Chapter 31: Day 19 Part 4 — Fire in the Hole

Meanwhile, back on Berapi…

Michael was still not feeling well, and was laid out in the shade of the tree line.

"What the hell is wrong with my chest?" he thought as he lay on his back, one hand wiping the sweat from his head, the other gripping his chest. "At least I can breathe better…"

Michael looked down the beach.

The dog trainer was staying nearby. He sat close to him, enough to help but not to have a conversation.

He stared jealousy at his dog.

"Why is Timmy paying so much attention to him? He hasn't seen me in months! He should be jumping all over me, not this stranger! He's acting like he hasn't seen this man in years!"

The trainer threw the stick down the beach with his right hand and into the water, which the Great Dane happily went after.

"He's left-handed…" Michael thought. "He's trying to hide it but he sucks at it. He's never had to do it before. But why here and now? It's tied to the mask, so his identity is known to be left-handed. It's a hint."

Michael looked farther down the beach.

Ever since Ichiro came back, his wife had been clinging to him. They were also sitting in the shade on the other side of the cool line. Just hugging silently.

Farther down the beach was the real surprise.

They had brought Angelica back after the group had left, and she was currently dressing down her daughter.

"I guess even in a Karen's eyes the rug was one step too far. Good for her. Let that bitch have it."

He then looked in the direction of Pastor Luke.

Jason had not let him near the tree line, so he had been spending time in the shade of the shelter.

Suddenly a staff member left the circle and went over to Jason.

"About fucking time," Jason said loud enough even he could hear it on the opposite side of the beach.

"OK! LET'S GET THIS STARTED!" Jason shouted.

One of the men in the wall knelt down.

Sam suddenly screamed. Making his first sound all day.

Soon after, all the crew members left carrying bungee cords and a strip of duct tape.

"So, that's why. They needed him to shat himself. Wooo, I can smell it over here."

The Great Dane suddenly sneezed three times in a row.

"Yeah, I agree boy."

Luke wanted to rush to his cousin, but the crew producer held him back.

"Not until Jason gives the go ahead," he said.

*fuzz* Hold Luke. I'm coming over. *fuzz*

Jason came up to him. He stuck out his hand. "Hand it over."

"What?"

"The package the Briefs gave you. Hand it over."

Luke glared at him. "Why?"

Jason suddenly shot from the hip and tased him.

Luke dropped and Jason grabbed the package. Then he knelt in front of his face. "A preacher like you should know that disobeying God means you get struck by lightning."

He then stood, walked to the edge of the water, and tossed the box as far as he could into the ocean.

Once Jason had left, the masked handler jumped up and jogged over to Pastor Luke, who still wasn't moving from what Michael could see. Timmy disobeyed the handler and ran after him despite being told to sit and stay. After being repeatedly told to go get Michael and being snapped at as a bad dog, the huge Great Dane simply laid down and rolled over in protest, refusing to budge.

"Timmy never disobeys like that. What the hell does this man have that I don't? That's MY DOG!"

"Fucking shit," Michael said out loud running his hand across his forehead.

He looked back at his dog. Who now was lying next to Luke pawing him with his giant foot as he finally began to move.

The masked handler then supported Luke as he slowly sat up and Timmy did his best to be unhelpful by trying to lay on them.

Becky's statement entered his head again as he watched them fall victim to the overly affectionate beast.

"Masked man on visitor's day… Left-handed… My dog fucking loves him… God, could the show even pull that off? Dad said he's been moved to Attica after surviving the hit he paid for. Even if he could maybe get out before, he's fucked now, right? Killed a man."

"Don't even think about it Michael…" he tried to calm himself down. "Getting your blood pressure up isn't going to do you any favors." He gripped his chest again. "Fucking hell… Bulma… how could you do that?"

He thought about how she disarmed Jason and shot him point blank in the face.

"That was just defense training. And it was a taser. She knew Jason would be fine." He began to laugh. "There's no way she's some Bond villain floozy. No way."

Michael put his other hand over his eye and laughed louder, catching people's attention.

"(He laughs like a Super Sentai villain,)" Meiko told Ichiro.

Pastor Luke was eventually allowed next to Sam.

Sam grabbed his shirt as soon as he sat down. "Luke, you gotta get me out of here. Get me out of here, Luke. The angel said you'd get me out of here, Luke."

"Woah. Woah, slow down," Luke said as Sam was practically climbing on top of him. "Let's get you cleaned up first.

Sam started to cry and somehow gripped his shirt even tighter. "I don't want Jason filming my junk anymore. The only thing he hasn't done yet is touch me. I'm emphasizing the yet."

"You can't sit in your crap all day."

"Yes I can."

Luke stood and began unbuttoning his shirt. "Well they'll have to tase me again to stop me."

He carefully placed his shirt and collar on the sand. Then he dropped his pants revealing swim trunks. "Besides, I came prepared."

Luke got Sam screaming to his feet and was his crutch to get to the water. Luke looked up half way and saw Jason grinning with his film crew.

"Told you…" he whimpered.

Luke was struck with an idea. He did not know where it came from. It was not like him to think like that, but it was an idea.

The two made it to the water's edge.

"You know the drill, Sam," Jason said grinning with his teeth. "Now Mr. Preach—"

Luke put his hand down Sam's pants, then flung poop at Jason's face. Then Luke smeared the camera lens.

Jason gagged and ran, reaching his hands into his mouth. The camera crew went after him.

"What? Do you know what you just did?!"

"Let's get into the water, hurry."

Sam was floating on his back in the water while Luke was closer to the beach trying to clean his pants and underwear.

Eventually he gave up. Walked away to clean his legs, then swam out to where Sam had allowed himself to float out to.

"Are you trying to swim back to North America?" Luke said, reaching him. "Come on, we're so far out we're treading water."

"They can't hear us out here either," Sam said. "Luke, you got to get me out of here. You got to get me to Vegeta's camp. It's a mile away on the ATV track."

"How do you know that?"

"The angels told me. The angels told me when they healed my head. Becky cracked my head open with a rock then Ichiro stomped my head flat."

"If that happened, you'd be medevaced out."

Sam shook his head. "No, they just closed it up then filmed me die. Then the angels came and dropped everyone like the opening of the tomb and healed my head. They didn't want to heal my leg because it would put me in more danger. They told me to get you to carry me to Vegeta's camp."

Luke thought about the conversation on the beach. "What did these angels look like?"

"A white light. Then one put his hands over my eyes and told me not to look. There were two voices. One sounded like a child, the other an old man."

Luke sighed.

"You don't believe me? Feel my head!"

"We need to get closer to shore to do that."

Luke put his arm around his and swam until his feet could touch sand. Then he turned around and felt through his hair.

"There's noth— why do you have strips of your hair shaved?" he said, discovering the patches under his long hair.

He picked at the glue. "There are no cuts, wait is this a staple? And another?"

"I told you angels came. All the show did was close it up before they abandoned me. Can't have blood on prime time tv, right?"

"Let's just get you back to shore," he turned to look at the beach.

Jason was back, holding a taser in each hand with a duffle bag at his feet. Another crew member was putting all of Sam's clothes in a trash bag before walking away.

"Actually, stay out here. I'll be back."

Luke went to shore as Sam turned over and stood in the water.

Luke was still in ankle deep water when Jason pointed both tasers at him and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

"Oh, not again!" He said as he pulled them again.

"Gah!" he screamed as he accidently pulled one of the triggers while not being aimed at Luke.

It fired harmlessly over Luke's shoulder.

Seeing this, Jason did the same with the other taser. It also fired.

Jason dropped it and formed his fist.

"Fuck you and your angels!" he shouted as he swung.

Luke saw his hand crumple like it hit a wall in front of his eyes.

Jason screamed as he gripped his hand. "What the fuck is your face made out of?! Concrete!" He ran off towards medical.

Luke raised his hand, and almost felt something in front of his face before it disappeared.

He turned around and looked wide-eyed at Sam.

Sam just nodded.

Michael was watching Luke and Sam again. Sam was wearing Luke's pants while the pastor was resting next to him in his trunks drying off in the sun on the other side of the noon shade line. His shirt was rolled up as a pillow with one of the long sleeves over his eyes.

The lunch boats arrived and Jason walked over to greet them.

Jason was handed a piece of paper and looked very unhappy as the boat crew unloaded a table and chairs.

Jason pulled out his radio.

*fuzz* Producers are ordering a special scene be filmed. Get everyone over here. Visitors and players. *fuzz*

Everyone got to their feet and began wandering over.

Luke slipped his socks and shoes on and got Sam to his feet again and they began hobbling over very slowly.

Ichiro stood still and watched them from behind.

His wife came back for him. "What are you doing? The producers want you there," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him forward.

Everyone made it to the table and the cameras set up.

Something started to bother Michael. An absence in the air.

"Alright," Jason began. "The guests are getting a choice today. You can eat your peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch and have unlimited water for the next four hours. Or, you can give them your food and water to your player and you get neither food or water until you return to the resort. Now line up and—"

"Sam and Luke are gone," Michael said, turning back around to the group. "And I can't hear him scream."

Luke was out of breath after carrying Sam through the trees. They finally make it to the trail.

"I need a sec," Luke painted.

Sam slipped off his back and pulled Luke's shirt out of his mouth.

"We need to get into the trees, this is the most obvious place to look. Let's just hobble in, so we can hide."

"Or plan an ambush."

Sam grimaced and looked up hearing Jason's voice.

ATVs suddenly came out of the trees and pinned them on both sides of the trail.

"Load up geniuses," Jason tapped the seat of one of the ATVs.

The group headed back to the beach. Sam was tied up again and was driven to his spot on the beach. He was just tipped off the seat onto the ground and left.

Luke got off his ATV and was walked with his arms zipped tied behind his back with a taser pointed at his head. He was led over to a smaller palm tree, and had the zip tie cut before having his arms forced behind the tree and a new zip tie applied.

"Don't even try," Jason smirked. "These are police grade. You'd need to break your hands to even have a prayer to get loose."

"No one approach Sam or Luke until the end of the day!" Jason shouted before walking back to the ATVs.

The masked man immediately disobeyed and began walking over.

Ichiro got in his way. "Where do you think you're going?"

"None of your business." He sidestepped him only to get his arm grabbed.

"I said where are you going?"

"To hell, do you want me to drag you with me?"

Ichiro gripped his arm tightly and began to pull him back.

The man swung his fist and struck Ichiro's back.

Ichiro spun around and threw his own punch, and soon a fight broke out.

The bag was quickly ripped off his head.

Ichiro paused his next punch.

He was looking at Michael's face, except with brown hair.

"I knew it!" Michael shouted. "Isaac!"

Suddenly what could only be described as a bestial roar sounded as pure teeth and rage tackled Ichiro to the ground and wrapped his jaw around Ichiro's neck.

Everyone froze as Timmy growled like he was defending a toy, afraid to move a muscle lest the dog finish his threat.

Everyone but Michael and Isaac.

"How the hell are you out of prison?!" Michael stomped over. "How much did the show pay to get you on a day trip?!"

"I'm a free man, jackass!" Isaac pointed at him. "The real guy came forward after a stint in the afterlife thanks to Cell and became an informant. The entire company got decapitated in a mass arrest the same day I walked. The company was trading at less than a cent the day I got the call to come on. Yours is down too. Better hope Old Britches doesn't try to sell you off if you become a liability."

"And why would my company be down?! Just name recognition?!"

Isaac crossed his arms and tilted his head with a wild grin on his face, "What's wrong, brother? Worried about something? Like the reason you got kicked off Lover's Oasis?" He looked at the closest camera crew. "Yes, I said kicked off. It was just arranged to look like a rose ceremony to make it as quiet as possible. Remember the weird edit the internet proved was filmed on a different day and look-alike location?"

"Shut up!"

"Take off your ring, brother." He uncrossed his arms, "Come on. I know you want to."

Michael formed his fists. Then he relaxed. "Why would I?" he smiled. "I would just lose it in the sand." He clapped his hands. "Timmy! Release!"

The dog took its mouth off Ichiro's neck. But stayed next to him growling.

"Timmy! Retreat, Relax, Heel!" Isaac commanded.

Timmy stopped growling and came to Isaac's side, looking eager to be praised and its tongue flapping in the breeze.

Isaac knelt down, and began rubbing both of his floppy ears. "Timmy. I know you have missed me all these years. But you really need to spend time with Michael. He's your daddy, ok?"

Timmy whimpered.

"Come on tiny Tim," Isaac said, "Be a good boy."

"How is that a tiny Tim?" Ichiro shouted, his wife helping him up.

"My mother breeds show dogs. Timmy was a runt the mom rejected. I bottle fed you, didn't I? Do you think I'm your mommy?"

Timmy whined, then put his front legs on his shoulders.

"Oh, am I getting Timmy hugs? Yeah, I'm glad I got to see you in the end too, but you need to spend time with Michael. I'll play with you all night, ok?"

Timmy whimpered again.

Isaac took the leash out of his pocket and clipped it on his collar. Then he stood and led Timmy over to Michael. He handed the loop to him.

"Here, I'm going to head to the other end of the beach. He's not going to leave me alone otherwise."

Timmy began whimpering and pulling on the leash as he walked away.

"Timmy, sit," Michael ordered.

Timmy sat, hanging his head.

Michael noticed the first thing he did was walk towards Pastor Luke.

He glanced between them and Sam.

"I got to nip this in the ass," Michael looked at his crew. "Let me talk to Jason."

Isaac was about to come up on Pastor Luke when his crew stopped him as Jason walked over. He stopped and waited.

"So… I've been told you have a budding friendship with Isaac?" Jason smiled.

"And?"

"You know he's gay right? And this new wife of his is trans?"

Pastor Luke's eyes widened, "What?"

"You just got back from Korea? It was a promotion disguised as a missionary trip. Your church is part of the Nahm group. You directly worked in the accounting office, right? Under the direct control of one of Willy Nahm's grandsons?"

"How do you know all of this?"

"I know everyone's bio's," he smiled.

"And why tell me now?"

"Isaac was coming over to talk to you. Now, I know you spent time together at the greetings beach. So the only way to save your job now and maybe even that cardboard collar of yours is to publicly and loudly denounce him and we'll film it and make sure it gets in the show."

"Let me digest this first," Luke said, "This is a pretty big betrayal by a friend."

"Sure," Jason smirked. "But you're not leaving this beach without that scene."

"I want to talk to the only other Christian on this beach."

"You really think I'll let you talk to Sam after everything you pulled?"

"Who else would I naturally talk to in emotional distress?"

"God. Go pray, you bastard." Jason took a pocket knife and cut him loose. Jason looked at Luke's temporary crew. "Go keep him as far away as possible. Grab more zip ties on your way past the ATVs."

Isaac saw Pastor Luke being taken away. Luke turned and looked at him.

Isaac knew that look.

Then he heard a happy bark behind him.

"That pastor doesn't look too well," Michael was grinning behind him. "I wonder what Jason told him?"

Isaac spun around, but Michael caught his fist.

"Your money is tied to Father. Mine is not. Neither are my lawyers. You think you've won? I'm not even close to ruining your life. By the time I'm done, you're going to BEG the devil to take you and your husband to get away from me."

Isaac yanked his first free and stomped off towards the trees.

"Hey stop him!" Jason shouted.

Isaac was quickly intercepted.

"And where the hell do you think you're going?" Jason demanded.

Isaac pulled out a pack. "To fucking smoke. Not allowed to light up on camera, right?"

Jason sighed. "Fine." He pulled out his phone and started a timer. "You got five minutes, then we're coming after you." He nodded towards the trees, "Let him go."

Isaac was let go and he headed into the trees. He stopped not far in, put a cigarette to his lips and went to light it.

He paused. And just stared at the flame.

He put the cigarette away and ran.

Seventeen minutes later…

"Fire! The forest's on fire!"

Massive flames erupted for the trees on the narrow beach. It looked like the entire length of the beach was billowing black smoke into the sky.

Everyone ran to the cliffside on the opposite side of the play beach as the staff was panicking and screaming in the radios.

While Michael was running, Timmy stopped and started pulling him back. He started barking.

Michael turned to yell at the Great Dane when he saw where he was pointed.

Sam was gone.

"You set the forest on fire?!"

"Shut up and hang on," Isaac said, Sam on his back. "That's not going to work for long."

"How are you running with me? Are you in the milita—AAAHHH!" Sam screamed.

"Nope, just got out of prison."

"What?!"

"You're really not that heavy. You must have been really skinny coming into this."

"I was 148 pounds," Sam said crying as his leg continued to dangle.

"Well, you're definitely not that now."

They made it to the trail, and Isaac started running down it.

"Wait! This is where they can catch us," Sam protested.

"It's also the flattest spot to run," Isaac said. "I used to be able to run a mile in 5 minutes in college. Let's see how I do with a 100-pound weight."

Meanwhile, at Vegeta's camp…

Sugar Petal was singing in Korean with her guitar.

Everyone was clapping along. And Dr. Brief had just pulled Panchy up to dance.

"Fire!" Randy ran into the center of the festivities, stopping them.

"Vegeta! The forest is on fire! It's bad."

"Where?" he stood.

"The narrow beach, in multiple locations. Some are starting to join together."

Vegeta suddenly turned his head and looked intently at the hive.

"When we said use a distraction, we didn't mean burn down the entire zone." Vegeta turned around. "Sam's on his way! And they're being followed." He turned back to Randy. "Have a helicopter cause a windblast to cover Yamcha since it's in the middle of the day," he said pointing at him. "I'm headed out."

Vegeta jumped up and disappeared.

"Ok!" Sugar Petal shouted, holding her hand high. "We have a man with a broken leg coming in! Everyone, get ready!"

She ran into the Hive. While everyone was gathering around the half-finished hive, Maple and her guards watched for Sugar Petal. She eventually came out carrying several thin slices of bamboo, but ran out of camp.

They followed her out the side door but lost her in the grove.

"(What do we do now?)" Maple said, panicking.

"(Think for a moment,)" a guard scolded her. "(She's following Vegeta.)"

"What are you guys doing out here?"

They turned and saw Jerry.

"Sugar ran away," Maple said.

"Ah, that's why my shoelaces are missing," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"They're used for bow strings. Vegeta ran off without any weapons. He's only allowed to do crazy stuff when it's not materially beneficial to the gameplay. And adding a player is about as beneficial to the gameplay as you can get." He shrugged. "And I mean… He already shaved their heads with the machete. What could he do with it now? Chop off fingers? The bows are safer. They'll only leave a bruise, but it fucking hurts."

"How do you know that?"

"Sugar accidentally shot me in the ass when testing Hassim's modification."

*WOOF* *WOO-OOF* *WOOF*

"Is that your dog?"

"Shit!" Isaac said panting. He looked forward. "Is that a wall?"

They saw part of the wall move, and saw Vegeta waving them in.

"We're almost there!" Sam said relieved.

Suddenly a giant weight hit them in the back and the two were slammed into the ground.

"Timmy!" Isaac yelled as the dog lick-attacked his face excitedly.

Three ATVs charged up the track.

They quickly circled the two.

"Nice try assholes," Jason jumped off. "And don't think you're going to get away with setting the forest on fire."

Vegeta walked through the gap he had made. "You mean like what Becky has already done?"

"Becky only burnt a non-critical area," He pointed at Isaac, "He burnt down the main playing field. Where are Berapi going to get coconuts now?"

"So, trying to set my camp on fire in the night is a non-critical area?"

"No cameras, it didn't happen," Michael said, hopping off the ATV.

Vegeta smirked, "You really think I would go to the trouble of building a false bridge and not get hidden cameras installed for the show? Trust me, that whole thing got filmed."

"And just because it got filmed, doesn't mean the footage still exists," Jason smirked. "Accidents happen all the time. Trust me, the only thing that's going to happen is that you assaulted your poor defenseless teammates and shaved their heads."

Suddenly, Jason screamed.

A stick with three leaves attached was sticking out of his bleeding arm.

Minutes earlier…

Sugar Petal was running with the crude crossbow and as many arrows as she could carry. She also had the half machete with the original handle. Hassim knew enough about archery through his brother-in-law to know that birds were taken down with blunt arrows in the past.

But she was not hunting birds.

A few seconds later, Michael also went down with an arrow in his crotch. Jason also took a second arrow in his crotch.

The other crew members took cover behind the ATVs as the bolts kept coming.

One of the arrows bounced in front of Isaac.

Then he looked at Timmy lying next to him, whimpering, and confused.

He still had the leash on his collar.

"Sorry about your shoulder," he said quickly as he looped the leash over Sam's hand.

"What?"

"Just hold on," he said as he raised himself on his knees and hands.

"Timmy! Fetch!"

Timmy got up and ran, pulling a screaming Sam the last few feet towards the open barrier.

Sam couldn't hold on and lost his grip while only partially through the gap.

He began pulling himself along with his now two good limbs.

"I need to do this. I need to do this. I need to do this," Sam repeated softly, fighting against the urge to pass out.

Suddenly the arrows stopped.

"He made it!" Isaac shouted.

Everyone looked from behind their cover, and Sam had curled up in a ball, dragging his bad leg less than an inch inside the barrier.

But he was in.

"Don't think this is over!" Jason shouted. "You and your team are dead!"

"If you try anything, we'll all be in Capsule Corp in less than 30 minu—" Vegeta paused, seeing a man in shorts and an open blue shirt running up the track with his hands behind his back.

He lost his steam half way, then stumbled as fast as he could.

He made it to the barrier, briefly looked around at the messy scene, then stumbled through the opening and collapsed next to Sam.

Isaac then stood and tiptoed over the mass of legs to the other side.

"Looks like we're done here," Vegeta said and also tiptoed through their legs.

"Timmy heel!" Michael shouted.

The dog ignored him completely and sat in front of Isaac.

"Timmy, go get Michael."

Timmy ignored Isaac and laid down on his side in protest.

Michael's face turned red.

"FINE YOU STUPID DOG! WHEN WE GET HOME, I'M GOING TO PUT YOU DOWN! I DON'T NEED TO WASTE 4000 ZENI A MONTH ON MEDICATION FOR A TRAITOR WHO SHOULD HAVE DIED AT 10! NO BETTER YET, I'M STOPPING YOUR CANCER TREATMENT AND I'M GOING TO WATCH YOU WITHER AWAY INTO NOTHING IN THE MOST PAINFUL WAY POSSIBLE!"

Isaac knelt down to the dog. "Do you have cancer, boy?"

Timmy sneak attacked and licked his face.

"Fuck Off. It's done," Vegeta said, closing the wall.

He looked down at the two men, "Who's carrying which meat sack?"

Vegeta was carrying Luke while Isaac continued to carry Sam at a walking pace.

The dog was making a low growl, not taking his eyes off Vegeta.

Vegeta sighed. "Is that dog good with other dogs and cats?"

"Why?" Isaac asked.

"Animals from an evicted village have taken up residence. So far 11 cats and Sam's puppy."

"You have a puppy?" Luke looked over, still rubbing his freed wrists.

"Hassim found Sam bleeding out at our minicamp in the universal bamboo cutting zone. There was a dog with him."

"I named him Mark," Sam said.

"Yes, Timmy is very friendly. The only trouble I see is his eminence size towards a puppy."

"Vegeta, I don't mean to doubt the angel, but…"

"Yeah, I'm an old clearer wanted for regicide, treason, and desertion. Earth was very friendly to pirates, deserters, and escaped slaves under Arthur. Ferdinand not so much."

"Wait…" Isaac stopped walking. "When you said Earth… are you?"

Vegeta turned around and smiled. "Crown Prince Vegeta the Fourth of the Saiyans, last of my species. When I helped Earth decapitate the imperial family, they let me tag along with the civilian evacuation of the planet the battle was happening on."

"You helped kill your own family?"

"No," Vegeta said sternly. "The ones who are the reason I'm the last of my kind. Along with a thousand other races before and after my own."

"I'm sorry."

Vegeta laughed. "Don't be. My kind were pirates. The Doc calls us Viking raiders and Klingons. As soon as you could walk you were put on the battlefield to live or die. But I was a special case being the first-born son of the king. Most kids practiced on animals leading up to their third birthday and induction into the army, but my father had me killing prisoners and participating in sacrificial ceremonies even though I was technically too young to do the sacrifices properly."

Vegeta began walking again. "I was a serial killer at 18 months, a warrior feared for his brutality at three and a commander of adults at five when Frieza came. I need no pity."

"Did your people attack this empire?"

"No, were we mercenaries for decades before my father got us properly integrated in the imperial army around the time I was born. I had it explained to me one time I was getting the crap beat out of me when I was eight:

"My people were denied our clothes, so we modified the uniforms to our tastes.

"My people were denied our food, so we made the rations taste better.

"My people were denied our language, so we used the new symbols to spell ours out.

"My people were denied our music, so we transcribed them from memory for the new instruments and written score.

"To my people, we were in a renaissance until the day Frieza blindsided us and blew up the planet right under our feet.

"Because according to them, my people were too stupid to realize what being a citizen of the empire was — being the personal property of the imperial family to do with whatever they wanted. And Frieza could not let that stupidity become contagious."

Vegeta gave a sad grin, "With hindsight, I can see Frieza was going to wipe us out whether we remained mercenaries or integrated. He was all about control and obedience. While we were all about your wind boats with black cloth. So, I'm proud of that stupidity. It proved we were feral breasts right until the end, caged but unable to be tamed."

"Don't give me that look preacher," Vegeta scoffed. "If my race were feral beasts then humans are wild animals with no sense of civilization." He looked forward, "I wouldn't be able to handle the boredom here otherwise."

"Mr. Vegeta!" Sugar Petal popped out on the trail in front of them.

Vegeta noticed the crossbow. "Sugar? You were the shooter?"

"Yes!" she said proudly.

Then he stopped walking. "Wait… Why do you… Did you sharpen the blunts?!" he shouted, seeing the half machete.

"Yes?" she said hesitantly.

Vegeta threw his head back and laughed.

"You shot two men in the balls with sharp arrows?!" Luke shouted.

Isaac crossed his legs and grimaced.

"Oh… my God…" Sam whimpered.

"Eye for an eye," Sugar stammered to defend herself. "Mr. Vegeta isn't a predator, they are!"

"Sugar," Vegeta started to hyperventilate. "Don't worry about it. I'll deal with them. I am very proud of you for standing up for yourself."

"Thank you!" she beamed.

"Predator, huh? I'm sorry my brother added you to his list of victims," Isaac said.

"Don't worry," Sugar said, "He was gentler than I'm used to."

"Oh, God," Luke said. "You're really one of the Nahms' girls, aren't you?"

"Oh!" Sugar gave a quick bow, "Yes! He has been my private teacher since I was small." She stood, "Although he hasn't seen me recently."

"Willy Nahm, personally?" Luke began to panic.

Sugar Petal put the crossbow down, came over, and clasped his hand. "Do not be afraid. Vegeta will kill God, then all will be right under him on Earth." She turned around and walked away humming.

"Oh, God… we're all gonna die…" Luke said.

"Not if I have any say in it," Vegeta said harshly. "Let's focus on Sam and getting through this nightmare of a game. We can make plans for the aftermath later."

"Are those skulls?!" Sam said.

"The staff thought we were too boring for TV, so I did some redecorating," Vegeta smiled back at him.

"We're back!" Vegeta shouted as Sugar went to open the gate.

Jerry and Hassim came to the gate. "We got the bench and chairs ready for him."

Hassim went to get Sam off his back.

"No, let me. We need to add his shoulder to the list now." Vegeta walked past him.

"Are you two ok?" Jerry asked, seeing Luke get off Isaac's back.

Isaac leaned over with his hands on his knees, "We're good… just… chairs… sit down…"

Everyone crowded around Sam as Vegeta slipped him off his back onto the bench.

"Ahh-owe-owe, owe," Sam said as Panchy lifted his leg onto a stool.

"Here," Rachel said, handing him a bamboo cup. "God will often take those who fast too hard in his name. My sister and Mrs. Brief say this will ease you on your journey back."

Sam experimentally sipped it. "Oh, it's some kind of tea." He eagerly finished it.

"Here, let me see that shoulder," Vegeta said walking over. Vegeta put his hand on the joint and began to move the arm around as Sam whimpered.

"Oh, don't be a baby. I had to pop my own shoulder back in after the crocodile."

"What?! Vegeta!" Bulma shouted.

Vegeta cringed and returned to Sam. "Nothing that I can feel, it should feel better by tomorrow. Just a good yank."

"Wait, crocodile?" Sam asked confused, "What have I missed?"

"We'll have a long night talking, don't worry," Sugar Petal said after putting the crossbow away.

"Did you actually shoot that… thing?" Maple asked.

"Yes. And I shot two men in the balls."

"(Hyo-jin! If a woman harms a man's blessing, her hand is cut off!)" Maple shouted.

"It's not like they were sharp," Jerry said.

Vegeta put his hand on Sugar's shoulder while standing behind her. "Actually, she sharpened a couple with one of the fragments while she was running after me. I saw blood when she shot Michael and Jason."

"Oh…" Jerry crossed his legs, "As a man I can't say they deserved that specifically. But they definitely needed something."

"I can't speak for Jason, but I wholeheartedly agree with shooting Michael in the balls," Hassim said.

"Part of me wants to borrow it to shoot Becky," Lesley said, "But the question would be where to aim."

"Yes," Panchy said, "It's much harder to drop a woman than a man with a single shot, at least not lethally." She handed Sam a bamboo bowl. "I boiled a broth from the meat. It won't taste the best, but it will have to do while your stomach gets used to food again."

"Thank you, but I wasn't completely starving."

"Just take it Sam," Hassim said. "You can't see yourself. But you look like Sugar Petal when we first left for this camp."

Sam's jaw dropped briefly before clicking his teeth shut. He turned back to the bowl and grabbed the spoon.

"It's actually not bad."

"So how many pieces of candy did you have?" she asked. "I hope only one or two now that I have a good look at you."

"Jason took it," Luke said.

"Someone stole it?!" Trunks shouted. He started to bawl.

"I got him!" Vegeta grabbed him and shot straight up.

"Why did he do that?" Sam asked.

"Oh! Ummm… well Trunk's tantrums can be a little… intense." She laughed nervously, "He does have his papa's strength after all."

"Oh. I understand."

Panchy looked at his mammoth swollen foot and ankle. "Can we cut your pant leg so we can get a better look at your leg?"

"Can I eat first?"

"Of course, sweetie."

"Here's your plates, gentlemen," Brook said to Isaac and Luke.

Luke looked down at the food, a chunk of meat and some kind of hash brown substitute.

"What's this?"

"Crocodile and swamp cabbage!" Jerry said, pumping both fists in the air.

"We eat alligator and swamp cabbage in Florida," Brook said. "Dad confirmed it's the same type of palm tree. May not be fancy, but it's good."

"Did you say tree?"

"City slickers call it Heart of Palm," Brook said. "It's pretty expensive in stores. I was surprised. But if you can't just take the air boat out and cut one down in the swamp, it would be hard to get."

Luke cut the meat with the untenses carved from bamboo. The meat was fully cooked and smelled like smoke. He took a bite.

"Oh, not bad. At least it's cooked thoroughly."

He took a bite of the sliced tree. "A little sour."

"Yeah, it oxygenated on yay," Jerry said. "We don't have anything to stop it here. Just unlucky being late."

"Wait, is this the tree Vegeta fed me?" Sam asked.

"Yes!" Vegeta said matter of factly.

They looked up, but couldn't see him.

Sam looked at Luke's plate.

"No, you don't," Panchy grabbed his face and turned it. "You're not there yet. Give it a few days. Vegeta bungled Sugar Petal's refeeding…"

"Hey!"

He dropped down, with a tear-soaked Trunks in his arms.

"I did what I could with what I had."

Bulma walked over. She leaned to be at eye level. "Are you going to be ok, Trunks?"

Trunks nodded, still sniffling.

"That's good, do you wanna play with the kitties with Grampa?"

"Ok…"

Bulma led Trunks over to Dr. Brief, who was covered in cats.

"Wait, a second," Panchy went over to her large bag, "We need to blow his nose."

Instead of a napkin, Panchy pulled out a metal box with heavy steel cables. She put it over Trunk's head.

"Blow sweetie."

Trunks blew.

"Again."

He blew again.

"Again."

Suddenly one of the cables started to snap and fray.

"Ok Trunks, that's enough."

Panchy took it off and wiped his face. "Ok get going," she shooed him off.

She looked at the broken cable, then at her daughter. "Did we bring extra wire?"

Bulma shook her head.

Suddenly Bulma felt a familiar pressure on her shoulder.

The camp went silent at the weird sight of Vegeta touching his forehead to her shoulder.

"You want to go talk?" she said sweetly.

Vegeta made a squeaky noise to everyone's shock.

"Ok, lead the way."

Vegeta walked into the Hive, Bulma following on his heels.

After they disappeared…

"What… was that?" Jerry asked.

"It's just one of the things Vegeta does," Panchy says. "He has a lot of idiosyncrasies you just get used to."

"Huh," Jerry scratched his nose. "I guess he is an alien after all."

"DAD!" Brook shouted. "Guy shows he's psychic, can levitate stuff, and jump tall buildings in a single bound, and it's adorable squeaky noises that makes you think he's an alien?!"

"Oh, he wasn't jumping," Dr. Brief said, "If he did we would have felt it in the ground. He was flying."

"He can fly?!"

"Well, of course," Doc said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "It's just levitating yourself."

Inside the hive, Vegeta led Bulma to the second floor.

Bulma was just looking around.

"Vegeta… This is amazing… and you're building a second one?"

"THEY are building it," Vegeta stressed. "I just said I'd make a roof for Sam in the meantime. Find a comfortable place to sit.

Bulma sat down.

"Are you satisfied with that position?"

Bulma moved, finally realizing what he wanted. She leaned against the side and uncrossed her legs. She tapped her knee.

Vegeta laid down, wrapped his arms around her waist, and put his head in her lap.

"Ok, what do you…"

Vegeta suddenly went completely limp.

Bulma smiled, remembering he had not slept for days, and began running her hand through his hair.

Vegeta began unconsciously making the squeaky noise softly.

Bulma quickened her petting.

Whatever tension that was left in his neck vanished and his face slipped and disappeared between his arm and her stomach and a slightly deeper noise joined the squeaking.

She was so jealous when Goten made these noises as a baby. While Trunks had the structure in his throat, it was residual and nonfunctional.

Bulma began using both hands.

The muscles in Vegeta's lower back started to twitch, and she always imagined his tail randomly twisting or flopping about.

She loved her adorable purring murderous space monkey.

Earlier, back on the trail…

Michael was screaming from the antiseptic.

"Dude, you are so lucky," the medic examining Michael said, "It went right between your leg and your scrotum. God was really protecting your jewels."

"Then why all the blood?"

"Even small scratches are going to bleed there. I'm going to try a wrap for now. Hopefully we won't need tape."

Michael grimaced looking at the sky. Then he looked at Jason carefully getting on the back of an ATV before the driver raced off.

"How bad is he?"

"They missed the important bits, but he still has holes poked in him." The medic said walking over. "How's he?" he questioned his medic.

"Superficial scratches on his scrotum and inner thigh, doesn't mean it's not going to bleed for a bit. I have gauze with a wrap."

"Sounds good," he said. "Load him up and let's see if they want to take him to shore or not."

Michael grabbed Jason's medic's shirt. "Who shot me?" he demanded.

He grabbed his radio, "Have we IDed the shooter yet?"

*fuzz* It was Sugar Petal. Everything is being discussed right now with the king. *fuzz*

"That bitch?" Michael thought. He remembered her behavior on the beach. Then her behavior at the family meeting.

"That woman's only acting up because she has Vegeta standing behind her. Fuck him."