. Bulma sank to her knees and started wailing.
"We're gonna diiieeeeee!!!!" she sobbed. "I'm too beautiful to diiiieeee!!! I won't let it happen!" Puar floated over to the sobbing woman and patted her back.
"Don't worry! Just remember were doing this for Yamcha and the others!" he squeaked out. Bulma's head snapped up, her eyes burning with blue fire.
"To hell with them! I wanna get out of this thing alive!" Puar and Oolong sweatdropped.
"Right, well, what say you we go ahead and get on out of here? You know, preserve our health and all that stuff?" Oolong lifted a finger in the air and with an exclaimed "Change now!" changed himself into a tiny, deformed bird. "I don't know about you guys, but I really want to get out of this thing alive!"
Bulma wiped her eyes and stood up. "You know, that's the first smart thing you've said on this trip, yet, Oolong. Congratulations." The pig swelled his chest with pride. Hey, it wasn't every day that he avoided a near- death experience with the moody scientist. Bulma remounted her hoverbike, and with one fleeting last glance at her ruined ship, roared away on the vehicle, sporting the hottest fashion of clinging Puars on her shoulder. They had better find a safe place to hide, and soon, or else things might make another turn for the worse.
*~~*~~*~~*
A/N: Alrighty, guys! There is chapter 4! I made this a little (or a lot) longer than all of my previous chapters. Why? Well, I just wanted to thank everyone SO MUCH for all of your support. I'm really glad you guys like my story, and I can tell you I'll be continuing with it. Now for the real reason that this chapter is so long! (^_^; J/K!) I just felt like it. *Audience falls on face* Well, thanks for waiting a little. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I definitely can't guarantee that all of my chapters in the future will be this long, but think of it as a little treat. ^__^ Well, 'til next time, adios!
Random shout-out: Yuffie-Girl! I figured I'd just answer your question by dedicating my random shout-out to you! ^_^ You see, whenever I upload chapters onto ff.net, the italics don't get through. I'll figure out how to do it sooner or later, but anyway... There was a part in chapter 2 where Vegeta had a one-line flashback. He was remembering what Yajirobe told him about that "blue-haired chick". Vegeta has never actually SEEN Bulma before, but he figures that there can't be too many other people with that kind of hair coloration. If you're still confused, then just go ahead and read it a little closer. You'll see, it's there! =D Well, thanks very much for your reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
*~~*~~*~~*
She walked among the flowers in the colorful field, the sweet fragrance drifting from the petals and into the air around her. The sun shone brilliantly in the springtime sky, illuminating the area for miles around. Bounding gracefully across the field, she felt like a child once again, so simple and carefree, her silky hair drifting behind her like a flowing cascade of crystal blue water. Smiling and giggling softly, she came to a stop and lay down in a bed of wildflowers, sighing and stretching as she looked up at the bright blue sky. Everything seemed so peaceful, so serene. She inhaled deeply, taking in the perfumes and the fresh air that her surroundings offered her. Sky, sunshine, peacefulness and tranquility were all that her mind registered. She closed her eyes with the intention of dosing off for a bit in this little utopia of her own.
She frowned when she noticed the sky darkening behind her closed eyelids. Peeking one open, her eye scanned the area above, noticing a large group of dark and ominous clouds crawling over the warm rays of the sun. A chilling wind blew across the bare skin of her arms, causing tiny little goose bumps to rise on it. She sat up and wrapped her arms around herself, warding off the shivers that ran down her spine. Slowly getting to her feet, she turned in a full circle. The clouds continued to draw nearer, building up into massive black towers, their thunderous rumbles causing the ground itself to tremor. The wind whipped Bulma's hair around her head, further adding to the chaos surrounding her. She shrieked when flames leapt up in a circle around her, licking at her feet. She backed up quickly, but was stopped by a hard object. Spinning around, she was brought face-to-face with a pair of warm, dark eyes.
"Yamcha!" she exclaimed as she flung her arms around her ex-boyfriend. "I thought I'd never see you again!" Tears welled up in her eyes as she clung to him. He was alive! He was real flesh and blood, there for her to hold him and never let go. The only problem was that there was no response from the warrior. She backed up a little to look into his eyes again, noting the distant expression in them. "What's wrong, Yamcha? Are you okay?"
She shrieked as Yamcha's body became enshrouded in light, slowly dissipating from her view. She moved backwards, only to have her path blocked once again by the flames. The body finally completely vanished from her view, leaving behind a frightened and confused Bulma. She continued gazing at the spot where Yamcha disappeared, willing him to come back. She let out a relieved gasp as a figure reformed in that same spot.
The body started forming at the feet, slowly moving up the legs and to the waistline. Bulma's eyes trailed the path of the strange light, following the formation of the torso, the hands, the arms... the body seemed shorter and more compact than that of Yamcha's. She could see a neck emerging, and slowly a face appeared as well. A strong chin, high cheekbones, and furrowed eyebrows were visible, and the light continued up until it reached a point where the figure's hair ended. Bulma's eyes widened and she resumed her backwards retreat, ignoring the searing pain of the flames at her heels. Standing before her was the most menacing figure she had ever laid her eyes upon. Sure, the dark, scowling eyes and the muscular build could intimidate anyone, but what scared her most was that smirk on the man's lips. It was that smirk that had haunted her dreams for countless nights, refusing to give her a good rest. She stumbled and fell to the ground, her pulse pounding in her ears. It was him. It was him.
Vegeta began taking slow steps towards her, his smirk widening until it broke into a psychotic grin, the flickering light accentuating the especially pointed canines. He took his time in approaching her, obviously enjoying the power he had at the moment. Step-by-step he approached her, reveling in the smell of her fear. She had no power. He was in control here. Standing directly in front of her, he raised her up using his ki, hearing her squeal as she floated up. His face inches from her own, he looked deep into her crystalline eyes. She squinted them shut tightly in order to block him out as best she could. She wasn't here. He wasn't here. It wasn't real. He wasn't real. A single tear rolled down her face.
She felt a hand lightly grip her chin, turning it in a forward direction. It was in no way painful. In fact, it was gentle, as if there was no malice in those hands. Half hoping to see Yamcha again, Bulma opened her frightened eyes. She was greeted with a pair of coal-black ones that seemed to look directly into her soul. No longer did she see the twisted smile on Vegeta's face. Instead his eyebrows were frowning in the manner of a confused child, seemingly seeing something for the first time. He... he wanted to know something. He was looking for it in her eyes. Where was it? What was it? He didn't seem to find it, however, as he finally began to draw his face away from her own. She wasn't really afraid of him anymore. She was just very, very lost. What the hell was he doing? She sent him a questioning look.
Big mistake.
The change in her expression seemed to snap the Saiyan out of his daze, and that returned the freakish smile to his face. He took another step forward, officially invading her personal boundaries, and placed his hand on her stomach. It began to heat up as he formed a small ball of condensed ki in it. Leaning in and placing his lips near her ear, she heard one thing before he blasted her into ashes.
"You lose."
*~~*~~*~~*
Bulma shrieked and rolled off her bed, hitting her head on the cold tile floor of the spaceship. She stumbled around on her hands and knees, crawling through the scattered junk she neglected to pick up earlier. After gathering herself and glancing at her surroundings, she breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was all just a nightmare. Rolling back on her heels and plopping herself firmly onto the floor, she moved her hand to her head.
"Owww..." she moaned as she rubbed it with her palm. Squinting her eyes shut so as to somehow make the room stop spinning, she leaned her back against the sofa bed she had fallen out of. No more horror-novels for her to pass up the endless hours on this boring ship. What had started off as another one of her pointless dreams of frolicking in a beautiful field of flowers turned into one of the worst and most realistic nightmares of her life. She shivered, as the room seemed to drop a few degrees from just thinking about it.
"Bulma?" a tiny, high-pitched voice called to her through the slightly ajar doorway. "Are you alright? You sounded frightened. Is everything okay?"
Bulma yawned and stretched her arms, trying her best to forget about the dream as quickly as possible. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just so bored that I fell asleep and had a nightmare." She chuckled at her misfortune. Oh, well. She'd get over it.
"Oh. Okay. Well, Oolong and I are playing cards, if you want to join us."
Bulma once again looked around at the mess on her floor. "Actually, I was wondering if you guys would pick up all this junk. After all, there's a lady in here!"
Puar's eyebrow rose. "Um, Bulma, that's your mess. Oolong and I have already cleaned up our garbage."
Bulma huffed and stood up. "I'm busy! After all, I have lots of things to think about. All you two have to do is sit around. The least you could do is be considerate to a delicate lady!" Not really giving the little cat another chance to object, she walked out the door. "Busy, busy, busy," she chanted as she made her way to the pilot's seat. Puar sighed and shook his head as he began work on the filthy room. Didn't she just say that she was bored to death?
Pulling out the scouter that she brought along, Bulma used a small pair of screwdrivers to reveal the circuits within. Tampering around with the various wires, she thought of different modifications she could make to further assist in their mission.
"Let's see. That Vegeta guy was pretty banged up when he left Earth, which means that there's not much of a chance that we'll run into him anytime on our trip. Now that I think of it, though, you can never be too safe..." Bulma chewed her lip thoughtfully. What could she do to keep anyone from finding her? If she had a scouter, what's to say that someone else, a potential enemy, didn't have one as well? And if they could sense energy like her friends could, then they were really screwed. She continued her tinkering, moving circuits here and there. Well, if this thing could sense energy, why couldn't it scramble other things from doing the same? She grinned and set to work on the scouter.
Oolong slowly crept up behind her, sticking his snout over her shoulder to look at what she was working on. What in the world was she doing to keep herself entertained on this dull trip, he wondered. Well, looking down on her from above proved to be entertaining enough, he found, as she was wearing nothing more than a small tank top. He couldn't contain the snort- like snicker that popped out. Bulma dropped her tools and leapt up out of her seat.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, pig?!" Her face was red and fuming as she put herself into a threatening position, ready to leap at the porker. Oolong gulped and took a few steps back, holding his hands out in front of him.
"N-nothing, Bulma. I was just wondering what you were working on!" He laughed sheepishly. Why didn't he feel like he was getting out of this alive? He squealed as Bulma charged at him, her arms waving wildly.
"Get over here you third of a BLT!" She chased him around the small ship, running past the open door to her quarters. Puar could be seen reclining in the doorway, munching on a bag of popcorn. Those guys might be bored, but as far as he was concerned, Puar was very well entertained.
*~~*~~*~~*
The trio of earthlings stepped off of the ship, gaping in awe at their surroundings. So this was Namek. Bulma had been a little peeved when Puar and Oolong stepped out before she had a chance to test the atmosphere; but hey, as long as their heads didn't expand to immense proportions and explode in a horrible gruesome death, she was fine with that. She shrugged. Right. Being cooped up in that tiny ship for so long with nothing to do was finally getting back at her.
She took a deep breath of the fresh air, the smile never leaving her face. She reached in to her bag and pulled out the Dragon Radar. Pressing the button at the top a few times, the circular green screen came to life, yellow dots blinking in sync with the beeping noise the instrument emitted. Her eyes nearly began to tear up.
"There really are Dragonballs here, guys! We actually did it! Guys, we did it!" Bulma grabbed Oolong's hands and began to do a little dance with him, all three of them laughing excitedly the whole time. A small lizard off to the side stared at the strange, loony intruders with his reptilian eyes. Feh. Tourists...
Pi piiiiiiiii
Bulma's scouter put a hold on the celebrations. It was detecting a life form. Letting go of Oolong's small hands, Bulma pressed the button on the device. It was detecting two power levels, heading directly for them. Neither was as powerful as some of her old friends. She figured that even Krillin would probably be able to do away with them easily. However, that wasn't saying that she or her companions could stand any chance against them. She motioned towards Puar and Oolong.
"I've got a reading. They look stronger than us, so I don't want to take any chances. Lets scram for now and find a place to set up camp or something." Pulling out a small case from her pocket, she opened it to reveal rows upon rows of tiny Capsules. Pulling out a pink one, she shut the case and tossed it. It exploded to reveal a large hoverbike, the words "Capsule Corp. 21" written across the side. Pulling her white backpack on her shoulders, she expended one leg across the bike and straddled it, revving it up for the ride.
"Um, Bulma?" She turned around at the sound of Oolong's voice. "Don't we want to take the ship with us?" He expended a pudgy little finger to point at the Namekian ship. Bulma sweatdropped.
"Eh-heh. I knew that!" She hopped off her bike and went around the side of the large ship. "Now where did Dad put that encapsulating button?" She patted down the ship's external walls, hoping to find it. Her scouter continued beeping, making her aware of the presence that continued to draw nearer. Well, they were safe for now, since she had modified the machine to keep their small power levels hidden for the time being. She frowned and continued her search, though a little more frantically. Come on... Where was it? She began to sweat, thinking she wouldn't find it in time.
"There! Found it!" She lifted her hand, ready to slap the elusive button. The hit never came in time, though, as a large explosion resounded not five feet from her, knocking her and the other two off their feet. After regaining her composure, Bulma waved the hindering smoke from her face, looking for the source. She shrieked when she found it.
"The ship! My baby!" The woman ran to the gaping hole that continued to smolder in the side of her ship. A panicked look across her face, she peeked through the large incineration, only to draw her head back in right away. There on the other side of the hole were two... men... dressed in armor resembling that of the Saiyan's. Both were nowhere near human looking, but they sure didn't look like her idea of Namekians, either. She snapped out of her thoughts as she listened to their conversation.
"Where do you think this puppy came from? Sure doesn't look like one of Master Frieza's ships," the first one stated. His scaly face possessed an obviously confused look. The other shrugged and scratched his head with his free hand, as the other possessed a gun of some kind.
"Now how the hell do you think I would know, moron? We've already rendered it useless, and besides, there are no ki readings anywhere around here. Let's just scram and tell Lord Frieza that we didn't find anything."
"But wait! Did you forget that everyone saw this thing falling from the sky? They'll expect some kind of explanation, you know. We can't get away with it that easily."
The other one shrugged his indifference. "We'll just tell the boss that it was a meteorite. He shouldn't care too much, especially since there are no significant readings around here. Heh, it's not like this is Vegeta's ship or anything." Scaly-face's eyes widened.
"Lord Vegeta?! You're kidding! I thought that was just a rumor!"
The larger man turned away and slowly rose into the air. "Naw, I heard Lord Zarbon and Lord Dodoria talking a few days ago. Appears the monkey has become somewhat of a traitor to Master Frieza. Went off in search of these Dragonball things for himself. Failed the first time, though. But I did hear that he plans on coming here to get this other set."
Scaly-face shuddered. "Damn, I'm glad we didn't run into him. We'd be screwed if we did."
"Yeah, well, don't get too happy. Now we have to go back and mop floors again. I'd almost prefer fighting Lor... I mean, that monkey instead of cleaning the mess hall after one of Lord Dodoria's raids." Scaly-face snickered as he followed his comrade back to the ship, agreeing with him wholeheartedly.
Bulma, Oolong and Puar released the breath they had been holding and stepped out from behind the ship. The coast was finally clear, but everything they overheard did far from clear their worries. Bulma sank to her knees and started wailing.
"We're gonna diiieeeeee!!!!" she sobbed. "I'm too beautiful to diiiieeee!!! I won't let it happen!" Puar floated over to the sobbing woman and patted her back.
"Don't worry! Just remember were doing this for Yamcha and the others!" he squeaked out. Bulma's head snapped up, her eyes burning with blue fire.
"To hell with them! I wanna get out of this thing alive!" Puar and Oolong sweatdropped.
"Right, well, what say you we go ahead and get on out of here? You know, preserve our health and all that stuff?" Oolong lifted a finger in the air and with an exclaimed "Change now!" changed himself into a tiny, deformed bird. "I don't know about you guys, but I really want to get out of this thing alive!"
Bulma wiped her eyes and stood up. "You know, that's the first smart thing you've said on this trip, yet, Oolong. Congratulations." The pig swelled his chest with pride. Hey, it wasn't every day that he avoided a near- death experience with the moody scientist. Bulma remounted her hoverbike, and with one fleeting last glance at her ruined ship, roared away on the vehicle, sporting the hottest fashion of clinging Puars on her shoulder. They had better find a safe place to hide, and soon, or else things might make another turn for the worse.
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A/N: Alrighty, guys! There is chapter 4! I made this a little (or a lot) longer than all of my previous chapters. Why? Well, I just wanted to thank everyone SO MUCH for all of your support. I'm really glad you guys like my story, and I can tell you I'll be continuing with it. Now for the real reason that this chapter is so long! (^_^; J/K!) I just felt like it. *Audience falls on face* Well, thanks for waiting a little. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I definitely can't guarantee that all of my chapters in the future will be this long, but think of it as a little treat. ^__^ Well, 'til next time, adios!
Random shout-out: Yuffie-Girl! I figured I'd just answer your question by dedicating my random shout-out to you! ^_^ You see, whenever I upload chapters onto ff.net, the italics don't get through. I'll figure out how to do it sooner or later, but anyway... There was a part in chapter 2 where Vegeta had a one-line flashback. He was remembering what Yajirobe told him about that "blue-haired chick". Vegeta has never actually SEEN Bulma before, but he figures that there can't be too many other people with that kind of hair coloration. If you're still confused, then just go ahead and read it a little closer. You'll see, it's there! =D Well, thanks very much for your reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter!