Versus 3: Eclipse

All That You Do

Nick had said that this little Mom and Pop's restaurant was the place they always went to in order to celebrate successful shows. Not a lot of people seemed to come to this place, which was nice. It made for a more private setting. The group made small talk until the food came out. Bra couldn't help noticing that even though she, Pan and Nick were doing most of the talking; Marron and Wes had the most interesting interactions. The few times Wes made a comment, Marron would give him her undivided attention. And vice versa. It made Bra wonder...

There were seven people at the table. The 4 members of Eroder, Bra, Pan and Marron. It was a shame that once the food was ordered, all eyes were on Pan and Bra. Even with four grown men around, no one was packing it in like these two. You can only deny your heritage for so long. Bra and Pan had the blood of the Saiya-jin coursing through their veins. And Saiyans, be they 50 or 25, had to have the proper amount of nourishment. Obviously, Marron had forgotten that. And the band had absolutely no clue.

In a way, Bra felt bad for the people who ran the little burger joint. While Marron only had one hamburger, and the band had put away about 12 in all, the cooks continued to truck out food for the 2 Saiyans. Bra alone had chomped about 14 burgers, but the granddaughter of the eating machine called Goku had finished off around 20. And the fries... Oh, the ocean of fries they had...

But they were being polite. A lot more damage could have been done.

"How in the world did you two eat all that?" Nick asked. He looked quite surprised.

Todd also looked astounded. "Yeah, I mean, where does it all go?"

Pan and Bra looked at each other and shrugged.

"You must expend massive amounts of energy in order to burn off all that food. Do you eat like this all the time?" Wes questioned.

Pan raised her eyebrows. "No. I usually eat more."

"SAY WHAT?" Todd yelled.

Bra nodded. She had always been told that humans would never understand the way a Saiyan's body worked. How it was constantly using energy on an astronomical scale. How even while they are eating their bodies are instantly using that energy and how their bodies have to store up lots of energy until the next time they feast. When food wasn't available, they were either completely zapped of energy or their bodies began using the energy from their actual organs, which multiplied its original energy 10 fold. Few Saiyans operated in the latter way. As a matter of fact, it is rumored that Broly operated in that way. No one could be sure.

"Don't worry, Nick. If money's a problem, I can pay," Bra said.

Nick frowned. "But I said that it was on me. I can't go back on my word."

Pan sighed. "What a guy."

Marron nudged Pan.

Bra shrugged. "If you say so. But I get to leave the tip."

Nick nodded. "Agreed."

He went to the register and paid for their dinner. 245.50 with the group discount. That was pretty good. Bra wasn't supposed to know how much the bill was, but she'd looked at it when the waiter brought it over.

A group of young ladies, who had been sitting at one of the other tables, walked over to Nick. The giggling little cluckers (probably in their early twenties) seemed to be asking him for an autograph or something. Bra never took kindly to those types of girls. They were ridiculous really. The only thing they really knew was that he was good-looking and popular. How many girls cared about the music he and the rest of the band played? How many girls actually cared about the rest of the band? Bra could only shake her head.

"What's up, Bra?" Pan asked. She'd obviously seen her reaction to the wannabe groupies that surrounded Nick.

"Nothing," Bra said with a sigh. What was the use in telling Pan? She was just like them. Drooling over a guy because he was handsome and popular. Some of it may have been the music, but Bra highly doubted that any of these girls appreciated this band for what they produced musically. Was she really the only one who understood the greatness of Eroder as a whole?

"You know, ladies. There are 3 of us now and there are 3 of you" Todd began.

"Don't be a jerk, Todd," Wes told him.

"What? I was just kidding around," Todd said with a dumb smile on his face.

"It's getting pretty late. I think it's time to head out," Wes suggested.

"Yeah," Marron agreed. She looked at Pan and Bra, then back at Wes. "But if you've got a free minute, I'd like to talk to you."

Wes raised his eyebrows. "Sure."

Marron hustled Bra and Pan off to the ladies' room. "Why don't you two take my car? I'll get Wes to take me home."

Bra looked surprised. She wasn't sure what to think. Was Marron trying to hook up with this guy? What about Uubu?

"Marron, what do you think you're doing? You don't even know this guy," Pan hissed.

"Don't worry. I can take care of myself. Besides, he seems sweet," Marron said.

This was ludicrous. "And Uubu?" Bra asked.

Marron frowned. "I don't even know where I stand with him. I can't waste my life waiting for someone if he's not giving me any signals, you know. This guy's been making eyes at me all night." She smiled.

It was a shot to Bra's heart. Maybe that's how Goten felt about the way she'd been treating him. He couldn't know where he stood with her if she never said anything or gave him any signals. There must be something she can do to at least show Goten that he meant everything to her.

Pan nodded. "I want you to give me a call when you get home," she told Marron.

Marron nodded.

Bra walked back out to the eating area and the other girls followed. "You've got a point," she said to Marron. "Come on, Pan."

Pan looked confused. "Wha?"

Bra walked back over to the rest of Eroder. "It was a real pleasure meeting you guys. The show rocked." She looked at Hunter. "Your guitar playing during Eternal No More was incendiary." She looked at Todd. "Your overall drum style was absolutely phenomenal." She looked at Wes. "And you seem to be a master of combining playing and pausing. Not to mention your harmonization with Nick when you were singing." She nodded to them. "All of you were really great on that stage. You have a kind of chemistry that's missing in this manufactured rock scene we have today. I wish you all the best."

It was the most she'd said all night.

"Yeah, keep up the good work, guys," Pan said, cheering for them one last time.

One person in the entire place cheering. Pan didn't seem to mind.

"It was good meeting you girls too," Todd said, waving to them.

"Have a safe trip home," Hunter finally spoke.

Marron had robbed the band of their bassist. The two were on the other side of the room, talking.

in the car

Pan was driving. Bra wasn't sure why she let Wildchild drive. Probably because she had no fear of dying at this moment. And if Pan wrecked Marron's car, she would go into a major tizzy. It wasn't Bra's problem. The two rode silently...at first.

"Man, what a night," Pan said. "I can't believe I actually ate with Eroder. Nick Carnage is the greatest." She looked at the clock. "We're both probably gonna sleep through class tomorrow. It's after 10:30. I'm gonna have to sneak in. I'm not supposed to be out this late on a school night." She sighed. "By the time we get home and calm down, it'll be around 1:00."

"I'm not going home yet," Bra said suddenly.

Pan looked at Bra strangely. "What do you mean, you're 'not going home yet'?"

"Just what I said," Bra replied. "I want you to drop me off at Goten's."

"Are you out of your mind? Your mom's already gonna kill you when she finds out you left" Pan began.

"She's not gonna find out," Bra told her. "Now, I have some very important business to take care of. Take me there."

Pan frowned. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you..." After a while, she smiled. "This is exciting. Staying out late with the threat of being grounded for life. Well, you're ALREADY grounded for life. But once my parents find out that I could have prevented this, I'll be grounded for life too. Then I can sneak out and get into even more trouble. This is great!"

What a twisted perspective her friend had on this whole situation. "No one's gonna find out. So just take me to Goten's," Bra told her.

soon

Bra got out of the car once they got to Goten and Trunks' apartment. "Thanks, Pan. Just don't say anything to your mom and dad about this, okay?"

"Sure thing," Pan said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Pan drove off like the speed demon she was. Undoubtedly that car would be demolished by the time Marron saw it again.

But Bra had bigger things to worry about right now. She slowly walked toward the apartment. It was close to 11:00. Should she even be here? What if he was asleep? She looked at his bedroom window and saw a dim light. It flickered strangely like the light from a television.

Bra took a deep breath and walked over to the window. She didn't want to take the chance of waking up her brother by knocking on the front door. The blinds were closed and she wasn't able to see into the room, so she tapped on the glass.

She watched as the blinds parted and a set of dark eyes stared back at her for a long time. Then they quickly closed again.

Bra frowned and turned away. Maybe he didn't want to see her. Maybe he had someone in the room with him. That was it. Marron said that wasn't going to waste her life waiting for someone who wouldn't give her any signals. Goten had finally decided to do the same. It had only been one day and he had already moved on. This new girl must have been really special. He was already spending the night with her. Bra dubbed herself a fool for believing that letter. That stupid letter that Goten wrote, vowing to wait for her. Now he was seeing someone else...

There was the sound of a window opening behind her and she turned.

"Bra, what are you doing here?" Goten asked, giving her that confused look of his.

Bra couldn't help smiling. It seemed like ages since she'd seen that face. She just stared at him.

Goten raised his eyebrows. "Um, it's pretty dark out there. Why don't you come in?"

Bra still hadn't said anything. How could she? She had mentally accused him of being unfaithful to someone he wasn't even in a relationship with.

"You're as bad with windows as you are with doorways," Goten said jokingly.

She just stood there. She wasn't sure what she should say.

Goten took her hand and pulled her toward the window. "As much as I'd like to believe it, I don't think you came all this way just to see what kind of pajamas I had on."

Bra laughed a little. This was the kind of thing she missed. She missed the familiarity. She missed the goofiness. She missed the sweetness. She missed the discomforting comfort she felt around him, as oxymoronic as it might sound. She missed the feeling she felt in his presence. He was the only person who could make her feel this way. All she really needed was a way to express it.

End All That You Do

Thanks for reading this episode of Versus 3. It ended in a bad spot, I know. But that's just enough to get your taste buds ready for the next episode. Will Bra finally say those 3 magic words? Can Goten and Bra's relationship be salvaged? Is there trouble in the future for the girl who sneaks out while grounded? Stick around to find out.

Thank you for the past reviews and such. You folks are the best. Oh, and I'm still open for suggestions. And just because I don't use them immediately doesn't mean I don't keep them in mind for later or for other stories. So please review.

Comments: My goal here on is to create something original, yet familiar and to entertain. I hope that I am accomplishing those two things well enough. I'm still somewhat new at this. I hope that some of you will be there with me if I decide to explore other genres. (Hint for the future of my career of evil.)