Chapter 20
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Ume woke up as the sun spilled over the horizon, signalling dawn. He sat up in the bed and threw off the covers, and swung his legs over the side. He sat there for a moment, gathering his wits for his second day on the planet Earth. With a sigh, he picked up his scanner and clicked it on over his ear. It blipped and scanned his retina, and activated the screen when it was finished. There was an alert from Ix’bet waiting. Ume calmly reached up and pressed a button on the side of the machine, and a still photo from his encounter yesterday popped up on to the screen of the male named Goten. Underneath, there was a battalion of information on him, including his bloodlines and his part during the attacks on Talis. He clicked the button again, and another image of the woman named Mia popped up. This one had more concerning information for the teenaged boy – namely facts that she was a full-breed Saiyan, an alternate name was Hakuto, and that she had been killed on Talis. Ume sighed again and leaned forward, placing his elbows on the sides of his knees. That one was his mother. With another press, the screen cleared. Ume ran his hands through his hair and sat up. He pushed up from the bed, pulled on his grey jumpsuit and quickly jamming his circlet on, and crept over to the door. He opened it and strode towards the washing room. After a few moments, he worked out how the faucet worked and was able to wash. After his face was scrubbed, he made his way towards the kitchen. His scouter blipped softly, alerting him that someone was in there. Serori was pulling out her cookware, and there was a package of sausages, a package of bacon, and a carton of eggs on the counter. She didn’t react to the Saiyan boy entering the room, except for smiling slightly. She soon had pans heating up, and she used a knife to cut open the package of meat. Ume had settled by the table, but was watching her intently. Serori could tell that he was interested in what she was doing – she supposed that perhaps he’d never seen anything cooked before. Her maternal instincts were pulling at her to help him understand. What did he know of anything, other than how to fight? Ume stood up and moved warily towards Serori, his interest piqued. He knew she had food on the counters, but it was different than anything he’d seen or smelled before, and he didn’t know what she was doing to it. When he arrived at the counter, Serori gave him the smallest of smiles. “What are you doing?” He asked. She almost laughed. Instead she snorted softly, and shook her head, her smile growing wider and more bemused. “Have you never seen food prepared before?” Ume tilted his head to the side, and then he exhaled sharply in a breathy laugh. “No. I guess not. What are you making?” “Eggs, Sausages, and bacon. It’s similar to...” she thought for a moment, trying to think of a Talisian food she might compare it to. “Have you ever had jasha meat before?” “Only once. I don’t remember it specifically, other than it was good.” “The meat is similar. Eggs are unlike anything you’ve ever had, most likely. They’re delicious.” Serori smiled, “Come here, I’ll show you what I’m doing.” Ume smiled. She’d anticipated his next question. He couldn’t help but be curious, and he was in no danger for now. He supposed she must have felt the same way, otherwise she would not have permitted him to come so close to her. A small line of trust was forming. Tomma was busy speaking with Vegeta. After the initial pleasantries, Tomma had gotten a report on how Kinomi was. They had her stay at Capsule Corp overnight, just in case Ume had proven dangerous. Not that Tomma thought he was completely harmless, after only one night and still really not knowing anything about his character. They now discussed what they were going to do with the boy, and how much of a risk he posed. One thing was certain however, which was that Ume would be moved to Capsule Corp, where he could be more closely watched. Tomma finished his call, and moved towards the kitchen, where he could hear the two talking and laughing. He entered the room to see Serori standing behind Ume in the kitchen, instructing him to flip the sausages so they wouldn’t burn. She caught Tomma’s eye and strode over to him, exchanging a quick embrace and kiss. While he reciprocated, he was intrigued by the proximity of Ume. He would have thought his mate would have kept him as far away as possible, and she could have easily touched the boy if she had so pleased. Food was served, and quickly devoured. Ume attempted to ask about Mia and Goten, but Tomma had smiled at him and said that he’d be meeting them again soon, and he’d learn more about them then. Serori and Tomma entered their room after breakfast to dress, and Ume did the same. As they pulled on their jumpsuits, Tomma commented on what he had seen in the kitchen. Serori sighed, almost with annoyance. “I can’t help it, Tomma. He smells like...” she thought for a moment, “Like a child. It’s like his body is confused, or hasn’t caught up. And he just doesn’t know...” she stretched her arms through the straps of her armour, “How to care for himself. It’s so easy to forget...” Tomma put his hands on Serori’s shoulders. “You can’t forget, Serori. We don’t know why he’s really here. Remember that the Talisians are masters of confusion.” They left the room, but Serori was lost in her thoughts. Perhaps...perhaps if Mia rejected him as her child, she could have him instead... Ume met them in the hallway. They moved outside, and took to the sky. Within minutes, the buildings of Capsule Corp could be seen in the distance. His scouter blipped, picking up seven Ki signatures that were higher than average. As they approached, he could see eight people standing in a semi-circle in an open courtyard. He recognized Goten and Mia. There was an older female with bobbed blue hair standing close to a male, with wild upright hair and a pronounced widow’s peak, a much older female with shoulder-length hair with a tail wrapped around her waist, a younger adult male with short, spiky upright hair, a younger but still adult male with longer purple hair – that was the one assumed to be his father, and another younger but still adult female with longer blue hair. Ume immediately became uncomfortable. There were way more Saiyans than he’d anticipated, and he felt very vulnerable. The trio set down, and Ume held his position while Tomma and Serori moved forwards, Tomma towards the male with wild hair, and Serori towards the older female with a tail. Ume scanned their faces – most of them were stoic save for Goten, who looked wary, and the purple-haired male who looked like he was in pain. Tomma turned to the boy, “Ty’anu, come here. We need to properly introduce you.” Ume willed his feet forwards. The scouter blipped, telling him that the wild-haired male possessed power to such a degree that the little machine needed to go into hibernation mode to prevent overload. It blipped once more as it switched modes, and Ume swallowed. Tomma put a great hand between his shoulder blades and pushed him forward. “Ty’anu, this is Vegeta, prince of the Saiyans, and his mate, Bulma,” Tomma announced. Ume pressed his face into confidence as Vegeta looked him up and down. The older Saiyan man’s head turned to the side to eye the boy. His eyes narrowed for a second. Vegeta inhaled deeply and then focused angrily past Ume to Goten. “You.” Vegeta blinked across the courtyard in an instant, delivering a crunching punch to Goten’s face. He then blinked behind Goten, kneeing him in the back and sending him upwards. Vegeta blinked above him, clasped his fists together and brought them both down on Goten’s stomach. Goten went flying into the ground, making a circular crater. Vegeta teleported to the cusp of the crater, and bent down, his fingers tightly grasping Goten’s spiky hair. In a daze, all Goten could muster was an odd, guttural groan. Three cries of shock rang out, and Vegeta sent three small Ki blasts that knocked Mia, Trunks and Gohan on to their backs. Vegeta pulled Goten up and growled, “You and I, we’re going to have a little talk.” He looked past his wincing target for a second to focus his gaze on Mia. “You!” He barked, and she looked up from her dazed position on the ground. “You’re next.” The rest of the warriors watched Vegeta drag Goten around the corner to the training area, and a whump as Goten was thrown into the gravity chamber. Everyone was frozen in a state of shock. Mia was focused on the now-empty space where Vegeta had turned the corner. She was so focused that she didn’t notice that one person was getting remarkably angry. She didn’t flinch when he moved. Trunks calmly walked towards his wife, pulled her up to standing, and then punched her in the face. |
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