That's it. After much musing, pondering, and consideration, 'The Bet' is now officially the sequel to Anti-Cupids, and has now adopted the genre of Romance.

The Bet

[Chapter Seven]

One thing nobody could deny about Bulma's mother: she is a person concerned with comfort. She tends to guests with a big smile and open heart. She always searches for the best of things, and then makes sure it comes home with her.

Dear sweet Mrs Briefs had not backed away when it came to the design of her Cosmetic Refinement Chair. The seat was softer than a kitten's fur, it was shaped to fit a person perfectly, and during your treatment, it plays soothing, relaxing music.

For Piccolo, it was hell. His senses had returned to him a second too late, and he was now being forced to endure something he knew was going to end with major embarrassment. Worst case scenario, he could be forced into his room for the rest of his life, facing total humiliation upon his exit. Mr Teddy would become his best friend.

Piccolo shuddered.

He then realised something which made him freeze all over. He could no longer feel his antennae! The contraption he was now beginning to call 'the Doom Machine' had cut them off, removed them, gone!

His scalp began to feel tingly. Like millions of little pin-pricks travelling from where his antennae used to be, back to the base of his skull and partway down his neck. It felt like there were bugs in his skin, crawling around, squirming, moving.

Then, the feeling went away, the music faded to a close, the headpiece moved back, and Piccolo was greeted by a grinning Bulma.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully. "Shall we go try on your new outfits?"

Piccolo gave a look that if given three more seconds, could fry Bulma's head right off her shoulders.

Unfortunately, Bulma didn't give Piccolo the time needed to gather ki for a laser-eye blast. Instead, she skipped to the door.

"Coming?" She asked.

"No!" Piccolo growled. "I'm going home!"

"Ooh, somebody's got cold feet all of a sudden!" Bulma chuckled. "That's okay; you can see your gear when you've got the fuzz up top."

Piccolo touched a hand to his head, and discovered cloth.

"Yeah, the machine does that automatically."

Piccolo got up and marched for the door.

"Come back in three days, no matter the outcome, I want to see how it's going." Bulma instructed.

Piccolo grunted a non-committal response, and left.

"Didn't do much," Josie commented.

"Didn't need to." Bulma pulled a printed picture from her pocket.

Josie looked at it, and shook her head. "No wonder they call you a genius!"

Piccolo dragged his feet past Goku and Vegeta, before bumping into the automatic doors and shakily lifting off into the sky.

"Poor guy." Goku commented. "He looked like he was about to burst into tears."

"Kakarot!" Vegeta snapped. "Do you want to get your stupid frog across the road or not?"

"Sorry Vegeta!" Goku pressed the play button.

Kenshinbaby, just so you're no longer confused about Piccolo's sneezing, check my profile for Anime Law #23.