Capsule Corporation, 30 minutes later ( Piccolo was still pretty injured, that's why it took longer for him and the kids to get there ). To avoid getting seen, Piccolo flew straight into Bulma's lab while the kids found her in the back yard getting a little tan herself. After hearing Piccolo's story, she barely held herself back from bursting out in laughs, however, she managed to force herself to make a serious face to show the kids that this situation isn't a laughable matter. She rushed into the lab only to find indeed a purple Namekian instead of a green one. Yet again, she barely held herself back from laughing hard in Piccolo's face, still she managed to make a worried face.
-Bulma...-Piccolo started still in much pain-The kids told me that you have a machine that absorbs the ultraviolet radiation from the skin and heals it. Is that right?
-Yes, I have. But how do THEY know about it?-she asked wondered-I built that thing when I was a teenager, and I got my first nasty sunburn.
-Strange. They told me you built it not so long ago.
-Hmmm...Anyway, unfortunately, I didn't have the patience and will power to finish it back then; that pain drove me crazy...
-Tell me about it...
-So, I will need some time to take a look and fix it up.
-Please, Bulma. I beg of you, hurry! I don't know how much time I can endure this burn. It's ten times worse than when Nappa killed me.
-Well, well, what do we have here?-a familiar voice said from the lab's entrance; it was Vegeta with his arms crossed and a BIG smirk on his face-Trunks told me you wanted to tell me something important..-he looked at his wife, then back to Piccolo-But now I see he just didn't want me to miss out on such a rare sight. I don't often get a chance to see a purple Namekian in my house.-Piccolo looked extremely pissed off at Vegeta and would have attacked him too, if it wasn't for Bulma's intervention:
-Vegeta, don't you have anything better to do, like training, for instance?
-But he looks too damn funny for me to take my eyes off him. HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!
-If you don't move your ass out of my lab this instance, I swear I will cut down the power to your training room! Then we'll see who's gonna be laughing.-which changed Vegeta's mood all of a sudden.
-Alright, alright.-he replied pissed off, then he turned around, left the lab and shot the door-Damn woman!-he said to himself.
***
It took Bulma about 45 minutes to finish the machine. In the meantime, Piccolo contacted Gohan telepathically, who was already in the desert searching for him, to tell him that he was alright. Gohan, of course, wanted to meet up with him, but Piccolo told him that he was about to enter the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for more training, thus avoiding an uncomfortable situation.
Finally, the machine was ready. It looked like a normal telepod, only that it was much higher, over six meters, made mostly out of a very thick glass called GLASSIUM ( it was the thickest glass ever invented my Mr. Brief ) and on top of it, special UV lamps were built. Bulma was very proud of her work and could hardly wait to test it. Goten and Trunks were also there, being very eager to see what would happen next. Trunks knew that her mother's inventions many times had major bugs or side-effects, and he hoped that this time it would be the same just for pure entertainment. Heck, he even brought popcorn for him and Goten to savour.
-Well, Piccolo...-Bulma started-It's ready.
-Thank, goodness.-Piccolo replied-So, all I have to do is to step into the machine, and it will heal me?
-That's pretty much it. But you will also have to take your clothes off...
-Say what?!-Piccolo asked shocked.
-Don't worry, I will lend you one of Vegeta's underwear.-Bulma said smiling and within a few minutes, she was already back with a red underwear-Here, take it!-as she gave the underwear to the Namekian-The bathroom is...
-I'll be right back...-Piccolo said, then he flew out of the lab through the opened window ceiling, and after a few moments, he indeed came back, wearing nothing but the red underwear.
-Oh my gosh...-Bulma thought-He's hotter than I thought. If I were kinky and crazy like Master Roshi, I would just jump right on him.
-Can we please get this over with already?-Piccolo asked annoyed.
-Step right in.-Bulma said with a smirk.-Oh, one more thing. You will need these.-then she gave him a pair of sunglasses.
-This is getting more and more ridiculous.-Piccolo thought, while taking the sunglasses from Bulma-If you kids tell anybody about this, I will kill both of you in front of your parents.-Bulma didn't quite like this remark, but the kids didn't take it serious at all, only act like they did.
-If I learned anything from my mommy, it's to never gossip.-Goten responded.
-Don't worry, Piccolo! We won't tell anybody.-Trunks said-They will see it for themselves.-he thought.
Piccolo stepped into the pod, as the door shut in. Bulma raised a shield on the window ceiling blocking all the sunlight, then she turned all the lights off, except the UV lamps from the pod. Everyone put their sunglasses on, including Piccolo, then Bulma turned the machine on, as the UV light turned from bright white to pink. There was a small "zooming" sound coming from the machine while the light turned from pink to red, then from red to purple. Slowly, Piccolo's skin started healing as it turned to bright purple, then to bright green, gradually reverting back to its original color. Even the patches on his arms and stomach turned back to pink. Piccolo felt relieved that the pain was finally gone. By now, he didn't mind all the ridiculousness he had to go through, like taking his clothes off in front of a human woman and wearing nothing but red underwear and sunglasses, just to get rid of the pain.
But it wasn't over yet. Suddenly, the machines' "zooming" started getting louder and louder, meaning something wasn't right. Bulma immediately pushed the OFF button, but it didn't stop. This time, the UV lamps turned to blue and no one could guess what would happen next. The machine got so overheated, that it blew up the circuits in the entire corporation, as all the lights went out. It should have been pitch black in the lab right now, however, it wasn't; a bright green light was coming from the pod, but not from the UV lamps. The bright light was coming from Piccolo himself; he was glowing like a firefly, lighting the whole lab. Trunks couldn't be happier for being right, he and Goten laughing hard at Piccolo, while he couldn't believe his eyes:
-BULMAAAA!!!-Piccolo yelled, while Bulma couldn't figure out what could have gone wrong.
After that she remembered of the period when Piccolo was evil, so she got very scared, wondering, whether he would hurt her or worse, kill her, as a punishment. Just then, the lab door opened, and a very angry prince entered it:
-WOMAN!-Vegeta yelled-What did I do for you to cut down the power to my training room this time?! If you think, I will allow you to treat me like that, then you have another thing coming!-suddenly, his eyes rolled towards from where the bright light was coming from, and after seeing Piccolo in that posture, he burst out laughing-BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! That is so hilarious; a giant firefly Namekian. BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!-even tears started literally flowing from his eyes from the hard laughter-I haven't laughed this much for ages. The last time I laughed this much, it was when Nappa ruined his hair and had to get a bald haircut. HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!
The kids already knew what would happen next and could hardly wait for it to happen. Bulma also knew it, but this time, she didn't have time to intervene cause Piccolo already smashed the machine into pieces and attacked Vegeta with full power:
-That's it! You're dead!-he yelled, while Vegeta transformed into a Super Saiyan and waited him with a smirk...
TO BE CONTINUED>>>
