"SEEMS PLEASANT!?" Sokka gawked at the Saiyan, lunging into his face,"Are you kidding me!? You think THAT'S a pleasant-looking city!? Do you have any idea how NOT pleasant the Fire Nation is!? If you were to compare how pleasant the Fire Nation is to a tree, it'd be the most rotten, putrid tree in a forest FULL of rotten, putrid trees! I mean one o' the rotten trees would be like,' Hey, ew, look at how ugly that tree is; I feel far less rotten and putrid just by glancing at it!', and then another tree would turn to the first tree and be all like,' You know what? I hear that tree cheated on his tree wife and then tree raped her just 'cause he felt like it,' and then incredible rumors would spread across the whole decaying forest like wildfire until you are left with nothing but an entire forest full of gossiping, leprous trees!" Sokka finished, frozen in an over-dramatic pose, peering into the warrior's eyes.
Vegeta merely stood there with his arms crossed."...What is wrong with your voice?" he finally asked, completely unaffected by the teen's high-pitch rant.
Suddenly, Sokka flopped to the ground anime-style.
Sokka lifted himself up on his arms, totally befuddled."What...What the heck just happened to me?"
"It seems you were so overwhelmed with frustration, you temporarily lost all voluntary muscle control; that'll probably happen more often from here on..." speculated Vegeta.
Katara sighed."Sokka, we keep telling you, Vegeta's from space; he doesn't know anything about the War."
While Sokka would have normally hit himself in the head at such a declaration, the teen felt oddly soberer after allowing every muscle in his entire body to spasm simultaneously, so he settled with sighing and propping his chin on his hand."Of course, my bad..."
Katara began to explain."Vegeta, for the past hundred years, the Fire Nation has waged a full-scale war with the whole world in a mad bid for total domination of our planet; they've taken over cities, burned down countless villages, and even wiped out the Air Nomads!" she told him, gesturing to the bald child,"They also took my mother away..." she added mournfully.
After the Saiyan spared a moment to take this in, he scoffed."pttf, I can top that: My entire race was single-handedly eradicated in five minutes by a transsexual lizard dwarf who treated the universe like it was his backyard! I to this day still haven't the slightest idea how Nappa survived..." he lamented, staring into space.
The boy blinked in realization."Wait a minute, you mean, your whole race was wiped out?"
Sokka then felt it time to arise to his feet, wiping the dirt off his clothes."No, Aang, his race was not wiped out, because he is not from space, he does not have any special powers, and there is no such thing as other worlds," he stated firmly, facing Vegeta.
"I'm really starting not to care for your ignorance..." warned the Saiyan.
The two stared down with a thousand-yard glare, which was rather peculiar considering they were standing merely several inches apart from eachother.
"Sokka, Vegeta is our new friend, there's no reason to engage..." Aang started slowly.
"And if by 'ignorance', you mean 'I think you're full of komodo fertilizer' then you can bet I'm the most ignorant person on the planet, aside from you, that is..." Sokka prodded.
Vegeta leaned in closer, cocking his head to the right."You are aware I graduated from Freiza University with a major in planet bursting?"
"I don't see how that should worry me: I'm not a planet..." Sokka replied.
"Sokka, stop it! You're going to give our species a bad reputation!" Katara pleaded.
"Listen to me, you worthless runt..." Vegeta started.
" 'Runt!?'" Sokka scoffed," You're one to talk; we're the exact same height!"
It was this comment that caused the Saiyan's scowl to briefly vanish as it had before, taking more brainpower than usual to process the teen's reply; when it was fully comprehended, he quietly exhaled."Say that one more time..."
"I said that if it weren't for your stupid hair, you'd be just as short as me; in fact, you might even be shorter!"
Vegeta mindlessly tackled the Water Tribe boy to the ground, constricting his fingers around Sokka's narrow throat, forcing the teen to poke Vegeta in the eyes with his fingers and head-butted the prince in the nose; though this caused the Saiyan's death-lock to relent, they still continued to wrestle, rolling and grunting across the plateau.
"Sokka! No! Please!" Katara cried out.
The two tumbled over a cliff and into a tree, which shook violently as they brawled within its leaves; they eventually fell out apart from each other.
"You...You TAKE THAT BACK!" Vegeta stammered, his hair haggard and dizzily arising to his feet.
"Make me!" Sokka cried, his ponytail unraveled to reveal his long, messy mane; he unsheathed his boomerang and hurled it at Vegeta.
The Saiyan deflected the projectile away with a swipe of his arm, and, out of pure space-instinct, forced his palms toward his opponent as if to fire a ki blast - which exactly what happened: the small ball of energy flew into Sokka's abdomen and knocked him off his feet.
"ugh, What? I..." he realized, looking at his hands.
The girl and bald child were speechless as they viewed it all from the edge.
"Um, Vegeta, could you do that again? I think the sun somehow got in my eyes despite the fact that I was clearly looking down," the boy requested.
"Vegeta, your bending is back!" Katara beamed, clasping her fingers together in a fashion stereo-typical of her particular character,"Wow, I've never seen bending so beautiful before..." yep, no dynamic traits over here...
While the teen was momentarily a gust, he quickly stood upright and resumed his own static nature."Well big deal, so he can shoot sunlight out of his hands, it still doesn't prove he's from space," he concluded, dusting his torso off, "Besides, it didn't exactly make any mountains disappear; and we're not gonna beat the Fire Lord by pushing him over..." though his comment was finished, his voice was soon drowned out by the slowly growing laughter of the Saiyan prince, who had apparently completely ignored the children out of the sheer joy of firing his first actual ki-ball in, well, it was really only about thirty-six hours since his crash-landing, but for the Saiyan, it felt as if he were a savage polar bear just awakening from a long hibernation...
"Wait a second, polar bears don't hibernate," Vegeta thought "... screw it! I have my power back all the same!"
"Yes, Yes! I knew this ailment couldn't have lasted! The Prince of Saiyans has returned!" Vegeta reveled, pumping his fists in the air.
"I thought you were the last of your kind..." Sokka reminded snidely
"Oh, shut up! It's the principle that matters..." Vegeta responded, staring out into space in that way that somehow makes him look cool, "Besides, that little ball I threw at you is literally nothing compared to the power of most races: you people are truly refuse; and now that I have even a splint of my ki, I don't need you anymore..." the Saiyan announced ruthlessly, walking off into the distance his gaze was directed towards, which just happened to be the newly-conquered city of Omashu.
"Wait, you're leaving?" Katara asked, "But, we barely know anything about you or your culture; I mean, you're literally the last member of your species; you're like the hand extended from the precipice of your dying world, desperately crying out for its story of life to be heard. Even if, somewhere out in the universe, there were some young, sovereign child roughly Aang's age who possessed Saiyan blood from one side of his family and even were just as powerful or even more powerful than the entirety of your race combined, it still wouldn't count. Isn't there some quality of your people that stands out from the universe; or at the very least, an account of the hardships and sufferings of your own personal journey throughout the cosmos?"
The Saiyan pondered all of this deeply..."...nupe..." he said nonchalantly, continuing his walk.
The three stood and watched the blue-clad warrior fade away into the landscape.
"Guys, let's just forget about him; we've got to find a way to get into the city..." Sokka began.
It could well have been considered night by the time the Saiyan had passed half a mile within the city gates, having trekked across the bridge spanning the distance between the city itself and the point where he left the annoying children.
Vegeta still wasn't able to fly, but he crossed the path silently and without complaint; he thought the walk might be good for his ki, which he was going to need very soon, as the Saiyan was nearing the iron gates, the lookouts spotting him long before he them, and the two guards at the gates were fully prepared for a confrontation, but Vegeta was not worried: he was prepared as well...
"Halt, trespasser! What business do you have here!?" one of the guards demanded, pointing an accusing finger; they were clearly not happy to see a man clad in blue with the limits of the city, let alone anything but red...
"Have no fear, I am not here to harm you..." "...for tonight..." Vegeta kept the last part in his mind,"I am but a humble traveler wishing to reload on some supplies from your great city," "...which I will blow up soon after..." he continued to think, attempting to walk passed them.
The two "firebenders" immediately shifted into their special stances."Not one inch further!" the other guard replied."We're going to have to see some qualification!"
Vegeta rolled his eyes. While he was sure he could take these to men out seamlessly, there was no telling how many more sentries were watching him at this point, an he still did not want to take a chance with these inhabitants; the only way to get pass the guards was to convince them to allow him passage. Speaking of which, this reminded the Saiyan of a similar scenario that he had the pleasure watching on earth television, he wondered if it could be employed with some ki...
"You don't need to see to my qualification..." Vegeta sounded eriely, waving his hand in an attempt to place his influence upon them.
The guards paused, their tension lowered."What? of-Of course we do! You're just some strange man that's walking around in the middle of the night!" the first guard concluded.
"...no, you don't..." the warrior tried it again.
"Yes we do. Why do you think cities have guards!?" the second guard inquired.
"...Noooo, you DON'T!" Vegeta tried harder.
"Yeeees, we DO!" the first guard mocked, waving his own hand." Honestly, you're making a fool out of yourself. If you don't have any qualification, just turn around and come back when you get some!" he finalized, pointing back beyond the Saiyan.
Vegeta slapped his forehead; he should've figured there was only one way through these doors."Fine, just give me a minute..." the Saiyan search with in his imaginary back pockets for some qualification."hmm, let's see here...it's gotta be somewhere I know I...oh my, well this is embarrassing, it seems I must've left it in my GALLICK GUN!" Vegeta roared, quickly cupping his hands together and shoving them in front the guards...only succeeding in creating a poof of purple, glowing mist that did no harm whatsoever. The three pairs of eyes watched the mist dissipate into little sparkles that floated to the earth, vanishing into nothing.
Vegeta's pupils shrank at the sight."What? Wait, WHAT!? No! I had it back! I did just a second ago, I swear!" Vegeta insisted, pointing to the ground in bewilderment.
The guards were not quite sure what to make of this "display of power"; but after a second, the first guard's face scrunched up in disdain." Did you just try to assault us!? That's it! You're under arrest!" he announced.
"No w-Wait wha NO-!" was what the prince cried before being seized away by his wrists and shoulders.
Before Vegeta knew where he went wrong, he was stripped down to his underpants and strung by his ankles with a long chain, dangling upside-down as he was raised to a height of at least fifty feet in the air, staring down at a few smug Fire Nation faces. "YOU INSOLENT VERMIN! I'LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!" the Saiyan bellowed.
"That'll be enough out of you, trouble maker!" a familiar guard exclaimed."We get too much from those crazy earthbender rebels as it is!" he finished, shaking his fist.
"Isn't this a tad harsh?" the other guard asked, "I mean, he couldn't even harm us."
The first guard spun to him."So what of it!? Should every fool that failed to assassinate the Fire Lord be pardoned for his ineptness!?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right..." the other guard thought; then, he had an epiphany."Hey, speaking of the Fire Lord, did you hear that Princess Azula is coming to Omashu for a tour?"
Guard #1 brightened up."No way! Really?"
"Yeah!" #2 confirmed, "I heard she should be here by tomorrow afternoon..."
The two guards walked away as they talked about it, leaving Vegeta to himself...
...That is until the Saiyan swung a glance to his right to see that he in fact was not the only one being suspended by a chain in this particular spot, only this one had the luxury of being hung right-side-up; it was a rather senile-looking old man, trapped within the confines of a metal case - Vegeta could tell he was old man due to his face being the only exposed portion of his own personal cell. Well, it was going to be a long night out here, so he might as well be the one to start a conversation, perhaps even strike up an alliance and plot to escape..."...So, what are you up here for?" Vegeta finally asked.
The elderly gentlemen flashed him a mad grin." I'm the king of Omashu!" he beamed.
The Saiyan felt the bridge between his eyes. "I feel as though I'm still trapped in that damn cave..."
As expected, the Saiyan prince hung up there all night long with no sleep, his head as red as an apple from all the alternate blood-flow to his brain, which actually allowed him to think much clearer; the upside to this was it enabled Vegeta to rethink over the sudden inconsistency of his power level. How was it that he could shoot at the Sohka boy successfully but fail to do the same to the guards? What was the difference? It's easily been 48 hours since his landing, and the Saiyan Prince has blown up heavenly bodies in far worse conditions, there was definitely something that is directly affecting his power level, greatly weakening it. He really should have addressed that before making such an impulsive decision against the human guards.
Now, the downside to being forcefully hung upside down, Vegeta learned, was that it completely prevented him from falling asleep through the 12 hours of darkness, while receiving an agonizingly thorough explanation for each of what his new friend Bumi referred to as "the eighty-five jins" - the Saiyan could've sworn that the old man surpassed the eighty-five mark roughly six hours ago, but didn't dare imply that the so-called "king" should start over. All the while, the Saiyan peered up at the three-quarters-full moon, with all his might willing his body to transform into the mighty Oozaru and go on a mindless rampage across the countryside; but alas, the permanent loss of his tail was the price of becoming a Super Saiyan. It didn't matter at this point: the old man had ceased speaking fifteen minutes ago, the dawn of morning clawing its way up the horizon; and while the Saiyan liked to entertain the possibility that the elder's heart had stopped within that span of time, that wish was once again reduced to a dream...
"So..." Bumi began anew, "You say your name is Vegeta...?"
"I did..." Vegeta replied, though wondering when exactly he related his name.
There was another pause...
"...Know what that sounds like?"
"I know what it sounds like..." the Saiyan responded quickly, inwardly begging that little Namekian that this man had not come across the connection-
"Vegetable!"
"Curse you, you little green bastard!" Vegeta grimaced mentally.
The old man chuckled."So how did ya end up with a name like that? Did ya shoot outta' the ground when you were a baby?"
"Something like that..." Vegeta lamented."For your information, old man, I was named after my father, who established himself as king of the Saiyan race and, in one night, overthrew the entirety of Planet Pla-" his lips tightened, knowing where he was walking right into...
"Planet what now...?" Bumi waited, his wrinkly grin spreading.
The Saiyan's face contorted as he resisted the urge to reveal the original name of his long-forgotten homeworld; but sadly, it was too late."...Planet...Plant..." he vomited the word out of his mouth.
The old man burst into a fit of laughter." I knew it! You're a plant-man! That's why your people are named after vegetables!"
"That's not true!" Vegeta hastily responded.
"Named after your father, 'eh? I'm sure he was tall as a tree, and his mind was well rooted in wisdom! I'm happy to see his seed lives on!" he howled.
Every word of the old man hurt worse than when Frieza shot through his chest with his Death Beam.
"So, what's your brother's name?" the self-proclaimed king inquired.
Vegeta scowled even further."That's none of your business...!"
"Ooh, don't tell me! Is it Fruit? Oh no no, don't tell me, it's Table? As in VegeTable!?" the geezer exploded with a mad cackle full of snorts.
The prince hit a critical temperature by now, that insanely accurate joke jerking at his very nerves." You listen to me, you wrinkled waste of oxygen: If you make one more produce joke about my family, I'll swing over there and rip your head out of that ridiculous metal box!" he warned.
The elder still giggled."Alright, I'll stop! Jeez! All you had to do was tell me if you didn't care for what I was..." he stopped, making sure the prince got this last one.
Vegeta's eyes bugged out, stupefied at this man's audacity."Don't. You. Dare..."
Bumi's smile widening from one ear to the other."...saiyan..."
"I tell you, your highness," the governor began, walking alongside Princess Azula, who was being carried via palanquin, as they walked through the former Earth King's courtyard,"You will never forget your stay here at Omashu; true, there are many building sites yet to be completed - the memorial statue of your father being our top proje..." though the official's banter had gradually melted away as the area resonated with the distant sound of elongated yelling from some other part of the city, naturally perplexing all the men present.
The princess smirked sisterly."Actually, I think I'll enjoy my stay just fine..."
The Space warrior had to take a moment to regain his air after screaming so powerfully, breathing slowly and audibly.
The old man's exposed face cringed the whole time."Wow, you've got some lungs there, Space Man! I bet even the Avatar heard that one..." he complemented
"I WILL INCINER-!...the ava-what?" Vegeta paused, his unbridled rage somehow counter-acted by this new terminology.
Bumi shook his head as best he could."Not Ava-what, Avatar; you know? Master of all four elements?"
"What is that your made-up god or something?" the Saiyan queried.
The elder remembered."Oh right, you're from that vegetable planet, so you don't know who that is..."
The prince glared daggers."I will tree rape you..."
Bumi ignored him, continuing in a surprisingly prudent tone: "The Avatar is the one and only master of all four elements, whose primary purpose is to maintain an ever-lasting balance and harmony around the earth - this is what makes him the enemy of the Fire Nation, which believes that they should rule over the other three nations," he announced.
Vegeta snorted."So, basically, they're elemental nazis?" he wondered.
"Exactly, they're like nazis," Bumi nodded, but then paused, "wait, what's a nazi?"
"You'll find out once this planet has its own second world war," Vegeta answered."No planet is allowed to have more than two world wars; it's intergalactic law."
"Well anyway, the Avatar mysteriously disappeared a short while before the War had even begun, and it remains raging on unquenched...but there is indeed hope, for the Avatar has returned; and though he has his work cut out for him this time around, he will eventually restore the balance to this war-torn world," he finished, looking out onto the horizon thoughtlessly.
"Too bad Sozin's Comet's this summer..." added a droll, female voice.
The two prisoners paused, and reverted their eyes down (up for Vegeta)wards to see a young girl wearing a long, heavy red baggy garments with sleeves extending beyond her arms; her jet-black hair was neatly tied into pigtails that completely contrasted her facial expression, which was so dead she might as well've not been alive, something she probably dreaded herself.
"So you're supposed to be that idiot with the terrible firebending that tried to fight his way into the city last night? That's boring, and I guess regular firebending is boring, your bending must be supremely boring..." she breathed.
Once more, Vegeta was agitated anew."I'm not a bender, you bratty goth: I'm a Saiyan!"
"I couldn't care less if you were a 'super' Saiyan - you're boring either way..." she sighed, "oh well, shouldn't expect anything less. It was boring meeting you; maybe Azula is here to kill me - at least that'll put an end to all the boredom..." the girl flicked her sleeved hand as she resumed her walk of perpetual boringness.
Vegeta gazed down(up) at the girl, utterly confounded by her irreverence; Bumi, on the other hand, seemed to be formulating an idea. He called for the girl and smiled."Hey! Ya wanna know what wouldn't be boring!? If my friend here 'conveniently' broke free so he could run a muck all over the city!"
The girl stopped, turning her attention back to the Saiyan." That does sound pretty not boring..." she smirked. She then produced a knife that was hidden within her sleeve, and gracefully hurled it through the air; the small blade darted past the chain suspending the half-naked warrior, cleanly severing it in an instant.
"Oh, Dende, not agaaAAAAAAH-!" the Saiyan whaled as he plunged down like a lead balloon, destined to slam head-first onto the cold, merciless pavement. The terrified prince desperately tried to gather whatever miniscule puddle of energy within his body and force it out in bleak effort to proppel himself forward. It kind of worked: the Saiyan stopped short in midair, remaining still like a speeding car driver that hit the brakes, coincidentally at eye-level with the dry-eye girl.
"HAH! I can fly once more! In your fa-!" his gloating was cut off as he plopped to the ground. The Saiyan groggily arose to his feet, taking a moment to allow his blood flow to rearrange itself accordingly. "Right, still weakened... So, I never caught your name..."
The teen stared unfazed by this strange display."My name is Mai; I'm the daughter of the guy who governs the city, not that he cares..."
At this, Vegeta cocked his eyebrow, grinning slyly."You don't say...?"
"Yeah, so go ahead and make with the terrorizing; I can't wait to see the look on those guards' fac-" she was immediately socked in the face.
Vegeta seized the dizzy girl by her arm, wrapped his foot chains around her waist and legs at a flashing speed, and flipped her upon his bare shoulder. The Saiyan turned his eyes back up to the old man."My salutations to you, Bumi; when I regain my power, I'll see to it you rule this planet with an iron fist!"
The elder seemed preoccupied with a long strain of mucus that hung from his left nostril, which he then snorted back into his sinus cavity."whawazat?" he inquired, not listening.
The prince blinked, looking away."...I can make no promises..." he concluded, running off with the girl.
Cut to two familiar Fire Nation guards, sitting at a table playing pai sho with eachother.
"Hey, I just remembered something: shouldn't we be watching that prisoner we caught last night?" Guard#2 recalled.
Guard #1 chuckled to himself."Right, like that guy's gonna cause us any more trouble. Besides, who cares if one loser escapes? It's not like there's going to be some special twist that'll suddenly make not only our lives but the lives and welfare of our loved ones heart-poundingly dependent upon his capture..."
"JINX!" Vegeta exclaimed as he blurred past the two, carrying Lady Mai over his shoulder.
The pair of firebenders were awestruck.
"Aww soot, let's get'em!"
It wasn't long before the Saiyan found himself fleeing from a dozen firebenders; a combination of fireballs, swords, and spears flew from behind him and swiped past him, narrowly missing each time.
"Oh yeah, guys, just keep throwing stuff at him; don't even think about how you might hit me...!" Mai commented sarcastically.
Two construction workmen were carrying a large wooden plank over their heads; the one in front froze upon seeing a manic-looking indecently dressed man with wild hair sprinting in his direction, followed by a squad of soldiers.
"What's the hold-up, Yosuke?" the worker in behind asked, right before Yosuke fled for his life, his end of the board dropping to the ground.
This allowed the Saiyan to dash up the plank like a ramp and leap into the air, kicking his way through a second-story window, terrifying an old lady who was just rising out of bed. After he ran out of the bedroom, the crone flipped the covers, revealing an old man who was still asleep; she promptly slapped the man to awareness.
"What'd I do!?" The husband demanded.
Vegeta bolted through the apartment; three firebenders blasted the front door down with no intention of paying for it. His way blocked, the Saiyan threw a tiny ki ball at them, stunning the middle one while the other two marveled." The tap is low but at least there's water!" the prince cried smugly as he darted across the living room and lunged out the window. He ended up in someone else's apartment; he ran past a startled artist who was painting images on a hand-molded clay pot. A spit-second after, the pot was decimated by a fireball that flew from the first apartment.
"Oh come on! AGAIN!?" The potter exclaimed, now baring a sense of what that cabbage merchant must've felt like last winter...
The prince bounded out the third window, though he quickly realized there was no third apartment to crash into. The Saiyan plummeted down into the street, coincidentally landing butt-first onto the saddle of a poorly-restrained ostrichhorse. The sudden shock caused the animal to frantically gallop down the street.
The rider of the bird was just walking out of the bar restroom, adjusting his trousers; he gasped in horror."Help! I've been bird-jacked!" he yelped as four firebenders on komodo rhinos thundered past him.
The prince - Mai still over his shoulder - grappled the flapping reigns of the giant bird, doing his best to control it. He turned to see his pursuers.
The soldiers continued to hurl fireballs at him - again, disregarding Mai.
"YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME ALIVE, COPPERS!" the Saiyan spontaneously shouted, shooting little ki projectiles at them through his finger, as if his hand were a revolver.
"Um, I know you're just gonna ignore me as everybody else does, but do you even have the faintest idea about how you're gonna get out of the city in one piece?" Mai inquired calmly.
"I'm actually just waiting it out until I have enough energy to blow up the planet..." the Saiyan explained in an equally droll tone. He fired one more crack shot that nailed the front rhino right in the eye, causing it to slow down and make the other riders crash into it; the fourth rider nimbly evaded the pile-up by swerving his rhino into a hard right turn, slamming right into a lamp post. Before the rider could dismount the beast of burden, the creature, out of pure randomness, exploded in a plume of flame, as if it were a wrecked automobile.
The prince grinned."Looks like the po po ain't no moe'..."
All of a sudden, one of the embers from the explosion landed on the ostrichhorse's tail feather, its whole backside inevitably catching fire. The bird shrieked, madly dashing twice as fast, this time uncontrollably.
"Gurwah! No! I can't control it!" the Saiyan announced.
Countless citizens, carriage and on foot alike, scrambled in all directions from the half-naked madman on a flaming ostrichhorse at it blazed down the street like a rocket.
"Oh come on, slow down! Oh, what did that stupid bald kid say!? er, Yap-yip! Yippity-yap-yap!"
Unfortunately, no amount of yippityyapping was going to convince the crazed foul to decrease its velocity; and, as if any other scenario could be the end result of running aimlessy around a city notorious for its steep, vertical structure, The animal flew off the edge of some random ledge (which rhymed...), the two slipping off of the bird as it dove down to its doom (as well as providing for some good alliteration too...).
The Saiyan and human screamed as they fell into a conveniently placed wagon of wheat...
Vegeta slowly emerged from the stems, his hair filled with straw, only to come across another sobering sight: right in front of him was a horde of ragged citizens of varying ages, moaning and limping along mindlessly in one direction, their skin covered in red spots, indicating that the entire city had been smitten with some sort of...
"PLAGUE! PLAGUE!" a random guard finished Vegeta's thought.
"Huh, a zombie apocalypse, hate to say I told you so..." Mai gloated emotionlessly, her own head popping out of the wheat.
Upon a second survey of the presumed "zombies", the prince observed that most of them didn't seem to be enduring much agony as expressed, as well as the fact that they all happened to be moving in the exact same direction; from this, the Saiyan deduced the people were simply feigning a deathly illness, for what reason he did not know.
Vegeta decided it was time to crawl out of the wagon, jerking his pessimistic hostage with him by the chain; he paced a few yards and latched one of the "victims" by the back of his shirt.
"You!" the prince began, "What manner of perverted flash-mob is afoot here!?"
The middle-aged gentlemen responded by spinning around grabbed the Saiyan's shoulder." Shh! You'll give us away!" the man pleaded."We're only pretending to be sick so the governor will drive us out of Omashu! The Avatar is in the city! He's orchestrating an escape!"
A typical anime expression of surprise played over Vegeta's face." The Avatar!? Here...!?" he thought."Take me to him!"
"Alright, fine; but you're going to have to look sick too," the man explained, sticking his hand into his pocket and taking out a peculiar little pink octopus-like creature."Here, put this pentupus on your face."
The prince reeled back in horror." WHAT!? Are you insane!? I'm not letting that squishy-thing anywhere NEAR me!" he cried.
"I'll put it on me..." Mai offered, out of pure curiosity.
The rebel sighed."Listen, pal, I know it's not a very stylish plan, and I'm not too thrilled about it either..." the man was interrupted as the Saiyan rudely brushed past him, following the people himself.
The Earth Kingdom native shook his head."Freaky-Alien-Genotype..."
The Saiyan flowed with the river of humans all the way through the gate, somehow evading a sighting from the distressed guards; if could have been that they were glad to see some escaped prisoner surrounded by the "disease" and paid him no mind, though it did pose a sharp query as to why they would allow the virtual princess of the city to be whisked off with the victims - Vegeta began to wonder if this Mai was really who she claimed to be...
It was nice again night by the time the citizens had decided they were far enough from the city to settle, camping for the night. Vegeta paced aimlessly through the crowd; some were propping up tents, cooking their dinner, hugging and cheering in light of their parish victory - the Saiyan was also hearing jabber pertaining journeying to some grand city, supposedly the last stronghold against the Fire Nation; Vegeta wondered what kind of a city would be so huge as to dwarf the mountain of a town they were just liberated from. There was, eventually, some gossip about the Saiyan himself; as well as his captive, the group echoing with such murmurs as 'Is that who I think it is?' or 'Well I'll be an elephant coi in the desert...'
As his trek progressed, he noticed a tight gathering of rebels nearby, all eagerly encircling a central object.
"That must be him..." Vegeta thought, increasing his pace into the crowd.
Whoever this Avatar was, it made sense that he had something to do with Vegeta's ailment - an individual such as this would obviously feel threatened by the coming of a Super Saiyan, and so would be obliged to use whatever powers at hand and strike him down with some kind of ki-crippling technique in an act of defense. The prince pushed through the wall of man and woman. It ought to be a simple objective, the prince thought, to make a deal with the Avatar in which if he revealed to him the antidote - assuming there was one - Vegeta would assist him in reconquering his planetary empire, and then the Saiyan simply would have his space pod recovered and repaired, and that'd be the end of it; he threw aside the previous imperative of destroying the planet in vengeance - he did not want to find out the range of the Avatar's energy-draining ability. As the prince neared the center, his mind danced back to the dumb children that allegedly rescued him from the crash; he tightened his cheeks at the prospect of ever running into them again...
Oh well, thought the Saiyan, like that was ever going to happen...
"One side, weaklings! I've got an appointment to make!" Vegeta growled, shoving past the last line of people."Well, Avatar, it appears we finally me-"
The prince froze solid, not one ligament so much as twitching, every single muscular cord within the confines of his physiology literally halting from failure to contract, right down involuntary one such as his lungs and heart.
"...it...it can't be..." he moaned breathlessly, his cerebrum crashing at the moment it put all the pieces together.
The Saiyan slowly raised a shaky finger to the individual at the center of the crowd, who was clearly just as surprised to see him, as well as his two friends.
"...n-no, no no NOO!" the Saiyan whaled."IT CAN'T BE YOU! IT JUST CAN'T BE! YOU'RE THE AVATAR!?" he roared, throwing his finger at the young boy.
Sokka stood transfixed, bewildered at the idea."...What? I'm not the Avatar! Who told you that?"
Vegeta paused, his scowl once again gone; then a tsunami of relief swept the Saiyan away, he kneeled over and sighed loudly, actually laughing a little...
"Aang is," Sokka explained, gesturing to the bald child.
Vegeta stopped laughing...
The governor and his wife stood out on the balcony as the city once again echoed with a faint, prolonged,"Goddammiiiiiiiit!"
"Oh, I hope Tom Tom is alright..." the governor lamented.
"...and Mai too..." his wife added.
"Wait, you mean she's gone too?" the governor asked with genuine surprise
"OF ALL THE RIDICULOUS SCENARIOS THAT COULD'VE EVER PLAYED OUT...!"Vegeta continued thrashing for a second or two, but was interrupted when Katara happily wrapped her arms around him.
"Vegeta! You're back! I thought we'd never see you again and, and...wow..." she mumbled as she for the first time scanned the Saiyan's toned upper body, her hand grazing his well-defined abdominals.
"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF ME, YOU UNDERAGED SAVAGE!" the prince roared, violently pushing the girl to the dirt; he threw another wrathful finger, this time at the true Avatar."Alright, I've had it up to my HAIR with you insipid brats and your mind games! What kind of sick game of cat and moose are you playing!? Why don't you just cut the garlic and kill me already!?"
Avatar Aang was clearly alarmed." Vegeta, calm down! I'm not trying to play games with you; all I want is to be your friend." he explained, with a smile that made the boy appear more adorable and harmless than a new-born lambpuppy.
No dictionary in the known universe could describe the murderous, rancorous thoughts fermenting throughout the Saiyans phyche...
"Oh, good, I thought I was the only one who had those..." Mai noted.
For the first time, the trio acknowledged the girl's existence.
"Um, who is this?" Sokka inquired, raising a finger.
The frustrated prince jerked his thumb toward her."Oh, that's just some girl I kidnapped as a hostage when I escaped," Vegeta explained,"She claims to be the governor's daughter, but no one seems to care enough to save her..."
"...or, at least not shoot fire at me..." Mai added.
"Wait, I know you..." Katara recalled, rising to her feet,"You're that girl those Earth Kingdom rebels ambushed."
"woot!" sounded one of the perpetrators in the crowd, pumping his fist high enough to be seen.
"And you're with the Avatar; small world, huh?" the goth replied, crossing her unknowable arms."Can I have my baby brother back now?"
" 'Brother'?" the three turned their attention to the small infant coincidentally seated next to Aang.
"No way! This is your brother!?" Katara queried.
"Uh, yeah, I just said that..." Mai reminded.
"Guys, are you getting this!? We have both of the governor's children! Do you know what this means!?" Sokka had an idea.
The Avatar scratched his chin for a moment..."That, we're going to have to return them to their parents and apologize for the mix-up?" he guessed.
Vegeta, Sokka, Mai, and all the Earth Kingdom rebels stared at the boy as if he had grown a beard in real time, an owl crowing somewhere out in the distance...
"What? I think it's a great plan," Katara chirped.
Vegeta and Sokka slammed to the ground anime-style.
"Man that smarts..." the teen groaned, rising to a sitting position and rubbing the back of his sore head.
"You'll get used to it..." Vegeta replied, just sitting.
Mai wriggled her arms out of the chains, hopped over to the infant, and took him up in her sleeves (disciplined to keep her arms hidden at all times like a proper Fire Nation lady); she was still placid."Yeah, well, I think what your friend was going to say was that you guys could make some kind of deal where you'd trade me and Tom Tom over for something, like food, or gold..." she vocalized.
"...or my clothes..." the half-naked Saiyan threw in.
"Really?" the Avatar understood, "I dunno, that sounds like something the Fire Nation would do..." he said, looking at his shoes.
"What the Fire Nation would do..." began the resistance leader, who was genuinely standing there idly for five minutes not saying a word until at that very moment, "is dress them up in enemy clothing and put them out on the front line, and then they'd watch," he emphasized, gaining the foreseen reaction."Right now, this trade could be our only opportunity to rescue the king..."
Vegeta perked up."The king?"
The Avatar turned to him."Yeah, King Bumi."
The Saiyan was utterly flabbergasted; his pupils rolled into his head as his body desperately contained his inner rage."Okay, seriously, I'm going to go find a rock to bang my head against for the next five hours..." he said as he stomped past Aang, who happily turned to the resistance leader."You're not gonna believe me, but that guy's from outer space!"
Sokka's upper half slouched."...and now, I need to go find a rock..." he walked away
After Vegeta and Sokka exhausted their skulls of the ability to feel pain, the plan was initiated. The Avatar's pet flying lemur was used as a messenger to deliver a letter containing the details for the trade; coincidentally, the Fire Nation governor had sent a hawk with a message of its own, and the two flying animals had a bit of an arial skirmish after soaring into eachother in the dead of night, unbeknownst to either party.
It was decided that the Avatar, his friends, and Vegeta would go alone and meet with the negotiators next morning at an elevated construction site of some statue, the project postponed for that day for obvious reasons.
As they walked along with the wood platforming, staring onward with determination, Sokka felt it the best time to broach what was truly the most pressing question...
"Vegeta, how long exactly do you plan to wander around with no clothes on in public?" the teen expressed what was itching him all morning, pushing the restrained Mai along.
"As long as I have to..." the Saiyan, still in his tight black underpants, replied ambitiously, not looking at him.
Katara threw a scowl at her brother." Sokka, will you wind down? Vegeta doesn't have to wear a shirt if he doesn't want to..." she snapped softly as she ever so subtly fingered the prince's impressive right bicep, though the warrior paid her no mind.
"You know, Vegeta, you don't have to do this..." the Avatar said, wearing a make-shift hat to conceal his arrow tattoo; he was carrying the infant, "As a space-alien, you're a neutral by default; you have no obligation to ally with either side of this War..."
Sokka glared angrily at the sky in exasperation...
The prince snorted."These lowly maggots declared war on the Saiyan race the moment they removed my gloves..." the warrior hissed with malice, "Just pipe down and focus on the mission at hand..."
"kinda' hard to do that when my baby sister's playing with some pretzo's muscles right in my face..." Sokka grumbled behind his teeth.
The bald child shushed audibly.
As they neared the two individuals on the other end of the platform, Vegeta's keen eye was the first to pick up something off - both of them were teenaged girls, no older than their negative hostage.
"Wait a minute, they sent a couple of girls to oversee the exchange? What, are they part of this girl's fraternity? Seriously, between the Avatar and these two, do children just rule the world!?"
The one on the right was barely clothed in a short pink skirt and something between a tank top and a braw, also pink, to cover just enough of her chest to make boys curious; her sleeves and legs were draped with some transparent cloth which was a much lighter shade of pink, completing her all-pink wardrobe; she had a long, braided pony tail and a perky smile on her face; she also happened to be carrying a certain blue suit of armor, neatly folded in her arms. The one on the left contrasted significantly: she opted to don a kind of dark red armor/dress hybrid that covered her whole body, minus her hands, which were tipped with long, sharp fingernails. Her jet black hair was neatly wrapped and tightened as to have not a single hair out of place, with the exception of a pair of long bangs dangling in front of her ears, so finely snipped as to seem they could be used as deadly weapons. On the crown of her head was tied a tight topknot with a golden headpiece shaped like a small flame. Like the first girl, her lipstick-covered mouth gave way to a defiant smile, only hers was more akin to a tenacious smirk, not unlike that of a Saiyan, complete with piercing golden eyes; her entire heir was that of both intimidation and dominance. It was by now the prince realized two things: this girl in particular truly did hold a profound position in world politics - the kind of position that determines the fate of the planet itself. The other thing was the realization that her eyesight had to be as keen as the Saiyan's, for she was currently sizing him up as well, inevitably reaching his own eyes - the two of them were locked in visual combat...
"Hiya, Mai!" the perkier-looking one called merrily, waving her arms.
It was this that actually seemed to unnerve the goth, the makings of a grimace dissettling her usual frown."Please kill me now; they're only here for the baby..."
"Only if they break the deal..." Vegeta responded mindlessly.
The two parties stopped their pace, still at least a few dozen yards from eachother. As this happened, a crane at the top of the scaffolding, lowered an annoyingly familiar metal box; it somehow spun around, revealing the cackling face of King Bumi.
"Well, well, Space-Man! I knew that weed run into eachother again!" the geezer sounded.
A visible twitch from the Saiyan..."...and while I'm at it, I'll probably borrow one of your knives..." he said to Mai.
"Do you have our friend?" the intimidating girl called rhetorically.
"She's right here." answered the poorly disguised Avatar.
"Yaaaaay!" The pink girl cheered, preparing to dash over to her friend when suddenly, the red girl snatched her by her hair braid.
"Not so fast, Ty Lee..." the evil one remarked calmly, turning back to the other side, "We want Mai to walk to us! Alone and un-shackled!"
The four looked at eachother; Vegeta nodded.
Sokka then cut the rope restraining the girl, and backed away; though, strangely, even though completely free, the girl didn't move.
"...Well? Go on, you're free now," Sokka reminded.
Mai crossed her arms and looked in a different way." Like I'm walking all the way over there just so Azula can draft me into some slumber-party hit-squad..." she responded drolly.
The red girl giggled."Oh-ho, Mai, you see right through me!" she cried bashfully, flinging her hand.
"A-who-la?" Vegeta inquired.
"Azula: the really scary-looking girl in red; she's the princess of the Fire Nation," the goth explained.
Katara's eyes widened."She's the princess? But, that would make her..."
"Zuko's sister..." Sokka finished with a scowl of his own, though it wasn't nearly as cool as Vegeta's.
"Yep, she's probably here to get me to help her hunt him down or that kinda' crap..." Mai continued.
The Saiyan in question once again swapped his own glare for a quizzical look."Why would she need your help in particular? She has an entire military at her disposal."
"Because I'm the best damn knife thrower in all of the Fire Nation."
"It's true; she is!" Azula confirmed.
"Awww, c'mon, Mai, what did Azula ever do for you to have such a black aura around her!?" the girl named "Ty Lee" asked naively.
The goth rolled her dull eyes." Oh gee, let me put it in chronological order:..." she began counting with her fingers,"There was the time Zuko was banished from the Fire Nation and you made no effort to defend him, the time you used my pet lambpuppy as target practice for your lightningbending, the time you convinced the whole nation I was an airbender just because I cut you in line in the caffeteria, the time you planted a cabbage slug into the boat before we left for Omashu - I know that was you - or how'bout just yesterday, when I was kidnapped in the first place?"
Azula crossed her arms."Please, that last one was completely out of my power..."
Mai shot a death-glare."He ran right past you."
The previous morning...
Azula was casually engaging in her usual morning jog, wearing lighter clothing and a headband, humming Eye of the Tiger-dillo to herself, when out of nowhere, a deranged screaming man in his underwear mounted atop a flaming ostrichhorse blew by her, her best friend dangling over his shoulder, followed by a group of soldiers on komodorhinos.
Azula took all this into account...but shrugged and decided to jog in the opposite direction...
Back to the present...
Azula shrugged in a similar manner." I didn't want to get involved in your business..." she explained innocently.
Sokka raised an eyebrow."And, she's your best friend because?"
"Because I'm the faceless accessory to a decedent puppet government..." Mai replied matter of factly.
"Of course you are," Azula agreed patronizingly," Now come over here like a good little pawn..." she gestured with her fingers, as to a dog.
Mai sighed."Fine, but I'm the one who gets to kill Zuko," she finalized as she slowly paced across the platform.
The Avatar smiled eagerly, holding Vegeta's bare shoulder."Isn't this great, Vegeta? Soon Mai will be returned to her family, and then we'll have Bumi to come with us on our adventures!"
At that very split-second, it was as if time stopped, the horrific realization finally manifesting itself before his eyes. The Saiyan's imagination was bombarded by nightmares pertaining to happy sing-a-longs and bad vegetable jokes while trapped on a flying bison for potentially the rest of his life...
Vegeta blinked..."NOOOOOOO!" the prince swung his fist into Mai's temple, knocking her out instantly.
"Vegeta, what a-!" the bald child could not fully accentuate his shock as the Saiyan snatched the baby from his hands, allowing the infant to dangle by his leg; Vegeta then produced a ki ball in his free hand, holding it dangerously close to the child's head.
"THAT'S IT! I've had enough of this ignorance!" Vegeta announces, his own voice trembling in a mixture of fear and rage," If I don't see my armor on this side of the platform in the next ten seconds, the boy dies! DO YOU UNDER-GODDAMN-STAND ME!?" the area echoed as the prince finished his rant...
The atmosphere dripped with raw silence; the Aang, Katara, and Sokka stood there hunched with their mouths hung open; Azula, Ty Lee, and Bumi were both like statues...
"...ooookay then..." Azula broke the silence with a clap of her hands, "I suppose the deals off; take the king back!" she commanded whoever was managing the crane, the metal box raising into the air; Ty Lee then sadly turned around, taking the Saiyans battle-suit with her.
"That does it! I warned you...!" the prince reminded, preparing to carry out his threat. But, for some reason, when he turned his attention to the infant, his focus at that juncture seemed to take an alternate direction. The Saiyan watched the child in his hand; though it hung helplessly with its ankle betwixt the merciless warrior, the boy actually started giggling as babies do, seemingly entertained by the ball of light. Vegeta was puzzled: this sight wasn't so much uncommon in the life of a former space-mercenary; in fact, it usually annoyed him, but now...Vegeta felt...a sort of ease of mind - the first in days now. As Vegeta peered at the child, his tiny fingers ever trying to grapple the ki ball, he couldn't help but admit to himself this boy reminded him of the previous planet, of quiet times, of an easier life, of a bed to sleep on, of...
...of his own infant son...
"WHAT THE HECK, MAN!?" screamed the voice of Sokka.
The Saiyan was jerked back to reality; he whipped his head to the left to see the teen.
"What's wrong with you!? We were about to have him AND your clothes back!" Sokka plainly explained.
"Huh?" the prince turned back in front of him, seeing the two girls leaving, taking his suit with them.
"No! My armor!" Vegeta cried, quickly but carefully handing the child to Sokka. He made a mad dash for the girls.
Azula paused in her walking, her lipstick-covered lips once again curled into a smirk as she heard footsteps rushing toward her.
"Come and get it..." she mumbled before wheeling around and shooting a blue stream of fire out from her fingertips; the Saiyan countered the incoming projectile with a recharged ki ball; the two missiles collided, creating a haze of smoke, which Vegeta dramatically lept out of, cocking his fist as he plunged for the firebender. The princess side-stepped just before his fist made a hole through the reinforced wood. The girl bobbed out of the way of Vegeta's other fist. and countered with a flaming claw, which Vegeta parried with his previous hand and seized her up by the throat, prompting her to grab the Saiyan's forearm with both hands and heated them up, forcing him to cringe in pain and drop her; the moment he let go, the princess kicked him in the stomach with both legs, the prince stumbling a few feet back. Before the Saiyan could charge her again, he blocked a flying kick from the pink-clad girl, the two engaging in a brief exchange of blows before backflipping apart from eachother.
"Man, this is gettin' good..." Bumi remarked.
"Interesting," Azula began cooly, feeling her bruised neck,"you're not as much a novice as those guards painted you to be; I'll be sure to punish them for their underestimation. I still, however, doubt you'll be able to take down Ty Lee so easily..."
"Is that a fact?" Vegeta smirked, charging a ki ball in each hand and hurling them at Ty Lee, who nimbly bent to avoid both light-balls, though there were more where those came from...
The children witnessed the spectacle with suprisingly placid expressions, as if they were merely watching ice-skating, of course Katara's was more provocative.
"Ssso, he seems like he's in trouble; shouldn't we, ya know, be helping him...somehow?" Sokka wondered...
"I guess...We could call Appa...or something..." Aang considered.
"Yeah, that's right, bend over and tighten those buns..." Katara fantasized.
"I'm going to ignore that..." Sokka tolerated.
"Grr! Stop dodging!" the Saiyan growled, throwing ball after ball of ki at the gymnist, who leaned and weaved and evaded each one.
"Stop dodging!" the prince yelled, increasing his rate of ki throwing into a full-fledge energy ball volley; though the girl flipped and twirled in mid-air, not a single ball so mush as grazing her clothes.
"STOP DOOOODGIIIIIIIING!" Vegeta roared, gathering up a large ki orb between both hands, and launched at the girl. Petrified, the acrobat swung her leg upward, actually kicking the orb far above her; it exploded against the chain suspending the old king; Bumi plummeted down into a stone shoot, sliding down the path.
The Avatar saw this."Bumi!" He shouted, recklessly revealing his identity as an airbender by opening his glider and flying after the king.
The prince stood there stupified, before the girl somersaulted behind him and threw a series of precise jabs all over his back and joints, the Saiyan tripping onto the wooden floor.
Princess Azula also saw this, realizing he was the Avatar,"My lucky day," she remarked, rushing after him.
"Well, at least you didn't dodge that one..." the warrior lamented, flat on his bare back; Vegeta then made to push himself back up with a his arms, but, mysteriously, he could not do that; in fact, the Saiyan soon found out all of his limbs weren't working, remaining unresponsive no matter how hard he willed them to move."Wha? What's going on!?"
The gymnast flipped on top of him, her knees on his abdomen." I blocked your chi! You won't be able to use it for a while..." she explained happily.
"You WHAT!?" the prince shrieked."Do have ANY idea how long it took me to regain my energy!?"
The acrobat cocked her head to her left." Aw, you seem upset; I know how to cheer you up...!" she announced, wiggling her dexterous fingers; she then preceded to gently but rapidly graze har fingers against vegeta's exposed sides.
Vegeta was confused; though, for some unknown reason, a smile unnaturally crept along his face."Wha? W-wait a minute, what're you doing-wha-we-u-erheh-heh what-hehheheheh-stop-heh-stop it!- heh HaHaHaHa! Cut that out-HAHAHAHAHA! STOP!-AHAHAHHAHAHA!-I'M WANRING YOU! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I SAID PISS OFF!" Vegeta thundered, as a shockwave of ki blasted Ty Lee into the air and catapulted her clean off the platform - an act that, were it not set in a TV-Y7 environment, would most likely have killed her, if not rendered her comatose and confining the highly mobile girl to the miserable and ironic life of spending the remainder of her as a living vegetable.
Katara blinked."...Damn...um, Okay, I'll take Mai and Tom Tom while you get Vegeta," she ordered, taking the infant in her arm while lifting the goth with her water tentacle.
The Saiyan grunted and heaved all he could, his body was almost as useless as Raditz. He managed at best to turn his head to the right, and that's when he saw it: his armor, lying on the ground within arm's length of his body; if only he could move his arm!. "No, I will not stand for this!" Closing out all awareness of his surroundings, the prince diverted all voluntary and involuntary brainpower to the sole task of schooching his right arm outward. "Yes! I can feel it! My arm is sliding against the wood! And my left arm as well!... And, my legs...and...my back...?" Vegeta finally opened one eye to check his progress as well as this strange sensation; all he saw was his armor gradually moving further away from him; wait, no, no the armor was just lying there, it was he who was moving - dragged in fact, by none other than Sokka.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" the Saiyan cried out to the teen as he hauled him away as if Sokka were committing some act of insanity.
The bony young man grunted."Relax! I'm taking you to Appa; there's no reason to stay here."
"But, my armor! NO! TURN AROUND, DAMN YOU! I'M NOT LEAVING MY ARMOR BEHIND!" Vegeta roared, in a fit of wrath and angst, mentally thrashing around in desperation.
"There's no time!" Sokka reasoned, him and his sister tugging his limp body onto the bison's saddle, a squad of firebenders forcing the beast to take off as soon as the three were mounted
"NNOOOOOOO! MY PREECIIIIOOOOUUUS!" the prince whaled futile as his beloved suit faded out of sight...
Vegeta lied there, still paralyzed and undressed, with the rest of the children - including the Avatar - as the bison sailed away from the grand city, the prince wearing the most malice-drenched expression yet...
"Don't be upset, Vegeta," the bald child began, guiding Appa, "I sorry we couldn't get your space-suit back, but look on the bright side, at least you have your health. And who says you need special clothes to define who you are?" he recited with a sweet smile.
The warrior's glare ceased to waver."The moment I can move my limbs, you'll be the first to die."
"Can I be the second?" the currently tied-up Mai threw in."I think I'm gonna be stuck with these guys for a while..." she said, well aware she was preaching to the space choir.
"Aang's right, Vegeta..." with the waterbender agreed softly, tightly hugging the Saiyan's bare arm, "we like you just the way you are..." she cooed, rubbing her cheek against his burly shoulder.
Vegeta closed his eyelids shut."...please stop touching me..." he said even softer.
Sokka shook his head."Man, you really had us there: I thought you were gonna do it..." he lamented, cradling the infant."Guess you're not as cold-blooded as we thought..." the teen added with a little sarcasm.
The Saiyan turned his glare over to Sokka, but it inevitably sunk down to the child in his arms, still playing with his bone boomerang; his sharp stare dulled."Yes, well...just wanted my armor back..."
"It's just terrible we couldn't get through the deal smoothly; I never wanted this to happen..." the Avatar continued glumly.
"What do you expect, boy? It's war; count it grace that you're still alive..." Vegeta replied, still with a definite edge.
"I dunno, kidnapping a baby? That's just not my thing."
Vegeta turned back to the child, now trying to catch that white monkey thing by its tail; as he crawled about, he stopped to look up at the crippled Saiyan with pure eyes...
The prince's pupils trembled; he shut them tight." Doh fine, we'll give the baby back, but the girl stays!" he concluded.
"That's alright; I was only thinking about the baby anyway..."The Avatar replied.
"Shouldn't have expected otherwise..." Mai cracked.
The airbender's head arose, apparently recalling something."Hey, Vegeta, I just remembered! Before I left Bumi, he wanted me to tell you about the eighty-sixth jin..."
The prince's eyelids reopened, at their own peril "Eighty-sixth jin? What eighty-sixth jin?"
Aang turned his head halfway toward the warrior, his eyebrow cocked as a sly smirk grew between his cheeks."Saiya-Jin."
Vegeta's face turned to stone, then he arched his face to the sky."DAMN YOU, KING BUMIIIIIII!"
The bison's flight into the horizon was complemented by his enraged scream that resonated across the plains.