Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Their Assignment ❯ Chapter 20

Bulma's eyes fluttered open and she looked around trying to figure out where she was. Her eyes widened as she realized she was once more on the grassy hill and she sat up. Then she lay back down because the world started spinning. She heard a quiet chuckle from somewhere beyond her.

"Oh good, you're awake. You know you shouldn't try and get up so quickly after something like that. You'll make yourself dizzy."

"Mirai?" she whispered the question, but she felt as if she were shouting. She couldn't quite remember what she was doing here.

"Mmm hm. That was a close call for you there."

Suddenly it all came rushing back to Bulma and she glanced around frantically until she saw Chichi's body lying only a few feet away.

"What's wrong with Chichi?!" she demanded when she saw that her friend wasn't moving.

"She's fine. She just got hit by the backlash when her shield shattered," Mirai gave an embarrassed cough, "And my knocking you guys down probably didn't help much either."

"Wh-"

"When the explosion was about to reach you I grabbed you, but I kind of overbalanced and we all tumbled through the portal I opened to here," he explained with a slight blush. "Radditz asked me to get you both from Earth before it was destroyed because he was concerned for Goku and Vegeta," he added, anticipating her next question when he saw her mouth open.

"So that's what you were seeing Radditz about." Bulma could see him give a slight nod from where she was laying. She placed a hand to her head as she debated asking the question, but she really needed to know. "Earth?" she inquired hesitantly.

"Gone," he informed her in a disturbingly cheerful voice.

"And Vegeta? The others?"

"Oh, back to normal. I imagine Radditz has collected them by now."

"Why are you so damn perky about all this then? I have to deal with this you know," she grumbled, finally comfortable enough to raise herself from the ground to glare at the lavender haired young man.

"Isn't that what you had us getting everything ready for? We had to pull a lot of strings to get everything ready in time by the way. Come on, you'll want to see it, it's incredible. Besides, you need to get ready."

"Chichi," Bulma began.

"Is coming too, so don't worry about that." With that he gracefully flowed to his feet and picked the still unconscious angel up.

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"What happened?! Why aren't we in Hell?" Vegeta demanded, recognizing the mirror realm. He looked over at Goku and 18 who were also taking stock and trying to remember what just occurred.

"You aren't in Hell because I brought you here," Radditz voice floated from the surrounding shadows and he followed it, materializing in front of them. "The way you all lost control you would have killed your mates when you blew up Earth. Bringing you here was the condition I agreed to in order to get them off Earth before that happened. All things considered, I didn't think you'd argue all that much."

"Chichi's alive?!" Goku asked hopefully, almost disbelievingly.

Bulma… Vegeta tamped that thought down before it could go anywhere.

"I just said that didn't I? Come on. There was a bit more to the agreement than just bringing you here. You also have to change so I can bring you where you're really supposed to be. Oh yeah, 18, Krillin said he'd be along in a bit to join us, and afterward I think he wanted to get your input on a house he was looking at."

"I thought you said we destroyed Earth?" she observed with a raised brow, thinking of her tiny mate.

"What's that got to do with anything? Come on, we need to get ready or we're going to be late. Trust me, you don't want to miss this."

What would have been about twenty minutes later on Earth, all four demons were dressed in basic dark blue spandex suits, with simple white armor, except for Vegeta's whose was gold, wearing white gloves and boots with capes flowing from beneath the shoulder pads.

Krillin walked up to meet them. "Hi 18, we'll uh, need to talk later ok?" Without waiting for a response he continued. "Um, so is everyone ready?" he asked with a big grin.

"I doubt it, but at least we're all presentable." Radditz flicked a glance over his party.

"Ah, close enough." Krillin's knowing grin was starting to make them all uneasy. "Well, let's go!" he said brightly.

They all followed the short man as he led them through a long hall made of white marble veined with pale blue swirls. Adorning the walls were rich tapestries of beautiful unicorns dancing in glades as giant dragons swooped overhead and big hair bands… Vegeta blinked when he saw the Malmsteen poster next to a peaceful waterfall scene. Then he shrugged it off and kept walking behind Krillin to wherever they were being lead.

Soon they reached some heavy gold doors that swung silently inward at the mushroom haired man's touch. They all followed him inside stopping in the middle of a huge stone circle above which were ranged three chairs. Sitting in the chairs with carefully neutral expressions were Bulma, Chichi, and…

"17?! What are you doing here?!" 18 gasped out as her eyes landed on her brother.

He raised a cocky brow as he drawled out, "Well it just so happens that I work here sis."

"You're…?" she was too busy recovering from her shock to finish her statement this time.

"Uh huh," he agreed easily, flicking a bit of imaginary lint from his white spandex suit. Krillin's soft snicker came from somewhere behind them and 18 turned to glare threateningly at him while 17 grinned at him sharing their joke. Krillin managed to pull a semiserious expression on in light of his mate's displeasure seeing as her look promised that she'd get him back for this, later.

Goku was staring up at Chichi, trying to let her feel his emotions, trying to get a response from, any response from her. She continued t look at him without expression and her thoughts and emotions were carefully veiled. He flinched from her silence and turned his attention to Bulma.

"What's this about?" Vegeta kept his eyes on Bulma, ignoring the byplay between the siblings. He tried to figure out what Bulma was thinking through their bond but she was guarding that too well and he couldn't probe deeply without exposing his own thoughts.

"About? Well now, that is the question. That depends entirely on you dear prince," she steepled her fingers beneath her chin as she regarded him. "You blew up the Earth you know."

"That was our assignment. Although I'm sorry that it interfered with your assignment Lady," he admitted softly, formally.

"What makes you think that it did? So are you saying you're sorry that you destroyed the Earth? Sincerely sorry?" she pressed, and her response as well as the intensity of her question threw him off.

"Wh-yes, of course!" he stammered out, surprised when she smiled brilliantly at him.

"What about the rest of you?" she continued transferring her attention without giving him another response. Both Goku and 18 nodded, although 18's was a bit hesitant when she remembered how excited she had been for her assignment ever, and added their agreement to their prince's statement.

"Well in that case… since you honestly regret your actions, and you're such good fighters, how would you all like to serve the Grand Kai instead of your king?" she gave them an impishly inviting smile.

Vegeta choked on her logic and abrupt change in demeanor, totally unprepared for anything like this.

"WHAT?!" they all three practically screamed the question at her, and even Radditz seemed a bit taken aback.

"I thought you were the one's with the super physical senses, you should have been able to hear me," Bulma noted critically. "I asked if you would like to work for the Grand Kai. Not a deep, metaphysical answer required a simple yes or no shall suffice here."

"You want us to work for your father?" Vegeta asked in a carefully controlled voice.

"Yes as a matter of fact that's exactly what I want. Of course you can always say no, but then since we're in Heaven they'd probably want to execute you and I'm not sure just how much my word will go toward saving you since I'm something of a fallen angel now. What you should really do is not think about anything. Not me, not your people, not anything do you understand me? Just totally blank your mind like you're meditating and then answer the question ok?"

"What?! You just drop a bomb shell like that and expect us to not think about it?!" Goku asked his cousin-in-law incredulously.

"Exactly! You know you're a lot quicker than you seem Goku. And I'd suggest you hurry, we're kind of on a time limit here."

"I'd love to work with you for your father Bulma, but-"

"No buts! I'll take that as you accept." //Trust me Vegeta, just this once… please…// She sent the thought when he looked like he was about to object. He subsided at the thought, but more than that at the strange mix of emotions that accompanied it. He couldn't even define the wave of emotions that flooded him with that thought, but nothing in it was malicious and so he conceded to the need he heard in her mental voice.

"And you two?"

From the corner of his eye Goku noticed Chichi tense and lean forward with parted lips, hope lighting her eyes in spite of her attempt to hide it.

"Our assignment is already completed. I would," Goku agreed. He nearly fell over from the force when Chichi launched herself at him and planted her mouth squarely on his. Neither of them was aware of anything else for a while after that.

18 grinned at the lip locked couple and hooked a strand of hair behind her ear before glancing back at Bulma and giving a small nod.

"Woah! Hold up chickee! Have you forgotten this scat cat's people problem?" a strange voice said from somewhere in the room.

Soon followed by a hard rock sound as an old man wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt with a fringed leather vest and matching brown boots strutted out of nowhere. His wild mane of white hair fell all over the place as his bony hips rocked to the beat coming out of the boom box balanced precariously on his shoulder.

"No as a matter of fact I haven't father. You know better than that."

"Good! That Old King Cole is one mean dude!" Bulma looked amused at the old man's antics.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet my first father the Grand Kai. Father, say hello to my friends. I'd introduce them all individually but you already know them don't you?"

"That I do girly!" his shades gleamed at them as he turned to look at them after setting down his boom box and turning it down to a more acceptable level.

"Well now I hear you cool cats are coming to work for me? It won't be easy. Can you dig it?"

"They can 'dig it' father. And just for the record our assignment is complete."

"Yeah well I was just lettin'em know that they have to be the champions of the universe an such by taking on this job. I mean that means they go wherever I send 'em and they train a lot and get stronger and all sorts of stuff. And they get to deal with my daughter when she throws a hissy."

"Now behave!" The Grand Kai grinned impudently at her rankled tone and she curbed her annoyance before continuing, "I assume you're going to send someone with us to help them get better?"

"You bet'cha! I got this green guy all lined up and ready to rock baby!" he picked his noisemaker back up.

"Mmm hm. So Piccolo's already there and waiting for us right?"

"You better believe it! Now if you'll excuse me I gotta get back to my tunes 'cuz that sweet noise is beckoning! I'll meet you all at the after party!" With that announcement he disappeared as abruptly as he had first appeared. Silence settled over the room, as the demons tried to reconcile what they had just met to their mental image of what the Grand Kai should have been like.

"That's the Grand Kai?" 18 asked, her usual monotone voice edging up in disbelief.

"Yeah, he's one 'cool dude'!" 17 snickered joining them in the center of the circle. Bulma accepted Vegeta's hand down, shaking her head and trying to hold back a laugh at his expression.

"Come on! We still can't stay in Heaven because you're demons. Staying here would weaken you; so I got this place set up for all of us somewhere else. I think you'll like it." She paused when she noticed their group was missing a number, and turned around, "Hey don't you want to join us Radditz?"

"Is this peer pressure? 'Cause if it is then I'm just going to have to cave in," he smiled, realizing that the group had never even intended to leave him behind.

They walked back down the hall together, only this time the out of place posters made sense. The entire group went through the door and stepped into the dream world once more on the grassy hill, where Bulma had first had her discussion with Mirai mere days before. Then they all stepped through the rippling portal that opened before them, and found themselves standing on the very same hill staring down at a breathtaking castle.

The material of the castle resembled opal; white with metallic undertones of pale blues and pink, greens and violet shimmering along its length as the light struck its sides. Gleaming turrets rose into the sky tipped with royal blue flags. A large gate, delicately wrought of entwined silver and gold surrounded the brilliantly green grounds within. Dotting the countryside surrounding the castle were domed buildings of assorted sizes much like the ones created by the Capsule Corporation.

"Oh boys," Bulma breathed as she stared down in delight, "You outdid yourselves this time!"

"Don't look at me, I was just the gofer, picking up all the people and stuff to make this place. Mirai found all the places and then he insisted on the materials and haggled for everything till I just about went nuts and designed the castle. Then he got into setting up everyone's houses. He even helped haul crap around. Man you'd think he had a personal stake in it the way he got into it," 17 observed. But he grinned proudly down at the results of his efforts in spite of his demurral.

"What are we waiting for?! Let's go look at it!" Chichi cried in exasperation when everyone just continued to stare. They all looked at each other before they started flying toward the castle, the guys each carrying their respective girls, even Krillin and 18 in spite of the fact she could fly.

//Welcome to Vegeta-sai, your highness. Welcome home. //

/What?/ Vegeta looked sharply at Bulma who smiled sweetly at him.

//Well we had a bit of an argument over what to name the place. But we finally settled on Vegeta-sai. It was a fair compromise.//

/You chose that name?/ he asked, latching onto that thought as the easiest to address while trying to let the implications of the earlier part of her statement set in before exploring it more thoroughly. Bulma gave him a knowing look.

//No. My people let your people get to name the planet on the condition I got to name our heirs. The planet gets named after you but I get to name our children. Oh and speaking of children…// Bulma giggled at Vegeta's facial expression as he realized what she was saying. Vegeta nearly fell, but he pulled himself out of his involuntary dive when he felt his mate's panic.

"Sorry," he muttered, when he noticed her clinging to his neck with her eyes clenched shut. He turned the idea over as he continued to fly, and then he started to laugh. Bulma looked up at him.

"Hey what happened to Vegeta?" Goku asked, slowing down when he sensed the dark prince nearly fall but quickly catch himself in the air. His head jerked around as he heard Vegeta start laughing and he nearly dropped Chichi when he saw his cousin twirling Bulma through the air. He stared at the site until Chichi turned his head around, and once more claimed his lips before saying, "My guess would be that she's told him the almost exact same thing I'm about to tell you."

"Oh yeah? And what's that Chi?" He asked casting one last look back at his cousin before giving his own mate his undivided attention.

"We're going to be an odd number in 9 months time."

"Wow, Bulma's having a baby? WHAT?! Kami Chichi! Why didn't you tell me before?! Oh my gosh what am I going to do? What if he doesn't like me?!"

"Calm down Goku," Chichi giggled at him, "I'm sure he, or she, will like you. I mean after all, I do most of the time." She couldn't stop laughing when Goku looked at her with large terrified eyes.

"You really think so Chi?"

"I know so," she patted his shoulder reassuringly and gave in and kissed him again. He was just so cute when he looked uncertain.

"So they're all going to be parents." 18 smiled over Krillin's shoulder and watched her friend's antics. "Speaking of which, what was it you wanted to talk to me about earlier?"

"Well actually," Krillin began, "you see the thing is… well it's a bit soon yet. Why don't we wait till later? We have plenty of time and well any plans that I want to go over with you won't even be possible until… well you'll see later," he hedged, ignoring the murderous look she was now directing at him.

"Aww come on, it's a surprise 18!"

"Krillin if you don't tell me right now I swear by Kami I'll…" she let the threat hang in the air between them.

"Hm, you have a point. Alright I was just going to say I was looking at this place on Earth that's all."

"Earth is destroyed Krillin," she reminded him in annoyance.

"Right again, well then we don't even have to bother about it do we?"

"Heh, look at them all," 17 watched his sister arguing with Krillin while Chichi continued to try and calm Goku.

"I know. You'd think someone had handed Goku a bomb. And I've never seen Vegeta look so happy. Somehow you'd think their roles would be reversed."

"Goku is happy, he's just scared. Vegeta is plain happy, and that's just scary," 17 corrected Radditz.

"Yeah, you're right."

"Hey guys," a voice interrupted them.

"Oh hey dude," 17 answered.

"Mirai," Goku's brother greeted the quiet young man. "Thanks for helping Chichi and Bulma like that. I really appreciate it."

"My pleasure. We're almost there. Won't they be in for a surprise," he observed as they neared the gates.

They all settled down near the gates, which opened at their approach. They all filed in, Vegeta and Bulma walked in first, followed by Goku and Chichi, then Krillin and 18. Following them were the last three, 17, Radditz, and Mirai. On either side of them were rows of faces, angels and demons pressed together to greet their new life and rulers. Resounding cheers greeted them as they walked down the red-carpeted aisle created between the people. They walked along until they reached the bottom steps of the great castle, and a respectful, expectant silence fell over the crowd.

Standing at the top of the steps was Dr. Briefs and his wife, just a little to the left of the tiny purple man with the white spiked hair, wearing beautifully threaded clothes that draped his small frame in dark blue and deep purple, with a golden sash. To his right stood the Grand Kai dressed in formal robes, but still wearing his shades.

Bulma and Vegeta both gasped as they felt the power level of the stranger and they realized whom it was. His black eyes settled on them and he gave a tiny smile.

"Vegeta, Bulma, come forth and kneel before me so that you may take your proper place within this new world." Vegeta and Bulma walked up the stairs and knelt before the tiny man. The watching crowd kneeled as well, watching as the Supreme Kai placed small golden crowns upon their heads and declared them the new rulers of the race now known as Saiyans. The awed silence remained until the Grand Kai rubbed his hands together.

"Well that was beautiful. Just beautiful. Why don't we have a word from the King and Queen and then we can get to the good stuff. Food and music, yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" The three people who had been the focus of the attention for the ceremony looked over at the grinning old man and busted out laughing, causing the crowd to laugh as well. Then Vegeta stood and silence slowly fell once more.

"My people," he glanced at his mate, and gave a faint smile, "Our people As of this day we are no longer angels or demons, but something else entirely. We are Saiyans. Our strength and protection has been promised to aiding the Supreme Kai and the Grand Kai in keeping this universe safe. However I cannot perform my first act as the King of Vegeta-sai in my present state."

A confused murmur rose up from the crowd. He could sense the confusion of the Kais and he felt his mate's nervousness. Vegeta allowed it to continue for a minute before he turned to Bulma. "You see, my mate made it a point to inform me" his energy flared around him, burning until it grew bright yellow, finally it faded, leaving Vegeta standing before them with bright yellow hair and sea green eyes, "that she has a thing for blondes. And as the mother of my child I refuse to greet her as the new Queen with anything less than what she desires." A gasp rose up from the crowd and whispers of Super and legend could be heard rising from the congregation watching as their new king took his wife into his arms and kissed her deeply in front of everyone.

They broke the kiss and Vegeta quietly asked her, "Is there anything you wanted to add?"

"No, I think that pretty much covered it," she responded in the same way, "Wait no there is one thing." Bulma turned to the crowd. "Everyone, I would like it to be known that as soon as everything is stabilized here and in working order that your King and I will be going on a trip."

/What are you up to now Woman?/

//Wait a minute. You'll see.//

"We are going to be traveling to Namek to retrieve the Dragon Balls to wish Earth back the way it was before it was destroyed." //Now was there anything else?//

/No./ The two shared a look before turning to the crowd.

"Now let's eat!"

This time before the mass could shout it's approval and cheer they were distracted by a shimmering in the air. A slit of light appeared and a tiny blue head with matching blue eyes popped out from it looking around imperiously until they landed on the lavender haired young man. Then the little girl's expression turned gleeful.

"Trunks! You forgot to clean your room on Earth before you left. You are sooo in trouble!" she sang out. And everyone stared at the miniature version of the queen and Mirai, who now that they looked at him bore a striking resemblance to the king, as he approached the little girl.

"I am not, Bra! No one asked you anyways, you little brat!"

"I'm telling!" the little girl stuck her tongue out and she backed into the light.

"What?! Wait!" the young man jumped through after her and the light disappeared.

Everyone stared at the empty space as realization slowly sank in.

Well that was a fun story, all threats aside, lol. I'm really not sure whether I should be more flattered that you've gotten so into my story or alarmed that I've been writing for such a violent group. ::lips twitch:: Now just for curiosity's sake would any of you want me to write a sequel? I'm asking this in the event any of you are planning on tracking me down (using the whole sentence I have in my bio as a clue) and killing me for leaving this one where its at. Of course I'm starting a new story, but this will tell me whether or not I should start toying with ideas for a continuation, unless you're all sick of this one in which case I will just focus on the new one.

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