Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ RipTide ❯ 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1

A huge explosion erupted in one of the many training areas of the palace, sending multiple servants running for cover. The training area was almost completely totaled, and the noises of explosions and screams brought the king and his advisor and best friend running.
Vegeta skidded to a stop and stared with horror at the smoking remains of the tiled room. "AAAAADDDDRRRIIIIIAAAAANNNNN!!" he roared.
Kakarrot stopped next to him and surveyed the destruction for a minute. Then he smirked and walked inside to inspect everything.
"This is the fifth time this week!" Vegeta snarled, kicking at a pile of rubble. "What is the matter with that brat?!"
"You gotta hand it to him, though," Kakarrot grinned. "He does a pretty good job."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Well, look around. It's actually impossible to prove that he did it," Kakarrot pointed out.
"That's because all the evidence has been blown to smithereens!" Vegeta cried. "Just shut up. You're always sticking up for him."
"That's what soul-fathers are for," Kakarrot replied quietly, causing Vegeta to calm down a little. But the young king still wasn't satisfied, so he put two fingers in his mouth and whistled.
There was a moment of silence, and then there was the steady rhythmic thumping of two sets of paws on marble floor. The giant furry heads of Warfrost and Cassinian appeared in the doorway.
Vegeta went up to Warfrost and rapped his nose. "Find Adrian. Bring him back here. Make sure he doesn't get away this time."
Warfrost rumbled, and the two Emeras ducked their big heads in agreement. Then they turned around and stalked off down the hallway.

~*~
"Aw man, that was great. My masterpiece. I am the best, really, I am...I mean, how many people do you know that would think to blow up a training room with synchronized cherry bombs?"
These words came from a certain sixteen-year-old boy who was sitting on the roof of the tallest castle spire with his best friend.
"Just so that you made sure nobody would get hurt...unlike the last time," the other boy replied.
"Hey, if you're talking about the time I set off fireworks in the main dining hall, then you have to admit...that was pretty cool."
The second boy had to laugh, and they both started cracking up until they remembered that they were in hiding.
The first boy was none other than Vegeta and Vaya's son, the Crown Prince Adrian. He was the spitting image of his father, except for a lion's mane of black hair that vividly resembled his grandfather's. Adrian was not a bit as serious as Vegeta, and was very fun loving and wild. He loved anything that caused trouble, and didn't often feel guilty when he did something wrong. He was extremely bright, but he rarely considered the consequences of his actions.
His companion was Gohan, the only child of Kakarrot and Chi-Chi. He had short, spiky black hair, and looked a lot like his father. He wasn't as wild as his best friend was, but he would go along with just about anything Adrian did, because Adrian's excitement was always infectious and impossible to resist. Just like Kakarrot was Vegeta's confidante, Gohan would always be the voice of reason to Adrian's spark-set personality. He was a deep thinker, and was usually right.
The two boys were being very quiet, trying to keep themselves hidden from the wrath of Adrian's father, but even so they were taken completely off guard by the aerial arrival of Adrian's little sister...the Princess Vitani.
If Adrian looked anything like Vegeta, then Vitani was a carbon copy of Vaya, except for a slight spike in the young princess's hair. Sweet, smart, and curious, Vitani was not a brat, although she was very used to getting her own way -- especially from Vegeta. The little female Saiyan had her father wrapped around her finger, with almost as much power over him as her mother had.
"Hi, Adrian!" Vitani suddenly quipped, making both teenage boys jump.
"WHAT, Vitani?!" Adrian cried in an exasperated tone.
"Why are you and Gohan on the roof, Adrian? Are you playing a game? Can I play too?" Vitani asked excitedly, hovering in front of her big brother.
"No, you annoying little brat, go away," Adrian hissed, swiping his hand at his sister. Vitani grew a pouty expression.
"If you don't let me play, I'll tell Daddy!" she insisted angrily.
Adrian and Gohan looked at each other fearfully. "No, Vitani, don't tell Dad! If you squeal on us, I'll..."
The young prince thought fast. He couldn't hurt her, or he would get in twice as much trouble. Suddenly he had an idea.
"...I'll tickle you!"
Vitani squeaked and wrapped her arms around herself. "Don't tickle, Adrian," she whimpered. "Please don't tickle..."
"I will if you don't get outta here now and keep your mouth shut," Adrian replied sharply.
"DON'T TICKLE!" Vitani squealed, zipping away and disappearing back into the castle.
"Interesting threat," Gohan smirked.
Adrian shrugged and gave a smirk of his own. "Hey, it works. Now shut up or they'll hear us."
They became silent once again. Suddenly there was the sound of wings. Gohan and Adrian slowly turned around...
Warfrost and Cassinian were hovering right behind them.
"AUGH!" Adrian yelled. "RUN! RUN!"
The teenagers made a mad scramble to get away, but the Emeras pounced on them, pinning them to the roof with a big paw each. Warfrost ducked his head and nudged Adrian with his nose.
Adrian was very cranky about being captured. "Get off me, Warfrost!" he snapped, pushing the paw off his chest and standing up. "Why do you always do my dad's dirty work, huh? Can't he even chase me himself?" He started to fly away.
Warfrost made a rumbling sound like laughter, and lunged forward again. His massive jaws were powerful enough to crush steel, but he could mouth an egg without breaking it, and now his fangs closed gently but firmly around Adrian's midsection and torso. Adrian yelped and tried to struggle, but Warfrost's teeth were locked in place. So with a dramatic sigh, Adrian hung limp in the Emera's mouth like a rag doll. Cassinian grabbed Gohan by the back of his shirt, and the two Emeras flew the "prisoners" to what Adrian considered to be administrative punishment.
Kakarrot met them first by the large doors. He indicated to Cassinian and Warfrost that he could take it from there. They nodded and dropped Adrian and Gohan on the floor and lumbered off, Cassinian a little slower than usual. Kakarrot didn't notice.
"Looks like you boys got yourself into trouble again, huh?" he asked, hauling the teenagers to their feet.
"It wasn't me, it was all Adrian's idea this time," Gohan said in his own defense. Adrian shot him a nasty look, but Gohan threw up his hands to indicate that it was not his problem.
Adrian gave his soul-father a suspicious look. "You don't know for sure that it really is my fault."
Kakarrot smirked. "Adrian, if there's one thing we do know about all of the pranks that happen in the palace, it's that EVERYTHING is your fault."
Adrian had to grin. He was proud of his reputation and skill.
"C'mon. Your dad wants to talk to you," Kakarrot said, starting to lead Adrian away. "Gohan, get outta here." He waved his hand to show his son that he was free to go. Gohan gave Adrian a sympathetic look, then scampered off.
"Don't I get a last request?" Adrian cracked as his soul-father marched him down the hall.

~*~

"HITOMI!!!" Canta yelled as he came storming through his household.
"She's in her room," his wife said indifferently and went back to shining her armor.

The sliding doors quickly slid open as the nearly 6 foot monster of a saiiyan came barging into the room of his only child.
"BRAT! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" he held up a short-circuited 3" robot by the "neck" in his left hand, sparks poking out here and there. The brown-skinned, brown-eyed, purple-haired saiiyaness calmly turned around from her large pile of books to look at her dad boredly.
"Oh, you found my robot. It was a test prototype. I sent it to do some menial chores until you fried it," she said, as if he had done something wrong and snatched it from him to repair it.
"Brat, you are truly pushing my patience...what is wrong with you?! Augh, the gods must think this some cruel joke, bestowing me a daughter who would rather build things like some weak alien tech slave, instead of--"
"Acting like a true saiiyan and rush headlong into battle'. I know, I know. You give me this lecture all the time, Father. This usually ends up in you breaking all my stuff and me going out and buying more. You must be running up one hell of a bill from the town library from all the books you've burned," his daughter said crisply before turning around to tend to her robot. Her father started to growl.
"And this is where you mutter obscenities, curse the day mother gave birth to me and then storm out in an angry huff," his daughter said while poking at her robot with a screwdriver. Her father yelled at the top of his lungs, "Curse the day Lea went into labor!" And as his child predicted, stormed off in an angry huff, muttering obscenities. Hitomi could only smirk and flung her waist-length, dark purple hair behind her. Her busy brown eyes already spotting some ripped wiring.

~*~

"I SWEAR that brat will be the death of me!" Canta swore, slamming his fist into the table as his wife calmly ate from a large drumstick.
"What is it this time?" his wife asked indifferently before taking another bite.
"A robot."
"A what?"
"The brat built a robot and sent it loose to do some 'menial chores' as the brat put it. I nearly tripped over the damned thing and smacked it," he said, finally starting on his own meal.
"I bet she made it from scratch too. Perhaps this is a good thing. It's rare you come across a saiiyan prodigy. She could build all kinds of things to perfect our training and sparring, like that gravity chamber she invented. The king still praises Hitomi to this day," his wife said proudly before taking another bite.
"Yes, I know Lea. And everyday my fellow soldiers joke about how my brat will be some computer freak instead of a real woman: a fighter, a mate, a mother," Canta said ruefully.
"That's true.." Lea said sadly, recalling a talk she had with her daughter. Hitomi seemed to hate all men, at least all saiiyan men. She believed they were sex-crazed pigs looking for a good lay when they saw her. She even swore to be single her entire life.
"We can't let her do that. At least with a mate she'd be able to bear some brats of her own for me to proud of," Canta argued.
"What are you so worried about? She's practically the strongest female her age in this town," Lea replied.
"That's not enough! She could be the strongest female in this town and maybe even.." he stopped short.
"Maybe even what?" Lea asked.
"I've got an idea.."

~*~

"OOF!" the unfortunate male was knocked a good few blocks with a fist print embedded in his cheek.
"Hitomi! That's the 5th you've turned down today!" her friend complained.
"I don't care. I'll turn down 5 more and even a hundred until they get it through their skulls that I'm not interested!" Hitomi yelled into the sky to prove her point. The saiiyan she had knocked sky high had made the unfortunate mistake of grabbing her rear. Her reddish-brown haired friend merely shook her head and rolled her green eyes.
"Honestly Hitomi, they're not all that bad. Some are actually kinda...fun," her friend said with a smirk.
"Oh yeah, I know what kind of fun you mean. Hey, didn't you say it hurt the first time for you?" Hitomi asked with suspicious eyes as the two started walking off into town.
"Well...yeah, but the 2nd time was great," her friend smiled.
"Uh huh. Tell me this, Verda, how long did you have that limp in your walk afterwards?" Her friend could only blush, "It wasn't for that long!"
"And didn't you complain that he was rough?" Hitomi went on.
"Yeah.."
"And didn't he blab to all his friends about what a good lay you were?" Hitomi asked, causing her friend to frown. "Yeah.."
"So what makes you think I want to go through that? The emotional pain, the physical pain and then to have your name come up in the guys' "sex talk" in the locker rooms; gee Verda, that sounds like oodles of fun," Hitomi said before walking off. Verda sighed and hurried to catch up with her, "Geesh Hitomi, you're no fun. You're so pess...pessi...p--"
"Pessimistic," Hitomi said her eyes ahead of her.
"Yeah, see. Do you really want to die alone?" Verda asked.
"No, I won't die. When I'm older and smarter, I should be able to come up with a device to slow down the aging process for me. That way I'll live longer and I'll be able to build more and study more," Hitomi said with an actual smile.
"You're weird, Hitomi," Verda said with flat eyes.
"Yeah, that's true, but it keeps the guys off my back."

~*~
"All right, kid, you have my attention for 40 seconds before you're grounded till you're thirty."
Adrian was standing in front of his father in the conference room used for meetings with other important Saiyans. Vegeta's arms were folded and the glare on his face would have frozen lava in July, but Adrian held his ground fearlessly. Kakarrot was waiting by the door.
"What's there to say, Dad? I happen to have a weakness for the classics. Besides, it's not like anyone got hurt. I was extra careful this time," Adrian replied.
Vegeta frowned. "Adrian, it will take weeks to fix the damage you've caused!"
"Then the servants better start working, huh?" Adrian said in an uncaring tone.
"How dare you act like this is no big deal. You cause trouble without any sort of thought for the consequences and then just expect to be let off easy. Where do you get the gall to do this to us?" Vegeta snarled furiously.
Adrian lowered his eyes. "Well, it's not like I have anything else to do. You're always too busy with Vitani or the Elite to hang out with me anymore."
Kakarrot raised an eyebrow.
Vegeta's rage seemed to burst. "Don't you act like this is my fault! I have responsibilities to my empire...Responsibilities that you are going to have someday! But at the rate you're going, you won't even be fit to run the third class soldiers! As a prince of Vegetasei it is your duty to uphold the honor associated with the Royal Family! And don't you drag your little sister into this, she shows more maturity than you do, and she's ten years younger than you are!"
Adrian was no longer staring defiantly into his father's eyes. His head was down and he was looking at the floor, and he didn't reply to this flow of insults from Vegeta. But as Kakarrot watched his soul-son carefully he noticed that the boy's shoulders were beginning to shake.
He started to speak up, but then the door suddenly opened and revealed Vitani, accompanied by her mother Vaya, the queen of the Saiyans.
"Tiny, stay there," Vaya murmured, motioning to Kakarrot for him to take the girl. Vaya strode towards Vegeta and her son, noticing the shivers that were running up and down her teenage son's body. "What is going on?"
"Your son had a little fiasco with the training rooms this morning," Vegeta replied gruffly, but he always calmed down considerably when Vaya was in the room.
Vaya nodded. "Ah yes...cherry bombs, was it?" she asked Adrian gently.
He lifted his head to look at his mother. He should've guessed that she would know. Vaya had discovered a few years earlier that she had psychic powers that could become very powerful with practice. She could communicate telepathically, move things with her mind, read emotions, and even vaguely predict the immediate future.
"Vaya, you aren't okay with this, are you?" Vegeta asked, listening to the tone of his mate's voice.
"Of course not," Vaya replied smoothly. "But I do think that you are being unreasonable, Vegeta." She walked over to stand next to Adrian, reaching up to stroke his cheek. Adrian was in the middle of a growth spurt, and was almost taller than she was. "Adrian is simply mischievous, that's all. He doesn't mean any harm. In fact...I seem to remember a certain young prince who liked to sneak out of the palace against the orders of his own parents..."
Vegeta sighed. Vaya went over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. She looked into his eyes, her expression loving but firm. "Just relax, my love. He is still young. Give him time."
Vegeta met Vaya's eyes for a moment, then cast them to the floor and let out a slow, heavy breath. "All right. Adrian, I'm letting you off this time..."
Adrian shot his mother a grateful look. She gave him a wink.
"But next time I really will ground you till you're thirty, got it?" Vegeta finished sharply. "You have to knock it off soon...sometime you might get into big trouble, and I won't be there to help you."
"So what else is new," Adrian muttered as he strode from the room.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
Vitani, who had been quiet up until then, watched her brother disappear out the door with big eyes. Then she wiggled out of Kakarrot's arms and ran over to Vegeta and Vaya.
"Daddy!" she cried, jumping into Vegeta's arms. "Is Adrian in trouble, Daddy?"
Vegeta shrugged. "A little," he replied. "Why don't you go play outside, Tiny?"
"Okay," Vitani replied sweetly. She gave Vegeta a kiss. "Bye, Daddy. Bye, Mommy." Then she hopped down, and Kakarrot came over to take her hand and lead her outside.
When they had gone, Vaya gave Vegeta a smile. "Aw, how cu--"
He cut her off with a kiss. When he pulled back, he growled, "I hate that word."
Vaya smiled again. Then her expression changed to one of sadness. "You know, Adrian only wants to impress you..." she murmured.
Vegeta sighed. "Well, he can impress me by not pulling a new prank every day, and by growing up a little."
"You have spent less time with him recently."
"Don't you start," Vegeta snapped. "I suppose you're also going to say that I'm favoring my daughter over my first-born son?"
"I never said that," Vaya replied softly.
Vegeta rolled his eyes, but relaxed again. "Speaking of Vitani, have you considered what we were talking about?"
Vaya smiled again. "You mean hiring someone to watch her?"
Vegeta nodded. "Absolutely. She's getting too curious for her own good. The last thing I need is for her to walk in here in the middle of a meeting again."
Vaya laughed. "Don't worry. I just spoke to a couple of Elite today...and I think we've found just the person."