Chapter 2204: Willful Obliviousness
After giving Broly and Ba enough food to keep them occupied for a few minutes, Vahn entered the cave that served as Paragus's home. It was technically Broly's home as well, but, due to the insectoid creatures that would generally hunt in the night, the young Saiyan often slept outside, guarding the premises while Paragus slept...
Standing at 181cm tall and possessing a muscular figure that belied his advanced age, Paragus was currently in the process of trying to repair the distress beacon he had ripped from his crashed ship. Unfortunately, he had very little technical experience, so, while he was able to fashion Broly's collar and jury-rig a water purification system, he lacked the skills necessary to fully repair the beacon.
Fortunately, Paragus was nothing if not persistent. He may lack the technical skills to repair the beacon but that wasn't going to stop him from trying. He had even managed to get it to transmit a signal strong enough to penetrate the atmosphere a few months prior, so, even if he had to fashion a circuit board from animal parts, he was determined to get off Planet Vampa and get his revenge...
Seeing the mixture of black, purple, green, and red comprising Paragus's aura, Vahn exhaled a sigh that caused the ever-alert Saiyan's body to tense along with the surrounding atmosphere. Then, in spite of the fact he had been awaiting rescue for nearly two decades, Paragus immediately reached for his Ray Gun before dodging to the side and unleashing a projectile strong enough to penetrate the hull of a spaceship.
Grabbing the projectile with his bare hand, Vahn crushed it into particles of light as he muttered a moderately incredulous, "Seriously...?"
Though his eyes widened when he saw Vahn shatter a beam of energy like a glass rod, Paragus kept his ray gun trained on Vahn's head as he asked, "Who are you..?" before immediately following it by asking, "Did King Vegeta send you..?" in a grim tone.
Seeing Paragus's aura turn a sickly shade of red and black, Vahn decided against giving the man an explanation. He was originally going to discuss Broly's adoption and see what he had to say on the matter before dealing with him. Now, realizing such an explanation would be completely wasted on the single-minded avenger, he reappeared in front of the middle-aged Saiyan before Paragus could even process he had moved.
As he still had a policy against tweaking a person's memories directly, Vahn greeted the surprised Paragus with a strike to both sides of the head, stating, "Boushinha Shougeki...!" in a solemn tone that reverberated off the cave walls. (A/N: Boushinha Shougeki = Amnesia Fist)
With his brain and eyes vibrating in accordance with a specific frequency, Paragus's consciousness faded the moment Vahn's blow landed. All the neural circuitry in his mind 'fired' at nearly the exact same time, and, though no permanent damage was done, the shock had effectively short-circuited his hippocampus. He would quickly recover basic skills such as the ability to speak, read, and write, but, with Vahn's attack also fracturing his Ego, everything that defined who Paragus was as a person had been erased.
Though there was a chance that Broly might resent him in the future, Vahn didn't think the young Saiyan had it in him to resent anyone, much less the person who had saved him and his friend. So long as his father was alive and well, he would remain content. After all, even after sixteen years, he had never actually gotten to know the man...
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After explaining the situation to a surprisingly understanding Broly, Vahn sealed the majority of Paragus's power before dropping him off at a luxurious retirement home that specialized in caring for people with dementia and other forms of memory loss. He would eventually recover, and, due to a bit of tweaking on Vahn's part, there was a fair chance he would even find love. Either way, he would have very little to do with Broly in the future, as, unless the young Saiyan approached him of his own volition, Paragus would never even know he existed.
With that taken care of, Vahn pulled a bit of a prank on the Flying Nimbus by imitating Goku's voice and aura before calling out to it. He had never seen a cloud look so confused before, but, instead of brooding or zipping off like a tsundere, it permitted him to run his hands through its billowy surface before allowing Broly to attempt riding on its back.
Unsurprisingly, Broly had absolutely no problem sitting atop the Flying Nimbus. This gave the cloud mixed feelings, but, with Goku currently receiving his first lessons from Master Roshi, it wasn't like it had anything better to do. Thus, when Vahn asked if it wanted to give Broly a tour and race back to West City, it readily agreed. As for Broly and Bay, they just enjoyed the view and the feeling of wind through their hair and fur...
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Though she had initially waited for Vahn's return in the kitchen, Cheelai eventually got bored after more than an hour of just sitting around. Unfortunately, there wasn't really anything else for her to do, so, after briefly considering her options, she decided to get back at Vahn for his indifference to her sex appeal. More specifically, she decided to perform her daily ritual by sauntering over to what she assumed to be the master bedroom.
With nothing but her own thoughts to keep her company for the better part of three, nearly four days, Cheelai's mind had wandered all over the place. She had also assumed that she was going to be forced to perform all kinds of sex acts, so, despite being given her own room, she had spent the previous two nights sleeping in the master bedroom. It had basically become her private sanctuary, so, after confirming that the bed actually cleaned and maintained itself, Cheelai had been having a bit of 'fun' at the mattress's expense.
Intent on doing the same thing today, Cheelai was more than a little surprised when she reached the door preceding the master bedroom and found it locked. This caused a pout to form on her face, but, rather than fret over it, she just shrugged her shoulders before mumbling, "Well, there goes that plan..." before heading towards the bath as her next destination.
In hindsight, Cheelai realized it probably wouldn't have been the best idea to play with herself when she was currently waiting for Vahn to return with a young boy in tow. She didn't think he would just teleport directly to her, but, not knowing how his teleportation worked, it was probably safer to err on the side of caution...?
Recalling that she could now become invisible, a mischievous smile developed across Cheelai's face as she immediately threw caution to the wind. If people couldn't see her, it didn't matter where she got off. In fact, it might even be exciting to get 'caught' only for the person who discovered her to find an empty room...
As this, and many other thoughts were having a field day within Cheelai's mind, the green-skinned woman was obvious to the fact that Sarina had emerged from the master bedroom shortly after her departure.
Seeing Cheelai's 'mature' appearance, Sarina was honestly surprised. She had always assumed that Broly was much older than the green-skinned woman. Instead, Cheelai appeared to be in her mid to late twenties while Broly, as far as she knew, was around the same size as Goku.
In reality, Cheelai was a fair bit younger than Sarina and Vahn believed. It was just that her species, similar to Saiyans, spent the first few years of their lives in gestation tanks before being moved to incubators. By the time they emerged, typically around the age of three, their bodies had matured to resemble 8-10-year-olds. They would then be given a crash-course education before being sent off to the frontlines or selected for a special education program intended to rear gifted children for positions aboard spaceships.
Chronologically, Cheelai was just under fourteen years old. Her people just had drastically different standards than the people of Earth. As for how she ended up in the orphanage, that was a very long story. One she would rather not recollect, much less discuss with others...
Unaware that she was being followed, Cheelai poked her head into a few rooms before reaching a rather sizeable Library. Most of the books within were written in languages she couldn't even begin to understand. She also wasn't particularly fond of reading, so, unless she literally had nothing else to do, she wouldn't waste her time reading someone else's story. She had her own life to live, and, more importantly, an itch that needed scratching...
Seeing the ornate and expensive-looking wooden desk on the opposite end of the Library, a smile developed across Cheelai's face as she wet her lips with her tongue. Shortly thereafter, at least from the perspective of Sarina, she completely disappeared from view.
"What the heck...?"
As Vahn had failed to make her aware of the fact he had gifted Cheelai with the means to become invisible, Sarina was profoundly confused by the green-skinned woman's sudden appearance. The simplest explanation was that Vahn had simply teleported Cheelai over to him. Sarina just couldn't imagine him doing such a thing if he knew she was nearby.
Peeking into the Library, Sarina was confused yet unsurprised to find it completely empty. Just as she turned to leave, however, she heard the sound of something dropping behind her. The hairs on the back of her neck immediately stood on end, so, without hesitation, she pulled the Scouter Vahn had gifted her from her personalized storage ring...
Stepping into the Library this time, Sarina's eyes should have darted to the thickly bound book in the middle of the floor. At least, that was the intention of the woman who had thrown it. Cheelai had noticed Sarina's appearance shortly after the latter poked her head in, so, unable to resist the temptation, she made a bit of noise to both spook and draw the woman's attention.
Unfortunately for Cheelai, the inordinately advanced Scouter, capable of grasping even Vahn's base power, possessed a number of different filters. This included a function that allowed the user to see things like body heat, radiation, and numerous frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum. While none of these directly revealed Cheelai's features, they provided more than enough information to ascertain her location and the position she was in...
Seeing a roughly Cheelai-shaped heat signature sitting atop the desk with her legs spread, Sarina's expression morphed into a deadpan. At the exact same moment, Cheelai's body became as rigid as a statue, her eyes briefly darting to the ring finger of her left hand before subsequently focusing on the Scouter on Sarina's head.
Having used Scouters quite a number of times in the past, Cheelai convinced herself that Sarina was only able to detect her approximate location and power level. This tempted her to continue, but, as there was a fair chance that Sarina was someone important to her employer, she promptly shut her legs before sitting upright and asking, "Can I help you...?" in a cool tone that contradicted the rapid beating of her heart.
Unsure of how to respond, Sarina's brows creased for a moment before she asked, "What are you doing here?"
Thinking that Sarina hadn't been informed of her presence or who she was, Cheelai began to calm down, her confidence gradually restoring as she answered, "My name is Cheelai. Vahn hired me to take care of some Saiyan brat named Broly. He also gave me free reign to make use of the manor's facilities, so, unless you have something important to discuss, I believe you have your own duties to attend..."
Opening her mouth, Sarina wanted to say something to explain who she was, but, believing Cheelai was currently naked, she decided against it. Instead, she elected to pretend she hadn't just intruded on the green-skinned woman's obvious attempts to masterbate in public...
Not sure what else to say, Sarina's expression formed into an awkward smile as she said, "Uh...have fun...?" before promptly departing the Library. This caused the receding blush on Cheelai's face to spread through her ears, but, much like Sarina, she quickly convinced herself that the latter didn't actually know what she had been doing...
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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Pencak or Pancake?','Tsundere cloud...','Nothing to see here. Move along...')