Chapter 1: A Gift
"Bulma, He's evil!" Piccolo growled, fangs gleaming brilliantly in the evening sun. "He's murdered numerous amounts of innocent people and you want to welcome him into your home because you think he's cute? Are you completely insane?!"
"You saw what happened to him on Namek." Gohan said quietly, keeping his eyes lowered. "How could a person not change after that?"
"What happened on Namek?" Bulma asked curiously.
Gohan shuddered. The topic of Vegeta's death was quickly becoming a sensitive subject with the young hybrid. The tortures he had witnessed that bastard bestow upon the proud saiya-jin prince was not something he could easily forget. In fact, he was finding the memories hard to cope with. Thankfully, Piccolo took it upon himself to do the explaining.
"Vegeta was tortured to death by Frieza." He said impassively.
"He died?" Bulma glanced at the saiya-jin, whose earlier hostilities had quieted, and who was now propped back against a tree, staring off into space.
"Yes, and if any changes occurred they could only be for the worst."
"How was he brought back?" Bulma asked her gaze still fixed upon Vegeta. Piccolo scowled.
"It was nothing more than a mistake. Goku wished for everyone killed by Frieza to be wished back, and by some strange quirk of fate, Vegeta was included in that bunch."
"A mistake....." Bulma repeated, her gaze softening.
"Mistake or not, this is an alien planet to him!" Gohan said hoping his new approach would work. "Imagine all the trouble he could get into!"
"You're right, kid." Bulma said, squaring her shoulders and putting on a welcoming mask. "He has to live somewhere."
Despite Piccolo's protests, Bulma strode forward towards the saiya-jin who was still occupied with his own thoughts. When he didn't seem to notice her, she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, but instead of getting the desired response of a simple glance at her, she received a startled saiya- jin, who flinched away so violently, that he tore up the patch of grass under his feet.
"I-I'm sorry." She said weakly, unable to fully process this new information about the alien. "I didn't mean to frighten-"
"You didn't frighten me." He growled, defensively, although Bulma could clearly see that he was slightly shaken.
"Oh....well....ok. I was just, uh wondering if, uh-"
"Well?! Spit it out!" He growled, apparently annoyed by her nervous stuttering. She recoiled slightly and could practically feel Gohan's and Piccolo's eyes upon them, watching in case she stepped on the infamous land mine that was his temper. She suddenly changed her intentions.
"I-I was just wondering if you wanted some money for a place to stay." She could almost hear Piccolo's sigh of relief as she fished out one of her many random, unnamed, credit cards she kept with her at all times and held the plastic card out in front of him. Capsule Corp. was a flourishing empire that had uncountable amounts of credits in its name. To give this saiya-jin a credit card that was assigned to C.C.'s funds was like spending a dollar at a pop machine. He eyed her distrustfully, before snatching the card from her hand. She smiled.
"Now I suggest you go buy yourself some clothes and a nice place to live and try to stay out of trouble!" She grinned and continued on while he just stared at her like she was a disgusting leach. "Earth is full of new experiences and I'm sure you can-"
"Would you please SHUT THE FUCK UP!?" He roared, earning many glares from the surrounding Namekiens. "My god your voice is making my head spin! You gave me the card, now what do you want?"
She looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"
"I mean you gave me this credit card," he said holding up the bit of plastic. "Now you obviously want something from me."
She blinked in surprise. "Uh.....consider it a gift!"
Now it was his turn to blink. "A gift?"
Bulma smiled, forgetting his earlier outburst. "Yeah, it's free!"
He shrugged, stuffing the card into the chest plate of his armor where there was a pocket. "Whatever."
"Do you know how to use it?"
"Yes." He said simply.
She narrowed her eyes at him in interest. "How could you possibly-"
"Raditz sent all the information about this planet to our scouters before he died. From there, the information was programmed into our heads." He smirked. "How do you think I was already able to speak your pathetic language?"
Bulma thought about this. Indeed, Vegeta had been able to speak English and Japanese perfectly despite the slight accent when he first came to collect the dragon balls. Now her brilliant mind was contemplating the idea of scouters as an instant translator. Hell, it could even revolutionize the world of teaching! She was startled from her thoughts when the saiya-jin ignited his ki and took off without a word leaving only a blue trail of energy in his wake.
"Bulma, He's evil!" Piccolo growled, fangs gleaming brilliantly in the evening sun. "He's murdered numerous amounts of innocent people and you want to welcome him into your home because you think he's cute? Are you completely insane?!"
"You saw what happened to him on Namek." Gohan said quietly, keeping his eyes lowered. "How could a person not change after that?"
"What happened on Namek?" Bulma asked curiously.
Gohan shuddered. The topic of Vegeta's death was quickly becoming a sensitive subject with the young hybrid. The tortures he had witnessed that bastard bestow upon the proud saiya-jin prince was not something he could easily forget. In fact, he was finding the memories hard to cope with. Thankfully, Piccolo took it upon himself to do the explaining.
"Vegeta was tortured to death by Frieza." He said impassively.
"He died?" Bulma glanced at the saiya-jin, whose earlier hostilities had quieted, and who was now propped back against a tree, staring off into space.
"Yes, and if any changes occurred they could only be for the worst."
"How was he brought back?" Bulma asked her gaze still fixed upon Vegeta. Piccolo scowled.
"It was nothing more than a mistake. Goku wished for everyone killed by Frieza to be wished back, and by some strange quirk of fate, Vegeta was included in that bunch."
"A mistake....." Bulma repeated, her gaze softening.
"Mistake or not, this is an alien planet to him!" Gohan said hoping his new approach would work. "Imagine all the trouble he could get into!"
"You're right, kid." Bulma said, squaring her shoulders and putting on a welcoming mask. "He has to live somewhere."
Despite Piccolo's protests, Bulma strode forward towards the saiya-jin who was still occupied with his own thoughts. When he didn't seem to notice her, she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, but instead of getting the desired response of a simple glance at her, she received a startled saiya- jin, who flinched away so violently, that he tore up the patch of grass under his feet.
"I-I'm sorry." She said weakly, unable to fully process this new information about the alien. "I didn't mean to frighten-"
"You didn't frighten me." He growled, defensively, although Bulma could clearly see that he was slightly shaken.
"Oh....well....ok. I was just, uh wondering if, uh-"
"Well?! Spit it out!" He growled, apparently annoyed by her nervous stuttering. She recoiled slightly and could practically feel Gohan's and Piccolo's eyes upon them, watching in case she stepped on the infamous land mine that was his temper. She suddenly changed her intentions.
"I-I was just wondering if you wanted some money for a place to stay." She could almost hear Piccolo's sigh of relief as she fished out one of her many random, unnamed, credit cards she kept with her at all times and held the plastic card out in front of him. Capsule Corp. was a flourishing empire that had uncountable amounts of credits in its name. To give this saiya-jin a credit card that was assigned to C.C.'s funds was like spending a dollar at a pop machine. He eyed her distrustfully, before snatching the card from her hand. She smiled.
"Now I suggest you go buy yourself some clothes and a nice place to live and try to stay out of trouble!" She grinned and continued on while he just stared at her like she was a disgusting leach. "Earth is full of new experiences and I'm sure you can-"
"Would you please SHUT THE FUCK UP!?" He roared, earning many glares from the surrounding Namekiens. "My god your voice is making my head spin! You gave me the card, now what do you want?"
She looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"
"I mean you gave me this credit card," he said holding up the bit of plastic. "Now you obviously want something from me."
She blinked in surprise. "Uh.....consider it a gift!"
Now it was his turn to blink. "A gift?"
Bulma smiled, forgetting his earlier outburst. "Yeah, it's free!"
He shrugged, stuffing the card into the chest plate of his armor where there was a pocket. "Whatever."
"Do you know how to use it?"
"Yes." He said simply.
She narrowed her eyes at him in interest. "How could you possibly-"
"Raditz sent all the information about this planet to our scouters before he died. From there, the information was programmed into our heads." He smirked. "How do you think I was already able to speak your pathetic language?"
Bulma thought about this. Indeed, Vegeta had been able to speak English and Japanese perfectly despite the slight accent when he first came to collect the dragon balls. Now her brilliant mind was contemplating the idea of scouters as an instant translator. Hell, it could even revolutionize the world of teaching! She was startled from her thoughts when the saiya-jin ignited his ki and took off without a word leaving only a blue trail of energy in his wake.