Chapter 9

Bulma cut short her teleport about a mile away from Roshi’s island.
What was she going to say? She would definitely have to explain herself
if they saw her fly up, and even if they didn’t, how was she going to
explain the fact that she didn’t have her car? She couldn’t just say
"Oh! Well the Saiyans destroyed it with that megablast that leveled
Metro East. Yeah, I was the only one who survived." Oh well. Maybe she
was just going to have to confess her secret. Sighing, she flew the
rest of the distance slowly, trying to formulate a plan as she went.
All of the sudden it hit her. She could say that she had converted her
car to a capsule before she came in! It was the perfect excuse!
Smiling at her brilliance, she flew the rest of the way to Roshi’s
island and landed quietly on the shore.

When she entered the Kame house she realized right away that her alibi
might not even be necessary. Everyone was in the living room with
their eyes glued to the television, and shocked, horrified expressions
on their faces. Apparently they had seen the newscast of the incident
at Metro East.

"I suppose you know what just happened," she said sadly. "All those
people. What a waste."

"Bulma!" Roshi, Oolong, and Puar yelled, rushing to her and nearly
knocking her over.

"Thank Kami you’re all right!" Roshi said. "We thought that you had
been destroyed with the rest of Metro East. How did you escape?"

"I had just left Metro East when I saw the space pods zooming across
the sky," she lied. "I high-tailed it back here as fast as I could.
I’m glad I did, because if I had been any closer when that explosion
went off, I would have been toast."

"It’s too bad that noone else had the same impulse," Roshi said, shaking
his head sadly. "A lot more might have been saved."

"Well, there’s nothing we can do for those poor people now," Bulma
sighed. "I suggest we watch the TV stations for breaking news about
the Saiyans. They’re bound to find out about the battle before it
ends. I haven’t met a reporter yet that wouldn’t risk his neck to
cover a story like this."

So for the next few minutes that’s what they did. As she flipped
through the stations for the fourteenth time, Bulma noticed a strangely
familiar face on one of the local stations.

"Hey, isn’t that the guy that showed up to see Kuririn?" Roshi asked.
"You know, the one that told us to gather the fighters together?"

"You’re right," Bulma agreed. "That’s Yajirobei. Ugh. He sure can eat."

They listened to the reporter’s conversation with the overweight man.
Yajirobei was bragging about training Goku and all the other fighters
that Kami had trained. What a ham!

"That lying little troll!" Bulma said. "He’s got a lot of nerve..."

"Shh!" Roshi said. "I want to hear this part."

Yajirobei was telling the reporters where the fighters were going to
meet the Saiyans. Like a flash the station asked the audience to stay
tuned until their qualified reporters could arrive on the scene.

"See?" Bulma said. "What did I tell you? The TV stations will brave
any danger for their ratings."

"I hope they’ll be reporting good news," Roshi said. "It would be nice
if Yamucha and the others could defeat those two, or at least hold them
off."

"I doubt it. The kis of those two are enormous," Bulma said without
thinking.

"How do you know?" Roshi asked.

"Uh, well, uh, that is, I suppose they are. I mean just look what they
did to Metro East!"

"You have a point," Roshi admitted. "But who knows? Kami’s training
might be enough to hold them off."

"I hope so," Puar said. "I’m so worried about Yamucha. But I guess
this is something he has to do."

"Yes," Roshi agreed. "And if he wasn’t there to help it would be that
much harder for the rest of them. He most certainly is needed Puar."

Puar beamed in pride and tried not to show how worried she was. Bulma
felt sorry for her. She knew how upset the poor cat would be if
something happened to her Yamucha. They focused their attention back
to the TV. The reporters had reached the battlesite and had crept as
close to the warriors as they dared. They had a pretty good view of
the battlefield, and from what Bulma could see, they hadn’t begun
anything serious yet. All of the ones Kami trained -- except
Yajirobei -- as well as Piccolo and Gohan had already gathered to meet
the Saiyans head-on. Bulma wondered who would make the first move.
Suddenly she got her answer. The larger Saiyan, Nappa, bent down and
began poking around in the ground. Then he poured some green liquid
over the soil he had been poking in.

"What are they up to?" Bulma wondered aloud. "Surely they’re not
gardening!"

"If you ask me, I think those Saiyans are a couple of nuts." Oolong
declared. Even I know that planting some seeds won’t win a fight."

"I don’t know," Roshi said. "Who knows what might happen? All I know
is that we shouldn’t underestimate these two. We don’t have any idea
what they can do. One thing’s for sure, though. They’re a lot stronger
than we are."

"You can say that again," Bulma muttered under her breath. They
watched the TV to find out what would happen next.

Then something strange happened. Large green plantlike bulbs began
popping up from the ground. Soon after, they popped up even further,
revealing small, green little men.

"What the..." Bulma began, and leaned forward for a better look. "What
in the world are those?"

They watched anxiously as the Saiyans said something to the group of
fighters. Kuririn made a move forward, but Yamucha stopped him. It
seemed as if he wanted to fight first.

"That Yamucha," Bulma said, rolling her eyes. "Either he’s deliberately
keeping Kuririn from fighting, he’s showing off, or it’s a combination
of both. He always did have to be the star of the show." She leaned
back on the couch and watched the telecast with a cynical smirk on her
face. When the fight began the camera lost track of them almost
immediately. That was to be expected, though. They were too fast for
the camera. It only caught little snatches as the battle moved into
its view. From what Bulma could see, however, Yamucha was holding his
own very well. Every now and then she caught a glimpse of Yamucha as
he hit the little green creature in close combat. She was, however,
extremely surprised at the strength and speed of his opponent.

After a short bit of fighting it was apparent that Yamucha was gaining
the upper hand. The little creature he was fighting was definitely
slowing. Suddenly Yamucha was in the perfect position to strike. He
fired an enormous blast of energy, which hit the creature squarely in
the face, and exploded on contact. When the smoke cleared all that
remained was a small crater with the battered body of his opponent
twitching in the bottom. Yamucha turned toward the Saiyans to gloat.

Bulma jumped to her feet and cheered. "Did you see that?" she cried.
"He defeated that little goblin as if it was nothing! Way to go
Yamucha!" Suddenly her joy turned to horror. That little green freak
had recovered and was about to attack Yamucha from behind. Bulma gasped
as the defeated but persistent creature wrapped its limbs around
Yamucha and smirked at him evilly. Yamucha had time to let out one
yell of protest before the creature released all of its energy at
once, causing a devastating explosion. The creature was killed, but so
was Yamucha.

Puar screamed and flew to the television, sobbing uncontrollably. Soon
after, she just fainted. Oolong got over his shock and ran to get her
a cold, damp cloth, while Bulma just stood where she was, with tears
glistening in her eyes.

"I’m sorry Bulma," Muten Roshi said, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"I know you two were very close."

Bulma was ignoring him. All she was concentrating on was her memory of
the look on Yamucha’s face before he was obliterated by that... that...
thing! Anger filled her to the depths of her soul. She began shaking
with rage.

"Uh, Bulma?" Roshi asked cautiously. He expected her to burst into
tears at any moment.

Bulma’s ki began to rise dramatically. "Those animals!" she snarled
fiercely. "How could they? What kind of monsters are they?" She was
yelling now. Slowly she tied on her headband as she watched the
television and studied the two Saiyans. They had removed their scouters.
Good. That meant that she could sneak up on them more easily. She
calmed down a bit and turned to Roshi, who was staring at her in fear
and confusion. He had never sensed such a ki in Bulma before. She had
totally surprised him. She sighed.

"Look Roshi," she said. "You’re not going to believe this, but you
might as well know now that I can fight. I’m better at it than you are
and I’m probably just as good as Yamucha was. They need me Roshi.
Yamucha was an integral part of their team, and now he’s gone. I had
hoped I wouldn’t have to do this, but Yamucha’s death has made me
realize just how much trouble they’re in for. I’ve met the Saiyans. I
was there when they destroyed Metro East. And believe me Roshi. Those
two are capable of much more than destroying a city. The others need
all the help they can get."

She ran to the door, but stopped and turned back around. "I may not be
back, Roshi," she said. "So in case I don’t see you again, I want you
to know that you’ve been a great friend." With that she ran out the
door and took off for the place where they had gathered to fight. She
had decided to fly there rather than teleport. Flying used less energy,
and she wanted to be as fatigue-free as possible. It would take her
about fifteen minutes to get there. She just hoped she would be in time
to help.


On to Chapter Ten...