Author's Note: Yes yes, summer is busy, enjoy!!!

Chapter 3 – Freak Show

Vegeta stared out of his bedroom window, cursing every tree, rock, stone, Saiyan or thing he laid his eyes on.  Stupid tradition! Having to pick a future mate from a bunch of sluts that just want to be the future queen.  He shook his head.  That wasn't what was bothering him.  What was bothering him was the fact that none of these girls knew him.  Why would he wish to bond wth one of them?

His grandpa, Vegeta the 8th, had picked a girl that had a head on her shoulders, and he knew she'd be able to handle the responsibilities a queen would have.  He had been lucky to live the rest of his life with her.  His father on the other hand, had decided to go with beauty.  Which was unfortunate for his mother. 

His father couldn't stand her mouth or her intelligence or her strength.  She had talked too much, gotten too many hits on him during their sparring matches, and played too many mind games with him.  As soon as she had given him a son, he had blasted her into oblivion.  Idiot.

Vegeta calmed down.  He wouldn't be blinded by beauty.  In fact, he craved the competition more than looks.  If she could hit him a few times when they were sparring, think of witty comebacks when they were fighting, then he decided he wouldn't mind.  He would consider himself lucky if they happened to be just like his mother... 

He cursed again as he saw his Royal Guards dropping off the girls.  Girls his age.  All born on a full moon 15 years and one day ago…

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Kakarot land, without a girl.  What the?  The Saiyan seemed to be in deep thought, troubled and even confused.  Then Vegeta watched in wonderment as he took off and flew back the way he had come.

Of all the Guards he had chosen the previous week, Kakarot was the strongest.  But he was also quiet and reserved.  Not much like a Saiyan at all.  He didn't seem to have much upstairs, but he was a good sparring partner.

Like his future mate, all his Guards had to be from the same birth date as he was.  Kakarot was the strongest, and he had picked a few more surprisingly strong ones after him.  Saiyans like Krillin, Yamcha, and Kakarot were strong enough to beat his own father's Guards.  He smirked at that. 

Yet it wavered as he considered the selections he had been forced to make.  Kakarot was strong but too kind to use his power against anyone without being ordered to.  Krillin was strong but extremely short.  He had to be the shortest Saiyan in all history.  And all born on the same day…was there something wrong with him?  He scanned over himself quickly.  Perfection.  With that in mind, he turned to go meet the Guards arriving.

After Kakarot had come back, Chi Chi and Bulma had softened some toward the Guards, and they weren't crying anymore.  That was a relief.  When they all landed, Yamcha left to see what other kind of girls the other guards had brought.  Kakarot turned to them.

"I'll take you to your bedchambers now."

"No," the blue-haired one said, Bulma he thought her name was, "we want to meet the other girls being brought here."

Kakarot shrugged.  "Suit yourself.  If you need anything, just come and get me."

They both nodded and then headed to the group of girls which was getting bigger as the day went by.  As a whole they all looked up when they heard the screaming of one in particular.

"I SAID LET GO OF ME YOU PINT SIZED FRIEK!  I CAN FLY ON MY OWN!"  Bulma stared in wonder as the shortest Saiyan she had ever seen brought the screaming girl to the ground.  Chi Chi and Bulma looked at each other and then both giggled.  They stopped when they saw the girl.  She had a hood over her head and was in the process of pounding the short guard on his forehead.  As she did this, her hood slowly fell back to rest on her shoulders and reveal a head full of – blonde - hair?! 

The other girls that had been collected gasped.  Blond hair…on a Saiyan?  They turned and looked at Bulma.  Blue hair?  What kind of freaky girl like that would ever win the affections of the Prince?  Murmurs and whispers rose all around, and the blonde girl stopped yelling to quickly pulled her hood back up.  Her eyes were lowered, but she soon spotted Bulma –which was easy because she stood out among all the black heads- and smiled shyly.

Bulma smiled back and waved her over, and so did Chi Chi. Other than the blond hair, the girl seemed perfect.  She seemed strong, and her eyes were black, unlike Chi Chi's, whose were a chocolaty brown.  That was Chi Chi's curse; she was normal except for her eyes.  This blonde girl was normal except for her hair, for her tail was a soft, golden brown.  Bulma was just a freak, with blue hair, a blue tail, and blue eyes.  Lucky me…

The girl sat down beside Bulma and looked at her hair.  Bulma decided to start the conversation.

"So.  What's your name?  I'm Bulma, and this is Chi Chi."

The girl looked up, smiling into Bulma's face as she noted the differences in both girls.  "I'm 18.  Nice to meet you two."  Her voice was dull and drawn out, as if bored.  Bulma grabbed her hood and pulled it all the way down, causing 18 to blush vividly. 

"It's ok.  At least it's not blue!"  Chi Chi barely dodged Bulma's arm.

"And at least her eyes are black, not brown, you freak!"  Bulma laughed as Chi Chi mocked anger, turning her head up but smiling all the same.  "We make jokes about our differences, 18, so they don't seem so bad.  At least both of your tails are brown!"  And Bulma lifted up her fluffy appendage for all to see.  There were many gasps from the other girls, and some even backed away.  Bulma just laughed at them.  "See?  We're all freaks of nature.  I just got used to the stares and taunts." 

Vegeta had just been talking to the guards when he saw the crowd of wenches gasp and back away from a bench in the garden simultaneously.

"Hmph!"  Krillin looked over, not like he could really see what was going on unless he levitated higher.  "Probably just a bug or something." 

Kakarot looked concerned though and headed over there, Vegeta following him.  Sitting on the bench was…a blond Saiyan girl?  Yes, his eyes weren't deceiving him!  The color was all wrong!  And then there was a brown eyed one, trying to hold in a fit of laughter at something.  That was when he saw the 'bug'.  

She had blue eyes and blue hair, and she was waving her blue tail ominously in front of the other girls, who were still backing up away from her.  Then he watched in surprise as she jumped forward into the crowd, her tail swinging in front of her, smiling evilly and chasing the other girls even farther back.  And then she laughed, and mocked out loud into the crowd.

"Better watch out!  We're contagious…"  She growled menacingly and then headed back to her seat.  The other two there burst in a fit of laughter, the blue one following.  Vegeta walked right up to them, scowling as he hid his shock at their…deformities.  Kakarot and Krillin were close behind him.

"What is the meaning of this?"  Vegeta growled, looking down at the three.  The blue one shot her head up and her eyes grew wide as she saw the Royal Family emblem blazoned on his chest armor.  The brown-eyed one obviously didn't see it, and was about to open her mouth even as Kakarot shook his head vividly from side to side in warning.  The blue one had noticed though, and clamped her hands over the other girl's mouth, probably saving her life. 

"There was no point, your majesty."  Bulma began to regret her decision to scare the other girls.

"Hmph…" he growled out.  "What are your names, wenches?"  He almost laughed as he saw all their faces grow angry.  The blue one's eyes narrowed and she was about to retort when the blond one grabbed her mouth and clamped it shut.

"I'm 18, this is Chi Chi," who was trying to bite Bulma's fingers, "and that's Bulma…" who was trying to open her mouth and say something that would most likely get them all killed.  Her face was flushed and her eyes sparkled fire as she thought of all the things she could say but wouldn't.  She calmed down and 18 let go of her mouth.

"We are sorry to have disturbed you, your majesty."  Bulma's tone sounded as if saying those words pained her.  He just smirked.

"Kakarot.  Krillin.  Keep an eye on these three.  If they do one thing to slip out of line, I think my father's Royal Guards might want to put on an X-rated freak show for each other."  He turned and walked out of the arena, and Bulma held Chi Chi until he was out of hearing.  Then she let go.

"Why I never!  He knows they can't do that!  We're not of Age yet!  He knows that right?  That they can't do that?  What an idiot…"  Chi Chi's face darkened.  "An idiot we're all being auctioned to…" 

Bulma saw Kakarot's face contort with a weird set of emotions.  So he cared.  Krillin looked solemn.  What?  How could the Royal Guards give a damn about what happened to them?  She was never able to find out because just then the rest of the girls had gotten over their fear of the prince and of the 'freaks' and were swarming around both of the young Guards.

"Oh!  Look how tall and handsome!"

"No, I like the short one!  He's so cute!"

"Oh!  They're both blushing!" 

Chi Chi's lower lip twitched as she crossed her arm.  "I have a sudden urge for a frying pan…"