Life Goes On! Here Comes the Monkey Princess!
Since his "victory" over Perfect Cell, the last week of Hercule's life had been a whirlwind of interviews and talk show appearances, more than Hercule had ever received before. Even more than when he had become the World's Champion! It was a good thing that Krillin and Bulma had given him the story to tell about what had happened after the camera was destroyed or else he would have been hopelessly lost in the lies. The way Hercule had described it, after Gohan had battled valiantly against Cell, Hercule summoned up all his courage and his martial arts skill, distilling his entire life into one glorious moment, and destroyed Cell with a single mighty blow. To cover his ass, Hercule insisted that the technique had taken a lot out of him and that he'd probably never be able to replicate the feat.
Once, however, someone asked him about the powers and abilities shown by Cell, Goku, and Gohan. They asked him if they were real or just a lot of pageantry and shenanigans, not true martial arts. They wanted to know what Hercule thought.
"What do I think?" he repeated as he stroked his beard. It would be easy to lie. Easy to tell the world that the others were all fakers and liars with a lot of special effects to cover up a lack of skill and that he was the only true martial artist. The thought had barely entered his head before he had to push down an urge to vomit. "I think I need to keep trainin'!" he finally exclaimed with a boisterous laugh. "It's like I always say, there's no such thing as limits, even when you're the champ! Ya gotta keep pushin' and keep lookin' for new ways to get stronger!"
OoOoOoO
Suno should have known that she ought to be suspicious when she missed her period two weeks in a row. The first week she could have chalked up to any number of reasons from stress, to the change in her normal routine now that they were back in peacetime, to her slowly-creeping depression. Or she could have just miscalculated when it would start. She'd had a lot on her mind, after all. After the second week, however, she knew something was up.
Now as she was sitting in the bathroom and staring at two pink lines on a stick, she knew exactly what that something was. Suno groaned and set the test down on the sink, pressing her hands into her face. She couldn't help but overthink what this meant despite herself. Was this a blessing? A last gift from Goku to help Suno get through her loneliness? Or was it a burden to have to bring a child into this world alone? Well, not totally alone. Obviously Gohan would be there and he would help however he could but it just wasn't the same. Thinking of Gohan, Suno had always thought that he'd taken a little bit more after her than after Goku. Would this child be more like Goku? If so, would that heal Suno's heartache or just make it worse?
Suno dropped her hands and took a long, cleansing breath. This wasn't about her. This child wouldn't have its existence defined by Suno's happiness. Son or daughter, Suno would make sure that this child was loved.
OoOoOoO
"You have been weighed. You have been measured. And you have been found wanting. Welcome to the new world."
Vegeta let out a groan and rolled his eyes as his head fell back over the arm of the couch he was laying on. Yet another work of fiction where the nobility were an evil obstacle for the dirty common rabble to overcome. He supposed it was good that the prince essentially saved the day but it was still the rabble's story. It was tiresome. He reached for the remote to change the channel when the plodding footfalls of what could only be his infant son's ungainly gait tickled his ears. Apparently, Vegeta had missed Trunks' first steps in the last week or so but he hardly seemed to consider that much of an achievement. By this point in his own infancy, Vegeta had already fired his first energy blast, never mind steps. Bulma had been cross with him all the same.
Still, as Trunks came stumbling into the room, Vegeta couldn't help but feel almost proud. According to what Bulma had told him that the so-called "doctor" had said (what physician worth their salt had operated on less than a dozen species?), Trunks was already far ahead in his development compared to purely human infants. Clearly the greatest Saiyan bloodline was helping him along. At the very least, his tail helped Trunks' stability and coordination.
"What do you want?" Vegeta asked as Trunks waddled up to the couch. The boy stared at him with those bright blue eyes and a serious look on his little face. "Where is your mother, boy? Go bother her." Trunks reached up with his tiny hands and grasped at the air while babbling infantile gibberish. "What?" Vegeta asked with growing irritation. "What? I don't… learn to speak words!"
"Uh!" Trunks insisted as he reached for Vegeta. "Uh! Uh!" Vegeta blinked and stared at him incredulously for a moment before he realized what Trunks was trying to say.
"No I will not pull you up!" Vegeta said in an offended tone. "Pull yourself up! You're a prince!" Trunks actually glared at Vegeta before grabbing his father's shirt in his mitts and pulling himself up onto Vegeta's stomach. The king let out an indignant grunt as Trunks sat his tiny weight on him and looked up as Trunks stared at him. "Well, you're up. Now what?" Trunks put his hands on Vegeta's cheeks and grabbed them. Vegeta was tempted to just grab the boy and toss him across the room. He was a Saiyan, he'd be able to handle it. Almost immediately, however, the sight of the Trunks from the other timeline lying on the ground and vomiting blood flashed into Vegeta's mind. He grimaced and let out a sigh, deciding to let the boy stay. "If I find you something to watch, will you let go of my face?" Trunks nodded and Vegeta rolled his eyes before grabbing the remote and changing the channel. Vegeta went through several programs, each one receiving a disapproving noise from his son, until the infant let out a burst of excited laughter on one channel and Vegeta assumed that meant it was his favorite.
It was some kind of animation with singing animals. Why did everything sing in programs designed for children? Trunks let go of Vegeta's face but didn't get off of his stomach so Vegeta guessed he was stuck here for the time being. As the film rolled on Vegeta supposed that it wasn't that bad. The hero was some sort of royalty. Then one particular song began that startled Vegeta.
"I'm gonna be a mighty king, so enemies beware!" Vegeta stared at the screen with his eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape.
"I… I have so many questions…" he muttered. Trunks giggled and clapped his hands excitedly while Vegeta pondered his existential crisis.
OoOoOoO
Bulma smiled to herself as she ducked back around the corner of the hallway into the living room where Vegeta and Trunks were. It was nice to see the boys spending time together. She went back to her lab and had just started looking over Gero's notes when she got a call from, of all people, her big sister.
"Hey, Tights!" she greeted excitedly when she answered. "What's goin' on? Haven't heard from you in forever!"
"Just wanted to check in on my favorite sister," Tights replied and Bulma could practically hear her sister grinning on the other end. "I've been watching the news here on my island and things were looking pretty crazy for a while there. Everything all right?" When Tights turned eighteen, she'd forgone her sizable inheritance, determined to make her own way, and had sold her stock back into the company, using that money to buy her own private island off of the Southern continent to focus on her writing where, apparently, she was waited on by only the most gorgeous staff. While Bulma had lucked out on Tights' deal, gaining a hundred percent of the company's future control in her own inheritance, there were times where she wondered if her sister had been the smart one.
The sisters talked for hours, catching up and telling stories. It was mostly a lot of Bulma telling Tights what she'd been up to for the last three years. Namely having a baby and kiiind of a husband? It didn't look like Vegeta was going anywhere anytime soon.
"What about you, though?" Bulma asked when she was finally tired of talking about herself. "What've you been up to? Got any big projects going on? A new book you're cranking out?"
"Actually," Tights replied in a somewhat playful tone, "I was thinking of branching out into a slightly more visual medium. Something kind of inspired by the stories you tell me about your friends."
"You know I told you not to write about that stuff," Bulma told her sister in an almost-stern tone. "The public can't know about Freeza and Vegeta doing all that crap or that the Dragon Balls are real!" Then again, Shenron had shown up on her front lawn… That had been a hassle to explain. She'd had to bullshit a movie about the legend of the Dragon Balls into existence and tell everyone that Shenron was just them testing some new special effects.
"I know, I know," Tights assured her. "That's why I said inspired."
"So what," Bulma asked curiously, "Are you going to become a mangaka?"
"Something like that. I've got these girls, Jeri and Jolyne, to do the art for me and help me punch up my scripts."
"Do you need a distributor?" Bulma asked with a glint in her eye. "Because I could set you guys up!"
"Ohhh no. Nice try. I heard what happened with Wilma Finger. You had your name put on as a co-creator and then muscled her out of all the credit!"
"Well, I mean, the book wouldn't exist without me so I was technically a co-creator?"
"Nice try. I think I'll pass. I'll send you an advanced copy, though!" They made small talk for a little while longer before Bulma had to go. Once she'd hung up the phone, Tights turned back to her computer and cracked her knuckles before continuing her work on the scripts.
"Kara-El, last daughter of the doomed planet Krypton, went into work in her guise as Laurel Kent, the mild-mannered reporter of the Daily Planet…"
OoOoOoO
"Ten?" Launch said to her husband while nursing Kani. He was sitting across the table from her but for all the response he gave her he might as well have been on Mars. "Ten?" She asked again a little more insistently. Still nothing. "Ten!" That finally got his attention and he sat up with a start.
"What?!" he asked in a panic as he hopped to his feet in a fighting stance and hurriedly looked around. "What is it?!" Launch sighed and shook her head. Ten had been on edge since practically the moment Kani was born. When Launch had asked him why, he'd told her that now that he had a daughter of his own, it was hard not to think about what Tao Pai Pai had told him at the 23rd Budoukai and how someone might kill them and take their baby away. While Launch thought that it was sweet that Ten, who was normally so stoic, was so concerned over their child's safety, she had reminded him that the only people on the planet who could possibly kill either of them at this point were their close friends.
And Vegeta.
But this wasn't about that.
"You've been staring at that Crane Helmet for two weeks," Launch explained. Practically since Shen had given it to Ten at Goku's funeral, Ten had been looking at the helmet suspiciously and treating it like some malevolent thing, like a viper or a scorpion that might strike at any moment and infect him with its wickedness. "Are you going to take the job or not?" The students were probably getting restless without having any guidance, which could be dangerous. "Tell me what's on your mind. Talk to me."
"The Crane School…" Ten chewed his lip and shook his head in disdain. "I don't want to go back there. I don't like to reflect on who and what I was. I was so full of hate and rage and it blinded me to Shen's true intentions. It let him use me as a weapon. That whole place is a breeding ground for murderers. Maybe it would be better if there was no one there to teach them and it just dissolved. Maybe… maybe the Crane School should die."
"We can fix it," Chaozu said suddenly as he floated in from his room. He took a sip from the coffee cup in his hands as he floated down into his usual chair at the table. "You and I escaped Shen's grip. You can teach the others how to be free and find peace within themselves."
"Even if they won't listen," Launch added, "There are people out there who will. You can help so many people in the way that you helped me. You can raise up the Crane School up into something good so that it won't be associated with assassins forever." Tenshinhan looked down at the helmet again before reaching out and picking it up. Its weight felt tremendous in his hands as he lifted it and slowly placed it on his head.
"I'll do it," he said resolutely. A few days later, Tenshinhan arrived at the Crane School with Launch and Chaozu in tow. They were all dressed in black waistcoats with the symbol for "Crane" on the chest in red with cream colored long sleeve shirts underneath, white cloth belts, wine red hakamas, and black boots. Tenshinhan was also wearing the Crane helmet.
Naturally the Crane students were very confused and had several questions. Why had Tenshinhan and Chaozu returned? Where was their master? Who was this woman they had brought with them? Why was Ten wearing the Crane helmet? Ten silenced them all with a steely gaze and a raised hand.
"I am the master of the Crane School now," Tenshinhan declared in a tone that would brook no challenge. "Master Shen has passed that right onto me. As of this moment, if there is evil in your heart, if you seek to become a killer and learn knowledge that will allow you to take lives and do wicked things, this school has no place for you." He gestured perhaps overdramatically and made a wide, sweeping motion with his arm. "Let it be known throughout the land from this day forward that those who wish to fly with the Crane's wings must be willing to look within themselves. It is more than mere physical strength that we will build upon here. We will strengthen our souls and our minds, to reach inner peace and our true selves. This shall no longer be a place of darkness. We shall work towards the light."
It was not a perfect transition. Many students did leave but those that did stay spread the word of the Crane School's change. In time, Ten nearly had more students than he knew what to do with. Including one surprising student in particular.
OoOoOoO
Amy had quite a number of job offers that she was still struggling to sift through in the month after the Cell Games. A lot of people were impressed by the degree of composure and control she had shown when she'd been thrust into the anchor's desk when Caesar had fainted. Amy wasn't really that impressed with herself– after all, she'd nearly fainted herself– but some people clearly were. She had newscasting offers from rival networks, a full-time contract on the table from ZTV, not to mention all the online news sites that wanted to use her as their lead anchor/face/whatever. So the last thing she really wanted was for one of her roommates to knock on the door.
"If it's about dinner you can just get my regular. I'm kinda busy!" she shouted over a shoulder before turning back to her computer. On the one hand, she had stability on ZTV and they did have a wider coverage but GT2 was offering her more money and STV was offering Amy her own talk show.
"It's, uh, it's not about takeout," her roommate, Perry, said in a somewhat-nervous voice. "There's somebody here to see you." Amy got up and opened the door to her room. Perry the green-furred catman stepped to one side and there, standing in the doorway of her apartment… was Lapis. He was wearing Khaki shorts and a black shirt with an awkward smile on his face as he waved at her.
"Uh… hey?" Amy stared at him in shock for a few moments before hurtling towards Lapis and tackling him right out of the apartment, her tail wagging furiously as she brought him to the ground.
"We'll… uh… we'll give you guys some time," Perry muttered awkwardly as he shut the door. Lapis picked Amy up in his arms and flew her up onto the roof. They sat and talked for hours. They hadn't seen each other in years. There was a lot to catch up on. When they were finally out of things to talk about, they found themselves staring up at the stars.
"So what are you gonna do now?" Amy asked. "I mean… Cell's gone, right? And so's Gero. So what're you going to, y'know, do?"
"To be honest…" Lapis said slowly, as if he were pondering it even as the words came out of his mouth. "I was kinda thinking of becoming a park ranger." Amy laughed and Lapis balked. "What?"
"Nothing," Amy assured him as she tried to stifle her giggles. "It's just… with all this crazy stuff you can do, you still want to do something with nature like we talked about back in school." Without warning, Amy suddenly began to cry.
"What is it?" Lapis asked in concern as he leaned closer to her. "What's wrong?" Amy threw her arms around Lapis and buried her face in his chest.
"I'm just glad you're still you," she whispered. Lapis hugged her back tightly, holding her to his chest.
"That's… that's kinda why I wanted to see you," he whispered as he stroked her fur. "I know it's been years a-and we were just dumb kids in school but, I mean… I was hoping… could we still be us?" Amy looked up at Lapis and he looked away, his face turning red. "I-It was stupid," he muttered deflatedly. "You moved on. You probably met a guy or a girl or I dunno. I should move on, t–" Amy grabbed the back of Lapis' head and shut him up with a kiss.
"So," Amy said after several minutes of similar silence. "When are you gonna start that whole park ranger thing? Is there like a class or something you have to take?"
"Actually," Lapis admitted almost bashfully, "There's something I wanna do before that. Something Lazuli and I said that we were gonna do after the whole, y'know… the Cell thing."
OoOoOoO
Krillin looked out at the sea with a feeling of nostalgia crashing over him as the waves crashed on the shore. He'd gotten Bulma to give him a Capsule Beach House for cheap and had set down his new house permanently on the spot where he and Goku used to train. It made a perfect place to train his New Turtle School students, after all.
When he got any. Which he would. Probably. Hercule becoming the hero of the world had taken a lot of the bloom off the "Bald Tiger" rose. In retrospect, he probably should have tried to talk Bulma into letting him take the credit himself. Eh, he couldn't do that. Still, it was frustrating to not have any takers. Especially when he'd shelled out the money for that ad and gotten the spiffy new orange longcoat with the turtle symbol on the breast made.
"I'm not looking for people who want to learn how to pick fights or impress a girl or a guy or whatever," he'd said in the commercial where he'd echoed Master Roshi's words so many years ago. "That's not what martial arts is about. Martial arts is about the art of peace as much as it is the art of war. It's about mastering yourself and rising above who you were and who you are to become who you could be. I can get you there!" He'd even given the coordinates of where he'd planned to put the house.
Nobody in a month. It was pretty disheartening. Maybe he should have left out the part about not using Martial Arts to beat people up. Krillin scratched at his stubbly head and sighed. Maybe he'd cut today short and go fishing. That was when a whistle from above caught his attention.
"Yo!" Lazuli called down as she descended toward him. Krillin brought up a hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he looked, although that just made the light framing Lazuli make her look even more angelic. Even if she was wearing a blue tracksuit with yellow piping.
"Oh, hey, Lazuli!" Krillin said cheerfully as he gave her a small wave. "What're you doing out here?" Lazuli looked around for a little bit before turning back to Krillin.
"So you're teaching the Turtle stuff now, huh?" she asked while fishing something out of her back pocket. She held it between her thumb and forefinger and tossed it to Krillin like a quarter. He caught it out of the air with one hand and looked at the small piece of plastic curiously.
"What is it?"
"It's a USB full of porn," Lazuli explained bluntly. Krillin nearly dropped it like it had electrocuted him. "I remember that when we were all at Goku's… uh, her thing, you were telling the story of how you started training and you said you gave Master Roshi a big stack of dirty magazines. Welcome to the seventh age." There was an awkward pause as Krillin looked back and forth between the USB and Lazuli. "I don't know what you're into," she admitted, "So I kinda just loaded all the shit I like onto there to cover a broad spectrum. Be careful, though. Some of it can get a little freaky." Krillin cleared his throat awkwardly and stored the USB in his back pocket.
"So… you're here to train?" Krillin asked curiously. Not that he was gonna turn down a student, of course. Especially not her. He was just curious why she'd want lessons when she was obviously stronger and faster already.
"Lapis and I agreed that if we lived through the Cell stuff, we'd definitely start training," Lazuli explained. "Y'know, to earn something and not just be given all of our power and ability by Gero. Technically we did live through it. So he went to go train with Tenshinhan and I came here. But we can skip all the turtle shells and delivering milk and stuff, right? I can just go right to punching?"
Krillin laughed and shook his head. "If I had to do it, you have to do it. Unless," he added with a grin, "You think you're better than me? Better than Goku?" Lazuli rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips.
"Okay," she sighed, "But I don't think you've got a turtle shell heavy enough for me." Krillin smirked before walking into what he was calling Kame House II. He came back out with a capsule and opened it on the ground, revealing what looked to be an ordinary purple turtle shell. Probably not more than two hundred pounds. Lazuli hefted it up effortlessly but as soon as she put it on her shoulders, her eyes went wide with shock and she nearly fell onto her back.
"What the hell?!" she exclaimed. "How is this so heavy?"
"Magic," Krillin explained with a grin. A little present from Uranai Baba. Despite her protests and wanting to skip the "boring" part of the training altogether, Lazuli quickly found that she enjoyed digging with her hands and delivering milk. Even outrunning the shark was fun since it couldn't actually damage her skin. As the months ticked by, Krillin and Lazuli's relationship grew beyond that of master and student. For one thing, Lazuli stopped sleeping on the air mattress in the spare room.
"Hey," Lazuli said as she and Krillin were lying in bed one evening, "What're all those books?" She leaned over Krillin to point, gesturing to the stack of books beside Krillin's nightstand.
"Eh," he said with a shrug, "Just a lot of stuff about being a cop. It was what I was thinking about doing before Roshi told me he wanted me to take over the school."
"...Can I read 'em?"
"Sure, go nuts."
OoOoOoO
Suno was sitting by the fireplace and sipping some hot cider while looking out the window. It was a beautiful night with fresh-fallen snow on the ground as more came gently down from the gray, cloudy sky. It was a nice and peaceful night that was suddenly interrupted by a sudden pain in her lower back and stomach and a certain pressure that was very familiar to Suno. But that didn't make any sense. The baby wasn't supposed to be due for another few weeks! That didn't seem to stop the second contraction that shot through her a few minutes later. Suno clutched at her stomach as a sudden panic swept through her. Not for herself, of course. She was early. This was early. What was going to happen to the baby? Would she be okay? Would she need to stay in the hospital for weeks? ...Would she make it?
"Gohan!" Suno called out. "Call Bulma! It's happening!" Gohan burst out of his room, still in his pajamas, practically knocking the door off of its hinges.
"Are you sure?" Gohan asked worriedly. Suno nodded and Gohan grabbed his phone to call Bulma. "Bulma!" he shouted excitedly when she answered. "I know, I know, it's late but this is important! It's happening! What do you mean 'what's it?', IT! Mother's going into labor! Look, you need to get to the hospital in West City right now, I'm bringing mother there!" Gohan hung up and gave his hand out for Suno to grab and she squeezed it tightly. "It's going to be fine, mother," he assured her despite his own worries. "It's going to be okay." He gave her a smile and she smiled back at him before they headed out to the car. Suno climbed inside before Gohan hoisted the car effortlessly over his head and flew to West City. He'd thought about using Instant Transmission but he didn't want to risk anything happening to the baby.
While this labor wasn't as painful as when Suno had delivered Gohan, it was exponentially more taxing and a greater exercise in Suno's focus and control. Since she was so much stronger than she had been then, she had to be in control of her muscles and her reactions. She couldn't risk the baby getting hurt. Several hours later, as the first rays of sunshine were cresting over the West City skyline, a weary Suno was holding the swaddled baby in her arms and on the verge of tears.
"Oh Gohan," she whispered reverently as she stroked the baby's head of very familiar spiky hair. "Oh Gohan, look at her!" The sleeping infant nestled against Suno's chest as mother and son smiled down at her.
"She looks just like mom," Gohan pointed out with tears in his eyes as he stroked his little sister's cheek.
"She does," Suno agreed wistfully as the baby opened her eyes slowly and smiled up at her family. "My girl. My little Goten."
OoOoOoO
"I don't quite understand why you brought me in here," Dr. Brief admitted as he sucked on a lollipop while Bulma led him into her secret lab. "Not that I don't mind, you've just always seemed very secretive about all this." His doctor had made him give up smoking in the last few years, mostly because there was no way to grow a new set of lungs from some flesh scraps… yet.
"I brought you here because I want your help, dad," Bulma said as she turned on some computers and lit up some screens. "It's taken me over a year but I've finally gotten a full understanding of all of Gero's notes. For all his megalomania and misplaced hatred, there were a lot of actually great ideas here." The largest screen in the lab showed a to-scale 3D model of an infinite energy reactor and Bulma turned to her father with a grin. "So whaddaya say, dad? Wanna help me save the world?"
OoOoOoO
It had been a little more than a year since Lapis and Lazuli had split up to undergo their training. They had agreed to meet on the campgrounds where they'd spent summers with their parents as children. When Lazuli arrived in her spiffy new turtle gi with her hair tied up in braids to keep it out of her eyes, she couldn't help but laugh at Lapis' own attire.
"What?!" he asked indignantly with a huff as he crossed his arms. He'd put his hair up in a bun for presumably the same reason.
"You're wearing a skirt!" Lazuli pointed out in an explosion of laughter.
"It's not a skirt!" Lapis said hotly. "It's a hakama! It lets my legs have greater range of movement!"
"Oh, my bad, I'm so sorry!" Lazuli teased. "It's a combat skirt." Lapis rolled his eyes before taking off his waistcoat and shirt, revealing the black undershirt underneath. "You sure you wanna do this?" Lazuli asked with a grin. "My idol kinda kicked your idol's butt."
"But my teacher broke your teacher's leg," Lapis pointed out as they stretched. "Between all the Turtle and Crane fights, I think the score's tied right now at two-to-two."
Lazuli grinned at her brother as she got into her guard. "Then I'll be the one to break that tie," she boasted.
"No," he shot back, "I will!" They charged at each other and leaped into flying kicks.
OoOoOoO
"Hey, Bulma," Gohan greeted pleasantly when she answered the phone. "Could you… uh…" he paused and looked down at his little sister, who was currently trying to climb his leg. "Could you put Vegeta on the phone?"
"Really?" Bulma asked in genuine confusion. "Vegeta? You're… you're sure about that?"
"Yeah," Gohan assured her as Goten hung off of his arm like he was a jungle gym. "It's kind of important."
"Okay…" Bulma said hesitantly, stretching out the word. There was a slight pause and Gohan could hear her shoes clicking as the walked down the hall. "It's Gohan," her distant voice said, "He says he needs to talk to you."
"What is it, boy?" Vegeta asked gruffly. "Have you decided to put down those ridiculous books of yours long enough to actually train?"
"Actually," Gohan said with a slight hint of irritation that he tried to suppress, "I was calling about Goten. I was wonderi–"
"No, you can't betroth her to Trunks," Vegeta interrupted curtly.
"Wh-what?! No! That's not what this is about at all! For crying out loud, Vegeta, she's three!"
"And I was betrothed at four before my planet was destroyed," Vegeta retorted. "What's your question, boy?"
"I was hoping you could give my some advice on how to toughen up Goten's tail," Gohan told him. "You know, if there's any… exercises or training techniques, anything like that."
"Why on Earth would I help you with that?" Vegeta asked haughtily. "She's not my child. Let her figure out how to toughen up her own tail."
"It's just that, well, if we don't know how to help Goten protect herself, my mom was thinking of cutting it off. It's dangerous, y'know? It could get caught on something or someone could step on it. God forbid she's ever in a fight and it gets grabbed or something." There was an uncomfortably long pause. "...Uh… Vegeta?" Then there was a loud clatter as Vegeta apparently dropped the phone on the ground and Gohan heard the thunder of his footsteps.
"WOMAN!" Vegeta bellowed distantly. "WOMAN! HOW DO I SEND AN EMAIL?!"
OoOoOoO
With Vegeta being Vegeta and Gohan being occupied with his exams, Suno and Bulma decided to get together and bring their children for a play date at the beach, just a few miles from the Son Family's village. Trunks was wearing a green pair of swim trunks with blue turtles printed on it and Goten was wearing an orange one-piece suit with blue frills.
"Now play nice, okay?" Suno told Goten affectionately as she rubbed sunscreen on her daughter's face, legs, and arms. "If you want to go in the water that's fine but don't go out past where the water reaches your waist. I don't want you going in the deep water without mommy, alright?"
"Yes, mommy," the five year-old Goten assured her mother while standing perfectly still.
"Trunks!" Bulma cried in exasperation as her six year-old struggled and squirmed to escape the unscreen. "Hold still! You're just gonna make this worse for yourself!"
"No!" Trunks protested vehemently. "I hate that stuff! It's gross and it makes me feel all oily! Dad says I can't even get burned, anyway!"
"What would he know?" Bulma asked. "When has your dad ever come to the beach?"
"...Never," Trunks admitted sulkily. Bulma ruffled his hair and gave him a smile.
"Hey," she told him encouragingly, "I'll get him to come next time. I promise. Now go play!" She gave Trunks a little push on the rump toward Goten and he glared back at her before smiling almost immediately.
"Hi," Goten said cheerfully, a huge grin on her face as she waved at her new best friend. "I'm Goten!"
"I'm Trunks," he muttered out in reply as he kicked at the sand. He sure hoped that cootie patch his mom had given him last night worked.
"I like your hair!" Goten added as her grin seemed to grow even wider. "It's a pretty color." She giggled as Trunks' face reddened slightly. "You wanna build a sand castle?"
"Nah," Trunks said with a shrug. "That's lame. Let's catch fish!" He sprinted toward the water with Goten chasing behind him. As they played and splashed in the water, Trunks noticed something important. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "You have a tail, too!"
"Yeah!" Goten said with a giggle as she raised her tail, shaking water off of it at Trunks, making him sputter and cover his face.
"Watch it!" he protested as he wiped his face. "So if you have a tail, that means you're a Saiyan, too!"
"What's a Saiyan?" Goten asked as she tilted her head to one side.
"I dunno," Trunks admitted. "But my dad's one. He says he's the king and I'm a prince." He grinned at Goten and pointed at her. "Which means you gotta do whatever I tell you!"
"Nuh uh!" Goten objected. "No way!" She shoved Trunks so Trunks shoved her back but Goten's foot slipped in the wet sand and she fell backwards into the water.
"Oh man!" Trunks exclaimed, "I'm sorr–" but Goten was already bursting back out of the water as he said it and punched Trunks in the face.
"Goten!" Suno cried as she shot up from her beach chair. "I said play nice!" She started to march toward the children as Trunks punched Goten back but Bulma grabbed her arm with a grin.
"They're little warrior babies," Bulma reminded her friend. "This is probably good for them." The children traded tiny-fisted punches and small-footed kicks, their anger growing as, all the while, they felt a strange tingling in the backs of their necks, just above their shoulder blades. They focused on that energy and, with a cry of effort…
"Whoa!" Goten exclaimed, her teal eyes wide and starry as she jumped up and down. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa! Your hair! It turned all yellow and pointy!"
"It did?" Trunks asked as he reached his hands up and patted his golden, spiked hair. "Oh man, it did! That's so cool! Yours did, too!" Goten let out a wordless squeal of excitement as she shook her fists. "I feel a lot stronger now!"
"Me too!"
Suno and Bulma stared at their tiny Super Saiyans with wide eyes and slacked jaws. This was certainly something new.