Chapter 13: calm
Bulma was smiling to her self as she stared at the barbecue. She had had her good nights rest and had gotten onto the phone as soon as an acceptable time rolled round to round up a few more guests. Now she had a few of her oldest human friends gathered round back for the small gathering and Yamcha was busy flipping burgers on the barbecue whilst she caught up with him and the occupants of Kame house, Krillen and cyborg 18.
Vegeta was watching moodily from a tree further away as he wasn't social in the least bit. So instead of participating in the idol chitchat he preferred to watch from a distance and monitor the progress of the others.
He knew that his children were busy by the buffet table that was supposed to be getting filled with grilled treats -even though the opposite seemed to be happening- the others were all a different story. He could sense Zara in a mountain range far away and seemed to be taking her time flying over. Kakarot and his extended family were also taking their sweet time. Emily and her family still seemed to be rushing madly in their home but Kakarot should be there any-
"Hey Vegeta! We're here!" Goku addressed himself and his family after peering only inches away from trampling the prince. The group all said hi and scattered to their normal places leaving Goku, Gohan and Vegeta alone.
Vegeta growled and climbed to his feet as he looked calmly over the father and son duo.
"Watch where you land Kakarot. I don't appreciate having myself turned into a welcome mat." The saiyan grumbled and led the two other men to the buffet table as they laughed and apologised.
The next to arrive was Zara as she had decided to speed up once she sensed Goku and the others all arrive at Capsule Corporation. She came in for a landing minutes later and joined Trunks and Goten at the buffet table.
"Should have guessed that you guys would be over here." She addressed them in a typical greeting and with a grin on her face. Trunks nodded as he ate more of the food that had been laid out, as that was the only greeting he could give at the time. Goten swallowed hard and after a quick glance round the area he smiled.
"Hey, good to see ya. So when's the big date?" he teased after seeing that his adoptive sister was nowhere to be seen. Both Trunks and Zara blushed as they felt the eyes of the other saiyan men turn to them.
"Now Goten, what did I tell you last night?" a second feminine voice interrupted from behind Goten. Goten looked behind him to see Emily and the rest of her family standing there. Goten sighed.
"Come on guys, there are too many people here now. Might as well grab some food and go before our hands get bitten off." He said in a pout, knowing all to well that this many saiyans around food normally resulted in something bad. Trunks agreed and the group took off with two plates that had a small mountain of food on each.
Emily laughed to herself as she adjusted her hold on little Daisy whilst the men looked at her.
"What did you tell him?" Gohan asked curiously but Emily wasn't going to say a word. Instead Mirai did.
"She decided to meddle in the love life of my younger counter part. She told Goten to lay off on the teasing so they wouldn't be so afraid to actually start dating and all of that. Think Chichi has rubbed off on her." He explained and eyed a plate of chicken. Emily sighed at them and decided to go find the women.
"Come on guys." She muttered to the kids and pulled them all off to join in the gossiping women by the BBQ. Alex had better ideas.
"Aw, can't we just go and do what we want?" she moaned.
"Yea, listening to you guys gossip is so boring!" Jake added. Emily stopped and sighed.
"Fine, just stay out of trouble." She agreed but they had left before she could even finish the sentence.
They must have gotten it from their father's side of the family…she decided and continued on her way.
The terror twins decided to go find their good old uncle Goten and friends.
They found the three teenagers sat round a tree near the back of the garden. They seemed to still be on the topic of the 'big date'.
"So what movie are you going to see?" Goten asked before throwing another bit of chicken into his mouth. Trunks and Zara looked at each other before Trunks answered
"I was thinking about that new action movie that was out. The one about the people lost in the alien jungle. The previews looked ok." Trunks said thoughtfully. Goten scoffed.
"No way, that thing sucks. The reviews are terrible. You should go see that new spy thriller." Goten commented. Trunks inwardly shuddered.
"No way, I'm not ever gonna touch one of those again. Not even with a ten foot poking stick." He said and crossed his arms stubbornly, earning a chuckle from Zara.
"That's good, spy thrillers are normally too predictable anyway. So I'll take it that the movie industry hasn't improved over the last ten years then."
Goten sweat dropped at them then remembered the top movie for the moment.
"There is one out right now. It's a teen movie." He said and received a gagging gesture from Trunks.
"Now that's a bad idea. What's so good about a virgin geek trying to get laid?" Trunks asked then finally noticed Alex and Jake staring at them from behind Goten. The other two turned round in their places in the triangle and joined in staring at them. The twins stared back in an awkward silence before Jake decided to ask something nobody likes to explain.
"What does that mean? 'Virgin' and 'get laid'" he asked innocently. The three teenagers looked at each other.
"Well Goten, you might as well tell them." Trunks said and leaned against the tree. Goten went bug-eyed.
"What? Why me?" he cried and stared at Trunks's relaxed look and then Zara's amused one.
"Well you are their uncle." Trunks said calmly.
"So! You guys are older then me!" Goten cried.
"Only by a few months." Zara interjected.
"You maybe Zar, But Trunks is a whole year older so he should be the one to explain." Goten shot back.
"So? You've had more experience at…that topic so you're more qualified." Trunks pointed out with a sly grin.
"What? Shut up, Trunks!" Goten cried.
"I will if you tell them." Trunks shot back.
"Why should I tell them?" Goten asked hysterically.
"I think we covered why…" Zara pointed out.
"Who asked you Zara?" Goten pouted then looked at the laughing twins.
"Uncle Goten sure is funny." Alex said through a fit of giggles, pushing lavender hair out of her eyes.
"Yea! And easy to wind up, too!" Jake agreed and shook his blonde head as he laughed.
"I AM NOT!" Goten yelled at them and jumped to his feet, clenching his fists. The twins yelped and ran off. The other two teens laughed as Chichi called them over for burgers.
"I see what you mean Goten. You sure don't wind up easily." Zara said with her annoying amused look still on her face.
"Shut up."
Bulma and the other ladies had finished setting up the table – Chichi had threatened the guys with the frying pan of doom so they would stay away for a while – and now everybody was round the long table grabbing what they wanted. The humans had already taken all that they thought they would need before the saiyans had gotten near the table and now it was the saiyans' turn to pig out…more so.
The food level on the table rapidly went down as the saiyans picked it apart like vultures. The Humans all looked at it in amusement and then Bulma noticed Zara by the house with no food what so ever. She went over to investigate.
"If you think waiting until the saiyans are done eating is a good idea then you've been away from them for far too long." The older woman said as she reached her. Zara blushed a little and looked down.
"That's not it…" she said quietly. Bulma gave her a quizzical look.
"Oh? Then what's the matter?" she asked and Zara sighed.
Might as well tell her…"It's a Kalroo thing." Zara muttered. Bulma now looked interested and Zara knew that she wouldn't be left alone now.
"Kalroo's evolved on a desert like planet so most food sources were kinda abundant. So they developed these special food stores so that they could go months without eating, even with the intense training that I go through. So seeing as how I ate a large meal a few days ago then I'm still not hungry. And the annoying thing about being half human is that that little development was slowed right down so I didn't get it until I was 16." Zara explained with a sigh.
Bulma's eyes widened in amazement and then grinned.
"Really? That's amazing! You can really go that long with out eating? Wow, after this you'll have to tell me more about the Kalroos." Bulma announced and continued to ramble as she went fully into scientist mode. Trunks laughed as he walked over with a new pile of food on his plate.
"You walked right into that one." He commented and Zara groaned as they began to walk off.
In the fickle of the feeding frenzy some of the saiyans were still putting food on their plates while Goku and Vegeta decided to host their own mini-eating contest. At least that's what it looked like.
Emily and Mirai had already left with their food to join their human friends and Jake had already finished eating. The only saiyans left that were still piling food onto their plates was Goten and Alex. Each had a towering plate and both were still trying to get more.
Goten decided that all that he needed was a juicy steak and then he would be done. He looked over the long table over empty plates until he came across the one that had harboured the steaks. It looked like someone had beaten him to it and now there was only one steak left.
He shrugged and shoved his fork in to it. He grinned and pulled it towards him and that's when a second fork decided to land in it. Goten looked at it in confusion and then traced his gaze up the arm gripping it and into the blue eyes of his 'evil' niece.
"Hey, this is mine." He told her fiercely. She smirked at him.
"Really? Well I don't see you're name on it." She said and pulled. Goten frowned and pulled as well and they entered a tug of war over the steak. They're eyes stayed locked on each other's the whole time until Goten decided to make a risky move.
He glanced in Emily's direction quickly.
"You're mum is staring at us and she looks Mad." He told the girl. Alex widened her eyes in fear and quickly turned to her mother who was in fact chatting away with Chichi and 18.
"No she's- hey!" Alex yelled as she realised that Goten had already stolen the steak and had ran off. She glared in the direction of his energy signal.
"Come on Jake, I'm getting my steak back!"
Trunks and Zara were deep in conversation when Goten reached them. He skidded to a halt after running from the building to the very back of the garden in a split second and sprayed dirt at them, but miraculously the food remained untouched by it.
"Watch it!" the couple yelled at him and glared as Goten jumped down into a sitting position with his legs crossed. He balanced his plate on his legs and rubbed his hands together, licking his lips. He began to plot out how to go about eating what was in front of him and the other two decided to go back to their conversation.
Goten reached out for his first bite but a small hand stopped him.
"Wait Uncle 'ten," it was Jake, "Grandma wants to talk to you before you eat."
Goten stared at him in annoyance.
"About what?"
Jake squirmed as he tried to think of a reason. All of the teenagers were now looking at him and he didn't know what to say.
Hurry up Al! He thought desperately.
"Cool it, it's very difficult!" Alex's voice snapped at him inside his head and Jake couldn't help but glance quickly at Goten's food and the little hand reaching round to get it.
Zara had of course heard them and looked curiously at Goten and spotted Alex.
This could be entertaining…she thought and looked at Jake just as Alex grabbed the side of the plate.
"I'd hurry up if I were you or Goten might actually notice." She said with a smile. The guys all blinked at her.
"Notice what? Hey!" Goten cried just as Alex grabbed the steak and ran. Within a split second, Goten had jumped to his feet and had given chase, leaving the remaining three to laugh at them (and probably steal food from the plate the teenage saiyan had left behind.)
Alex ran as fast as she possibly could whilst doing her best to eat the steak before Goten could catch her. She appeared to be almost a blur when she ran past the adults and only left a rather large gust of wind in her wake as a sign that she ran past. A few seconds later and Goten did the exact same thing.
Chichi and Bulma blinked as they did their best to hold their skirts down.
"What in the world was that?" Chichi asked along with Bulma. All of the saiyans surrounding the table looked in the direction of the two speeding kis.
"Well this can't be good." Gohan commented. Emily frowned.
"Alex…" she growled and then began to chase after them along with all the other saiyans.
Meanwhile, Alex had decided to lose Goten by jumping through an open window. She powered all the way down to hide her energy signature. Goten ran straight past the window Alex was ducking on the other side of and she sighed with relief before gobbling down the remainder of the steak.
Ha! Too easy! But I'll have to lay low for a while now. She thought to herself and then took off down the corridor she had landed in. not long after and she sensed all of the saiyans fanning out in search of her. She could sense her grandpa Goku and Vegeta entering the house.
Uh oh…she thought and quickly looked round in search of a hiding place. She then looked out the window and what she saw made her smirk. She could see Vegeta's precious GR in the distance with her twin in the doorway beckoning her to come in. Alex quickly sensed out the positions of her friends and family and when she knew that they were all on the opposite side of C.C, she climbed out the window and ran to the GR. A few seconds later, Vegeta rounded the corner and spotted the GR.
Alex quickly closed the heavy doors as soon as she had cleared them. She leant against it for a long moment, sucking in breath before grinning at her twin and partner in crime. Jake grinned back at her.
"That was pretty good. Goten sure did get worked up over that. But now everyone is looking for us!" He exclaimed. Alex grimaced.
"I noticed. Guess we're stuck in here until they all calm down." She said and pushed herself off of the door. She then began to wonder round the large open space, examining it. Jake watched her.
"So now what do we do? That could take ages!" Jake pointed out. Alex looked thoughtful as she continued round the room. She looked round the reinforced walls and then approached the control panel. She ran her fingers over the buttons as she walked past.
"I dunno," she muttered as her finger pressed against a button that was rather weak after Vegeta's pounding on it. The button pressed in under the pressure of her finger and the generator began to buzz.
Instantly the twins eyes widened as they shared a panicked glance.
"What did you do? What did you do?" Jake yelled in alarm.
"I dunno!" Alex yelled back.
"Undo it! Undo it!" Jake yelled again and Alex quickly started pressing buttons in a panic.
"How? Its not working!" Alex yelled back.
"Then make it work!"
Alex began to press buttons even more frantically.
"Well how do I do that?" she yelled back. The generator buzzed louder as the monitor display flickered to life.
"Gravity set: 500Gs." The computerised voice announced and Jake joined his twin and the panel as he felt the gravity increase.
"Stop it!" he yelled and began pounding on every button in reach.
Meanwhile, outside, Goku had joined Vegeta by the window.
"Have you found them?" he asked. Vegeta gave the younger saiyan a cold glance.
"If I had done that, Kakarot, then they'd be here getting punished. So stop asking stupid questions." The prince said coldly. Goku sweat dropped and grinned nervously.
"Ok, calm down Vegeta. What's got you all upset?" Goku asked innocently and Vegeta looked back out at his GR.
"Someone is in there." Vegeta informed. Goku stopped grinning and looked over at the GR.
"Do you think it's the kids?" he asked. Vegeta's eyes narrowed as the sound of the graviton generator coming to life reached his ears.
"They better not be, for their sake's." the proud prince announced and then climbed out the window and took off towards the GR, Goku following.
When they reached it, Vegeta quickly discovered that the doors were locked.
"It should only do that automatically when the gravity turns on! And I had it preset to be too strong for anyone but us!" Vegeta announced and then set to work trying to get in. unfortunately for him and the kids inside, it couldn't be opened until the gravity was turned down and Vegeta had no idea how to do it from where he was.
Vegeta growled as he tried to restrain himself from punching a hole through the panel. He then noticed a slight blur of movement in the corner of his eye and when he turned down, Goku was there with Bulma having used instant translocation to get her.
"What's going on here?" Bulma asked. Vegeta growled.
"No time for talk, just shut off the bloody gravity." Vegeta snapped. Normally Bulma would have argued with Vegeta and would have reminded him about manners but this was one of the rare occasions where she really had to do what he said. A few moments later and Bulma had taken off the small panel by the door and had manually shut off the generator. The doors then opened and the three adults hurried in to find Alex and Jake lying on the floor and gasping for air. They both groggily looked up to see Vegeta looming over them.
"Uh oh…"
"…Busted." They said together just before Vegeta picked them up by the scruff of their necks and carried them out of the room.
Not long after…
Everyone was gathered in front of the large C.C building. Emily and Mirai were both frowning down at the twins along with Vegeta and Chichi at their sides. Then further off stood the rest of the group.
"Well?" Emily asked, "What have you got to say for yourselves?"
The twins looked down at their feet and didn't say a word. Emily stared down at both of them.
"You two could have gotten yourselves killed in there! You know you are not allowed in the GR without an adult in there with you!" Emily continued. The twins still didn't say a word.
"Of course, since you got out alive, who's to say I won't kill you?" Vegeta added gruffly. Alex looked meekly up at her grandpa.
"Um…because that'll get mum mad and you'd lose your grandkids?" she asked. Vegeta's glare hardened and so did their parents'.
"This isn't the time to be joking around! Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in? You've ruined this little get together and you nearly damaged Vegeta's GR. Plus you could have gotten yourself killed!" Emily cried. Alex looked back down at her feet.
"You guys are grounded until further notice." Mirai then announced and both chibis looked up at him in protest.
"Uh, no arguments, buts or protests. Any problems can be sorted out later." Mirai interjected before the twins could even begin to argue. Both twins looked at each other.
"I have a question." Jake then said, raising his hand nervously. Mirai and Emily shared a curious glance before looking at their son.
"What is it?" they asked. Jake hesitated before asking.
"What does 'get laid' and 'virgin' mean?" he asked innocently. Their parents looked absolutely shocked.
"Where did you hear those words?" Emily asked. Alex and Jake shared a glance.
"Uncle Goten and his friends used them." Alex explained. Instantly the women rounded on the three teenagers.
"Goten!" Emily yelled.
"How could you use those phrases around them?" Chichi yelled.
"Trunks! I expected better from you!" Bulma added. Zara took this as a sign to get away and quickly slinked off to hide behind the other adults whilst the women were still focused on the boys.
The two boys on the other hand were busy trying to get out themselves.
"We didn't! We don't know what they're talking about!" Goten protested.
"But Trunks said you were the expert." Jake said innocently. Goten nearly face vaulted.
"What! No he didn't! Trunks, tell them!" Goten yelled and then realised that Trunks had also sneaked off. Hey, every man for himself…
So Goten was left to sweat in front of three annoyed women. He stared nervously at his mother and then noticed something. The group of adults behind him were all beginning to laugh. Goten looked over his shoulder at them and went slightly red.
"Hey! This isn't funny." He pouted but this just made them laugh harder. Even the women joined in and soon everyone was laughing at the little scene, thus ending the party.
The next few weeks flew by quickly. Trunks and Zara had there little date. They had gone to see Trunks's first choice after all and weren't all that impressed by it.
They walked out of the theatre laughing over what they had just seen.
"Who knew it was possible to make something that cheesy?" Zara commented. Trunks laughed.
"All the better to make fun of." He replied and grinned at Zara. She smiled back. Trunks then subtly entwined his hand with hers.
"You know I'm glad you decided to stay." He admitted. Zara smiled at him.
"There wasn't anything to decide." Zara replied and smiled at him.
"What do you mean?" he asked confused. Zara looked right into his eyes.
"You should know me well enough by now Briefs." Zara replied and then kissed him on the cheek before walking off. Trunks watched her go, stunned. Zara glanced over her shoulder and smirked at him.
"Aren't you coming?" she called and Trunks quickly ran after her.
The earth continued to live in relative peace for much longer but in a secluded galaxy light years away, a space station was in high orbit of an empty planet. Creatures roamed the dank hallways, going about their business.
A little round, green creature came running out of the communications lab holding a small computer pad. He ran purposefully down the long corridors, waving it high above his head. He quickly made it to the turbo lift and shortly after he ran onto what appeared to be the bridge. He ran to a large chair in the middle of the room and collapsed in front of it.
"We…we just received word from Findla's away team." The creature squeaked.
"Well it's about time. What has he got to say?" a feminine voice asked from the seat. The little creature gulped and handed the person in the seat the pad.
"It appears that his ship has been destroyed." The little creature informed. The person in the chair pressed a button on the pad and nodded.
"How in intriguing. I think we should pay this planet a little visit, don't you?" the voice asked. The creature squeaked and all of the others around the room nodded, setting in the given coordinates…