Chapter Eight: Party Planet
Bulma rushed home, speeding the entire ride. When she turned into her driveway, she hit the curb and skidded to a halt. She had to back up and make the turn again. She could feel the beads of sweat falling off of her face at a hundred miles per hour. Her hand slipped on the steering wheel, but she caught it just in time and raced down the driveway.
When she hit the brakes, everything in the small white vehicle flew forward, but she didn't care. She grabbed her keys and jumped out of the car, running to the back door of her house. She fumbled with the key a bit before it stuck fast, unlocking the door. She panicked and tripped over the step, falling into her garage and scraping her knees. She jumped up and locked the door, slamming in shut as if she was being chased. She knew that Vegeta had remained in the school after she had run away, but she had the crazy feeling that he could be anywhere at any time, even without her knowing. He had actually gotten into her house, so she knew that her fear was typical of the situation, but she couldn't help it. He could do supernatural things, and now he was out to get her. Why would he want to kill her? What had she done wrong? When she first met him, she had been infatuated with what she had seen and she had fallen for his charms, but she felt like she had just met the monster under the mask. He was frighteningly intimidating, and now she didn't know what to do about it. She felt as if he could kill her whenever he liked, even if she had a thousand bodyguards to defend her. Even if she had the entire military before her to do as she commanded. It was as if he could do what he pleased and no one could stop him. It scared her like nothing else in the world.
She felt her breaths coming in sharp inhales and she opened the door to her house. He could be inside her home already for all she knew. She carefully made her way into the laundry room and then entered the kitchen, reaching for a knife as she had done before. Just this time, she had the horrible feeling that she might actually need to use it. The only difference was that she wasn't in the fighting mood. If he was planning on killing her, why couldn't he just do it and get it over with? Why did he have to frighten her so? It just felt like he wanted it this way. As if he was toying with her head.
Bulma let out an angry scream, hoping that it would make him come out from wherever he was hiding and just finish her off. After the silence set in again, she felt like she shouldn't have made a single sound. That lonely scream felt like her inevitable end. She had just manipulated her death into running headfirst into her like a raging bull. She felt her legs trembling beneath her. She had to sit down or she would collapse.
Gripping the knife tightly in her hand, she made her way to the stairs and looked up at the second floor of her house. There were so many places to hide. He could be anywhere. Involuntarily, she began to cry. She slumped to her knees and sobbed.
"Where are you?!" she cried up the stairs, "Come down here, you coward!" She was crying herself an ocean. She only wished that she could drown in it as well.
She stood up, knife held to her chest, ready to use it if necessary, and charged up the stairs, looking only in one direction. If he was going to attack her, she didn't want to watch it happen. She wanted to feel death touch her in one moment and die in the next. She wished he'd make it painless. Why did he need to do this? Why couldn't he have done it at the school instead of making her suffer so much in her own home?
She hoped he wouldn't make it bloody. Her parents never called her unless it was something important, so whenever they came back, they would find her mangled body, sprawled out on the carpet. She didn't want it to be bloody because she didn't want her mother to have to envision what had happened to her. If he just snapped her neck, they would find no blood. They wouldn't have to clean up the dried red mess she left behind when she passed away.
"Come out here, you bastard!" she screamed, feeling as if her lungs would explode with the pressure of her voice. "Don't quit now! You're already here! Just do it! Or are you to afraid?!"
She made it to the second flight of stairs and fidgeted around before storming up there as well, knife still held to her breast, ready for sudden use. When she reached her bedroom, it seemed as if everything was calmer. Of course he would be hiding in here. This was the most obvious place for him to be. She shuddered, but felt her fear dissipate. This was it. She was going to die here and there was nothing she could do about it. It was as if knowing could make it all better.
She stepped inside, picturing the light at the end of the tunnel. She wondered if she'd end up being peaceful after it was over. She had never believed in heaven or gods, but that seemed irrelevant now. If there was such a thing as heaven, she hoped she would be allowed in there so she could be with her parents when they passed away as well. And then she would wait. She would wait for Vegeta for as long as necessary, and then she would torture him for all eternity. She sighed, if that was what she was planning, she might as well wish to go to hell instead. There was no way Vegeta would be allowed in a place like heaven after he murdered her. He didn't even have a reason for doing it either, so she figured that he was pretty much screwed for his afterlife, if there was one.
She looked around. Her closet door was cracked. That's where he was. It was so freaking obvious. She giggled to herself. He couldn't have picked a more obvious place to hide.
"I know your there," she whispered, moving closer to the wooden door. "And I'm going to get you." She lifted her knife into the air, over her head. "You'll be sorry you ever messed with me, you bastard," she hissed.
And then she flung open the door with forced to be admired. She stared in horror at what she saw… It was nothing. Absolutely nothing. He wasn't in there.
Bulma screamed at the top of her lungs. "Where are you?!" She backed away until her bed came in contact with her legs, making her jump. She sat down and felt herself crying again. She had a headache from all her crying. It was annoying her.
Before she knew what she was doing, she picked up her cell phone from her nightstand and dialed the first number she had in her contacts. It rang once. Twice. Three times.
"Hello?"
"You have to help me!"
"Bulma? Is that you? What's going on? Are you alright?"
"Please! He's trying to kill me! I don't want to be alone in here anymore. Please, Chichi! You have to help me!"
"Wait, what? Are you at your house?" It was a rhetorical question. "Hold on, Bulma. Goku and I will be right there. Don't go anywhere. You'll be fine, I promise."
And then she hung up. Bulma had never felt so alone in her life. She sat on her bed, listening to the violent beats of her heart against her rib cage. She wanted it to stop. The obnoxious noise could probably be heard all over the house. Chichi would never make it to her in time. It was over.
It felt like hours had gone by before a knock at her door made her jump and cry even harder. She listened to her front door open. That was him. She had locked her front door, so only he would be the type of person who could still get inside. She listened hopelessly as someone raced up the stairs and landed on the second floor.
"Mom, Dad," she whispered, closing her eyes, "I love you so much."
"Bulma! Hey! It's us. Are you okay? What's going on? What happened?"
Bulma opened her eyes. It was Chichi. Goku was standing behind her with a worried expression on his face. It also looked like he knew exactly what was going on, and yet he could do nothing to stop it.
"It's Vegeta," Bulma said hysterically, "He said he's going to kill me. You have to stay away from him, Chichi. He's not safe. He's in here somewhere, waiting."
Goku lifted his head and Chichi looked over at him. Bulma lifted an eyebrow at him when he put his head back down and shook his head. "No one's in here but us, Bulma."
"How do you know that?" she asked nervously. She watched as Chichi and her boyfriend exchanged sidelong glances, as if they were silently debating something between the two of them without letting Bulma know about it.
"Bulma," Chichi said quickly, "Why don't you come with us back to my house? I'm still having that party, remember? It's Friday. The party's tonight."
"You do understand though, don't you? You have to stay away from Vegeta. He's not safe. He said he wants to kill me."
"Bulma," Goku said softly, gathering her full attention with his unusual tone, "I think we need to tell you a few things. They might help to clear things up a bit." He wrapped his arm around Chichi's shoulders, but she shook him off mock-delicately, as if she wanted to punch him in the gut.
"Goku, we can't tell her. It isn't—"
"Please don't tell me that it isn't my secret to tell, because you know very well that it is. It's my secret as much as it is Vegeta's. It's both our problem. It's not his any more than it is mine. And whether he likes it or not, Chichi, I think Bulma has a right to know. Especially if he told her that he wants her dead. It only proves how much more serious the situation is. And I have to have a nice long talk with Vegeta. I don't know what his intentions are, but if he actually wanted Bulma dead, we wouldn't be talking to her right now. She'd already be long gone. Maybe if I had a talk with him about our mission, then he would stop stressing over it.—"
"Wait," Bulma intervened, "You guys keep bringing up this mission. I don't know what that is, but it seems like it now involves me from what you say. I think I should know what it is. It's not fair if you keep it from me after my life has been threatened over it. You need to tell me what it is."
"We're Saiyans," Goku said flatly.
"Excuse me?"
"Vegeta and I weren't born on this planet. You and Chichi are Earthlings. We're Saiyans."
"You're kidding me, right?" Bulma said, a giggle coming up her throat. "All I ask is for you to be straightforward with me and you make up some stupid joke?!" In one instant, Bulma was on her bed, on the nice soft carpeting of her bedroom floor, but the next, she was on her bed, floating in midair. She let out a small yelp when she realized that the only thing holding her bed up was one of Goku's arms. The other was comfortably at his side as he couldn't help but smirk at her.
"It's no joke," he said simply, "Chichi told you about the party Vegeta last attended, didn't she?" Bulma nodded, swallowing hard. "And she told you about the pushups he did, right?" Bulma nodded again. "We can also do this," he added, letting out a low grunt. In a brilliant flash of light, Goku's hair turned bright gold and he was surrounded by a golden aura. He placed her bed down and his hair and body returned to normal. He smirked at her. Suddenly, Bulma realized that Yamcha hadn't been drunk at that party. "Well, I hope what you just saw explains everything a little better. Saiyans have a lot more power than humans, and when we go Super Saiyan, the gold you just saw, we increase our power tenfold. We're a warrior species, Bulma. We're born ready and willing to fight."
"What does all this have to do with your mission?" she asked, still getting over the initial shock of learning that there were actually other people on other planets. And even worse, they were on Earth and they were dangerous.
"Because of our ability to fight, and the fact that we are a warrior species, we tend to do some bad things. Not Vegeta and I in general, but our population as a whole. We plunder different planets around the universe. We also sell these planets for profit. That's how our planet survives. We work for three people who tell us which planets to sell."
"And the mission?" Bulma pressed.
"Unfortunately, before we can sell a planet, we have to purge the land of its dominant inhabitants. In Earth's case, that means that the humans have to go."
"What?!" She was beginning to get nervous again and she managed to calm herself down a bit before she made a fool out of herself. Goku wasn't going to hurt her. She knew that.
"Vegeta and I were first assigned to this planet three years ago. And right before we were about to get rid of the humans who live here…," He blushed a bit. "Well, I met Chichi. And I knew I wouldn't be able to destroy the humans because she was part of them. So, of course, Vegeta had different plans, and tried to destroy them anyway. I managed to restrain him for a few days before we sat down and talked about it. Trust me. It was more of a surprise than you think. Vegeta would rather act than talk about anything." He laughed before continuing. "But I managed to convince him that we couldn't kill these people, which was even more of a surprise, if you think about it. He and I both knew that we'd be checked on, but our bosses haven't even called to check up on us in the past three years. I knew it sometimes took our species a long time to purge a planet of its dominant species, but I never knew that they would allow it to go on for this long. Vegeta only agreed with me because I'm stronger than him, and could stop him if I needed to. He also firmly believed that the humans would have to be destroyed eventually, so we enrolled in high school and took our time here as an extended vacation." He looked down at his feet. "I'm so sorry you got involved in this, Bulma, but I believe that the reason Vegeta said he wants you dead is because he now has a reason not to destroy the humans. A reason like Chichi is to me. A reason to keep the inhabitants of this planet alive at all costs.… And that's you."
Bulma was speechless. She didn't know what to say. What could she say?
"But then why would he be so mean to me like he was?" That sounded good, so she decided to just go with it.
"The main reason Vegeta stayed here for three years was because he believed that we would someday complete our mission. It was the only thing keeping him going. I might be wrong, but I think he's afraid of what could happen. It seems like it's inevitable now."
"What are you talking about?"
"Our three bosses take their work and their profit very seriously. If they knew that we never planned to complete our assignment, then they would send another group to do it for us. I'm prepared to give my life for Chichi, along with everyone else on Earth. And I think it bothers Vegeta because he knows, deep, deep, deep down, that he'll do the same for you." he said, trying to make light of the situation.
"So why do you think he's afraid?" Bulma asked warily. This was all so much to take in at once.
"Because, to protect the Earthlings, we would have to attack and possibly kill whoever was sent to complete our unfinished mission. That's treason, Bulma. We would be hunted down and killed for something like that. And there's no doubt in my mind, and Vegeta's, that our bosses could have us dead whenever they wanted. They are far more powerful than we are, and we're painfully aware of it."
"Why don't you just take Chichi away with you?" she asked, trying not to fear the answer. She was relieved that it wasn't what she had been expecting.
"I don't want to kill these people, Bulma. I'm not a fool. I know it isn't right. I've purged planets before, and I've hated it. It's the worst thing I've ever done. And after I met Chichi, I swore to myself that I'd never do it again. I'll die before I kill someone for someone else's gain or profit. It isn't right. It's disastrous, and I'm ashamed that I ever took part in it."
"Alright, alright," Chichi interrupted, seeing as Goku was having a bit of an emotional crisis in the middle of Bulma's bedroom. "Bulma, you're coming with us to my house. You can help with the cooking and decorations. And try not to squeal about the alcohol, okay?" she smiled.
"Sure…?"
"And I'm going to make sure Vegeta's there, too," Goku said. Bulma fidgeted a bit on her bed. The silk sheets ruffled under her. "And I'm going to see if I can talk to him. I'll let him know that you're part of our secret… And Bulma, we'd like to keep it that way, alright?"
She pretended to lock her lips and throw the key over her shoulder.
"Maybe I can get him to act civilized around you if you like?" he asked, winking at her.
"He just confessed his undying hate for me, Goku. I think it might take a while for me to get over that, even if it wasn't true."
"I understand. But maybe I can get him to apologize. It's a start."
"Yeah, right," Chichi mumbled, and Goku just chuckled.
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"Here we are," Chichi said, waving out a hand as they stepped out of Bulma's car, seeing as Goku and Chichi had flown to Bulma's house without a vehicle to assist them. It was easier this way as well, because then Bulma knew she could just leave when the party was over, instead of waiting for someone else to drive her home and being a huge burden. Plus, she preferred driving herself home if there was going to be alcohol at the party. "The party's in three hours, so we have enough time to finish up dessert and put up the decorations. We already made dinner and began making dessert before you called me. Goku's pretty speedy with the decorations, so we don't need to worry about the time there. I hired a DJ, so the music's taken care of. What else?" she asked herself, rubbing her temples, "Oh, Goku, remember to put up the disco ball and plug it in. But don't turn it on until later, when it's dark out. The snacks are taken care of. The bowls are in the kitchen and I am the perfect host when it comes to keeping the snack bowls full to the top at all times. Although, it's harder than it looks, believe me."
Then, Bulma noticed a banner on the front of the house. She read it aloud as the imminent question in her mind. ""Welcome to Party Planet"?"
"It's our inside joke," Chichi said happily, pointing her thumb at Goku and a dead light bulb in Bulma's head flickered for a moment.
"That's kind of… um, lame," she said. Chichi just giggled and rolled her eyes, walking towards the front door of her house.
"I told her that when she bought it, but she didn't listen to me either," Gou said to her, smiling.
Bulma watched as he followed after her, and realized the full extent of everything he had told her back at her house. Goku was risking his life for Chichi every second he was with her. That meant that he must really love her, to do something like that. It was incredible. It was so admirable. Bulma felt proud to be their friend.
Then she thought about Vegeta. She had to admit, she didn't believe what Goku had said about him telling her that he was going to kill her because he cared about her. Only a psychopath would do something like that. She had the strange feeling that there was something about Vegeta, something that he had done, that Goku didn't know about. There was more to Vegeta than Goku said, and she wondered if he actually knew about it, since he seemed to know about everything else. Maybe there was something, a secret that only Vegeta knew. And that was what she believed. Not that he threatened her because he wanted to protect her. That was stupid and absurd, and she knew it. She wasn't that blind.
She did have to admit that she was still frightened of him. A part of her didn't want Goku to talk to him. A part of her didn't want him to come to the party. She wished that she could just go tell Goku to leave him alone if he was so sure that Vegeta wasn't going to kill her. Then she could forget all about this and go back to her life…
But she didn't want to go back. As much as she was afraid of him, she wanted to see Vegeta again. She didn't want to go back because then she wouldn't get to talk to him ever again. She wouldn't be able to see his face. She didn't know why, but that seemed more important to her than life itself. He was like a magnet, and she was the biggest, most vulnerable piece of metal on the entire planet. She was attracted to him like a starving animal is attracted to a piece of meat. It was enticing. He was enticing. And she reveled in it…
"Over here, Bulma," Chichi called, waiting in the open doorway of her home. "Come on. You have to help me with dessert. I'm not letting you stay here for nothing," she joked.
"Coming, Chichi," Bulma replied, as if imitating a tone that a child would use with their mother when instructed to clean a bathroom, including the toilet.
Bulma half-ran to the awaiting open door and nodded her thanks to Chichi for holding it open for her. Chichi just smiled back and Bulma felt like she finally understood why the raven-haired girl had to keep the secrets to herself back in school. It wasn't her secret to tell, and Bulma felt a little bad about pushing her so much for more and more information every time she saw her. She had been a bit of an annoyance, and she mentally apologized, not really in the mood to say it aloud for fear that it might ruin the occasion.
"Do you like pecan pie?"
"What?" Bulma asked, mentally apologizing for not paying attention while she was mentally apologizing for annoying her back at school. She figured she'd have to mentally apologize for everything else later at this rate.
"I asked if you like pecan pie."
"Sure. I never had it fresh, but I love to nuke the small, manufactured ones in the microwave. I know I like those."
"Well, if you like store-bought, you're going to love homemade. Everything tastes better when it's homemade. Oh, do you like cream pies, too?"
"I don't know. What's that?"
"You've never had a cream pie?" Chichi asked in shock, "Well, then I'll just have to show you how to make one."
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The wait for the party was fun, but slow. Bulma only felt like a burden, as if Goku and Chichi were babysitting her because of Vegeta's threat on her life. It felt a bit awkward, but it was fun nonetheless. She learned how to cook multiple types of pies and made instant Jell-O, which she didn't even know existed until Chichi showed her. She also helped Goku put up some streamers. After a bit of an accident on her part, and looking like a rainbow colored mummy, she was sent back to Chichi for more cooking. Goku hadn't been mean about it at all, but Bulma knew when she was helping. And she knew when she was just getting in the way. It was fine with her, though. She was never a big fan of heights anyway especially on a rickety ladder like the one Goku made her use. It did feel strange, watching him fly up to the ceiling and place the streamers and balloons and banners where they belonged in a goodly amount of time. It didn't bother her when she watched him lift each couch up and pile them on top of each other as he vacuumed the entire room's carpet, and then put the couches back in their rightful places without a single noise. It was as if they were feathers to him. It was a complete mockery of the human race and everything that they do to make themselves seem more and more powerful than they were a couple seconds ago. Goku didn't even have to try. He was just born better than everyone on Earth. It was kind of humbling to her.
Bulma sighed as the first guest arrived at the door and the sound of the doorbell rang around the house. It was much nicer than the piercing school bell in Bulma's point of view. It had a delicate and pleasant chime sound to it, while the school's bell just hurt her ears.
She didn't know why she sighed. She guessed that it was because she had secretly been dreading the party ever since Goku informed her that he was forcing Vegeta to come just for the sole purpose of proving to Bulma that he didn't intend on killing her. She knew she wanted to see him, but after what he did, it was no surprise that she was deathly afraid as well. If there was even a tiny, miniscule chance that Goku was wrong, her life could be in jeopardy if he came.
What if Goku was wrong? What if Vegeta knew this would happen and was planning to kill her here? What if he planned on Goku leaving them alone so he could apologize, and then he attacked her when they were gone? When there was no one left to help her get away. It didn't seem too difficult to gain Goku's trust. Maybe Vegeta planned to use that to his advantage. Bulma stopped thinking about it when she realized that her legs were trembling. She silently wondered if it was possible to have your knee caps shake so much that they popped out. She knew it was impossible, but at least it got her mind off of Vegeta.
"Hey guys," 17 said, walking into the house, "We're… punctual," he added, looking around at the empty house. 18 grumbled and rolled her eyes.
"I told you we should have waited, you idiot. Now we look like party crashers."
"Don't worry," Chichi said, "You're actually a bit late. Every party host knows that you give everyone a time that's a half hour earlier than you actually want them here. Well, every good party host at least," she added, curtsying in front of them.
"Yeah, yeah," 18 snarled, "At least we're considered punctual. Instead of moronic." She stuck out her tongue at her brother, mocking his earlier statement.
"Oh. Hey Bulma," 17 said, waving to her, "I didn't see you there."
"Oh, no. not this again," 18 said, "Of course you saw her, idiot. It was the first thing you noticed when we walked into this damn house. And don't even deny it because I saw you. So stop bothering the poor girl. She doesn't like you, and she never will."
"I don't know what you're talking about, 18, "17 said forcefully, folding his arms, but everyone just laughed when his cheeks turned a dark shade of pink directly after that. "What?!" he said, nearly crying, and everyone just laughed harder.
And for a moment, Bulma actually forgot all about Vegeta.