Episode 72

Hopeless Efforts

Bulma was trying really hard to distract herself from thinking about her friends too much. Unfortunately, she could only get more anxious whether she thought about them or not.

Cargo and Dende had awakened from their restful slumber, but only to be met with the Earthling's frustration and worries. They could not blame her for feeling like this though.

Bulma looked up towards the Namekians and tried to act normal, so as not to give any more unnecessary stress to the children. "You guys must be hungry. Would you like me to prepare food?"

"We don't eat, remember?" Cargo said. "We just need some water, please."

"Okay then," Bulma got out from her couch and poured in some iced water in two glasses in the kitchen.

Dende asked, "Are you all right, Miss?"

Bulma gave them their water. She then sat on the carpet floor, letting out a sigh. "I don't know. I'm just worried."

"I'm worried, too," Dende agreed, "but I guess it's no use trying to mope around the whole time. We'll just keep hoping for the best."

An idea suddenly hit Bulma. "That's it!"

"That's what?" asked Cargo.

"I'll make myself useful around here. I'm sure our friends will be back in no time, but we'll need a ship to head back home. I need to repair it," Bulma said.

"A ship?" Dende got out from the couch as well.

"Yes, we arrived here on a spaceship obviously. Some of Frieza's men damaged it, but I think I can still fix it," Bulma believed.

"Are you saying we should leave?" Cargo became worried. "But we should probably stay here. It may still be too dangerous for us to go outside."

Bulma went to the kitchen room and took out her box of convenient capsules from the drawer. "I think it'll be even more dangerous if we linger any longer. Vegeta was able to locate us. We might as well keep on moving."

Dende and Cargo still had their doubts.

"Don't worry. If anything should happen, I happen to have a really awesome motorcycle stored in one of these capsules," she opened the box for the Namekian children to see. "My motorcycle can get us out of trouble in lightning-speed mode, should we encounter trouble along the way."

"Stored? Are you saying you can store big things in a tiny space that those bottles have?" Cargo was intrigued. "That's impossible!"

"With a brilliant scientist and inventor at your side, anything's possible," Bulma began to smile. "Come on," she then held their shoulders. "Trust me on this. We'll just fix our ship, store it in one of these empty capsules, and then make our way back here, okay?"

Cargo and Dende looked at each other for a moment. They would just have to trust in Bulma on this then.

Bulma began to make preparations. "Let's hurry up," she then glanced out of the window as she thought about her friend, Goku. "And Goku, I don't know if you're here yet or not, but whatever happens, I'm counting on you!"

Burter and Jeice were busy launching energy blasts and engaging the Saiyans in a fearsome blows crash. They were using everything they can at their disposal, but the Saiyans were not letting down at all. At the end, Goku sent a fearless punch to Burter's face, throwing him off to the skies while Bardock and Raditz teamed up to knee-strike Jeice straight to his abdomen, which almost shattered his armor.

Jeice wiped the purple blood from his lips. He growled even more. His eyes shifted towards King Cold who was looking the other way, his mind still thinking of other things. It seemed like he was only waiting for them to die. Jeice had never felt so nervous in his life.

"Hey, Jeice!" Burter called him.

Jeice looked at his comrade. "Huh?"

"If these low-leveled soldiers want to play around like this, it's about time we end their little game. It's time for the Purple Spiral Flash Attack," Burter declared.

Jeice liked the sound of that. "The Purple Spiral Flash, huh? Right, Burter, let's do it. Now."

Goku, Raditz, and Bardock went to their fighting stances once more.

Burter charged up, his sapphire-colored aura turning into a sphere and then, surrounded him. Jeice powered up also, his crimson aura enclosing his entire body. After they collected the energy they needed, Jeice and Burter then collided with each other, forming a roaring tornado. They spun continuously and released numerous purple disks at the Saiyans, intending to slice them in half.

Goku yelled with force as he made a huge force field, guarding him and his family from the incoming disks. Their attacks were instantly canceled from Goku's remarkable defense. Bardock and Raditz then countered by firing energy waves from their palms.

Jeice and Burter were stopped, fazed by their attacks. They breathed heavily, the pain stinging them, but they were too stubborn to give up.

"We didn't even touch any of them!" Jeice snarled. He bent his arms and legs as he gathered energy again. "You'll-you'll pay for this. No one messes with the mighty Ginyu Force!"

He raised his left hand, his stance as if he was the pitcher at a baseball game. On top of his hand, there emerged a hovering ball, dark red and filled with vigorous energy. It was spinning without end, gathering enough force that may inflict severe damage.

"Crusher Ball!" Jeice pitched it towards the three Saiyans.

Burter smirked a bit. "Hah, hah, there's no way they can get away with this one. They have no choice but to dodge it!"

Yet, it was completely the exact opposite of what they thought of. Goku instead deflected the Crusher Ball with his own arm, steering it to the background instead. It soon disappeared in the skies.

"No! How could he-?!" Jeice could not believe this was happening to them.

Burter had to check with his scouter and realized that their power levels were still constantly low. He had a feeling that the Saiyans were truly hiding most of their potential.

"I have no time to play catch with you," Goku told Jeice. He then turned around, but realized Bardock looked a bit panicked, his body swayed to the side as if he just evaded something.

"Oh! Dad, is something wrong?" he sheepishly smiled, pretending that he did not know.

"What are you doing? You nearly hit me, Kakarot," Bardock growled.

"Oh, heh, heh, sorry," Goku said while looking at his arm. "Man, I should've looked where I was deflecting that-OW!"

Instead, Bardock smacked him on the head and Goku had to rub his cranium to ease the pain.

"Ay, ay, ay, that kinda hurt. I'm really sorry, Dad!" Goku apologized again.

Raditz only raised his eyebrows, his lips pulling to a half-smile.

Burter saw how the Saiyans were not taking this fight seriously at all. It was apparent they were getting bored, which only meant that he and Jeice were weak to them. He despised this thought, however, and he will prove that he was still strong and still the fastest warrior in the universe.

Burter almost lost control of himself and decided to head towards the Saiyans himself. The three sensed him approaching fast, but they reacted faster than him and they ended up exchanging shots. Shockwaves were trembling, generating force from their attacks with the thumping sound of firecrackers. Unfortunately, Burter missed his punch, his fist hitting the air instead. Goku then tripped him while Raditz dashed towards the so-called "fastest warrior in the universe" and gave a swift sidekick to his back, breaking his armor this time and making him crash towards Jeice.

Jeice and Burter fell hard on the floor, shooting rocks everywhere. They struggled to get up from this impact.

"Get off of me, you stupid bloke!" Jeice demanded from his comrade.

Soon, they were back on their feet, but they almost lost their balance.

Burter panted. "No, this can't be happening. How could they anticipate my attacks? No one's that fast!"

"Aah! Behind you!" warned Jeice.

Burter turned around and already, Goku was standing behind him. Goku heard every word he said. "Well, apparently, I'm also fast," he remarked.

Jeice also noticed that Bardock was standing a few feet behind him and Raditz was still floating in the skies, keeping his eyes on them.

"Who-who are you?" Burter felt he had to ask the "mystery man."

"My name is Goku," Goku answered and his hands curled into proud fists. "I'm a Saiyan…from Earth."

"Saiyans…I fought every Saiyan in this entire galaxy and none of them is faster than me!" Burter denied the truth still.

"…until now," Bardock told him.

Burter lost control again and went for a flurry of rapid punches and kicks to Goku. Goku seemed to be making a mockery out of him as he was evading every single attack without letting himself get hit. Jeice tried to pitch in to help, but Bardock teleported in front of him.

"Where do you think you're going?" he intimidated him.

This was the last straw for Jeice. He gave a battle yell and he had no choice but to fight Bardock one-on-one. They kept their skirmish on the ground. Like Goku, Bardock was holding back on his punches. He avoided his every move as he aimed to tire Jeice out.

"Gotta keep going!" Burter told himself. "You're gonna screw up some time!"

"Oh yeah? We'll just see about that," Goku heard him.

Burter made his last punch the strongest, but Goku leaped away and re-surfaced behind him. He lifted his right foot and as quick as he can, did a sidekick to his already-damaged armor. Burter was brought to his knees, but he still persisted to take Goku down. He tried again while Goku was back to dodging his moves once more. To him, this was not even a battle anymore. It was more like his daily exercise.

From above, Raditz watched his family and the rest of the Ginyu Force clash at one another. He began to raise both of his arms, energy pulsating and beating from both of his hands. Visible rays flickered and danced around his fingertips as he prepared to make his Double Sunday happen. He kept vigilant eyes, waiting for that perfect time to execute his attack without flaws.

Meanwhile, Bulma was making her way towards the spaceship. She was riding on her white motorcycle with the Capsule Corp logo painted on the side. Cargo and Dende were with her and strapped in safely. Bulma was hurrying to get to the ship, hoping that it was still there where they had left it.

"So…this is what you call a 'motorcycle'?" asked Dende. He was holding onto Bulma tightly for he was afraid he might fall off.

"I've never seen anything like it," Cargo said who was at the back and holding onto his brother.

"Mmm-hmm," Bulma nodded. "At this rate, we'll get to our ship in no time. Hang tight!"

She accelerated more, leaving trails of dust behind.

Out in the open skies, Nail was picking up a faint energy from afar. It was subtle, but he had no doubts that it was filled with malice as well. He also felt it was coming towards his path.

"It's still far, but it's definitely an enemy," Nail said in a soft voice. "It must be Frieza."

Nail's aura burst as he flew faster than before.

Frieza with his two armed medics were also traveling as fast as they can to get to Guru's house.

"I will get my wish. I will get my wish!" Frieza screamed. "And when I do, it'll be the last time these worthless Namekians see this face before I eradicate them all. And then, the entire universe will be mine. No one can stop me."

He left with a malicious grin on his face. All this tension, pressure, challenges to his authority, they could only fuel his appetite to achieve his immortality.