DB Multiverse

Chapter 2: A busy timetable...

When Gohan and Videl arrived, everyone was already sitting at the table. Chi-Chi exclaimed:

“Gohan-cha! How come you arrive only now?”

Gohan rubbed his nape and threw a sorry glance to his mother as he was sitting down.

“ Sorry, we've started to eat but Vegetto refused to go look for you, I don't know why...” Bulma sighed.

Gohan glanced at his father who answered with a wink and a broad smile. Gohan felt he was red as a beetroot but helped himself with dignity and bit a chicken thigh with a nonchalance that he didn’t feel. Videl laughed a bit when she understood how embarrassed her lover was but quickly followed his lead and took a rice bowl. Bulma took advantage that everybody was around to explain:

“Look, Vegetto, Chi-Chi and I have discussed about what we would do. First, we will set the borders. The robots are going to go round the planet in order to calculate its surface. They will do it tonight so that tomorrow, you could go put marks on these borders.”

“Who does that ‘you’ include?” asked Gohan though he knew very well that he was about to be named.

“I mean anyone who is able to fly fast enough to go around the world in twenty minutes…”

Gohan, Trunks, Goten, 18, Kulilin and Vegetto sighed heavily. Videl asked:

“But do I have to do it too?”

“No, you can stay with us!”Bulma and Chi-Chi answered at the same time.

The young woman sighed of relief. Yet, Kulilin rose up against that.

“But she can fly too! How come she can stay while we can’t?”

“You wouldn’t dare to send a frail young woman to do that work, would you?” retorted Bulma.

“Of course no, but… I have to take care of my daughter…” he tried.

“We’ll do it, don’t worry about it!” Chi-Chi said as she stroked Marron’s blond hair.

Sulking, Kulilin put his head in the palm of his hand, but the meal resumed in a good mood. Once again, Vegetto ate a bit more than the last time, which silently worried everybody, yet none said anything. Once the dinner was done, Bulma switched on her small devices – not without having explained a second time what it was and how it worked – and let them out to recharge as they needed solar energy. Bulma smiled with pride.

“With them, we will have the plan of the planet tomorrow morning. I will be able to determine a lot of things thanks to that…”

“Such as?” asked Gohan who was curious to know.

“Well, the surface, the percentage of forest, seas, mountains, the diameter of the planet, and the location of the poles…” the scientist, who was deep in thought, listed as she took a capsule bag.

From it, she took a capsule and threw it in a rather wide empty space. A huge telescope appeared and Gohan, admiring, asked:

“What’s the use of it?”

“Well, it will enable me to calculate the distance between this planet and its sun, I’ll be able to check how many planets there are in this system and to locate the natural satellite, as well as to calculate how long its revolution lasts and the time Last Hope takes to rotate.”

Gohan nodded at each new function of the telescope, he was very interested in how it worked. Astronomy had always been one of his favorite subjects. This probably dated back to the days when he was a child and he used to watch the stars with his father just before falling asleep under them.

“Could I help you?” asked the young man to Bulma.

“Of course! I was about to ask.” she answered.

Gohan smiled broadly at her and then looked at the sky. The sun was low on the horizon and should reach it in less than an hour. As he wanted to enjoy the last rays of sun, he left with Videl. Kulilin glanced at Marron and saw that she was playing with Trunks, Goten and Spike, the youngest Son’s lizard. He smiled at his wife.

“It seems that things will be quiet for a while…”

“What if we took advantage of it to leave for a bit?” asked the cyborg, smiling back at him.

“Where to?” asked the earthling as he threw an inquiring look at her.

“I have seen a rather nice plain over there. We could go there for a walk.”

The couple flew, in order to be on their own for a while. Bulma sighed when she noticed that Trunks, Goten and Marron were heading to the forest with their new friend. So once again, Chi-Chi, Vegetto and she were left together. She watched the two others speaking and laughing and decided to go explore that unknown land too. From her capsules, she took a kind of small kart that needed electricity to work (for Vegetto had insisted on how important it was to keep that planet as clean as possible) and went on her way. At the camp, there were only Chi-Chi and Vegetto left.

“… and then Goten had to put the dog down. You should have seen his face! Poor boy, I was on the verge of telling that woman that she just had to pay attention to her animals and of taking the dog back to give it to Goten!” Vegetto related with a smile.

Chi-Chi laughed, imagining Goten’s sad face when he had found who the owner of the dog was. She managed to say, between two giggles:

“It’s… so much like him to do that!”

The two laughed a bit then calmed down. Vegetto decided to speak about a more serious matter:

“You… Do you plan on getting re-married?”

She looked at him, rather upset. Vegetto carried on.

“You could, after all, Gokû is dead and if you want to …”

Chi-Chi sighed but answered with a smile:

“I do not plan on remarrying. Gokû-sa was my first love and there is place for none else in my heart. I do not think I’ll find, nor love, anyone else.”

Vegetto smiled at her. Chi-Chi was a strong and independent woman. It was true that she probably didn’t need any other man in her life: after all, she had her two sons and Vegetto with her. The Saiyan got up and stretched. He cracked his back then said:

“What about going to explore the place instead of remaining in the camp as two silly persons?”

He didn’t give her time to answer but took Chi-Chi into his arms before flying away at top speed. Chi-Chi screamed, but the scream quickly became a laugh.

“Higher!!” she demanded.

Vegetto obeyed and took altitude. They arrived near a lake and he swooped down. His maneuver was accompanied by another scream from Chi-Chi. He stabilized himself a few inches above the surface and flew over the blue expense at top speed. Chi-Chi put her hand into the water as she yelled in joy. Some drops wet their laughing faces. Once they were near the bank, Vegetto flew up again. For a while, he followed a flight of white beaked black bird then went towards a mountain. He landed on a flat rock where some tufts of glass stood there and there. In front of them, the sun was reaching the horizon. It took a yellowish orange color and then a rust orange one. When only the top of the sun could be seen, the sky became red until the star totally disappeared. Vegetto took Chi-Chi into his arms again and they went back to the camp. Not a word was said on the way back but their complicity was strengthened…

On their side, Kulilin and 18 were also enjoying the setting sun. Sitting side by side on the green grass, they were contemplating the sun rays that were disappearing behind the rocky horizon. 18 placed her head on Kulilin’s shoulder and the latter blushed at this unexpected contact. He kissed her quickly on the forehead, pushed by a surge of tenderness when suddenly…

“Spike, wait!!!” yelled Goten at his lizard who was running away as fast as he could, with Marron sitting on its back.

The lizard jumped above the laying couple and so did Trunks and Goten.

“Mommy!! Daddy!!” screamed Marron when she saw her parents.

She went down the animal’s back and rushed to hug the couple. 18, upset to have been so rudely interrupted, caught her daughter and flew towards the camp. She crossed Gohan and Videl who were holding each other’s hands as they flew. They smiled at her. She kept their pace as they went back, speaking with her husband and the lovers.

“That planet really is beautiful, isn’t it?” said Gohan with a stupid smile.

“Yes… the greenery, those trees, the pure blue sky…” added Videl with that same stupid smile.

“Hmhm… A nice place for first times.” 18 said.

The two teenagers were as red as a beetroot whereas Kulilin shot a choked look at his wife, taken aback by her shamelessness.

“Mommy, what is a ‘first time’?” asked Marron who didn’t understand what they were talking about.

“You will understand when you are fifteen, my dear.”

“Fifteen?!” Marron’s father disagreed. “That would be twenty-five!”

Gohan and Videl laughed at Kulilin’s over-protection on his daughter. Five minutes later, there were back at the camp. There, they found Vegetto and Chi-Chi, laughing together and Gohan smiled at that for he was happy to see that in spite of the official relationship between Bulma and Vegetto, his mother and his father still got along well.

Bulma arrived a few moments later and switched on her robots she had left outside to recharge them as they needed solar energy. She pushed a button that was hidden behind the upper plate. The device emitted a ‘bip’ and it shook as it levitated a few seconds. Then it went up twenty meters above their heads and finally left towards the north. Bulma smiled of satisfaction and switched on the other robots as she had the first. Five minutes later, the six devices had left in different directions. Bulma stretched then declared with arrogance:

“My amazing devices will now make all the work and come back when there are done. Then we will print their report. In the meanwhile, we can all go to rest!”

“When will they be done?” asked Gohan.

“It depends of the planet’s surface.”

The group nodded and went into the house to enjoy their last moment of peace.

Bulma stretched, a coffee mug into her hand, as she was delighting in the morning freshness due to the recent dew. At the horizon, the sun was only starting to spread his golden rays on the landscape. Bulma screwed up her eyes and frowned for she was blinded. She turned her back to the star. Not that she disliked sunrises but her tired eyes couldn’t bear the brightness it gave off. She yawned and stretched once again. She sipped her coffee then grimaced: it was too strong and therefore needed more sugar. She was about to go back inside the house to fetch some milk and sugar when she heard a small noise. She stretched her ear to hear better: a repetitive ‘bip’ was getting nearer. She turned and was face to face with her six robots. The devices came to her and then printed their data all at the same time. Bulma took the pieces of paper she quickly read, a smile on her lips. She finished her drink in one gulp then went in to take the big cork board she opened outside. On it, she fixed the six maps with thumbtacks side by side. Once the wall jigsaw was done, she read the printed data. Each map was about thirty inches by fifteen and a small indication specified that, on each map, an inch was the equivalent of sixty miles. Therefore the diameter of the planet was of thirteen thousands kilometers, which was half the one of Earth. There was only one huge continent, and the planet was covered at 57% of water and so at 43% of soil, there were no desert. 41% of the continent was covered with forests and 24% with mountains. The remaining 35% were hills and valleys, which was good for farming! She saw that there was a big amount of rivers and she smiled in relief: it wouldn’t be too hard to irrigate the fields. She divided the farmable area in two and she spent the following hour placing several landmarks on the map. That was when she heard a sound coming from behind her. She turned back and saw Vegetto who was looking at the board.

“ So that's it…” he said, deep in thought.

“Well, yes. It’s your planet. By the way, you will have to give names to the different parts so that everybody can understand of what place they are talking about.”

Vegetto nodded as he kept starring at the map. He sighed.

“There is going to be a lot of work to be done…”

“I agree. But you are Saiyans, you can do it without problem.”

Vegetto scratched his head then took a pen and started writing on the sheets of paper.

“Let me connect the landmarks that you had placed. Let’s say that those are the six countries of the map. I’ll name them… Porunga, Shenron, Korin, Dende, Popo and Piccolo.”

Bulma laughed at the Saiyan’s creative mind.

“Excuse me, I have no imagination.” He sighed. “Then, I’m going to call that big forest here Gohan and the smaller ones around are Trunks, Goten and Kulilin… As there is only one ocean, I’ll call it ‘Ocean’… Then that big valley here will be Bulma and that one Chi-Chi…”

“There are two high mountains left.” Reminded Bulma. “Then you’ll have named most places of the planet.”

“Easy: we’ll name them Gokû and Vegeta.”

“You should take more time…” said Bulma.

“No, I don’t want to waste too long on it. With these name are good enough to let us know where is what, and that’s what we need.”

“You really are quite lazy.”

Vegetto charmingly smiled at her then put his pen back.

“Let’s recap,” declared Bulma loudly, as she read from a paper. “Gohan, Videl, Trunks, Goten, Kulilin and Vegetto, you are going to place the boundary markers I gave you in the places that are indicated on the map. Everybody got his own, by the way?”

The six men nodded but Goten, scatterbrain, asked:

“But, what is their use?”

“I told you at least three times already…” Bulma sighed.

“It’s to divide the continent in two parts of the same size. Roughly, it’s to draw lines.” Trunks said to his friend.

Goten opened his mouth as if to say ‘Oh, alright!’ Once Goten got his attention back on Bulma, this latter carried on:

“So, come back once you’re done, I’ll give you further order then.”

They nodded again and flew away right then. Once the warriors were out of sight, Chi-Chi sighed, a smile of pure happiness on her lips.

“Ah, finally between girls…”

Indeed, there was just Chi-Chi, Bulma, 18 and her daughter at the camp. Chi-Chi then took a thermos and poured hot tea in three cups. Marron hadn’t woken up yet and the three women had resolved to take advantage of the peace to relax! Bulma and Chi-Chi monopolized the conversation whereas 18, naturally taciturn, listened only. From topic to topic and gossip to gossip, the three women had come to speak about their family lives.

“… and then Trunks totally broke it! I tell you! It was my favorite vase!” Bulma was indignant.

Chi-Chi shook her head, she was outraged by so much clumsiness as 18 just took another sip of her tea.

“I haven’t told you what Gohan did! Imagine that just the other day, he wanted to open the door. Well, he completely crushed the handle! I can’t afford buying handles every other days!”

It was Bulma’s turn to shake her head as 18 just took another sip of her tea. The cyborg watched silently the two women’s game without understanding much of it. Since her transformation, these women gathering – whose purpose was speaking of their lives and complaining about it as well as having a cup of tea – were utterly foreign to her. She didn’t take pleasure in these small talks, neither in the stories from the program ‘Satan City’s gossip’. The cyborg just wanted to leave as fast as possible during these moments. The only thing that kept her here, nodding with half a smile on her lips, was the gratitude she felt towards Bulma who had enabled her to have her child. As Bulma was complaining about Trunks’ latest habits of leaving his dirty socks lying around, 18 drank the last sip of her cup of tea. The drink burned her throat a bit.

Gohan, studying the map he had in his hand, suddenly stopped in order to frenetically look around. No doubt about it, it was the right place. He quickly landed and hammered the device that Bulma had given him not one hour earlier in. Once he was certain that the boundary mark was deep in the ground, he took off towards the camp. The wind on his face made him feel so good that he accelerated to increase his happiness. Gohan had always loved to fly: he felt better with each flight. Wanting to be alone all of a sudden, he landed in the shadow of a tree on the side of the mountain that he was flying over. His body estimated the temperature to be 22°C. A fresh breeze made his bang move. Rocked by the sound of the near-by animals, he closed his eyes, ready to fall asleep when the sound of human pace interrupted his trance.

“You’re resting, son?”

“You can say that… It’s always nice to be in a quiet place. You know it much better than I.”

Vegetto quietly laid down at his son’s side. A long and peaceful silence took place between the two men. Once of these silence that wasn’t awkward but serene, one that says much about what people think and that says much more than a long speech. Vegetto was the first to break it:

“Gohan, how are things with Videl?”

“Why do you ask me that?” asked the blushing young man.

“Because it seems to me to be rather serious… Do you know how I met your mother?”

Gohan smiled at the memory of Chi-Chi’s tale, the tournament, then the weeding, and suddenly, her being pregnant of him… But a question bothered him. A question he considered a long time before having the guts to ask.

“Could you explain a mystery to me?”

“I can try…”

“How come Vegeta and Bulma started to… go out together?”

Vegetto scratched his head, rummaging around in that part of his memories. To crudely tell the story probably was the best way. He took a breath and began:

“Well, as you imagine, it wasn’t love at first sight… I guess you know already that Vegeta was way less innocent than Gokû. They had completely different ways of thinking…” Gohan nodded with a small smile. “And so, when he was at Bulma’s house, it had been quite a while that he hadn’t… er… How to say…” Gohan grimaced to show that he had understood perfectly well. “And Bulma was here. She had had another of these bickerings with Yamcha and she was beginning to find a certain charm in him. Of course, he was aware of it. He felt it actually. He always had had a kind of sixth sense to guess what people’s intentions towards him were. And so, it happened. But don’t believe there were no feelings behind it. He too was starting to fall for Bulma. And so it happened once, then twice… And so on. In truth, both of them were happy with the situation: they had physical pleasure. But then, there was something more. Of course, Bulma was able to live with it, but for Vegeta on the other hand… It was completely different. He was frustrated because he didn’t manage to reach the level of Super Saiyan but also because he was developing a kind of dependence to Bulma. Of course, he wanted to stop it. It was the way he handled things. But in the meanwhile, Bulma had gotten pregnant so he simply went away.”

“I wasn’t expecting it at all…” said Gohan, baffled. “But go on.”

“Then there had been the cyborgs, and Cell… And he came back. He took consciousness of some things and so he came back home to take care of his family, and back to Bulma that he hadn’t been able to forget.”

Gohan breathed heavily. All these revelations were enough to give him a headache! After a few seconds, Vegetto said:

“We should start to head back. They’re going to wonder where we are…”

Gohan nodded and got up. And so, the father and the son got back without uttering a word.