Chapter 8
Bulma opened her eyes. She sat up and looked at her clock. 7:39. She wondered how long it would be before the Saiyans made planetfall. Yawning, she got out of bed and went over to her bag on the floor. She took out her neatly folded gi and quickly changed into it. Today was the day that they all would find out, including her, just how good everyone was. She hated to admit it, but she was actually excited. Maybe she should teleport to the battlefield and surprise them all. That would be a good way to make an entrance. She shook her head. She had to go about this sensibly. Of all the fighters, she was the least prepared. She really shouldn't even think about fighting unless she is desperately needed. Still, the prospect of seeing the shocked look on each one's face was rather hard to pass up. Oh well. She'd just have to see what developed. Maybe she'd know what to do when the occasion arose.
"Good morning," she said as she walked out into the living room. "What's for breakfast?"
"Mornin' Bulma," Roshi replied, not raising his head from his bowl. "Just cereal I guess. I didn't feel much like cooking this morning."
Bulma picked up the box and looked at it. "Ugh!" she said in disgust. "Sugar Frosted Choco-Bombs? How can you put such garbage in your stomach? Bleh! I think I'll pass up breakfast."
Oolong looked up from his bowl of cereal. "Hey Bulma," he said. "Uh, trying out a new look?"
"What do you think?" She asked, smirking at him. "I am wearing something unusual, I suppose. But today is an unusual day. Anyway, I thought it might come in handy."
Roshi glanced at her outfit and did a double-take. "Whoa!" he exclaimed. "Wow Bulma! That looks remarkably like a training gi. Is that a new fad in the malls or something?"
"No," Bulma laughed. "I haven't seen them around the malls. And I'd wonder about a person's sanity if he considered this fashionable. Anyway, I made this myself. It's my own personal gi. It's much better than my old one."
"Why in the world would you need that?" Roshi asked.
"Never mind," Bulma said, grinning. "Maybe you'll find out later on today, but I don't really feel like explaining it all to you right now. Well, I'll be back later. I'm going to go out to a restaurant to eat breakfast. It may be my last chance to do that for awhile."
"I don't know if that's a good idea, Bulma," Roshi said hesitantly. "We don't know when or where the Saiyans will land. Today wouldn't be the best day to enjoy a meal out."
"Don't worry," Bulma said, brushing him off. "I'll be careful. And besides, the chances that they'll land in Metro East are just as good as the chances they'll land anywhere else. So don't worry. I'll see you around lunchtime. There's another thing I want to do before I come back." Before he could protest, Bulma had run out the door and jumped into her air cruiser. She revved the engine and sped off across the ocean toward Metro East.
It was almost four hours later when she decided that she might want to consider going back. She had stopped off at her favorite restaurant for breakfast, and then she had blown the rest of the morning window-shopping. It had been an unproductive morning, but she had enjoyed herself nonetheless. She wondered what the earth would be like without bustling cities like this. The Saiyans certainly had the capability to destroy such a metropolis, especially if they were as strong as Goku had described. She hoped that they wouldn't get the chance before Yamucha and the others caught them.
Suddenly she stopped walking. She wasn't sure, but she thought she had just sensed some strange source of ki. She scanned around a bit. Yes, she was certain now. There were two sources, growing in intensity, which seemed to be emanating from the sky. Bulma began to shake. No! This couldn't be happening! Not yet! Her fears were confirmed when she could see two objects growing larger in the same patch of sky. They appeared to be meteors, but she was terrifyingly aware of what they really were. Saiyan space pods! She watched in horror as they zoomed to the surface, smashing through a skyscraper and finally landing with a crash right in the middle of the city!
She teleported past the panicking people to get a better look in the craters. A whole crowd gathered around the two craters, curious to see the strange objects. Bulma didn't think that was very smart, but there was nothing she could do about it. Suddenly the pods both opened. Bulma sharply drew in her breath. The kis of these two were phenomenal! She held her breath as the two armor-clad Saiyans stepped out of their pods and floated up to ground level to look at their audience. Bulma had a bad feeling about this. She watched the two warily. They certainly wouldn't have any moral reservations about opening fire on an unsuspecting crowd of earthlings. She sized them up. It seemed that the big one was actually weaker than the smaller one. She supposed that the smaller Saiyan was the leader. He seemed to be giving the big one permission to do something. Bulma tensed. That big guy was up to something. His ki was a little stronger.
He was powering up for something! Suddenly he poised his hand to throw a huge blast. Bulma barely had time to throw up a spherical energy force field before everything around her began disintegrating. It was a relatively weak attack, at least it was in that she easily blocked it, but it was very widespread, and it was more than enough to wipe out a big chunk of Metro East, not to mention all the people living in the area. Bulma was appalled. These two were totally without conscience. There was no way the earth would stand a chance if Goku failed.
Bulma dissolved her forcefield as the dust settled. She was floating at least two feet above the newly-cleared ground. She strained her eyes to make out the two aliens. She remained where she was, shaking in fear at the two enormous kis in front of her. For some reason she was frozen in place. She couldn't leave yet. Something made her want to study these two a little more, despite her fear.
The Saiyans stared at her in shock. How in the world was she still there? And she was floating, too. She must be able to fly.
"It's impossible," Bulma stammered, backing away in terror. "How can anyone be so powerful? Your kis must each be at least 8000. Yet somehow you're even stronger! There's no way!"
The smaller one grinned at her. "Impressed? You should be. Nappa and I are among the most powerful fighters in the universe. But I must say that I'm actually impressed by you. How did you evade Nappa's blast? And how can you tell what our kis are without a scouter?"
Bulma gulped, stepping back again. She was extremely angry. These two were much stronger than she had imagined that they could be. "Don't be too impressed by me," she said coldly. "You're going to meet fighters today that are much stronger than I am. I think you've gotten a little more than you've bargained for." With that she darted up into the air. "Rapid teleport!" she growled.
As she raced back to Muten Roshi's island, she reflected on Yamucha and the others. She hoped that they could hold these two off long enough for Goku to arrive. But more importantly, she hoped Goku had improved tremendously. He just had to defeat those two monsters!
On to the next Chapter!
