Chapter 30 – Bulma in action
"They put the Monster Employing Office in a school?" Bulma asked, gazing at the huge building in front of them.
"Makes sense to me," Goten remarked. "Most schools have plenty of rooms that are never used, never opened and most people wonder what could be inside."
Haruka nodded. "Wouldn't be the first school in the Universe that is used for evil purposes."
"Hey, we're all legal hard-working citizens here!" a six-legged monster shouted, trotting by and disappearing into the schoolhouse.
"Oh… kay, let's go then," Goku called and went up the staircase. Trunks held him back.
"Remember," he said very seriously, "it's a school. Evil lurks in these hallways."
Goku seemed nervous and opened the door. "I'll keep that in mind… oh, hello." The secretary was looking at them strictly.
"We would like to see the chief of this office," Vegeta said, seeing as Goku didn't feel like talking at the moment and preferred peering around nervously. Now the secretary looked at him. She was old, had reddish white hair and very light eyes, wore a black strict dress with a white collar and had an odd-looking scar on her neck.
"Do you have an appointment?" she asked. Her teeth were surprisingly white for her age.
Vegeta grinned and leaned closer. "Yes. Right here." He reached out his fist and opened it under the secretary's nose. There was a small piece of garlic in it.
"Eeeeeek!" The vampire backed away quickly. "Up the stairs, the very last floor, last door to the right, please knock or I'll be vanquished!"
Vegeta's grin got wider. "Thank you." He went up the stairs and the others trotted after him.
"Where did you get that?" Bulma demanded as they climbed up.
"Took it from the kitchen right before we left the house," the prince replied. "Sometimes you just have to," he poked his forehead, "use this thing here. Last floor, here we are."
"Not quite," Taiki replied, pointing up. As they all looked up, they saw another floor above the one they were standing on. But the staircase ended right in front of their noses.
"Must be a magically appearing floor," Haruka commented, leaping up – being a Sailor Soldier really paid off in the oddest places. "You wouldn't expect the boss of the monsters to sit in the janitor's closet, or what?"
The others jumped up too. Vegeta went to the last door to the right and knocked – surprisingly politely.
"What?" a voice grumbled inside. "I don't remember having any appointments today!"
"Now you have one," Vegeta replied, pushing the door open.
The cabinet was big and had a huge window with an excellent view – if you like a view on a black deformed city, that is. The place was brightly lit, had a thick blue Persian carpet, several closets made of mahogany and a huge table with a laptop and a fax machine on it. The chief was huge, dark grey and hairy with tiny eyes and long white fangs but he was wearing a very well sewn suit. He was on the cell phone at the moment.
"Sell, I told you!" he roared. "You're bankrupting the whole company if you keep that spirit up! What do you expect me to tell our colleagues in the Capsule Corporation? Idiot! We've had enough trouble with the pathetic airheads that work in the daily shift, you know! I just heard that the daughter of the owner himself was in the city today and what did those boneheads do? They couldn't even find their annual report! From last year! I tell you, another one of those brainless mistakes and I swear someone's guts will flow down the wall!"
"Hey, now that's the kind of management I look for in an office," Bulma commented with a grin as the monster put the phone away and stared at the intruders.
"Who are you and whadda you want?" he demanded grimly. "I'm a busy man."
Bulma stepped forward. Now was her turn to shine. "I'm Bulma Briefs," she said, "and I would like to have a few words with the chief of this office. That would be you, I suppose?"
The monster blinked. "Mrs. Briefs? Why, what a pleasant surprise! Have a seat!" He almost pushed Bulma into a huge comfortable armchair. "Coffee?"
"No thanks." Bulma looked at the monster resolutely. "I come to audit perhaps once in a lifetime and I don't even get a decent staircase? Not exactly the attitude I'd expect from such a respectful company."
The monster was sweating and looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown. "Uh… there are so many intruders these days, we really didn't expect to see you, so sudden… yet such a pleasant surprise… please, why are you standing, have a seat." The others glanced at each other and sat down on the couches and armchairs. "We've been so busy lately, I'm afraid I really didn't prepare for this…"
"Zip it," Bulma suggested and the monster shut up quickly. "First of all, I hadn't even heard of a branch office called Monster Employment Agency till today. Could you please," that "please" was as cold as an iceberg, "explain that to me?"
"Well, you see," the monster sat down again, peering at her nervously, "monster agencies aren't allowed to be very public as you surely understand and we only recently joined due to recent happenings… I'm afraid I can't give you much information about it though, I haven't been informed much either."
"So you're not the big cheese around here," Bulma said. She was surprised to hear that and the sentence was a question but her cold blue eyes, slow talking and my-dad-will-hear-about-it voice made it sound like a dry statement that promised trouble for someone. The monster's upcoming nervous breakdown got worse.
"She's good!" Yaten whispered to Trunks.
"Yeah, good at showing off and bluffing," the kid whispered back, "but that's all we need here, don't we?"
"Oh no, I'm just a little cog in this big machine," the chief quickly replied. "If you want thorough information about the office's whole management, I'll be more than happy to let the boss know about your presence and I'm sure he'll be very glad to meet you."
"That guy would do anything just to get rid of Bulma," Seiya whispered to Haruka who grinned. The monster was already on the phone and shouted:
"What do you mean "he's busy"? Bulma Briefs is here and wants to meet him, he can't possibly be busy! What is he, dead? That's not an excuse! Let him know, now!" A short pause. "Why am I surrounded by idiots? The door isn't unbreakable, get in there and tell him!" Another short pause. "Finally! Yeah, I'll send her over right away. Moron. Next time think a little faster! How are we supposed to make a good impression here, huh? Okay, stop whining and get back to work, we've gotten enough complaints already." He hung up and turned to Bulma. "Mrs. Briefs, the boss will gladly meet you. The address is 235 Summer Lane, the reception will guide you to the chief."
"Nice work," Bulma nodded with a vague smile and the monster tried hard to hide a proud grin. "Let's go, guys."
"Almost midnight," Seiya commented as they went down the street, followed by occasional screaming.
"The night is still young and I want to get to the bottom of this," Vegeta replied. "Bulma, what the heck do the monsters want from the CC?"
Bulma shrugged. "Beats me. I can always ask someone at the office though."
"Don't," Seiya warned her. "As soon as you start sounding ignorant, they lose the respect and then you'll turn into the spoiled brat who has nothing to do with real business."
"Surprisingly, he's got a point," Yaten agreed. "You're good at bluffing, keep it up."
The bell tolled midnight in the distance. Nothing seemed to happen but Hotaru blinked and stopped. Then she hurried after the others.
"I want to know two things," she said. "Why the city looks exactly like in that demon's creation and why all the monsters from the planet have gathered here."
"To answer that question, we need to see the big cheese and I think we're getting closer to him," Haruka replied, looking at the building where the monster had led them. It was a hospital but right now a huge sign had appeared above the front door. It read: "MONSTER EMPLOYMENT AGENCY"
"What's the big difference between an office and an agency?" Trunks asked.
"Seeing as we're dealing with monsters here, I think agency sounds fancier," Michiru replied. "I'm pretty sure that they're merely copying the human world because right now they have to."
"And I'm planning to find out why," Bulma stated, pushing the door open. "I'm Bulma Briefs, I have an appointment."
"Funny how everyone gets so nervous and runs around in panic when you show up," Haruka commented as they went up the stairs.
Bulma grinned. "The advantages of being the future owner of the planet's biggest industrial enterprise. Okay people, showtime." She knocked on the door that read "MANAGEMENT" and stormed in without waiting for a reply.
"Are you the boss here?" she demanded from the monster sitting behind the table. The cabinet looked similar to the one they had been to before, only bigger and fancier; the monster also looked similar, only the suit was more expensive and the monster himself twice as nervous. After hearing the usually babble about unexpected visits and bad workers, the woman laconically asked if the monster was responsible for everything that was going on in the city.
"Uh, no," the boogeyman replied timidly, "as a matter of fact, I don't know much about the matter that interests you but if you need to know thorough information…"
He didn't get further. Bulma exploded. About sixty per cent of it was acting – Bulma had gotten really used to her role as a die-hard angry nightmare of the business world – but the rest was pure rage. Everyone tried not to get on her way as she stormed around in the cabinet. Only Vegeta and Trunks who were already used to her temper sat there without raising a brow and listened to what she had to say. And she had a lot to say.
"I can not believe it! What is this, Moronville? A human child would do a better job in this office than you hairballs! Has everyone I've been forced to talk to today forgot to wash their ears or something? I tell them loud and clear that I want to talk to the person responsible for this whole business and what do they tell me? That's right – they send me to another idiot who blabs something about not having enough information and so on! What are you getting your salary for?" Now the acting totally disappeared and the owner of the planet's biggest enterprise stood in the middle of the cabinet, flaming in righteous fury. "No wonder the company isn't doing so well when the supposed "bosses" are nothing but a bunch of fleabags with popcorn instead of their brains, and…"
"Bulma," Vegeta interrupted calmly, "we don't have all night."
The woman snorted. "Fine. I'll ask you the very last time and listen carefully." Her eyes nailed the monster into the armchair. "If I wanted to talk to the boss of Capsule Corporation, I'd go to Mr. Briefs, my father, right?" The monster nodded with fear. "Nice. Now, if I wanted to talk to the boss of the Monster Employment Agency, who would I go to?"
"Happy Fun Park, the concert hall," the monster replied very quietly and practically sunk into the armchair.
"Finally," Bulma snorted and stamped towards the door. The others got up but Haruka said:
"He still has something to say. Right?" She glanced at the monster that caught himself thinking that actually Bulma's flaming rage was nothing compared to that girl's navy blue eyes that seemed to see right through him and read his very deepest secrets, from his lunch that day to the name of his teddybear.
"Restricted," he muttered very quietly, "not allowed… for anyone…"
"In that case he shouldn't even be the boss," Bulma snapped. "Seriously, this place needs some adjustment in managing… and also in management," she added with a frown and went out.
"Did you have to go so hard on the poor guy?" Trunks asked his mother as they all went towards the Happy Fun Park which didn't actually seem so happy at the moment.
"Bureaucracy, my dear," the woman replied. "If I hadn't exploded like that, he would've just sent me to another suited airhead… and another and another. Bulma Briefs or not, nobody wants to be the responsible one. We would've circled the whole city like that and I can bet the CC's stocks that these monsters and agencies disappear with sunrise."
"There's the park," Yaten said with a yawn. "And that's supposedly the concert hall." He pointed at a small building with a round roof by the pond. The pond's water was dark green and the hall looked like every other building in the city.
"I wonder if anyone called him?" Michiru asked as they stopped in front of the black door.
"Now we will," Vegeta said. "Knock knock." He slammed his fist into the door.
It didn't move. Not very surprisingly – but a face appeared into the melting surface of the door. It stretched its mouth open and announced:
"This door is protected by magic and can not be entered."
"Magic, huh?" Vegeta turned around. "That's your line, girls."
Uranus, Neptune and Saturn had already transformed. The Sailor Star Lights were about to finish.
"Let's see then," Sailor Saturn said, raising her Glaive. Uranus and Neptune grabbed their talismans and the Star Lights were each holding a shining star in their hands. "Okay girls, let's get inside."
The Glaive stabbed the door, a second later Aqua Mirror's blue energy and Space Sword's red blade joined it. The door bent… and as the three bright stars slammed into it too, it screeched, fell open and disappeared. Saturn was the first one to enter and the others followed her quickly.
"Whoa," was the only thing they could say.