Chapter 6: Pulling a "Pilaf"
Talusk looked out into space though a shielded opening in the ship. His fellow hunters had just come on board to see his latest prize. An elevator opened behind him.
"Ah, my fellow hunters. Welcome."
"Ok, Talusk," one of the five said, "what do you have that is so great that you interrupt my latest hunt?"
"What, that animal you keep tracking? I have something that is more advisable."
"Another of your humanoid prey? Might I remind you that even we consider that immoral," another if the five said.
"Come with me," Talusk beckoning to them with his finger towards the tall doors.
As they walked though the trophy room, one of the five other hunters spotted an object at the end of the room. All five of them gasped in awe as they saw the head of Gohan displayed on a stand attached to the wall.
"I know who he is," another hunter said, "he's the one who defeated the one named Cell on the planet earth."
"Talusk," another began, "this a little extreme. This is just a child."
"A child who has great power," Talusk added stroking one of Gohan's cheeks with his only biological hand. "Or should I say had."
All the other hunters backed away as Talusk laughed. Suddenly a loud bang was heard, and he saw a fight going on between Drago and two humans. He had been daydreaming, and he snapped back into reality. Suddenly remembering he was still on earth waiting for the remaining Dragon Ball, he went back to waiting impatiently, tapping his right foot on the ground and crossing his arms. As he watched two of the Crones and loyal human battle the Z warriors, he became irritated. Time seemed to stretch out, relative to him. He looked back at Gohan to check on him. He was still struggling to get out of the decapitation machine but with very little progress. Talusk thought he heard Gohan saying something, but with Drago's gag on him, all he could hear were muffled pleas.
"What a determined boy. He will be a fine prize for me. I can't wait to show my fellow hunters that I have the head of the most powerful Saiyan in my trophy room. Once…"
His thoughts were interrupted by the noise of a conformation from a Crone.
"Finally you get here!" he yelled, "Put the Dragon Ball with the rest and go help Drago fight those pests."
Immediately, the Crone dropped the ball next to the others and flew towards Drago. Intervening in a battle between all three humans, the Crone attacked Yamcha. Talusk took his eyes off the battle and attended to the Dragon Balls. All seven of them began to emit a glow that reflected in Talusk's cybernetic eyes. Dark clouds began to gather, covering the morning sky.
"Come forth, dragon!"
Lightning cracked and made its way to the Dragon Balls. A huge beam of light fired into the sky and started to bend. It continued to grow and bend, creating arms and scales as it settled. The front of the elastic beam formed into a head with red eyes and sharp teeth. Shen-long, the eternal dragon, finally formed completely and looked down at the one who called it.
"Tell me your greatest desires," its deep voice boomed, "I will fulfill them, whatever they may be."
As if the world had come to a stop, all the Z warriors looked at the dragon with fear of what was to be wished. All of them, how ever had given the enemy an advantage by lowering their defense.
"Eternal dragon!" Drago yelled, "I am the greatest hunter in the universe, and my desire is but one."
"Make it before someone else does," it said impatiently.
"Right! I wish…"
"…FOR GOHAN'S STRENGTH TO RETURN TO HIM!" a voice sounding just like Talusk's came from behind.
"What?!" Talusk asked turning around to see the source.
"AND TO HAVE ANOTHER PANTIES OF A HOT BABE WITH A BOTTLE OF TEQUILA!"
"As you wish." Shen-long's eyes flashed red.
"No! Do not listen to him!" Talusk protested, "He's not me!"
A woman's undergarments and a bottle of tequila, both with Shen-long's symbol, landed next to Oolong.
"I told you to make your wish quickly. Now, I bid you farewell."
Shen-long disappeared in a blinding flash of light, and the Dragon Balls, now turned to stone, rose into the air and fired in seven different directions.
"Wow, I never thought I would have to pull another 'Pilaf' again," Oolong said "examining" the undergarments.
"No," Talusk pleaded, "I had it within my grasp. I could have been the greatest hunter in the universe." He turned around and looked at Oolong, who was opening the bottle of tequila.
"You!" Talusk yelled. "I'll kill you for that!"
He charged towards the shape-shifter with cybernetic claws coming out of his fingertips. Then, he felt pain in his jaw. It was enough to send him flying into the metal semi-hemisphere that had housed half of the cargo bay. Talusk looked up from where he was and saw a small figure surrounded by a golden aurora. With its green eyes and yellow hair, it walked towards the hunter.
"You have murdered many innocent beings," it said, "And now you are hurting my friends. I cannot allow you to continue on your reign of terror."
Oolong ran behind the figure, Gohan, and started to transform into a bat-like creature. With his "precious cargo" in his talons, he started to fly away from the ship.
"Fool," Talusk thought, "He thinks he's stronger than me."
"I will never tolerate this behavior on this planet!" Gohan yelled out.
The entire ship began to shake, and Gohan's hair became spikier and a deeper golden tone. Electrical currents circled around him, and he seemed to grow larger in Talusk's perception. Three separate beams fired from Gohan's body and hit the three Crones, incinerating them in an instant.
"Leave this planet now, and never murder again."
"Not without my trophy."
Talusk charged towards Gohan, lining his cybernetic claws with Gohan's neck. The ascended Saiyan grabbed his hand and crushed it in the sounds of bone and metal twisting. The cybernetic hunter used his other fist, but Gohan again crushed it. Pulling away, Talusk accidentally ripped his own hands off, leaving Gohan to drop them on the floor.
"What the fuck happened?! He can't be this strong! It's not him! He's transformed somehow into a higher being of power!"
Vegeta got up from the hole in the ground caused by the destroyed Crone's punches and looked to the space ship.
"No! He's done it again! He has surpassed me! How the hell does he do it!?"
Talusk then smiled at Gohan. "The game is not over."
Drago, who was floating around Krillin and Yamcha, started to fell something shake in his armor. Looking down, he saw that it was loosening.
"Lord Talusk?"
In a second, the armor tore off its wearer and flew towards Talusk. Without the armor's power, Drago was susceptible to gravity and started to fall to the flat ground. Yamcha and Krillin saw this and flew down to catch him, but they responded too late. Drago landed on the ground and bounced once before thudding back down on the earth.
As blood leaked from his body and the two human Z warriors looked in shock, he spoke his last words to his master. "You…bastard."
The armor adjusted itself to form two open cylinders that attached themselves to Talusk's arms. Forming two huge energy cannons, the hunter laughed.
"Be a good sport, Gohan, and die!"
Firing multiple energy blast, Talusk blindly aimed at his target, who was dodging all of them. The rescue team flew away from the battle quickly. Going past a few trees, Krillin saw Oolong running away with his items. Diving down, he picked up the shape-shifter. After a minute of blasting, the hunter flew upwards and looked around. He could see he had gone overboard as his ship was now nothing but a pile of ruble.
"Where the hell did my prey go?"
He felt pain again but not in his jaw. It was just below his neck. Looking down, Talusk saw a fist protruding from his torso. He turned his head as far as he could and made out Gohan's angry face. Then he felt a burning sensation. Looking at the fist again, it started to glow. The metal around it began to melt, and the flesh he had left was giving off a cooked smell. He could feel the cybernetic systems overloading. Krillin and the other were several miles from the battle when they saw a large flash of blinding light. A huge wave of air and power expanded, almost throwing the team to the ground. After the wave, they rushed back. They came to a burnt clearing when they saw the ascended Gohan revert to his normal form. Silence came upon the group until a smirk came to Gohan's mouth. After the smirk came a smile and a small laugh as he rubbed the back of his head.. All the others smiled in response, except for Vegeta.
"Errrhh. Just like his low-class father."
All of them, except Vegeta, began to laugh at the comment.