Trunks stood, hands on his hips and a rose tucked between his fingers. He wore a white shirt with a large red "R" emblazoned on the front. Black, arm length gloves and knee length boots shone  under the afternoon sun. He smirked, his lavender hair brushing across his face as he looked out from the rocky ledge on which he was standing.

    Goten stood beside him, dressed in the same manner. They stood side by side upon the rock, apparently proud of their new attire. Goten took a step forward and, with his forefinger, pointed up above.
 

    "To protect the world from devastation!" he cried.

    "To ignite all peoples within our nation!" Trunks resounded after him.

    "To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

    "To extend our reach to the stars above!"

    "Jesse - I mean - James - I mean -Trunks- I mean... NO! Goten!!" Goten grinned inocently, correcting himself as he did.

    Trunks looked at him oddly. "Umm... Okayy. Trunks!"

    Goten dropped down onto his knee. "Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

    Trunks lifted the rose and held it before him. "Surrender now or prepare to --  OW!!"

    "Trunks! What the hell are you doing?" Vegeta growled angrily as he lifted himself above the rock.

    "Otousan..." Trunks looked at him sheepishly. "We were doing the Team Rocket motto!"

    "Team Rocket motto?" His father repeated. "What's Team Rocket? And where did you get those clothes? They look awful! I will not have my son dressed like that!"

    "We used some red paint on some shirts we found on a clothes line at Son-kun's house." Trunks replied. "The gloves and boots are from Okaasan's radiation lab."

    "The funny green glowing stuff we found on them tasted like peanuts!" Goten said happily.

    Vegeta looked at the two oddly. "Um... Okay..."

    "So surrender now or prepare to fight!"Trunks said abruptly.

    "Nani? What was that for?" Vegeta asked.

    "You didn't let me finish the first time, Papa. The motto isn't complete unless we say the whole thing! See, now we have to start all over again! Hit it, Goten!"

    "To protect the WORLD from DEVASTATION!"

    "To IGNITE all PEOPLES within our nation!"

    "Umm... Trunks?" Goten asked quietly.

    "What?"

    "Are you sure it's supposed to be 'ignite'? I thought it was unite."

    "uhh... I'm not sure..."

    "ENOUGH!" Vegeta shouted. "You two sound like the fool Great Saiya Man! I will not have you spouting utter nonsense and posing like damned idiots! "

    "Great Saiya Man!" Goten exclaimed. "I love the Great Saiya Man! He's my hero! Now, if only I knew who he really was..." he trailed off.

    "Um, Goten? The Great Saiya Man is your brother, Gohan, remember?" Trunks answered awkwardly.

    "Really? Oniichan is really the Great Saiya Man? Wow!"

    "Goten, you already knew that. "

    "Shh! We can't let him know.... Someone might hear you."

    Trunks rolled his eyes.

    Vegeta stared at them for a moment. He shook his head. "You wanna fight? Fine! Prepare for trouble!" He snarled.

    "And make it DOUBLE!" Trunks recited.

    "To protect the world from devastation!"

    "To ignite all peoples within our nation!"

    "Shut up!! I'll ignite YOU!" Vegeta raised his hand and a small fire ball erupted within his palm. It burned brightly as he took aim for Goten and his son.

    "EEEEEEPP!!"

    The two children squealed in surprise as they tried to run away. In their confusion, they only succeeded in running round in circles. The fire ball came at them, setting their clothes ablaze.

    "AAAAGGG! Oh no! Goten! The uniforms!!"

    Trunks jumped into a nearby pond while Goten continued to run around in circles. The grass around Goten began to catch fire, creating long roads of cackling grass.

    "AHHHHH!! My hair! My hair! My hair is on fire!!" Poor Goten squeaked.

    Vegeta stood, his face impassive as he surveyed his handwork..

    "By Kami! Goten!" Chi-chi stormed in, a worried expression on her face as she tried to catch her flaming child. "Vegeta! What have you done to my youngest son??!!"

    Vegeta turned to look at her and she waved a wet mop at his face.

    "You dirty, despicable monster!" she screamed. "Look what you did to my poor son! He's on fire! HE's ON FIRE!!!"

    "Che," Vegeta snuffed. "That rotten brat of yours was asking for it. He's a bad influnece on MY kid." He growled at her.

    "Hmph!" Chi-chi huffed. "Don't talk to ME like that! I'm taller than you, you know!" She poked him in the ribs. "I look down to you. You look up to me!"

    Vegeta frowned. "You can't talk to me like that! I'm Vegeta! The Great, Almighty, Strongest in the Universe, All Powerful, Prince Vegeta!!!" He folded his arms across his broad chest, trying to reach his maximum height. Unfortunately, he only made it a little past Chi-chi's nose. (Not counting his hair)

    Goten continued to run around the two. Amazingly, he didn't seem to be in any pain and his clothes did not incinerate. Dazzled by the dancing flames around him, Goten lifted his hands and cried out happily.

    "Lookit me! I can do the Kaio-Ken technique! Wheee!! Aren't I special??"

    "I don't care if you're the Prince of All Monkeys!!" Chi-chi cried. "How dare you do this to MY SON!!" Chi-chi lifted her mop and smashed it over Vegeta's head. The pole splintered into pieces.

    "You broke my mop! You brute! You broke my mop!!" Chi-chi exclaimed.

    "That's not all I'll be breaking," Annoyed, Vegeta reached for her.

    Chi-chi stepped back, shaking the shattered ends of what once was a cleaning utensile. "That was a brand new mop! You just wasted 2000 yen!!"

    She began to pound on him with her fists. Annoyed, Vegeta picked her up with one hand, letting her dangle a few feet from the ground.

    "Aggg!!! Put me down! I'll complain to Bulma! Put me down!!"

    "Hmph! Baka, you're not my wife! I don't have to listen to you!"

    "Hey! I'm taller than you! You can't do this to me!! I'll sic Goku on you, I swear! Gohan will cook you in a rice cooker!! Put me DOWN!!" Chi-chi, mad with rage, picked up Goten as he ran by and, in a blazing arc, swung him bodily into the side of Vegeta's face.
 
    Vegeta gave a loud yelp as his sleeve and part of his hair caught on fire. He dropped Chi-chi and tried to make his way into the pond. Unfortunately, he got tangled up with Goten as Chi-chi began to pound on his head with a frying pan taken, seemingly, from nowhere. Somehow, she also managed to knock Goten into the pond. He landed with a loud sizzled, complaining loudly about how he lost his new-found ability to glow red all over his body.

    Trunks continued his conversation with the ducks. He turned to look at his father. "Papa! Stop, drop and roll! Stop, drop and roll!!!"

    Vegeta glared at him. "Nani? What's that supposed to mean??"

    "What in the world is going on here?" Bulma stepped forward. "Oh my god! Vegeta! You're on fire!! Chi-chi! What have you done to my husband!!?? Shimatta! My garden's on fire too! Could this day get any worse? Ugg, this is almost as bad as the time when Goku tried to blast a mouse using his Kaio-Ken technique and a Kamehameha! He utterly failed and ruined my garden! It took me months to fill up all the holes he blasted out! Hmph! And all he wanted to do was make a better mouse trap! Now my garden's on fire!! Look at this! So much grass has been burnt out! Who's responsible for this? Answer me before I take out a club!"

    Chi-chi pointed at Vegeta as the Saiyan prince tried to bury himself in the ground in an attempt to smother the flames. Trunks ran over and dropped some water onto him using Chi-chi's heavily dented frying pan.

    Chi-chi told her what had happened, from her own point of view.

    "Vegeta!" Bulma put her hands on her hips. "What have I told you about setting plants on fire? As well as Goten and Trunks!"

    "And he broke my mop and dented my frying pan!" Chi-chi added.

    "Shut up, woman!" Vegeta lay on the ground, examining his burns.

    Several hours later....

    Goku patted Goten on the head. The child giggled, looking up at him despite the many bandages wrapped around him and the stinging pain he received from the blisters on his arms.

    "Otousan!" Goten grinned. "I did the Kaio-ken technique!"

    "Sure you did, Goten." Goku smiled at him. "Heehee, you look like a teddy bear mummy all wrapped up like that!"

    "Well, next time," Chi-chi said, indignantly. "when someone throws a fireball at you, you run for water, understand, Goten? Either that or you come get me."

    "Hai, Okaasan!" Goten nodded. "I will, next time!"

    "Hmph!" Chi-chi turned her back to them. "There had better not be a next time. "

    Meanwhile, in Vegeta and Bulma's room...

    "Oh, my poor Veggie-chan!!!" Bulma doted over him, carefully wrapping the bandages over his arm.

    "....."

    "Oh does him hurts here? Does him hurts here? Does widdle Veggie-chan hurt here?" Bulma asked as she repeatedly poked his wounds.

    "Yes it hurts there, you ditz! Stop poking me there!"

    She grinned, ignoring his protests.

    Vegeta grimaced. "Damn it, woman! Leave me alone!"

    Bulma stuck her lower lip at him. "Awww... my little Vegetable-head is feeling cranky! Heehee, yes hims is!" She gleefully pinched his cheeks.

    "Ugg! Why do you delight in tormenting me so?" He winced as Bulma poked in him sharply in the side of his face.

    "Because, every time you feel the urge to blow something up,"

    "Kakarrotto was the one who blew the holes in your garden!" Vegeta interrupted.

    "OR decide to set things or PEOPLE, like your own son, on fire... you always pick MY garden as the battle field! I'm here to pay you back."

    Vegeta grunted, shifting his weight on the sofa.

    "Well, at least now you'll be confined to the house, without the freedom of doing anything rash, what with all those burns and all." Bulma smiled smugly. "With you and Trunks grounded for over a month, that means I can finally get some peace and relaxation. No more running around with worry, wondering about what you two will have destroyed by the end of the day."

    She frowned, looking about the room. "Where IS Trunks, anyway?"

    Vegeta smiled. "With Goten, out in the garden."

    "What are they doing out there?" Bulma asked suspiciously.

    "Licking rocks." He took a sip from from a glass of water.

    "What???" Bulma stormed towards the door. "That sneaky little runt! Licking rocks??? What has become of my little Capsule Corp. heir??? Trunks! You're supposed to be smart little boy!! Oh, where did I go wrong?"

    She turned to her husband. "This is all your fault, you know!"

    Vegeta grinned, settling down into the chair. "It's Kakarrotto and his wailing brats doing. Not mine."

    "What happened to my peace and quiet??!!" He heard Bulma wail as she made her way into the garden.

    Vegeta stretched, comfortable in the soft leather of the sofa. At least HE might be able to get some rest. No sparring for a while though, but Bulma waiting on him hand and foot.

    He sighed. It's been a while since he's had any relaxing time. At least this will give him a little time to doze off.... Like Bulma said, this will be a month of peace and relaxation.

    Outside, he heard Bulma's shrill voice as she scolded the two boys in the yard. He could hear them protest, Bulma breaking them off as she ordered them inside.

    Then again, maybe not....

 
                                                   The End

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