Chapter 17

Gurudo jumped back in surprise when he saw how close Gohan and Kuririn’s
blasts were to him. Apparently he’d underestimated his opponents speed.
He began to look around, almost as if he was searching for something.

Bulma eyed him cautiously. Her friends had been too careless, and even
though it was their own fault, she wasn’t about to just let Gurudo dole
out punishment. Anyway, it wouldn’t be wise to give this little creep
any advantages over them.

Suddenly Gurudo trotted off in the direction of a large boulder about
fifty yards away. He was getting rather red in the face, and his cheeks
were bulging out a bit. Bulma watched him with some degree of confusion
as he dove behind the boulder and exhaled almost explosively, letting
time flow normally again. Had he been holding his breath?

Gohan and Kuririn watched their blasts explode on the ground and waited
patiently for the dust to clear. They couldn’t sense their opponent
down there, apparently, because they were grinning at each other and
giving the thumbs up sign. Sure enough, when the dust cleared enough to
reveal what was below, and they saw neither hide nor hair of Gurudo,
they all but decided that this battle was over.

"Hey guys!" Bulma yelled up at them. "You do know you missed him,
right?" She looked over at Gurudo and frowned as he gaped at her in
shock.

"What?!" Kuririn exclaimed, as he and Gohan looked at each other.
"Where’d he go? There’s almost no way he was fast enough to dodge our
blasts!"

"It’s your own fault for not listening to me," she called back, frowning
angrily at them. "I tried to warn you about him!" She rolled her eyes
and then glared at Gurudo again. He stared back at her curiously. He
was surprised that she had noticed him so quickly, apparently. Although
Bulma thought that was kind of silly on his part, since he was in her
field of view anyway.

"Hey!" Gohan said, looking around. "Where DID he go, anyway?" Bulma
glanced at Gurudo again, and he gulped and shook his head, motioning
for Bulma to be quiet. She just shook her head in disgust and looked
away. They’d find him on their own anyway.

Gohan looked around a bit, trying to sense Gurudo’s ki, while Kuririn
did the same. It didn’t take them long to hone in on his vicinity, and
then they noticed the boulder. Kuririn quietly pointed to it, and he
and Gohan nodded to each other. They quietly descended, sneaking up on
Gurudo’s hiding place. Bulma watched them intently. They were like cats
hunting a mouse. A small, green, pudgy mouse. And one that thus far
hadn’t used any real attack against them. Bulma wondered just what this
guy was good for, anyway. Surely he had some skills other than time
control.

He must have seen her following her companions movements with her eyes,
because just before the boys were upon him, he stopped time again, and
ran off towards another boulder. It appeared that he was trying to get
a better hiding place.

Bulma groaned and ran after him, deciding that she wasn’t going to just
stand by and watch this crap any longer. This guy was either a huge
coward, or he had something big he was hiding, and she was bound and
determined to find out which it was.

She ran up alongside him. "Hey!" She said sharply. "I’d like a word
with you!"

Gurudo yelped in surprise, and time began to flow normally again. "What
the hell?!" He exclaimed, backing away from Bulma. "How did you do
that?"

Gohan and Kuririn cried out in confusion when they found that their
target was no longer behind the rock. They looked around and noticed
that Bulma was off about twenty yards away, and was talking to Gurudo.
They flew over to see what was going on, and landed about five yards
away from them. Neither Bulma nor Gurudo paid them any attention.

"What?" Bulma said, smiling craftily at Gurudo. "You mean this?" She
stopped time on her own this time. "You mean time control, right? Well,
I’ve got news for you, buster, you’re not the only one who knows how to
stop time. I’ve known how to do this for quite a while. Although, I
suspect that I haven’t had this gift for as long as you have. Hey!" She
said suddenly, noticing that Gurudo was acting very strangely. "What’s
the matter with you?"

Gurudo had turned a royal shade of blue, and was clasping his throat
with both hands. He reached weakly up at Bulma with a trembling arm. He
fell forward, landing on his knees, still clasping his throat. He
reminded Bulma of a person she’d seen choking in a lobster restaurant
once before.

"What’s your problem?" She said impatiently, backing out of his reach.
"Are you choking or something?" Bulma resumed time’s flow again and
stepped back cautiously. What kind of battle tactic was this, anyway?

Gurudo gasped, inhaling almost as forcefully as a vacuum cleaner. He
glared angrily at Bulma, and, huffing and puffing, managed to stand up
again.

"Are you insane?!" He sputtered. "You almost suffocated me! I couldn’t
breathe!"

"You’ve got to be joking!" She said in amazement. "I saw you stop time
just fine earlier! It had no effect on my breathing, so why should it
be different when I do it? Just what are you trying to pull, anyway,
yogurt-breath?"

"Me?!" Gurudo cried incredulously. "You’re the one who cut off my air,
you nitwit! When I stop time, I have to hold my breath, because if I
breathe, time will flow again. That’s just the way it is. But then you
come along and stop time before I can even draw in my breath! And since
I can’t breathe when time is stopped, I was without air until you
finally let time flow again! Geez! If you’re going to stop time too,
you can at least give me fair warning to hold my breath! What kind of
animal are you?"

Bulma gaped at him in shock for a couple of seconds, before what he had
said finally registered in her mind. "Hey, wait a minute, now!" She
said angrily. "Let’s not forget just whose side you’re on here, pal!
What makes you think I should give you warning about anything?"

"Oh yeah," he said, laughing nervously, with his hand behind his head.
"That’s right! I guess I forgot." -Bulma face-vaulted- "Uh... heheh,"
Gurudo laughed, stepping back a bit. "You aren’t planning on doing that
to me again, now are you?" He asked her nervously. "I mean, that wouldn’t
be very fair, don’t you agree? You don’t want to do something so
dishonorable, do you?"

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you," she spat at him.
"As I recall, it was only a little while ago that you were threatening
to kill my companions. Am I right?"

Gurudo suddenly grinned evilly. "Well, I suppose they’ll have to wait,"
he said, stepping back. "Because now I have to kill you before I do
anything else."

Bulma was so surprised at the idiocy of his claim that she began to
laugh, closing her eyes for a few seconds, and forgetting about the
danger she was in. But that was more than enough of a chance for Gurudo,
and he took full advantage of it.

"Kanashibari no jyutsu!" He cried, sending an enormous wave of
telekinetic energy right at her. If Bulma had been a few yards away,
she might have been able to dodge it, but as she was only a few feet
away from Gurudo, she didn’t have enough time to react. She suddenly
found herself unable to move. She could just barely move her face, and
she could breathe all right, but aside from those things, she was
completely immobile.

"Why you!" She said with much effort, struggling violently against him.
"How dare you!"

Gurudo grinned. He turned around to face an astonished Gohan and
Kuririn. "Make a move and I’ll stop her heart right now!" He ordered.

"Damn you!" Kuririn replied. "Let go of Bulma now! She’s not even your
opponent anyway. We are, remember?"

"Yeah!" Gohan said fiercely. "Leave Bulma out of our fight, you jerk!"

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" Gurudo asked, grinning even
more broadly. "If you so much as make a step towards us I’ll crush her
ribcage, and smash her heart. But rest assured she would still suffer
a slow, painful death! You’d be amazed at how long a person can remain
alive after his heart is crushed right in his chest!"

Kuririn and Gohan scowled in reply, but made no move towards Gurudo.
They didn’t dare. Bulma didn’t know what to think. She knew Kuririn and
Gohan wouldn’t try to provoke Gurudo into hurting her, but they would
never defeat him if they didn’t attack. She didn’t know what to do.

"Heh," Gurudo snorted. "Just as I thought. Well, you’re both a couple
of fools to have given up so easily. I was going to kill her whether
you interfered or not. And I think I’ll go ahead and finish you two off
at the same time!"

"What?!" They said angrily, balling their fists. Before they could
attack, however, Gurudo made his move.

"Kanashibari no jyutsu!" He cried, hitting them with the same body lock
in which he held Bulma. She was surprised at his control. At no time
during his attack on Kuririn and Gohan did she feel his hold on her
weaken. She glared at him, trying to counter him with her own
telekinesis, but found that she was sorely lacking in the skills
necessary to resist him. He must have felt her attempts, however,
because he turned around and looked at her in surprise.

"How... How are you doing that?" He asked her incredulously. "Don’t tell
me you know telekinesis too!"

"How do you think I’m doing this?" She snapped. "If I can’t use my
body, I have to use my mind, you twit!"

He sneered at her. "You shouldn’t be so rude," he said, wagging his
finger at her. "It’s not very ladylike of you. Perhaps you need to be
taught a lesson."

"Just try it!" She said, squirming a bit more. "And I’ll teach YOU a
lesson!"

"Hey, Gurudo!" Jees called down. "Try not to muss her up too much, all
right? Remember, the agreement was that you’d get to fight those two,
not her."

"It’s too late for that," Gurudo called back. "I’ve got to make sure
that she dies first. I’ll trade her out for the two shrimpy ones if
that’s what’ll satisfy you, but if I don’t kill her now, she’ll easily
kill me! Do you want her to do that?"

"Is that a trick question?" Rikuum asked jokingly.

Gurudo gave a quick glare to Rikuum, and turned back toward Bulma,
pausing for a moment. He seemed to be thinking about something.

"I’ve got it!" He said suddenly, balling his right hand into a fist and
smacking it into his left. He turned around and began to concentrate on
one of the nearby trees. Suddenly it snapped off at the base of its
trunk, and rose into the air. In mid air Gurudo stripped it of its
branches, and fashioned its ends into sharp points.

As Bulma watched this incredible telekinetic display, she couldn’t help
but marvel at Gurudo’s abilities. Not only was he keeping Kuririn,
Gohan, and herself immobile, but at the same time he was also able to
manipulate a strong tree trunk with enough precision to fashion it into
an enormous spear.

But she realized that now was not the time for admiration. She had to
get herself out of this predicament now, or she was going to be shish
kebab. Gurudo already had his projectile pointed in her direction, and
was preparing to strike.

"Any last words?" He asked, grinning broadly at her.

She just glared at him, struggling violently. She had to get out of
there, and fast. But try as she might, she couldn’t budge an inch. He
was just too powerful.

"Have it your way!" He said, and with a mighty heave, propelled the
pointed log straight at Bulma.

"No! Bulma!" Kuririn shouted.

Before she could even blink, Bulma suddenly felt Gurudo’s hold on her
dissipate. She dove out of the way, just as the sharp chunk of wood
plowed into the ground. She turned around to face Gurudo, but found,
much to her surprise, that he had somehow been decapitated, and both
his head and his body were lying on the ground!

Bulma sank to her knees as she realized how close she’d come to biting
the big one. Kuririn and Gohan ran over to make sure she was okay, and
Vegita walked over toward what was left of Gurudo.

"Bulma!" Kuririn exclaimed, as he and Gohan helped her up. "Are you all
right?"

"I’m a little shaken up, but it beats being impaled," she said
nervously. "What on Earth happened? Did Vegita do that to Gurudo?"

"He sure did," Gohan replied. "As soon as Gurudo threw that log at you,
Vegita darted in and shot a flat, wide beam at Gurudo’s neck, slicing
his head completely off."

Bulma stared at Gohan in disbelief. "Why would Vegita do such a thing?"
She thought. "He must have had some motive, but I know for certain that
he didn’t do that to save me. He couldn’t have cared less if Gurudo HAD
finished me off, as long as he wins against Team Ginyu in the end."

Gurudo, or his head, at least, suddenly began talking to Vegita. Bulma,
along with Kuririn and Gohan, gasped in amazement. Now that was
something they hadn’t expected!

"You stupid Saiyan!" He yelled. "How dare you? Oh, the things I’d do to
you if I were still attached to my body!"

"That’s just hideous!" Bulma exclaimed to Kuririn and Gohan. "How can a
head just live by itself?"

"Well, this one won’t be alive for long," Vegita said grimly. He
extended his arm down toward Gurudo’s face, and as Gurudo screamed one
last insult, Vegita blasted him until he was nothing more than a big
black spot on the ground.

Bulma glanced up at Team Ginyu to observe their reactions to this new
development. They were stunned all right, but it didn’t look as if
anger had taken over yet. Finally, Jees smirked at Vegita.

"I suppose Gurudo was careless," he said. "Too bad. But even though I
can’t say I liked him much, or that I’ll miss him, that doesn’t mean
you’re going to go unpunished, Vegetable-breath."

Vegita smirked back, seemingly unconcerned. Bulma could say this much
about the gruff Saiyan. He certainly knew how to keep a cool head.

Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan walked over to join him as Team Ginyu began
to play Jan-ken again. Vegita pretended not to notice her or her
friends, but Bulma could somehow sense that he wasn’t exactly pleased
to be associated with them. She didn’t exactly blame him, even though
she felt somewhat indignant. After all, when compared to him, they
weren’t exactly very skilled, and had definitely shown it in that last
fiasco. Still, she couldn’t stand the fact that he always treated them
like he was hundreds of miles above them in all respects. She almost
wished she could see him get really pounded today. Maybe that would
teach him a lesson in humility. Of course, as Bulma thought this, she
neglected to notice just how un-humble she sounded!

"Thanks for jumping in when you did, Vegita," Kuririn said gratefully.
"Bulma would have been toast."

"Toast on a stick," Gohan murmured.

Bulma glared at them angrily. Why should they thank him? He hadn’t
killed Gurudo to save her! Perfect! Now he was going to think she owed
him something. The jerk. She grit her teeth and looked down at the
ground angrily, focusing on these thoughts in silent fury.

Vegita glanced at her briefly, observed her expression, and scowled.
"I couldn’t care less about some fool woman who doesn’t have enough
sense to know she shouldn’t attack a telekinesis expert like Gurudo
head on. I killed him when I did because he let his guard down. It was
the most suitable and effective time to attack. I already told you
fools that you don’t mean anything to me. So stop simpering and start
fighting like real warriors, or I’ll kill you myself!" He looked up to
watch Team Ginyu, scowling as fiercely as ever.

Gohan and Kuririn cringed, backing away like whipped puppies. Bulma
looked up sharply and glared at Vegita.

"That was my fight," she growled at him. "I never invited you to
interfere. In the future I’ll thank you to leave my fights to me, and
I’ll leave yours to you. Got it?"

He acted as if he hadn’t heard her, and continued watching Team Ginyu.
Kuririn and Gohan stared at Bulma in disbelief, their jaws nearly
touching the ground. Why was she acting like this? No sane person would
try to provoke Vegita so openly!

Team Ginyu finished their game and turned to face their opponents.
Kuririn remarked that he wondered which of their three remaining
adversaries was next, and which of them he’d "won" the privilege of
fighting.

Bulma was trying to steady herself for the next round, but her mind
was on other thoughts. She had suddenly come to the sickening
realization that this had been the second time that Vegita had saved
her life, even if unintentionally. The thought was almost too painful
to bear.


On to Chapter Eighteen...