Chapter 21: Day 16 Part 1 — Judges of Character
Vegeta had spent all night in the trees. The decoy bridge was mostly finished. The pathway was six half poles across with a railing. It was usable if not very wide. He also cut down plants and stopped down the dirt to make it look well used.
But he couldn't shake his gut feeling.
After glaring at the roof of his tree house for a few hours, he had given up on sleep and now sat in the canopy.
The moon was just on the other side of overhead when Vegeta felt the Red team stir. Eventually they start to move. First down the beach, then into the trees.
"They are following the track," he thought.
It was about a half hour until they showed up. Vegeta was surprised that they thought of using the metal cooking pot to hold their fire. It was being held by a branch on the shoulders of Ichiro and Sam.
"We're here," Michael said.
"About time," Becky yawned. She dropped her bundle of sticks and dried coconut husks and stretched.
"Let's get this over with," Ichiro said. "Get this down, Sam."
The two place the pot on the ground. Sam went to pick up the kindling off the ground.
"Wait," Michael said, holding up his hand. "Don't light that yet."
"What's wrong?" Ichiro asked, looking at his face.
Michael was looking at the trail Vegeta had stomped into the ground. He then jogged up the track to the edge of the light before returning.
"This is a fake. It's not the real bridge."
"What? Why?" Becky asked exasperated.
"No tire tracks. This is supposed to be near his camp, but there's no sign of the ATVs anywhere." He pointed at the pot, "Get that stick back in. We keep moving."
"Fucking shit," Vegeta thought.
Vegeta dropped from the trees startling them.
"This is as far as you go," he said, squaring his shoulders.
Everyone caught their breaths.
"What are you? A fucking monkey!" Becky shouted.
Michael closed his eyes and calmed himself. He opened them, smirking. "So, I was right. This was a decoy. You think you're clever?"
"If I thought that, I would be sleeping." Vegeta pointed back down the track. "This is you're only warning, get the fuck out of here and don't come back."
Michael's grin widened, "Or you'll do what? Go cry to the—"
Vegeta interrupted him by punching him in the gut. Michael went down coughing. Vegeta quickly knocked Ichiro and Becky cold while leaving Sam hunched over as well.
Vegeta returned to Michael and pulled him up by his shirt collar. "You try to destroy my stuff again; I start destroying your bones." He punched him three more times in the stomach before knocking him out.
Vegeta locked eyes with Sam as he dropped Michael's limp body to his side. He walked over.
"Hello again. Didn't think you would show up tonight. You're a rather ungrateful little fucktard, aren't you?"
Sam propped himself up against a tree, "Michael… Didn't give us much of a choice…"
"Us a choice or you a choice? Three vs one, heck even two on two in your arrangement would be enough to physically overpower Michael. But you could still give them a hell of a fight. Even when you lose, you'd make your point."
"Violence solves nothing!"
Vegeta looked around before looking back at Sam, "Under current circumstances, I beg to differ."
"I'm not scared of you. I don't care if you're I hitman or whatever else Ichiro comes up with."
"Sppps" Vegeta tied not to laugh. "Is that what he told you?"
"Michael said if he couldn't tell us the truth to tell us a lie that would have the same effect."
"Well he's not too far off," Vegeta chuckled leaning in. "I did not get the moniker The Dark Prince for spending time in a tanning bed. Is that why you won't come over? You afraid to be seen with a professional? Retired or otherwise?"
Sam sputtered. "It's not like any of it is going in the show. None of my clients will see this."
Vegeta stood straighter, "Then this is about Hassim? He said his god is not well liked and you've been distant since the party."
"What?! No. No. No. He's a nice person and there's nothing wrong with his faith," Sam hurriedly said.
"Then this is only about your job? Do your superiors hate him so much that they would retaliate against you? If that was the case you'll be fired once the first episode airs."
"No, they wouldn't."
Vegeta pulled him up to his face. "Then what's your problem?"
"I… it's not that simple!"
"People only say that phrase when they are lying to themselves about something they know is wrong. Organizations like the PTO need more than just the boss and thugs like me who enjoy every second of the dirty work. If you're saying that, then maybe you should rethink your job."
Vegeta tossed him back on the ground. "And even if the producers are racing to cover their asses with me," he chuckled smirking menacingly, "They will not be doing the same for what's happened with Sugar Petal. Every SINGLE SECOND."
"I had nothing to do with it!" he pleaded.
"Oh?" Vegeta crossed his arms. "Did you secretly give her food and water? Did you intervene when she was being beaten by Michael?"
Sam paused, "What do you mean? Michael never touched her. It was all Becky and Ichiro."
Vegeta's smirk widened. "You don't know? Michael has been putting the machete to her throat every night for certain," he thought for a moment, "bodily needs… and when he had the excuse of Becky's injury, he forced her into the trees and beat her until she pissed blood. Her sepsis infection came from her broken kidneys. Last I checked, that would be a murder charge anywhere else but here."
"That's not… true. Michael would never do that."
"You hesitated."
"No I didn't. But even if he did, he did everything in the middle of the night. There's no proof."
Vegeta suddenly began hysterically laughing. Sam thought he felt his heart stop.
Vegeta took several breaths to try and calm down. "Woo. Woo… Ok know what?" he said through his chuckles. Then he walked behind the tree he jumped from and pulled his machete from its sheath. "I'm just going to show you how dumb you are," he said pointing it at him, "I chose this spot for a reason." He then walked over to cross the bridge.
Sam stood and booked it back down the trail.
After several yards, Vegeta suddenly teleported in front of him.
Sam shouted in fear and began to back up.
"Wrong choice," Vegeta said coldly.
It was the last thing he remembered before Vegeta knocked him cold with a punch to the stomach.
Vegeta looked at Sam on the ground. Then over to the other three. Then he raised his machete to look at it.
Sam woke up to wailing and screaming. He twitched his fingers and took a few moments to recognize he was back on the beach. He glanced over and saw Becky screaming.
Her hair was gone. Nothing left but some closely shaved, jagged clumps. Sam then noticed Michael's and Ichiro's hair was gone too. He jolted up and instinctively ran his hands through his hair.
It was fine.
As Michael glanced over, then did a double take, Sam realized Vegeta had just punished him the worse.
Vegeta was flying back to camp when he felt someone deep on the trail walking west.
"What does Jessica want at this time of night?"
Vegeta came down in a dead zone and waited for her to walk past. Instead she stopped and began to look through the trees. She walked over and put her hand on the tree as she looked deeper.
"The fuck?! There's no way in hell she can sense energy! What the hell is wrong with this girl?"
Vegeta broke the rules and looked. Then with the large bang of slamming open a window, she was able to look right back.
The split second of mental nakedness ended. Jessica's eyes rolled back and collapsed.
Vegeta grabbed her before she hit the ground and laid her on the track. He got on his knees and shook her, "Jessica? Jessica?"
She did not respond.
He tapped her face, "Hey. Hey. Jessica. Wake up. Come on."
She did not respond.
Vegeta leaned back. "Fuck it! Bulma's going to kill me." He looked up. "Piccolo. Piccolo. Piccolo. Wake up asshole."
"Vegeta."
"Dende? You're up past your bedtime, boy."
"I have Mr. Popo wake me up when you do something Vegeta-ish. We're on our way down."
A few moments later the magic carpet appeared and Dende in his full hood hopped off. He put his hand over her face.
"No harm done," he sighed relieved. He pulled his hand away. "Vegeta, why didn't you put a mental barrier up?"
"She's just a—"
"Vegeta," Dende interrupted, "This woman has trained herself into an empath through meditation. That's why she had the force to shatter her membrane creating a full psychic link. You're the one who keeps egging on the staff that anything you can do humans can do, but you don't believe it or think it's incredibly rare." He looked back down at her. "She can probably train herself into a primitive psychic now that she's tasted what it really felt like," he said standing.
"How soon will she wake up?"
"Sometime in the next twenty minutes. But she is going to be hypersensitive for several hours, best to keep her isolated from everyone."
Vegeta sighed frustrated, "Great… I can't just dump her back on the beach."
"No," Dende said, climbing onto the rug. "Your camp isn't ideal either. I'd take her up to your bath for the night."
The two disappeared.
Vegeta groaned. "Fucking hell…"
He flew up in the air and came down in the weeds and grasses uphill from the pond. He quickly tore down the masks and tossed them down the hill.
Jessica woke up to moonlight dancing on her face. She opened her eyes and saw a slatted bamboo roof. She groggily looked around and saw she was on a raised platform.
"Don't get up. Your mind is still recovering."
She knew that was Vegeta's voice, but Jessica did not feel the hole she associated. Instead she felt a flicker, then that flicker became a painful echo in her head. She rolled over, gripped the sides of her head and cried out.
Vegeta put his hands on her shoulder and pushed her flat on her back. "Don't reach out. Your senses were ripped open and you need to allow it to heal. Close your mind. Keep yourself to your five senses."
Jessica panted through clinched teeth. Slowly her face relaxed and she loosened her grip on her head. Then she looked at Vegeta wide-eyed.
"Wha… are you?"
"You should know that. You saw quite a bit before the barrier went up."
She winced. "It was nothing but blood and gore like a bad CGI space flick."
Vegeta began hysterically laughing. "That's great," he said after at least a minute. "I'm borrowing that insult for the next war."
As struggled to regain his composure, he turned his back to her and bent over, placing his hands on his knees.
An image flashed through her mind. A tail swinging then wrapping around his waist. Then another of a kaiju monkey she understood to be Vegeta getting it sliced off.
"You're not human, are you?" she asked, trembling.
"No… I'm not," Vegeta said, taking deep breaths. He stood straight and his muscles tightened as he squared his shoulders.
"Vegeta the Fourth, Prince of all Saiyans," he said, turning around. "Or Vegeta Brief, at least on this planet."
"You… why are you here?"
"I already said I was being blackmailed."
"No, I mean… here."
"I was hired as a mercenary by this planet's planetary defense forces that later turned into citizenship and a pardon for… past operations in this region." Then Vegeta sighed, "I… did not mean to harm you. I was careless because nearly all humans I've met are completely numb, but you seemed to be only partially trained by a haphazard teacher…"
"You will meet someone who will complete your training," she remembered her master's words.
"… You need to stay isolated while your senses are confused or you'll double over in pain again. I'll be in earshot, but don't listen or look for me, it could trigger a cascade. Just call my name." Vegeta turned to walk up into the grass.
She rolled over and reached out. "Wait, guru!"
Vegeta's eyebrows flattened, "Oh… That is a word in your language isn't it," he said unenthused. "Don't call me that again."
She shifts uncomfortably, "Yes… enlightened one."
"That doesn't sound like sarcasm," Vegeta said, fully turning around. "What's wrong?"
"You just opened my third eye. My teacher sent me away saying I would meet someone who would complete my training to become a yogini."
"Lady, I don't know what a third eye is, but I do know all religions on this planet focus on peace of mind and communal connections. My powers come from selfishness and blinding rage. I'm not the person he was talking about, if he wasn't pulling things out of his ass."
"Don't talk about him like that!" she shouted. Then a wind blew from her and broke some of the bamboo strips in the shelter.
Vegeta grabbed her to make sure she did not roll out of the shelter. "Woman! Stop this. You're making yourself worse."
Jessica was dizzy and sucking in air like she was drowning. Vegeta thought if he wasn't a Saiyan, her nails would be drawing blood from his arms.
She eventually began catching her breath and loosened her grip. Vegeta laid her back down and stepped back. Jessica's eyes were darting back and forth, then she lifted her hands in front of her face and began rotating her hands and moving her fingers.
"Woman? You need to tell me what is wrong. I can't look without damaging you further."
Jessica paused. "I thought I was making progress on opening my third eye, but this is beautiful. Is this what feeling the energy around you is really like? All that beautiful light?"
Vegeta raises his right hand in front of him, "Wait. You experience this visually?"
She nods.
"Mine's… auditory, would be the best analogy. I don't know what that means, but it obstructing your sight could be dangerous." Vegeta turned serious, "Woman. This is why you need to be isolated. Look around you. You broke part of the shelter."
Jessica noticed the broken planks for the first time.
"Stop reaching out," he said firmly. "Anger is fundamentally reaching out because you have to be angry AT something. You lost energy because of it. What if you faint somewhere dangerous?" He raised his voice. "And it's not your physical safety here. The producers are constantly threatening to kick me off if I so much as sneeze the wrong way ever since Ichiro recognized me. I've countered everything in that our species are close enough to interbreed. That in all their physicals, I came back clean. I even have a human blood type and what you consider a common birth defect. That has done nothing.
"They are also rationalizing the abilities of my special forces teammate they have babysitting me as he has been specialty trained. That normal humans can't do this shit. And then you come along. They are going to lose their fucking minds. They are either going to take all the damn anger and paranoia out on you or pull the damn trigger on all of us. Including outing my family to the press! You're just as dangerous to my family as Casey is now, woman!"
Jessica could see it, Vegeta was surrounded by a red aura. She could feel it in her chest, his anger and… fear. She could almost see a picture of a woman and child in that fear.
Vegeta suddenly dragged her off the shelter. Jessica could feel her arms bruising.
"I said stop reaching out! Do you even know how violating that is?! Knowing I'm angry, yes. Knowing I'm worried, maybe. Looking into personal images, hell no! How would you like it if I went into your brain and pulled out your 4th birthday or something?!" He shoved her down on the rock, "Shout if you need me." Vegeta jumped in the air. He did not come down.
Jessica lost track of how many times she tried to meditate. It always ended in dizziness, pain, or exhaustion after an outburst. The last one left her half-conscious on the rock. Jerry's old shirt fully ripped across one of the slashed tears and the string to her bikini top either broke or the knot came undone in the back leaving her clinching it over her exposed breasts.
She heard a soft tap on the rock behind her, then footsteps. She felt a warmth on her arm.
Jessica suddenly recognized the swirl she felt inside her.
"You done yet? Or are you still going to be stubborn?"
She looked over her shoulder up at Vegeta leaning over her. She felt normal.
"Is… Is that what you did to Sugar Petal?"
"Yes… But it was like trying to blow up a tire with a hole in it. She was dying and not only did no one listen at the time, saving her life meant there was no medical proof she was ever in danger in the first place."
Vegeta grunted as he sat cross-legged beside her. "Now. Have you learned your lesson yet?"
Jessica put her wrist to her forehead and started to cry.
Vegeta clawed the air and grimaced. "Oh what now?!"
"Am I ever going to be normal again? Is my life as a yogini over? What am I going to do now?"
"You'll be fine," Vegeta said. "Just stop. You're basically someone with a broken leg freaking out that they're never going to walk again when all they need is a cast and two months on their ass."
Jessica lowered her hand and sniffled.
"You need to close yourself off. Let this eye of yours rest and rely on your other five. You started with those five, you can handle this. You are not a warrior. This is not an operation. You are a civilian and nothing is at stake but your own comfort. This is nothing."
Jessica felt angry, but quickly squashed it.
"Good. You're learning."
Jessica turned, "Did you say that just to make me mad?"
"I was going to say that regardless." Vegeta smirked, "But it's good you controlled your anger. You don't have the energy to spare until you learn to suppress it."
"My anger?"
Vegeta's face flattened. "Your energy…"
"So…" Jessica glanced away, "Umm could you retie my strap?"
Vegeta looked at her back. "Umm, it's snapped."
"Can you undo the original knot so you have slack to tie both ends?"
"Ahhhhhhhhh ummmmm…." Vegeta froze realizing where his hand would rub up against to tie up the break. "Actually, I think this is a woman's job. Let me get Sugar Petal."
Vegeta ran so fast he almost made a sonic boom.
"Hey. Hey. Sugar Petal, wake up!"
"What's wrong?" Hassim jolted awake as Sugar Petal moaned and stretched.
"Can't talk here, but I need you now Sugar Petal. Away from the cameras."
Hassim started getting up.
"Not you, Hassim. Only a woman can do this."
"What happened that you need a woman?"
"Something I can't do myself. Now shut up with the cameras," Vegeta said through clenched teeth.
"It's ok, Hassim," Sugar Petal said, crawling over to the ladder.
Once she was out of the hive, Vegeta picked her up and in a whirlwind, she found herself at the second camp.
"I'll be in earshot, bye!" Vegeta disappeared into the grasses behind the larger shelter.
Sugar Petal turned her gaze and spotted Jessica on the ground. She gasped and darted over. "Oh my goodness! Are you ok?"
"Yeah…" Jessica said. "My clothes broke."
"Oh, ok. I see it." Sugar Petal sat down next to her. She untied the knot in the back. Then she reached under her breast.
"Wait, why are you touching me there?"
"Umm, because that's where the break is?" Sugar Petal said softly.
"What?!" Jessica blushed. She put her face in her hands and shook her head rapidly. "Oh, goodness no… I asked Vegeta to tie it before you."
"Are you alright? Your ears are red like Vegeta's," Sugar Petal asked.
"Just hurry up and get the woman covered," Vegeta shouted.
"If you wanted that, I would have brought my thread," Sugar Petal pouted.
"You have a needle and thread?" Jessica said, surprised.
"And knitting needles," she nodded.
"Where are you getting all the coconut husks?"
She shook her head. "No husks, Vegeta helped make banana thread," she smiled.
"Banana thread?" Jessica turned around.
"In the Philippines, they make cloth from the fibers in banana tree trunks," Vegeta said. "Stop talking and more fixing!"
"I'm done, Mr. Vegeta!"
Jessica gasped smiling, "I only knew the hearts were edible. How do you make the thread and yarn?"
Vegeta walked carefully backwards into the clearing. "Just because I took down the cameras doesn't mean we should be doing this," he said. "Remember you're in danger, Jessica."
"Right…" she looked away. "Don't want to end up like Nick."
"Just don't kill yourself," Vegeta said glancing over his shoulder. "Suicides can't be resurrected according to Dende."
"Who is Dende?" she asked.
"A teenager who's a deity in their religion. He gave you the all clear after… it," he ended sheepishly.
"And it's his rel—" Jessica's eyes widened. "You were at the Games. You're one of the golden fighters from the Cell Games!"
Sugar Petal gasped and spun around.
"Keep that down!" Vegeta barked. "I didn't throw the masks that far. And drop the subject. I seriously can't talk about anything. And it has nothing to do with the producers." He turned back around, "It… It would just be a waste if you fell."
"Sugar Petal," Vegeta said after a long pause, "Where are your cloth crafts so I can fetch them?"
"The basket with my blue bag in it."
"Right. I'll be right back."
"Wow," Jerry said, pressing his face to the lattice. "They even have chickens. Cluck. Cluck. Cluck. Cluck. Chickies."
"Jessica?! You here?!" Casey shouted.
"Hey Vegeta! Have you seen Jessica?!" Bob shouted.
"Ah… Fuck it…" Vegeta thought. He floated to hide his footsteps and went around.
"What are you guys doing all the way out here?"
The blue team turned and saw Vegeta walk up behind them the way they came. They noticed he was completely dry.
"Have you seen Jessica?" Bob asked. "Daisuke said she was wanting to talk to you."
"She's with Sugar Petal in a dead zone for the hidden cameras." Vegeta raised his hand when they went to speak, "Shut up. And let me finish. Jessica's shirt and top were torn after a confrontation with Michael's group when they tried to set the forest on fire next to my camp. Now if you excuse me, Sugar needs her sewing supplies to fix her clothes so she's not topless."
He opened the gate a crack and slipped through the gap. "Go home. I'll walk her back myself."
"Wait! Is she ok? Let me look her over!" Casey shouted.
Vegeta closed the gate. "You can do that when she gets back. It's early morning and you need to get back before the crews show up. We can mitigate the fallout from this if they find out about this reviewing footage, but if you are found missing first thing all hell is going to break loose."
"And when Jessica is not with us when they arrive?" Bob said. "I feel like we're leaving a man behind on the battlefield here."
"I understand the phase," Vegeta said. "But now is not the time to argue. She's fine. Get going." Vegeta turned around and walked into the hive.
"Come on. Let's get going," Bob said, pointing down the trail with his thumb.
"But…" Daisuke said.
"Not here," Bob tilted his head to the left a couple times.
Daisuke nodded and the group began walking away.
"Bye, Chickies. Cluck. Cluck." Jerry said joining them.
After a while, Bob stopped walking. "Ok. This is far enough." He turned around. "We searched everywhere including the plantain grove, but Vegeta comes up behind us perfectly dry and says she's in a blind spot in the cameras?"
"If Michael was involved, she's probably farther down the trail," Jerry said. "You don't believe him?"
"But why walk up behind us though?" Bob said. "We know she's not there. He's hiding her location. He's keeping us from her."
"You're just still pissed she snuck off to talk with Vegeta," Daisuke said.
"She could have drowned!" Bob shouted. "We've been looking for hours. She could have been dead. And she snuck off?!" Bob pointed at Daisuke, "And don't think you're not in the thickets either."
"I didn't think she'd actually sneak off!" Daisuke defended himself.
"Occam's razor here, Bob," Jerry said. "Just chill."
"I have to side with Bob," Jamal said. "What she did was dumb. Vegeta said her clothes tore during a fight with Michael's group— trying to light their camp on fire while everyone was freaking asleep," he emphasized.
"Vegeta… honestly might not be telling the complete truth here," Jerry said, rubbing the back of his neck. "He did say 'after' not 'during'. There's wiggle room there. Everyone is thinking the worst because we all know what's been happening over there, but it's just as easily she arrived here after the fact. I mean, they've literally gotten into sword fights with the machetes. Would Jessica jump in the middle of that or just watch Vegeta pound Michael into the dirt?"
"That's… a very good point," Bob said. "But why would Vegeta lie like that? He's been nothing but helpful, if not the friendliest person in the world."
"Worst case scenario…" Casey sighed. "He might be passing an injury he gave her onto Michael." She looked up from her feet, "If she's injured in any way, we need to press her for the truth."
Jamal sighed and rubbed his temples, "We're running on emotions and no sleep. Let's just hurry back to the beach before they get here."
"And lose the chance to talk about this?" Bob said frustrated.
Jamal gestured down the trail. "We can talk about this tonight after they leave tonight."
"What about the cameras?" Bob said. "Vegeta may know about some dead zones because he's a monkey, but like he said they will check the cameras. This is going to come up today."
"Then let's walk and talk," Jamal said. "We need to get back to the beach."
A sudden noise coming from the trees had everyone look up.
"Vegeta?" Casey called out.
But nothing else happened, just the sounds of the night.
"I think being tired is messing with us," Daisuke said. "Let's get going."
Back at camp, Vegeta was in the hive.
"Did Michael really try to set the forest on fire?" Hassim demanded.
"You heard everything?" Vegeta said surprised.
"I was about to come out to talk to them when I heard your voice."
"Michael realized the bridge was a trap and said they should keep going, looking for tire tracks going up the hill. So I ended things quickly. I was coming back from dumping their unconscious asses back on the beach when… Jessica surprised me."
"God did you hurt her?! Is that why her clothes tore?"
Vegeta waved his hands in front of him, "She's fine. She's fine. She's fine."
"I don't believe you," Hassim said.
Vegeta grimaced. "You're going to try to follow me…" he said in a low growl. "Fine! Come on…" Vegeta grabbed the basket and headed out.
"I thought you said she was in a dead zone?" Hassim said, climbing up the hill.
"They are," Vegeta said, "I removed the cameras."
Hassim's face fell. "For as smart as you are. You can be pretty stupid."
"Lesser of two evils," Vegeta said approaching the top. "Let me tell them you're coming up first."
"Sugar Petal," Jessica asked. "Would you like me to fix your braid? Your pull over is kinda messy."
Sugar Petal shrunk and began to run her hands over her braid. "No. no. It's ok."
"Are you sure? It looks like part of your hair is missing."
"Part of my hair is missing…" she mumbled.
Wha—?"
"Hey! Hassim's with me. We're coming up," they hear Vegeta shout. Vegeta's hair quickly popped over the rise, "Ladies ready?"
"We're fine," Sugar Petal said. She looked back at Jessica, "He is very strange. He always announces himself. I've never known a man who did that."
Before Jessica could answer, Vegeta and Hassim enter the clearing.
"Here's your basket," Vegeta said, placing it beside her.
"Ok," Hassim said, crossing his arms. "What the hell is going on? Why are you here? And what is the lesser of two evils of getting in trouble over taking down the cameras vs. what they would have filmed?"
"Jessica is a human developing similar powers to mine," Vegeta said looking at him. "Her dimmer switch cranked all the way up for the first time tonight and she needed to be isolated while she temporarily lost control of her body and mind before she hurt herself or someone else.
"And ignoring I already have one strike against me for saving Sugar Petal, how the fuck is Reynolds going to react when another player has my abilities? I'm an alien and a fully trained professional. She's some random pure-blooded human civilian."
Vegeta was a black wall, but Hassim wasn't. His mind went to the fire.
Then there was Sugar Petal.
Jessica gave a short shout and grabbed the sides of her head. Sugar Petal began to blink and rubbed her forehead.
Vegeta ran over. "You can't look at train wrecks." Vegeta forcefully picked Jessica up and carried her to the other side of the water pool and plopped her down. He then turned and floated over the water, "You ok, Sugar Petal? Dizzy at all?"
"I have a headache," she said, rubbing her forehead. "I thought of something I hadn't before then the headache started." She looked at Jessica, "Did she accidentally read my mind?"
"Judging from her scream, yes. But make sure you tell me if that strange thought becomes a problem. A psychological tick can do a lot of damage to a person's mental state."
"Ok."
He turned around, "Jessica. Hand over your shirt. You're not well yet." He glanced over his shoulder, "Hassim, take Sugar Petal down. She doesn't need to be around Jessica to fix the shirt."
Jessica cried as she slipped the shirt off her shoulders. She tossed it away and Vegeta picked it up and gave it to Sugar Petal. He rushed the two back down the hill before coming back up, "I'll be clos—"
The two look up and see a dark figure in a white turban and a cape.
"I'll be right back," Vegeta said, jumping in the air.
Jessica watched the two in the air, well out of earshot and both black walls to her other sense.
Vegeta came back down and landed next to her. "I'm headed back down. Enjoy your quick lessons." She watched him disappear.
"Mohnashini."
Jessica turned around and saw the new person land and was struck by his massive height. He was completely covered by his white cloak and had a cloth draped from his turban covering his lower face. The moon behind him made it hard to see anything identifying about him. The only thing visible was his white eyes poking out from his dark skin.
"I prefer Pracheeta, please."
"You are far from starting out on your journey. It would be an insult to call you that. Mohnashini is a fine Nom de Guerre while you await the name you will receive once you become a full yogini. You earned it."
"By killing three men."
"In self-defense. And in defense of every woman they hurt. And no, the village you will return to as their teacher would not abandon you if they knew you went to college on a softball scholarship. Faith does not mean they believe those holy men should have been more than powerful enough to dodge a stone thrown by a woman. That is an old ghost from your past that makes you fear what does not exist. Your promised name Niranjana literally comes from the words without fear. You should dwell on that."
Jessica looked away. "You seem to know everything about me. Who are you?"
"A former kami. I served as divine guardian of this entire planet for many centuries. You met my successor Dende tonight, though unconscious."
Jessica looked up at him. "You're a god?"
"Former. I am as moral as you and will be judged as such when my time comes."
Jessica's head spun with the implications, but she just had her third eye ripped open by an alien. She knelt on her knees and bowed. "I'm ready for your instruction, your Holiness."
"I am no longer your Holiness…"
Jessica saw a green arm with claws lift from behind the cape.
"I also reject the title I would have inherited from my father." The man pulled down his mask. "I am simply Piccolo. No more. No less."
Piccolo saw Jessica pale as her jaw tried to dislocate itself.
Piccolo sighed as he sat cross-legged on the ground. He adjusted his turban so his ears popped out. "Calm yourself. We do not have much time. Dawn is coming."
Jessica nodded and copied his position.
"So the motion sensors in the masks were triggered and the hidden microphones are not responding?" Reynolds came down to the editing room in his pajamas and bathrobe.
"Yes sir," the security guard said, "The video editors are searching other cameras."
"I got a hit," one tech raised his hand.
"I got another!" another shouted.
"What do you got?" Reynolds walked over to the nearest person.
"The cameras from the fake bridge. Looks like Vegeta got in a physical confrontation with the others then shaved their heads with his machete." He began pulling up other camera feeds. "None of the other cameras triggered in between there and the beach. I think he may have dragged them off for the cameras then flew them back."
Reynolds turned, "And you?"
"Jessica was walking down the trail, but disappeared between two cameras. The next trigger is the rest of the blue team walking all the way to Vegeta's camp. They are walking back now but she is not with them."
"So… Jessica is up at his second camp. He would have had to have flown her if none of the cameras triggered. Fucking damn it… Are you sure none of the microphones are responding?"
"No, sir. They are not responding at all."
"Damn it… Vegeta must have short circuited them like he did with Sugar Petal that night." He sighed angrily. "Fine, we'll just have to deal with this in the morning."
Reynolds balled his fists.
"What time is it now?" Vegeta called up into the hive.
"Ten minutes from the last time you asked!" Hassim shouted. "Just calm down."
"So it's almost 4:30?! How soon till she's done?"
"And finished," Sugar Petal smiled as she tied off the string and cut the fiber. She held up the shirt to admire her work. It suddenly vanished as a whirlwind ripped through the second floor.
"I'm coming up!" Vegeta called out before entering the clearing.
Piccolo was still there.
"Aren't you done yet?" Vegeta barked. "It's 4:30!"
"I'm well aware of the time Vegeta," Piccolo said standing. He looked down at Jessica and smiled, "We actually got a lot further than I expected. He looked back at Vegeta, "Minus someone transforming in her face, she should be fine for the remaining time here."
Jessica quickly stood up and bowed. "I wish we had longer, honored teacher."
"Wait until after the show is over to practice any of the intermediate techniques we discussed," Piccolo said, floating up into the air. "I look forward to watching your progress. This accident has opened a whole new road for you."
He flew off.
Vegeta watched impatiently as Jessica stared off into space in the direction Piccolo flew off in well after he flew out of sight.
"Stop wasting time," he said, throwing the shirt in her face.
Jessica stuck her tongue out at him before taking the shirt off her face. Then she noticed something off with the shirt and held it up.
"I told her to fix the shirt, not tailor it!" Vegeta fumed. "No wonder it took so fucking long."
Jessica slipped the shirt on. Every rip had been sewn shut, and it was clear from how it sat on her shoulders that a strip was cut out of the back. Jessica carefully tied the new ribbons on the front of the shirt. More than a dozen of them, one every two or three inches.
Vegeta lost his patience and grabbed her then lifted off.
"Hey!"
"Tie it when you get home."
A few moments later Vegeta was hovering over the beach. The blue team was gathered at the entrance of the ATV track. One was asleep, three were tired, but to call the last one mad would be an understatement.
"Looks like you're in for a reaming," Vegeta said. "Bob is still running on adrenaline."
"Did they come looking for me?"
Vegeta looked at her, "You mean you didn't hear the screaming?"
"Sarcasm aside, what was the story you told them?"
"That your shirt tore after a confrontation with Michael. He tried to burn down my camp by setting the nearby forest on fire right before you showed up."
Jessica gasped.
"That memory should be up front since it just happened."
"Piccolo… put his hand on my head. Said I would never be able to sleep again otherwise."
"Tsk. Perfect…" He looked out towards the beach. "We don't have time to discuss this and I can't just share the memory for you to formulate your own lies."
Jessica yawned.
"Wait…" she said. "I have an idea."
"I thought I told you bastards to go to bed."
Everyone looked and saw Vegeta carrying Jessica on her back. She looked asleep.
Daisuke went to tap Jerry awake, but Bob grabbed and clinched his arm.
Bob clinched his teeth. "Take her back with you," he ordered. "We don't need her causing any more trouble for us."
"No." Vegeta hopped over Jerry's legs and walked down the beach.
Bob got in front of him. Jamal and Casey stood at either side.
"I believe the staff would prefer this argument to be done in the sunlight," Vegeta said. He smirked, "And since you injured your second in command without hesitation, I'd say this isn't a unanimous decision."
"Wait…" Casey said leaning in, "You're not even asleep!"
Vegeta felt her weight shift and her arms disappeared from around his neck.
"Vegeta, put me down."
He let go of her legs and she slipped down.
"Jessica, what the hell were you thinking?!" Bob shouted pointing at her. "You scared the hell out of us! You could have drowned for all we knew!"
"I—"
Bob waved his arm to the side, "No! This is beyond apologies. We were about to call in on the emergency radio when Daisuke remembered you mentioned wanting to talk to Vegeta! That's how bad you frightened us girl! What was so damn important that you did that to us girl?!"
"And then there was what happened with Michael and his goons tonight," Jamal said. "Even if Vegeta was lying about your involvement, we already knew how things were going down. You do not go for a walk in the middle of a damn blood feud. I lost five friends to stray bullets by the time I graduated from high school. That's what's going on right now and you walked right into it!"
"Those bruises look pretty fresh," Casey said. "How do you explain those? Was it one of Michael's men?" She looked intently at her, "Or did Vegeta do it to you?"
Jessica started to sob.
Suddenly Vegeta put his hand on her shoulder. She jerked her head to look at him.
"Are you positive about this decision?" Vegeta said. "Not only will you be losing one of your most valuable players, but a valuable asset. All the things I've traded for have come from her. Once I have her, I will have no need to ever bother with you again."
"We can survive without her," Bob said. "We've spent two weeks watching and learning from her."
Vegeta took his hand off her shoulder and walked up to Bob. He gave an evil smirk, "An army marches on its stomach. You're losing someone who knows the terrain and is the source of the meat and fish you've been living on through me." He tilted his head. "Or are you calculating that you'll get her back once the merge happens? A few days, maybe a week of pain at most?" He chuckled, "And you'll earn some brownie points with the producers as well? If that's your plan, I think it's best to stay on good terms with her. After all…" his voice turned uncomfortably dark, "Making a separate camp is completely in the meta now."
Everyone's attention was fully on him as he began circling Bob.
"And you're not only giving me the fourth I need to protect us from Michael, but are giving me an alliance of four into the merge. How many members do you think you'll have left by then? No matter what Michael and Becky are going first, so I have no motivation to throw any more challenges." Vegeta came back around and stepped behind Jessica, placing a hand on each shoulder. "So then… do you REALLY want to give her to me?"
"You just completely gave away your hand…" Daisuke said in amazement. "Why?"
"Because he actually doesn't want Jessica, duh."
Everyone looked and saw Jerry was awake and sitting in the sand with his arms around his knees.
"Vegeta doesn't give a damn about the money. He's just a vengeful fucker who'd light himself on fire to take you with him."
Vegeta crossed his arms and smiled. "I'll destroy you long before it comes to that," he chuckled confidently. "Self-sacrifice is a completely pointless effort." He opened his eyes.
"There's light on the horizon now…" he uncrossed his arms and turned to leave.
No one stopped him.
The hovercraft came. The crews split up as usual.
The blue crews immediately noticed something was very wrong.
The team was silent, sullen, and sulking. The joy was gone.
Jessica cooked the normal breakfast alone, then tracked down each person to wherever they had gone off alone.
They ate alone. Then found a quiet place to sleep alone.
Jessica also went to sleep. On her yoga mat all the way on the distant rocks.
"Wait," her field producer said. "Get a close up of her shirt. It's different."
The cameraman twisted the lens and followed every curve of her newly tailored shirt.
The red beach was also silent.
The first clue something was wrong was Ichiro was found sleeping near the entrance to the ATV track. His stomach was bruised and the only thing left of his hair was short, jagged clumps.
They found Becky in a similar state in the shelter. She looked to have cried herself to sleep.
Michael was sleeping next to the cold fire pit.
Sam was missing.
While looking for him, they discovered a message in the sand. "REMEMBER MY MERCY" with the cooking pot in the center of it.
"Something happened with Vegeta last night," the lead field producer said. He leaned in to another crew member. "Get the footage downloaded and to the producers, hurry."
The man nodded and ran towards the crews unpacking equipment.
Vegeta's camp was also quiet. But the fire was already flicking above the stone walls. Vegeta was sleeping in the hammock. Sugar Petal was found asleep on the second floor, with her basket of belongings next to her strangely instead of downstairs. Hassim was found rolling up his prayer rug in the banana grove.
"Good Morning Hassim," Randy said. "Quiet morning."
"Yeah, I'm going back to bed. Sugar had her pills early since the new antibiotic doesn't need food. We'll be up again soon. I don't imagine Vegeta waking up anytime before 8 even if he was up most of the night."
"What happened?" he asked.
"Michael and his cronies tried to set everything on fire again. Vegeta beat them up. I don't know what happened to them after that. Now if you excuse me, I need to put my rug away." Hassim walked past them.
Up at the second camp, there are a bunch of technicians with laptops, tubs of equipment, and radios.
*fuzz* What do you have? *fuzz* Reynolds asked.
"The masks didn't catch anything. Vegeta took them too far away during the interval."
"All three microphones are completely fried," a second person reported. "Including the long distance one past the boundary."
*fuzz* But we wrapped that one in an EMP bag. *fuzz*
"We scared off a bird that had part of the foil in its beak. It must have ripped it open right after we put it up."
"Hey is it just me or does it look like a little bomb went off in here?" a third commented.
*fuzz* What do you mean? *fuzz* Reynolds demanded overhearing.
"Look at the way the floor and roof are broken," he showed his crewmates.
"Yeah… you're right. Film this and text it to Reynolds," the first ordered.
"Hey!" one waved excitedly. "This one isn't completely fried! Randy shoving his trash into seat cushions finally paid off. There was an aluminum wrapper shoved in the shelter boards. We might be able to salvage something off of this."
"Get it back here and get out before you're noticed."
The crew quickly packed up and headed uphill outside the boundaries. On the other side of the hill was the dirt access road to the cell tower. They packed up into a waiting truck and drove off.
Hundreds of chickens, some wild dogs and a random cow later, they come to the hollowed out remains of the burnt village and its fields, now overgrown with weeds. They turn down the charred remnants of a dock and three sunken wooden boats. They parked the truck, loaded the waiting resort boats and sped off down the river.
Once they were gone. Sam poked his head out from the shell of the building.
"Oh thank you Jesus. I thought I was done for like Nick." He got to his feet. The left side of his face was swollen from a shiner and his shirt had a tie-died circle pattern of blood on the front of it. He limped off clinching his stomach revealing the blood stain on the back of his shirt and his stained hair. He had a stick and a rusted knife in his hands. He hurried over to a swampy area near the river where a small spring from the hillside drained. It was an overgrown mess like everything else, including several plants with huge leaves.
"Please be what I think you are. Please be what I think you are," Sam repeated over and over as he dug through the mud. He pulled out the root of the plant. One. Huge. Bulb.
"Yes… Yes… Yes…" was all he had the strength to say as he held up the bulb to the early morning red reflection on the cloudy sky.
Forty minutes later, Sam was hiding in the center of the old town looking over a tiny fire built around three washed bulbs.
"This can't be helped," he muttered. "Just a tiny fire. Taro needs to be cooked. God will hide my tiny smoke in the winds."
He looked around the village with his remaining eye.
"This had to have had at least 100 people at some point," he thought.
He watched the pack of dogs chase and kill a couple chickens, then fight over the bodies. One dog saw him and made his way over. It laid next to him panting, watching the other dogs with him. It was a tan dog with a deeply grayed face. It was also as skin and bones as a living thing could be and still be alive. It sneezed from a whiff of smoke, then suddenly sat his head in Sam's lap and weakly wagged its tail.
Sam hesitated, but scratched behind it's ear. "Hey old boy…" he said quietly. The dog looked up at him with wide white eyes and wagged its tail more.
Sam was woken up by growling. He had fallen asleep petting the old dog. The dog that was now being dragged away by the others. Sam lunged on instinct beating back the other dogs. After the last of them ran off, he turned to look at it.
Sam dropped to his knees realizing the dog had died in his lap.
Then he heard whimpering. He had to turn his head fully around to look.
There was a dog, barely better off than the old dog.
"Knife?" he mumbled confused looking at the one sticking out of the animal.
Sam stopped breathing. That was his knife.
He had stabbed a dog.
"No… No. No. No… No…" he wandered over and knelt next to it. "I'm a murderer…"
The dog lifted its head and growled. Sam tried to take out the knife but it snapped at him.
Sam paused. Then held his breath.
It was done.
The dog was flailing its legs as the blood gushed from its neck. Sam mumbled the Psalm of David over its quickly fading body.
He stopped suddenly. This animal had two lines of ridges across its stomach.
"Puppies… Where are the puppies?" He panted standing. He turned around frantically looking around. "I need to… I? I?" He fell to his knees, "Can't save anyone…"
Sam pounded his fists into the ground and screamed.
Time blurred together.
Sam was alone in the burnt town with only the two dead dogs as company. He kept his eyes on the fire, now billowing smoke without a care. He barely registered the high-pitched yips, but eventually he looked up.
He saw two puppies sniffing the body of the dead female dog. They looked old enough to be weaned, for what little that was worth. They soon ran off.
Sam lifted his head when he saw the third. It was half the size of the others, clearly the runt of the litter. After putting its front paws on its mother like a perverse reenactment of the Lion King, it came around and tried to nurse. Once that failed, it noticed him.
The puppy came over to him. It tilted its head and wagged its tail in nervous anticipation.
"You wouldn't look at me like that if you knew…" Sam thought.
It barked, laid down and wiggled playfully, eventually involuntarily rolling on its back. It paused to look at him upside down. Then it barked again as the tail returned to wagging the little dog.
Sam made a sound for the first time in what felt like an eternity. What was it… A shout? A laugh? A cry? But the noise seemed appropriate.
The puppy hunched back and pinned his ears. Then cautiously tilted his ears forward. It walked over. It sniffed the blood. First his mothers and then Sam's own.
Sam cautiously presented his hand. It sniffed it. Then began licking it. Sam eventually was able to scratch its head. Then soon after its tummy as it rolled in glee.
Sam made another one of those sounds.
"Do you give me my own mark of Cain now, oh Lord?"
"Come here, Mark," he hoarsely forced from his mouth. "Come here." Sam picked him up. Mark struggled at first but quickly succumbed to the bliss of 360-degree petting.
After eating the taro Sam stumbled down to the water and washed his hands. Mark followed and started barking at the water. Sam looked up and saw a ripple in the water near the other bank.
He stood up and grabbed Mark, "Come on. God knows what time it is now." He looked up at the sky. The clear patches in between were blue, but the village was in complete shadow from the mountains. "Once we get up the hill, we can figure out how screwed we are."
Sam walked through the burned-out houses, turning down a side street to avoid the dead dogs. After fighting through the chickens and walking past several goats and a cow eating in the abandoned fields, he came to the access road.
The puppy was now gnawing on his hand.
"I'm sorry Mark, but taro is poisonous to doggies." He looked up at the upcoming hill. "But Vegeta has meat. I can't live with him, but we can get food from him. I mean, who can ignore a cute puppy? If you want a friend in the capital, get a dog, right?"
Sam noticed his eye took a long while to refocus as he glanced between the hill and the cell tower over the rise.
"Stupid concussion…" he muttered. "Come on, don't pass out again." He grimaced. "Ok… Ok… I woke up at the tower…. Then the Blue team is by the river… So… Vegeta is in the middle…" His eyes lost focus again as he looked elsewhere. "That tree… maybe?" He looked down at Mark. "Into the bushes puppy?"
It growled and continued to chew.
"Ok. Tree it is."
Sam eventually turned into the trees, completely forgetting to check the sun.
He found himself deep into the bamboo. It was dark with whatever sparkled light there was not hitting the ground. He found what he thought was a narrow animal trail through the stalks. It didn't help much. The hill was so steep she was practically sliding down it half the time.
"Finally, light up ahead," Sam began to hurry in his excitement. Then he tripped on a bamboo shoot. He fell forward bouncing off the bamboo. He somehow ended up sliding on his back and as he hit the clearing, he began to roll.
Then he was airborne.
Then nothing.
*Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr* *knead* *knead* *knead*
"Scratch…" Vegeta mumbled. "Go bug your Daddy."
*Mew* *Mew* *Mew*
"That's not Scratch," his brain screamed as his eyes flew open. There was a yellow and white-footed tabby on him making itself comfortable.
"Uhhhh… Hi?"
"Mr. Vegeta!" Sugar Petal came up to him holding a cat. "Kittens!"
Vegeta looked at the cat licking itself on his stomach. "And I assume you're the commanding officer of this invasion force?"
It tucked its feet under itself and closed its eyes. It seemed very content.
"There's more cries and hissing under the floor of the hive," Hassim said. "I think we have another mom."
"I'm told sisters tend to stick together," Vegeta said, glancing over his shoulder. He turned back to face his opponent. "You're one of the barn cats from one of the evicted farmers, aren't you? Starved of human contact?" He hesitantly reached to pet the cat.
It reared back. Then sniffed his hand. Then began rubbing its head against it.
"So, what's the damage?"
"Some of the teenage chicks are missing," Hassim said. "and Sugar killed another to feed them and make feather toys."
"So… How many moochers?"
"Don't know," Sugar Petal said holding up the kitten, "But there are three this size."
"Eh? Somewhere between a month or two? That's the trouble month. We'll need to move things to the second floor." Vegeta sighed. "Ok… so we got two moms to feed and the three kittens are old enough to start chewing wet food. We'll need to puree the shit out of any scraps for the idiots."
"You know so much about cats Mr. Vegeta!"
"My Father-in-law's cat never gave me a choice," he said as he continued to pet this new cat. "Hmmm… Labu?"
It started purring.
"Ok then. Your name will be Labu."
Labu then got up, yawned and stretched forward then back. *Meyowl* she called jumping down.
The other two kittens ran to her and the one Sugar Petal was holding began squirming. She put it down and it ran up to its mother before the four entered the hive and crawled under the elevated floor.
"Must be lunch time," Vegeta said, adjusting himself in the hammock.
"Where do you think these cats came from?" Hassim asked.
"I got no damn clue where they all keep coming from," Vegeta said. "Honestly I could be in a space suit and a damn cat would float up to me and start rubbing against my legs."
"Awwwwww." Sugar petal formed a heart with her hands next to her head, "Kitties luv you. They know a good person when they see one."
Vegeta yawned. "Then cats have the same impaired judgment as my wife." He rolled over, "You guys can head up whenever photo singer gets hot and bothered. I'll be up eventually."
"It's Fogelsanger," Randy said, annoyed.
"Whatever flugelhorn."
"He's messing with you on purpose, Randy," Freddy said. "I can see his smirk from here."
"Why do you have to deny me the closest thing I have left to the sweet lullaby of the wailing and gnashing of teeth on this mudball."
"Mr. Vegeta you have such a dark sense of humor. I don't want to be filmed accidently laughing at it."
"Trust me, what I've been doing is my son's fucking kazoo compared to my normal gallows humor." Vegeta then pressed his lips together and made a squeaking sound.
Sugar Petal started to laugh while the cameramen wished they could put their hands over their ears like everyone else.
"What the heck, Vegeta!" Hassim said. "What the heck was that?"
"You mean this?" Vegeta made the sound again.
"Yes! What species makes that noise? Killer pink space elephants?"
"No," he laughed looking out of the hammock. "It's the sound of a leaking seal. I used to do that as a kid to mess with people. That's the sound of imminent death if you're in a spaceship." He turned back around, "Unfortunately," he sighed, "the only damn thing I can really do here is to click my tongue to sound like the driver left the turn signal on." He then clicked his tongue.
"That's… actually perfect…" he had to admit.
"The trick is getting the subitlies between car brands right. The sound that messes with the limo driver isn't the same as the sound Yamcha's red convertible used to make before I got him to wreck it."
"You caused someone to wreck their car by clicking like the turning signal?! Vegeta, that's not funny!"
"Well I thought it was hilarious," he said smugly. "Besides, Bulma only told me not to tell him I was the father while driving because he'd wreck the convertible. She didn't say anything about wrecking the convertible." He chuckled, "Honestly, I never would have thought of wrecking his car if she didn't mention it. Was my first real lesson on how people in her tribe look to fuck each other over."
"Vegeta you could have— know what? Never mind. I forgot who I was talking to." Hassim stood up and left.
"Jackie, go after him," Randy ordered.
Becky and Ichiro were at the camp. Becky was sunbathing. Ichiro was in the shade of the shelter.
"I wonder what is taking Michael so long to get the canteens filled?" Becky said, looking into the woods.
Ichiro was looking down the beach. The search team that had gone looking for Sam had returned without him and it looked like the medical team was starting to gear up. But there seemed to be no rush of urgency.
"I want to know where Sam is…" He looked back at Becky. "You sucker punching him last night better not have driven him to Vegeta."
"Naw. He's one of those Christian thingies. Michael has him so paranoid of Hassim costing him his job he makes me look like our lady of guacamole."
Ichiro glared at her. "Becky. You are the most vile human being I have ever met."
Becky smirked and rolled over on her side, "And what ever happened to Vegeta?"
Ichiro snarled and looked back down the beach.
"Sam isn't even going to come from that direction," she giggled. "Don't even bother."
Ichiro looked back at her. "And why's that?"
She pointed in the opposite direction. "Because I chucked one of the bricks at his head when he tried to sneak back into camp. He went down like a tree and never got up."
"What?!" her producer yelled. "Where is he?"
She waved him dismissively, "Spss. Don't worry. Since you didn't find him floating on your way here, he obviously didn't fall in when he stumbled off after I went to sleep. He's just lost in the woods somewhere."
He pointed out to sea, "Or he could have drowned and his body is floating out in the ocean somewhere!"
Becky's mouth opened in surprise, "Oh… I never thought about that."
At the same moment Michael ran out of the trees. "Becky! Why the fuck is there blood everywhere at the well?! What the fuck did you do to Sam?!"
"Oh, good," she smiled at her producer, "See, Sam went that way. He's fine."
Becky's producer raised his radio. "We have a Code Red! We're calling a code red on Sam from Team Berapi!"
Back at the resort, the producers are huddled around a speaker.
"… Now, Vegeta was right to warn you about your anger. The reason humans feel exhausted after intense emotions is the loss of ki. This will be our next lesson so you do not faint again. Now, watch this *scratch screech* *silence*"
"And that was the last of the recovered fragments," the technician said.
"Someone else has had alien powers this whole time?!" Reynolds stood up from his chair, throwing it back violently.
"Reynolds, just chill," Conner stood as Reynolds began to pace, pulling at his hair. "Don't get so emotional. There's no reason to panic."
"There is every reason to panic?!"
"That wasn't even five minutes of broken sentences with no context."
"And clear evidence Jessica has alien powers!"
"Why are you surprised?" Conner put his hand on a file folder on the table. "Jessica has a red flag in her mental health profile for delusions for thinking she's developing psychic powers in connection to her religious training. And there's footage of her claiming to use it." He pointed at Reynolds, "The only thing happening right now is that no one took any of this seriously, and you're pissing yourself like that security guard who tried to kill Yamcha."
The door to the private room slammed open.
"I ordered us not to be disturbed!" Reynolds stormed over to the door but Conner grabbed him before he could forcefully shove the aide out of the room.
"What is it?" Conner asked as they lightly struggled.
"We... We have a code red."
"What?!" they both shout.
"Sam from Berapi. Becky admitted she left him for dead after smashing his head in with a brick last night but all that's left in that location is a dangerously huge pool of blood according to the medics."
"Oh Jesus Christ, get the dogs!" Reynolds shouted.
"Wait?!" Conner held his hand out to stop the aide. He looked at Reynolds. "There's a faster solution."
"Like what?" Reynolds demanded.
"Yamcha. He can locate people and fly, right? Just like Vegeta. If he's alive, he can find him."
Hassim was headed up the path to the second camp.
*Bark* *Bark* *Bark* *Bark*
"Is that a dog?" Hassim said hurrying up.
Hassim entered the clearing.
Sam was on the hard stone. The blinds Vegeta had leaned against the carving where underneath him and his right leg was in the water.
There was a small puppy licking and biting Sam's face, before it backed up and started barking again.
Loose dirt continued to roll down the hill as Hassim and his crew scrambled into the clearing.
His cameraman put down his camera as the four crowd around him.
"Wait. Wait. Wait. Don't move him," Jackie said as Hassim went to move his leg out of the water.
"Holy shit."
They looked and saw Yamcha touch down behind them.
Yamcha knelt down next to them. "How long has he been like this?"
"We just got here," Jackie said.
Yamcha pulled out his radio. "Hey I just found Sam. He's taken a huge fall. We need to get him out of here now. Unconscious, definite head, neck and back injuries. Lots of blood." He feels his neck. "He has a pulse." He put his hand next to his face, "Shallow breathing."
Sam moaned and twitched his fingers.
"Don't move. Don't move. Don't move. Don't move," everyone spoke over each other.
"Ma… Mak…"
The puppy started to whimper and gave a single bark.
Yamcha does a double take.
"What's with the dog?"
"Was here when we got here," Jackie said.
"Mark…"
*Bark* Bark* *whimper*
The cameraman was closest to the puppy. He extended his hand. "Mark? Are you Mark puppy?"
The puppy sniffed his hand. Then started barking.
"Mark… ok? …Puppy?"
"Your dog is ok, Sam," Hassim said.
Sam's mouth twisted in an attempted smile before his face went limp.
*fuzz* Yamcha. Yamcha. Turn your damn GPS on! *fuzz* Reynolds shouted over the radio.
Jackie grabbed her radio. "This is Jackie. We've come across the scene. We are at Vegeta's second camp."
"Reynolds, calm down," Conner said. "Jackie, what's the quickest way there?"
"Down the hill and the ATV track."
"Keep him calm. We're coming."
Jackie sighed and placed her radio down.
Yamcha went to speak but then looked up behind him.
Everyone looked up and saw Vegeta floating.
Vegeta flew off.
Vegeta had the bridge ready when the ATVs came screaming up the track. He was surprised they came from the blue beach, but that didn't really matter.
He got his first good at Sam helping them cross the stream.
"Punch to the face. Injuries to the back of the head." He looked at the two separate patches of gauze, "Two impact points…" He sighed frustrated. "And I can't risk looking at a human again. Goddess damn it, I want to know what happened."
Vegeta's thoughts were interrupted by what he recognized as the screams of a frightened dog.
He turned around and saw Hassim behind him holding a small puppy desperately trying to hide itself anywhere he could.
"No. No. It's ok. No. Stop trying to get down my shirt."
"Another moocher?"
"Sam called him Mark."
"Dogs hate me for some reason. I'll leave. I need to get fish anyway. Give me five minutes." Vegeta left the ATV track and went into the camp. He grabbed the spears and left through the upper gate.
Hassim waited for Vegeta to come back to the trail, but he never did. After a while, Hassim went up to the gate. "Sugar Petal, did Vegeta leave yet?!"
Sugar Petal opened the second floor window. "What?"
"Did Vegeta leave yet?"
"Yes he left a little bit ago. Are you two still fighting?"
"Not exactly. Just come down."
"Coming."
A few moments later, Sugar Petal was walking to the gate.
*Whimper*
Sugar Petal gasped smiling. "Is that a puppy?!"
"Sam's puppy. He just got carted off. Looks bad."
Sugar Petal gasped and put her hands in front of her mouth. "Oh… no. No. Not Sam…"
"Can you let us in?"
"Oh!" Sugar Petal hurried to the gate and opened it.
Hassim came in. "So, we need some jerky and something for water."
"Ok," Sugar Petal went into the hive and came out with one of the cooking pots filled with water. She put it over the fire, then climbed the tree house's ladder. She quickly returned with a single strip. "Puppy food coming up!"
