3:38 PM 9/21/2012

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z is a property of Akira Toriyama, Toei Animation, and Shueisha

Summary: When a lack of updates and an overly playful Goku drive Vegeta into temporary hiding within the bowels of Capsule Corp, he decides to take out his frustration on an old typewriter and come up with his own movie plotline. With a morbidly curious Bulma to referee, what kind of dastardly adventure will the prince come up with?

Part 5: "Ace Attorney Bardock and the Bonus Round"

Brolli did not sleep well that night. Nightmares of his mystery-princess dead on the ballroom floor, sprawled belly-up, her rich cream gown splaying out around her with her body lying at an unnatural angle. A half-eaten, seemingly innocent-looking pastry sitting loosely in her outstretched hand. Her bangs were askew, but her long, waist-length midnight-blue curls had fallen overtop of her face like a death-veil.

"I told you I'd get there first." Paragas mocked him. Brolli spun around, his ki steadily rising. Paragas held a strangely-familiar-looking bottle of poison, "She wasn't good enough for you anyway. I bet she wasn't even a princess at all."

"!" Brolli awoke with a start. He turned to his alarm-clock and groaned. It was 4:20 in the morning; this was the third time he'd woken up. That bottle of poison; how it stirred his rage even now, when it had clearly been revealed to be nothing more than a horrible dream.

As his head was just about to hit the pillow, a sudden flash of recognition that Brolli hadn't been capable of in the dream smacked him upside the head. Within moments he was out of bed and rushing into the kitchen. Surely he was just imagining things; there was no way he could get this lucky. No way it hadn't registered any earlier. He dug through the garbage can in the kitchen, making his way through empty cartons and moldy bread; wildly throwing the waste to the ground beside him until halfway down he saw it.

Not just the now-empty bottle he'd dreamt of, but a few smaller boxes of equally toxic stuff as well. And all three had the official royal pantry seal on them, a sticker used by the king in order to catch anyone who'd stolen his groceries.

Brolli sat back, trying to take this in. Paragas telling him he was the one behind the attempted murder wasn't something that would hold up in court-especially as Brolli had no witnesses or recordings-but the attempted murder-weapons themselves, possibly covered with Paragas' fingerprints, sure were. Brolli put on a pair of nearby rubber gloves and fished the bottle and two boxers out with pasta-tongs before dropping them into a hermetically-sealed box and shut the lid. This was evidence. Hard evidence. He would have that old beast put away for threatening his future happiness; somewhere far away for the rest of his life so Paragas couldn't touch them no matter how hard he tried.

It would be awkward speaking with Vejita now, with how everything had turned out. He hoped the prince wouldn't be too broken up now that Brolli had found someone new. Ah well, he'd have to let the defense know sooner or later about his discovery. He wasn't about to let Paragas get away with this.

"This is ridiculous! Who wears a suit to a court case!?" Bardock snapped at the plain black suit and tie he wore.

"Um, attorneys do. And since you're the acting as an attorney-even if it's an unofficial one-you've got to wear a suit." Bura folded her arms.

"Well it sucks." he grumbled.

"That looks way more uncomfortable than anything I've had to wear since I got here." Goku munched on a muffin as he watched the scene unfold.

Raditz sweatdropped at his brother, recalling Goku's costume from the masquerade, "A suit is more painful to wear than that? How do you rank things?!"

Goku only stared back, shrugged, and downed the remainder of his baked-good.

"I didn't even know you owned a suit." Vegeta pointed out, a little surprised.

"Yeah, well, it's not like I was using it." Bardock brushed some dust off the sleeves.

"Or took care of it." Bura added, raising an eyebrow.

Goku grabbed another pie and dug in, his tail wagging behind him as he did so. He just hadn't felt comfortable eating from the royal kitchen after Paragas had stolen poison from it, and so Goku found himself wandering back in to the prince's lotus-eater for his meals. And very satisfying meals too; he patted his belly, content. Even after expressing his apprehensions about finding it frighteningly difficult to tear himself away from such comforting surroundings, Goku figured they'd only be here two more days, tops. The first in court to clear Chi-Chi's name and the second for him to battle Vegeta for the prize money.

"Goku-chan!" Bura gave him a hug from behind, hopping up onto the couch with him, "We got to get you a room."

"A room for what?" Goku smiled over his shoulder at her.

"Nonsense, I've got plenty of room for him right here." Vegeta motioned to their surroundings.

"That's not much privacy you know." Bura stated.

"Well I'm pretty sure that won't be necessary since he's going home with his family." Bardock adjusted his tie while sending a warning glare Vegeta's way.

"Oh I'm sorry, do you have actual proof Oujo's related to you? Because if you don't I'm afraid you're in no position to make such an unfounded claim." Vegeta smirked back.

"Maybe I should get going; I wanted to bring some snacks to Chi-Chi too." Goku shifted around uneasily.

"No Goku-chan don't leave!" Bura exclaimed, holding on tighter, "I'll tell you what, I promise I won't clothes-beam directly onto you til you get your tail trained properly; I'll use clothes-beam on a clothes-hanger and you can put 'um on like regular non-magical clothes."

"That does sound better..."

Vegeta was horrified, "But I adore the clothes-beam henshins!"

"Oniichan." Bura said flatly, "It can be put on hold til Goku-chan trains his tail to withstand sensitivities."

"Yeah Veggie-tah. You don't wanna hurt me, right?" Goku added.

The ouji twitched lightly, "No, no I don't. And it's not like you're completely rejecting it; that would break my heart. And anyway..." he trailed off, shifting moods, "I guess my fingers could use some exercise, if we're really going to be doing it the old-fashioned way for a little while." a sneaky smile slid up his face, "No worries, Oujo-chan, "Veggie-ta'll" be real gentle with you."

"Weh?" the other saiyajin blinked in confusion at that, "Um, I'll be back. I'm gonna go give Chi-Chi some of the snacks." picking up a bundle of food, Goku headed for the door only to have it open before he got there, "Oh!"

"Hey, sorry for being so late, I hope nothing happened while I was gone." Turles waved to the group, "I ran into these two on my way here and they have some great news."

"Good~"

"~morning!"

Vejitto and Gogeta stood behind Turles, the two of them with grins on their faces.

"What's up with your moods?" Bardock asked skeptically.

"He's out!" Gogeta cheered.

"And soon he'll be up!" Vejitto gave a thumbs-up, "The king! He's out of his coma."

Vegeta and Bura's faces lit up, "Really?!"

"He's still asleep, but it's normal sleep now." Gogeta replied.

"Yes!" Vegeta made a pair of fists, "Things are looking up now! Once Tousan awakens and gives irrefutable proof that it was Paragas who spiked his drink, it won't even matter that we don't have any physical hard evidence to go on!"

The fusions stared at him with surprise, "You don't have-"

"-any hard evidence?"

The prince faltered, "Ah-well, not really, but we've got a solid theory, and anyway it couldn't have been that girl who tried to come back for Goku. She doesn't have anything against my father."

"Yeah! Chi-Chi's not a bad guy!" Goku shook his head, "And that's why I gotta go bring her some snacks." he held up a table-cloth-wrapped bundle of food, already standing in the hallway with no one having seen him leave the room.

"Hurry back, Goku-chan!" Bura called after him.

"OK!"

"Hey, you're her, right? The wrong-place, wrong-time girl."

Chi-Chi blinked, just waking up, Kinto'un by her side and acting as her pillow. The cloud had squeezed between the bars to keep her company while Goku was gone. If it weren't for the determination in his voice at wanting everything to go back to the way it was, she wasn't sure she would've felt safe letting him go back to Vegeta's room, "What?" she turned to the unfamiliar male voice to see the prince's tall, handsome muscular bodyguard. He had to be as tall as Piccolo, and she still thought he fit the image of an ouji better than the Saiyajin Kingdom's actual prince, "Oh Mister Bishi!" Chi-Chi stood up, "Yeah, that'd be me."

Brolli sweatdropped, thrown a bit, "Mister Bishi?"

"No one's telling me their names around here, so I'm left having to come up with my own." she folded her arms, "Well, actually that may not be true for everyone, I know some of the names, but not nearly as many as I should considering the spot I'm in."

"I'm Brolli, by the way." he awkwardly introduced himself.

"Chi-Chi; Gyu Kingdom princess." she smiled back.

Brolli reached over his shoulder and pulled off a small backpack, "I came here to let you know that I've found the key to taking down that old man in court today, and I wanted to put a face to the victim he chose to throw in front of the bus."

Chi-Chi's gaze trailed to the backpack, "No way...you've got-"

"-hard evidence? Yeah."

"Oh thank you!" she clasped her hands together, "The one thing we were missing!"

"It's no recorded confession, or security video, but it's just as good."

"What is it?"

"I can't tell you, not here." he put the backpack back on, having to adjust his shirt as he did so, "I don't feel safe about it out in the open. You'll see it in court."

"Fair enough. I realize I shouldn't even be questioning it, but why are you helping me?"

"Because my old man doesn't deserve to be king, because I don't want to be prince, and because he threatened the life of the girl I love. He's the one who needs to be behind bars, but not these, somewhere a lot farther away, as far as we could send him while ensuring he never returns." Brolli spoke with conviction, "I just wish I weren't so tired." he deflated a bit, "And I wish I knew where she was, and that she's alright. Her ki is incredibly powerful, but as we can both plainly see, physical strength alone can't stand up to poisons."

"Well, I hope you find her, and that she's safe." Chi-Chi sympathized, "I'm in a similar predicament. Your prince wants to take Goku-san away from me, but Goku-sa knows better than to trust him; he doesn't want to stay here."

"Goku?"

"The guy who won the martial arts tournament; he's my childhood friend. My best friend. I love him." she spoke naturally and honest, smiling wistfully as she said it.

Brolli tried to recall the sole saiyajin participant in the tournament, the one who had at the time slightly irritated him because he had captured Vejita's attention; yet the memory was blurred and faded now that who Vejita fancied no longer mattered to him, "I kind of remember seeing him fight. Orange gi?"

She nodded, smiling warmly, "Orange gi."

The door down the hallway burst open and the sounds of running footsteps grew closer until they suddenly grinded to a halt.

"Goku-san?" Chi-Chi turned to see him, surprised that he had stopped without warning. She saw frightened guilt all over his face, and further that he was staring up at Brolli with that nervous broke-your-cookie-jar expression, "Goku-sa are you ok?"

Goku swallowed, ::Why's he here? What if he figures out that Veggie-ta and Bura and I tricked him? I can't say anything; my voice'll gimmie away.:: a group of muddled thoughts ran through his head as he somehow managed to turn back to Chi-Chi and hand her the wrapped up snacks through the spaces in-between the bars.

"Oh! And they're still warm! Thank you, Goku-sa."

He gave a brisk nod, still nervous.

"Um, is he frightening you?" she asked Goku while motioning to Brolli.

"I am the strongest one in the kingdom; sometimes it's intimidating." he lamented, embarrassed, "Sorry if my ki's scaring you; I'm trying to keep it down, but it's harder when I haven't gotten much sleep." Brolli explained to Goku.

::UWAHHH! He seems like a nice person too! I did such a terrible thing!:: Goku frowned, hurt. The fur on his tail was still standing on end and his tail itself continued to thrash behind him out of frightened muscle-memory.

"Brolli's found hard evidence to clear my name! We can use it to prove Paragas is the would-be murderer!" Chi-Chi told him.

Goku's eyes lit up, "Really?" he exclaimed with excitement only to realize too late that he'd spoken outloud. He promptly covered his mouth with his hands, then looked up at Brolli.

If Brolli had recognized Goku's voice, he hadn't made them aware of it, "They'll be arriving to take you to the court room within the next couple hours. I'll meet you there." he then excused himself and left down the corridor, closing the door behind him.

Goku let out a huge sigh of relief once Brolli was gone, "So close..."

"What was that all about?" Chi-Chi said in-between bites of cookies, "You never get scared of strong guys. Excited about getting to fight 'um, yeah, but not scared."

"I'm not scared uh him!" Goku pouted stubbornly. His tail swished down near the floor, "It's just...Veggie-ta and Bura and I tricked him the other day to get information out of him cuz we didn't know if he was in cahoots with the bad guy, but now that we know he's not I feel awful! I didn't want him to recognize my voice and get all upset cuz it'd mess with Chi-Chi's chances of proving she didn't do it!" his nerves sent his words all over the place.

"Well, why don't you just apologize to him?"

"I can't!"

Chi-Chi raised an eyebrow, "And this is because...?"

"It'll just make things worse." Goku started fiddling with his gi top.

"I'm pretty sure the only way things could get worse for that guy is if turns out his dad really did make good on his threat to kill the girlfriend. He's been looking for her for days, and you know what they say about disappearances and the first 48 hours."

"He's not gonna find her." Goku sat down next to the bars, feeling down.

"That's weirdly pessimistic of you." Chi-Chi murmured. A thought struck her, "Oh no; she's already dead and you know it, don't you? If she is you need to go tell him, Goku-san."

"She's not dead!" Goku blurted out, "She's not even real! All she started out as was a cover to sneak into the masquerade and warn the king about Paragas and I can't help it if Brolli noticed her and liked her and danced with her but it didn't matter cuz I wasn't gonna see him again after the masquerade but later Veggie-ta decided she was the only one who could get the information out of him about what was going on with Paragas so we had to do another costume and he was really really nice to me and I don't think he even realized how sensitive my tail is cuz all the saiyajin who live here train their tails from when they're little and I never knew that so it gave me so many weird feelings inside and, and, he's never gonna find her because she's me!"

Chi-Chi sat there staring at him with his watery eyes and shaking body, dumbfounded, "You gotta be kidding me."

"Oh Chi-Chi she's me! She's me in disguise wearing really fancy costumes 'n pretty wigs." the guilt hung heavy over Goku's shoulders.

"Dammit Goku-san, why does everyone around here want you?! It's like the opposite of how it is at home." she exclaimed.

Goku shrugged, still feeling bad.

"Well I'm glad I didn't see you with the wig on, whatever that looked like." she sighed, tired, "I don't think you need to worry about your voice; there's so many people around here with voices that sound similar to yours-Cheshire Cat and my would-be attorney for examples."

Kinto'un squeezed out from between the bars and hovered over towards Goku, who reached out and glomped onto the cloud for comfort, "Oh Kinto'un..." he buried his face in it, "I feel so awful."

Chi-Chi patted him on the back from the other side of the cell, "Listen Goku-san, there's a couple ways we can handle this, but I need to get out of here first before we try either of them. Are you listening?"

He peered over at her and nodded, still holding Kinto'un.

"You can tell him the truth and apologize for what you've done; explain the whole thing including Vegeta's part in it-"

"-Bura helped too."

"-and Bura's part in it, and just take what comes of it. He'll probably be mad at you, and he might not forgive you, but that's the chance you take; at least the burden'll be off your mind." Chi-Chi said, "The second option is the one where we essentially do nothing. We pretend we don't know where she is when asked if we've seen her. We leave the situation unresolved and no one pays a penalty. His heartbreak over not knowing what happened to her will probably haunt and hurt him for a while, but eventually he'll move on and find someone else to love."

"He loves her?"

"That's what he told me; how could you let Vegeta manipulate you into manipulating someone else like that!? Brolli didn't do anything to you worth that! Did he?"

Goku shook his head.

Chi-Chi sighed.

"She doesn't even have a name, Chi-Chi. She doesn't even have a name for him to hold onto." Goku squirmed.

"Seriously?"

"Super-seriously."

"Aloha oe!" a familiar voice broke through the tragic setting with a cheerful tone.

Goku and Chi-Chi looked over to see Vejitto and Gogeta standing there, this time dressed as policemen.

"We're bailiffs now!" Gogeta tugged on his hat.

"With real badges 'n everything." Vejito pointed his own shiny gold badge out.

"And we're here to escort you court." Gogeta whipped out a keychain loaded with keys. He stuck one of them into the keyhole to Chi-Chi's cell and swung the door open wide, freeing her from the tiny room, "Ta-da~!"

"Oh thank you!" she said, relieved yet weary. Goku's further complications had tired her out, "So?" Chi-Chi started out, trying to lighten the mood, "Did you find out who the judge is?"

"The Saiyajin Legal Court welcomes the..." Toma paused mid-announcement, unable to fully convince himself of what was written at the end of the sentence, "..Honorable Judge Nappa."

"Hi." Nappa waved from the judge's chair, his presence there confounding pretty much everyone in the court who knew him.

"You must be joking." Vegeta muttered in disbelief.

"Hey Vegeta! Funny seeing you here. What're ya in for?"

"A hell of a Wednesday, apparently." a small headache began to pulse behind his eyes, "Since when did you become a judge, Nappa?"

"Oh I've been a judge for a while, Vegeta. I've got a legal document with my name on it and everything. It's just never come up in conversation before. I'm also a certified air guitarist with a pokémon masters degree."

"I'm going to sit down now." the prince bluntly stated before doing so.

"Starting to see why we don't settle things in court all that often." Bardock sweatdropped.

"Mwahaha!" Paragas laughed from his side of the room, dressed in a green suit, "You better prepare for trouble, Bardock, because when I'm through with you you'll be begging me to throw you in jail just to escape the kingdom-wide derision you'll receive after I beat you down."

"Uh-huh." Bardock dryly acknowledged him.

"Your honor!" Paragas turned to Judge Nappa, "I'd like to call to the stand my first witness; her Excellency, Queen Rutabega."

Ruby gave Paragas a suspicious glance as she took the witness box.

"So? Promise you'll tell the truth? And that you won't lie?" Judge Nappa asked.

"Yes." she responded, still keeping her eyes on Paragas and the court.

"Your highness," Paragas began, "If you may, please describe the events of the evening leading up to your husband's attempted murder."

"That's a rather blunt way to put it."

"It's a rather harsh crime."

"Hm..." she frowned, "Once everyone had been dismissed from the tournament grounds, Bejito escorted the winner back to the kitchen while I went to go check on how the setup for the masquerade was going. After dropping him off, Bejito and I met back at our chambers where we got ready for the party and then returned to the room where it was being held. We left the party early, around 10pm, to enjoy some quiet time to ourselves. We'd brought some empty champagne glasses from the ballroom and Bejito decided to go to the royal kitchen to retrieve some drinks for us there. Obviously he never made it back."

"What do you think Bardock-san?" Chi-Chi asked, unsure.

"We don't know what time exactly it was that you were arrested, and Paragas could've messed with the official documents for that, so zeroing in on the time is off limits." he thought outloud to himself, "Ah, your highness! Isn't it true that the kitchen you're referring to is the same one the King had let the tournament winner eat in?"

"Yes."

"Was it determined that the poison originated from the wine bottle from the royal kitchen, or the glass from the ballroom?"

"The poison was a liquid-type dropped in the wine bottle; if it had been in the glass it would've been noticeable from the start and no one would've used it."

"So it's most likely to say the person who poisoned it had access to the royal kitchen."

"That's true."

"But you need a key to enter, right? And only the king himself has that key."

"Also true. You can lock the door without the key, but you need that key in order to unlock it." she explained, "That door is kept locked regularly with the exception of when the royal family makes use of it. Do you have any more questions?"

"No, but you have been very helpful. Thanks."

"You're welcome." the queen smiled back.

"Man I am no good at this at all." Bardock grumbled as he flipped through his notes, "Why can't we just beat him up? What's wrong with that?"

"So, Ms. Chi-Chi," Paragas had her on the witness stand, "You illegally broke into this castle on a deadly errand; to kill our king out of vengeance for what happened to your village and for the temporary loss of your own loved one. As you're not physically strong enough to kill Bejito, you chose to poison him instead!"

"That's all lies!"

"Really? Then who let you into the building?"

She glared back at him, stuck, "Er, well, maybe I did break in, but I didn't do any of that other stuff! I certainly didn't try to kill anybody! Besides, after seeing the battles earlier that day, if I was planning to off someone-which I wasn't-I would never have used poison!"

"Oho? And why is that?"

"Because of that poison-man who fought Goku-sa; as far as I knew at the time, poison couldn't affect saiyajin." she demanded, "He threw all sorts of horrible-smelling stuff at Goku-san and nothing happened. As soon as the tournament was over I was shuffled back home; I didn't have any time to learn anything otherwise. I didn't even know saiyajin existed before those soldiers were sent to my village; I don't have any resource material on saiyajin!"

Bardock spoke up, "There are only a select few poisons powerful enough to affect saiyajin. Even so, there's no way Chi-Chi could know which ones, especially if she can't read the language. She wouldn't have had any time to learn it, not in a single day! It had to be someone who can not only read saiyago, but also knows which poisons are harmful to us." he explained, "Someone from within the castle walls. Someone who was seen sneaking inside the kitchen hours before the King arrived. And that someone is you, Paragas!" he stood up and pointed at him.

"!" Paragas froze in place, "P-preposterous!"

Bardock smirked, "I call Son Goku to the stand."

"Ah-ano..." Goku shifted around uncomfortably in the witness seat. Chi-Chi watched him from the audience, nervous for him.

"Don't worry, I'm only going to ask you about stuff relevant to the case." Bardock sighed, "We're not gonna get into clothing details, alright?"

Goku gave a little nod.

"Son Goku, the King left you in the royal kitchen to make yourself dinner; he took the keys with him, right?"

"Uhn. I was told to lock up after I left, and he showed me where the lock was, so I figured I should just eat til I was full since I wouldn't be able to get back in after I left."

"Aside from King Bejito, did anyone else enter that room?"

"He did!" Goku motioned to Paragas, "He lied 'n said he was a chef, but he's not a chef at all, is he?"

"Ah-clearly the young man's mistaking me for someone else." Paragas gave a slight nervous flinch, "He's brand new here, he can't be expected to remember everyone he sees."

"He grabbed some stuff and said it was ingredients for the party, and when I asked him if he was royalty too cuz of his cape he gave an evil laugh and said he would be soon enough, and when he left he dropped one of his bottles and I went to go see what it was and it was poison!"

"HAH! And how could you know that?" Paragas rebuffed him, "Like the young lady here, you can't read saiyago either."

"No, I can't." Goku watched him carefully, "But I know enough that when you see a skull 'n crossbones on somethin', it's probably poison. Or pirate vitamins. But most likely poison!"

Paragas' face lit up, "An image! So then we're back to square 4, Chi-Chi could've known what it was after all."

"Chi-Chi was never in that room! Not til long after the king drank that drink a his!" Goku exclaimed, "As soon as I realized what it was, I left the room and ran to get help. You were the only one who could've done it, and I bet those other bottles that you didn't drop were poison too. In fact, I also bet that if you hadn't been all clumsy 'n dropped the third one, your death-drink would've killed Veggie-ta and Bura's dad instead of just dropped him into a coma!"

"In fact, I have that very bottle right here!" Bura whipped out the baggy containing the bottle, "And it's got your fingerprints all over it, Paragas! Along with the royal kitchen sticker on it."

"Well that's simply immaterial to the trial then." he said coolly, "If that bottle wasn't used to poison anybody, then its presentation here is useless."

"It proves you took poison from the royal kitchen!"

"To set bug traps for all you know. Besides, that meager little container on its own isn't enough to kill anybody." Paragas replied.

Bura stumbled, "Yeah, well..."

"So I guess you really don't have much of a leg to stand on after all."

"OBJECTION!"

All eyes turned to Bardock, who couldn't help but feel awkward at the attention. He shook it off and pressed on, "When the wine bottle Bejito was drinking from was recovered, the two types of poison identified as being present within the bottle were very specific poisons. Namely, these two poisons were two of three missing items exclusive to the royal kitchen as evidenced by this inventory sheet from the previous day." Bardock motioned to Gogeta, who whipped out a long sheet of paper, "The only three people who entered the room during that day were you, Son Goku, and King Bejito. However, the only person to take items with him as he left was you."

"SO? It doesn't matter! Where's your hard evidence? Your irrefutable proof!? You can make accusations all you like, BarDOCK, but that's all they are. Face it; without the supposed murder weapons all you have are an unused bottle and the testimony of the accused's boyfriend." his snarl turned into a malicious grin, "For all we know, maybe it was Bejito. Maybe he was trying to off himself."

"You ASS!" the queen snapped at Paragas and followed it up by hollering curse words in her native language at him, "Bejito would never do that!"

"He puts together this huge tournament the likes of which we've never seen for his son, perhaps it was a farewell present, hm?"

"YOU-"

The doors suddenly swung open wide, "Sorry I'm late!" Brolli announced, "But I think I have something to make up for it." he smirked as two lab scientists appeared to either side of him, one of them carrying a report.

In Brolli's arms was the backpack Chi-Chi had seen back behind bars. His gloved hands unzipped the bag to reveal a box, whose lid he lifted open to reveal a pair of empty poison bottles, "You're a really sloppy would-be killer, Tousan; throwing the murder weapons away in the garbage can at home?" he held one up to show the royal kitchen sticker on it, "But I had to be 100 percent sure, so I brought it to the police lab. Sure enough, it checked out; these bottles not only match the missing poisons and the poison found in the king's wine bottle, but they've got your finger-prints all over them."

"I-IMPOSSIBLE!" Paragas cracked.

Judge Nappa smacked his gavel against the podium, "I declare this young lady here-"

"-Chi-Chi." she offered hopefully.

"-Chi-Chi, NOT GUILTY. Bailiffs! Arrest that man!" Nappa pointed his gavel at Paragas, who backed up as Vejitto and Gogeta converged on him.

"Y-you, you'll never take me alive!" Paragas screamed, running for the door.

"Judge's gavel, I choose you! Gavel! Use clobber-attack!"

Brolli braced himself to take Paragas on as he closed in on the other end of the room only to have something hard smack him in the back of the head and knock him unconscious mid-run. It was the gavel, which spun for a moment beside Paragas before falling onto its' side. The court turned back to face the judge, stunned. Nappa was standing up and posed in a weird pitching motion.

"Toldja I have a pokémon masters', Vegeta." Nappa grinned, "Bullseye."

"You don't know how grateful I am to you for all this!" Chi-Chi exclaimed as she sat in the lobby. Bardock still felt awkward at receiving praise and Brolli still looked immensely tired, but all Chi-Chi could feel right now was relief. Raditz, Vegeta, and Bura stood off to the side while Goku sat next to Chi-Chi with Kinto'un on his lap.

"You're...welcome..." Bardock avoided eye-contact.

She smiled back at him. He was a little cold, but underneath he was still a nice guy. Chi-Chi turned to Brolli, "And you, it must've taken an awful lot of guts to turn in a family member like that, even one you weren't all that close to."

"Yeah, well, he's finally getting what's coming to him." Brolli sighed, his tiredness showing though.

"Are you gonna be alright?"

"As soon as I find where my mystery-princess got to, yeah, things will start to look up again." Brolli smiled at the thought and Chi-Chi felt a bit of heartache at what she now knew to be an impossible-quest.

Goku sunk down deeper into Kinto'un with regret. Part of him was screaming inside to tell the truth while another part-terrified at what would happen if he did-battled wit it.

"Ah, you don't mean that girl from the masquerade..." Vegeta felt a sliver of dread.

"She isn't just "that girl", she's a lady!" Brolli snapped back at him, then mused, "My dear mystery-princess; the way we waltzed together, she moved with such gentle loving grace, her delicate dark-blue curls brushing up against those lightly-blushing cheeks, it was as though she were out of a dream!"

Chi-Chi mouthed 'You waltzed with him?!' to Goku, who nervously mouthed back 'Maybe.' Chi-Chi put her palms over her face and shook her head for a moment.

"You know, it's possible someone else might already have her heart." the ouji spoke up.

"Well, that must be no more than that someone else's opinion, if she hasn't professed love to you. Has she?"

"I-not in such terms..."

"Do you even know her name?"

"Do you!?"

Brolli was struck silent. He took a deep breath, "I won't let you have her, Vejita. She's too sweet and free-spirited to be shackled to a title. You better not be keeping her locked away somewhere. If I find out that's why I can't locate her, because you're hiding her from me..."

"*AHEM!*" Raditz loudly cleared his throat. He had to stop this. Vegeta and Brolli were essentially fighting over who gets to have a romantic relationship with the person Raditz was pretty sure was Kakarrotto. His younger brother was being fought over by two of Raditz' childhood friends, and that was all kinds of uncomfortable to Raditz, "Hey guys, what about that final round of the tournament? I think Goku'd like his chance to fight for that prize money so he and Chi-Chi can head on home, huh?"

"Thank you!" Chi-Chi clasped her hands together.

"Oh, oh yeah, that." Vegeta recalled, "Well, we've had enough for one day, I suppose it'll be taken care of first thing tomorrow; my father should be awake by then, and he was especially looking forward to seeing me battle the tournament's champion, so tomorrow morning will do nicely."

::You're going to keep us here another day?!:: Chi-Chi mentally balked.

"You should be able to return to your guest room without any trouble, but if you would like for safety purposes, I could have others accompany you there." Vegeta explained, "Son Goku, however, I'd like to speak with a moment in private." he took Goku's hand and pulled him up off the bench before leading Goku back down the hall towards the prince's royal chamber.

"OH-::hell no!::" Chi-Chi cut herself off. After all, everyone here had just finished working together to help free her from false accusations and very well warded off what could've been a war between Saiyajin Kingdom and Gyu Kingdom. No, she had to trust that Goku-san would be able to work this out; let the saiyajin prince down easy. Brolli wasn't as much of a threat at the moment; he hadn't a clue it was Goku behind those costumes, ::But supposing Goku-san's guilt does get to be too much, and he apologizes to Brolli and explains what happened, and then instead of feeling embarrassed and letting it go, Brolli decides he still wants Goku-san after all!?:: she squirmed at the frightening possibility. Brolli had once held a torch for Vegeta, and in Chi-Chi's opinion, Goku-sa was a lot more attractive in looks and personality than Vegeta was, ::I just have to trust in Goku-san's own ability to handle this smoothly. He can do it! I know he can. Right?::

"Mmm~" Goku lay on the big comfy bed in the royal chambers with a full belly. After such an anxiety-filled morning, he felt like he could fall asleep right here even though he'd just been fed. The now-empty plates that had been full of delicious foods from every corner of the food group sat on the kitchen table.

"Hey, Goku-chan. How are you feeling?" Bura bent down to peek over the side of the bed at him.

"Good. Really good." he smiled back, his tail lazily swishing about in the air behind him.

"What is it you want all that money for, anyway?" Vegeta climbed up onto the bed and sat beside Goku.

"Food, and fixing some buildings in the village, but mostly food." Goku replied sleepily. He felt something warm begin to rub at his back and Goku involuntarily started to purr, "There, ohhhhh, there is not e-nough food at home for me to, oh! To eat regularly all the time and sometimes people get mad at me because I eat so much, but that's not my fault cuz I'm not human after all; I really do gotta bigger stomach."

"Well, it's not so much a bigger stomach as a faster metabolism." Bura sweatdropped, "Saiyajin burn calories really quickly, so we have to eat a lot to stay healthy."

"Oh." he kind of understood her, "OHH! T-too close!" Goku's face flushed. The rubbing had gotten far enough down his back where it was steadily approaching his tail. Vegeta pulled his hands away and moved them back up.

"If everyone back home thinks you're a burden, why not stay here with us?" she asked.

Vegeta leaned towards Goku, "I can have the money sent home with your friend regardless of if you win the match tomorrow against me or not; that way they're able to repair their buildings. If you spend it on food, eventually you'll run out of money again, so why not stay here where you'll always have plenty to eat."

"Um..." Goku trailed off.

"We all really like you, Goku-chan." Bura added, "You're so adorable, inside and out."

"And I can take care of you better than anyone in that village ever could." Vegeta spoke into Goku's ear, making him flush all over again, "Stick with me, Oujo, and you'll always be full, always be comfortable, and you'll have an endless supply of strong fellow warriors to spar with."

"Um...I...I gotta think about it." Goku pulled himself up off the bed, his back still tingly from all that soft needling.

"I can live with that answer for now." Vegeta admitted, "But you don't have much time; our battle is in less than half a day."

"I know. I just...I gotta think about it." he shifted around, "There's still people back home that do care about me; I'm not sure if..if I should leave them."

"We'll take good care of you, we promise!" Bura threw in.

"I know." he looked down at his shoes, "I gotta go now." Goku turned to leave.

"You will give me an answer after the battle though, won't you?" Vegeta asked him.

Goku thought it over as he stood there in the doorway with his back facing the ouji. He looked over his shoulder at him, "Yes. I'll give Veggie-ta an answer after I fight him tomorrow."

The ouji smiled, "Excellent."

Goku found himself wandering the halls of the castle, feeling lost. Vegeta and Bura were really nice to him after-all, and he had enjoyed living this way, but could he really stay here in this kingdom for good?

"You know, despite how huge this castle is, it's only one of many places on the island."

Goku spun to see Brolli standing there, gazing out at the evening sky through one of the tall hallway windows. He shifted around, uncomfortable with Brolli there. Goku's tail subconsciously tucked down near his feet.

"There were still lots of places to explore that you haven't seen yet, and you're not going to get the chance to see them, possibly ever, if you leave tomorrow." Brolli pointed out, still looking out the window, "Of course, pretty much everything out there is dangerous."

Goku's eyes lit up, "Really?!"

"Monstrous plants and animals the likes you've never seen. Volcanoes, tornado-pockets, strange and powerful beasts that could only appear on an isolated floating island like this." he scratched the back of his head, "Why do you think the castle's got all those outer-layers fortifying it? It's because the rest of his island is full of incredibly strong monsters!"

"Eh-heh. Heh-heh-heh-heh~" Goku couldn't keep the grin off his face, "Incredibly strong, huh?" his fingers twitched, "I'm getting excited just thinking about it!" he made a pair of fists, then grabbed one of Brolli's hands and gave it a shake, "Thank you so much! I know what to do now!"

Brolli stared down at him, surprised, "You do?"

"Uhn!" Goku nodded, "I dunno why I didn't think of it earlier; I've just been all nervous about a lotta stuff I guess, but now I've got it! Oop!"

Brolli covered Goku's eyes with his free hand, confusing the other saiyajin and allowing him to pull his other hand free, "Just so you know, there's a lot of different types of power out there."

"I know! Isn't it great!" Goku pushed the hand off his face, "And if I stick around a little while, I'll get to spar against you too, right?"

"Most likely, yes."

"Heh-heh~ OK! Off I go! See you later!" he waved, turning to run off only to have his own hands grabbed this time.

"Hey, wait."

"Weh?" Goku blinked up at him.

"I understand the first, but, why'd you do it a second time?" his voice grew heavy as he asked, "It's been bothering me that I can't figure it out."

"The second...?" he trailed off as his confusion grew.

Brolli's palm glew with ki as his hands engulfed Goku's. He drew it away to reveal a familiar pair of gloves clothes-beamed over Goku's hands.

Goku stood there a moment, frozen in shock. These were indeed identical to the gloves from his second undercover costume. He bit his lip, his guilt wrenching inside him, "Veggie-ta said it was because he didn't think you'd tell him anything about Paragas cuz it was your parent vs his parent, but I don't think Veggie-ta really thought that, I think he liked what Bura clothes-beamed me into the first time so much he wanted to do it a bunch more times with a whole lotta different costumes! W-which is fine, except for my tail, cuz it's really sensitive to techniques, even stuff that you wouldn't normally think of as attacks like clothes-beam." the words flowed out of him, "I'm so sorry it turned out to be a mean terrible trick and I never meant to hurt anybody and I don't think Veggie-ta or Bura did either since they're both your friends so...I'm sorry!" he nodded deeply, then peeked up, "Can I still spar against you some time?"

"..." the taller saiyajin just stood there, quietly.

Goku felt some residual nervousness creep in as he tugged lightly on the gloves, "Ano...a..eto...how long have you known it was me?"

"Does it matter?"

"Ah!" he was struck dumb for an answer, "I guess because...you came to Chi-Chi's rescue, and mine at the very last moment, and I know you really don't like your parent, and you don't wanna be royalty, so..." Goku stumbled around for words, "No, I guess it doesn't matter. I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Goku." Brolli sighed, "Yes, that would be Vejita's design; he's really quite exceptional, as you'll find out on the battlefield tomorrow."

Some minor relief washed over him, "So you're not mad at Veggie-ta?"

"For that? Of course not." Brolli waved this away, "Vejita gave me an enchanting afternoon in the afterglow of the prior evening. How could I be upset over a set of such magical experiences?"

Goku's eyes lit up; this was working out fantastically! Two friends who had inadvertently pitted themselves against one another were going to reconcile their differences and return to their friendship. No more jealous glares over an imaginary girl.

"My offer still stands, you know."

"Wuh?" Goku popped back out of his own thoughts to see Brolli smiling. He aimed a finger at Goku's hands and clothes-beamed the gloves back into wristbands.

"You can still come live with me; while I admit my home isn't quite as big as this castle, it's pretty comfortable, I've even got a couple hired maids, I'm sure they'd love to meet you."

Goku stared back at him in disbelief, "You're kidding; after all that stuff you still want me as a roommate?"

"You fight like a champion, waltz like a dream, have the sweetest disposition of all the saiyajin I've ever met, and your cosplaying potential is heart-poundingly high! Of course my offer still stands!" he exclaimed.

"O-ohh." Goku fiddled with his wristband, "That's nice of you."

"You don't have to answer right away; I'm not going to pressure you like Vejita would. Decide when you're ready! I'll even let you go for a test run!"

"T-thank you?" he felt unsure of what to say, "I, I gotta go now. Byebye!" Goku spun and ran off down the hall, his overwhelmed mind still trying to take it all in.

An unfamiliar knock came at the door.

"Raditz! Get the door!" Bardock shouted off in his direction from the other room, back in his default armor, "I can tell from here it's not Turles!" he added.

"Fine!" Raditz shouted back, then soon appeared in the hallway as he headed for the front door, "Thanks in advance for the..opposite of a warning, I guess?"

"Not a problem." Bardock returned to his lunch.

Raditz opened the door to find a mostly cheerful, yet slightly dizzy Goku standing there.

"Ossu!"

"Uh, hey." Raditz greeted him, "Surprised to see you here."

"Can I come in? I'm gonna come in." Goku let himself inside and Raditz closed the door behind him. This was an average-looking home. Nothing that unusual, not unless you counted the saiyajin-sized kitchen, but in this kingdom that was also normal, "You guys said earlier I'm one of your family members, right?"

"Well, we thought you might be. My younger brother Kakarrotto went missing when he was a baby, and it happened in the mountains near Gyu Kingdom, and he looked a lot like you, so..."

"Then I'm him. At, at least for a little while."

Confusion splattered all over Raditz's face, "What are you talking about?"

"I don't wanna go yet! Not before I get a chance to do some training and learn special techniques and go on wild adventures all over the island exploring and fighting strong guys!" Goku explained, "B-but I don't wanna live here forever either! I wanna go back to my home in Gyu Kingdom where my friends 'n family are when I'm done here."

"Okay..." Raditz trailed off.

"And I can't really, I mean, Veggie-ta 'n Buu-ra, and Bralee all offered to take me in, but, but, I dunno! I'm just not used to all that 'n it makes my brain all damp 'n I'm scared that if I took any of 'um up on it I really would stay there forever cuz I think I got it hard for all that softness!" Goku blurted out, frightened.

"Well you're not gonna find any "softness" here." Raditz folded his arms.

Bardock grunted in agreement from the kitchen, his mouth full of fish.

"I know." Goku replied.

"And we still don't actually know if you're my younger brother."

"I know."

"And even if we keep your temporary residence a secret, it's still possible Vegeta or Brolli will figure it out eventually."

"I know." Goku stared back up at him earnestly.

Raditz sighed and turned towards Bardock's direction, "Tousan? Whaddya say?"

"He wants to pretend to temporarily be Kakarrotto? Let him." Bardock took another bite of food, "If it doesn't work out he can always go home. If it does, we'll take him to the hospital and get a paternity test done to find out if he actually is him."

"YAHOO!" Goku cheered before the last of his adrenaline kicked off, "I'm gonna go take a nap now. I have not slept well."

"Guest room's down the hall on your right." Raditz said, "If you're really going to fight Vegeta tomorrow morning, you're gonna need it."

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the Bonus Round of the tournament!" a still-not-100-percent, but close-to-it King Bejito announced through the loudspeaker, "We wish to welcome back our tournament's champion, Son Goku!"

Cheers erupted in the crowd as Goku, feeling much better and more like himself after a good night's sleep, waved to them.

"You'll keep him safe, right?" Chi-Chi tugged on Bardock's sleeve, concerned.

"Tch, I can't promise anything; Goku's stronger than I am." he muttered.

"We'll do our best." Raditz added in, trying to smooth things over.

"And the challenger, my son, Prince Vegeta Oujisama!"

Vegeta stood across from Goku in the ring, his arms crossed as his long cape flowing in the breeze. He had on an impressive amount of armor that glistened in the sunlight.

"And Goku-san won't be staying for too long, right? Maybe a week, two weeks tops?"

Bardock shrugged, "How should I know, he didn't tell us."

"I think he just wants to see what's on the rest of the island. Don't worry, I'll show him around when I get the free time." Raditz explained.

"So!" Vegeta smirked as he assumed an attack pose, "Have you made your decision yet?"

"Yeah, I kind of have." Goku smirked back. He was shifting into battle mode, something Vegeta hadn't gotten to see up close yet, and to the prince it was fascinating to watch.

"Each time I encounter you, you become more and more interesting." the ouji chuckled, "I wonder what else I still don't know."

"Well, maybe Veggie-tah will have the time to find out." Goku smiled back.

Vegeta's eyes widened, stunned for just long enough a moment for Goku to whip nyoi-bo out of its case and thrust the bo staff forward.

"NYOI-BO EXTEND!" the staff socked Vegeta in the stomach, knocking him backward.

Aggravated, Vegeta blasted off into the sky, taking nyoi-bo and a stubborn Goku with him. With the pole still extended, Goku found himself hovering only five feet or so off the ground as he held onto it, "Nyoi-bo!" he shouted at it. The bo staff began to shrink back down to its original size while simultaneously pulling Goku further up into the sky and towards Vegeta. Once he was there he dropped his hold on nyoi-bo and began to exchange a series of punches and kicks with the prince, using his feet kamehameha to keep himself aloft.

"That's quite a creative workaround you've got there, Goku!" Vegeta shouted at him above the battle noise and the roars of the crowd, "But you know, there's one thing it's lacking that can only be found in genuine bukujutsu!" he swung his leg up and clocked Goku in the head, causing him to temporarily lose his concentration and go plummeting halfway down before he got a hold of the ki concentration again, "Actually, make that two things! Agility, and the ability to use your legs." he spun nyoi-bo around between his fingers for a moment, then turned and hurled it out of the ring where it landed beside the edge of the wall, "I do admire your weapon, but isn't it better for us to fight on even terms?"

"Y-yeah, I guess so." Goku replied, grimly smiling back up at him.

"So why don't you ask me to come on down?"

"That wouldn't be any fun." slowly weakening the amount of ki emitting from his feet, Goku landed back on the platform, "It'd be way more challenging, if I can shoot you right out of the sky."

Vegeta's smirk broadened, "BWAHAHA! You are something wonderful!"

Goku focused on Vegeta's ki. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "KAIO-KEN!"

The ouji stared back, confused, "Kaio-whaOUFHHHH!" in a glowing red blaze of speed Goku was suddenly back up in the air, his knee connecting with Vegeta's chin and knocking the ouji off-balance. The furious speed at which he was attacking with barely gave Vegeta time to defend. Goku raised his arms into the air and landed a hit against the prince's side, sending him spiraling down to the ground where he hit the ring with such gravity that it spread cracks throughout. Goku landed easily on his feet across from Vegeta. The red ki aura was gone, and he was back to base.

"That was insane!" to Goku's astonishment, Vegeta picked himself up; bloody, but no worse for wear.

"WEH!?" Goku stumbled back, shocked.

"If we weren't surrounded by a crowd of thousands I'd have you right now." the prince grinned viciously at him, "But first, let's finish this, shall we?" he powered up, and his aura began to make the ground around them quake and the skies cloud up. Vegeta's ki aura glowed with blue-white light, "Come on, Son Goku. Show me what you've got!"

::I really don't wanna do this, and it'll be really unsafe if I go at it too long, but...:: "KAIO-KEN X2!" Goku shouted ran at the ouji while forming a ball of ki in his hands. As he reached him at a speed much faster than Vegeta could see, he let loose a kamehameha at point-blank range.

For Vegeta, it was as though only half a second passed between him standing there on the platform and him with his back suddenly embedded two feet deep into the cement wall ring just below the stands.

Goku let go of his kaio-ken x2 and fell to his knees, his body making small shudders of pain from the exertion.

The crowd grew silent from confusion as to what just happened in the ring.

"Now...that..." Vegeta's voice came from within the wall as a sudden burst of fear fully awakened Goku back to the world around him, "..is a very interesting..ughn...te-technique." he pulled himself free of the wall. Most of his armor was now gone, exposing the battle shirt and pants underneath. The ouji hovered above the grass, "But it obviously takes a heavy toll on your body. Those muscle spasms can't be comfortable."

Goku swallowed heavily. Sure Vegeta had said he could have the money no matter if he won or not, but that was also back when Vegeta was certain that he would be the one boarding and taking care of Goku. Once he found out that Goku had chosen to live at Bardock and Raditz's home instead; he might not give Goku the money "no matter what". The only way to get it for certain was to win this fight, ::But my body hurts so much.:: Goku struggled as he stood up. Vegeta landed across from him on the ring, ::And he's so strong! How can he stand all that and still be ok?!::

"Well?" Vegeta asked, "Are we going to continue or not?"

"We are, but I can't go on for much longer, so we're gonna end it here."

"A pleasant assertion." Vegeta formed the beginning of a ki ball in his hands, "You don't look all that conscious at the moment, Oujo-chan." what the prince thought at first was blushing soon turned out to be something else entirely. He couldn't hear the words spoken as the sound of the wind around them grew louder at the attack name's invocation, but Vegeta pretty much figured it out.

Kaio-ken X3.

The explosion of the ki beam Goku released on him engulfed Vegeta's beam along with the ouji himself, and this time when Vegeta was knocked out of the ring, he really did land on the grass. The grass just outside the stadium walls in the parking lot. The hole Goku's blast had made now gave those in the audience behind him a clear view of their vehicles from their seats.

Goku's body seized itself as he flashed out of kaio-ken X3. He let out a cry of pain as he collapsed on the ring, conscious, but incredibly hurt.

Vegeta let out a groan from the parking lot, "T-truly, truly incredible."

Bejito stood there in the announcer's booth with Vejitto and Gogeta, his jaw ajar and his eyes bugging out of his head. He composed himself and cleared his throat, "Ah, well then. It, looks like the winner of the Bonus Round is...Son Goku!"

Roars of entertainment, excitement, and a little confusion rippled throughout the crowded audience. Chi-Chi bounced up and down with delight before running out onto the ring, "GOKU-SAN! You did it!"

"I...did..." he smiled back through the pain.

"Here!" she sneakily held out a small item, "Senzu bean." Chi-Chi whispered, "Just pretend you're still hurt after you take it so no one gets suspicious." she pushed it into his mouth.

Goku chewed and swallowed the crunchy bean. Almost instantly his body was fully healed and the feeling of full health flooding through him put a big grin on his face, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." she smiled, proud of him.

"Aww, see, it all worked out!" Goku peered down at the typewriter.

"For now. I still plan to write a spicy epilogue solely for the eyes of yours truly once the two of you get out of my room." the ouji explained, grinning at him.

"Uwehh." Goku frowned.

"Vegeta!" Bulma thwacked him on the head with his rolled-up story, "Not nice!"

"Know what's not nice? The fact that we've come all this way and there's still no movie update." Vegeta pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I can't do anything about that." Bulma sighed, then cheered up, "Still, it's been an interesting experience to play editor to you."

"I mostly appreciate your commentary." he replied.

Goku sweatdropped at their seemingly identical moods in terms of their thoughts on each others' work, "So, since Veggie-tah's done now...does that mean we can spar?" he grinned.

"If you don't plan on throwing anything else at my head outside of the battleground, then yes." Vegeta smirked wryly, "We'll go spar now."

"YAHOO!" Goku cheered, "I'm so excited! Come on Veggie-tah, let's go!" he reached to grab for Vegeta's gloved hands.

"Wait! Will you wait a second!" he snapped, "I just have one more thing to type, and that's-"

~*THE END*~

12:59 PM 9/25/2012