The Lost Art of Keeping A Secret
--Search and Destroy--
--back at Goten and Paris's table--
Paris stared angrily at Goten for a long time.
Goten raised an eyebrow. "What?"
Paris narrowed her eyes. "So, why would your cousin do something like this?"
"She's not my cousin. She's my niece," Goten corrected.
"Right," Paris said doubtfully. "So, why would your NIECE do something like this?"
Goten shrugged. "Why does she do ANY of the things she does? Maybe I should be asking you. You're the behavior specialist."
"It's not your cousin--" Paris began.
"Niece," Goten interrupted.
"Fine. It's not your niece I'm concerned about," Paris continued. "It's that girl and that baby. You're sure you didn't get her pregnant?"
Goten's eyes were like saucers. "Are you serious? Believe me, Paris. Nothing went on between me and Marron."
"Hmm.... She seemed pretty convinced that that was your child," Paris pointed out.
"Like I said before, Marron's never even been pregnant," Goten said.
Paris smiled. "Then I'll take you at your word. It's all a man has, right?"
--the corner table--
Pan rolled her eyes. "Are you guys coming or what? We've been found out, you know."
Trunks stood. "Yeah, we'd better split."
Bra just walked out and the other two followed.
--soon--
"Now, I know that for some strange reason, Goten is seeing some woman and it's not you. Am I right so far?" Trunks asked his sister.
The four of them--Trunks, Bra, Pan and Marron--sat on a bench in the park. Marron had taken her temporary child back to his parents.
Bra nodded. "That's right."
Trunks looked befuddled. "Okay. So, do you mind filling me in on how that happened?"
Bra was becoming irritated with her brother now. That was always easy to do. Real easy. "The thing about that is that I told him to go out with her as a cover-up in order to keep people at school from finding out about us."
"Do you have any idea how stupid that sounds?" Trunks questioned.
"Shut up! You would have done the same thing if you were in my shoes! I don't want Goten getting into trouble because I'm under age!" Bra shouted. "Not to mention the fact that I'm also his student."
Trunks rolled his eyes. "Alright. I'll pretend that's justifiable. So what's the problem? He's going out with her just like you wanted."
"I.... Shut up!" Bra said. She was operating on a short fuse these days. And a short fuse would get her nowhere. She stood and paced.
"I think what she's trying to say is that she dug herself a nice little ditch and she needs help getting out," Pan translated.
Bra shot Pan a look that would have knocked down a cement wall. Of course, the Son girl was much more resilient than a cement wall, so the look was in vain.
"Aw, come here, little sis," Trunks said. He stood and put his arm around Bra like he was about to hug her, then put her in the headlock. "You're a real basket case, you know that? What were you thinking?"
Marron laughed. "That's the way to get through to her."
Bra felt her own power careening out of control and before she realized what was going on, she'd gone Super Saiyan. The force of her aura knocked Trunks flat on his back.
"Hey, Bra. Calm down. What are you trying to do? Get us caught?" Pan asked. She put her hand on Bra's shoulder. "Just chill out. Do some deep knee bends or something. Work some of that energy off."
Bra growled and powered back down. "Trunks, you're dancing on my last nerve. Are you gonna help me or not?"
Trunks sat on the grass and thought for a moment. "I don't know. He IS my best friend. I wouldn't wanna do anything to jeopardize our friendship.... If I come up with a plan, you're gonna owe me big."
Pan hopped to her feet and gasped. "I hate to interrupt this tender moment, but I think we've got a bigger problem on our hands." She pointed up in the sky.
Marron, Trunks and Bra turned and gazed upward.
There floated Vegeta. He levitated in the air with his arms folded across his chest. And he was staring right at them.
Bra swallowed hard. What was he doing here? Had he been tracking them all along, or had he felt her energy surge a few moments ago? Either way, they were all looking at him now.
Vegeta landed in front of them without a sound.
Great. Like Bra didn't already have enough problems in her life.
"I know he's here somewhere," Vegeta said, scanning the area.
No one was brave enough to ask to whom the madman referred. Bra knew that he was talking about Goten. And if the others were smart, they'd know as well.
"Where is the youngest son of Kakarot hiding?" Vegeta asked harshly. He looked right at his daughter.
Bra took a deep breath. "Dad, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to destroy the youngest son of Kakarot," Vegeta told her plainly. Her father wasn't usually one to bite his tongue. "I know you've been seeing him, even though I told you not to."
Trunks, Marron and Pan had backed away from them.
"Seeing him? The only reason I see him is because I'm in his class!" Bra shouted. She looked at her feet. "Besides, he's not here. He's out on a date."
Vegeta was silent at first and when Bra looked up, she saw that he was watching her.
"What do you mean, he's out on a date?" Vegeta asked.
The backs of Bra's eyes had begun to sting. She couldn't cry again in front of her father again. It would only make things worse. So she took another deep breath to steady her voice. "Just what I said. He's out on a date."
Vegeta furrowed his brow. There was something different about her father's anger now. She couldn't be sure what it was. "Then you know where he is?"
"No, I don't," Bra lied.
Vegeta growled, then looked over at the others. He marched over and looked at each one of them. "Where is Kakarot's youngest brat?" he questioned Trunks first.
Trunks shrugged. "He didn't tell me anything."
Vegeta narrowed his eyes at his son. He looked at Marron and obviously decided against talking to her. He looked at Pan. "You know where the brat is, don't you?"
Pan shook her head.
"You know how to find him," Vegeta said. "Kakarot is always bragging about your ability to track suppressed energies. I want you to take me to him."
It was unusual for Bra to see her father ask for help. Well, he wasn't really asking. He was telling. But it was his way of saying 'I can't do this on my own, so I want you to help me.' Now there was only one thing left to ask. What would Vegeta do when he found Goten this time?
Pan looked surprised. She looked around, probably hoping to get some sort of support from her friends. All Trunks, Bra and Marron could do was look at her.
She frowned. "Yes, sir."
--End Search and Destroy--
--Hello again. Sorry this episode was so short and strange. But there are more twists and turns on the way.
--Thanks for reading this episode of Versus 2. And thank you all for your reviews.
--I don't have a lot to say today. Just keep an eye out for the next chapter.