Chapter 7: Family life...

Vegetto's splitting

Vegetto had set the gravity of the training room at its last level, but even without transformation, it was too easy for him. He had come to wonder if he shouldn't go find some monstrous planet or a star to train on. On the other hand, a star would maybe be too hot for his feet...

He went out and made his way towards the shower. On his way, he took two senzu beans that he swallowed as if it was candy. On the wall hung a calendar, who seemed to be out of place and rather anachronistic in that house full of screens and computers. The only reason for its being here was that, for each month, there was a different picture of kittens. That was why Bulma's mother had bought it in the first place.

Next Saturday, so in five days from now, was red marked. Vegetto knew that it was the day when Trunks would perform on stage an obscure play with his class. As long as Mr. Satan wasn't the main character, he could bear it, even though a play performed by 8 or 9 year old children was probably going to be boring and a mess.

Trunks was in seventh heaven that his new father was going to see him on stage. His former father, Vegeta, had always refused to attend children's events. It wasn't out of blatant lack of interest or out of malice, but because he considered them utterly stupid and useless.

Then there was a gleam in the new half-god's eyes. That date reminded him of something.

Of course! It was Chi-Chi's birthday!

Poor Gokû was unable to remember the mere date. And even if he had managed to remember one, he would have been unable to know when it was, for he hadn't been interested at all in knowing the days of the week. He never even checked a calendar.

Chi-Chi had gotten used to it and had taken the habits of warning him several times many days in advance before events such as young Gohan's birthday, for instance.

Yet, that once, she hadn't told him anything. Why that?

She had perhaps thought that Vegetto had no obligation towards her as they had... let's say, gone separate ways. She certainly didn't want to bother him. Chi-chi had decided to stay in the background, taking upon herself.

But he wasn't Gokû. He wasn't Vegeta either. Children's play, their birthdays, he wasn't going to miss them. He had the required strength to not miss them.

So, how could he do it as both events were at the same time (in the evening, Chi-chi's time zone and in the afternoon in the capital's time zone)?

Anyone with enough good sense would have gone to Chi-Chi and would have proudly told her to set aside her Friday in order to fittingly celebrate her birthday, one day before. But not Vegetto.

Instead, he went to see Tien.

Vegetto went to ask Tien to wear a wig in order to attend Trunks' play in his place.

No, wait... It's not what happened.

Once he had showered and got dressed, Vegetto sat on his bed, placed his fingers on his forehead and concentrated.

And nothing happened for the next three hours.

And then he felt Tien's ki. Most likely a punch. Without losing the track he had found, he teleported.

Tien had just got up and he had emitted a negligible energy when he was doing his morning stretching exercises. Obviously, Chiaotzu wasn't here. The three-eyed warrior turned his triple glance towards the strange being that just had appeared before him. But who was that guy?

For a second, he feared that it was a new creature, some clone built by Gero from numerous saiyan cells, or even human cells. But it wasn't that. No. That being was the answer to his question: why did he seldom feel Gokû's strength without feeling Vegeta's at the same time. Actually, he wasn't feeling any of them but it was this person.

One way or another, that being was Gokû and Vegeta!

“I'm Vegetto.” said the being.

“This explains everything.” answered Tien, even if it hadn't explained anything.

Last time he had seen Gokû, Tien had been knocked out by a sweep from Buu. He had remained out for a long while and when he had come to, he had felt that Buu was dead as well as the happiness from the rest of the team. A few moments later, the earthlings had come back to life and he had chosen to rejoin Chiaotzu rather than asking God some explanations.

Vegetto told him what he had missed, then he asked him a favour.

“Could you show me your Multi-Form technique?”

[Note of the author: Kulilin and Piccolo know this technique too, but ONLY in the anime. In DB and DBM, Tien is the only one who knows it. As it's a complicated technique, and as it has proved to be flawed in a fight, none had thought of learning it]

Tien placed his hands palm to palm and made the sign of his technique. He split himself into two copies. And then each body split into two new copies again.

Vegetto smiled. Compared with the teleportation, that technique was easy. He made the same sign and emitted the same energy and concentration than Tien had and his body split into two copies. He didn't go further.

“I only need two bodies,” the two Vegetto said at the same time.

They moved their arms in synchronization.

“Hm...” they said at the same time. “I... I see double.”

“That's normal.” replied only one of the Tien. “You still have only one mind and you need to learn how to manage two bodies at the same time. And it's that part of the technique that takes time to master. I had an advantage for I could already see in opposite directions. You, on the other hand, aren't used to it.”

Vegetto turned his two heads in the same direction. Then he tried to walk but almost fall, therefore the two bodies started floating, in order to avoid the shame of a fall.

“You now have two left legs and two right legs, and the ground beneath them isn't the same. You need to learn commanding each separately. You'll need to train to get used to it.”

And Vegetto got used to it. That evening, the two bodies were independent.

Tien had needed a month to master two bodies. But well... The merging of these two geniuses just could do better than him. Tien was a genius, he knew it, but compared with Son Gokû, or Vegeta, he was nothing but a little one. So, compared to that...

“The farther the bodies are, the more tiring it is to remain split. I gave up on this technique so I didn't see fit to push its limits, but I can't bear more than 200 yards between two bodies. It can even be dangerous if you don't have enough energy left to approach the bodies.”

And Vegetto had to bear about 3,000 miles!

The next day, Vegetto left his former opponent. He could feel Chiaotzu's energy approaching. He was most likely back from some errant but Vegetto wasn't the kind of guy who would wait for him to chatter.

He arrived at Bulma's and took three senzu beans before going to bed, for he was tired. Bulma was already making coffee, but she didn't wonder where he had gone these past 36 hours, during which he hadn't given her any news. She knew it happened from time to time.

A few hours later, Vegetto was up and ready and he sent one of his bodies very far away. Yet, as he didn't dare using the teleportation for now, he made this body flow away.

And the Saturday afternoon, it was a panicked Trunks who rushed into his parents' room.

“Hey, I hope you haven't forgotten!!” He stopped suddenly before crushing in his father's legs.

Vegetto was fastening his belt. He wore a regular shirt and, what a surprise, he was wearing a tie!

“I don't have text to learn. What do you want me to forget?” asked Vegetto.

The young boy had a broad smile and he turned back to rush into the car for people used car to go from place to place in the city, no matter what his teleporting father could say.

Granpa and Granma, who showed such an age difference, no matter how old they truly were, were already sitting in the back seats when Trunks rushed in. Bulma sat and tapped on the window. The robot driver closed the doors and the car went some inches up in the air.

Vegetto appeared in the car at the moment it was starting.

“Ooh, Vegetto-chan.” exclaimed grandma, “You gave me such a fright!”

At the same time, three thousand miles away, Gohan was helping his mother setting the table. Chi-Chi wasn't going to sit and watch others do the work, even on her birthday!

Videl, who had officially become Gohan's girlfriend more than a year ago, moved stuff here and here for she didn't know what to do but still didn't want to look unhelpful. Goten didn't bother with such scruple and was running around.

“I put the bread here, ok? Do you want me to do something else, mada... mo... Chi... er... how should I call you?” she asked Chi-Chi, embarrassed.

“Call me how you want, my dear Videl-cha.” Chi-Chi answered. “But I'm going to gut you if you keep being so formal, no matter how old I can be! I can feel the years creeping up on me! I'm so old and wrinkled that my sons are taller than me and they left the most important woman in their life to go with some girl... Er.. don't pay attention to what I'm saying, Videl-cha. I'm just an ageing old fool...”

“There were so many candles on mom's cake that we had to cook a bigger one!” cheerfully yelled Goten. Then he took a punch on the head. “Ouch!”

“May I call you... Chi-Chi-chan?” asked Videl. According to the local ways and customs, Videl should have called her 'mom', but she really wasn't ready to do it, and not married to Gohan yet!

“You still are being rather formal! Careful! My threat are to be taken seriously, young girl. I went as far as you did in the world martial arts tournament! But... what are you doing, Gohan-cha? There is one plate too many!”

“Mom, I just graduated and my major was in mathematics. I know how many plates there are.”

“But you do know that your grand-father isn't coming! He's helping his people replant their field that were destroyed after the storm.”

“I know.” merely replied her son.

Chi-Chi was wide eyed as someone knocked the door.

Vegetto was wearing his 'merging clothes', as well as the potalas. He considered his fighting – and birth – outfit to be the most elegant he possessed. And even if Bulma had tried to tell him otherwise, he knew that Chi-Chi agreed with him regarding the importance of the kimono.

Chi-Chi threw herself into his arms and cuddled against him for a long while.

“But why did you come to see an old woman? An ugly and wrinkled old woman.” she asked, her eyes closed from which a small tear was flowing.

She let go of him and Vegetto, who had kept a hand behind his back, showed his surprise. It was a chocolate box but it didn't come from Earth.

“If you are ugly, then you can stretch the rules, can't you? Happy birthday!”

“Oooooh! What is it?”

“I can't pronounce the name, but it's really tasty!”

Actually, Vegetto had already swallowed the entire content of a box in a few seconds. The inhabitants of the planet Gylion he had freed from space mutant lizards' yoke, were pleased to give him another box.

The couple went in the living-room and Vegetto greeted the other members of the family.

“Hey, I didn't get any gift!” complained Goten, who was jealous of his mother and her extra-terrestrial chocolates.

“It's not your birthday.” explained his father as he crouched down. He looked around, as if to make sure none was looking, and winked at his son. He took a small multicoloured top from his belt. It was obvious it came from some strange planet.

“Awesome!” yelled the kid who had no sense of secrecy.

And the evening went wonderfully well. Vegetto almost burst out laughing for no reason when he was eating when one of Trunks' schoolfriend nervously recited her text with so many mistakes that the other actors couldn't help laughing. Of course, she mumbled even more.

Aside from that, it was a total success.

Vegetto still had to eat several senzu beans before going to bed for he was totally exhausted.

He was going to use that technique for such events, but on Earth only. If it was hard to use with bodies 3,000 miles apart, let's not speak about interplanetary distances, thousand of million times wider than that.