Chapter Twelve - Part Two

Saichorou smiled. "Yes, I did," he replied. "I hope you have no
objections to my invasion of your privacy," he added.

Bulma thought for a second, then smiled back. "Under the circumstances,"
she said, "I’d say it’s the best thing we can do. My privacy will have
to wait. There are many more important things at stake here, and time
is of the essence."

Saichorou nodded. "All right then," he said. "Now just relax and try
not to think any mean thoughts about me."

Bulma almost wanted to laugh. The guy was making jokes to calm her
down! She wished he didn’t have to find out about his people -- his
children, no less -- and how they’d been mercilessly slaughtered. She
hoped he wouldn’t cry. She didn’t know if she’d be able to handle that.
She sighed, and Saichorou removed his hand. Bulma looked up at him
sadly, but to her astonishment, he was actually smiling at her!

"Why...?" She began, not daring to smile back at him.

"I suppose I have a confession to make," he said, seeing her confused
expression. "I already knew that five villages of my people had been
killed by Freeza. And yes, it does sadden me greatly. But on the other
hand, I’m very happy to have learned that you’re so willing to help us.
You’re a person of great bravery and kindness, Bulma. You mustn’t be
so dissatisfied with yourself. You’ve done great things for us, already.
Besides," he added, "I don’t believe that Freeza sent soldiers out to
follow you here. I don’t sense anyone coming our direction from his
compound. We’re not in any more danger than we were when Freeza landed."


"Are you certain?" She asked him. "I’m not really one of Freeza’s
favorites right now, and I’d be willing to bet that he’ll do what he
can to have me captured and killed. Not to mention anyone that tries to
assist me. I’d never forgive myself if I caused you and Nail to fall
into his clutches."

"Well, don’t worry," he said, seeing that she was getting angry with
herself again. "You must realize that if you were able to sense us,
then Freeza must certainly be able to detect us with his scouters. It’s
all a matter of when and if he points them in our direction."

"Well, one thing’s for certain," she sighed. "We can’t let Freeza get
the dragonballs. We can’t let him make his wish, at any cost."

"Yes," Saichorou agreed. "I wouldn’t think that it would be a good
thing to allow Vegita to make his, either. Neither of them should ever
be granted the opportunity to become immortal."

"Yes, but I just don’t know if we can stop them!" Bulma said angrily.
"It will take all of Kuririn, Gohan, Goku, and me to fight Vegita, just
like it did on Earth, but then there’s Freeza to contend with. And he’s
much stronger than Vegita. He’s unimaginably powerful. I can’t believe
such a creature can exist in the universe."

"Well, I can’t make you as powerful as Freeza," Saichorou said slowly,
"but maybe I can help even the odds a little bit. Here, let me put my
hand on your head again."

"Are you going to read my mind again?" She asked him curiously.

"No, I wouldn’t call it that," he replied, smiling. "Reading your ki
would be more appropriate. Ah, yes, here we are... Goodness, child! Do
you have any idea what kind of power you have hidden deep inside you?
Incredible! To have so much energy lying dormant in one person! It’s
simply astounding!"

"What are you talking about?" Bulma asked. "What power? I don’t have
any hidden power. I’ve used my max before. I know how strong I am."

"Oh, but you’re wrong!" Saichorou cried. "And I’ll show you just how
wrong you are! Brace yourself, Bulma. This is going to be quite
intense."

Bulma just gaped at him in disbelief, but all of a sudden a gargantuan
surge of energy hit her all at once, and she cried out in fear and
confusion as the energy wrapped itself around her. More and more came
to join it, from seemingly out of nowhere. Bulma was gasping for
breath, straining to control the huge increase in her ki. It was
incredible! It felt just like she was powering up, except that this
time she was fighting to contain the enormous boost, rather than
release it herself. She struggled violently to hold it in. She was
afraid that if she lost control, she’d explode. After what seemed like
an excruciating eternity, Saichorou withdrew his arm, and Bulma just
stood there, breathing heavily and gazing in wonder at her hands. They
were glowing with new energy and life, just as the rest of her now did.
Her ki aura had a taken on a slightly bluish tint, and was much more
clearly visible than it had ever been. She felt as light as a feather.
She had leaped to a much higher level of strength and ability in only
a few seconds. She just couldn’t see how it was possible. How could she
have had such power hidden away inside her? Bulma tried to guess how
many times over her ki’s intensity had increased, but she was too
lightheaded and giddy to be sure. She looked up at Saichorou with an
expression of confused joy. How could such enormous, amazing power now
belong to her all of the sudden? It didn’t make sense. Saichorou
chuckled as Bulma looked down at her glowing hands again to reassure
herself that what she was feeling was real.

"Your power has increased at least twenty times over," he said. "I dare
say that Freeza will have an even tougher time of keeping up with you
now. I just can’t believe that you had so much undiscovered power!"

"It’s amazing," Bulma breathed excitedly. "I don’t know what to say.
How can I thank you for this?"

Saichorou smiled. "You can think of it as a reward for saving little
Dende," he said. "But to be honest, all I did was awaken that energy.
It was there inside YOU. You only needed to find it."

Bulma just shook her head in disbelief. "I’d never thought that such a
thing was possible," she said. "I mean, I’ve never heard of a fighter
having hidden strength before."

"Actually," Saichorou replied, "it’s not uncommon to find hidden energy
in a fighter. In fact, I haven’t found one yet that didn’t. Nail was
the only one that came close to having all his energy in check."

Bulma’s face brightened even further as she suddenly thought of
something. "Do you think that Gohan and Kuririn might have hidden
powers too?" She exclaimed with bright eyes.

Saichorou thought for a moment. "I believe so," he said. "In fact, I’m
almost sure of it. Unless they’re extremely efficient fighters in total
control of their kis, they are almost bound to have hidden power."

"Do you think that you could do for them what you did for me?" She
exclaimed excitedly.

"If they have dormant energy, then yes, I can awaken it for them," he
replied.

"Yes!!" Bulma exclaimed. "If they get a powerup like mine, then we
won’t even need Goku to beat Vegita! But," she said suddenly, frowning
as she remembered another technicality, "we still won’t be able to
defeat Freeza without him. I doubt if we could defeat Freeza even with
Goku, but we still have to try."

"Do you feel that?" Nail suddenly interjected. "I think someone’s
coming."

"Yes," Saichorou replied. "I sense them too."

"So do I," Bulma said, scanning for a second. There were two kis out
there -- a weak one and a larger one.

"Wait a minute!" Bulma said excitedly, beaming happily as she
recognized the kis. "That’s Kuririn! And I believe he has Dende with
him too!"

"You’re right!" Nail said excitedly. "Saichorou, Dende’s come back to
us!"

"Thank goodness he escaped," Saichorou sighed. "I only wish his brother
and the rest of that village had shared his fate. It’s a terrible thing
for the poor lad to have seen."

"Damn that Freeza!" Bulma said, gritting her teeth. "And it’s not just
your people he’s slaughtered, either! That tyrant! Who knows how many
countless worlds full of people he’s destroyed? We can’t let him win!"

Saichorou put a hand on her shoulder. "Please calm down," he said
soothingly. "Listen to me, Bulma," he said, and she turned around.
"Don’t let anger cloud your judgement," he warned. "It’s good of you
to sympathize with us, but don’t let anger force you to lose sight of
your goal."

"You’re right," she sighed. "I suppose I do get excessively angry at
times. I’ll just have to try harder to control my temper. But by Kami,
it’s hard for me to control my anger when I think of all that Freeza’s
done to you. And all over dragonballs! It’s not right! He has to be
punished!"

"We all have to face judgement sooner or later," Saichorou said.
"Remember that. He’ll face his, just as you’ll face yours. You’re
right. He must be stopped. But keep in mind that you’ll need help. You
can’t do this on your own, Bulma. You’ll need all the help you can get
to win, and it won’t be an easy fight. But we believe in you. And we
know that you’ll do your best. So don’t worry about us. Just focus on
the task at hand, and know that you’re doing what is right."

"Thank you," Bulma said, her eyes glistening with tears. "I promise
that I will try my best. And I know my friends will too. We’ll stop
Freeza! Just wait and see!" She was all fired up now, and she glowed
with a new confidence.

"That’s better," Saichorou sighed. "I know you will. Oh, I think we
have more visitors. Nail, would you please go show them in?"

"Right!" Nail said, as he ran out the door. Bulma grinned happily. She
could sense Kuririn just outside. She couldn’t wait to see him. It
seemed almost as if she hadn’t seen him for days. Hey, wait a minute!
She looked at the date on her watch. It had been days! Five days to be
exact! She marveled at how fast the time had passed during her stay on
Namek. Suddenly she gasped. She had forgotten to tell Kuririn that Goku
was coming! She looked at her watch again. According to her father’s
calculations, Goku should arrive on Namek after about seven more hours.
She’d have to be sure to tell Kuririn that.

When Kuririn walked in, he saw Bulma, and he forgot everything else.
"Bulma!" He exclaimed, rushing up to her and hugging her fiercely.
"Thank Kami you’re alive! We’d almost given up hope!"

"I’m really sorry I made you worry," she said, squeezing him back, and
letting a few tears escape. "There’s so much I need to tell you!"

He stepped back all of a sudden and studied her with a confused look
on his face. "Perhaps you could begin with how on Earth you got so
powerful all of the sudden," he said.

Bulma had nearly forgotten about that in her excitement. "Well," she
began. "I can attribute that to Saichorou here. He said I had a lot of
energy lying dormant inside of me, and then he just released it. I
can’t explain it, but somehow I had enough dormant ki energy to
multiply my power twenty fold."

"Wow!" Kuririn said, grinning eagerly first at Bulma, then at Saichorou.
"Do you realize what this means, Bulma?" He asked her gleefully.
"You’re powerful enough to take on Vegita! The last time I sensed his
ki it was half what yours is now!"

"Are you sure?" Bulma asked in disbelief. "That can’t be right! I mean,
there’s no way I could ever be even equal to him, let alone more
powerful!"

"No, I’m sure of it," Kuririn said, shaking his head. "I know you are,
Bulma! I can sense it!"

"Well, even if that’s so," Bulma said, trying to change the subject,
"it’s one thing to be able to defeat Vegita, but it’s wholly another
to take on Freeza. I’ve sensed him in close range before, Kuririn, and
I know that he’s way above me. Besides," she added. "Vegita won’t be
defeated as easily as you might think. He has a lot of tricks up his
sleeves, you know."

"So do you, Bulma," Kuririn said, chuckling. "So do you."

"Well," Saichorou said, noticing that now would be an ideal time to
interject. "Let me be the first to welcome you to my home, young
warrior. I have learned much about you from Bulma, but I would like to
get to know you better. Would you be so kind as to come stand beside
me and allow me to place my hand on your head?"

Kuririn looked at Bulma with a puzzled expression on his face. She
nodded at him reassuringly. He did as the old Namek asked, and Bulma
sighed happily. Soon Kuririn would be stronger too, and then they
could go get Gohan.

As Saichorou probed Kuririn’s memory, Bulma felt a slight tug on her
gi. She looked down to see Dende staring up at her.

"I want to thank you for what you did for me," he said. "Nail told me
what happened after Kuririn, Gohan, and I left for the cave. I’m sorry
that you had to go through all that."

Bulma smiled warmly at him. "I’m not," she said. "So why should you be?"
She knelt down so that she was at eye level with him. "Dende, you
should know that my friends and I will do everything we possibly can
to save you and the rest of the universe from Freeza. Because of that,
we’re the ones putting ourselves at risk, not you. There’s no need to
apologize for what happened to me because it wasn’t your fault."

Dende smiled, and hugged Bulma tightly around her neck. "I can still
thank you, though, right?" He said, as Bulma hugged him back.

"Sure," she replied softly, patting him on the back. She looked up and
saw Nail smiling at her. She smiled back, and Dende let go of her and
wiped his eyes dry with his sleeve.

Suddenly Bulma heard a cry from Kuririn, and felt a sharp rise in his
ki. She turned to see him getting a boost from Saichorou, and was he
ever amazed! Bulma wondered if her face had exhibited the same nervous
look that was on Kuririn’s now, as he experienced the drastic increase
in power. Finally, Saichorou removed his hand, and Kuririn looked at
his hands in the same manner as Bulma had.

Bulma walked over to Kuririn and touched his shoulder. "How do you
feel?" She asked him.

"Incredibly light and energetic," he exclaimed. "What a rush!"

"Thank you so much for your help, Saichorou," Bulma said, beaming
happily at him. "We have a much greater chance against Freeza, now that
we’re stronger. And don’t worry. We’ll do our best to keep him from
making his wish."

"And Vegita too," Kuririn added. "We’ll make sure that he doesn’t get
his wish either."

"Thank you both," Saichorou said, smiling happily. "I know you will.
Here. This will help you on your quest. Take good care of it, and don’t
let it fall into evil hands." He took a huge orange orb from the top of
his chair, and handed it to Bulma.

"You mean this enormous thing is a dragonball?!" She exclaimed, looking
at the large star inside it to confirm her assumption. "It must be at
least seven times larger than the ones we have on Earth!"

"Well," Saichorou said, grinning at Bulma, "I am a bit larger than
Kami, wouldn’t you agree?"

"Oh, well, I uh... didn’t mean that you were that, uh…" Bulma stuttered,
blushing in embarrassment at what she had insinuated. She hadn’t meant
to imply that Saichorou was too fat, but that was certainly what it had
sounded like.

Saichorou chuckled. "Calm down, Bulma. You can say it. The simple fact
is that I am very, very old. And as we Nameks grow older strange things
happen to our bodies. Anyway, you should know as well as anyone that a
person’s true self can’t be seen by appearance alone."

"Yes, that’s very true," she mused, thinking of how she had
underestimated so many a fighter because of his appearance. Perhaps
she had a few things to learn.

"Now," Saichorou said, "I suggest you go get Gohan and bring him here.
I may be able to release new power in him as well, and you’ll want
every advantage you can get."

"Right!" Bulma and Kuririn said in unison. They waved goodbye to
Saichorou, Nail, and Dende, and ran outside.

"Lead the way to the cave, Kuririn," Bulma said, once they were outside.
"I have absolutely no idea where it is, and I’ll tell you why on the
way there." She tucked the dragonball under her arm and they took off.
Bulma began telling him the events of the past few days as they sped
away. It would take her the entire trip to tell him everything that had
happened, plus what was going on with Goku.


On to Chapter Thirteen...