Huzza! Chapter six is here! ::Bangs together two sticks and throws Sakura blossoms:: I'd have a party, but that's why this chapter is so late. My sister just graduated from High School, which involved me cleaning the house and attending little 'congratulations' parties. Blame her, not me.
That, and I've been working on my FFIX Zidane costume for A-kon (and I have two friends going as Kuja and VIVI and my sister is going to be Eiko). What is A-kon? It's a giant anime convention in Texas, and I get ta go… HOTCHA!! But anyway, you wanted an update, and I have many people to thank in this one for ideas. First of all, I'd like to thank 'something like human' again for her many ideas on what the heck I should do. And also super-saiyan-monkey, for how to fit Marron into the story.
Oh, and a little disclaimer, I don't own DBZ. Cause if I did, I'd tell Trunks to get a haircut.
Trunks: HEY!
Kit: And I don't own the idea of the whole 'two people in one disguise' and the totally clueless description by Bra on what a vampire is. That is taken and altered almost directly out of DBZ. Why? Because I'm lazy… and I think Bra is a cutie too. Oh, and if anyone knows how to get Tab spaces into ff.net's stories (it alters mine out), I swear I'll plug for one of your stories! And I always keep my promises, (unless your name is Nail).
Nail: HEY!
Kit: That's all! And now on with the much awaited CHAPTER SIX! (Patent Pending… just kidding…)
5/28/02
Touch Tones
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If all humans ate like Meece did, it would be easy to mistake them for saiya-jins. Currently, the young girl was now able to pack away an entire pizza on her own, and then have the stomach to ask for desert. Her new growth spurt lengthened her legs, but made them rather gawky. The eight-year-old's eating habits varied from eating like a glutton, to eating a single sandwich and being full. Currently, her diet went something like 'eat a lot of pasta, still hungry. Eat one tuna sandwich, be full. Eat a load of rice, still hungry. Eat one drumstick, be full. Challenge Bra to an eating contest and win, still hungry. Not eat for the next day and complain of a stomachache.' Meece's eating habits were slowly getting on Piccolo's nerves. And the fact she was growing so fast he could almost watch her grow was a little concerning.
*Just be glad you don't actually have to take her shopping.* Nail winced. *Making clothes using chi is sooo much easier, and you don't have to fight the crowds on Saturdays!*
Kami did a quick calculation. *I believe that Meece is actually small for a normal human girl. Either she his going to grow quite a bit during this next growth, or she's going to be a short stature human.* It was currently the end of Meece's second grade year, and this term the teachers had place her in the same class as Bra. Besides, it was much easier for the girls to cope with 'humanity' if they teamed up.
Meece finished off her glass of milk and wiped her mouth on her long sleeve. "Papa. Meece will need a calculator for math now. But the teacher should have told Meece before!" Her third-person speech not only wasn't going away, but when Bra was in a playful mood the demi-saiya-jin would speak it too.
"Why didn't the teacher tell you last week, at the start of the year?" Piccolo growled. "They could have saved us time and a trip to that infernal mall."
Shrugging her shoulders, Meece made a vague noise as she nibbled on her cookie. "Meece guess teachers like making stuff hard." She quickly brushed the crumbs off onto her pants and jumped up from the high stool. Since both Meece and Bra were in the same grade and class, they now would study together after their sparring practice. Meece was an excellent reader, her knowledge of words made her nearly a walking dictionary. And Bra, the daughter of Bulma Briefs (self-proclaimed genius) had a natural head for numbers. The two girls acted as tutors for each other, each teaching what they were best at.
"Can't you just borrow one from Vegeta's brat?" Piccolo folded his arms and carefully watched Meece out of the corner of his eye. 'Please…please don't flinch. Show me you're over that word; that you aren't afraid anymore'.
*Piccolo, there actually may be permanent mental scarring from her life with her 'family', --and I use the term loosely--. She may never be able to hear that word without flinching.* Kami warned.
Ebony eyes were latched onto Meece as she translated his spoken words by reading his lips. As she hit the very last word, 'brat', she blinked once. Then her head turned up to look at him, a rueful smile on her face. 'Bra's Meece's best friend. She worries for Meece, just like Papa does.' No wince, no nervous twitch, only her full attention. Meece may not have fully gotten over it, like Kami said, but with the careful dodging of the word for the past four years and his tough-but-tender-care, she knew he wasn't like those humans.
A smirk graced Piccolo's face, but his eyes light up. "Feh, really. You think I worry for you?" He unfolded his arms, "I worry for you like I worry for the moon." One of his hands fell on her head, and promptly scruffed up her hair.
"Waaaii! But Papa? Didn't the moon get blown up back when Gohan was a chibi?" Meece blinked, her green bangs now hung down to her chin. She hadn't cut her hair since she had met Piccolo, other than a small trim, and now her hair was draped over her face.
Piccolo sweatdropped at her comment. "Well… that was my fault. So unless I blow you up, you have nothing to worry about." Meece made another high-pitched squeal, jumping in happiness. Piccolo simply sat back down in meditative position.
'Kami, if I may say, that suggestion for ear plugs and then learning to read lips just like Meece does was probably your best suggestion ever.' Piccolo smirked mentally. It wasn't the girl's fault she had a very high-pitched voice. And while she knew not to whistle and squeal, she did forget from time to time. So the namek had been taking to wearing earplugs when he detected her genki spirit flaring.
*Actually, I believe my best suggestion was making a spoon-fork… but then some human beat me too it and called it a 'spork'.* Piccolo's antenna twitched at Kami's statement. There were times where he couldn't tell if Kami were joking or serious.
"Bai Bai, Papa!" Meece called, waving her hand high above her head. Her backpack hung loosely on her back, packed with her school books. "Meece will be back in time for dinner!" She spun around, narrowly avoiding hitting Mr. Popo. "Oh! Meece so sorry, Popo-san! She should be careful!" She chastised herself.
But Mr. Popo waved her apology off. "You should go if you want to study. But Mr. Popo made this for you to take." He held out a small packed meal, probably full of snacks for Bra and Meece.
"Wai! Arigatou Popo-san!" Meece looked at the wrapped meal, grinning. She quickly stuffed it into her bag and hugged his arm before bounding off.
Piccolo's attention had been attached weakly to Meece, until Mr. Popo started talking. Then his eyes widened. Mr. Popo also spoke in third person. So… could the djinn's speaking have caused Meece to also take up the strange habit of referring to ones self like that? Personally, Piccolo didn't know she spoke to him enough to pick it up.
*Perhaps it was the novelty of the thing. You did bring her here when she was still learning, and she was very curious about Mr. Popo for a while.* Kami reasoned.
*Nah, the real reason is, who can say no to Popo?* Nail smirked, and then burst out laughing. (A.N.! 'Popo' in German, means 'butt/ass'. So Nail just asked…err…well… it's rather perverted)
Piccolo growled, wishing he could shut up the laughter. "Nail, that's just perverted."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Meece drifted lazily down to the grass of Capsule Corporation. On the lawn, Trunks was attempting to slam Goten, and failing miserably with the other demi-saiya-jin's foot planted firmly in his stomach. It looked very much like a familiar scene where they were fighting over the last piece of pizza, only lacking the strangleholds and angry growls. Fighting, to them, was fun. Food, on the other hand, was serious.
Unfortunately for both Trunks and Goten, a rather indignant looking Bra dove at them, knocking them both over. "You dork! Mom said that it's your turn to watch me today, and you are fighting with Goten!" She frowned deeply, looking like a pouting, miniature version of Bulma.
"Owowowoww!" Trunks winced as Bra tugged on his ear. "Come on, B-chan, go easy! Meece is watching!" He said, shocking Meece a little. She didn't know they had even seen her, but then again, they probably just detected her chi. Bra lifted her head in confusion, her azure eyes settling on her friend. Meece's own deep russet eyes blinked once, almost shocked that Bra could miss her chi like that. Then again, Bra didn't really seem to be training very hard.
"Meece came to study, but finds Bra-chan sparring too? No wonder you are doing bad in English!" Meece teased, smilingly slyly.
Bra's mouth fell open. Meece rarely made teasing comments like that, she was far too polite. Which must mean, "Mr. Popo cooked us something good again, didn't he?!" Bra hopped off her brother's back and dashed over to her green-haired friend. Everyone knew (heck, even Dende knew) that Bulma could not cook at all. Only the demi-sayia-jins and Vegeta's iron stomachs kept them from being sick. Chichi's and Mr. Popo's food was by far the best.
Goten's keen nose kicked in. "Hey! Is that from Dende-sama's place? Mr. Popo made that?!" He sniffed the air.
Bra stuck her tongue out, "Nya! You guys can keep sparring. We are going to Marron's house! She would probably like to share this with us, and she won't ignore us!" Meece smiled sheepishly at the boys, shrugging. She didn't know who this, 'Marron' was, but she had heard Bra talk about her before.
Grabbing her books and stuffing them into a blue and white backpack, Bra nearly dragged Meece into the air. 'Bra-chan?' Meece asked telepathically. Bra's blue eyes turned toward her, 'Who is 'Marron'? Meece has never met her before.' Bra brought one finger up to her chin, thinking about the answer.
"Well, you remember, um, that weird old man with the weird sunglasses? The pervert?" Bra's eyes rolled up as she tried to remember him. "Well, Marron-chan lives over at his place in the middle of the ocean on an island!"
Meece cooed. 'Wow! An Island?! And we are going there?' Bra nodded proudly, leading the way. 'And Vegeta-san won't get mad we left without tellin' him?' Bra winced.
"Aww, daddy wouldn't yell at me! I'm his princess!" She smiled. Meece knew that Vegeta had been the 'Prince of all Saiya-jin's' once, (Dende was teaching her about other beings on other planets), so Trunks and Bra would be the royal prince and princess! So Meece would follow 'Princess' Bra around, and her friend would bribe her with toys and stuff when Meece's conscious kicked in. Kind of like the time they rolled bowling balls down a very steep hill, and ended up crashing one into the fire hydrant and breaking it (the fire hydrant, not the bowling ball) and Meece helped do it because Bra promised to give her one of her toys.
'B-chan… how far into the ocean is it?' Meece's forehead wrinkled with worry. A rather large storm cloud was blowing up, and she knew she wouldn't have the energy to fly through it.
Bra stuck her finger in her mouth, testing the air. A totally useless thing when you can sense chi, but dramatic nonetheless. "Almost there! Muten Roshi's island is just ahead! And we can wait out the store there!" Bra smiled, relieving her friend's discomfort. But before either girl could get to the ocean, the sky's let loose a torrent of rain, making both of them turn into super soggy saiya-jin and human. Meece's long green hair obstructed her vision and hung in front of her eyes like an Old English Sheepdog's hair. Bra's own hair was plastered to her head, yet part of her bangs stuck straight up, like a pure blooded saiya-jins.
Two thoroughly wet little girls landed on the sand of the island and bolted for the door. Meece pressed the doorbell while Bra flared up her chi, drying both of them off quickly. Well, mostly dried off, even Bra's young saiya-jin energy was no match for the near tidal wave of water they were doused with. The door was answered by a young woman with blond hair and frigid blue eyes. But what scared Meece was the fact she couldn't detect even the slightest amount of chi from the woman. It was like she was dead.
"Hallo Juuhachi-gou!" Bra said brightly, waving. "Is Marron home?"
The android looked over at Meece, apparently reading her chi output or searching for any background on her. "Yes. She is actually expecting you. Your brother called not to long ago." Juuhachi-gou stepped back, allowing the two damp girls to come in.
"Oh, what did he say?" Bra shrugged off her school bag, setting it on the tile beside the door. Meece just let Bra keep talking, unsure of what to say. Strangers always made her a little nervous.
A very faint, Vegeta-esk smirked graced the androids face for just a moment. "The usual. My sister left for your house, board the place up, call animal control, and dig a snake pit trap."
"TRUNKS!" Bra yelled, wishing, or hoping her brother heard her and how much she wished she could shake him like a doll. Meece broke out laughing, her sound was still deeper than a normal person's laugh, but easily conveyed the amusement she felt.
"And who are you?" The woman asked, her emotionless eyes staring straight at Meece. In a faint way, it kind of reminded her of Piccolo. Someone so seemingly cold that was a parent.
Meece opened her mouth, and then paused. Then she prepared a telepathic message, and once again paused. Using telepathy was only 'allowed' between friends, and it might not work for an artificial human (for that's what Meece thought she was). But speaking directly was hard to do in front of strangers like this. She was afraid she would stutter. So she tried the 'Bra' approached… she babbled.
"Hi-my-name-is-Meece-Daimao-and-Meece-is-Bra's-friend. It's really really nice to meet you, you have a really nice house!" The second part came out a little slower, but still going about a mile a minute. If anyone but the children had been watching, they might have laughed at Juuhachi-gou's bewildered expression. That is; laughed if they hadn't feared her ripping their face off.
Giving a rather confused nod, the android said only one thing. "Oh." Then Marron ran down the stairs. Her long blond hair was pulled back into two loose pig tails. Then Bra and Marron linked arms and pranced about in a circle. Meece's eyebrow raised in confusion, much like Juuhachi-gou's had a moment before. Marron appeared to be the same age, or perhaps a little older than Bra. But before little Meece observe any more things about Marron, Bra swooped down upon her like a hawk upon it's smaller, unsuspecting prey.
"Maaaarron!" Bra drew the word out. "This is my friend Meece I told you about. The one who lives with Piccolo and Dende in heaven!" Bra called Dende's lookout 'heaven', a human habit. "So she's a human too!" Meece looked over at the android, then at the girl. Yep, definitely her daughter.
Marron's blond hair was a little shorter than Meece's, but was just as wild. "Do you fight too, Meece?" She asked, her blue eyes focusing on Meece's dark brown ones.
"Fi-fight? Not really. Just… Meece just protects herself, and trains with Dende-sa-sama." She stuttered. A slight blush rose up on her cheeks, ashamed of making a fool of herself. This was the first time she had met someone new without Piccolo behind her. School: Piccolo had always stayed until she had a good look around; shopping: although rare, Meece never got out of his sight; and traveling: it would involve Meece latched to his arm the entire time.
Then Meece remembered what was in her hands and quickly thrust the package from Mr. Popo out toward the other two girls. "Do, you want to eat this now?" She shook her head, trying to fling her wet bangs out of her eyes. Marron, much like Bra, grabbed both of their hands and began to drag them to her room. The girls passed an old man cackling as he read magazines and a rather short person with a mustache.
"Hi dad! We're going to study and stuff!" Marron waved at Krillin as she tugged the two girls along. Krillin merely waved and sipped a cup of tea. At the top of the stairs, at the first door on the right, was Marron's room. It was decorated mostly in pale yellows and greens, and packed with pillows and beanbags. There room wasn't lacking a place to sit, but the weird thing was that they chose to sit on the floor.
"Wow! Mr. Popo made crepes!" Marron's eyes got a far-off look to them. "I always wanted to go to France and see the sights!" She sighed. Meece took a bite of here, something like strawberries and cream, and opened her mouth to talk. A manners lesson from Chichi came back to her though, 'Don't talk with your mouth full', so she didn't.
'Papa took Meece once, and it was kind of raining and cold. And the people freak out at the sight of tall green nameks and flying people. But they do make good foods!' She chewed, sending the message out. Marron's eyes nearly popped out, but Bra didn't even seem to react to it.
"Br-bra! Did she just….did she just…" Marron's tan complexion, from living on an island, suddenly paled.
"Meece is telepathic, like Dende-sama and Shin-sama are… that's why she's the Guardian's student." Bra said simply, nibbling on a chocolate crepe. Marron's finger went from pointing to Meece, to pointing at Bra, then up to the sky, and finally back at Meece again.
When the blond found her voice, Meece and Bra had already finished their first crepe. "So, what's it like?"
'What's what like?' Meece licked her fingers.
"Training with Dende, or reading minds? Can you be a super-spy with telepathy?" Marron's smile, for a moment, resembled Trunks' right before he would cause trouble.
Meece's answer came verbally this time. "Well, Dende is a very tough teacher. He has Meece always practice looking over the earth and there is so much going on it makes Meece dizzy!" She swayed dramatically. "And a spy? Well, Meece would not want to pry into human's personal thoughts, because it's rude." She said, shaking her finger in a manner that Chichi would. Then her eyes fell upon her bag, which Marron had grabbed and brought up for her. "Oh! We have to study!" She clasped her hands to her cheeks, and then pulled out her math book.
"Wow… lemme guess, both Chichi and Gohan taught her how to study?" Marron tipped her head to the side as Bra nodded. Clearing her throat, Meece turned to look at Marron, not because the sound caught her attention but because Marron's chi cried out, 'listen to me!'
"Hai? Something wrong, Marron-…sempai?" She asked, not sure exactly what to call Marron. She did know that Marron was in their grade, but she was much older than Meece because of the year of skipped school.
"Se-sempai?" Marron looked blank. "No no no! Just call me Marron-kun! And… do you really want to study now?" Now it was Meece's turn to look blank. Bra had a smile slowly spreading over her face.
"What do you mean? What else is there to do?" Meece shrugged her shoulders, pulling a pillow to the ground.
Marron looked slightly taken aback. "Well,… we could… go see a movie, or watch MTV, or call someone on the phone," She went on, and Meece looked only more confused.
"Why?" She asked. Bra and Marron fell over.
"Because it's fun! It's a distraction from studying!" Bra shouted, pulling on her long blue hair. "We could play video games, or go swimming, or shopping, or play a game!"
Now Meece had been taught by Piccolo, and the unspoken rule was, 'Work first, then play'. But what Bra and Marron was suggesting was so…so… forbidden it HAD to be done. Bra brought up the point the 'all work and no play make Meece a dull girl', which confused the telepathist greater so they stopped using cliches.
The three girls (helping Meece decide) determined that they were going to go see a movie. 'Vampire Sport IV' to be exact. And the fact that it was rated 'R', and therefore forbidden made it even better, (or so they claimed). But what Meece didn't understand was how they were going to get into the movie, after all, they were only 8 years old. So, dressed in raincoats, three yellow blurs flew toward the mainland.
Bra grabbed Marron and they quickly dodged into an alley, telling Meece to 'watch their backs'. So Meece stood there, waving happily at anyone who passed by. Not even a minute passed when Meece could feel Bra and Marron's chi approaching. She turned to ask them a question, and her jaw fell open.
Standing where both girls should have been was a super tall, super strange new person. "Come on, Meece! The movie is going to start soon!" Meece ran a quick check on the voice and nearly fell over. It was Bra's voice and Bra's face!
"B-bra?!" Meece squeaked, looking up at the new person. "What happened?"
"Silly! We just put on a trenchcoat! Marron is under here, see!" Bra threw back the coat, revealing a rather uncomfortable Marron. "Here is the plan. We buy two tickets, one for 'me', and one for you. And then you use your telepathy to 'convince' the man that you are old enough to get in, got it?" Meece could only nod. The idea did appear to be fool-proof, but the conscious she had was beginning to talk loudly.
"Maybe this is not a good idea, Bra-chan. They seem to want to keep us from seeing the movie." She said softly, walking beside the disguised girls.
Marron sighed, looking through the eyeholes in the middle of the coat and spoke in a muffled voice. "It's ok! If it were that bad, our parents would warn us about it, right?" Meece nodded slightly, but knew that Piccolo knew nothing about human things, movies included.
"Two for 'Vampire Sport IV'!" Bra said, lowering her voice to an acceptable adult level. The cashier couldn't have been more than 18, a young boy with shocking orange hair. His eyebrow twitched as he looked over Bra, and then his gaze fell to Meece. That was when the girl allowed the mental passage to open and began to read his thoughts.
'God, talk about weird chicks. And I thought Fay-may was weird, and she's my girlfriend!' The young man's thought geared out, leaving Meece wondering to what this guy was doing with 'chickens'. 'What the hell? A little kid? This weirdo want's to bring a little kid into an R rated movie?' Uh-oh, looks like it was time for the plan.
Slowly she pressed her mind into his, 'convincing him'. 'Well… she does look mature, and this is an adult with her, so they must know what they are doing.' Meece's bright smile quirked for just a moment, looking like a smirk. Giving human minds a 'push' was fairly easy, but the hard part was them actually believing her thoughts she fed them were their own. 'Wait… did I just think that? Well… whatever, I'm not paid enough to deal with this.' He finally gave up and slid them their tickets. Meece winked at her 'chaperone' and they entered the theater.
Ok, so first they made a detour to the concession stand. Bra ordered the largest bucket of popcorn they had, and while Meece was deciding, Marron realized that she was being forgotten. "I want milk duds!" Her voice, strangely out of Bra's pitch, said. The girl working there blinked in shock.
Bra began to cough violently. "Sorry, sore throat." She said sheepishly, digging her heels into Marron's sides. "Yeah, Milk duds too…. And what about you Meece?"
Meece's face was level with the candy. While Chichi and Bra would give her candy, Piccolo wasn't keen on human treats. Most of the sweets she had were made by Mr. Popo or Chichi. So these little rainbow colored spheres interested her. "Those!" She pointed at a box reading 'Skittles'. Colors of the rainbow indeed. The cashier passed the boxes of candy, and the popcorn, which Meece all took (in fear that Bra would drop them from her precarious perch). It was painfully obvious Bra's full attention that was in Meece's hand, because she'd whimper whenever it vanished from her field of view. Meece smirked, trying not to laugh at her friend.
As the three (or two, depending on how you looked at them) girls walked into the theater. Meece had only been in a movie theater once before, and again it had been with Bra. For a moment it reminded her just how tragic her old life had been. She wouldn't have been able to understand movies at ALL if it weren't for Bra. Meece would open a connection through the entire movie and slowly drink in the words the character's said, and for one short moment, she could actually hear. It was something she was willing to bend the rules for to experience again.
Once they had chosen their seats in the back, Bra hopped off Marron's shoulders and they prepared phase two. Marron pulled on a hat and Bra tugged the collar of her coat up high, hiding their faces. Meece was tucked between them, totally hidden from view between the two taller girls. They chattered quietly, in low voices, until the lights dimmed, and then their attention was riveted to the screen. Then Meece remembered something.
"Bra-chan!" She whispered, causing Bra to quickly glance at her, so as not to miss the commercials. "What's a vampire?" Bra's mouth fell open, a little in shock, partially in speechlessness.
"It's…uh….well…." Bra's eyes flickered to Marron, who shrugged. "Do you really wanna know?"
"Yes!"
Caught in her own question, Bra now had to answer it. "Um, a vampire is a person who…OH! 'Vampire' rhymes with 'umpire' and they kinda coach teams! So a vampire is someone who coaches baseball, right, Marron?" She gave a knowing glance to the blond.
"Um, right!" Marron nodded. Meece may be young and deaf, but she wasn't stupid.
"Neither of you know, eh?"
"Nope." Two embarrassed girls returned their attention to the commercials, blushing slightly, while Meece smiled. So they waited for the movie to start.
---------------------------------------------------------
'Marron-chan… Meece is going to be sick!' She sent telepathically, her face buried in her hands. The movie had started well enough, but once the vampires came out and started eating people, all three girls stared on in shock. Meece, which the least exposure to TV violence, was the first to cover her eyes… and that was in the first ten minutes. The skittles, Marron's milk duds, and half of the popcorn went flying into the rows in front of them when someone was disemboweled.
"Me too…," Marron felt slightly green, her hands clutching tightly onto Meece's shoulders as two vampires did something that she might have seen in Mutan Roshi's magazines. Once she had come across them, and stared in fascinated horror, like people do with a car crash. Krillin had instantly come into the room, probably using whatever 'radar' parents do whenever something like that is happening, and promptly chi blasted the magazine. He then grabbed Marron and very carefully rocked her and covered her eyes, babbling constantly. But she had really blacked-out the situation mentally.
Bra seemed to have that 'train crash bewitchment' on her and couldn't tear her eyes from the screen, even thought she would whimper from time to time. Meece had severed any telepathic connections so she wouldn't have to watch, and from cowering against Marron she couldn't see anything either.
One thing was painfully obvious to Meece though, the people watching the movie-- well, most of them -- were in utter shock and horror! Who would pay money to do this?! Were they sane?! Someone had just been eaten and their body broken horribly, and they wanted to witness it? She didn't understand at all! … Oh Kami-sama! What if these 'vampires' found her!
"Meece wanna go home!" Meece said aloud, almost loud enough for the people around them to hear.
Marron was also contemplating going as well, but she would never admit it. "It's ok, Meece, it's almost over. Just ten more minutes, I think." Meece whimpered, twisted about in her seat, and clung in fear to Bra. Bra's hands quickly wound into Meece's hair, like handles. Meece could tell when the scary parts would show up because Bra's hands would tighten, and Meece would scrunch her eyes shut. She didn't pull Meece's tranquil green hair hard, just enough to signify she was getting scared. And truthfully, having something to grab onto in the scary scenes was like holding a teddy bear.
By the time the credits were on the screen, the three girls were almost under their seats in fear. "Bra?" Marron asked, shivering slightly.
"Yeah?"
"How are we going to get out of here? What if there are vampires out there?!" This, in retrospect, was probably not the best question to ask.
"Meece?" Bra's voice quavered. Meece seemed to withdraw into her own little world, no longer listening with her chi or telepathy. Bra paused, slowly trying a new approach, she sent a telepathic plea of her own. 'Meece?' It was weak, yes, and only able to be used between family and close friends, but it reached the shivering girl.
'Bra?' Meece shuddered.
'Call your papa… we need a guard home.' Bra said, eyes pleeding. Meece nodded quickly and sent out the message. A telepathic cry for help, as loud as she could get it. Anyone and everyone with telepathy on earth would hear it, but only Piccolo would know who it came from and where to go.
'PAPPAAAA!!!!'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Piccolo's eyes snapped open and he gasped. The sun was slowly touching the horizon, and there hadn't been a sound at all on Dende's Tower. But in the astral realm, someone had just cried out possibly the loudest SOS he'd ever heard. And it was Meece.
"SHIT!" He roared, jumping up and flying as fast as possible to the human city. "Meece!"
*What's going on? What's happening?* Nail was jarred about in Piccolo's head, both nameks put on the back burner as getting to Meece as fast as possible took up the largest portion of his concentration.
*It's Meece! I've never heard a telepathic distress cry so loud! … I think even Shin-sama heard that!* Kami hissed, his telepathic skills were currently employed by Piccolo and hunting down where the message had come from. The worry created by all three nameks formed a power greater than what Piccolo used to fight against Cell with.
Piccolo's antenna twitched and he turned east once he was in the heart of the city. A movie theater. Meece was in a public place and still crying for help? God Dammit! He knew he should have taught her more attacks, stronger attacks, or even kept a closer eye on her! If anything happened to her, just one hair out of place on her head, someone was going to die.
Landing in front of the theater, he blasted the doors open, leaving an orange-haired looked shocked to the side. "That's it, I quit. I'm not paid enough to deal with THIS!" He yelled. Piccolo flew through the theater, scouting for Meece's chi. And to his surprise, it was flaring up in panic, as were Bra and Marron's. And like a chain of dominos, his own energy began to build, because whatever had a demi-saiya-jin, and the daughter of the power android 18 worried, was definitely a force to deal with.
He lifted his hand and let a wave of chi blow the doors to the room open, revealing a blank screen with a few credits still rolling down it. "PAPA!" Meece's voice shrieked, sounding rather shrill. It came from the back of the room, almost above his head because of the way the entrance faced the theater. Flying straight up, Piccolo noticed all three girls balled up in the back row. Once he was in there sight, Meece launched herself at him, not bothering to slow down before she hit. Her sides heaved, and she stunk of fear…and Skittles, but the latter scent wasn't as offensive as raw fear.
"Meece, what happened?" He demanded, resting one hand at the back of her head and scanning the room. Strange, but there was no other chi in it besides the girls.
Bra and Marron were beside him as well, each latched onto one of his legs. "We….we got scared." Bra said, doing the talking. Marron was both scared from the movie, and not sure she knew Piccolo enough to get away with doing something like this. Sneaking out to see an R rated movie, which scared the crap out of them…. They were in big big trouble.
"Of what? Some stupid human film?" Piccolo snorted, but blinked in shock when he felt wet tears damped his neck. Meece was crying.
*That human film is very impressionable on a young human mind, that's why they try to keep young kids from coming to see them* Kami informed him.
'Then how the hell did they all get in?! They are no older than 9!' He wanted to hurt something, badly, for scaring the girls.
*I think they pulled a Trunks and Goten and dressed up in a disguise. And knowing Meece, I have a feeling she tried to use her powers to convince the human at the front to let them in.* Nail thought out.
Meece's teary eyes lifted upwards, the liquid making her normally brown eyes a shade of green. 'Meece sorry. She did that, she lied to the person at the front to get in. She broke the rules. So sorry, Papa!' She shivered, her small fists closed around his shoulder pads. From Piccolo's legs, the two other girls were hoping that the 'vampires' would be scared off by Piccolo.
Silence filled the room, but voices could be heard outside, slightly a panic for the scene he just caused. 'Kami… shit, what should I do?' He asked rhetorically.
And of course, Kami took it upon himself to answer. *Punish her. She did break the rules, but since she apologized, don't make it that harsh. These girls are obviously to scared to get home on their own, and their parents deserve to know what happened. But Meece has to learn how to stand up for herself and follow rules if she wants to be a Guardian.*
Punish her. Probably the one thing on earth Piccolo knew he couldn't do. He'd fight against Goku for real one-on-one, he'd even wear human clothes again, but to punish Meece? When she trusted him so blindly? Fuck. "Come on, you brats are all going home." He growled, using the word 'brat' as well. Meece seemed to be either in a state of shock and not using her ears, or was scared so badly she couldn't tremble any more if she had to. But the two girls were too scared to let go of his legs…and there were people coming into the room. Giving up, he simply flew to the exit opposite the entrance and left quickly.
"Let go my legs." He snarled, but the girls still ignored him. This may take some explaining, and he didn't feel like it. So he handed control of the body to Nail to have him tell the girls the truth.
"You know, vampires don't really exist." Nail's voice came from Piccolo's mouth, causing Bra and Marron to look up. "At least, not on this planet. And both of you are stronger than they could ever be, you would easily be able to defeat them. People on this planet with 'fangs' aren't vampires, just, well… people with fangs. Really, scared of a movie, you should know it wasn't real." He scolded, clearing up the truth.
"Bu…but the people were, they were all bloody and eaten an," Marron's blue eyes were watery, but trying not too cry.
"Makeup. Theatrical makeup. No one died in it, no one was hurt in it, and it was all a show." Nail explained. Then gave control of the body back up to Piccolo.
'How did Nail know all that?' Piccolo asked, slightly confused. Then he noticed Nail had wound his hand carefully around Meece in both a protective and comforting gesture. And he didn't have the heart to take away the one thing probably pacifying the girl.
*He watches a lot of TV.* Came Kami's answer. Piccolo flew to Roshi's island first, and found Juuhachi-gou waiting. He didn't have to do a lot of explaining either, because based on the hard glare Marron's mother gave her, she already knew what her daughter had done. Bra gave Marron a piteous glance before hiding her head and shivering. And then they left for Capsule Corp without another word. Meece didn't even attempt a telepathic link with Bra like she usually did.
And like Marron's mother knew she was in trouble, Vegeta seemed to know the same for Bra. He was waiting on the lawn, frowning like usual, but this time it was lacking malice. This time he was disappointed. Bra noticed her dad's expression and tried to vanish into Piccolo's leg. Bulma, when she found out, would probably yell and raise up holy hell, but Vegeta would simple remain quiet and give his daughter a look that clearly said, 'I expected better'.
"Daddy." Bra said faintly. She released Piccolo's leg and carefully slinked over, trying to remain as small as possible. Vegeta looked from his daughter to the namek, slowly absorbing what happened. It was like telepathy, only this one was between parents. Vegeta exhaled slowly.
"Bra, you will spend the next three days training in the gravity room with your brother for that stunt." Vegeta said, tones of a growl on his voice. "Don't expect to go to any more human movies for a while." And judging by the underlying hints, he meant 'in a LONG while'. Meece must have been listening somehow and gave Bra a tearful, sorry look. Bra smiled weakly in return and followed her dad inside.
Piccolo didn't hesitate there any longer, and headed back for Dende's Tower. Meece closed all telepathic connections, finding the silence in his mind deafening. Guilt ran rampant over her senses, dulling her abnormally keen sense of touch. She didn't feel when one of his hands fell on top of her head, one of Piccolo's few sympathetic gestures. And when Meece didn't respond, Piccolo paused in flying and opened his own connection directly to her mind.
'Meece? Meece, pay attention.' He scolded. But with the direct connection open, he could feel her sorrow, and it nearly made him despair. It felt like he had already punished her.
*Well, you have to remember,* Kami began what sounded like a lecture to Piccolo, *Meece's only purpose when you found her was to make you proud. She feels as if she's failed.* Landing at Dende's tower, Piccolo paused to think it over. True, if he punished her, they'd both feel bad but apparently Meece would 'learn something'. But if he didn't do anything at all and let her keep feeling miserable, it would be worse. So Piccolo decided to do directly the opposite what Kami suggested to him.
"Meece." He said firmly, resolve nearly cracking when her gleaming eyes looked up to him. "The next time you do something like that, at least take Goku. Even though he's clueless, you need an adult for those movies. But I'm impressed your Guardian skills were useful to get you in there."
Meece blinked, tears falling away from her eyes. That wasn't what she was expecting. In her past experience, when she broke the rules, she had been badly beaten, or locked in a room. Being praised was the last thing she expected. Using her Kami Heart, she searched Piccolo's emotions, and found that he was truly impressed with her skills, but there was a small bite of disappointment and worry too.
Bending her head back under his chin, Meece gave a soft hiccup and tried to banish the remainder of her tears. "Meece won't do that again. Meece doesn't want Papa to not like what Meece does. She'll listen to you from now on."
"No, don't bother." Piccolo set her on the ground, but she latched onto his leg. "It is kind of funny, if you hadn't sent such a panicked message to me, I would probably have laughed when I got there." The corners of his lips twitched up for just a moment. "Besides, kids need to test their own ground. You're going to be a Guardian, not some kind of baka warrior who follows someone stronger around. Make your own decisions."
Meece rubbed her forehead against his knee, clinging tightly to him. While his words dispelled her worry about him being mad or disappointed at her, it didn't help for one thing. "Papa… what if the vampires come to get Meece tonight?" She whimpered. "Can you stay in Meece's room, and make sure they don't come?"
Piccolo sighed. "About that… I'll have to explain to you again, won't I?" Meece gave him the puppy dog eyes she'd picked up from the Son family. "Fine, but just for tonight, and you better not be scared of any 'vampires' tomorrow." Meece smiled, and she gave a shriek when Mr. Popo came out of the darkened doorway behind her.
"Mr. Popo is sorry to scare the young Guardian, but Mr. Popo has already prepared dinner." The djinn stood stiffly in place. "Tonight it is Knockwurst and Bloodwurst with,"
"AAAAAIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"
"Meece…."
*Oi! Good set of lungs on that girl!* Nail smirked.
"Would she rather just have hamburgers?" Mr Popo asked, utterly confused.