I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the rights to any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 18: The Rich and Pompous
The next few days were rather routine, though I couldn't help but detect a deafening silence that shouldn't have been there. Vegeta's shoulder still took some time to recover, especially when he refused to be healed once my spirit power came back. Personally I think he just wanted to test how well his own recovery would take without a boost behind it. By day two though, he was throwing punches again, and Trunks got the receiving end of most of them due to his mistakes in the previous battle. Lenz kept to herself oddly enough, though I could certainly detect the signs of serious hangover in her system when we got back. It was Bulma that was being too quiet for her usual routine. I didn't press her about it, but I had a hunch as to what it was about. I waited till the third day to confront her about it, and did so as directly as I could so she wouldn't dodge the question, and while Vegeta was in the new gravity room, sparring with the holograms.
"So, have you figured out who hired the mercenaries?" I asked straight away. She flinched slightly at this, but relaxed for the moment, she apparently hadn't expected me to come at her with that so soon. She was lucky if she felt that way; I was ready for action within minutes of leaving the temple.
"Yes and no. I do know that they worked for a man named XS Cash, who happens to be the richest man in the world. But whether he actually knew about the operation or not is still up in the air, he's not usually one to put others in danger. It might have been one of the CEOs or scientists. He owns multiple companies all around the world and a lot of them revolve around both science and military aspects, and he's our chief rival with many products. When the Zerg were here, it was assumed that his empire would collapse and a lot of his money would vanish trying to build it back up. Well, he recovered just fine and the money didn't go anywhere. If anything, he's flourishing," she explained.
"I see why you said to be patient. I don't suppose you've narrowed down the possibilities a bit?" I asked.
"From what I can tell, there are only a few under Cash's influence that could have hired those mercenaries and only with Cash's approval. So at the very least, he knows about what went down, maybe not in huge detail but he at least knows there was an operation. I'm planning on paying him a visit tomorrow to discuss things as rationally as possible and work this horrible incident out. Don't tell Vegeta," she warned.
"I won't tell him on one condition. That I go with you," I replied coolly.
"No! Having you along might only make things worse! This is a political and financial nightmare waiting to happen and I don't want you guys getting mixed up in it! Cash used to be business partners with Mr. Satan and they had a very bad fallout, which has turned him against martial artists and the like. You coming along won't help the situation!" she said sternly.
"I'm going, or else you won't be. I'm not going to take the chance that they'll take advantage of that meeting," I replied as calmly as possible.
"Oh Verto, I seriously doubt they would be that foolish!" Bulma said reassuringly, though I wasn't buying it.
"Tell that to the guys who tried to leave you for dead a few days ago," I retorted. Her silence was enough to tell me that she was in agreement.
"I promise I won't act rashly, in fact I may not say a word and let you do the talking. My presence alone should at least clear a few things up, and I'll be able to tell who's lying and who isn't. I will speak out though if he fails to acknowledge something. Besides, letting Vegeta know would be a nightmare for all parties involved, and I don't want to subject everyone to that outcome," I said with a slight grin. Bulma sighed, I had her pinned and she knew it.
"I think I liked you better when you had emotional breakdowns and a lot less of a brain. You certainly kept things interesting, but simple. Fine, we leave for North City at six in the morning!"
-
The trip to North City was long and quiet. Bulma had demanded that we take her private limousine there, which made the ride much longer. I thought I knew why: being a rich and famous woman she wanted to arrive in style. She certainly had dressed the part with her blue colored blazer. She had attempted to lure me into a formal outfit with the promise of a good meal, but when I threatened to change her outfit into a clown suit, she backed down and allowed me to stay in my green and blue uniform. North City itself was looking a lot better than it did when the Zerg had been on Earth. It hadn't really been hit that hard aside from some minor skirmishes on the outskirts, but it had been completely evacuated for a time. It didn't take long for me to see what Bulma had been talking about; this Cash guy was loaded. Hard not to be when you own over half of the city, not to mention all but a few skyscrapers in the business section. Even leaving at six in the morning, we didn't arrive till early afternoon, just after lunchtime. My growling stomach was enough of a hint to stop somewhere first, but Bulma had come prepared and packed one of her mega sandwiches. Since the limo driver was used to it, no one suffered seeing a Saiyan appetite in full swing.
We arrived neatly at one thirty in the afternoon, pulling up to the largest building in town. Cash definitely owned it, since security was all over us upon entering the building. Bulma wasn't scanned and searched near as much as I was, for obvious reasons. I would have considered frying all their scanning equipment if it came to a strip search, but it never came to pass. Once they were satisfied that I had no explosives on me, we were silently led up to one of the upper floors, somewhere near the top but not quite. I took note of the position of every single security guard, just in case something went down. None of them seemed too eager to do anything even close to threatening, if anything it was pure nervousness. Only one time did I have to remind them not to touch Bulma, and that particular guard literally pissed his pants when I glared at him. We came to a large red set of doors, which opened immediately, featuring a plump man rising to our presence, and a young teenager barely noticing from the same large desk.
"Welcome Miss Briefs, hope you don't mind my extra security measures. I had the impression that your husband would be joining you today. I don't need to keep them around do I? I trust your son will behave himself?" he asked as he glanced towards me.
I returned his stare and then allowed myself to smirk just slightly before answering, "If you think it will matter." Cash's smile had reduced itself to a quiver at this point as he gestured to the two chairs sitting before the desk. The other boy in the room barely paid any attention to us; he looked bored to be honest as he stared at a computer screen.
"Monty, you really should say hello, Miss Briefs is a very famous person. And her son fought with Mr. Satan!" Cash said. Monty barely even turned his head before giving me the look over.
"Nah, must be some mistake. He looks too scrawny to be that kid!" Monty claimed. I had considered turning his display screen into a heap of debris, but held back so I that I wouldn't accidentally vaporize the kid's freckled face. Bulma cleared her throat slightly, drawing Cash's attention once again.
"You know why we're here I hope?" she began.
"Of course I do, you're wondering about that little misunderstanding down on that glacier," he replied coolly.
"Misunderstanding?" I said aloud despite Bulma's glare.
"I must confer to you that I did not personally hire them, but the operation was given the go ahead with my approval," he continued. I growled audibly, the guy sounded so cool under fire that it infuriated me. Monty had taken this opportunity to turn off whatever he was getting into; apparently the situation now had more merit to him.
"Control your son Miss Briefs; I have no intentions of ordering him removed, but I will if I have to," Cash warned.
"Verto!" Bulma said in a warning tone. I left Cash with a silent death glare that only Vegeta could reproduce, feeling that for the moment that would do if it meant getting to the bottom of this mystery.
"A young violent prodigy is a bad omen you know. You really shouldn't have brought him along; this is not a matter for adolescents. I suggest you have him wait in the lobby," Cash said, a direct verbal slap to my face. My glare deepened but I managed to stay silent, he obviously was trying to irritate me in an attempt to have me removed from the conversation. That didn't save the armrests of the chair though, and Cash grimaced slightly as they crumbled to the floor.
"Mr. Cash, I need not put a leash on him. He's one of the greatest heroes this world will ever know. I did not intend for this meeting to turn ugly, but rest assured that if it does, he is just as capable as my husband. Now I suggest you tell us why you arranged those guys to sabotage our operation and leave us for dead," Bulma replied with a cold voice I had never heard out of her before. I saw several traces of sweat forming and watched as they trickled down his neck during the next few silent moments.
"I'm afraid that the specific information you are seeking is not at my disclosure right now," he answered. His heart was racing, but his low energy level revealed this to be truthful, well most of it anyway. That's the only thing that saved him from getting fried on the spot.
"Really, that doesn't sound like the work of a financial genius who's always looking into new technologies and products," Bulma said, again in her cool tone. The hell hath no wrath rule at it's best, where's Chichi to make it a full onslaught?
"It doesn't?" he asked, surprised at this answer.
"No, it sounds like the work of a fool backing the true mastermind. Now, would you care to tell us who that is?" she asked.
"No, it no longer concerns you. The operation was a failure; we will leave it at that. Since you first laid claim to the findings, it is yours to do with as you like. We will consider this an unfortunate accident on our part and notify those whom it may concern," Cash answered, back to his cool façade. He kept nervously glancing towards me, but managed to keep a straight face when he said this. His heart rate kept climbing though; it was probably near the point where he would collapse in exhaustion by just taking a few steps. At any time, she could have threatened him and any information he had would have come spilling out like a flood, but she didn't. Not yet anyway. I knew Bulma had a certain way of handling people who were in a position of power, whether they were rich or deep into politics.
"That may work for you, but not for me. Twenty-six people died to the creatures that inhabited that place. At least half of them could have gotten out alive if they hadn't turned on us. More so, we know about the Protoss technology that was activated in the area to narrow our chances of escape. If you remember correctly, it was us that directly worked with them against the Zerg before we were betrayed by a certain Protoss faction. I happen to know a great deal about their technology, so don't even try to deny it. I know that someone under your control specifically redesigned it because we happen to be the only other company in the world with sufficient technology to even identify their machines. More so, one of your flunkies dropped a cell phone that was not only from your company, but also had several call logs to your scientific research facilities. Do I need to go on, or was that enough?" she asked, though her tone had clearly changed from icy to hot. Cash's eyes narrowed slightly with every little piece of evidence she had mentioned. He remained silent, apparently deep in thought and probably trying to figure a way out of his situation. His son Monty, who had been staring at us with unimpressed eyes for a time, simply stared at his father.
"Why do you let them treat you like this Dad? Uncle Flandal wouldn't put up with it you know! He says they are all inferior creatures that must be dealt with," Monty said aloud.
"Quiet Monty!" Cash rasped, but it was far too late. I'm very sure Bulma picked up on every possible aspect of that little tidbit, because she rose out of her chair in an instant. I thought for sure she would press the issue, but instead she turned on her heel and headed for the door. I got up to follow, though I was a bit confused at this sudden urge to leave.
"Goodbye Cash, hopefully the matter between us is settled. However, you may want to inform your brother to stay out of our lives. Next time, it will likely be my husband demanding answers. Let's just say he won't be as, subtle, as I was," she said as she opened the large door, barely turning back to see the frightened expression on Cash's face. I quickly followed her all the way to the car, noting the silent but angry look on her face. It wasn't till we were pulling away did she actually say anything.
"Before you ask, we are going home for now. I had a feeling we weren't dealing with the one behind all this, but it was a start. Flandal is his brother, an expert in the fields of robotics and biotechnologies. I also hear he is quite an accomplished chemist and programmer. Here's the part you don't know; he is a little deranged. Okay, I'll be blunt. He's a fucking psychopath," Bulma said with distaste.
"The question then is what does he want from us?" I asked.
"It's a question that can wait a little while. He isn't stupid by any means, but his insatiable hunger for his own gains has caused his rare mistakes and gotten him into trouble. His brother is the only reason he isn't locked up in jail where he belongs. As for what he wants, I can only guess. But it was definitely him that built that robot. For what reason, I have no idea," she explained.
"Why not storm the place now, or I can come back later if you point out the right one," I said with an ornery grin.
"Don't get any ideas, besides, with his guards following us out of town, you'd be hard pressed not to be seen. He probably has more ki dampeners as well. Waiting it out is the best option right now," she suggested. I snorted but remained silent. As I glanced at the darkened vehicles around us, I decided not to press the issue anymore. When dealing with a mad scientist, sometimes you have to have patience.
Next time on DBV: A few weeks have gone by, and Verto and Lenz spend a day together in the new gravity chamber, sparring with the holograms. What begins as a routine session for improvement becomes a horrible nightmare when the program malfunctions, and things worsen into a desperate struggle for survival.