Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Butterflies & Hurricanes ❯ Chapter 33
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Froglady15 
Anime/Manga: Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Drama / Hentai / Romance / Suspense / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.07.2016 | Pages: 15 | Words: 9.1K | Visits: 250 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Drama / Hentai / Romance / Suspense / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.07.2016 | Pages: 15 | Words: 9.1K | Visits: 250 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Just my Husband,
laptop, my 3 dogs and a very overactive imagination… Dragon
Ball Z and any songs mentioned in this fic DO NOT belong to me. I'm
just borrowing them for my own twisted amusement.
Butterflies & Hurricanes
Chapter 33
Immediately following his conversation with King Cold, Jeyice went for a quick shower and sought out the boys at once. They were in their quarters, dressed down in their casual wear of tank tops and loose fitting gi pants.
“I have some news for you two,” he said to them, closing their door.
“What is it?” Trunks asked, hoping that they were going home; he wanted to see his mother. The incident with the queen and the events that had followed had left him and Tarble both quite shaken up.
“You boys are to crash land from a space pod onto a planet called Eris,” he informed them.
“Crash?” Tarble frowned.
“Yes, now listen closely, this very important so you both better not fuck it up,” he said sternly. “Now, King Cold is not happy with either of you, do you understand me?”
“Why? What did we do?” Tarble asked. They hadn’t lied about what had really happened on that planet or about the fact that Jeyice had gotten an actual payment from the queen.
“It doesn’t matter, the point is, I need to find a way to get you boys off to safety. So you both are to crash down there and when help arrives, you two are to tell them that you escaped from King Cold’s capture. Tell them your names and they will find you a place to stay. They were friends of your father and grandfather’s. Once you both are settled in and feel it is safe to do so, you are to report back to me and I will join you and we will escape King Cold together, do you understand?”
“What about mom and dad?” Trunks asked.
“We can’t help them unless we have people on our side to help us,” Jeyice said quickly. He truthfully hadn’t thought that much in detail about this. “Tell them about your parents and that you need help and then call me. I will give them all the information that they will need and we will all get out.”
boys looked confused but nodded anyway.
“If King Cold finds out that you are betraying him and you fail me on this, I will pull the plug on your father and cut up that whore of a mother in front of you both and bring you to Cold myself for him to deal with you. I will not take the fall alone.”
Trunks glared at Jeyice. He hated that since they had been allowed to see Bulma on a regular basis, he used their parents against them into forcing them to do whatever he wanted. If he wanted to get away from King Cold so badly, why didn’t he just come with them or why didn’t he rescue their parents and meet them down on this planet with them?
“We won’t,” Tarble said before Trunks could question Jeyice; he felt the same way Trunks did about the threat against their parents. Of course they would do what they could to get them out of there!
“Alright, good.”
“Except when do our parents get to be with us?” Trunks asked. “Why can’t you go and get them and bring them to where we are going?”
“I will have it arranged,” Jeyice shrugged casually. “Just make contact with the group that had an alliance with your father, make contact with me and I will bring them with me when I come to you. It will be as easy as that.”
“Okay,” they both said. Unsure, but if it was a chance to get out with their parents then maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea.
“Here,” he said to them, giving them both a thick wad of cash. “That’s for today.”
“But won’t King Cold want it?” Tarble asked in hesitation.
“He does not even know there was any cash payment,” Jeyice snorted. “Think of this as a side bonus and keep it to yourselves. You may need it.”
They both nodded as they each took their share.
“Do not tell Recoome or anyone else of this little transaction,” he warned. “Nobody needs to know and if King Cold finds out, well, we will all be in a lot of trouble.”
“We won’t,” they both said. The fact that Jeyice was giving them money to help them was encouraging that he was actually trying to help them and so they felt better about this plan.
“Good,” he nodded. “Now get some rest. We will be making our way to a trade planet to pick up supplies and a few things you may need since you will be on your own.”
They both nodded as Jeyice exited their room and closed the door.
He made his way to the lounging area where Recoome and Burter were watching a fight on the video monitor.
“Jeyice,” Recoome called to him. “Did you place your bet? The main event is on next so if you were going to do it, better do it now.”
Jeyice shrugged. “I’m not much of a betting man, Recoome,”
“Since when?” Recoome challenged him, looking at him with an even more dumbstruck look than usual.
“Since he started with Vegeta’s woman,” Burter snorted at him in distain. “He’s been spending all his extras on furnishing his digs in hopes that she’ll move in with him.”
“Oh, riiight,” Recoome nodded. “How’s that working out for ya?”
Jeyice snarled at him in reply, his upper lip curling, exposing his upper teeth.
“Whoo wee,” Burter chuckled at him.
“You know, I hear woman really get off on jewelry,” Recoome suggested.
“Yea, but that’s expensive,” Burter snorted. “I don’t get why you aren’t finished with her. I know a couple of the guys, Recoome included, who wouldn’t mind a go at her. Hell, you could probably make some side cash, selling her ass. Just move on, females aren’t worth the hassle.”
“Says the man who’s never lain with one,” Jeyice snarled back.
“It’s not my fault my species doesn’t have to copulate to reproduce,” Burter shrugged. “I for one am thankful because I don’t need the distraction.”
“Ya, how does your species reproduce then?” Recoome asked with interest. “If ya don’t do it, then how?”
“We mate externally,” he said as though it were a dumb question. “The female passes eggs and they are fertilized outside her body,”
“So… there is no penetration?” Recoome asked.
“No,” he replied, clearly getting annoyed.
“What’s the fun in that?”
“It’s not meant for fun, it’s meant to carry on the species! We were much more evolved than you barbaric, warm blooded mammals and your debased needs!”
“Enough!” Jeyice cut them off. “Who gives a shit!”
“You would if you heard your constant bitching and moaning over some female,” Burter threw back at him. “I am sick to death of hearing it!”
“Ya, he has a point,” Recoome agreed.
“Here’s an extra bonus,” Jeyice announced, tossing them each a thick wad of cash. “Do not say a word to anyone.”
“Is this what that queen gave you?” Recoome asked.
“Yes,” he replied, making sure the pilot wasn’t near to eavesdrop on them. “This is strictly under the table, no record of it, do as you please with it.”
“Hmm,” Burter commented, thumbing through it. “This currency is very strong at the moment,”
“Whatever, I’m tossing it in the pot with the rest of my bet,” Recoome shrugged, chucking it into a bowl they had on a table already full of bills, coins and a few expensive gem stones.
“You’re that anxious to lose it?” Burter cackled at him.
“I’m not going to lose it,” he shook his head confidently. “Draggos is a sure thing,”
“Just like Memnon was a sure thing?”
“That wasn’t his fault he lost. That fight was rigged and someone payed off the ref to make a call like that!” he objected.
“Whatever,” Burter shook his head. “It’s a good thing you can’t find a female, Recoome. You wouldn’t be able to afford to woo her anyway with anything expensive since you piss it all away on shitty bets.”
“This,” he said, standing and cupping his male essentials crudely, “is all I need to woo the women,”
Jeyice shook his head and left them as they continued to bicker back and forth over how and how not to acquire women. He knew he had promised Bulma that he would find something to help her out with her invisibility cloaking devise that King Cold had asked her to work on. He had not forgotten. Truth is, he had yet to stumble on anything that would be of any help to her and for all he knew, she had already found a solution to it.
He would look for something special for her anyway once they landed. He needed to take the boys shopping for clothing and supplies anyway to make it look like they had run away.
They made it to a shop, trade and pleasure planet a week later, instead of three days as originally planned. With their unexpected windfall, Recoome and Burter wanted to gamble and drink excessively for a few days, and so he decided to indulge them.
The boys, of course were excited. They left she ship docks and walked through the streets where there was gambling, various games, restaurants, casinos and brothels.
Jeyice gave Recome and Burter their leave to do as they wished while Jeyice took the boys shopping.
“You may purchase a few things for yourself with the money I gave you from the mission,” he told them, walking into one of the stores.
Of course, the boys were excited; they had never been shopping before. Jeyice had shown them how to figure out the conversion of everything the store had so they knew how much everything was and how much they had to spend.
“We could buy like the whole store, Trunks,” Tarble said to him, looking at the price tags of everything, rather than looking at things he actually wanted or needed.
“I know, this is awesome!” Trunks replied, holding up a pair of loose fitting cargo pants. “Look at these,”
“Those are nice,” Tarble agreed, picking up a pair for himself. “We could fit stuff in the pockets,”
“I was thinking that too and I’ll bet they are more comfortable than out battle pants we wear all the time,” Trunks said. “We could put capsules in them and stuff,”
“Yea, we should get a couple of pairs.”
They each grabbed three pairs of the cargo pants and moved on to look at other things. Jeyice took them to another supplies store, in case they would be stranded for a while in the wilderness after the crash. He showed them a tent, blankets and supplies to carry water and food.
Satisfied they had everything they needed, he let them go on their own to grab a meal of their choice from the vast selection, which made them happy and they scampered off together to see what they could get.
He made his way down to the higher end of the shopping center, in search of something that could help Bulma out or even something special that he could give to her to prove his affections to her. He had noticed many times the set of rings Bulma always wore around her neck. He knew one was Vegeta’s and the other was one that must have come from him. It was an absolutely beautiful ring, expensive as well from what he estimated when he’d looked at it a few times. Expense these days was not something that he worried about, it was finding something she would like just as much, if not more. He had never asked her about the ring, but he knew it meant a lot to her and it bothered him that she wore it around her neck at all times as though it were a constant reminder to him that someone else had been her cherished someone before him.
It bothered him.
And he was getting fresh out of ideas of how to make her want him that way. He had given her everything from allowing her to see her boys to offering to let her reside with him in his comfortable quarters rather than the dire, poorly accommodating room in the lab she had. He did have to hand it to her though, she had made good use of the minimal provisions she had been given and had made decent accommodations for herself all things considered. However in his mind she deserved much better. What would it take to get her to forget about the lifeless form of Vegeta in the regeneration tank and join him?
Jeyice walked into one jewelry shop that boasted to have only the rarest and best inventory in the entire galaxy. He looked around and found many gorgeous pieces and he would have been hard pressed to choose even one for her had he not had something very specific in mind.
“Do you need any help?” the store clerk asked him as he stopped to look closely at some rare gems even he had never seen before.
“I do, but I am unsure if you will be able to help me,” he answered, not taking his eyes off one particular set of pink blush-colored stones set in platinum settings. “I am looking for something very specific,”
“Well, I can guarantee you that if we do not have it, it does not exist.” the sales person boasted with an arrogant chuckle.
“Alright then,” Jeyice snorted, looking up at the rather plump man with sallow green skin that looked to be damp from perspiration. “Someone very dear to me is a scientist and has been commissioned with a project. She is looking for something that will help her build a cloaking device. Are there any gems or stones or anything that will aid her in accomplishing this?”
“You are a member of the Planet Trade Organization, are you not?” the shop keeper asked suspiciously, looking at his uniform thoroughly.
“I am,” he nodded. “She works for Kind Cold himself and it is he who has commissioned this impossible task to her,”
“I see, so this is not a project that would be treasonous towards King Cold?”
“Not in the least, in fact you would be assisting him and ensuring the safety of a lady who is extremely important to me,” Jeyice said. “I fear her life is at risk should she fail in this project. King Cold can be rather temperamental when things do not go his way.”
“So I have heard,” the man nodded in concern. “Unfortunately, no, we do not carry such items, however I do know where you will find what you seek,”
“Where?” Jeyice asked.
“It will cost you,” he said slyly. “If the owner of this fine establishment catches wind that I sent a potential buyer elsewhere, I am afraid it would be to my detriment.”
“Why would I care what happens to you?” Jeyice snorted.
“Because I will not tell you where to find them,” he shrugged. “They are not easily located, possibly not even on this planet for all you know and then this lady whom you profess to care so much for will never accomplish her project,”
Jeyice wasn’t sure if the man was bluffing or not, but did not want to risk that he did know where to find what he was looking for and miss out on an opportunity to aid and impress Bulma. “Alright, what do you want?”
“Just a minimum purchase of at least two items in the case you are currently browsing through.”
“These are the most expensive pieces in your whole bloody store!” he spat at him.
“Do you want to know or not?”
“Fine,” he spat at him in resentment before going back to look at the items under the glass counter. “I suppose I’ll take these ones,” he said, pointing to the blush-colored stone pendant and matching earrings. They were beautiful and he was sure Bulma would like them but he could not believe that he was actually taking advice from Recoome with regards to trying to gain Bulma’s affections.
“A very nice choice,” the shop keeper nodded, taking them and wrapping them carefully in a fine tissue paper and placing them in a box together.
“Now where do I find something to accomplish a cloaking device?” he asked after paying him.
“If you head down the street that way,” he started, pointing behind him, “and keep going until you reach a dead end, turn left and keep on that path until you see a small, unmarked, red tent. Go in and ask for Basa and tell her what you are looking for. If she does not have it, she will know where to get it.”
“Right, and am I going to have to pay her as well to be told where to get it?” he asked sarcastically.
“Dunno,” he shrugged.
“Alright,” Jeyice nodded, exiting the shop and going in the direction he was told. The streets were busy and crowded. It took him a while to make it to the wall he had been told about and even longer to locate this unmarked red tent. He was almost beginning to wonder if this red tent even existed and if he had been duped when he finally saw it just before he was about to head back to the store he had just been to and throttle the store keeper for lying to him and ripping him off.
It was so small, he had to bend over to walk in. “I’m looking for Basa,” he said, looking around but not seeing anyone.
From behind a covered box, draped in black fabric came a small creature with bulging eyes and yellowish skin. She was about three feet tall, hunched over and resembled some form of amphibious creature of which species, Jeyice did not know.
“I’m Basa,” she croaked ironically.
“I was sent to you by another shop keeper because they said you may have what I am looking for,” he said, skipping the introductions. As it was, he had left the boys for far too long.
“What is it you are looking for?”
“I need something that can render someone invisible to the naked eye. Something of a cloaking device,” he explained, hoping she would know what he meant and had something he could use.
“No such thing exists,” she said blandly and he sighed in disappointment even though he was not all that surprised. If something like this actually did exist, wouldn’t everyone and his dog be using it? “I do, however, have perception filters,”
“What’s a perception filter?” he asked, hopeful that maybe there was something that could help Bulma out after all.
“A perception filter is a form of mind control,” she replied, sitting down in what looked like a beanbag chair. “It carries a telepathic effect to it that alters and misdirects the visual senses around its immediate vicinity.”
“Okay?” he grunted. That didn’t really answer his question and whether or not it could be of any use to Bulma.
“If someone were to carry a perception filter on them, it would have the effect of directing attention away from the one wearing it, rendering them unnoticeable to those around them. They would not be necessarily invisible as you put it, but rather blend into their surroundings as if they were, so long as those around them are not aware of it or their presence.”
“That sounds like it would work perfectly,” he nodded as he listened to her, his hopes being built up again.
“There are drawbacks, however,” she warned.
“Such as?”
“The person would have to make sure they do not draw attention to themselves, as once someone knows that they are there, they will no longer be affected by the filter. It is only a very minor form of mind control,” she explained. “As well it cannot be used to fool radars, artificial intelligence and some animal species are immune to its influences.”
Jeyice thought a moment, unsure if this would be helpful to her or not. She had mentioned that King Cold had wanted to make his own armies invisible, however if they could be spotted on a radar, didn’t that defeat the purpose altogether? He couldn’t remember, but he thought Bulma had mentioned that she had found a way around making things invisible on a radar scanner frequency, but could not remember now. As usual, he never paid much attention to the things she said to him. “You have my interest, however I must consult with my… scientist. Do you have these filters on you?”
“I have a few, yes,”
“Can they be duplicated?” he asked, knowing that Bulma would need many for an army if this would be of any use to her.
“They can,” she nodded.
“Right, and how expensive are they?” he asked finally.
She told him.
“Alright,” he nodded after thinking about it a moment. “Is there a high demand for these filters or can I return in a few weeks’ time and collect them if my associate agrees that they will be useful?”
She shrugged and snorted. “That all depends. What is in high demand this week may not be next week and vice versa,”
“I see,” he said. “May I place a deposit while I decide?”
“I will require the full amount and it is a non-refundable deposit,” she nodded.
“Full amount, non-refundable?” he repeated in outrage. “This whole bloody planet is nothing more than a bunch of fucking pirates, waiting to rob you at any opportunity!”
“You work for PTO, how are you any different?” she shrugged in a bored tone, not put off by his rude accusation and foul language. “King Cold and his lot are the worst bunch of pirates out of us all,”
“Very well,” he sighed, pulling out his cash. “I will place one deposit and buy one as well to take back with me.”
“Very good,” she nodded, taking his money and counting it a second time to make sure he had given her the correct amount before hopping off her beanbag chair and hobbling to the wall.
Jeyice frowned at her in curiosity, beginning to think that he had just been ripped off and the old amphibian was old and senile. There was nothing there! He was about to get angry and ask her what game she was playing on him before he noticed that the wall wasn’t a wall at all. There was a cabinet hidden there, which he had not even seen until she opened it and began moving things around inside.
“Surprised?” she chuckled, turning to face him with something in a small box. He was standing there with his mouth slightly agape in shock.
“Just a little,” he admitted.
“That is the power of a perception filter,” she told him. “You see the cabinet now, right?”
“Yes,” he nodded. It was there, clear as day and he wondered what else was hidden in the small tent.
“Now that you have seen it, you cannot go back to unseeing it, even though it itself is a perception filter,” she said. “The effect on you is lost.”
“Amazing. I understand,” he nodded. This was possibly even better than he thought. “So you can make objects out of these filters?”
“You can, however it is more trouble than it is worth,” she shrugged.
“I may need to find out how to do that when I come back,” he said to her.
“I am afraid that is beyond my understanding, but I could forward you into the correct direction where it can be done,”
“I will take you up on that,” he said. “Now where is the one I just bought and how does it work?”
“You simply wear it or have it on you,” she said, opening the box, revealing a thin cut white stone, about the size and length of a pen cap.
“That’s it?”
“You may have it made into a piece of jewelry like a pendent or earrings or bracelet,” she rattled off. “It is fairly easy to have cut. It is not physically hard like most stones.”
“Right,” he nodded, wondering if he should do that and have it made into something for her but decided against it. It was for a project for Cold, not a fashion accessory for Bulma. “Okay, well I will take this back to my associate and will be in touch in a few weeks or a month or two, I am not sure when I will be able to return.”
She nodded and went back to spot. “If you wear it out of that box, like in your pocket, no one on the street will notice you, unless you make a fuss, well then you won’t be concealed. If you put it back in that specific box, the effects will be cancelled.”
“I will try it,” he said, placing it in his breast plate and the box in his pants pocket before exiting the small tent and began making his way down the street back to the restaurant area where he had left the boys. He wasn’t sure if he was blended in and invisible to the crowd or not. He didn’t feel any different and when he looked down he could still see himself but then remembered that he knew about the filter, so it probably would not work on himself. He decided he would test it out once he ran into the boys and see if they noticed him.
He spotted them sitting at a table, still eating more food than what most boys their age could consume. He sat in the empty seat beside Trunks and was astonished that they did not even flinch or take notice of him. So it does work,” he mused to himself as he listened to them bicker over who had shared more of their meal with the other, completely oblivious to his presence.
Satisfied, he took his leave. He needed to send the other jewelry he had gotten Bulma to her. It would be a surprise, he thought with a smile. He would save the perception filter for later on when he was back. He wanted to see her reaction to them himself.
-0-0-0-
Bulma was finishing up cleaning her side of the lab. It had taken her two weeks, but she had managed to finish painting all of King Cold’s androids in her stealth paint. It had been an exhausting, tedious job, but she had been thorough and careful so as to make sure they were perfect. Each had needed two coats of paint to be sufficiently covered.
She had been so busy and tired with that, she hadn’t even had the energy to put into her time machine and so that had been left alone for the last month. It had been 11 weeks that Jeyice and the boys had been gone and still she had received no word as to if they were alright or when they would return. Her pleas to Gero to find out from King Cold were ignored and as the days went, she began to worry that something had gone terribly wrong on the mission they had been sent on and naturally began to assume the worst as of late.
As she finished up with everything, a lower ranking soldier came into the lab. “I am looking for Bulma,” he said, reading off a piece of paper on a package in his hands.
“I am Bulma,” she replied, walking over to him, wondering who on earth would be sending her a parcel? No one knew she was here and immediately, dread crept up inside her that it was remains of the boys; that maybe they had been killed on the mission and that was all that was left of them.
“This is for you,” he said curtly, holding the rectangular box out to her for her to take, giving her a strange look as she stood there, nearly petrified, not wanting to know what it was or who it was from. “Aren’t you going to take it?” he asked impatiently as she stood there.
“Yes, of course,” she replied, shaking her head and took the box from him. It wasn’t too heavy.
He left and she stood there a moment, looking at it, unsure as to if she wanted to open it. Her name was on it and she did not recognize the handwriting on it. A small part of her was wishing the package was one of her parent’s, but whoever had written the address on the box, their handwriting didn’t match either of her parent’s writing.
“What is it?” Dende asked, coming out of his room.
“I got a package from someone,” she said quietly, still looking at the box all over, examining it carefully. She shook it once, no sound came from it and her stomach dropped. What if it was ashes?
“What’s wrong?” he asked, concerned by her disposition.
“I don’t want to open it,” she confessed. “What if it’s…?”
“Do you want me to open it?” he offered, understanding what she meant and why she was hesitant to open it.
“I’m sorry, I’m not meaning to be so morbid, it’s just… I can’t help but think anything else,” she said, handing him the box, her stomach turning unpleasantly. “I haven’t heard anything about how they are. What else am I to assume?”
“I understand,” he said, taking the box from her. “Want me to open it?”
She stared at the box in his hands a moment, debating on whether or not she even wanted to know what its contents were. “Yea, let’s open it,” she sighed finally. If she didn’t open it, she’d be up all night wondering what was in there anyway so what was the point in not opening it?
Dende nodded and headed back into the lab, placing the box carefully on one of the tables there and went to grab a knife to open it.
Bulma could not help but glance at Vegeta in the regeneration tank. Somehow it gave her some comfort to open it up in front of him, just in case it was as bad as she feared. Even if he could not react to it or give her any form of comfort or support, just having him there while she did this made her feel better.
“Alright,” Dende said, coming back to the box. “I’m sure it’s not what you think,” he said comfortingly. “If something bad had happened, they’d have told you already.”
“Let’s hope,” she whispered, holding her breath, appreciating his efforts to be sensitive towards her about this. They had become very close friends in the recent months.
He sliced the box open and removed a long, sleek black box.
“Oh god,” she cried, “It is a box of remains!”
“You don’t know that,” he replied, trying to sound cheerful. “Want me to open it?”
She stalled for a moment. It was a smooth, expensive looking black, rectangular box that almost reminded her of one of the boxes containing expensive jewelry her father always bought for her mother on special occasions. Except no one would be buying her any jewelry. “Yea, let’s open it up,” she nodded finally, scrunching her face up as he opened it.
A folded piece of paper was sitting on top of a gorgeous necklace with a blush pink stone, set in a silver setting and matching earrings. Dumbfounded, she yanked the box across the table, away from Dende and looked at the jewelry. It was exquisite, but not at all what she was expecting. She reached or the paper, unfolded it and the note read:
I saw this and thought of you. I miss you and am looking forward to hopefully seeing you soon. Warmest regards, Jeyice.
“Oh god,” she groaned, shutting the box and sliding it across the table in disgust.
“Who is it from?” Dende asked with interest, reaching for the box and opening it to look at the contents again.
“Jeyice,” she snorted, tossing the paper on the table next to the box so he could see the note for himself. “Like are you freaking kidding me?!”
Dende hid a smile and shook his head at her reaction. He wasn’t entirely sure what the deal was with Bulma and Jeyice, but he knew that she hated him with a passion and that he was black mailing her so that she could see her boys. What exactly the arrangement was, he had no idea because she refused to tell him any of the specifics except that he was an extremely unwelcome person in her life. “Well, I think it’s safe to say that Trunks and Tarble are alright then,”
“Are they?” she spat. “He didn’t mention them! What if this is a condolence gift?”
“I don’t think it is,” he said, looking from the note and back at the necklace and earrings again, examining them closely. “These are very expensive stones and he didn’t say anything about anything bad happening. He said hopefully seeing you soon, which probably means that he and the boys will be back soon.”
“You’re probably right,” she sighed, feeling somewhat relieved that the boys were more than likely just fine, but more than a little unnerved that he had upped the ante and was now sending her jewelry. “Great, now I’ll be expected to wear this for him,”
“It is beautiful,” he shrugged.
“You don’t get it,” she shook her head, closing the box and taking it. “It’s not that it isn’t beautiful, it’s the meaning behind it. Where I come from, sending jewelry to someone- expensive jewelry especially, means you’re serious about someone.”
“Ohh,” he replied, his eyes widening in understanding.
“Yea,” she sighed. “I’ve been putting him off for a while now, so now he’s sending this. He doesn’t get it that Vegeta is my mate, even if he stays in there forever, I’m not ever going to be interested in anyone else. If I accept this, then that means I’m accepting him.”
“So, what are you going to do?” he asked, looking at the senders address on the original box. “This came from a pleasure planet. If you send it back, he won’t get it because he’s probably not there anymore.”
“No, I won’t send it back,” she sighed. “The boys are with him, I don’t want to anger him and then have him take it out on them and leave them stranded somewhere or worse. I’ll just give them back to him when he returns.”
“He’s still going to be upset,”
“Too bad,” she shrugged. “At least the boys will be here and he can’t really do anything to them here because Cold won’t allow it. I’ll worry about it then, I’m going to bed.”
“Good night,” Dende nodded, looking around the lab after she had left. There was nothing left to be done, as she had done it all so he decided to turn in for the evening as well.
“Fucking bastard,” Bulma muttered under her breath as she tossed the box carelessly on the couch and began taking her clothes off to change into her pajamas. As annoyed as she was over this newest development, she couldn’t help but think of the positive implications this may have on her. If Jeyice was truly infatuated with her, then that meant that she could manipulate him. As it was, she had noticed that if she was insistent, he would cave sometimes on their agreement. It wasn’t a common occurrence that he did, but maybe she could use her sway to further get ahead of him.
From what she had gleaned off her last work on the time machine, she needed some srot of galactic GPS system in order to be able to travel anywhere. It needed a fixed spot to work as sort of an anchor so that she would not only end up where she intended, but also make her way back here. Dende had suggested she get her hands on a scouter, but that was looking like an impossible feat. The scouters seemed to be a very valued commodity.
Perhaps if she played nice with Jeyice, she could convince him to give her one. Not only would it be one of the finishing touches to her time machine, but it would be a way for her to keep in touch with Trunks and Tarble on a regular basis and she would know that they were alright.
With those satisfying thoughts in mind, she turned in for the evening and went to sleep.
-0-0-0-
“Now do you boys understand what you need to do?” Jeyice asked them impatiently as they finished capsulizing everything they would need and were preparing the escape pod for them. They were just on the outskirts of the planet Eris where they could not be detected by their security systems.
“Yes,” they both replied, anxious to get going. This would be their first time away from Jeyice and they were actually looking forward to it. He had been rather miserable and his mood had not improved any since they had destroyed that planet.
“Very well then,” he nodded. “Get in there and I will talk to you when you have made contact.”
“Yes, sir,” Trunks said, getting inside the small escape pod and a moment later Tarble followed. It was cramped, and not very comfortable, but doable. The point was for it to look like they had escaped quickly and as inconspicuously from King Cold as possible.
“Now you will breach the atmosphere and I will be turning off the controls shortly after so the pod actually crashes,” Jeyice reminded them. “Make sure you are ready and seated and properly strapped in so you will not be injured,”
“Got it,” they nodded.
“Do not fuck this up,” he warned them before closing the door on the pod.
“You ready?” Tarble asked, locking the door from the inside.
“Yup!”
“Let’s go,”
Within a few minutes, the pod was launched into the atmosphere and the boys strained to look out of the small window as they flew at break neck speed towards a pink planet.
Within just a few minutes, the warning came on that the pod had lost all mechanical control, as Jeyice had warned them it would.
“Oh shit!” Trunks exclaimed as they both scrambled to the seat, trying to make sure they were equally on the seat and strapped in.
“You’re taking up too much space!” Tarble objected.
“No, I’m not!”
“Yes, you are! There’s no room for my butt, look, you’re whole ass is on the seat!”
“No, it isn’t!”
“Shit!” Tarble cried as they both were thrown upside down as the pod began to turn circularly, now that the power and controls had been cut. Now they knew why Jeyice had warned them to be strapped in.
“You idiot!” Trunks said.
“You were the one hogging all the space!” Tarble argued. “Ow!”
“What?”
“I hit my head,” he said as they were thrown to the other side of the pod, both half on the seat by pure fluke. “Grab the belt!”
Trunks managed to grab the seatbelt and reach it across them, handing the end to Tarble who then buckled it up just in time before they were pitched upside-down again.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Trunks moaned, covering his mouth with his hand.
“Don’t!” Tarble cried. “Or wait until we land!”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said, taking deep breaths and closing his eyes to try and get rid of the nauseous feeling.
A moment later they were jarred as the pod came to an abrupt halt. They both felt like their teeth were going to be thrown out of their mouths and their brains scrambling out of their nose at the sheer heavy impact of the crash. Their ears rung and they felt the whole inside of the pod spinning even though the pod was sitting stock still into the ground.
“Are you alright?” Trunks asked Tarble as they stumbled out of the escape pod after taking a moment to regain their equilibrium. That had been more traumatic than they’d thought it would be.
“I think so,” he winced, grabbing his forehead even though his whole neck and jaw ached as well. “I bumped my head really hard.”
“You're bleeding,” Trunks pointed to him before he bent over and began retching into the trees. He still felt as though he was spinning and his jaw and head ached in a throbbing rage as he dry heaved almost violently. Why was his stomach always affected by these things?
“Ya,” Tarble sighed, touching his head and seeing blood on his fingers. “What do we do now?” The crash site was in the middle of what looked to be a wild jungle. There were trees and tall grass everywhere so thick that they couldn’t see anything. It was quiet too, they didn’t hear anyone coming.
“I don’t know,” Trunks shrugged, once he felt he was fine again. “That sucked.”
“You’re okay?”
“Yea,” he nodded, picking up his scouter. “Hey, Jeyice? We made it okay, but there's no one here. Just trees. It looks like a jungle.”
“Put your fucking scouter away!” Jeyice snarled back. “If someone sees you talking to someone through it and they take your scouter from you, this entire operation is fucked!”
“That’s just it, there is no one around,” Trunks said.
“So walk around and look for someone!” Jeyice said irritably. “Do not contact me again until you are settled.”
“Fine,” Trunks huffed as Jeyice hung up on him. “I guess we’d better put our scouters in a capsule where no one will find them.”
Tarble took Trunks scouters and capsulized them both. “Which way should we go?”
“I don’t know,” Trunks shrugged. Suddenly this situation of them being stranded randomly didn’t seem like so much fun anymore. “Let’s go that way,” he said, pointing forward.
“Should we leave the ship or take it?” Tarble asked.
“Leave it,” Trunks said after thinking a moment. “Just in case they don’t believe we crashed.”
“Good idea,” Tarble agreed as he followed Trunks through the trees and brush.
They walked in silence for a while before they began to get tired. It was very hot and humid on this planet and they weren’t used to it, nor were they dressed for it. They were in their battle suits and armour.
“Should we take a break?” Tarble asked, bending over to breathe better.
“No, we need to keep going and find someone, anyone to talk to,” Trunks replied after pausing for a moment. A break did sound good right about now.
“What if there isn’t anyone on this planet though?”
“Do you really think Jeyice would ditch us somewhere with no inhabitants?” Trunks snorted.
“I don’t know,” Tarble shrugged. “Do you believe him that he wants to help us get mom and dad away from King Cold?”
Trunks stopped walking. “I don’t know,” he sighed. “He’s been strange since we left.”
“I know!”
“Let’s take our armour off at least,” Trunks suggested, pulling his over his head.
Tarble followed suit. They both capsulized their armour before continuing on, agreeing that it made them look more like they had actually crashed. Their flight suits were torn a bit at the knees and elbows at this point from the crash and from trudging their way through the thick, bounteous jungle.
Just as they were both sorely considering possibly taking a break and setting their tent up for the night, they noticed that the trees were beginning to thin out and a little further on, they came to a clearing and noticed a small village in the distance.
“Whoa, finally,” Tarble huffed. He was exhausted. They could both barely breathe from the high level of humidity and both were absolutely drenched in sweat.
“Ya, let’s go,” Trunks said, not stopping and picking up the pace to get to the village, anxious to talk to someone and maybe get some water. Sure, they had their own, but they knew it needed to appear like they had little to no provisions for themselves.
Once they made it to the village, they began walking along the outside property lines, in hopes of finding someone that they could talk to.
They stopped for a moment before proceeding.
“Who are you?” an older man asked them from a distance away. He appeared to be doing yard work in his backyard two homes over from where they were.
The boys froze, unsure of what to say now that they had actually found someone to talk to. Sure Jeyice said that it was alright for them to tell them who they were, but what if it wasn’t? What if they weren’t friends of their father?
“Sorry sir, uhmm.. My brother and I just crash landed back there in the jungle and we were looking for help.” Tarble said quickly.
“So that was you guys a few hours ago,” he said. “I thought I saw something land in there. You boys alright?”
“I think so,” they both replied, coming closer.
“Well come on in,” he called to them, waving in invitation. “You boys alone or is there anyone else with you?”
They looked at each other. Here was their chance. “We are alone,” Trunks answered. “Is there someone we could talk to, like a guy in charge or a leader or something?”
“A leader?” he repeated, his eyebrows shooting up. “Of course, but why would you have need to speak with any of them?”
“Because we need your help,” Trunks said, lowering his voice. “We escaped from someplace and we were told that our father had an alliance with the people here so maybe they can help us.”
The man narrowed his eyes suspiciously at them now. “Who is your father?”
“Prince Vegeta of Vegeta-sei.” Tarble replied.
The man laughed hysterically at them a moment but then stopped as he composed himself. “Boy, I otta laugh you off of this entire planet an’ back to wherever it was that you came from. There are no Saiyans left an’ even if there were, you two are too old to be who you claim to be,”
“It’s true,” Trunks confirmed. “We are brothers and the last two remaining Saiyans. We have been held captive on King Cold’s base since we were babies. We were made to train in a chamber that ages us so that we could be trained as soldiers for King Cold.”
The man looked closer at them, not convinced, but not entirely uncertain that they weren't telling the truth either. “You both have tails,” he commented as he looked them over and noticed the appendages wrapped firmly around their waists.
Both boys nodded, unfurling them so he could see that they were indeed tails.
“Come in,” he said again. “There are a few people that will want to talk to you if you truly are who you claim to be,”
The boys followed him into his home where his wife was in the kitchen making a meal. “Darby, please set a place at the table for these two boys,” he said to her. “They crashed in the brush and are requiring our assistance. I need to find Geralt, Keenan and Tobias at once,”
“Alright, dear,” she nodded. “You poor boys alright? It looks like you bumped your head quite badly,” she said, looking at Tarble in concern. “Are you alright or are you hurt elsewhere?”
“No, I’m fine,” Trunks shook his head. “I’m just a bit dirty,”
“Well you both can use our bathroom and shower up while I finish making lunch,” she said, pointing down the hall. “There’s towels in the cupboard in there. Toss them into the hamper when you are done. I don’t have any clean clothes however.”
“That’s ok,” Trunks said. “We have some sored with us, actually.”
“You go shower first and I’ll look at your brother's head.”
“I’m okay, ma’am, really,” Tarble insisted. “It’s just a bump.”
“It’s far more than a bump, young man, it’s more like a gash that needs to be stitched up.” she insisted, inspecting it in a motherly fashion.
“Thank you,” Tarble said.
“It’s not a problem,” she brushed off, opening up a first aid kit. “You’re much too young and handsome to have such an unsightly scar on your head.”
Tarble felt himself blush slightly at her comment.
Satisfied that Tarble would be alright to be left with this woman, Trunks made his way to the bathroom to shower. He stripped off his dirty and torn flight suit and turned the water to as cool as it would go.
Hopefully these people would be able to help them and Jeyice would make good on his promise to help them all get away from King Cold.
Even if Jeyice didn’t come through for them, at least they would be telling someone outside King Cold’s planet about them and what had happened and that their parents were being held. With or without Jeyice, Trunks was determined that this mission would be their saving grace.
-0-0-0-
Butterflies & Hurricanes
Chapter 33
Immediately following his conversation with King Cold, Jeyice went for a quick shower and sought out the boys at once. They were in their quarters, dressed down in their casual wear of tank tops and loose fitting gi pants.
“I have some news for you two,” he said to them, closing their door.
“What is it?” Trunks asked, hoping that they were going home; he wanted to see his mother. The incident with the queen and the events that had followed had left him and Tarble both quite shaken up.
“You boys are to crash land from a space pod onto a planet called Eris,” he informed them.
“Crash?” Tarble frowned.
“Yes, now listen closely, this very important so you both better not fuck it up,” he said sternly. “Now, King Cold is not happy with either of you, do you understand me?”
“Why? What did we do?” Tarble asked. They hadn’t lied about what had really happened on that planet or about the fact that Jeyice had gotten an actual payment from the queen.
“It doesn’t matter, the point is, I need to find a way to get you boys off to safety. So you both are to crash down there and when help arrives, you two are to tell them that you escaped from King Cold’s capture. Tell them your names and they will find you a place to stay. They were friends of your father and grandfather’s. Once you both are settled in and feel it is safe to do so, you are to report back to me and I will join you and we will escape King Cold together, do you understand?”
“What about mom and dad?” Trunks asked.
“We can’t help them unless we have people on our side to help us,” Jeyice said quickly. He truthfully hadn’t thought that much in detail about this. “Tell them about your parents and that you need help and then call me. I will give them all the information that they will need and we will all get out.”
boys looked confused but nodded anyway.
“If King Cold finds out that you are betraying him and you fail me on this, I will pull the plug on your father and cut up that whore of a mother in front of you both and bring you to Cold myself for him to deal with you. I will not take the fall alone.”
Trunks glared at Jeyice. He hated that since they had been allowed to see Bulma on a regular basis, he used their parents against them into forcing them to do whatever he wanted. If he wanted to get away from King Cold so badly, why didn’t he just come with them or why didn’t he rescue their parents and meet them down on this planet with them?
“We won’t,” Tarble said before Trunks could question Jeyice; he felt the same way Trunks did about the threat against their parents. Of course they would do what they could to get them out of there!
“Alright, good.”
“Except when do our parents get to be with us?” Trunks asked. “Why can’t you go and get them and bring them to where we are going?”
“I will have it arranged,” Jeyice shrugged casually. “Just make contact with the group that had an alliance with your father, make contact with me and I will bring them with me when I come to you. It will be as easy as that.”
“Okay,” they both said. Unsure, but if it was a chance to get out with their parents then maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea.
“Here,” he said to them, giving them both a thick wad of cash. “That’s for today.”
“But won’t King Cold want it?” Tarble asked in hesitation.
“He does not even know there was any cash payment,” Jeyice snorted. “Think of this as a side bonus and keep it to yourselves. You may need it.”
They both nodded as they each took their share.
“Do not tell Recoome or anyone else of this little transaction,” he warned. “Nobody needs to know and if King Cold finds out, well, we will all be in a lot of trouble.”
“We won’t,” they both said. The fact that Jeyice was giving them money to help them was encouraging that he was actually trying to help them and so they felt better about this plan.
“Good,” he nodded. “Now get some rest. We will be making our way to a trade planet to pick up supplies and a few things you may need since you will be on your own.”
They both nodded as Jeyice exited their room and closed the door.
He made his way to the lounging area where Recoome and Burter were watching a fight on the video monitor.
“Jeyice,” Recoome called to him. “Did you place your bet? The main event is on next so if you were going to do it, better do it now.”
Jeyice shrugged. “I’m not much of a betting man, Recoome,”
“Since when?” Recoome challenged him, looking at him with an even more dumbstruck look than usual.
“Since he started with Vegeta’s woman,” Burter snorted at him in distain. “He’s been spending all his extras on furnishing his digs in hopes that she’ll move in with him.”
“Oh, riiight,” Recoome nodded. “How’s that working out for ya?”
Jeyice snarled at him in reply, his upper lip curling, exposing his upper teeth.
“Whoo wee,” Burter chuckled at him.
“You know, I hear woman really get off on jewelry,” Recoome suggested.
“Yea, but that’s expensive,” Burter snorted. “I don’t get why you aren’t finished with her. I know a couple of the guys, Recoome included, who wouldn’t mind a go at her. Hell, you could probably make some side cash, selling her ass. Just move on, females aren’t worth the hassle.”
“Says the man who’s never lain with one,” Jeyice snarled back.
“It’s not my fault my species doesn’t have to copulate to reproduce,” Burter shrugged. “I for one am thankful because I don’t need the distraction.”
“Ya, how does your species reproduce then?” Recoome asked with interest. “If ya don’t do it, then how?”
“We mate externally,” he said as though it were a dumb question. “The female passes eggs and they are fertilized outside her body,”
“So… there is no penetration?” Recoome asked.
“No,” he replied, clearly getting annoyed.
“What’s the fun in that?”
“It’s not meant for fun, it’s meant to carry on the species! We were much more evolved than you barbaric, warm blooded mammals and your debased needs!”
“Enough!” Jeyice cut them off. “Who gives a shit!”
“You would if you heard your constant bitching and moaning over some female,” Burter threw back at him. “I am sick to death of hearing it!”
“Ya, he has a point,” Recoome agreed.
“Here’s an extra bonus,” Jeyice announced, tossing them each a thick wad of cash. “Do not say a word to anyone.”
“Is this what that queen gave you?” Recoome asked.
“Yes,” he replied, making sure the pilot wasn’t near to eavesdrop on them. “This is strictly under the table, no record of it, do as you please with it.”
“Hmm,” Burter commented, thumbing through it. “This currency is very strong at the moment,”
“Whatever, I’m tossing it in the pot with the rest of my bet,” Recoome shrugged, chucking it into a bowl they had on a table already full of bills, coins and a few expensive gem stones.
“You’re that anxious to lose it?” Burter cackled at him.
“I’m not going to lose it,” he shook his head confidently. “Draggos is a sure thing,”
“Just like Memnon was a sure thing?”
“That wasn’t his fault he lost. That fight was rigged and someone payed off the ref to make a call like that!” he objected.
“Whatever,” Burter shook his head. “It’s a good thing you can’t find a female, Recoome. You wouldn’t be able to afford to woo her anyway with anything expensive since you piss it all away on shitty bets.”
“This,” he said, standing and cupping his male essentials crudely, “is all I need to woo the women,”
Jeyice shook his head and left them as they continued to bicker back and forth over how and how not to acquire women. He knew he had promised Bulma that he would find something to help her out with her invisibility cloaking devise that King Cold had asked her to work on. He had not forgotten. Truth is, he had yet to stumble on anything that would be of any help to her and for all he knew, she had already found a solution to it.
He would look for something special for her anyway once they landed. He needed to take the boys shopping for clothing and supplies anyway to make it look like they had run away.
They made it to a shop, trade and pleasure planet a week later, instead of three days as originally planned. With their unexpected windfall, Recoome and Burter wanted to gamble and drink excessively for a few days, and so he decided to indulge them.
The boys, of course were excited. They left she ship docks and walked through the streets where there was gambling, various games, restaurants, casinos and brothels.
Jeyice gave Recome and Burter their leave to do as they wished while Jeyice took the boys shopping.
“You may purchase a few things for yourself with the money I gave you from the mission,” he told them, walking into one of the stores.
Of course, the boys were excited; they had never been shopping before. Jeyice had shown them how to figure out the conversion of everything the store had so they knew how much everything was and how much they had to spend.
“We could buy like the whole store, Trunks,” Tarble said to him, looking at the price tags of everything, rather than looking at things he actually wanted or needed.
“I know, this is awesome!” Trunks replied, holding up a pair of loose fitting cargo pants. “Look at these,”
“Those are nice,” Tarble agreed, picking up a pair for himself. “We could fit stuff in the pockets,”
“I was thinking that too and I’ll bet they are more comfortable than out battle pants we wear all the time,” Trunks said. “We could put capsules in them and stuff,”
“Yea, we should get a couple of pairs.”
They each grabbed three pairs of the cargo pants and moved on to look at other things. Jeyice took them to another supplies store, in case they would be stranded for a while in the wilderness after the crash. He showed them a tent, blankets and supplies to carry water and food.
Satisfied they had everything they needed, he let them go on their own to grab a meal of their choice from the vast selection, which made them happy and they scampered off together to see what they could get.
He made his way down to the higher end of the shopping center, in search of something that could help Bulma out or even something special that he could give to her to prove his affections to her. He had noticed many times the set of rings Bulma always wore around her neck. He knew one was Vegeta’s and the other was one that must have come from him. It was an absolutely beautiful ring, expensive as well from what he estimated when he’d looked at it a few times. Expense these days was not something that he worried about, it was finding something she would like just as much, if not more. He had never asked her about the ring, but he knew it meant a lot to her and it bothered him that she wore it around her neck at all times as though it were a constant reminder to him that someone else had been her cherished someone before him.
It bothered him.
And he was getting fresh out of ideas of how to make her want him that way. He had given her everything from allowing her to see her boys to offering to let her reside with him in his comfortable quarters rather than the dire, poorly accommodating room in the lab she had. He did have to hand it to her though, she had made good use of the minimal provisions she had been given and had made decent accommodations for herself all things considered. However in his mind she deserved much better. What would it take to get her to forget about the lifeless form of Vegeta in the regeneration tank and join him?
Jeyice walked into one jewelry shop that boasted to have only the rarest and best inventory in the entire galaxy. He looked around and found many gorgeous pieces and he would have been hard pressed to choose even one for her had he not had something very specific in mind.
“Do you need any help?” the store clerk asked him as he stopped to look closely at some rare gems even he had never seen before.
“I do, but I am unsure if you will be able to help me,” he answered, not taking his eyes off one particular set of pink blush-colored stones set in platinum settings. “I am looking for something very specific,”
“Well, I can guarantee you that if we do not have it, it does not exist.” the sales person boasted with an arrogant chuckle.
“Alright then,” Jeyice snorted, looking up at the rather plump man with sallow green skin that looked to be damp from perspiration. “Someone very dear to me is a scientist and has been commissioned with a project. She is looking for something that will help her build a cloaking device. Are there any gems or stones or anything that will aid her in accomplishing this?”
“You are a member of the Planet Trade Organization, are you not?” the shop keeper asked suspiciously, looking at his uniform thoroughly.
“I am,” he nodded. “She works for Kind Cold himself and it is he who has commissioned this impossible task to her,”
“I see, so this is not a project that would be treasonous towards King Cold?”
“Not in the least, in fact you would be assisting him and ensuring the safety of a lady who is extremely important to me,” Jeyice said. “I fear her life is at risk should she fail in this project. King Cold can be rather temperamental when things do not go his way.”
“So I have heard,” the man nodded in concern. “Unfortunately, no, we do not carry such items, however I do know where you will find what you seek,”
“Where?” Jeyice asked.
“It will cost you,” he said slyly. “If the owner of this fine establishment catches wind that I sent a potential buyer elsewhere, I am afraid it would be to my detriment.”
“Why would I care what happens to you?” Jeyice snorted.
“Because I will not tell you where to find them,” he shrugged. “They are not easily located, possibly not even on this planet for all you know and then this lady whom you profess to care so much for will never accomplish her project,”
Jeyice wasn’t sure if the man was bluffing or not, but did not want to risk that he did know where to find what he was looking for and miss out on an opportunity to aid and impress Bulma. “Alright, what do you want?”
“Just a minimum purchase of at least two items in the case you are currently browsing through.”
“These are the most expensive pieces in your whole bloody store!” he spat at him.
“Do you want to know or not?”
“Fine,” he spat at him in resentment before going back to look at the items under the glass counter. “I suppose I’ll take these ones,” he said, pointing to the blush-colored stone pendant and matching earrings. They were beautiful and he was sure Bulma would like them but he could not believe that he was actually taking advice from Recoome with regards to trying to gain Bulma’s affections.
“A very nice choice,” the shop keeper nodded, taking them and wrapping them carefully in a fine tissue paper and placing them in a box together.
“Now where do I find something to accomplish a cloaking device?” he asked after paying him.
“If you head down the street that way,” he started, pointing behind him, “and keep going until you reach a dead end, turn left and keep on that path until you see a small, unmarked, red tent. Go in and ask for Basa and tell her what you are looking for. If she does not have it, she will know where to get it.”
“Right, and am I going to have to pay her as well to be told where to get it?” he asked sarcastically.
“Dunno,” he shrugged.
“Alright,” Jeyice nodded, exiting the shop and going in the direction he was told. The streets were busy and crowded. It took him a while to make it to the wall he had been told about and even longer to locate this unmarked red tent. He was almost beginning to wonder if this red tent even existed and if he had been duped when he finally saw it just before he was about to head back to the store he had just been to and throttle the store keeper for lying to him and ripping him off.
It was so small, he had to bend over to walk in. “I’m looking for Basa,” he said, looking around but not seeing anyone.
From behind a covered box, draped in black fabric came a small creature with bulging eyes and yellowish skin. She was about three feet tall, hunched over and resembled some form of amphibious creature of which species, Jeyice did not know.
“I’m Basa,” she croaked ironically.
“I was sent to you by another shop keeper because they said you may have what I am looking for,” he said, skipping the introductions. As it was, he had left the boys for far too long.
“What is it you are looking for?”
“I need something that can render someone invisible to the naked eye. Something of a cloaking device,” he explained, hoping she would know what he meant and had something he could use.
“No such thing exists,” she said blandly and he sighed in disappointment even though he was not all that surprised. If something like this actually did exist, wouldn’t everyone and his dog be using it? “I do, however, have perception filters,”
“What’s a perception filter?” he asked, hopeful that maybe there was something that could help Bulma out after all.
“A perception filter is a form of mind control,” she replied, sitting down in what looked like a beanbag chair. “It carries a telepathic effect to it that alters and misdirects the visual senses around its immediate vicinity.”
“Okay?” he grunted. That didn’t really answer his question and whether or not it could be of any use to Bulma.
“If someone were to carry a perception filter on them, it would have the effect of directing attention away from the one wearing it, rendering them unnoticeable to those around them. They would not be necessarily invisible as you put it, but rather blend into their surroundings as if they were, so long as those around them are not aware of it or their presence.”
“That sounds like it would work perfectly,” he nodded as he listened to her, his hopes being built up again.
“There are drawbacks, however,” she warned.
“Such as?”
“The person would have to make sure they do not draw attention to themselves, as once someone knows that they are there, they will no longer be affected by the filter. It is only a very minor form of mind control,” she explained. “As well it cannot be used to fool radars, artificial intelligence and some animal species are immune to its influences.”
Jeyice thought a moment, unsure if this would be helpful to her or not. She had mentioned that King Cold had wanted to make his own armies invisible, however if they could be spotted on a radar, didn’t that defeat the purpose altogether? He couldn’t remember, but he thought Bulma had mentioned that she had found a way around making things invisible on a radar scanner frequency, but could not remember now. As usual, he never paid much attention to the things she said to him. “You have my interest, however I must consult with my… scientist. Do you have these filters on you?”
“I have a few, yes,”
“Can they be duplicated?” he asked, knowing that Bulma would need many for an army if this would be of any use to her.
“They can,” she nodded.
“Right, and how expensive are they?” he asked finally.
She told him.
“Alright,” he nodded after thinking about it a moment. “Is there a high demand for these filters or can I return in a few weeks’ time and collect them if my associate agrees that they will be useful?”
She shrugged and snorted. “That all depends. What is in high demand this week may not be next week and vice versa,”
“I see,” he said. “May I place a deposit while I decide?”
“I will require the full amount and it is a non-refundable deposit,” she nodded.
“Full amount, non-refundable?” he repeated in outrage. “This whole bloody planet is nothing more than a bunch of fucking pirates, waiting to rob you at any opportunity!”
“You work for PTO, how are you any different?” she shrugged in a bored tone, not put off by his rude accusation and foul language. “King Cold and his lot are the worst bunch of pirates out of us all,”
“Very well,” he sighed, pulling out his cash. “I will place one deposit and buy one as well to take back with me.”
“Very good,” she nodded, taking his money and counting it a second time to make sure he had given her the correct amount before hopping off her beanbag chair and hobbling to the wall.
Jeyice frowned at her in curiosity, beginning to think that he had just been ripped off and the old amphibian was old and senile. There was nothing there! He was about to get angry and ask her what game she was playing on him before he noticed that the wall wasn’t a wall at all. There was a cabinet hidden there, which he had not even seen until she opened it and began moving things around inside.
“Surprised?” she chuckled, turning to face him with something in a small box. He was standing there with his mouth slightly agape in shock.
“Just a little,” he admitted.
“That is the power of a perception filter,” she told him. “You see the cabinet now, right?”
“Yes,” he nodded. It was there, clear as day and he wondered what else was hidden in the small tent.
“Now that you have seen it, you cannot go back to unseeing it, even though it itself is a perception filter,” she said. “The effect on you is lost.”
“Amazing. I understand,” he nodded. This was possibly even better than he thought. “So you can make objects out of these filters?”
“You can, however it is more trouble than it is worth,” she shrugged.
“I may need to find out how to do that when I come back,” he said to her.
“I am afraid that is beyond my understanding, but I could forward you into the correct direction where it can be done,”
“I will take you up on that,” he said. “Now where is the one I just bought and how does it work?”
“You simply wear it or have it on you,” she said, opening the box, revealing a thin cut white stone, about the size and length of a pen cap.
“That’s it?”
“You may have it made into a piece of jewelry like a pendent or earrings or bracelet,” she rattled off. “It is fairly easy to have cut. It is not physically hard like most stones.”
“Right,” he nodded, wondering if he should do that and have it made into something for her but decided against it. It was for a project for Cold, not a fashion accessory for Bulma. “Okay, well I will take this back to my associate and will be in touch in a few weeks or a month or two, I am not sure when I will be able to return.”
She nodded and went back to spot. “If you wear it out of that box, like in your pocket, no one on the street will notice you, unless you make a fuss, well then you won’t be concealed. If you put it back in that specific box, the effects will be cancelled.”
“I will try it,” he said, placing it in his breast plate and the box in his pants pocket before exiting the small tent and began making his way down the street back to the restaurant area where he had left the boys. He wasn’t sure if he was blended in and invisible to the crowd or not. He didn’t feel any different and when he looked down he could still see himself but then remembered that he knew about the filter, so it probably would not work on himself. He decided he would test it out once he ran into the boys and see if they noticed him.
He spotted them sitting at a table, still eating more food than what most boys their age could consume. He sat in the empty seat beside Trunks and was astonished that they did not even flinch or take notice of him. So it does work,” he mused to himself as he listened to them bicker over who had shared more of their meal with the other, completely oblivious to his presence.
Satisfied, he took his leave. He needed to send the other jewelry he had gotten Bulma to her. It would be a surprise, he thought with a smile. He would save the perception filter for later on when he was back. He wanted to see her reaction to them himself.
-0-0-0-
Bulma was finishing up cleaning her side of the lab. It had taken her two weeks, but she had managed to finish painting all of King Cold’s androids in her stealth paint. It had been an exhausting, tedious job, but she had been thorough and careful so as to make sure they were perfect. Each had needed two coats of paint to be sufficiently covered.
She had been so busy and tired with that, she hadn’t even had the energy to put into her time machine and so that had been left alone for the last month. It had been 11 weeks that Jeyice and the boys had been gone and still she had received no word as to if they were alright or when they would return. Her pleas to Gero to find out from King Cold were ignored and as the days went, she began to worry that something had gone terribly wrong on the mission they had been sent on and naturally began to assume the worst as of late.
As she finished up with everything, a lower ranking soldier came into the lab. “I am looking for Bulma,” he said, reading off a piece of paper on a package in his hands.
“I am Bulma,” she replied, walking over to him, wondering who on earth would be sending her a parcel? No one knew she was here and immediately, dread crept up inside her that it was remains of the boys; that maybe they had been killed on the mission and that was all that was left of them.
“This is for you,” he said curtly, holding the rectangular box out to her for her to take, giving her a strange look as she stood there, nearly petrified, not wanting to know what it was or who it was from. “Aren’t you going to take it?” he asked impatiently as she stood there.
“Yes, of course,” she replied, shaking her head and took the box from him. It wasn’t too heavy.
He left and she stood there a moment, looking at it, unsure as to if she wanted to open it. Her name was on it and she did not recognize the handwriting on it. A small part of her was wishing the package was one of her parent’s, but whoever had written the address on the box, their handwriting didn’t match either of her parent’s writing.
“What is it?” Dende asked, coming out of his room.
“I got a package from someone,” she said quietly, still looking at the box all over, examining it carefully. She shook it once, no sound came from it and her stomach dropped. What if it was ashes?
“What’s wrong?” he asked, concerned by her disposition.
“I don’t want to open it,” she confessed. “What if it’s…?”
“Do you want me to open it?” he offered, understanding what she meant and why she was hesitant to open it.
“I’m sorry, I’m not meaning to be so morbid, it’s just… I can’t help but think anything else,” she said, handing him the box, her stomach turning unpleasantly. “I haven’t heard anything about how they are. What else am I to assume?”
“I understand,” he said, taking the box from her. “Want me to open it?”
She stared at the box in his hands a moment, debating on whether or not she even wanted to know what its contents were. “Yea, let’s open it,” she sighed finally. If she didn’t open it, she’d be up all night wondering what was in there anyway so what was the point in not opening it?
Dende nodded and headed back into the lab, placing the box carefully on one of the tables there and went to grab a knife to open it.
Bulma could not help but glance at Vegeta in the regeneration tank. Somehow it gave her some comfort to open it up in front of him, just in case it was as bad as she feared. Even if he could not react to it or give her any form of comfort or support, just having him there while she did this made her feel better.
“Alright,” Dende said, coming back to the box. “I’m sure it’s not what you think,” he said comfortingly. “If something bad had happened, they’d have told you already.”
“Let’s hope,” she whispered, holding her breath, appreciating his efforts to be sensitive towards her about this. They had become very close friends in the recent months.
He sliced the box open and removed a long, sleek black box.
“Oh god,” she cried, “It is a box of remains!”
“You don’t know that,” he replied, trying to sound cheerful. “Want me to open it?”
She stalled for a moment. It was a smooth, expensive looking black, rectangular box that almost reminded her of one of the boxes containing expensive jewelry her father always bought for her mother on special occasions. Except no one would be buying her any jewelry. “Yea, let’s open it up,” she nodded finally, scrunching her face up as he opened it.
A folded piece of paper was sitting on top of a gorgeous necklace with a blush pink stone, set in a silver setting and matching earrings. Dumbfounded, she yanked the box across the table, away from Dende and looked at the jewelry. It was exquisite, but not at all what she was expecting. She reached or the paper, unfolded it and the note read:
I saw this and thought of you. I miss you and am looking forward to hopefully seeing you soon. Warmest regards, Jeyice.
“Oh god,” she groaned, shutting the box and sliding it across the table in disgust.
“Who is it from?” Dende asked with interest, reaching for the box and opening it to look at the contents again.
“Jeyice,” she snorted, tossing the paper on the table next to the box so he could see the note for himself. “Like are you freaking kidding me?!”
Dende hid a smile and shook his head at her reaction. He wasn’t entirely sure what the deal was with Bulma and Jeyice, but he knew that she hated him with a passion and that he was black mailing her so that she could see her boys. What exactly the arrangement was, he had no idea because she refused to tell him any of the specifics except that he was an extremely unwelcome person in her life. “Well, I think it’s safe to say that Trunks and Tarble are alright then,”
“Are they?” she spat. “He didn’t mention them! What if this is a condolence gift?”
“I don’t think it is,” he said, looking from the note and back at the necklace and earrings again, examining them closely. “These are very expensive stones and he didn’t say anything about anything bad happening. He said hopefully seeing you soon, which probably means that he and the boys will be back soon.”
“You’re probably right,” she sighed, feeling somewhat relieved that the boys were more than likely just fine, but more than a little unnerved that he had upped the ante and was now sending her jewelry. “Great, now I’ll be expected to wear this for him,”
“It is beautiful,” he shrugged.
“You don’t get it,” she shook her head, closing the box and taking it. “It’s not that it isn’t beautiful, it’s the meaning behind it. Where I come from, sending jewelry to someone- expensive jewelry especially, means you’re serious about someone.”
“Ohh,” he replied, his eyes widening in understanding.
“Yea,” she sighed. “I’ve been putting him off for a while now, so now he’s sending this. He doesn’t get it that Vegeta is my mate, even if he stays in there forever, I’m not ever going to be interested in anyone else. If I accept this, then that means I’m accepting him.”
“So, what are you going to do?” he asked, looking at the senders address on the original box. “This came from a pleasure planet. If you send it back, he won’t get it because he’s probably not there anymore.”
“No, I won’t send it back,” she sighed. “The boys are with him, I don’t want to anger him and then have him take it out on them and leave them stranded somewhere or worse. I’ll just give them back to him when he returns.”
“He’s still going to be upset,”
“Too bad,” she shrugged. “At least the boys will be here and he can’t really do anything to them here because Cold won’t allow it. I’ll worry about it then, I’m going to bed.”
“Good night,” Dende nodded, looking around the lab after she had left. There was nothing left to be done, as she had done it all so he decided to turn in for the evening as well.
“Fucking bastard,” Bulma muttered under her breath as she tossed the box carelessly on the couch and began taking her clothes off to change into her pajamas. As annoyed as she was over this newest development, she couldn’t help but think of the positive implications this may have on her. If Jeyice was truly infatuated with her, then that meant that she could manipulate him. As it was, she had noticed that if she was insistent, he would cave sometimes on their agreement. It wasn’t a common occurrence that he did, but maybe she could use her sway to further get ahead of him.
From what she had gleaned off her last work on the time machine, she needed some srot of galactic GPS system in order to be able to travel anywhere. It needed a fixed spot to work as sort of an anchor so that she would not only end up where she intended, but also make her way back here. Dende had suggested she get her hands on a scouter, but that was looking like an impossible feat. The scouters seemed to be a very valued commodity.
Perhaps if she played nice with Jeyice, she could convince him to give her one. Not only would it be one of the finishing touches to her time machine, but it would be a way for her to keep in touch with Trunks and Tarble on a regular basis and she would know that they were alright.
With those satisfying thoughts in mind, she turned in for the evening and went to sleep.
-0-0-0-
“Now do you boys understand what you need to do?” Jeyice asked them impatiently as they finished capsulizing everything they would need and were preparing the escape pod for them. They were just on the outskirts of the planet Eris where they could not be detected by their security systems.
“Yes,” they both replied, anxious to get going. This would be their first time away from Jeyice and they were actually looking forward to it. He had been rather miserable and his mood had not improved any since they had destroyed that planet.
“Very well then,” he nodded. “Get in there and I will talk to you when you have made contact.”
“Yes, sir,” Trunks said, getting inside the small escape pod and a moment later Tarble followed. It was cramped, and not very comfortable, but doable. The point was for it to look like they had escaped quickly and as inconspicuously from King Cold as possible.
“Now you will breach the atmosphere and I will be turning off the controls shortly after so the pod actually crashes,” Jeyice reminded them. “Make sure you are ready and seated and properly strapped in so you will not be injured,”
“Got it,” they nodded.
“Do not fuck this up,” he warned them before closing the door on the pod.
“You ready?” Tarble asked, locking the door from the inside.
“Yup!”
“Let’s go,”
Within a few minutes, the pod was launched into the atmosphere and the boys strained to look out of the small window as they flew at break neck speed towards a pink planet.
Within just a few minutes, the warning came on that the pod had lost all mechanical control, as Jeyice had warned them it would.
“Oh shit!” Trunks exclaimed as they both scrambled to the seat, trying to make sure they were equally on the seat and strapped in.
“You’re taking up too much space!” Tarble objected.
“No, I’m not!”
“Yes, you are! There’s no room for my butt, look, you’re whole ass is on the seat!”
“No, it isn’t!”
“Shit!” Tarble cried as they both were thrown upside down as the pod began to turn circularly, now that the power and controls had been cut. Now they knew why Jeyice had warned them to be strapped in.
“You idiot!” Trunks said.
“You were the one hogging all the space!” Tarble argued. “Ow!”
“What?”
“I hit my head,” he said as they were thrown to the other side of the pod, both half on the seat by pure fluke. “Grab the belt!”
Trunks managed to grab the seatbelt and reach it across them, handing the end to Tarble who then buckled it up just in time before they were pitched upside-down again.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Trunks moaned, covering his mouth with his hand.
“Don’t!” Tarble cried. “Or wait until we land!”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said, taking deep breaths and closing his eyes to try and get rid of the nauseous feeling.
A moment later they were jarred as the pod came to an abrupt halt. They both felt like their teeth were going to be thrown out of their mouths and their brains scrambling out of their nose at the sheer heavy impact of the crash. Their ears rung and they felt the whole inside of the pod spinning even though the pod was sitting stock still into the ground.
“Are you alright?” Trunks asked Tarble as they stumbled out of the escape pod after taking a moment to regain their equilibrium. That had been more traumatic than they’d thought it would be.
“I think so,” he winced, grabbing his forehead even though his whole neck and jaw ached as well. “I bumped my head really hard.”
“You're bleeding,” Trunks pointed to him before he bent over and began retching into the trees. He still felt as though he was spinning and his jaw and head ached in a throbbing rage as he dry heaved almost violently. Why was his stomach always affected by these things?
“Ya,” Tarble sighed, touching his head and seeing blood on his fingers. “What do we do now?” The crash site was in the middle of what looked to be a wild jungle. There were trees and tall grass everywhere so thick that they couldn’t see anything. It was quiet too, they didn’t hear anyone coming.
“I don’t know,” Trunks shrugged, once he felt he was fine again. “That sucked.”
“You’re okay?”
“Yea,” he nodded, picking up his scouter. “Hey, Jeyice? We made it okay, but there's no one here. Just trees. It looks like a jungle.”
“Put your fucking scouter away!” Jeyice snarled back. “If someone sees you talking to someone through it and they take your scouter from you, this entire operation is fucked!”
“That’s just it, there is no one around,” Trunks said.
“So walk around and look for someone!” Jeyice said irritably. “Do not contact me again until you are settled.”
“Fine,” Trunks huffed as Jeyice hung up on him. “I guess we’d better put our scouters in a capsule where no one will find them.”
Tarble took Trunks scouters and capsulized them both. “Which way should we go?”
“I don’t know,” Trunks shrugged. Suddenly this situation of them being stranded randomly didn’t seem like so much fun anymore. “Let’s go that way,” he said, pointing forward.
“Should we leave the ship or take it?” Tarble asked.
“Leave it,” Trunks said after thinking a moment. “Just in case they don’t believe we crashed.”
“Good idea,” Tarble agreed as he followed Trunks through the trees and brush.
They walked in silence for a while before they began to get tired. It was very hot and humid on this planet and they weren’t used to it, nor were they dressed for it. They were in their battle suits and armour.
“Should we take a break?” Tarble asked, bending over to breathe better.
“No, we need to keep going and find someone, anyone to talk to,” Trunks replied after pausing for a moment. A break did sound good right about now.
“What if there isn’t anyone on this planet though?”
“Do you really think Jeyice would ditch us somewhere with no inhabitants?” Trunks snorted.
“I don’t know,” Tarble shrugged. “Do you believe him that he wants to help us get mom and dad away from King Cold?”
Trunks stopped walking. “I don’t know,” he sighed. “He’s been strange since we left.”
“I know!”
“Let’s take our armour off at least,” Trunks suggested, pulling his over his head.
Tarble followed suit. They both capsulized their armour before continuing on, agreeing that it made them look more like they had actually crashed. Their flight suits were torn a bit at the knees and elbows at this point from the crash and from trudging their way through the thick, bounteous jungle.
Just as they were both sorely considering possibly taking a break and setting their tent up for the night, they noticed that the trees were beginning to thin out and a little further on, they came to a clearing and noticed a small village in the distance.
“Whoa, finally,” Tarble huffed. He was exhausted. They could both barely breathe from the high level of humidity and both were absolutely drenched in sweat.
“Ya, let’s go,” Trunks said, not stopping and picking up the pace to get to the village, anxious to talk to someone and maybe get some water. Sure, they had their own, but they knew it needed to appear like they had little to no provisions for themselves.
Once they made it to the village, they began walking along the outside property lines, in hopes of finding someone that they could talk to.
They stopped for a moment before proceeding.
“Who are you?” an older man asked them from a distance away. He appeared to be doing yard work in his backyard two homes over from where they were.
The boys froze, unsure of what to say now that they had actually found someone to talk to. Sure Jeyice said that it was alright for them to tell them who they were, but what if it wasn’t? What if they weren’t friends of their father?
“Sorry sir, uhmm.. My brother and I just crash landed back there in the jungle and we were looking for help.” Tarble said quickly.
“So that was you guys a few hours ago,” he said. “I thought I saw something land in there. You boys alright?”
“I think so,” they both replied, coming closer.
“Well come on in,” he called to them, waving in invitation. “You boys alone or is there anyone else with you?”
They looked at each other. Here was their chance. “We are alone,” Trunks answered. “Is there someone we could talk to, like a guy in charge or a leader or something?”
“A leader?” he repeated, his eyebrows shooting up. “Of course, but why would you have need to speak with any of them?”
“Because we need your help,” Trunks said, lowering his voice. “We escaped from someplace and we were told that our father had an alliance with the people here so maybe they can help us.”
The man narrowed his eyes suspiciously at them now. “Who is your father?”
“Prince Vegeta of Vegeta-sei.” Tarble replied.
The man laughed hysterically at them a moment but then stopped as he composed himself. “Boy, I otta laugh you off of this entire planet an’ back to wherever it was that you came from. There are no Saiyans left an’ even if there were, you two are too old to be who you claim to be,”
“It’s true,” Trunks confirmed. “We are brothers and the last two remaining Saiyans. We have been held captive on King Cold’s base since we were babies. We were made to train in a chamber that ages us so that we could be trained as soldiers for King Cold.”
The man looked closer at them, not convinced, but not entirely uncertain that they weren't telling the truth either. “You both have tails,” he commented as he looked them over and noticed the appendages wrapped firmly around their waists.
Both boys nodded, unfurling them so he could see that they were indeed tails.
“Come in,” he said again. “There are a few people that will want to talk to you if you truly are who you claim to be,”
The boys followed him into his home where his wife was in the kitchen making a meal. “Darby, please set a place at the table for these two boys,” he said to her. “They crashed in the brush and are requiring our assistance. I need to find Geralt, Keenan and Tobias at once,”
“Alright, dear,” she nodded. “You poor boys alright? It looks like you bumped your head quite badly,” she said, looking at Tarble in concern. “Are you alright or are you hurt elsewhere?”
“No, I’m fine,” Trunks shook his head. “I’m just a bit dirty,”
“Well you both can use our bathroom and shower up while I finish making lunch,” she said, pointing down the hall. “There’s towels in the cupboard in there. Toss them into the hamper when you are done. I don’t have any clean clothes however.”
“That’s ok,” Trunks said. “We have some sored with us, actually.”
“You go shower first and I’ll look at your brother's head.”
“I’m okay, ma’am, really,” Tarble insisted. “It’s just a bump.”
“It’s far more than a bump, young man, it’s more like a gash that needs to be stitched up.” she insisted, inspecting it in a motherly fashion.
“Thank you,” Tarble said.
“It’s not a problem,” she brushed off, opening up a first aid kit. “You’re much too young and handsome to have such an unsightly scar on your head.”
Tarble felt himself blush slightly at her comment.
Satisfied that Tarble would be alright to be left with this woman, Trunks made his way to the bathroom to shower. He stripped off his dirty and torn flight suit and turned the water to as cool as it would go.
Hopefully these people would be able to help them and Jeyice would make good on his promise to help them all get away from King Cold.
Even if Jeyice didn’t come through for them, at least they would be telling someone outside King Cold’s planet about them and what had happened and that their parents were being held. With or without Jeyice, Trunks was determined that this mission would be their saving grace.
-0-0-0-