Tale 2- Horror In A Bottle
"Hmm, is that all?" Asked Dende to Presin.
"What do you mean, 'is that all'?"
"Is that all you want to tell Goku?"
"Do not belittle this! This is very, very serious! Are you not the god of this world?"
"I am, but Goku and his friends' powers far outdo mine. There's nothing to fear. We've overcome creatures of immense power before now. I'm sure that Goku and Vegeta would relish the chance to face a new challenge... But your warning won't go unheeded. I'll have Popo go down and tell everyone, so they've got a chance to train."
Presin winced in disgust at Dende's attitude. "I don't think I'm being clear here. The horsemen are invincible. So long as the planet exists, they will too. They won't stop until the world has been reduced to a lifeless husk! The only solution is to evacuate. Take them to your home-world."
"The Namekians would be glad to help out my people, but... We've done so much to defend this world. I really do not see this being a good enough reason to evacuate. I'm sorry, Miss Presin."
"You don't see, huh?"
"Goku will say the same thing. In fact he'll probably be excited to hear about these 'horsemen'."
"Excited! How about I go and show you just what these fiends are made of, huh?"
With that, the girl leapt off the side of the lookout.
"Surely, these 'horsemen' couldn't be any worse than Boo... Right Popo?"
"One would assume..."
Bra ducked behind a group of older students in the courtyard, as Pan wandered outside.
"Hey B!"
"P-pan! How did you-
"Duh! I felt yer chi!"
Bra crossed her arms, "Ew, you felt my what? You're such a dork, Pan."
"Oh c'mon, you know what chi is!" Silence followed. "Just wanted to say that I'm sorry for trying to make you join the fighting club an' I'm sorry for saying Br-
Baby slapped her hand around Pan's mouth, "Don't say it!"
"S-say what?" Pan tried to say, "It's your name, isn't it?"
"Yes and my parents have a sick sense of humour, clearly! I'll never be popular with a name like that!"
"But it's funny!"
"Exactly! Look... Fine, I'll be your friend again. But you have to promise never to mention my real name."
"Even when we're not at school?"
"Never."
"...Okay! Deal!" and the two bickering girls shook on it.
"...Now ya sure you don't wanna join the dojo? I'd love to spar with you someti-
"I'm SURE!"
Somewhere deep in the middle of the ocean, where no boats or islands could be seen in any direction, Presin was floating in the air.
"I better make this fast, I won't be able to fly for much longer."
Right beneath her was a whirlpool, swirling tirelessly with a ferocious froth at it's centre. Presin was holding a crinkly, empty water bottle she'd liberated from a village as she passed through. She unscrewed the cap, and threw the bottle into the air. "Hah!" She yelled, and it remained still in the air. She stared down at the bubbling eye of the maelstrom and shouted, "Retwa! I know you're down there..." It continued to bubble furiously. "Asking you nicely isn't really an option is it, Retwa?" A spurt of water blasted out of the eye and thrust past Presin, a hair's breadth away from her face. Presin laughed, "What was that supposed to be? Come on, I expected more from one of the horsemen..."
As if the waves themselves were aggravated by Presin's taunting, the whirlpool temporarily stilled and collapsed in on itself. The resulting splash caused a huge pillar of white water to soar through the air. Presin casually drifted away, with the water's spray wetting her all over. An ethereal arm manifested in the water stream and stretched outward. It's form was broken and distorted. Behind it followed a body, vaguely in the 'shape' of a woman. Her mouth emerged and the lips parted, creating an unearthly wail.
"I don't think so." Presin's hands glowed and she swayed them around as though she were dancing in mid-air. The watery demon resisted, but was forced to follow suit. She lost her humanoid shape and became lost in herself, before her entire form was sucked into the old plastic bottle. Presin quickly snatched it and screwed the cap on tight.
"Whew... Time to head back."
"You two friends again?" Asked Marron to Bra and Pan. Bra was neatening Pan's hair, while she jabbed the air with her fists at supersonic speeds.
"Keep still, Pan! No wonder you're always a mess..."
Marron smiled, "I'll take that as a yes." Marron was 15 years old and subsequently the oldest of their group. Pan was 7 and Bra was 8, just within the boundaries to be in the same school year. Despite the age difference, they stuck together like family. Standing with Marron, was 13 year old Oob Namu.
"H-hey, Bra was it? My names Oob, nice to meet you!"
Bra let go of Pan's hair and walked upto Oob with her arm outstretched as if suggesting him to kiss it. "Actually, it's B." She chimed.
"Uhh." Oob grabbed her by the wrist and shook her around.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" She squeeled, and ran up to hide behind Pan.
"O-oh sorry! I... Aren't you Vegeta's daughter?"
Pan laughed, "She likes to pretend she's just a weak little girly, but we all know that's not true."
Marron glared at Pan, "And if that's what B wants people to think we'll respect that won't we?" She turned to Oob, "So I take it you're going to participate in the Ten'kaichi Budokai this weekend?"
Oob nodded, "Yes. I'm really excited. Hopefully I'll be able to fight Goku."
"You mean he's not your partner?"
"Partner? What do you mean?"
"Where did she come from?" Asked Piccolo, in his usual arms folded stance and definitive outfit.
"We're... Not sure... She seems like an alien, but... Something more." Said Dende.
"Even without meeting her, the chi I feel from here is... Distorted."
"Yes, exactly."
Almost as if in response to their conjecture, Presin returned to the palace with the crinkly water bottle in hand. Piccolo turned to face her and tensed. She walked up to the three of them and glanced at him.
"You are?"
"What's it to you?"
"Just curious."
They stared at each other. "My name is Piccolo. What order of being are you?"
"You're straight to the point aren't you Piccolo? I'd love to tell you everything about me but I'm afraid, I would be in even deeper trouble if I did. I'm afraid you'll just have to trust me on blind faith alone."
Piccolo chuckled, "By all means, we welcome you to try."
Presin placed the bottle on the floor.
"The horsemen aren't set to awaken for seven solar cycles yet, approximately. But, I located one of them and captured her inside this bottle. Though she's been forced to assume a premature form, it should be enough of a display of their horrendous power... However, not too much for me to be able to seal her away again."
"I don't feel any chi from that bottle at all."
"I'd advise you to stop relying on your sixth sense for this is kind of entity is not one you've had to deal with. Are you ready?"
Small beads of sweat began to form on Piccolo's forehead. "Dende, please go inside."
Dende nodded, and walked into the palace. He walked upwards to the balcony overlooking them both.
"Fine."
Presin smiled and unscrewed the bottle cap. Water vapour splurged out into the air with a hissing sound. The bottle dropped onto it's side and span around from the repulsion, shooting water outwards all around. Piccolo moved back into a slight stance. The vapours formed together and sculpted themselves into the shape of a female figure.
"She won't get any clearer than this," explained Presin. The clear, watery form resembled a woman with long hair draping down her back which spread apart by her feet, her body draped in a flowing dress.
She wailed loudly, and the water in the air began to form into small pops and explosions all around them. A hiss followed by a crack, then some more, took place. The palace began to crack at various spots.
"Wh-what! No!" Shouted Piccolo, "Stop that! Make her stop!"
Presin folded her arms and smirked. Piccolo growled, "Cease!" He leapt at the watery form and thrusted his a clawed hand at her neck. It passed through like a hand into a stream, then came out the other side. He tore his hand away. He jabbed at her a few more times to make sure, before leaping back to a safe distance, his body dripping. She stared at him with her glass eyes and wailed again, this time in offence. The clouds surrounding them moved in choreographed order and spun around into a ball above them. Piccolo stared in curiosity. The cloud formed into the shape of a spike, then shrunk down into a series of icicles that shot down toward Piccolo. Piccolo leapt out of the way of each icicle, and they stabbed and shattered against the ground.
"Enough!" Commanded Piccolo, firing off a dirty chi blast at her. It surrounded her entire 'body', leaving nothing but steam in it's wake. Presin remained unphased. From the vapours, they sucked toward each other and remade the form of her body in an instant.
"Hmph." Said Piccolo, "I've seen enough."
"You sure?"
The demon crept forward and began to order the clouds around them again.
"Yes, I'm sure!"
"Fine!" Presin grabbed the bottle and declared the incantation. The screaming horsewoman was sucked into the bottle again and sealed away until further notice, "The seal won't last. When she is fully formed in seven days she'll break free, along with the other three."
"Her powers are impressive, but it's no concern. We've dealt with beings like her before. Offensively, she is weak."
Presin scrunched up her face,
"You don't understand... You just don't understand."
Piccolo crossed his arms,
"Fine. I'll heed your warning and we won't take them lightly. Tell us where the other free will awaken, and we'll go from there."