A pale streak of energy shot across the brightening morning sky as Vegeta sped angrily onward, scowling to himself. "How I loathe that it would have to come to this!" he muttered angrily as he approached Goku's house, clutching some papers in his hand. "But it looks as if I have no choice."

Three days had passed with no resolution, and it looked as if he would have to take desperate measures. No matter how painful it would be...

"Huh?" Goku was startled awake by the sound of the doorbell. It was early yet, only eight according to the clock by his bed. "Who would be visiting us at this hour?"

Next to him, Chi-Chi stirred, and he patted her shoulder. "Go back to sleep, honey," he said as he rose, putting on a bathrobe. "I'll go see who it is."

Still stretching and yawning, Goku went to the front door. "Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day," he commented, smiling as he saw the early rays of the sun through the window. "Maybe Gohan and I can play some ball with the guys or - huh?" Vegeta's angry glare greeted him as he opened the door. "Vegeta?"

"Kakkarot..." the Saiyan prince muttered.

Goku scratched his head, puzzled. "Well... nice day, isn't it? What brings you here so early?"

"I'm not paying you a social call, Kakkarot," Vegeta growled. "You can't imagine how much I hate to do this, but it has to be done. I..." He turned his face away a little bit, grimacing. "I've come to ask a favor."

The dire look on Vegeta's face worried Goku. "It looks as if it's something serious... Is there a powerful enemy approaching? What is it?"

"I..." Vegeta's glare grew darker and angrier. "I need to use your phone."

Goku's eyes widened for a moment, then he smiled, relieved. "Oh, is that all? Sure, go right ahead. Whew - you had me worried for a moment."

"Good," Vegeta muttered under his breath, smirking as he brushed past Goku into the house.

Goku watched him, still puzzled. "Hey Vegeta - if you don't mind me asking, why can't you use your own phone?"

"It's been dead for three days!" Vegeta snapped at him. "Much good it does me to know the number for the phone company's customer service hotline when my line isn't working!" Picking up the receiver, he began to dial the number, stabbing at the buttons so hard that Goku worried he might break them.

"Heh, yeah," he said, trying to lighten the mood. "That is kind of silly, isn't it? I mean, how can you call it without a working phone?"

Vegeta glared at him so viciously that he held up a hand in surrender. "Hey, I was just... ah, never mind. I'll be in the kitchen," he said finally. "Let me know if you need anything else, okay."

"Fool."

Goku shrugged, and went to get some breakfast.

"Welcome to Ameritech's customer service hotline. If you have a billing question, press one. If you would like to order new services, or cancel existing services, press two. If you are reporting a technical problem, press three. For all other-"

The operator's voice was cut off by a beep as Vegeta pressed three. Obviously no one would be offended by his not allowing her to finish, as it was all automated, but it still gave him a small measure of pleasure to interrupt that cheerfully helpful voice so rudely.

"All operators are currently busy. Please remain on the line, and your call will be answered in the order in which it was received."

Vegeta cursed under his breath as a soft rock song began to play. "And I can't even afford to put the phone down..."

"The lady in red.... is daaaancing with me.... cheek to cheek..."

Vegeta's scowl grew deeper as the song continued. When it was finished, a voice broke onto the line again. "All operators are still busy assisting other customers. Thank you for your patience. Your call will be answered in the order it was received." With that, a Barry Manilow tune began.

"Other customers?" Vegeta hissed, crushing the papers he held in his right hand. "I am the prince of the Saiyans - no customer could be more important than I am. Stupid, weak, foolish earthlings..."

"Hi, this is Mark with Ameritech customer service. Please tell me your name and phone number," a friendly voice said.

"My phone number is 555-9812," Vegeta replied in a cool tone. "My name is Vegeta."

"First name or last?"

Vegeta paused, staring at the receiver in irritation. "My name is Vegeta. That is all."

"Hmm..." The voice hesitated. "Is that the way it appears on your bill?"

"Yes, it is. Is there a problem with that?"

"I... suppose not. Now just hold on a second while I get your account information..."

Vegeta tapped a foot impatiently. "Here it is," the voice said after a moment. "It says you have $87.53 in overdue charges."

"WHAT?!" Vegeta shouted in disbelief, staring down at the crumpled papers he held. "That's impossible - I have my last phone bill in my hand right this second!"

"Well, you'll have to take that up with one of our billing operators," the man said.

"I certainly will!" Vegeta hissed.

"All right then, hold on, and I'll transfer you to their department."

"What? No! First I-" Vegeta began, but almost before he could get the words out, he heard a click and the phone line went silent. "Great," he muttered. "I suppose this means I get to listen to more Barry Manilow."

To his surprise, no music began to play. All was perfectly silent. An improvement, certainly, but no automated operator had told him to hold.

He held the phone to his ear for another minute before he finally hung up and began to dial again.

"Welcome to Ameritech's customer service hotline. If you have a billing question, press one. If you would like to order new services, or cancel existing services, press two. If you are reporting a technical problem-"

Vegeta pressed three. "I can count perfectly well, thank you."

"All operators are currently busy. Please remain on the line, and your call will be answered in the order in which it was received."

The Barry Manilow song picked up right where it had last left off. Vegeta cursed again, settling himself on the arm of the nearby sofa. "I don't need this."

Swallowing the last of his meal, Goku sighed in satisfaction. "Froot Loops, toast, bacon, and orange juice - could there be a more perfect breakfast for such a perfect day?" he said to himself. "Now that I've eaten, maybe I'll get a little workout in before everyone else wakes up."

Walking back into the living room, he was rather surprised to see Vegeta still sitting on the arm of the sofa, looking rather annoyed. "Hey Vegeta - you're still here?"

"Perceptive, Kakkarot. Very perceptive."

"Sheesh. How long is this going to take?"

"I've been wondering that myself," Vegeta muttered.

Goku noticed Vegeta was gripping the phone so tightly his knuckles were turning white. "Uh, is everything all right?"

"I am prince of the Saiyans, and a powerful warrior!" Vegeta snapped. "They will pay for putting me on hold. How dare they put me - a Saiyan prince - on hold? And force me to listen to this... this Barry Manilow!"

Goku blinked. Vegeta's power level was rising fast. "Well, good luck!" he said brightly as he headed outside. Better to just leave Vegeta alone to calm down when he got like this.

"Hi, you've reached Ameritech customer service! This is Jaime, could I get your name and phone number?"

"My phone number is 555-9812," Vegeta repeated. "My name is Vegeta."

"First name or last?"

"Just Vegeta."

There was a pause. "All right then, hold on a moment while I see about your account." Vegeta waited irritably until the girl spoke again. "Well, Mr. Vegeta, it appears you have $87.53 in payments that are overdue. Would you like to pay that now?"

"I did pay my bill," Vegeta said, trying to remain patient.

"Not according to our records. In fact, if you don't pay your balance within ten days, it appears your services will be discontinued."

"Is that so...?" Vegeta asked sarcastically. "I don't think that's going to happen - SEEING AS MY LINES ALREADY AREN'T WORKING!"

"Oh? That's odd." There was a pause, as Vegeta heard the sound of someone typing on the other end of the line. "Your line should be working just fine. What problem are you having, specifically?"

"When I pick up the receiver, there is no dial tone." Vegeta was feeling a little bit calmer now, seeing as he seemed to be getting somewhere this time.

"Just a moment, and I'll test the line for errors." The sound of typing came over the line again, and finally a long pause before the operator spoke again. "Ah, the problem seems to be that the phone is off the hook."

"No it isn't," Vegeta informed her.

"Our dialup program shows that your line is working properly, it just gets a busy signal. Try placing the receiver more firmly on the base."

"The line is not even plugged into a telephone at the moment," Vegeta growled.

"How long has it been unplugged?"

"On and off over the last three days, which is when this problem began. I have been testing it every few hours."

"Well... I don't know what to tell you. The troubleshooting program says that your line is functioning properly, except that you need to hang up the phone."

Vegeta was beginning to get angry again. "The phone is NOT off the hook, fool woman."

"Hey, it's not my fault," the girl said, sounding slightly offended. "All I know is what the program tells me. And it tells me your phone is off the hook. ...Say, you're not calling on that line, are you?"

"What kind of idiot do you take me for?" Vegeta snapped at her. "To call from that line, I would have to have a dialtone first, wouldn't I?"

"I was just thinking perhaps you'd made a mistake-"

"I am Vegeta, prince of the Saiyans! I do not make mistakes!"

That seemed to disturb the girl, and it was a long time before she said anything. "Would you like a technician to come out to your house and examine your line personally?"

Vegeta relaxed a little. "Yes. That would be good."

"Okay..." The sound of typing was heard again. "The earliest we can get a technician out there is next Friday."

"Next Friday?" Vegeta's mouth fell open.

"And he will be there sometime between eight AM and five PM."

Vegeta took a moment to make certain he'd heard exactly what he thought he'd just heard. "So you're saying I have to wait a week... and then sit at home all day waiting for this technician to show up?"

"Yes, that's right," the girl said simply. "And of course, our usual service charge of $60 will be charged to your next phone bill."

The veins in Vegeta's neck began to stand out. "Sixty dollars?!"

"That would make the amount you owe total... let's see... $147.53."

Vegeta's eyes nearly bulged out of his skull. "One hundred and..."

"Actually, it will probably be more, due to interest. Unless you want to pay your overdue bills right now."

"I have my bill in my hand!" Vegeta ranted. "It says I owed $32.19 last month, and I sent the payment already. I have no overdue bills to pay."

"Hmm... you'll have to talk to our billing department about that. Would you like me to transfer you over there right now?"

Vegeta thought for a moment. He'd already scheduled a technician's visit, despite the ridiculous cost. "Fine. It appears you can do nothing more for me."

"All right then. Hold on just a moment, Mr. Vegeta." There was a click, and then silence. No automated voice, no Barry Manilow. After a minute or so, Vegeta slammed the phone down angrily, and began to dial again.

"Welcome to Ameritech's customer service hotline. If you have a billing question-"

Vegeta pressed one.

"All operators are currently busy. Please remain on the line, and your call will be answered in the order in which it was received."

This time, it was a Celine Dion song which filled the silence. "They will pay for this," Vegeta vowed. "Oh, how they will pay..."

After another ten minutes, and three romantic songs that seemed written specifically to grate on Vegeta's nerves, there was a click. "This is Bill, with Ameritech customer service. Can I have your name and phone number, please?"

"Vegeta. 555-9812."

"Is Vegeta a first name or last name?"

"BOTH."

"Oookay. Well, hold on while I see about your account." There was a long pause, and then the man spoke. "It looks like you have some overdue-"

"Yes, $87.53 - I know!" Vegeta snapped.

"Are you wishing to pay that over the phone, then?"

"No, because I have already paid my phone bills, regularly and on time," Vegeta replied slowly, in a patronizing fashion. "You see, I really do not owe any money at all. There has been some kind of mistake."

"Well then, let's break it down by services you subscribe to. It says that $70 of that is for your pager service. The rest is interest due to the fact you haven't paid for that service in several months."

"Pager service? I have no pager."

"Then would you like to cancel that service?"

Vegeta's eyes narrowed. "I never ordered it in the first place!"

"It appears that you did."

"Listen, you moronic human," Vegeta began angrily. "Why would I order pager service when I do not have a pager?"

"Don't ask me," the man replied. "People do all sorts of strange things. Please, try to calm down and we'll sort this out."

"What's to sort out?" Vegeta demanded. "I have no pager service. I order that you remove it from my account."

"Sorry, but I'm not authorized to do that. Would you like me to transfer you to that department?"

"Do so at once."

"Yes sir." There was a click, and once again, silence. This time, Vegeta hung up right away and redialed.

"Welcome to Ameritech's customer ser-"

Vegeta pressed two.

"All operators are currently busy. Please remain on the line, and your call will be answered in the order in which it was received."

Cursing wildly, Vegeta paced Goku's living room as the voice of Michael Bolton filled his ears.

After a few agonizing minutes, there was a click. "Ameritech customer service hotline, this is Paula. Can I have your name and phone number, so I can-"

"Vegeta, 555-9812, and I already KNOW that I owe $87.53!" he ranted. "I do not want to pay my bill now, and I do not have pager service!"

There was a long pause. "I see. Would you like to order pager service then?"

Goku was doing pushups outside when he heard an explosion somewhere inside the house. "What on earth was that?" he wondered, pushing himself up and running to the door.

Inside he found Vegeta, standing beside his sofa and looking positively enraged. He was glaring down at a small pile of burnt electronics and shards of plastics as black smoke rose from the table where the shards, once his phone, had been placed. "Err... Vegeta..." he began. "I know I said you could use the phone, but I never said... uh..."

"Where's the phone book?" Vegeta asked coldly.

"Huh?"

"The phone book. Where is it?"

"Uh, it's on that shelf over there," Goku answered, pointing. "Now, Vegeta-"

"Shut up, Kakkarot." Vegeta began to thumb through the phone book. "Ameritech... Ameritech..." Finally he stopped at one page, studied it, and then snapped the book shut. "They don't even have an address listed."

"Er... I take it the phone call didn't go so well?" Goku ventured to ask.

"They will pay dearly, as soon as I find their base of operations." As Vegeta passed on his way out the door, he shoved Goku aside. "Out of my way, Kakkarot. I'm going to show those fools what happens when you cross a Saiyan."

Goku watched as Vegeta shot off into the sky, a little nervous. "I wonder if I should try to stop him...?" He paused, considering the possibilities, and finally shrugged. "Nah, I'm sure he'll get everything cleared up."

He returned to his exercises with a sigh. "And plus, I better figure out what to tell Chi-Chi about the phone."

Over the next few days, Vegeta grew more and more frustrated. His search for Ameritech headquarters was not going well at all, and even after enlisting Bulma's help (much to his disgust), each lead turned up nothing more than a vacant lot or an empty warehouse. Rather than giving him time to cool off, the repeated failures only made him more determined to make the insolent telephone company pay for what they'd done.

And so, when Vegeta came home a week and a half later from investigating a deserted office building, the note hanging on his doorknob incited a scream of utter fury that could be heard for nearly a mile.

Sorry we missed you! Please call Ameritech customer service to reschedule your service visit for another day.
- Your friends at Ameritech

"I was gone for ten minutes!!" Vegeta howled in rage. He was about to blast the note into pieces, when something occurred to him. "Ten minutes... there is an Ameritech representative within a ten minute radius!"

Ignoring the only slightly startled stares of the neighbors who had rushed outside to see what the terrible scream had been (over the past few months, they'd grown somewhat accustomed to such things), he flew straight up into the air, glaring down at the surrounding streets. Sure enough, his powerful vision quickly identified one of the moving vehicles below as a white van, bearing the typical ladder and markings as all Ameritech's vans had.