Chapter 28

About ten minutes later, the Saiyans reached their destination.

"Suppress your power levels," King Vegeta warned. "You never know, we may be dealing with two of Frieza's men. These power levels are fairly substantial."

"But Frieza has no idea that we survived Vegeta-Sei's destruction," Bardock said.

"That doesn't mean that these power levels don't belong to two of his scouts," King Vegeta replied.

"He does kinda have a point there, Bardock," Turles admitted.

"Well, there's only one way to find out who they are," Vegeta said, speeding up slightly.

"Vegeta!" his father exclaimed. "I told you to suppress your energy, not increase it."

"Dad, if these really are Frieza's scouts, then we need to stop them from doing any serious damage to Earth," Vegeta replied. "Besides, those scouters are useless when we disguise our power levels."

King Vegeta said nothing.

Vegeta shook his head and sped up.

Bardock, Raditz, Goku, and Turles all did the same.

King Vegeta sighed and followed suit.

...

"So, where did your father and brother run off to in such a hurry?" Suri asked Tarble.

It was after school and Tarble had met Suri at Imperial Gardens. The Chinese restaurant had now become a popular after-school spot for Tarble, Vegeta, Goku, Raditz, and the others.

"Well?" Suri asked. "Where did they go?"

Tarble didn't know what to say. He knew his brother and father would kill him if he revealed that they were Saiyans. They would explode at him if he told Suri that they had gone off to face otherworldly enemies. And it would be embarrassing if he told her that he had been left behind because he didn't like to fight.

"They...They had to do something," Tarble answered. "They wouldn't tell me though. They just said that I couldn't come."

That was almost the truth. They had told Tarble that he couldn't go with them.

"Oh..." Suri kissed Tarble on the cheek. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that it was personal."

"It's okay," Tarble said, relieved that he had been able to play that off so well.

"So, when do I get to meet your dad?" Suri pouted. "I still haven't gotten to meet him. Even though I was supposed to."

"Well, you see...Dad's kinda..." Tarble tried to think of the right words to describe his father.

"Kinda what?" Suri asked, eager to know a little bit more about her boyfriend's father. She had already met his brother, but she had only seen his father in passing. She couldn't help but notice that Tarble's brother, Vegeta, resembled their father more than Tarble did.

Tarble sighed.

"Dad acts kinda like how Vegeta does," he answered. "I guess that's where Vegeta got it."

"Wow," Suri said.

"Yeah," Tarble replied, "Vegeta was even named after our dad."

"Wow," Suri's ice blue eyes widened slightly. "What about your mom?"

Tarble sighed and looked down.

"Mom died when I was a baby and Vegeta was a year old," Tarble explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Suri said, looking sad.

"It's okay," tarble said, giving his girlfriend a slight smile. "You didn't know."

...

Bulma had tried to talk herself out of it, but it hadn't worked. She was getting ready to go on a date with Yamcha.

The blue-haired heiress had no idea what had possessed her to do this, but she had accepted Yamcha's offer to go out on a date and now, she had to honor her word. That was just the kind of person she was.

Bulma sighed and glanced at her reflection in her vanity mirror. She had decided to wear a pair of dark wash jeans that hugged her hips but flared a little at the end of the legs and she had chosen a white sleeveless top and her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. She wore a pair of silver high heels and her toenails were painted a light pink. Her makeup was simple. She wore pale blue eyeshadow and sheer lip gloss.

Maybe she should go out with Yamcha. He might be able to help her get over Vegeta. After all, she couldn't go out with Vegeta, he had a girlfriend.

Though she tried her best to fight it, Bulma couldn't help but wish that she was getting ready to go out with Vegeta instead of Yamcha. After all, Yamcha had a reputation as being a player. And his reputation was even worse than that of Raditz. At least Raditz was a bit of a gentlemen to his dates.

Yamcha on the other hand was the exact opposite. He was known to be broke nine times out of ten whenever he actually managed to get a date, which despite his repuation, was a good percent of the time. Of course, the number of girls he had dated was nowhere even close to the number of girls Raditz had dated.

Yet, no matter what Bulma tried to tell herself, she couldn't shake this feeling of dread she had. Yamcha wasn't her type. So why had she said yes? Why had she agreed to go out with him? Why?

Suddenly, Bulma grabbed her phone and dialed Yamcha's number.

"You got Yamcha," the blue-haired daughter of Dr. Brief heard Yamcha's voice say.

Bulma took a deep breath and spoke into the phone.

"Listen, Yamcha," she began. "I can't go on a date with you tonight. I'm sorry."

"And just why not?" Yamcha asked, sounding suspicious.

"Because, I'm just not ready to really go out on a date just yet," Bulma answered.

She heard Yamcha growl on the other end of the phone.

"I'll be there in hlf an hour," Yamcha snapped before hanging up.

Bulma's eyes widened as she gasped and stared down at her phone, shocked at Yamcha's sudden rudeness.

"Unbelievable!" she huffed, setting her phone down before she flung it somewhere. All she had said was that she couldn't go on a date with Yamcha. And he had treated her so rudely just now. Well, she'd show him.

"Well, see if I ever go on a date with him again," Bulma sighed in frustration, folding her arms over her chest and began to scheme to get back at Yamcha.

But first, how was she going to get rid of him now? He said he would be there in half an hour.

Maybe she'd get lucky and he'd turn out to be one of those guys who decides to run late, just because he thinks he can.

Without a second thought, Bulma hurried to the part of Capsule Corp. where Broly and his sister stayed.

...A few minutes later...

Of course, she would need help. So, who better to go to than Broly's sister, Marikia? The young Saiyan girl had done wonders in making Raditz think he was going bald a few months before. If anyone could come up with a great way to get a jerk like Yamcha back than the younger sister of Broly?

"Sure thing, I can make Yamcha wish he'd never mesed with you," Marikia said to Bulma. She had an evil grin on her face that gave Bulma goose bumps.

"Good," Bulma said, smiling nervously. "So what are you gonna to do him?"

"I don't think I should tell you," Marikia told her.

"Why not?" Bulma asked.

"Because, this way, you'll be genuinely innocent whenever anyone catches up to what I'm planning to do," Marikia explained.

"Oh," Bulma nodded, now understanding.

"And all of the fun begins tomorrow morning," Marikia added, her grin growing even more evil as her royal blue eyes filled with mischief. "Broly'll be helping me out a little bit too."

"But I need a little bit of help tonight," Bulma said. "Please, Marikia, can you do just a little something tonight?"

Marikia sighed and laughed.

"Yeah, alright," she answered.

Bulma smiled gratefully at her friend.

"Thanks," she beamed.

"No problem," Marikia replied, batting the air with her hand as though it was nothing.

...

"The lifeforms on this planet are weak," one of the mysterious strangers from space told the other. Both had landed in a forest just outside of West City.

"Tell me about it," the other snorted, shaking his shoulder-length ponytail. "So do you think Bardock and King Vegeta made it out here?"

"I don't know," the other answered.

Suddenly, the one with longer hair heard his scouter beep.

"Wait! I'm detecting several fairly substantial power levels!" he exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" the other asked him.

"I'm positive, Tora," the second answered.

The one called Tora sighed and shook his head.

"Zorn, I'll bet your scouter's messed up," he said.

The one known as Zorn glared at Tora.

"For your information, this is an advanced model," he growled. "It's far more advanced than your old model."

"Yeah, yours was advanced," Tora chuckled. "Ten years ago."

"Shut up, Tora," Zorn snapped, punching Tora in the shoulder, hard.

"Ouch," Tora groaned, rubbing his shoulder and glaring at Zorn.

Suddenly, Zorn's scouter beeped again.

With a frustrated growl, Zorn yanked his couter off of his face and flung it at the ground.

"That's it, I give up," he sighed in annoyance. "The stupid thing's completely busted."

"I wouldn't rely too heavily on a device as foolish as a scouter if I were you," Zorn heard a strangely familiar voice say.

Zorn and Tora spun around and prepared themselves for a fight.

Suddenly, Zorn stared at the man whom had been the source of the voice.

The man had spiky, black hair that stood upward like a flame, a beard, and onyx black eyes that burned into Zorn's.

Zorn immediately recognized the man.

"King Vegeta!" the Saiyan warrior exclaimed, dropping to his knees and saluting the Saiyan king.

Tora stared at Zorn, but then his gaze traveled to a man with spiky, black, unkempt hair that stuck out in all directions, a red bandanna, and a jagged scar on his left cheek.

The man glared at Tora. But then, his gaze softened slightly as his glare became an excited grin.

"Tora! Is that really you?" he asked. "Tora!"

Tora recognized the warrior. It was his old friend, Bardock!

"Bardock!" the long-haired Saiyan shouted. "It's so good to see you again!"

"Same here, Buddy," Bardock said, walking over and giving Tora's ponytail a good, hard yank.

Tora winced then laughed.

"You still do that," he chuckled.

"And you still hate it," Bardock smirked.

"That I do, Bardock," Tora replied. "That I do."

Goku, Raditz, Turles, and Vegeta all stared at Bardock, Tora, Zorn, and King Vegeta in shock.

"Dad, you know this guy?" Goku asked, nodding toward Tora.

Bardock nodded.

"Kakarot, this is my old friend, Tora," he said. "Tora, this is my youngest son, Kakarot."

"Oh yeah, I remember you, Kid," Tora said, looking to Goku. "I don't guess you really remember me, you were practically still a baby the last time I saw you, Kakarot. Actually, you were still a baby when I last saw you."

"My name is Kakarot, but pretty mucheverybody calls me Goku now," Goku informed Tora.

"Well, I'm gonna call you by your Saiyan name. Your real name," Tora replied, messing up Goku's hair. "Whether you like it or not, Kakarot."

Goku laughed and batted Tora's hand away.

Tora laughed too before turning to Raditz.

"And you must be Bardock older kid. Raditz, right?" he asked.

Raditz smirked and ran a hand through his thick mane of hair.

"The one and only," he said.

Tora chuckled.

"You're your father's son alright," he remarked.

"Don't remind me," Bardock groaned playfully.

Raditz glared at his father.

...

"So, how did you and Tora get off of Vegeta-Sei before it was destroyed?" King Vegeta asked Zorn.

"We were both off on a mission with other warriors at the time," Zorn explained, who had insisted on remaing on his knees on the ground.

"Did the others come with you?" King Vegeta demanded.

Zorn looked ashamed and shook his head.

"No," he answered. "They were both killed when we tried to leave the planet. Their engines failed because they hadn't gotten the chance to replenish any fuel and they ended up being pulled off course and into a nearby star."

King Vegeta sighed. So there were now only a few Saiyans left in the entire universe.

"Is the prince here with you, Sire?" Zorn asked his king, eager to know if the young Prince Vegeta was still alive and well even after all these years. Especially after all these years.

King Vegeta nodded.

"Yes, both of the princes are in fact," he said. "But Prince Tarble is not here. He's off in the city over there."

Zorn looked surprised.

"Apparently, he's on a date with his new girlfriend," King Vegeta continued, noticing the look of utter surprise and confusion on his former advisor's face.

Zorn was confused now. Just how much had changed in the time that he and Tora had been gone? But then, it had been almost ten years, so there was knowing just how much had changed.

...

"My dad and brother should be home in about an hour," Tarble said when he and Suri finished eating.

"So, I can meet your dad then?" Suri asked.

Tarble nodded.

Suri beamed.

"Yay!" she exclaimed before kissing Tarble a peck on the cheek.

Tarble felt his face grow hot as he grinned stupidly.

Suri saw her boyfriend's face and giggled.

...

Meanwhile, the rest of the Saiyans had all gone back to Bardock's house to catch up.

"So, how's Fasha?" Tora asked.

"Still the worst," Bardock chuckled.

"Bardock! You arrogant, loud-mouthed, lying kisama!" the two heard Fasha screech from inside the kitchen.

"Oh no," Bardock groaned, shaking his head and facepalming, wishing that he had kept his big fat mouth shut.

"You're in trouble," Tora chuckled, grinning at his old friend.

Bardock glared at Tora, but began to laugh a second later.

"That's it, Bardock," Fasha called from the kitchen. "Laugh it all out now. Because you may never laugh again."

As soon as he heard that, Bardock felt his blood run cold.

"Thanks a lot, Tora," he grumbled. "You got me in trouble."

"Just like old times," Tora snickered.

"Just like old times," Bardock agreed, laughing in spite of himself.

Bardock knew there would be hell to pay later, but for now, he was gonna enjoy spending time with his long-lost best friend.

He would face Fasha's wrath later. For now, he'd enjoy himself.

...

How was it? ^-^