Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Doubts ❯ Joyride ( Chapter 7 )

Doubts: Chapter 7

At about the time Bulma found her voice and was screaming Vegeta's name so loud everyone in the surrounding galaxy was sure to hear her distress, a daring duo was making a getaway from the crime scene via a certain motorcycle. Bra had her arms firmly entwined around Pan's waist, while leaning fearfully into the older girl's backside. Pan's medium-length hair was whipping behind her like a short black banner, searing the sensitive skin of Bra's face. Pan was gunning the bike like a bat out of hell, barely able to see over the handlebars.

Once Bra had discovered that Pan knew how to operate motorized vehicles to some small extent due to some training by Videl, she had nearly exploded with excitement. By now the pair was guilty of three separate, yet linked crimes against the Briefs' household. Not only had they dissected the GR with Bra's expertise and intimate knowledge of the area, they had also raided the fridge of all its contents. This fact was characterized by the four large trash bags attached to the flying motorcycle, two on each side. They were attached by several rounds of rope that the two had found while laying siege to the lab, which had been their last stop. With the motorcycle finally out of the way, Bra's goal to bring her parents together could be reached. Once they had gone far enough (which would be voiced by Bra once she felt certain of the surrounding area), the pair would ditch the bike and the stolen loot by the wayside. As soon as was possible, they would then return to Capsule Corp. and enter the compound through the back door. If the adult inhabitants knew about their scheme by the time they had ditched the motorcycle, Bra felt they wouldn't notice the absence of the two girls. Bulma, Vegeta, Dr. and Mrs. Briefs would be so completely engrossed in their dilemma, Bra reasoned, that their return would go completely unnoticed. After everything had settled, Bra's parents would be inseparable. This, in much simpler terms, was how Bra convinced Pan of how it would truly turn out.

As the gelatinous bags of edible foodstuff bounced and jiggled on either side of the motorcycle each and every time they hit even a minute bump, Pan recalled how she had been so set against the idea. They hadn't had much time to do anything, save set things in motion at Bra's insistence. Bra still owed her a sparring session, and for Gohan's daughter to help pull the wool over both Bulma and Vegeta, especially Vegeta, it would have to be one good session. At present, however, she felt an uncommon rush of adrenaline. The wind stinging her face, the sound of the motorcycle beneath her, and Bra's clutch about her midriff brought about an elation and liberation she had never felt before. They were currently free of restrictions and rules of any sort, without anything binding them to space and time. They were simply free.

An urgent tapping at the midpoint of her back brought her back to reality. Bra was giving her the unspoken signal to slow down. They must have been at least ten miles from C.C. grounds. Since that time, they had steadily climbed into a hilly stretch of train, marked by the rush of scenery in a gradual incline. Pan applied the brakes, slowing the bike until it came to a slow coast upon a ridge overlooking the flatter earth far below. From this point they could see tiny dots that were individual houses. Together, the houses made up an entire town, appearing as if someone had spread out a gigantic, three-dimensional map before their eyes. It was much cooler at their altitude, and Pan could have sworn Bra clung even closer to her than before, shivering a bit in the process.

As the bike came to a stop and teetered heavily on one side from the lack of balance, Pan lost control. It had been easy to mount the contraption with the kickstand already in place, but she wasn't quite tall enough to keep the motorcycle upright. Bra gave a startled cry as she tipped violently to the right, taking up the example Pan made of practically leaping from the downed piece of machinery. They barely escaped the demise of being crushed beneath the motorcycle, just by a fraction of an inch. Panting, the two hit the ground in a graceless tumble that sent them sprawling in a tangle of arms and limbs.

Bra was the first to speak. "Owww! Pan, get off me!"

Pan bemoaned her state and grabbed Bra's ankle, forcing it out of her face. She had been so close to having a foot in her mouth, literally. "You should talk!"

The two rolled apart after a few more seconds of fussing. Wisps of errant blue hair fell in disarray about Bra's face, which was smudged with grass stains and dirt. Her normally clean clothes didn't fare much better. Frowning bravely down at the scratches and abrasions that formed a random pattern on her palms, arms and legs, Bra wistfully commented, "Good stop, Pan."

"Quiet!" Came the indignant reply. "You can't even drive, so you wouldn't do much better!" Pan was lying on her side, propping herself up on her hands. Her bandanna hung loosely about her neck, as it had dislodged itself from her head sometime during the fall. She reached up to straighten the article of cloth, scowling all the while.

"Whatever. Let's just get rid of the food before..."

Both turned their eyes on the bags containing the perishables, but it was to their great disconcertment that they realized they had squashed half the loot beneath the motorcycle. The thin plastic containers that had held the remaining half had been flung loose with the force of the motorcycle hitting the ground. The bags had been torn apart when their fragile surface area contacted a grouping of jagged rocks further down the embankment. Food lay about them in clusters of buns, broken milk bottles, sauces and other miscellaneous items. The two shared a stunned look, and then cried in unison, "Oh no!"

Pan was the first to push herself to her feet. She wavered a bit, and then wrung her scraped hands helplessly before her. "Oh man, Bra! We are so dead. When your dad finds out what we did to his GR and food, we won't even have enough time to explain! We'll just be toast!"

Bra was obviously shaken, but still undeterred. Under any other circumstance, she would have been bawling about the diminutive damage she had taken. For once, she owned up to the fact that it had been her idea to do the escapade in the first place. Besides that, the look on Pan's face settled any doubts she had about whom had to be the strong one in that instant. "It's ok, Pan. Don't worry. Daddy won't never know!"

A downward turn of Pan's mouth announced her reservations about that statement. "It's not just him that I'm scared of. Your mom will go crazy, and so will my parents! My mom will kill me, if your dad doesn't finish it first!" Despite her rambling, Pan was secretly impressed by the show of bravado that Bra put up. She had matured since Pan's last visit. In that short time, she had transformed from a whiny, conceited child to a confident individual with a penchant to actually show some inner strength now and again. She still appeared much the same, with the same girlish personality and lack of common sense, but something had definitely changed.

Bra put her hands on her hips, emulating her mother's usual stance. "Let's just leave it. They might find it later, but who cares? We still have a chance to get away."

It was a good point. The longer they stayed to mourn the damage, the greater the probability was of being caught. "Ok, ok. Let's start heading back. If they ask us if we know anything about it, we'll just say it was teenagers."

"Yeah, teenagers." Bra echoed. They nodded simultaneously to each other, accepting it as feasible excuse. They began to walk back down the road, side by side. Neither looked back, afraid to do so. Sometime during the silence that had settled between them, Pan sneaked a glance over to Bra. When she realized Bra was already looking at her with a smile painting her lips, she blinked.

"What are you staring at me for?"

"I was thinking."

"About what?"

"...About how I like having you for a friend."

"You think?" Pan's somber expression melted away into a tiny grin. Roused by the confidence Bra had in the situation, she felt the stirrings of a belief that they might actually get through the experience unscathed.

"I do." It was the easy, simplistic assent of a young girl, yet it meant everything at the same time.

A few more seconds ticked by, before Pan spoke again. "You know what?"

"What?"

"I think you aren't so bad yourself."

"You like me, too?"

"Yeah."

Bra didn't need to hear another word; she understood perfectly. With this newfound knowledge, the two continued down the road, following the formidable stretch of white line that bordered the edge of the roadside. Theirs was a comfortable silence, filled only with a single misgiving related to their prior action. Ten miles was a long way to walk without a motorcycle to ride.

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Back at Capsule Corp., a few minutes earlier...

"VEGEEEETA!!!" Bulma's scream cut through the mansion's airwaves, where around that same time she heard a roar from the kitchen that overrode her banshee's call by a few decibels.

"WOMAN!!!"

Following to the source the thunderous shout, Bulma entered the kitchen, cheeks flushed with a bewilderment that she had carried over from laboratory. The motorcycle that she had so diligently worked on those past few days was now nonexistent to the place she had last left it. What could have caused Vegeta to yell so loudly, after she had just been wronged twice in a row?

She had the answer sooner than she would have liked it. As soon as Vegeta stood aside and revealed the empty box known as the refrigerator, she could have let her jaw hit the floor a second time in a row. The Saiyan had been clearly frustrated with the events that had occurred within the Gravity Room, but right now he was ready to go on the warpath. He had powered up sometime between the first time she had spared him a glance and the seconds she had spent looking at the refrigerator in disbelief. His eyebrows had dipped dangerously, creating several creases where they intersected. His voice spat out, "Explain this."

"Oh, Kami." Bulma brought two paired fingertips to stop the trembling of her lower lip. She stared at the uncommon spaciousness found in both the lower and upper half of the fridge, dumbfounded.

Vegeta didn't take the lapse in speech that followed too well. "Tell me, who did this!?" Power crackled and fizzed about him, while his black eyes glinted murderously.

Bulma struggled to rise above her open dismay, barely gaining enough ground to utter a few sentences in her defense, "You think I know, Vegeta? I was just about to ask you where my motorcycle went?"

"WHAT?"

She crossed her arms firmly against her chest, nodding matter-of-factly. "My motorcycle. It's missing."

Vegeta clenched his jaw, and skimmed a cutting glare about the room. He powered down to normal, and straightened up. "What the hell is going on around here?!"

"Damned if I know. I was just about to ask you the same thing."

"It is bad enough that the Gravity Room is out of commission, but I will not stand for a house without a morsel of food to be found!"

Bulma smothered the urge to make some satirical comment about his enormous appetite, but it was hard. To some extent, she agreed with him, although she felt the destruction of the Gravity Room and the theft of her motorcycle to be of far more importance. It didn't really matter, since their frustrations merged perfectly in the end. "Who could have done these things?"

"What about your bumbling excuse for a father and his empty-headed spouse?"

"Vegeta!" Her shriek hit the roof. "Don't you dare go talking about my parents in that manner! They wouldn't stoop so low as to pull such immature pranks. I would expect it out of you before I ever considered it of them!"

His response was cut and dry, but still blatantly enraged at the accusation. "Don't be a fool, woman! You honestly believe I would have such an insane motive that would cause me to go destroy my training chamber, and then send me into the kitchen to dispose of any and all food?!"

Bulma frowned, sending a withering look his way. "Even you aren't that crazy." She thought it over, rubbing the base of her chin pensively. Wondering aloud, she questioned, "If it wasn't you or me, or even my parents, who does that leave?"

Vegeta slammed the doors to the refrigerator with such a force that they rebounded with the frame and flew open again. He frowned, and then extended one hand to shut them both with more caution, making sure that they sealed shut the second time around. Sneering, he attempted at humor but failed miserably in all but one aspect. "I don't know. How about your daughter and her sorry excuse for a friend?" He had unknowingly hit the nail on the head.

Bulma shook her head, ready to shrug off what she knew he meant as a poor jest. "I mean, who could have...wait a minute. Just where are the girls? I haven't heard from them since lunch..."

Vegeta stiffened, and he appeared to be concentrating for the span of a second. When he came to his answer, his eyes widened visibly and he strode purposefully forward. "They aren't here!"

Panic seized Bulma like an invisible fist. She chased after him, even after he had exited the kitchen. "What do you mean, they aren't here?!"

"Just what I said, woman!" He gritted his teeth, grating the lower half against the upper in annoyance. "I can't feel Bra's ki anymore." The minute he admitted that, he felt a cold feeling settle into the pit of his stomach, followed by a new sense of desperation. He didn't show it outwardly, but this didn't fool Bulma in the least. She knew that he was just as stricken as she was at that particular moment in time. The welfare of their child hung in the balance, and all other things were quickly pushed to the sidelines.

Bulma paled several shades lighter than she was already. "Oh no! What about Pan?"

"Not a thing." He didn't appear to like the growing conclusion anymore than she. As their rapid conversation passed back and forth with a growing urgency, they moved out to the front yard of the Capsule Corporation compound. Once there, Vegeta tensed to take off into the air. He was halted by a hand on his shoulder, which froze him in place.

"Oh no, you don't! I'm not going to rot here and wait for you to get back here. I'd worry myself to death!" She drew in a breath quickly, and then added, "I'm coming with you."

Vegeta gave her a black look but brooked no argument with her. Without responding, he bent at the knees and scooped her up with one arm beneath her knees and the other at her back. Bulma wound her arms around his strong neck, more for balance and security than anything. Vegeta seemed to of already honed in on something, because he expectantly faced due north, as if testing the wind. No more words traveled between the aggravated parents as Vegeta shot into the sky, save for the startled gasp from Bulma.

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A few miles from the C.C. mansion...

"Pan?"

"Yeah?"

"My feet hurt."

Pan glanced back over her shoulder, eyeing the wreck from a distance. "Uh, Bra?"

"Yeah?"

"I can still see the motorcycle. We didn't go that far yet."

Bra let out a low whine, a piteous sound that was meant to evoke sympathy from the closest listener. Unfortunately, the only audience she had was a disgruntled Pan, who was in the same boat and unlikely to give any measure of support at that point. Even though they had come to a new understanding in their relationship, it didn't mean that things couldn't be as they always were between them.

Pan was completely disinterested in Bra's pleas for relief. "Look, you got us into this mess, so we're just going to have to get through it."

"But... but..." Bra blundered, her eyes flicking deftly to and fro to the slow passage of their surroundings.

"No buts! You were the one who came up with this dumb idea in the first place!"

Bra was quick to protest, "It wasn't dumb! It'll work, you'll see!"

Pan sighed deeply and shook her head. Her previous aspirations to getting through the scheme without mishap were falling through the roof. Was she so desperate for a single spar with the unproven Bra that she would actually incur Vegeta, Bulma and her parent's wrath so easily? She didn't want to answer that, she feared she already knew it all too well. As she pondered this, she was startled by Bra shaking her shoulder with a feverish insistence.

"Pan!" Her voice was a hushed whisper.

"What?"

"Be quiet! There's a little man walking towards us. He looks scary."

Pan blinked several times, and then turned her face forward. Squinting several times, she peered out down the cooling stretch of tar. Darkness was quickly descending on the world, which made it hard to discern detail at all. Even so, she could clearly make out the shuffling outline of a shadowy figure, which was obviously male. The telltale signs of broad shoulders, a bald head, and a beard gave that impression away immediately. Other than that, there was more than half a kilometer between the form and the girls. This in itself was quickly dwindling by the second. The man in ragged attire seemed to pick up his pace, blatantly aware of the two girls ahead.

"What do you think he wants?" It was Bra again.

Pan closed her voice down to a low pitch, "I don't know!"

"I wish I could fly like daddy."

Pan could only nod as she thought of her own father.

Man, what I'd do to have dad and mom here right now!

The hunched silhouette drew inexorably nearer, his gait changing into that of which could only be described as a trot, like that of a horse. The girls traded uneasy glances.

-AN: Chapter 7 finished. At this point, I'm wondering if I should continue this story. If you want me to keep writing, drop me a line and let me know. It would be nice to know if people are still following this at all. Thanks a bunch!

Disclaimer: Usual stuff. I don't own DB, the characters, ect.