THE NEW YEARS DEBACLE

CHAPTER 2

Marron hadn't expected to see so many people at the New Years party. The champagne in her hand was beginning to cool down and she still hadn't touched it yet, she'd just been standing there looking like a stunned mullet. The noise was almost deafening; music was blaring and people where chatting loudly. And every minute that Marron wasn't talking to someone made her feel more and more out of place.

She left her warm champagne on a table surface and entered the adjoining kitchen. Marron picked up a fresh glass of punch from the several that were on the counter top and stirred in a little extra sugar. She sighed as she pulled herself up into a sitting position on the kitchen counter. CRUNCH.

"Ye-ouch!" Marron cried, pulling the sharp object out from under her behind. A pair of glasses. "Oops," she muttered, glancing around to be sure she hadn't been spotted, there really wasn't any space in her budget to pay for someone's glasses repairs. Unfortunately, they were beyond repair. Marron had totalled them.

"Maybe I ought to lose some weight. . ." She wondered aloud. They looked like they could've possibly belonged to Bulma. . . now that could get her into big trouble. "Things are not going well," She sighed as she stirred her drink absently. As it turns out, all her hunky science-type men were really typical computer nerds. She'd only been here an hour and Project: 'Change Marron Into A Go-getting Young Minx' already seemed to be a complete waste of time.

And then she spotted him. Past the kitchen and out into the adjoining entertaining area. . . The crowd parted and out from it emerged a dark haired young man walking resolutely towards her. Marron's eyes widened as she watched this very essence of masculine perfection saunter her way, his handsome features set in a friendly smile. . .

"Hi," Marron said as sweetly as she could muster as he arrived.

"Hey," He said distractedly. As it turns out, he was actually looking past her at the kitchen counter. He started hunting around the kitchen for something, lifting bowls and appliances in his search, and Marron had a fair idea what he was looking for. . .

"Need a hand?" Marron asked nervously.

The young man finally acknowledged her. "Yeah, I'm looking for my glasses," He said as he approached her. "Have you seen them? "

Marron sweat-dropped. "Uh. . . Are they blue rimmed and kind of small and is there a small scratch on the left wing?"

His face lit up. "Yeah, that's it!"

Marron shook her head. "Nope, haven't seen 'em." Normally, Marron would have come out and told someone honestly that she'd broken his or her glasses, but unfortunately, the pick up line: 'Hey there! I just broke your only pair of expensive designer glasses! Want to go make-out in the closet?' just wasn't very appealing. She forced a smile. "My name's Marron."

"My name's Chad." He smiled again and Marron nearly melted. Skilfully, she slipped off the counter and, grasping the shattered glasses in one hand, opened a drawer behind her back with her free hand. She quickly dropped the glasses into the drawer, out of view, and pushed it closed with her behind. She crossed the room to distract him and sat on the counter directly in front of him, disturbing him in his search for his glasses. He paused and smirked at her.

"What's a pretty little thing like you doing in a place like this?" He smiled.

"I don't know. . ." Marron shrugged, staring at him seductively. "Looking for someone, you know?"

"Oh, you lost something too?" He asked in all seriousness. Marron frowned, perhaps this one wasn't all there. Chad started opening drawers and looking in cupboards at that point, drawing ever closer to the drawer that his glasses were concealed in.

"Uh. . . Why don't we go look for your glasses out on the dance floor?" Marron asked as calmly as she could.

"No, I'm sure I left them in here," He said as he continued his search. He started opening the cupboards next to the drawers with the shattered glasses in. Marron started to panic. He would surely blame her for breaking them; she was the only one in here.

"What about the bathroom? Could you have set them down in there?" She almost pleaded.

"Don't think so," He muttered and he reached for the drawer, which held his glasses. Marron gasped as he gripped the handle and pulled a little.

"Stop!" Marron cried, causing Chad's head to whip around to stare at her with surprise. "Don't. . ." Think Marron. ". . . you. . ." Say something! ". . .just. . ." Stop him! "LOVE. . . this song?" She motioned towards the DJ in the living room. He was playing an old song from the eighties with a terrible backbeat.

He stared at her oddly. "No."

"How about a drink!" Marron cried as he pulled the drawer open a little further.

"No, that's okay." He said, staring at her. Marron sighed. There as nothing she could do. Chad began pulling the drawer open again.

"Darling! There you are!" A sleek brunette drifted out of the crowed and slinked over to Chad. She kissed him heartily.

"Hi sweetie!" Chad kissed her back. "Honey, this is. . . what's your name again?" Chad asked Marron.

Marron just stared from the woman to Chad. "Uh. . . Marron."

"Oh, that's nice." The woman said, eying her.

"Marron, this is Violétte, my fiancé." Chad said. "Honey, I can't find my glasses."

"Oh, that's okay, I have your spares here in my purse." She said silkily as she fished around in her handbag and pulled out a glasses case.

"Thanks, honey." Chad said, guiding her out of the room.

"Bye Merrill" Violétte called out casually. Marron was left staring after them, a little confused.

Then Marron screwed her nose up in distaste. "Violétte?"

Goten sighed for what must have been the umpteenth time. He was standing off to the side, leaning casually against a wall as he watched the night roll on. This party blowed. It was good by adult standards; everyone was standing around sipping champagne and talking about their latest success on the stock market. But it just wasn't stimulating enough for a young man like himself who'd been raised to understand a different definition of the word 'party' through his real parent: television.

Even his good friend Marron wasn't paying him any attention. She seemed to have found something else to occupy herself with this evening and wasn't interested in conversation with him in the least.

Bura had disappeared also. Goten hadn't seen her for a while and had since been reassuring himself that she was probably over at the buffet or had gone to the bathroom because she was most definitely not in a closet somewhere cheating on him. She wouldn't, would she?

Just then, Bulma sidled up to him with a very worried-looking Gohan attached to her arm.

"Goten, I don't want to raise any alarm so keep this quiet," Bulma whispered. "But our first-borns are missing." She added as she motioned to Gohan and herself.

"Trunks and Pan are missing?" Goten hadn't even noticed they weren't at the party, although the night was still young.

"Keep your voice down!" Bulma said. "Some of the people at this party tonight are potential investors into Capsule Corp.'s technology and I don't want any of them thinking I can't handle my own children." Goten could have said something there but he chose not to. "Have you heard from either of them?" She went on.

"The last time I saw Pan was when she and Trunks left our house in her new car to come to Capsule Corp. this afternoon." Gohan whispered, obviously frightened to death for his little girl. "Videl and I left shortly afterwards, but we flew here, so we arrived well before they would have. Still, it's been a hour since they were due to arrive."

"I wish I could help." Goten didn't really know what to say.

"We've tried their cell phones but they're out of range. Have they tried contacting you?" Bulma asked.

"No. Should we call the police?" Goten suggested.

"They have to be missing for twenty-four hours first," Gohan reminded him.

Bulma sighed. Goten was obviously of no use. "Come on Gohan. Lets try their cell phones again," She said sullenly as she pulled Gohan away.

'Those poor guys,' Goten thought. 'I wonder what happened to them? Maybe they just pulled the car over for a bit of fun before they got here?' Goten was about to pull out his own cell phone to see if there was anyway he could reach Trunks when a thought flashed across his mind.

Those fortune cookies.

'What had Trunks' cookie said?' Goten tried to remember. 'It said: "Peril awaits you and. . . and. . . serenity is your reward." '

Something has happened to Trunks and Pan and it's that cookie's entire fault! Goten knew this all had something to do with the fortune from that damn cookie. Goten then reached another revelation; if Trunks' fortune had come true, then so would Goten's. . .

Uub was beginning to think that this party was not such a great idea. There were several drunken middle-aged men in business suits staggering around and all the girls weren't young enough for his tastes. Uub hadn't really had the chance to talk to many of his old friends, what with all these people bumbling around, distracting him. One drunken old man was sure that he'd fought Uub in some distant war and Uub couldn't have excused himself faster from that impending brawl.

Uub sat down on a bench in Capsule Corp's elaborate gardens, braving the freezing weather to watch the stars. Clouds were covering most of the skies so only small patches of starlight penetrated the thick layer of haze, for which Uub was grateful. Not far away, a woman was throwing up in the bushes while her boyfriend held her hair back. Uub turned away.

Uub didn't sit there for long. Two men sauntered up behind him and before Uub could react, dumped an entire keg of beer all over him. Uub stood and spun around to meet them with an angry gaze.

Trying to control his temper, he ground out, "Are you crazy!?"

The two men, obviously drunk, just laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry man!" One laughed. "We thought you were Eddy!"

"There's Eddy, dude!" The second him slurred pointing at the man helping his girlfriend throw up in the bushes. Without apologising, the two jumped up and ran over to Eddy, dragging the keg behind them.

Uub rushed inside, knowing that he could catch hypothermia standing around in icy weather drenched in cold beer. Heading upstairs before anyone at the party could point and laugh at him, he started searching for a bathroom or a linen closet where he could get a towel.

Plenty of people were stumbling around the upstairs part of Capsule Corp., also drunk and disorientated. Some of them actually seemed to be lost.

Uub found what he was looking for: a linen closet. He opened it up and fished out a clean towel. Drying himself, he also noticed that the dirty- clothesbasket was also stored in the closet.

Several people ran towards him just then, all of them screaming wildly as they pushed their way down the hallway. Most of them were half-naked and screaming, "Chasey! Chasey! Chasey! Chasey. . . !"

Uub tried to get out of the mob's way, but before he could move, was flung back into the dirty-clothesbasket.

Stress was beginning to ebb and the edges of Bura's mind. As the daughter of the host she was obligated to carry out some host duties for this large crowd. Bura had been in charge of collecting people's coats at the beginning of the evening and now she was walking amongst the guest and ensuring they were all enjoying themselves. She was on strict instructions from her mother to treat everyone with the upmost respect, as there were some possible investors into Capsule Corp. amongst the throng of drinking and dancing people. Respect went against her nature. Bura generally respected those who actually deserved her respect.

On the off hand, all this socializing gave Bura the opportunity to escape from her clingy boyfriend. Goten had been acting so strange lately, she just couldn't shake him off. He was following her around like a lost puppy for the first part of the evening. And he'd been watching her constantly. Occasionally, she caught him staring at her suspiciously whenever she approached a male guest. And other times he'd ask her strange questions, like, "Do you find blonds attractive?" and "When will you be getting back from the bathroom? Sven isn't going to be there, right?" or sometimes he'd just blurt something out like, "If you want me to turn into a Super Saiyan, just say so!"

He was really beginning to tick her off and she was so relieved when he finally lost track of her.

Bura decided to slip away from the party for a moment just to clear her mind for a moment or two. She headed upstairs to her bedroom so she could lie down for a little while. As she reached the top of the stairs, she was greeted with the sight of several strangers wandering around the living quarters. Some were half-naked, looking for a room to slip into, and others drunkenly snooping through her family's rooms. Bura's face turned red in rage.

"GET OUT!" She shrieked. Everyone paused and looked at her. "These are PRIVATE living quarters! You were all supposed to stay downstairs! How dare you come sneaking up here, looking for a room and going through our things! GET OUT DAMNIT!" They all took one look at her and ran, screaming, in the opposite direction. Some of them seemed to think that it was all a game and started screaming, "Chasey! Chasey! Chasey! Chasey. . . !"

Bura chased after them and just as she rounded a corner, she came across a body half poking out of the linen closet. "Hey! Come out of there! That's private.!" She stopped as she took hold of the body and yanked it out by the feet. It fell with a 'thump' to the floor. "Uub?"

Uub looked up to thank his rescuer from releasing him from his smelly fate but was met with the horrified gaze of Bura, the youngest of the Briefs family. It was then that he realised that he had one of Bura's good lace bras slung over his head and a pair of women's underpants around his arm. This looked bad.

"Uub. . . I'm disgusted!" Bura took a step back, covering her mouth. "I never thought you would ever become someone who. . . ah. . . 'got off' like that. . ."

Uub blushed. "I'm not 'getting off'!"

"Oh Uub, you've sunk to a new low. . ." Bura backed away.

Uub pulled the bra away from his head and stood, advancing towards her. This startled Bura immensely. "Just listen for a second!" He tried.

Bura's eyes widened. "No! Leave me alone! You're drunk!" She cried, trying to decide whether she should crouch into a fighting position or risk enraging Uub further.

"What? I'm not drunk!" Uub pleaded, coming closer.

"Uub, you're at the denial stage of drunkenness," Bura said softly, keeping her eyes on his arms for suddenly movements. "Don't deny it, I can smell the alcohol on you. . ."

"No! Some guys just poured a whole keg of beer on me. . ."

"Oh Uub, you're a pathological compulsive liar too?" Bura whimpered.

"Bura. . ." He reached for her. Bura feared for her life.

She pointed at something behind him. "What's that? A voyeurism convention held in Uub's honour?" She offered. Uub turned to see what she was talking about and saw nothing. When his back was turned, Bura turned a bolted back down the stairs, desperately looking for her father or her boyfriend to come and beat the crap out of the drunken, crazed Uub who found pleasure in masturbating with her underwear. The boy had flipped!

Uub returned his gaze to where Bura had been standing and saw that she had escaped. "Shit! Now I look like a creep!" Uub exasperated, ripping the underpants that were still attached to his arm off. This was going to be a long night.