"The Bounty Hunter"
By: Beloved/Shadow
Trunks sighed as he ran his finger along the inside of the slave's collar. It had been two weeks since he woke up and found out he was home but no one knew how to get the collar off. His mom has tried cutting it off but nothing could even dent it so when she tried to burn it off it left a very bad burnt along his neck and face. Luckily for him no scars remained. Goku had tried to break it but every time pressure was applied the same voltage surged through every nerve ending in his body. They waited a day but it was the same result over and over they finally stopped.
'I wish it was winter so I can at least wear a turtleneck,' he grumbled to himself. He knew he was getting stares but so far no one had the nerve to come up and ask about his new accessory. Well, one girl had asked but he made up some story.
It was a nice and bright day in West City most of the people were dressed in their summer clothes but Trunks still wore a jacket with the collar upturned. He was regretting it but the last thing he wanted was to draw attention to the damn collar. Once more he ran his finger along the inside and felt it buzz in warning. 'Damn this thing. All because I need one damn key.'
He wandered around the city, hands shoved deep in his pockets his eyes focused on the ground before him. His life went more or less normal as could be but it just wasn't the same. He hadn't heard word from Coldfire and his father said nothing. Not to mention his best friend Goten kept teasing him about the damn item around his neck they were now on non-speaking terms. He looked up when he found himself at the boardwalk and leaned against the railing, facing the ocean.
The breeze felt cool and crisp, the smell of salty sea calmed his tattered nerves and let him relax. For a moment all his worries seemed to be miles away. Nothing mattered right now and he felt free. He wasn't getting weighted down with fighting and work. He didn't have to hear his parents argue or his little sister begging him to play with her. He didn't have his friends talking behind his back about his new fashion statement. He didn't have to worry about getting electrocuted every time he took a shower. He just felt… free.
His icy blue eyes closed, letting the cool breeze drift over his body. He even tilted his head back, breathing in the salty air. For a moment, he thought he felt hands gently massaging his shoulders but when they went around his throat his eyes snapped open and he whirled…
And his jaw dropped.
"I guess you don't like to be touched," Coldfire smirked.
"Is that really you? This isn't some hologram, is it?" He reached out but before he could touch her his pinky finger was bent backwards. "Okay I get the picture!"
"Good." She released him and smirked. "Hmm you look better with the braids."
"Yeah well mom didn't think so. The tattoos were a nice touch though."
"I should show you a new one I got. I like to call it my victory mark."
"You mean you won? You beat the Red Devil?"
"Now I didn't say that." She smirked and walked off. Trunks laughed and chased after her. Like today she wore some faded jeans but wore a black top with sleeves dropping over her shoulders. Her hair was tied in its usual red and blue tails but the violet strands were longer this time. Her combat boots were laced loosely around her ankles but Trunks grinned and followed her back home.
-
"Lady!" Bra screamed as she ran full force only to be caught and lifted into the air. She squealed happily and hugged her tightly. "You're back!"
"Hey I don't break promises so easily," she said and tickled her some before setting her down. "Have you been good?"
"Yes! I've been a very good girl!"
"When she's not trying to get underfoot," Trunks added and picked up his sister.
"What brings you here?" Vegeta asked coolly. "Didn't get paid?"
"Oh I got paid alright. From this moment on the race known as saiyans is officially dead," she said with ease, shoving her hands in her back pockets. "And trust me, the way I wrote it in my report no one is gonna try to collect on that bounty. I now have enough to retire and like in the very heart of luxury."
"So why haven't you?" Bulma asked.
"And live a boring and meaningless life? Yeah right. I'll die of sheer boredom after a week. Besides, there's another reason I came." Reaching into her shirt se pulled out a kind of key with several tiny spokes at the end. "I figured you couldn't get he collar off with this key so I decided to bring it as a welcome home gift. Now sit and I'll tell you what happened after you left."
Trunks sat on the floor as Coldfire sat behind him, fingering the key before slipping it into the key hole. "Before you left I asked Bronze to do me a favor. She made a video after you two escaping but as soon as you hit space your ship blew up. Nothing left except some measly scraps of metal. She played in on every video screen on Asteroid City."
"So you faked our deaths," the former prince said.
"Well d'uh. Fooled everyone including the brothel. I think they wanted to tear me to shreds but not after I made them the richest people on entire asteroid," she smirked and turned the key. It beeped so she began to carefully turn it the other way.
"So who won the fight?" Trunks asked then hissed.
"Watch it. Your life rests in my hands and I can just as easily make sure you never speak above a hushed whisper." Seeing the shocked looks on the family's face she looked at the youngest child and winked quickly. "Well of course I won. You know, maybe I should give up being a bounty hunter 'cuz I'd make one hell of an actress." She stopped and made a dramatic face. "I can see it now, my name in the spot light and the most famed and wanted woman in the known universe!" But she blinked and shook her head. "I wouldn't last a single day as an actress. They won't let me blow up my annoy fans and slimy reporters just for fun."
"You certainly know how to keep someone in suspense," Bulma muttered.
"I know its part of my bitchy personality." The key went in deeper and the beeping became more annoying. Coldfire's eyes twitched and with a swipe of her nails it died off. "Gods that is annoying. I beat the Red Devil hands down and revealed a very good secret. You know he was the biggest guy in the city, right?"
Both men slowly nodded.
"Turns out the guy was the biggest cheater in the entire arena, off and on. "In the beginning he would invite his opponent to a meal before the fight but would put drugs in their food so when the fight came he wouldn't be worried but that got old fast so he tried bribing and black mail to get them to lose but after a while people were sick of this so Seth cooked up an idea. He brought it fighters with the most feared reputations to fight. Devil wasn't pleased so he began to inject himself with some highly unstable steroid. It tripled his muscle mass like every five second but the downside was it wasn't permanent and with the new muscle cells his body needed the nutrients to support it. Devil began to eat more food but it wasn't enough so he began to lose the extra muscle fast. Been doing this for a few years that his body was so dependent on it. He couldn't go a minute without injecting his body with the poison."
"So why hasn't he died from it, like an overdose?"
"It doesn't work that way. When his body began dependent on it his skin became so hyper he could just splash some on his skin and he would get the same effect but that wasn't the worse of it. With his muscles he began to work out 24/7 forgoing sleep and food so the poison began to strip the needed nutrients from his other organs.
"When Seth found out instead of trying to get him to stop he used more than half of his fortunes and all his insides were replaced with cyber robotics. State of the art such but still the guy needed updates every week. But since Seth was running out of money he got Venus to become a partner. Turns out Venus was the main dealer of drugs that stimulated one's body. In other words, she made a combo of selling slaves and drugs for the night and made a fortune." A click was heard and tossing the key to the side grabbing both sides of the collar, pulled it apart. It sparked but it died down and Trunks gratefully ran both his hands over his neck. Nothing but smooth skin.
'Thank Kami for senzu beans,' he sighed to himself.
Coldfire looked at the collar before tossing it to Bulma who nearly fell. "A souvenir. And now my job is done so I'm heading out." She stood and stretch but looking at their faces she sighed. "Fine. I beat him by using my talons and ripped open his gut. Should have seen the look on my face when a mess of screws, bolts, and some oil fell to the ground instead of blood and gore. It ended up tearing him to shreds and reclaimed my title as Battle Queen back. But the best part is Seth is nothing but a penniless peddler and Venus is the most sought out whore in the brothel and she's doing this to pay back all the money she lost. Not to mention Bronze is raking in some serious creds by selling her out to people she's pissed in the past. So everything is going good." Saluting them she headed out but Bra caught her before she walked out the front door.
"Don't go!" she pouted.
The bounty hunter knelt at her level and reaching into her shirt once more pulled out a chained bracelet with a glass orb with a vibrant ice blue flame in the center. "Here you go, kiddo. It's a charm bracelet and this charm is to represent your inner fire. Don't forget it." Ruffling her hair she headed out.
Trunks went after her, wanting to thank her but she was gone. He looked around but he couldn't find her anywhere. She was gone he rubbed his neck once more and smiled lightly. "Thanks… for everything."
-
Coldfire sighed as she materialized on her ship and dropped into the pilot seat. She watched as Trunks went back inside and leaned her head back. This mission was over and she had kept her promise. She was also much wealthier but what to spend it on was the main question on her mind.
'Hmm I heard a planet several light-years from here is selling some new weapons and tracking units. Could be worth checking out.' She typed in the coordinates and settled out for the planet and maybe a new adventure but she wasn't gonna wait for an adventure to land in her lap. Her motto was to take a step forward and accept what was thrown at you no matter what. You couldn't get anywhere in life by turning tail and running. That and it helped to have a big ass bazooka gun handle if you cane across an obstacle.
One thing was for certain, she would never forget the allies she made that day or the lives she had inverntedly touched.
The End
Author's Notes: I'm very glad this story is done. I wasted too much time on it and I wanted to just discontinue it but I couldn't do that. Part of it is for the reviewers out there who liked my stuff but the main part was because I wouldn't forgive myself. This chapter may not live up to the others but honestly I can't think of anything else. I can't write fight scenes nor do I like to. In fact, I still don't like the way I portrayed Coldfire but then again this is my first time writing with her. I made her slightly out of character but I won't be rewriting this fic. If someone wants to go ahead and take the idea go on. Maybe you'll do better than me but Coldfire is my own creation. I wrote this for fun and it was fun for a while but I'm done. Sorry to keep you in suspense. Compliments are more than welcome but flames will be ignored as if they never existed. Good-bye everyone.
Before I go I would like to thank some people for sticking with me. If I just got one review that would have made my day. You guys made writing this story worth wild and thanks for sticking with me for so long. Again I'm sorry for the long wait and I hope you like this chapter as well:
Erica – heh thanks for pushing me to update and I'm glad you liked it.
Winterstears – same think and I hope you like this chapter as well.
Amy – yeah trunks was pretty hot as a merc. Maybe one day I'll draw him in it
Elvewin Darkdragon – thanks for the review and for sticking up for me. And I'm so glad you like it.
Carrie – thanks for your kind comment as well.
Crazed fanatic anime fan – I like your pen name and I glad you like it. Sorry it took so long.
DBZ Fanfiction Queen – sorry about the anon reviews but I hope you have the time to read the rest and review. And thanks for your help earlier. I couldn't have done it without you.
Kitlyn – thanks so much for reviewing.