Disclaimer : Don't own it, don't sue me.
Rating : R - Of course that could change, for the better. ^_~
Chapter Two : And so it begins...
It was officially day two of Bulma, and now Chi Chi's, space adventure. Bulma was sitting at the control panel painting her toe nails bright red while her friend was off elsewhere (Probably doing laundry), she herself was wearing a pair of rolled up jean shorts and a white tank top. So far everything had been...boring. Yesterday they had visited their first planet together, unfortunately it was inhabited by rodents and was mostly covered in water. They soon found that intelligent life was very hard to find. They had only been to ten galaxies so far, though, Bulma was quickly becoming depressed.
She sighed and gazed out the giant window in her control room. "Where are you..."
"I'm right here!" Chi Chi said happily as she walked in, Bulma nearly fell out of her seat in surprise and fright.
"NOT YOU!" Bulma yelled and glared at Chi Chi, to which the other woman looked puzzled.
"Then who?"
Bulma's eyes widened for a second, "Oh. Er...no one." She quickly turned back in her seat.
Chi Chi sat a tray with hot honey tea and some cookies on it beside Bulma and took a seat, "I made us a snack."
The blue-haired teen forced a smile and took one of the cookies, the entire day her mood had been less than happy, and Chi Chi noticed.
"Bulma...what's wrong? You seem sad."
Ever since starting the trip Chi Chi had noticed her friend's bizarre behavior, she dismissed it at first, thinking it was just leaving home jitters. But soon enough, after visiting each new planet Chi Chi watched as her friend's already sullen attitude began to deteriorate more.
"No, it's nothing..." Bulma said as she dipped a cookie in her tea, she hadn't told Chi Chi about her find-a-boyfriend thing. She was afraid if Chi Chi knew she'd tell Mr.Briefs and they'd get sent back to earth. Speaking of fathers...
"Chi...how come your dad didn't come to see you off?"
Chi Chi blushed for a second, to which Bulma gave a puzzled look. "I..er...I didn't want any of you to see him crying..."
"He was crying?"
"Yes. He was crying...a lot... I didn't want him to come and then be embarrassed later."
Bulma was a little surprised, that giant father of Chi Chi's had been crying? Even her own father had managed to keep it in somewhat. Chi's father must've been crying a lot for her not to let him come and see her off.
Like Bulma, Chi Chi was young. She was seventeen and a half though, a bit younger than her blue-haired hot-tempered friend. Chi Chi was also much stronger than Bulma though, and she attributed that to the fact of being raised by the Ox king.
The two girls had been friends for a long time. Ever since they met at the international fighting tournament when Chi Chi was twelve. She had been there for her father while Bulma was there to find a boyfriend - something Chi Chi had never liked or approved of. She simply couldn't understand why Bulma was so adamant about finding a boyfriend. Marriage never seemed like something Chi Chi would like, though she had wanted a boyfriend when she was very little, she soon found that a domestic life would be less than exciting. In fact she herself thought it would be quite a boring existence, and to a warrior like Chi Chi, having no adventure or danger in one's life seemed horrible.
But Bulma . . . she had none of that. She was a genius with potential to do amazing things, and yet she wasted all her time fretting over getting a boyfriend. Chi Chi didn't get that, and she concluded she probably never would.
Sipping her tea and thinking about her current boyfriend situation Bulma felt her heart drop again, she was an impatient girl. It worried her that she hadn't found a guy yet.
"Chi, how much clothing did you pack?"
"A few outfits, why?" Chi Chi turned to her friend as she poured sugar in her tea.
"Well...it's just that, I think we're going to be out in space for a long time...is all."
"How long?"
'However long it takes,' Bulma thought, "...a few years?" She heard a choking sound from her friend and whipped around to see Chi Chi spitting up tea.
"YEARS!?" The raven-haired woman gaped.
"Well...uh...yeah..." Bulma turned away slightly, internally damning her mother and father for letting Chi Chi along on this trip.
"Bulma!" Chi Chi shouted, to which Bulma gave her undivided attention. "Why on EARTH would we need to be out here for YEARS!?"
"Well actually...however long it takes..."
"However long WHAT takes?" Chi Chi shouted again, and Bulma cringed a bit. Suppose it was time to let Chi Chi in on the plan.
After a bit of softening up, Bulma explained to her why this trip was absolutely necessary.
"Highness!" A rough-voice called, followed by a succession of hard bangs. Vegeta groaned beneath his white sheets and sat up in his bed, "WHAT!?" he yelled, making the window panes rattle.
He heard a few muffled voices from behind the door then, "Uh...your presence is required in the main hall, ..s-sir."
Vegeta blinked a bit and rubbed the crust from his eyes, "What? Why?"
"Your presence is required."
"Fine." The young prince said through gritted teeth, he lurched himself out of bed and set off to take a shower. He was never requested in the main hall... That was the king's room, it was where he conducted business. 'Odd...Why would they want-' The idea hit him like a ton of bricks. They wanted him to carry on business as usual, of course. That old bastard hadn't come out of seclusion and the imperials needed a ruler! He couldn't believe it! It was an absolute outrage!
Soon a very pissed prince Vegeta was storming down the halls, towards the king's chamber, totally ignoring his call to the main hall.
He was not yet a king but they wanted him to do all the work of one!? It was insane, outrageous, and totally unfair.
Always the one to make an entrance, Vegeta used a ki blast and tore through his father's bedroom door. "FATHER!" He shouted and looked around. He noticed the disheveled state of the bed, the trash all over the floor, the walls were scratched and the drapes were torn nearly to shreds, the room was a total mess! Not to mention the foul odor...
"What?" Said a gruff voice, and Vegeta watched as his father staggered out of the balcony and into his room. The man looked sickly and unwashed, his beard was very unkept (unlike him) and his hair looked greasy. There was food on his face and the white clothes he was wearing didn't look at all washed. Vegeta couldn't help but sneer in disgust.
"Look at you! What's wrong with you!?" The younger man shouted. The king merely looked passively at him as he walked over to sit on his bed. "WELL!?"
"Get the hell out." The king growled, but the prince stood tall.
"You want me to do YOUR work now? I will NOT take on menial everyday tasks that are a king's responsibility if I am not the king!" He shouted again, his tone pissing off the king more and more by the second.
"YOU WILL DO AS I SAY!" The older man shouted back, and in a split second stood in front of his son. He was about an inch taller than the boy and used that small space to establish as much dominance over him as possible. "I AM THE KING!"
It was hard for Vegeta not to flinch, the king was both intimidating and reeking. Never the less, the prince stared him straight in the eye and spoke low, "I will not do your work, old man..."
The king sneered back, "Very well..." his tone unnerved the prince. He knew something was up. "Then I have a task for you." There it was.
The king stepped away from Vegeta and suddenly looked very awake. He looked around his room as if it was the first time he'd seen it in months. He mirrored the disgusted sneer Vegeta had earlier. "You know Frieza is still alive?"
Vegeta, not blinking an eye, gave a curt nod. The king smirked, "Good. Then you're not like the rest of the idiot fools in this universe. Now...I've been training for months you know, trying to ready myself for this attack, but now that it's somewhat postponed . . ." The king paused and straightened himself, he was thinking very hard about something. ". . . I've heard a rumor, well more like a story . . . Whether it's true or not I do not know but am willing to take the risk if it is."
Vegeta let himself relax a bit, he didn't like the way this was starting. "There are these magical...balls...they're known commonly as the Dragonballs. It's said that the person who collects them all will have a wish granted..."
"A wish?" Vegeta echoed.
"Yes, anything, the Dragon that is summoned by these balls is all supposedly all-powerful."
As the king's back was turned Vegeta rolled his eyes. That was it, his father had finally cracked. It must've happened when the old idiot locked himself in this stinking room for months on end.
"Father...I-" He began, but was cut off.
"They're on a planet called Namek, and I want you to go there and find them."
"FATHER!" Vegeta cried, his eyes wide. "That's insane! How do you know any of that story is true? You're going to send off your best fighter, in a time when Vegetasei might be attacked at any moment, to find some... some ...balls!?"
"If you get them, and bring them back, we're guaranteed a victory in the fight against Frieza! Those balls can make both of us the most powerful beings in the universe..." The king turned to face Vegeta, something dark in his black eyes was twinkling, and it sparked something within the prince just as he heard, "We could be immortal . . . my son."
"I can't believe it..." Chi Chi was aghast, "You built this entire ship, are out in open space, you left home, ALL SO YOU COULD FIND A BOYFRIEND!?" Chi Chi shouted and growled, she towered over poor Bulma and Bulma cowered before her.
"W-well..." Bulma was scared, she had never seen Chi Chi so ma-...Okay, maybe she had. It's just that she had never been on the recieving end of it. She vowed to herself she never would be again, either.
Without giving Bulma a good chance to explain Chi Chi stormed off, most likely to her room. This both disturbed and relieved Bulma. What would Chi Chi do now that she knew? The blue-haired teen swallowed hard and made a mental note to stay close to the control panel, incase Chi decided to phone home...
Wee! Finished chapter three! *feels accomplished, even tho this story isn't getting reviews. -_- Oi, even with my suckier fics I'd at least have ten reviews by the end of chapter two. I don't know if I can blame it on myself...or the fact that I'm taking forever to just get Bulma and Vegeta even on the same planet, haha. It could be me updating the fic at 3:00am too, on a weekday. Hmm, no, I just suck. -_-
Oi well, I finally have my personal site up! *is happy* , go see it!! XD I'm getting ready to update my other site too, . ^^
Next chapter - The prince is thrown into his own 'Space Odyssey' against his will. He's to find the "Dragonballs," which may or may not be real, ( He's none to pleased about this whole ordeal ) on a planet called Namek. Meanwhile Bulma's ship is inevitably headed straight towards the same planet! Finally! Time to see the meeting of Prince Vegeta and Bulma in the next chapter - "Beginning Destinations." (Erg...I'll think of a better title later.) But will either be smitten? (Of course not, haha, but to complicate matters...) There's another man in the picture, a tall, handsome, ...green... one.