Chapter 9

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It was dark.

The halls were empty.

The moonlight was clearly shown though many of the open windows.

Trunks looked around the halls, and he motioned for Goten to follow along. It was a miracle the two weren't caught as of yet. Even though they were master pranksters (thanks to their rambunctious childhood), it helps them to carefully get away from some guards.

Trunks smirked as he noticed the guards leave for the other wing of the palace to take care of other duties. And they were posted there... because the prince and princess of the planet were currently sleeping in one of the guest rooms. Remember the spar from earlier that day in which destroyed part of their room? Yeah... that one; it happened to be the suite next to Trunks.

Goten set the duffel bag, in his hand, down so they could get a good glimpse at what might have been needed.

Trunks looked to the tiled floors. 'What would be the best thing for these floors?'

"Goten?" whispered the son of the princess and prince of Vegetasei.

The younger hybrid looked up to his best friend. "Yeah?"

Trunks looked back to the smooth obsidian floors. "What do you think would be best for these floors?" he questioned quietly.

Goten glanced to the floor before looking to the bag he had. "Well... there's some cooking oil here. We could grease up the floors."

Trunks nodded his head, "Go on. Is there anything else?"

Goten looked back in the bag, "Um... we have some flour."

"Is that all?"

Goten held up two pairs of socks. "And some socks too."

Trunks smirked as he looked back to the floors. "What about water? And some tennis shoes?" The older hybrid saiyan heard a slap on the face. It echoed down the halls.

"I forgot that!" he exclaimed.

Trunks immediately placed a finger to his lips shushing him. In response, Goten slapped a hand over his lips and his eyes became wide.

Trunks crossed his muscular arms over chest as he looked down. "Well... I guess we can go with out using water over the floors... even though that would have been the easiest to clean up..." Trunks thought for a moment more. "I think we'll use the flour and socks this time."

"You don't want me to get the water and shoes?" questioned Goten quietly.

Trunks shook his head, "No. The saiyan prince is in the room next to mine. I have a feeling that he's a light sleeper."

Goten nodded his head as he grabbed a medium sized sack of flour and handed it to his friend. "Okay... what ever you say."

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Bulma sat on the bed as she carefully ran her hands over her husband's back. She then stopped on his shoulders carefully massaging a few knots she felt in the muscles. Vegeta leaned his head foreword as his wife worked her magic with her fingers.

"You have more knots than usual," she muttered in his ear. She then began to rub harder. She earned a groan from him as he rolled his head to the side. "There's something wrong Vegeta; care to tell?"

There was a moment where she continued to rub out the knot till it loosened up; she then searched for another she felt a moment before.

"I don't think it's of your concern, woman."

She snorted as she found another knot in his back. She immediately began to work on it. "Come on Vegeta; you're more observant. I've already stated my suspicion of TB for you."

"Trunks, you mean."

Bulma closed her eyes as she continued to rub his back. "Yeah... Trunks." Okay... so maybe he was still a bit sharp... maybe not as sharp as a new needle...

"I haven't exactly done my 'research' as you would call it."

She stopped the massage, and scooted to the side. She looked at him in the eyes. "Vegeta. There's something wrong; you're too distracted." She grabbed his face with her hands as he looked away from her. She brought his gaze to her. "Please, tell me Vegeta; when it affects you like this it will start to become my problem."

He paused for a moment more before nodding his head. Bulma smiled lightly as she went back to her current position for massaging his back. "Go ahead."

"I've gotten word from the ice-jin's. They're demanding we ally with them in some war they have been in for three years now."

Bulma's lip almost curled into a snarl as she heard that vile word roll from his lips. "Ice-jins? Haven't they caused enough trouble in the universe?"

Vegeta nodded his head. "Yes, and it has forced us to try and keep some of the peace, even if we have to purge the planet into submission. There are some testy races out there."

"I see," muttered Bulma. "Is that all?"

"Earlier today, I received reports from ship 4521 and 7512. They were attacked earlier."

Bulma lightly frowned as she began to work on another knot on his back.

"The last we heard of them, they were fighting back. Sure, it was a ship of a search group from the second class and another ship of the third-class. There hasn't been any kind of replies back reporting the damage or success of fixing the problem."

"Have the ships been located?" questioned Bulma as she began rubbing the muscles in his neck.

He lightly groaned for a moment loosing his concentration in the sensations, "They have been."

Bulma lightly smiled, "That's a bit of comfort. I assume some other ships have been sent off to search for those two groups?"

Vegeta nodded his head lazily. "That's the good news." He waited for a moment for her to make a reply. There was none made, so he continued. "One of the ships was able to land on a planet owned by a peaceful race of aliens. The other ship is still in space. It hasn't moved since this morning's report."

Bulma gasped as she abruptly stopped, "W-what do you mean? They couldn't have been killed-"

"We aren't exactly sure. Since the two ships were close to each other, they could have transferred the soldiers form that ship to the one which later landed on that planet after that attack." He paused for a moment, "You must not underestimate the power of the saiyans. We are the strongest warrior race in the universe."

"Is strength all you care about?" she questioned almost in a defiant tone. She crossed her arms and glared to him as he turned around to face her. He smirked. "Yes."

She rolled her eyes as she turned away from his gaze. "You are such a jerk!" She heard a chuckle right beside her left ear and lightly shivered before he grabbed her arms pinning her to the bed. His smirk was ever wider.

"Is that so?" he questioned her in a mock-innocence tone.

It was then they heard something in the halls.

"I forgot that!"

Vegeta paused for a moment before looking to his wife in confusion. He sat on the bed beside his wife after releasing her from the hold he had her in. He looked suspiciously to the door. "That sounds almost like Kakarot's brat."

They both remained silent as they strained to hear any more noises. They just heard a few muffled voices.

Vegeta growled as he scooted to the edge of the bed and stood on the floor. He was only in spandex pants, but he didn't care at this moment. "That kid should know there's a curfew."

The prince felt a hand grab his wrist and he snapped his head to Bulma. Her blue eyes were almost pleading. "Don't be too hard on them."

Vegeta stared at her for a moment more before turning to the door to give these kids a good chewing.

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Vegeta couldn't believe his eyes. He only walked down one hall... and there were the boys! Both had made a HUGE mess by spreading some kind of white dust all over the floor! If that wasn't strange enough, he watched as the son of Goku run into the 'dust' and try to slide with the momentum he created.

It didn't work out so well...

Instead, Goten slipped and his back slammed into the hard tiles. An almost sickening crack was heard from the boy's skull; one would have thought it was broken!

Goten sat up and rubbed the back of his head, "That actually hurt." His voice was very much quiet.

Trunks was sitting on the floor with both of his palms over his mouth trying to stifle his laughter. Then he began rolling on the ground in uncontrollable laughter as his eyes began to shed tears.

Goten looked over to his friend, his black pants now covered in the flour. "TB."

The muffled laughter was still noticed as he continued to roll on the ground in laughter.

The son of Goku crossed his arms, and sighed as he tried to dust himself off. "Your turn TB." He then began to walk to the 'sidelines' of the area where the most flour was noticed.

Vegeta just stared, his left eye twitching. 'What the HELL is this!'

He noticed Trunks sit up, and stand while lightly chuckling. A hand was still covering his mouth. "That was a good one," whispered Trunks as he walked to the furthest end of the halls with the flour.

Vegeta noticed that this Trunks person was going to try and 'slide' in the direction of where he was watching. Maybe when he arrived over here he could bust the teens asses.

Trunks took a few steps back before turning around, almost as a gymnast about to run towards the volt. He even brought his arms down to his sides and took a deep breath before he dashed to the pile of flour. And instead of sliding on his feet, he dove into the flour and began sliding on his stomach.

Goten watched as his best friend zoomed by, and he couldn't help letting some laughter escape his lips. It seemed almost as if they were seven years old again getting away with something they KNEW they would get in trouble doing.

Trunks could feel the momentum in his slide slow but only a little bit. If he was lucky, he would stop at the other side if the halls, which was about 100 feet away. He couldn't help but feel the thrill behind this. He felt like a child again, not one who was about to take over a powerful company.

And finally, he slowed to a stop almost a foot from the end wall, which was a glass window. He turned to Goten and jumped up raising his fists into the air triumphant.

Goten brought his hands into the air and pretended to clap as loud as he could, almost as if it were a roaring crowd.

Trunks began walking down the halls to where his friend continued to laugh silently. Something caught his gaze as he passed a hall to his right, and he stopped dead in his tracks. He could feel all color drain from his face.

Goten calmed his laughter almost down to nothing, and he noticed his friend's petrified gaze as he looked to a hall. It was then he noticed someone coming from the shadows. Goten also remained frozen in his place. He didn't seem to know what to do! Was he going to remain frozen in his place or was he going to run off and hide like when he was a child?

The prince turned his gaze to Goten, and he motioned for the teen to come.

Goten didn't want to provoke the prince of this planet... so he listened and came.

Vegeta watched at the other teen came up; he couldn't help but inwardly smirk. The two were scared shitless! He inwardly snorted. Of course they should. He was the prince of the planet! They should fear him!

Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest as they both stared at him; their skin was almost as pale as the 'dust' covering the floor and now their bodies. "What make you two think you can be out after curfew?" His voice wasn't silent; it wasn't loud either. It scared the crap out of the two though.

"Um..." both teens looked to each other, as if trying to make some kind of excuse, then turned back to the saiyan prince with emotionless faces. The prince cocked an eyebrow.

Trunks was the first to speak. "Earlier when I was walking to the labs with the king, I noticed the floors were shiny."

Goten nodded his head, "And Trunks is attracted to shiny things. Almost like a fly attracted to a bright light."

Trunks agreed with his friend, "Yes, and being... well... me, I thought it would be fun to slide on the floor."

The prince just stared at both teens as they nodded their heads in unison.

"And why do you have the urge to 'slide' on my palace floors with this... this STUFF?" questioned Vegeta.

Both boys bluntly blurted, "Training."

There was silence for the moment; it made everything very tense. The boys could hear their heartbeats in their ears, and silently questioned if the prince could hear it also.

Vegeta walked over to the mess of flour, and he touched it with his fingers. He noticed it was soft and was very fine grains of...

He sniffed the substance.

Some kind of food it must have been.

He dusted his hand and looked to both boys before pointing down to the flour. "And how can this be training? I think it might be another way to make someone pissed off with messy halls."

Trunks rubbed the side of his head, "It would be much more effective if we threw rocks at the person sliding. It's for reflex purposes; but since it's very late out... and there's now..." Trunks looked out the window, "Er... five moons present we don't want to disturb as we practice just trying to keep our balances on slippery surfaces, as this you see."

Yep... TB was a smooth talker. Hopefully the saiyan prince would believe them, and leave them unpunished...

"Why is it that I don't believe you?" questioned Vegeta becoming miffed.

Both Trunks and Goten had a sweatdrop falling to the side of their heads. Okay... so this guy was much smarter than he put on...

No problem... right?

"You can try it for yourself," stated Goten in a matter-of-fact tone. "It's fun!"

Vegeta snorted, "Fun is for the weak."

Goten tilted his head, "Then why was it that TB defeated you in the spar earlier today?"

That was the WRONG thing to say.

Trunks snapped his head over to his life long friend, his eyes now wide with fright. Goten then bit his lip knowing he shouldn't have stated that...

And that was when the least expected thing happened.

Vegeta's face looked almost thoughtful- and maybe for the only time in his life. He glanced at the flour once more, and then looked at the paths that were made. His pride was screaming at him for even considering this! Did he have an ounce of dignity left? And the prince's cold eyes looked to both boys. "Explain what has to be done for this... 'Training'."

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Bulma sighed as she waited in the room, alone. She knew her husband should be back in bed by now. It was very close to the middle of the night, and she really didn't feel like going to sleep till she knew what the problem was.

She waited a moment or two more, and she looked to the ceiling placing a hand over her womb. She found out how far along she was just earlier today. "Almost four earth months," she muttered softly.

It would be five-plus months till her husband was guaranteed the crown of Vegetasei... that is unless Trunks was recognized as the prince to the throne.

Who KNEW what would happen when Vegeta found that fact out?

Speaking of the saiyan prince... he was really taking too much time getting back.

So, Bulma being... well Bulma, she stood up from her side of the bed (clad in a silk night gown- looking very much like an under-slip or a thin, summer gown). She walked to the door lightly opening it. She knew Vegeta didn't like her roaming the halls at night without him. There might have been someone lurking around hoping to find and assassinate the royals. Bulma didn't worry so much. She always kept a ki-gun strapped to her thigh whenever she left to roam the halls.

And in walking down the halls she couldn't help but notice the king standing there with crossed arms. He too was clad only in spandex pants as he watched something with amusement. She placed a hand on his shoulder, and he snapped his head around; his light frown turned into a small smirk.

"You should watch this Bulma; it's quite amusing."

She looked from her father-in-law to what the king was watching. And she didn't know if her eyes were deceiving her. She had to rub them and blink once again as she tried to register what was happening.

"Is... is that Vegeta sliding on the flour covered ground?" she asked almost in a shaking voice.

The king nodded his head. "Yep."

She shook her head with a smile as she watched along muffling small giggles. He was indeed sliding against the slick floors of the palace almost looked like he was trying to surf!

Oh it was a sight to see!

She noticed her husband snap his head in her direction with a look of horror. She waved to him with a smile as he continued to watch and slide by. Little did he know... he was soon to run into the glass window on the end of the halls...

Poor Vegeta.

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Heh... And so I have completed another chapter. It's a bit more playful than others.

Please send me your comments. It's greatly appreciated!

Takuma