Blue Moon~ Chapter 4
Bulma lead the strange group of newcomers into West City and through the gates of her father's royal compound. As she approached the gates the sentries on duty stopped her.
"Princess Bulma, your father has been looking for you all over the palace. We have been notified to keep you safely inside the grounds until we have more information on the aliens that landed just moments ago." Said the taller of the guards called Obo. He had been sentry since before she was born and she loved sneaking past him when he was flirting with his many girlfriends while he was supposed to be on duty.
"I know I know but you don't have to wait for the information Obo… the aliens are right behind me" Bulma said knowing that that would shock Obo. Obo looked past her to the small crowd of people that was standing behind her. They looked to be normal people, but they had on the strangest clothes and he noticed one of them was holding the Ox Kings daughter behind him using his…tail! He saw princess Chichi whimper with fear and hastily called more guards to escort the newcomers into the kings work room.
Four guards approached the aliens warily and one of them foolishly tried to grab Princess Chichi away from her captor, but the alien merely glared at him and pushed him forcefully away and sent the man flying across the entrance hall. After that the guards just stood a couple hundred feet behind the newcomers.
Bulma led the way after that. As she neared her father's work room she pressed the button on the steel door and waited till the speakers asked for her identification before stating her name and allowing for the obligatory retina scan. The steel doors slid open and allowed her and her group to pass through into the large and extremely disorganized room. The kings work room was just that, with tools and blue prints scattered around the various work benches and half-finished experiments littering the floor along with dozens of coffee cups and cigarette butts. He hated staying in the conference room and would instead stay days on end immersed in his work. In the far corner of the room stood her father busily typing in complex equations into his super computer while his constant companion Scratch, the black cat which was even at this moment perched on his shoulder.
"Papa… papa I have people here to see you." Bulma called out
"People? What people? I don't have any appointments scheduled today" he said still busily hunched over his computer.
King Vegeta stepped around Bulma his cape whistling past her face. "I believe you do now. You are, I presume King Briefs, ruler of section 3 planet Earth and president of Capsule Corporation?" Bulma wondered how this alien knew about her father and his kingdom… they never made contact with other beings and his knowledge that her father ruled one of the twelve sanctions of Planet Earth made her wonder just what else he knew.
Her father finally turned away from his experiments and looked at the company that Bulma had brought in. "Yes… that's me, but who are you?" he asked curiously. He looked onto the group as if it were an everyday occurrence that five larger than life figures stood before him, one of which was holding his daughters best friend by a tail and the others who had the strangest hairdos, instead he looked upon them with what seemed to be mild amusement.
"I am King Vegeta from the Planet Vegeta-sei, we have been ordered to come here by Lord Freiza, he apparently has interest in your Capsule Corporation." King Vegeta stated, looking bored. "If we could discuss the matter in private…" he said looking around for a place that would be suitable in the clustered room.
Her father looked startled for a moment before saying hesitantly "you… you are the aliens that we were expecting? Why you look just like us! Remarkable! I'll have to run some tests… we should get started right away… but..my god man! Why are you holding that child like that?"
The strange man who spoke, King Vegeta, looked upon her father as if he was crazy. He leaned over to the enormous slightly bald headed man behind him and whispered in a carrying voice "Nappa, do you think this man is sane? On our planet we cast out the strange, we don't make them king! What a strange planet…" Nappa merely grunted in agreement. King Vegeta turned his attention back to the strange king, who was apparently still mumbling to himself about studies and analyzing data. "We did not come here to be lab rats… we came to discuss a trading opportunity. Lord Frieza has heard about your inventions and wishes you to set up a trade agreement. He is, of course most generous in his payments."
"I'm sorry young man, I don't trade my secrets with anyone. Capsule Corporation is managed only by the Briefs family and has been for the last 48 years, trust me you are not the first one to ask to trade knowledge and you won't be the last… although you are truly the first alien to ask… wait till Dr. Gero hears about this in the next meeting, ah he'll be so jealous!" the purple headed man said with a smug satisfied look as he scratched the small creature on his shoulder.
King Vegeta expected this sort of answer "Oh you'll be surprised how… persuasive Lord Frieza can be. We have come with an offer you will not be able to refuse and with all due respect" King Vegeta sneered "it would be… in your, ah… best interest, if you would sit down and discuss the terms of the agreement". Her father looked up into the strange mans face and smiled genially. Bulma did not understand how her father seemed so oblivious to this King Vegeta guy, he really scared her. There was something about him that made her think that he was more than willing to hurt them if it came to that.
Just at that moment though the steel doors slid open and her mother walked in carrying a large tray with assorted teas and cakes and a large tea kettle "Sweetie!" she said in her trilling voice sauntering over in her usual airy matter "the teas ready and I got that strawberry shortcake you love so much but they ran all out of the chocolate éclairs so I'll just have to get them tom-" she stopped short at the sight of all the people in her husband's usually deserted workplace. "Oh my! Why didn't you tell me you had company? I would have ran out and got more cakes! And my, such handsome big strong men." she said latching onto Bardocks arm.
Bardock looked at her in bewilderment for a moment before looking at his king and bashfully putting his right hand behind his head. He took a quick look at the enormous tea tray that the strange, but nonetheless beautiful, woman was holding and heard his stomach rumble. Apparently the blonde woman heard it and said "Oh my! This ones hungry! Ok come on boys lets go into the dining room and I'll feed you men up and you'll tell me who you are and if you boys are single…" she started dragging the men into the dining room without giving them a choice in the matter and Bulma heard her father agree saying "Yes, that sounds like a splendid idea don't you think scratch?"
Bulma just stared on as the three grown aliens, the princess and the teenage boy followed. The only one that stayed behind was the youngest of them all, the one called Prince Vegeta. He looked at her with contempt and gave a smirk.
"So… you're what passes as life on this planet? Pathetic. We should have just destroyed this planet instead of wasting our time. What's your power level earthling?" he said the smirk still in place.
"My… my what?" Bulma stuttered disliking being left with this arrogant strange… did he really call her, Bulma Briefs heiress to the Capsule Corp empire and kid genius pathetic?
"Your power level" he said drawing the words out "Gods don't you even have a power level? This place is worthless, how will I train when this gravity is so light and the people are weak?"
Bulma stared at him for a moment but then her anger began to surge "Listen buster!" she said prodding him on the chest with her finger "We are not "weak" and I'm certainly not pathetic! I'll have you know that I'm the smartest and most beautiful girl in all of West City! So there!" she said jabbing her finger into her chest one more time and sticking out her tongue at him.
Vegeta looked at her for a moment with shock and what seemed to be mild admiration. "Whatever… wher'es the food? Im starving" Bulma looked at him for a second debating on whether or not she should show him to the eating area. He was so arrogant, but she was told that she came of to condifent to, and he didn't just lay down and roll over like every one else seemed to do around her because she was the kings daughter. So she just rolled her eyes and lead the way knowing that the prince was following her with crossed arms and a stubborn face and Bulma idly wondered whether or not she finally found a person who was as equally reckless as she was. The thought excited her.