Author's note: Well, hello everyone! It's been a minute! In fact, I think I wrote the concept and basic ideas out for it in like 2013, maybe sooner. Then it sat for a while. Then I decided to start writing it, slooooowly. I decided that since I have proven in the past that I cannot be trusted to write enough to get regular updates (this has also been proven in writing of this story since I'm pretty sure I started it writing it around 2016 and we're in… -checks watch- 2024 now), I would not post this at all until it was complete or almost complete. We are now in the almost complete stage, and I finished the drawing I did to accompany it. So, I'm ready to post! And I'm super excited to see what people think about it!
My plan is to release a new chapter every week. So you should have regular updates and not be left hanging for years on end like I've done in the past! :D As of now, I will try to release on Fridays with the occasional Thursday thrown in if I can't on Friday.
So without further ado, here you go!
Disclaimer: I don't own shit.
Triple Threat
Chapter 1
She slammed the back of her head against the wall and let out a deep, impatient sigh. The frustrated scowl and forked eyebrows were in stark contrast to the bright, almost unearthly blue of her eyes and hair that currently reached a bit past her shoulders. Her unusual coloring had always gotten her more attention than she really felt was necessary—it was just hair color, after all. The color, however, was probably what gave her the fiery temper she had, aside from the fact that saiyans had tempers anyway. Being teased all throughout your childhood for the unique color of your hair—and eyes and tail—was a good way to jack up your temper as well as your fighting skills. The blue-haired saiyan had to beat up many a bully in her short life, but it made her tough skinned as well as an extremely fearsome warrior. It also helped that she was a genius due to the genes inherited by her father, a third-class scientist who she felt deserved to be working in the highest-ranking facility they had on Planet Vegeta. He was stuck where he was, though, because he wasn't born into the higher classes. He could probably be one of the few to raise his status based on his brains if anyone cared enough to pay even a little bit of attention to the talents of those in the lower class.
But at that moment, she was bored.
"How much longer is this gonna take, Chichi?" she asked the dark-haired woman sitting next to her who shrugged in response.
"Goku said it would have been done about a half hour ago, but you know that these things always go longer than they say," Chichi replied. Chichi had been Bulma's best friend since she was a child. She was one of the few who never made fun of her for her coloring; then again, they grew up together, so she had always been used to it.
Not to say that Bulma was the only Saiyan to ever have that coloring. In fact, it ran in her family. Her father's hair was much lighter than most Saiyan's coloring, but it was still considered a normal variant. Her great grandfather, though, had color that was more of a purple hue. He was a great scientist. Nowadays, though, she was the only one with such drastic coloring skewing so far from the norm.
Goku was one of the others, also a childhood friend and Chichi's mate. All three of them were in the same socioeconomic status, as it were. They were closer than many other Saiyans, and they had more respect for things other than simply brawn. Though, to be sure, Goku was more brawn than brains. Bulma didn't mind, though. He was probably the nicest person she had ever met. That made his immense strength all the more beguiling, though it was also the thing that was likely to lift him out of the status his birth had put him in—and, by extension, Chichi as his mate.
Bulma, on the other hand… Her way might be more difficult. Brains didn't get you very far on Vegeta-sei. It's not like they weren't needed. On the contrary, they used the scientists for everything, including getting themselves stronger. But did that make a difference in their status or how they were treated? Of course not. It wasn't like Bulma didn't have the strength to excel in that avenue, she just never thought about it. She had faced enough discrimination based on her appearance that she had very nearly accepted her fate as a first-rate scientist and fighter stuck in a third-rate situation.
She sighed again. This was depressing her.
Just as she was about to start pacing and cursing, the door beside them opened causing both of their heads to jerk in that direction. They waited with bated breath to see how Goku emerged. Would he come out in a stretcher? Would he come out dejected? Triumphant? The suspense was torture.
One by one a trickle of haggard looking, scuffed up saiyans made their way out. Some looked resigned, some looked triumphant, some just looked dazed and beat up. They had to wait a few minutes after the end of the line, but then out popped Goku's perpetual grin. He didn't appear to have a scratch on him.
Chichi was wringing her hands, anxiety written all across her features. Bulma just looked at him intently, waiting to hear the results.
"I'm in, guys!" he shouted happily. A few of the other elite candidates turned their heads and glanced at him grudgingly.
Chichi cheered and ran into his arms. He swung her around, laughing. Bulma just nodded—she expected this outcome.
"Congrats, Goku. I knew you'd make it," Bulma said to him, patting his shoulder. She peered over at the other saiyans slinking off in different directions. All of them looked like they had been put through the wringer, which is to be expected. All of them except Goku.
"Goku," she said, still watching the retreating figures of the obviously rejected. "Why do they look in so much worse shape than you?"
He shrugged. "Honestly? You give me much more of a challenge when we spar than those guys. I really think you would be a shoe-in."
Bulma's head jerked to him. "What? No way."
Her friend scrunched his face at her. "I don't know how many times I need to tell you how strong you are before you will believe me, Bulma," he said, eyeing her seriously. She rolled her eyes at him.
"I'm serious," he continued. "There are two more days of try outs. Then there aren't any more for who knows how long. Do it."
He turned back to Chichi who was twittering all over him, her joy and pride written plainly on her face. Bulma looked at them. Goku was her friend, sure, but he didn't lie to her or try to inflate her ego. If he thought she was good enough, she should believe him.
She turned her head and looked back at the door they had all filed out of. Should she? She had already basically planned out the rest of her life to the extent she could. She would go to work with her father in the third-class lab because that was her only option. She was too smart for that, by a long shot, as was her father, but Vegeta-sei was not the place one could improve one's rank in society based on brains. She had resigned herself to that. She knew she was strong, but she never considered what Goku had suggested. Would she be happy at the lab? Maybe to an extent because science and invention was her passion, but she would be so restricted by her status that she would probably never feel truly fulfilled. Bulma knew herself—unfulfilled, stifled Bulma was an angry Bulma, and an angry Bulma was… problematic.
But this route… fighting wasn't her passion the same way science was, but she did enjoy it, and she was pretty good at it as far as she knew. She had taken out her share of assholes in her days. In fact, she couldn't think of the last time she had lost a fight. And if she could improve her status that way, she could potentially transfer to one of the better labs later once her service was completed.
She knew next to nothing about Prince Vegeta. She had seen him in passing during royal processions, but that means nothing. She had heard rumors that he was an asshole, but how would that make him any different than her fellow saiyans? It didn't even matter. It would be a job. Nothing more. She could serve her time and then move on to greener pastures.
Was she going to do this?
"Bulma!" Chichi called. Bulma snapped out of her trance. How long had she been lost in her own thoughts? Not that this was a new thing for her. "Come on! We're going to go celebrate!"
"Coming," Bulma replied. She tossed one final look at the door, making up her mind. The blue-haired saiyan smirked at the palace, resolved. "Coming."
Author's Note: That's chapter 1! Let me know what you all think. :) Reviews are life!
~ Trixie-chan
