Vegeta's Excellent Adventure

by scoutergreen

Introduction

When he knew that the landing was going to be rough, Vegeta ensured his harness was fastened before he secured his oxygen mask and felt his body relaxing as he inhaled the special medicated air supply supplied by his small ship. His pod had gone way off course and he knew he was somewhere very far away from his comrades... but how far away he was from them, he did not know. Had they made it to their destination?

He felt the pod shaking violently and squeezed his eyes shut. There was a hard thud and a loud bang before he bounced up into the air and flew for what felt like many seconds before plummeting towards the ground again.

CRACK!

Everything around him was dark, and then he felt himself losing consciousness. Oh no, he thought, no... I must get m . . .

Vegeta came to as the sound of his pod door being forced open, metal scraping against metal, and groaned as he felt a wave of nausea roll over him. He managed to undo his harness and slumped forward in his seat, eventually tipping himself out of the pod's deep chair and towards the new hole where the pod's door had once been.

"Hey! Hey you!"

A voice belonging to a young boy called out to him in a language he had never heard before, just meters away from the sound of it.

The young Saiyan then realized he was in some sort of dense forest and it was also night. His vision rapidly adjusted to the darkness and he began to see the vegetation and landscape around him. He continued climbing out of the crater left by the impact of his pod slamming into the ground, and soon made it to the top.

He hadn't been injured, but Vegeta did feel shaken up by his hard landing. He turned on his scouter and instantly picked up the source of the boyish voice. What sort of life force was this? Its power level was only two hundred. Was it a threat? Perhaps not...

Then it ran towards him! And it somewhat resembled another Saiyan! But it can't be, he managed to think before the young boy came to a halt, leaving just eighteen inches of space between them.

"Hiya! I'm Goku! Wow, are you from outer space?"

Again with that strange language! Although he was sure he understood the last part of the question...

The young boy was dressed in some sort of simple outfit in brightly coloured fabric, although it was too dark to see what colour exactly. He may have been eight or nine years old, with large, bright eyes and thick dark hair that had the unruliness Vegeta typically associated with Saiyan hair.

"HEY! HEY! CAN YOU UNDERSTAND ME? ARE YOU DEAF?! HELLLOOOOOO!" The young boy started jumping up and down, startling Vegeta enough that he backed away and almost fell back into the crater.

Then it clicked and Vegeta understood the screaming boy. He decided to attempt speaking this strange language...

"Yes! I understand you! Just stop yelling, you idiot! Ugh! Where the hell am I?" Vegeta recollected himself and aggressively approached the young boy, looking him up and down one more time.

"Uh, you're in the forest, silly! That's where ya landed, anyways," the young boy reached out to feel the fabric of the stranger's cape before he noticed the boy from outer space also had a tail, and his mood immediately changed, "hey, wow! You've got a tail too! Look!"

The boy turned around and wiggled his tail for the stranger, who gasped and let out a small "oooooh!" in surprise. The stranger pulled his cape to one side and showed the young boy his tail, waving it gracefully from side to side.

"Hey, neat! Cool tail! Put 'er there," the boy extended a chubby hand and beamed at the taller, slightly older boy, "my name's Goku! What's yours?"

Vegeta raised a brow at the boy's extended hand and reluctantly extended his own, stiffening when the boy reached a bit further and shook his hand vigorously for a few seconds before releasing it. "I am Vegeta, the prince of all Saiyans. Now, with our introductions out of the way... I must know at once where I am and what exactly you are. Tell me, boy, what planet is this?"

"Uh, it's called Earth. So are you an alien, Vegeta?" Goku reached out and touched the fabric of the older's boy cape. It was heavy and had silky smooth lining.

Vegeta pulled away and snarled at the boy before collecting himself. "I am not native to this planet called Earth, no. Are you an Earthling, uh, Go-ku?"

"Well yeah! Of course I am, silly! It's so cool that you have a tail too! So, we should probably get back to Bulma. You're coming, yeah?"

Vegeta looked the boy up and down once more and huffed with frustration. He'd never heard of Earth or Earthlings before. Just how far off course had he gone? And what the hell was a "Bulma"?

"Yes, fine. This one you call "Bulma" can help me..."

Again, Vegeta followed the boy's lead with much reluctance.

Vegeta followed the boy through rough terrain packed with tree roots that snaked across the rocky trails until they reached a tiny structure in the middle of a clearing. It was brightly lit and looked safe and warm. Suddenly the Saiyan thought that perhaps Earthlings posed no threat, and this unexpected detour would give him a chance to relax.

"Finally! You've been gone for ages, Goku! What took so long?! I was worried sick you'd been eaten alive by a wol- aaaaaaAAAHHHHHOHMYGOD!" A young woman with a high pitched, slightly salty sounding voice emerged from the structure and then laid eyes on Vegeta. Her mouth dropped open and she stopped dead in her tracks, standing in the doorway of the small structure.

Goku skipped around the alien he had met and then skipped over to Bulma, who was too shocked to say anything. "Hey, Bulma! This is Vegeta! I found him where you thought that meteor landed! Can I bring him inside, please?" He looked back at Vegeta, who stared back at Bulma, mirroring her expression; his almond-shaped eyes open wide and unblinking, jaw slack, hands limp and useless at his sides.

Thirty seconds passed in gruelling silence and Goku couldn't hold his tongue any more. What was wrong with the two of them?

"Uh... guys? Vegeta? Bulma? Helloooo?"