Return of the Legion of Terror

Return of The Legion of Terror

Part 2

On the other side of the carnival, Goten and Trunks sat on top of the House of Mirrors and watched the little actors in the field go through the motions of bowing down to Mr. Satan. Goten let his legs dangle over the edge while Trunks sat cross-legged, wondering if his mate would eventually settle in his lap.

\"Trunks?\"

\"Yeah?\"

\"Is it okay if I stay at your place for awhile?\"

\"No.\" He traced his fingers along Goten\'s jaw and tilted his head up to look at him. \"I want you to stay with me forever.\"

\"Thanks.\" Goten gave him a shaky smile. \"After what I said to mom, I don\'t think I\'ll be able to go home anytime soon.\"

\"Silly, your home\'s with me now. You don\'t have to go back at all unless there\'s something you really want to get.\" He smirked. \"And all your favorite video games are in my...in our room.\"

\"Bulma won\'t mind, will she? I mean, she seemed okay with this and all.\"

\"Mom\'s a genius, Goten. She probably knew about all of us long before we knew it ourselves.\" He watched his mate for a moment, then lookack ack at the wall they\'d demolished. Nearby, Chaotzu and Yamcha had Tien back on his feet, but the three eyed warrior wobbled as if drunk. ChiChi sat on one of largest bricks and seemed to mutter to herself and Roshi, standing next to her. He wondered where everyone else had gone.

A ki signature appeared behind him, and he turned around to find his father standing a few feet away, arms crossed, watching the show on the field.

\"Papa?\"

\"Vegeta?\"

If he heard them, he didn\'t show it. He continued to stare at the mock fight between the rubber Cell and Mr. Satan. The crowd cheered again as Mr. Satan knocked his opponent down and planted his boot on the rubber chest. \"You know, I\'m really in the mood to blow something up.\"

\"Even with ChiChi and the others around?\" Trunks asked.

\"Especially with them around.\"

\"Cool.\" He opened his jacket and took out the Terror Twins costumes, handing one to Goten. He took one look at his father\'s face and grinned. \"Here,\" he said, holding out the dark cloak and mask. \"I brought yours, too.\"

\"Hn. I hadn\'t thought of using these. You really care if the humans recognize us?\" He took them anyway.

\"Them, no.\" Trunks slid his mask on and adjusted it. \"But mom and Goku and Gohan would mind.\"

\"Good point.\" Vegeta took off his shirt and pants, revealing black spandex underneath.

\"Do you think Gohan and Piccolo\'ll show up?\" Goten aske
N
Now under his cloak, Vegeta smirked. \"Once the fireworks start, I\'m sure the Great Saiyaman will arrive to protect everyone.\"

The three masked villains took to the air.

\"Think he\'ll protect Mr. Satan?\" Goten asked.

\"Let\'s find out!\" Trunks said and he led the way to the field.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Clutching his microphone and waving to the crowd, Mr. Satan strutted over the big-headed Cell and placed his boot on the rubber chest. Scattered around for effect lay the stuntmen dressed as big-headed Z fighters, each groaning loud enough to be heard, but not enough to distract the crowd from their champion\'s speech.

\"This was just a tenth, no a hundredth of the real right,\" Mr. Satan said with a grin. \"You can\'t begin to imagine the sheer power of our fight, but I did it for the good of my city. I knew that if I didn\'t win it, the whole earth would suffer. The rest, you know, is history. I\'m glad to see everyone\'s had a fun time at the carnival and I sure hope you folks have enjoyed our little show--\"

His microphone exploded in a burst of sparks and flame. He gasped and threw the flaming plastic down while the crowd screamed in their seats. Floating above the field, three familiar masked villains closed in on Mr. Satan.

\"We didn\'t enjoy your \'little show\',\" Trunks said, lowering his hand. \"From what I\'ve heard, it\'s just a bunch of lies.\"

\"You never defeated Cell,\" Goten said, his menacing voice a total contrast to his grin. \"You just showed up to take credit.\"

A hush fell over the crowd and everyone stared at Mr. Satan, who glanced around at his fans.

\"Now now,\" he said, waving his arms. \"Don\'t tell me you\'re gonna take the word of three masked villains. You just saw how the battle played out.\"

\"Your version of the battle,\" Trunks said. He held out a hand and prepared a ki bolt. \"Let\'s see if you remember how to dance.\"

\"Legion of Terror! Stop right there.\"

The three turned and found Gohan and Piccolo floating in front of them, resplendent in their flowing capes. Around them, the crowd burst into cheers.

\"Saiyaman! Saiyaman!\"

\"Great Green Bean! Great Green Bean !\"

\"What the fuck?\" Piccolo asked, looking around.

\"They renamed you,\" Vegeta said. \"You switched sides, after all.\"

\"Hey, aren\'t those clothes different from the ones you had before?\" Trunks asked.

\"Must be nice to create your clothes out of thin air,\" Goten said.

\"Knowing them,\" Vegeta said, \"they probably had to.\"

\"Hey!\"

\"Oh, for the love of...Legion of Terror!\" Ignoring his purpling lover, the Great Saiyaman struck several moves while speaking. \"Didn\'t you learn from our last battle that you can never win? Good will always vanquish evil.\"

\"But until then,\" Trunks said, \"evil\'s a lot more fun than good.\"

\"You\'ll find it a lot more painful,\" Gohan said, cracking his knuckles. \"The evil are always thrashed for their punishment.\"

\"But Saiyaman,\" Vegeta said with an exaggerated bow that told Gohan the prince was mocking him, \"shouldn\'t liars be punished as well?\"

\"Well...yes, I suppose so.\"

\"Then what about him?\" He pointed at the city\'s champion. \"Shouldn\'t the great Satan be able to defeat us on his own? In fact, why are you even coming to his rescue? If he was strong enough to defeat Cell, then we should be no problem at all.\"

\"Don\'t worry about me,\" Mr. Satan said. \"I\'ve got no problem letting these younger heroes share the spotlight.\"

\"Actually, I\'m more worried about the crowd,\" Gohan said, earning sighs and squeals of love from the girls in the audience. \"You three aren\'t exactly known for your restraint.\"

While Gohan blushed under his mask at the swooning girls, Piccolo took the opportunity to glare at Vegeta...and he caught the Saiyan\'s prince\'s wink. Nodding once, he lay his hand on Gohan\'s shoulder. \"Relax, kid. They\'re just gonna make a fool outta Mr. Satan.\"

\"But that\'s not right--\"

\"Stupid brat.\" With a low growl, Vegeta leaned forward and whispered just so they could hear. \"That jerk is a liar and a coward, and he always pretends that all of us are weaklings, especially you and Kakarrot. Get a backbone and defend your family\'s pride.\"

\"For once, I agree with short shit there,\" Piccolo whispered. \"Trust us. Stand back and pretend you wanna watch the champion in action.\"

\"More like champion inaction,\" Gohan whispered. In a loud voice, so the entire crowd could hear, he said, \"Thanks for the kind offer, Mr. Satan, but I know you can take these guys easy, and I\'d love to see the champ in action. I\'ll just guard the crowd if that\'s okay with you.\" Without giving him time to answer, Gohan and Piccolo backed off to float above the crowd.

\"Wh-what?\" Mr. Satan backed away several steps until he heard the crowd murmuring. Shit, I\'m really gonna have to do this. Well, maybe I could even the odds, or if I can\'t do that, at least I\'ll have something to fall back on. \"Well now, I don\'t mind fighting you, but isn\'t three against one kind of unsportsmanlike?\"

\"Oh, of course,\" Vegeta said far too innocently. \"That\'s why only the brats here will fight you. Even you should be able to defeat a couple of teenagers.\" He glanced at the boys. \"Tear him apart, brats.\"

\"Papa?\" Trunks whispered. \"Aren\'t you gonna help?\"

\"Yes, I\'ll be keeping those annoying humans off your back.\"

\"Which humans?\" Goten asked.

\"Those ones,\" Vegeta said, pointing down the field.

Everyone turned to see what he was looking at and gasped at the pack of fighters flying across the field, one of them an old man riding a cloud and another a seeming midget, with one female running after them. A three-eyed fighter weaved through the air and a short clown followed behind.

\"You son of a bitch!\" Krillin yelled. \"You leave him alone!\"

With one more glance to make sure that Gohan and Piccolo wouldn\'t join the fight, Vegeta turned his full attention to the humans. \"It seems you five are underdressed. You\'ve forgotten your masks. Well, except for the clown, of course.\"

\"I\'m not a clown!\" Chaotzu yelled, coming to a stop several yards away. \"Keep him busy, guys. Just buy me a little time.\"

\"Right,\" Tien said.

When he saw Tien charge, Vegeta smirked and held up one hand. \"Ah, just the human I wanted to see.\" As he aimed, he felt a prickling in the back of his mind, and he looked up at Chaotzu. \"Oh, does the little clown want to get inside my head?

Halfway between Chaotzu and Vegeta, Tien stopped and gasped. \"Oh no, he\'s sensed him!\"

\"Here then, let me help you.\" Vegeta closed his eyes and pushed a few choice memories forward, forcing them towards Chaotzu. \"Come and see the hell in my mind!\"

With a scream that seemed too loud for such a small body, Chaotzu bent backwards and grabbed his head, trying to shake out the images. Alien cities that once touched the sky exploded into gravel, body parts blasted into the air and intelligent life forms reduced to kabobs on the fires fueled by their libraries. He screamed again and fell out of the sky. Tien caught him and set him down gently, but he continued to moan as if caught in a nightmare.

\"What\'s the matter?\" Vegeta said. \"Didn\'t like the guided tour?\"

\"Frying pan attack!\" ChiChi screeched.

\"What the hell?\" Vegeta looked down just in time to dodge an iron pan sailing where his head had been. \"Crazy woman! You brought that to a carnival?\"

\"I brought twenty more of \'em,\" she said, flinging another.

As he dodged that attack, he sensed someone trying to sneakfromfrom behind. With battle-honed reflexes, he caught the pan, whirled around and smacked Roshi off of his nimbus. A yell to his left tipped him off that Krillin was trying now, and he sent a ki bolt towards the smaller fighter. As the ki exploded around him, ChiChi screamed and Roshi, now on his ass in the grass, gasped at plume of smoke. Tien raced to help his friend. Krillin\'s charred outline came iniew,iew, followed by a smoldering shirt, burned jeans and a dazed look on his face.

And no hair.

\"Oh no,\" Krillin said as he patted his head, feeling for hair but only dislodging cinders. \"Eighteen\'s gonna kill me. She\'ll think I shaved it off again.\"

\"Well,\" Vegeta started, \"since not getting any is your requirement for being gay, I suppose you\'ll be after Roshi any time now.\"

Now a few inches from Krillin, Tien suddenly backed away.

Krillin scrunched up his face. \"Ewww...\"

\"Hey!\" Roshi said, standing up. \"I may be old, but I\'ve still got it.\" He wiggled his hips and grinned.

\"Oh my God,\" ChiChi said. \"Now he\'s corrupting Krillin and Roshi.\"

\"I\'m not corrupted,\" Krillin said. \"I\'m not I\'m not I\'m not!\"

\"You\'re just in denial,\" Vegeta said. \"Soon you\'ll be leaving Eighteen for Oolong.\"

\"No!\"

On the sidelines, Piccolo turned greener than usual. \"I did not need that mental image.\" Half a second later, he caught a frying pan in the face. Only Gohan\'s outstretched arm kept him from falling into the st.
.

\"Uh, good catch, Great Green Bean,\" Gohan said. \"That pan might\'ve hit someone.\"

Piccolo flung the pan to the ground. \"I think I liked being evil better.\"

~*~*~*~*~*~

A few seconds into Vegeta\'s battle, Trunks and Goten turned to face Mr. Satan, who trembled so much his afro shook. The half of the crowd not watching the first fight stared at their champion, wondering when he\'d destroy the two villains. The remaining actors waddled off the field as fast as they could, but their huge rubber heads weighed them down.

\"Now look, you two,\" Mr. Satan said. \"I don\'t want to hurt you. You\'re not really that bad, are you? I\'m sure you\'re good kids, underneath those masks.\"

\"Of course we\'re good. We\'re not liars,\" Goten said.

\"Well,\" Trunks said, \"not most of the time.\"

\"We don\'t take credit for other people\'s battles,\" Goten said. \"And we don\'t try to belittle anyone stronger just because we\'re jealous.\"

\"Well, maybe dad does,\" Trunks said.

\"I heard that, brat!\"

\"And unlike you, we\'re just as powerful as we say we are!\" Goten shot a massive blast at Mr. Satan, sending the champion and a huge divot of earth into the air.

The champion landed with a thud on the rubber Cell, bouncing both of them into the air. Gohan caught Rubber Cell and set him in the stands, but Mr. Satan hit the ground again, and this time he didn\'t bounce.

\"Ow...\"

\"One hit?\" Goten said, flying down until he floated inches above the champion. \"That\'s all it took, one lousy hit?\"

\"Maybe we should give him more of a chance,\" Trunks said, nudging Mr. Satan with his boot. \"He\'s just human, after all.\"

\"Ewww, I don\'t wanna touch him,\" Goten said.

\"Well one of us has to hit him.\"

\"You do it, then.\" He looked at Mr. Satan. \"That is, if he\'s still alive.\"

With a groan, Mr. Satan pushed himself back on his feet, gathering strength as the crowd cheered. \"That\'s it, no more tricks out of you. If you wanna fight, then fight me on the ground. Unless you\'re too much of a coward--\"

\"What did you call me?\" Trunks said, floating to the ground.

\"Uh-oh.\" Goten backed away and stood beside his brother.

\"You okay?\" Gohan asked. \"What\'re you doing over here?\"

\"He called Trunks a coward.\" He glanced up at his brother. \"He takes that t ast as well as his dad.\"

Both Piccolo and Gohan looked at Trunks, who glared at Mr. Satan with the same look Vegeta had in fights to the death. \"Uh-oh.\"

\"You think you\'re so strong,\" Trunks said. \"Come and fight me, then!\"

\"Gladly.\" Mr. Satan reached his fist back, screamed as loud as he could, and slammed his fist into Trunks\' chest.

A second later, he crumpled to the ground cradling his shattered hand, sobbing something about smoke and mirrors while Trunks crossed his arms.

\"What\'s the matter, fool? Your brat not here to save you this time?\"

\"Whoa,\" Gohan said. \"He\'s just like his father.\"

\"That\'s disturbing,\" Piccolo said, glancing between father and son. \"It\'s like there\'s two Vegetas.\"

A ki blast took their attention back to Vegeta, who spouted a long stream of curses while trying to blow up Tien. He aimed between Tien\'s three eyes, but a flying frying pan blocked the hit. The next shot took off Krillin\'s shirt, which made Tien avoid the short warrior even more.

\"Don\'t come near me,\" Tien said, keeping just out of Krillin\'s reach. \"You\'re half naked.\"

\"Itnot not my fault,\" Krillin said. \"It\'s just the fighting, that\'s all.\"

While the two argued, Vegeta aimed again, but the nimbus flew into his face. He could still feel Tien\'s location, but when he fired and the smoke and cloud cleared, Tien had merely lost most of his pants.

\"Shit!\" Vegeta yelled. \"If I could just kill you and be done with it.\" He flew back to the ground and flung one of ChiChi\'s pans back at her.

The rest of the fighters dropped of thf the sky and into fighting stances, surrounding him. ChiChi screamed once and all of them charged, frying pan or cane or smoldering fists at the ready. A second later they bounced back to the ground, scattered as Vegeta put his arms out and expanded a huge bubble of ki around himself.

\"Come on,\" Krillin said, struggling to stand up again. \"We gotta stop him. Goku and Goten and Gohan, they\'re counting on us.\"

With a weary nod, Roshi also sat straight, spitting out a little blood as he did. \"You\'re right. They\'re so far gone they\'re not even trying to stop Vegeta.\"

\"I\'ll do it,\" ChiChi said, using her last frying pan as a makeshift cane. \"For the manhoods of my sons and my husband.\"

\"And to stop Vegeta\'s perverse corruption,\" Tien said.

\"Dammit! Stop calling me perverse!\" Vegeta stomped one boot on the ground, looking like Trunks used to when throwing a mild tantrum.

Shockwaves rippled through the dirt like water, radiating from his boot towards the stands. Anyone standing fell, and Trunks flew off the ground as he watched the dirt twist up under the stands and then settle down again. The crowd fell silent, until a moment later when the stands creaked and tilted one way before finally collapsing.

\"Oh no,\" Gohan said, looking around at the audience. \"Is anyone hurt?\"

\"The seats weren\'t very high,\" Piccolo said. \"The only ones who\'ll get worse than a splinter are the fat ones, and I bet they bounce.\"

\"Piccolo!\"

\"Damn.\" Vegeta glanced at the crumbled stands and the humans gradually standing. \"Those\'re some cheap seats.\"

\"Vegeta.\"

The familiar voice made him whirl around. Goku hovered a few feet above him, comdowndown to stand in front of his prince.

\"About time you showed up,\" Vegeta said, crossing his arms. \"Done sulking?\"

Without a word, Goku looked at the demolished stands, the groaning humans, sobbing Mr. Satan and the Z fighters on the ground. He glanced back at Vegeta.

\"Don\'t look at me. They struck first.\"

\"And the audience?\"

\"Blame the carnival\'s crappy seats.\"

\"It\'s okay.\" Goku smiled as his prince looked away. \"I know you didn\'t mean to do that. What about Mr. Satan? He looks like he\'s in pain.\"

\"He lost a fight with our brats.\"

\"Ah.\" Goku brushed his fingers along Vegeta\'s cheek, the cloak hiding his face. \"This has to stop.\"

\"Why? I\'m not done with them yet,\" he said, jerking his head towards the fighters.

\"Vegeta, they just don\'t understand--\" he stopped as his mate pulled back, his eyes sparking with excess ki.

\"No, I don\'t understand how you can stand there and let those humans insult your mate and your sons.\"

\"Just give them time--\"

\"You low class son of a bitch...\" Vegeta raised his hand, palm out, towards the crowd.

\"No!\" Goku tried to jump forward, drag his arm down, anything to stop him. Across the field, Gohan and Piccolo, Goten and Trunks, even the Z fighters, screamed as they realized what was about to happen even as they knew they couldn\'t stop it.

The ki gathered in Vegeta\'s hand, spinning into a glowing ball, then launched across the ground, racing towards the stands...

...and slamming Tien right between the eyes, bouncing him over the stands and into a cotton candy cart.

While everyone gawked or breathed a sigh of relief, Vegeta slammed a fist into Goku\'s stomach, leaving him on his knees on the ground as he zoomed out of the field and into the empty carnival.

\"Dad!\" Gohan helped his father stand straight. \"Are you all right? I can\'t believe he sucker punched you like that.\"

\"He\'s just hurt,\" Goku said. \"I think it\'s been a bad day for all of us.\"

\"Yeah. At least he didn\'t kill anyone.\"

\"He really held himself back.\" Goku took a deep breath and glanced at the humans on the ground. \"I\'d better go after him. Can you--\"

\"--see to anyone\'s injuries, and get the brats home?\" Gohan grinned. \"No problem.\"

\"Thanks. Um, wait.\" Goku rubbed the back of his head as he looked at ChiChi. \"Maybe you and Goten shouldn\'t go home.\"

\"Dad.\" Gohan put his hand on his father\'s shoulders. \"I know. I\'ll stay with Piccolo, and I\'m sure you and Goten can stay at Capsule Corps.\"

\"You think Bulma won\'t mind?\"

\"I know she won\'t. She was defending us, remember? And whatever she said to Yamcha, it kept him from joining Krillin and Tien and Roshi. Go on.\" He pushed Goku forward a few inches. \"Before Vegeta levels the carnival.\"

\"Yeah. See ya!\" Goku disappeared after his lover, leaving Gohan and Piccolo with a mess of humans and broken wood.

A few feet from the wailing champion, Trunks stood with his eyes shut, arms crossed, motionless. He felt Goten\'s ki come closer, but he didn\'t move.

\"Trunks? Are you okay now?\"

\"I...\" He sighed and lowered his head. \"Still a little pissed.\"

\"No kidding. I don\'t think he\'ll be getting up anytime soon.\" Goten put his arm around his mate\'s shoulders. \"Come on, I think we\'d better leave now.\"

\"Why the rush? There\'s still plenty of cotton candy to grab.\"

\"No, Tien\'s in that. But I\'m not in the mood to fight Videl whenever she gets around to coming here, and Gohan\'s got that look in his eye.\"

\"What look?\"

\"That get-out-of-your-villain-costumes-and-help-me-clean-this-mess look.\"

Trunks grimaced. \"Yuck. Let\'s go.\" He grabbed Goten\'s hand and flew up, dragging his mate behind him. \"Oh wait, I just remembered something.\" After a quick survey of the field, he spotted several rockets lined up behind a high security fence. \"There they are.\" He sent a few ki blasts to light the rockets all at once and then dashed out of the line of fire as hundreds of fire works went off in a huge blaze.

\"Trunks! Goten! Get back here!\"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Still rubbing his sore stomach, Goku followed Vegeta\'s ki past the rigged carnival games, through the food booths and into the Fun House. He gave a silent thanks that the walls had no scorch marks and that the walls were still standing. \"Vegeta?\"

\"Leave me alone!\"

Two ki bolts zapped out of the darkness and set the ends of his hair on fire. He pinched them out and ran inside.

\"Come on, Vegeta, don\'t be like this.\" He rounded a corner and spotted the edge of his lover\'s cloak going around another turn.

\"Like what?\" Vegeta\oiceoice echoed in the empty halls. \"Pissed that my mate won\'t let me kill someone who insults me? That he won\'t kill them either?\"

\"Vegeta...\" He ran past the glowing skeletons and bats, and turned another corner to see someone facing him. He stopped, and the other person stopped. Without enough light to see this stranger, Goku only felt more nervous when he realized he felt no ki besides his own. He took a step and paused as the other stepped with him. After a deepath,ath, he charged towards the dark figure and collided against the wall, the sound of glass breaking around him. \"Stupid mirror.\"

When he stood up again, he found that he\'d lost Vegeta\'s ki. \"He must be repressing it.\" He walked down the halls, looking down the dark corridors for stairs or a way out. \"Vegeta? Are you in here?\"

\"I\'m here, fool!\"

Crashing through the wall beside him, Vegeta gave Goku another good punch and flew down the hall inches from his mate\'s outstretched hands. With the wind knocked out of him, Goku slowly fell behind until he struggled to keep Vegeta in sight. Then Vegeta disappeared.

\"What the...?\" He turned to look behind himself, but his mate hadn\'t backtracked. He backed up the hallway and stepped through a large hole in the floor, sending him crashing to a hidden basement. \"Ow.\" Glowing demon faces and red eyes told him this was part of the fun house, probably still under construction. Only the blacklight reaching through the hole lit the glow paint and gave him something to see by.

\"Clumsy idiot.\"

Goku looked up and saw Vegeta standing away from the lights, arms crossed. \"Come on, Vegeta. I wanna go home.\"

\"Go to hell.\"

\"I know they hurt you,\" Goku said, standing, \"but if you don\'t stop being angry, it\'ll just keep hurting you more--\"

\"Don\'t you dare lecture me about pain!\" Vegeta took a step back. \"I\'ve lived with more pain than you\'ll ever know. My anger\'s all that\'s kept me sane.\"

\"I know.\" Goku held out his hand. \"But you--\"

\"Fuck you and your weak platitudes!\" Vegeta raised his hands and fired dozens of ki blasts. \"I\'m sick of you. I hate you!\"

Even with his arms in an X block, several blasts still burned away Goku\'s clothes and grazed his skin. He winced and fired his own bolt, focusing on Vegeta\'s hands. It caught his prince by surprise, exploding one last blast in his face and throwing him backwards.

\"Fine.\" Goku straightened, his face cold. \"If this is the only way you\'ll stop throwing a tantrum--\" He stopped when he saw his mate\'s face. The cloak and mask were gone, letting him see the tears flowing down Vegeta\'s face. A second later, Vegeta was up and running again.

\"Oh no...\" Without any light to guide him, he bumped into wall after wall, finally walking with one hand stretched out and the other on the wall. He walked for several minutes, feeling Vegeta\'s ki around him but unable ind ind him in the maze.

A blast sounded to his left, and Goku realized Vegeta had tired of wandering and decided to leave through his own door. Goku sighed and raised one hand, about to create his own door, when the wall in front of him burst apart and Vegeta flew through. He wrapped his arms around Goku\'s waist and pressed his face against the larger chest, closing his eyes tight.

\"Vegeta?\" Goku looked down the newly created hall. After a moment, he figured that the hole Vegeta had created had let in some black light, which illuminated a painting that hadn\'t been visible before.

Several purple tentacles floated around a demon the painter hadn\'t finished, leaving it just a white figure with pink and purple spots. In fact, the tentacles looked more like large worms, and the placement of some of them around the demon...

Goku knew now why worms frightened Vegeta.

With a loud sigh, he put his arms around his mate and gently squeezed. \"It\'s all right. It\'s just a painting. It\'s not real.\" He watched Vegeta look over his shoulder at the design, then press even closer. \"Must\'ve startled the heck out of you, huh?\"

\"Mm.\"

\"Come on. Let\'s go home.\" He touched his fingers to his head and concentrated, taking them back to their shared bedroom. He sat down on the bed and pulled Vegeta into his lap, stroking his hair. After a moment, Vegeta relaxed and leaned against him.

\"It\'s all your fault,\" he said, his voice muffled against Goku\'s neck.

\"Huh? Why?\"

\"Your dumb idea to go to that carnival.\"

\"I\'m sorry.\" Goku brushed a few tears from his love\'s eyes and hugged him. \"I didn\'t think that would happen.\"

\"Obviously.\" He took a deep breath and stifled a few hiccoughs. \"You promised ice cream.\"

\"Oh yeah. I\'ll go get it.\" One more nuzzle, then he eased out from under Vegeta and went to the door.

\"Kakarrot.\"

\"Yeah?\"

\"I\'ll be in the living room.\" Vegeta stood up and walked to the window.

\"Um, okay.\" Goku watched him fly out the window and out of sight. With another sigh, he walked downstairs to the kitchen, nearly tripping over Yamcha, who lay stretched out on the ground. \"Yamcha? What\'re you doing down there?\"

\"Huh?\" Yamcha looked up at him and gave a half-grin. \"Oh, Bulma lost an earring under the fridge.\"

\"Oh.\" Goku stepped over him and opened the freezer, pulling out a white bucket of ice cream larger than his head. \"Why didn\'t you just pick the fridge up?\"

With both of his hands under the fridge and dust particles in his hair, Yamcha blinked and looked at him. \"Good question. Could you lift it up for me?\"

\"Sure.\" Goku set the bucket down and picked up the fridge. Gleaming in the dust lay a green circle.

\"There it is.\" Yamcha grabbed it and stood. \"Hey, uh...Goku?\"

\"Yeah?\" He picked up the bucket and moved it from hand to hand so it wouldn\'t freeze his skin.

\"Um, I\'m sorry about earlier today. Bulma explained it to me, and um...\" He rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the floor. \"I don\'t get it, but I guess if you\'re happy with it...I guess I can learn to handle it.\"

Goku smiled. \"I understand. I guess it is a little weird at first.\"

\"Yeah, I mean...Vegeta, who\'d of guessed?\"

\"Stupid human.\"

Both of them jumped back as Vegeta stepped in, grabbed the ice cream and turned to leave.

\"No, Vegeta...\" Yamcha braced himself as the Saiyan prince turned. \"It\'s not that\'s \'s just...I just needed a little time to get it, but the idea of any two guys together still seems yucky to me. It\'s just the way I am.\"

\"Hm. Of course it is. You\'re only human.\" Vegeta took two spoons out of a drawer. \"Does this mean I\'m not manipulating the idiot?\"

\"No, you\'re not manipulating him,\" Yamcha said with a smile. \"But maybe you have him wrapped around your finger?\"

\"Hm.\" Vegeta couldn\'t stop his slight smile.

\"Huh?\" Goku looked at Yamcha and then Vegeta\'s back as the prince went into the living room. \"I don\'t get it.\"

\"Well, I better get this back to Bulma,\" Yamcha said and all but ran down the hall.

\"Huh?\"

~*~*~*~*~*~

When Bulma and Yamcha came out later, they found Vegeta leaning against Goku on the couch, half the ice cream gone. Trunks sat in the recliner on the side, eating a pizza slice, and Goten floating upside down behind him, finishing off one slice and going for another.

\en,\en,\" Bulma sighed, \"can\'t you sit like everyone else?\"

\"He tried,\" Trunks said. \"After the fifth minute, he got so squirmy he started floating.\"

Bulma sat down on the opposite couch and patted the seat beside her until Yamcha joined her. She lay down with her head on his lap. \"What are you watching?\"

\"A comedy,\" Vegeta said.

\"Vegeta,\" Goku said. He looked at Bulma. \"Reporters are grilling Mr. Satan and trying to get Gohan to do an interview.\"

On the television screen, the Great Saiyaman backed up as the reporters followed him across the field.

\"Great Saiyaman, how did you defeat those villains?\"

\"If Mr. Satan couldn\'t defeat them, does that mean you\'re stronger than he is?\"

\"Would you like us to change our city\'s name to Saiya City?\"

\"Great Saiyaman, would you give our network an exclusive interview?\"

\"Great Saiyaman, can I have your baby?\"

A thud behind Trunks told them Goten had just fallen to the floor laughing.

In the background, Mr. Satan screamed at the reporters from his stretcher as he was loaded onto an ambulance.

\"Hey, interview me, I\'m the champion of Satan City and--\" his eyes bugged out. \"Ow ow ow ow! Someone hit my hand!\"

A second later, Piccolo stumbled into view, three screaming girls wrapping around his chest and waist with another on his leg and a fifth hanging onto his arm. He tried to shake her off, and in the meantime a sixth girl jumped on his back and wrapped her thighs around his head.

\"Help!\" he yelled. \"How do you get them off?\"

\"Great Green Bean, let me have your child!\"

\"Are you green *everywhere*?\"

\"Why did you change your costume? You look good in straps.\"

\"You\'re so tall. Is everything about you big?\"

\"Ooh, what do these antennae do?\"

Piccolo\'s eyes bugged out much like Mr. Satan\'s had done as his antennae were stroked. Groaning and turning purple, he fell to one knee. \"Help!\"

Choking on a slice of pizza, Trunks struggled to breathe and laugh at the same time.

\"Um, excuse me,\" Gohan said. He turned and fled the cameras, grabbed Piccolo\'s cape and jerked him skywards. Girls fell off like overripe fruit and Piccolo\'s eyes bugged out again as the girl\'s hands accidentally pulled his antennae.

\"G\'han...\"

\"Hang on, we\'re almost out of camera range.\"

\"G\'han...\"

\"Boy, you sure were covered in girls.\"

\"G\'han!\" Miles up in the air, Piccolo pulled away from Gohan, tearing his cape. \"Dammit, you were choking me!\"

\"Oh, sorry Piccolo. Hey, um, it is okay if I stay with you, right?\" He glanced at the ground where Chaotzu and Krillin helped Tien out of the candy and Roshi patted ChiChi\'s shoulder only to be clobbered. \"I know Goten and dad aren\'t going back, and I\'m afraid of what mom might do if I did.\"

\"No kidding. She\'s gonna be pissed for awhile.\" He lay his hand on Gohan\'s shoulder. \"You know you can live with me from now on.\"

\"Piccolo...was what I did right?\" He floated closer and hugged him. \"I mean, she\'s my mom. And Goten even cussed at her--\"

\"Gohan, I know you. You\'d have married some girl and had a kid if didn\'t stand up to your mother sometime.\" He cupped Gohan\'s chin and made him look up. \"Would you have been happy like that?\"

\"Well...I guess a son or a daughter would be nice, but...\" he shook his head. \"No. I\'d probably argue all day with any girl strong enough to deal with me, and mom would probably make me live really close by. I wouldn\'t be happy. At least not as happy as you make me.\"

\"And I like having you with me all the time,\" Piccolo said. \"Even if I have to be the Great Green Bean some of the time.\"

\"Or a Torture Twin?\" Gohan grinned and switched out of his Saiyaman costume, back into his jeans and shirt. \"That girl was right, you know. You look good in black straps.\"

Piccolo frowned.

\"And that mask with a zipper. And the thong that rode up--\"

\"That\'s it,\" the Namek said. \"I\'m taking that whip to your backside.\"

\"I bet I beat you back to the bedroom,\" Gohan said, flying away.

A second later, two golden streaks colored the sky, racing higher into the air.

The End