Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ.
Sorry...again. I know I haven't posted in over, what...two months? Well, the truth is I haven't felt the ambition to write, really. I've been very busy too. But now I felt I small refreshing WANT to write, and felt guilty for being, dead. As it says in my bio: Contrary to popular belief, I am alive; Anyways, enjoy the chapter.
Piccolo lifted the steaming cup to his lips, not responding at all as the burning liquid scalded his tongue. He felt so numb. He had hoped by ordering such a drink he might feel something. But even the incredibly hot liquid didn't tap his senses. He sighed and set it down, his hands moving to the keyboard of the laptop before him. His face was basked in the soft glow of the computers light as in the silence of the night, his fingers tapped at the keys. He pulled open his e-mail. He hadn't checked it in ages.
His eyes scanned carelessly over the subject titles of the many e-mails piled in his inbox. "Junk, junk, junk, junk..." He softly mumbled under his breath, checking the selection box next to each worthless e-mail. Suddenly he froze, his eyes dialating in disbelief as his blood ran cold. "K-Karina?" He stuttered so quietly that even he himself didn't hear the uttered name, which glowed like a hot coal before his eyes on the computer screen. He quickly checked the address, half-hoping it would be a familiar one, one of console, a sympathy e-mail from a friend. The e-mail was foriegn. He didn't recognize the e-mail tag, nor the name.
With a shaking hand, he led the cursor over the e-mail name and double clicked. As the screen loaded, a short e-mail formed before his eyes. He read, hungrily, yet fearfully. He didn't breathe.
Mr. Damioh,
Nice to contact you again. We've decided it's about time to let you know we have the girl and that she is safe. Not by phone. In person. Come alone. If we even suspect anyone is with you or following you, they will be shot on sight. So don't even think of trying to drag someone behind you "innocently." We'll have eyes everywhere. Upon your arrival you will be searched thoroughly, so trying to bring weopons, a recording device, or camera will be futile. Not to mention dangerous for you and your girlfriend. Meet us at 11:30P.M. Friday night in the back ally at this address. Remember it. Oh, and enjoy the heat.
An address laid plainly under the message. Quickly, Piccolo grabbed the pen from his pocket and wrote the address on the back of his hand. He searched for a signature. There was not one. He sighed and then clicked the "Inbox" button, vaguely wondering what the hell "enjoy the heat" meant. He supposed the weather lately HAD been pretty hot lately, but it wasn't the heat, it was really the humidity, and...
Piccolo's eyes widened as the screen turned bright red a moment later. A hand waved ironically on the screen, and instictively he sharply shoved the laptop away from him. It was about five inches from the bushes lining the cafe's outdoor dining patio and black spiked fence before it exploded into flames. The shock of the blast threw Piccolo back in his chair, landing on his back still seated, now horizontally, in the chair, a yard or two away. He felt dazed, until a hot blaze washed over his chest and he gasped, sitting up straight and kicking his chair away. He panted then winced as he softly touched his wet chest. He looked down at the cup, which laid now upon his lap. He growled and gripped it tightly, throwing it hard into the wall, watching it burst into thousands of tiny shards of opalesant glass.
He looked around the scene. It look like a small tornado had touseled everything around him. The tables were turned, chairs knocked back, and plates shattered on the ground. No one else had been seated outside with him. He sighed in relief and stood up. He looked at the hurridly written scratchy address on the back of his skin. He already knew it by heart, though.
723 South Black Street.
He walked into the cafe, paid for his drink without a word about what had happened on the patio or that it was a mess, and walked out the door, shoving his hands into his pockets. He walked in silence, unaware of the stares of other passers at his green skin in the light of the moon. His cap was pulled on backwards, so his antennea went undiscovered. His mind was swimming...He needed to tell his friends about this as soon as he could. He turned sharply into an alley from the sidewalk. There in the privacy of the darkness, he took flight, and soared up and out of the buildings, over head into the blackness of the sky, the stars hidden by the lights of the city.
He landed twenty minutes later on the frat house grass, the grass softly rippling below him as his feet neared and touched down on the ground. He walked inside. Jack sat on the couch, watching TV. No one else was in sight. "Hey," Piccolo said, and Jack looked at him momentarily to acknowledge his attention before looking back to the TV, "Do you know where Goku and them went?"
Jack shrugged. "Out partying like everyone else, I suppose. I felt sick and decided to come back for a rest. The place was empty when I came home." Piccolo nodded softly and headed to the stairs. He stopped as Jack called to him, foot placed the first step, "Hey, can I borow your laptop?"
"I don't have it anymore."
"You don't? What did you do with it?"
"It decided to explode."
Piccolo walked up the stairs, Jack's dumbfounded silence settling through the room, the soft murmer of the TV the only thing breaking the silence.
Goku and the others arrived home close to midnight after dropping off the girls at the sorority, and discovered Piccolo sitting on the edge of his bed, staring blankly forward. His eyes displayed the exhaustion he hid. Piccolo didn't ask where they had been. He began to inform them of the nights earlier events. They listened in complete silence. When Piccolo finished they all sat quietly in thought. Suddenly ideas, thoughts, and questions burst from them in a sudden wave,
"Well, it will be dark! We'll be able to follow yu at a distance--he'll never know."
"I bet he's bluffing. If we call the police and give them the address, they can take them by surprise before Friday! They can take 'em."
"We could sneak in before Friday and get Karina on our own!"
"How about we--"
"Shut up," Piccolo silenced them all in an instant with his deadly calm voice. "I'm going to follow their instructions to the last period. Chances are they will only be posted at the address for that night only. It's not like that is where they are keeping Karina now. We aren't calling the police. I'm going alone. You will not follow me."
"But Piccolo," Goku said meekly after the brief silence following Piccolo's words, "You can't believe what they say."
"I can't trust anything they tell me. I can't believe anything they say. But it's the best chance I have of keeping Karina safe. And that's all I have." His eyes seemed to bore holes into the wall they gazed upon.
"How the hell will we know what's going on if we cant comunnicate at all or don't follow you?" Vegeta asked angrily.
"You won't. Not until I come home. Or until I don't." He said this with such a calm voice, shivers ran through their spines.
"If you don't return within the hour, we're coming after you." Goku said.
"No. I don't know how long the meeting will be. It might be longer than that. I won't risk getting Karina hurt. You'll stay right the hell where you are until I come back. If I don't come back before dawn, then you can start worrying. I'm going to sleep." As Piccolo said this, he knew it was a lie. He knew he wouldn't get any sleep that night.
Monday came as a haze. After classes drawled to a close, Bulma, 18, and Chi-Chi were told of the e-mail and Piccolo's plans in the Frat livingroom, which was empty of anyone else. They frowned and fell into a frenzy of worry, pleading for piccolo not to go through with it. 18, on the othe hand, sat in a grim silence, her arms folded over her chest, eyes cast at the floor. Krillin gently put his hand over hers. She smiled a tiny bit, glancing at him. He smiled back softly.
Bulma looked close to tears, "Don't go alone, Piccolo! You CAN'T!! You'll get hurt, I know it!"
"I have a better chance of getting hurt if I don't go alone." Piccolo said firmly, not looking at her.
Bulma was silent for a moment. Chi-Chi exploded, "But you can't trust them! They might ambush you the second you step into that alley!"
"I'll just have to take that chance." Piccolo softly replied.
"We need an alarm system," Bulma suddenly said. "If you get in trouble....So you can alert the guys. They can be posted far enough from the alley to not arouse suspicion, but the moment you sound the alarm they'll come in to the rescue."
Piccolo was silent for a brief second. "They're going to search me. They'll find something like that. Besides if they come later Karina still might get hurt."
Bulma grinned in the amazement of her genius, "That's why you only sound the alarm when you know for sure Karina is safe. Besides, we'll see that the boys come secretly. They wont be just bursting through the alley."
"No," Piccolo growled, "There's too much of a chance of them seeing them and getting discovered. They will hurt her then."
Bulma momentarily paused. "Piccolo, I have a feeling they will hurt her no matter what you do. They already have hurt her. It's better to take a chance to save her than a chance that you might miss the opportunity."
Piccolo sighed. "I'll think about it." Wordlessly he arose from his seat and walked up the stairs. They heard the door to his room close.
---
Tuesday night, Bulma and Vegeta found themselves alone for the first time in ages. They were in the backyard of the frat house. Goku was asleep on the couch in the livingroom, Krillin and 18 were at the serority, cleaning her room. Claire, who always looked for any reason she could to get rid of 18, had threatened to kick her out of the sorority if she didn't clean her room up. 18 wasn't scared of Claire, and at first ignored the warning, but when she began to smell a sickening moldy scent whenever she laid in bed, she decided it was about time to clean the place. Chi-Chi had gone to the grocery store to get a few things for the dinner she planned to make them all tomorrow night. Piccolo had said, "You shouldn't go alone this lat at night." Chi-Chi brushed him off with a wave of her hand, "Don't be so paranoid. I can defend myself."
"Better to be paranoid than dead."
Despite the slightly shaken look on her face, Chi-Chi assured them she would be alright, and left on her own, borrowing Bulma's car. Piccolo now was alone in his room again. He looked out the window which over looked the backyard. He blinked slighty as he spotted Bulma and Vegeta alone, seated on the green grass. They were looking at the sky. Piccolo smirked for the first time in ages. 'This should be interesting.'
"We haven't been alone together in what seems to be ages," Bulma said softly. Her hand gently moved through the grass and covered his. Vegeta swallowed.
"I know what you mean."
"Do you?" Bulma scooted closer.
"Er, yeah, we haven't had any time alone because we've always been hanging out with everyone. The frat livingroom is never empty, and you could say the same about either of our rooms."
"I know..." Bulma said, then smirked slightly. "I've really missed it just being the two of us." She winked.
Vegeta blinked a little, then finally caught on. He smirked and put his arm around her waist, drawing her closer, "It's nice to be with you alone.."
"Shouldn't we grasp the moment?" Bulma leaned closer.
"Sure, why not?" He chuckled and closed his eyes, leaning closer.
Vegeta and Bulma's lips were barely an inch apart. They leaned closer. Closer. Closer...
"BREAK IT UP!" Vegeta jerked and Bulma screamed in shock as a freezing wave of water washed over them. They both turned their heads sharply to see Piccolo, who stood leaning against the wall, spinning the garden hose in his hand, a devious smirk on his face. Vegeta's temple visibly throbbed in his head. Bulma growled low. Piccolo grinned and waved innocently, before dropping the hose and high-tailing it into the house.
Piccolo burst through the livingroom laughing hysterically, Vegeta right on his tail. Goku snorted and sat up abruptly, blinking. "Huh? Who? What? Where? When? How?" He looked around in confusion, then blinked again as Bulma, growling and dripping wet, walked into the room. He tilted his head in blissful confusion and innocence. "Why are you all wet, Bulma?"
Apparently Goku was deaf to the noises of upstairs, which consisted of Vegeta screaming madly, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, GREEN BEAN! HOW DARE YOU SPRAY ME AND BULMA WITH A HOSE LIKE DOGS! GET BACK HERE!" accompanied by Piccolo laughing loudly, thundering running footsteps, and loud crashes.
Bulma sweat dropped. "Don't worry about it, Goku."
"Alright!" Goku exclaimed. He fell back on the couch again and was instantly asleep, snoring loudly. Bulma blinked and then fell over, leg twitching.
---
Chi-Chi gathered all of her grocery bags in her arms. She walked out into the parkling lot, peering over the edge of her bags for her car. "Ugh, I can't even see..."
"There she is." A deep voice said to the dark form. He motioned toward Chi-Chi, who stood still in the midst of the parking lot. "Why don't you...give her a hand." A large puff of smoke filled the car.
"Yes, sir." The door opened, and the dark figure advanced torward her.
"Excuse me, ma'am!" Chi-Chi jumped at the sudden call, alost dropping her bags. She lookd to see a young man jogging toward her. "Need help with those bags?" Chi-Chi sighed in relief.
"Yes, please, it would be a great help." She shifted half of her load to him. "My car's right over there," She pointed with her hand. "Thanks so much for helping, I really needed it." She smiled appreciatively and the young man grinned and nodded. She led him to her car and dug out her keys from her purse. "Here, let me open the trunk."
She unlocked the trunk of Bulma's car with her keys and pulled it open. Setting down her load she turned to him, "Thanks again, you're really sweet to help me-"
Chi-Chi thought she had gone blind. Everything was black. Strong arms roughly lifted her into the air and she felt her back hit something hard, like she had been dropped. "No problem, miss," Said the same kind young man's voice, now twisted into a wicked laugh. "Thank you!" She heard a loud slam and suddenly felt clastophobic. She pulled at the cloth over her head and managed to pull it off. Everything was still black. Her breath quickened as she felt around in fear. The space was small and felt almost like it was carpeted. She couldn't sit up, she had to lie on her side.
"The trunk! He put me in the trunk!" She pounded her fist loudly against the floor. Suddenly the engine of the car roared to life. "MY KEYS!" Se realized they had still been in the lock of the trunk. He was stealing her car. Chi-Chi suddenly was shot forward as the car quickly backed up. Her head collided roughly against the hood. Everything was still black. And now she was unconcious as well, as the car sped down the empty road.
---
Wednesday morning Piccolo awoke and stretched. "Mmm..." He smirked and glanced at Vegeta, who lay snoring in his bed. 'Heh, yesterday night was the first time that I've laughed that hard in months.' He chuckled at the memory which had taken place only hours ago.
FLASH
Piccolo ran as fast as he could down the hall, trying not to laugh, but the laughs just kept coming. Vegeta was hot on his tail, growling loudly and shouting promises to hurt him. Piccolo suddenly turned, shooting into an open door. Vegeta blinked as he ran past, then spun around wildly, running in. He blinked again, looking around the room in confusion. Piccolo wasn't in sight. He growled slightly. "I know you're in here." His eyes shifted about crazily.
Piccolo stood in the closet, both hands pressed tightly over his mouth to keep from laughing. "COME OUT, NOW!" Vegeta yelled. He suddenly noticed the closet door ajar. He quietly walked closer, smirking. "Oh where, oh where could the green bean be...HA!" He jumped into the closet, blindly grabbing for Piccolo. The doors shut. Piccolo had slipped out as soon as Vegeta had jumped in. He leaned against the doors, howling with laughter as Vegeta hollered in rage, pounding his fists on the doors to try and get out.
Piccolo had finally let him out thirty minutes later. Vegeta had been burned out that time and merely glared coldly at him as he passed. He followed him, snickering.
FLASH
'Ahh..that was great,' Piccolo grinned and walked out of the room after getting dressed. He glanced at the time as he put his wrist watch on. He sighed a bit, the grin slowly disappearing from his face as he walked down the stairs. 'Guess I better tell dad about the laptop...He won't be happy, but I need to get a new one for classes...Good thing I had all my notes on a back up disc or I'd be screwed...' Piccolo walked into the frat livingroom, which was empty so early in the morning. He picked up the portable phone and turned it on, dialing the private number in without hesitation. Though he rarely called his father, he had the number memorized easily.
"Hello?"
"Hey dad."
A small pause was followed by, "What do you want?"
"I'm fine, and you?"
"Very funny. Why did you call?"
"Well..." Piccolo rubbed the back of his neck, "I hate to have to ask you for this...again...but-"
"Again? Great...what do you need now?"
"Hey, stop being so accusing!"
"Well, I know you need something. That's all you ever need when you call, is something. Money, a car, name it, daddy's the one to call, eh?"
There was a long silence. "Atleast I call. If I didn't I would never hear from you in my lifetime. And a lot of the time when I call it's just to talk and see how it's going, but even then you don't want to talk and just ask "what do you want?" Did it ever occur to you that I might like hearing from my father some damn time?"
A long sigh came from the other end of the line. "Sorry, I'm just stressed. As usual, eh? Anyway, name it and you got it."
Piccolo mumbled softly. "I broke my laptop."
"What did you say?"
Piccolo spoke louder. "I broke my laptop...I need a new one for classes."
"WHAT!?" His father's voice was incredelous.
"I BROKE MY LAPTOP," Piccolo screamed, "Damn, dad, you're going deaf."
"I HEARD YOU JUST FINE!" Mr. Damioh bellowed. Piccolo winced and held the phone from his ear, having no trouble hearing every word at the distance as his father yelled, "BROKE YOUR LAPTOP!? AGAIN!? WHAT IS THAT, THE SIXTH ONE!?!"
Piccolo put the phone back to his ear and said quickly, "Well, yeah, you see, it kind of...blew up." He quickly held the phone at arms length.
"BLEW UP!? YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT BULL!? LAPTOPS DON'T JUST GO AND DECIDE TO BLOW UP OUT OF NO WHERE! THAT'S ABOUT AS BELIEVEABLE AS THE FRISBEE STORY!" Piccolo looked up.
FLASH
"Vegeta, go long!" Goku weighed the laptop in one hand then gripped it, grinning as he then threw it, spinning wildly, toward Vegeta, who was running in the opposite direction.
"I GOT IT! I GOT IT! I GOT-" BAM!
"Oops. SORRY VEGETA! You okay buddy? Vegeta? Uhhh....Vegeta?"
Piccolo ran outside. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!?"
Goku quickly pointed to Vegeta, who lay unconcious on the ground, next to the shattered peices of the laptop, "IT WAS HIS IDEA!"
FLASH Piccolo had his hand over his eyes. "Ugh, yeah...well....my friends aren't...the brightest."
"Or," Mr Damioh raved, "The "seeing-if-it-can-float throey?"" FLASH "Drop it."
"You drop it."
"Fine, I'll drop it."
Vegeta and Goku snickered. Vegeta held out Piccolo's labtop over the bathtub.
"Drop it!" Goku urged.
"If it sinks, I get five bucks!" Vegeta reminded.
"I know, I know. Drop it!"
Piccolo pulled the door open, and was blinded by sparks as Vegeta and Goku clung to each other, screaming like little girls.
FLASH
"Like I said," Piccolo sweatdropped, "My friends are retarded. They like to test their stupid theories which to most people is common sense."
"Or testing it's durability!?"
FLASH
"I wonder how far it can fall untill it breaks..." Goku wondered, holding Piccolo's laptop in his hands.
"I don't think I want to find out..." Piccolo groaned.
"Let's go drop it from the roof! Remember that one computer commercial? They dropped it from a house roof and it didn't break!" Vegeta said.
"Yeah!" Goku was already flying to the roof. Vegeta quickly followed.
"WAIT! Our house is TWO stories! YOU IDIOTS! NO DON'T--"
BAM
FLASH
"Now that was influenced by the dumb commercial-" Piccolo tried to explain.
"OH! Oh! Then there was that time it was backed over with a car!?"
"Hurry up, Piccolo!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming! Oh crap, let me get something!" He set down his laptop on the driveway and dashed into the house.
Vegeta shook his head and looked over his shoulder, sticking his arm out the window, his other hand on the steering wheel. He began backing out.
Piccolo ran back outside, "Got it!" His eyes widened, "WAIT! STOP!!"
Crunch.
FLASH
"Hey, okay, leaving it there in the driveway asn't the smartest idea, but how did I know he was going to start backing up!?"
"AND THEN THOSE IDIOTS THINK THAT THERE MIGHT BE THE POSSIBLITY THAT IT'S WATERPROOF AFTER THE FIRST WATER INCIDENT!"
FLASH
"But guys, if the first one didn't float and almost electricuted you, this one won't be!" Piccolo growled.
"This is a different one though! And look, it has WXP on it! That's gotta stand for something like "Water extra proof!""
"I don't think so. It didn't float!"
"Ah!" goku said, lifting a finger pointfully, "But is it waterproof?"
"No, obviously not."
"Drop it in the pool and see!" Vegeta said.
"NO!"
"Okay!"
"NO!!!"
BBBBBZZZZZTTTTT.
FLASH
"Hey, I TOLD THEM NOT TO!"
"AND NOW YOU CLAIM IT EXPLODED!?
"IT DID! It was like some freak virus or something-"
"LOOK, I am not going to buy you another laptop if all you're going to do is break it!"
"I won't this time!" Piccolo promised, "I swear! Please! I need it for class. Come on dad!"
There was a pause. "Then you have to promise me that you won't ever let your friends touch it again. Undertood?"
"They won't lay a hand on it, I swear!"
"Fine. It will be in the mail tomorrow."
"I love you, daddy." Piccolo tried not to laugh.
"Oh, shut up. And don't call me daddy."
"Seriously, I love you, Dad."
"...I love you too, son."
There was an akward silence. "Er, yeah..so...talk to you later."
"Uh, yeah...later...bye."
Piccolo hung up. He sighed. 'Well, that was interesting.' He blinked as the phone sprang to life in his hand, ringing loudly. He picked it up, "Hello?"
It was Bulma. "Piccolo, Chi-Chi never came home last night! I'm scared...where could she have gone?"
An icy chill shot down Piccolo's spine. Goku snorted noisily from the couch and sat up rubbing his eyes. "Good morning..." He yawned and stretched. Looking around he blinked.
"Where did everyone else go? It's morning already?" Piccolo swallowed and looked at him, Bulma still going off on the line.
"I'm scared! Piccolo, where could she be!? We have to go look for her!"
Goku looked at Piccolo, tilting his head.
"Did Chi-Chi get home okay?"
Hehe....suspence. Review please!