Oh boy, we got a doozy of a chapter, today. This is one of the longest I've ever written. There was just a lot to get through. Whatever, please enjoy.

Bulma stared at the images on her computer screen, looking over every bit of text for something new. She'd been back on Earth for almost two months, and she hadn't gotten anywhere else. She hadn't even reported back to the lab, after their previous scolding. She was so close to a breakthrough, but none of her research was pushing her further. At this point, she was desperate. She didn't want to admit that all of her pondering was for naught.

Her vision started to blur, and her headache grew worse. She sighed and closed the computer, rubbing her forehead. No doubt that looking at a computer screen was making her feel worse. The past month of pregnancy had been hell on her body. Some days, she couldn't even get out of bed. She put her hand on her stomach. Every so often, she'd remember that she was pregnant, and a mix of excitement, anxiety, happiness, and dread swept over her. She only wished that it were a better time - maybe she'd be less nervous.

She still hadn't told Vegeta. In fact, she hadn't spoken to him since the night she made it to Earth. Everytime she thought to make the call, to finally tell him the news, her nerves got worked up and she'd chicken out. She didn't know how much worse the situation back on Planet Vegeta had gotten. The last thing he needed to do was worry about her. This was for the best. Besides, she'd tell him eventually, and surely he'd understand why she kept it from him.

But that wasn't here or there. There was still the murders. How was she supposed to figure out what happened? She'd combed through everything, and found nothing new. At this point, she'd have better luck tracking down the old base and investigating it herself.

Suddenly, her eyes grew wide. "THAT'S IT!"

"Remind me why we're coming out this way?" Raditz was hunched over in his seat, barely squeezing into the small helicopter. His knees were up to his chin, and his arms were awkwardly holding his legs.

"We're out looking for proof." Bulma was sitting in the driver's seat, her fingers tapping on the steering wheel. Her GPS was beeping, pointed at the approximate coordinates of the old Red Ribbon Army headquarters. There had to be something lurking in those hold halls. Documents, records, anything that could help her. She might even be able to track down Gero, himself. He couldn't do it alone, so Raditz was riding along with her. She had promised to take him out to an all-you-can-eat restaurant, afterwards.

"Proof of what? what are you talking about?"

She sighed. She supposed there was no use in keeping it a secret, if they were walking straight into HQ. "There was this old military that used to be in power - the Red Ribbon Army. They were deposed a long time ago, but I think there might be some remnants lying around somewhere. I intend to figure that out for certain."

"Okay, but why?"

"I think - no, I know that they're somehow connected to the murders! All of the coincidences can't be just that. There's a connection, and I just need to find it!"

"Wait, back up. You think they're behind the murders? Did you tell anyone, back on Planet Vegeta?"

"I tried, but they didn't believe me. They need more proof. Well, I'll get them some damn proof!" She turned the wheel, making the copter go faster. Raditz grabbed onto the armrests, hanging on for dear life.

"Is that why you went on that trip?! To find out stuff about that?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"It was a secret that I didn't want to get out. Now that you're coming with me, you should know everything."

"Yeah, okay, why do you need my help, again?"

"I don't think I can walk into the place all willy nilly without a care. I need someone to back me up in case things go south.

"Gee, thanks." He didn't really appreciate being brought into thisjust to be a meat shield. "You know, you probably could have gone by yourself, if you just kept up with your training."

She laughed. "Come on, Raditz. You know that's not my thing. I'll leave the getting stronger thing to you Saiyans. I prefer to use my smarts to get things done - mind over matter."

"Sure." It took real smarts to get the idea to wander into a defunct military base looking for answers that might not be there. "If you get me killed, I will haunt your ass."

"Promise?" She stuck out her tongue at him. He just shook his head.

She stuck out her head over the dashboard, looking over the forest of trees. No one knew exactly where the old base was located, and none of the survivors had commented on it when asked. Probably to keep treasure hunters or overeager scientists away from all of that old tech. All that historians managed to gather is that it's located somewhere south of Korin Forest. Many had tried to independently search for it, but all had come up short. Well, those people didn't have the latest Capsule Corp copters on their side.

The trees suddenly gave way to a flat field. Bulma's eyes darted over the field, before they fixed on a single point. "Hey, there it is! Right there!" She pointed towards the ground. There was a large building sitting right in the middle of the field. It was huge and many of the old brick walls still stood. It was as big as the king's palace, with a huge, broken gate surrounding it. Its age showed in the overgrown leaves and trees that crept into the grounds. Still, it was in surprisingly sturdy shape. This was perfect. For sure, there had to be something in there, now.

"Hell yes!" She steered the helicopter down towards the ground, landing it on the front lawn. The leaves blew up underneath it, disturbed by the winds from the propeller. Bulma jumped out, as she parked it to a stop. Raditz came down soon after, stretching his tight muscles. Once more, he was dressed in his traditional Saiyan armor.

Despite how intact the structure was, the building was still in ruins. An entire wall was missing and rubble still covered the grounds. Nature had begun to reclaim it, as ivy and weeds had climbed up the stone bricks. Not a single light was on in the building. It was completely and utterly abandoned.

A funny feeling came over Bulma, as she looked up at the building. Everything she had heard about the Red Ribbon Army as a child. Everything she had researched and read from books. Everything she had learned from survivors and defectors. This was where it all started. She was about to be the first person to step foot into it in decades. It was so surreal, and a humbling reminder that all of this happened in the real world.

"Well," she said. "Time to start hunting!" Bulma took out her flashlight, having it ready for when they went inside. Then, she pressed forward.

She walked through the archway where doors once stood. She shined her flashlight around the large entry room. It appeared to be some kind of reception area, but one could hardly tell, now. Cobwebs covered the ceiling and objects were covered in a thick layer of dust, left untouched for years. The desks and tables were in complete disarray, laying on their sides or flipped over with their chairs pushed in all different corners of the room. When she looked at the floor, she could see objects like pens and clipboards. It was as if everyone who was once here left in a rush to get out. As if they were under attack.

Suddenly, Raditz grabbed her arm and pulled her back. From out of nowhere, a giant air conditioner fell to the ground, cracking the floor tiles. A shiver ran up her spine. Had that landed, she would have been a goner.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"Sure," he said.

Bulma continued on, carefully manuvering around the room. Her flashlight moved aroun the room, bringing more of it into light. It lingered for a moment, then stopped at a desk pushed up against the wall.

"Hey, look at this!" She ran up to it, nearly tripping on an overturned chair. "It's an old console." It was a rare early computer, with keys attached straight to the monitor. She checked the box - aside from a few cracks in the screen and missing keyes on the keyboard, it looked to be in working condition.

"I wonder," she said, trailing off.

Bulma took out a small pen and pointed it at the edge of the monitor. When she pressed down on the side, a laser appeared. She dragged it down and around until the screen was completely separated. She pulled another tool out from her pouch, set it down on the desk, and began fiddling with the wires inside of the monitor.

Raditz stood behind, looking over her shoulder. "What are you doing with that?"

"That," she said, pointing to the tool on the desk, "is a battery. It's strong enough to power an entire city. If I can hook it up to the console, I might be able to power it up, again."

As Bulma fiddled with the wires, she grabbed the battery once more and brought it to the console. She used her pen to weld the wires to the ends of the battery. After reattaching the screen, she reached behind and jiggled the switch. Soon, the computer turned on, and a bright blue glow filled the dark room.

"Bingo," she exclaimed, as she shielded her eyes. "Now, if I could just find it…" She typed, looking for an options menu. "This is hooked up to the wall. If my assumptions are correct, I might be able to power up the entire base."

Raditz scoffed. "Is this group stupid enough to put the ability to turn the system on and off in one little console?"

Just as he finished that thought, the fluorescent lights in the room turned back on.

He blinked. "Apparently, they are."

"When you think that you're the shit, you tend to be too big to ignore things like security and safety," Bulma said.

She continued typing on the computer, looking for a directory of the facility. Soon, one popped up on the screen. As she suspected, they were in the lobby, of sorts - a bright red dot showed their current location. Just down the hallway, there was an elevator that led straight to the control room. Behind the control room was Commander Red's personal quarters. If there was anything about Gero in this base, then that would be where they would be.

She straightened her back. "Well," she said, "we have to head through that hallway back there. Then, we can get to the control room."

Bulma and Raditz approached the hallway, standing just behind the archway. Sure enough, sitting on the opposite side were doors that she presumed to be elevator doors.

"Do you think something's gonna be up there," Raditz asked.

She shook her head. "Raditz, this place has been vacant for years. This is the first time it's gotten power in a long time. The likelihood of any kind of security threat being operational is slim to none. Now, come on." She gestured towards the hallway. "Let's get going."

Bulma continued down the hallway, with Raditz not far behind. The bugs and rats scattered away, as they walked through it. Though the lights were back on, this hallway was dimly lit. The few fluorescent lights that worked flickered on and off above them. But she could still see the end of the hallway. Only a few more steps, and she'd make it to the elevator.

Suddenly, the hallway lights went off out of nowhere. A loud scraping noise shook the corridor. Walls were slowly coming down at the ends of the corridor. They ran towards the other end, but it was no use. By the time they made it, they were completely cut off from the rest of the building.

Bulma turned on her flashlight, pointing it around the room. She found something sticking out in the middle of the hallway with a small red light attached to it. She walked closer to it. Upon further inspection, it looked to be some kind of camera.

"I think I remember reading about that," she said, pointing up at the camera. "They used cameras like that for security purposes. They're able to recognize who's supposed to be here and who wasn't. And if they werent, there were measures taken to stop them."

"They could do that," he asked. "How advanced were these guys?"

"Very. Only question is how are we supposed to get out of here?"

Raditz flexed his arms, with a cocky grin on his face. "I think I can get us out the old fashioned way." He walked back up to the wall, pulled his fist back, and swung it forward, striking it with everything he had. He froze for a moment, before screaming in pain, holding his wrist and practically writhing on the ground.

"God damn," he yelled. "What is that thing made of?!" He flicked his wrist as he triedto shake the pain off, muttering curses to himself.

She tapped her nails against the wall. "I don't know. It's stronger and more dense than any other metal I've seen. Maybe they developed this, too." She pressed her ear against it. It wasn't hollow or anything - it was solid.

The hall suddenly began to shake, and Bulma felt the wall push her backwards. She stumbled back, before she turned around.

"Uh, Raditz? Do you see that?"

He was standing back up and turned where she was looking. The opposite wall was heading down the hallway straight towards them.

He pushed her behind him. "Stay back." He threw his hand out and a ball of ki flew towards the new wall. When it hit, it bounced, heading right back towards them. Raditz's eyes widden, and he grabbed Bulma, turning away from the oncoming ball of energy. It collided with the armor on his back, disintegrating into nothing.

"So it can deflect energy, too. Great," she said, clearly distressed.

Using all his might, he pushed against the wall with his bare hands. But try as he might, he couldn't get it to stay back. The walls were getting closer and closer. As he tried to push, she tappd on the walls, trying to find something - a dent, a crack, any flaw that could be exploited. But it was no use.

She looked up. "Raditz! Try to see if you can throw some energy at the ceiling! We might be able to bust through it!"

Still trying to keep the wall back, he put one hand behind his back and fired. When he did, a small bit of rubble fell.

"It's working! Do it, again!"

"Are you nuts," he yelled, as he pushed his back up against the wall. "I'd need time to power up and we don't have that!" The other wall was close enough for him to push his foot against it. However, they still came closer.

"Then I'll do it!" Bulma stood beneath the cracked ceiling and used all her might to summon a ball of energy. A ball formed in her hands and she threw it at the ceiling. It barely left a dent. She tried to summon more, holding her breath, but she gave out after a few seconds.

She put her fists out at her side and tried to power up. She felt the air around her spin, as the ground shook. She yelled, as the energy burst around her, before she collapsed onto her knees. She gasped for air, holding onto her stomach. Hot tears ran down her face, as she felt nauseous. God dammit, she just couldn't do it.

"Wait, I think that did something," yelled Raditz. "It pushed the walls back!"

Bulma looked up, her head spinning. The walls were no longer close together. The hallways had deep marks, where the walls were closing in on them. They had been pushed back considerably. So the force of powering up must have been enough to hold them back.

"I-I can't," she wheezed. "I don't have the strength."

He stood next to her, his feet spread apart. "Then hang on - we'll be out of here in no time." He charged up his energy, making the ground pulsate underneath him. She grabbed onto one of his legs, holding onto it tightly. As the wind blew around them, she saw the walls being pushed backwards. Slowly, at first, then quickly giving way. They flew from their hinges, crashing through the walls of the building, landing on the fields of grass surrounding it. Light flooded the hallway, signalling their freedom.

Bulma laid back, in relief. "Phew," she said, trying to catch her breath. "Had I not tried that, we would have been goners." She laid still, as she regained her senses. Then, she slowly stood back up on her feet. "Okay. Let's keep going."

"After all that, you still want to stay here?! What other traps could be around?!"

"I guess we'll find out."

They continued down and reached the end of the hallway. Unfortunately, the walls had crashed into where the elevator was supposed to sit, and now it was lying in a pile of rubble outside of the building. Bulma carefully leaned forward, shining her flashlight up and down the elevator shaft. It was completely clear, with no other vehicles in sight. She also made sure to look for any more of those cameras. Luckily, there weren't any in sight.

"Hey, do you think you can fly us up there?"

He looked in. "What is it?"

"This is where the elevator is supposed to be. The control room and Red's office are on the top floor. If you can fly us up there, we'll be able to get there in no time."

"Are you sure that'll work?"

"It's either that or we risk more traps by going up the stairs."

Without another word, he grabbed her by her waist and flew up the elevator shaft. They quickly passed through each story, making it up to the top. The elevator door was slightly ajar, and Raditz managed to pry it all the way open. He landed on the inside, setting her down next to him.

They were standing in a long hallway, paded with a lush red carpet. For as much as a dump the lobby is, this part of the building was in decent shape. Only the cobwebs and dust on the window sills hinted at its age. The lights were on in here, too - brighter than the ones downstairs. So she did manage to power the entire building.

After making sure there were no other cameras, they continued down the hallway together. The path split off in two different directions. The directory in the lobby said that the control room was to the left, so she went in that direction. The door at the end was closed, so she carefully opened it, using it as a shield in case there was any security that might be triggered.

Sure enough, they had reached the control room. The room was in disarray, as well, with chairs and papers littering the floor. But that wasn't the most interesting part. Sitting against the opposite wall was a large screen with a map of the world on it. Plotted on it were seven yellow dots, scattered all over.

As she scanned the room, she saw another console sitting crooked on a table. Cautiously, she walked up to it. It seemed to be attached to the giant screen. When she hit the space key, the dots on the screen changed. There were three in total, with an abbreviated name attached to them. They were clearly all coordinates. To what, she didn't know.

One screen showed dots in clusters, covering different parts of the world. The name on the monitor was "TERRITOR". That had to be territories the Red Ribbon Army had claimed. She thought back to books she had read - the clusters matched the maps she remembered seeing.

The next were the seven dots around the world. Four were grouped in one area, while the rest were on random continents. This screen was called "DB". She thought for a moment about what DB could stand for. Then, the answer was obvious.

"Those dots must be where the Dragon Balls are located."

Raditz walked up behind her. "This planet has Dragon Balls?"

"Yeah. The Red Ribbon Army was looking for them for an unknown reason. No one's ever been able to figure out why. Most people assumed they were a myth. Like they were looking for the Holy Grail or something like that."

He balked. "You have a Holy Grail, too?! What else does this planet have?"

She laughed. "No, Raditz. The Holy Grail is a myth. Based on an old story out West. But the Dragon Balls are very much real. I used them in conjunction with the Namekian Balls, during our fight with Frieza."

"You did?!"

She glanced at him. "How else do you think the dead Saiyans came back to life?"

Bulma clicked to the last screen. Now, there were about a dozen different dots all over the screen. Most were yellow, but others were grey. This was simply called "BASES". So this had to be where the army was officially stationed. She clicked to the territories, and many of the locations matched up. She wondered what the gray ones could be.

She pulled a small atlas out of her pouch, thumbing through it. When she compared one of the grey dots to the map in her pocket, she saw that it was located in the north - approximately where Jingle Town was. That must be the Muscle Tower that Dr. Flappe had spoken to her of. The grey dots must have been bases that were out of commission. Of course, all of them had been out of commission since the army was deposed. So these must have been all of the bases that were active, when they were taken down.

One of those dots had to be where Gero's lab was located.

She quickly plotted them down in her atlas with a red pen. If she didn't find anything else while searching through here, then she at least had a few places to scout out in the future. It brought her one step closer to a breakthrough.

"Hey, Bulma. Come see this."

Bulma looked over her shoulder. Raditz was standing in a doorway, pointing at the room inside of it. She put her book and pen away, and ran up towards him. When she poked her head inside. She gasped.

The room had a huge emblem for the Red Ribbon Army on the far wall. A crystal chandelier that once hung from the ceiling was now crashed onto the floor, shattered into thousands of pieces. Only a desk sat at the far end of the room, with a chair lying on the ground behind it. The only window in the room was shattered, with glass still lying on the floor around it.

This was Commander Red's office.

She cautiously entered the room. Aside from the big banner, it was plain, without any decorations or tchotchkes. She walked up to the desk, and dragged her finger across it, picking up dust along the way. No one had even touched this desk in over ten years. As she examined it, she saw that there were some draws on one side of it. She walked over and knelt down to get a better look at them.

Slowly, she opened one of them. A cloud of dust went up around her, making her sneeze. The draw was empty, save for one button sitting in the middle of it. She took her flashlight and used it to press it, quickly pulling her hand away afterwards. If it was rigged with something, she wasn't going to lose her hand.

Instead, the desktop suddenly opened up. A small console came up from within it and turned on. Bulma smirked. She knew there had to be something she could look into.

The console was locked with a password. Bulma cracked her fingers. She knew lots of ways to get past a lockscreen. As a joke, she typed in "1234". And as soon as she typed the numbers in, the desktop screen came up. Bulma did a double take and her eyes widened. She hadn't expected that to work. If that was the masterful security this army had, it was a wonder they didn't get deposed sooner.

Raditz leaned against a wall. "So, what are you looking for?"

"I'm not sure. Anything that might help with the investigation."

"Yeah, about that: why do you think they're involved?"

If Raditz was helping her with the investigation, then she guessed there was no harm in telling him the facts. "The lab found something in the bodies that had the Red Ribbon Army's emblem on it," she pointed up at the emblem behind her. "I've been reading everything I could about them, and I think there's a connection. They had a scientist working for them named Gero. He worked away from here, they never confirmed that he was dead, and he's the only one of these guys that's smart enough to pull off these kinds of murders."

"Why would an old scientist want to kill Saiyans?"

"That's what I hope to find out."

Bulma started typing, opening a search menu on the computer. She started by typing "Gero" and pressing enter. In seconds, thousands of results had shown up. She hit the jackpot. She sorted the results from oldest to newest, then clicked on the first result.

It was a letter.

Dr. Gero:

Word of your talents have travelled far and wide. I was very impressed by your findings, of molding man and machine, and believe they have the potential to change humanity for the better. You may call me Commander Red. I work for the Red Ribbon Army. I have the means to get you everything you need to complete your so-called androids. If you are willing to help build my empire by joining our science division, I will personally fund your project. If you have any further questions, I will be in touch. I look forward to your timely response.

Sincerely,

Commander Red

Bulma was floored. She knew all of this from the books and articles, but seeing it straight from the horse's mouth was something else, entirely. It reminded her that, yes, this was all real and actually happened.

She clicked back to the search results. It would take a lifetime to sift through all of them. So, she added extra terms to narrow it down. She started with 'android project'. Still many results, but considerably less than before. As she looked through, she found hundreds of documents. Correspondence with Commander Red. Scientific figures. Updates on progress.

As Bulma read through them, she started getting a clearer idea of what Gero was like, as a man. Eccentric was probably the kindest word she could use. He was clearly very passionate about his work and sharing it with others. He wanted his experiments to make a difference in people's lives. However, all of his words came with a sense of callousness. He made no qualms about using living, breathing humans as test subjects, speaking about them as if they were lab rats. Some of what she read chilled her to the bone. The real, tangible human cost of the Red Ribbon Army was rarely touched upon, so she never had a clear glimpse of it until now.

As she continued through the documents, one headline caught her eye. "RE: Android Project - Stealth Model". She clicked through.

Red:

I wanted to touch base with you on one of my newer ideas. I believe they may be beneficial for you in combat. I see that you and Black have worried about causing too much of a ruckus this early on. What if there was a way to get around that? I'm in the middle of developing an android model centered on stealth. Do you want a target assassinated without being traced back to you? This will be the perfect answer. Under the cover of night, they could take out an entire army without anyone noticing. I've sketched up some plans that I'll attach to this message, and want to know if you have any ideas on how to improve it.

Best,

Gero

Sure enough, attached to the message was an image. She moved the cursor down and clicked on it.

She gasped.

Raditz pushed himself off the wall and walked up behind her. "What is it? What did you find?"

Bulma stared at the screen, not speaking for several moments. On the screen was the android model Gero spoke of. It was covered in black from head to toe. The only thing showing was its eyes.

"That's him," she said. "That's the murderer! That's who I saw that night!"

She ran her fingers through her hair. She had her doubts she would even find anything relevant here. That she'd sift through every document and still find nothing. But this was her breakthrough. Gero was involved in this. He was the one behind all of the murders.

She pulled out a memory stick from her bag, sticking it into the computer. She copied the letter and the image and put it into the stick, making multiple copies in case one of the files got corrupted. Then, she put it back into her bag and zipped it all up.

"I'll be damned," Raditz said. "I didn't think you'd actually do it."

"Neither did I." She laughed. She was practically giddy, with excitement. Her heart was racing and she could barely stand still. A feeling of happiness and hope rushed over her.

She couldn't wait to tell everyone about it.