Halloween Party at Capsule Corp
Author's Notice: Yes dears, I'm starting another. Perhaps I shouldn't be, but I couldn't resist. The idea popped into my head and I wasn't able to stop myself from coming up with Halloween costumes for everyone. Except Tien and Chaotzu, but who cares about them anyway?
So, this fic will be short. The others will be finished; don't worry. I just wanted to get this out of my head. It's a basic 'Gohan Torture' story, for that is my favorite subgenre within the Dragon Ball Z category. Clichés will be abundant, as well as out-of-characterness. There unfortunately won't be much of a plot, unless I get enough reviews demanding one, in which case I'll come up with something, but for now the main point will only be to reveal of a few of our favorite Saiyan's secrets while everyone is dressed in ridiculous costumes. Oh so fun.
Disclaimer: I don't own any movies, TV shows, video games, dictators, or jolly holiday fellows mentioned, g-dawgz.
Chapter One: The Wheels in Dende's Head Go Round-and-Round
It was a fine mid-October Sunday and the lovely blue-haired scientist, Bulma Briefs, was admiring the autumn foliage on the trees from the window in the Capsule Corp kitchen while warming her hands on a mug of coffee. Her husband, the Prince of all Saiyans, was training vigorously in the Gravity Room and the 'brat' was visiting Goten at the Son residence.
Bulma sighed and took a seat at the table. She'd taken far too many of these breaks over the past week. Leaning her chin on the palm of her hand, she vaguely wondered why she couldn't seem to focus on work lately.
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Miles above her on the Earth's Lookout, the little green deity (1) noticed her apparent boredom. Now Dende took a particular liking to Bulma and he hated to see her in such an almost depressed state. He found her anger (especially when arguing with Vegeta) to be highly amusing, but he absolutely could not stand to see her so down.
Taking a few minutes off from torturing Gohan with an abnormally impossible few hours of keeping an eye the demonic duo, Dende checked his calendar.
October, huh? He scratched his head in thought. What might make Bulma happy?
Suddenly it hit him. It was beautiful! It was glorious! It was a revelation!
"Two birds with one stone," he whispered aloud, earning himself an odd look from Mr. Popo. Bulma's boredom would be cured and the ritualistic torture of Gohan could be increased tenfold at the same time! Not to mention Dende himself would also find it very entertaining. Maybe he could get in some harassment for a few people he didn't normally have time to fit into his torture schedule as well. Scratch that. This is more like five birds with one stone.
He gave a delightful smirk as he placed a few catalytic ideas into dear Bulma's head then turned his attention back to exhausting Gohan with Goten and Trunks.
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Back at Capsule Corp, a smile suddenly appeared on Bulma's lips.
I've got it! Parties always make me happy, so I'll have a Halloween party!
Downing the rest of her coffee, she pulled out a pad of paper to start planning. I'll invite the whole gang, of course…but that might not be enough people. I know; I'll invite Gohan's class too! I'm sure he has plenty of friends he'd probably invite anyway. And there will be a costume contest (2), and…
She furiously scribbled her ideas down on paper and started making the necessary phone calls.
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"Orange Star High School, How may I help you?" (3)
"This is Bulma Briefs speaking. I'm calling about inviting a certain class to a Halloween party this coming Saturday."
"THE BULMA BRIEFS? Miss Briefs! What an honor for you to invite one of our classes! Which class in particular?"
"4A. (4) The party will be held from 12 to 5, and costumes will be required as a contest will be held. I'll need you to fax me the role call sheet for the class and just tell the students to bring ID. I don't really care for all that permission slip crap."
"Certainly Miss Briefs! What an hono - "
Bulma quickly hung up the phone and moved on to the next invitee.
"Kame House, this is Krillin!"
"Hi Krillin, it's Bulma. Listen, I'm holding a little Halloween get together on Saturday, 12 to 5. Bring your family and come! It will be lots of fun. Oh, and don't forget to wear costumes."
"Sure thing, Bulma! We'll be there!"
Bulma hung up with a smile and moved on.
"Yeah, this is Yamcha."
"Yamcha, hi. It's Bulma. Come to the Halloween get together on Saturday, 12 to 5. Wear a costume too."
"Well, okay – "
"Great, see you there."
The next phone call was much pleasanter.
"Son residence, Chichi speaking."
"Hi Chichi, it's Bulma."
There was a slight pause as some yelling was heard in the background. Something about 'no ki blasting in the house,' Bulma presumed.
"Bulma, how are you?"
"Great! I've decided to hold a Halloween get together for everyone. It's Saturday from 12 to 5. I hope you and the boys can come!"
"We'd love to! I'll bring food too; you know how much those Saiyans eat."
Bulma rolled her eyes at the comment.
"I only know too well. Don't forget to wear costumes also. There'll be a contest."
"Of course! Thanks for inviting us! Bye dear!"
"Bye Chichi."
Well, that about covers everyone, Bulma thought as she hung up the phone. Now to start planning costumes…
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Back at the Son residence, Chichi had just relayed the news to her own boys and Trunks who was currently visiting.
"We get to dress up for Halloween!" Goten cried with a wide grin while jumping up and down.
"Can you take us trick or treating after Gohan?" Trunks asked, his mind ever scheming.
"Uh, sure, I don't see why not. As long as Mom and Bulma approve." He scratched the back of his neck as he answered purple-haired child.
Chichi gave a slight nod of allowance.
"Yay! CANDY!" Both boys shouted while zooming out of the house once again at speeds faster than the human eye could see.
"Gohan, go get them please. You need to take Trunks home anyway." Chichi said as she turned around to head back to the kitchen where dinner was currently beginning to cook.
Gohan sighed but obeyed his mother nonetheless. Usually Trunks and Goten were tired out after six straight hours of flying (5), sparring, swimming, fishing, and other generally exhausting activities. Today, though, for some odd reason, they didn't seem to run out of energy. Ever. Not for one minute of the whole six hours. And Gohan had to watch them the entire time. However, 'watching' the demonic duo meant participating.
While flying Trunks home, he also had to endure several ki attacks that the boy thought would be fun to fire at the poor older demi-Saiyan, as well as chasing him though several layers of clouds when he thought it would be fun to play a bit of hide-and-seek.
When they finally arrived at Capsule Corp Gohan walked Trunks inside to his mother and turned around, anxious to get back to dinner.
Thank Dende! I can finally go home and relax! He sighed as he was about to step out the door.
"Where do you think you're going, Brat?" A harsh voice barked behind him.
Gohan froze immediately and clenched his teeth, afraid to turn around and see what the Saiyan Prince wanted.
"Don't think you can leave without a spar, oldest spawn of Kakarrot!"
Why Dende? Why? Gohan almost gave an audible whimper. There was nothing he could do to get out if it. If he didn't spar now, he would be followed home and pestered into sparring there.
Reluctantly turning back into Capsule Corp, he made his way to the GR, in which he endured several hours of sparring in Super Saiyan form at 600 times the Earth's gravity.
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Much later that night, Gohan trudged back inside his home, bruised and beaten, only to be repeatedly hit over the head with Chichi's frying pan.
"Gohan Son! Don't you every make me worry like that again!" She scolded, giving him another good whack.
"Mom please! Vegeta made me spar with him! It wasn't my fault!"
"Oh, okay dear. That's excusable." Her tone turned sweeter as she temporarily stopped hitting. "BUT NEXT TIME AT LEAST CALL!" Another whack.
As Gohan sat on the floor rubbing several newly formed lumps on his head, his mother headed back to her room. "By the way sweetie," she called from the doorway. "There's some left over dinner in the refrigerator. Unfortunately Goten ate a good portion of your share, but there's still a little for you."
Gohan stood up and opened the fridge, subsequently pulling out his dinner. All that was left was a bowl of rice and a single chicken leg.
Great. Not enough to even hold the title of 'meager rations.' (6)
Minutes later, Gohan's meal was devoured, but because of the extra sparring session and the need to get up early for school in the morning, he went to bed with the unfortunate knowledge that he wouldn't be getting a decent amount of sleep that night.
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The next morning, Gohan was late for school. Again.
"Tardy again, Mr. Son? Let's not make this into a habit." The professor glared as Gohan apologetically shuffled to his seat.
As Gohan sat down he noticed another glare on him, from a certain Videl Satan. As her eyes seemingly bored into the side of his head, he sighed. He already had a feeling this wasn't going to be a good day.
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As the day wore on his eyelids began to droop as each following class increased in tedium. By the time calculus rolled around at the end of the day, Gohan was in full-fledged slumber, even drooling a bit on the desk.
"Hey Videl," Sharpener cooed from his seat next to hers. "Watch while I nail Nerd-han with the oldest trick in the book, a real classic."
She only rolled her eyes as Sharpener crept out of his seat, careful to not be caught by the teacher, with a sticky note in hand, on which was written:
"Kick me, I'm Nerdy." (7)
Erasa followed his hand as he reached to place it on Gohan's sleeping figure. Before he could set the note on his back though, she slapped it out of the way and screeched, "Sharpener, don't be so mean! How can you be mean to someone so cute!"
"Mr. Pencil," the math professor called out, his attention now diverted to their row. "Please take your seat."
He glanced around the classroom, noticing that actually several people weren't paying attention.
"Well, since you all seem to have lost your concentration, I'll end class here for today. I do have one last announcement though. Although I can't possibly imagine what she was thinking in choosing a class a class of delinquents like you," he paused waiting for a reaction of some sort, only to be disappointed when there was none. "Bulma Briefs is hosting a Halloween costume party and contest at Capsule Corp this Saturday from 12 to 5. Your class, somehow, received a personal invitation from Miss Briefs herself. If you plan on going, be sure to bring your ID; she'll be checking names on the role sheet."
With the final words of the announcement, the entire class burst into excited conversation, most students discussing what they planned to dress up as, or guessing at the reasons for which their class had been given such an privilege.
"We were probably invited because the one and only Videl Satan resides here in this classroom five days a week," Sharpener stated proudly while reaching his arm around the said girl's shoulders. In return, he was promptly punched in the chest and knocked backwards in his chair.
Ignoring his sprawling status on the ground, Erasa cheerfully concurred.
Videl, however, was deep in thought. While everyone might think I'm the reason our class was invited, I don't really think I agree. The Briefs have never really had much to do with my father or me…I don't think they'd suddenly invite my class to a Halloween party to look good in the eyes of the public either; they're already famous enough as it is…
Miraculously, Gohan slept through the entire ordeal.
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Endnotes:
(1) Seriously now. No Gohan torture fic is complete without Dende.
(2) You hear that kids? A contest! I have chosen costumes for everyone, and you, readers, will get to vote on the one you like best! Or whatever you think is the funniest, etc. Also, if there are any talented artists, photoshoppers, or mspainters out there who would like to take up the challenge of making my 'creations' visible to the public, then I will love you forever. I'll put my email in the next chapter so you can send them to me if you don't want to take the trouble of posting them on a website.
(3) Yes, I realize that schools are generally not open on Sundays. Just deal with it for Dende's sake.
(4) I made that up. How the fart am I supposed to know what class he's in? All I know is that the teachers switch rooms in Japanese schools, not the students.
(5) Goten can fly in this fic. Just because I say so.
(6) How many of you are old enough to remember the fabulous game Oregon Trail? I played it when it was still on 'floppy' disk!
(7) Kick me : I'm Nerdy : Kiss me : I'm Irish. An analogy, folks.
Uh yeah. So all the phone crap was a bit unnecessary, I'll admit. I needed to add more though, because the chapter as a whole just felt too short, even though I rushed through quite a few parts. I'm just really anxious to get to the costumes, so everyone can see how twisted my mind really is.
Stay tuned for the next chapter! Costumes will be revealed!