Written by Nevyn Slash at [email protected]
Fate
Chapter 1 Part A
‘What
am I doing here again?’ a figure in black spandex asked the wind around him as
he trekked across a barren landscape, an arm over his stomach. ‘Ah yes. I came
to this barren dust ball so I could get away from having to see Goten every
time that hellcat brought him over.’ He quickly looked at the sky and back down
again, seeing that he had a long time left until sunset.
‘Hmpf.
I’m Vegeta no Ouji. I shouldn’t have to leave a planet to gain peace and quiet;
nor should I have to constantly avoid the face that looks too much like that
baka!’
Off
to the side, Vegeta finally caught sight of a small trickling stream. He made
his way over to the streambed under the sweltering sun, keeping an eye out for
anything that might be dangerous to him and his still very fragile
property. As soon as he got to the
stream he carefully leaned over the side and looked in distaste at the water.
It was nothing more than a trickle and he doubted it was very healthy to drink,
especially now...
‘I
don’t remember the stream being this small. But then I hardly ever left the
palace and I was much smaller then. Or is this the dry season?’
As
soon as he had gotten a sip of water, he stood once again and shouldered the
dark pack that he had discarded on the ground and started to move forward once
more, keeping his arm across his stomach and his tail wrapped around his waist.
‘Blasted
ship and blasted onna too! I can’t believe that the ship crashed out here. Now
how am I going to fix it? Sure, I did want to see this planet again, but the
ship didn’t have to crash in the middle of the desert! If I ever go back to see
Earth again, I am going to give that onna a piece of my mind about how she
needs to improve the controls on her ships. Not to mention the steering. It’s a
good thing there’s nothing broken, or she'd never hear the end of it. Maybe if
enough of the stupid ningens die because of her faulty equipment, she’ll take
better care.’
He
looked about the red land again and thought of the recent events that had led
to his landing there.
***
~
Eight Months Earlier ~
“Vegeta!
Come here, I need you do something for me!”
From
the gravity room, Vegeta heard the screeching coming from the interior of the
house. He winced and fell over, crashing to the ground, where a moment ago, he
had been doing one-handed handstand push-ups under 550g’s.
‘Bakayaro!’
Vegeta
pushed himself up off the ground and winched again as he felt a sharp pain in
his abdomen. ‘Blasted baka!’ he thought briefly of a certain dead someone, as
he made his way over to the controls in the middle of the room. As soon as he
turned them off, he picked up the white towel that he had brought with him and
wrapped it around his neck as soon as he had quickly toweled off. With a scowl
he set off toward the main building.
Once
inside the living area of the Capsule Corp. building, he headed to the den
where he knew the blue haired onna would be waiting for him to fall into her
trap. He put on a scowl as he finally entered the room and looked over at her.
“What do you want?” he asked harshly, aggravated that she had interrupted his
training once again.
Bulma
looked up as he entered and had to suppress a grin. Vegeta looked so good as he
stood in the doorway, all sweaty from his workout, his muscles hard under his
spandex outfit. She suddenly found her breath coming faster as she wished, not
for the first time, that she could feel those muscles under her hands once
more. Feel him as he-
“What
do you want?”
She
was jerked out of her thoughts by that harsh voice and gratefully started to
breath easily once more.
“I
want you to go to the store for me. I need you to pick up all the things on
this list,” she replied, walking over to him and holding out a list.
Vegeta
glared at the list and then he glared at her, before growling, “Why should I?”
Bulma
was hardly intimidated as she matched his glare with hers, “Because I told you
to, that’s why. Not to mention that if you don’t go, you’ll never eat here
again and you will have to go and find you own food each day. How does that
sound?”
Vegeta
grunted, “Hn. So? I can hunt just fine and I can take care of myself and cook
too. I don’t need you.” He started to turn and go back to what he was doing,
when Bulma stopped him again.
“Fine,
all I wanted was for you to get some things for Chichi’s baby shower in a few
days, and to pick up some food but you won’t do it. Should’ve known you’d
chicken out.”
“I
did not chicken out!” Vegeta roared, as he spun around and glared death at her
once more, “I just don’t want to go!”
”Very well. But if you don’t go, I’ll deactivate the gravity room.”
Vegeta
glared, “I won’t let you.”
Bulma laughed harshly, “It doesn’t matter Vegeta. As long as I’m in control of
the master control, there is nothing that you can do to stop me from doing it.”
There was no master control, she knew, but Vegeta didn’t know that.
Vegeta
steamed, “Fine, I’ll go on your stupid errand!”
Bulma smiled sweetly at him, “I knew you would see things my way.” She shoved
the list and a company credit card into his hand, and turned towards the
kitchen, “Get cleaned up and go. I expect you to return in about two hours with
everything. You’ll find a capsule car in its usual place. And don’t buy
anything extra that is not on the list.”
Vegeta
growled, “Fine.” He turned and headed up the stairs, going into the room that
had been given to him. With a sigh, he put the card and the list on the top of
the dresser as he pulled some clothes out of the closet - clothes that would be
suitable to wear in public without attracting more attention to him than was
necessary.
After
he had taken a shower he dried himself with a flash of his ki, pulled on the
clothes that he had selected, and looked at himself in the bedroom mirror. He
was wearing beige khakis, light brown loafers, and a short-sleeved red plaid
shirt. The outfit tried its best to make him inconspicuous, but it wasn’t doing
a good job of it and he knew that he was going to receive a lot of looks from
both sexes. He smirked, ‘Of course, if I received looks from…’ He stopped the
train of thought before it could go any further. There was no need to think
about things that would never be.
He
ran his fingers through the tall spiky locks above his head and then went over
to the list and picked it up, examining the contents. His scowl deepened even
more as he beheld how long the monstrous thing was. ‘Blast that onna! There is
no way that I am going to finish all of this! Especially if I have to go to two
different places to pick the crap up.’ He glanced at the two maps on the back
of the list and finally stuffed it into his back pocket along with the card. As
soon as he had gotten a capsule, containing a modest white car, as well as a
couple of empty ones, he set off to the first place on the list - the dreaded
grocery store.
***
An
hour and a half later, Vegeta found himself waiting in line to pay for all of
the things that he had needed to pick up at the place. He eventually finished
paying for all the food from the grocery store and packed everything into an
empty capsule; then he drove over to the mall to buy the rest of the things
that he needed to get. Presently, he was in the toy store with a lot of
“presents” for Chichi. Bulma had gone all out when making the list, knowing
that Chichi probably would never get the newborn baby toys, unless they were
books. ‘Although, these toys are a little too old for a week old baby.’
“How
are you doing today, sir?” asked the girl behind the counter as she reached
into the basket and pulled out a figure of Mr. Satan.
Vegeta
looked at her calmly and answered politely, “I am good, and how are you?”
The
girl smiled and scanned the code on the doll, before reaching in and pulling
out a puzzle. “I am fine, thank you. And how is your day going?”
Vegeta frowned and cursed himself for being nice to the girl. Now she was going
to continue the conversation until he could go with all the brat’s toys. Not to
mention the fact that the only reason he was being nice was because of his
present condition and he was being nice involuntarily at the moment. “My day is
slow and I was forced into shopping,” he responded with a scowl.
“Oh
well, I’m sure it can’t be that bad.” She reached in and picked up a strategy
game, briefly looking at it before registering the item.
“Hn.
You have no idea,” he paused, considering about forgetting his manners, but
then decided to ask the question that was expected of him, “How is your day?”
The young lady beamed at him as she scanned a virtual pet and put it in the
small pile with the other toys. “I am having a wonderful day. I really have nothing
to complain about.”
Vegeta
nodded and watched as she scanned the last toy, an action figure of Cell. ‘Now
the brat can use Cell to kill Mr. Satan,’ he thought with a wry smirk.
“So,
who are you shopping for?” the girl asked as she began to bag the toys.
“I
am getting this stuff for a lady's baby shower,” replied Vegeta impatiently,
wanting to get out of there.
“Well
that’s good. Although, don’t you think that the kid may be too young for these?
However, when he is older, I am sure that he will like the toys. Now he can
play with Cell and have Mr. Satan beat him up.”
Vegeta
huffed as she handed two bags to him that proudly sported the brand name of Kaiser’s Toys, in blue, on
the side. “Mr. Satan is a fraud and never killed Cell.”
The
girl raised an eyebrow, amused, and asked, “Oh? And I suppose that you know who
did?”
“Yes,
as a matter of fact I do. I was there. I saw the whole thing. The yellow-haired
kid did.” With that he stormed out of the store.
The
girl watched after him and nodded, 'I suppose that makes sense. I never did
think that Mr. Satan was strong enough to kill that guy.' The girl smiled
slightly as she turned her attention to the next person in line, intending to
get to the bottom of it all and discover the real story of what happened that
day after the cameras went out.
***
Bulma
sighed as she heard the back door close - sighing because Vegeta had finished
changing out of his handsome outfit and had gone back out to the gravity room
again to continue his training. ‘That man! All he cares about is that stupid
gravity room and his training. What about me? Don’t I count? If not me, than
what about his son?' She sighed again sadly, as she made herself realize for
the millionth time that what had happened between them was never supposed to. That
it had just been a spur of the moment thing. She had felt cheated at the time,
but then she had realized that that had been a very unreal night.
**
What
had happened had been great; she wished that it could’ve gone on all night,
instead of just three times (>o<). Unfortunately, she had gotten tired
and had refused his offer of another go. He had nodded and told her that he
would be back later, and then he had flown out the window.
The
next day, he had arrived back early in the morning, his clothes torn and
looking exhausted. When she had gone to hug him, he had looked at her tiredly
and had just walked past going to his room. That hurt her feelings, and so did
the continued rejections following that day. When she finally accepted the fact
that he had never loved her and it had all been a mistake, she started to
realize that there was something weird going on with Vegeta.
First
off, she finally realized that he didn’t fly around anymore. That had been
weird, but the next thing was even stranger. During the fight with Cell, about
a year later, he used hardly any ki. When he used ki to fight the androids, he
tired more quickly than normal, and he only flew when he absolutely had to.
**
Bulma
frowned as she continued to reflect on everything, even as she pulled party
streamers out of one of the capsules Vegeta had put all of the shopping into
and started to put them up on the ceiling.
**
In
fact all year leading up until that day, Vegeta hadn’t used his ki to blast as
many things apart as he used to.
She
remembered her father saying to her, “Vegeta isn’t blowing apart as many of my
bots anymore. I’m glad, for now it gives me and Scratches more time to invent
stronger bots for him to fight with.” Scratches mewed, as Mr. Briefs gestured
to all the new bots that he was working on.
Two
days after Mirai Trunks left and Goku said that he didn’t want to be brought
back to life; there came the day when not a single robot was blown to pieces.
Her father was overjoyed when this went on for several days, but she was
confused about what was happening.
She
had finally decided to talk to Chichi about it, going over to her house the
next day. “Chichi, whenever you come over, do you notice anything unusual about
Vegeta?”
Chichi frowned, “Umm…”
“I’m
sure there has to be something. You come over everyday; can you think of
anything at all? What about a year before the Cell games? Anything strange
happen?”
Chichi’s
face darkened, “Nothing overly out of the ordinary. Other than Goku leaving to
train and coming back later and later each night while forgetting that he sleeps in our room and not on the couch in the
living room if he does come back before dawn. In all that time, he only slept
with me once, about a week before the Cell games. Not to mention the
conversation that he had with Gohan.”
Bulma
looked at her more closely and asked, “What conversation?”
Chichi clenched her fists in anger, “Oh, about four days before the Cell games,
Gohan tells me that Goku had told him that he knows all about the feelings that
Gohan has for Piccolo and that it was okay to feel that way. I asked Gohan if
what he just said was true, about his feelings for Piccolo. Gohan said, ‘Yes.’”
Chichi
paused for a moment to catch her breath and to calm herself before continuing.
“He told me that he didn’t know how dad found out, but that he thought that
Piccolo and him would make a cute couple. He then had the gall to ask me if it
was okay with me. I blew up and told him, ‘NO! It is not all right with me! I
don’t know what Goku is thinking! You are not allowed to ever see Piccolo
again, and I never want you to speak his name again! Piccolo is a lot older
than you are and I want to have grandchildren when I’m older!’
“Gohan
became very angry and actually yelled back at me, ‘Piccolo is only four years older
than me and I love him! There is nothing that you can do to change that! If dad
says its okay, then it’s okay! I’m going to leave and live somewhere else until
you change your bigotry opinion and accept me for who I am!’
“He
then did just that, and I haven’t seen him since, except on the television.”
**
‘I
was so shocked by what she told me,’ Bulma thought as she started to blow up
some balloons with helium, knotting them and putting them on strings to tie
onto the back of the chairs. Bulma frowned as she settled once more into her
thoughts of the past year.
**
Chichi
suddenly got up and looked out the window at the sky, “And then there is what
Goku did...”
Bulma
looked surprised, “What do you mean by that?”
Chichi
turned around and returned to her chair, sitting sadly back down in it. “What I
mean is what happened when I confronted Goku about it. ‘Goku, how come you told
Gohan that it was okay if he liked Piccolo? How could you do that?’ ‘Chichi,
why is it not okay? If Gohan is happy, then why the hell not?’ ‘Because Goku,’
I had responded patiently, ‘Gohan is a boy, he’s only ten years old.’
‘Actually, he spent time in the Chamber of Time and Space, so he’s eleven.’
‘Whatever! He is still a little boy and he is too young to get involved with
people that are twice his age and of the same sex!’ ‘Actually, Piccolo is only
four years older than him.’ ‘Goku! He is still a little boy! He needs to focus
on schoolwork to get into a good school and to get a scholarship to a good
collage. Not to mention the fact that he need to marry a nice girl!’ ‘Why? If
he’s hap…’ ‘He’s not going to be happy! He’ll be happier with a girl! Someone
that can give him children! Now, answer the question. Why did you tell our son
that it was okay to like Piccolo?’”
Chichi
paused for a moment to take a sip of her tea that she had been drinking and was
now slowly turning cold as it sat there unattended.
During
the pause, Bulma took the moment to make a comment, “Chichi, you have a very
good memory, and you imitate voices very well. How did you get so good?”
Chichi
looked up, “Thank you. I suppose that I do their voices so well because I've
lived with them for so long and I’ve always had a good memory - remembering
things that make me angry or that might be important in the future.” She took
another sip of tea, “Anyway, where was I…?” She paused for a moment, staring
into her cup, and then looked up and continued
as if she had never stooped. “As soon as I asked the question again Goku’s eyes
hardened, ‘I just wanted our son to be happy unlike his parents.’ ‘What do you
mean Goku? We are happy.’ ‘No we aren’t and if you can’t see that, then you are
only lying to yourself. I’m glad that we are having this conversation because
now I can finally tell you, without hurting Gohan, that I want a divorce.’”
Bulma
interrupted, “You mean to tell me that Goku knows what a divorce is?”
Chichi
scowled, “Yes. Now no more interruptions.”
“Sorry.”
“Anyway,
‘Goku, honey, I don’t know how to make that kind of dish. Do you have a
recipe?’ ‘Don’t play me for a fool, Chichi. I know what a divorce is. I may
have thought that marriage was a type of food, but I know more now.’ ‘I will
not grant a divorce!’ ‘Fine, I’ll get one without you. All I have to do is say
that Gohan is growing up in an unhappy environment and the fact that you won’t
grant a divorce only makes the situation worse.’ ‘That won’t work. And besides,
where are you going to get a lawyer? We don’t have the money for that!’ ‘I have
a way. And I will win. We both know that we’re unhappy. Believe me, this is for
the best.’ ‘We’ll see about that.’”
Chichi
paused and Bulma took the opportunity to confront her again, “So, that is why
you two got divorced two days before the Cell games.”
“Yes,
it took Goku two days to find himself a lawyer and to arrange the trial. During
this time, I also got a lawyer. When I found out from Goku that Tien studied
law on the side of his training, I asked Tien to support me in the case. At
first he said no, but Goku asked Gohan to ask him, and he said yes. It still makes
me mad to know that the only reason I had a lawyer was because Goku set it up.”
“It’s
okay to be mad. After all, it has only been five days since the trial.”
Chichi
frowned, “I know, still…”
**
Bulma
paused in her balloon work to give her fingers a break and chose instead to
start wrapping the presents that Vegeta had bought. She smiled slightly as her
thoughts resumed their course.
**
“So,
do you know where Goku got a lawyer and how he arranged everything so fast?”
“I
have an idea…”
***
As
soon as Goku left the house, he flew angrily over to the Capsule Corp.
building, his ki aura disrupting trees, water,
ground, and everything else in his angry flight. As soon as he got there, he
took a deep calming breath and landed quietly, sneaking into Bulma’s workshop.
He knew that all he had to do was ask Bulma where the dragon radar was, but
then she might what to know what he wanted it for and he didn’t want to tell
her at the moment.
It
took him the rest of the day and half of the next to gather all of the balls
together, but as soon as he had them all, he arranged them in a circle and
prepared to call the dragon. Just at that moment, however, his son arrived in
the distance. Goku sighed as he felt Gohan coming toward him. He didn’t even
bother to hide the balls to prevent Gohan from seeing them.
“Dad,
I’ve been searching all over for you. Where have you… Never mind. I see. So,
what are you going to wish for?”
Goku
put on a serious face, pushing his anger to the back of his mind as he faced
his son. “Gohan, I need to talk to you.”
“Yes
dad, what is it?”
Goku
gestured for his son to sit as he remained standing and proceeded to tell him
about the fight that he had had with Chichi and how he had told her that he
wanted a divorce.
“So,
you and mom are separating?”
“That’s
right son. I told her that I didn’t think either of us were happy anymore and
that we needed to get a divorce.”
“Is
that what you are doing here now? Using the dragon to grant you a divorce?”
Goku
laughed humorlessly, “No, Gohan, I am using the dragon to get a lawyer so that
I can get a divorce.”
Gohan nodded sagely, “Ah, I see. That is a very good idea, dad. So, who is
going to represent mom?”
Goku
paused to consider this, "I think I remember Tien mentioning at one time
that he had studied law. Can you go and ask Tien for me if he will represent
Chichi in the trial?”
“Sure
dad. Um… What is going to happen to me when you two are divorced?”
Goku smirked at his son, “I think I am going to give custody of you to
Piccolo.”
Gohan
blushed a deep red, “Dad, he’s only fifteen.”
Goku’s
smirk grew wider as he turned back to the balls, “So? No one knows that, and
they couldn’t tell from looking at him either. Besides, if Piccolo has custody
of you, then you can live with him in the woods, or in a cave, or in a house
that you two build.” Goku grew solemn once more, “And maybe you’ll be happier
than if you lived with me.”
“Dad,
I’d be thrilled to live with you. We can train all the time,” Gohan said in a
desperate attempt to brighten his father up.
Goku
laughed, “Nay Gohan. You also need to study.”
Gohan
blinked at this, “Dad! Why?”
Goku grinned, “‘So that you can get into a good school, get a scholarship, and
go to a good college.’”
Gohan
laughed at the imitation of Chichi. Goku was cupping his hands under his chin
and flashing eyelashes that weren’t there a moment ago. His voice was pitched
high, as he walked around and swayed his hips. As soon as Goku was finished, he
turned back to Gohan.
“Seriously
though, if you lived with me, all we’d do is train. If you lived with Piccolo,
he’ll make you meditate and study. Try to study on your own while you are there
so that when you are older you can at least get a job. Okay?”
“Sure
dad. I’ll study extra hard in order to get a good job when I am older and get
into a good college.”
“Good
boy,” Goku said with a nod. “Now, can you go and do what I asked you to do?
Also, I expect to see you at the Cell games. ‘Kay?”
Gohan
nodded before turning and taking off into the sky. “‘Kay!” he called out before
he moved out of sight.
Goku
sighed, ‘Now that that is over, let’s get back to business.'
A
moment later, the dragon was in the sky that was suddenly black, its huge form
dwarfing Goku down below. “You have summoned me. What are your wishes?”
“Hello
eternal dragon, I would like my first wish to be for a good lawyer that will
represent me in the case that he is going to arrange in less that two hours
over at the courthouse, where he will also win the custody of my child, should
something happen to me, becoming a teacher of ki and martial arts to him, in a
house on some very nice land that he owns on a nice nearby island with five
million dollars in the bank that he never uses except when he needs to because
he has a job as a lawyer at a respectable law firm but he is representing me
for free.”
The
dragon was silent for a moment, considering the wish. It was long and bordering
on two or more, yet every part was connected smoothly. The dragon was a bit
irritated that it was worded so nicely. Well, almost. Goku clearly intended the
lawyer to be the teacher of Gohan; yet, he was already placing that
responsibility on another. But then again, who’s to say he was thinking of
Gohan?
The
dragon’s eyes glowed red, “Very well, your wish is granted. What is you second
wish?”
Goku
had to consider this for a moment. He hadn’t figured out what he wanted the
next wish to be. ‘Should I wish for more power? No, I have enough of that.
Should I wish for my friends to get the ability to resist getting killed? No,
they might not like that. What about wishing for the ability to call the dragon
balls to me at any time I want? No, I hardly ever use them. Hmm…' He finally
settled on something that was lurking in the back of his mind. His smile
brightened. Sure, it was a selfish wish, and there were other things that he
could wish for to help the others, like money, but this was
something...special. He never did things for himself anymore. ‘And besides,
Vegeta will like the wish a lot.’
That
settled it. “I would like to wish for the rejuvenation of Vegeta’s tail as well
as my own.”
The
dragon paused to consider this wish. It was another one of those cause and
effect things. Except that this time there was nothing that he could twist
around. Disappointed his eyes finally glowed and he replied in a booming voice,
“Your wish is granted.”
There
was a flash and the seven balls spread to the seven corners of the world again.
Goku grinned as he started to feel a tingle in his lower back, and right away,
he knew that it was his rejuvenated tail. Smirking, he thought to himself as he
turned to look for the absent lawyer, ‘Now I am stronger than I was, thanks to
the rejuvenation of my tail. I’ll be careful not to lose it again.’
Finally,
Goku spotted the lawyer waiting patiently off to the side. He was a normal looking
person, lacking any power level that Goku could sense. The man was wearing a
dark gray jacket, a pair of matching pants, and a tie. His shirt under the
jacket was white and the shoes that he wore were a shining black, matching the
man’s hair, which was parted down the middle. The man was as tall as Goku and
he looked very professional with his briefcase at his side.
The
man walked over to Goku as soon as the Saiyan noticed him, and decided to
introduce himself, "Hello sir, my name is Mr. Turner. I will be
representing you in your case. Is there someway that I can get to the nearest
courthouse in order to arrange the trial to take place two hours from now?”
Goku
nodded, “Sure, Mr. Turner, I can take you there.”
“Good.
Just a moment please.” Mr. Turner reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell
phone and he immediately dialed a number. After a moments pause he spoke to the
person on the other end, “Judy, can you please cancel my appointments for the
rest of the evening? … I don’t have any? … I see, well, take the rest of the
day off then. … Your welcome, bye.”
The
man closed his phone and said, “Alright let's go.”
Goku
put a hand on the man’s shoulder, brought two fingers up to his temple and
focused on all the faint ki’s at the courthouse. A moment later, all that
remained of the two were two sets of faint footprints.
***
“…
that he searched for the dragon balls that day, and the day after, arranged the
trial.”
“How
do you know that?”
“Because,
there is no way that he could’ve gotten such a professional in such a short
amount of time. And besides, when he showed up to tell Tien and me thirty
minutes before the trial when and where it was going to be, he had his tail
back.”
“Well,”
said Bulma, “I suppose that you're right. He probably wished Vegeta’s tail back
as well. I was wondering how it got back. I only know about it because he got
angry and it came out of hiding. I was so surprised to find out yesterday that
he had his tail back. He and Goku managed to hide them very well during the
whole battle.”
Chichi
glared out the window, “Yes well, he cheated.”
People that helped me edit
this one:
Felix
My friend Anna