"Girls, you've gotta know when it's time to turn the page." - Tori Amos
Chi-Chi and I were still sitting at the bar, watching as the mayor introduced Hercule before giving him the key to the city. The curly haired man posed in front of a large backdrop of Orange Star City, now renamed Satan City after the "Hero of Earth," as he was often referred in those days.
His wife and young daughter were standing off to the side as he struck pose after dramatic pose for the dozens of party-goers snapping photos of their savior.
"What a joke," I murmured as I took a sip from my drink. "I really wish you would have told me that this was a party for Satan, then I definitely would have stayed home tonight,"
"It was announced over a month ago. I couldn't remember all of the unnecessary details. I'm not you," Van told me, having stopped by the bar to order a drink.
"You call the reason for the event an unnecessary detail?" I asked in a deadpan tone.
"Regardless. I know how you feel about him, but-"
I downed the remainder of my beverage before cutting her off. "Oh, you have no idea the depths of my dislike towards that boastful moron,"
"I also think that he's a moron, but we have to at least give the guy the respect he deserves for what he did for this planet. He's a hero, and that cannot be so easily dismissed," Van explained. The bartender brought her a grey goose martini. She picks up her drink with a napkin. "Just try not to allow your attitude towards him to ruin this event,"
"Yes ma'am," I mocked with a salute as my cousin rolled her eyes and walked away.
I leaned backwards on the bar and simply stared around the event hall. The room had a white and red color scheme with large posters of the guest of honor in his signature pose, looking as foolish as ever. There were nearly two hundred guests in attendance, all dressed to the nines in mostly black clothing- which explained why Van's only request was that I wore some form of black tonight- and some even wore masquerade ball masks.
I chose a calf-length black skirt with a slit that went up to my left thigh, exposing almost my entire left leg. I was wearing a dark blue, half-sleeve, fitted shirt that covered my bandaged arm and exposed a bit of midriff since the skirt came up to just above my navel. I had a pair of black red bottom high heels, a simple white-gold chain with a heart-shaped blue topaz around my neck and an ivory and platinum watch on my left wrist.
I dressed Chi-Chi in something a bit less showy. She had on black slacks that presented her curves, which were usually hidden underneath loose-fitting pants. She was wearing a dark purple blouse with every single button buttoned up, at the neck and wrists. She opted for shoes with a short heel, so I chose a black pair of heels with a four inch heel. It was the shortest I had. Her long, black hair had been done in a back ponytail with her bangs framing her face. She had never been the type to wear jewelry, so she chose none.
The look was beautiful but reserved, just like her.
Masks were being handed out to guests upon entry through the door, so Van, Chi-Chi and myself all had one. Van grabbed a black scaramuccia mask, Chi-Chi chose the far more delicate Gatto mask with a patchy color scheme, while I chose a simple black colombina mask with dark jewels aligning the edges. Van was wearing hers, whereas my friend and I had ours sitting atop the bar.
"Gosh Bulma, I didn't think that you would feel so strongly about what he did at the games," Chi-Chi said, looking out at the crowd with me.
"It's not just about that," I said, keeping my voice down despite the music playing and no one being near us. "None of the guys cared enough to announce their hand in what happened, so neither do I. They let him have all the glory because that's who they are. But that does not give him the right to bash them and sully their image in the eyes of the people they worked so hard to save. That's why I don't like him,"
Chi-Chi threw her head back with a groan. "Just imagine how nice it would have been for us if Gohan stepped up as the real hero,"
I smiled as I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Chi-Chi, a real hero doesn't expect to be thanked or even recognized, and a real hero doesn't call himself one. Remember that,"
She dropped her head with a sigh. "I know. Hercule has all but changed his first name to hero. Still would've been nice, though." she solemnly said.
I chuckled a bit at my friend. It was times like this that truthfully made me wonder why the woman had always refused any help from me financially. Yes, I had been allowed to buy things for the boys every now and again and help out where education was involved, but that was just me fulfilling my role as their aunt and Godmother. I had offered dozens of times to help out with everything else, but Chi-Chi wanted nothing from me that would be for herself. It was totally understandable for an adult to feel this way, but sometimes her pride reached Vegeta-like levels. The irony was not lost upon her.
"So how have things been with The Prince of No One? What did he wanna talk about?" Chi-Chi suddenly asked.
I sighed deeply through my nose. "I don't wanna talk about it,"
"Do I sense a bit of trouble in paradise?" she humorously asked.
"We broke up," I simply said, avoiding the topic of earlier.
"Are you serious?"
"Well, sort of. I told him that I wanted to take a break and he agreed. That was Friday, and I hadn't seen much of him until today. That's mainly because I've been so busy, but the only time we've actually spoken to one another resulted in me calling him out for behaving like an overbearing parent towards me, and these little streaks of jealousy he keeps having."
"What do you mean?"
"He kept making these underhanded comments about me being with other men. Which is just crazy because I thought that he was fine with the idea of us not being together,"
"You may have to give him a pass on that one,"
I turned my head towards her. "Why the hell should I?"
"Because, as much as you like to think that he isn't, he is still just a man. A man can be just as insecure as a woman can. Remember that," she told me.
I looked away from her again. Maybe she was right about that. I did hold Vegeta higher than most based upon what he was capable of and what he meant to me.
"Excuse me, miss," a voice said from the other side of Chi-Chi, a male voice, putting an end to our annoying conversation.
We looked over at him. He was tall, dark and handsome and looked to be around my age. He was wearing a black suit and tie with a white shirt underneath. His hair was black and hung just above his broad shoulders.
"Yes?" Chi-Chi responded.
"I don't know if this would be a bit too forward of me, but would you care to dance with me?" he politely asked.
I smirked at her surprised expression from hearing his request. Seeing that she was probably preparing to turn him down, I spoke up. "Go on Chi-Chi, we're here to have a good time, remember?" I nudged. "Plus, he's kinda easy on the eyes," I added with a wink.
"It's getting kind of late," she tried to make up an excuse.
"So?"
"So what about the boys?"
"What about them?"
"We need to head home pretty soon,"
"No need. You all are sleeping over tonight," I took out my phone and quickly typed a message. "I just texted my mom and told her that you're staying over and to not let the boys stay up too late. How's that?"
"But Gohan has his classes in the morning,"
"They're online courses. I have dozens of computers he could use to sign into the program in the morning. Now stop trying to come up with excuses and go dance with mister...?" I trailed off, looking over at the man.
"Nathan, Nathan Osaka," he answered with a smile.
"Mr Osaka,"
She conceded with a sigh. "Alright," she turned to him. "I'll dance with you for one song and one song only, you got it?"
"I got it," he offered his hand for her to take, putting his mask on. "Shall we?"
She hesitantly took his proffered hand, grabbed her mask and slipped it on as he escorted her to the dance floor. Suddenly, one of her favorite songs erupted through the speakers, What You Won't Do for Love by Bobby Caldwell, and her face lit up as she and her dancing partner begin dancing to the jazzy tune.
I knew that it was one of the very few R&B songs that she actually enjoyed, so at least she'd enjoy that one dance. If anyone needed to relax it was her. She deserved to have a little fun every now and then.
I smiled contently as I watched my friend unwind on the dance floor.
Suddenly, I felt someone sidle up beside me at the bar to my right. I couldn't see the person as I was facing leftwards.
"Excuse me, but I couldn't help but come over here just to ask you something that's been on my mind since you walked in," a feminine voice said to me.
I kept my eyes on the dance floor. "And what would that be?" I replied with an uninterested tone.
"Has anyone ever told you that you kind of look a lot like Bulma Briefs?"
I turned my head to the left. "You don't s..." I stopped my snarky remark upon seeing who it was. A slender woman with an olive complexion and green eyes, wearing a black, backless, lace-shouldered dress. Her wavy black hair is styled in a bob. "Marina? Marina Castillo?"
"Who else do you know looks this good in black?" she smirked.
"You mean besides myself?" I shot back, going in for a hug around the shoulders. "It's so good to see you," Marina placed a hand to the small of my back to return the embrace before I pulled away. "What're you doing here? I thought I'd never catch you back after the last time,"
"Don't remind me," she groaned. "Why do you think I chose to cut my hair in the first place?" she lightly said.
"And here I thought that you just liked how it looked on me," I joked.
"Honey, I like how everything looks on you," she flirtatiously said, looking me up and down suggestively. "But that doesn't mean I wanna look like you. Anyway. I'm only here because Miguel heard that I was in town doing a photo shoot and wanted to see me, so thought I'd stop by,"
Marina was a world renowned photographer and fashion designer, whom I met while posing for the company's third catalogue, when I was still working as an assistant for someone else, about eight years before all of this.
"Who's Miguel?"
"Really Nemo?" she said with a raised eyebrow and a tilt of her head. "Miguel Satan, my cousin,"
Nemo was a nickname she gave me many years ago due to my mnemonic capabilities, but at that moment it might as well have been in reference to the fish because I had been feeling very lost those days.
"Wait a minute! Your cousin Miguel is that Miguel?" I asked, surprisingly, pointing up at the stage where a woman was standing with a young girl.
"Well, by marriage, but yeah," she shrugged.
"Now that I'm thinking back on it, you never told me that she was your cousin, only that you had a cousin named Miguel," I clarified. "I wouldn't forget something like that,"
"Well, enough about my extensive family tree. What're you doing sitting over here all by yourself?"
"Just enjoying the party from afar,"
"You here by yourself?"
I shook my head. "No. I came with Van and a friend of mine."
"You mean that little cutie over there on the dance floor?" she asked.
I looked over to find that Chi-Chi was still dancing with Nathan after two songs. "Yeah, that's her. What about you?"
"I am also here with a friend," she said with a smile.
"Oh, okay, so you brought yourself some company," I playfully said, moving a little closer. "So do I know this friend?"
"I doubt it. It's a very new friend. We met just last week," she said, looking over at the crowd. "Here she comes now," she motioned for a woman to come over.
I looked over to see this new woman in my friend's life, and my eyebrows shot to my hairline at what I was seeing.
A young woman with olive tone skin with chestnut hair and brown eyes, wearing a black dress with emerald accents.
Marina greeted her with a kiss to the cheek. "Did you find your earring?"
"Yeah. I mistakenly dropped it in the ladies room," she said, her raspy voice making her even more familiar.
"That's good," Marina turned back to me. "Oh, this is Bulma, an old friend of mine. And Bulma, this lovely young lady is..."
"Shion?" I blurted confusedly.
"Miss Briefs! I mean Bulma!" the young woman blurted back.
"Wait. You two know each other? How?" Marina interjected.
"Shion is the newest member of Capsule Corp's graphic design team," I explained. "She started today. How did you two meet?"
"During that big storm last week. I saw her walking around without an umbrella, so I offered to share a taxi. I gave her my card by the end of the ride," Marina told me.
"Sounds like something straight out of a bad rom-com." I poked fun.
"You would know, since your whole life is a bad rom-com," she poked right back.
"Hey, don't say such factual things to me," I said, feigning seriousness. "So Shion, are you having a good time?"
"Yeah, sure," she timidly answered, fidgeting with her fingers.
"Is something wrong?" Marina asked, reaching for her hand, but she moved it out reach.
I noticed the obvious avoidance of physical contact and the way she went tense at a simple peck on the cheek. "I think I'm gonna go and find Van," I said, slipping mask on and resting it on my hair and then pointing my thumb out towards the crowd to my left. "I'll see you at work, Shion. Have a good night." I walked away from the couple and began wandering aimlessly.
The dimly lit room was filled with masked, chattering party goers, whom were surrounded by lively music provided by a talented DJ. The few guests dancing around were thoroughly engrossed in their fun, including my usually uptight friend, giving the room a cathartic atmosphere in my eyes as I played the role of a desperate onlooker.
I wanted so badly to be one of them, to let go of my inhibitions, even if just for a little while. The feeling of being so disconnected from the world I had become so accustomed to was now glaringly obvious amongst the crowd of disguised socialites and hollywood figures, the types of which I was usually comfortable around, but now just made me wish that I could just go home already.
By the time I stopped walking I was near the middle of the dance floor. I could see Van speaking with the maskless mayor and a couple of others near the back of the room, and I spotted Chi-Chi still dancing and laughing. They were each doing their own thing, so I chose not to disrupt them.
I sighed, contemplating heading back to the bar, when I received a sudden tap on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, m'lady," a light, slightly accented voice said from behind me.
I rolled my eyes before turning around to face the person, very uninterested in what they had to say, but I ended up just staring at the person.
The person standing before me was a somewhat pale man in a black, venetian prince mask, who was probably a few years older than myself. From what little I could see of the top half beneath the mask, he had delicate facial features that gave him a gentle appearance. His soft brown hair was cut low on the sides with wavy bangs hanging over his forehead. The darkness of the mask highlighted amber eyes. He had a slender build that was covered by an all black tuxedo, standing about three or four inches taller than me.
I awkwardly cleared my throat. "Yes?" I responded, trying not to stare too much at the gorgeous man.
"Well, I was hoping that you would do me the honor of a having a turn around the dance floor," he politely said, slightly bending forward at the waist in a bow, extending a hand for me to take. "What do you say?"
He was a gentleman and, as far as I could tell, he was cute. I guess I wasn't really doing much at the moment, so I might as well. I reached out and accepted his proffered hand. "I would love to," I said with a small smirk, sliding my mask down over my eyes.
"Then shall we?"
"Yes, we shall," and I allowed him to lead me to the center of the dance floor.
Once there, the song changed from the up tempo tune of Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood to the much softer, slower one of Don't Stray by Rare Times.
He placed his left hand on my waist and gently grasped my left hand with his right. I laid my right hand on his shoulder and we began slowly dancing together, all the while keeping a respectful distance between us.
"So," I began as we swayed back and forth. "Since I so graciously accepted your offer, is it okay if I asked who you are?"
"What do you mean who I am?"
"Well, as you could imagine, I've been to a lot of these kind of events and yet I can't recall ever seeing you at any of them,"
"You are Bulma Briefs, correct?" he asked, staring curiously down at me.
"I don't really enjoy just saying my name out of nowhere like that, but, yes, I am,"
"Well, I believe that I have heard enough about your name to know that you wouldn't really be amongst...commoners," he said, pointedly. "And I do believe that is the point of the mask,"
"Touché about the mask," I tilted my head to the side in curiosity. "And I wouldn't exactly describe someone who is less known than myself as a commoner, but I think I understand what you mean. I just don't understand how that answers my question about you,"
He gave a small smile. "In comparison to yourself, I might just be a commoner. So how would you know if I haven't been to any of these?" he explained, smoothly.
"I think that I would remember someone like you," I flirtatiously said, staring into beautifully colored eyes. There were some things I couldn't help doing, even if my head was a little messed up at the moment. "What do you do?"
"You mean my profession?" I nodded once as an answer. "Well, I am something of an engineer, mostly working with vehicles and metal work. What about yourself?"
"I thought that you'd heard enough about me?" I smirked.
"I know your name, I don't know you,"
I hummed with laughter. "Good answer,"
He nodded. "Thank you,"
"I do the same as you, but also designing. Pretty much anything you can think of relating to the field of science and engineering. And I've recently began dabbling with bionics and bioengineering as well," I told him.
He raised a curious eyebrow at me. "Why bionics and bioengineering? Those aren't very common things to just dabble in,"
"Some past events have awakened my curiosity," I alluded, referring to my experience with the androids. "You see, I've always thought of the body as somewhat of a computer; it has a motor, a hard drive, and a plethora of pumps, fans, wires and gears," I placed my right hand over my heart then moved it upward to point a finger at my head, and finally gestured over my body.
"I suppose I have a similar view about the body, myself. Those components are fascinating,"
"Not to mention the billions of nerves that process it all. These things all work in tandem to help keep it running properly. And, just like machines, some bodies are made to last while others have defects that hinder their lifespans," I explained.
"That is an unusual way of seeing things," he commented.
I looked down at my feet. "I know. But that's just the way my head works sometimes. As a woman of science and logic I can't really help but want to analyze things,"
"It's only natural to want to know more,"
"Exactly," I quietly said, relieved that he agreed.
"The nerves and the cells are the most interesting parts for me. But while the cells can be altered to the point of changing your physical make-up, the nerves can be shocked into changing the body's physiology, even affecting something as delicate as memory," he elaborated.
I looked back up at him, something he had just said triggering something in my head.
I stumbled into tree after tree, the only things keeping me from falling over with every few steps I took. My eyes lit up at the sight of a clearing where the lights of the city could be seen. I pushed myself off of the tree and made another attempt at running.
I did not make it very far.
Without seeing it coming, I felt my hip brush past something and my body was suddenly seizing from being somehow electrocuted. I tumbled to the ground as my legs gave out in pain, and was unable to call out due to something grabbing my leg and giving me another shock, rendering me a twitchy, sputtering mess.
"I did not want to resort to hurting you, but you are a stubborn one," my assailant mused, dragging me farther back into the park by the ankle.
I managed to roll onto my back as I slid across the grass, hazily staring at the clothed back of my captor, trying to ask a desperate question. "W-what did y-you...?" was all I could coherently articulate.
"I gave your system a small shock of a few hundred volts of electricity. Not enough to stop your heart, but just enough to disrupt your nervous system...temporarily, of course,"
I stared curiously at him. That's probably what happened to me. That's how I got incapacitated that night. I was attempting to finish wrapping my head around the idea when he spoke again.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
I gazed helplessly into amber eyes. "I..."
"Bulma?"
I whipped around at the sound of my name. Navigating his way through the crowd was none other than my former longtime lover. "Yamcha?"
He came to stand in front of me. "I knew that hair and body looked familiar. What're you doing here?" he asked me.
"I could ask you the same thing," I countered. "I thought that you were busy with the team,"
"The team is in town because we played the Orange Star City Braves earlier today. What about you?"
"It's kind of a business thing," I said, not truthfully aware of why it was I was still there.
"Hey, weren't you just dancing with someone?" he asked, looking behind me.
I turned back to the man. "Oh, I'm so sor...ry," my apology was cut short upon finding that my dance partner was nowhere to be seen. I looked around the room for him but to no avail. "I didn't even get a chance to ask his name," I murmured to myself.
"What did you say?" Yamcha asked.
God, Yamcha could not have had worse timing.
I sighed, defeatedly. "Nothing,"
"Well, since we're already on the dance floor, do you wanna dance with me?" he asked me. "I know how much you like this song,"
Coloring by Kevin Garrett had began playing.
I turned back to him. "Sure," I answered with a forced smile.
He pulled me in and placed a hand to the small of my back and held my right hand, causing us to be flush against each other.
"Ya'know, I don't really get this song all that much," he said as we swayed to the music.
I solemnly rested my head on his shoulder, listening to the lyrics of the bittersweet tune. "I know,"
Back at the compound, we were all together in my playroom. Gohan was finishing up his English homework on a laptop, sitting on the floor with the device on a low crafts table near a corner of the room. Goten and I were currently playing with some Legos in the middle of the room.
I finished my idea first. "There!" I held up my Lego sculpture of a very decent looking model plane.
Goten finished his and stood up to show it off. It was a two and a half foot long clunky line of Legos.
"What is that?" I asked him.
"It's a sord!" he exclaimed, obviously.
Me being the child that I was just shrugged my shoulders. "If you say so,"
The door to the room opened and we all looked over to see my grandma standing in the doorway.
"Boys, it's getting late. Time to get ready for bed," she told us.
"But I wanted to wait until my mom got back, plus I'm trying to get a head start on finishing this English assignment," Gohan told her.
"No worries. Bulma said that they might be out a little late tonight, so she has invited you all to stay over for the night," she informed him. "Now come along. It's almost eight," as we all drop what we were doing to obey, she stopped me before I could leave. "Trunks, you know better. Put your toys away first. Come meet me in your bedroom when you're done, okay?"
"Yes grandma," I said with a nod.
"Gohan, bring your brother and I'll show you to your old guest room," and she did just that, leaving me behind to do all the cleaning.
As I gathered all of the toys that were scattered around the floor, I stopped for a moment thinking that there was something moving behind me. I looked around, but there was nothing there.
Once I put the last of the toys away I turned to leave the room, but there was someone standing there this time.
It was a tall, black-clad figure standing in front of the door to the room.
"Hello there, little one," the figure said to me in a polite manner, leaning against the door before pushing off and walking forward.
"Hi, I'm Trunks," I greeted as the figure came closer. "Who are you?"