I OWN NOTHING
Finally done with freshman year and my parents had to move so that's been my month so far. I'll be updating this a lot before I go back to school, along with fixing some things in previous chapters. Not big things, stuff like that other anime retcon thing. Yeeeeeeeaaaahhhh umm… Thanks everybody!
"So, what do I do?" Oliver asked, walking into the gym behind Trunks. "Stance, aim, charge, and shoot, right?"
"In the vaguest terms, yes," Trunks said, falling into stance and drawing his hands to his side. "I'm going to fire a small one at the mats on the wall." The blue ball of sparkling death formed between his hands. Oliver mimicked his friend in a more rigid manner and sloppily placed one hand over the other in a similar fashion.
"Like this?" Oliver asked.
"No," Trunks said bluntly. "Watch how I twist on two pivots as I release it." A thin aura formed around the Saiyan. "Kame…" He leaned back, drawing his arms as far back as he could. "Hame…" He spread his hands out to allow the energy ball to grow. He stepped forward and thrust both arms forward, one above the other. A thick, blue beam of energy zipped across the empty gym and hit the wall.
Oliver threw his arms forward. "Kamehameha!" he shouted, seeing and feeling nothing.
"Your chi paths aren't aligned," Trunks said, walking around Oliver and tapping at his legs and torso until Oliver's rigid horse stance was more like a loose pyramid. "A full body attack like this one can cause blockages in the paths when they are constricted."
"Is a chi path like a blood vessel, then?" Oliver said, straightening his back and lifting his chin.
"Yes, but chi is far more delicate," Trunks said, "they don't regulate themselves, they are an independent system with no homeostasis. If you change the length or width of a path, it stays like that until you change it again. Ideally, you will want to widen your paths to the point where aggravation causes an 'aura spike' like this." Trunks spiked his chi.
"How will this help me with the Kamehameha wave?" Oliver asked. "And how do I widen the paths or whatever for this attack?"
Trunks walked over and placed Oliver's arms in the correct orientation. "Remember this stance." Trunks swept Oliver.
"Hey!" Oliver exclaimed, hopping to his feet. "What was that about?"
"Get into that stance again," Trunks said with a chuckle. "The only two people to get the right stance on a fluke were Son Goku and Krillin, and you're neither bald nor a Super Saiyan, so-"
"Yeah, yeah, I need more powa," Oliver said, trying to copy Trunks' stance again.
"No," Trunks said bluntly. "Again."
Oliver tried another stance. "Yeah?"
"No," Trunks said, flicking him in the forehead. "I'll tell you when you're doing it right."
"Is there a 'close enough' range?" Oliver asked.
Trunks laughed. "No."
"Damn it," Oliver said. "You and your chi paths can-"
"Do anything?" Trunks said. "Chin up, back straight, bring your legs in." Trunks demonstrated one more time. "See?"
"Yeah, me and my super vision can see every fine-tuned muscle fiber," Oliver said, rolling his eyes.
"Perfect, then it shouldn't take you long," Trunks said.
"I was being sarcastic!" Oliver shouted.
"I don't care," Trunks said. "If you can win political office, the Kamehameha is only a bit more effort."
Oliver tried over fifty different stances, taking them well into early Friday morning. "Wrong again?" Oliver asked.
"Yup."
"Come on man, FFFFFFFUCK," Oliver said, trying it again. "Now?"
Trunks winced. "So, so close!" He swept Oliver again. "Your feet weren't parallel."
The doors to the gym opened and the three Kryptonians walked in. They were still in their workout gear, and none of them looked close to tired. "Hey guys," Superman said, smiling at the newest League members. "What's going on? We heard the cursing from upstairs so we came to see if you were alright."
"Trunks is failing at teaching me how to do the Kamehameha Wave," Oliver said, falling into stance again. "I don't think-"
"FREEZE!" Trunks exclaimed, making Oliver jump.
"What what what-"
"Man, you had it!" Trunks said, making Oliver grab at his hair and stomp around.
"The Kamehameha?" Superman said. "Oh! That blue energy attack."
Oliver took a deep breath and slowly assumed his form. "Yeah?"
"Yes!" Trunks said.
"Alright, I think I got this," Oliver said with a confident smirk, drawing his hands to his side. "Kame…"
Trunks and the Kryptonians watched the human. A very tiny blue ball of energy formed between his hands, roughly the size of a marble. "Wow, he's really doing it," Kara said.
"Hame…" Oliver continued, spreading his hands apart. The ball shrunk to the size of a pea.
"Stand back," Superman warned jokingly.
"Ha!" Oliver exclaimed, throwing his arms forward and firing a beam of blue energy that could barely be seen.
Power Girl covered her mouth. "That was weak!"
"I'd love to see you guys do it!" Oliver exclaimed.
"If you say so," Superman put his water bottle down. He assumed a perfect stance, mimicking Oliver's, and drew his hands to his side. "What is it? Kamehameha?" He threw his arms forward, firing a wave with the width of a golf ball at the wall.
"Whoa!" Trunks exclaimed, fazing out and catching the wave. "Amazing! The only other fighter to ever do it on their first try was Goku! And Krillin! And Gohan! And Tien that one time! And Piccolo! And Cell, but that wasn't technically a fluke! Alright, maybe a number of people have done it, but that's infuriating!"
Two more waves roughly the same width came flying at the Saiyan. Trunks deflected them and they hit the ground. Trunks' jaw dropped as the two blonde aliens copied their senior and fired the special attack. "What the hell was that?!" Oliver shouted in disbelief, his face red.
"Hypersensitive vision and hearing," Superman said with a smirk. "If assuming a stance and saying the word was all that was needed, then I guess it's fair to say we did it?" He held out his fists to the side and his cousins fist-bumped him.
"Maybe you should make your techniques harder to master?" Power Girl suggested, falling into a horse stance and drawing two fingers to her forehead. "No wonder you prefer firing those over a fair fist fight, but to be honest, having to use your whole body for a far-ranged attack seems a bit more taxing than eyebeams."
"What did you think of that, Trunks?" Kara asked with her hands on her hips, staring at the shocked Saiyan.
"It's not fair!" Oliver shouted. "Look at me, I'm Suuuuuuperman! I can do anything because I'm Suuuuuuuperman and Suuuuuuuupergirl and Power Girl the Kryptonian that can do anything because I'm an alien and Oliver's a puny human with a bow and arrow!" Oliver shouted, folding his arms.
"For once, I have to agree with Oliver," Trunks laughed, "it was good for your first try, I can't imagine what you three would be like with your chi paths fully released."
"Probably no difference," Karen said walking over to Trunks and flexing. "We're always at our peak, even when we're not trying to beat you."
"I wouldn't say that," Superman said, "could you imagine the look on Lex Luthor's face if we busted out a super Kryptonian death ray?"
"Well," Trunks said, "he would look like a puddle, Superman."
The Kryptonians laughed and Superman picked up his water bottle. "Fair enough," Superman said. "And call me Clark."
"We might as well go too," Oliver said glumly. "Trunks, before you leave, make me stronger than them."
"Ha!" Karen exclaimed. "You're funny."
"You never know," Clark said, "Lois can slap me pretty hard."
"Feeling whipped lately, cousin?" Kara asked, making the other blonde Kryptonian burst out laughing. "Lois is his girlfriend, Trunks, FYI."
"Anybody who scares Superman should not be one taken lightly," Trunks said jokingly, "especially if he's crazy enough to fall in love with her."
"Amen to that," Clark said, rubbing the back of his head as he went down the stairs. "See you guys later; I'm excited to start searching for the Dragonballs. It's been awhile since the terrific trio went on a long term quest."
"And I can't wait to see what you can do in the field," Trunks said, "your power is unlike anything I've ever felt."
"Don't flatter him too much," Karen cut in. "It'll all go to his head."
"I heard that," Clark said, his voice echoing up the stairs.
"With your super sensitive hearing, I bet!" Kara said in a mocking Clark imitation. There was silence for a minute, and Kara's face turned sour. "I heard that," she said, zipping down the stairs. "Wanna say that to my face?" she said, hearing Clark's laugh down several flights. Oliver followed her, not as fast, of course.
"I think I'll hit the sack," Oliver said, "I'm feeling very tired all of the sudd-" Oliver's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed. Trunks caught him and proceeded to carry him down the stairs with Karen behind her.
"What's wrong with him?" Karen asked.
"Expelling that much energy with no proper training will make one faint," Trunks said, "to be honest, I'm surprised he lasted this long after firing that. I'll put him to bed now, I guess. See you-"
"Wait," Karen said, gritting her teeth. "We need to talk."
"What's going on?" Trunks asked, turning to face her. He held Oliver in his arms, just so the drool would go onto the floor, not his back.
"About our fight," Karen said, refusing to look at Trunks in the eyes. She folded her arms. "Martian Manhunter told me what your teacher meant to you, what kind of person he was- I shouldn't have said that about him, or you."
Trunks looked down at the ground and back up at her. "I shouldn't have fought you because of what you didn't know. How would you have known? I apologize and I should never have lost control. It's dishonorable as a warrior and a person."
"I apologize too," Karen said, feeling a pit open up in her stomach to suck down her pride, "for being mean to you when I was mad over my record."
"It meant a lot to you, and you deserved it," Trunks said, keeping a stern expression. "Are we cool now?"
Karen stared into Trunks' eyes, two icy glares clashing. "No," she said. "You still showed me up, and I have to get you back for that."
"How will you go about doing that?" Trunks asked.
"By beating Darkseid instead of you so people will finally start taking me seriously," she said. "I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not."
Trunks and Karen stared at each other in silence, the tension between them so thick it could be cut with a butterknife. "Fair enough," the Saiyan said.
"Good night," Karen said, moving past him down the stairs.
"Nah whatzit," Oliver said, making the Saiyan jump. He looked down at his now snoring friend.
"Let's put you to bed, Oliver," Trunks said.
\The lightning-fast rapping on his door woke him from a deep but disturbed sleep at exactly six fifty eight in the morning. "I'm up, I'm up, one second, please," Trunks said, climbing out of bed.
"We don't have one second, Trunks," Flash said quickly from outside the door. "There's a multi-metahuman murder case and I've been called in by my boss to analyze the murder scene of an Ohio state senator and her family; judging by the pictures of the scene I got this morning from the chief, it's one of my best baddies and his friends on a romp that needs to be stopped or, well, that's my job and innocent people die. I gotta check in for work to make it look like I'm a concerned forensic scientist and not gone playing hero, and you'll be an intern from Central City Community College helping me on this assignment. I made you a fake- open the door!"
Trunks hopped into his black jeans, yellow and gray boots, and a black long sleeved shirt and Capsule Corp dark lavender jacket. He opened the door, seeing a tall, lean man with short, neat blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a red sweater with blue jeans and sneakers. He had a backpack over his shoulder. He looked more mature than he let on in his public persona.
"Barry Allen, CCPD," the Flash said, showing Trunks a police badge. "Throw your costume in a bag and let's get out of here. We'll be late at this rate."
Trunks zipped around his apartment, throwing every piece of equipment he had in his WayneTech duffel bag. He stepped out with his Scouter on his face and his hair tied in a bun. "Do I look presentable?"
"Not yet," Barry said, pulling out a fake ID badge and sticking it over Trunks' heart. "Without that, you'll be arrested on site for bringing that much metal into the police station." He cupped the back of Trunks' head and when the Saiyan blinked, they were in the surveillance room. Clark, Diana, Kimiyo, and a few other League members in civilian clothing hustled about the room, either coming in from work or heading to it.
"Hey!" Trunks exclaimed, stumbling forward. "You have to tell me if you're going to do that first!"
"No time for your whining," Barry said.
"And the ID doesn't even look like me," Trunks said, looking at the scrawny, pimply young man with stringy hair dyed purple. "Takahara Joji?"
"How many Japanese guys do you know with purple hair?" Barry said.
"Quite a number, actually," Kimiyo said, half-laughing from the surveillance desk in her long white lab coat. "Good morning Barry, Trunks."
"Hey Kimiyo," Barry said, "could you beam us down to Central City?"
"Late again?" Kimiyo asked.
"I still have 57 seconds!" Barry exclaimed.
"Wait, you start at seven?" Trunks asked.
"Not important!" Barry said, hopping onto the platform and pressing a red button. He ran next to Trunks as the white halo surrounded him. "Bye!"
The familiar jolt went down the heroes' spines and they found themselves in the center of a huge waterfront city. It wasn't as grand as New York, Chicago, nor any of the huge metropolitan areas he had visited, but it still looked striking. The buildings were a bit older than those in the other cities, but they stood strong under the overbearing clouds. "Watch it!" a man in a brown suit exclaimed, bumping into Trunks on the busy early morning sidewalk.
"Forty five seconds, forty four," Barry said, pointing down the block. "Nineteen miles from here there is a glass building with CCPD in gray above a revolving door. How fast can you run? Well, another question: can you run fast enough to make it there within thirty seconds? Forget it, stop talking, start running!"
Barry and Trunks fazed out, running so fast everything around them stood still. Trunks looked over at Barry. The Flash had a strained expression on his face and pumping his legs hard. "We're going to make it," Trunks said with a look of concern. "It's not a race!"
The strain in Barry's face vanished into a sarcastic grin. He turned to the Saiyan. "It might not be a race, but I'm still gonna win."
Trunks watched in awe as a flash of red quickly fled his vision. Fifteen minute-long seconds later, Trunks reached the building and stopped cold. The following gust of wind blew the revolving door into a quick spin. Barry stood on the other side of the door, frantically tapping on his wrist. Next to him was a tall and lanky light skinned man with short white hair wearing a blue button down shirt with a red tie. He glared at the "intern" and Trunks walked inside the busy station bustling with men and women in uniform and undercover. He bowed politely. "Takahara Joji," Trunks said, looking up to read his ID card over his heart. "It's nice to meet you, Officer Frye."
"Sheriff Frye, son; that's two things your intern is taking away from you, Barry," Sheriff Frye said dryly, turning around and walking toward a row of security checkpoints with conveyor belts leading into metal detectors, "being late and kissing ass."
"Sorry, Frye," Barry said, trying to hide a grin.
"Come up to the lab. You'll analyze the blood samples and fingerprint data collected from the crime scene to see if you've found a match with any recent blood draw patient or any Central City resident we have in our database." Frye turned to the quiet Saiyan. "Don't let Barry's lazy attitude fool you."
"Lazy?" Barry said.
"He's one of the brightest detectives and scientists to ever walk into CCPD," Frye said, "you could work all your life and would not have accumulated the talent Barry has in one pinky, now get in there and tell me I'm wrong."
"Yes sir," Trunks said with feigned enthusiasm. He followed the snickering Flash through security behind Frye. Trunks set his bag on the belt and grinned nervously at the cop's face of sheer shock as he monitored the scanner from a small desk.
"Sir!" the cop said, one hand going to his sidearm. "You can't have any of that here! Who the hell do you think you are?" A few policemen had their hands at their sides.
Trunks looked to Barry for help. "The jig is up?"
Barry looked at Frye and leaned into the sheriff, pointing at the Saiyan. Frye's eyes widened. "Let him go, boys. It's fine."
One of the policemen reached into the bag, pulling out one of the boots with his oily hands that made the Saiyan want to scream. He liked to keep them perfect. "But sir-"
"Put it back, let them go, now," Frye said. He turned to the "student" and gave him a stern stare. "Don't do anything too drastic, alright?"
"I'll only burn down half of this building, then," Trunks said.
"Three things," Frye said, looking down then turning to face. "Your horribly dark sense of humor."
"Well, in a job like this, it keeps you sane," Barry said, following his boss up the stairs. The Saiyan zipped up his bag and snatched it from the nosy policeman, heading up the stairs with the other speedster. "Let's go, newbie."
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