2
Shortly after arriving at the train station in Region 12, Vegeta made Nappa take him to Captain Ginyu's house. Nappa didn't question his young charge seeing as he was told by King Vegeta to stop by Ginyu's for something and that Vegeta would know what it was. Despite the rapid pounding on the door, it took Captain Ginyu several minutes to answer it. "What?!" the man with close cut black hair opened the door. He appears rather sweaty and his hair is spiked up at odd angles like he was working out or something. Trying his best to be intimidating, Vegeta scowled as he looked up at the man, "Captain Ginyu I presume?" Ginyu leaned against the doorframe, staring down at the child on his doorstep, "You're Saiyan's kid, huh? Come on in. You too, big guy."
The inside of Ginyu's home was not any more impressive than the outside, in other words, a bland 4-room house consisting of a small bedroom, a tiny kitchen, an itty, bitty bathroom with barely enough space for a shower, and a surprisingly spacious living room. Nappa sat on the run-down couch while Vegeta stayed standing as Ginyu went into the kitchen. "I take it you're here for what you Dad left with me?" he hollered from the kitchen. "Yes. Now get on with it!" Vegeta snapped, grumbling under his breath, "This day has been bad enough and I don't want to be waiting any longer then I need to be." Downing his water as he walked back to the living room, Ginyu shrugged as he grabbed a crowbar, using it to pry up a floor board in the middle of the room. Once the board were removed, the Captain pulled out a small, cylindrical capsule like thing with a plunger thingy on one end of it. "Here. Now get out. You interrupted my dan.. workout routine." Vegeta barely caught it when the Captain tossed it at him before he was herded out the door by Nappa.
Having nothing else to do, Vegeta followed Nappa thru the streets of Region 12. He vaguely noted that they were heading towards the outskirts of town but it's not like it bothered him. Vegeta used to wonder the outer edges of the Capital by himself the last few months. Most people didn't mess with him because of who his father was, those that did quickly learned that 5-year old Vegeta could take care of himself just fine in a fight; even when outnumbered. "Look Vegeta! We're here." Nappa said as he stepped up onto the decrepit-looking porch.
Vegeta paused to look at the rest of the house it was just as dilapidated as the front porch. Shudders hanging at odd angles, crumbling bricks somehow still managing to cling to the chimney, gray paint peeling off the siding, which was cracked, split, and even completely gone in some places. This is where I'm going to be living? Ugh. Wonderful. Following his guardian inside, Vegeta found that the inside was not really much better than the outside. There was an old couch, a chair, and an older model T.V. in the living room which was connected to a modestly sized kitchen with a large table and chair set and the fireplace was huge. On the other side of the kitchen there was a room, the same size as the living room, but it was completely bare and the windows were covered in some kind of paper. That room would make a great training room. Vegeta thought as he followed Nappa up the stairs to the bedrooms.
There were only two bedrooms. They both contained a dresser, a small closet, and a full size bed; minus sheets and pillows. Nappa let Vegeta pick his room first, seeing as they were both the same size and everything. Vegeta dumped his bags in the room on the left, closest to the stairs cause he always felt better if he knew he had a way out in case something happened. That's why his room back home had an escape tunnel into the living room, his Dad was the one who helped him build it after his Mom died. As Nappa went to put his bag away Vegeta investigated the bathroom. It was rather plain. It had a sink with a mirror, a toilet, and a bathtub. No shower? I guess there are some things that I am going to miss. Vegeta mused. But then he noticed something; there was only one faucet on both the sink and the tub. Which meant that there was only one water temp. Cold. Just great. No hot water either.
Vegeta turned around and met Nappa in the hallway. "Hey there Vegeta. I'm going to get a fire going and then see if there's anything to eat in this place. It shouldn't take me too long." Nappa started to head down stairs when Vegeta called out, "Nappa!" The bald man turned towards his young charge, "Yes, Vegeta?" Staring down at his white boots, Vegeta struggled to form his question, "Did your family come from Vegeta-sai?" Sighing as he walked closer to the boy, Nappa bent down on one knee and answered, "Yes. Why do you ask?" "Is it true that our people were great fighters?" The look on Nappa's face said that he was wondering why Vegeta was asking all these questions now. "Yes, and we still are. That's why your father, my King, asked me to look after you. It's why Raditz, even though he's young, is on the Freeza Force." Nappa stated with pride, adding softly, "Why are you asking about this now Vegeta?"
Crossing his arms, Vegeta snapped, "Because." He raised his head to look Nappa in the eye, "I want you to train me to fight. Dad told me in that note Dr. Briefs gave me that my name will be entered into the Games and, knowing that lizard, he might rig it to where my name is called the first time it's entered." Softly adding he glanced to the side, "And I want to be the one to kill Freeza." Nappa couldn't help himself as he chuckled at the boy's determination, which earned him a scowl from said boy, "I would be honored to train you in the ways of our people, my Prince. But not today. Today is a day of mourning. Tomorrow training begins." With that, Nappa went down stairs to work on heat and food.
Vegeta came downstairs after unpacking his bags to find a nice roaring fire and the tell-tell smell of something cooking. Or rather burning. "Is something burning Nappa?" "Oh shoot! I forgot!" Nappa ran over the stove and opened the oven. Black smoke billowed out as the smell of burnt food got worse. "I'm sorry Vegeta. Looks like we won't be having rolls with dinner." "Tch. Doesn't look like much of a dinner at all." Vegeta grumbled. "I'm going out for a walk." Vegeta waved his hand dismissively as Nappa tried to tell him to be careful.
The sun was setting as Vegeta walked over to the field near his new house. This must be the field that Dad mentioned. So there must be a hole in the fence nearby. Agh! I'll never be able to find anything in the dark. Guess I'll just have to wait 'til morning. As he turned around to go home Vegeta smelled the most wonderful odor, which suddenly cause his stomach to growl. Where is that smell coming from? He wondered as he tracked the smell to a house about four or five houses closer to town then his. Carefully creeping up onto the porch, Vegeta peeked in a window. On the table inside there was a feast laid out; well, not a true Capital feast but a grand feast by Region 12 standards. A certain blue-hair girl turned around at the worst possible second and caught Vegeta spying on them. He ducked down quickly but the top of his spiky hair could still be seen, not that he knew that of course.
Suddenly the door beside him opened, scaring Vegeta half to death as he instinctively raised his fists; ready for a fight. Staring at her strange new friend, Bulma apologized, "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." "Scared? I wasn't scared. It takes a lot more than a girl to scare me." Vegeta huffed, crossing his arms and turning his head away. "Well, Mister 'I'm not scared of anything' would you like to come in and have dinner with us?" Vegeta looked at Bulma again, smirking, "Well, if you insist. Would it be alright if I go get Nappa? Goodness knows how much more food he's made inedible by now." She beamed at brilliant smile at him, nodding, "Sure! I'll go help Momma set two more places. Just come on in when you get back, I'll leave the door open." With that she disappeared inside and Vegeta marched back to his house to fetch Nappa for supper with the Briefs.
Thank goodness they were eating at the Briefs because Nappa had charred everything else he had tried to fix except the salad. And the only reason he didn't mess that up was because he didn't have to do anything to it other than cut it up. So Nappa brought the small bowl of greens and followed Vegeta to the Briefs. Shocked as Vegeta just opened the door and walked in without knocking, Nappa scolded him, "Vegeta! You're supposed to knock and wait for someone to open the door." "The Girl said to 'just come on in' when we got here." Vegeta snapped back frustrated, his hunger getting the best of him. Mrs. Briefs came over and snatched that bowl out of Nappa's hands, "Come in! Vegeta's all my little Bulma's been able to talk about since we got here. Come have a seat. Everything's ready." Not left with any choice but to obey Panchy's soft command, the Prince and his guardian found a seat at the dinner table.
The next few hours were filled with much food and soft conversation. And let no one tell you that Mrs. Panchy Briefs cannot cook. Indeed, she is a master in the kitchen and all things food-related. Once dinner was done Bulma grabbed Vegeta's hand, "Come on, I want to show you something." Having nothing better to do, Vegeta let her pull him up the stairs to her room. Huh, she picked the same room I did. Vegeta vaguely noted before he was dragged inside. Letting go of his hand, Bulma rummaged around for something in her dresser and pulled out another capsule like the one he got from Captain Ginyu. "Here." Bulma held it out for him to take. "Thanks." Vegeta cautiously took it and turned it about in his hands. Great. Now I have two of these things and no earthly idea what their for!
"Go on. Open it." Bulma encouraged, glancing down at his hand then back up to his face. Vegeta gripped it tightly and turned his head, mumbling something she couldn't hear. "What'd you say? I didn't catch that?" Her clear blue eyes studied his face, he was so young but he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Grumbling, Vegeta repeated himself a little louder, "I said I don't know how." Gently taking the device from Vegeta, Bulma pushed to plunger on the end of it and tossed it on her bed. There was a puff of smoke and when it cleared, sitting where she had tossed it was a pair of binoculars. Pretty high-end ones too from the looks of them. Vegeta's eyes went wide, So that's how it works… Ok. I'll have to remember to grab it before I leave the house tomorrow and find whatever else my Dad left me. Bulma picked the binoculars up and presented her gift to Vegeta a second time, "Here. I don't know if you already have one of these but I thought that you might want something better then what President Freeza would normally issue his men."
Once Vegeta accepted them from her, she went on to explain all the extra buttons and add-ons. "Of course they function just like normal binoculars, this is what make it zoom in and out and it can zoom in so far that you can see the second hand on the clock tower at the Justice Building from the field. And if you press this green button here, it lets you see in the dark. Oh! Here, let me show you what his red button does." Bulma pushed the aforementioned red button and stepped back. Curiously, Vegeta held the device to his eyes and looked thru it. "All I see is you." He growled in annoyance, pulling the thing from his face.
Pouting, Bulma demanded that he humor her one last time and after he was looking thru it again, she raised a hand and waved at him. Shocked, Vegeta pulled the binoculars away, "What sorcery is this? Your head and hand were to different colors." "It's called science not sorcery, silly." Bulma giggled before explaining, "It's supposed to help you find heat signatures. Every person or animal gives off heat and this little feature lets you see it. It's best to use if tracking something over a large distance. But I'm sure that you'll figure out how to use it."
Vegeta stared down at the gift in his hands, awestruck that she'd give him something like this. He'd only just met her today. "But why are you giving me this?" he inquired, She has to want something in exchange. All my 'friends' did. "I don't know. I guess I wanted to thank you for coming to watch out for me." Bulma shrugged; that was the best explanation she had. Bowing his head, Vegeta accepted her gratitude and said that it was probably time for him to leave.
Bulma failed to suppress a yawn as they arrived back with the adults, so her mother made her turn right around and go get ready for bed. "But Momma! Vegeta's still here!" Bulma whined, stomping her foot in protest. Standing up from the couch, Nappa stretched as he stated, "I think it's time for us to get going, little one." "Just listen to your mother while you can still hear her voice." Vegeta snapped. He sighed as he turned towards the door, "Let's go Nappa. I'm tired. And ready for this day to be over." Dr. Briefs walked their guests to the door while Bulma and her mother went upstairs, "Thank you for joining us for dinner. I see that Bulma gave you her prototype. She must trust you." The boy only shrugged, trying to give an air of nonchalance, "She only gave it to me to help better protect her while on 'vacation' Old Man. You need to tell her the truth and soon." She thinks the world of you. "I know young man, I know. But not tonight. She still has so much hope and so many ideas. Make no mistake Vegeta, I will be the one to tell Bulma. And I will be the one to make sure that she will be safe for years to come." Dr. Briefs said with conviction as he opened the door, "Good night Vegeta. Let's hope tomorrow will be a better day."
