That night, they did as Vegeta had said, and slept in the car. Kakarot and Bardock each took one of the seats up front. The middle seat was folded down, and Raditz and Nappa took it. Vegeta, as was his royal privilege, had the back seat all to himself.
It wasn't long before Kakarot began to snore. Vegeta--who was the night owl of the group and thus the only one still awake--grimaced.
It wasn't long before the snoring trait proved to be hereditary, as Bardock soon followed suit. Vegeta attempted to stuff his gloves in his ears.
***
Bulma had insisted they take an alarm clock, no doubt because of the notorious Saiyan trait of sleeping in. After Vegeta had turned the cursed thing off, for once they all agreed to a plan of action: Breakfast.
Vegeta guided the vehicle to a diner, frequented mostly by truckers. As the new arrivals walked in the door, the customers already there sized them up. They didn't seem too impressed by Vegeta, Raditz, Kakarot, or Bardock, but Nappa seemed to make an impression on them.
Instead of obeying the sign that said "please wait to be seated," they seated themselves at the counter bar. The waitress approached.
"What can I get y'all?"
As it turned out, what she could get them turned out to be "everything. Lots of it. And keep it coming."
***
As Vegeta finished his fifth plate of bacon, he decided this wasn't such a bad place. Sure it was filthy, and the food was nothing special, but they did keep it coming, and quickly. Whenever he was done with one plate, here came another.
Ah--yes, indeed, here was a sixth plate of bacon.
***
Once they were finally done, Vegeta learned two things about Raditz--he was a joker, and he never knew when to stop.
The others had apparently learned not to laugh at the "Vegeta Briefs" credit card, but not Raditz.
"Raditz, you fool, stop laughing now or you're going to pay," growled Vegeta.
And even though Raditz did stop, Vegeta thought he would make him pay anyway. And he knew just how to do it.
***
The schedule for the day included going to a courthouse and watching the end of a murder trial, supposedly to learn how the justice system worked, but the only thing that the Saiyans were interested in was hearing what methods of punishment were available when the man was found guilty.
As they drove to the next stop on the list, Kakarot said he wanted to listen to the radio. He turned it on and meddled with it until he found some music he liked. Unfortunately, Raditz didn't like it.
So Kakarot meddled with it some more until some music Raditz found tolerable began to play. Unfortunately, Bardock didn't like it.
So Kakarot meddled with it some more until some music Bardock found tolerable began to play. Unfortunately, Nappa didn't like it.
So Kakarot meddled with it some more until some music Nappa found tolerable began to play. Unfortunately, Kakarot himself didn't like it.
It was at this point that the radio was destroyed by a small ki blast from a very tense-looking Vegeta.
***
Not too long after, Vegeta parked the air-minivan outside of a small electronics shop. He returned a few minutes later with four devices.
"Baka. Here you go. You can use these so that you can each listen to whatever you want." He showed them how to use them, then settled back into his seat and continued driving.
It wasn't long before Vegeta's worst fear was realized. All four of them settled on one station. Kakarot began to sing, and it wasn't long before the other three joined in.
For the true impact, the gentle reader must understand that there are few things in the universe that sound worse than a singing Saiyan.
Four quick ki blasts later, and the miniature personal radios were destroyed.
***
The next stop was Superworld, an amusement park. Vegeta had to face a difficult choice--stay in the vehicle and let the other four run throughout Superworld unchaperoned, or go with them and be forced to endure the park. In the end, he chose the park.
*In case they blow something up, at least then I can lie somewhat believably and describe the surroundings when I say I tried to stop them.*
***
"Is that the best you fools can do?" the prince of all Saiyans said, amused despite himself.
The others were gathered in front of a "Make Your Own Cotton Candy Cone" Machine. Kakarot and the others had produced a cone nine feet high.
"Hmph. My son and Kakarot's youngest were able to create a twelve foot high one. Then they cut it in half and split it. Once again you find yourselves outdone by children."
They shot him a look, but didn't dare to speak out against their prince.
***
On their way out, Vegeta halted them.
"I need to use the telephone," he said, striding over to one of the public-use telephones.
"What's he doing," mumbled Nappa in a very low voice Vegeta could hear despite both the low volume of Nappa and the high volume of the crowd, "going to talk to that worthless mate of his for support?"
*You'll pay for that one, Nappa. No one insults Bulma and gets away with it. Lucky for you that this call is part of my revenge against Raditz. Unluckily, the way you get paid back will be much, much worse.*
He opened his wallet, and took out a piece of paper.
***
After the call was completed, they drove a few miles. Vegeta pulled over once again, near a large fruit stand.
"No, you cannot get any fruit," he snarled, answering the others' unspoken question. "I'm meeting someone."
No sooner had he spoken then someone came out from under one of the stands. It was a woman. A very specific woman.
"AH! NO! BAKA BAKA BAKA!!" yelled Raditz.
It was the beautiful woman whom Raditz had spoken to in the mall. She approached the air-minivan, and Vegeta motioned for Kakarot to open the door for her.
"Everyone, this is...Ms. Iroke, is it? Yes, Ms. Iroke."
"What's she doing here?!" shouted Raditz.
"Funny you should ask, Raditz. Ms. Iroke here is our companion for the rest of the voyage. Well, I say our companion, but I have the feeling she'll focus mostly on you. Nappa, move up with Bardock, let Raditz and Iroke have the back seat all to themselves."
Once Nappa had moved up, Iroke got in the van and went back to sit next to Raditz.
"Hello again, Raditz! Isn't this nice, we're going to be together for the rest of the trip!"
Raditz, expressionless, looked forward to where Vegeta was grinning evilly back at him. *Memo to self, never make him mad again.* Raditz thought
"Oh yes, very nice," was what he actually said, very blandly.
It wasn't long before Kakarot began to snore. Vegeta--who was the night owl of the group and thus the only one still awake--grimaced.
It wasn't long before the snoring trait proved to be hereditary, as Bardock soon followed suit. Vegeta attempted to stuff his gloves in his ears.
***
Bulma had insisted they take an alarm clock, no doubt because of the notorious Saiyan trait of sleeping in. After Vegeta had turned the cursed thing off, for once they all agreed to a plan of action: Breakfast.
Vegeta guided the vehicle to a diner, frequented mostly by truckers. As the new arrivals walked in the door, the customers already there sized them up. They didn't seem too impressed by Vegeta, Raditz, Kakarot, or Bardock, but Nappa seemed to make an impression on them.
Instead of obeying the sign that said "please wait to be seated," they seated themselves at the counter bar. The waitress approached.
"What can I get y'all?"
As it turned out, what she could get them turned out to be "everything. Lots of it. And keep it coming."
***
As Vegeta finished his fifth plate of bacon, he decided this wasn't such a bad place. Sure it was filthy, and the food was nothing special, but they did keep it coming, and quickly. Whenever he was done with one plate, here came another.
Ah--yes, indeed, here was a sixth plate of bacon.
***
Once they were finally done, Vegeta learned two things about Raditz--he was a joker, and he never knew when to stop.
The others had apparently learned not to laugh at the "Vegeta Briefs" credit card, but not Raditz.
"Raditz, you fool, stop laughing now or you're going to pay," growled Vegeta.
And even though Raditz did stop, Vegeta thought he would make him pay anyway. And he knew just how to do it.
***
The schedule for the day included going to a courthouse and watching the end of a murder trial, supposedly to learn how the justice system worked, but the only thing that the Saiyans were interested in was hearing what methods of punishment were available when the man was found guilty.
As they drove to the next stop on the list, Kakarot said he wanted to listen to the radio. He turned it on and meddled with it until he found some music he liked. Unfortunately, Raditz didn't like it.
So Kakarot meddled with it some more until some music Raditz found tolerable began to play. Unfortunately, Bardock didn't like it.
So Kakarot meddled with it some more until some music Bardock found tolerable began to play. Unfortunately, Nappa didn't like it.
So Kakarot meddled with it some more until some music Nappa found tolerable began to play. Unfortunately, Kakarot himself didn't like it.
It was at this point that the radio was destroyed by a small ki blast from a very tense-looking Vegeta.
***
Not too long after, Vegeta parked the air-minivan outside of a small electronics shop. He returned a few minutes later with four devices.
"Baka. Here you go. You can use these so that you can each listen to whatever you want." He showed them how to use them, then settled back into his seat and continued driving.
It wasn't long before Vegeta's worst fear was realized. All four of them settled on one station. Kakarot began to sing, and it wasn't long before the other three joined in.
For the true impact, the gentle reader must understand that there are few things in the universe that sound worse than a singing Saiyan.
Four quick ki blasts later, and the miniature personal radios were destroyed.
***
The next stop was Superworld, an amusement park. Vegeta had to face a difficult choice--stay in the vehicle and let the other four run throughout Superworld unchaperoned, or go with them and be forced to endure the park. In the end, he chose the park.
*In case they blow something up, at least then I can lie somewhat believably and describe the surroundings when I say I tried to stop them.*
***
"Is that the best you fools can do?" the prince of all Saiyans said, amused despite himself.
The others were gathered in front of a "Make Your Own Cotton Candy Cone" Machine. Kakarot and the others had produced a cone nine feet high.
"Hmph. My son and Kakarot's youngest were able to create a twelve foot high one. Then they cut it in half and split it. Once again you find yourselves outdone by children."
They shot him a look, but didn't dare to speak out against their prince.
***
On their way out, Vegeta halted them.
"I need to use the telephone," he said, striding over to one of the public-use telephones.
"What's he doing," mumbled Nappa in a very low voice Vegeta could hear despite both the low volume of Nappa and the high volume of the crowd, "going to talk to that worthless mate of his for support?"
*You'll pay for that one, Nappa. No one insults Bulma and gets away with it. Lucky for you that this call is part of my revenge against Raditz. Unluckily, the way you get paid back will be much, much worse.*
He opened his wallet, and took out a piece of paper.
***
After the call was completed, they drove a few miles. Vegeta pulled over once again, near a large fruit stand.
"No, you cannot get any fruit," he snarled, answering the others' unspoken question. "I'm meeting someone."
No sooner had he spoken then someone came out from under one of the stands. It was a woman. A very specific woman.
"AH! NO! BAKA BAKA BAKA!!" yelled Raditz.
It was the beautiful woman whom Raditz had spoken to in the mall. She approached the air-minivan, and Vegeta motioned for Kakarot to open the door for her.
"Everyone, this is...Ms. Iroke, is it? Yes, Ms. Iroke."
"What's she doing here?!" shouted Raditz.
"Funny you should ask, Raditz. Ms. Iroke here is our companion for the rest of the voyage. Well, I say our companion, but I have the feeling she'll focus mostly on you. Nappa, move up with Bardock, let Raditz and Iroke have the back seat all to themselves."
Once Nappa had moved up, Iroke got in the van and went back to sit next to Raditz.
"Hello again, Raditz! Isn't this nice, we're going to be together for the rest of the trip!"
Raditz, expressionless, looked forward to where Vegeta was grinning evilly back at him. *Memo to self, never make him mad again.* Raditz thought
"Oh yes, very nice," was what he actually said, very blandly.