A/N: There are no Author's notes in this chapter, none whatsoever...
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(Previously)
And while she was still engrossed in her thoughts, she did not notice the figure climb into the bathroom she was in from the open window from behind her.
The flame-haired man named Vegeta sneaked behind her quietly, with his trademark smirk on his face, and an evil glint in his eyes.
He had always wanted to do this, and now he'd get his chance.
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"BOO!", he yelled, causing Bulma to shriek and jump in the air in surprise and fear.
"Vegeta!", Bulma shouted as she turned to face him, and shot him an angry look that nearly rivalled his own trademark scowl.
The arrogant Saiyan prince chuckled at the Earth woman's glare, clearly not intimadated by it in the least.
"That is no way to welcome back a prince. You say: "Welcome back, Your Highness."
"Fine. 'Welcome back, Your Highness'.", she said mockingly.
"And just what the hell did you think you were doing, sneaking up on me like that?!"
"I did it to torture you, just because I know you're saddened by the weakling Human named Yamcha's death.", Vegeta said while smirking.
This caused a look of shock to cross Bulma's face, and another thought to strike her.
"H-how did you know about Yamcha's death?! They've only announced it this morning, before you came back!"
Bulma was able to sense when Vegeta was on Earth due to the link they shared, but she did not detect Vegeta until now.
Although she would not have been able to sense if Vegeta returned the night before, as she was too exhausted by her work.
"I make it my business to know, woman.", the Saiyan Prince said.
Vegeta's excuse was in vain, however, as his explanation did not subdue her suspicion of him in the least.
She still believed he had something to do with it.
"However, I shall not bother myself any further with this, I'm going to train.", he said while exiting the room, with the Gravity Chamber as his destination.
Bulma sank back down to the floor moments after his departure, to gather her thoughts once again.
However, no matter how much she focused, she could not bring herself to concentrate.
She stood up, and opened the shower's hot water tap, hoping it would clear her mind.
Elsewhere, at the Kame House, Goku, Krillin, Master Roshi, and Oolong conversed amongst each other about the strange happenings that had been taking place.
Goku had been nearly equally as sad as Bulma when he received the news about the death of his old bandit friend,
and vowed to get revenge, and above all, to stop the mindless killing game the murderer was playing with them.
"Hmm...", Master Roshi mumbled under his breath while staring somberly at the wooden table infront of him.
For the first time in quite a number of years, Master Roshi was acting seriously.
Even the pig, named Oolong, on his right upon the soft white couches they sat, held a grim expression on his face.
Goku sat on the couch opposite from them, a serious expression etched on his face.
They all sat unmoving, and unspeaking upon the couches, processesing the direness of the situation in their minds,
trying to come up with the solution to this mystery, this challenge that was too difficult for even them, the great and powerful Z-warriors, to overcome.
Yamcha's death had riled them up, and Goku had even abandoned his training for the day to try and find out who the murderer was, and to stop the killings.
However, he could not solve the mystery on his own, therefore he had left to the Kame House for help,
although he doubted whether the perverted Turtle Hermit or the shape-shifting pig had any valuable advice worth giving.
"Well, for one thing, we know the murderer must be strong, to be able to effortlessly kill a man as powerful as Yamcha...
that leaves us with the assumption that the enemy is a Saiyan.", Master Roshi began.
"But what kind of Saiyan? A defeated one seeking revenge, or a new enemy killing for his own goals?"
"Whatever it is, it still creeps me out. I haven't been able to sleep a wink in days!", Oolong complained,
the dark bags under his eyes proof of this.
"Wait a second, where'd this Saiyan thing come from?", Goku asked.
"For all we know, it could be Frieza! Afterall, in the note it said:
'You all already know me, Vegeta in particular' ", Goku recited, and the old man and the pig nodded in sudden agreement.
"Hmm...Yes, yes...It seems more likely to be Frieza, now that you mention it...", muttered the old pervert, engrossed in his thoughts.
"If it is, we shouldn't have that much of a problem. Frieza was nothing compared to Cell...", Goku remarked.
"If it really is him, we can easily defeat him, and then wish back the others using the Dragonballs.".
The others nodded again, agreeing to Goku's plan.
"Anyway, we should all stick together just in case it's someone stronger, and also for you guys that can't defend yourselves.", Goku said bluntly,
injurying Master Roshi and Oolong's pride.
"Shut up! Don't forget who trained you in the first place!", the Turtle-Hermit flared at him,
swinging his arms about wildly in an attempt to regain some of his lost pride.
"Calm down, Master Roshi, I didn't mean like that...", Goku said while positioning his open hands infront of him defensively.
Goku's mildly nervous expression turned into one of dead-seriousness within a nanosecond, surprising the other inhabitants of the room
at his sudden mood change.
The third-class Saiyan had a look of tremendous focus on his face, and the others dared not disturb while he was in that state.
"(Chi-Chi's energy...It...disappeared...!)", Goku thought, a shocked expression crossing his face as he was unable to sense his wife's energy any longer.
His former teacher sought an explanation, but Goku cut him short.
"Sorry Master Roshi, but something important just came up.", Goku said in a hurry as he pressed his index and middle finger to his forhead.
He stalled for a moment, locating his house where Chi-Chi should have been.
Goku could still sense Goten's energy at the house, but fought against time to get there quickly incase the murderer was there again.
Just as he stood at the center of the room, he disappeared with a whizzing sound, which still surprised them, although they had already seen it numerous times.
"What do you think got him all serious?", Oolong questioned his hermit friend.
"Beats me.", Master Roshi said as he picked up one of his porn magazines, and he instantly forgot all about the event that just occured.
"Hey, I was waiting to read that!", Oolong yelled and pounced on the Turtle Hermit, and tried to wrestle the magazine from him,
but Master Roshi was much more powerful, and all he got was a knob on the head in response.
The pig sat muttering darkly under his breath as he faced the wall, arms crossed knowing he had no chance of victory.
Master Roshi was not fazed by his attitude though, and just continued reading.
Foolish sounds erupted from his mouth and he got a slight nose-bleed as he stared at a particular picture, causing Oolong to get all the more angry,
but he still didn't make a move, and instead chose to read one of the other porn magazines once again which he had read many times over.
Meanwhile, back at the Son House, Goku bursted through the front door, not even bothering to open it.
"CHI-CHI!", He yelled into the empty house.
Slowly, he surveyed his surroundings.
The house was just as he left it:
Perfectly fixed, except for the broken front door, courtesy of him.
The house looked calm, and peaceful, but Goku sensed a feeling of dread in the air, telling him that everything was not normal.
"Chi-Chi?", Goku called as he quietly ascended the staircase leading up to their room.
He slowly tip-toed towards the room door, and reached out and grasped the handle, he stood still for a moment in that position,
before he flung the door open at the speed only a Saiyan could possess, but as he had expected, he was not pleased with the sight...
"CHI-CHI!"