//------------------------------//
// New Developments 
// Story: Dragon Ball Zeeyup! 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

As soon as Piccolo had directions from Krillin on where to find the smart one - Bulma, apparently - he left the Lookout with all respectable speed...that is, the speed that still showed proper respect to those on the Lookout, and did not draw undue attention to his hasty departure.  The last thing he wanted to do was draw more attention from Mr. Popo or his guests.  It had taken a bit for Piccolo to realize it, but when the "blue girl" had moved to strike Krillin, she hadn't actually moved to do so.  One moment, she was next to the grey man, the next she was in front of Krillin, and not even a shift of air currents to signify the shift.  Even Mr. Popo on his carpet caused a brief displacement.  It was almost as if the air itself was afraid to give away her movement.
...he decided not to think about that further.
It wasn't long before the Briefs residence came into view.  The large dome-shaped structure was...large and dome shaped.  Piccolo wasn't much of one for architecture aside from castles, and this building did not strike him as that sort of structure.  A quick sweep with his ki and he was able to find someone whose aura had been frequently touched by Goku's ki signature, as well as quite recently.  Hoping that was the right person - especially since they were alone - he moved in to greet them...
...only to find himself face to muzzle with a firearm of some sort.  "Where's Gohan?" the blue-haired woman behind the gun demanded angrily.
Piccolo frowned as he glanced around the weapon at the woman standing there, dressed in a plain purple jumpsuit.  "If that thing's high enough caliber to actually damage me, the recoil will still do more damage to you than the gun will to me," he pointed out dryly.
The woman - Bulma, presumably, if the lettering on her jacket were to be believed - snorted derisively.  "You really think I'd point a gun like this if I hadn't tweaked it to disperse the recoil?"
"In that case, you'd do more damage to Kami than me," Piccolo corrected dryly.
Bulma frowned as she lowered the gun.  "Aiming at your head, yeah..."  She reangled the gun to point between his legs.  "Where's Gohan?"
Piccolo glanced down at the gun, then back up at her.  "What are you aiming at, exactly?  There's nothing vital there..."
Bulma blinked a few times.  "...oh."  Sighing, she lowered the gun.  "What do you want?"
Piccolo handed over the damaged remnants of Raditz' space armor.  "Can you analyze this and figure out how it's made, and how to make more?"
Frowning, Bulma picked it up and examined it.  "This is Raditz' armor?" she clarified as she looked it over.  When Piccolo nodded, her frown deepened.  "There are new marks on here that weren't there from his fight with you and Goku...and are these teeth marks?"  She gingerly touched the damaged shoulder pauldron.
"Yes and yes," Piccolo confirmed.
"And why should I try and fix it up?" she demanded coldly.
"Training gear," Piccolo explained calmly.  "Just last night I saw it stretch on its wearer to accommodate an expansion to a five story frame and shrink back down, neither process damaging the material in any way."
Bulma's eyes went wide as she looked at the armor closely before pulling it under a few scopes and analyzers.  "Well, I can see how that can be useful, and this does look pretty durable..."
"Can I also get one in child size?" Piccolo asked curiously.
Bulma froze.  "...you're getting Raditz to help you train Gohan?" she demanded in shock.
"Given what he's told me about his 'superiors' coming in a year, someone who knows how to train a Saiyan is my best bet for survival," he allowed ruefully.  "Besides, apparently Saiyans get a massive power boost every time they almost die...or train to exhaustion under the light of a full moon."
Bulma tapped her chin in thought.  "You know...that explains a lot about Goku..."
"Tell me about it," Piccolo groused.  "So, how long until you've got it analyzed?"
"Oh, I'll figure out how the material works to hold integrity while stretching in an hour or so," Bulma allowed readily.  "If you want me to duplicate it?  Take me a year, maybe two."
Piccolo frowned irritably as he crossed his arms.  "We don't have that long," he grumbled.
"Tell me about it," Bulma allowed.  "Still need to take time to find the Dragonballs, too."
"...how long to explain how it works to me in a way I can conceptualize?" Piccolo asked after a time as a thought crossed his mind.  He did have that rather metro attack of his...
As Bulma got to work, he found himself wondering how Big Mac was doing keeping the monkeys in line...



Big Mac watched calmly as Raditz and Gohan sparred.  To be fair, it wasn't exactly graceful sparring.  At this point it was mostly Raditz launching energy attacks while Gohan tried to tank them before charging in to punch, kick, or bite.  He felt the boy should really be trying to avoid taking hits rather than toughening up to take them, but Raditz seemed good at scaling his blasts to be just enough to knock Gohan around without seriously injuring him.
However, Big Mac had other concerns.  The damage their 'great ape' brawl had done to the valley had thrown off the geomantic energies that fed his little orchard, and keeping that intact was key to their entire strategy.  As such, something had to be done about it.  The biggest shift was from a plateau that the brawl had leveled some distance away from the orchard.  If he restored that, it should allow the energies to self-correct to a certain extent, and he'd see what he needed to do beyond that.
Going up to the edge of where the plateau once stood, he stomped what rubble there was flat to the ground as he paced out its dimensions, imbuing his energy into the earth in preparation for what he was about to do.  Once the pattern was paced out, he took a few steps back before rearing up on his hind legs and slamming his forehooves into the ground with more than just physical might.
He felt the energy erupt out of him and into the earth...and felt the Earth's energy leap back in response as a new plateau erupted out of the plain, shooting up to its old height as as much of the stone from the original was incorporated into the new as possible.  Sighing in relief - and exhaustion - Big Mac turned to make his way back to the orchard...only to find Raditz and Gohan staring at him.
"That was amazing, Big Mac!" Gohan marveled, grinning from ear to ear.
"Quite impressive," Raditz agreed, nodding to himself.  "Seems to be a work out for you as well."  He rubbed his chin thoughtfully...and then grinned.  "Can you do it again?"  He aimed his hand at the plateau.
Before he could even think about what he was doing, Big Mac had Raditz by the tail in his jaw and flipped him to the ground.  "Nerp!" he growled around the tail in his teeth as he pinned Raditz down with one hoof at the base of the tail and that grip.
"...please let me go?" Raditz pleaded.
"Nerp!"
"Is it important that plateau stay there?" Gohan asked curiously.
"Urryerp!"
Gohan glanced at the plateau, and then the area around it.  "Does it have to do with energy flows in the valley?"
"Urryerp!"
"The energy you use to make plants grow?"
"Urryerp!"
"The energy that makes the apples in your tree so tasty and filling?"
"Urryerp!"
"Can we use a different plateau that doesn't affect that energy for you to practice raising after we knock it over repeatedly to help build up your energy reserves by exhausting them and refreshing?" Raditz suggested hopefully.
Big Mac thought for a time, then released Raditz' tail before stepping off him.  "Eeyup."
"Okay," Raditz allowed as he gingerly rubbed his tail where the teeth had sunk in before getting to his feet.  "We'll figure out a way to mark which parts of the valley are important to keep the same way for the pies, and then Gohan and I will go ape on the rest to train.  Big Mac, your training is to keep the valley in good condition despite our training.  Got it?"
"Got it, Uncle Raditz!" Gohan declared happily.
"Eeyup!" Big Mac agreed with a smile.