" I won't turn back now. They think they can ditch me 'cause I'm a girl. Well, I'll show them what this girl can do! Those boys better watch out cause here I come."
-Bulma Briefs
Chapter Four: The Search for Bulma
"I will regret the day I ever underestimate the power of a man…or woman. Even the smallest part of a machine has it's use. What will you do when she's gone, and you have no one to back you up?"
The group stared at Piccolo, and glanced warily at the door through which Bulma had exited. Goku frowned, "You guys…maybe we shouldn't have said that stuff? I mean…you know…."
Vegeta frowned at his long time rival, "Kakkarot, you are going soft. The woman is having a temper tantrum. Typical….and so predictable. Forget her, Kakkarot."
***
About thirteen hours later, Yamcha landed on the balcony to meet the others. Goku was nervously clenching and un-clenching his hands, Vegeta was leaning against the wall with a bored look on his face, the only sign of tension was the incessant tapping of his gold tipped boots. Krillin was crossing his arms and looking down, deep in thought. Piccolo was nowhere in sight, and the boys were playing with a small robotic toy Bulma had invented for them. Yamcha looked worriedly at Vegeta, "Don't you think she would be back by now? I mean… she never stays out this long. Even when she's shopping…" A nervous chuckle ran through the group, save for Vegeta, who just continued to tap his foot.
"You worry too much. The woman is just throwing a fit. Leave it be." Vegeta cast a glare at Yamcha, who visibly paled and took a step back. Goku looked up from his position, "I think we should look for her. I mean, I can't feel her ki anywhere near here…."
"What are you talking about, Kakkarot? The woman is clearly over…." Vegeta's voice stopped abruptly, and his head snapped up. "Where is she??!!" he demanded of Yamcha. Yamcha raised his hands and shook his head, "I don't know! She hasn't called or anything!" Vegeta started to glow, his ki rising in angry spikes of power. Goku, rested a hand on his shoulder, Vegeta shook it angrily off. Goku grinned, "Look Vegeta. Bulma's pretty smart. She can take care of herself." Vegeta growled angrily and stormed over near Trunks, who, despite the conversation, was playing happily with Goten. Vegeta was still pretty pissed at his son's balatant disrespect earlier, and his anger showed through his voice.
"Boy, Where is your mother?"
Trunks cast his father a dismissing glance and turned back to his toy. But in less than a second, a blue beam shot forward and the toy exploded. Trunks turned to his father, "Whhaaattt?"
"Where. The. Hell. IS. YOUR. MOTHER?!!"
Trunks shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe she's in your gravity room. I mean, that's where she spends the time that she's not working at Capsule Corps, or cooking, or doing laundry. I mean, she has SO much time off, she's such a lazy human." He turned away and started to walk off when Vegeta clamped a hand down on his shoulder. Trunks winced, but then frowned when he was roughly spun around.
"Tell me where your mother is, or else…."
Trunks forgot his sanity for a moment and yelled in his father's face, "It's NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! I mean its not like you CARE about her! She's probably someplace where she can be alone! Kami knows that's how she feels! So BACK OFF, Leave me alone! Why don't you do something useful, like Train in your precious GR?! That's the only thing you care about anyway!"
Trunks shoved his father's hand off of him and he ran into the house, suppressing his ki, making him nearly undetectable.
Vegeta stood angrily stunned. What the hell was that? He turned to Goku. "Find my woman Kakkarot. And find her now. Look in the shopping warehouses." He turned to Yamcha, "Look in the West Hills, She has a stupid hideaway there. The woman is of your only importance." He cast a disdainful look at Krillin, "Cueball. You are going to look in the lower levels of CC. She could be in the lower level labs." Vegeta turned to fly off when Goku called to him, "Vegeta! Where are you going?"
Vegeta frowned, "Not that it's any of your business Kakkarot, There's a forest that she favors, with a quiet clearing. I'm checking there." With that the group flew off in their designated directions.
A shadowy figure alighted from the rooftop, his white cape billowing in the wind. Piccolo frowned, So the prince is worried. I believe we may have found the one thing he would care for, moreso than even himself. And his pride. It shall be interesting to see where this will lead him.
***
Yamcha looked worriedly around the cottage. Things had been strewn about, dressers overturned, mirrors broken. He cast a despairing glance at the shards of glass and such in a disarray on the floor. The bed was unmade and messy, and a small pink book lie open on the bedspread. Yamcha sat down gingerly and picked up the book and flipped through until he arrived at the very last entry. His eyes widened as he read through the small journal.
I can't believe this. I never dreamed that I would get my wish for a prince. And I never dreamed I'd hate it….or love it this much. I used to think that Yamcha was my prince. A rugged handsome bandit…the prince of the desert. But when…when we broke up, I thought I'd never get my chance again. At least, not without the dragonballs.
Damn.
I hate all of this. I got my wish, though. In the form of an arrogant alien. A lonely alien. Not that he'd ever admit it. He emits loneliness. How could he not? I mean, he's like…I don't know. I think I'm close to figuring him out…only to find that he's further away than before.
I've also come to find that this saiyan is possessive. Obsessively so. I mean, he nearly killed every male within vicinity of my office! I don't get him. I can't hardly work with any male, but that counts him too. He doesn't talk to me anymore. He doesn't even talk to me in BED. It's like…stress=Bulma. Bulma=sex. So? Stress=fuck.
And Kami help me, I love him.
How? I had it good with Yamcha. He was faithful, caring, a jerk at times, but still…he wasn't for me. KAMI! How did my life get so screwed? Explain this. I mean, I know I wasn't pure or anything. Please. And I KNOW that others view me as some vulgar whore. Apparently Vegeta thinks so, too. Well, they're wrong.
I figure, that kid told us that we are ALL gonna die. So, if you had only three years to live…what would YOU do? Me? I'm not a fighter. But I AM going to live. AND I'm going to survive, no matter what! Damn. Vegeta's coming back. Remind me to kill my mother the next time she tells me to take Vegeta with me on my vacation. How she wrangled him into this…I'll never know. Oh well.
Ciao.
Bulma
Yamcha shook his head in wonderment. Vegeta? Psycho… He looked around some more and flew off back to the Briefs Compound.
***
Krillin flew around the CC compound before he landed in front of the massive building. The place was deserted. There was broken glass and everything. Steel beams were sticking haphazardly out of the windows on one level. He gingerly crept his way through the rubble and into the compound.
The lights kept flickering, making his vision difficult. He kept his hands in front of him to make sure that he didn't bump into any sharp objects. Krillin's eyes followed a series of signs, directing hi to the lower levels of the Corporation.
After a few wrong turns, Krillin reached the telltale sliding doors with the words Briefs Private Lab and pried open the doors.
Circuits and gadgetry littered massive worktables and tools were lying around everywhere. Bits and pieces of scrap metal and such made the room look like some grotesque metal graveyard. Off to the corner a metal cart carried what looked like flashlight guns.
Krillin made his way over, and looked at what looked like quickly scrawled notes on a white board. The thing was covered in variables and such, in such random places that just looking at it made Krillin's head hurt. But the information on the side board was all too easy to understand.
There was a rough sketch of what looked disturbingly like the alien creatures Krillin and the others had fought. And a diagram, showing the weakpoints of the creature. The hypothesis at the bottom summed up the procedure, and the dead body strapped to the table beside him, confirmed his suspicions: Bulma had figured out how to kill the alien creatures efficiently.
"Holy shit…"
***
Goku looked around the mobs of people around him. There were too many ki's to decipher Bulma's. But he had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn't around.
He sighed, He'd better go back to Bulma's house. Goku winced when he thought about the ranting he would have to endure from Vegeta.
This sucked.
***
Vegeta tore through the night, thoughts of dismemberment, torture, even death, of the woman haunted his thoughts. What if those bat things had come back to exact their revenge on his woman? Not if he could stop it.
She was going to pay for what she was putting him through.
Vegeta shook his head to clear his mind, but only succeeded in jumbling his thoughts even more. Where was she? He couldn't sense her ki anywhere! It was like all of a sudden…she was gone.
Vegeta stopped dead. No. She wouldn't have done that. Not to her son. And not to him. He would NOT let her die if she was in danger.
The clearing was coming up, and he caught sight of her aircar nestled in between two trees. But no sign of her. Not anywhere.
Fuck. I need to find her…NOW. Maybe the young namek will find her. He's got to be good for SOMETHING.
***
The other's followed Vegeta's ki signal to Kami's lookout where Dende was standing in the doorway, looking extremely nervous. Goku, Yamcha, Krillin, even Piccolo, walked over beside Vegeta. Vegeta stormed over and grabbed Dende by the scruff of the neck, "FIND her NOW, Namek!" Dende spluttered and clawed at Vegeta's hand.
"I…can't…sense her! She's not on earth!"
Vegeta threw Dende to the ground. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently. "Then contact the idiots who RUN this universe, AND FIND HER! Or so Help me I'll-"
Vegeta's rant was interrupted by the squeak of the door hinges behind Dende. The doors opened to reveal three hooded beings. One in green, one in red, and one in blue. Dende bowed profusely to the three and scooted back behind the group.
The green one spoke, "It seems that one of you is missing…."
"But where is she? Can you find her?....." asked the red one
The blue one raised her head and looked unblinking into the eyes of Vegeta.
"We have what you are looking for."
***
AN: So? How was that? I've decided to put up quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I think that they enhance the overall effect. Wow. You guys ROCK! I can't believe I almost have fifty reviews! And in only three chapters! CRAY-ZEE! I figure that since you guys are taking the time to review, I'll take the time to answer some!
Quartz_Princess- I think everyone feels like Bulma once in a while. But don't worry, things can only get better. Anyone who says that we're too young to feel worthless obviously forgot what it was like to be a teenager. But keep fighting the fight! Life is an endless struggle, but that's why we've got friends and such. To keep us up when we're down, and to save us when we think we're drowning.
Murasaki Prower da Dbz fan- As good as Toriyama? Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I think I have A LOT of work to go before I'm THAT good. I know that Vegeta can be an ass. But he's a lovable ass, ain't he? I'm trying to make him really complex in this thing…but I don't think I'm doin' that good. Oh well. You rock!
Bebi_Mara_Jade- Girl Power. That's what this is ALL about. I got tired of all the Z fighters ignoring her suggestions (which, I might add, would save them from a lot of casualties over the series). But hey! The series wouldn't have been the same without her! So this is a tribute to Bulma, in all of her bossy, overbearing, nosy Glory!
MoonFairy- That has to be the longest review I've EVER gotten! Wow. You so totally rock my socks!! Don't worry, the Z fighters will see their mistake, and much much more. Piccolo has always been one of my FAVORITE characters. He's just that cool.
You guys rock! Thanks for ALL of my reviews…And until next time!
