Unknown Realms
Chapter 9-Surprises
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AN: Okay minna, sorry this took me a while to get out, but it's worth it, I promise, it's also 16 pages long! ^_^;; boy did I take my time on this, well gomen and here it is!
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The first ray of light peeked over the horizon and through the clear window, shining across the eyes of the raven-haired girl. Her eyes flinched as they fluttered open and she rolled on her side, holding her head. She let out a disheveled sigh as she looked at the figure that was straddling a chair in front of her.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"I dunno, you tell me," his rich voice loomed.
"0800," she automatically replied, then groaned after realizing he had tricked her. She sat up slowly and crossed her legs, setting her hands in her lap. "Okay, you got me, ya happy now?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Not especially, what am I supposed to call you now?" he asked.
"Trunks, you can call me whatever you want, it doesn't matter anymore now does it?" she swung her legs over the side of the bed, swinging them back and forth.
"Yes it does matter, I just found out you're some enhanced being with some kind of disorder that causes you to go unconscious, so the least you can do is let me know what I'm to address you by!" he crossed his arms.
"Fine!" she threw up her hands, "call me Hotiku if it bothers you that much!" She hopped off the bed and placed a hand on her hip. She was still wearing the same clothes as the day before and they were terribly wrinkled. Her hair was wind blown and tangled.
"Thank you," he said haughtily.
"So what now?" she asked.
"We train for this guy who's supposedly on his way to destroy the Earth," they heard a deep voice behind them. They turned around to see Vegita standing in the doorway.
"All hail the almighty midget from the land of the apes!" Hotiku mocked and sarcastically bowed. Vegita let out a low growl from deep within his throat.
"I'd keep those smart remarks to myself if I were you," he threatened.
"But you're not me, besides it's so much fun!" she clamped her hands together. Vegita opened his mouth to reply at the same time lifting his fist, when Trunks interrupted him.
"We'll meet you in the gravity chamber, Dad," he said and grabbed Hotiku's arm.
"Ow! Watch the birthday suit!" she winced at his grip. Vegita muttered something under his breath before walking out of the room leaving the two alone.
"You shouldn't take him so lightly," Trunks warned.
"Stop that, you sound like him," she said matching his tone, and walked towards the door.
"Come on, let's get this show on the road!" she hopped out of the room and walked down the corridor, following Vegita.
"Oy vey, this is going to be… interesting," Trunks quickly followed them both to the gravity chamber. As they arrived, Hotiku looked around in awe, it was somehow familiar to her, the red lights and the small indicator with digits on it.
"Ooo, what does this button do?" she reached for a large blue button.
"No, not that one!!" Trunks tried to reach her before she pressed it. Too late. Suddenly, they were all lifted off the ground and were floating in the air. She had released all the gravity from the room.
"Hey! Look, I can fly, whee!!" she 'flew' around, but quickly regretted it as she was sent crashing to the ground face first. "Ow." she muttered. She pulled herself up, rubbing her face, looking towards the panel to see a not-so-happy Vegita just finish punching in some codes. "That wasn't very nice," she crossed her arms after standing up.
"And neither is this," he shot a ki blast towards her before she had time to think. She twisted her body to the side and held up her arm defensively, blocking the blast. After it had hit her arm, she lowered it and held it in pain.
"It burns!" she gripped her arm roughly.
"Dad!" Trunks complained, looking at Hotiku with concern, but before either could do anything; Vegita landed a punch to the side of her face, sending her crashing into the wall. She slid up against the steel wall that now had a dent in it.
"Bastard," she spit, before charging at him and jumping into the air, preparing to kick him. At the last second she punched down on him and kicked off his chest using him as a springboard. She flipped backward in the air and held her fists up defensively. Vegita pushed himself up from the ground and wiped the dirt from his face.
"Not bad, but let's see how you stand against the C-30's." He grabbed her arm and dragged her into the adjacent room next to the one they were in.
"Hey!" she cried out as he threw her to the ground. As she rubbed her head she said, "Man, I'm going to have a major headache after this." Suddenly, the lights went out and the darkness was automatically replaced with a blue light that filled the room. She pulled herself to her feet and took a defensive stance, and sharpened her senses. A slight whirring was heard as three small robots, not even two feet tall hovered out of compartments in the walls. Two larger robots that had the structure of a human also came out of their compartments.
"Oh, this is gonna be just great…" she muttered as her eyes darted around, following their every movements. They had managed to circle around her in sort of a ring-like fashion. Suddenly, one of the larger robots had grabbed her from behind. She tripped it just before flipping the robot over her body and into a smaller cyborg. The other larger robot slid towards her, its foot held out to knock her off her feet. Hotiku jumped up and turned her jump into a series of back flips. Halfway through a flip, she grabbed one of the smaller robots before planting her feet firmly on the ground and slammed the robot into the ground with all her momentum. She pulled her fist back slowly, a high-pitched whirring emitting from it. One of the larger robots had crept up behind her, just before she threw her punch at the smaller one, she jerked it back, hitting the larger one in its head, then gouging her fist into the smaller one. A small blue ring of electricity emerged from her wrist, as if a bracelet of energy, and traveled over her fist into the robot. She quickly pulled her fist out and spun around on her heel, facing the larger robot that had just recovered from her powerful blow.
She smirked evilly, "catch," she threw the smaller robot towards it, and took off running towards the other robots as soon as it left her hands. She jumped up in a motion to kick the larger robot. Just inches away from it, the other two robots exploded from the electricity she had 'injected' into it. The blast sent her into the other robot with much greater force. As her foot connected with its face, they were both sent towards the wall. Unfortunately, a split second before the hit the steel wall, the robot grabbed her ankle and pulled it down, her upper body now in arms reach of it. The robot grabbed the back of her head and slammed her into the wall face first. As a trickle of blood ran down her chin from her mouth and another from her forehead, she performed a back-roundhouse kick, but the robot grabbed her leg and swung her into the large pillar in the middle of the room that was the control panel. As her back hit the pillar, she was lucky the controls were offline otherwise she would have been electrocuted severely. Her body fell to the ground and she rolled on impact, instinctively. As she caught herself on her knees, she only had enough time to look up as the two smaller robots appeared beside her and had held her in place with invisible strings of energy, occasionally little bolts of electricity burst out. At the same time that they had grabbed her, the larger robot sent a rather large ki blast towards her. Her eyes widened as it hit her with an immense upsurge of power. A great wave of pain racked her body as she was sent skidding across the floor on her back. Just before she hit the wall, she managed to firmly place her hands on the ground to stop her sliding. She forced herself to stand on her feet, only to have the larger robot punch out at her from the left side. She blocked it with her arm, and punched it with her right fist. She grabbed its arm and swung it into the two smaller robots. She quickly jumped up and somersaulted in the air, landing both her feet on one of the smaller robots, crushing it. She brought her leg up and performed an axe kick on the other smaller one, then kicked it like a soccer ball into the other smaller robot, which was now a pile of scrap. They both burst into flames, but she was only able to enjoy the 'fireworks' for a split second before she was swept off her feet and to the ground. She looked up to see the larger robot hovering above her. It kicked her in her side sharply earning a shrill cry at the top of her lungs; it had cracked her ribs. Just as it prepared to kick her again, she grabbed it and swung it around, slamming it into the ground on the other side of her. She quickly flipped onto her stomach, wincing at the immense pain from her ribs; she crawled away from the robot, only to be pulled back by her foot. She planted her hands on the ground, trying to keep from being pulled into its grasp. She turned around and looked up at the robot, her eyes widened in fear as it held up a massive ball of energy. She closed her eyes and held up her hands defensively as it threw the blast down on her. Just millimeters before it hit her, she snapped her eyes open and she let out a primal scream as pure energy materialized out of her hands and slammed into the robot, over-powering its blast. Her eyes were glazed over with a dangerous glint. The robot was crushed against the wall, but stood up and charged at her. Hotiku rose to her feet and walked towards the robot with an eerie, almost evil, calmness. She suddenly rushed at it and performed a roundhouse kick, knocking it down. She straddled it and proceeded to throw a series of punches to its head. She pulled her fist back and sent it right to the side of its jaw, snapping its neck. Even though it had been destroyed, she continued her onslaught. She started ripping the robot apart with her bare hands. Suddenly, her eyes became clear and she froze for a split second before realizing what she was doing. Her eyes grew in shock, then she kicked the robot away as she fell back on her hands and crawled away from it backwards. She looked around at the damage that she had done, clenching her teeth in disapproval of herself. Her body had stopped when she had bumped into something behind her. She looked up behind her to see Vegita standing with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.
"What do you want?" she asked, narrowing her eyes, tears threatening to pour down.
"What's wrong?" he asked mockingly, "can't handle the fact that you're a deadly killing machine and you let your instincts take over? If you can't handle it then don't even think you're a fighter." He said cruelly. She looked away, closing her eyes, then, against all the protest from her body, she stood up and looked Vegita dead in the eye.
"Don't ever say a militia guardian is not a fighter, or you'll live to regret it," She walked away, brushing past him receiving a growl from the prince. She smirked and walked into the other room in which Trunks was training in. "Let's take a break shall we?" she nodded towards the exit door.
"Did Dad say we could?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, doubting that his father would just let them take a break.
"Don't be a mama's boy, Trunks. You don't always have to listen to your parents, this is the time to rebel," she said revoltingly.
Trunks smirked and followed her out the doors, "What about your ribs?"
Not responding, she wrapped an arm around her ribs and rubbed them, wincing. In a few seconds she looked up at him, smiling. "They're fine," she winked. Trunks raised an eyebrow in confusion, before they both stopped and lay on the grass.
"So, tell me, Hotiku, about you, the real you," he persisted. Hotiku closed her eyes slowly, sighing. After a moment of hesitation she spoke up.
"I'm fifteen years old, and have always had this disillusion for as long as I can remember… then again all I do remember is blacking out. I never remember anything that happened a few hours before that and I can't control it. She's been working on a way to record my memories of what's happened before and while I'm disillusioning," Trunks interrupted her.
"She? Who's she?" he asked.
"Miyako… my friend, though, I haven't seen her in the longest time. I hope she's okay." She stopped reminiscing on some memories. "When I was three, I was captured by some enemy along with three other kids; Zack, Miyako and Saige. Some crazy scientist experimented on us, enhancing our speed, strength, stealth and stamina as well as our senses."
"What do you mean?" Trunks asked. Hotiku pointed to her eyes, signaling for him to watch. She looked to the other side of the yard, which was enormous, to a small bush. She sharpened her vision and was able to see the berries on the bush perfectly. As Trunks watched her eyes, her irises became thinner as her pupils became larger. He could see some dull yellow lines on her pupils, as if it was analyzing what she was looking at.
"Cool," he wondered out loud. As her eyes returned to normal, she smiled slightly.
"It can be," she smirked, "the four of us became the 'perfect soldiers', but since we never followed the orders of the Riena officials, they named us the Perfect Four. There was some prophecy about us, something about ten years after we find each other we'll become the soul guardians of the universe reining in omnipotent power, whether it be evil or good, but I never really believed in that kinda stuff," she said as if it was an everyday thing.
"Omnipotent power?" he questioned her.
"I dunno, the prophet was probably a crazy loon," she snickered. She flipped over on her stomach and started picking at the grass subconsciously. "And I don't know who that person is who's supposed to come, I just got a message through one of my neural chips saying someone was coming to Earth looking for our 'protect-ee'... It's scary sometimes."
"What is?"
"Not knowing what's going to happen next, they're looking for us, Trunks, they want to take us back to Riena and probe us or something. I'm always on the run; I've been running my entire life from them, that's how we got split up. Well, not exactly. After they enhanced us, they shipped us off to different planets. Sometimes we meet up, but that's rare, and I haven't seen anyone in about ten years."
"You were five years old, and you still remember them?"
"Yeah, it's strange and sometimes I feel like I know what they're doing right now, like I'm with them or something. A few hours after I saw someone I met up with Uubu and we really hit it off. He used to sneak out at night just to bring me some food and see if I was alright," she smiled, "then he left… and I was by myself for a year, until Tousan found me and took me in. But I had to leave him when I was ten years old; I went back to my home pl-" she stopped abruptly.
"What? What is it?" Trunks looked at Hotiku, she had a thoughtful look on her face.
"Trunks, there's something I have to tell you… I'm not normal," she said.
"Well, of course you aren't, you were enhanced and-"
"That's not what I mean… I'm not-from this planet," she looked down at her hands. "I'm a completely different species. I'm not sure if I should tell you, you might freak out and not believe me… or you might take me in and examine me or run tests on me, you could shun me and not want anything to do with me or-"
"Hotiku," he put his hand on her shoulder, "just tell me."
"I'm Toria-jin." She said finally. Shock was written all over his face, he couldn't believe that Hotiku was a Toria-jin. There were rumors that Frieza didn't even want anything to do with them because they were so powerful. Not only could they match Saiya-jins in strength, but also people said that they had secret abilities that defied the laws of physics. They were enemies of Saiya-jins, and yet the king and queen of Toria were Saiya-jins as well, but they were shunned by their race and banished from Vegita-sei. As Trunks remembered from his studies, the queen was half saiya-jin and the king was a pure breed saiya-jin. Seeing the only thing he could do at the time, he reached over and put his hand on her cheek.
"Hotiku, I don't care," he said, her eyes slowly lifting up to meet his. Their eyes locked, and they slowly began to lean in towards each other. Their noses just centimeters away, a ki blast exploded right between them, sending them flying in either direction.
"Holy shit, I nearly had a heart attack!" she looked up and saw that the one who had fired the blast was non-other than Vegita. "Speak o' the devil," she muttered. Vegita had his arms crossed, as usual, levitating in the air.
She's got a lot of power, and potential, he thought. He looked down at her as she snarled at him. Suddenly, she let out a slight "humph" and stood up, dusting herself off. "How'd you manage to survive all those robots in there?" he asked her.
"It's called the element of surprise," she said proudly.
"You sure surprised me," Trunks smirked, " I didn't know you could use ki blasts."
"Ki blasts? All I did was an release an EMP," she said.
"You mean that ringlet of blue energy was an EMP?" Trunks asked her.
"Well, a controlled EMP, otherwise every electronic within miles would have exploded. I just secured it inside of that one robot. That other light thingy I did, I have no clue what that was," she shifted her weight and placed a hand on her hip.
"That was a ki blast," Vegita said arrogantly. Hotiku shrugged it off as if it didn't mean anything.
"So I did a little light show, big deal."
"Big deal? Do you think this is a big deal?" Vegita promptly fired a large ki blast towards her. Hotiku gasped in shock, before sweeping her arms up in a cross defensively. After the blast had dissipated, she lowered her burned arms.
"That hurts…" she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Now you try, brat," Vegita crossed his arms. As much as Hotiku tried, she couldn't repeat the little show she had done before.
"I can't do it," she crossed her arms.
"Then learn," Vegita spat.
"No thanks, I'm not in school," she waved a hand at him.
"Really? Well, then you're going to get punished," he smirked, "drop and give me two-hundred pushups."
Hotiku snorted, "like hell." Trunks slapped his forehead.
"You two just don't stop do you?"
"No," she answered simply, and stuck her tongue out at him.
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"Sir, permission to speak freely, Sir!" A brunette stood at attention, saluting an official.
"Permission granted," the Commander replied.
"Sir, I am needed on Earth, if Saige is really…" she paused for a moment, "I will have to assemble with the others to prepare for his arrival."
"We've already prepared a ship for you and your associate." He informed her.
"Sir? Associate?" she inquired. He motioned towards a corner in a room that was flooded in shadows. A figure stepped out of the shadows revealing his identity. The girl's eyes lit up as she fought the urge to run up to him and hug him.
"Go on," the commander said, as if reading her mind. Without a moment's hesitation, she jumped on the figure.
"I've missed you so much, Zack!" she threw her arms around his neck.
"I know, Miyako," he smirked. She playfully punched his arm, causing him to wince. "You've gotten stronger I see."
"Gomen," she chuckled. Suddenly, someone cleared their throat from behind them. They both automatically turned around and held a salute, standing at an attention.
"Sir, sorry, sir!" They both said simultaneously.
"You two had better get a move on if you wanna get there in time…" he said, "dismissed." The second he said that word, they both blurred out of sight and into the spaceships.
"Let's have a little fun with this 'trip' shall we?" Miyako said mischievously.
"Of course," Zack smirked.
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Bulma yawned as she stood up and stretched. "Well, kids, we're going to bed. Vegita, Bra, let's go."
"But Mama, I don't wanna go!" Bra protested as her mother picked her up. Hotiku chuckled as Bra's cries of disapproval could be heard as she was taken away like a lunatic to an asylum. As Trunks stood up, he stretched out his sore limbs and walked into the kitchen. Hotiku got up and followed him. She hopped up and sat on the counter.
"Didn't you ever hear the phrase 'tables and counters are for glasses and not for a-" he started.
"Oh, who ever listens to those dumb things anyway?" she waved a hand at him.
"I do," they heard a voice behind them, causing Hotiku to jump. She promptly turned around to find Goten leaning against the backdoor with his arms crossed.
"Goten! What are you doing here?" Hotiku jumped off the counter and hugged him.
"I came to get you, Gohan's getting worried."
"He's always worried," she put her hands on her hips. "Trunks, I'll see you later," she walked over to him and gave him a friendly hug.
"See ya guys tomorrow," he replied.
"Tomorrow?" Goten inquired.
"Yeah, we have to train with the prince of all pains in the ass," she snickered.
"Hey, Hotiku?" Trunks got her attention.
"Nani?" she turned her head to the side, looking at him.
"How did you know that my tousan was the prince of Saiya-jins?" he asked, earning a smirk from her.
"I told you… I know everything about everything."
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"Boo," Zack said slightly behind a tall, blue-haired girl. She jumped slightly before rapidly turning around to see who her 'attacker' was. The second she saw him she squealed in delight.
"What are you doing here?!" she said excitedly.
"Didn't you get the message?" he asked.
"What message?" she asked questionably. Zack looked back at Miyako, then back to the girl. He nodded to Miyako, signaling her to approach her.
"Celeste, close your eyes," she ordered. Celeste did as she was told as Miyako put her fingers on the side of her face in an organized pattern. Suddenly, Celeste started moving her eyes back and forth, reading the message. She opened her eyes worriedly.
"We should hurry, how much time do we have?" she asked Zack.
"One, maybe two months?" he estimated. Receiving nods from both girls.
"Let's go," Miyako ordered and turned around to the ship.
"What's our next stop?" Celeste asked.
"Actually, we're going to have to sweep through the Alpha to locate Taga, while avoiding Saige at the same time," Zack replied, causing Miyako to slap her forehead.
"Sounds just like him, go figure."
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Eee! Eee! Eee! Hotiku's alarm went off, blaring as loud as possible. She moaned as she rolled over and lazily let her arm fall on the off button. She turned over and pulled the sheets up more. Before she had time to react, Goten burst through her door.
"Wake up, even I'm awake, time to go train," he said. Hotiku scoffed and pulled the sheets over her head and faced the window, which had a shade pulled down to block the sunlight from entering and disturbing her sleep. Goten sighed and walked over to the window, abruptly letting the shade up. The light hit her directly in her eyes.
"Ahh!" she jumped up and smothered her face in her hands, furiously rubbing her eyes. "What are you trying to do, blind me?!" Goten rolled his eyes and pulled the sheets off her and threw a duffel bag at her, landing on her lap.
"Kami-sama, I've never experienced so much sunlight in my life!!" she cried, "What's this for??" She looked down at the duffel bag, then up at him quizzically.
"It's your training gear," he replied, "now let's get a move on, we're supposed to already be there!" Hotiku groaned and let herself fall back down on the bed.
"Go away, I'm going back to sleep," she mumbled causing Goten to growl. She let out a startled cry as he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. Before she could blink, or let alone react, he had flown out the door muttering a good-bye to Gohan and Videl.
"They didn't even eat breakfast..." Videl mumbled.
"Oh well, more for me!" Gohan cheerily reached for another muffin before getting a slap on the hand by Videl.
"They'll have breakfast when they get back!" she snapped, receiving a whimper from Gohan. She smirked, "that's better."
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"Sorry we're late," Goten landed and dropped Hotiku on the grass in a heap, "but someone wouldn't get out of bed!" He snapped at her.
She reached her arms up and dug her hands in her hair, "Mmm," she stretched slightly then dropped her hands immediately. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nag, nag, nag, all you do is nag." She motioned with her hand that all he did was talk.
Trunks looked at them suspiciously. "He got up before you did?" He asked Hotiku.
"Yeah, and the baka nearly blinded me," she growled up at Goten.
"Well, at least I'm still not in my sleepwear!!" he snapped back. She blinked then looked down at herself.
"I'm not going to train in this!!" she jumped up, looking at Goten angrily.
"That's why you're going to wear this," a bundle of clothes was thrown at her, before she could react. She looked at them, then back at the person who had thrown them.
"Knowing you, you'd probably make me dress up like a whore," she glared at him.
"Go change, brat," he spat. Hotiku brushed past him and walked towards Capsule Corp. slowly. "Hurry up!" he yelled.
"So sorry I'm not as fast as the great gremlin from Oz," she narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't have time to enjoy it as he charged up a ki blast. Within a split second, she was inside of the building and changing. Trunks had to keep his laughter under control unless he wanted extra training. Hotiku came jogging back out adjusting the gloves on her hands. She was wearing a loose white wife-beater, a black sports bra, black exercise pants and combat boots. She had tied her hair up and found some biker gloves inside her duffel bag, which was now slung over her shoulder.
"Good, now let's see what you can do," Vegita crossed his arms.
"Excuse me?" she raised an eyebrow, glancing at Trunks and Goten.
"Goten!" Vegita barked.
"H-hai!"
"Go, spar with her," he said.
"But, I might hurt her," he replied.
"What?!" she snapped her head towards him, "I'm going to freakin' kill you!" She charged at him and tackled him to the ground. Trunks and Vegita flew a safe distance away. Goten kicked her off him and sunk into a fighting stance. Hotiku turned her roll into a flip as she landed on her feet and dropped down into a stance as well. Suddenly, they both rushed at each other at the same time, their forearms contacting, both trying to gain dominance over the other. Goten of course was holding back, giving Hotiku an advantage as she punched him in his face with her left hook. Goten was sent to the ground, while Hotiku held her fist in pain, wincing.
"Damnit! What the hell is your skull made of?!" she shook her hand furiously.
"Why the hell did you hit me so hard!! That hurt!" He growled, holding the side of his face. "That hurt?" he looked up quizzically at Trunks and Vegita as they flew towards them.
She shouldn't have been able to hit him that hard even if she is an enhanced being. Vegita thought, then looked over at Trunks. He doesn't look shocked... there's something he's not telling me.
Trunks walked over and grabbed Hotiku's hand while helping Goten up with his free hand. Hotiku winced under his touch, "that hurts." She shook off the pain as much as she could.
Goten poked her side, "so does my side."
"Ow!" she cried the second he had poked her, "my ribs are still cracked, baka!"
"From what?" he asked.
"Sparring yesterday," she winced.
"I thought you said they were fine?" Trunks raised an eyebrow.
"I lied!" she let her arms drop to her sides after lifting them in exclamation, but quickly regretted it as they not-so-gently hit her ribs. "Ow," she muttered.
"Here," Vegita tossed a senzu at her.
"What's this," she looked at it questionably, "poison?"
"It's a senzu, it'll heal you," he explained arrogantly.
"You're trying to tell me that this little bean is going to make all my boo-boo's go bye-bye?" she raised an eyebrow. Receiving no reply, she sighed and popped it in her mouth. "Dude it works!!" she looked down at her hands.
"Of course it does, baka," Vegita spat, "stupid girl."
"Bite me, monkey boy." She glared at him.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip you to pathetic shreds right now?" He growled.
"Because you love me!" she fluttered her eyelashes, only provoking him even more. He started advancing on her; she jumped slightly and started walking backwards.
"V-V-Vegita??" she bumped into Trunks, glanced at him, then jumped behind him and hid there, trying to stay on opposite side of Vegita. "You need me!! You don't know who this guy is or how to beat him!!!" she defended herself, but that didn't stop him. He grabbed the back of her shirt and dragged her into the gravity chamber. Trunks and Goten tried to follow, but the door slid shut before they could get in.
"Oh great…" she muttered before sinking into a fighting stance.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"They've been in there a long time now…" Goten said worriedly. As if answering him, the door opened and Vegita stepped out, battered and bruised.
"You two better hope you were sparring while we were in there," he glared and walked away. They took their eyes off him and turned to the door. They were just about to get up and go see if Hotiku was all right, when she appeared in the doorway, leaning against the frame. Cuts and bruises were almost completely covering her body, including all the blood. She had taken her shirt off a while ago and her pants were ripped in various places. Despite everything, she flashed them a smile before falling out of the chamber, exhausted. Goten blurred over and caught her before she hit the ground.
"I'm fine, just gimme another one of those lil' beanie things…" she held her head wincing. Trunks obeyed and slid it between her lips, as she chewed it slowly. She let out a relieved sigh as Goten put her down.
"He really beat you up, didn't he?" Goten snickered. She slowly moved her gaze over to him.
"Well, I woulda been better off if you two had shown me some moves! And eventually you will," she glared at them both. Suddenly, as if a light bulb turned off, she instantly got an idea. "Goten!!" She jumped up and hugged his arm. "Teach me the kamehameha! Please?" she begged him.
"Oh no, if I teach you that you're gonna want to know everyone of my signature attacks!!" He cried, trying to pry her off his arm.
"No I won't! Come on Goten!! Teach it to me!" she whined loudly before saying confidently, "you know you want to."
"No, no, and NO!" He managed to get free of her grasp. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, hanging from him.
"Pleeeease?! Come on Goten! Don't be so stubborn!" she scolded.
"I said no!" he stood his ground.
"If you teach it to me, I... I'll clean for a week!"
"No!"
"I'll be your servant for a week!"
"NO!"
"I'll cook for a week!!" she said desperately.
"N-- Okay, this is what you do first!" he quickly gave in.
"Yatta!!!" she let go of him as he positioned her body correctly. After about an hour, Goten was on the floor with his hands dug roughly in his hair.
"For the last time, you shoot in front of you," he stood up, walked over to her and grasped her hands, placing them behind her.
"Hey Trunks!" Hotiku shouted.
"What?" he asked annoyed. She smirked and motioned for him to stand in place. He let out a disheveled sigh, she had been using him as her target and so far he had been fried, burned, electrocuted and sent crashing into a tree. They were both about ready to give up on her. The only thing keeping Trunks from going on a rampage were Hotiku's antics.
"And you release here," Goten finished, "are you paying attention?"
"Yes, mother," she rolled her eyes causing Trunks to chuckle. "Goten I look stupid," she whined.
"Hey did you want to learn this or what?" he glared at her.
"Fine, fine, fine. Give the order Colonel Cranky pants," she snickered.
"Just do it," he sighed. Hotiku rolled her eyes and, without even aiming, pulled back her hands and performed the kamehameha.
"There you happy?" she raised an eyebrow, placing her hands on her hips. She glanced over at Trunks, blinked once, then burst out laughing. The only part of him that wasn't covered in ashes were his eyes. He blinked twice before doing a double take. He dusted himself off and walked over to them.
"You did it," Goten said exhausted.
"I did? Whoo hoo!!"
"Now can we go inside?" Trunks asked.
"Ok-... no." she changed her mind.
"No?" Goten looked at her like she was crazy. She looked over at Trunks deviously.
"Oooh no! No no... NO!!" he shook his head and backed away from her, waving his hands at her.
"Come on! You know you want to!" She chased him as he started to run away from her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So what did you kids do today?" Bulma asked as she served them dinner.
"I got Goten to teach me the kamehameha!" Hotiku said excitedly. Bulma looked at her in disbelief.
"How'd you do that?" she blinked at her.
"I told him I'd cook for a week," she grinned.
"That would explain it," she nodded, "what else happened?"
"I got Trunks to teach me the Final Flash and his Burning Attack too!" she smiled at Bulma.
Bulma looked at her son, "uh, Trunks?"
"She made me," he buried his head in his arms. Bulma giggled, this only proved her theory that women had some kind of manipulative power over men. Of course, there were some instances that flipped the theory around. After dinner, Goten, Hotiku and Trunks went upstairs to Trunks' room.
"See? I told you guys you were gonna eventually teach those moves to me," she smiled, while the two boys groaned.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A small space pod was pulled into the docking bay of a much larger one.
"Whoever these people are, they don't know who they're dealing with," the brown-haired boy muttered, stepping out of his ship.
"Oh really?" An effeminate voice said behind him. He spun around, a mixture of emotions running across his face, "Welcome, Taga," she smiled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Okay, I dare you to..." Goten started, "go into Vegita's room and... steal a pair of his boxers!" Trunks and Hotiku sat shocked and dumbfounded.
"His boxers?!" Hotiku squeaked.
"Yup," Goten said proudly.
"Fine, not a problem!" She stood up and walked out the door. Goten and Trunks paled.
"She's actually going to do it?" Goten face faulted. Trunks quickly rushed over to her and grabbed her arm. She looked back at him quizzically.
"You'll need this," Trunks dug into the drawer next to the door and pulled out a small device, pinning it on her temple. "It'll completely hid your ki."
"Thanks, now let go, I've got a dare to pull off!" she winked at him before disappearing down the hallway. A few minutes later, the boys heard a slam and looked towards the door to see Hotiku as white as a sheet, trying to catch her breathe. As soon as the color returned to her face, she growled at Goten and threw the pair of boxers at his face.
"Ah! Hey!" he recoiled away from the boxers in fear and disgust.
"You idiot! Thanks a lot, now I'm scarred for life!" she yelled.
"Why?" Trunks asked.
"Vegita and Bulma weren't sleeping, so to speak," she glared. They both paled, knowing exactly what had happened. "My turn, Trunks truth or dare?"
"Uhh," Trunks didn't want to do something equally as embarrassing as what she had to do, "truth."
Hotiku snickered, "boxers or briefs?"
"Nani?! That's a personal question!!" he roared.
"Hey, this is truth or dare, and you chose truth. Now you have to suffer the consequences," she smirked.
"...boxers," he finally said, causing Goten and Hotiku to burst out laughing.
"Hey, at least he didn't say briefs! That coulda lasted us a week!" Hotiku rolled in laughter. Meanwhile, Trunks face was completely red, not only from humiliation, but also from rage.
"Shut up!" he yelled. "It's not funny!"
"So why are we laughing?" Goten mocked him as he had done to him a few days ago.
"He's gotta point," she defended him.
"Whatever," he yawned, not really caring anymore.
"Mind if we crash here tonight?" Hotiku asked.
"Nah, go ahead."
"Arigatou!" she said cheerily, as he lead her to a spare room across the hall.
"Goten, you can stay in my room," Trunks replied, as they walked back.
"Alright, I'll see you to in the morning!" she waved to them excitedly. Goten rolled his eyes thinking she would never fall asleep. The second the door closed, she collapsed on the bed, asleep.
Chapter 9-Surprises
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
AN: Okay minna, sorry this took me a while to get out, but it's worth it, I promise, it's also 16 pages long! ^_^;; boy did I take my time on this, well gomen and here it is!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The first ray of light peeked over the horizon and through the clear window, shining across the eyes of the raven-haired girl. Her eyes flinched as they fluttered open and she rolled on her side, holding her head. She let out a disheveled sigh as she looked at the figure that was straddling a chair in front of her.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"I dunno, you tell me," his rich voice loomed.
"0800," she automatically replied, then groaned after realizing he had tricked her. She sat up slowly and crossed her legs, setting her hands in her lap. "Okay, you got me, ya happy now?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Not especially, what am I supposed to call you now?" he asked.
"Trunks, you can call me whatever you want, it doesn't matter anymore now does it?" she swung her legs over the side of the bed, swinging them back and forth.
"Yes it does matter, I just found out you're some enhanced being with some kind of disorder that causes you to go unconscious, so the least you can do is let me know what I'm to address you by!" he crossed his arms.
"Fine!" she threw up her hands, "call me Hotiku if it bothers you that much!" She hopped off the bed and placed a hand on her hip. She was still wearing the same clothes as the day before and they were terribly wrinkled. Her hair was wind blown and tangled.
"Thank you," he said haughtily.
"So what now?" she asked.
"We train for this guy who's supposedly on his way to destroy the Earth," they heard a deep voice behind them. They turned around to see Vegita standing in the doorway.
"All hail the almighty midget from the land of the apes!" Hotiku mocked and sarcastically bowed. Vegita let out a low growl from deep within his throat.
"I'd keep those smart remarks to myself if I were you," he threatened.
"But you're not me, besides it's so much fun!" she clamped her hands together. Vegita opened his mouth to reply at the same time lifting his fist, when Trunks interrupted him.
"We'll meet you in the gravity chamber, Dad," he said and grabbed Hotiku's arm.
"Ow! Watch the birthday suit!" she winced at his grip. Vegita muttered something under his breath before walking out of the room leaving the two alone.
"You shouldn't take him so lightly," Trunks warned.
"Stop that, you sound like him," she said matching his tone, and walked towards the door.
"Come on, let's get this show on the road!" she hopped out of the room and walked down the corridor, following Vegita.
"Oy vey, this is going to be… interesting," Trunks quickly followed them both to the gravity chamber. As they arrived, Hotiku looked around in awe, it was somehow familiar to her, the red lights and the small indicator with digits on it.
"Ooo, what does this button do?" she reached for a large blue button.
"No, not that one!!" Trunks tried to reach her before she pressed it. Too late. Suddenly, they were all lifted off the ground and were floating in the air. She had released all the gravity from the room.
"Hey! Look, I can fly, whee!!" she 'flew' around, but quickly regretted it as she was sent crashing to the ground face first. "Ow." she muttered. She pulled herself up, rubbing her face, looking towards the panel to see a not-so-happy Vegita just finish punching in some codes. "That wasn't very nice," she crossed her arms after standing up.
"And neither is this," he shot a ki blast towards her before she had time to think. She twisted her body to the side and held up her arm defensively, blocking the blast. After it had hit her arm, she lowered it and held it in pain.
"It burns!" she gripped her arm roughly.
"Dad!" Trunks complained, looking at Hotiku with concern, but before either could do anything; Vegita landed a punch to the side of her face, sending her crashing into the wall. She slid up against the steel wall that now had a dent in it.
"Bastard," she spit, before charging at him and jumping into the air, preparing to kick him. At the last second she punched down on him and kicked off his chest using him as a springboard. She flipped backward in the air and held her fists up defensively. Vegita pushed himself up from the ground and wiped the dirt from his face.
"Not bad, but let's see how you stand against the C-30's." He grabbed her arm and dragged her into the adjacent room next to the one they were in.
"Hey!" she cried out as he threw her to the ground. As she rubbed her head she said, "Man, I'm going to have a major headache after this." Suddenly, the lights went out and the darkness was automatically replaced with a blue light that filled the room. She pulled herself to her feet and took a defensive stance, and sharpened her senses. A slight whirring was heard as three small robots, not even two feet tall hovered out of compartments in the walls. Two larger robots that had the structure of a human also came out of their compartments.
"Oh, this is gonna be just great…" she muttered as her eyes darted around, following their every movements. They had managed to circle around her in sort of a ring-like fashion. Suddenly, one of the larger robots had grabbed her from behind. She tripped it just before flipping the robot over her body and into a smaller cyborg. The other larger robot slid towards her, its foot held out to knock her off her feet. Hotiku jumped up and turned her jump into a series of back flips. Halfway through a flip, she grabbed one of the smaller robots before planting her feet firmly on the ground and slammed the robot into the ground with all her momentum. She pulled her fist back slowly, a high-pitched whirring emitting from it. One of the larger robots had crept up behind her, just before she threw her punch at the smaller one, she jerked it back, hitting the larger one in its head, then gouging her fist into the smaller one. A small blue ring of electricity emerged from her wrist, as if a bracelet of energy, and traveled over her fist into the robot. She quickly pulled her fist out and spun around on her heel, facing the larger robot that had just recovered from her powerful blow.
She smirked evilly, "catch," she threw the smaller robot towards it, and took off running towards the other robots as soon as it left her hands. She jumped up in a motion to kick the larger robot. Just inches away from it, the other two robots exploded from the electricity she had 'injected' into it. The blast sent her into the other robot with much greater force. As her foot connected with its face, they were both sent towards the wall. Unfortunately, a split second before the hit the steel wall, the robot grabbed her ankle and pulled it down, her upper body now in arms reach of it. The robot grabbed the back of her head and slammed her into the wall face first. As a trickle of blood ran down her chin from her mouth and another from her forehead, she performed a back-roundhouse kick, but the robot grabbed her leg and swung her into the large pillar in the middle of the room that was the control panel. As her back hit the pillar, she was lucky the controls were offline otherwise she would have been electrocuted severely. Her body fell to the ground and she rolled on impact, instinctively. As she caught herself on her knees, she only had enough time to look up as the two smaller robots appeared beside her and had held her in place with invisible strings of energy, occasionally little bolts of electricity burst out. At the same time that they had grabbed her, the larger robot sent a rather large ki blast towards her. Her eyes widened as it hit her with an immense upsurge of power. A great wave of pain racked her body as she was sent skidding across the floor on her back. Just before she hit the wall, she managed to firmly place her hands on the ground to stop her sliding. She forced herself to stand on her feet, only to have the larger robot punch out at her from the left side. She blocked it with her arm, and punched it with her right fist. She grabbed its arm and swung it into the two smaller robots. She quickly jumped up and somersaulted in the air, landing both her feet on one of the smaller robots, crushing it. She brought her leg up and performed an axe kick on the other smaller one, then kicked it like a soccer ball into the other smaller robot, which was now a pile of scrap. They both burst into flames, but she was only able to enjoy the 'fireworks' for a split second before she was swept off her feet and to the ground. She looked up to see the larger robot hovering above her. It kicked her in her side sharply earning a shrill cry at the top of her lungs; it had cracked her ribs. Just as it prepared to kick her again, she grabbed it and swung it around, slamming it into the ground on the other side of her. She quickly flipped onto her stomach, wincing at the immense pain from her ribs; she crawled away from the robot, only to be pulled back by her foot. She planted her hands on the ground, trying to keep from being pulled into its grasp. She turned around and looked up at the robot, her eyes widened in fear as it held up a massive ball of energy. She closed her eyes and held up her hands defensively as it threw the blast down on her. Just millimeters before it hit her, she snapped her eyes open and she let out a primal scream as pure energy materialized out of her hands and slammed into the robot, over-powering its blast. Her eyes were glazed over with a dangerous glint. The robot was crushed against the wall, but stood up and charged at her. Hotiku rose to her feet and walked towards the robot with an eerie, almost evil, calmness. She suddenly rushed at it and performed a roundhouse kick, knocking it down. She straddled it and proceeded to throw a series of punches to its head. She pulled her fist back and sent it right to the side of its jaw, snapping its neck. Even though it had been destroyed, she continued her onslaught. She started ripping the robot apart with her bare hands. Suddenly, her eyes became clear and she froze for a split second before realizing what she was doing. Her eyes grew in shock, then she kicked the robot away as she fell back on her hands and crawled away from it backwards. She looked around at the damage that she had done, clenching her teeth in disapproval of herself. Her body had stopped when she had bumped into something behind her. She looked up behind her to see Vegita standing with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.
"What do you want?" she asked, narrowing her eyes, tears threatening to pour down.
"What's wrong?" he asked mockingly, "can't handle the fact that you're a deadly killing machine and you let your instincts take over? If you can't handle it then don't even think you're a fighter." He said cruelly. She looked away, closing her eyes, then, against all the protest from her body, she stood up and looked Vegita dead in the eye.
"Don't ever say a militia guardian is not a fighter, or you'll live to regret it," She walked away, brushing past him receiving a growl from the prince. She smirked and walked into the other room in which Trunks was training in. "Let's take a break shall we?" she nodded towards the exit door.
"Did Dad say we could?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, doubting that his father would just let them take a break.
"Don't be a mama's boy, Trunks. You don't always have to listen to your parents, this is the time to rebel," she said revoltingly.
Trunks smirked and followed her out the doors, "What about your ribs?"
Not responding, she wrapped an arm around her ribs and rubbed them, wincing. In a few seconds she looked up at him, smiling. "They're fine," she winked. Trunks raised an eyebrow in confusion, before they both stopped and lay on the grass.
"So, tell me, Hotiku, about you, the real you," he persisted. Hotiku closed her eyes slowly, sighing. After a moment of hesitation she spoke up.
"I'm fifteen years old, and have always had this disillusion for as long as I can remember… then again all I do remember is blacking out. I never remember anything that happened a few hours before that and I can't control it. She's been working on a way to record my memories of what's happened before and while I'm disillusioning," Trunks interrupted her.
"She? Who's she?" he asked.
"Miyako… my friend, though, I haven't seen her in the longest time. I hope she's okay." She stopped reminiscing on some memories. "When I was three, I was captured by some enemy along with three other kids; Zack, Miyako and Saige. Some crazy scientist experimented on us, enhancing our speed, strength, stealth and stamina as well as our senses."
"What do you mean?" Trunks asked. Hotiku pointed to her eyes, signaling for him to watch. She looked to the other side of the yard, which was enormous, to a small bush. She sharpened her vision and was able to see the berries on the bush perfectly. As Trunks watched her eyes, her irises became thinner as her pupils became larger. He could see some dull yellow lines on her pupils, as if it was analyzing what she was looking at.
"Cool," he wondered out loud. As her eyes returned to normal, she smiled slightly.
"It can be," she smirked, "the four of us became the 'perfect soldiers', but since we never followed the orders of the Riena officials, they named us the Perfect Four. There was some prophecy about us, something about ten years after we find each other we'll become the soul guardians of the universe reining in omnipotent power, whether it be evil or good, but I never really believed in that kinda stuff," she said as if it was an everyday thing.
"Omnipotent power?" he questioned her.
"I dunno, the prophet was probably a crazy loon," she snickered. She flipped over on her stomach and started picking at the grass subconsciously. "And I don't know who that person is who's supposed to come, I just got a message through one of my neural chips saying someone was coming to Earth looking for our 'protect-ee'... It's scary sometimes."
"What is?"
"Not knowing what's going to happen next, they're looking for us, Trunks, they want to take us back to Riena and probe us or something. I'm always on the run; I've been running my entire life from them, that's how we got split up. Well, not exactly. After they enhanced us, they shipped us off to different planets. Sometimes we meet up, but that's rare, and I haven't seen anyone in about ten years."
"You were five years old, and you still remember them?"
"Yeah, it's strange and sometimes I feel like I know what they're doing right now, like I'm with them or something. A few hours after I saw someone I met up with Uubu and we really hit it off. He used to sneak out at night just to bring me some food and see if I was alright," she smiled, "then he left… and I was by myself for a year, until Tousan found me and took me in. But I had to leave him when I was ten years old; I went back to my home pl-" she stopped abruptly.
"What? What is it?" Trunks looked at Hotiku, she had a thoughtful look on her face.
"Trunks, there's something I have to tell you… I'm not normal," she said.
"Well, of course you aren't, you were enhanced and-"
"That's not what I mean… I'm not-from this planet," she looked down at her hands. "I'm a completely different species. I'm not sure if I should tell you, you might freak out and not believe me… or you might take me in and examine me or run tests on me, you could shun me and not want anything to do with me or-"
"Hotiku," he put his hand on her shoulder, "just tell me."
"I'm Toria-jin." She said finally. Shock was written all over his face, he couldn't believe that Hotiku was a Toria-jin. There were rumors that Frieza didn't even want anything to do with them because they were so powerful. Not only could they match Saiya-jins in strength, but also people said that they had secret abilities that defied the laws of physics. They were enemies of Saiya-jins, and yet the king and queen of Toria were Saiya-jins as well, but they were shunned by their race and banished from Vegita-sei. As Trunks remembered from his studies, the queen was half saiya-jin and the king was a pure breed saiya-jin. Seeing the only thing he could do at the time, he reached over and put his hand on her cheek.
"Hotiku, I don't care," he said, her eyes slowly lifting up to meet his. Their eyes locked, and they slowly began to lean in towards each other. Their noses just centimeters away, a ki blast exploded right between them, sending them flying in either direction.
"Holy shit, I nearly had a heart attack!" she looked up and saw that the one who had fired the blast was non-other than Vegita. "Speak o' the devil," she muttered. Vegita had his arms crossed, as usual, levitating in the air.
She's got a lot of power, and potential, he thought. He looked down at her as she snarled at him. Suddenly, she let out a slight "humph" and stood up, dusting herself off. "How'd you manage to survive all those robots in there?" he asked her.
"It's called the element of surprise," she said proudly.
"You sure surprised me," Trunks smirked, " I didn't know you could use ki blasts."
"Ki blasts? All I did was an release an EMP," she said.
"You mean that ringlet of blue energy was an EMP?" Trunks asked her.
"Well, a controlled EMP, otherwise every electronic within miles would have exploded. I just secured it inside of that one robot. That other light thingy I did, I have no clue what that was," she shifted her weight and placed a hand on her hip.
"That was a ki blast," Vegita said arrogantly. Hotiku shrugged it off as if it didn't mean anything.
"So I did a little light show, big deal."
"Big deal? Do you think this is a big deal?" Vegita promptly fired a large ki blast towards her. Hotiku gasped in shock, before sweeping her arms up in a cross defensively. After the blast had dissipated, she lowered her burned arms.
"That hurts…" she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Now you try, brat," Vegita crossed his arms. As much as Hotiku tried, she couldn't repeat the little show she had done before.
"I can't do it," she crossed her arms.
"Then learn," Vegita spat.
"No thanks, I'm not in school," she waved a hand at him.
"Really? Well, then you're going to get punished," he smirked, "drop and give me two-hundred pushups."
Hotiku snorted, "like hell." Trunks slapped his forehead.
"You two just don't stop do you?"
"No," she answered simply, and stuck her tongue out at him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Sir, permission to speak freely, Sir!" A brunette stood at attention, saluting an official.
"Permission granted," the Commander replied.
"Sir, I am needed on Earth, if Saige is really…" she paused for a moment, "I will have to assemble with the others to prepare for his arrival."
"We've already prepared a ship for you and your associate." He informed her.
"Sir? Associate?" she inquired. He motioned towards a corner in a room that was flooded in shadows. A figure stepped out of the shadows revealing his identity. The girl's eyes lit up as she fought the urge to run up to him and hug him.
"Go on," the commander said, as if reading her mind. Without a moment's hesitation, she jumped on the figure.
"I've missed you so much, Zack!" she threw her arms around his neck.
"I know, Miyako," he smirked. She playfully punched his arm, causing him to wince. "You've gotten stronger I see."
"Gomen," she chuckled. Suddenly, someone cleared their throat from behind them. They both automatically turned around and held a salute, standing at an attention.
"Sir, sorry, sir!" They both said simultaneously.
"You two had better get a move on if you wanna get there in time…" he said, "dismissed." The second he said that word, they both blurred out of sight and into the spaceships.
"Let's have a little fun with this 'trip' shall we?" Miyako said mischievously.
"Of course," Zack smirked.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Bulma yawned as she stood up and stretched. "Well, kids, we're going to bed. Vegita, Bra, let's go."
"But Mama, I don't wanna go!" Bra protested as her mother picked her up. Hotiku chuckled as Bra's cries of disapproval could be heard as she was taken away like a lunatic to an asylum. As Trunks stood up, he stretched out his sore limbs and walked into the kitchen. Hotiku got up and followed him. She hopped up and sat on the counter.
"Didn't you ever hear the phrase 'tables and counters are for glasses and not for a-" he started.
"Oh, who ever listens to those dumb things anyway?" she waved a hand at him.
"I do," they heard a voice behind them, causing Hotiku to jump. She promptly turned around to find Goten leaning against the backdoor with his arms crossed.
"Goten! What are you doing here?" Hotiku jumped off the counter and hugged him.
"I came to get you, Gohan's getting worried."
"He's always worried," she put her hands on her hips. "Trunks, I'll see you later," she walked over to him and gave him a friendly hug.
"See ya guys tomorrow," he replied.
"Tomorrow?" Goten inquired.
"Yeah, we have to train with the prince of all pains in the ass," she snickered.
"Hey, Hotiku?" Trunks got her attention.
"Nani?" she turned her head to the side, looking at him.
"How did you know that my tousan was the prince of Saiya-jins?" he asked, earning a smirk from her.
"I told you… I know everything about everything."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Boo," Zack said slightly behind a tall, blue-haired girl. She jumped slightly before rapidly turning around to see who her 'attacker' was. The second she saw him she squealed in delight.
"What are you doing here?!" she said excitedly.
"Didn't you get the message?" he asked.
"What message?" she asked questionably. Zack looked back at Miyako, then back to the girl. He nodded to Miyako, signaling her to approach her.
"Celeste, close your eyes," she ordered. Celeste did as she was told as Miyako put her fingers on the side of her face in an organized pattern. Suddenly, Celeste started moving her eyes back and forth, reading the message. She opened her eyes worriedly.
"We should hurry, how much time do we have?" she asked Zack.
"One, maybe two months?" he estimated. Receiving nods from both girls.
"Let's go," Miyako ordered and turned around to the ship.
"What's our next stop?" Celeste asked.
"Actually, we're going to have to sweep through the Alpha to locate Taga, while avoiding Saige at the same time," Zack replied, causing Miyako to slap her forehead.
"Sounds just like him, go figure."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Eee! Eee! Eee! Hotiku's alarm went off, blaring as loud as possible. She moaned as she rolled over and lazily let her arm fall on the off button. She turned over and pulled the sheets up more. Before she had time to react, Goten burst through her door.
"Wake up, even I'm awake, time to go train," he said. Hotiku scoffed and pulled the sheets over her head and faced the window, which had a shade pulled down to block the sunlight from entering and disturbing her sleep. Goten sighed and walked over to the window, abruptly letting the shade up. The light hit her directly in her eyes.
"Ahh!" she jumped up and smothered her face in her hands, furiously rubbing her eyes. "What are you trying to do, blind me?!" Goten rolled his eyes and pulled the sheets off her and threw a duffel bag at her, landing on her lap.
"Kami-sama, I've never experienced so much sunlight in my life!!" she cried, "What's this for??" She looked down at the duffel bag, then up at him quizzically.
"It's your training gear," he replied, "now let's get a move on, we're supposed to already be there!" Hotiku groaned and let herself fall back down on the bed.
"Go away, I'm going back to sleep," she mumbled causing Goten to growl. She let out a startled cry as he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. Before she could blink, or let alone react, he had flown out the door muttering a good-bye to Gohan and Videl.
"They didn't even eat breakfast..." Videl mumbled.
"Oh well, more for me!" Gohan cheerily reached for another muffin before getting a slap on the hand by Videl.
"They'll have breakfast when they get back!" she snapped, receiving a whimper from Gohan. She smirked, "that's better."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Sorry we're late," Goten landed and dropped Hotiku on the grass in a heap, "but someone wouldn't get out of bed!" He snapped at her.
She reached her arms up and dug her hands in her hair, "Mmm," she stretched slightly then dropped her hands immediately. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nag, nag, nag, all you do is nag." She motioned with her hand that all he did was talk.
Trunks looked at them suspiciously. "He got up before you did?" He asked Hotiku.
"Yeah, and the baka nearly blinded me," she growled up at Goten.
"Well, at least I'm still not in my sleepwear!!" he snapped back. She blinked then looked down at herself.
"I'm not going to train in this!!" she jumped up, looking at Goten angrily.
"That's why you're going to wear this," a bundle of clothes was thrown at her, before she could react. She looked at them, then back at the person who had thrown them.
"Knowing you, you'd probably make me dress up like a whore," she glared at him.
"Go change, brat," he spat. Hotiku brushed past him and walked towards Capsule Corp. slowly. "Hurry up!" he yelled.
"So sorry I'm not as fast as the great gremlin from Oz," she narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't have time to enjoy it as he charged up a ki blast. Within a split second, she was inside of the building and changing. Trunks had to keep his laughter under control unless he wanted extra training. Hotiku came jogging back out adjusting the gloves on her hands. She was wearing a loose white wife-beater, a black sports bra, black exercise pants and combat boots. She had tied her hair up and found some biker gloves inside her duffel bag, which was now slung over her shoulder.
"Good, now let's see what you can do," Vegita crossed his arms.
"Excuse me?" she raised an eyebrow, glancing at Trunks and Goten.
"Goten!" Vegita barked.
"H-hai!"
"Go, spar with her," he said.
"But, I might hurt her," he replied.
"What?!" she snapped her head towards him, "I'm going to freakin' kill you!" She charged at him and tackled him to the ground. Trunks and Vegita flew a safe distance away. Goten kicked her off him and sunk into a fighting stance. Hotiku turned her roll into a flip as she landed on her feet and dropped down into a stance as well. Suddenly, they both rushed at each other at the same time, their forearms contacting, both trying to gain dominance over the other. Goten of course was holding back, giving Hotiku an advantage as she punched him in his face with her left hook. Goten was sent to the ground, while Hotiku held her fist in pain, wincing.
"Damnit! What the hell is your skull made of?!" she shook her hand furiously.
"Why the hell did you hit me so hard!! That hurt!" He growled, holding the side of his face. "That hurt?" he looked up quizzically at Trunks and Vegita as they flew towards them.
She shouldn't have been able to hit him that hard even if she is an enhanced being. Vegita thought, then looked over at Trunks. He doesn't look shocked... there's something he's not telling me.
Trunks walked over and grabbed Hotiku's hand while helping Goten up with his free hand. Hotiku winced under his touch, "that hurts." She shook off the pain as much as she could.
Goten poked her side, "so does my side."
"Ow!" she cried the second he had poked her, "my ribs are still cracked, baka!"
"From what?" he asked.
"Sparring yesterday," she winced.
"I thought you said they were fine?" Trunks raised an eyebrow.
"I lied!" she let her arms drop to her sides after lifting them in exclamation, but quickly regretted it as they not-so-gently hit her ribs. "Ow," she muttered.
"Here," Vegita tossed a senzu at her.
"What's this," she looked at it questionably, "poison?"
"It's a senzu, it'll heal you," he explained arrogantly.
"You're trying to tell me that this little bean is going to make all my boo-boo's go bye-bye?" she raised an eyebrow. Receiving no reply, she sighed and popped it in her mouth. "Dude it works!!" she looked down at her hands.
"Of course it does, baka," Vegita spat, "stupid girl."
"Bite me, monkey boy." She glared at him.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip you to pathetic shreds right now?" He growled.
"Because you love me!" she fluttered her eyelashes, only provoking him even more. He started advancing on her; she jumped slightly and started walking backwards.
"V-V-Vegita??" she bumped into Trunks, glanced at him, then jumped behind him and hid there, trying to stay on opposite side of Vegita. "You need me!! You don't know who this guy is or how to beat him!!!" she defended herself, but that didn't stop him. He grabbed the back of her shirt and dragged her into the gravity chamber. Trunks and Goten tried to follow, but the door slid shut before they could get in.
"Oh great…" she muttered before sinking into a fighting stance.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"They've been in there a long time now…" Goten said worriedly. As if answering him, the door opened and Vegita stepped out, battered and bruised.
"You two better hope you were sparring while we were in there," he glared and walked away. They took their eyes off him and turned to the door. They were just about to get up and go see if Hotiku was all right, when she appeared in the doorway, leaning against the frame. Cuts and bruises were almost completely covering her body, including all the blood. She had taken her shirt off a while ago and her pants were ripped in various places. Despite everything, she flashed them a smile before falling out of the chamber, exhausted. Goten blurred over and caught her before she hit the ground.
"I'm fine, just gimme another one of those lil' beanie things…" she held her head wincing. Trunks obeyed and slid it between her lips, as she chewed it slowly. She let out a relieved sigh as Goten put her down.
"He really beat you up, didn't he?" Goten snickered. She slowly moved her gaze over to him.
"Well, I woulda been better off if you two had shown me some moves! And eventually you will," she glared at them both. Suddenly, as if a light bulb turned off, she instantly got an idea. "Goten!!" She jumped up and hugged his arm. "Teach me the kamehameha! Please?" she begged him.
"Oh no, if I teach you that you're gonna want to know everyone of my signature attacks!!" He cried, trying to pry her off his arm.
"No I won't! Come on Goten!! Teach it to me!" she whined loudly before saying confidently, "you know you want to."
"No, no, and NO!" He managed to get free of her grasp. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, hanging from him.
"Pleeeease?! Come on Goten! Don't be so stubborn!" she scolded.
"I said no!" he stood his ground.
"If you teach it to me, I... I'll clean for a week!"
"No!"
"I'll be your servant for a week!"
"NO!"
"I'll cook for a week!!" she said desperately.
"N-- Okay, this is what you do first!" he quickly gave in.
"Yatta!!!" she let go of him as he positioned her body correctly. After about an hour, Goten was on the floor with his hands dug roughly in his hair.
"For the last time, you shoot in front of you," he stood up, walked over to her and grasped her hands, placing them behind her.
"Hey Trunks!" Hotiku shouted.
"What?" he asked annoyed. She smirked and motioned for him to stand in place. He let out a disheveled sigh, she had been using him as her target and so far he had been fried, burned, electrocuted and sent crashing into a tree. They were both about ready to give up on her. The only thing keeping Trunks from going on a rampage were Hotiku's antics.
"And you release here," Goten finished, "are you paying attention?"
"Yes, mother," she rolled her eyes causing Trunks to chuckle. "Goten I look stupid," she whined.
"Hey did you want to learn this or what?" he glared at her.
"Fine, fine, fine. Give the order Colonel Cranky pants," she snickered.
"Just do it," he sighed. Hotiku rolled her eyes and, without even aiming, pulled back her hands and performed the kamehameha.
"There you happy?" she raised an eyebrow, placing her hands on her hips. She glanced over at Trunks, blinked once, then burst out laughing. The only part of him that wasn't covered in ashes were his eyes. He blinked twice before doing a double take. He dusted himself off and walked over to them.
"You did it," Goten said exhausted.
"I did? Whoo hoo!!"
"Now can we go inside?" Trunks asked.
"Ok-... no." she changed her mind.
"No?" Goten looked at her like she was crazy. She looked over at Trunks deviously.
"Oooh no! No no... NO!!" he shook his head and backed away from her, waving his hands at her.
"Come on! You know you want to!" She chased him as he started to run away from her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So what did you kids do today?" Bulma asked as she served them dinner.
"I got Goten to teach me the kamehameha!" Hotiku said excitedly. Bulma looked at her in disbelief.
"How'd you do that?" she blinked at her.
"I told him I'd cook for a week," she grinned.
"That would explain it," she nodded, "what else happened?"
"I got Trunks to teach me the Final Flash and his Burning Attack too!" she smiled at Bulma.
Bulma looked at her son, "uh, Trunks?"
"She made me," he buried his head in his arms. Bulma giggled, this only proved her theory that women had some kind of manipulative power over men. Of course, there were some instances that flipped the theory around. After dinner, Goten, Hotiku and Trunks went upstairs to Trunks' room.
"See? I told you guys you were gonna eventually teach those moves to me," she smiled, while the two boys groaned.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A small space pod was pulled into the docking bay of a much larger one.
"Whoever these people are, they don't know who they're dealing with," the brown-haired boy muttered, stepping out of his ship.
"Oh really?" An effeminate voice said behind him. He spun around, a mixture of emotions running across his face, "Welcome, Taga," she smiled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Okay, I dare you to..." Goten started, "go into Vegita's room and... steal a pair of his boxers!" Trunks and Hotiku sat shocked and dumbfounded.
"His boxers?!" Hotiku squeaked.
"Yup," Goten said proudly.
"Fine, not a problem!" She stood up and walked out the door. Goten and Trunks paled.
"She's actually going to do it?" Goten face faulted. Trunks quickly rushed over to her and grabbed her arm. She looked back at him quizzically.
"You'll need this," Trunks dug into the drawer next to the door and pulled out a small device, pinning it on her temple. "It'll completely hid your ki."
"Thanks, now let go, I've got a dare to pull off!" she winked at him before disappearing down the hallway. A few minutes later, the boys heard a slam and looked towards the door to see Hotiku as white as a sheet, trying to catch her breathe. As soon as the color returned to her face, she growled at Goten and threw the pair of boxers at his face.
"Ah! Hey!" he recoiled away from the boxers in fear and disgust.
"You idiot! Thanks a lot, now I'm scarred for life!" she yelled.
"Why?" Trunks asked.
"Vegita and Bulma weren't sleeping, so to speak," she glared. They both paled, knowing exactly what had happened. "My turn, Trunks truth or dare?"
"Uhh," Trunks didn't want to do something equally as embarrassing as what she had to do, "truth."
Hotiku snickered, "boxers or briefs?"
"Nani?! That's a personal question!!" he roared.
"Hey, this is truth or dare, and you chose truth. Now you have to suffer the consequences," she smirked.
"...boxers," he finally said, causing Goten and Hotiku to burst out laughing.
"Hey, at least he didn't say briefs! That coulda lasted us a week!" Hotiku rolled in laughter. Meanwhile, Trunks face was completely red, not only from humiliation, but also from rage.
"Shut up!" he yelled. "It's not funny!"
"So why are we laughing?" Goten mocked him as he had done to him a few days ago.
"He's gotta point," she defended him.
"Whatever," he yawned, not really caring anymore.
"Mind if we crash here tonight?" Hotiku asked.
"Nah, go ahead."
"Arigatou!" she said cheerily, as he lead her to a spare room across the hall.
"Goten, you can stay in my room," Trunks replied, as they walked back.
"Alright, I'll see you to in the morning!" she waved to them excitedly. Goten rolled his eyes thinking she would never fall asleep. The second the door closed, she collapsed on the bed, asleep.
