Hello everyone.

It's been a while? Has it? no I don't think so...

Ok, alright, I'm sorry, dreadfully apologetic and all the things that go with it, including the next chapter which is what you're all here for, not apologies (or excuses, and I bet I could come up with a few...homework...other obsessions....starring (co-starring more like) in a movie...^_^...making nazgul costumes out of boxes stolen from the skip behind the movie theatre (beg pardon, that was Shire gates made from that box) learning about GM potatoes...washing hair....being BANNED from ff.net BY ff.net (I'm so evil) really most amusing story, you see, one day I decided to write a theory on what effect elven underwear has on them, and ff.net did not like this, so now, the VERY SAME HOUR! I SWEAR! I was going to upload this I get an email from them. I cannot stop finding their timing so utterly atrocious that it's incredibly funny.

And you know what? None of that was lies.

ok, I'll stop. Anyway, Penchy-chan, if your reading this then yay! You came back after soo long! V. pleased with that. I hope there's enough Gohan in there to fulfil your daily needs. ^_^

Jaques, Thanks again for your concern, no I didn't die, I was just being busy (or lazy, if you will) but I'm back now and I think I might be on a roll so bits of the next chapter will even be written today *grin*

Alexis, you still reading too? I hope so, but I guess we'll find out when it comes to crunch (review) time ^_^ Hello!

And of course, Assena, but I know your still reading cos you've been bugging (erm, sorry, encouraging) me for the last....well, since the last chapter ^_^ ok ok! LOOK! It's up!

Chapter Thirteen: Another plot, A Knife, and a Battle.

There was a figure dressed and hooded in black walking with composed grace down the back streets of the city. She grabbed the eye's attention; not all folk walked with so much confidence, not around here. There were some tried to stop her, some tried to take what wasn't theirs and ended up with their face planted in the nearest wall.

She soon found the shop she was looking for, recognisable by nothing save for the runes carved into the door.

She went inside. The shopkeeper looked up.

She spoke thus: "Sometime this week two youngsters will come in inquiring about a knife. Give the girl this." A brown leather tube exchanged hands. "And keep this for yourself."

The shopkeeper nodded, weighing the bag of gold in his hand. "Enough to buy silence, eh mam?" He asked, chuckling to himself. He'd seen many murders and many customers come in to buy his silence, and usually the weapon for the next victim. Not commonly a woman though.
"Not your silence...quite." She said thoughtfully. "Tell them....Tell them I look like this." And she proceeded to give the man his instructions.

Trunks ran across the arena to catch up with Parsnal, who was leaving immediately after proclaiming Arienla's arrest. "Parsnal! Wait up! Wait!" He called. Parsnal stopped and turned near the wall of the arena.

"Why did you arrest Arienla? You don't know it was her... do you?"

"Young Prince, the Krular poison only comes from one part of our known galaxy, and is very rare even there." He said, Trunks noted the patronising tone and it made him angry.

"Her moon? Marunkre? But still, you can't arrest a person on those grounds-"

"We certainly can! And we certainly will if it helps save our Prince's life!" Parsnal snapped. "You know too little of your ways, Prince, to-"

"Prince exactly!" Trunks snapped back, very angry now. Too many secrets had been kept from him and he did not like it, didn't like it one bit. "Meaning I make the orders, right? Meaning you will tell me what's going on, when it goes on. Not after. Understand? Because if you don't I'm only too happy to make you?"

Parsnal looked like he was at a loss for words, but not for long. "Excuse me, Prince, but I have matters to deal with." He launched into the air and was gone within moments. Trunks would have followed, except he sensed Lushka coming up behind him.

He turned, and she saw the anger on his face.

"They call me Prince and they don't listen to a word I say!" Trunks fumed, turning and punching a wall. Lushka looked at the cracks and had an idea.

"Come with me." She said, smiling.

"What?" Trunks snapped, not feeling like going with anyone right now.

Lushka knew the snappiness was not directed at her. "I call you Trunks and I have an idea. It's time you and me played detective." She took his hand and ran down the hall, Trunks dragged for the first few steps before falling into the running rhythm. Lushka pretended the pink on her cheeks was from running, and not his hand in hers.

They ran up three sets of stairs and round many corners, and Lushka led them to a long dull lit room, it seemed like an old library, as well as a store room. "If there's anything they found as well at the bracelet then it'll be here and someone will know something about it." She told Trunks, and added, "we get this sort of thing happening in the Palace a lot, mother's interested in the process of tracking assassins down, and I hear more than she realises." She grinned mischievously. Trunks grinned back.

Lushka cleared her throat. "HELLO! ANYONE HERE?!"

There was a faint scuffling from somewhere behind a shelf. " "lo miss. Oh." A middle aged, small male Saiyan in the uniform of the Palace Krinchi looked around the shelf and saw who he was talking too. "Your 'Ighness, Milady." He bowed. "What kin I do for you?"

"You can tell us if you have anything on the assassin, found in my room some nights ago." Trunks said.

"Hmm. Hm." Said the Krinshi. "Yes, we found a bracelet but none without was found. There was something else though, if you'll wait, Milord, I'll be but a minute..."

He returned swiftly, holding a knife by the hilt, he handed it to Trunks. "I can't say where 'bouts it was found, I dunno, somewhere in Your Highness's room."

Trunks took the knife and looked at it. It was plain, but for a little work on the hilt for grip, and some very small writing etched along one edge of the blade.

"Now we look in the Palace weapon's records." Lushka announced, "and see where it comes from."

Trunks swung the knife experimentally, as if it was a small sword, then nodded. "Let's go."

Gohan woke up at dawn. There wasn't anything special about this day; Bulma would be working on the errors she'd encountered on the ship; Chichi would be up soon to make breakfast: the Ox King would be up just after, to eat it. But Gohan planned to be gone before then. Just as Bulma had to fix the ship's errors before they left, Gohan had to fix Earth's, and that meant he had to find them.

He didn't risk being caught by his mother by going downstairs -both Son's had moved into Capsule Corp when it became obvious Bulma was in the Who-needs-food-or-rest-when-I-have-my-science? mode, and Chichi had put herself in charge of making sure she took care of herself- so instead, Gohan went straight out the window. He didn't even want breakfast, his entire mind and body was concentrated on one thing, and it wasn't food.

By that afternoon he had a rough location, deducted from listening to radios and TV reports as he made his way south and west, and by that evening he was following a path of destruction so clear a blind man could read it. He stopped then, a little out of the town concerned, and begged a meal- because his Saiyan stomach counted for something, even if all his discipline was focused on the battle ahead- off the farmwife, who had heard of him, all but worshipped the things he did, and was only too happy to feed him. Even after she learned what a Saiyan stomach could accomplish. He thanked her and made a mental note to send her a large gift when he got home, and then he was off again, and there wasn't so far to go.

18 was standing inside a clothing store, waiting impatiently outside the sole changing room when Gohan landed outside, and dropped immediately behind the low windowsill. He wanted to asses the situation before hand, and make sure there weren't any people around before he attacked. With his power level as low as he was, Gohan watched.

He wondered who on earth the blond could be waiting for, any human taking up trying-on time would be annihilated immediately.

"Are you done yet?" She asked, banging on the door with her fist. "I have a pile too, you know."

"Patience, sister." Came the voice from inside, and the door opened. "So...how do I look?"

"17, purple is not your colour." She sighed. "I saw a nice shirt near the front, wait there." 18 turned to find the shirt, and found Gohan's fist in her face.

"That one there." Trunks said, pointing at a well drawn line picture of the knife in his hand. "That's the same. What does the writing say?"

Lushka leaned closer to Trunks, telling herself it was to read the Saiyan words better. The page was one of hundreds together in a large book, each page with different styles of knives and swords. "Just the date it was made...the maker and his address. Brilliant! So we go there and see who's been buying knives like this."

"Exactly. Come on." Trunks pushed back his chair, it echoed in the long room the two sat in, and closed the book, which also echoed.

"Hang on!" Lushka said, reopening the book. She copied down the address and shut it again. "Now, we go."

"I know this is a serious...mission, thing, but..." Said Trunks.

"But...?" Lushka prompted.

"Can we have disguises?" Trunks grinned. Lushka laughed.

"Not a bad idea, people are going to recognize you."

Gohan had surprise on his side, he'd sent 18 through the wall, following close behind to slam a ki blast into the back of her head the moment she hit the ground. A dozen strands of hair melted into her scalp and she screamed with rage, flinging him backwards through the hole in the wall and into her astonished brother. Gohan had ki-covered fists up by the time he hit 17, and took the android down with him.

17 kicked Gohan off him, cracking a rib, and sending him half way back to 18, who was frantically feeling the back of her head and had no attention for the fighting males in the room. Her fingers found where the heat had matted her hair into an ugly blond lump on the back of her head.

17 laughed loudly, both at his sister and Gohan, who was paying no attention to the cracked rib, rather, he had power up to super Saiyan and was entirely ready for a series android butt kicking session.

Gohan launched himself at 17, disappeared the moment before he would have hit, reappeared behind and slightly below, grabbed 17's neck and heaved a ki ball into the small of his back. The android twisted out of Gohan's grip and dropped to the ground some feet away. Gohan let fall none of his guard as 17 picked himself up, the purple shirt ripped off his back so it lay in tatters hanging from his shoulders, the ends of the nylon burnt from ki-heat. He inspected on end with a cold blue eye, then focused them both on Gohan. The android clenched hard fists, shifter his weigh onto his right foot and charged Gohan out of the shop and into an intense battle above the city.

18 sat on the ground, distraught, prodding the back of her head gently, and inspecting it carefully with a mirror with blue eyes a little too wet to be natural.

Lushka pulled the hood over Trunks' face, then stepped backward to admire her work. The hood fell perfectly so his blue eyes were darkened with the shadow and his lavender brows were unrecognisable. She knew she ought to have put something on them, and his hair, to darkened it to natural royal Saiyan black, but there was the time factor, and besides, she had seen Trunks' face when he had his hair dyed the last time, and it was quite scary.

She pulled her own hood up; she was almost a recognisable figure as the Prince, and was going to be worth a large ransom fee should anyone wish to kidnap her, which would just be so inconvenient right now.

They'd both changed into everyday Saiyan clothes, and looked like they'd blend in nicely. Trunks stood up and inspected himself. "I think we're ready." He said. "You have the address?"

Lushka nodded and patted a pocket. "You have the knife?"

"Yes. Let's leave."

They climbed out a window lest a guard spotted the two commoners wandering round the Palace and decided to arrest them. Lushka knew vaguely where they were going, and the two set down in an alleyway in a neighbourhood made of crumbling brick houses and rotten wood and even more rotten inhabitants. There were few street signed that had not been used for firewood, and Lushka had had to ask a couple of people which way to go, which resulted in said person looking her up and down and grinning with a broken toothy smile.

"I can show you my sword." He grinned down at her. Lushka tried not to breath, his breath was that bad. "C'mon hon, ye don't wanna be spendin' time with 'im, 'e's just a wee boy."

This was the second time this had happened. Trunks kicked him with full force in the kneecap and heard something crack before the man yelled. The two took off down the street with the Saiyan yelling obscenities after them. Trunks pulled his hood back to expose the lavender hair, and stuck his tongue out as he looked back over his shoulder. The man stopped yelling abruptly, and they disappeared round a corner.

Lushka trying not to laugh. "That was pretty stupid, Trunks." She smiled, reached close and pulled the hood back up.

"Yes,' he agreed. "But did you see his face?"

"Ug, don't remind me." Lushka gagged. "Do you think we're done with sleazy direction-givers?" She asked. "I'm getting sick of them."

"Yes, my big toe hurts." Agreed Trunks, and Lushka pulled on his sleeve.

"Over there. That's it." She said, her voice serious now as she recognised the runes on the door, the same as those on the paper in her pocket. "You go in first, and ask." She told him, tucking her arm though his. "And don't knock." She said, as Trunks raised his fist to do just that.

He pushed the door open with some force and strode in. The shop was lit by high windows, dust mites danced in the sunbeams. The knife-dealer looked up, saw the size of them and grinned heartily. "Come in, come in, young customers. What can I do you for this fine day?"

Trunks swallowed, then drew himself up. "We're wanting to know if anyone has bought a knife that looks like this lately." He pulled the knife out and lay it on the bench between them. The Saiyan scratched his beard and made like he was thinking. "Ah, hmm." He said, picking up the knife and inspecting it. He ran his finger over the small writing on the edge of the blade. "Yes, only sold one a'these in the last long while. Hmm, not the best quality, but it'll get the job done." He swung it through the air as Trunks had done earlier, then dropped it point down on the table. It landed there and wobbled, buried half an inch into the wooden bench.

"Well." Prompted Trunks. 'Can you tell me who bought it?"

The man eyed Trunks. "And why should I do that, young'un?"

Trunks thought of pulling back his hood again, but Lushka grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Because we can pay you very, very well." She said, pulling out her bag of money. The Saiyan's eyebrows raised considerably. He wasn't sure what sort of plot the knife was involved in, but he was glad it was his knife; he was getting a lot of money out of this. Silently he thanked the first hooded woman. "Well then." He smirked. "Firstly, she leaft this for you." He nodded at Lushka, who looked up in surprise, and took the brown leather tube. "She was a pretty young'un, small, with short and dark hair about to 'ere." He tapped his chin to indicate length. "She looked strong, not a noble-not chance of that, and," he leaned over the bench till his face was level with Trunks'. "She was cloaked brown, like your girl is there, but she was careless, and these eyes see many things." He rubbed one eye. "She was wearing that fancy Palace-slave uniform, and she walked with a small limp she tried to hide- as if someone had hurt her side- does this help you?"

Lushka looked at Trunks, and saw his expression. "Yes thank you, that helped a lot. We'll go now, come on, friend." She took Trunk's arm again and led him out of the shop, the bearded Saiyan watched them leave then went to count the money.

Trunks' eyes had slowly formed into a look of realisation and then horror covered his face as he recognised the description, and didn't want to believe a word of it.

"You know who she is?" Lushka asked, once they were airborne and on their way back to the Palace.

Trunks nodded grimly, and said, in sepulchral tones. "I do."

"Well?"

Trunks shook his head, he was thinking deeply, and was feeling even more deeply betrayed that he ever trusted Sena in the first place.

Right, you know the drill guys and girls, it starts with 'R' and ends in 'eview please!' I think this one is shorter than usual…but I'll get onto more right away ^_^ really! I have some TIME now!

PS: Heh. You know you're obsessed with LoTR when you make Very Secret Diary references in your Dragonball Z fanfic. *sigh*