Chapter 24: Day 17 Part 1 — Spinning Out of Control

Sam opened his eyes to find them blinded by light. A hand covered his mouth.

"Shh. Don't worry. I'm not going to let you die too. I'm sorry I can't heal you completely. A miracle like that would be too obvious and put you in danger."

The hand was removed and returned to its place on the side of his head. Sam could see the shadow of a face in the light.

"Who are you?" he said softly.

"A guardian. That is all I can say. Now shh." The hand then closed his eyes.

Sam started to cry. "Yes, angel."

"There," Sam heard after a while. He felt the hands leave and the light that came through his eyelids vanished. "You still have a severe concussion, but your fractured skull and the brain bleeds are gone. Your sight is returned and the paralysis on your left side is no longer there. Your right foot is no longer dangling in the wind from all the torn tissues, but it is still twisted and will take months to heal after this show has ended. You won't be able to walk by yourself the rest of your time here. I know it sounds completely counter intuitive, but when your cousin comes, you both need to get to Vegeta's camp."

Sam felt the hand over his mouth again.

"I know you know who he is. But you can't stay anymore now that Ichiro has turned."

Sam said a muffled "what?"

"You would have survived what Becky did to you. But not Ichiro breaking his foot kicking your head after you were dumped on the beach. You've been in a coma ever since, but I've needed to wait till after dark."

Sam felt a drop of water on his face. "So close… So close…"

"My lord, it's time to return," Sam heard another voice, a much deeper voice.

"Yes, of course." Sam heard this voice stand.

"Never tell anyone of this," the deeper voice warned. "And wait five minutes to open your eyes."

Sam nodded, but immediately regretted it and grabbed his head.

The footsteps disappeared and the brief rustling of the palm leaves above led back to the normal silence of night.

Sam waited a long time to open his eyes. He sat up.

He was surprised it wasn't that late. The sun was gone, but the stars were still popping out. He saw Ichiro dropped in the sand. Michael was near the shelter and Becky was in between the shelter and the fire.

Sam remembered the story of angels striking the roman soldiers asleep at the resurrection and began to cry. Then he moved his leg.

He screamed.

*COCKLE DOODLE DOO*

*BARK* *BARK*

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

*MEOW*

The cats all huddled around the plate of chopped fish. Hassim fed Mark on the other side of the fence.

Instead of immediately getting to work, Vegeta went back into his tree house.

"You ok, Mr. Vegeta?" Sugar Petal called up.

"Yeah… I'm just… here…"

"Mr. Vegeta? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just keep the fire up, I'm going back to bed. There's nothing really urgent to do today. And everyone needs time to cool down."

"Oh, I see," she said, "I'll go tell Hassim you're going back to bed."

Sugar Petal walked past the cats and headed over to Hassim.

Hassim is standing over the squatting puppy.

"Hassim-nim?"

Hassim turned his head, "Oh, hey Sugar Petal could you watch Mark while I go pray?"

Sugar Petal nodded. "But Hassim-nim, have you noticed something funny about Vegeta since last night?"

Hassim turned fully around, "No why?"

"I think he's been acting funny since he jerked his head last night. He only does that when he feels something happening far away."

"You know he can't tell us those things," Hassim said. "If it was important enough for him to break the rules again, he would have said something."

"So you think he's just in indecision? That's not like him."

"We've only known him for two weeks," he said. "We barely know anything about him."

Sugar Petal made an angry pouting face.

"If it was important, he would have said something. Just leave him alone, wherever he went to."

"He went back to bed."

Hassim looked shocked.

"I told you something was wrong."

Hassim sighed, "Still… If he wanted to tell us, he would. Don't pester him."

*bark*

Hassim looked down, "You done puppy?"

Mark waged his tail. *bark*

"Ok," Hassim picked up the dog.

*yip*

Hassim came back through the gate and handed Mark off to Sugar Petal. He then went into the hive, fetched his rug, and headed to the banana grove.

The ATVs pulled in over forty minutes late according to his watch. Hassim stood up from the bench and opened the lower gate for them. He saw everyone was quiet and slow to unpack. Then Hassim noticed Ted was gone.

"Damn… something really is going on," he thought.

"I was wondering when you would show up."

Hassim turned around and saw Vegeta walking up. "Hassim, can you give us a moment alone?"

"I see you noticed," Randy said.

Vegeta crossed his arms. "Noticed is an understatement. One I was honestly expecting, the second was a shock."

Randy looked at Hassim, "Hassim go inside. I need to talk to Vegeta alone for a few minutes."

Hassim nodded and walked back to the gate.

Randy motioned his hand away from camp. "Your Majesty."

Vegeta nodded and walked forward.

The two walked deep into the grove.

Vegeta stopped. "Ok, how the fuck did Casey die? It was within minutes of Nick."

Randy struggled to speak at first. He cleared his throat. "Nick… he hung himself by tying bedsheets to his balcony. Casey's room was below his. Most likely she was trying to pull him in when the sheet gave way and it pulled her over."

"How far was the drop?"

"Five stories…"

Vegeta turned his eyes up thinking, "Yeah, that would be enough to kill a human even under this planet's weak gravity. Especially if she was pulled over head first."

Randy flinched.

Vegeta looked back at Randy. "My issue is are you going to be telling the others? I'm not supposed to know this happened, and I see the merits of feigning ignorance. But humans are the most emotional, sentimental, and gossipy race I've ever encountered. And there's no way in hell the relatives coming in are not going to tell them about two people falling to their deaths. Someone is going to break and collapse in a crying fit." He looked back at the crews. "I assume that's why Ted is missing. With how squeamish he was over the death of an animal, I can imagine he's not taking the death of a human particularly well."

"The visitors were moved into lockdown after someone broke isolation and Nick and his father got into a confrontation. Minus your family, it was my impression that information was hidden successfully."

"And how the hell do they know?" Vegeta demanded.

Randy looked at the ground, "I don't believe he saw the bodies personally, but it was your son that alerted us that something was very wrong."

Vegeta's eye twitched. "I see… I'll pretend nothing happened for now. But if it gets out, I make no promises."

"Ok…" Randy answered.

"Yeah… this isn't going to stay quiet long…" Vegeta thought.

Morning started for Berapi with the crews shaking the three awake after finding them randomly passed out in the sand.

After Ichiro rekindled the fire, he got up to check on Sam, who was exactly where he left him. He knelt down next to him.

"Sam. Sam," he shook his shoulder.

Sam moaned.

"Come on, buddy."

Sam twitched.

Ichiro then squeezed his ankle.

Sam screamed. Then rolled over coughing and crying.

"Ok. Come on Sam. Toilet and breakfast."

"Why?" Sam sobbed.

"I'm in charge of you. Get up so I can get you in the water. I'm not cleaning you if you soil yourself."

Sam stared at him frightened, remembering the angel's warning.

"I'm not playing games. Get up."

Sam slowly propped himself up.

Then Ichiro stood and offered his hand, "Get your good leg under you. I don't care if it's still numb."

Sam screamed and whimpered as Ichiro pulled him up and put his arm over his shoulder. They slowly hobbled their way to the water.

"Ok, drop your pants," Ichiro said when they got to the border of the wet sand.

After struggling to undo his belt with one hand, Ichiro ultimately helped him.

Ichiro helped him step out of his pants and remaining shoe, but refused to touch his underwear.

Jason came with his camera crew and got between them and the water. He ordered his cameraman to kneel and get a closeup. Sam was beet red as the cameraman obeyed and adjusted his focus on his private parts.

"Jason-san," Ichiro asked. "Please. This is a little much."

Jason gave a predatory grin. "What did I tell you about talking back to me? I can throw you out at any time or any reason and the producers will back me. You don't want to end up like Nick, do you?"

"Jason," the other two field producers, their technicians, and even his own cameraman lowered his camera to look up to either warn or scold him.

"I can get you fired too," Jason snarled.

Everyone backed down and returned to filming.

After that humiliation, Ichiro left Sam to be filmed struggling to get his clothes back on lying on the sand and returned to camp.

"Michael, hey wake up a moment," he said quietly, shaking his shoulder.

"What?" he said sleepily.

"I think something happened to Nick. The crews just stood up to Jason when he used him as a threat."

"Well, duh," Michael said, returning to his side to sleep. "I knew he was dead the moment he was carried off. But I'm surprised he pulled it off so soon. Some poor security guard just got fired."

Ichiro reared back instinctively. "You mean you think he committed suicide?"

Michael glanced over his shoulder, "I know he did. That's what the contract was designed for. Do exactly what we say or you will die. A 150 million zeni fine? That might not bankrupt most of the companies on the West City Stock Exchange, but they expect a cubicle clown to pay that?" he chuckled as he turned back around, "I thought you were smarter than that, Ichiro. If you're done with Sam, go get coconuts."

"I would expect Vegeta to be so cold about it."

"The man's dead, Ichiro." Michael said strongly. He raised his hand exasperated. "I can't resurrect the dead. What can I do about it?" he lowered his hand. "Yes, I'm upset, but I'm not surprised. I went into this game expecting someone to off themselves. I honestly thought you had too. You seemed intelligent enough to notice that in the contract. If you're that upset, just go do whatever you guys do for dead people after breakfast."

Ichiro stood up and walked back down the beach.

"Ichiro!" Sam called out. "I got my pants on! Please help me up!"

Ichiro returned and got Sam screaming to his feet and helped him back to the tree line.

"Oh, God… Oh my God…" Sam whimpered as he rolled over on his back in the sand.

"I know you hurt like hell, Sam. But just try not to move," Ichiro said standing over him. "I'll be back with your coconut soon. Just rest." He jogged away.

Ichiro was deep in the brush looking for fresh coconuts when he heard twigs breaking behind him.

"Hello, asshole."

Ichiro turned around and saw Vegeta.

He glared at him. "What do you want?"

Vegeta smirked. "I want many things, but nothing I'll be able to get myself." His smile vanished, "But honestly, I came to check on Sam."

"How do you even know about that?"

"You mean besides the fact Hassim was the one who first found him half dead? I saw his injuries." Vegeta sighed. "Hypothetically…."

"We don't need your help," he cut him off.

"A plastic bottle and wood for a—"

"I said no," Ichiro said firmly.

"Fine, if you really want to carry him every time he needs to piss," Vegeta held up the plastic water bottle he brought. "I can always take this back."

"We don't need it," Ichiro said again.

Vegeta glared at him. Then he dropped the bottle in the sand.

"Oh look, the evil criminal is littering!" he said, turning around. "Oh the horror."

Vegeta began walking away.

Suddenly, he heard crunching plastic. Vegeta spun around and saw Ichiro stomping on the bottle.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Ichiro finished smashing it flat and looked at him. "I said we don't need it."

Vegeta formed his fists, "No. You just don't need it from me."

"I would have refused it from Hassim or Sugar Pedal too," he said vehemently.

"You'll lose all that bravado when you're faced with the final gavel. You better come up with a damn good explanation for King Yemma if you don't want to end up as my cellmate over this debacle." He turned around and walked away.

Morning came to the blue beach. The fire was kicked up and plantains and moringa were cooked.

Everyone ate in silence around the fire.

"So…" Bob finally spoke up. "What do we need to do today?"

"Check to see if our trade with Vegeta was approved," Jerry said. "Then we can spend all day finishing clothes."

"What did you ask for?" Bob asked, "And why didn't you tell the rest of us?"

"Sugar Pedal has made thread and yarn," Jerry said. "I thought some knitted panels would make everything more flexible."

"And what did you offer in return?"

"The plant they are using," Jessica said. "Part of it is edible, so giving them the rest would be less wasteful."

"Can't we just make our own?" Jamal asked.

"Nope, producers shot that down quick," Jerry said. He looked at Jessica. "And Jessica never even heard of it before, so we're kinda up the creek in that regard."

"I can't knit either," Jessica said.

"You CAN finish it if it's denied, right?" Daisuke asked.

"Yes, it's just making things more comfortable," Jessica said. "I can even retrofit the one you're already wearing."

"Well… at least the hats are done," Bob sighed.

"Do you want a shirt too, Bob?" Jessica asked. "You're pretty red."

"I'll think about it," Bob said. "It's not like I'm peeling."

"So what was Maroon Bay like?" Daisuke asked.

"I'm not allowed to say, but Blackbeard would approve."

"Old pirate-era stuff huh?" Jerry said. "Oh… Crap, the immunity idol."

"Clue said it was hidden in a snake den and to be careful about being bitten," Bob said. The answer to the combination lock on the box is the independence day of Indonesia."

Silence fell again as everyone looked at each other awkwardly waiting for someone to speak next.

Meanwhile, at Vegeta's camp…

Vegeta dropped down and walked up to the gate.

"Vegeta, where did you go?" Randy demanded. "You weren't at the outhouse."

"I went to check on Sam." Vegeta opened the gate, "Don't worry. It got filmed. Ichiro is playing attack dog and is determined to go to hell with me."

"Is Sam going to be ok?" Sugar Pedal asked.

"No, he's screaming with any little movement and they're not even making a brace for his fucking leg. His damn shoe doesn't even fit on his foot, it's so swollen."

"Can't you carry him here?"

"Rules say he has to walk, just like you."

"But you said—"

"Exactly..."

Sugar Pedal hung her head.

Vegeta looked around. "Hassim in the hive?"

"Hey!" Hassim came up to the gate holding a glass bottle. "Jerry's request got approved."

"Which one?" Vegeta asked.

"The knitting. There's even dimensions in the correct way and in the American way." He glanced at Vegeta.

Vegeta shrugged. "I don't know either so don't look at me."

Vegeta walked over and climbed into his house. "Labu?! How did you get in here?"

*Meow*

"No. You are not eating the goat. Get off of the basket."

*Merowrow!*

Vegeta came down the ladder holding a scowling cat. He dropped her. "Stupid cat."

"Is the food ok?" Hassim asked.

"Yeah," Vegeta climbed back up. "Good idea on the lid, Sugar Pedal."

"Oh," Hassim went over to the ladder, "Hey Vegeta?"

"What?"

"I was thinking about a box of sand for the hive. I think we've been way too lucky with the puppy so far."

"You got legs. Take the wagon. I'm not allowed in the blue camp anymore. Bob's being an ass, and worse now Jerry asked about joining us."

"And you said no? Vegeta, we need numbers against Michael!"

"I'll talk with my wife…"

"Do you always do what your wife tells you?"

Vegeta stuck his head out. "Hassim," he said angrily. "I am not from here… OF COURSE I LISTEN TO MY FUCKING WIFE!"

Vegeta ducked back inside. "Tabru col saffeck."

Hassim sighed.

"Hassim-nim, let's just leave Mr. Vegeta alone."

"I think everyone's forgotten this is a game," Hassim said, walking past her and going into the hive. He came out with the machete and a roll of thin vine. "Watch the animals. I'll be back." Hassim left through the lower gate.

"Oh, crap," He said, stopping after a few steps. He turned around and came back in. "Hey, Vegeta! The bridge isn't up yet."

Vegeta growled loudly, scaring the cats and causing them to run under the hive floor. He jumped down ignoring the ladder. He picked up the poles. "Well, start carrying shit!"

Vegeta dragged the floor poles out of camp.

Meanwhile, at the resort…

"Nana, why are you putting clothes in the suitcase?" Trunks asked, watching his grandmother pack. He was holding his stuffed monkey.

"We're going to be going home sweetie," Panchy said, rushing back and forth.

"So, I go to Mama's room?"

"I'm sorry, baby, but Mama and Papa need to stay here. But they'll come home soon, ok?"

"But I want to see Papa!" He started to cry, "You said I get to see Papa!"

Panchy stopped what she was doing and knelt in front of him. "You will see Papa. Just a little later than we thought, ok?"

Trunks sniffled. "Is this because the two people goed away?"

Panchy faked a smile, ran her fingers through his hair then kissed his forehead while standing. "Everything will be ok Trunks. Don't you worry."

Dr. Brief walked in the room, "Those Fu—nny people. Hello Trunks, I thought you'd be with Mama by now?"

"Bulma's in isolation for the trip over," Panchy said. "They won't let him over there."

"Well, that's never stopped you before," Dr. Brief walked over and rustled Trunks' hair. "Go get yourself in some mischief. Grandpa needs to talk with Nana."

"Ok…" Trunks hopped down from the bed and Dr. Brief walked him to the door. "Go on now, scoot," he gently pushed him out of the suite and into the hallway.

Dr. Brief shut the door. He sighed, tapping his head against it.

"What's wrong, Sweetie?"

"They're not going to let us use the helipad or the airstrip."

"Then how do we get off the island? The bridge is closed."

"They're only going to let us off the island unless we sign our souls away first," he said sitting on the bed. "I thought we already did that just to come here." He sighed and leaned back on the bed, "I haven't punched someone since junior high, but that Reynolds is a god damn bully. I bet he has experience working for a boss with three letters and a penchant for rings."

"Are we going to be ok? With them knowing about Vegeta?"

"I'm more worried about Vegeta killing them once this mess is over and done with. Need to keep that boy out of trouble."

Panchy sat next to him. "Be nice if we could just wish this never happened."

"You know how Vegeta gets. He doesn't want them inactive in case we need them for battle."

Panchy leaned back on her hands. "Maybe… Oh?!" She put her hands together next to her face, "What if we ask Dende to see if he could shorten the delay if we only need to use one wish at the moment and save the others for later? That way we'd always have a way to bring people back and Bulma can get her yearly strawberries again?"

Dr. Brief shot up. "Darling, you're a genius." He kissed her cheek. "Talking to you always makes things better." He got up, "Well. I guess I'll go see about that paperwork since it won't matter in the long run. Then we can go home."

Dr. Brief left the suite.

"Well. I guess I'll go see about that paperwork since it won't matter in the long run. Then we can go home."

In a security room, the guard had almost dislocated his jaw watching the room. Trembling, he reached for the phone. "Mr… Mr. Reynolds? I… report on… Briefs…"

"Well spit it out," he heard over the whir on an outboard motor. "I'm on my way to the play zone now."

"Dr. Brief and Panchy have come to a decision to use time travel to void any contracts they will be signing."

"Excuse me… Did you just say time travel?"

"Yes, sir… It was so matter of fact there was no way it was hyperbolic. They got technical about changes needed to be made to the device to shorten a usage delay and named the person to do the repair."

"What was the person's name?"

"It… It was Dende, sir. Don't know if it was a first or last name."

"Send the full video file to my phone. I want to hear this for myself."

"Yes, sir. Isolating it now."

Vegeta came back with wet shorts. He couldn't zap himself dry anymore but he could raise his power level like the low setting on a clothes dryer.

"Hey Mr. Vegeta?"

"What?" Vegeta said, sitting down on the bench.

Sugar Petal glanced away and grabbed her arm across her chest. "I was thinking… The family visits are coming up, right?"

"Yeah, tomorrow. And?"

"Maybe we could throw a party?"

Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "A party? Really?"

Sugar Petal twiddled her fingers in front of her chest, "Well, we have nice food, and we have music, and we have a puppy and kittens. I could still make that ball and we could play games."

"You think like my mother-in-law," Vegeta said dismissively. "Now if we had access to a beach, that would be a different story. But Bob's being an ass."

"And what about us?" Randy said, offended.

Vegeta looked at him. "I'm sorry. Who are you again?"

Randy glared at him while Vegeta laughed.

"But seriously, I think a beach party would catch Conner's interest. I doubt anyone has been well off enough to actually have the food and energy to waste on a gathering of our own making. But like I said, Bob's being an ass."

"Oh!" Sugar Petal clapped. "I think I know a spot! We can have a real water party."

"And where is this?" Randy asked.

She clasped her hands and put them to her cheek. "Where I climbed out of the river!"

Vegeta's jaw dropped slightly. "Are you sure about this?"

She nodded. "Umm-hmm."

Vegeta smirked, "Good. Glad you're up to this."

"I'm back!" Hassim called out. He was at the lower gate dragging a bundle of bamboo stalks. "Open the gate, please."

Vegeta stood and walked to the gate, "Good. You're back. Sugar Petal wants to go on a little adventure. We can drop you off at the beach to get your sand in the meantime.

The group was nearing the end of the ATV track with Vegeta carrying Sugar Petal on his back and Hassim pulling the wagon with two empty baskets lined with banana leaves.

*thunk*

"Did you hear that?" Hassim asked.

"Yeah," Vegeta said uninterested. "Blue team doing something."

*thunk* *thunk*

Hassim stopped walking and looked in the direction of the sound.

"What's wrong?" Vegeta asked.

"I think I know what that is…"

"Well, I'm not welcome in camp so if you want to interact with them, go ahead," Vegeta said. "Just don't invite anyone to join us." He glanced over his shoulder. "You ok there, Sugar Petal?"

"Yep."

"I'll let you down once we hit the other side of the mangroves. No sense you getting tired if we get lost."

"We won't get lost," she said. "I remember exactly where it is."

"If you say so," Vegeta turned back to Hassim. "Do whatever. We'll meet up back at camp."

Vegeta walked on.

Hassim dropped the handle on the cart and went into the trees.

*thunk*

Hassim picked up a branch and started hitting the trees as he walked along and genuinely making as much noise as possible.

"Hello! I'm walking through! … Hello!"

"What are you doing?" Randy asked.

"Trying not to get shot."

"What do you mean?"

"Hassim? That you? It's Jerry! Come on over!"

Hassim walked in that general direction and walked behind a fallen tree with bottles on it.

"Over here!" Jerry waved.

"I thought I heard a bow twang," Hassim said walking up. "Are you using your shoe string?"

"Yeah," he said, holding his stick. "Bob and Jamal are getting on my nerves and it's not like there's a fence and tin— Wait you knew it was a bow shooting?"

"My wife's family are medieval reenactors. Swords, amour, halberds, archery. My brother in law is a bloody yeoman. He'll put an arrow through a metal car door to show off at fairs."

Jerry whistled. "So," he held up the bow, "Any tips?"

"I've… never really paid attention. I know how to do a Flemish twist, but carving a bowstave is really above my paygrade. But if you're serious, I'd just get a piece of bamboo. It's probably better than any random branch on the ground."

"Yeah. If things keep going the way they are, I should probably make an actual bow. Things are really going south with what happened with Jessica and now Casey."

"Guys," Randy said. "don't go too deep here."

"He's right," Jerry's field producer said. "Hold off on any camp talk. You are on opposing teams."

"I'd rather not be," Jerry said. "But Vegeta won't see reason."

"Yeah…" Hassim sighed. "He's just not playing the game. I mean we have full stomachs this entire time but there's no excitement. No politics, no alliances, it's… Just lonely really. Vegeta and Sugar Petal rarely talk and then it's usually to each other. I mean, we eat together, there's music time—"

"Music time?" Jerry's eyes lit up.

"Oh… yeah… you're a famous musician across the pond," Hassim said. "Sugar Pedal has a tiny guitar from a reward and Vegeta has a bone flute he made."

"Any drums?"

"Drums?" Hassim asked, confused.

"You guys have plenty of rawhide right? From all those goats?"

"It's mostly flooring."

"Flooring?! Oh, no. No. You gotta make a drum."

"If Vegeta knew how to make one, we'd already have one."

"Get me the hide and I can do the rest," Jerry smiled.

"This needs approval," Randy intervened.

Jerry sighed frustrated. "Life would be so much damn easier if you'd just join us. Like you're on the border so you wouldn't even need to leave your camp. Food, music, that ball we talked about earlier. It'd be a party every night."

"I don't know," Hassim said, "Vegeta's a pretty big killjoy."

"Yeah, but there'd be more party animals to make up for it."

"Wrap it up guys," Randy said.

Hassim looked over his shoulder, then back at Jerry. "Well, I'm on a mission to get sand for the animals. You might catch Sugar and Vegeta coming back. They both want to do something nice for our families coming up. Sugar Petal wants a picnic and she went to show Vegeta a place on the river she saw when she fell in."

"Well, if anyone can pull together enough decent food for a picnic, it be the hunter extraordinaire. Actually… Bob took everyone to look for crabs in the mud flats, did they go through the mangroves or the back trail?"

"The mangroves."

Jerry sighed, "Well that's not going to end well… But hey, if you can get me a hide and maybe that blemish twist string, I'll make a second drum to give back."

"I'll write it up when I get back," Hassim waved as he walked off.

After Hassim disappeared, Jerry began tapping his forehead with his wrist. "Stupid, Jerry. Stupid. Stupid Jerry."

"What's wrong?" his field producer asked.

Jerry spun to face him, clawing the air with his fingers. "They've had rawhide this whole time! I could have had bongos days ago and I never thought of it before! Dah! I'm so dumb."

"Well, to be perfectly honest," he said. "That's probably not going to happen. So, I wouldn't count on it."

Jerry sighed. "Figures. You guys are total killjoys."

"Well, you're just going to need to find a way to make a drum with just bamboo if you want something to hit."

Jerry's eyes widened. Then his smile consumed his entire face.

The producer's expression flattened. "There's… actually a way to do that, isn't there?"

"Call me Charles, because I got the greatest Plaaaaaaaa~n," he half sang as he leapt through the trees.

"Wait for us!" his cameraman ran after him.

"What is it with women on this planet and yanking men by the arm?"

"You're so funny, Mr. Vegeta," Sugar Petal giggled.

"Hey, not so fast. Watch the grow-man roots will you."

"You mean Mangrove?" Nathan asked.

"Whatever…" Vegeta snapped.

Then Vegeta stopped.

"What's wrong? Come on!" Sugar Petal tried to pull him forwards but it was suddenly like pulling on a concrete pillar.

"Someone else is here," he said. Vegeta jerked his arm out of Sugar Petal's hand and took the lead.

"Ouch," Sugar said, rubbing her hand.

Vegeta walked over to the water's edge and hung over the branching roots by hanging from a limb. Daisuke was out in the water.

"Ollie Ollie Oxen Free!" Vegeta shouted.

Daisuke turned around. He waved, then swam closer.

"What are you up to?" Vegeta asked.

"Fishing while the others look for crabs," Daisuke said.

Sugar Petal walked into view.

"So that's how Jerry braided your hair?" he said unimpressed.

"It's a recreation of how my mother wore hers," Vegeta said. "With the jewelry, she'll be quite the site for family day."

"If you say so," Daisuke said. "So, what are you doing out here?"

"I'm showing Mr. Vegeta a place we could have a party because we can't be on the beach," Sugar said excitedly.

"Party?" Daisuke asked, confused.

"She wants to entertain our families," Vegeta rolled his eyes. "I'm not particularly worried about the extra food, just finding a location big enough for everyone. Especially since she wants to get the ball made."

"Dang… a big meal would be nice, but I don't think our families would want to eat what we've been eating."

"Well, maybe what YOU have been eating. I think I got everything." Vegeta looked up the coast, "You said the others are still crabbing?"

"Well, they haven't walked past yet," Daisuke said. "I was about to give up when you called over."

"Alright. We'll probably run into them on the way to Sugar Petal's spot." Vegeta changed his grip on the branch and moved back onto the interlocked root systems. He looked at Sugar Petal, "Let's go."

After they were out of sight, Daisuke cursed. "Kami, damn it…"

"What is it?" asked the boat producer.

"Vegeta's group is sitting so high and pretty that they're actually going to cook extra food to share, like it's just a normal afternoon get-together. This is The Last Survivor, and they act like they don't have a care in the world."

"Huh?" Vegeta said, looking out over the mudflat. "I don't see them. They were definitely here from the holes."

"Maybe they went the back-way home?" Sugar Petal said.

"And leave Daisuke hanging?" He looked upstream. "Don't see them out in the trash nets… Where else could they be?"

"Maybe the place I wanted to show you?"

"Is it close?"

Sugar Petal nodded.

"All right, lead the way."

Sugar Petal took him past the trash heap.

"Looks like the tide teased out some large bottles. Good," Vegeta thought looking at his nets.

Vegeta was so distracted by his plans he tripped on a root and almost face planted into a trunk. "Fuck!" he shouted as he stumbled to his feet.

"Are you ok, Mr. Vegeta?!"

"Yeah…"

"Who's out there?!"

The two saw a man in a yellow shirt deep in the mangroves. Then he lifted his radio.

*fuzz* Whoever is escorting Vegeta, please respond *fuzz*

"This is Nathan," he answered.

*fuzz* Where is your group headed? *fuzz*

"Where you climbed out of the river, right?" Nathan asked Sugar Petal.

"Yes."

"Sugar Petal is showing Vegeta where she climbed out of the river," he spoke into the radio.

There was a long pause.

*fuzz* All right. You can pass through. *fuzz*

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Well," he sighed, annoyed. "Let's see who died this time…"

Vegeta took the lead and they soon entered the grassy clearing at the abandoned boat landing and the start of the back trail.

"Theft? It's not theft!" Jamal shouted, causing the two to stop and look. "If my foot was an inch to the left, I would have sliced my foot off on that knife's blade! If I had cut my foot open on a broken bottle in the mud, would it be theft to the guy who threw his beer away?"

"It doesn't matter now," Reynolds said, "We've already contacted the nearby villages and confirmed a capsize here three months ago. The family that owns these tools and some village elders will be docking here in less than an hour."

Vegeta surveyed the scene. The clearing had been mowed and turned into a miniature field camp with a few plastic tubs, folding tables and chairs, laptops, and camera gear. But it was the large solar generator set up and the over ten-foot-tall hotspot antenna that made it obvious this wasn't a temporary camp.

He glanced over at Sugar Petal, who looked like she was going to cry.

"This was the spot, wasn't it?"

She nodded sniffling.

"I'm sure we can find a spot a little farther up the hill," Vegeta said. He then spotted a muddy basket with crabs escaping from it under one of the tables. Next to it was a muddy plastic bucket. It was yellow, cracked and broken, so clearly from the pile.

"Sugar Pedal, go find a place to hide yourself. I'm going to poke the bear."

Sugar Petal did not know what he meant until she saw him walk towards Reynolds. She quickly scurried away to the edge of the clearing that was uncut. The ground was damp here and she spotted a small spring in the hill that fed a small run into the mangroves.

Reynolds was still arguing with Jamal when the others' change of focus made him turn around.

Vegeta strode up to them. "You can at least give them back the container and other junk they found," he said, joining the conversation.

"This doesn't concern you," Reynolds said.

"Why are you even here?" Jamal asked.

"Looking for a spot to throw a party on family day. But since Bob is being a dick—"

"Hey!" Bob shouted.

Vegeta ignored him and looked at Reynolds, "—So, how long are you guys going to be here? This was our next choice."

"This is going to become a new sub camp. So, this is the last time," he turned back to the blue team, "Either of you will ever be—"

"Ong Choy!"

Everyone looked and saw Sugar Petal, with clearly wet clothes, waving dripping plants in the air.

"Ong Choy, Mr. Vegeta!"

Vegeta jogged over. Jessica stood and quickly followed. Reynolds walked behind them.

"Let me see that," Vegeta asked. He held up the plant to the sun to get a good look. "Definitely looks the part," he said skeptically. He took a bite and Jessica arrived.

"Tastes like it too. Holy fuck. Good job, Sugar Pedal."

"Can I see that?" Jessica asked.

Vegeta handed her the half-eaten plant and she bit off right over Vegeta's bite. "Oh, I recognize this from the Chinese restaurant down the street from my yoga studio." She finished the rest of it off, "Where did you find this?"

Reynolds watched Sugar Pedal point excitedly into the uncut tall grass and the three disappeared into the swamp. He seethed, clenching his teeth. Then he picked up his radio. "This is Reynolds. I'll need a can of gasoline brought to the new river camp in about two hours."

*fuzz* Copy that. Yes, Mr. Reynolds. *fuzz*

"So, you guys are really planning on throwing a party for Family Day?"

"Yep," Sugar Pedal said excitedly.

"Jessica," Vegeta said. "Have you made any more salt?"

"If Tom ever finds where the pots are hidden, they'll get smashed," Jessica said. "Have you checked them recently?"

"You still have the pots?" Jessica's field producer scowled.

"Even with the new oaths, if Michael can destroy my stuff because it's technically 'outside my camp'" Vegeta used air quotes, "Then me stealing their pottery hidden in the woods is completely legal."

"Technically he has a valid point," Nathan said. "But I don't think Connor is going to budge."

The field producer sighed. "Ok… But where are they now?"

"None of your beeswax," Vegeta said. "Cats' climb and knock things over," he sighed. "It's in their DNA. Labu found her way into my tree house earlier. Still don't know how she did— And I just sank in mud…" He smiled at Sugar Pedal. "My socks thank you for the warning, Sugar Pedal."

"Their welcome," she matched his sarcasm. Then she looked forward and pointed. "Over here," she scurried off.

They came to the hillside.

"Guess ours isn't the only spring," Vegeta said, seeing the water coming from the hill.

Jessica knelt down. "Look at all the… Ong Choy, right Sugar Petal?"

"Yep!" she beamed.

"Oh, there's clover and pennywort too, good find. Bob's going to be complaining about my vegetables even more." She laughed.

"It would be nice to have more veggies," Sugar Petal said. "The tea leaves and that weed are nice but the meat, fish and eggs are getting old."

"Calorie wise, you are better off," Jessica said.

"Don't forget the noni leaves," Vegeta said. "I drag my ass to the other side of the zone for that."

"Vegeta, would your group be willing to join the blue team?" Jessica asked.

"Why would I do that?" he scoffed.

"You've always said that if you get taken off for Sugar Petal to join us. But now the people who would actually take care for her are gone, or soon will be. Casey was the nurse and I'm the food person. I know you're counting on the merge coming up—"

"I'm not counting on the merge at all," Vegeta interrupted. He put his palms together and pointed at her. "Jessica, I honestly don't care. I've become aware of some shit that happened before the show even started that's still smoldering in the background, and I'm going to turn it into one of this planet's Santa Annas once this farce ends. The blue team is just a means to an end against Michael while I kill time."

He crossed his arms, "But my wife is coming tomorrow and we'll most likely be in the universal sector most of the day, and if she thinks it's a good idea then we can begin negotiations. But if I was in Bob's position, I wouldn't take it. His gang is in the lead on your team and he knows I won't retaliate during the merger as much as I can rely on him going after Michael and Becky first. While if I join, his group suddenly goes from 5 to 3. Taking you and Jerry out is the smartest move."

"Mr. Vegeta?"

They looked at Sugar Pedal, who was twisting the edge of her oversized shirt.

"You're, um, not talking about me, right?"

"Of course I am," Vegeta said, "who the fuck did you think I was talking about?"

"Is… is a Santa Anna something bad?"

"It's a literal firestorm that strikes the western sector every year." He turned to fully face her. "Don't be nervous. I have no intention of voiding my pardon and I don't foresee an instance where that would become an iss—"

Sugar Pedal suddenly hugged him. It lasted only a moment before she stepped back. "Jessica, do you want me to show you where the animals play? It's why I wanted to have the party here. The clearing had more room for a picnic but I guess we could still have it up the hill?"

"Where the animals play?" she asked.

Sugar Petal nodded and clasped her hands over her chest. "It looks like a really fun game we could play since we can't come to the beach."

"Alright," Jessica smiled. "It will be good to know where you'll be tomorrow."

The two walked off together, leaving Vegeta still frozen in the mud.

"You ok?" Nathan asked. "You look a little pale."

"Yeah…" Vegeta said, more like a squeak. He turned and slowly followed.

The three came back to the clearing, and saw Daisuke had returned.

"So, there was absolutely nothing?" Bob sighed.

Daisuke shook his head, "Everything is gone. Even the sharks. It's like something scared them and everything ran."

"What the hell could scare a shark?" Jamal asked.

"We're back!"

Everyone looked and saw the three coming out of the grass.

Jessica arrived at the group first. "Hey Bob," she said as Sugar Pedal joined her. "Sugar Petal wants to show me a spot where she saw some animals playing. We'll be right back."

"Actually Mr. Reynolds ordered us to leave up the hill," Bob said, "We were just waiting for you."

"That means we can all go!" Sugar Pedal shouted excitedly. "Then we can play the same games the animals were."

"And what were those?" Jamal asked skeptically.

Sugar Petal smiled. "It's – A – Sur – Prise," she tilted her head back and forth with each syllable."

Bob rolled his eyes, "Fine. Let's go."

"You can't leave as a group," Tom said, "Reynolds is not having it today."

Vegeta smiled. "Maybe not, but if someone happens to follow us at a distance out of curiosity then brings the blue team there after we're gone. There's no rules against that."

He sighed, "Nathan. Control your man."

"Vegeta, please. I get you get a rise out of pissing people off. But Reynolds shouldn't be the one you mess with. Even you can't handle a $150 million judgment."

Vegeta chuckled. "Considering that's what we spent on my son's fourth birthday a couple months ago, I highly doubt that."

Everyone's jaws dropped.

"Ha ha…" the producer said anxiously. "Very funny."

"I'm not kidding." He looked at Sugar Petal, "Take them up the hill. I'll walk along the bank and meet you where you climbed out." He turned back to the producer. "Who knows," he says with false innocence, "I might just step on something." Vegeta walked towards the bank and raised his arms, "Hey! Get a boat ready! I'm walking up the bank!"

"He seriously spent $150 million on a four-year old's birthday party," Jamal said in disbelief. "What the hell did he do? Buy a spaceship instead of a bouncy house."

"Probably," Sugar Pedal said. She pumped her fist in the air, "Come on, let's go!"

Vegeta walked into the heart of the camp. He noted the location of the plastic bucket without directly looking at it while a boat crew was fumbling setting up a flat bottom canoe. Vegeta realized there were no locals in sight. He remembered the freak out from the day before.

"Ok… whatever attacked that shark is really serious. I need to go kill it, but what the fuck am I looking for? I can't ask Bulma to look it up, they'll know I prompted her. I hope she knows off the top of her head."

Vegeta ignored everyone as they stepped out of his way. He came to the canoe. "You three ready to follow me?"

"Almost done setting up the microphone," the crewman said, fiddling with the equipment.

Vegeta began walking upstream.

"Hey wait a moment! Guys grab the paddles."

The two other men pushed off and began slowly following as the cameraman finished attaching the parabolic microphone to the camera.

The staff watched the group disappear into the trees.

"Hey Mr. Reynolds, about that word I couldn't translate over the phone?" a language intern jogged up behind him holding his laptop.

"Is its meaning important?" he asks, turning around facing the translator.

"All I could find online was that 'lulong' was once the name of a world record crocodile."

"The biologists said there haven't been crocodiles here in over a century. Not like some big one swam across the ocean to get here."

"Actually," he turns his laptop around to show him the screen, "Lulong was a salt…"

"Look you, there are no crocodiles in this area. Whatever it means, we can ask the kid the villagers are bringing who speaks English." He slams the laptop shut. "Now unless you want me to report back to your college how shitty your language internship performance is, drop… the… subject."

Vegeta had been walking for about eight or nine minutes along the muddy bank in water, which was about midway up his shins. He had taken off his wet shoes and socks and was carrying them.

The canoe floated a couple inches above the mud a few feet farther out. The paddles pressed into the mud pushing it forward.

Walking around a mangrove tree that stuck farther out into the river than the others, Vegeta stopped feeling something familiar under his feet. He leaned down and brushed the water and mud off of the object.

"Did you find something interesting?" the cameraman asked, seeing Vegeta kneel into the water.

Vegeta pulled up part of a bone about 6 inches long. Vegeta twirls it around in his fingers examining it closely. His face sours as he continues to stare at the intact femur ball joint on its end.

"Are you going to make something out of it?" he called out.

Vegeta put the bone back in the water, then tied his shoelaces together and tossed them over a branch. He began feeling around with both hands.

"Upper bone…" the cameraman heard Vegeta say softly through the earphones. "Shoulder blade. Vertebrae. You're intact, aren't you? Nothing to the right… Spine stops down here." Vegeta took a deep breath. "Neck bone. Neck bone. Neck bone… And the jaw, damn it. I thought so."

Vegeta stood upright. It looks like he was holding something in his hands but all the camera saw was his back. "Outside's been completely picked clean… Rattles like there's still stuff in there can't be too old…"

"Show it to the camera so everyone can see it!" the cameraman ordered.

Vegeta glanced over his shoulder then back at the object. It seemed he was thinking for a bit.

"You want to see this so badly," Vegeta said, turning around, "Here! Catch!"

The object about the size of a large ball flew through the air. An oarsman dropped his paddle and caught it.

"It's a human skull!" he screamed as his flight response to get away capsized the canoe.

As the boat crew flailed in three feet of water, Vegeta vanished.

Vegeta reappeared in the trees next to the camp. The panicked screams echoing in the valley and the unresponsive radio had the staff scrabbling to launch the motor boats. Vegeta crouched behind the table. On the very top of the bucket of junk was a long, curved dagger like an animal claw.

He grabbed it and vanished again. Vegeta reappeared and jammed it into a tree upstream before heading to help the canoers.

It only took 20 seconds.

"Are you fucking insane?!" One of the paddlers yelled at Vegeta as he picked up the skull from the water.

"Skull… human skull…" the cameraman whimpered as the other paddler tried to comfort him without visibly freaking out himself.

The roar of the motor engines filled the air as three boats raced up river. "Is everyone ok?!" the paramedic shouted from the lead boat.

Vegeta held up the skull high in the air, "I found Poor Yorick! Get the cops, he looks fresh!"

"What's going on?" Reynolds called over the radio.

*fuzz* Vegeta found a dead body. He's holding up the head in the air like it's a freaking plastic Halloween decoration. *fuzz*

He turned pale, "Oh… Ok. Everyone who heard this do not tell the other contestants and film normally. If they heard the screams just say a canoe turned over but everyone is fine."

Up on a forest trail, Sugar Petal and the entire blue team were waiting.

"10-4" the crewman said into the radio.

"So, what was that awful scream?" Jessica asked.

"A canoe turned over," the field producer said, clipping the radio back to his belt, "Everyone is fine. Just ruined equipment."

"Ok then, as long as everyone is ok, that's good." Daisuke said.

"Let's keep going," he said looking up from his belt.

Back at the river, an EMT tied his red medical crew shirt to the tree where the bones were found.

Another camera crew was filming Vegeta, "All right, since we don't know how much of the video is intact on that camera, please tell us what happened so we have this for the police when they get here."

Vegeta was sitting with his arms crossed in the boat, his shoes stuffed with his socks lying at his feet. "I was walking barefoot in the mud hoping to find something to replace the tools the producer took from us when I stepped on a bone. When I pulled it out, it looked too human for its own good so I got on my knees and started feeling around. I found the upper part of the body in anatomical position so it had flesh on it when it was buried in the mud. And when the crew started complaining they couldn't see what I was doing, I decided to mess with them and tossed the skull at them," Vegeta chuckled, "Which one of them caught then tipped the whole thing over into the water. While they were flailing, I picked the skull back up as the boats came around the corner. I held up the skull and shouted to get the cops."

"Why did you think it was funny to throw the skull at them?"

"Because I'm a total dick." Vegeta turned away from the camera, "So when do I get to continue down the river to meet the others?"

"You need to stay here until the police get here," a security guard says.

Vegeta smiled, "But didn't I hear the producer order to not let any of the contestants know what is going on? If I don't meet up with the other's shortly, they're going to get worried. And since you heard the screams all the way down there, they had to have heard them just up ahead. What if they start coming down here themselves when I don't show up? Besides, it's not like I'm going to fly away. You'll know exactly where I am when the cops come."

*fuzz* Word from the police. *fuzz* It will take another 45 minutes to an hour for them to get here with a full team from the nearest town. *fuzz*

"See," Vegeta said glancing at the boat radio, "I'm less than 10 minutes from meeting the group, so if I don't show up, they have plenty of time to walk here, or start freaking out when your crew can't give them a good reason not to."

The security guard glared at him, "What group are you meeting?"

"Whichever one is following Sugar Petal."

"Camera crew call out, who is filming Sugar Petal at the river?"

*fuzz* Crew 17, that's us. *fuzz*

"How close are you to your destination?"

*fuzz* She says almost there. *fuzz*

"All right, Vegeta is heading to your location. A new boat will be following him shortly." The security guard lowered his personal radio, "Get going you bastard."

Vegeta nodded, grabbed his shoes, and hopped off the boat into chest deep water. He swam over to the bank and began walking again. Once he was out of sight, he hopped in the trees and grabbed the knife. He tucked it into his team bandana around his waist. Once he checked everyone's energy signatures, he levitated out of the water and flew upstream.

Vegeta flew past a large flat rock jutting out into the river. He decided to stop here to wait and see where the group would come out. But when he landed, he noticed a strange mark in the mud and went to see it up close.

He stood at the water's edge in a mix of mud and sand looking up the steep bank and the hill behind. Before him was a strange animal track. A long, smooth, flattened surface where something had been either dragged up out of the water or down the bank into it. On either side was a thin line of turned up sand and mud from traditional animal prints. But dead center was a perfect wavy line. All the markings were perfectly symmetrical from that line. Vegeta held his arms out. From turned up soil to turned up soil was more than his fingertip to fingertip.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Vegeta looked up and jumped out of the way as Sugar Petal came sliding down the hill on a giant jungle leaf and splashed into the water.

Vegeta turned around, "What the fuck was…!"

"Sneak attack!"

Vegeta instinctively spun around and saw Jamal in the air having jumped off his leaf to tackle him into the water. He grimaced knowing dodging at this moment would be outside human reaction time, then returned to about his previous position and waited for impact. All the camera saw was Vegeta getting tackled into the water by surprise while his back was turned.

Vegeta came out of the water, "What the fuck was that?!"

"I found a slip and slide!" Sugar Petal laughed, stepping out of the water. "The animals have been having lots of fun," she threw both her arms in the air, "so why can't we?!"

Vegeta heard hoots and clapping from above and saw the blue team on the top of the embankment.

"Get out of the way! I'm next!" Jessica shouted, holding a leaf.

The three swam out of the way. She screamed as she slid down.

"Sugar Petal," Vegeta asked, "Did you see what animals use this slide?"

"No," she held her closed hands on either cheek and smiled, "But they must be very polite to make two clean tracks then slide down the middle."

"And the wavy line?"

"They must have a snake friend!" she clapped.

His face fell. "Why are urban Earthlings so dumb?"

Vegeta climbed out of the water and followed a mud smear onto the flat rock as Daisuke took his turn down.

"You coming up?" Jamal asked him as he began to follow Sugar Petal back up the hill.

"I will later. You guys go first."

"Ok man, but you're missing out," Jamal said, scrambling up the hill after her.

Vegeta heard a motor and looked downstream. A small boat with a camera crew rounded the bend then set anchor to film the slide. Vegeta turned back around and watched the water, unable to get that mark out of his head.

"That is a track of one animal," he thought. "Those morons didn't include anything on this in the wildlife briefing. I should have listened to Bulma and read that google thing when I had the chance."

Vegeta looked at the muddy smear that led from the slide to the rock not even registering Bob screaming obscenities before his leaf jammed in the mud and face planted into the water.

"Evolution is universal, Vegeta. Think."

"Eh?! Bob! You ok?" Sugar Petal shouted.

Vegeta snapped out of his thoughts and saw him coughing with his entire front covered in mud. He slipped off the rock into the water and helped him up. He rolled his eyes and guided Bob into deeper water and started splashing his face. Bob stood there and continued to cough.

"I'm not your nanny. Start cleaning yourself before I start waterboarding you."

"Yeah… thanks…" he coughed. Bob began rubbing his hands and arms in the water and Vegeta climbed back onto the rock.

Jamal came down next and also caught in the mud. He was prepared for it though and avoided a mouth full of water. After checking on Bob, who has now moved to washing his face, Jamal looked at the bank. "Looks like we slid off the main course. This part is pressed hard but the rest is soft." He climbed only part way up, laid out his leaf and began to flatten out the turned-up mud with his body weight.

"Ok, I think that did it!" he called out. "Daisuke, test this next!"

He slid down, landing safely in the water. He stood. "It worked!" Daisuke shouted. "It's safe now Sugar Petal."

She slid down safely and the group returned to climbing up and sliding down.

Bob came over to the rock and climbed on. "So… not going to join in?"

"I think I'll stay the lifeguard for now," Vegeta answered.

"So… what did," he stopped as Jessica passed him and went up the hill, "What did Jessica talk to you about while plant hunting?"

"About…" Vegeta paused for Jamal's scream as he went down again. "Finally taking your offers to join the blue team."

Bob nodded as Jamal passed them. "And your thoughts?" he said looking back at Vegeta.

"I may not fully understand civilian interactions," he answered candidly, "But musical chairs and Russian roulette both have the same net effect of removing someone from the field." He turned to fully face Bob. "I have no interest in overturning your winning alliance. But I would recommend not removing Jessica at your next loss."

"Not fully understanding civilian interactions," Bob said disgusted. "What is wrong with you?"

"I was never a civilian until recently. I was on the battlefield at three and a commanding officer at five." Vegeta closed his eyes and smirked. "And not one of the youth battalions, I had adults under me." He opened his eyes and looked at Bob's pale expression. Vegeta turned around to face the water and watch the screaming sliders. "I never even heard the word until after I helped kill my slave owner and fled," he chuckled.

Bob looked back at the river awkwardly.

"I partnered with the special forces to take down the organization, then was hired on for a few years as a mercenary and earned my pardon." Vegeta said, glancing at him. "To answer your question on how I am a free man."

"I see…"

The two stood side by side. Bob continued to twitch awkwardly, glancing back and forth and constantly shifting.

Vegeta suddenly growled. "Oh, for the love of the goddess, stop standing here and go join the others." He gestured up the hill, "You're just being annoying now. I don't need help on watch."

"Alright," he said, and walked to the trees to climb up.

"Bob! What took you so long?" Vegeta heard Jessica say. "Come on, your next."

Vegeta sighed as the merriment returned to normal, although Bob continued to avoid eye contact.

Sugar Pedal eventually climbed out of the water, but instead of climbing up, sat down panting next to Vegeta.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yeah…" she said panting. "Just tired."

They watched the others as it devolved into a splashing contest in the water deep into the channel, a couple dozen yards away.

"So… did I do good?"

"You did excellent," Vegeta smiled looking down at her. He looked back at the river. "And no sign of wildlife yet."

"Do you think we should leave so they can come back and play?"

"The crews will tell us when to leave. The police wanted to talk to them, remember?"

"Oh… yeah. The stuff they found. But it's been a long time now…"

"Yeah, definitely feels like it's been over a half hour. Maybe an hour now. Too bad Hassim has the watch." He glanced down before looking back out. "You got some mud in your hair. You'll need a quick rinse when we get back. Maybe redo the belt."

"Mr. Vegeta? I was thinking I should go back and get the knitting done."

"Well, you know the area as well as I do. Take Jackie and go back." He tapped her with his foot. "Maybe sneak off with Jessica and work at the bath," he chuckled.

"I'm not like you Mr. Vegeta… I don't like getting in trouble…"

"But in any regard, you're free to go."

"You going to stay here?"

"Yes. Just because there haven't been any animals yet doesn't mean there won't be."

"You think they might get mad?"

"Well, you never know. Some animals can be short, grumpy fucktards just like people."

Sugar Petal laughed.

Vegeta smiled. "Yes, I know what I just said. Now get going."

"Ok," she stood up. She walked over to the trees to climb up, but got distracted.

"Hello, Mr. Lizard," he heard her say, "How are you?"

"Mr. Vegeta!" she came back excited. "Look at this cute little lizard."

Vegeta looked at the animal shoved in his face. It had a face only a mother, and apparently Sugar Petal could love. It had two large eyes that popped out of its skull and a huge mouth that was a third of its body length full of tiny pin pricks for teeth.

Suddenly it reared back and bit Sugar Petal.

"Ouch!" she dropped it.

Vegeta laughed. "What did you think it was going to do?" Vegeta glanced down and saw it scurry into the water leaving a mark on the muddy rock edge.

Vegeta froze as his eyes widened.

Turned up edges. Smoothed mud in between. Curvy line dead center.

"If that's the same animal…" Vegeta did the scale up in his mind of an animal fingertip to fingertip.

"Get out of the water!" he began shouting. "Get out of the damn water! There's a giant fucking lizard with teeth!"

They keep shouting and splashing, not noticing him.

Vegeta put his hands to either side of his mouth. "Get out of the water!" Vegeta started waving his hands in the air. "HEY!"

"But that's just a little—"

"That was a baby!" Vegeta shot back over his shoulder. "Where's mom and dad?!"

Sugar Pedal shrank and started to cry.

Vegeta continued shouting, then he saw it out of the corner of his eye. Upstream, a log that had been in the shadow of the overhanging branches on the upper bank had disappeared with barely a ripple. A human would have missed it, but Vegeta saw the refraction change in the water in the ultraviolet.

Vegeta leapt over thirty feet and dove into the water.

That splash finally got the group's attention.

"Was that Vegeta?" Jamal said.

"Where did he go?" Bob said.

As the group looked down stream, suddenly a roar broke the water.

They spun around and saw a gigantic animal spinning violently in the water.

With Vegeta clearly in its mouth.

"Crocodile!" one of the boat crew shouted as he flipped the canoe, sending everyone and the equipment into the water. Everyone screamed and swam towards the rocks as Vegeta kept being spun around at dizzying speed. As they climbed onto the rock they watched helplessly as the animal dove, leaving the surface immaculate as if nothing happened.

Everyone looked out on the water as what they just witnessed set in.

Sugar Petal collapsed and started screaming. Jessica scrambled over on her hands and knees to hold her. Jamal was wide eyed leaning back, trembling so hard it could have been mistaken for a seizure as his body fumbled with his brain's commands to shimmy away from the water's edge. Bob turned away from the water, put his hand over his mouth and nose and began to weep. Daisuke was on his knees staring blankly at the water.

The camera crews were doing no better.

Jackie, who had stayed up top to film them, had fumbled her radio and it had slid down the hill into the water. She was curled up weeping similar to Bob. Her tech had fainted and the cameraman wasn't doing any better. He was on his butt like Jamal and his camera had tumbled off his shoulder and rolled back into the grass.

Nathan's crew had climbed down and had been filming everything from behind. His cameraman was barely standing, but his shaking was making the footage most likely worthless. His tech had lost his strength half way up the bank and was sitting on a root ball as he screamed "Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!" hugging a bamboo cluster.

Nathan was paralyzed, clinching the radio in his shaking hands. He began to hyperventilate, taking deeper and deeper breaths. He took one last gulp of air. "Prince Vegeta!"

Suddenly the tea-colored water turned red as the crocodile resurfaced. It then darted towards the rock, sending everyone scrambling.

The crocodile's head lifted up and its jaw opened wide as it came into shallow water.

Then Vegeta popped up for air next to it.

The head leaned and cocked to the side as Vegeta continued to climb out, carrying it over his shoulder with its front leg draped over his neck. He sank into the mud and ended up crawling onto the rock dragging it behind him.

Vegeta knelt catching his breath next to the monster after flopping it on the outcrop. It was so large it's hind legs and tail still hung out into the river.

Vegeta was caked in mud and blood. His hair was matted down close to his skin and not an inch of him was visible under the muck.

He began chuckling at the end of each breath until he was in full laughter. The unhinged laughter froze the others in their spots. Their bodies overriding their joyous minds that the true predator was still dangerous.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!... Ha! Ha! Ha!" he grabbed the animal and rolled it on its side, revealing its neck had been torn out. "You try and eat me?! I eat you!" he said, raising the dripping knife and hooked it under the edge of the gouge. "Revenge for dinner!"

He became aware of a pressure on his back.

"Gwaen-cha-neu-se-yo?! Gwaen-cha-neu-se-yo?! Gwaen-cha-neu-se-yo?! Vegeta-jeoha! Vegeta-jeoha! Gwaen-cha-neu-se-yo?! Gwaen-cha-neu-se-yo?!"

He looked over his shoulder and saw a familiar pink-tinged hair, but his brain did not place it yet.

"Gwaen-cha-neu-se-yo?! Gwaen-cha-neu-se-yo?! Vegeta-jeohaAAAAAAA!"

"Hwa-young? … Wait? What are you doing?! Get off of me!"

She inched back on her knees and put her hands over her heart.

"Now look at yourself. You're covered in blood and gods know what else. Even all over your face and hair. The Producers are going to make you undo all that work we did to rewash your hair now."

"I'm sorry, Vegeta-jeohaAAAAAAA!"

Suddenly Vegeta got smacked in the back of his head with a dried branch, twigs and leaves flying everywhere.

"Jessica!" Bob shouted. "What the fuck?"

Jessica then winced and fell to her knees grabbing the sides of her head.

"Anger flows out," Vegeta lectured. "Don't pass out." He glanced at Sugar Petal before looking back at her. "Don't make me babysit two people out here."

"Anger flows out?!" she shouted. "You idiot! Don't you get it?! We all just saw you die!"

"Well last I checked I'm still breathing."

"Stupid!" Jessica screamed. "You're stupid!" She stood and ran to the hillside. "Stupid, Alien, shit…" she said as she climbed into the trees.

Jamal jerked his head to look at her. "Did she just say?" he said, turning to Vegeta while pointing behind him in the direction she went.

"Jessica!" Vegeta shouted after her. "Shut your trap!"

"Vegeta, stop." Nathan said, stepping in front of him. He put his hands on his shoulders and hung his head. "Please… Just. Stop…"

The loud rumble of multiple outboards interrupted everyone's thoughts and they looked downstream.

A fleet of boats rounded the corner. Camera boats, police boats, and one with security escorting Reynolds.

Reynolds stood seeing the giant corpse on the rock.

"What the hell happened?!"

Vegeta put his foot on it, pulled out the knife from its body, and held the knife over his head. "I killed your fucking lizard! That's what!"

The contestants and the crews were shooed up the hill as the police asked Vegeta to cut open its stomach to look for body parts as they recorded on their phones.

Reynolds was screaming into his phone.

"How the hell did we miss crocodiles in the river on the wildlife survey?! …. Oh. There can't be crocodiles, huh?" He snapped a picture of the animal and texted it. He put the phone back to his ear. "Do you see that?! I've been told that's at least one ton of 'There can't be crocodiles in the river'. You fucking morons! We're lucky it tried to eat Vegeta! Can you even begin to imagine the PR if that," he pointed at the carcass even though the person could not see it, "Had killed someone else on this season?! We can't cover that up like those two!"

As he screamed in the background, Vegeta conducted the autopsy.

"Mush… More random mush," Vegeta said absentmindedly as he riffled through the organs. "Goat hoof… maybe dog skull? Maybe…" he tossed the two aside. "Aaaand there's some cloth," he set the fabric piece aside. "And… a completely different color piece of cloth… and a fucking half dissolved shoe… And a completely different shoe… Here's a flip flop," He held it up before tossing it in the growing human remains pile. He sighed. He looked up at the cops, "I'm not going to be able to take this home and eat it aren't I?"

"No." they said, shaking their heads.

"Gods fucking damn it…" he punched in the head. "Why did you have to eat humans? I'm hungry!" He went back to work. "Fucking bastard choked on the wrong primate this time…" he mumbled as he continued to dig.

"Your Majesty," one of the cops said. "We need the coroner now that human remains are in its stomach."

Vegeta sighed frustrated, "Tsk." He glanced back up at them. "You want me to pull the animal farther up on the rock?"

"That would take a crane. We will have—"

The police officer froze as Vegeta simply grabbed the animal under its front legs and casually pulled it farther onto the rock.

"There," Vegeta said, dropping it. He then made a casual hop into the middle of the river.

"Prince Vegeta!" the cop shouted.

Vegeta came up for air. "Oh, I'm fine! Let me wash off!"

The officers mumbled among themselves as Vegeta rinsed the mud and blood off of him.

"Pangeran Vegeta! Alijehputra," a teenager on the police boat called out, "Our elder wants to speak to you!"

"Give me a fucking sec!" Vegeta said as he repeatedly dunked down to wash the muck out of his flattened hair.

Reynolds hung up on the biologists and raised his hand like he wanted to toss his phone, but stopped himself. He growled as he put it back in his pocket. "Hey kid," he called over, "Why did you call him that?"

Vegeta suddenly popped up between the two boats. "It means 'Prince Volcano God'."

"And how do you know that?" Reynolds demanded.

"My family owns an island in this chain," Vegeta said, hovering out of the water. He smirked, "Apparently my reputation has spread all the way over here."

Vegeta turned around and landed on the police boat and greeted the teenager who looked eager to meet him.

Reynolds fumed. He turned around. "Get me over there," he ordered.

"Wait, I've been here before?"

"Yes," the teenager said. "Three years ago. Your family gave out solar panels and microturbines at Tanah for the smaller fishing villages."

The elder spoke.

"He said do you remember we had just had land stolen from us because a resort wanted better cell phone service."

Vegeta's jaw dropped. "Was this a town where a little river met the big river and the little river was covered in so many flowers it clogged the boat's propellers?"

"Yes!" the young man said. "Up river is completely clogged with hyacinth."

"You've been here before? That completely breaks contract."

They turned around and saw Reynolds walking towards them with his finger pointed at them with a huge grin on his face. "You're leaving with your family on the next flight."

Vegeta turned around. "I don't know all the places my wife drags me off the top of my head. But since she filled out all the forms I signed, the fact I was at…" he looked over his shoulder, "Tanah, was it?"

They nodded.

He looked back around, "At Tanah is probably in there right beside the island we own. So, I was approved regardless."

"I don't care."

Vegeta walked over to the edge of the boat. "Neither do I, remember that." He leaned back and splashed into the water.

The men in the boat looked over the side, but Reynolds knew better. He turned around and spotted Vegeta enter the trees on the bank.

He reached for his radio. "Everyone, Vegeta has climbed the bank. Keep an eye out for him."

*fuzz* This is Blue 8. Uh… anyone? I don't know what to do here. *fuzz*

"This is Reynolds. What is it?"

*fuzz* Uh… There's a child on the beach… He's babbling but said his name sounds something like 'trucks' and he's looking for his papa. He's definitely not a local. Got purple hair and speaks English. He also has a boogie board with the resort logo on it, but he's completely dry. *fuzz*

*fuzz* This is Nathan from Red 17. That's Vegeta's son's name. If he can fly like his father, that's probably how he got here. *fuzz*

*fuzz* He did say play birdie… Hey um, we found him sleeping under a tree and he just nodded off again. Jerry thinks we should bring him to camp. *fuzz*

"This is Reynolds…" he sighed, furrowing his brow. "Take him back to camp until we can pick him up."

*fuzz* 10-4 *fuzz*

On the trail…

*fuzz* This is Blue 8. Uh… anyone? I don't know what to do here. *fuzz*

*fuzz* This is Reynolds. What is it? *fuzz*

*fuzz* Uh… There's a child on the beach… He's babbling but said his name sounds something like 'truck' and he's looking for his papa. He's definitely not a local. Got purple hair and speaks English. He also has a boogie board with the resort logo on it, but he's completely dry. *fuzz*

"I got this," Nathan sighed. He stepped into the trees as everyone turned their radios off.

"This is Nathan from Red 17. That's Vegeta's son's name. If he can fly like his father, that's probably how he got here."

*fuzz* He did say play birdie… Hey um, we found him sleeping under a tree and he just nodded off again. Jerry thinks we should bring him to camp. *fuzz*

"This is Reynolds… Take him back to camp until we can pick him up."

*fuzz* 10-4 *fuzz*

Nathan came out of the bushes and back onto the trail with the others. "Ok, it's resolved."

The others nodded and turned their radios back on.

"Why the hell did you tell them to turn the radios off," Jamal demanded. "What was that about a child on the beach?"

"It's nothing to be worried about," Nathan said.

"What? Did Vegeta's alien family just land to visit him?!" he looked at Jessica. "And don't you think I didn't hear you, Jessica! You called him an alien!" He turned back and pointed at Nathan, "and you called him Prince!"

They heard a loud sigh behind them and they saw an angry Vegeta glaring down at them farther back on the trail.

"I've had it up to here," he held his hand flat overhead, "With bastards treating me like shit because I'm an immigrant." He walked up with clenched fists. "Don't add yourself to that list, Jamal."

"Hey. Hey." Nathan said. "I know everyone's adrenalin is running high because of Vegeta almost getting eaten, but let's just calm down before we say anything we regret."

Daisuke's eyes widened. "Oh Buddha, Casey. What did you do to Casey?! You got her kicked out! You got her deliberately kicked out!"

"Casey got herself expelled after she stole from another's team camp," their lead producer, Tom, said. "Vegeta didn't do anything to her."

"That's like putting a six pack in front of an alcoholic and expecting them not to drink!" Jamal shouted back.

"You think I did that on purpose?!" Vegeta clawed the air exasperated. "I was fucking mortified I screwed up that fucking-—"

The ground shook.

"Vegeta!"

"That wasn't me!"

*Shake* *Shake* *Shake* *Shake*

People began holding their arms out.

*Shake* *Shake* *Shake* *Shake* *SHAKE* *SHAKE* *SHAKE*

Vegeta's eyes widened. "Where's my son?"

He jerked his head towards Nathan. "Fuck!" He vanished.

Moments later a gust of wind tore leaves from the canopy and threatened to snap them in half as a thunderous crack forced everyone to the ground clutching their ears.

Except for Jessica. Who was screaming and covering her eyes.

At the river…

Reynolds was screaming into his radio. "Conner what the fuck is going on?! Why are you screaming to get away from the windows?! What's Vegeta doing?!"

The crack sent everyone to the decks as the boats bucked and rolled in the water.

At the resort…

Dr. Brief and Panchy were drinking tea in a French parlor viewing room on the top floor of the resort with floor to ceiling windows. The other guest was drinking wine looking out at the sea.

"Poor man, he must be drinking so early to drown what happened."

He turned around, "I can hear you, you know."

Panchy gasped and covered her mouth.

"Sir, we are so sorry," Dr. Brief said.

The man chuckled and swirled his glass. "Don't be. This is a celebratory glass." He looked back out the window. "At first I was pissed he took that girl with him, but after I heard who she was, that was the only good thing he accomplished in his life."

"How can you say that!" Panchy said upset. "He was your child!"

"And an innocent woman," Dr. Brief added.

"He was no son of mine," he answered looking back at them. "I only came to serve him papers. Hard to track down a poor man bouncing from city to city. I don't think he's spent more than two months in any one apartment."

Dr. Brief glared at him, "A foolish risk to take. And now you're on the hook for his penalties."

"I'm not on the hook for anything," he laughed. "I made sure of that before I came."

"What do you mean by that?"

"No handwriting expert on the planet would say those particular papers have my signature. They are all obvious forgeries."

Panchy gasped, "You had someone else sign your papers to void them in court."

He turned back to the window. "Don't be jealous you did not think of it yourselves."

Dr. Brief's gentle face shifted into a princely sneer as he stood. He took a deep breath when a loud screech then flames came from his pocket. He shouted as he threw his lab coat on the table and his wife poured the tea kettle over it.

Nick's father laughed, "So what crazy invention exploded on you this time?" He looked back out at the water.

"What was it?" Panchy asked as her husband reached inside.

He pulled out the blown scouter.

"What the hell is that?" they heard him say.

Dr. Brief went to speak, but saw him looking out the window.

A circular hole was rapidly expanding in the cloud cover and a wall of white cloud suddenly appeared before almost instantly evaporating away.

"Get Down!" Dr. Brief yelled as he threw Panchy on the floor.

They hit the carpet the moment the room exploded around them.

Moments earlier…

"I wanna see my Papa!" Trunks was screaming covered in snot.

"Trunks!" Yamcha shouted with his arms crossed. "I'm not saying this again! You were very bad coming out here all by yourself! I'm taking you back then you're leaving with your grandparents back home!"

"I wanna see Papa! I wanna see Papa!" Trunks started to shake and half jumped up and down.

"Trunks! You're a big boy now! You're too old for tantrums! Stop right now before I tell Mama and Papa you were even more bad than you already are!"

"No!" Trunks screamed. He stopped shaking and started actually stomping. "I want Papa! I want Papa! I want Papa!"

The ground shook as sand started flying.

Yamcha jumped between Trunks and Jerry, Hassim and their crews. He raised his hand and to their shock the wind stopped. It looked like a clear piece of glass was being sandblasted from a wind spreading from the boy in all directions.

The earthquake was getting worse and the men got to their knees as Yamcha kept shouting at the wailing child.

"Gee," Jerry tried to joke. "Kid takes after his dad huh?"

"You have no damn idea," Hassim said, honestly scared. He tried to run but quickly ran into an invisible wall. He fell backwards. "Ow" he grabbed his nose. Then he stood and began feeling the air like a mime. He then banged with his fists. He turned. "Let us out!"

"No way!" Yamcha shouted. "You're safer like this."

Suddenly the wind picked up and a palm tree snapped to make his point.

Hassim ran back and hid behind the others doing the best impression of an ostrich as he could.

"Trunks! Stop right now! You're Papa is going to be mad at you for breaking things again!"

Trunks was not talking anymore. He was pure screaming. Suddenly his hair began to flutter and Yamcha could feel the electricity rise in the air.

Yamcha extended both his hands and the invisible glass became a golden dome.

"Fuck I didn't sign up for this," he said bracing his legs. "Trunks!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Calm down! Calm down before you hurt someone!"

Suddenly Vegeta appeared, grabbed his son from behind and shot into the air with the blast of a jumbo jet snapping more trees.

Yamcha instinctively moved his hands up just in time to catch the blast that opened up the light clouds into a perfect blue day.

As he began to catch his breath, Yamcha saw the wave.

He moved his hand to the side and the wave broke against it, saving the camp as the water reached the tree line everywhere else.

Vegeta then dropped down with a thud with Trunks' limp in his arms.

Yamcha dropped the barrier. "Trunks!" Yamcha ran up and knelt next to them as Vegeta placed him in the sand. "Kami, what happened? Did he transform?"

Vegeta scoffed, "No. It was just a blowout. Standard Saiyan child temper tantrum."

"Standard?! Standard?!" Hassim stood. "Fuck it! Fuck it! I didn't sign up to almost get killed by some arsehole alien knob head and his bastard brat!"

"Vegeta," Yamcha grabbed his shoulders when he went to stand.

Hassim walked off down the beach cursing in multiple languages.

Vegeta looked down at his son, passed out from exhaustion and panting heavily. He suddenly turned and punched the sand next to the boy's head.

Jerry stumbled at the sudden quake but came over without falling.

Vegeta was on his knees and elbows, fingers clinched in the sand. He was tense and shivering, and his breathing attempts to calm down made him sound like a woman in labor.

"Vegeta? Buddy?" Jerry said. "He's going to be ok, right?"

Yamcha looked up. "Yeah, it's just exhaustion."

"Are you going to be ok, Vegeta?"

Vegeta shook his head no, shocking Yamcha.

"Hey Vegeta, if you need to go blow off steam, I can watch Trunks just fine."

Vegeta slowly twisted his head.

Yamcha instinctively reared back and stumbled on his butt. He had not seen that look in his eyes since the Cell Games.

Vegeta suddenly vanished in a blast of wind.

At the river, the boats had pulled into the staff camp.

"No, I'm not giving you the emergency contact information! Any injured need to be treated on site," Reynolds shouted into his phone "What do you mean the med bay is gone? Conner. Conner speak louder! I can barely hear anything?"

Behind him the players and their crews were being looked at. The focus was on Jessica. Her medics had stepped away to talk.

"Her pupils are responding, but she keeps saying all she's seeing is black," one said. "There's no injury to her head."

"No sign of stroke or anything, either," another said. "Are we going to need to leave her untreated?"

"She keeps saying she has the same powers as Vegeta even though she's a normal human and she was warned this might happen because of an awakening injury a few days ago," the third said. "As absurd as that is, I say we need to find him or Yamcha before we give up."

"Reynolds will never allow it. He's producer on site," the first said. He looked over at Reynolds, red in the face and screaming into multiple phones and radios at the same time. "If you want to go get mauled to death by the bear, it's your funeral."

Suddenly Reynolds spun around, "Get those players back to camp! Now! Now! Now! Into the boats!"

A staff member dared to raise his voice. "But Sugar Petal is still covered—"

He snapped around at him. "I DON'T CARE! OUT! OUT! OUT! OUT!"