The rhythm of the rain beat against the car windows as well as the car itself harshly. Clouds fully-charged with lightning rolled across the skies, threatening everything below. The Briefs were trying to escape the holiday traffic of West City to visit ChiChi and the rest of the Sons for Christmas.
Trunks stared out his side of the window, while adjusting himself uncomfortably on his booster-seat. The seatbelt had begun to dig into his neck, leaving a large red mark. He frowned, restraining himself from asking the four most annoying words parents hate to hear on a long drive: are we there yet? The only thing that kept Trunks amused was watching the droplets of rain 'race' down the sides of the window, though that only lasted for very long.
Bulma, on the other hand was sitting in the passenger seat, carefully applying makeup where needed. With her small mirror in hand, she gracefully colored her lips red without any mistakes, smudges, or imperfections. Satisfied, she shut the clamp mirror and slipped it inside her Italian leather purse.
"I hate traffic," Vegeta grumbled, gripping the steering wheel tightly with one hand. The other was supporting his head with a loose fist. "Humans and their stupid holidays," he muttered angrily. Then, he punched the center of the steering wheel, resulting in a long, loud beeping sound that nearly made drivers lose control of their own vehicles.
"Well, Veggie, if you're going to live on Earth, you must join their customs," Bulma said, matter-of-factly.
"What happened to the saying, 'it's a free country'?"
"Uhh. . ." was all Bulma could say. Quickly, she changed the subject. "So, Trunks, did you bring a gift for Goten?"
"Yeah. 'Course, Mom," Trunks replied, his eyes on the raindrops.
"What did you get for him?"
"A toy."
"What kind of toy?"
"A Barbie doll."
Bulma sweat-dropped. Her bottom lip moved nervously, but she didn't say a thing. At least Trunks got something for Goten, unlike the last 7 years of his life. Bulma faced forward and watched through the windshield wipers go from side to side. Through the rain and fog, she could make out a long curving line of red backlights. She face-palmed herself and pulled out her cellphone. With one hand, she dialed Chichi's number.
At the other end, someone picked up.
"Hello?" a voice asked, definitely not Chichi.
"Hey, Goku!" Bulma greeted cheerfully, even though it was a very depressing-looking day. "Can you tell Chichi something? Traffic was worse than I thought, so we won't be there until probably two hours instead of one."
"Oh boy, Chichi isn't going to like this," Goku said, nervously chuckling.
"Don't worry about it! We'll show up, rain or shine. Right, Veggie?" Bulma extended the phone out to Vegeta, who grimaced and jerked his head to the left –away from the cellphone. Bulma frowned and set the phone next to her ear and said, "He's a bit grumpy today."
"Yeah, I bet he is. Well, see ya later!" Goku said and he hung up.
"Two hours?!" Trunks exclaimed, leaning forward in his booster-seat. "What am I supposed to do for two hours?!"
Like a normal parent, Bulma said, "Go to sleep."
"But I'm not tired!"
"Trunks, listen to your mother. It would be the best for you and me to not have the Banshee screaming at us this whole two hours, right?" Vegeta said, smirking at Bulma.
"Hey!" Bulma objected.
"Okay, Dad. I think it's better too," Trunks replied and squirmed around until he found a comfortable position to sleep in. The beat of the rain and the slow movements of the car lulled Trunks to sleep. When he finally did, drool crept out of the corners of his mouth and his head began to slide. By the time they reached the Goku's house, Trunks was fully-charged and ready to stay up past midnight.
As the Briefs neared their friend's home, the rain had vanished, but still left a trail of gray stormy clouds above. Bulma was relieved.
"Good, there's no rain," she said, smiling.
"Why is it good?" Vegeta asked as he parked next to Goku's white car.
"So then the presents won't be destroyed."
"Yeah . . . the presents. . ." Vegeta mumbled.
Bulma had went berserk when Christmas shopping came around. She bought gifts for just about everybody from herself to the local fish tank cleaner. Everything was beautifully wrapped in wrapping paper and topped with a bow. And everything was stuffed into the trunk of their car.
Vegeta popped open the trunk and stepped out of the car as Trunks raced to the front door. Bulma gathered her things and opened the passenger door. Her foot went out of the car, trying to find the ground, but she was met with a squishy substance. Before she realized this, all her weight shifted and out Bulma Briefs tumbled right smack into the mud with her designer purse and expensive party dress.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!"
Vegeta walked past her, barely noticing that his wife was on the ground, slathered with mud because his arms were sky-high full of presents. He walked as close to the house as he possibly could and Gohan jogged out to help him unload the gifts. One by one, the Son children and the Briefs child helped stick the presents under the heavily-decorated Christmas tree, still not noticing Bulma.
Once it was complete, Vegeta shut the door behind him.
"Hey, guys! Wait for me!" Bulma shouted as she reached for the front door, even though she was in the same place as before. "Someone help me!" Though, even her cries of help were loud and clear, no one seemed to hear her. When she stopped shouting, Bulma heard loud music coming from inside the house. She scrunched her perfect brows and tried to escape the grasp of the thick, wet mud that captivated her. At last, her foot was released with a sound that sounded much like a barking spider (fart).
"Yes! I escaped!" Bulma shouted in triumph.
"Bulma, what in the world are you doing?"
Wide-eyed, Bulma shot her head around and met eyes with Krillin, Marron, and 18.
"Oh, hey, Krillin!" Bulma greeted nonchalantly –well, as nonchalant as you can be when you're going to a party in muddy clothes, of course. "I tripped and fell into the mud. . . Isn't that funny?" Bulma asked, laughing hysterically at herself, making the situation even more awkward than it already was.
"Yeah. . . Well, aren't you supposed to be inside?" Krillin asked, adjusting Marron in his arms. The small blond girl was dressed in a cute red sparkly dress with white fluff embroided at the end of her sleeves and at the trim of her dress.
"Vegeta ditched me," Bulma said, letting out a disappointing sigh.
"I see. You guys still haven't clicked yet, have you?" Krillin joked. "Anyway, we should get inside or Marron will get sick!" Krillin walked to the front door with Marron and 18 and Bulma shuffling behind, trying to hide her gruesome appearance.
After a brief knock, the door swung open and Chichi greeted them with over-emotion.
"Welcome, guys! Nice to see ya! Come on –WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED TO YOU, BULMA?!" Chichi lashed. Her eyes were as big as her mouth when she was ranting off into Wonderland.
"I fell into the mud, okay? Chi, can I borrow some of your clothes?" Bulma asked when she was alone with Chichi.
"Sure, no problem. Let's go now because everyone's in the living room," Chichi said as she waved Bulma inside. The two wives rushed past the party guests as quietly as death creeping up on its victims. When they entered Chichi's bedroom, Bulma saw how clean and pristine the room was. The air smelled vaguely of cinnamon.
"Here, I think this will fit you," Chichi said, tossing the classic ugly Christmas sweater and a pair of black leggings at Bulma.
"Thanks. . ." Bulma said, holding out the sweater in front of her. The Santa was smiling back at her, probably laughing at her horrible state. She crushed Santa along with the leggings and headed to the bathroom to shower.
In Goten's room, both boys were hopping madly on Goten's bed, judging who could jump the highest or do the most flips in one jump –pretty easy stuff to do when you're not fully human. After the game had begun to bore them, they sat on the edge of the bed, thinking of what to do next.
"Where's Gohan?" Trunks finally asked. In the beginning, he was greeted by the boy, but then after Gohan had helped set the presents under the tree, he slipped away to some place unknown.
"He's with Videl," Goten replied, picking at the thread that poked out from his blanket.
"Videl's here?" Trunks asked, cocking up an eyebrow.
"Yeah, but I don't know where they are now. Gohan said don't follow him," Goten said, giving up on the thread because it was too tough of a task.
"Do you know what that means?" Trunks asked, jumping up. He didn't wait for Goten to answer, Trunks just spit it out, "It means Gohan is getting a new playmate!"
"What?!" Goten exclaimed, jerking up as well. "You mean Videl is trying to steal Gohan from us so he can't play with us anymore?!"
"Exactly!" Trunks said, even though he had a completely different idea, but he played along with the better idea, claiming it as if it were his own.
"So what do we do? If Gohan doesn't play with us anymore, what will I do?"
"I don't know. That's why we have to eliminate Videl," Trunks said, stroking his invisible beard. "Come on, Goten! I think I saw some grenades in your living room!"
"Okay!"