Chess

Disclaimer: I don’t own DB/Z/GT or any of the characters found in this fic. They are the property of TOEI ANIMATION in Japan and FUNimation in the U.S.A.


I also do not own the song or lyrics One Night in Bangkok by Murry Head.

I had no idea that the song was actually part of a larger stage show named ‘Chess’ written by Benny Andersson, Bjor Ulvaeus and Tim Rice. Which I own no rights to either.

I am not making any money from this work of fanfiction.

A/N- This is actually a G/V get together fic. However, some of the other pairings may surprise you. :) I think there’s only one cannon couple in here. Obviously VERY A/U.

I hope this is a fun read for anyone who may be interested in such a combination. (DBZ/chess (the game, not the play.))


Beta’d by Hoshi. Thank you Hoshi! (And thanks to rdk and chibi_vegeta for catching a few others).

Rating – PG13 – or at least that’s what I was hoping for.

Warnings – OOC, A/U, mentions and kisses of M/M, mentions and kisses of M/F, chess, foul language, some minor roles of OC’s.


maegerakawaii – I don’t know why there has to be misunderstandings – even as a simple/fun story as this was supposed to be. Maybe that’s why the muses stalled out on this chapter for a couple of years. Don’t worry though! :D

Iuvenes – I suppose I should have been posting update notices at the Salon. I’ve been trying to update on Mondays. After the few stories I have posted I think my favorite by far is to be finished with the story and be able to post a chapter a week. There’s been too many times I’ve rushed into posting a chapter – only to realize terrible errors. And ooooooh – that water etiquette! :P I remember now.



Round 13


Dr. Gero had a disgusted look on his face as he stood and offered his hand to Goku with grudging respect. “Next time young man,” the doctor said as they shook hands.

Goku’s attention was drawn back to Vegeta as the doctor turned to go. The prince had leaned back into his seat, eyes looking at the floor. His breath caught as Vegeta looked up with a predatory gleam in his eye and a smirk on his face for a fraction of a moment. Maybe he hadn’t messed up as badly as he thought?

Then it was gone as the prince leaned forward and rolled his shoulders before stretching his neck from side to side. Goku could feel a growl stirring in his chest at Vegeta’s challenging body language. The next round wasn’t going to be a walk in the park for the alien prince. Goku was going to make certain of that…

“Well gentlemen I trust you both realize you are in the final round of the tournament?” Mr. Shore interrupted the non-verbal communication before Goku could become too baited by Vegeta’s behavior. Even the human was a bit concerned with the tension he could feel building between the two, wondering if he had been mistaken that they were some sort of friends. Mr. Shore knew the Briefs sibling wasn’t in this for the money, but what if the foreign prince here had a lot more at stake? He didn’t want his competition to turn into an ugly episode; that kind of reputation would make it difficult to get contestants to come back for other competitions.

Mr. Shore relaxed, as the distraction seemed enough cause both of them to settle. Vegeta only grunted in acknowledgement. He received a much more reassuring reaction from Goku. “Yes sir! I am looking forward to tomorrow night!” the young man said with a grin on his face.

Mr. Shore shook his head at the child-like enthusiasm, but was happy to see it. “Then I’ll leave you all to your own devices,” he said with a small bow, “I do appreciate when these nights get shorter,” he grinned, “I may still be able to see some of the night life in Bangkok!”

Everyone in the group, with the exceptions of Chichi and Prince Vegeta laughed. Goku waved Mr. Shore away. “Have fun! But not too much,” he winked conspiratorially, to which Mr. Shore chuckled as he walked away.

Eddie nudged Bulma. “So…you up for going out?” he asked. It was still relatively early, considering how late the other evenings at the tournament had been.

Bulma looked across to her brother before answering, “I am sorry Eddie. I think Goku and I need to discuss some things.” She pouted at Eddie’s disappointed look, “I should be able to do so tomorrow night,” she encouraged with a hopeful smile.

Eddie smiled, “Okay,” he said as he stood, offering his hand to aid her in standing as well.

Vegeta’s eyes had narrowed slightly at the mention of the siblings having to discuss things. He wondered exactly ‘what’ they would need to discuss so much Bulma would turn down an extended evening with the man she was so obviously attracted to. He had a sneaking suspicion he might have something to do with it. His suspicion was confirmed as Goku looked over at him warily. The prince stood and offered his hand to Chichi in much the same fashion Eddie had to Bulma.

The princess took the offered hand gratefully. “I do hope you don’t mind if I call it an evening?” she asked Vegeta.

“Not at all,” Vegeta acknowledged, “I should call this night short as well. I have plenty of thinking to do before tomorrow night,” he slid his gaze just enough to see any reaction Goku may or may not have to his words. He suppressed a satisfied smirk when it seemed the other flinched.

Goku was the last to stand. He wondered what it was about Vegeta’s attitude that made him want to just pummel the prince at the moment. The only thing stopping Goku was he was sure he would get his ass handed to him. He understood the body language and snide remarks were intentionally trying to provoke him, but he wasn’t used to such volatile reactions. Then he smirked; maybe the prince baiting him was Vegeta’s way to throw him off of his game. Maybe Vegeta was a little worried about who would win tomorrow night.

Bulma sighed as she let go of Eddie’s arm with an apologetic frown. She had had every intention of walking out the door with him, but she felt if she didn’t move between the alien prince and her brother they could end up stuck here for the next hour just witnessing a staring match. “Come on, Goku. Time to call it an evening,” she hissed as she jerked her brother’s arm to get his attention. “We need to get back to the room and make a vid call to our parents…remember?”

Goku barely stopped himself from snarling at his sister. The mention of the call suddenly put a damper on his spirits. He let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah…let’s go get this over with,” he said quietly. He looked back at Chichi and Vegeta. “You two have a pleasant evening,” he said before turning to leave, Bulma’s arm linked with his and Eddie accompanied them to the door on Bulma’s other side.

Chichi intentionally stalled Vegeta from following immediately after. “Do you think Radditz is still at my father’s palace?” she asked. In a way she was hopeful, but didn’t know what would keep the alien warrior there this late in the evening.

Vegeta shook his head, “No, probably not,” he said distractedly as he watched the other group of people round the corner out of the room and into the hallway, snarling a bit as the he noted the host’s eyes follow Goku’s every move.

Chichi fidgeted in place a few more moments in hopes the others would have time to pop a capsule car and be out of sight before they made it to the sidewalk. She sighed before stepping up besides Vegeta, “I guess I am ready to go,” she said.

Vegeta nodded and began making his way through the maze of tables and chairs on his way to the door. He glared significantly at Taul as he turned to go into the hallway, Chichi mouthing ‘sorry’ to the poor man as she passed.

Taul didn’t know what the look was about; a little disappointed the good-looking man had such a sour attitude.

Vegeta waited long enough for Chichi to find her capsule car, pop it into existence and then take off before making his way back to their rented place.


~o0o~


Despite Vegeta’s prediction that Radditz would not be at the Ox King’s castle the older warrior was still there.

Radditz sat engaged in conversation with his interest’s father. The least he could do if he were interested in the princess was to show a little respect to her father. Nappa, Yamcha, Jane and Krillan had all excused themselves long ago and, in spite of his fears he would be bored to hell, he was surprisingly not. The man, though simple, was very engaging in conversation and his understanding of small details made things that seemed trivial fascinating; it made you want to pay attention.

He tried to hide a tired grin by lifting his glass to his lips though. No matter how animated the Ox King could be in conversation, one could only stay awake for so long before exhibiting signs of tiring.

The Ox King grinned in sympathy, “I don’t think I’ve stayed up this long in quite some time, young man,” he yawned hugely, “Do you wish to stay here tonight?”

Radditz almost choked on the sip of his drink he had just taken, “Um…Sir?”

This gained a humored chuckle from the Ox King. “Please, Radditz. We both know why you are hanging around this late,” he interrupted himself with another laugh at Radditz’ panicked look. “Relax. I approve of your interest in my daughter, or more accurately, I approve of her interest in you.”

Radditz sat back in relief at hearing this news. “Thank you,Your Majesty.”

Ox King leaned forward, “However, I do have a few concerns…”

Radditz almost cringed.


~o0o~


“Hi Mom,” Bulma said cheerfully over the vid-call.

“Bulma-chan!” her mom called just as cheerfully and waved. “I hope everything is going well.”

Bulma nodded, “Is Dad coming?” she glanced sideways over at Goku who was fidgeting off screen – ‘Calm down,’ she mouth at him.

Goku shrugged apologetically, but it didn’t stop him from shifting as they both heard their mother say “Here he is.”

“Good. Goku has something he needs to tell the both of you,” Bulma said and stood in order to vacate the chair for Goku’s use.

‘Thanks a lot,’ he mouthed at her as he stood from the edge of the bed and moved to the chair. He took a seat and froze up as he stared at his adoptive parents. He could hear his sister impatiently tapping her foot on the carpet behind him.

Dr. Briefs cleared his throat. “Is everything okay son?” he asked. “Yamcha didn’t get himself thrown in jail or start an international incident, did he?”

Goku jerked out of his panicked state at the question. “Oh, no. No, nothing like that, Dad, Mom. Sort of good news…” he trailed off again nervously.

Mrs. Briefs squealed, “YOU FOUND SOMEONE!!!” Dr. Briefs flinched as he held a hand up to his ear and tried rubbing some of the pain away.

Goku sweat dropped, “Um…yeah…”

“Well? Who is he?” Mrs. Briefs asked with delight.

“W-what?” Goku almost fainted.

“Sweetheart,” Dr. Briefs admonished his wife lightly, “Let the boy speak.”

“Oh, yes…” Mrs. Breifs actually sat still for a moment.

“How did you…” Goku started a bit bewildered at his parents’ reactions.

“Oh, come now, son,” Dr. Briefs stated as he took his glasses off, huffed over them once and began cleaning them with a handkerchief. “It was actually your mother who brought it to my attention. You’ve been with us for how many years? And the only girl – woman – you’ve shown interest in is your sister…and well, let’s face it, it’s not even ‘that’ kind of interest…”

“Oh,” was the only thing Goku could get out of his mouth as he was totally floored by his parents’ reaction. “I take it you’re okay with this then.”

Mrs. Briefs nodded enthusiastically while Dr. Briefs shrugged. “You’re an adult,” the doctor said, “I’ve had a few years to get used to the idea. I was still hoping – but I am not disappointed.”

“It must be pretty serious if you are finally talking to us about it,” Mrs. Briefs cut in with a huge grin plastered on her face.

Goku sweatdropped, “Uh…well…I hope it can be…”

Dr. Briefs put his glasses back on. “What seems to be the problem son?”

“Well, you see he is a prince…”

“OOOO A PRINCE!” Mrs. Briefs cheered and clapped.

Dr. Briefs looked a little less animated than his wife. “Ah, what country?” he asked, thinking that might be where Goku’s hesitance stemmed from.

“Well, you see, it’s not so much a country as a planet,” Goku said, reaching up to scratch his head insecurely.

Mrs. Briefs stopped moving as though the information wasn’t quite computing. Dr. Briefs was rubbing his chin as he processed the information as though he was still not getting all of the implications.

Bulma huffed behind Goku and leaned in over his shoulder so her face could be captured by the camera, “He’s an alien.”

“Oh,” Dr. Briefs’ eyes widened at the news.

“And so is Goku,” Bulma informed their parents blithely.

Their mother fainted as their father sat there and continued to blink at them owlishly.

Goku was relieved his family was so great at communicating he hardly had to say a thing.

“Dad, is Mom okay?” Bulma asked, “Mom?”


~o0o~


Strangely enough, when he finally arrived at their rented housing, neither of his guards were there. Vegeta sighed. He wasn’t too concerned about Radditz. More than likely the younger of his guards was taking an active awareness in his interest’s family.

Nappa, on the other hand, could get into some serious trouble. Especially when he was drunk, and especially if he were trying to impress someone.

The prince closed the door quietly behind him and headed to his sleeping quarters. Once in the room with the light switched on he reached for his scouter to check on the whereabouts of his missing men.

After clicking it on he confirmed Radditz was indeed at Ox King’s castle. He smirked to himself as he switched the setting to locate Nappa.

Vegeta frowned as he located his bodyguard in the center of the city, several weak signatures surrounding him. He growled lowly as he switched the communicator on. “Nappa, report!”

He tapped his foot as he waited, flinching slightly as the audio from the other end came over his headphone, “Nappa reporting, Sir!” the bodyguard reported in a slightly slurred voice.

“Where are you?” Vegeta demanded.

“Well your Highness, if you must know, I am at some sort of nudity club,” Nappa turned his head so Vegeta could see the scantily clad female dancers on a stage with flashing lights, “Don’t know that I care much for the entertainment, but the drinks are cheap,” Nappa held up his half full mug in view of his scouter lens.

Vegeta closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You are going to stay out of trouble, right?” There were times he wasn’t certain he liked the new scouters and their video abilities.

“Yes sir!” Nappa replied happily.

“Should I ask why you went there of all places?” Vegeta asked.

“Well, your Highness, seems my new acquaintance, Yamcha, felt that it was a needed excursion on my part,” Nappa confessed as he dialed in his scouter so he could get a close up shot of the person Vegeta knew by that name waving paper at a dancer on one of the stages.

Vegeta shuddered as the female came and took the money from Yamcha’s hand in what he surmised was supposed to be a seductive manner. “Okay, I get it. Just stay out of trouble and don’t try to come back until you are at least sober enough to fly.”

“Yes sir!” Nappa said cheerfully before signing off.

Vegeta took the scouter off his head and threw it down lightly on the sleeping mat. His tentative plans for contacting Vegeta-sei were out for the evening. With Radditz away he didn’t wish to contact Bardock directly and tell him that his second son had been found.

Although it would probably serve him good, mediation did not appeal to him in the slightest. Vegeta smirked as he exited his sleeping room and headed towards Nappa’s. Moments later he exited with a confiscated bottle of some Earth booze in his possession.

He sat on the couch and flipped on the entertainment screen before undoing the top to the bottle he had taken. He took a sip and grimaced before he switched through the channels until he found something that didn’t irritate or bore the crap out of him. Then he sat back and let the voices over the ‘television’ become background noise as he thought and sipped.

Rationally, Vegeta reasoned as he took another sip, Goku hadn’t rejected him: only the idea of having to share the secret of capsule technology.

Maybe it had been best neither Nappa or Radditz had been at their quarters when he had shown up. He hadn’t contacted anyone yet. He could tell his father he hadn’t found the technology…but report to Radditz’ father they had found Kakarott.

If there weren’t the conflicting loyalty of having to share family secrets, would it be possible to win Goku back to him then? The younger man had certainly seemed to be responding favorably before they’d had attempted their ‘discussion’.

Vegeta shut the T.V. off and set the bottle down. He had a goal now. It was time to meditate on how to make it happen.


~o0o~


Chichi wondered about lights still on in her father’s den as she pulled up to the front of the palace. She quickly capsulated the car and put it in her purse before going inside to find out what would keep her father up so late.

She knocked once on the hardwood door and entered at her father’s quiet ‘come in’. She was a little shocked to see Radditz was keeping her father company. “Hello,” she managed as a smile came to her face.

Radditz stood as the princess entered the room. “Your Highness,” he acknowledged with a slight bow.

Chichi waved him to sit down. “It’s too late in the evening to be so formal Radditz,” she assured him, “I was only coming to see what had kept my father up so late tonight…”

Ox King cleared his throat. “Yes, it is rather late,” he muffled a yawn as he stretched, “And I think I will head to bed. Feel free to be our guest for the rest of the evening if you would like, Radditz,” he told the saiyan as he stood. He winked at Chichi before he left.

Chichi sat in the giant chair her father had vacated. “It must have been an interesting conversation,” she started awkwardly.

Radditz shifted and could tell he was slightly blushing. “Um, yes, Your…Chichi,” he managed to change his wording, awkwardly.

“Certainly not about farming…”

“Um, no, well, not at first…”

“Care to tell me what about then?” Chichi asked trying to get more than one or two word answers out of Vegeta’s guardsman.

“Well, you see, I don’t really know the protocols at the moment,” Radditz tried to stall.

Chichi shrugged at his concerns. “If my father doesn’t mind you being our guest this evening and being left alone in my presence, then I am going to have to guess he feels you are able to manage quiet well on your own.”

Radditz ducked his head as he answered, too shy to look at Chichi while he responded. “Okay. Then how would you react if I said I really liked you?” he finally asked, “Because that was chiefly what your father’s and my conversation was about.”

Chichi smiled as she stood and walked over to Radditz, lifting his chin with her small fingers so he would look up. “I would be extremely happy, Radditz,” she said and then kissed him gently on the lips. She broke away, frowning slightly as he just stared at her, “What? Do aliens not kiss?” she asked quietly, a bit confused by his reaction.

Radditz cleared his throat, “Uh, no, we kiss…it’s just usually what happens after the kissing starts…and I don’t know that I have your father’s approval for that portion of a relationship. We only discussed things like what I expected of such a relationship…”

“Such as?” Chichi was going to give her dad and earful for playing cupid…

“If I would expect you to leave the planet,” Radditz mentioned.

“What was your answer?” Chichi asked.

“That I’d probably ask permission to stay here. Our home world’s gravity is much denser than Earth’s. It wouldn’t be an easy process for you to adapt…”

“Oh…”

~o0o~