Chapter 7
Yamcha and Bulma quickly finished whatever they were doing and hurried towards the living room. Although their awe at meeting a God had been washed out over the past few days, it was clear to them that as of today, he was back in business.
"Okay, first things first," Kami said as they were sitting around the table, "we need to get all the remaining Z Fighters together. That includes Chiaotzu, Yamcha and I will be picking him up this morning"
"But what about breakfa..." Yamcha began, yet he was silenced by a glare from Kami.
"Bulma will remain here to work on something that will disable Piccolo. When he is incapacitated, I will handle him from there on." Kami continued, "I myself will be serving as a test subject, as I am the only one of his kind on Earth."
"Okay I will," Bulma agreed, "also, when Chi-Chi wakes up, I'll try to keep her busy as well, to keep her mind off things."
"Good," Kami said, "everyone agrees with this?"
When no one spoke up, Kami nodded to himself. It had begun. He stood up, and pressed the blue button on the watch Bulma had given him. Within a few seconds he stood in his disguise, motioning for Yamcha to follow him. Yamcha had been to West City Hospital before, due to an unfortunate sparring accident with Krillin, so he knew how to get there. Suppressing their power levels from that of an average human to near zero, they opened the doors and threw a capsule outside. Within a large puff of smoke, stood a dark blue hover car with a roof. They quickly scrambled in and took off.
Bulma watched them drive off towards the hospital, painfully witnessing they took a wrong turn, which would make them arrive at their destination about twenty minutes later than planned. With a sigh, Bulma closed the door. She walked to the kitchen, and, after having eaten a small breakfast, went downstairs to work on inventing a device able to stop Piccolo.
Several hours later, Yamcha and Kami parked their hover car on the parking lot of the hospital and got out. Then went inside and soon found their way to the receptionist's desk, while Yamcha checked on Chiaotzu's Ki, to make sure he was indeed here.
"Good day," Yamcha said, using all of his natural charms (A/N: cough)"would you be willing to tell us where we could find Chiaotzu, a friend of ours?"
"Very well sirs," the receptionist replied, punching in the name, "Oh I'm sorry, that room is off limits"
"No way," Yamcha said, "Why's that?"
"He's one of the Budokai competitors, sir," she told them, "No one is allowed into that area to prevent reporters from disturbing their recovery"
"Yeah but I fought in the Budokai as well," Yamcha said, checking his pockets, "I just don't seem to have my ID on me right now though..."
"This is going to take a while, and time we do not have." Kami interrupted.
He raised his visor and looked the receptionist straight into her eyes.
"What.. room?" he asked her slowly, in a lethargic voice.
The girl started swaying slightly behind her desk, no doubt under the influence of a strong hypnosis. She mouthed the words 'Top floor, room 027' a few times. Kami, satisfied with the answer, slammed his visor back down and started to walk towards the elevator, quickly followed by a perplexed Yamcha. The receptionist, still busy shrugging off the effects of what she would believe to be a bad night's sleep, never noticed them leave.
Chiaotzu went wide-awake again when he sensed the same source as before scanning the area for his Ki signature. This time they were close. Very close, Chiaotzu thought. Knowing there wasn't anyplace he could hide in the room, especially not in his condition, he just eased back and waited for what was to come. He felt two people walking towards the end of the hallway, where his room was located. One of them seemed familiar, as if he had sensed it before somewhere. The other seemed almost... holy. Chiaotzu was pondering on this when Yamcha and Kami entered the room.
"Good morning Chiaotzu," Yamcha greeted him, "how're you holding up?"
"Yamcha!" Chiaotzu said, Yamcha's face hitting home in his mind, "I felt you track my Ki yesterday, but I was too weak to follow it."
"Hey, no problem," Yamcha replied, "but we came to get you out of here."
"I appreciate the offer," Chiaotzu told them, "but like I said, I'm still too weak to even get out of this bed without feeling dizzy."
"That can be arranged," Kami said, placing his hands near the small warrior's chest.
"What are you doing?" Chiaotzu asked, confused by what the man could possibly mean with that.
His relief on seeing the first familiar face since the Tournament had been sufficient not to notice the strange man step into the room. Chiaotzu vaguely wondered what kind of person would walk around dressed like he was, but was alarmed when a strange glow from Kami's hands, started enveloping his body. Much to his surprise, his aches and pains dwindled to nothing, like they were a memory of a memory instead of the wounds that had had him recover in a hospital for the better part of a week. Chiaotzu testingly moved a bit and found that he was back at full health. After taking a deep breath, he removed the bandages from one of his larger wounds and, much to his relief, found unbroken skin underneath them. He looked up at the mysterious stranger, finding himself with a million questions, when Kami, apparently reading his thoughts, interrupted him:
"I am Kami, Guardian of the Earth," he said, "come with us and everything shall be explained to you."
Chiaotzu could only stare. Had he not just witnessed what he was capable of, he'd never have believed that he'd meet Kami in the flesh. Regaining his composure, he nodded, climbing out of bed and walking towards the closet he knew his clothes were in.
---===***===---
Meanwhile, at Capsule Corp, Bulma felt like throwing something. It seemed like everything she tried came up with a dead end. She was about to start from scratch again, hoping there was something she missed, when she heard the doorbell ring.
'Ah why not,' she thought, walking out of her lab towards the front door, 'I guess I could use a break.'
She opened the door, noticing how the man in front of her looked strangely familiar somewhere. He was in his fifties, and he wore brown baggy pants and a black vest over a yellow striped shirt. Bulma felt herself freeze as she recognised the insignia that he wore on his left sleeve, even though she had last seen it several years ago. Two white R's facing each other against a red background. The symbol of the Red Ribbon Army.
"Greetings, miss Briefs," the man said, "I am Dr. Gero."
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A/N: Okies i know it's been a while between updates, but i WON'T be abandoning this fic, even though i lack the time to work on it... Eventually, i'll be having some more time on my hands so i can get a few more chapters done without having to cram my writing into the niches in my timetable :S
Thanks for the reviews so far, they really helped getting some ideas into my head ^_^ And next update you'll get to find out just what exactly Dr. Gero is doing there ;)
Yamcha and Bulma quickly finished whatever they were doing and hurried towards the living room. Although their awe at meeting a God had been washed out over the past few days, it was clear to them that as of today, he was back in business.
"Okay, first things first," Kami said as they were sitting around the table, "we need to get all the remaining Z Fighters together. That includes Chiaotzu, Yamcha and I will be picking him up this morning"
"But what about breakfa..." Yamcha began, yet he was silenced by a glare from Kami.
"Bulma will remain here to work on something that will disable Piccolo. When he is incapacitated, I will handle him from there on." Kami continued, "I myself will be serving as a test subject, as I am the only one of his kind on Earth."
"Okay I will," Bulma agreed, "also, when Chi-Chi wakes up, I'll try to keep her busy as well, to keep her mind off things."
"Good," Kami said, "everyone agrees with this?"
When no one spoke up, Kami nodded to himself. It had begun. He stood up, and pressed the blue button on the watch Bulma had given him. Within a few seconds he stood in his disguise, motioning for Yamcha to follow him. Yamcha had been to West City Hospital before, due to an unfortunate sparring accident with Krillin, so he knew how to get there. Suppressing their power levels from that of an average human to near zero, they opened the doors and threw a capsule outside. Within a large puff of smoke, stood a dark blue hover car with a roof. They quickly scrambled in and took off.
Bulma watched them drive off towards the hospital, painfully witnessing they took a wrong turn, which would make them arrive at their destination about twenty minutes later than planned. With a sigh, Bulma closed the door. She walked to the kitchen, and, after having eaten a small breakfast, went downstairs to work on inventing a device able to stop Piccolo.
Several hours later, Yamcha and Kami parked their hover car on the parking lot of the hospital and got out. Then went inside and soon found their way to the receptionist's desk, while Yamcha checked on Chiaotzu's Ki, to make sure he was indeed here.
"Good day," Yamcha said, using all of his natural charms (A/N: cough)"would you be willing to tell us where we could find Chiaotzu, a friend of ours?"
"Very well sirs," the receptionist replied, punching in the name, "Oh I'm sorry, that room is off limits"
"No way," Yamcha said, "Why's that?"
"He's one of the Budokai competitors, sir," she told them, "No one is allowed into that area to prevent reporters from disturbing their recovery"
"Yeah but I fought in the Budokai as well," Yamcha said, checking his pockets, "I just don't seem to have my ID on me right now though..."
"This is going to take a while, and time we do not have." Kami interrupted.
He raised his visor and looked the receptionist straight into her eyes.
"What.. room?" he asked her slowly, in a lethargic voice.
The girl started swaying slightly behind her desk, no doubt under the influence of a strong hypnosis. She mouthed the words 'Top floor, room 027' a few times. Kami, satisfied with the answer, slammed his visor back down and started to walk towards the elevator, quickly followed by a perplexed Yamcha. The receptionist, still busy shrugging off the effects of what she would believe to be a bad night's sleep, never noticed them leave.
Chiaotzu went wide-awake again when he sensed the same source as before scanning the area for his Ki signature. This time they were close. Very close, Chiaotzu thought. Knowing there wasn't anyplace he could hide in the room, especially not in his condition, he just eased back and waited for what was to come. He felt two people walking towards the end of the hallway, where his room was located. One of them seemed familiar, as if he had sensed it before somewhere. The other seemed almost... holy. Chiaotzu was pondering on this when Yamcha and Kami entered the room.
"Good morning Chiaotzu," Yamcha greeted him, "how're you holding up?"
"Yamcha!" Chiaotzu said, Yamcha's face hitting home in his mind, "I felt you track my Ki yesterday, but I was too weak to follow it."
"Hey, no problem," Yamcha replied, "but we came to get you out of here."
"I appreciate the offer," Chiaotzu told them, "but like I said, I'm still too weak to even get out of this bed without feeling dizzy."
"That can be arranged," Kami said, placing his hands near the small warrior's chest.
"What are you doing?" Chiaotzu asked, confused by what the man could possibly mean with that.
His relief on seeing the first familiar face since the Tournament had been sufficient not to notice the strange man step into the room. Chiaotzu vaguely wondered what kind of person would walk around dressed like he was, but was alarmed when a strange glow from Kami's hands, started enveloping his body. Much to his surprise, his aches and pains dwindled to nothing, like they were a memory of a memory instead of the wounds that had had him recover in a hospital for the better part of a week. Chiaotzu testingly moved a bit and found that he was back at full health. After taking a deep breath, he removed the bandages from one of his larger wounds and, much to his relief, found unbroken skin underneath them. He looked up at the mysterious stranger, finding himself with a million questions, when Kami, apparently reading his thoughts, interrupted him:
"I am Kami, Guardian of the Earth," he said, "come with us and everything shall be explained to you."
Chiaotzu could only stare. Had he not just witnessed what he was capable of, he'd never have believed that he'd meet Kami in the flesh. Regaining his composure, he nodded, climbing out of bed and walking towards the closet he knew his clothes were in.
---===***===---
Meanwhile, at Capsule Corp, Bulma felt like throwing something. It seemed like everything she tried came up with a dead end. She was about to start from scratch again, hoping there was something she missed, when she heard the doorbell ring.
'Ah why not,' she thought, walking out of her lab towards the front door, 'I guess I could use a break.'
She opened the door, noticing how the man in front of her looked strangely familiar somewhere. He was in his fifties, and he wore brown baggy pants and a black vest over a yellow striped shirt. Bulma felt herself freeze as she recognised the insignia that he wore on his left sleeve, even though she had last seen it several years ago. Two white R's facing each other against a red background. The symbol of the Red Ribbon Army.
"Greetings, miss Briefs," the man said, "I am Dr. Gero."
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====================================================================================================
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A/N: Okies i know it's been a while between updates, but i WON'T be abandoning this fic, even though i lack the time to work on it... Eventually, i'll be having some more time on my hands so i can get a few more chapters done without having to cram my writing into the niches in my timetable :S
Thanks for the reviews so far, they really helped getting some ideas into my head ^_^ And next update you'll get to find out just what exactly Dr. Gero is doing there ;)