Disclaimer: I own two squashes and a turtle dove
Dude Where's My World:
Revised
Chapter 38: Shots Ring for Change
Valerie, Pan and Bra made their way the last few blocks to Mr. Hercule's large estate after the embarrassing fiasco with the boys. "Here we are." Bra said dryly, arms crossed as she looked past the gate to the large manor.
"Holy crap this place is huge..." Valerie mumbled in awe, quietly following behind them as the wide double gates opened before them. "The guy has statues of himself everywhere!" Valerie marveled, awestruck.
"Yeah," Pan said with a sigh, arms crossed, as she led the group. "That's Gramps for you…"
"Is this place bigger than Capsule Corp?" Valerie asked, gulping as Pan rang the doorbell.
"No way," Bra quickly dismissed as a butler came to the door and talked to Pan.
"But they have butlers..." Valerie insisted, still awed.
Bra turned her head to glare at her. "Yeah, well we have hundreds of robots!" She argued back. "And we HAD live staff and a secretary at the original Capsule Corp with gramps —that place had over one hundred rooms— but due to security reasons, mom decided to keep live staff only at CC Headquarters and not at home." Valerie nodded in acknowledgement.
"Come-on already," Pan signaled for them follow her.
Valerie was unable to hold in a gasp of astonishment at large and luxurious foyer before her.
"Mr. Satan is currently finishing up his daily massage out back if you'll all follow me." The butler explained.
"That's excellent!" Bra said excitedly. "I'm going to go get changed into my bathing suit and I can lounge in the back while you two talk to him." Pan nodded in agreement.
"Actually," Valerie started hesitantly as they started to move. "If it's okay with you two, I'd like to just explore the grounds first and I can make my way back to where you guys are." Bra just smiled, and Pan gave her a wink and a thumbs up.
"Do it." Pan said easily. "Gramps won't mind." She assured as she gave her one final wave and showed Bra to a bathroom nearby while Giru went to go look for food now that his mission of accompanying the girls here safely was completed.
Valerie grinned as she looked around the heavily decorated foyer, she had to give it to the old hairy man, he sure had good taste in decorations. There were expensive vases as well as pictures and portraits everywhere you looked with lush rugs and beautiful plants. She realized very quickly that there was a very good chance that she would be getting lost here but that was half the adventure, wasn't it?
"Dude, he has a map!" She exclaimed with amusement as she ran forward to see the large map of the estate. She trailed the map with her finger, pointing to the large X that said, "You are here." She studied the surrounding area seeing a lot of trophy rooms and relaxation rooms for the champ. "Kitchen... dining room one, dining room two..." She shook her head at how many rooms this guy's house had. "Ooh..." A little separated from the main house was his dojo on this same property. "Cool." She mumbled.
Capsule Corp didn't have much in the way of normal gym rooms, due to the fact that all the Saiyans really needed to train was robotic devices of Bulma's creation, gravity rooms and large open spaces that could take a beating. Mr. Satan, however, was a human being who trained like normal people did, so he had plenty of gyms around the property. Valerie smiled at that, maybe she could go to his dojo and throw a few punches on a punching bag or something; being around all these Saiyans definitely produced a lot of pointless urges to grow stronger. She made her way to that area, knowing that her training would be fruitless, since she would never come close to even Yamcha's power level... or maybe not even Hercule's, and groaned at that depressing thought. She looked around with interest as she wandered through the halls trying to make her way back outside to this Dojo. Valerie sped up when she made her way outside and started to hear grunting noises and battle cries, knowing she had to be close now. She came to a stop in front of a large open arched doorway that led to what must be Hercule's School for fighters. She grinned as she came in seeing dozens of guys sparring, lifting weights, boxing, and chattering excitedly about the Champ coming to pay them a visit a little later.
She briefly wondered if she had to sign up somewhere or if she could start using the equipment, but ultimately shrugged off the concern and pulled up her sleeves, deciding to go a few rounds with the punching bag anyway. She let out all of her frustration on the bag for a while; frustration that she felt she mostly had a solid grip on but was always present in the back of her mind. Frustrations that centered around her home, wondering if time was passing there faster or slower or the same? How long it had taken for her family to realize that she was missing? How her father, who was her best friend coping without her? Her eyebrows drew down as she hit the bag even harder at the thought of leaving this place behind and going home. She knew that though she was worried about her home, she didn't want to leave, and it was a feeling of guilt and selfishness that she wasn't used to carrying, but she stifled well enough; it had been so easy and so natural to fall in love with these people, and she had felt a deeper, more meaningful attachment to them in the time that they had been here, than from years of knowing people back home.
"I don't think any of these chumps will try to take us on, do you?" A male voice said a few feet behind Valerie rasped to another man beside him.
"It's not them I'm worried about, it's Mr. Satan." Valerie's ears perked up and her punches slowed down to hear the conversation more easily.
"Nah, don't worry about him, chum, he's getting all prettified and massaged for his next television show, that old coot won't be in his house for the next hour, ya dig?" She shifted carefully to the left to see them as best she could through her peripheral as she continued to halfheartedly punch at the bag now.
"What about his star Pupil, Buu?" The other asked.
"Listen, Bert, we can go back and forth all day about all the people who can and can't be inside, but the situation is like this." The first guy, a dark shaggy haired guy wearing brown gi pants and a white loose t-shirt tucked into his pants explained to his partner; a pale blonde man with brown worried eyes. "Hercule is busy, his students are currently training, his granddaughter and daughter are in West City for vacation with Capsule Corporation, and Buu and his family is probably distracted eating chocolate or somethin'. This is the best shot we're going to get, see?" Bert nodded his agreement.
"You're right Ern. Let's do this." Bert said with more excitement as he left the bench that he'd been pretending to bench press on.
"Good. Now follow ma lead." Ern urged, attempting to casually move towards the exit with Bert whistling obnoxiously, his arms waving back and forth too dramatically as he walked. "Casual!" Ern hissed at his partner, elbowing him in the ribs as the two stood laughing nervously at the doorway. "Man... that is one, tough, workout we just had there, yes sir." Ern said loudly, over exaggerating a wipe at his brow to get rid of the sweat. "I-Am-Beat." He exhaled.
"Oh brother..." Valerie rolled her eyes as she grabbed a nearby towel off a rack, wiped off some sweat and made her way to the door to follow. Valerie ran after the guys, making sure to keep her distance, occasionally having to hide behind a pillar as they looked for an open door into the mansion. The Dojo, though on the same grounds, as Mr. Hercule's home, was not attached to the building; a student or the champ himself having to go through the garden or the separate entrance for his school. Valerie knew exactly which entrance they would likely find open since she herself had gone through there not an hour ago. She hesitated as they disappeared around a corner, debating as to whether she should tell the others or follow them herself. Growling in annoyance she turned back and ran towards the backyard, not going more than fifteen feet before she ran straight into Bra who stumbled back, frowning.
"Val!" She scolded, in irritation, wiping at her bikini.
Valerie brows lifted as she noticed the two piece the young girl was wearing: a two-piece blue bikini with pink flower prints on both pieces. "Bra, you are WAY too young to be wearing that." Valerie shook her head, glancing behind her as she quickly unzipped her zip-up sweater and forced it on the complaining Bra.
"Val, you're acting like my mom!" Bra whined as she zipped it up with a roll of her eyes.
"Shut up and come-on!" Valerie grabbed Bra's wrist and pulled the surprised girl with her towards where the men had disappeared.
"What are we doing—Val WHERE are we goi—" She was shushed harshly by Valerie who slowed as they turned a corner and entered the mansion, going though the corridors and cutting across heavily decorated rooms following faint voices. When they got closer, Valerie turned to Bra once more, ducking a bit and signaling for her to do the same. Bra looked very confused as she started to hear the awkward duo who whispered loudly amongst themselves, thumping one another in the head for stupid suggestions.
"I'm telling you there's nothing good down here, we need to go up the stairs." Ern argued earnest, attempting to keep his voice down but failing miserably in the echoing halls.
"What was that?' Bert asked, eyes wide as he looked behind him, panicked. Ern followed his line of sight, surveying the surrounding area, not seeing anything but a few tall plants and a dresser or two.
"You knucklehead," Ern insulted, annoyed, as he thunked his partner once more. "You've got to keep your head!" Bert rubbed his head vigorously.
"Well I'm going to lose it if you keep hitting me!" He scolded loudly, getting shushed and hit once more. Bra looked over at Valerie, arching a brow.
The two men moved down the hallway, attempting to find the staircase and Bra put out a hand to stop Valerie from following and stood up, tired of this lame game of detective. "Are they trying to steal?" Bra asked, arms crossing, looking completely uninterested and unintentionally resembling her father strongly, if it weren't for the sleeves that were way too long for the pre-teen that made the expression look a little comical.
"Yes," Val whispered, looking around the hall to make sure the men were not noticing them.
"...You brought me over so we can stop them, didn't you?" Receiving a nod, Bra shook her head and gave a shrug. "…Fine, but you're sunbathing with me when we're done." Bra glared at Valerie when she saw her opening her mouth to argue. "No butts, it's the only reason I agreed to come over. My family didn't put a lot into our pool, but Mr. Satan has an awesome back yard and fantastic servants. You're sunbathing with me and that's the end of it." Valerie rolled her eyes.
"Fine!" She hissed. "Can we please just stop the bad guys, please?" Bra nodded, satisfied and crouched a little, starting to run down the next hall, able to easily sense where they were at. Valerie followed with a little more paranoia, looking around in case they got caught. Bra quietly led them up the stairs and turned left, quietly passing gold hand railings that overlooked the grand foyer, stopping at the first door.
She shook her head, snickering. "They're on the wrong side of the building. Hercule keeps his money on the other end, what losers." Valerie shushed her, annoyed. Her eyes widened when she saw Bra reach for the door — and almost lost her balance attempting to reach forward to stop her but unable to do it — before she lightly opened the door a fraction.
"...You sure this is where he keeps his money?" Ern asked his friend, scratching his head in the middle of the room as he looked around. Bert nodded, looking equally confused as he studied the wrinkled map of the property that he had in his hands. Ern came over and studied the map over his shoulder. Bra could see the guy's eye twitch and his lip curl in a snarl as he whacked the back of the man's head again. "YOU IDIOT, YOU HAD IT UPSIDE DOWN!" He screamed, tearing the map out of his hands and flipping it before putting it back in his hands.
It was Bert's turn to hush Ern, both men freezing when they heard a giggle; they turned towards the door and Ern studied the slightly cracked door with a frown on his face. "Did you leave the door open, Bert?" He asked, coldly; Bert simply shook his head.
Valerie and Bra had quickly gotten out of view, looking at each other nervously as they heard no noise emit from the room anymore. "..." Then they heard the un-mistake noise of a gun cocking and their eyes widened.
Before Valerie could register what was happening, Bra grabbed her arm and swung Valerie over the railing, before going over herself keeping a tight hold of the older girl and grabbing the lowest edge of a gold bar. Bra cringed as Valerie swung beneath her, grateful that Valerie hadn't screamed yet. From what Bra could see, neither of the goons would not be able to see her as long as they didn't look over the railing, but if they did that though, they were quite possibly very screwed. It wasn't herself that she was worried about, Bra glanced down at Valerie who tightly held onto her arm with both of her hands, glancing down every few seconds, looking up at her in fear.
"See anything, Ern?" Bert asked quietly from behind Ern who stood at the door, pistol held up, agitation on his face as he looked around the empty hallways.
"...No" He finally answered, beginning to feel more and more frustrated. The plan here had not gone at all the way he had wanted it too, his partner was an idiot, they were being way too loud, they were on the wrong side of the house, and now they were hearing noises.
"Maybe we should get out of here, Ern." Ern shook his head, angrily.
"No, we're not leaving till we get what we came for! Now shut your pie hole and follow me." Ern glanced more to the left corridor and feeling assured no one was around he moved to the right, passing the dangling girls without seeing them as he moved forward to the correct part of the house. This time, Bra made sure to give them enough of a head start and looked down once more.
"Ready?"
"To stop hanging from a dangerously bone breaking height? Oh, totally dude" Valerie nervously assured. Bra nodded, pulling herself up a bit to get one last look down the hallway and pulling Valerie up with one arm enough so that she held onto the bars herself; able to let go, Bra quickly pulled herself up and helped Valerie up as well before starting to move down the hallway.
Valerie immediately noticed Bra's serious mood and quietly followed, wondering vaguely if she should go get Pan so Bra wouldn't have just her as back-up, knowing realistically that she wouldn't be much help to Bra if she got shot. Bra didn't stop to think of any of this though, too focused on where these men were at. They left the double doors wide open this time though as they worked on getting into Hercule's safe.
"Uncapsulize our bag, I think I have something that'll open this right up for us." Ern demanded, smiling as he stood back up, studying the safe. Bert nodded reaching into his pocket and throwing out a capsule that quickly poofed forth a duffel bag, open and filled to the brim with explosives. Bra took a step back and forced Valerie to do the same.
"Go back and tell Hercule, Pan, Buu—whoever you find— these two idiots have enough to cause some damage to this building." Bra whispered, frowning "Everyone needs to go. We're close to Hercule's Dojo here."
Valerie nodded and attempted to run as quietly as possible, when she went down the grand staircase, she saw a butler holding a stray cat that had managed to get inside the house, and was about to throw it out, when she flagged him down.
"You!" She ran to him and pointed to the backyard. "Go tell Hercule and his granddaughter that there is an intruder in their house on the second floor. Everyone needs to leave the perimeter, it's too dan—" A small explosion rocked the house a little and Valerie's eyes widened. "GO!" She shouted, grabbing the cat quickly from his hands and running up the stairs as fast as her legs could take her. She saw the smoke billowing out of the double doors and ran ahead without a thought.
The first thing she was able to make it through the smoke was one of the men hanging on the chandelier, his clothes singed, the wall behind the safe was almost entirely gone — sunlight streaming through the large hole and Bra was grimacing as she got up from the far corner of the room. "Bra!" Valerie shouted, concerned. Bra shook her head quickly, coughing as she signaled frantically for Valerie to leave the room, but before she could ask what was wrong she saw the first man, Ern getting up from behind Hercule's metal desk where he had thrown himself behind when the explosion occurred. She could see how enraged he was as he started to point his shaking gun towards Bra, chest heaving.
Without thinking, Valerie threw the cat at the man's face with all her strength making him cry out in surprise. Valerie dropped to the ground as she heard a shot go off and in seconds felt the press of something soft and a bit cold to her body lift her upward. She glanced up, fearfully and noticed Bra's was right beside her, giving her a rueful grin, her face a little scratched up. Valerie looked up and realized Majin Buu was taking them out of the room, calmly humming and walking down with both girls protectively between his arm and belly. Buu took them out into the hallway as Pan and Hercule ran by them and into the room shouting at the top of their lungs, their fisted hands pumping at the air in anger. Buu ignored the ruckus and took them down the stairs and out the front door where he set them down on the grass, leaving to go help Mrs. Buu who was shooing the crowd forming twenty-feet away at Mr. Satan's gate.
Valerie studied Bra, still kneeling on the ground, making sure that the younger girl was okay. Bra seemed to be doing the same thing, looking down at herself critically for any damage and she frowned when she saw her nails before she unzipped the jacket, grinning when she noticed her bathing suit was just fine. "…Thanks for letting me borrow your jacket." Bra grinned cheekily at Valerie, offering a peace sign at her almost now black sweater.
Valerie rolled her eyes, smiling. "I wouldn't signal victory yet, you haven't looked at your hair yet." She was almost tempted to take back what she said at the look of sheer terror on the young pre-teen's face, who scrambled up and ran inside the house to look for a bathroom. Pan carefully flew out of the large hole of her Grandpa's study and shook her head as she surveyed the damage, smiling, as she floated down to Valerie, still able to hear her gramps giving the bad guys an earful.
"You okay, Val?" Pan asked, arms crossed and a smile in place as she studied the girl.
"Oh, I'm fine." Valerie said, dusting herself off and wiping the dirt off her face as she stood up, glancing over at the same time as Pan when they heard the panicked robotic voice of Giru flying towards them at top speed.
"PAN! PAN!" He stopped abruptly in front of them. "Are you okay?" He asked his best friend with worry as he looked her over. Pan grinned and tickled him underneath his chin.
"I'm fine, Giru." She said light heartedly. "But I can't say the same for the bad guys... Gramps is laying into them, including the one that's knocked out!" Pan laughed.
"Nobody was hurt though?" Valerie asked, smiling in relief, ignoring the sounds of sirens quickly approaching the building.
"Nah. A bag of explosives was thrown out of the room, I'm assuming by Bra, to prevent a bigger explosion, maybe they managed to get one and that went off?" Pan shrugged, unable to fully explain what happened in there. "But whatever it was that happened killed a poor kitty." Valerie's eyes widened in horror.
"The cat is dead?" She asked, gulping as all color drained from her face.
"Yup." Pan confirmed, sighing. "Poor little thing never stood a chance."
"...I'm a cat killer." She muttered, sitting down heavily on the ground and laid down with her arms thrown out as she stared at the blue sky above, unhappily. "I'm a horrible, monstrous, terrible cat killer person..." Valerie shook her head in disbelief. "This…this must be what being a Villains feel like..."
Pan and Giru sweat dropped looking at each other, confused.
When Hercule and some of his staff came out, Miss Buu went inside, and Valerie's jaw dropped when she finally noticed he, stuttering over her words as she tried to get an explanation from anyone as to how, why, or when the heck that had happened. The girls had been amused by the fifty questions but grew annoyed again when the reports started to show up. Within minutes the front of the gate was filled with reporters who had found out about attempted robbery occurring at the Hercule Manor. The media poured out by the dozens to the Champs gate, attempting to get an interview with the world's savior about what exactly happened. "—Mr. Hercule please!" A reported desperately called amongst a swarming frenzy of the press.
"CHAMP!" Another called, jumping up and down in a desperate attempt to get his attention.
Knowing his publicist heavily suggested he give a statement to the press, he finally made his way to the front of his estate, where his gate was barely managing to keep the crowds of reporters at bay.
"What happened here today, Mr. Satan?" Another reporter asked. Hercule's eyes narrowed in on his and he grinned, cockily, wagging his index finger.
"What happened was that two amateurs decided to mess with the bull and as you can see," He said, gesturing to the large hole in his home. "They got the horns, HAHA—OOH YEAH!" He shouted as the cameras flashed in quicker succession.
Bra, Pan and Valerie watched the show, twenty feet back as they sat on his front steps looking bored and miserable as they waited for Videl to pick them up. "Oh man." Valerie cringed as she watched Hercule make a fool of himself in front of the paparazzi. "This is even more painful to watch in person." Bra laughed in agreement and Pan just sighed, embarrassed, refusing to comment as Giru scratched his head.
"Mr. Hercule, are you saying you singlehandedly caught the burglars and brought them down?" Another reported asked, eyes shining with admiration. Hercule quickly glanced behind him to study the group of Pan's friends she'd brought over, noticing that it was just one of the Briefs kids and a friend of theirs he didn't remember. He grinned as he turned back, figuring they wouldn't care if he took the credit.
"You're damn right that's what I'm saying, aren't you listening, reporter guy? I AM THE BEST!" He threw his fists up in the air to another round of applause and loud chatter from the crowds gathering outside his home.
"But sir!" Another attempted to speak amongst the overpowering chants for the hero. "SIR! Mr. Hercule," He smiled, relieved, when he noticed he finally had the champions attention. "W-what about reports that dynamite was what caused that explosion and stopped the intruders in your upstairs study?" He asked sheepishly, as he pushed up his glasses back comfortably on his face.
"GR-HOW DARE YOU, YOU WORM!" Hercule shouted, teeth almost sharpening as he shouted down at the smaller man. "I SAVED THE WORLD—WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"
"Oh brother," Bra rolled her eyes, shaking her head as they had to witness the small man apologizing reverently over and over to the savior of the world. Hercule eventually seemed to have enough of the man's groveling and waved it off.
"Forget about it, little man. I'll chalk it up to ignorance but know this," Hercule stated confidently, fists on his hips. "When you go against the Champion of the world's and his powerful Satan Punch, you'll leave in a stretcher—AHAHA!" He finished his commentary with his signature Peace sign pose, with Buu clapping at his side, neither noticing his daughter fly into the compound a few feet away.
Videl immediately saw the bored looking girls all sitting together on the porch: Bra with her arms behind her supporting her upper body, Pan miserably leaning her chin on her fists, and Valerie keeping her chin on her forearms that rested on her bended knees. Videl grinned, a loud exhale of relief escaping her as she turned off the copter and rushed to them. "Are you girl's all right?" She asked, looking them over once more to be sure. She had just managed to convince Chichi that the girls were just fine before she'd arrived and had caught the news story breaking on the television. Chichi had, of course, thrown a fit and had nearly taken off out of the house but Videl had calmed her down and assured her that she'd go make sure the girls were okay and bring them home. "What happened!" She demanded, her anger catching up with her now that she was sure that they were safe and well.
Having sensed Videl coming, Giru had hid behind Pan and came out hesitantly, the older woman's eyes narrowing on him. Pan sighed. "Burglars broke into Gramps house but everything is fine." Videl nodded, glancing at her father who was still laughing as he waved goodbye to his fans.
"Oh Videl!" Hercule's eyes lightened with genuine excitement at seeing his daughter. He jogged over to her and gave her a tight hug. "How is my little girl?" Videl wrinkled her face, displeased with the tightness of the hug but allowed it for a few more seconds, before pulling away.
"Daddy, what the heck! I let Pan come over and your house is half destroyed." Hercule smiled down at his granddaughter and rubbed her head lovingly.
"It wasn't their fault." He assured easily. "I'm always happy to have my little Pan come over."
"…I'm just glad no one got hurt." Videl sighed. Valerie let her head drop to the side onto her arm, her cheek now resting on her forearm, giving a very loud and over exaggerated sigh as she stared into the distance, despondently.
Videl arched a brow, worried at the girl's pained countenance; Bra looked over at Valerie immediately recognizing the expression and groaned, punching Valerie in the arm. "THAT'S ENOUGH ABOUT THE DAMN CAT!" Bra growled in warning, hearing Pan echo an agreement. Videl shook her head, not even wanting to ask what they were talking about, she signaled for them to get up.
"Let's go girls, Chichi is going to kill me if I don't get home soon." She mumbled, turning back to her father with an embarrassed smile. "I really am sorry about the house, daddy." He waved it off, completely unfazed by it. The girls waved their goodbyes taking a few steps, Videl already having Bra in her arms ready to fly off.
"One-second, Videl." Hercule requested making all the girls pause. "Hey Kid!" He called, his gaze setting on Valerie, startling her. "Let me talk to you for a second." She scratched the top of her head, confused, as she followed him a few feet away, shooting a look at the others who shrugged in response.
"...Yes, sir?" She asked.
"You helped Vegeta's daughter stop the intruders?" He asked, arms crossing.
"Well," She hesitated. "I don't know if you can call what I did help, seeing as I just I threw a cat..." He shook his head.
"I saw the bag of dynamite." He disagreed. "If it wasn't for you two girls, it's likely that half of my home would have been destroyed and possibly some of my dojo hurting some innocent people inside. I owe you a thanks, kid." He insisted. "Do you want an autograph or something?" Valerie chuckled, uncomfortably.
"Uh no thank you, sir." She attempted to say as kindly as possible. "...Er, who I am kidding, sure, why not." She laughed, shrugging. He may not be the world hero the world here thought him out to be, but he was still a DBZ character and she knew none of her actual favorite characters would likely ever offer her one before they went back home. His eyes lit up at the acceptance and he nodded, snapping his fingers. A waiter came over with one already in hand. Hercule took it and quickly signed it, handing it to her.
"There you go, kid." Valerie scanned it briefly:
To my biggest fan, thank you for all the support
From the World Champion,
Satan Hercule.
Valerie chuckled, "Gee, thank you sir." Valerie thanked, sweat dropping.
"You're all right, kid." He nodded as he studied her wimpy frame. "You're not like the others, are you?" He asked.
Valerie straightened up at that, nervously. "W-what do you mean?" She asked, eyes wide.
He nodded, even more confident that his assessment had been true. "You're not like Goku or any of the other fighters, right?"
Her shoulders dropped at that reminder. "Oh," She mumbled. "No, I'm not" She admitted with a light shrug. "I'm probably the furthest thing from them there is." He nodded as he listened to her sorrowful confession, an idea generating itself in his head.
"Listen kid, believe it or not, the Champ wasn't always the strongest man in the universe. I know what it's like to be the small guy." He nodded, frowning. "What do you say I give you a few free private lessons as a way to thank you for what you did here today?"
Her eyes widened to the size of saucers as she took a step back and immediately shook her head before she could stop herself. "I m-mean I couldn't possibly take up your time…" She cringed, hoping he'd take the bait.
"Nonsense!" He shouted, as some of his students started making their way towards them to head to the emergency exit on the other side of the estate since firemen and police covered the area where the dojo was, and the paparazzi was still lingering in the front of the house. "This opportunity only comes once in a lifetime kid." Hercule reminded.
"Did I just hear the Champ offer to tutor her one on one?" A student asked, eyes wide as he passed by, pointing a thumb back at them. The other with him nodded vigorously.
"Yeah, man." He replied nasally. "Ooh man what an opportunity!" He stopped, shaking his head. "You're not going to say no, are you?" He asked in disbelief. Some others started to stop and murmured in agreement voicing their support. Hearing Mr. Satan's supporters begin to start chanting as they surrounded them, Valerie could do nothing but cringe into herself as the world Champ stood before her awaiting an answer; hating what she was about to say with every fiber of her being, she swallowed with some difficulty and nodded.
"...I'll be your student." She choked out, wincing as she said the words out loud.
…
On the ship:
"It's safe to come out now," Bulma assured Josie with a grin, amused from having helped her escape the wrath of Trunks and Goten throughout the day by keeping her hidden in a secret compartment in her office from the latest stunt that she'd pulled on the guys. She hadn't realized that Josie had not been kidding when she said there was already something in place for her revenge against her martial arts tutors, and she had also not been lying when she said the plan was simple: temporary orange hair dye in their shampoo bottle. Josie had assured them through the comm system that the hair dye was temporary and that it would be gone before they landed on Namek, but that hadn't stopped the boys from trying to find her and wrangle her. Bulma had been as patient as she could be with the boys as they searched throughout her office, muttering to themselves about how there were only so many places the girl could hide while they were in space, before Bulma had kicked them out. "You sweet trouble maker, you." Bulma pinched Josie's cheeks warmly, yawning to herself, putting an elbow on her work table and chin on her fist as she studied her new device. "So what do you think?" She asked, watching as Josie put the new scouter on her face.
Bulma reached over after a moment and pushed a button on the side for her, explaining how they worked individually. Josie nodded, digesting the information with interest. "I think it's working." She grinned as the tiny machine bleeped and signaled the largest power. "This is so cool. This even says it's Goku..." She shook her head in amazement. "You outdid yourself, Bulma." Bulma grinned back in response to the compliment.
"Thank you." She bowed her head slightly. "You would think this would be enough to get the guys to consider taking me along again, wouldn't you?" Bulma laughed. Josie stopped her exploration of the device and looked at the older woman with curiosity.
"They really don't take you on any of these adventures anymore, do they?" Bulma shook her head.
"Not really," She said with a smile. "I understand. These bad guys they've been fighting the last dozen years have gradually become more and more dangerous and ever since I married Vegeta..." She smiled. "He won't let me anywhere it unless I have to be there." Josie nodded in understanding and began to toy with the machine again, pressing once more as the screen indicated Vegeta's current power level and his location. Praising the older woman for her cool new invention, Josie equally encouraged her to go to sleep. It was impressive that the boys had held up on finding her this long, but it was already past their bedtime, and she was sure that they'd be giving up soon, especially since they probably knew Bulma was helping her hide. Convinced it was time to sleep, Bulma went off to bed and Josie snuck off as quietly as possibly to her room.
Of course that helped her in absolutely no way, because as soon as she entered her room, the boys had to stop her from screaming out as the popped off of the beds to scare her. "YOU SCUMDINKLES!" She hissed under her breath, pulling one of their hands away from her mouth and flicking on the light, glaring at them.
"So where were you hiding, Josie?" Goten asked playfully, bouncing back on Piccolo's would be bed, enjoying this. Orange on him didn't look half bad but it was probably because it was a color that she already associated with his family. Orange on Trunks, however…
"You look like a troll doll." Josie told Trunks, jumping beside Goten on the bed and scurrying to hide behind him when Trunks made a move towards her.
"You know what you have to do." Trunks told her, his arms crossed as he stared down at Josie and waited for her to comply.
Josie knew that she could try to fight this…but she would lose, and more than that, she deserved what was coming. She nodded, taking Goten's offered hand to get back up off the bed. "Fine," She sighed dramatically, "But know this, Trunks Brief." Trunks arched a brow at her upheld finger. "You may enslave me to dishes on this ship…and you may make me plank until my arms fall off…and yes, you may dye my hair unnatural colors against my will, but you can never take away my pride from me."
"…I think all of those things you just mention do a good enough job of that for me." He countered, pointing a solemn arm towards the bathroom for her to get to marchin'. Josie shot a glare at him, then at Goten, before she turned and back away into the bathroom.
"I wear no shame with this for I fought brave and—"
"Shut up!" Eyes widening at the pillows coming for her face, Josie quickly slammed the door closed to the bathroom and smiled to herself as she shook her head, and sighed at the bottle of orange-dye shampoo already open and waiting for her on the bathroom counter, mentally preparing herself to make a fool of herself alongside her friends.
When she came out of the bathroom she was glad to see that the boys were still awake, and after the two had a good laugh at her expense the three took a few pictures together, before the guys went to their rooms to sleep. Josie sat on her bed smiling for a while as she dried her silly orange hair and finally got up to the cockpit for what felt like the last time.
Josie padded barefoot to the viewing deck. The machines hummed silently, and the room remained for the most part dark except for a light or two that would occasionally flash on the console. She stayed in the middle of the room and smiled at the view of the galaxy before her, familiarizing herself with the nervous butterflies that took over her stomach whenever she came upon the overwhelming view, the feeling almost bordered on pain — especially now that she could make out Namek in the distance. Josie smiled anyway, holding her middle gently and coming down the two steps next to the console and taking a seat.
Sixteen and in space, if my teachers could only see me now… Josie thought with a grin. Sighing happily, she leaned her chin on her closed fist and let her mind wander for the next few hours, as she watched the green planet grow closer, wondering what kind of adventure the green planet would bring.
Unaware of how much time exactly had passed by but thinking she may have dozed off once or twice, Josie finally made herself get up and leave the cockpit, knowing it was well past her bed time when she couldn't hear a single noise from anywhere else on the ship.