Chapter 13
"And that's about all the news I have," Bulma said, as they approached the cave. "The next thing that happened was your arrival at Saichorou's house."
"Wow!" Kuririn said. "Amazing! So you got to see Freeza up close and personal, huh? I would have been too scared to speak!"
"I would have too, if I hadn't known ahead of time that I could get away from him whenever I wanted," she said in reply. "But believe me, Kuririn. We can't fool around with this guy. He means business."
"Yeah," Kuririn agreed. "It's a good thing Goku's on his way. We'll need all the help we can get."
They finally reached the entrance to the cave, and landed just outside it. Bulma and Kuririn smiled at each other and ran inside. It was time to tell Gohan some good news for a change!
"Gohan!" Kuririn called out as they walked into the kitchen. "Come out, Gohan! It's me, Kuririn! And Bulma too!" There was no answer, and no sign that Gohan had been there recently. They searched all over the small capsule house, but couldn't find any trace of him anywhere.
"Where's Gohan?" Bulma asked Kuririn, sitting down at the kitchen table.
"I don't understand," Kuririn said, looking around the room in confusion. "He should have been back by now."
"Where did he go?" Bulma asked.
"Well," Kuririn began, "before Dende and I left, Gohan said that he had located a dragonball on your radar. He said it wasn't too far away, so he'd go get it while I took Dende to Saichorou's. I agreed, since we need every dragonball we can find."
"Oh no!" Bulma exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand. "But Kuririn, that was one of Vegita's dragonballs! Remember? I told you that he had stolen one before he took Freeza's."
Kuririn suddenly turned pale. "What if Vegita found Gohan?" He gasped. "That would explain why he hasn't come back yet, wouldn't it?"
Bulma gulped as images of all the terrible things Vegita could do to Gohan floated into her mind. It was too horrible to think about. All the signs seemed to point toward one thing: Gohan had been discovered by Vegita.
"I don't know, Kuririn," Bulma said in frustration. "I can't for the life of me think of any other reason for Gohan's absence. You don't think Vegita," - she gulped - "killed him, do you?"
Kuririn lowered his eyes sadly. "If Vegita found Gohan anywhere near his dragonball, I would say yes," he said slowly. "Vegita wouldn't take any chances. Besides," he added, "don't forget that back on Earth it was Gohan that finally defeated him in the first place. Vegita might be holding a grudge about that."
"Well, what if he didn't find Gohan near his dragonball?" She said hopefully. "I mean, that thing must be a good hundred miles from here. It's possible that Vegita just met him on the way. What then?"
"I don't know," Kuririn said. "Maybe he just injured him. Maybe he killed him anyway. Who knows? I can't pretend to understand Vegita, or any other Saiyan, for that matter. I mean, Goku's my best friend, and most of the time I don't even know what the hell's going on in his mind."
"Well, there is some hope that Gohan is still alive, right?" Bulma asked. "We can't give up hope on him yet."
"Right!" Kuririn agreed. "And I think we should try to find out where he is, at least."
"Well," Bulma said, popping open her travel bag capsule and taking out her dragon radar. "I think we should see if that dragonball has moved at all, first. If it has, then we'll know that Gohan had it with him when Vegita found him." She put on the scouter and turned it on.
"Well," she said finally. "It looks like it hasn't moved from its original position, and it isn't moving now. I suppose Gohan didn't get that far."
"All right then," Kuririn said. "We know that Gohan has a definite chance, since he didn't get to Vegita's dragonball."
"Yeah," Bulma said anxiously, "but I can't sense any kind of ki over there, Kuririn. I don't think he's in that direction."
"Either that, or he's dead," Kuririn muttered. He looked up. "Bulma," he said finally, "if Vegita found Gohan, and Gohan is still alive, then Vegita more than likely made sure he was somewhere far away from his dragonball. The problem is finding out where."
"Well," Bulma said slowly, "if that's the case, then the only one who could tell us where he is would be Vegita."
"Exactly," Kuririn agreed, nodding. "And to find out from him, we'd have to pay Vegita a little visit."
"Well, yeah," Bulma said, suddenly apprehensive, "but we won't do that, right?"
"No," Kuririn said. "We won't. What if Gohan manages to come back? One of us needs to be here just in case he does."
"But you do think that one of us ought to go question Vegita," Bulma continued, her spirits sinking.
"Yes," Kuririn said firmly. "I don't like it either, Bulma, but it's the fastest way I can think of to find out the location of Gohan."
"So...," Bulma said hesitantly, "are you going to go?"
Kuririn looked at her intently. "Bulma," he said, "I think you should go. I'm not being cowardly here; it's just that you're stronger than I am now, and you may even be stronger than Vegita. If it came down to having to fight him, I think you'd stand a better chance."
Bulma had a lot of trouble hiding her nervousness. Even if she had gotten stronger, she couldn't shake that same old fear that overtook her every time she thought of Vegita. But she knew at the same time that she was going to have to face Vegita sooner or later, and besides, Gohan needed her help. She sighed.
"If I'm going to get anywhere with Vegita, I'll have to threaten him, and that probably will lead to a fight," she said unhappily. "I don't know, Kuririn. Do you really think I could win?"
"It's hard to say for sure," he replied. "But I know that the last time I sensed Vegita's power was when he was landing on Namek in his space pod. You were there. You remember how strong he felt then? Well, you're a lot stronger than that now, Bulma. And we both know that Vegita doesn't know how to mask ki. I'd say you stand a good chance of winning if you end up having to fight him."
Bulma sighed. "All right," she said finally. "I can't believe I'm doing this, but okay, I'll go confront Vegita. I'll just have to be extremely careful."
"You do that," Kuririn said. "I know you'll do fine, Bulma. Just stay focused and be careful, and I know you'll win."
"I wish I had your confidence," she said. She left her scouter on, and floated up into the air. "Goodbye, Kuririn," she said, waving briskly. "I'll be back soon."
"I know you will," he said, waving back. "Good luck!"
Bulma flew off in the direction of Vegita's five dragonballs. She wasn't exactly sure what she was getting herself into, but she was determined to see Gohan back safely.
When Bulma was only a few miles away, she stopped. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to let him know she was coming. She decided to teleport the rest of the way. She made a quick mental note of where the dragonballs were, then she stopped time and continued. After a few minutes, she finally found Vegita and the dragonballs. They were in a narrow gorge that was almost invisible from up above. She wouldn't have noticed it if it hadn't been for the flash of orange that she noticed coming from the dragonballs. She flew down and landed lightly on the ground in front of Vegita. His eyes were closed, and he was sitting on a dragonball. Bulma wondered for a second why he'd just been sitting here all this time instead of searching for the other dragonballs, but decided it didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was Gohan.
She bent over and lifted Vegita up a couple of feet. As he hung suspended in the air, she took the dragonball he'd been sitting on in her hands and stepped back. She took a couple of deep breaths to steady her nerves. She knew full well that this guy was going to be seriously pissed off when she let time flow again and he saw her with one of his dragonballs, and she wanted to be mentally able to handle it. Sighing, she decided that no number of deep breaths would ever fully set her mind at ease, and that now was as good a time as any to halt her teleport. So she let time pick up where it left off, and watched Vegita fall to the ground with a grunt on his royal rear. Bulma normally would have laughed at the amusing sight, but right now she wasn't exactly in a laughing mood.
Vegita jumped up like a bull that had just been stung by a bee, looking around for the culprit who'd ... er, stripped him of his dignity. He saw Bulma and stared at her in surprise, almost appearing to have forgotten his anger for the moment.
"Where is Gohan?" Bulma asked him coldly, glaring at him as fiercely as she could. "What have you done with him, Vegita?"
Vegita suddenly noticed that she had one of his dragonballs. He glared right back at her. "You'd better give that back to me," he threatened, taking a step toward Bulma.
Undaunted, Bulma persisted. "Where is Gohan?" She asked again, cradling the dragonball under her left arm and placing her right fist on her hip. "I know you've done something to him. Where is he?"
Pretending suddenly that her having one of his dragonballs didn't bother him, Vegita turned away slightly and crossed his arms. "Oh, you mean Kakkarot's brat, don't you?" He said nonchalantly. "I haven't seen the little nuisance. I didn't even know he'd come with you to Namek."
"You're lying," Bulma growled, taking a step closer. "Gohan went after one of your dragonballs a while ago, and not only is it still in the same place, but he hasn't come back yet. That leads me to conclude that you're the reason he hasn't returned."
"You mean he was going after one of these?" Vegita asked, motioning towards the group of dragonballs a few feet away.
"No," she said, playing along with his little innocent bit. "He was going after your other dragonball - the one you stole from that Namek village you raided."
"How did you know about...?" He began, but cut himself short. "Feh," he said. "I haven't touched him. If I were you," he added, smirking at her, "I'd try looking in Freeza's ship. The little baka probably got himself captured. He's not very bright."
"You don't say!" Bulma exclaimed, feigning surprise. "Does that mean that even half-saiyans can inherit the stupidity that is so prominent in full-blooded Saiyans?"
Vegita glared at her again. "I hope you don't expect me to laugh at that pathetic attempt at humor," he said haughtily.
"I don't expect you to do anything," Bulma retorted, "except tell me where Gohan is."
"I already told you," he said, looking thoroughly annoyed with her. "I haven't seen him."
"Very well then," Bulma said. "If that's how you're going to act, then you leave me with no alternative. If you don't tell me where Gohan is, then I'm going to teleport away each of your dragonballs, one by one, until you do tell me."
"Dammit, woman!" Vegita exclaimed, uncrossing his arms. "Don't you dare threaten me! Do you realize I could kill you in less time than you would take to do that?"
Bulma glared at him, held up the dragonball she had in her hands for him to see, then teleported it away, all the way to the cave where Kuririn was. She wondered how surprised Kuririn would be to see a dragonball pop out of thin air just outside the cave entrance. "Do you realize that you're down to four now?" She said snidely.
Vegita stared in astonishment at her empty hands. The dragonball had been in them at one second, and had simply vanished in the next. He looked up at Bulma's calmly serious face, and suddenly became explosively angry.
"Bring that dragonball back here right now, or you'll be tasting my fists!" He yelled, assuming a fighting stance.
Bulma frowned. "Do you want me to send off another one?" She asked angrily. "I don't like using such unfair methods, but I'm not leaving until you tell me where Gohan is. You'd better cooperate, Vegita."
"Cooperate this!" Vegita yelled, leaping at her. Bulma had anticipated this, and easily dodged him. "Oh, by the way, Vegita," she said, not bothering to turn around to look at him, "I think I should warn you that I've greatly improved since our last meeting. You won't find me such an easy opponent as you might think."
"We'll see," he said, lunging for her again. Rather than dodging him a second time, she decided to take a more offensive approach. She ducked underneath his oncoming fist, and slammed an uppercut into his jaw. He sailed backward, but managed to land somewhat unsteadily on his feet. He shifted his jawbone around a bit, then spit some blood on the ground.
"My, my, my!" He said, grinning at her with an expression of approval. "You have improved! Unfortunately, you're nowhere near my level. Allow me to show you what it's like when I fight for real!"
"Huh?" Bulma gasped in horror as she felt his ki skyrocket. He'd been holding back on her! Vegita attacked again, only this time he was much faster. He was so fast, in fact, that Bulma wasn't even able to see him. She waited tensely for a couple of seconds, trying to figure out where he'd gone. Suddenly she felt a hand grip her shoulder, and she jumped.
"Boo!" Vegita said playfully in her ear.
"Why you!" She cried, spinning around out of his grip, and punching at him. But she found herself punching through empty air. She'd lost him again. She gritted her teeth as she realized the bitter truth: he was just toying with her. She also realized that this was a one-sided battle. He was tremendously faster and stronger than she was, and there was no way she could ever win in a fight against him. Realizing that she had to get out of there fast, she darted forward and grabbed one of his remaining four dragonballs.
"Rapid Tele..." she began, but was suddenly cut off as Vegita kicked her violently in her right side. The dragonball went flying one way, and she went flying in the opposite direction - head first into one of the rock walls of the ravine. She crashed squarely into the rock, sending large pieces of stone and dirt shooting out behind her. Now unconscious, she half-slid, half-rolled down the face of the rock wall to the ground, along with a sizeable amount of dust and pebbles. She lay in a crumpled heap on the ground as the dust and rocks settled around and on top of her.
Vegita watched her motionless form tensely for a few seconds, just in case she might get up and attack. She didn't move. Cautiously, he crept closer to her, trying to sense any ki that might show itself. She was nearly down to zero, but not quite. Finally, he seemed fairly satisfied that she was in no position to get up and attack him, so he walked over to check her pulse. It seemed a bit slow, but was regular. He smirked a little as he thought that any normal Earthling would have been killed by such an impact. She might get a bump on the head, but she'd survive.
"Well, now what do I do with her?" He muttered to himself. He obviously couldn't keep her here. That teleportation trick of hers was a real nuisance, and it wouldn't be wise to keep her anywhere near his remaining dragonballs.
Of course, the easiest way to dispose of her would be to just kill her now. It would certainly save him a lot of hassle. But for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to do that. He would have had absolutely no problem with obliterating any other opponent, but for some reason, this one was different. Damn. It figured that an Earth woman would cause him to act so out of character.
He sighed angrily and looked down at her face. His eye suddenly caught something he surprisingly hadn't noticed before. She was wearing a scouter! He took it off and looked at it. It was one of the older models, the kind Raditz had preferred. He figured that she must have taken it from him. But hadn't she mentioned on Earth that she didn't need a scouter? Now he was aware of her and the other Earth warriors' ability to read ki without one, so it struck him as odd that she would be wearing Radditz's old scouter. Well, he might as well see if it still worked, at least. He still hadn't perfected his ki sense yet, and the scouter would be able to detect intruders much faster than he would at this point. He put it on and pushed the little button on the side. The radar locked on to seven targets immediately, but each one had strange characters next to it. Not only that, but each target was round with a little star in the middle. He gasped as he wondered suddenly if those targets could be dragonballs. There were seven of them, after all. There were four in one group, two in another, and one by itself. Deciding to test his theory out, he pointed the scouter in the direction of the lake he'd hidden the other dragonball in, and found that the single target was then centered on the radar screen. An evil grin slowly spread across his face. So the little vixen had wired this thing to detect dragonballs! He had to hand it to her; she certainly was resourceful.
"Well," he thought to himself. "If that one is the one I hid in the lake, then these four must be the ones I have here. Which means," he added, turning until the group of two was in the center of the screen, "that the one she stole from me must be in that direction with this other one. Well, not for long!" He laughed. He started to take off in that direction, but stopped suddenly as he remembered Bulma. He turned back around and looked at her for a second. He couldn't leave her here. If she woke up, she'd most certainly make off with his dragonballs.
Not knowing exactly what he should do about this new hindrance, he looked toward the direction of the two dragonballs again. It was then that he noticed that there was a weak ki over there. She hadn't come to the planet alone. That much he knew for sure. At the very least she had brought that little brat she called Gohan along with her. Perhaps that ki belonged to him. Suddenly a new thought hit him. What if he was to take her there with him, and trade her for those two dragonballs? Then he wouldn't have to bother with any resistance from that other Earthling, whoever he was, and he'd have gotten rid of her in the process. But how would he keep her from following him again when she woke up? Hmm... He wasn't sure, but he decided that this plan was worth a try.
Vegita knelt down and somewhat roughly hoisted Bulma up onto his shoulder. He then took off toward the last two dragonballs and that weak ki that most certainly belonged to one of her companions.
On to the next Chapter!
