"Why did this orb light up?"
He quickly turned around and shouted, "Goku, Goku, come back!".
Chapter 2: Bulma's Death
However, when Gohan walked out of the room and looked down the mountain,
he saw that Goku had already disappeared.
Son Gohan sighed. "Forget it. I'll show him when Goku gets back!"
Son Gohan picked up the Dragon Ball and examined it. "This must be a treasure.
If only it could stay lit. Then we could use it instead of a lightbulb and save on the electricity bill."
In a parallel timeline, in the future.
"Trunks, go! Hurry!"
"Go find Son Goku!"
"Don't worry about me! Go!"
Black Goku's energy blast was about to hit Trunks,
but at the last possible moment, the Time Machine vanished with a whoosh.
Black Goku froze for a moment, having lost his target.
Then, a murderous look in his eyes, he grabbed the helpless Bulma and throttled her.
"Mortal, you've surprised me!
I never thought such tiny, filthy humans like you could build a machine that travels through time..."
Bulma looked at the familiar face before her,
but the strange, savage expression on it filled her with sorrow.
She understood that he wasn't Goku.
And she'd never live to see Goku from the past travel to this timeline and save her.
The Time Machine only had enough power for a one-way trip...
Still, she'd managed to send Trunks away before she died. And now, she could look upon Sun-kun's face one last time, even if she had to die by his hand.
That was enough for her.
She closed her eyes, and a glistening tear slid from the corner of one.
As Bulma's life ebbed away,
memories of the past came flooding back, one after another, like scenes from a movie.
When she was sixteen, she'd set out for Mount Paozu to search for the Dragon Balls.
That was the day she met Son Goku, a boy like a little wild man, and led him out of the mountains.
Whatever troubles they encountered,
Goku, the clueless little kid, had always been the one to solve every crisis,
protecting her and all of humanity.
But Goku was still so young,
and sixteen-year-old Bulma had only trusted him, feeling nothing more than simple friendship.
It wasn't until the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament that Bulma saw Goku all grown up.
So handsome! So stunning!
Bulma had been completely dumbstruck.
She'd known Goku and been through so much with him.
The sense of security he gave her was unlike anything anyone else could offer.
In that moment, Bulma realized that, compared to Yamcha, that womanizer,
Goku—the hopeless romantic and battle maniac—seemed much more suited to her.
She understood Goku better than anyone, and he trusted her deeply, too.
But before Bulma could do anything about it,
Chi-Chi showed up and whisked him away without a shred of reason.
That year, the spectators at the World Martial Arts Tournament had happily congratulated the two of them on announcing their marriage.
They'd wished the newlyweds all the best as they prepared to embark on married life.
Yet no one noticed the shock and disappointment in Bulma's eyes.
The next time she saw Goku,
he and Chi-Chi already had a four-year-old child...
It was too late.
Bulma thought maybe that was what it meant to be destined to meet, but not to be together.
When Gohan was four, Raditz came.
Since the Dragon Balls could bring people back to life,
Goku had sacrificed himself to stop Raditz from destroying Earth.
With the Saiyans on their way, even Piccolo, their former enemy, joined forces with them.
They all trained hard, preparing for the battle a year later.
A year later, Vegeta and Nappa came to Earth and killed many people.
Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Tien Shinhan, and even Piccolo, who had become one with Kami, all died.
If they lost the battle, all humanity would be wiped out, and Earth would be sold off.
At last, Goku returned.
He was as dependable as ever.
After a desperate battle, he finally defeated Vegeta.
But he'd pushed himself to the limit and wrecked his body fighting.
He hadn't died, but he was so badly injured that he couldn't even move. It was heartbreaking to see.
Before long, Bulma and the others arrived at the battlefield after the fight.
Goku's wife, Chi-Chi, cared only about Gohan's minor injuries,
and showed no concern at all for Goku, who was too badly hurt to move.
She even complained about him, blaming him for making a child fight.
She said she wouldn't care if Earth blew up.
As his wife, Chi-Chi had gone too far, Bulma and many others felt.
Goku hadn't done anything wrong. He'd even protected Earth,
yet she treated him that way.
Even Yajirobe couldn't stand it. He threatened to beat Chi-Chi up.
In the end, it was Bulma who took care of Goku.
Chi-Chi only cared about helping Gohan with his homework.
Knowing Goku was afraid of needles, Bulma stayed by his bedside for several days afterward.
But Bulma said nothing to either Chi-Chi or Goku.
She understood him. He wouldn't waste a single brain cell on anything unrelated to fighting.
In fact, she even knew
that while he lay in bed, he was still replaying his battle with Vegeta in his mind.
Later on...
There was the journey to Namek,
and then Frieza and King Cold arrived on Earth.
Each time, Goku had turned the tide and saved the world.
As long as Goku was around, every obstacle could be overcome.
With him there, you felt completely safe...
Sadly, no one had ever imagined that Goku, who could defeat even the Emperor of the Universe,
would die from a mere heart virus!
Earth truly couldn't do without Goku.
The Z Fighters had all been killed.
All of humanity had been ravaged by war,
and before long, the whole planet had fallen into an apocalypse.
She vaguely remembered that, before he died, Gohan, with one arm missing, had said,
"If only Dad were here..."
Chapter 3: Bulma Reborn
Gohan's words had deeply affected Bulma back then. She understood, too.
If Goku were still alive, none of this would have happened.
But it was precisely Gohan's words—"If only Dad were here..."—
that rekindled Bulma's hope.
They showed her what she needed to do.
After twenty years of research, she finally built the Time Machine.
She sent Trunks back to the past to ask for help and to deliver medicine to Goku.
And it worked.
When Trunks returned and told her about Prince Vegeta's romantic side, even she was surprised.
Bulma remembered it clearly.
Back when Vegeta was still alive,
she'd never felt any sense of security around him,
nor had she ever received any kindness from him—only pride and coldness.
Bulma figured that when Trunks went back to the past,
he'd encountered that side of Vegeta because Goku was there in that world, gradually changing him.
Weren't Tien Shinhan and Piccolo living proof?
He seemed like an idiot, but there was something remarkable about him.
Even after all these decades, the person Bulma trusted most was still Son Goku.
The Time Machine's creation hadn't just saved Goku in another timeline by letting him get the medicine,
it had saved her own world, too.
Bulma was deeply relieved. All her efforts had not been in vain.