Chapter Nine

"And Bra rescued me," Goten finished his explanation.

Trunks was surprised at the bitter tone in his voice. Something had obviously gone wrong.

"What's wrong?"

"I couldn't escape Trunks. I was completely helpless in a chair and rope! I've been training! I couldn't free myself!"

"You've been training?" Trunks was intrigued, Goten never trained.

"That's not important!"

Trunks sighed and motioned for Goten to sit down again.

"Goten, there was no way you could have escaped those ropes and chair."

"What do you mean?" Goten's frustration deflated.

"All the furniture in Capsule Corp. is saiyan proof, as my mom likes to say, and the ropes must have been to if you struggled and were unable to free yourself."

"Saiyan proof?"

"Yeah, there were too many incidents were Zarah, Bra, or myself accidentally broke the furniture around us. Not to mention the times when dad would stomp around in search of mom. It became easier to pay a little more to make something indestructible then to continuously buy more office chairs."

"And the ropes?" Goten was amazed.

"Same idea, but it was developed with the thought of imprisoning an enemy," Trunks folded his hands in a businesslike manner. "You're lucky Bra found you when she did."

Goten's expression closed.

"Goten? What's the matter?"

Goten kept his mouth shut.

"Goten," Trunks leaned forward, "You have been acting oddly for awhile now."

"There's nothing wrong," Goten avoided eye contact.

"Goten-"

The door opened.

"Trunks, I hope I'm not . . . Goten!"

"Uncle Goten!"

Pan and Maron were shocked at his appearance. Goten's shirt was gone, his pants were shredded, and his torso was covered in scratches and lipstick.

"This is all my fault," Maron announced suddenly, "I'm so sorry Goten."

Trunks and Pan tensed, what the hell was Maron doing?

"This isn't your fault," Goten tried to console her.

"No it is!" Tears pricked her eyes, "I went into the break room and all these women surrounded me. I was so scared! So I mentioned that you were hired and they left me alone!"

Pan and Trunks released a breathe of relief.

"It's all my fault!"

"Don't worry about," Goten's smile was weak, "The only thing they hurt was my pride."

"What?" Trunks blurted.

Maron's tears magically disappeared unnoticed.

"Nothing to worry about," Goten's smile turned cheesy, "All is well."

"No," Trunks waved his words away, "You said they hurt your pride?"

Goten's expression turned somber, "Yes."

"Why?" Trunks was clueless.

"What do you mean why?" Goten flushed embarrassed, "I was ambushed and abused by women."

"Ahem," Pan crossed her arms.

"Women with no power level what-so-ever," Goten corrected himself earning a nod of approval from his niece.

"That's nothing to be ashamed of," Trunks was still quizzical.

Pan inched toward the door. This was entering into unfamiliar male territory that she would rather just leave alone.

Maron joined her in the retreat and left with little to no sound.

"Trunks, I've been training again," Goten said as if that explained everything.

"You've mentioned that but it still doesn't explain why you should be ashamed by what happened." Trunks was exasperated, "I mean, you aren't the only one who has been attacked like this."

"Really?" Goten was morbidly curious, "Who else?"

"Well . . ." Trunks trailed off uncomfortably, "Try being rescued by your mom."

"What?!" Goten felt a load fall off his shoulders.

"I don't like to talk about it," Trunks glared at his friends sudden eagerness.

"You've never mentioned this," Goten was floored, "When did this happen?"

"Several years ago," Trunks mumbled going through the files on his desk.

"Wow," Goten leaned back into his chair, "And you never told me."

"You wouldn't have understood," Trunks eyed him levelly, "Now you do."

"Jeez," Goten grinned, "The only thing that would make this perfect is if Zarah-"

"Goten," Trunks interrupted, "What makes you think it hasn't happened to him?"

Goten's mouth dropped open, "Zarah?"

Trunks nodded, a smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"His problem was he didn't understand why they would be after him. You're lucky, Zarah wasn't found until at least five hours later."

Goten blinked, "Five hours."

"Hmm," Trunks slid a folder across the desk, "You need to acquaint yourself with these names."

Goten read the file name, "Women to be avoided at all costs."

"Memorize it," Trunks was insistent. "Believe me, it's the best thing to do."

"Wow," Goten shook his head, "So who found Zarah?"

"Bra."

Goten looked up at the name.

"What did he do?"

"Zarah hugged her and wouldn't let go of her for awhile," Trunks rubbed his eyes.

"Really," Goten frowned, "He must have been really shaken up."

"He was," Trunks steepled his fingers, "He didn't come to work for a week."

"Wait a minute," Goten sat up, "If Zarah was assaulted then how come he didn't know he was being stalked and was so naive when it came to women?"

"Goten, there's a difference between assaulted and being stalked. Besides, none of those things really count as experience with women. Bra was probably the only reason he didn't swear off women, well, his sister too." Trunks tilted his head thoughtfully. "Mostly Bra though."

"Yes, Sasoli was never the consoling type," Goten winced, "What did she do when she found out?"

"I had to stop her from killing everyone who had to x chromosomes," Trunks smiled grimly, "Though I suspect she had her revenge. Most of the girls were knocked unconscious and their heads shaved, the others were stripped and found in the middle of highway traffic."

"Yeah, that sounds like Sasoli," Goten shook his head, "How many of them sued?"

"None, it was never traced back to us," Trunks allowed a superior smirk to cross his face, "We hire only the best at Capsule Corp."

"Oh," Goten was amused.

"So you see," Trunks watched him carefully, "You have nothing to be ashamed of."

Goten was quiet.

His instincts were still in an uproar that demanded he train until none could defeat him but his more practical side understood. There was nothing to be ashamed of, if it happened to Trunks and Zarah too.

"Goten," Trunks smiled wearily, "Are you going to stay with us?"

"Of course," Goten answered, though he was startled. Did Trunks really think he was going to quit over this?

"Good," Trunks relaxed, "So you've been training?"

"Yeah," Goten bowed his head.

"There's no reason to be embarrassed. I'm just wondering why? And when?"

Goten became bashful at the slight tone of betrayal in his friend's voice. His training had always coincided with whether or not Trunks was training. This had been the tradition for years and now he had broken it.

"You weren't there when Zarah had to fight everyone just for the chance to be with Pan," His gaze turned inward, "Watching him fight . . . it was . . ."

"Oh my god," Trunks leaned forward, "You're in love with Zarah!"

"What?" Goten blinked at his friend, "No!"

Their laughter filled the room.

"Trunks," Goten shook his head amused, "Nothing like THAT. It was just- Something struck a cord when he fought for her even though there was really no way for him to win, especially against Gohan."

"And that's when you started training," Trunks concluded as excitement filled his veins.

Pan's tournament plan looked better all the time.

**

"Pheromones?" Zarah was intrigued, "How would you do that?"

"All I would need is a blood sample," Bra grinned, excited with the challenge. "It shouldn't be too difficult."

"It has promise," Zarah grinned, "And remember my invention? The one that dissolves everything but organic matter?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It can also dissolve clothes."

"Oh," Bra's eyes returned the mischievous gleam when she shook her head, "Isn't that a bit extreme?"

"Well, you scratched all my other ideas," Zarah shrugged.

"Well, the tournament one baffled me. How is a tournament supposed to help them get together? Maron is not a fighter," Bra couldn't help the slight sneer.

Zarah allowed silence to fill the room as he thought of a way to reasonably explain this certain plan to Bra. Pan's idea to include the same plans in each folder was genius. No one would ever expect a plot they were participating in to actually be for them.

"True," Zarah conceded, "But Trunks is."

Bra frowned but motioned for him to continue.

Zarah chose his words carefully.

"She'll be worried when he fights. We can plant thoughts in her head if she doesn't. Like he hasn't trained in forever, he's weaker than usual."

"He's struggling," Bra nodded, "So we make her worry about him. Then what?"

"Then we knock him out of competition," Zarah's tone turned hopeful, "With an injury or two so she'll fuss over him?"

Bra smiled at him ruefully and turned the idea around in her head. It had potential but . . .

"I don't know Zarah. Maybe if she was fighting as well but otherwise . . ."

"Fighting as well . . ." Zarah's eyes lit up, "You're a genius!"

"Yes, I know," Bra was puzzled by his sudden energy, "Zarah?"

"We'll have to convince her to fight too! Then we can rig it so the first match they'll fight each other! Because you're right, she's not a fighter but she doesn't have to be. Trunks hasn't seen her mad yet, it will be enlightening for both of them." Zarah grinned in triumph.

"There's still one problem," Bra pointed out.

"What?"

"She doesn't fight," Bra hated to show him the huge hole in his plan but it had to be done.

Zarah deflated only for a moment, "She knows enough."

"What?" Now Bra was intrigued.

"Sasoli and Maron used to play together when we were small and went to visit Aunt 18. Maron couldn't always convince Sasoli to play with dolls."

"Sasoli taught Maron how to fight?" Disbelief colored Bra's tone.

"Not really," Zarah raked his bottom lip with his teeth in frustration, "It's hard to explain."

"Try."

"Krillin and Aunt 18 aren't going to let their only daughter out into the world without at least knowing how to defend herself, right?"

"Right," Bra crossed her arms.

"Alright, so from there Sasoli would spar with her."

"Spar?" Bra was alarmed, "But she didn't know enough to spar."

"I know," Zarah agreed with her, "But she was fine. I think her blood knows more then she does."

"Her blood?"

"Right, her mom and my dad are androids, we must have inherited something of that nature," Zarah stopped suddenly, "Am I making any sense?"

"Strangely enough," Bra nodded, "And you seen her fight? Better then she should be able to?"

"Yes," Zarah nodded, "The trick is convincing her to participate in the tournament."

"All right, we'll do it," Bra grinned as her cousin's enthusiasm finally rubbed off, "Now I can't wait for this tournament."

"Me either." Zarah grinned.

"Great, I'll find a suitable date when all our schedules are free," Bra moved toward the door.

"Bra."

She stopped at the soft call and turned to him curiously.

"About Goten."

She stiffened.

"He doesn't know what it is loke to work in this building. He's probably ashamed," Zarah didn't look at her, "He probably would have reacted different if Pan would have found him instead."

Bra was speechless as Zarah turned back to his computer, signaling that he was done.

Deeply troubled she left his office and headed to her own.

Ashamed?

**

"Trunks, what am I going to do about my clothes?" Goten winced as he eyed himself in the reflection of the window, "I have to do something about this lipstick as well."

Trunks said nothing but opened the door to his private bathroom in his office.

"Feel free to use this restroom, it's safe."

Goten gave Trunks a long considering look, "You been ambushed more then once haven't you?"

"Or you could use the employee toilet like everyone else?"

Goten laughed and moved into the bathroom without another word. Silently, he used a small rag to rub at the lipstick and dipping it in water periodically.

"Hey Goten, what do you say to a tournament?"

"Hmm?" Goten carefully cleaned a particularly deep scratch.

"A tournament with just us Z kids," Trunks opened another door and pulled out some spare clothes he always kept at the office for emergencies.

He handed them to Goten.

"Sure, sounds fun."

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it?"

End of Chapter Nine