Chapter Two: Things go wrong-pain, anger and acting
Miko opened her eyes to bright morning sunlight. She blinked as pain exploded inside her head. She groaned and fell right off the double bed. She had a strong urge to throw up. There was a knock at the door, Miko pulled what seemed like half of her hair out of her mouth and face and dragged herself off the floor and out of the tangled heap of bedclothes, but promptly landed on her butt again. This time she was careful to dismember the offending sheets before getting to her feet again. She did not notice that her shirt had somehow found it's way on backwards and that her pants were slung down to her hips, the side seam facing the front.
"Come in" she called groggily, her mouth was dry and she felt extremely sick, Bulma stuck her head around the door, her eyes flicked over the ruffled clothing and she smiled a little. Miko did not notice
"Good you're up, breakfast in twenty minutes, the bathroom's at the end of the hall" Miko nodded, supporting herself by holding onto the nightstand
"You got any painkillers? My head feels like it's going to pop" Bulma grinned
"Yeah, you seemed to get more smashed after you stopped drinking" Miko nodded and nearly fell over the bedclothes her foot was still tangled in
"Yeah that happens, it's weird but alcohol always takes like twenty minutes to have any effect, this usually results in me getting shnockered long before I know it" Bulma's smile widened
"Yeah I used to drink a lot, then I had Trunks"
"Kids really change things, by the way, I was too drunk to notice, but where is Sheme?" Bulma grinned just a little wider
"He slept in Trunks' room, they get on quite well. They're next on the list for a wake up call, do you want to leave him here when you go up to the look out?"
"Maybe, depends on what he wants, but I'm still not sure about this look out thing. I mean I really am terrified of heights, and flying, and flying at speed when not in a vehicle of some kind" Bulma nodded
"You'll get used to it, one of them will have to carry you" Miko made a face
"Great, they'll be sorry soon enough. I hate being carried" Bulma laughed
"I'll leave you to get cleaned up, everything's in the bathroom, and I'll lend you some clothes too" Miko nodded
"K" her head was still throbbing but she was thinking clearly now
"See you in twenty minutes" Bulma closed the door. Miko rearranged the covers on the bed so it had some semblance of being made and headed down the corridor; it was lined with about five doors. At the end was a door marked bathroom, she pushed open the door to yet another large room. Everything in this place was big; the house itself was over six stories. After closing the door she shed her clothes quickly and turned on the shower, she grinned at the vanity, it was lined with very product under the sun; she had never used skin care stuff, or even dressed up really. She took one of the silken hair ties and twisted her thick hair into a bun of sorts, steam rose from the shower, she stepped under the warm water, smiling into the steady stream.
Bulma called through the door
"Breakfast in fifteen minutes you two!" she heard thuds and muffled yelps, and a small swear word, she scowled and opened the door
"No swearing in this house," she said sternly, Sheme detangled himself from the pile of bedclothes
"Sorry, my sister always tells me off for talking like her" he grinned at her
"Sorry about the mess, Mrs Brief" Bulma smiled
"It's no different from when Trunks gets up" she walks across the room and shoved her still sleeping son out of bed
"Mum! I'm tired," he moaned, she grinned and pulled away the covers
"Too bad, you shouldn't have stayed up so late then"
Tien landed to see Miko sitting on the grass waiting. She had a funny expression on her face. Gohan and Goku weren't far behind. He noted they had left Goten behind. He stared at Miko, she didn't look half as bedraggled as before, her emerald hair was drawn into a thick plait at the base of her neck and she was wearing clothes he could only guess were Bulma's, without the long loose clothing she seemed much better looking. A short wine red sleeveless shirt covered her top half, ending an inch above her navel, accenting her curves, and below those were greyish black hipster jeans, fully revealing from hem to lower hem about three inches of flat, smooth mid riff, he noted her arms were far from frail, the absence of sleeves displaying toned muscle, yet her arms were not excessive, just right he thought
"Hi again" she said, she sounded strange
"Still hung over?" he asked, she nodded
"Only just, but geez Bulma has good painkillers too" Tien grinned as Gohan and Goku landed, Gohan whistled low
"Heck you look different" she scowled slightly
"Well, when you're snatched into the sky by a triclops you tend to not look your best" Tien noticed she was actually a lot thinner than she had first appeared, and a good deal more shapely, her curves running in smooth rounded lines, but she was by no means delicate, her shoulders still suggested strength and power, and he supposed her long legs were nothing but smooth, toned muscle.
Miko remained calm but she was not comfortable in such revealing clothes, she was used to wearing bulky things that hid her frame, making her appear more formidable. She shifted a little as Gohan whistled; she did not like the way they were all staring at her, Krillin landed
"Hey-wow" she was annoyed now, she still had a headache and she didn't want to field anything else
"You say one word and you die," she said threateningly
"Ok, maybe we'd better get going then, who wants to carry her" Goku said to the others
There was silence, Goku could see Gohan shifting uncomfortably, a slight blush playing across his cheeks, Tien stood stock still, Goku himself wasn't looking forward to the same treatment Tien had gotten, they had all seen the marks on his face, and he supposed Krillin didn't want to get it from 18, he knew Chichi wouldn't be pleased either, there were only a few of them, it seemed pointless for all of them to make the journey, suddenly Yamcha appeared
"Hey guys, I just finished breakfast" he suddenly noticed Gohan staring at the ground
"Gohan?" the boy blushed deeper. He heard a snort
"For god's sake, I hate this as much as you guys, alright" Miko told him irritably
"Ok" Gohan said, he offered Miko his hand who allowed him to pick he r up, Goku grinned, Gohan was blushing deeply, Miko was scowling as he arranged her so best not to drop her while being out of her finger range, she was getting impaTient
"Look, like this" she shifted his hands around her slightly, Gohan blushed further then seemed to settle
"Ready?" he asked, she winced and placed her arms around his neck, he rose slowly into the air, she shut her eyes tight and nodded, they all shot off
Miko slowly opened an eyes, she was holding on for dear life, she noticed Gohan turning slightly blue, she loosened her grip slightly, not daring to look down
"You ok?" he asked, he was still blushing. She wondered how old he was
"I hope" she said, he smiled reassuringly and she felt gravity claw at her, they were going up, she glanced at the rapidly disappearing ground. She yelped and clung to him, she heard a strangled gasp and loosened her grip again
"Just how fast are we going?"
"About triple the speed of light, don't worry. If you fall I can catch you before you've gone ten metres"
"How comforting" she said dryly
Gohan sighed, her nails were digging into his neck, her grip tightened at regular interval and only when he turned blue did she realise he was choking, he sighed again as she loosened her grip again, slowly relaxing. The gleaming white of Karin tower came into view, he slowed to a halt so as not to catapult his passenger out of his arms. His father, Yamcha, Krillin and Tien were waiting for him, he had gone slightly slower than them, his father was talking to Karin, the white cat looked up as Gohan landed
"Hey who's the babe" Miko scowled as he put her down. She stalked over to the cat, who seemed to have realised this was not a girl to call babe, she towered over him and snarled
"Unless you want my foot so far up your ass you can taste what I stepped in last week you will never call me that again" she told him angrily, he cowered, inching away
"Ok, ok I get it" suddenly she looked up, Yajirobe was standing with his jaw hanging open
"Hey who's the babe" he addressed Goku
Miko flew at him her fist drawn back, suddenly she was jerked off her feet, some one had her in a strangle hold without actually trying to stretch her ribs until they broke apart, she had been in several before, it had not been fun. They were lifting her just off her feet, she cursed and swore, driving her feet up behind her she heard a grunt and she was dropped, she landed on her feet and swung around. Goku was doubled over
"Geez I wasn't ready for that" he squeaked, she noticing Krillin and Tien smirking
"She's actually got quite a high fighting power"
"Probably just doesn't know how to use ki so she channels it into speed and strength"
"She looks like a warrior, though the only female fighter we know is 18 and you wouldn't be able to tell with her"
"Well there is Chichi I guess but under that kimono. There's really nothing to compare"
"Will you please stop speaking about me as though I am not here!" she said loudly, these people were irritating in their chauvinism, she gritted her teeth and strode back to Gohan
"Is this the look out?"
"No this is Karin's place, he lives below the look out. We stopped to say hi"
"Can we go now?"
"Just a minute"
"I'm counting"
Goku straightened up
"Long time no see" Karin nodded
"She wouldn't be the one Dende wants would she?"
"Yup, dam it she kicks hard" Karin grinned
"Rather you than me Goku, hang on, I'll get something to eat" the cat disappeared down the stairs, Yajirobe was hiding behind a table, Miko was at the edge of the lookout, hurling her breakfast over the side and marvelling at the sight of the stuff flying downwards
"Cool" she said wiping her mouth with the back of her hand
"I need a drink of water, is there anywhere I can get some?" Yajirobe jumped forward
"I'll get you some...babe" he said as an after thought, she whirled around, her eyes flashing, but Yajirobe was already gone, she cursed and turned back to lean over the balcony, Yajirobe reappeared with a glass of water, she took it without a word, took a gulp and spat it over the edge, repeated this process then swallowed the rest in a gulp handing the glass back to Yajirobe, who was staring at her behind, she ignored him while Karin returned and struck up a conversation with Goku
Tien scowled disgustedly at Yajirobe, Miko was ignoring him he noticed, probably giving up on him treating her like a person, her long green plait hung down past her elbows, as she looked down
"How high up is this place?" she asked no one in particular, Krillin answered
"About forty thousand metres" she grimaced
"Geezuz, how'd you get me here so fast?"
"A lot of training" Gohan told her smiling. He came to stand near her as she squinted at the clouds
"It's peaceful up here," she said quietly
"Yeah it is" Tien said even quieter, he noticed Krillin smirking at him. He looked away. Miko straightened up
"Can we go now or I swear I'll climb the next god knows how any miles up" Gohan grinned
"Only four more to go" he offered her his hand again and she placed her arms around his neck, he lifted her as if she would break, she scowled disgustedly
"You are going to teach me to fly," she told him sternly
"I hate being carried" Gohan nodded and called to is father
"Let's go dad," Goku tipped yet another bowl of something into his mouth, somehow unhinging his jaw to get it all down and got up and joined them. They all leapt off the edge, Miko buried her green head in Gohan's shoulder at the sudden lurch.
Miko closed her eyes, her empty stomach performing gymnastics within her.
"Careful" Gohan said half strangled, she removed her finger nails from the skin of is neck
"Sorry" she choked out before her stomach forced her to close her mouth
"We'll be there in about ten minutes" Gohan told her, she nodded, her face deathly white
"Geezuz, this is not the way to travel when you have hangover" Gohan grinned
"I wouldn't know, I've never tried alcohol"
"Don't, it's not worth it"
"Then why do you drink it?"
"Because if you drink enough any floor's comfortable, and any shock is like nothing"
"Oh"
"Don't try it, it ain't worth it"
"Ok I won't" she grinned dazedly and rested her head on his chest, protecting her face from the strong winds as they shot upwards
Piccolo sensed their approach, the girl had shown a fair bit of power there, she could most likely equal himself with some good training, though he would not train her, she was a pathetic woman, she was afraid of heights for Dende's sake! Tien, Goku, Yamcha and Krillin appeared and landed quickly, Gohan came up much slower, Piccolo saw he had been the unlucky one to carry Miko. She had buried her head in his gi, he could see the welts on Gohan's neck where she had him in a death grip, he pried her head away and slowly set he one her feet, she stepped away from him and promptly stumbled, coming very close to the edge, Piccolo jumped up, but Tien was already there, steering her towards the centre of the tiles, Dende came out to meet them. Tien held her by the shoulders until she regained her balance and looked around
Miko's first impression was "big". A smaller version of Piccolo without the constant scowl in a strange tunic thing extended his hand
"Hello, I am Dende the guardian of this planet" Miko looked him up and down, he was scrawny as anything, she supposed he could be no older than 18, possibly sixteen
"Hi" she said, not taking his hand, too much had happened for her normal social instincts to kick in, she supposed they were in shock too
"I suppose you've had a bit of a shock and I hear you hate flying so you must be feeling a bit hostile" Miko scowled, he was too perceptive for her liking. She was a private person; what was her business was her business, she didn't like it how he seemed to know immediately what was running through her head.
"Well I think we have a lot to talk about, Miko isn't it?" the green boy withdrew his hand at last, Miko nodded; nothing shocked her anymore. Dende indicated she follow him, she scowled a little, a hand touched her shoulder, she turned to see Tien
"Hey don't worry, you can trust him, what's he gonna do?" she scowled but nodded, she followed Dende a hundred yards or so closer to the massive structure she guessed was a dwelling of sorts, he turned and indicated to a man of dark complexion who was bringing out a wickerwork chair from the doorway to her
"Take a seat" Miko complied, her stomach still pitching but empty
"This is Mr Popo, he helps me up here"
"I hate heights," Dende laughed
"Yeah I guessed that, you cut Tien and Gohan up pretty bad"
"Tien was intentional actually, but Gohan it was holding on" he grinned and seated himself in another chair the stout man had just reappeared with
"Now, I suppose you have a lot of questions" she nodded
"I trust you have the answers"
"Some, I think you have more than you're letting on though" Miko frowned, this little worm was way too perceptive for her liking
"We'll see, now, how the hell did you find me?"
"I see the whole planet up here, the guardian's job is to protect the planet, I know where everyone is at any given time" Miko was getting more edgy every second
"What exactly do you want me to do to kill this twin of mine, which I still don't believe I have"?
"Well I don't want her killed, not if we can help it anyway, you see your father's race, Zarbon, had two forms, one exceptionally good looking" Miko raised an eyebrow
"And the other three times more powerful but considerably more reptilian and much larger, my theory is, that Zarbon's race never had twins, resulting in the two forms, I think because of your mother's DNA that you are one form and your twin is the other, only instead of the whole beauty and the beast set up it goes good and evil, both equally powerful, and because of this you share a telepathic link, but you can also merge together, creating one all powerful being, a being none of us, even at their full potential could destroy, at the present moment none of us is strong enough to beat your twin now so you are the only hope, you see at any strength no male could defeat her, she has a power over them, and 18 is the only other female fighter, and she is nowhere near strong enough"
"How comforting, I have another one, if we are equally powerful then how is she so hard to beat, I mean you and the short guy are the only ones I could beat the crap out of up here and you tell me my other half is evil and wants to steal my soul so she can destroy everything I know, and then you expect me to find some way of saving your asses, for god's sake, how am I supposed to know how to save earth, until yesterday I survived for the last three years on nothing, what makes you think I have any idea how to save earth, I can barely look after my brother" Dende smiled
"You're a lot smarter than you think, and also your twin has been trained since infanthood by the strongest naturally occurring evil warrior the universe had ever known, had you received the same you would be at the same level. So you're actually quite strong for a woman with little to no intensive training"
"And you're incredibly annoying.and chauvinistic"
"Well that's a new one, listen, what's going on is, your twin wants you, so she can merge with you and become the most powerful being in the universe"
"Why don't you just kill me then?"
"A few of the Z fighters wanted to"
"Which one" her voice was deadly
"Maybe I should just say they won't try"
"I said which one" the green kid shifted uncomfortably
"Anyway, the only way to beat her is you, you share a telepathic link, you can hear her thoughts at times, your personality is influenced by hers, you share the same interests, when she feels pain so do you, I bet you suddenly get an ache or a sharp pain for no reason" Miko's eyes had gone wide
"But that's just nerve damage, I have a mild form of epilepsy, nerves misfire and it results in a seizure, only my case is more mild, it's a medical condition"
"No it isn't, it is your twin"
"No, you're lying" Miko was out of her seat, backing away
Piccolo phased in behind her. She swung around wide-eyed
"Will you people quit doing that!" she said exasperatedly. Piccolo grabbed her wrists and lifted her off her feet. She drove her heels into his shins, her five eleven feet of height nothing to his seven. He half dragged her back to Dende and dropped her into the wickerwork seat,
"Stay" he ordered, placing himself behind, her filthy language still ringing in his ears, she never used the same curse twice, allowing for the largest vocabulary he had ever heard
"That's it" she got up and drove her fist into his gut, he doubled up as she sprinted past him, he wondered what she thought she was doing, there was no way she could go anywhere
Miko was severely annoyed, if that was how they were going to play she'd see just how they responded to this, she increased her speed as she shot past Tien, Gohan and Krillin. She kicked Goku in the head on his way to intercept her and threw herself over the edge, she heard curses from above as she fell, she knew they would be along any minute now, she folded her arms and propelled herself towards the tower, having no idea where she was going, she reached out and grabbed a rung of the ladder she had seen on the way up, fury overpowering her fear. There was a sharp jerk on her shoulder as she came to a stop. She heard whooshes as six streaks shot past her, she smirked and swung her feet onto a rung and steadied herself, she placed both hands on the outside of the ladder of sorts, her jeans hindering her movements, she then released her grip with her feet, her sneakers sliding against the narrow tower.
Goku scanned the sky for any sign of her, he wondered where she could have gotten to, there was no way she could have fallen as fast as they could fly, he scouted for a sign of her ki, but it was so indistinct he couldn't find a location, he turned and began a lightning fast spiral around the tower, he saw Gohan copying his pattern while Tien and Yamcha shot upwards, she was too important to lose, he wished Piccolo hadn't gone and scared her like that. He wondered what she had meant to do by jumping off a lookout eight miles up. Maybe she could fly and just wasn't letting on, but they would have sensed her by now. He scratched his head as the ground approached. He searched the ground but found nothing out of the ordinary, no spec that could be her. He turned and shot upwards
Miko swung behind the tower as she slid steadily downwards, two streaks were coming back up, they passed her without stopping, she kept going, loosening her grip with her sneakers to speed up, they were rapidly burning away, she tightened her hands again. As another streak came spiralling back up she reached out to grab a rung an swung just behind the tower as the faintly blurred form passed, she repeated this process three times, Counting to herself as she neared her first stop, one to go, she jumped away from the tower and landed with a jolt, she glanced down at the pitiful remnants of her sneakers, she grinned, none of them knew what she was capable of. She slunk to the white pole that was the tower she had come down, another streak shot past. She crouched low, it was the green one, she saw him slow down, she flattened herself against the opposite side of he tower, away from him. He sped up and kept going.
Karin fell of his stool when the babe suddenly swung in from above, holding onto the roof and swinging what was left of expensive looking sneakers into his face, he shook his head, she standing over him, her bare foot on his throat
"Listen cat" she hissed, and knelt down
"Shut your mouth, you didn't see me got it" he nodded, his skin going red underneath his fur, she smirked and grabbed his cane, and sprinted down his stairs, he heard thuds and yelps and curses that could only belong to Yajirobe as the babe smashed the living daylights out of him
Miko grabbed the capsule marked "ship" and took it back up the stairs. The cat was back on his stool
"You know there's no point, I mean if you don't help them earth will be destroyed"
"Do I look like I care right now?" she said, her hair was half undone, and her hands and jeans were extremely dirty, as if she had just jumped through a smoke screen, she looked up and down, there was another streak coming, she had a feeling they would be going up and down for a while, she jumped back, concealing herself under the cat's table, the fat man's sword twisted between his shoulder blades
"Remember, you haven't seen me" she hissed, the cat nodded as Gohan landed a few feet away, Miko held her breath
"Hey Karin, have you seen that girl?"
"No Gohan, why do you ask?" the cat said smoothly, Miko pressed a little harder with the sharp blade
"Well she kind of' jumped off the lookout, and ummm....we can't find her"
"Could she have fallen the whole way?"
"She's not heavy enough, she's actually quite light" Miko scowled, Gohan was blushing
"And we fly at over five times the speed of light, anyway, I'm thinking she might be able to fly, I mean she could if she knew how" Miko scowled deeper and twisted the blade just a little, the cat almost jumped
"No I haven't seen her, bit I'll let you know if I do" Gohan nodded
"Ok, we'll be flying up and down for a while, Dende says he'll try and locate her from up there" Miko nearly growled, little bastard, she went through every unholy name in her head she could place on the green kid's head, Gohan was saying good bye, he turned and jumped over the edge, Miko waited a few seconds, before jumping out from under the table, punching the cat in the face to knock hi out and decasualising the ship over the edge, it was a one seat-er, she jumped with it, grabbing the outer hull and slipping inside, she turned on the controls and blasted to the west, the only thought on her mind to get away, the ship was easy to manuvere, a good thing considering she had never been good with ships or vehicles, she kept a steady line, going full speed
Gohan looked up, had he heard something? He couldn't understand where she could have gotten to, he indicated to Tien, who pulled up, his face bearing the same expression as his own
"Did you just hear something" Gohan asked, Tien nodded, they both strained their senses, a small drone, like engines came to their ears, it was too distant to tell where it came from but they knew some one who would pick it up, they nodded and blasted upwards
Miko estimated it was five minutes travel before she found the turbojets, she was pressed back into her seat with the force, she grinned and pressed the eject button, the seat had a parachute so she was set, she shot into the air and free fell until the ground approached, she pulled the rip cord and her parachute jerked her upwards, she floated to the ground slowly, she smirked, realised she was about ten miles from Satan city, she sat down on the grassy area she had landed in and stretched her toes, they were sore and aching. The area was mainly meadows, most likely a farm she thought. A voice roused her from her thoughts
"Hey, you ok?" she looked up to see a man on a tractor driving towards her, she smiled, knowing her way out, she got unsteadily to her feet
"Oh thank god you found me!" she said, putting on her best hysterical female voice and fake stumbling under the weight of her parachute, he stopped the tractor and jumped down
"Easy there miss" he said, catching her as she fell neatly into his arms, she secretly smirked as he carried her to his vehicle
"We'd better get you back to the house" he said worriedly, she nodded fake groggily
"Don't you close your eyes now, you might have a concussion" she secretly smirked, using what was left of her hangover to be all the more convincing
Karin breathed a sigh of relief, he had just woken up, and she was gone, he sensed Piccolo approach, the green man braked at eye level
"Where'd she go feline?" he demanded, Karin breathed another sigh of relief; Piccolo knew she had been here, he wouldn't have to explain his humiliation
"She took a plane and headed west," he said, hearing grunts as his assistant rose back to consciousness
"Is she gone?" he called from downstairs
"Yes" Karin answered, wondering how she had managed to evade them and get down here without the ability to fly, her ki potential was rather high for a female; it was disconcerting. Yajirobe staggered up to meet him
"What the hell happened?"
"She beat the crap out of us, that's what, I wonder how she got down here without flying"
"Maybe she climbed"
"No, not even Goku could do it that fast, besides she doesn't have enough stamina to last that long, and they went up and down many times, it's a mystery" Yajirobe nodded
"Still she was a babe, what'd you pick up from her mind?"
"I was too scared to try, her head is full of anger though, maybe not all hers"
Miko allowed herself to be led into a small farmhouse. The stout man pushed her into a chair
"There you go honey, BETHA!!" he yelled, Miko winced, without the effect of painkillers on her head she was no longer faking, she had puked half up before so they must have worn off much quicker, a plump woman entered
"What is it Abe?" she asked, then her eyes fell on Miko
"Oh my! What happened?" she placed a hand on Miko's head, Abe shrugged
"I saw her land with a parachute, she fell over and I called out, I reckon she's got a concussion or something, she was acting real groggy so I brought her back here. She nearly passed out a few times" he spoke with a strange accent Miko was only just noticing, she giggled, turning on the acting again, she guessed her hangover was getting it's revenge for her treasonous use of painkillers. The woman peered at her
"What's your name sweetie?" she said kindly, sharing the same strange accent, as the man Miko guessed was her husband. Miko put on her best thinking face, screwing up her features in fake frustration
"I-I don't know," she said wonderingly
"Oh dear, maybe she's had more of a knock than we thought" the woman said, Miko prayed Sheme would be safe; she couldn't get to him just yet. Vegeta was at Capsule Corp, and she knew the spiky haired man was after her blood. Dende wasn't so unreadable she couldn't surmise that. The tall green man, Piccolo was another, she supposed, last hope for the earth or not with people who wanted her dead around she wanted to be as far away as possible. She would pray that Bulma would protect Sheme. The woman was talking
"Do you remember anything honey?" she looked up dazedly, intensifying her confused expression
"I-I remember...a man, he was really tall, he-he" she buried her head in her hands, what was left of her plait fell forward, revealing the bruises on her shoulders from where she had hit the rungs when she swung to avoid one of her pursuers, she heard a gasp, some one gently touched her shoulder, she secretly smirked and jerked away
"She's in shock," the woman said softly
"If the varmit every comes near her while I'm around he'll pay" she heard the man say, she looked up
"I-I don't remember" she said softly, letting them see her wrists without actually appearing to be showing them, they were darkly bruised, she felt bad about playing these people for fools but she didn't have much of a choice, she turned on her tears, it was a remarkable skill, she had always been an excellent actress but she was outdoing herself now, the woman patted her arm
"Don't worry dear, you're safe here, but I can't think how you got here, a plane maybe, there was a crash about twenty miles to the west of here" Miko smiled weakly
"You need some rest dear" the woman gently helped her up
"And a change of clothes" Miko looked down at her apparel, she had ripped splits in the jeans up to the knee so she move better and her top was all but gone, she blushed and pulled her hair down to cover the paper thin garment, the woman smiled
"Come one I'll get you something to wear, do you want to take a bath" Miko nodded
"We must think of something to call you now, any ideas"
"I-I remember being called Shema once" she said weakly
"That'll do fine" the woman said smiling
Gohan was at a loss, no one had any idea where she was, Dende had lost sight of her, the area around the tower was empty, he couldn't think where she would go, Yajirobe's plane had flown straight into a mountain, but she hadn't been in it, he wondered where she had ejected, but they had followed the whole route and found nothing, it was uninhabited. Had she somehow used something like instant transmission? No she couldn't even use ki. He gave up, Piccolo was livid, a large bruise had appeared where she had gotten him, Gohan knew by now she was a lot stronger than she appeared, and faster two, he considered the possibility that she had climbed but how did she get to the tower itself if she went off the edge, it was something he would ask when they found her, he supposed she just got a fright when Piccolo grabbed her, he hadn't meant to scare her so badly, jus make her stay, but as she had said she didn't respond well to orders, he wondered if she would come back for her little brother, they could hope and keep searching at least.
Piccolo meditated furiously, he couldn't believe she had evaded them like that, he hadn't moved for three hours, he was desperately trying to sense her ki, he was surprised it was so low considering her father, but he guessed she had never needed it before, he sense Gohan approach, every member was on the lookout, he wondered why they didn't use the kid as bait, but Bulma had said she wouldn't do that, that this wasn't a manhunt, they just had to find her, not catch her. He scowled
"Piccolo?"
"Hm?"
"Any luck"
"No"
"Darn, how's your stomach?"
"Fine"
"That bruise looked nasty"
"She got a lucky shot"
"She's pretty smart, I don't think any of us would have gotten away do easily"
"She didn't have it easy, I guarantee, if you find her in the next three days she'll be covered in bruises" he heard a low whistle
"Just how hard did you u hold her?"
"Hard"
Goku backed away from Chichi; his wife was livid
"What do you mean it's important" he sighed and explained for the third time
"NO"
"But Chichi-"
"I said no, that's the last I will hear of it!" Goku gave up, she wouldn't even let Gohan take a day off school to find Miko, he thanked Dende it was the weekend, they would just have to fins her before the week started again
"Ok Chichi"
Tien scanned the ground, he was taking his turn at finding Miko, he was worried, what had happened to her, he smiled at the thought of her hair, he pulled his train of thought up sharply, telling himself it was just fatigue. He saw a spec on the ground and swooped downwards
Miko looked up, the sky was a dazzling blue today, she sighed and shoved the plough along, they had insisted she rest for another day but she felt do guilty for conning them that she had done all the farm work for them, they were ecstatic at her strength and Abe had offered her a position straight away, she had accepted, thinking she could leave when she felt it was safe, she turned the plough and finished her ten minute jog of the field, Betha was sitting on the porch when she returned
"My dear you never cease to amaze me" she said happily
"I'm glad to help you've done so much for me"
"Twas no less than the golden rule demanded"
"The golden rule?"
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" Miko nodded thoughtfully
"I've heard that before, it sounds familiar" Betha smiled
"Any luck remembering?"
"No" Miko lied, she felt terrible about it but it was necessary, if they knew who she was it would put them in danger, she had a feeling that her twin would kill anyone who knew who she was
Tien sighed; it had been a small child gathering flowers, she had screamed at the sight of him and run away, Tien jumped into the air wondering where Miko was right now
Far away pale fingers raped against the hard marble armrest of a throne, Freiza's throne
"Where are you sister," a sultry voice said to no one in particular, an amphibious guard scurried towards her
"My queen"
"Speak" the voice ordered icily
"We are approximately two solar systems from earth"
"Any results from the planetary scan"
"We have determined that there are a small group of warriors defending the planet"
"And my twin"
"Nothing your majesty"
"Then go and continue" the voice said annoyed
"Yes your majesty" the amphibian bowed and scuttled away, the finger resumed there tapping
"Sister you will join me, we will rule the universe as Freiza did, and seek revenge for the deaths of our father, hear me" the fingers took a small knife and drew it across a pale thigh
Miko jumped, her thigh was suddenly sore, she grabbed her limb and screamed, it was bleeding, the almost blue blood soaking through the loose work jeans, she hear Abe come running
"What is it?" she hurriedly hid the wound, not wanting him to see the colour of her blood
"I-I just saw a snake, that's all" she lied. Abe smiled
"They won't hurt you, they're harmless" Miko nodded
"You're going to put the tractor out of business at the rate you're going at" he said happily
"It's ok, I like to help"
"Good on ya, I've done the far field, so this is the last one, you head back and take a break, I'll finish up here" normally Miko would have refused but the pain in her leg was getting worse, she nodded, forcing a smile using her acting skills to keep her voice steady
"Thanks, I'm kinda' tired anyway" Abe nodded approvingly
"So you should, the entire farm's runnin' more smoothly than ever" Miko nodded and limped away praying he wouldn't notice her limp, he didn't.
Yamcha landed on the look out
"Any luck Dende?" he asked
"No, I don't know why but it's as if she's dead" Yamcha winced
"King Kai would have alerted me if she was" Yamcha breathed a sigh of relief
"I've done my watch, Goku should be heading out any minute, it's been three days, how much time do we have?"
"Eight months"
"I guess we'd better start training then"
"No amount of training will prepare you for this, Miko is our only hope, her twin has powers over males and 18 is nowhere near strong enough to defeat her alone"
"Wow"
"Exactly, none of you would stand a chance without Miko, However much weaker she is than her sister the fighting style will be identical. I don't quite know how she is supposed to beat her sister, but the thing I do know is only she can"
Authors Note: Ok so I promised action and I delivered, even if it wasn't fighting action, but now we begin to wonder, how can a woman capable of such a stunt be all she seems? Most likely fear and anger fuel a hidden power. After all, ki is linked directly to emotions, the super saijin transformation was through rage and grief and level two through being thoroughly pissed off.
Chou!
The Raven Queen
Miko opened her eyes to bright morning sunlight. She blinked as pain exploded inside her head. She groaned and fell right off the double bed. She had a strong urge to throw up. There was a knock at the door, Miko pulled what seemed like half of her hair out of her mouth and face and dragged herself off the floor and out of the tangled heap of bedclothes, but promptly landed on her butt again. This time she was careful to dismember the offending sheets before getting to her feet again. She did not notice that her shirt had somehow found it's way on backwards and that her pants were slung down to her hips, the side seam facing the front.
"Come in" she called groggily, her mouth was dry and she felt extremely sick, Bulma stuck her head around the door, her eyes flicked over the ruffled clothing and she smiled a little. Miko did not notice
"Good you're up, breakfast in twenty minutes, the bathroom's at the end of the hall" Miko nodded, supporting herself by holding onto the nightstand
"You got any painkillers? My head feels like it's going to pop" Bulma grinned
"Yeah, you seemed to get more smashed after you stopped drinking" Miko nodded and nearly fell over the bedclothes her foot was still tangled in
"Yeah that happens, it's weird but alcohol always takes like twenty minutes to have any effect, this usually results in me getting shnockered long before I know it" Bulma's smile widened
"Yeah I used to drink a lot, then I had Trunks"
"Kids really change things, by the way, I was too drunk to notice, but where is Sheme?" Bulma grinned just a little wider
"He slept in Trunks' room, they get on quite well. They're next on the list for a wake up call, do you want to leave him here when you go up to the look out?"
"Maybe, depends on what he wants, but I'm still not sure about this look out thing. I mean I really am terrified of heights, and flying, and flying at speed when not in a vehicle of some kind" Bulma nodded
"You'll get used to it, one of them will have to carry you" Miko made a face
"Great, they'll be sorry soon enough. I hate being carried" Bulma laughed
"I'll leave you to get cleaned up, everything's in the bathroom, and I'll lend you some clothes too" Miko nodded
"K" her head was still throbbing but she was thinking clearly now
"See you in twenty minutes" Bulma closed the door. Miko rearranged the covers on the bed so it had some semblance of being made and headed down the corridor; it was lined with about five doors. At the end was a door marked bathroom, she pushed open the door to yet another large room. Everything in this place was big; the house itself was over six stories. After closing the door she shed her clothes quickly and turned on the shower, she grinned at the vanity, it was lined with very product under the sun; she had never used skin care stuff, or even dressed up really. She took one of the silken hair ties and twisted her thick hair into a bun of sorts, steam rose from the shower, she stepped under the warm water, smiling into the steady stream.
Bulma called through the door
"Breakfast in fifteen minutes you two!" she heard thuds and muffled yelps, and a small swear word, she scowled and opened the door
"No swearing in this house," she said sternly, Sheme detangled himself from the pile of bedclothes
"Sorry, my sister always tells me off for talking like her" he grinned at her
"Sorry about the mess, Mrs Brief" Bulma smiled
"It's no different from when Trunks gets up" she walks across the room and shoved her still sleeping son out of bed
"Mum! I'm tired," he moaned, she grinned and pulled away the covers
"Too bad, you shouldn't have stayed up so late then"
Tien landed to see Miko sitting on the grass waiting. She had a funny expression on her face. Gohan and Goku weren't far behind. He noted they had left Goten behind. He stared at Miko, she didn't look half as bedraggled as before, her emerald hair was drawn into a thick plait at the base of her neck and she was wearing clothes he could only guess were Bulma's, without the long loose clothing she seemed much better looking. A short wine red sleeveless shirt covered her top half, ending an inch above her navel, accenting her curves, and below those were greyish black hipster jeans, fully revealing from hem to lower hem about three inches of flat, smooth mid riff, he noted her arms were far from frail, the absence of sleeves displaying toned muscle, yet her arms were not excessive, just right he thought
"Hi again" she said, she sounded strange
"Still hung over?" he asked, she nodded
"Only just, but geez Bulma has good painkillers too" Tien grinned as Gohan and Goku landed, Gohan whistled low
"Heck you look different" she scowled slightly
"Well, when you're snatched into the sky by a triclops you tend to not look your best" Tien noticed she was actually a lot thinner than she had first appeared, and a good deal more shapely, her curves running in smooth rounded lines, but she was by no means delicate, her shoulders still suggested strength and power, and he supposed her long legs were nothing but smooth, toned muscle.
Miko remained calm but she was not comfortable in such revealing clothes, she was used to wearing bulky things that hid her frame, making her appear more formidable. She shifted a little as Gohan whistled; she did not like the way they were all staring at her, Krillin landed
"Hey-wow" she was annoyed now, she still had a headache and she didn't want to field anything else
"You say one word and you die," she said threateningly
"Ok, maybe we'd better get going then, who wants to carry her" Goku said to the others
There was silence, Goku could see Gohan shifting uncomfortably, a slight blush playing across his cheeks, Tien stood stock still, Goku himself wasn't looking forward to the same treatment Tien had gotten, they had all seen the marks on his face, and he supposed Krillin didn't want to get it from 18, he knew Chichi wouldn't be pleased either, there were only a few of them, it seemed pointless for all of them to make the journey, suddenly Yamcha appeared
"Hey guys, I just finished breakfast" he suddenly noticed Gohan staring at the ground
"Gohan?" the boy blushed deeper. He heard a snort
"For god's sake, I hate this as much as you guys, alright" Miko told him irritably
"Ok" Gohan said, he offered Miko his hand who allowed him to pick he r up, Goku grinned, Gohan was blushing deeply, Miko was scowling as he arranged her so best not to drop her while being out of her finger range, she was getting impaTient
"Look, like this" she shifted his hands around her slightly, Gohan blushed further then seemed to settle
"Ready?" he asked, she winced and placed her arms around his neck, he rose slowly into the air, she shut her eyes tight and nodded, they all shot off
Miko slowly opened an eyes, she was holding on for dear life, she noticed Gohan turning slightly blue, she loosened her grip slightly, not daring to look down
"You ok?" he asked, he was still blushing. She wondered how old he was
"I hope" she said, he smiled reassuringly and she felt gravity claw at her, they were going up, she glanced at the rapidly disappearing ground. She yelped and clung to him, she heard a strangled gasp and loosened her grip again
"Just how fast are we going?"
"About triple the speed of light, don't worry. If you fall I can catch you before you've gone ten metres"
"How comforting" she said dryly
Gohan sighed, her nails were digging into his neck, her grip tightened at regular interval and only when he turned blue did she realise he was choking, he sighed again as she loosened her grip again, slowly relaxing. The gleaming white of Karin tower came into view, he slowed to a halt so as not to catapult his passenger out of his arms. His father, Yamcha, Krillin and Tien were waiting for him, he had gone slightly slower than them, his father was talking to Karin, the white cat looked up as Gohan landed
"Hey who's the babe" Miko scowled as he put her down. She stalked over to the cat, who seemed to have realised this was not a girl to call babe, she towered over him and snarled
"Unless you want my foot so far up your ass you can taste what I stepped in last week you will never call me that again" she told him angrily, he cowered, inching away
"Ok, ok I get it" suddenly she looked up, Yajirobe was standing with his jaw hanging open
"Hey who's the babe" he addressed Goku
Miko flew at him her fist drawn back, suddenly she was jerked off her feet, some one had her in a strangle hold without actually trying to stretch her ribs until they broke apart, she had been in several before, it had not been fun. They were lifting her just off her feet, she cursed and swore, driving her feet up behind her she heard a grunt and she was dropped, she landed on her feet and swung around. Goku was doubled over
"Geez I wasn't ready for that" he squeaked, she noticing Krillin and Tien smirking
"She's actually got quite a high fighting power"
"Probably just doesn't know how to use ki so she channels it into speed and strength"
"She looks like a warrior, though the only female fighter we know is 18 and you wouldn't be able to tell with her"
"Well there is Chichi I guess but under that kimono. There's really nothing to compare"
"Will you please stop speaking about me as though I am not here!" she said loudly, these people were irritating in their chauvinism, she gritted her teeth and strode back to Gohan
"Is this the look out?"
"No this is Karin's place, he lives below the look out. We stopped to say hi"
"Can we go now?"
"Just a minute"
"I'm counting"
Goku straightened up
"Long time no see" Karin nodded
"She wouldn't be the one Dende wants would she?"
"Yup, dam it she kicks hard" Karin grinned
"Rather you than me Goku, hang on, I'll get something to eat" the cat disappeared down the stairs, Yajirobe was hiding behind a table, Miko was at the edge of the lookout, hurling her breakfast over the side and marvelling at the sight of the stuff flying downwards
"Cool" she said wiping her mouth with the back of her hand
"I need a drink of water, is there anywhere I can get some?" Yajirobe jumped forward
"I'll get you some...babe" he said as an after thought, she whirled around, her eyes flashing, but Yajirobe was already gone, she cursed and turned back to lean over the balcony, Yajirobe reappeared with a glass of water, she took it without a word, took a gulp and spat it over the edge, repeated this process then swallowed the rest in a gulp handing the glass back to Yajirobe, who was staring at her behind, she ignored him while Karin returned and struck up a conversation with Goku
Tien scowled disgustedly at Yajirobe, Miko was ignoring him he noticed, probably giving up on him treating her like a person, her long green plait hung down past her elbows, as she looked down
"How high up is this place?" she asked no one in particular, Krillin answered
"About forty thousand metres" she grimaced
"Geezuz, how'd you get me here so fast?"
"A lot of training" Gohan told her smiling. He came to stand near her as she squinted at the clouds
"It's peaceful up here," she said quietly
"Yeah it is" Tien said even quieter, he noticed Krillin smirking at him. He looked away. Miko straightened up
"Can we go now or I swear I'll climb the next god knows how any miles up" Gohan grinned
"Only four more to go" he offered her his hand again and she placed her arms around his neck, he lifted her as if she would break, she scowled disgustedly
"You are going to teach me to fly," she told him sternly
"I hate being carried" Gohan nodded and called to is father
"Let's go dad," Goku tipped yet another bowl of something into his mouth, somehow unhinging his jaw to get it all down and got up and joined them. They all leapt off the edge, Miko buried her green head in Gohan's shoulder at the sudden lurch.
Miko closed her eyes, her empty stomach performing gymnastics within her.
"Careful" Gohan said half strangled, she removed her finger nails from the skin of is neck
"Sorry" she choked out before her stomach forced her to close her mouth
"We'll be there in about ten minutes" Gohan told her, she nodded, her face deathly white
"Geezuz, this is not the way to travel when you have hangover" Gohan grinned
"I wouldn't know, I've never tried alcohol"
"Don't, it's not worth it"
"Then why do you drink it?"
"Because if you drink enough any floor's comfortable, and any shock is like nothing"
"Oh"
"Don't try it, it ain't worth it"
"Ok I won't" she grinned dazedly and rested her head on his chest, protecting her face from the strong winds as they shot upwards
Piccolo sensed their approach, the girl had shown a fair bit of power there, she could most likely equal himself with some good training, though he would not train her, she was a pathetic woman, she was afraid of heights for Dende's sake! Tien, Goku, Yamcha and Krillin appeared and landed quickly, Gohan came up much slower, Piccolo saw he had been the unlucky one to carry Miko. She had buried her head in his gi, he could see the welts on Gohan's neck where she had him in a death grip, he pried her head away and slowly set he one her feet, she stepped away from him and promptly stumbled, coming very close to the edge, Piccolo jumped up, but Tien was already there, steering her towards the centre of the tiles, Dende came out to meet them. Tien held her by the shoulders until she regained her balance and looked around
Miko's first impression was "big". A smaller version of Piccolo without the constant scowl in a strange tunic thing extended his hand
"Hello, I am Dende the guardian of this planet" Miko looked him up and down, he was scrawny as anything, she supposed he could be no older than 18, possibly sixteen
"Hi" she said, not taking his hand, too much had happened for her normal social instincts to kick in, she supposed they were in shock too
"I suppose you've had a bit of a shock and I hear you hate flying so you must be feeling a bit hostile" Miko scowled, he was too perceptive for her liking. She was a private person; what was her business was her business, she didn't like it how he seemed to know immediately what was running through her head.
"Well I think we have a lot to talk about, Miko isn't it?" the green boy withdrew his hand at last, Miko nodded; nothing shocked her anymore. Dende indicated she follow him, she scowled a little, a hand touched her shoulder, she turned to see Tien
"Hey don't worry, you can trust him, what's he gonna do?" she scowled but nodded, she followed Dende a hundred yards or so closer to the massive structure she guessed was a dwelling of sorts, he turned and indicated to a man of dark complexion who was bringing out a wickerwork chair from the doorway to her
"Take a seat" Miko complied, her stomach still pitching but empty
"This is Mr Popo, he helps me up here"
"I hate heights," Dende laughed
"Yeah I guessed that, you cut Tien and Gohan up pretty bad"
"Tien was intentional actually, but Gohan it was holding on" he grinned and seated himself in another chair the stout man had just reappeared with
"Now, I suppose you have a lot of questions" she nodded
"I trust you have the answers"
"Some, I think you have more than you're letting on though" Miko frowned, this little worm was way too perceptive for her liking
"We'll see, now, how the hell did you find me?"
"I see the whole planet up here, the guardian's job is to protect the planet, I know where everyone is at any given time" Miko was getting more edgy every second
"What exactly do you want me to do to kill this twin of mine, which I still don't believe I have"?
"Well I don't want her killed, not if we can help it anyway, you see your father's race, Zarbon, had two forms, one exceptionally good looking" Miko raised an eyebrow
"And the other three times more powerful but considerably more reptilian and much larger, my theory is, that Zarbon's race never had twins, resulting in the two forms, I think because of your mother's DNA that you are one form and your twin is the other, only instead of the whole beauty and the beast set up it goes good and evil, both equally powerful, and because of this you share a telepathic link, but you can also merge together, creating one all powerful being, a being none of us, even at their full potential could destroy, at the present moment none of us is strong enough to beat your twin now so you are the only hope, you see at any strength no male could defeat her, she has a power over them, and 18 is the only other female fighter, and she is nowhere near strong enough"
"How comforting, I have another one, if we are equally powerful then how is she so hard to beat, I mean you and the short guy are the only ones I could beat the crap out of up here and you tell me my other half is evil and wants to steal my soul so she can destroy everything I know, and then you expect me to find some way of saving your asses, for god's sake, how am I supposed to know how to save earth, until yesterday I survived for the last three years on nothing, what makes you think I have any idea how to save earth, I can barely look after my brother" Dende smiled
"You're a lot smarter than you think, and also your twin has been trained since infanthood by the strongest naturally occurring evil warrior the universe had ever known, had you received the same you would be at the same level. So you're actually quite strong for a woman with little to no intensive training"
"And you're incredibly annoying.and chauvinistic"
"Well that's a new one, listen, what's going on is, your twin wants you, so she can merge with you and become the most powerful being in the universe"
"Why don't you just kill me then?"
"A few of the Z fighters wanted to"
"Which one" her voice was deadly
"Maybe I should just say they won't try"
"I said which one" the green kid shifted uncomfortably
"Anyway, the only way to beat her is you, you share a telepathic link, you can hear her thoughts at times, your personality is influenced by hers, you share the same interests, when she feels pain so do you, I bet you suddenly get an ache or a sharp pain for no reason" Miko's eyes had gone wide
"But that's just nerve damage, I have a mild form of epilepsy, nerves misfire and it results in a seizure, only my case is more mild, it's a medical condition"
"No it isn't, it is your twin"
"No, you're lying" Miko was out of her seat, backing away
Piccolo phased in behind her. She swung around wide-eyed
"Will you people quit doing that!" she said exasperatedly. Piccolo grabbed her wrists and lifted her off her feet. She drove her heels into his shins, her five eleven feet of height nothing to his seven. He half dragged her back to Dende and dropped her into the wickerwork seat,
"Stay" he ordered, placing himself behind, her filthy language still ringing in his ears, she never used the same curse twice, allowing for the largest vocabulary he had ever heard
"That's it" she got up and drove her fist into his gut, he doubled up as she sprinted past him, he wondered what she thought she was doing, there was no way she could go anywhere
Miko was severely annoyed, if that was how they were going to play she'd see just how they responded to this, she increased her speed as she shot past Tien, Gohan and Krillin. She kicked Goku in the head on his way to intercept her and threw herself over the edge, she heard curses from above as she fell, she knew they would be along any minute now, she folded her arms and propelled herself towards the tower, having no idea where she was going, she reached out and grabbed a rung of the ladder she had seen on the way up, fury overpowering her fear. There was a sharp jerk on her shoulder as she came to a stop. She heard whooshes as six streaks shot past her, she smirked and swung her feet onto a rung and steadied herself, she placed both hands on the outside of the ladder of sorts, her jeans hindering her movements, she then released her grip with her feet, her sneakers sliding against the narrow tower.
Goku scanned the sky for any sign of her, he wondered where she could have gotten to, there was no way she could have fallen as fast as they could fly, he scouted for a sign of her ki, but it was so indistinct he couldn't find a location, he turned and began a lightning fast spiral around the tower, he saw Gohan copying his pattern while Tien and Yamcha shot upwards, she was too important to lose, he wished Piccolo hadn't gone and scared her like that. He wondered what she had meant to do by jumping off a lookout eight miles up. Maybe she could fly and just wasn't letting on, but they would have sensed her by now. He scratched his head as the ground approached. He searched the ground but found nothing out of the ordinary, no spec that could be her. He turned and shot upwards
Miko swung behind the tower as she slid steadily downwards, two streaks were coming back up, they passed her without stopping, she kept going, loosening her grip with her sneakers to speed up, they were rapidly burning away, she tightened her hands again. As another streak came spiralling back up she reached out to grab a rung an swung just behind the tower as the faintly blurred form passed, she repeated this process three times, Counting to herself as she neared her first stop, one to go, she jumped away from the tower and landed with a jolt, she glanced down at the pitiful remnants of her sneakers, she grinned, none of them knew what she was capable of. She slunk to the white pole that was the tower she had come down, another streak shot past. She crouched low, it was the green one, she saw him slow down, she flattened herself against the opposite side of he tower, away from him. He sped up and kept going.
Karin fell of his stool when the babe suddenly swung in from above, holding onto the roof and swinging what was left of expensive looking sneakers into his face, he shook his head, she standing over him, her bare foot on his throat
"Listen cat" she hissed, and knelt down
"Shut your mouth, you didn't see me got it" he nodded, his skin going red underneath his fur, she smirked and grabbed his cane, and sprinted down his stairs, he heard thuds and yelps and curses that could only belong to Yajirobe as the babe smashed the living daylights out of him
Miko grabbed the capsule marked "ship" and took it back up the stairs. The cat was back on his stool
"You know there's no point, I mean if you don't help them earth will be destroyed"
"Do I look like I care right now?" she said, her hair was half undone, and her hands and jeans were extremely dirty, as if she had just jumped through a smoke screen, she looked up and down, there was another streak coming, she had a feeling they would be going up and down for a while, she jumped back, concealing herself under the cat's table, the fat man's sword twisted between his shoulder blades
"Remember, you haven't seen me" she hissed, the cat nodded as Gohan landed a few feet away, Miko held her breath
"Hey Karin, have you seen that girl?"
"No Gohan, why do you ask?" the cat said smoothly, Miko pressed a little harder with the sharp blade
"Well she kind of' jumped off the lookout, and ummm....we can't find her"
"Could she have fallen the whole way?"
"She's not heavy enough, she's actually quite light" Miko scowled, Gohan was blushing
"And we fly at over five times the speed of light, anyway, I'm thinking she might be able to fly, I mean she could if she knew how" Miko scowled deeper and twisted the blade just a little, the cat almost jumped
"No I haven't seen her, bit I'll let you know if I do" Gohan nodded
"Ok, we'll be flying up and down for a while, Dende says he'll try and locate her from up there" Miko nearly growled, little bastard, she went through every unholy name in her head she could place on the green kid's head, Gohan was saying good bye, he turned and jumped over the edge, Miko waited a few seconds, before jumping out from under the table, punching the cat in the face to knock hi out and decasualising the ship over the edge, it was a one seat-er, she jumped with it, grabbing the outer hull and slipping inside, she turned on the controls and blasted to the west, the only thought on her mind to get away, the ship was easy to manuvere, a good thing considering she had never been good with ships or vehicles, she kept a steady line, going full speed
Gohan looked up, had he heard something? He couldn't understand where she could have gotten to, he indicated to Tien, who pulled up, his face bearing the same expression as his own
"Did you just hear something" Gohan asked, Tien nodded, they both strained their senses, a small drone, like engines came to their ears, it was too distant to tell where it came from but they knew some one who would pick it up, they nodded and blasted upwards
Miko estimated it was five minutes travel before she found the turbojets, she was pressed back into her seat with the force, she grinned and pressed the eject button, the seat had a parachute so she was set, she shot into the air and free fell until the ground approached, she pulled the rip cord and her parachute jerked her upwards, she floated to the ground slowly, she smirked, realised she was about ten miles from Satan city, she sat down on the grassy area she had landed in and stretched her toes, they were sore and aching. The area was mainly meadows, most likely a farm she thought. A voice roused her from her thoughts
"Hey, you ok?" she looked up to see a man on a tractor driving towards her, she smiled, knowing her way out, she got unsteadily to her feet
"Oh thank god you found me!" she said, putting on her best hysterical female voice and fake stumbling under the weight of her parachute, he stopped the tractor and jumped down
"Easy there miss" he said, catching her as she fell neatly into his arms, she secretly smirked as he carried her to his vehicle
"We'd better get you back to the house" he said worriedly, she nodded fake groggily
"Don't you close your eyes now, you might have a concussion" she secretly smirked, using what was left of her hangover to be all the more convincing
Karin breathed a sigh of relief, he had just woken up, and she was gone, he sensed Piccolo approach, the green man braked at eye level
"Where'd she go feline?" he demanded, Karin breathed another sigh of relief; Piccolo knew she had been here, he wouldn't have to explain his humiliation
"She took a plane and headed west," he said, hearing grunts as his assistant rose back to consciousness
"Is she gone?" he called from downstairs
"Yes" Karin answered, wondering how she had managed to evade them and get down here without the ability to fly, her ki potential was rather high for a female; it was disconcerting. Yajirobe staggered up to meet him
"What the hell happened?"
"She beat the crap out of us, that's what, I wonder how she got down here without flying"
"Maybe she climbed"
"No, not even Goku could do it that fast, besides she doesn't have enough stamina to last that long, and they went up and down many times, it's a mystery" Yajirobe nodded
"Still she was a babe, what'd you pick up from her mind?"
"I was too scared to try, her head is full of anger though, maybe not all hers"
Miko allowed herself to be led into a small farmhouse. The stout man pushed her into a chair
"There you go honey, BETHA!!" he yelled, Miko winced, without the effect of painkillers on her head she was no longer faking, she had puked half up before so they must have worn off much quicker, a plump woman entered
"What is it Abe?" she asked, then her eyes fell on Miko
"Oh my! What happened?" she placed a hand on Miko's head, Abe shrugged
"I saw her land with a parachute, she fell over and I called out, I reckon she's got a concussion or something, she was acting real groggy so I brought her back here. She nearly passed out a few times" he spoke with a strange accent Miko was only just noticing, she giggled, turning on the acting again, she guessed her hangover was getting it's revenge for her treasonous use of painkillers. The woman peered at her
"What's your name sweetie?" she said kindly, sharing the same strange accent, as the man Miko guessed was her husband. Miko put on her best thinking face, screwing up her features in fake frustration
"I-I don't know," she said wonderingly
"Oh dear, maybe she's had more of a knock than we thought" the woman said, Miko prayed Sheme would be safe; she couldn't get to him just yet. Vegeta was at Capsule Corp, and she knew the spiky haired man was after her blood. Dende wasn't so unreadable she couldn't surmise that. The tall green man, Piccolo was another, she supposed, last hope for the earth or not with people who wanted her dead around she wanted to be as far away as possible. She would pray that Bulma would protect Sheme. The woman was talking
"Do you remember anything honey?" she looked up dazedly, intensifying her confused expression
"I-I remember...a man, he was really tall, he-he" she buried her head in her hands, what was left of her plait fell forward, revealing the bruises on her shoulders from where she had hit the rungs when she swung to avoid one of her pursuers, she heard a gasp, some one gently touched her shoulder, she secretly smirked and jerked away
"She's in shock," the woman said softly
"If the varmit every comes near her while I'm around he'll pay" she heard the man say, she looked up
"I-I don't remember" she said softly, letting them see her wrists without actually appearing to be showing them, they were darkly bruised, she felt bad about playing these people for fools but she didn't have much of a choice, she turned on her tears, it was a remarkable skill, she had always been an excellent actress but she was outdoing herself now, the woman patted her arm
"Don't worry dear, you're safe here, but I can't think how you got here, a plane maybe, there was a crash about twenty miles to the west of here" Miko smiled weakly
"You need some rest dear" the woman gently helped her up
"And a change of clothes" Miko looked down at her apparel, she had ripped splits in the jeans up to the knee so she move better and her top was all but gone, she blushed and pulled her hair down to cover the paper thin garment, the woman smiled
"Come one I'll get you something to wear, do you want to take a bath" Miko nodded
"We must think of something to call you now, any ideas"
"I-I remember being called Shema once" she said weakly
"That'll do fine" the woman said smiling
Gohan was at a loss, no one had any idea where she was, Dende had lost sight of her, the area around the tower was empty, he couldn't think where she would go, Yajirobe's plane had flown straight into a mountain, but she hadn't been in it, he wondered where she had ejected, but they had followed the whole route and found nothing, it was uninhabited. Had she somehow used something like instant transmission? No she couldn't even use ki. He gave up, Piccolo was livid, a large bruise had appeared where she had gotten him, Gohan knew by now she was a lot stronger than she appeared, and faster two, he considered the possibility that she had climbed but how did she get to the tower itself if she went off the edge, it was something he would ask when they found her, he supposed she just got a fright when Piccolo grabbed her, he hadn't meant to scare her so badly, jus make her stay, but as she had said she didn't respond well to orders, he wondered if she would come back for her little brother, they could hope and keep searching at least.
Piccolo meditated furiously, he couldn't believe she had evaded them like that, he hadn't moved for three hours, he was desperately trying to sense her ki, he was surprised it was so low considering her father, but he guessed she had never needed it before, he sense Gohan approach, every member was on the lookout, he wondered why they didn't use the kid as bait, but Bulma had said she wouldn't do that, that this wasn't a manhunt, they just had to find her, not catch her. He scowled
"Piccolo?"
"Hm?"
"Any luck"
"No"
"Darn, how's your stomach?"
"Fine"
"That bruise looked nasty"
"She got a lucky shot"
"She's pretty smart, I don't think any of us would have gotten away do easily"
"She didn't have it easy, I guarantee, if you find her in the next three days she'll be covered in bruises" he heard a low whistle
"Just how hard did you u hold her?"
"Hard"
Goku backed away from Chichi; his wife was livid
"What do you mean it's important" he sighed and explained for the third time
"NO"
"But Chichi-"
"I said no, that's the last I will hear of it!" Goku gave up, she wouldn't even let Gohan take a day off school to find Miko, he thanked Dende it was the weekend, they would just have to fins her before the week started again
"Ok Chichi"
Tien scanned the ground, he was taking his turn at finding Miko, he was worried, what had happened to her, he smiled at the thought of her hair, he pulled his train of thought up sharply, telling himself it was just fatigue. He saw a spec on the ground and swooped downwards
Miko looked up, the sky was a dazzling blue today, she sighed and shoved the plough along, they had insisted she rest for another day but she felt do guilty for conning them that she had done all the farm work for them, they were ecstatic at her strength and Abe had offered her a position straight away, she had accepted, thinking she could leave when she felt it was safe, she turned the plough and finished her ten minute jog of the field, Betha was sitting on the porch when she returned
"My dear you never cease to amaze me" she said happily
"I'm glad to help you've done so much for me"
"Twas no less than the golden rule demanded"
"The golden rule?"
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" Miko nodded thoughtfully
"I've heard that before, it sounds familiar" Betha smiled
"Any luck remembering?"
"No" Miko lied, she felt terrible about it but it was necessary, if they knew who she was it would put them in danger, she had a feeling that her twin would kill anyone who knew who she was
Tien sighed; it had been a small child gathering flowers, she had screamed at the sight of him and run away, Tien jumped into the air wondering where Miko was right now
Far away pale fingers raped against the hard marble armrest of a throne, Freiza's throne
"Where are you sister," a sultry voice said to no one in particular, an amphibious guard scurried towards her
"My queen"
"Speak" the voice ordered icily
"We are approximately two solar systems from earth"
"Any results from the planetary scan"
"We have determined that there are a small group of warriors defending the planet"
"And my twin"
"Nothing your majesty"
"Then go and continue" the voice said annoyed
"Yes your majesty" the amphibian bowed and scuttled away, the finger resumed there tapping
"Sister you will join me, we will rule the universe as Freiza did, and seek revenge for the deaths of our father, hear me" the fingers took a small knife and drew it across a pale thigh
Miko jumped, her thigh was suddenly sore, she grabbed her limb and screamed, it was bleeding, the almost blue blood soaking through the loose work jeans, she hear Abe come running
"What is it?" she hurriedly hid the wound, not wanting him to see the colour of her blood
"I-I just saw a snake, that's all" she lied. Abe smiled
"They won't hurt you, they're harmless" Miko nodded
"You're going to put the tractor out of business at the rate you're going at" he said happily
"It's ok, I like to help"
"Good on ya, I've done the far field, so this is the last one, you head back and take a break, I'll finish up here" normally Miko would have refused but the pain in her leg was getting worse, she nodded, forcing a smile using her acting skills to keep her voice steady
"Thanks, I'm kinda' tired anyway" Abe nodded approvingly
"So you should, the entire farm's runnin' more smoothly than ever" Miko nodded and limped away praying he wouldn't notice her limp, he didn't.
Yamcha landed on the look out
"Any luck Dende?" he asked
"No, I don't know why but it's as if she's dead" Yamcha winced
"King Kai would have alerted me if she was" Yamcha breathed a sigh of relief
"I've done my watch, Goku should be heading out any minute, it's been three days, how much time do we have?"
"Eight months"
"I guess we'd better start training then"
"No amount of training will prepare you for this, Miko is our only hope, her twin has powers over males and 18 is nowhere near strong enough to defeat her alone"
"Wow"
"Exactly, none of you would stand a chance without Miko, However much weaker she is than her sister the fighting style will be identical. I don't quite know how she is supposed to beat her sister, but the thing I do know is only she can"
Authors Note: Ok so I promised action and I delivered, even if it wasn't fighting action, but now we begin to wonder, how can a woman capable of such a stunt be all she seems? Most likely fear and anger fuel a hidden power. After all, ki is linked directly to emotions, the super saijin transformation was through rage and grief and level two through being thoroughly pissed off.
Chou!
The Raven Queen