Chapter 11
Bulma glanced back at Gohan. They had been flying for about an hour now, and he had since stopped looking behind him in the direction of Vegita and Goku. They could all still sense the two titans clashing, however, and they were all very uneasy.
Suddenly Gohan stopped and turned around. Bulma could see some new fear in his expression, so she called for Kuririn to stop. She turned to call Gohan back and noticed what he was staring at.
"What is that?" Bulma asked. "Have you ever seen anything like it before, Kuririn?"
Kuririn flew up next to them and studied the strange source of light seeming to emanate from the battlefield. "I don't know what it is, Bulma," he replied, "but I don't like it. Whatever it is, it can't be very good."
"Kuririn, is it just me," Bulma asked as an expression of horror spread across her face, "or does that look like moonlight to you?"
The same expression appeared on Kuririn's face. "B-Bulma," he said. "Vegita has a tail, right?"
Bulma nodded. She and Kuririn looked at the strange light source again. They were sharing the same thought. Gohan didn't know what they were driving at, but he had a feeling that something very wrong had happened. He turned back around to face Bulma and Kuririn again.
"I'm going back," he said firmly. "Something is definitely wrong."
"Kuririn, I'm afraid I have to agree with him," Bulma said nervously. "You know as well as I do that if that is moonlight, then Goku could be in terrible danger. If there's anything we can do, I want to be there to do it."
Sighing, Kuririn scanned for ki. "One of those powers is really weak, and getting weaker by the minute," he said. "As much as I hate to say it, you're right. We'd better hurry. I have a bad feeling that Goku doesn't have much time left."
"Come on," Bulma said. "Each of you take one of my hands. I think I can teleport us there."
"Are you sure?" Kuririn asked, remembering his last encounter with Bulma's teleport technique. "Do you think you can teleport us all at once?"
"Yes," Bulma answered. "But for how far I don't know. It'll take a lot of energy, but I'm sure I can take us most of the way."
"I trust you, Bulma," Gohan said. "So let's hurry, before something happens to my dad!" He grabbed her hand.
Bulma looked at Kuririn for his answer. Shaking his head, he grasped Bulma's other hand and shut his eyes tightly.
"All right, Bulma," he said. "Let's go!"
Bulma grinned. "Here goes nothing!" She said. "Rapid Teleport!" Instantly Bulma could feel a slight strain as she began whizzing toward the battlefield. She could sense the powers ahead approaching steadily closer. She was amazed at how easily she sensed ki as she teleported. It seemed that the closer she got to Goku and Vegita, however, the harder she had to push herself. The strain eventually became too great to bear, and she had to stop. Panting, she let go of Kuririn and Gohan and sunk to her knees.
"Are you all right, Bulma?" Gohan asked her.
"I'm fine," she replied. "I just have to catch my breath. That took a lot out of me."
"How close are we?" Kuririn asked, trying to regain his balance.
"We have about ten miles left to go," Bulma replied. "I'm sorry, but it seems that the closer I get to an enormous source of ki, the harder it is to teleport. It will be much easier for me if we just fly the rest of the way."
"That's okay, Bulma," Kuririn said. "We can get there pretty fast by flying anyway. Can you fly now? You're not too tired, are you?"
"No, I'm fine now," Bulma said, getting back to her feet. "It's gotten a little easier to regain my strength after a teleport. I won't have any trouble keeping up with you."
"All right then. Let's go!" Kuririn said, and they flew off toward the kis ahead.
A few minutes later they were less than a mile away from Goku and Vegita. As they raced on, Bulma could make out a horrifyingly familiar figure in the distance.
"What is that?" Gohan asked nervously.
"Kuririn!" Bulma shouted. "Please tell me you don't see what I see!"
"If what you see is Vegita in his transformed stage, then I'd be lying if I said I don't," he said grimly. "This was what I was afraid of."
"Me too," Bulma said. "Let's get down lower and hide behind some of those rocks down there. I can't see Goku yet, and we'll have to know where he is before we do anything."
They flew out behind Vegita and hid behind the boulders. They couldn't see Goku anywhere.
"What are you guys doing here?" Someone said behind them, making them all jump in surprise. They spun around. It was Yajirobei!
"You're not going to try to attack that monster, are you?" He asked them. "Even Goku can't beat him!"
"Where is Goku?" Kuririn asked him quickly. "What's happened to him?"
"He's in that big ape's hands, that's where he is!" Yajirobei said. "And the same will happen to you guys if he sees you."
"We've got to stop him!" Gohan exclaimed. "He'll crush my dad!"
"That's impossible!" Yajirobei said firmly. "Noone would be able to stop that thing. Not even me!"
"But if we cut off his tail, he'll turn back into what he was before!" Bulma said suddenly. "Kuririn, we've got to get at that tail. It's the only way. He's much too strong to attack head-on."
Suddenly the most frightening, agonizing yell came from Vegita's massive hands. It was Goku! Vegita was crushing him to death!
"I'm going to kill you slowly!" Vegita laughed evilly. "You deserve nothing less for what you've done to me!"
Like a bullet Gohan shot out from behind the rocks and out in front of Vegita before anyone could stop him. "Let go of my father!" He yelled at Vegita.
Vegita stared at Gohan in shock for a couple of seconds, then laughed thunderously. "Oh, I'll let him go all right," he said. "It might be one piece at a time, but I'll definitely let him go!"
"Gohan!" Goku called weakly. "Please, son, get out of here. This isn't your fight."
Kuririn and Bulma watched anxiously. Gohan had really gotten himself in trouble this time. Suddenly an idea hit Bulma.
"Kuririn!" She said excitedly. "Create a Kienzan! Even if he hadn't meant to, Gohan has just given us the distraction we'll need to cut off Vegita's tail! Get that Kienzan ready quick! Hopefully, you can use it to cut off that tail before Vegita goes after Gohan!"
"All right!" Kuririn exclaimed. He quickly formed the deadly disc. "That's perfect! Now, when I throw this thing, you'll have to be ready to catch Goku, because I'm fairly sure that Vegita will drop him."
"Right!" Bulma said, turning to face Vegita. "I'm ready whenever you are!"
"All right Bulma," he said. "Teleport now!" He threw the Kienzan just as Bulma teleported.
Bulma reappeared a few yards directly below Goku. She realized suddenly that Kuririn had been heard. Vegita jumped at the last second, evading the Kienzan. It sailed underneath Bulma and sliced the rock that Gohan was standing on in half, narrowly missing him. In frustration, Bulma flew up by Vegita's fist and fired at his wrist in an attempt to get him to drop Goku. She had caught him off guard and had actually managed to hit him with her energy blast. Unfortunately, she did little more than singe his fur.
"Is that all you can do?" He laughed at her. "Go ahead and power up! Let's see if you can do better!"
"Don't tempt me!" Bulma yelled. "Now let Goku go!"
"I'm not through playing with him yet," Vegita said, grinning cruelly. "Maybe when he stops breathing I'll think about..." His sentence was cut short when he suddenly spun around and smacked Kuririn to one side. He had tried to sneak up behind Vegita to get at his tail again. Bulma shot down to Kuririn.
"Are you all right Kuririn?" she asked him. He managed to get up on his feet.
"I'll be okay," he answered. "But I've lost my only other chance to get at his tail. I think we've lost."
"Not yet," Bulma said. "I'm not going to give up until I can't fight back at all anymore. She turned to attack Vegita, but Gohan beat her to him. Savagely he pummeled Vegita's arm. Yelling in pain and anger, Vegita dropped Goku and began swatting at Gohan. Bulma teleported beneath Goku just in time to catch him. Once she had a secure hold on him, she teleported with him to the same hiding place they had used previously.
"Goku!" She said frantically. "Are you all right? Please say something!"
"Ohh..." Goku groaned. "Anyone catch the number of that train that hit me?"
"Can you move at all?" Bulma asked, afraid to touch him for fear of doing more harm than good.
"I can't get to my feet at all," Goku said. "He smashed my legs. And almost all of my energy is gone."
Suddenly they heard an enraged roar. To Bulma's utter surprise, Vegita's tail had been cut off by...Yajirobei?! He had sliced it off with his katana while Vegita was trying to grab Gohan. How uncharacteristically selfless! Bulma was very impressed, even despite the fact that Yajirobei turned tail and ran for his life afterward.
"Hurry Bulma!" Goku said. "Go get Kuririn! I have a plan, but I'll need his help."
"No problem!" Kuririn exclaimed as he slid behind the boulder. "I'm already here! I hope you have one major trick up your sleeve Goku, because that guy is extremely pissed off and he's got ki to spare!"
"I'm going to go help Gohan," Bulma said. "Vegita's pretty steamed now, and he's going to take it all out on Gohan if I don't help."
"All right Bulma," Goku said. "I really appreciate that. But keep your eyes open. There's going to be some major fireworks in a few minutes and you two won't want to get in the way."
Bulma grinned at him before running out to join Gohan. Vegita was beyond enraged now.
"Who did it?" He screamed savagely. "Who cut off my tail?"
"I don't think he'd appreciate it very much if I told you who or where he is," Bulma said, grinning. "But I'd be willing to bet that he's on the other side of the world by now."
"Whoever did this to me is gonna pay with his life!" Vegita raged. "He'd better run!" Vegita drew menacingly closer to Bulma. She stood her ground, but pulled Gohan behind her. He grabbed one of her arms with one hand and drew his other hand up in the air.
"Where's Kakkorot?" Vegita snarled. He appeared ready to hit Bulma. She didn't want to antagonize him, but she wasn't about to just show him where she had taken Goku.
"I took him far away to a place where you won't find him," she lied defiantly. "And you can go ahead and take your best shot for all I care, but I still won't tell you where he is!"
Vegita cackled evilly. "You know, I'd find you amusing right now if it were under different circumstances. I might even think you were somewhat attractive. But I'm in no mood for games! Tell me where Kakkorot is, or I'll..."
"Or you'll what?" Gohan said angrily. He wrenched free of Bulma's grasp and jumped off to one side. "If you even dare hit her you'll regret it!"
"It's over Vegita," Bulma said coldly. "You've lost."
Vegita let go of Bulma's arm and stepped back. "I've only begun," he said angrily. "It won't be over until I've killed Kakkorot and destroyed this damn planet!"
Gohan's ki began to rise. "You'll have to destroy me first!" He said, poising to attack.
"Gladly!" Vegita replied. They shot up in the air and began to fight.
Suddenly Bulma sensed an extraordinary level of ki over by Kuririn and Goku. She could see Kuririn standing on the boulder with an enormously powerful energy ball, ready to strike Vegita.
Vegita and Gohan had come back down to the ground and Vegita fired an energy blast directly at Gohan, nearly hitting him. Furiously, Gohan dove at Vegita and they did some serious punching and kicking. Although most of Gohan's blows were met with blocks, so were many of Vegita's. Finally, Gohan got a strong punch in on Vegita's jaw. Vegita flew back to fire an energy blast, but Gohan shot one first. Unfortunately, Vegita easily dodged it. One after the other Gohan fired at Vegita, each time without success. Bulma knew that Kuririn couldn't throw that energy ball at Vegita while he was moving around like that. In frustration she watched as Vegita closed in on Gohan. He had backed Gohan up against a cliff face and was less than fifty feet away. Vegita landed on the ground. Panting and furious, he started towards Gohan. Vegita was remarkably powered up for his condition. Bulma still had no way of defeating him, but she couldn't just let him kill Gohan, who was by now much too weak to fight for long.
Bulma teleported to Gohan's side and assumed an attack stance. Glaring at Vegita, she stepped out and stood between him and Gohan again.
"Get out of the way," Vegita growled at her. "This is between me and him. If you don't want to accompany him on his trip to the afterlife, I suggest you move."
"The only way you're going to get to him is through me," Bulma said, bracing herself to fight. "You'll have to kill me before I'll let you touch him."
Vegita sneered. "I've been lenient with you so far," he said, taking another step closer. "In fact, I've never been so lenient with an opponent before. I'm warning you, though. I won't hesitate much longer to eliminate you too. I'm only giving you one more chance to move!"
Bulma stayed right where she was. "Finally," she snarled, grinning. "It looks like you're going to stop yakking and start fighting!"
Before either of them made another move, they were interrupted by a yell from Yajirobei. "What are you waiting for?" He yelled impatiently at Kuririn. "Just throw the damn thing!"
Kuririn angrily thrust a curse at Yajirobei and heaved the glowing ball of energy at Vegita. But it was too late. The damage had been done. Bulma watched in horror as Vegita darted up and out of the way. Suddenly Bulma realized that the energy ball was coming straight at them! Frantically she spun around and grabbed Gohan so she could teleport them to safety, but he jerked away.
"Come on Gohan," she said, beginning to panic. "There is no time! We have to go now!"
"No!" Gohan exclaimed. "We have to deflect that Genki dama! It's searching out evil ki, and if we clear our minds and think pure thoughts we can deflect it toward Vegita! It's our only chance to beat him!"
Bulma had no idea how Gohan knew this, not to mention why he called that thing a "genki dama," but something in his voice told her that she should trust him. She leapt to his left side and braced herself. Stretching out her arms with Gohan's, she waited for the impact.
"Get ready," he shouted. "Here it comes!"
Bulma rigidly stood her ground as the potent energy ball ricocheted off of their outstretched hands. She and Gohan fell backwards from the force of the blow, but were unharmed nonetheless. Bulma watched in anticipation as the genki dama got closer and closer to the unsuspecting Saiyan. When it was less than a second away, Vegita managed to turn around. For a brief moment there was a look of surprise on his face, but it soon changed to one of fear as the genki dama enveloped him and propelled him skyward. The last thing Bulma could hear coming from Vegita as he soared into the sky, was an enraged yell of profanity and hatred.
Unable to hold back any longer, Bulma jumped into the air and whooped for joy. "We did it, Gohan!" She yelled happily. "I don't think we'll see him again!"
While she and Gohan danced a little jig together, Kuririn ran up to congratulate them. "Great job guys!" He exclaimed. "Your aim was absolutely perfect! I can't believe it's finally over!"
Suddenly Yajirobei ran up to congratulate them too. "Wow! That was close!" He said breathlessly. "We almost lost that one!"
"We?" Kuririn teased. "What do you mean 'we?'"
"Hey!" Yajirobei said defensively. "Let's not forget that I was the one who cut off his tail, pal! None of you Bozos managed to do that!"
"All right, all right, I guess you have a point there," Bulma chuckled, grinning at Kuririn.
"I have one question for you, though," he said, turning to Bulma. "Where in the world did your fighting skills come from? I've never seen you fight before."
"I'll explain later," Bulma said, grinning slyly. "But if you ever tell reporters that you trained me, I'll come and physically prove you wrong!" Yajirobei gulped, and tried to laugh casually, but it came out as a nervous squeak. Of course, Gohan and Kuririn had no idea what she was talking about, and didn't seem to pay her comment much attention.
"Come on!" Gohan said suddenly. "We completely forgot about my dad!" He raced over behind the boulders to inspect his father's injuries.
Kuririn ran to join him, but Bulma stayed behind, staring at something up in the air. Yajirobei noticed her hesitation and his curiosity got the better of him.
"What is it?" He asked her.
"There's a weak ki approaching from straight up!" Bulma exclaimed, beginning to shake. "Whoa! Watch out! Here he comes!" She and Yajirobei darted out of the way as who else but Vegita fell unconscious to the ground.
Yajirobei backed away, gulping. He did not want to be seen by Vegita.
Bulma had jumped when Vegita had landed. Needless to say, she didn't exactly adore the idea of being to close to the sure to be angry Saiyan when he woke up either, but for some reason, she just couldn't help feeling just a little bit sorry for him. She admired him as a fighter, and could even relate to his high sense of pride. She did, nonetheless, prefer him in this state to awake and fighting.
"Well look at that!" She said in amazement. "After all that he's still alive! You've got to admire that! That's about the only thing I admire about him, though. Still, I don't want to be the one to finish him. Somehow, I just feel too sorry for him in his present state. Besides, I've never killed anyone before, and I don't really want to start now." She turned around and noticed that Yajirobei had run for the hills. That coward!
"Well, I guess I'll have to go tell Goku that Vegita's still alive then!" She yelled after him. Sighing frustratedly, she turned to go join Goku, Kuririn, and Gohan.
She started to walk away but nearly fell forward. Something had grabbed onto her left ankle! Bulma shrieked and tried to yank her foot free. Shaking in terror, she turned to see what had grabbed her, hoping for all she was worth that her impulse was wrong. It was right.
"I don't need your pity," Vegita growled at her. "I'm not defeated yet."
Bulma gasped and struggled harder. He had been awake the entire time! "Let go!" She shrieked, pulling her leg with all her might. Vegita laughed, tightening his grip, and slowly got to his feet, pulling her ankle up with him.
Trying to balance on her other foot, she struggled desperately to free herself from Vegita's grip. She was scared out of her wits. Noone had ever scared her so much before. But then her fear began to switch over to anger. How dare he cause her to be so scared! He had no right! Her ki began to rise.
"If you don't let go of my foot right now," she snarled, "you're seriously going to regret it."
"Hah!" Vegita laughed, squeezing her ankle even harder. "I seriously doubt it! I'd really like to see that!"
"Then I won't disappoint you," Bulma cried angrily. She abruptly hopped up, smashing Vegita's jaw with her free foot. He let go of her other foot and she flipped backwards, finally able to land on both of her feet.
Vegita yelled in pain and rage. He sailed into Bulma, punching and kicking for all he was worth. Although she was able to block quite a few of his blows, many of them connected. Despite his ragged condition, it was easy to see that Vegita was still stronger and faster than she was. She did actually manage to get a few punches in, but they were nothing compared to what he was dishing out. Finally she saw a good opening on his right side and she went for it. But she missed, and left her entire midsection open in the process. Vegita slammed an uppercut into her stomach and she went flying backwards. She landed with a thud about ten feet away. As she tried to refill her lungs with air, Vegita began walking toward her again. Bulma stumbled to her feet and prepared herself for another bout. She was in terrible pain from that uppercut, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing it. Suddenly Kuririn darted in from out of nowhere and stood between her and Vegita.
"Leave her alone," he ordered quietly.
Gohan appeared too. Glaring in hatred at Vegita, he stood next to Kuririn, and together they shielded Bulma from him.
"Thanks for the support guys, but I've got it covered," she said angrily.
"Go tell Goku what's going on," Kuririn said, not daring to remove his eyes from the angry Saiyan. "Gohan and I think you should take a break."
Her body agreed with him, but her anger still protested. They were going to get themselves killed, and there was nothing she could do about it! There was no arguing with them now. But she decided to let them try anyway. They were in better shape than she was, and chances were that they would have a better chance of defeating him than she would.
"Fine!" She snapped. "Just don't kill yourselves!"
She teleported to Goku's side and doubled over in pain. At least now she was free to show her pain.
"What happened to you?" Goku asked worriedly. "Kuririn and Gohan said that Vegita was about to kill you!"
Bulma groaned. "I don't know about that," she said, "but he really caught me off guard with that uppercut. What's really upsetting is that I've made that mistake before a few times when I sparred with Yamucha. But geez! I'm not used to being punched like that! Yamucha barely tapped me compared to this!"
"You should have known better than to try to take on Vegita by yourself," Goku chided, closing his eyes.
"I had no choice," she said defensively. "What was I supposed to do? He attacked me!"
She peered over the boulder to see how the others were doing. It didn't look good. Kuririn must have been hit pretty hard because he was lying on the ground off to one side. Gohan was fighting Vegita now, and he was getting creamed! Bulma watched despairingly as the fight ensued. Vegita was gradually pushing Gohan closer and closer to where Bulma and Goku were.
Suddenly Vegita slammed Gohan with a very strong energy blast that sent Gohan flying backwards. He landed behind the boulder next to Goku. He didn't move.
"Gohan!" Bulma shrieked. "Are you okay?"
His only reply was to stare blankly at Bulma as if he hadn't understood the question. Bulma hung her head in despair. She was the only one left who could still fight. She looked at Goku and Gohan, lying on the ground in front of her. She was determined to protect them at all costs. As she glanced at Gohan one last time, she noticed something very peculiar. He had a tail again! Bulma considered both the possibilities and the dangers it would mean if Gohan were to transform here. If Vegita could do it, then so could he. Gohan began to regain his senses. He looked up in wonder at the white light source above him. Bulma realized that she had very little time to act.
"Come on Goku," she cried, grabbing onto his arm. "Gohan's grown another tail and he's beginning to transform! We have to teleport away. We don't want to be here when he's fully transformed."
Before he could answer, they heard a gasp on the boulder that they were using for cover. She looked up to see a badly beaten Vegita, staring in horror at Gohan, who had already begun growing.
"I'll leave you to baby-sit," she said to Vegita smugly. "See you later! Rapid Teleport!"
She teleported with Goku to a place on the ground about 200 yards away. She watched in awe as Gohan grew to mammoth proportions, growling at Vegita at his immense feet. Bulma got to her feet. There was still one more thing that she had to do before they stopped to watch the show.
"Be right back," she said, then teleported away again. A few seconds later, she returned to Goku, this time carrying Kuririn.
"I'm sorry Goku," Kuririn sighed as Bulma set him gently on the ground next to his battered friend. "Even after taking that hit with the genki dama that stubborn bastard is still too strong for me."
"Hey, that's okay, Kuririn. I know you gave it your all. I just hope Gohan will have better luck."
"Huh? I thought Vegita took care of him too," Kuririn said in amazement.
"Not quite," Bulma said nervously. "Just take a look at that if you don't believe us." She pointed at Gohan, who had by now completely transformed, and was going after Vegita. Kuririn gasped.
"What the? How in Kami's name did that happen?" Kuririn exclaimed. "Gohan didn't even have a tail anymore!"
"Apparently he grew another one," Goku said, wincing in pain. "Bulma saw it before we teleported here. I just hope that Gohan won't get out of control. I sense a terrible anger in him."
"Let's just hope he takes it all out on Vegita," Kuririn said, gulping. "I don't know what we could do if he came after us."
"I've already dealt with Gohan in his transformed state," Bulma said grimly. "And even with Piccolo helping me we were no match for Gohan. I would have been killed if Piccolo hadn't destroyed the moon when he did."
"When was this?" Kuririn asked, puzzled. "I don't remember all this happening."
"I'll explain later," Bulma said. "Now isn't the time. We have to concentrate on this fight first."
They watched attentively as Gohan attacked Vegita. There was no way that Vegita was going to get out of this one. His energy was nearly spent.
"Man!" Kuririn exclaimed. "Gohan's really giving Vegita a beating! At this rate it won't be too long before he'll have finished Vegita for sure!"
Bulma nodded. Vegita had tried several times to cut Gohan's tail off, each time without success. He was dodging left and right, barely escaping Gohan's swipes. In evading Gohan's most recent blast, he managed to fly high up in the air.
"Let's see how you like this!" He shouted as Gohan shot up in front of him. Furiously, Vegita fired off a long series of huge blasts of energy at Gohan. Every one of them made contact.
"Wow!" Bulma gasped. "Amazing! How can Vegita have this much left? It's incredible! Shredded and mangled though he is, he still might have the power to take us out eventually!"
Suddenly Yajirobei smashed into Bulma from one side. "Watch what you're doing!" She snapped at him testily. "Where are you going in such a hurry anyway? The battle's not over yet."
"It is for me," he said obstinately. "I'm outta here! One of those apes is enough to last me for a lifetime. But two!? This is insane!" With that, he ran to his small capsule car and sped away.
Groaning, Bulma got up off her back. The next time she saw that jerk she was going to knock him over! She noticed as she got to her feet that Yajirobei had dropped his katana. She picked it up and handed it to Kuririn.
"Here," she said. "Take this before I break it in half. If you ever see Yajirobei again you can give it back to him, but I've had enough of that coward to last me forever." Kuririn just grinned at her.
Bulma glanced back up at Vegita and gasped at what she saw. "Kuririn!" She shrieked. "Vegita must have learned how to create a kienzan! And look! Oh no! Watch out Gohan!" She yelled. But she was a little too late. Vegita had sliced off Gohan's tail with his own version of Kuririn's kienzan.
"Whoa!" Kuririn gasped. "It's not over yet! Look at that! Vegita can't get out of the way! Gohan's falling on top of him!" With an enormous crash Gohan landed on top of Vegita as he shrank back to his normal size. They were less than twenty feet away, and from what Bulma could see, Vegita wasn't moving too easily. Gohan wasn't moving at all. She sighed.
"I think it's over," she said to Goku. "I suppose we'd better go get Gohan."
"Yeah," Kuririn agreed. "Hey, wait a minute! What is that?" He pointed to some object descending from the sky.
"I have no idea," Bulma said in consternation. "Look! It's landing by Vegita! Now I remember! It's a Saiyan space pod! I remember seeing those things when Vegita and Nappa first landed. It's what they came to earth in."
"I knew it!" Kuririn growled. "I'll be damned if I'm going to let that monster escape!" He limped toward Vegita, brandishing Yajirobei's sword menacingly.
"Stop him Bulma!" Goku said fiercely. "Don't let him kill Vegita!"
"What!?" Bulma exclaimed in disbelief. But she couldn't say no to Goku. Not after the desperation she saw in his face. She ran up to Kuririn, who had by now reached Vegita and was about to drive the sword straight through his head.
"No Kuririn! Don't do it!" She exclaimed. "Goku wants you to spare Vegita!"
"What!?" Kuririn asked incredulously as Vegita slowly crawled to his pod.
Suddenly Kuririn's face took on a strangely attentive expression. "Is that you, Goku?" He asked. "But Goku, we can't just let him leave! Even if I do show him mercy he'll just come back to earth again when he's healed and get rid of us then!" - A long pause. - "All right Goku. You win. I'll let him go. But I hope for all our sakes that you know what you're doing."
Bulma stared at him in surprise. "Who are you talking to?" She asked. "Goku isn't even here!"
Suddenly Vegita cackled feebly. "You fools should have done away with me when you had the chance! When I return you'll all regret this day. You're all soft idiots!"
"Aw shut up!" Bulma said irritably. "I don't expect you to be grateful, but if all you have to say are a few weak threats, then you'd better get out of here before Goku changes his mind. Besides," she added with a sly grin, "when and if you ever do come back, we'll be ready for you!"
The pod slammed shut and Bulma stepped away from it. As it flew up and out of sight, she and Kuririn walked back over to Goku. Kuririn was carrying Gohan, and Bulma was following him, tracing Vegita's pod with her senses until she could no longer detect his ki.
"Is he okay?" Goku asked Kuririn as they approached.
"Yeah," Kuririn replied angrily. "But given another chance, I won't let him go again!"
"Not Vegita!" Goku said impatiently. "Gohan. Is Gohan okay?"
"Oh!" Kuririn exclaimed. "Gohan! Yeah, he's all right. He's a little weak from the transformation, but he'll be fine."
Goku sighed. "That's great. How about you two?"
"I'll live," Kuririn said, grinning. "I didn't get quite as smashed as you though, buddy."
"How about you, Bulma?" Goku asked.
"Well, I guess I'm okay," she replied. "I've never had so many bones broken at one time before in my life, but to tell you the truth, I wouldn't mind if I was as bad off as you, Goku. Just as long as the outcome of this fight was the same."
"So, I guess we'll have to wait for someone to find us," Kuririn said. "Do you think everyone went to Muten Roshi's house to wait this out?"
"I have a feeling that they did," Bulma replied. "But we won't have to wait too long. I've decided to fly over there and tell them it's over. Anyway, it just so happens that I had left a capsule for an enormous air van there. I'll have to bring everyone with me, but I'll make them hurry. I should be back within a couple of hours. It would take less time if I could teleport, but I don't think I have enough energy for that."
"Are you sure you can fly that far?" Goku asked her.
"I hope so," Bulma said. "I'm pretty worn out. But don't worry. I'll be fine."
"You sure will!" Kuririn said excitedly. "Look!" He pointed to a small craft descending toward them in the sky. Bulma could just barely recognize it in the evening sun. It was her van! And Roshi was halfway out the passenger-side window, waving at them and shouting all kinds of happy greetings.
"They must have discovered the capsule on the table!" Bulma cried. "If I weren't so happy to see them I might have been angry at them for taking it!"
Goku sighed happily. Now at last, he thought he could take it easy. The large air car landed not too far from the tired warriors, and when the large side door opened, a mass of excited people ran out. Chichi was the first to exit the van.
"Gohan!" She shrieked, running to her son's side with a brown blanket. She wrapped him up tightly in it and cradled him like a baby.
"You should be proud of him Chichi," Bulma said. "If it hadn't been for him, we would probably all be dead now. That's quite a little hero you have in your arms."
"Well, of course he is," she said proudly. "But why won't he answer me? He won't wake up!"
"He's just sleeping," Bulma said. "I'd just let him if I were you. He's been through a lot."
"You all have," Roshi said. "I'm just glad you four managed to survive, at least."
So was Bulma. They helped get Goku and Gohan into the van, and they all set out for the hospital. Roshi, Chichi, Oolong, Puar, and even Karin were there.
"Hey Karin," Goku said, grimacing in pain. "You wouldn't happen to have anymore sensu beans would you?"
"No, Goku, I gave you the last two that I had. But I'll have a new crop in a couple of weeks."
"I hope so," Goku said. "Because it'll take me forever to heal in the hospital."
"Don't worry Goku," Bulma said. "We'll all need time to heal anyway, so you'll at least have plenty of company."
Suddenly Gohan began to come to. He jumped up.
"Where... where's Dad?" He said worriedly, trying to jump out of his mother's lap.
"I'm back here son," Goku answered him. Gohan looked behind the seat to see his father lying down in the back of the van. Gohan was beyond relief.
"What happened?" Gohan asked. "Is Vegita gone? Why can't I remember anything?"
"Vegita's gone all right," Kuririn said. "You took care of him. He got into his space pod and flew away for good!"
"What? He did? That's incredible! All right!" Gohan laughed happily and settled down on the seat next to Kuririn. "So, how did we defeat him? I still don't remember it?"
Bulma looked back at Kuririn and shook her head at him. She didn't think they should tell Gohan about it just yet. Apparently Kuririn agreed with her.
"We'll tell you later," Kuririn said. "You've had enough excitement for one day, I think."
Gohan didn't seem to mind too much. "Bulma," he said. "I've been thinking. They said that Piccolo came from a planet named Namek. Do you think that Vegita was right and there can be other dragonballs there?"
"I'm sure there are," she said carefully. "If Piccolo's and Kami's home planet still exists, then chances are we'll find more dragonballs there."
"Then all we have to do is go to Namek, and we can find the dragonballs and wish our friends back to life there!"
"Well it's not quite that easy," Bulma tried to explain. "First of all, I don't even know where Namek is. I've never even heard of it before."
"Hey!" Goku said suddenly. "I know just who might be able to help you with that! Hang on a second and I'll call him."
"Call him?" Bulma thought, confused.
Suddenly a strange voice began speaking from out of nowhere. "Congratulations!" It boomed. "You all did very well. You should all be very happy with such a great victory."
"Who is this?" Bulma asked nervously. "Where are you?"
"I am Kaio Sama," the voice boomed. "I trained Goku during the past year."
"Oh! So you taught him that awesome Kaioken technique!" Bulma exclaimed.
"Yes," Kaio Sama answered. "I also taught Goku how to create the Genki Dama."
"I never thought I'd ever get to talk to the legendary Lord of the Worlds," Karin said in amazement. "What an honor!"
"Well, back to business," Goku said quickly. "Lord Kaio, I was wondering if you could help us with something. Do you happen to know where the planet Namek is? We want to go there and use the dragonballs to wish our friends who died back to life."
"Of course I know where Namek is!" Kaio boomed. "Now let's see here, Namek... Namek...ah! Here it is! Yes. There appear to be around 100 Namekians living there at the present."
"Even such a relatively small number makes me nervous," Bulma said. "Just imagine a hundred people as strong and terrible as Piccolo. Even if we managed to get there, what would we do if we had to fight them all off to get their dragonballs?"
"I don't think that would happen," Kaio chuckled. "Piccolo was the exception, I think. Remember that he didn't grow up on Namek. He was greatly influenced by Piccolo Daimaou there on earth, you know. Anyway, the current inhabitants of Namek are a peaceful people. Oh, they can fight, but I'm sure if you explained things to them they would be more than happy to let you use their dragonballs."
"I wonder how the original Piccolo Daimaou ended up here on earth," Bulma mused. "Why was he here instead of on Namek?"
"Would you want such a beast on your planet?" Karin asked her. Bulma shook her head. "Well, I'll bet that's why the Nameks got rid of him!"
"Anyway," Bulma said, taking out a pad of paper. "Kaio Sama, you said you knew where the planet Namek is. Would you happen to know its coordinates? That would be a big help."
"Hold on a second," Kaio mumbled. "I have to convert this into Earth units here...okay! Write this down!" Bulma wrote everything down exactly as he dictated it to her.
"Good luck!" Kaio said. "And keep in touch, Goku."
"I will Kaio Sama," Goku replied. "And thank you!"
Then everything was silent, except for the beeping of Bulma's calculator. Suddenly the silence was broken by a piercing shriek that caused everyone to jump at least a foot off their seats.
"What's the matter, Bulma?" Kuririn asked, peering around her seat at an anguish-stricken Bulma.
She sighed. "I've got good news, and I've got bad news," she said, turning to face him and the rest of their passengers.
"What's the good news?" Gohan asked.
"The good news," she replied, "is that I've calculated how far away Namek is from earth."
"Well, what's the bad news?" Kuririn asked her.
"The bad news is, that with the technology we currently have on earth, it will take us over 4,339 years to finally reach Namek!"
"What?!!" Kuririn, Gohan, and Goku exclaimed.
"I'm sorry guys," Bulma sighed. "But we just don't have spaceships fast enough to make that trip."
"Yes we do!" Goku said excitedly. "We have three different Saiyan space pods to choose from! There's the one I arrived on earth in, the one that Raditz came in, and the one that Nappa came in!"
"I don't know what condition the first two are in," Bulma said slowly, "but I'm certain that Nappa's is able to fly! His looked just the same as Vegita's, and we all know how well his worked!"
"Well all right!" Gohan exclaimed. "I guess we've got a plan! Do you think you could figure out how to fly it if we got one in good shape, Bulma?"
"Well, their scouter wasn't too hard to figure out," she replied. "I guess it shouldn't be too hard! And I'll bet that if we get my dad to help it'll be even easier!"
Gohan laughed gleefully and jumped up to give Bulma a high-five. She twisted around to reach him, but suddenly an intense pain in her chest overcame her. She nearly fell out of the seat as she doubled over.
"Oooh, I shouldn't have done that," she groaned, gritting her teeth in pain. "If I did crack some ribs, that sure didn't help any."
"I'm so sorry Bulma," Gohan gasped. "I didn't realize..."
"That's okay," she said, trying to smile. "Neither did I."
"Well that does it!" Chichi snapped. "None of you had better even mention spaceships until you've healed! Now be quiet and relax. We're almost to the hospital."
Bulma closed her eyes and breathed slowly. Painfully, she eased into a reclining position and tried to relax. Their fight was over, but somehow, she couldn't help feeling that their adventure was just beginning.
On to the next Chapter!
