Chapter 9
Prince Charming, Divide and Conquer
Quote: "From what I can tell he seems nice enough. Ah! And he's handsome too." Princess Snake
Part 1
A portal opened up in a large hall. Three figures stepped out, along with an infant.
"Where are we?" asked Trunks, holding chibi Vegeta.
Carrot tapped a button on the scouter-like device on his face. "We're in the palace, inbetween the Queen's room and King Vegeta's throne room."
"What should we do first?" asked Trunks, rocking Vegeta slowly.
"We need to find the palace's main computer," said Veggi. "With it we might be able to take the scouters off line."
Trunks nodded. "But we also need to protect the King and Queen." Trunks thought about the situation for a moment. "We'll have to split up. One of us protects the King, another the Queen, and the third will go and disable the scouters. Veggi you take care of the computer, Carrot protect the Queen, and I'll protect the King."
"What about Vegeta," said Carrot. They all looked at the infant, who yawned.
"I'll take him," said Veggi. "It would look strange if either of you were seen with a kid, especially if you plan on protecting the King and Queen."
She took Vegeta and cradled him in the crook of her arm.
"Alright, lets split up," said Trunks. The twins nodded. "Good luck."
"Same to you," said Carrot, and he left for the Queen's chambers.
"Be careful, Trunks, of both Nall's men and the Saiya-jins," said Veggi.
"I will," promised Trunks. The two parted and went to their separate tasks.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Part 2
Trunks walked down the long hall that led to the King's throne room. He wondered how the hell he was going to get inside the room without the guards attacking him.
"Hey you!" shouted a voice from behind. Trunks turned to see two male Saiya-jins and a female Saiya-jin walking up to him. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" demanded one of the Saiya-jins. He was the tallest of the group, with short spiky hair, his bangs party covering one eye.
The other man was about as tall as Trunks, with hair down to his shoulders.
Scars crisscrossed his whole body, and Trunks couldn't help comparing him to Yamacha. The female was the smallest of the group. Her raven black hair went to the small of her back; side locks of hair fell in front of her shoulders and her bangs fell down in her eyes. She was actually very pretty, in a muscular sort of way. "I said who are you?!" demanded the tallest Saiya-jin.
"I'm Trunks."
"What kind of Saiya-jin name is that?" said the one that reminded Trunks of Yamacha.
"It's foreign," said Trunks.
"How exotic!" said the female in a deep voice. Her eyes scanned up and down Trunks. Anyone could see the interest in their coal black depths.The other two males frowned and took a step in front of the female.
"What are you doing snooping around outside the King's throne room," demanded the tallest, obviously the leader.
Trunks gulped. He hoped Veggi had gotten the computers down. He might have to fight these three. "I was given orders to come here and protect the King."
"Who gave you those orders?" questioned the tall Saiya-jin with the short hair.
"Um..." Trunks racked his brain, but could only think of one answer that might work. "Nappa did."
The three exchanged glances and Trunks thought for sure that they were on to him. To his surprise they didn't attack.
"Did Nappa send you to join us?" asked the one that looked like Yamacha.
"Uh, yes," said Trunks.
"Very well, but first lets get a look at your power reading," said the leader. Trunks quickly powered up to some where between 2000 and 3000.
Whatever his reading was the leader seemed to be satisfied. "I'm Korn," he said.
"I'm Yam," said the one that looked like Yamacha. Trunks had to try hard not to show his shock. Was this guy Yamacha's evil twin or what?
"And I'm Ginger," purred the female. She walked over to Trunks and took his arm, making him nervous and the other two Saiya-jins angry. "Since we're going to be working together you and I should get to know each other better." She leaned closer to Trunks "I can tell you and I are going to be close; very close."
Trunks could not suppress the shiver that ran down his spine, caused both by the sound of Ginger's voice and the murderous looks Yam and Korn were giving him. Well, at least he'd found a way to get close to the king.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Part 3
Carrot had to try hard not to smile. He turned down another hall, and watched as a pair of warriors stumbled all over themselves before bowing low to him. He waved his hand at them and they practically ran away. I could get used to this, thought Carrot. He reached the Queen's room and paused at the door. What am I going to tell her? That I just felt like coming by? I don't think that's a very good explanation, especially considering who I'm suppose to be. Carrot straightened his spine and squared his shoulders. I'm the King right now, so I don't need to explain myself. Carrot nodded to himself and pushed the button to open the door.
Unfortunately for Carrot, the Queen was in her room with Vegeta, breast-feeding him. Carrot's face turned red and he spun around faster than the eye could see. The last thing he needed to see was his great grandma's breasts!
"My King, is something wrong?" asked Queen Celleris.
"No!" answered Carrot, trying hard to regain control of his blood and force it away from his head. Carrot dared a look behind himself, and saw that she had finished and was now fixing her top. He turned around to face her. Queen Celleris was a beautiful Saiya-jin. Her hair was black with a reddish brown color to it, going down to her thighs. It was tied back in a thick braid. Her face was sharply angled, like his own, and her eyes were slanted. She had a small compact frame, covered in well-defined muscles, yet it was strangely feminine. She wore a sleeveless white lose- fitting long dress with slit up both legs to her thighs. Carrot watched as she pulled her armor on, which was built for the female shape, with a shirt of strips of armor around the waist.
"My King, is there anything I can help you with?" asked the Queen in a obedient voice. Carrot was more than a little surprised to hear submission in the voice of any Saiya-jin, let alone his ancestor.
"No," said Carrot, trying to sound as powerful and as angry as possible.
"I'm tired, so I came here to rest."
"Is there something wrong with your room, my lord?" asked Celleris. Carrot mentally smacked himself.
"Are you saying I'm not welcome here?" asked Carrot, making a scowl. The Queen quickly shook her head.
"No, my lord, I was just wondering. Please, do come in."
Carrot gave a sigh and entered the room. He sat down on a large couch and crossed his arms. He noticed that the Queen was starting at him with a puzzled look on her face. "What?" he demanded.
The Queen walked up to him and touched his face. Carrot was more then a little unnerved by the simple gesture. The Queen took a firm hold of his chin and turned his head slightly from side to side. A grin crossed her face. "You shaved it off."
"What?" asked Carrot, not knowing what she was talking about.
"Your mustache and beard; they're gone." Carrot mentally smacked himself again. He had no idea the King had a beard. Damn that Crono! He should have foreseen this, thought Carrot. He probably did and is laughing at my expense.
"So what," said Carrot, trying to sound confident.
Celleris ran her fingers over his chin, "I like it," she purred. Carrot had to quench the urge to freak out. Instead he snorted and pulled his chin out of her hold.Carrot would have really freaked out if he had known that Celleris thought he looked a little shorter.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Part 4
Veggi walked down the palace hall with delight written all over her face.
Look at his place it's incredible, she thought. Everything was high tech, yet simple enough for a Saiya-jin to use. The lights had motion detectors that switched on whenever someone came within 100 feet. Different areas had machines that lowered the gravity for beings not used to the Saiya-jin's home planet's gravity. To Veggi's surprise, there were several alien species walking around the palace, probably members of Freeza's force.
Veggi passed two male Saiya-jins that gave her a look-over. Her mother, Blue Lady, had once told her that Saiya-jin females were few on Planet Vegeta. Of course, carrying around her chibied grandpa helped keep them from getting too close.
She watched as two aliens, not Saiya-jins, left a room. She glanced inside before the door closed and saw many machines. Must be the control room. She stopped one of the aliens. "Is anyone else in there?"
The aliens exchanged glances. "No, we're taking a break. Unless, of course, you insist we continue with the repairs," said one alien.
Repairs, thought Veggi. "How far are you?"
"We're almost done. The computer just had a bug. We were going to run some checks to make sure all systems were operational," said the other alien.
Veggi thought carefully. She had to find a way to ask them about the scouters without making them suspicious. "My scouter is giving me some strange readings. Did your repairs have anything to do with that?"
The two aliens looked nervous. "Well," began one, "we did play around a little with the system. It might have caused a short in your scouter."
"We can get you another one. There's one right in the room," said the other alien. Both seemed intimidated by her. Not that she blamed them; the Saiya-jins were a violent race.
"Don't bother!" snapped Veggi, pretending to be annoyed. "I'll get it myself." She walked past the two aliens and hit the button on the door. It opened with a shhh noise. Once she was inside the door closed behind her, and Veggi smiled smugly. "That was almost too easy," she said out loud.
Veggi sat down at the large computer and began looking through the system. Luckily for her, lots of files were open from the two aliens' repairs. It didn't take long for her to find the scouter system. It was quite an impressive program. From this station she could send a message to any or all Saiya-jins, transfer data, store information, listen in on conversations from Saiya-jins on far away planets, etc. She cracked her knuckles and began looking through the programs. It wasn't long before the computer asked for a password. Veggi smiled and began hacking the program. She just loved messing with computers.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Part 5
Somewhere inside the palace, a portal opened up and two dozen soldiers of various races poured out. A purple-skinned woman with green hair stepped forward. She was the leader.
"Listen up everyone!" she shouted. "We're deep inside the Saiya-jin's palace now. Watch your ass or the Saiya-jins will tear you to pieces. Our objective is the Saiya-jin prince, Vegeta." A hologram appeared of the infant princling. "He is to be captured alive and unharmed. This will not be an easy task considering that he will be well guarded by elite Saiya-jin soldiers. Therefore, we are going to spilt up into two groups. The first group will fight the Saiya-jin King as a diversion; the second group will enter the Queen's bedchamber and capture the target. Any questions?!"
The troops fidgeted around a bit before one got the guts to speak. "You expect us to fight an army of Saiya-jins and capture the Vegeta, Emperor VEGETA?! That's suicide!"
The green-haired leader smacked the soldier hard enough to send him crashing into the wall. "Coward! Our shields and weapons will protect us from any Saiya-jins, and as for Vegeta, he is an infant. He has a high power level for a baby, but he's no fighter right now. Anyone that doesn't follow Lord Nall-sama's orders will face his wrath. Any other questions?"
The troops were so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.
"Good," said the leader. She then divided them into two groups. "Meet back here when we have the prince," she barked. The troops saluted her and went to their tasks.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Part 6
Trunks shifted uncomfortably as Ginger pressed herself up against his side; if his hair wasn't already standing up straight before, it sure was now! Yam and Korn growled low under their breaths, and Trunks sighed. Why him? Why did woman everywhere he went flirt, giggle, glomp, and chase him? I feel so used, thought Trunks, like some sick person out there is doing this to me for his own amusement.
"Trunks-san, why don't you meet me later to night, after our shift," saidGinger in a low husky voice. A large sweat drop formed on his forehead.
"That's it!" shouted Yam. He got up and grabbed Trunks by the front of his shirt. "You keep your hands off of my sister right now," he growled in Trunks' face.
"Yam!" shouted Ginger. She grabbed Trunks and protectively held on to him.
Trunks began to panic since the side of his face was forcefully being pillowed on Ginger's breasts. "I'm not a little girl anymore! I can take care of myself and choose who I what to mate with by myself!" Trunks began to wave his arms, trying to break free without raising his power level.
"You don't even know what family he's from!" shouted back Yam. "You could be breeding with a third class Saiya-jin for all you know!"
"What?!" shouted back Ginger. "He's an elite soldier! No third class Saiya-jins are allowed to guard the royal family! You have no right to say who I can breed with and who I can't!"
"What a minute!" shouted Trunks, but he was ignored.
"Ginger!" shouted Korn. "If anyone is going to be your mate it's going to be me!"
"I didn't choose you!" shouted back Ginger. "I choose Trunks, not some rude moron in rut!"
"That's it!" roared Korn. "Trunks, I challenge you! The winner becomes
Ginger's mate."
"But...but," stammered Trunks. How did this happen? He racked his brain for an answer, and one popped into his head. "I already have a mate!"
Everyone stopped and stared at him.
"You do?" said Ginger in an upset voice.
"Who?" asked Yam, calming down.
"Uh.... um.... um, PAN! Yeah, that's right! My mate's name is Pan." Or will be, Trunks added silently.
"Then I want to fight this Pan for Trunks!" shouted Ginger. The two Saiya-jin males broke out arguing again. Ginger protested and declared that she would defeat Pan. Trunks groaned and felt a headache coming on; this just wasn't his day.
They were interrupted by a large explosion that rocked the ground. A piece of wall off to their sides fell, and a dozen soldiers poured into the hall.
"Intruders!" shouted Yam. Trunks and the others lined up in front of the door leading to the King's throne room.
All we have to do is keep the King safe inside and destroy these guys, thought Trunks. He smiled. Piece of cake. He just hoped Veggi got the scouters down. Trunks was getting ready to attack when the door to the throne room slammed open, nearly hitting him. An enraged King Vegeta stormed out.
Shit! Thought Trunks. Of course his grandpa would want a piece of the action! He was a fool to think he would just sit nice and safe on his throne. He took a good look at the grandpa, he had never seen and was more than a little surprised. King Vegeta looked a lot like Vegeta, or Vegeta looked a lot like him. There were differences, the most visible being the height difference. While Vegeta had been a little under the average in size for a human and possessed a slim compact frame, King Vegeta was a foot taller then Trunks and twice as thick. The man was a walking mound of muscle.
"Who dares attack my palace!?" roared the King. The intruders took a few steps back and Trunks could not hide his smile. These guys were from a future where his father, Vegeta, was emperor and the strongest man alive.
King Vegeta looked enough like Vegeta to intimidate them. He then frowned. He very much doubted the King had the power to back him up. King Vegeta was strong, but nothing compared to a super Saiya-jin. He was going to have to be careful to see that nothing happened to this grandpa. The King threw off his cloak and powered up. The scouters on the Saiya-jins' faces exploded. Trunks was shocked. He wasn't that strong, was he? He then understood what had happened.
"Good work Veggi," he whispered under his breath. Trunks then powered up and leapt into action beside King Vegeta.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Part 7
Carrot yawned and continued to watch Queen Celleris move in a slow kata. She had a sense of grace about her that Carrot recognized as being similar to his grandpa, uncle, mother, and sister, as well as himself. That must be where we got it from, he thought as he watched her hands block an invisible enemy. He cast out his senses to get a better feel for her. She was strong by Saiya-jin standards, about a low level elite. He could almost see her think she was a true warrior, one that used strategy and skill to overpower her opponent. Carrot really wanted to fight her, to see how skilled she was.
The enchanting kata was destroyed as a blast rocked the room.
"What?!" shouted Carrot.
"Someone's attacking the palace!" shouted Celleris. One of the guards that had been standing by the door crashed through it, landed in a heap at their feet, and didn't get up. Carrot looked and saw a dozen soldiers trying to get into the room.
"Bastards!" shouted Carrot, and he powered up a ki blast in his hands, taking out the first soldier. More poured into the room and he was about to tell Celleris to stay back when the Queen herself jumped into the fight and bashed in the head of one soldier. Her fists where blocked by a transparent shield when she tried to attack another. Carrot jumped to her side and soon found out that the intruders where using a form of high-powered hand-held ki shield that had been of Bulma's design in his time. The ki shield would work well against weaker fighters, but not someone of Carrot's power. He watch out of the corner of his eye as the Queen passed one of the soldier's guard and punched a hole in his side. She then picked him up and threw him at the others, knocking down several. Yes, nodded Carrot. The ki shields didn't work well against powerful and skilled opponents. Carrot powered up to just below super Saiya-jin and punched one ki shield. It shattered and the surprised soldier didn't stand a chance as Carrot punched him again. Fists flew and peoplescreamed. Carrot turned his head to the side as he heard Celleris cry out. The Queen was hit with a powerful blast and sent flying across the room. She smacked hard into the wall and groaned. From the bed infant Vegeta cried out.
Carrot roared in rage and several more soldiers died. He had to stop himself from killing one with purple skin and green hair, as she slipped past his guard and picked up Vegeta. You have to let them take him, Carrot reminded himself.
"Retreat!" shouted the green-haired woman, and the soldiers pulled back, although there were only three of them left, counting the leader. Carrot let them go and went to check on the Queen. She groaned again and came to.
"What happened?" she asked in a groggy voice.
"You were attacked. Are you okay?"
Celleris looked at him in shock, then she looked past him to the spot Vegeta had been. "They've taken the prince!" she shouted and tried to get up.
Carrot held her down. "Let me go!" she screamed.
"No! You stay here. I'll go."
"No! He's my son, he..." she suddenly stopped in mid-sentence and stared at Carrot fearfully. "Um, sorry my lord. I mean he is your son." She bowed her head. "I will stay here."
Carrot was shocked by Celleris' sudden change in mood. Was she not even allowed to claim Vegeta as her son? "Stay here," he said, none of the arrogance and cruelty he had used before in his voice. "I'll bring him back to you."
Celleris looked up at him, a mingled look of fear, shock, and hope in her face. She nodded to Carrot. Carrot got up and quietly left her. It was hard for him to look at her eyes, which were so full of emotion. He concentrated on finding Veggi and little Vegeta.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Part 8
Trunks easily dodged a blast from one intruder. He watched out of the corner of his eye has the King fought against two men. Their shields kept the King from doing any real damage, and the King would have been in real trouble if the two men weren't scared to death of him. Trunks' eyes glanced at Korn and Yam. They were holding their own, one against one. Ginger wasn't doing as good. She was having a little trouble with her opponent, who was constantly shoulder-slamming her with his shield, and then blasting her.
She had several small wounds and one wicked looking hit on the stomach, but she was alive. Trunks himself was battling two troopers. The other five were dead on the ground.
Trunks jumped over one opponent and landed on the other. He swung around in a high kick, and knocked the first down on his can. Before either could react, Trunks snapped the neck of the one under him with his foot and fired a ki blast at the one sitting on his rear; both were killed instantly.
Ginger cried out and Trunks turned to see her on her knees trying to keep a soldier from blasting her in the face. Trunks wasted no time. He kicked the blaster, shattering into pieces. Ginger flashed him a quick smile, then over-powered her opponent, breaking his arms and spine in three quick moves.
Trunks turned around to see a soldier firing a blast at the King, who was too busy fighting with his other opponents to block the strike. Trunks' super speed took him to the King's side in less than the time it takes to blink an eye. Trunks hissed in pain as the blast struck him and knocked him hard into the wall. It didn't do any real damage, but there was going to be a nasty bruise there later. By the time Trunks had gotten to his feet, all the intruders were dead. The King had taken no injuries and Yam and Korn had received only minor cuts and bruises. Ginger's stomach wound was the only injury of any real concern.
Trunks hurried over to her. "Let me take a look." Ginger took her hand away from the wound. It was very bloody, but if treated, it would heal up just fine in a few days. Ginger elbowed him and Trunks turned around to see the King staring at him with the same annoyed look he knew from his own father.
Trunks looked at Korn and Yam, who were on their knees with their heads down. Trunks glance back at Ginger who was also on her knees, despite her injuries. Trunks quickly dropped and bowed his head.
The King snorted and turned back to his throne room. Once he was gone Trunks sighed in relief. The relief was short-lived as Ginger grabbed a hold of him.
"Oh Trunks, that was so brave! You do want me! Why else would you risk the King's anger to check on me?" Trunks groaned into his hand.
"Trunks!" shouted a female voice to his right. What now? thought Trunks, and he turned to see Veggi with a chibi Vegeta heading his way. Thank you Kami! he thought, he and hurried over to meet them.
"Boy am I glad to see you!" said Trunks giving Veggi a big smile.
"Looks like you've been a little busy," said Veggi. She eyed the destruction around her. "Is the King okay?"
Trunks nodded. "Didn't even take a scratch." He winced at the pain in his side. "But I took a nice hit to the side."
Veggi leaned close and poked him.
"Ahhhh! That hurts! Don't do that!" shouted Trunks, holding his side.
"Trunks," said Ginger coming up to him. "Who is this woman? Is she your mate?" She eyed Veggi and Vegeta with a jealous look.
"Yes!" shouted Trunks. Veggi gave him a weird look. Trunks begged her with his eyes to play along. "This is Pan." Veggi raised an eyebrow at Trunks, but nodded at Ginger.
"No! It's not fair! She's already had a brat with him!" She narrowed her eyes, "That's okay. I still claim the right to breed. Pan, if you lose to me, you and your brat must give up Trunks and all the titles that come with him."
Veggi looked more then a little amused. She walked over and poked Ginger in the stomach. The Saiya-jin woman doubled over in pain. "Looks like I win. Come on Trunks. We have to find Carrot and get going."
"Hey, wait a minute!" shouted Ginger, but Trunks was already gone, following Veggi.
"Thank you, Veggi," said Trunks when they had gone far enough.
"Quit the ladies man, Uncle, as usual," said Veggi.
"I didn't do anything," protested Trunks. Veggi just laughed at him and went to find Carrot.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Part 9
It didn't take long for Carrot to find the group. Veggi was teasing a flushed-faced Trunks while holding their chibi grandpa, who looked like he would fall asleep any minute.
"Trunks! Veggi!" shouted Carrot, and he hurried up to them.
"Thank Kami-san! Now we can go home," said Trunks, looking completely miserable.
"Not quite," said Veggi. "We still have prince charming here to drop off."
"Oh Yeah," said Trunks, taking his father. The baby cuddled into his chest and sighed. "Dad, how did you ever turn out so scary when you were this cute?" Trunks asked to the now a sleeping prince.
"That's something I've been trying to figure out even since Crono shrunk him," said Veggi.
"Well, let's return him to Celleris. She's worried to death," said Carrot.
They all started down the hall.
"So, tell me what's she like?" asked Veggi.
"She's incredible!" smiled Carrot. "She reminds me a lot of the Vegeta from our time, although she's more obedient than grandpa ever was."
"I want to see her," said Veggi, with a wistful look on her face.
"Well, you'll get your chance. Here's her quarters."
Everyone gave pause to look at the ruined hall.
"Looks like you ran into some trouble too," said Trunks.
"Did the Queen get hurt?" asked Veggi.
"She was knocked hard against a wall, but she seemed alright when I left her," replied Carrot. They entered the room to see Celleris sitting on the bed with her back to them. Her head snapped towards them and she was up in a fighting stance within seconds. She relaxed when she recognized Carrot, or who Carrot was suppose to be.
"My lord," said Celleris, but her eyes were on Vegeta with a look of longing in them. Trunks quickly stepped forwarded and handed her the prince. Vegeta opened his eyes for a second and closed them again, going back to sleep. A small smile tugged at Celleris's lips, but she quickly wiped it off. She looked Carrot square in the eyes and bowed. "Forgive me my lord. I will never let it happen again."
Carrot nodded and left. Veggi and Trunks stayed a moment longer to view the Queen, making many of the same discoveries that Carrot had.
"Trunks! Veggi!" shouted Carrot from outside. Both Saiya-jins pulled themselves together and left the room to join Carrot. Once they were far enough away Veggi sighed.
"She sure was something. I'll bet she's a great fighter."
"A very good fighter. All she lacks is power," said Carrot.
"Power isn't everything," said Trunks.
A portal opened up in front of them.
"Well, looks like our ticket home." Carrot looked around the palace once more. "I wish I could have stayed a little longer."
"I know what you mean," said Veggi. "I want to know more about the Saiya-jins."
"It's not our time," said Trunks. "We don't belong here."
Carrot and Veggi nodded and silently the three entered the portal back to Crono and the others.