Chapter 16
Late that same evening, Bulma managed to drag herself out of bed again. She knew she'd want to be able to sleep tonight if she was going to survive tomorrow's training session. She went downstairs and found her father sitting in the living room with her mother.
"Hey, Bulma," he said, jumping to his feet and taking an anxious step toward her. "Are you okay? You said in your note that you were in Vegita's gravity room when it malfunctioned. You weren't hurt, were you?"
"No," she said, shaking her head and smiling. "Thanks to Vegita, I'm fine. He turned the machine off from the outside before anything really serious could happen. Did you find out what was wrong with it?"
Dr. Briefs sighed, and immediately a more relaxed expression spread across his face. "Yes, I did," he said, pulling something out of his pocket and holding it up for her to see. It was a small resistor that he must have taken from the control circuit, guessing from the silver paint on the tip. It looked a little splintered. "Here's the culprit," he said with a frown. "A faulty resistor. It seems I made a grave miscalculation when I had those robots construct Vegita's gravity room, my dear. I forgot to account for the advantage human reasoning plays in constructing intricate circuits and electrical equipment. This resistor might have appeared fine before it was put into the machine - or at least it did when the robots inserted it. But I'm afraid it had a couple of cracks in it - cracks that they didn't see, but WE might have if we'd been there constructing the machine ourselves. I'm sorry, Bulma, but I can't let either you or Vegita use that gravity room again until I'm sure all the rest of the equipment is safe. This one resistor actually was the culprit in this case, but there were a great many others that weren't tested when you turned the machine on, and I think I'd better check them first. Even though we've isolated your recent problem, there still may be more in the works."
Bulma gave a silent sigh of relief. That took care of Vegita's theory - not to mention her own anxiety about the matter. It was all just a big snafu. She'd never been so relieved to hear that her father had made a mistake. Admittedly, she had suspected Yamucha at first, even though she knew that it wouldn't have been his style to simply break one little resistor. He wouldn't have known what that would do anyway. And besides, if he HAD been the one to do that, knowing him, he would have stuck around the gravity room to make sure he'd finish the job when Vegita went in. In other words, he would have been watching when she went in, and Bulma knew without a doubt that he would have done everything in his power to get her out of there if he HAD sabotaged the gravity room.
Even though the malfunction HADN'T been intentional, Bulma agreed that it would be wise to make sure there were no other unplanned hazards in the works. So she helped her dad work on Vegita's gravity room for the remainder of the evening, stopping only when she was too tired to think. It really wasn't very late in the day, but she was exhausted nonetheless, and she knew she'd have another rough day ahead of her tomorrow. She turned in early that night, and would do so for many a night afterwards.
The next few weeks of training followed a pattern similar to that of the first day - with a few nasty exceptions. First of all, in all his infinite wisdom, Vegita had decided at the end of the week that Bulma had grown too accustomed to eighty g's - despite the fact that it was all she could do to hobble back to the house after her training sessions - so he made a new decree that the power would be increased by five g's at the start of every new week. Also, Bulma would never again be allowed to train for less than five hours with him on any given day - unless of course he felt the circumstances deemed otherwise, and she knew there'd be a fat chance of that. And finally, if he heard any kinds of complaints from Bulma, she could always expect harsher exercises, and more of them at that. And not only that, but he'd also throw a higher level of gravity into the bargain, being the benevolent instructor that he was. Suffice it to say that Bulma was VERY exhausted at the end of each training session she spent with him. Vegita's training was harsh, brutal, and really quite terrible. But somehow, it wasn't entirely unbearable. Bulma realized, as the weeks went by, that although each day with Vegita introduced her to a new incredible level of pain and torture, she always left him with the eerie confidence that she could have withstood more. It could by no means have been claimed that Vegita held back on her more than he should have, or even any more than he'd intended. He was firm and unwavering about anything and everything pertaining to Bulma's training. He never hesitated to push her harder than usual, nor did he bat an eye at extending her sessions with him a half-hour or so from time to time. There really was no set ending time for their sessions, but he always managed to make sure she was nearly dead on her feet before he let her go. In any event, they never stopped until HE thought it was time. But despite all this, Bulma didn't really mind it so much. For one thing, she was usually far too exhausted to complain if he went a little longer than she expected anyway, so it really didn't make that much of a difference to her. And still, she WAS always able to walk away from it afterwards, so she figured that, considering who was training her, she probably had no reason to complain. She was learning to adapt, and in more ways than one. Perhaps the greatest visible change, at least right away, was her change in appearance. Bulma had discovered after only a few sessions that her trusty training gi was not suited for such intense gravity training. Truth be told, it was bulkier and heavier than she liked, and the way it clung to her when she was drenched with sweat was not a pleasant sensation. So, she decided it was time to retire her old look, if only for her training. She instead chose a light, form-fitting body suit, much like the one Vegita had given her on Namek. Of course, she had to put up with a couple of surprised - and in truth, rather interested - looks from Vegita at first, but it didn't take her long to convince him that she wasn't going to stick around if he was going to gawk at her like that, and he'd just better keep things professional. So he pretended as if he hadn't noticed, and things returned pretty much to normal.
By about the second week, Bulma began to settle in and grow accustomed to this new pattern of events. And it wasn't until she began to do this that she was able to notice a few things that she hadn't thus far - and probably never might have, under different conditions.
It first struck her on the Friday of her second week. She had finished another long day of training, and was just about to leave. But she stopped just three feet outside the door, having suddenly realized she was standing on the grass in her bare feet. She was especially tired today, and it didn't really surprise her that she had forgotten to put her boots back on before leaving the gravity room.
"Hey, wait a minute," she said, turning around and starting back up the steps. Vegita opened the door again and looked at her impatiently. "I left my boots in there," she explained, pointing under one of the benches behind him. Rolling his eyes, he stepped aside and let her in.
She walked in past him - a little stiffly of course - and grabbed her boots out from under the bench. She looked up and caught him staring at her from the doorway. Their eyes met, and for a moment, Bulma could feel the color rising in her face. But despite her sudden discomfort and awkwardness, she just then noticed something that had eluded her in the previous couple of weeks. Vegita didn't seem as frightening to her anymore. It wasn't necessarily that she was getting used to him or anything - she dismissed that almost immediately. No, it seemed more like he was changing somehow. She wasn't sure why, but that gaze of his was much less fierce and intimidating than she remembered it. She couldn't figure out why, but she was too uncomfortable to try to work it out now. She lowered her eyes to avoid his, and she shuffled nervously past him and out the door.
"See you tomorrow, Vegita," she said stiffly, glancing nervously at him on the way out.
Vegita gave a rather quiet grunt of agreement and shut the door behind her. Bulma let out a sigh, and, still clutching her boots to her chest, she began walking slowly toward the house, her mind in a swirl of confusion. Just what the heck was going on here, anyway? She didn't know how or why it had happened, but Vegita had somehow changed without her noticing it. Now that she thought about it, he wasn't nearly as belligerent and obnoxious as he had been a few weeks ago, and the calm, almost docile way he had looked at her just now was definitely a drastic change. Bulma didn't know what to make of it. Maybe his training was beginning to get to him. Yeah, that had to be it, she thought shakily, wiping some sweat off her forehead and shaking her head wearily. The way he was pushing her was nothing compared to the agony he was putting himself through every day. Perhaps he seemed so subdued all of the sudden because he was just plain wearing himself out. Sighing again, she walked slowly and stiffly the rest of the way to the house, her boots still clutched tightly to her chest. She had completely forgotten about her bare feet.
As the week slowly passed by, Bulma began to observe Vegita a little more closely than she had before. And she came to a conclusion. She had been right about one thing. Vegita DID seem gentler than usual. But she had to look hard to find that out. Because, gentler or not, Vegita was anything but when it came to her training. He didn't let up on her a bit, no matter which way she looked at it. And it was for this reason - as confusing as this may sound - that she found herself slowly beginning to relax around him. Of course, she wasn't relaxed in the normal sense of the word. It was hard to be relaxed when you were getting the crap beaten out of you for hours on end. No; it was a different kind of peace that was coming to her - slowly but surely. Her fear of him was leaving her. And no matter how she contemplated it, she could see nothing wrong with that - in and of itself. Vegita, as far as she was concerned, had proven that his intentions were indeed the same as those that he had made clear at the onset of her training with him. He was determined to do what he had told her he was going to do, and there was now little or no doubt in her mind that there was no sinister ulterior motive playing behind this training. It was definitely for real. She knew that he must still have feelings for her, but when it came to her training, it was all business. And for that reason, she slowly began to lower her guard around him, and "relax."
About the only thing that bothered Bulma about her training with Vegita nowadays was that she was unable to see how effective his methods really were. As far as she could tell, all that he did was knock her around for a few hours in high gravity. She was never physically capable of hitting him back, and blocking his blows was just as much out of the question. It was just beyond her how letting him give her a fresh set of bruises every day was a beneficial method of training. The only advantage she could see it giving her was a higher tolerance for pain. Because all she seemed to gain from each session was just that - constant, biting pain in every joint, muscle, and bone in her body. But she wasn't one to give up easily, and she figured that Vegita wouldn't have survived life as one of Freeza's cronies if he didn't know an effective way to train.
Although there were times when she was sure he was going to run her into the ground with all these brutal training sessions of his, she somehow managed to survive each one, and unbeknownst to her, the truth of it was that she was making astounding progress. It wasn't until the last day of her third week - the last day of her 90-g week - that it finally occurred to her just how effective Vegita's methods were proving to be.
The day started out the same as usual. Bulma got up, ate a light breakfast, and did some tough stretches to work out the stiffness and soreness that had settled in her limbs during the night. Then she trotted out to the gravity room, prepared to face her final harsh day of 90 g's. Vegita's training was indescribably painful and brutal, but she was a stubborn person, and she had a great deal of pride in a few facets of her life - the greatest of which being her training. She wouldn't have quit for anything now - no matter what Vegita did or said to make those sessions her own little slices of hell each day. And that was no exaggeration, either. Vegita was indeed more than brutal with her, and none would ever have guessed that he felt anything but loathing for her, had they been able to witness the way he constantly insulted her and pelted her bruised and wearied body with incredibly harsh slaps, punches, kicks, knocks, and any other kind of physical attack imaginable. In fact, Bulma's "training" would seem more to the outside observer to be nothing but a veritable masochistic nightmare. She never once was able to hit him back, and it was indeed rare for her to be able to block any of what he was throwing at her. But as I have said before, she survived each of these horrific sessions, and never once gave serious thought to the idea of giving up. She looked at each day she successfully survived in there as being a victory over Vegita, or more to the point, a victory over his apparently low opinion of her strength and abilities. It was a strange way of looking at things, and would have been even stranger if she had known just how wrongly she had guessed his thoughts about the matter. Nevertheless, this was the reason she got out of bed every morning to go out and be pummeled all over again. And that was what was on her mind yet again today. It was all the same as it was every day, but unbeknownst to her, today was going to be entirely different. Today she was going to discover something that would change her mind forever about the true value Vegita's training.
Things started out as usual when she stepped into the gravity room and shut the door behind her. Vegita asked the same snide and obnoxious question he always did - whether she was giving in to her weak human nature today and quitting, or if she was instead going to make another one of her pathetic efforts to improve at his expense. And then Bulma did the same thing she always did in return. She shot him an obscene gesture and told him to shut the hell up and turn the machine on. Smirking, Vegita turned around and went over to the control panel to turn on the power. Here's where the changes began. Instead of setting the machine for ninety, he set it for eighty. He turned around and leaned casually against the control panel, crossing his arms and smirking at Bulma as a look of surprise and bewilderment spread over her face.
"We'll be doing something a bit different today," he said, ignoring the confused look on her face, but not entirely removing the smirk from his. "This session is going to consist solely of sparring exercises. Do you have any objections?"
Bulma, under normal circumstances, would have shot him another obscene gesture. She would have realized immediately that if she did have any objections, it would be wisest to keep them to herself. Vegita would make it that much harder on her if she dared to voice any complaints. But on this occasion, she was too confused and surprised to worry about objections. "I don't know what's going on here," she said, looking at herself a bit and scratching her head. "Something's off, somehow. I'm not nearly as strained as I ought to be. I can actually move around!" She did a couple of light somersaults for emphasis. Then she turned back around, frowned, and crossed her arms. "Something must be wrong with the machine, I think," she said, looking past Vegita at it. "I've got it. You broke it, didn't you?" She folded her arms and glared sternly at him. "You're too careless with this stuff, Vegita. You've broken the machine, or thrown it off, or God knows what else. This doesn't feel like any 90 g's to me."
"Feh," Vegita snorted. "There's nothing wrong with your machine, you dimwitted fool. If you had half a brain, you'd have figured out by now that it ISN'T 90 g's." He then stepped aside so she could see the number on the gravity machine.
Bulma gawked in astonishment at the little yellow numbers on the panel. "Impossible," she breathed. "There's no way I could be this comfortable in eighty g's after only three weeks of training!"
"There is if it's MY training," Vegita said smugly. "Do you doubt me now, you silly girl?"
Bulma was so ecstatic at this revelation, that before she realized what she was doing, she launched herself at Vegita and gave him a great big hug around the neck. "I can't believe it!" She laughed, as he stumbled to keep from falling over. "It would have taken me MONTHS to get this far on my own! You're amazing, Vegita!" And in a flush of wild excitement, she did something unthinkable. She swung around in front of him, and with her arms still wrapped tightly around his neck, she pulled his face to her own and gave him a great big kiss right on the lips.
Vegita was so surprised that he didn't even react at all until Bulma, finally realizing what she was doing, jumped back away from him, mortified by what she had just done. She backed herself all the way up to the opposite wall, gasping and momentarily losing much of the color from her face.
"Oh my God!" She cried, covering her mouth with one hand, her face beginning to turn bright red. "I - I didn't think! It was an accident! It wasn't...! I didn't...! Oh, Vegita, I'm so sorry!"
She didn't know what to do with herself. Her first impulse was to make a break for it, but he was between her and the gravity machine, and she wasn't thinking clearly enough to simply use teleportation. She couldn't even look him in the face for her embarrassment, so she simply sank to her knees and covered her face with her hands. She wanted to shrink in size until she disappeared entirely.
"I'm such a moron!" She said in a fierce hissing whisper. "Why the hell did I have to do something so stupid?!"
Vegita didn't exactly know what he was supposed to do at first. He couldn't ever remember feeling so awkward, and he was unaccustomed to the sensation. But he didn't let it get the better of him for long. After a few moments of hesitation, he cautiously walked up to her and knelt down in front of her. Then he set his jaw, grabbed her gently by her shoulders, and lifted her swiftly but gently to her feet.
"I'm so sorry, Vegita," Bulma said, shaking her head and beginning to lose control of her emotions. "That isn't what I meant... It's just that I hadn't intended... Well, you know... It's just..."
"Enough," he said in a soft, reproachful voice. "No apologies. I'm well aware that it was no more than a spontaneous act of excitement. I'm not angry, if that's what you're worried about." He then let her go and walked over next to the gravity machine. He didn't turn back around.
A pained expression spread across Bulma's face. That wasn't what she was expecting him to say, and quite frankly, it wasn't what she wanted him to say, either. She would have much more preferred him to yell at her, or at the very least tease her. And she hadn't missed the hint of disappointment in his voice, either. She knew that she'd hurt his feelings. He wasn't acting at all like she had, but she knew better. Vegita would NEVER miss an opportunity to make fun of her when she made a fool of herself under any normal circumstances. Something was terribly wrong here, and she knew it.
Bulma lowered her eyes in embarrassment. What could she say to him? She knew that nothing she could say now was going to take that kiss back. And she didn't trust herself not to say anything else that might hurt him. This was terrible. Vegita might not even forgive her. A terrible thought suddenly occurred to her, and her head shot up as it hit her. Maybe he wouldn't even want her around any more. Maybe he wouldn't want to train her. The thought struck a note of panic in her mind, and she drew in her breath sharply. Granted, she could train on her own, but for some reason, the prospect of losing Vegita's training had suddenly made her very fearful and panicky. She didn't know why, but she was about ready to try anything to make sure he didn't kick her out.
"Y- you still want me to train with you... right, Vegita?" She asked, dreadfully afraid he would say no, but determined to find out for certain.
But he turned around then, and the look on his face wasn't at all what she had expected. She saw a look of mild amusement hidden beneath a mask of scornful disdain. Her heart gave a leap as she saw a fragile glint of hope that he might not say no.
"Don't hold your breath," he snorted at her. "If you think for a moment that that pathetic excuse for a kiss was enough of a bribe to let you off the hook, then perhaps you've been hit a little too hard on the head. We will be continuing as planned. You have a problem with that?" He asked her with a wicked sneer.
Although she couldn't explain the sudden rush of relief that washed over her, Bulma couldn't help but smile at him. THAT was the Vegita she knew. Bulma found it tremendously comforting to see him back to "normal," as far as Vegita was concerned, anyway. For a brief but terrible moment, Bulma had gotten the impression that she had done something irreversible, and it was more than just a little reassuring to have him back to his usual obnoxious self. But she realized immediately that she was going to have to be very careful from now on. She was overjoyed that she had been able to improve so much in such a short amount of time, but she had let it go to her head, and had lost her cool. She made herself a promise that she was never going to allow that to happen again. Whatever happened, she was going to have to do her best not to act so irrationally around Vegita. She didn't want him getting the wrong idea, after all. But now was no time to dwell on that. She had training to do!
When she didn't give him a reply, Vegita smirked and struck a defensive crouch. "Whenever you're ready, weakling," he said tauntingly.
Bulma smiled happily and did the same. "I'm ready," she said. "Let's go!" And for the next five and a half hours she did her best to attack Vegita, while he blocked each effort with ease, all the while shouting vicious criticisms and insults at her like some kind of crazed drill sergeant. Bulma had been a little hasty in referring to the day's level of gravity as being "comfortable." It only took a quarter of an hour for her to be drenched in sweat, and panting like a dog. And she wasn't the only one on the offensive, either. She had thought at first that they were just going to work on her offense today, but that idea was as far from the truth as it could have been. Vegita found plenty of opportunities to attack her in return, and while none of hers hit their marks, all of Vegita's did. All the same, it was quite easily the most enjoyable session Bulma had ever had with him. She'd never had any real chance to strike back at him before, and for some reason he was going reasonably easy on the counterattacks today. Perhaps this was his way of giving her a break. She didn't get any days off, after all. Still, she had a feeling days like this were going to be few and far between.
She left the gravity room that afternoon sore and tired, but strangely happy. She paused as she stepped down from the door, and she turned around, looking up at Vegita with a shy but warm smile. "Vegita," she said, causing him to hesitate before closing the door behind her.
"What is it?" He asked gruffly, a tinge of impatience present in his voice.
"Um... I just wanted to say I'm sorry again," she said, shuffling her feet sheepishly and looking down at the grass in embarrassment. But she looked up again quickly, and her cheeks were a light shade of pink. "And thank you... for... for everything."
Vegita's mouth was a little agape at first, but he didn't lose his composure for long. "Tch," he snorted, waving her away. "Don't waste my time with your apologies. I've already told you I'm not angry, haven't I? And as for thanking me," he added, looking scornfully at her over his crossed arms, "you might want to wait until after tomorrow to consider that. Today was a walk in the park compared to what you're going to go through tomorrow. If you think the lenient way I let you train today is any indication of what I have in store for you in the future, you're in for a serious wake-up call, my little fool. Now go away and let me train in peace. I can't get any work done while you're here hindering me with your useless chatter."
Bulma just smiled and shook her head. "Whatever, Vegita," she chuckled. "I'll see you tomorrow, then. Good night... Vegita-sensei." She said, turning around and shaking her head again. The word seemed a strange way to address him, although - for once - she felt that he had earned the title.
Vegita remained in the doorway watching her go as she hobbled off toward the house.
"Good night," he said quietly, when she had gone far beyond earshot, his scowl softening a bit. He stepped back inside the gravity room and closed the door.
Bulma walked into the house and sat wearily down at the table. "Man, I'm pooped!" She groaned, wiping some of the sweat off her face. Her mother came in and smiled warmly at her.
"Another successful day, I see!" She said brightly. Bulma laughed.
"You have no idea," she chuckled. "Could you do me a favor and get me a great big glass of grapefruit juice, Mom? I'm so thirsty I could drink a river!"
Mrs. Briefs laughed and went to the fridge to get her daughter what she'd asked for. "Oh, by the way," she said, setting the carton on the counter and opening the cupboard for a glass. "Yamucha went to visit Kuririn today. He said he wouldn't be back until late tonight. He said to say he was sorry, but he wouldn't be here for his sparring match with you."
"Oh, really?" Bulma said, kind of disappointed. She was really anxious to show him just how far she'd gotten, now that she knew. "That's too bad. I kind of wanted to see him."
"You could always go out to the Kame house and see him there," Mrs. Briefs commented, pouring her juice into a large glass. "I'm sure Kuririn wouldn't mind."
"Yeah, and neither would that old pervert, I'll bet," Bulma grumbled, scowling crossly. She didn't know how he did it, but no matter how good she became, that man always managed to sneak up on her long enough cop a feel every time she saw him. It baffled her to no end, and it made her terrifically angry. And yet no matter how many times she knocked him clear across the island or even far out into the ocean, he never seemed to let up on her. The man was a master all right. A master pervert. There was no way she wanted to go out there today. She was NOT in the mood to guard herself from him or his antics.
"No," she said, accepting the glass of juice her mom handed her. "I don't want to. Not if that old lech hangs around, I don't. But I don't want to hang around here all day, either. It's not as fun to train by myself. I guess I'll just have to find something else to do."
"Why don't you go visit Goku and Gohan, then?" Mrs. Briefs said, sitting down across the table from her and smiling. "It's been a good couple of months since you saw either of them, and I bet they wouldn't mind if you popped in and said hello. What do you think?"
"Hey, that's an idea!" Bulma cried, beaming at her. "That's a great idea! Ooh, but if I do that, I'll have to bring some diversionary material. Those three will be out there in the mountains training, and I'll want to have a good excuse to interrupt them..."
"Three?" Mrs. Briefs said, raising an eyebrow. "Who's the third?"
"Piccolo," Bulma said, looking back at her mother and frowning. "They're all training together to prepare for what's to come. But I think I know what I'm going to do. I'll need your help, though."
"Really?" Mrs. Briefs cried in delight. "With what? What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to prepare a picnic lunch for them," Bulma laughed, standing up and rolling back her sleeves. "A lunch fit for a couple of Saiyans, Mom! And since my cooking skills leave a lot to be desired, I was hoping you could give me a hand."
"You've got it!" Mrs. Briefs cried. "Let's get to it then! It's already two o'clock. It'll be dinner time if you wait too long!"
So they worked together to make a lunch big enough for two healthy Saiyans and one Namek. They packed in over fifty pounds of fresh food of all kinds for Goku and Gohan, and they stuffed a few ice-cold bottles of spring water for Piccolo. The food took a long while to prepare, but Bulma's mother was so used to Vegita and his eating habits by now, that it could have taken much longer than it did. At any rate, after about an hour and a half, Bulma set out for Mt. Paouzu with her large cooler strapped to her back. She waved goodbye to her mom and flew off at a terrific pace. It only took her a quarter of an hour to get there at such high speed, but remarkably enough, she wasn't the least bit tired when she did. It surprised her greatly. Perhaps it was yet another side effect of Vegita's training. She grinned as she tracked the boys down with her ki sense, until she finally located them on one of the highest mountains - up atop the snowy cap. She could hear them clashing up there long before she finally reached them, and she had to strain her eyes to find them at first. They were definitely farther along than she was; that much was obvious.
She was considering teleporting in to surprise them, but she never got the chance. They must've sensed her, because they all promptly stopped what they were doing and looked down at her.
"Hey! Bulma!" Goku cried, flying down to her, with Gohan and Piccolo following close behind. "It's great to see you! What's up? You decide to come for a sparring match or two?"
Bulma laughed. "Maybe in a little while," she said with a grin. "But first, let's take care of this." She patted the cooler and grinned some more. "My mom and I packed a huge lunch in here. You guys hungry?" She pretended not to know the answer to that one.
Goku's and Gohan's eyes lit up with delight as they looked at the enormous cooler. "Boy, am I ever!" Goku exclaimed, rushing forward. "Here, Bulma, let me help you with that!"
"Whoah! Hey!" She cried, dodging him and laughing. "Geez, Goku, calm down! Come on; there's a good spot down there at the foot of the mountain. Let's have a picnic."
Piccolo frowned a little. Bulma smiled at him in understanding. She knew the Namek probably viewed picnics as a waste of time better spent training. But she wouldn't be persuaded to let the boys gobble it up in midair. "It won't take too long; I promise," she said to him reassuringly. "I'm sure you've seen how they can eat by now, anyway." She added, jerking her thumb in Goku's and Gohan's direction. Piccolo could only smirk at that. She had a point.
They flew down to the little valley just past the mountain's edge, and settled down in a small clearing set among some lush, healthy elm trees. Bulma spread the blanket she'd packed out on the ground and unpacked all the food in the cooler - which Goku and Gohan devoured almost as fast as she could set it down. She tossed Piccolo a couple of the water bottles, and took one for herself as the boys made quick work of what was left of the food.
"So how goes the training?" She asked them, resting comfortably under the shade of the elms. "You guys look pretty far along. I couldn't even keep up with you when I interrupted you earlier."
"Mmgff... we've been... gmph... training every day," Gohan said between mouthfuls. "Dad and Piccolo-san are really working hard, and they're helping me a lot too."
"How about you, Bulma?" Piccolo said, raising an eyebrow at her. "You certainly don't look like you did the last time I saw you. I gather you've been in training too."
"That's an understatement," she laughed. "Yeah, I was training on my own for a while, but apparently that wasn't good enough for a certain loud-mouthed Saiyan. Vegita's got me training with him now. And I have to tell you, it's a lot rougher than anything I ever put myself through alone."
"Huh?" Goku said, almost choking on the last of the ham. "Vegita's training you?"
"Yeah, I know," Bulma said, nodding and laughing at their astonished expressions. "It sounds pretty weird, doesn't it? I'll admit, I wasn't too thrilled about the idea either when he brought it up, but I don't have any regrets yet. The guy knows what he's doing. I've gone farther than I'd ever dreamed possible already."
"Wow," Gohan said in amazement. "What's it like? Is it really bad?"
"It's like Hell on earth sometimes," she chuckled, leaning back on her hands and looking up at the sky. "But it's damned effective. I imagine you went through something similar when Piccolo gave you that crash course before the Saiyans landed, Gohan."
"So what do you think of Vegita?" Goku asked, keeping a remarkably straight face as he asked her.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Bulma asked in surprise. His question had caught her off guard. "What kind of question is that?"
"Well, what's it like to be around him?" Goku said with a nervous laugh. "I mean, it must not be all that bad, if you're actually willing to let him train you!" He laughed again, despite the sharp look of warning that Piccolo shot him.
"He's a pain in the neck most of the time," Bulma said with a slight frown, crossing her arms. "He's obnoxious, and argumentative, and the most bossy person I've ever encountered in my life. And if I didn't worry about the effects it would have on the human race, I'd have kicked him out a long time ago. But," she added, looking down thoughtfully. "I suppose it could be worse. He seems to have calmed down a little, if you can believe it. He's not nearly as belligerent or destructive as he used to be. I think he's developed a good deal of self-control. At times, he can even seem... gentle."
She looked back at them, and found that they were gaping at her as if she'd suddenly transformed into some kind of grotesque, hideous monster. She realized what she had said, and she laughed loudly, trying to fend off her own embarrassment. "Well, I guess not really GENTLE," she laughed nervously. "But maybe not as bad as before. I don't know! You'll just have to see for yourselves when you see him again!" She had grown fairly red in the face, despite herself, and she looked down and pretended to study her bottle of water as an excuse to avert her eyes from them. She didn't know what kind of demented part of her brain THAT comment had come from. Calling Vegita gentle was like calling a baby rabbit ferocious. It was no wonder they had stared at her like that.
Goku shot a grin at Piccolo, who just shook his head at him and grit his teeth angrily. But Goku would not be stifled so easily. He gave a hearty laugh or two of his own and grinned shamelessly at Bulma. "What do you suppose could change the man so much?" He said loudly. "I figured Vegita hated everything about us. D'you think that's not really true anymore?" He asked her eagerly.
Bulma began to wonder why Goku was suddenly taking such an active interest in Vegita's moods, and where all these strange questions were coming from. "Well, I... um... that is, I mean... I don't know. Why are you asking me, anyway?" She had become rather flustered, and she snapped the last bit at him impatiently. "Geez, what's with the twenty questions, Goku? Why the hell do you think I'd know what goes on in that psycho's twisted brain? Maybe it's like Yamucha insists, and it's just a calm before the storm. Who knows? All I know is that I don't care what that jerk thinks. Just as long as he's stopped being so destructive, I'm satisfied enough. He's still a jerk and a real pain in the neck, but at least he's a bit bearable. Let's just leave it at that and forget about him. Okay?" She glared at him, and he put up his hands and laughed good-naturedly.
"Okay, Bulma, you've made your point!" He laughed merrily. "That's fine. We'll drop it. We'll just forget he even exists, if you want!"
"I'd like that just fine," Bulma snapped, closing her eyes and scowling. Goku grinned at Piccolo again, and it was all the Namek could do to keep from getting up and walking away. His disgust at Goku's obvious lack of tact - not to mention his ridiculous questions - was more than obvious.
"So what else is up at your house, Bulma?" Gohan asked, not quite understanding Goku's interest in Vegita either, but dismissing it another one of his father's good-natured fancies. "Anything especially interesting you have to tell us? We don't get much news out here, you know!" He laughed as he waved at the wilderness about them.
Bulma opened her eyes and her expression became rather serious. "Well, I guess there is something," she muttered, suddenly thinking of something. "But I'm probably wasting my time telling you."
"What is it?" Goku said, suddenly curious. He didn't know what to make of Bulma's suddenly serious expression. Even Piccolo's eyes opened a bit more with interest. There was something about Bulma's voice that didn't fit in with a casual picnic, and he was curious too.
Bulma sighed. "Well, I didn't think anything would come of it, and even if something did, I didn't know what I'd do about it, but at any rate, it's been done, and something HAS come of it."
"Well, what?" Goku said eagerly. "Don't keep us in the dark here, Bulma!"
"I'm getting to it, Goku," Bulma said with an almost irritated tone of voice. "Well, after I got back home from the fight with Freeza, I asked my dad to see if he could dig up any info on Dr. Gero - anything he could find. It's always been my policy to find out as much as possible about a future problem before I tackle it, and I figured that this situation needed such preparation. Anyway, Dad did manage to find a small article about Gero in one of his old scientific journals, and it had a few bits of information that might be of use, or it might not. That's up to you, I suppose."
"What kind of information?" Goku asked, his face adopting a more serious expression too, now that he knew the nature of Bulma's news.
"I may now know the area where he's holed himself up," she explained. "The article only had conjecture in it, but it was right on the money about everything else it guessed. It made mention about Gero's creation of humanlike artificial intelligence, for one thing."
Goku sent her a blank look. Bulma sighed. "It means they had gotten wind that he was creating artificial intelligence similar to that of humans, Goku. I.e., artificial humans. Jinzouningen. Ring a bell?"
"Ooooh..." Goku said, nodding as he finally understood. "So you think they might have figured out where Gero hid his lab too?"
"It's possible," she said, looking thoughtfully at her water bottle. "I haven't checked it out, of course. That would be stupid. And I haven't told anyone else about it either. Only Dad, you guys, and I know about this. I wanted to tell you first, Goku. What do you think? Should we at least look into it? I didn't want to go because I was afraid I'd end up in over my head if I did manage to discover Gero's lab. But if I had you, or Piccolo, or even Gohan with me, I'd feel a lot better." She straightened up and stared resolutely at him. "I know you wanted for all of us to just train and prepare as best we could for them, Goku, but this is an opportunity I thought we couldn't just ignore."
Goku didn't hesitate with his answer. "I'm still going with what I said earlier, Bulma," he said, smiling at her in understanding. "I know you wouldn't have brought this up if you hadn't thought it was important, but I think you should just forget about it. We wouldn't be able to do anything if we did find that lab. I stand by my decision about killing Gero. And finding his lab wouldn't accomplish anything if we just went there to parley with him. I don't think he'd listen to reason."
"Well think of this, then," Bulma said, making one last-ditch effort to salvage what she thought could be their only hope. "Remember what that kid said about Gero's future? Remember that his creatures would end up being his own destruction too? How about that? You want that to happen? I know you want to protect the 'innocent' professor and all of that, Goku, so how can you rationalize sentencing him to death by those monsters of the future, huh? They'll have killed him long before they appear to wreak havoc on that poor city. So what about that, Goku? I hate saying such harsh things to you, but if you want to be a pacifist about this, you have to consider what pacifism in this case is going to accomplish."
Goku's eyes opened wide. "Gee, Bulma, I hadn't even considered that," he said, gasping in amazement. "I'd completely forgotten! If what that kid said is true, Gero IS going to die in a couple of years!"
Bulma smiled in triumph. "So you see, we can't just stand by and wait," she said, going in for the kill. "At the very least we have to try to talk him out of this madness - for his own good, as well as the rest of the world's."
Goku frowned, and he scratched his head, and got up and paced for a while. He didn't usually make up his mind without performance. Finally he sighed and sat back down.
"Bulma," he said, shaking his head and sighing again. "It's no good. I really don't think he'll listen. Certainly not to me. And I think that an unsuccessful attempt may be more disastrous than not trying at all. Think about it! If we go and try to make him listen to reason, and he refuses, we throw everything away. One, there's the fact that he's not expecting us to prepare for him. Two, we won't know when he'll release his Jinzouningen if he knows that we know. He may set 'em loose early, or later. There's no way of telling. And besides, suppose he already has them built? I'd rather take them on after a few years of training instead of now. I'm strong, but I can be even stronger."
"The same goes for me," Gohan said, nodding gravely. "I agree with Dad, Bulma. I don't think Gero would listen to us even if we told him everything. If the guy's so eaten up with the idea of revenge that he would take such measures, no amount of good sense would get through to him."
"I suppose you're right," Bulma sighed, shrugging and offering a smile of defeat. "Even I can't argue with that. I guess I'll just have to leave it alone after all. It really was a waste of time to bring it up."
"Nah, you had a good point," Goku said, waving it away. "Bringing it up with others before acting on it was a really smart thing, though. I'm really glad you didn't decide to check it out on your own."
"Like I said, that would have been stupid," Bulma said, shooting him a grin of pride. "And I'm a lot of things, Goku, but I'm not stupid. Now," she said, getting up and pitching the half-empty bottle of water into the open, barren cooler. "How about those sparring matches you offered earlier. Are they still up for grabs? We've got a good couple of hours of daylight left, you know!" And with that, she shot up toward the mountaintop. Goku and Gohan sprang after her.
Piccolo floated up a couple of feet and paused before heading up after them. Well, they probably weren't going to get much of a real workout tonight, but he supposed one idle evening wouldn't make too much of a difference. He had been looking thoughtfully at the disheveled picnic site and contemplating this thought when he heard a disturbance in the air as it whistled toward him, and simultaneously felt a jolt of ki from up above. He instantly jerked one arm upward, palm outward, to shield himself from what was coming, but instead of a ki blast, as he had expected, a large snowball - about the size of a man's head - slammed into his hand and disintegrated when it hit - covering one side of him completely with snow. His keen eyes immediately shot upwards to discover the culprit of this indignity, even though he suspected Gohan from the start. However, it was Bulma whom he saw, loaded with snowballs in both hands, and flinging them at Goku and Gohan already. She must have teleported ahead of them and built up the snowball artillery before letting time flow again.
"Come on, you big snail!" She called down to him, hurling another snowball at him. "The sun isn't going to stand still while you dawdle, you know!"
Smirking, he shot up at them, out of the way of the icy projectile, and powering up his ki as he went. When he had come up to be level with the rest of them, he concentrated all his telekinetic powers on the mountaintop, and pretty soon he was quite visibly working hard at something. Bulma and the others stopped what they were doing to watch him in curiosity and awe as, slowly but quite perceptibly, Piccolo caused all the snow on the western face of the mountain to shift slightly. Then he powered up even more, yelling with the effort, and suddenly, all of that snow actually floated up and off of the mountain. Bulma, Goku, and Gohan, simply watched in amazement as Piccolo levitated the enormous mass of snow up higher and higher into the air, until it was about fifty feet above them. Suddenly Bulma caught on to what was happening.
"Oh no!" She cried, trying to fly away, but it was too late. With a mighty roar and a tremendous jolt in ki power, Piccolo slammed the entire bulk of that snow down upon Bulma and the Son men. Fortunately, they all thought to use ki power to heat things up around them as Piccolo's frozen retaliation swallowed them up, but not before each one was covered and slammed downward a few hundred feet. They each emerged from the top of the white mess very much unhurt, but very much drenched. Piccolo sneered down at the dripping, bedraggled antagonists below him, and Bulma, Gohan, and Goku nodded at each other. They had united for a common cause.
"Let's get him!" Gohan cried, dashing forward, and leading the attack. Bulma and Goku, however, didn't decide to charge head-on like he did. Goku went straight to his zanzouken - the split-second afterimage technique that Yamucha had never been able to learn, and so had never been able to teach her. But, undaunted, Bulma didn't focus on that. She had her own deviltry in mind for Piccolo!
In the blink of an eye, she had stopped time. Grinning mischievously, she flew around behind Piccolo and pushed her hands under his arms, and then she clamped them down just behind his neck - thus securing his arms from any useful movement. She made a quick note of where Gohan and Goku were - still a good way off, although Goku was really farther off to the side than anything. If he'd decided to charge head-on like Gohan, he would have reached Piccolo already. Keeping them both in mind, she finally resumed time's flow and held onto Piccolo as tightly as she could.
She caught the hapless Namek off guard, but she'd also done the same thing to the boys. They both immediately stopped to stare as Piccolo began to struggle to free himself from Bulma's hold on him.
"Well, what are you waiting for, you nitwits?" She hollered, trying to keep her arms from being jerked out of their sockets as Piccolo struggled violently against her. "You think I can hold onto him forever?! Come on!"
Goku laughed outright, but Gohan decided to make use of the opportunity that Bulma had provided them. He let out a terrific war cry and charged at them. This time Goku followed suit, but things didn't go quite as Bulma had planned. Growling fiercely, Piccolo lurched forward one more time, and this time he was too strong for Bulma to keep in check. But even so, she held onto him anyway, and that had been a mistake - one that Piccolo had figured she would make. As the boys came within striking distance, Piccolo - with Bulma still in tow - did a quick somersault in midair. He went so fast that the force of the spin caused Bulma's legs to fly outward as they went, and each one of her feet clonked one of Piccolo's would-be assailants directly on the top of the head.
"Ow!" Gohan yelped as he was hurled downward.
"Oof!" Goku grunted, going down with him.
Piccolo stopped spinning and Bulma shook her head a bit to get rid of the dizziness. But she couldn't help but laugh out loud at Piccolo's clever save.
"Gee, Piccolo, we make a nice team, don't we?" She laughed, letting go of his arms long enough to wrap hers around his neck and put him in a headlock. Piccolo smirked evilly.
"I quite agree," he said with a sneer. Bulma had made a mistake. Now that his arms were free, she was no longer out of his range. She realized it all too soon, but not soon enough to do anything about it. Piccolo grabbed each of her arms and flipped her over his head. Then he sent her crashing into Goku and Gohan, who were just making their way back up.
Undaunted, the three charged Piccolo as one, and this time, he had no other line of defense than hand-to-hand. But he didn't mind at all. He sneered as he dodged this way and that, easily avoiding Bulma's and Gohan's punches, but finding that he was having to work much harder to avoid Goku's.
"What, is it 'gang up on Piccolo' day, or something?" He snorted, knocking Bulma and Gohan back and aiming a hard right at Goku's chin, which Goku just barely managed to dodge.
Goku leapt back a bit and laughed as Gohan and Bulma sailed back into the fray. "You've got a point there, Piccolo," he said with a grin. "Maybe it would be more fair to let those two take over for a little while. It must be a little rough on you with all three of us to consider."
Piccolo chuckled at the remarkably intelligent insinuation that Goku had just made. "Don't get me wrong," he said, smirking as he once again knocked Gohan and Bulma aside. "It's nothing I can't handle."
Bulma and Gohan leapt back so that they were beside Goku again. "We'll see," Bulma said slyly. "It's time for round two, now, Piccolo," she said, crossing her arms. She had begun speaking in Namekian, just to tease him. "Perhaps we're no match for you," she said with a sneer. "But Goku was holding back a lot. I say we let him try his hand alone."
"What did she say?" Goku said, bewildered. "I think I heard my name in there. Bulma, what language is that?"
Bulma laughed, suddenly realizing that Goku had never heard her use Namekian before. But Piccolo answered for her.
"She says that she volunteers you to take me on alone," he explained with a wry smirk. "She thinks you were holding back on me."
"Yeah! Get 'im, Dad!" Gohan cried, laughing gleefully. "Avenge our honor an' stuff!"
Goku grinned and stretched his arms. Then he folded them behind his head. "Well, Pic, it looks like I'll have to take over their grudge match for them. Think you're up to it?"
Piccolo's only reply was to sneer and strike a defensive stance. Bulma giggled. She'd almost forgotten how much fun sparring could be!
"Come on, Gohan!" She cried, striking a defensive stance of her own. "Let's see how much they've taught you!"
Gohan laughed and did the same. "I'm warning you," he said with a grin. "They didn't go easy on me, and I won't go easy on you!"
"Okay," Bulma laughed. "We'll see how good Vegita's training is!"
As it turned out, she found Gohan to be a bit more of a match than he looked. Still, it was easier to spar with him than it was to spar with Piccolo, or Goku, for that matter. And those two didn't let up much on each other either. But in the end, it was Goku who won out. Bulma supposed that Nameks just didn't measure up to Saiyans. But in any event, by the time Goku and Piccolo had finished their little go-round, the sun had already long set. Gohan and Bulma had thoroughly worn themselves out by then, so they all decided it was a good idea to break for home. Bulma didn't mind as much as she thought she would, though. For once she was thinking responsibly. She knew she'd have a hard day of training with Vegita early tomorrow morning, and she was going to need her sleep. It was definitely time to go. The boys helped her pick up all the trash and load it into the cooler, and she strapped it back on her back and got up to go.
"Bye guys!" She said, giving Goku and Gohan big hugs. She managed to sneak a small one in on Piccolo first, though - much to his displeasure, but much to his compadres' amusement. "I'd nearly forgotten how much I missed seeing you guys. I wish we could do this more often!"'
"You can, you know," Goku said with a big smile. "It wouldn't hurt nothin'."
"I'm not so sure," Bulma laughed, tucking a hand behind her head in embarrassment. "I'm gonna pay for this tomorrow, I think. I'm usually in bed for at least an hour by now," she added, frowning as she glanced at her watch. "I need a lot of sleep to recup each day from Vegita's training sessions. I'll probably be dead on my feet tomorrow. He'll let me have it for sure!"
Goku grinned. "Sounds like he's really working you hard," he said.
"It's nothing I can't handle," Bulma said quickly. "And I could quit any time I wanted, but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction!"
Goku laughed. "Still," he said. "It looks to me like he's doing a great job. I can already tell you're way stronger than you used to be, Bulma."
"You got that right," Gohan said, nodding in agreement. "She caught me off guard a lot, Dad. She's getting better all right."
"That's really nice of you to say, guys," Bulma said with a weak smile. "But I have a feeling that when it comes down to it, no amount of training is going to do me any good. I can't shake the feeling that I'm going to be outclassed no matter what I do. I'm not trying to be the best. I just want to be good enough to survive. Or at the very least," she added, looking down sadly, "good enough to keep out of your way."
Goku frowned at Piccolo, who frowned grimly back at him. "Bulma," Goku said, his expression having turned very serious indeed. "That's no way to talk and you know it. You never know how things will turn out, and you can't just assume the worst right away. If you do that, you'll be handing Gero's creations the victory before they're even created."
"I know," she sighed. "Don't misunderstand me, Goku. I'm not giving up. I'm going to train the hardest I possibly can, and, good enough or not, I'm going to fight them as hard as I can. But I doubt that even you can tell me truthfully that you believe I'll be strong enough to even defend myself from such creatures."
Goku sighed and shook his head. "All right, Bulma," he said finally. "Fine. I don't believe that you could defend yourself from them. But that's only if I think of you fighting them on your own. Things aren't as bad as you make them out to be. We're all in this together, Bulma, and we'll need your help just as much as you'll need ours. Believe it or not, I believe in you. And you know what? I'll let you in on a little secret. I think Vegita does too."
"Vegita doesn't believe in anything but himself," Bulma said with a scowl. "I don't think he really expects me to follow through with this training of his, the way he's always acting as if I'm just dying to quit. I for the life of me don't know why he's even wasting his time with it."
"Think about what you're saying," Goku said with a smile. "Why would he be wasting his time, if he didn't think you were up to the challenge?"
Bulma didn't have anything to say to that. There was nothing she could say. "Maybe he just delights in tormenting me," she said finally, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know. The man's weird, Goku. But in any event, I'm not giving up. You can count on that."
"That's the spirit!" Goku exclaimed, slapping her on the back - and nearly knocking her over in the process. "And next time you come see us, you'll be so strong we won't even know it's you till we see you! Oh, and when that happens, maybe you could teach me that teleport thingie of yours? I can't seem to get it right, for some reason."
Bulma regained her balance and smiled back up at him. "Sure Goku," she said. "Any time."
She floated up into the air to leave, but paused as Goku called out to her again.
"And Bulma?" He said with a mischievous grin.
"Yeah?" She asked, turning back around.
"Whatever it is you're doing to Vegita, keep it up, okay? From what you told us, it sounds like whatever you've done is having a good effect on his attitude!"
Bulma promptly turned scarlet, and Gohan looked first at her, and then at his father. He scratched his head in confusion. For Piccolo, however, it was too much. Shaking his head in disgust, he flew off for the Son homestead ahead of Goku and Gohan, sending a curt goodbye to Bulma as he left. Gohan waved goodbye too, and promptly took off after Piccolo.
"I- I'm sure I don't have any idea what you're talking about, Goku," she said to him in a very flustered voice, and no less red in the face than before.
Goku grinned obnoxiously. "If you say so, Bulma," he laughed. "See you later! Say hi to Vegita for me!" And before she could say another word, he took off at tremendous speed after Piccolo and Gohan.
Bulma remained rooted in place for a good thirty seconds or so after Goku had disappeared over the mountains. But she eventually shook her head and smiled. What was she letting herself get so worked up for, anyway? Goku didn't know what the heck he was talking about. He was just teasing her. Sighing and shaking her head, she set out for home. If he only knew, she thought wearily to herself.
Bulma couldn't help but smile on the way back to Capsule Corporation. Things weren't so bad around here, she decided. As she flew home slowly and wearily, the peaceful smile on her face remained for the entire flight home.
It had been a strange, yet pleasant day.
Chapter 17
