Prediction

Bulma expected resistance from ChiChi. Hell, she would have been upset if the younger girl didn't protest the return to West City. But of all the things the younger girl would do or say to keep Bulma where she was, being sat on never occurred to the former heiress. And with the weighted training clothes ChiChi had on, neither was oxygen.

It took Krillin's observation that "She's turning blue," to convince the mountain princess to get off.

The blue-haired, and nearly blue-faced, girl greedily gulped for air a few times before explaining why she would be heading back to West City.

"Son Gohan has my Dragon Balls, ChiChi's found Master Roshi, and all that's left for me to do is to make the people who murdered my parents pay. Except they can apparently stop bullets with their fucking bare hands. I'm going to need some serious upgrades in my weaponry. I mean, I did bring a portable lab with me," Bulma turned to the people in the cavern, "No offense but this place isn't exactly equipped to handle the kind of juice my workstation needs."

"You're going to need more than weapons when you're dealing with someone like Tao and his pupils," Roshi said. "I knew the man from way back when. Ruthless then, ruthless still. If he's looking for you he's not going to stop just because we beat him once."

"Good! That just saves me the trouble of tracking them down," Bulma said haughtily.

"And what if they find you and you haven't finished making whatever it is you plan on making?" ChiChi demanded. "Or worse! You finished it and it's not good enough? What then? I-I'm not letting you face that danger alone!"

"You can't put your training on hold for me! You still have your Mountain Kingdom to rescue, remember?"

"Doesn't sensei have a training menu for someone who does a lot of traveling?" Krillin suddenly asked.

"Yeah, but she'd need a chaperon or two to make sure she was actually sticking to it," Yamcha countered.

It was unreal. Thoroughly, undeniably unreal. Bulma could understand why ChiChi was so adamant and concerned about her safety but the others? She knew them less than a day and they were practically tripping all over themselves to help. Kami, it was like the Ox King all over again and look how that turned out.

The thought of ChiChi's father and subsequently her own parents had tears pricking Bulma's eyes. After surreptitiously wiping them away she sighed, "L-look, this is flattering and all but I don't think I need-"

"It's settled then," Son Gohan declared, rising from the stone table. "Roshi and I will prepare a training menu for ChiChi, Krillin, and Yamcha while they escort Bulma to West City."

"But why?"

"The Red Ribbon Army wants you. That's reason enough for me to keep you from them," Yamcha said. He sounded determined and fierce and would have looked so suave if he hadn't been staring at her shoes.

"I should join you whippersnappers but someone's gotta stay behind and watch over this place. I've also noticed that the boys have been depending too much on their sensei to bail them out. They gotta learn to stand on their own two feet," Roshi sagely explained. "And besides, my back's acting up just from last night's buggy ride! And it's about a month's drive from here to West City, isn't it?"

"It's only two weeks in a regular air-car but two months in Yamcha's clunker," Krillin teased.

"Don't you talk smack about my ride," the scarred teen warned, eyes narrowing dangerously at his fellow student.

The levity was clearly for Bulma and ChiChi's sake but the two young women appreciated the effort. Again, Bulma wiped at the corner of her eyes before declaring, "In that case we'll take one of my air-cars. But if you like, I can take a quick peek under your hood, Yamcha." She winked at him and tried not to laugh when his face turned beet red.

The only one in the cavern not to say anything was Fortuneteller Baba. The old crone was too busy finishing her lunch.

"ChiChi, could you come with me?" Son Gohan asked.

"O-oh, um, yes, but it might take a bit of waiting," she said shyly as her weighted garments slowed her down.

"That's all right, dear," he said heading into a tunnel. "Just follow me," his voice echoed.

ChiChi struggled to keep up but now and again Gohan would pause and glance over his shoulders to make sure she hadn't gotten lost. Eventually, they reached what ChiChi learned was Gohan's room. He told her to wait outside just for a moment.

"I need to tidy things up for a lady, you see," he chuckled before he pushed the curtain back and welcomed her in. Shelves were carved right into the walls and each row was packed with all sorts of urns and jugs and weapons. Gohan lightly leapt up to grab for something at the very top and he landed facing ChiChi.

"You're going to need a weapon to defend yourself with and I have just the thing." He held out a red staff. "This is a very special bo."

"What makes it special?"

Gohan smiled, shifted his hold on the weapon, and concentrated. The short staff suddenly extended by a foot. Again Gohan concentrated and the staff retracted back to its original length.

"Th-this is amazing! A-are you sure I can have it?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Roshi told me your Ki-helmet was damaged during your fight against Tao."

"N-no, it was th-the big metal man who killed my father that broke it."

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that."

ChiChi only sniffled as the memories of Ox King came rushing back. She didn't want to cry in front of a stranger but she couldn't stop herself no matter how hard she tried. She was starting to think she should stay behind, focus on her training, and let Bulma handle things by herself.

But her father wouldn't have wanted that. And ChiChi didn't think she could live with herself if something happened to Bulma. She dried her tears with the heavy armband and accepted the bo from Gohan.

"You won't be leaving until tomorrow, so let me show you some basic stances."

"Sh-shouldn't I change into something lighter first?"

"No, keep the weighted clothes on."

ChiChi quickly learned that behind the kindly voice and the gentle smile was an iron-fisted trainer.

Tomorrow came and an exhausted ChiChi, still wearing the training clothes, climbed into the passenger seat of Bulma's air-car. She normally had more energy than this but the strength training from Roshi combined with the staff exercises with Gohan meant the instant she sat down and buckled herself in, she fell fast asleep.

"Why are you driving?" Yamcha grumbled. His eyes were fixed on the blue-haired girl's shoes.

"My car, my keys," Bulma answered, suddenly leaning forward so that her eyes met his. "But don't worry, you'll get your turn at my sweet ride."

The scarred young man crimsoned and hastily looked away, seemingly forgetting his ability of speech.

Krillin was going over the training regimen with Roshi and Gohan when Baba appeared.

"What is it, Sis?" Roshi asked.

"Not sure," Baba answered, peering intently into her crystal ball, "But it might pay for you to be extra careful when you get to West City."

"Why? What did you see?" Bulma demanded, squinting at her reflection on the sphere's surface.

"Black."

"What, like, darkness?" Krillin tilted his head in confusion.

"Maybe."

"Will they need someone more experienced to go with them?" Gohan asked with a worried frown.

"I don't think so. I didn't see anything more. It could just be smog." And Baba said nothing more on the subject.

Bulma chalked it up to Baba trying to maintain the whole mystical, magical schtick. But because the old woman's vision had saved her and ChiChi from being captured by the Red Ribbon's men, she kept a wary eye out as the four of them drove off to West City.

A/N: Sorry to switch out from the Saiyans but there needs to be a few more updates for Bulma and ChiChi first. Although with the holidays coming up, those might take longer than usual. Anyway, thank you for all your reviews and favorites!