Chapter IV: Kill Shot
The metal tips at the fingers of his gauntlet bore into the fibers of the stained shirt -it was always hard to be delicate when in power armor. Beads of sweat carved tracks down his dirty bloodied face. The tracks trailed down from his eye sockets, giving the façade of a crying broken man. Though, perhaps they actually were tears.
It would not have been the first time Vegeta brought a grown man to tears. Nor was it the first time that same man's wife would be screaming in the background, her body twisted in a fetal position as her hands fisted into her hair, attempting to control her mania.
With a thrust, he pulled the kneeling man to his feet, causing his limp head to lunge closer to Vegeta's face. When the man spoke, his voice was low and guttural. It was calm, decisive, meant to deceive.
He chuckled, "For some who is supposed to be in charge of a booming town such as this one, you're inexplicably pathetic. How do I know I'm not being tricked?"
There was no intelligible response, only a whimper highlighted by the tremble of his pupil. The eyes of a dying man, a recurrent image tattooed in the officer's brain.
With a violent shake, Vegeta spoke again, this time more forceful, "Are you or are you not the mayor?"
His neck stiffened to give a frantic nod. Satisfied, Vegeta dropped him so that his body crashed into a boneless pile and replaced his free hand back on his shot gun. His hand trailed over the drum magazine mindlessly, taping the barrel against every chamber.
14 shells. He had been a little trigger happy that day.
Broken, the man started, "I knew his men would come someday… but-" He stopped, giving way to an attack of coughing, blood spurting onto his shirt as his body wretched.
Curious, Vegeta bent down to the man's level, "Oh? But what?"
"You!" came a scream from the corner, "You're the monster who has murdered hundreds! Maybe thousands by your own gun. Women, children! You are devoid of emotion or feeling! You're but a shell of a man!"
Their eyes met, cold stone versus watery blood shot, but he looked again back at the man, "I did not think the bastard would send…" He paused and wheezed, "…you."
There was a long pregnant pause before Vegeta reacted. He stared long at the town leader before smirking manically. "Aren't we so lucky?" He said, flashing a row of white teeth. "Let's get down to business. It seems you're familiar with our trade. The village is now occupied by the Cold Empire. You have two options: bow your heads and swear your allegiance or you fight with what measly weapons you have and we purge. Your choice, Mr. Mayor."
He paused for a moment, reverting his gaze to the ground. When he looked back up, he said, "What if we swear our allegiance? What does that mean?"
"That means my men will stop terrorizing the village, seizing, torturing and raping. The fun shit," Vegeta chuckled at that and grinned hungrily at his cowering wife who began crying all over again, "And you will begin trade and commerce with the Empire. You'll subject to taxation of course. It's a solid deal, I'd say."
The mayor's eye grew large and glassy. It was in question before, but now it was certain there were tears welling in the corners. This time felt different though, and the sentiment left Vegeta feeling cagey.
"I'm not giving you time to mull this over. Bow or die," Vegeta said.
Hiding his face in his dirty palms, he moaned in a way only a dying animal would, "We submit jus-..just stop hurting people..."
Grinning, Vegeta firmly gripped his shot gun before directing the muzzle so that his sights lined up perfectly with a sweaty brow.
"Good to hear. A shame you can't join us. Can't have any renegade leaders can we?" said the prince evenly and the man lifted his head. With perfect calculation, he pulled the trigger.
Vegeta's signature kill shot.
He stepped out of the small house, not hearing the screams coming from behind him. He turned where he knew Nappa was standing guard near the entrance. He had a feeling he knew where the rest of the squad was.
"Major?"
"They've submitted. Seize terrorizing. Use the screaming bitch as a witness of our deal."
"Yes, sir!"
Vegeta did not leave Bell Tower till sunrise, and the early fourth hour sun welcomed him warmly. He had rejected every offer to switch out, offering the excuse that he was not tired, which was only partly a lie. He was tired. In fact, tiredness bore into his very core. Exhaustion was not only an adjective to describe him but the string that sewn him jaggedly together. But he could not sleep. Not during the night anyways. Demons come out at night.
And if he was too tired by morning, maybe they won't bother him then.
A wordless Tien relieved him from his new job, and he began a slow journey to the space that he was designated to sleep, empty plates in tow. He would not call it his own because that would leave an imprint of possession. That would be too personal, and things could not get too personal here.
With a klank, the dishes and silverware slid into the empty basin, the place Vegeta assumed Chichi kept the dishes. He did not care enough to look elsewhere in the dark kitchen.
He made his ascent up the stairs and down the hall until the sound of a door opening caught his attention, he turned to see a blue haired girl stepping out of a room, clad in shorts and a torn over-sized t-shirt.
He did not know her room was so close.
"Vegeta?" Bulma said as she rubbed her eyes, "What are you doing up so early?"
"Am not," It came out more of a slur than he intended.
Her clog slippers made little sound a she stepped towards him, and he made no move to keep going. She squinted at him, the darkness of the hallway making it difficult for him to decipher the look on her face.
"Oh," She said, "You never slept? Were you in the tower all night?"
His response came with a nod.
"Did no one want to switch out with you?"
He shook his head.
"You don't have to do that you know. Stay up there so many hours."
He shrugged and said, "It is fine."
"Hm," she crossed her arms, "Well get some sleep I guess."
He turned to leave, but stopped at the door and turned to find her still standing there. Without thinking, he asked, "Why are you up so early?"
"Oh I uh had an idea," she said hesitantly, as if she had forgotten, "An invention? Or maybe it is better to say reinvention." She laughed, but he did not get the joke. "Sometimes these ideas just come to me at night, and I just need to write them down or else I'll forget them, and they will just end up in my brain's purgatory not being put to use. Which is terrible, you know?"
He stared at her for a long time, processing not only her explanation but the self that stood before him, barely one above the other in height. Only another moment passed and Vegeta pushed open the door, only nodding in her direction and leaving Bulma alone in the drafty dark hallway.
A few days passed, and it became more normal to have the stranger around. He was mostly a shadow, only appearing when needed, which currently meant in the towers doing scouting duty. Other times he remained in his allocated space in the compound. Bulma did not expect everyone to warm up to him quickly, especially with his off-putting demeanor, but she did not think he would be so reclusive either. She had not spoken more than few sentences to the man since meeting him in the hallway that weary eve of dawn; the morning where she was in a frenzy scribbling notes for her current project in her underwear. She barely had enough time to put them on to catch him at his door. She was trying, he just always managed to brush her off one way or another. She brought his dinner to him every evening in the tower, and she would try to make conversation, but he would just plain ignore her, which nettled her beyond her comprehension.
Perhaps that could explain why she was growing more and more interested in figuring the man out. However, Bulma also knew that she had piles of work to accomplish, and she could not spend her precious daylight hours wondering about the stray she carried to safety on her back who had yet to thank her from saving him from likely mutation and painful death.
The blue haired girl huffed and blew some the offending blue hairs that stuck to her cheek away. She snorted at memory with annoyance.
"Tights," she started, turning to her sister as she moved towards the pipes which contained the strained but not sanitized water. The older blonde haired girl stood on the other side of the pipes, writing notes down on a clip board.
"Hm?" she did not look up from her scribbles.
"Have you seen Vegeta around much? Do you ever see him doing things?"
Tights wedged her pen beneath and rusty metal clip on the board and walked towards the control panel for the chlorine. "Not really. I only ever see him in passing to and from the towers. He's pretty grumpy looking."
"Huh," Bulma muttered, "He has to do something else with his time."
Shutting the panel, Tights suddenly turned towards Bulma, "Oh! I do remember Gohan mentioning seeing him on the pull up bars, which I guess makes sense that he'd like that, considering those biceps."
The younger sister laughed, "Yeah that makes sense. He was on the floor doing push-ups right after being in that hospital bed for nearly 36 hours."
"Seriously? Come to think of it, he has recovered remarkably fast. Much faster than Tien, whose injuries were much more inferior."
Bulma stopped for a moment and thought about that. Vegeta had healed quickly. Far quicker than he should have. It certainly was unbelievable, but she also deduced to what could be genetics or an impressive immune system. She thought of his pig headedness and wondered if that stemmed to injuries as well. She shook her head and continued testing the water with the pH strips she produced from her lap coat pocket.
"Yamcha was looking for you this morning," Tights said.
"Great. I guess I should talk to him."
Tights laughed as the two girls made their way to exit of the pump house. They removed their lab coats and hung them up on the hooks by the door. She pushed the door open and said, "What did you guys in this time?"
Bulma scoffed loudly, following her sister outside into the blistering heat, feeling thankful her for cut-off shorts as she could around feel the sweat creeping on her brow. "We got into a fight about him poking his nose around that younger girl Shirk brings around on his trade routes."
"I think that is his daughter."
Bulma feigned a wretch dramatically and her sister giggled again, asking, "Well is he cheating?"
"I don't think so," the younger sighed, "He does not have the balls to do so. At least I don't think so. Also the girl has blue hair. Real original."
"Bulma," Tights said suddenly with more seriousness, "You two have been seeing each other for like ten years. Don't you think this on and off business is getting old? All it takes these days is a small thing and you two are off fighting again. Where is the magic in that?"
There was not much of a response to that, leaving Bulma feeling cornered and a bit ashamed. She had often pondered the same thing when her mind was not occupied with work. Yet, maybe that was just the thing. She never thought about him unless there was nothing else to think about. Was there any magic anymore like when they first met? She still remembered the flighty first stage of their relationship, so full of innocence and excitement. They would sneak off at night together and climb into the empty water storage drums to fool around in. He was her first boyfriend, but as expected the newness did not stick.
The truth was, she was getting more and more tired of him.
"Magic? You sound like such a writer," Bulma said, brushing off her sister's concern.
"Well that is what I am. Writer turned chemist or something," Tights shrugged.
"Who would've thought you'd use that science degree Dad made you get," chuckled Bulma, feeling a little calmer that the subject of her relationship had passed.
Abruptly, a long roaring chime could be heard from the other side of the compound. It startled the two girls with its suddenness.
"Gohan's doing another trade. That's the third time today. We're getting busy," Tights said.
"Huh, that is weird. I thought we had our regulars come in today already. Let's go see who this is."
They rounded the corner of the building to find Gohan standing at the gate while Bell Tower raises the gate. Bulma arched her neck slightly to get a look at who were at the towers. For some reason, she found a little disappointment in the fact that it was Goku and Krillin. The steel screamed loudly as it was pulled up, allowing two forms to enter into the compound, and once Tights and Bulma recognize the two, they only groaned.
"Master Roshi! Oolong!"
Bulma often wondered about the innocence of Gohan. The kid was beyond intelligent, her lessons with him on calculus and physics proved this, but she knew he got his judge of character from his father who took several years to learn basic algebra.
"Gohan!" the older man said, meeting the boy with equal excitement, "How has the training been going?"
"Kid I swear you look taller," Oolong added, scratching his round belly. While neither were tall at all, but Oolong stood even below Gohan's small frame.
"It's been great! Dad is working on my striking lately. Can you stick around to watch?" Gohan said excitedly, skipping over to the pair, clipboard still in tow in his small hands.
"Oh, if the ever powerful matriarchy will have me," he chuckled before looking at Bulma and Tights, meeting unimpressed looks. "Ladies?"
"Freeloaders," Bulma spat back, ignoring his poorly constructed compliment.
"Awh, Bulma don't be like that. Your legs look quite shapely in those shorts. Doing those squats I suggested?" Roshi said, raising his bushy white eyebrow suggestively.
Bulma felt that heat was suddenly not coming so much from the outside, as she felt her face grow hot, but she stopped short when her sister grabbed her shoulder.
"Roshi, you and Oolong can stay for dinner. Just lay off the creepy shit, okay?" Tights said, reminding Bulma of her father's soft nature, a trait Tights more so inherited than herself.
"Tights," Bulma groaned.
"Come on, Bulma!" Gohan said, pleading slightly, "Let them stay, please?"
She softened slightly towards the young boy and sighed, thinking of what other innocent clown she heard that from. "Whatever. Just don't test my patience any more than you have, you lechers," She glared at the two, feeling somewhat good about herself when they shrunk back away from her.
Gohan cheered a little and thanked Bulma, as he motioned for the pair towards the back, but he stopped short when the door swung open. Right on time to switch, and it came with a familiar scowl and an exceeding amount of fire arms on his person.
"Oh excuse me, Mr. Vegeta," Gohan said as he backed out of Vegeta's way.
"Who's the new guy, kid?" Oolong said gesturing to Vegeta who stopped in his path towards Bell Tower. His dark eyes glowered at Oolong and he immediately backed away, inching to hide behind a nine year old. Vegeta's demeanor looked fairly normal to Bulma, but this time he did not have his usually leather bag strapped to his back. He still had his usual combat shot gun and twin gun holsters.
"His name is Vegeta. Bulma invited him to stay here with us," While Vegeta was still staring he added, "Mr. Vegeta, this is Master Roshi and Oolong. Master Roshi taught a lot of us martial arts! I'm sure he wouldn't mind teaching you as we-" the boy trailed off when Vegeta turned away and kept walking towards the ladder.
A flash of anger and Bulma was already growling, "Don't bother, Gohan. He thinks he's better than everyone here anyways. Asshole," she mutter the last bit loud, not caring that he already cleared the top of the stairs into the hut.
She did not understand at all what interested her about that man. He was obviously a complete prick.
"Bulma."
She turned to face where her name came from. It was Roshi, stroking his long dirty white beard, peering at her through his sunglasses, but in a way that was more serious, more concern, "Bulma, where did Gohan say you found this guy?"
"We were hunting for more supplies. I tripped over his body at the South City Grand Shopping Emporium. I managed to revive him from near death. I don't know much about him. As you can probably tell, he is not much of a talker, but he is relatively harmless."
When she said it out loud, she definitely sounded crazy for keeping him around.
"Hey Master Roshi!" Goku called from the top of the ladder, and then, with more glee than even his own child could muster, he slid down the sides of the ladder, causing a plume of dust to billow around his feet when he landed. "In an hour -well actually make it an hour and a half so Chichi can make lunch- we can start training!"
Master Roshi sighed, "Very well, Goku. But I won't go easy on you."
"Yes!" Goku nearly skipped to the base of the other tower, and Bulma would not had been surprised if her found a way slide up that one as gleefully as the other one.
"Hey guys! I think we have more company!" A voice called from that same tower, and Krillin peered out the window with binoculars.
"Another trade?" Tights called to Krillin.
"Maybe! But I've never seen this group before!" Goku popped up from behind him, taking the binoculars from him.
"Bulma! There are two guys that I can see. They're leading a huge Brahmin cart heading down the road! I've never seen them before either!"
At that, unease gripped around Bulma's body, the sweat on her going cold. She whipped around and called an order to Gohan, "Take Oolong and Roshi into the house. Grab whoever you can find and post them by the door. Make sure they are armed, Gohan!"
He nodded and grabbed Roshi's and Oolong's arms. When they disappeared into the compound, Bulma readied to call to Vegeta to keep his rifle locked on but when she looked up at Bell Tower, he already had the scope to his eye. She was not all that surprised.
"Bulma, they could just be passerby traders who happened upon the place."
"Not willing to take any chances."
Her sister shrugged and out of the corner of her eye, Bulma saw her pulling out the energy pistol from her leg holster, a weapon she helped rig up for her. She did the same with her own pistol, fishing out warm fusion cells from her pocket to pack into the barrel. She was almost disappointed that she did not have her newly modified energy rifle with her; it was still perched up against her desk.
The figures in the distance came towards the compound on the broken down road that led to gate. Bulma motioned for her sister follow her, meeting the group a few hundred meters from the gate. They were two gentlemen leading the massive cloak covered brahmin cart, both in a dire need of a shower. The assault rifles on their back sent an uncomfortable chill down Bulma's spine, but she chalked it up to necessary protection from the Wastes, in an effort to be "neighborly" as her late well-meaning father would tell her.
"G'afternoon ladies. The name is Jackal and this is my buddy Axman," he jabbed a dirty thumb in the direction of his friend, "We're sellin' wares from a recently opened Vault. We're curious if you're lookin' to barter? We take about anythin'."
That grabbed Bulma's attention. Vaults do not typically open. Not this soon. She shot a nervous look to her sister, who kept her eyes on the two men. "How did you find this place?"
"Just passin' through, Miss," Axman shrugged, "Quite the place ya got 'ere. Must be somthin' special for you to keep so fortressed." He gestured to Goku's and Krillin's positon, both of them locked to the men with rifles.
"We like our privacy, and are wary of newcomers just like any other person who lives in the wastes," Bulma said, "What sort of Vault wears are you selling?"
"Well look 'ere," Jackal gestured for the two to come closer, "I promise I ain't gonna bite."
Tights shook her head, "How about you stay there and show us."
He chuckled loudly as he pulled opened his jacket coat to reveal a blue vault jump suit.
Bulma, taken a back, barely stifling a loud gasp. The words glaring in black on the thick dirty cotton of the jumpsuit "VAULT 45". Sure enough, that was vault wear. Vault 45 was only approximately 120 kilometers away from the water treatment plant, according to her most recent old world map. Questions circulated in Bulma's brain rapidly like an angry stream. The possibility of an open vault in the area created a fountain of opportunities for the group at the plant. Vaults equal old world technology, which meant more equipment for water purifiers. More equipment for powering the compound. There could be other supplies as well to sustain the people her. Bulma's face warmed at the thoughts pouring through her brain; her heartbeat rattled inside her ears.
Trying not to stumble over herself, she asked, "Wh-where did you get that?"
"We told ya, there is an open vault near 'ere. Do you wanna see the wears or not?" Axman gestured to the large pile covered by the thick fabric.
Eagerly, Bulma stepped towards the one closest to her, "Yes show-"
Then a loud shot and Jackal's forehead showered Bulma's entire front with fresh warm crimson blood.
Before she could even speak, another shot and Axman body fell into a limp pile
The doors to the compound swung open and Tien and Chichi pushed through, weapons in tow.
Her breath caught and Bulma looked where the shots came from and he still staring straight down his scope. Trembling she shouted in a fury, "Vegeta! Wha-what the fuck?!"
"Get away from cart!" He shouted a deep guttural snarl; his voice boomed from the tower.
Suddenly, the cart reared on its own, the tarp moving against it and human like grunts could be heard from underneath and a shot fired from the center of it, barely missing Bulma and Tights. Vegeta fired three more shots into the tarp, a whining noise escaping.
"Do it Bulma! Tights! Move!" Goku shouted from the other tower.
"What?" Bulma demanded, but Tights grabbed her arm and pulled her away at a dead sprint.
Vegeta shot again three more times and Goku began following suit, the last shot catalyzing a whirl of fire from the cart, the blast knocking Bulma into Tights and sent them tumbling into the red colored dirt and rocks. Shrapnel and pieces of the cart flew past them.
Bulma looked up from the ground, seeing the brahmin tipped on its side, clearly no longer alive as the side of its stomach could be seen torn open. The cart was scorched and blown apart, some bits still on fire, burning away next to the dead bodies.
That is when Bulma noticed, there were more than two human bodies on the ground.
She turned and looked at her Sister who was still on her side, "Tights? Are you okay?"
Groaning, Tight grumbled, "Yeah, just some ringing in my ears. Wha-What happened?"
"I am not really sure…"
"Bulma! Tights!" Chichi's voice rang in the distance, her boot thuds nearing the two girls, "Are you girls alright?"
Bulma sat up, clutching her head, "We are doing just peachy, Chichi."
Chichi reached the two, knealing down to help Bulma up, "What did that psycho do?"
"I would stay back if I were you idiots!" Vegeta came through the gate, shouting behind him, "There could still be undetonated explosives in the aftermath."
He still had the sniper rifle in his hands as he stalked over to the smoldering pile, still glowing and flickering as a gentle zephyr crossed from the canyon. He inspected the rubble, kicking dirt over some of the still active flames. Goku, Krillin, and Tien could be seen peering out from the gate.
"Hey!" Bulma side stepped Chichi who was now helping Tights to her feet and stomped over to Vegeta, ignoring the searing pain in her temple and the sense of griminess all over her body. "What the hell was that about?"
"You're pretty fucking stupid for someone who claims to be such a fucking genius," he responded hotly.
"Excuse me?!"
"You heard me. I just saved your ass from getting ambushed, "He pointed to the burnt pile, gesturing to the bodies of three other men hidden under the tarp. She felt herself growing queasy when she saw appendages several feet independent from their owners. Blood stained the pavement and dirt, while scorch marks permanently marked the blast area.
"Bulma!" Goku jogged to her side, "You alright?"
She sighed, "Yes, Goku. I'm alright."
Goku stared at two corpses that Bulma had been speaking to just minutes before and then turned to Vegeta, "Wow, right between the eyes. You've got one hell of a shot. How did you know they were going ambush us, Vegeta?"
Instead of immediately responding, he walked around the blast area, carefully side stepping any shrapnel or foreign objects on his way over to Axman's body. He reached down and grabbed the front of his coat, lifting the body from the ground. He shifted the grip on the collar so the body rotated to the side to expose the neck. "Spotted this. This one was dumber than his friend, not covering up all his disgusting tattoos."
The shaky black symbol on the skin of Axman's neck was haphazardly drawn snake tattoo. It looked familiar, but Bulma was not completely picking up what Vegeta was suggesting.
When he was given no response, Vegeta clarified, "They're raiders. That's the symbol of the south legion. I haven't seen very many of them from there, but I make it a point to memorize all raider faction symbols." He stopped and glared at Bulma directly, "I suggest you do the same, unless you want this to happen again."
"It won't," Bulma spat.
"You're a damn fool for getting so close to them. You should have been more cautious if you don't want to be shot dead on the spot," he added, tone growing more irritated, "Or worse. Don't you know what raiders do to people like you? They kidnap them and –"
"Shut up! I get it!" Bulma yelled, "I know who raiders are and what they do. They were making me an offer that was…" She trailed off and sighed heavy, "They lured me with VaultTech. I was beside myself."
"Vault shit?" Vegeta scoffed, "That's impossible. No vaults have opened since the war."
"That's what I thought too, but that one has a vault jumpsuit," she pointed towards Jackal, "I was convinced. We could benefit so much with VaultTech."
Vegeta shook his head, "Vault trash are cowardly useless fucks, hiding from an inevitable war. You're better off without their aid."
Bulma was about to respond but Tien caught her attention as he was running towards them with a shovel.
"To bury the-," Tien paused while assessing the pile before him before continuing , "-damage."
"Wait," Vegeta said and bent down to grab the tarp, gently pulling it to the side of the pile. He turned to Bulma, "You. You said you build IED's right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Check and see if there are any UXO's hidden in here. Fucking fools were lucky they didn't hit a bump too hard, riding with these damn homemade explosives with them."
An argument was on her tongue but rationality overcame the bubbling anger inside of her. While his attitude towards her ignited an unusually explosive anger in her, Vegeta was right none the less, and the safety of the compound and its residents were at risk if she did not listen to him.
Bulma knelt down and inspected the pile gingerly, careful to no touch anything if she did not have to. Her eyes darted around, search for fuses, blinking lights or anything else that seemed out of place. When she turned up with nothing, her mind rationalized that the blast from the cart undertaking fire detonated any other explosives.
Feeling confident and suddenly weary, she said, "It's safe. Let's clean up this mess and get back to work."
Tien nodded and moved to a more suitable location to start digging a hole. Chichi began walking with Tights back towards the gate. Bulma stood for a moment, sighing when she realized Vegeta was nowhere to be seen
"He went back up into the tower while you were looking in that pile," Goku said, interrupting her thoughts.
Bulma scratched at her now filthy hair, "I guess he didn't feel like hanging around and checking my work to make sure I was right."
"I'm sure he just trusts you, Bulma."
With a snort loud enough to surprise even herself, "Unlikely, Goku. That guy does not trust a damn soul."
Goku shrugged, "I dunno. Seems like he talks to you the most."
Laughing, Bulma began walking back towards the gate as well, "Well of course. Who wouldn't want to talk to me? I'm an adorable and charming young lady."
"Who is covered in a lot of blood and brain juice still," Goku laughed.
At that, Bulma suddenly remembered her recent bath in red bodily fluids and nearly vomited right on her feet, not responding to Goku when he called, asking if the brahmin was still edible. She instead bolted for the back of the compound, destined to beat her sister to the showers.
Mid afternoon after helping Chichi clean up after lunch, Bulma found herself relaxing on a lounge chair by the yard, now dressed in a clean pair of coveralls. The day had taken a lot out of her already, and she felt it was high time for a break to unwind under the warm sun. She was watching Goku and Yamcha practicing forms for fighting, Roshi instructing them as they changed positions, trying to mirror was he was doing. Gohan was sitting by her feet resting as well with a bottle of water in his hands.
"Bulma?"
She lifted up the brim of her baseball hat and tilted her sunglasses, "What's up Gohan?"
"Why have you learnt any martial arts?"
Turning her attention back to Yamcha and Goku who had begun sparring with each other, "I've never really had interest I guess. My strongest muscle is my brain anyways, that's what's most important."
Gohan nodded, but asked, "What about protection against feral animals or people?"
"I'd rather just use my gun and vaporize them from a distance than worry about getting that close to them."
"That's where you are a fool once again."
Bulma looked up, know that voice was definitely not Gohan's; it was deeper, meaner and certainly not from the polite nine year she helped raise since birth.
"Oh yeah? How so Vegeta?" She sighed, turning around the in the chair to see him standing in the doorway, intensely watching the two men sparring ahead of him. He did not bother to answer her, but instead started unbuckling his chest holster. He swung his shot gun over his head and set it against the building wall. He dropped the holster on the ground and started working on his belt holster as well.
"What are you doing?" Bulma asked, yet was not all surprised when the only answer she received was his back turned to her, as he walked towards Goku.
Goku and Yamcha stopped sparring when Vegeta approached them, curious about his sudden interest.
"Vegeta, are you wanting to join us? Master Roshi is a great-"
"You and me. Let's go."
Bulma sat up in her chair. What now?
Goku scratched his head, "You want to spar? Well alright…but I won't go easy on you because you're new here."
Vegeta smirked, making Bulma feel incredibly anxious all of a sudden. He said, in a sardonic tone, "You'll be sorry if you do." He turned to Yamcha and spat, "You, Scarface, move out of the way."
Yamcha, instantly offended, began sneering and puffing his chest slightly, "Hey! Asshole back off. Goku and I were already here."
"Actually, Yamcha," Roshi stepped between them, holding his hand up, "Why don't you step back for a moment. I'm interested to see Vegeta's level in fighting."
Glaring and shaking his head, Yamcha stepped back stood out of their way, muttering curses under her breath.
"You sure about this, Vegeta? I'm pretty good at this," Goku said, smirking as he took a few steps back from the man.
Vegeta stood southpaw, pulling on his gloves, slightly, "Somebody has to take that bravado down a notch."
At the sound of Vegeta's voice, Bulma could not help but feel a bit of dread come from the pit of her stomach. Fear for which one? She was not all that sure.
Soooo many apologies for the lateness of this chapter. Life and work. I'll make sure to keep the next chapter coming soon. Thank you so much for all the reviews!