Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Russian Roulette ❯ Chapter 1

Note: This is a gift to my sister, Talon. This is the first story that I wrote with her chibi, Sage, but I somehow doubt it will be the last. In the time since I wrote this, he's gone from calling me Auntie Dasia, to Mama Dasia. I love the boy with all my heart, and if you feel I didn't do him justice, let me know…and if you enjoy my little fic, which does become more serious, please let me know.

Note: This story was written before Trauma, based on events, that Talon had planned to write in the distant future. Thankfully, Russian Roulette gave her the push…if you haven't read it, please do so.

Warning: Dasia has an extremely foul mouth. So do Vegeta and his offspring, when I play in the Birth of a Prince Universe. This is an AU, and I do not own Sage, nor any of the other DBZ characters.

Russian Roulette

A BOAP Chibi Tail

By Dasia

The bus ride home from school was always the longest part of the day. Almost home, but not quite. Almost free…

Vegeta, more commonly known as Sage, was worried. His parents and bond-father weren't going to be happy when they saw the note he had stuffed in his book bag. It was one thing to get in trouble at school, all three of his elders were rather used to that from he and his brothers, but it was something entirely other to be in trouble on the very first day of high school. Not even the dastardly duo, Goten and Trunks, had managed that feat.

Sage sighed softly, but he couldn't hide his tension from the other two boys. Trunks turned in his seat up ahead and asked gently, "What's up, Sage? Did everything go okay today?"

Sage raised an eyebrow, in perfect imitation of his and Trunks' father. He didn't answer, also not unlike his father. Trunks began giggling at the sight, and punched Goten in the shoulder, "Hey, get a load of the prince."

Goten craned his neck so that he could see his bond-brother. He asked in characteristic Son fashion, "Umm…Sage, you okay? You look tense."

Sage could stare down his brother, but he had a soft spot for Goten. Maybe it had something to do with Goten's uncanny resemblance to Goku. He answered gruffly, his youthful voice beginning to crack, "It's nothing. I just got a note sent home, that's all."

Trunks' and Goten's eyes widened as they exclaimed simultaneously, "You did WHAT?"

Sage mumbled, "The teacher handed me a note as I was leaving. I'm supposed to have a parent/teacher conference on Saturday."

"What did you DO?" Trunks asked in awe.

"I didn't DO anything, Trunks," he said witheringly.

Goten piped up, "Well, don't worry, Sage, I got one too. I didn't do anything, either, but I've got the same note."

Trunks said, "Uh-oh. So did I. Triple threat. This doesn't sound good at all. I think our reputation precedes us…"

Sage interrupted grimly, "Possible, but I doubt it. One of the kids in my class said that he heard the school counselor talking with my teacher, and that she said something about us being raised in an "unwholesome" environment."

Again, the duo spoke as one, "Unwholesome?!?"

"Yes, dammit, that's what I said. And he asked me if it was true that our dads were faggots."

Trunks' voice turned to ice, "What did you do with the body, Sage?"

"Funny, Trunks. I didn't kill him, but I sure as hell wanted to. Baka told me the best thing to do was not fight ignorance with more ignorance. So I just busted him in his mouth, " Sage answered.

"Shit. I would have Final Flashed his ass, but you're right. That's not gonna help anything, " Trunks reluctantly agreed.

"Trunks…what if they try to take us away from our mom and dads?" Sage asked quietly. His anxiety was enough that he dropped his usual aloofness.

"They can't. They can't tell people how to live, Sage, or who they're supposed to love. As long as we're being taken care of, they can't do anything…no matter what."

Goten nodded approvingly, "Sage, you know my dad and Bulma-san would never let anyone take us away. Much less Ouji-sama. He'd have a freakin' hemorrhage if someone even considered suggesting it."

Sage was unconvinced, but he said, "Okay. If you say so."

The bus stopped a block away from the Capsule Corp. The trio of demi-Saiyjins walked home with little of their usual boundless enthusiasm. It had long been an unspoken fear of each of the boys, being removed from their home, separated and sent to unloving foster homes. To teenagers so closely bonded to their parents and each other, it was a horrifying possibility.

The boys reached the front door of CC, but Trunks stopped them before they entered. "Look…it'll be difficult to hide it, considering the blood-bond and all, but we need to keep our fears to ourselves as much as possible. Just…act natural, okay?"

The other two agreed, and the group entered the house laughing and joking playfully. Goten beat them to the kitchen, and began to sweet-talk Mrs. Briefs. She giggled girlishly at his compliments, and insisted that the boys come in and have a snack.

A door further down the hall opened, smoke billowing out in great clouds. Bulma's coughing and sputtering could be heard by the boys, who immediately went to find out what the matter was. "Mama, you alright?" Trunks called.

Bulma's laughter echoed through the hall. "Hey, monsters, when did you guys get home? I'm fine, just blew up the little experiment I've been working on all day!"

The boys snickered, each one hugging the blue-haired woman. Even Sage, who rarely gave out hugs. Bulma looked at her youngest son suspiciously, "Sage, you okay?"

Sage mumbled, "Why does everyone always ask me that? Nothing's wrong, Kassan."

"Well, you guys finish your snack and come help me clean up the lab, please? Your dads will be back shortly, and I'm sure you guys will want to tell us all how your day went." Bulma said, still looking askance at Sage.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in cleaning, and when their fathers returned, sparring. The notes were completely forgotten, until dinner time. Gohan, Videl, and Pan came to eat with the family, and Pan let slip that she had a note from the teacher. The three teenagers looked down guiltily, a fact not overlooked by the piercing gaze of Vegeta. "I don't think you're the only one, Pan. Alright, own up. What did you lot get into?"

Three voices began stumbling over each other, but it was Sage's voice that stood out, "Tousan, we didn't get in trouble. We don't even have the same classes, and Pan goes to an entirely different school." The other boys nodded.

Vegeta's sharp eyes bored into them, "Then why are we going to a conference with the school counselor, pray tell?"

Sage quietly related his thoughts on the matter, at the end of which, all five adults were mad as hell. Bulma began, "You've got to be kidding me. All this time, and no one's ever had a problem. The children are fed, clothed, they have constant adult supervision, their grades are outstanding…this is just wrong."

Gohan spoke up, in his usual quiet manner, "Look, maybe we're overreacting. We're assuming that this lady is homophobic or what have you…and we're judging her just as much. She might just be concerned about the kids. She doesn't know us, maybe she just wants…"

Vegeta's harsh voice broke through, "Bullshit, and you know it. They hadn't been in school a full day before she was firing off letters. This is just some fucking bitch trying to stick her interfering nose in where it's not needed."

Goku, seated in his usual place beside Vegeta, said quietly, "Vegeta. Let's not jump the gun here."

"Who's jumping the gun, Kakarrot? It's obvious to me what this is about. And if anyone wants to make a move against this family, I'll be more than happy to give them a one-way ticket to hell."

Videl said gently, "Why don't we talk about this later, huh?" She motioned to Pan, whose eyes were widened with fear. The rest of the dinner was spent in silence. Gohan and family left, and the teenagers were sent up to bed. They could faintly hear the voices of their fathers and mother.

"This is bad, Trunks," said Goten, "I think they're worried, too."

"I'm not, " Trunks said emphatically, "Dad won't let anything happen. He's a Super Saiyjin. You don't fuck with a Saiyjin's family and live to tell about it, ne?"

Sage didn't answer, just slid into bed and burrowed under the covers. Goten and Trunks stayed up a while longer, until the voices of their parents quieted.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Saturday morning

It was a gorgeous fall morning at Capsule Corp., but the trio of teenagers standing in the front yard were not able to enjoy it. None of them would admit to their nervousness, but the half-empty breakfast plates were a testament to their anxiety.

Bulma had set them to raking leaves, a task which ordinarily would have been the beginnings of a good go-round. Sage, uncharacteristically, had said, "Yes, Kassan, " and went out to the garage to grab a rake. Goten and Trunks had been dumbfounded. Sage was usually their best hope of getting out of chores. If he said no, then that was usually the last word, if their fathers weren't around to enforce Bulma's decrees.

"Ummm…Sage? Why are we raking? I know we have better things we could be doing." Goten asked.

Sage just sniffed imperiously, adding, "Won't hurt you." He went back to attacking the leaves. He was raking so fast that the leaves were flying everywhere.

"You're so weird sometimes. You do realize that you're making NO progress, right?" Trunks was in "big-brother" mode, which never lasted long with Sage.

"Would if you'd get off your lazy ass." He didn't say anything else the rest of the morning.

Later that day, Gohan and family arrived. The large group, which included the four kids, and five parents, had decided that they would walk to the school, mostly to ease off any aggression before their meeting. One vein was already standing out on Vegeta's temple, and Bulma's mouth was hardened. The Son men were not visibly upset, but then they rarely were. They were going into battle…and a battle against the Vegeta/Briefs/Son family wouldn't be anything pretty. "That stupid onna doesn't know who she's fucking with, " was Vegeta's comment on the situation.

Bulma led the way, Pan walking at her side. Gohan and Videl walked hand in hand, Gohan making faces at Videl in order to cheer her up. Goten and Trunks walked side by side, taking turns trying to dead-leg their older brother. Sage followed behind, arms folded and heavy brows lowered. Goku and Vegeta brought up the rear, Goku trying and failing to land a kiss on his Ouji's mouth. "Cut it out, Kakarrot…I'm not in the mood for you right now."

Goten's voice filtered back to Sage, "Hey, do you remember when we broke the babysitter's arm?"

Trunks corrected him, saying, "Uh-uh, Goten. We didn't break her arm…we dislocated her shoulder."

Sage answered, "No. I don't remember that. How old was I?"

"Hmm…guess you were about one. You should remember…well, anyway, we got the biggest spanking of our lives, " Goten explained.

"Tousan's never spanked me." Sage said.

"He didn't spank us either. He was laughing too hard, " Trunks told his brother.

Sage turned his head to look at his father. "You were laughing?"

Vegeta's stern face was softened, "You were with your grandmother that day. And hell yeah, I was laughing."

"Vegeta, it was not funny," Goku admonished, but his own mouth was twitching.

Trunks jumped in, "'specially not after the spanking you gave us, Goku-san."

Sage very nearly face-vaulted. "Baka spanked you?" He was so surprised that he reverted to his childhood pet-name for his bond-father.

"Yes, I did, Sage. I didn't relish the idea of raising little heathens."

Vegeta snorted, "Didn't work. You spent the next three days fetching and carrying for them because you felt so guilty."

Talk eventually headed back to their destination, with Bulma still holding the opinion that because the children weren't having any problems in school, then the counselor had no right to butt in.

The rest of the group was agreeing, when Sage's voice cut the silence. "Well, maybe it has something to do with us sleeping through all of our classes last year."

The response from the adults was unanimous, "NANI?!?"

The family stopped dead in its tracks, and Bulma asked, "What? This is the first I've heard of this….why haven't you said anything?"

The other parents chimed in, but once again, Sage's voice carried over the cacophony. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you," he started, " but I have a hard time sleeping through…" And in a voice that sounded uncannily like his father's, he finished, "Kakarotto! Kakarotto!

The response was immediate and explosive. Bulma's jaw crashed to the ground as Vegeta lunged toward his namesake. Goku, in an act of self-preservation, lunged the OTHER way, but was stopped by Vegeta's hand fisting in his hair. Gohan had fainted, and was being held up by a blue-nosed Videl. Pan was giggling uncontrollably. Goten and Trunks were both on the ground, noses gushing blood, laughing their asses off. Sage didn't blink an eye, just smirked widely. He never took a single step backward, despite his father's continued attempts to get at him.

Goku was taking a different approach, trying to calm down the enflamed Ouji. "Calm down, Vegeta." His attempts were met with an outburst of unintelligible Saiyjin curses, and another lunge at Sage. Sage took the opportunity to lean down over his brothers, saying, "Pay up.'

Goten and Trunks sat up stiffly, reaching into their pockets for their wallets. Sage's smug demeanor only deepened as each boy pulled out a $20 and handed it to the younger boy. Trunks said, "I didn't think you'd do it."

Goten chimed in, "Me, either."

Vegeta, who had calmed a bit, lunged again, but this time toward Trunks and Goten, "YOU PUT HIM UP TO THIS!!"

Goku looked at the trio and mouthed, "Run for your lives"

Sure enough, Vegeta powered up, and Goku lost his hold on the Ouji. The boys moved as one, to stand behind their mother. Goku caught up with his lover once more, and this time grabbed him by the wrist. Bulma reached out a hand to Sage, who looked at her blankly. "Hand it over."

He put the money in her hands, frowning at the unfairness. He had won the bet. Bulma, tears of laughter standing in her eyes, handed the bills over to Vegeta. Gohan and the others had pulled themselves together somewhat, but it didn't last long.

Vegeta turned to Goku, whose jaw was clenched against the laughter that threatened to escape. He held out the twenties to Goku, who took them soundlessly, and Vegeta said, "Well done."

Everyone hit the ground, except Vegeta, who began walking toward the school, ribs shaking with silent laughter.

Gohan said to Videl, as they picked themselves up from their painful facevault, "Nope…can't imagine why anyone might think us a little strange…"

There's more…will be continued.