"Whaaa! West City is huuuge!" Goku shrieked out in both excitement and surprise. Chayote was not aware that her fellow Saiyan had not yet been in this place or, possibly, any of the other larger Earth cities, since, had he been there, he'd have not been nearly as surprised by this show of technological advancement and Earthling ingenuity.

"It is incredible…" Artificial Human No. 8 nodded in agreement. Whereas, in the beginning, the meaty giant reserved himself to shouting, crying and begging for the speedy flight to stop, by now he had gotten used to this method of transportation and resigned to observe the marvels of the world he was walled off from for far too long.

While looking at this artificial creature that Chayote used to consider pathetic and look down on in anger and irritation because of its dismissal of all violence altogether unless his mind was entirely lost in the moment, the girl felt a nagging feeling of warmth in her chest that prompted her to touch it from the outside and try to squeeze to her own flesh through the entirely too small furry jacket she was wearing.

"We're lucky that Chayote's here with us. I'd have gotten lost in this place!" Goku turned to Chayote with a smile, which made the teen Saiyan leap up startled by the sudden realization she was in the focus of attention and that she could not just wander off in her thoughts and inner trips to self-discovery.

"Some friend of Bulma's you turned out to be." Chayote cut back, trying to sound for what she had made sound normal for her. "Never even visited her once?"

"I've been pretty busy. When we were looking for the Dragon Balls the first time we didn't get the chance and after I've been training with the old-timer. Then the tournament and… Well, I'm doing it now." Goku laughed out after a rather reserved period of recollection. "Is something wrong?" he wondered looking at Chayote who kept staring at her right foot and acting as if she had lost her balance and was about to slip off of the Kinto cloud.

"No, it's… Nothing, although I could have sworn my right foot nearly plunged through the cloud." Chayote grunted before getting the handle of the cloud. The pair directed their Kinto to blitz right at the massive dome of Capsule Corp and landed outside. Kinto lowered beside Goku, letting the frightened Artificial Human No. 8 to also get off of the cloud.

The pair of Saiyans approached the door and saw it open in front of them. The familiar face of the receptionist twisted in aggravation when she saw Chayote. Her sights kept switching between Chayote, Goku and Artificial Human No. 8 and, frankly, nobody could have blamed her, they were an odd trio to be certain.

"Back again with your delinquent gang?" the receptionist acted brave as her hand hovered above some button on her table. Likely the one that would have called for reinforcements.

"I suppose." Chayote scratched her head, she was not entirely sure about how she should have gone around correcting that suggestion. "Can we see Bulma?"

"Bulma is away." Dr. Brief introduced himself, walking out from a corridor to the right as he raised his hand in a welcoming gesture that appeared similar to the way in which Bora and Upa welcomed people that were not to be scared away or killed for entering the Sacred Land. "She's at the Kame House with her boyfriend."

"Tsk." Chayote exclaimed in frustration. She was not all too fond of the idea of visiting that lot. Plus, it was unlikely that Bulma would have been in the mood of fixing Artificial Human No. 8 there or had the appropriate tools.

"Who's this?" Goku pointed at Bulma's father.

"Little boy, don't you know it's rude to point fingers at people!?" the receptionist jumped up in place in offense by that blunt gesture.

"It's Bulma's father. Bulma's father, this is Son Goku, Bulma's friend. Hmm…" Chayote scratched her chin. "From what I recall, you are quite a genius yourself, right?" the Saiyan asked the scientist.

"Well…" Dr. Brief scratched the back of his head while literally shoving the praise away from him with his left hand.

"Such vulgarity!" the receptionist walked out from her stand and gestured with an open palm at the scientist who appeared to be almost half her size. "This man is Dr. Brief, he is the brilliant founder of Capsule Corporation and the inventor of capsule technology."

"Hmm. The capsules Earthlings use are a unique piece of technology, unseen anywhere else in the universe." Chayote continued to rub her chin while her mind processed all of the information. The fact that such a scientist and his family were to be very useful to the Frieza Force when the time came were of secondary importance right now. "Could you then fix Artificial Human No. 8?" Chayote inquired of the genius.

"Huh? Oh… Dunno, what's wrong with him?" Dr. Brief began walking around and examining Artificial Human No. 8.

"I have a bomb inside of me that can go off if somebody presses and holds the remote. I want to live in Jingle Village with the village chief and Suno-chan but I can't while the bomb is in my body." Eighter explained by himself. The underlying passion of getting rid of the bomb and living a worry-free life sold the request better than Chayote ever could have, these Earthlings were suckers for sentiment, the Saiyan observed.

"A bomb? Interesting… Why would somebody put a bomb in somebody? Seems impractical…" Dr. Brief scratched his head in bemusement while walking around Artificial Human No. 8 and examining him like a coat on a sale.

"He's an Artificial Human created by Dr. Gero from the White Ribbon army." Chayote explained.

"Dr. Gero? Oh my… White Ribbon army?" Dr. Brief kept switching his eyebrows up and down, while the mention of Dr. Gero's name invited a familiar flare in the man's eyes, he did not look all too familiar about the man's association with any armies.

"The White Ribbon army, Dr. Brief, sir," the receptionist explained. "A couple of years ago the Red Ribbon Army was destroyed by some natural disaster, it seems, after that time the remaining army officials who were stationed all over the world have created splinter groups of their own."

"Hmm, your security is well versed in the military situation of your planet." Chayote commended the receptionist woman.

"Oh, Stockings-san isn't in the security staff. She just welcomes the guests to the building." Dr. Brief waved his hand at the trusty employee.

"You don't need to be interested to become knowledgeable about these sort of things." Stockings pointed out. "Haven't you read or watched the news at all?"

"Haven't had the time…" Dr. Brief lamented. "That's why I have people around to talk to…"

"So, can you do it?" Chayote brought the subject back.

"Without some sort of a blueprint… It will be difficult, it might take a couple of days to familiarize myself with the design alone, if there's a bomb inside of him, I'll need to not set it off by accident. Might take more than a week." Dr. Brief mumbled to himself although, judging from the content of his words, they were meant for the wider audience. "You kids can settle down in the meantime, I heard Panchy is giving people out cookies again and she loves making strangers cocoa."

"Over a week…" Goku grumbled. "What are we supposed to do in the meantime around here? Do you have a place to train?"

"A gym, sure. I don't really exercise myself so it will be a bit dusty but feel welcome to help yourselves." Dr. Brief bowed his head in hospitality.

"Hmph. What good will an Earthling gym be for us? We're far stronger than any human on this entire planet." Chayote complained.

"Oh, I figured you guys would be stronger than ordinary, Yamcha, Bulma's boyfriend trained here on occasion in the last days before the World Martial Arts Tournament. I had the staff adapt the gym to his increased requirements. May have gone a bit overboard though… Oh, do mind that the gym is smart and it records your biological data in order to assist your training better. Don't get startled if you hear voices or computing sounds and break something." Dr. Brief replied before leading Artificial Human No. 8 away.

"I would like some clothes. I borrowed these from a girl half my size. Something like what your security wears will suffice if you could direct me to your armory." Chayote asked of the scientist who jumped up and turned around.

"Oh, uh… Stockings-san, please show Chayote to the dressing room and let her pick something." Dr. Brief instructed with softness in his voice that would have leaned stronger on the side of suggesting it rather than ordering.

"Alright. I'm going to hit the gym and start training!" Goku got all hyped up.

"Don't start having foolish thoughts of matching me, let alone surpassing me." Chayote turned around. "Both of us may be low-class Saiyans but I've been properly trained and conditioned on Planet Vegeta whereas you let Muten Roshi waste your time with his life lessons."

"We'll just have to see about that!" Goku grinned with a smirk that implied a gauntlet being thrown.

Chayote entered the guest room, following Bulma's mother who was just strolling across the building handing out people milk and cookies in vast quantities. It seemed confusing that someone married to the head of this facility to would stoop herself so low as to serve her employees but Chayote had long since stopped feeling disappointed by those sorts of things.

Goku turned at Chayote, blinking a pair of times in rapid succession. He was sitting on his butt with his head almost stuck onto the television screen. His muscles were twitching and his movements seemed a bit numb which implied that he had been training but he did not smell like it. Likely he was just after a shower.

"Oh, didn't recognize you in that monkey-suit," Goku stated nonchalantly before turning back at his movie. Some peculiar, ancient-looking flying mechanisms were buzzing about in that television production, firing those pesky Earthling projectiles that, despite failing to even pinch Chayote, appeared powerful enough to down one of these flying apparatuses with ease.

"It's not a monkey-suit." Chayote wrapped her hands over her chest. "It's what military and security forces wear on this planet."

"Not true, I've seen a bald guy outside handing out papers to Bulma's father and he was in terrible shape." Goku looked back at Chayote. Despite sitting right next to the television screen, close enough for his face to touch it if he leaned forward any more, Goku did not appear all too invested in the motion picture he was watching.

"Look at your movie, you dolt, that military lady is wearing a similar uniform." Chayote pointed at the screen where a distraught female military officer was confessing her feelings into the microphone, transmitted to the cockpit of her beloved war hero who was about to engage six other fighters in a dogfight. The woman's hand clutched the hand of a little man, likely younger even than Goku, one of blond hair and deep blue eyes.

"I guess…" Goku hummed in an unintelligible manner for a bit before pouting his cheeks. "What's with you and the military, anyway?"

"Shut up, you promised me we would spar!" Chayote tried to change the topic away from one that would have forced her to look deeper at herself. "Now you've pissed me off so I'm not gonna hold back. You should feel grateful… You're going to get another freebie power-up."

"You're gonna fight wearing that? It seems awfully stuffy and uncomfortable…" Goku raised an eyebrow while standing up on both feet and stretching out.

"Less so than the Turtle School Uniform that Muten Roshi made me wear." Chayote squinted.

Goku laughed out, likely knowing exactly what the fellow Saiyan was saying. From his reaction, Chayote was almost certain that the old man had made Goku wear lingerie too at some point which raised a whole handful of questions all of its own special category. Old geezers tended to be a bit on the pervy side on this planet, for whatever reason, that, however, went a bit beyond just being pervy.

"We interrupt your scheduled motion picture – "The High-Flying Sky-Aces" with Andrew Buffon, Alisson Pickford and the great screen debut of Barry Kahn for this message!" a news presenter hijacked the television screen after a bright flash.

"Hmm? See? That guy wears a monkey suit too… Doesn't look like a soldier." Goku pointed at the tiny and frail man of rectangular facial shapes and a funny, brush-like mustache.

"The commander of the Blue Ribbon Army has demanded our screen time. Normally we would not have negotiated with a rogue military commander that has threatened to wipe out West City on multiple occasions in the past but, given the circumstances, we have decided to grant his request. Our reasons shall become clear once you hear him out. Mr. Blue…" the anchorman turned to the giant screen behind him as the camera closed in to it. The quality of watching a screen, viewed from another screen left something to be desired but the general details stayed clear.

The screen rippled and passed through a trial by flashy static before turning solid and showing a man spinning around in a chair while dangling his leather-boot-donning feet up and down, all around having a gay old time. From the hands of a very concerned-looking soldier, the spinning gentleman picked up a small bucket which he promptly flipped over his head, allowing rings of roses to rain over his head while the man threw the bucket over his head, allowing it to fly to the other end of the office while the roses continued to shower him.

"Eat your heart out." Chayote smirked at Goku, loosening the grip of her hands over her chest over the revelation that Commander Blue wore a uniform not that much different from the one that Chayote snagged from Stockings' locker with the woman's "permission".

"Whatever, you're not getting me into one of those…" Goku showed his tongue to the television screen.

"I won't bother. This uniform is just a temporary substitute until we rejoin the Frieza Army and get our armor and scouters back." Chayote shrugged.

"Ummm… Mr. Blue… You are on-air right now…" the anchorman spoke to the screen, the entire studio was frozen and dead-silent in confusion of seeing this foul heel engaging himself in such buffoonery.

Commander Blue froze in mid-showering-in-flowers-motion. With shot-out, petrified eyes the man turned his chair around and stared right at the camera. His eyebrows began twitching and with each successive twitch, they formed an even steeper downward slope while the rows of his teeth ground against one another and veins shot out on the side of his face. He pointed at the camera with a shaking hand that turned red to match the bloody color of his face.

"Execute this man at once!" Commander Blue demanded. A handful of monkeys in uniforms flooded the office and dragged the poor cameraman out. Chayote's stare sharpened when she saw the flashes of a familiar scenery behind the steel doors to a portable station that Commander Blue spoke from.

"That was the Kame House…" Chayote mumbled.

"What? The Kame House? But… Why would this weirdo be there? Did old-timer take him in as his student too?" Goku pressed his finger to his lips as he pondered in confusion.

A fusillade of gunfire noises made Commander Blue's face turn to pure ecstasy. The anchors tried to cut the feed but they appeared conflicted about that decision. Showing hints of actual murder on live television must have been taboo for those softy Earthlings but something prompted them to overcome their pussy natures. This made Chayote very interested in what Commander Blue was about to say.

"Ahh, don't you just love that symphony?" Commander Blue closed his eyes and continued to spin his chair around, this time more gently as if enjoying a musical composition rather than in the more childish and roundabout manner he was furling in before. "Anyway… I am Commander Blue and I am addressing not only the self-centered ninnyhammers from West City. The organization you once knew as the Red Ribbon Army has been destroyed. The Blue Ribbon Army will be picking up where its daddy left off. Behind the doors of my mobile military station is a small island, on which my scouts have picked up Bulma, the daughter of world-famous Dr. Brief. In a raid of the island we have managed to subdue her and a pair of her cohorts that have been too troublesome to kill, for now."

Commander Blue looked around the station, his soldiers all stiffened with icy panic as the eyes of their superior covered them and washed them away with frigid disdain.

"Imbeciles! Bring her in so that those feists know we're not buncombing them!" the Commander yelled out, pulling out his own gun from his back pocket. A pair of soldiers ran out, taking an uncomfortable pair of moments to bring tied up Bulma into the station and show her around.

"There! Now, as for our payment… For the release of Bulma, we would like something more than just money, that would be too easy from the corpulent money bags of Capsule Corps. No, we want the orbs known as Dragon Balls. For now, we do not have an exact replica to show you but… This is an artistic rendition of what one looks like." Commander Blue showed a piece of checkered paper with an orange circle drawn on it with a red star in the center. "If we do not receive any intelligence on the location of all seven balls within twenty-four hours, I will shoot Bulma in the face on live television. If we do not receive the balls themselves within five days from this very moment, I will shoot Bulma and all her less valuable bargaining chips for friends in the face on live television, then, I will use a missile to destroy the island on which they were relaxing before their capture. One way or the other, I will get those balls."

The transmission then went out with the same flash, then switch to static that it appeared in. The anchorman snapped back to talk directly to the camera, both anchors stood up and attempted to salvage the situation somewhat.

"We would like to remind our viewers that what Commander Blue said was untrue, we will not show the execution of young Bulma, if that comes to pass, on live television. He is a highly disturbed individual that does not know what he's talking about…" the anchor spoke before Goku jumped to his feet and pushed the TV off its stand, pulling the wire out of its socket in the process.

"That bastard!" Goku hissed out, his hair standing out like those of wild, scorned cat.

"I have use of Bulma yet. She is to build my spaceship. We cannot allow her to be harmed." Chayote declared with a cold expression while pushing her shoulder off of the wall she was using for support.

Author's Note: Okay, so before any pitchforks will be pulled over this completely inconsequential change of General Blue knowing exactly who Bulma is, I'll explain myself that:

1st - it never made any sense to me how nobody knew who Bulma was. She was the daughter of one of the most famous scientists and one of the most successful faces of business in the world, even at this time, also, one of the richest people on the planet.

2nd - there is another in-story reason that has a lot to do with a change I left early on in the arc that led to Commander Blue knowing a bit more about who Bulma is but I won't reveal which one yet so that it isn't a spoiler of my own story :)