In The Eyes of a Hunter
Written by Mandy and Jennifer
Chapter 15 - It's Only A Game
Disclaimer - We do not own any of the DBZ characters. Yet, any new characters that we have made to fit the story are ours, and part of In the Eyes of a Hunter. Thank you! Author's Note- Hi everyone! We apologize for the long periods of time between chapters but I promise things will pick up soon. I (this is Mandy by the way ^_^) will finally be getting out of school for the summer in about two more weeks. After that, there will be a lot more time for us to work on this story. I hope everyone's stayed with us and not left yet. ^_^; Okay, just wanted to let everyone know that things WILL be getting better in a couple more weeks so just bear with us, please. Thanks a lot. Enjoy the chapter and of course don't forget to review! Ja ne! ^^
Altair flared his energy mockingly, preparing to fight.
Trunks inhaled sharply as the rush of power, from his opponent, made the hair on his neck stand on end. He tried to keep his outward expression calm and serious, though. His face must have shown the brief wave of apprehension that went through him though, because he saw Altair cock an eyebrow, followed by amused laughter.
"What was that?" he sneered, still smirking. "Are you afraid of me?" he laughed.
Unbeknownst to Trunks, an energy shield had formed around the area to prevent any interference from others who might show up.
Trunks growled deep in his throat, tilting his head down a bit and tightening his fists.
Altiar lifted a hand and motioned for him to make to first move.
Trunks' eyes flared as he let out a scream, charging forward at him with an insane burst of speed. He threw a punch with his right fist but hit nothing but air as Altair had already dodged it. Trunks spun around and looked for him, finding him a few feet away. He immediately shot several quick ki blasts in his direction, only to watch as Altair smacked them all away with one hand. Trunks was growing more and more frustrated. He let out a short growl as he increased his power even higher and rushed at him. The second before he hit him, Trunks blurred behind Altair. "Hyaa!!" he yelled and fired an immense blast to Altair's back. After releasing the energy, Trunks then blurred back in front of his opponent. In the brief moment that Altair was looking in the direction of the blast, Trunks slammed a massive punch to his stomach. Being so caught off guard, the warrior flew down towards the ground and landed hard. Without wasting any time, Trunks bolted over to Altair once again as he sprang up from the ground. He attempted to kick him in the chest but Altair caught his foot. He jerked his leg, pulling Trunks off balance and threw him against the side of a rocky cliff. Once Altair released him and watched as he hit the rocks with a crushing impact, he fired a continuous barrage of large, powerful ki blasts. He smirked cruelly as he heard the teenager scream from within the mass of explosions.
Bra groaned slightly. She shifted so that she rolled off of her arm, which felt quite sore. Her head was throbbing and she felt stiff all over. She could definitely feel the pressure on her body that the constant beatings and random bolts of electricity that had been dealt to her were taking. As she slowly opened her eyes she let out a gasp, staring down from a place in mid-air. After a moment of panic, she remembered what had happened and where she was. With a great amount of effort, she rolled over onto her side and pushed herself up onto her elbow, staying propped up in that position. She winced at the pain that stabbed through her body like a thousand knives and looked around the area below her, wearily. As soon as her vision cleared itself, her eyes fell upon the scene between Trunks and Altair. "Ah!" she exclaimed in shock as she saw her brother being beaten mercilessly right in front of her by her captor. "N-No! Trunks!" she cried out weakly, pressing a hand against the inside of the bubble as tears began to form in her eyes. She couldn't let her brother be killed! But, there was nothing she could do. She stared helplessly down at the two fighters as she could tell Trunks' power level was slowly weakening.
Altair stopped his stream of ki blasts and stared at the wreckage. After a minute of silence, Trunks suddenly burst from the thick cloud of smoke with his sword unsheathed. He ran at Altair, leaping into the air and coming down on top of him with his sword pointed down. Altiar, however, twisted to the side and avoided the blade, causing it to stab into the ground instead. Trunks landed behind it, still gripping the hilt firmly and jerked it out of the ground. Stealing the chance for Altair to make another move, he spun around, letting out a scream of fury, bringing his sword up at arm's length. In one quick motion, Trunks slashed across his shoulder. "AHH!!" Altair yelled in shock and pain, clutching his shoulder as blood ran through his fingers.
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Vegeta walked down the hallway, sighing a bit from the amount of stress that he was trying to deal with. He stopped abruptly, nearly falling over, feeling the shock of a massive energy source. He whipped his head around in the direction he felt it coming from. "That. that feels like Trunks' energy. What on Earth is he doing fighting someone with that much power??" he paused, eyes widening. "Oh God. That's Altair's energy I'm sensing." He whispered in horror as he ran for the door. "What is that boy thinking?!"
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"I'll make you pay for that!" Altair yelled, jumping into the air and slamming a powerful double spin-kick to Trunks' jaw. He flew off to the side, landing hard against the rocky ground and skidding several feet. His sword flew from his hands in the process. "Ohh." he moaned, rubbing his jaw and quickly scrambling to his feet again. He turned around to face Altair again but couldn't see him. "What the--?" he looked around frantically in search of his opponent.
"Trunks!!! Above you!! Look out! TRUNKS!!!!" Bra screamed as loud as her weakened body would permit, but to no avail. As much as she tried, her brother could not hear her warnings.
Altair hovered high in the air, staring down at the boy and chuckled, extending his arms out at full length down towards him. Trunks looked up and found him, just as Altair fired a relentless attack of enormous energy blasts, all flying at devastating speed down at him. He clenched his teeth and used his energy to create a shield around his body, bracing as much as possible for the quickly approaching onslaught. The blasts hit, pounding Trunks into the ground and drilling him farther within the wide expanse of the crater that was formed. He closed his eyes and screamed as his body was hammered more violently than he had ever felt before in his life. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of excruciating attacks, he lay still and silent under the mass of rubble.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vegeta could feel Trunks' power level dropping at an alarming rate and pressed on at incredible speed, his expression tense with desperation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bra stared in stunned silence with wide eyes at the vast crater that extended over a sizeable distance and went quite deep. She gritted her teeth and stared down into the center of the hole where she knew her brother lay so badly hurt.
Altair remained in the air, unmoving, save for lowering his arms back to his sides. He simply stared down coldly into the massive pit.
Trunks exhaled, letting out a barely audible cry. He kept his eyes closed, feeling the heavy rocks that covered part of his body. He could also feel the blood from many large cuts on his face, arms and chest. It felt almost as if his right leg was broken as well, and he sure didn't doubt it. He opened it eyes slowly and coughed, spitting out blood. With great effort he pushed the huge rocks off of his legs and rolled over onto his back. He shut his eyes tight against the pain and breathed heavily, able to tell now that his leg was indeed broken. The only thing that ran through his mind over and over again at this point was, "Why am I not dead? Why hasn't he just killed me by now? How can I still be alive?"
Vegeta finally saw the battle in the distance and sped up some more, suddenly appearing close enough to the scene to see his son at the bottom of an enormous crater. His eyes widened in shock at Trunks' condition. He was in his base form and his face was covered in streaks of blood, as well as his arms and chest. His clothes were shredded and from the looks of it, his right leg was broken in several places, if not crushed. He flared his power in anger and saw Altair floating in the air about level to him. He charged forward and yelled when he was suddenly knocked back by some sort of energy barrier. "What the??" he shook his head a bit and flew back up to it, banging his fist against the shield and creating brief waves of light in the energy.
Altair turned his head to the side and half-grinned in amusement. "Ah, Vegeta! So you've decided to join us after all. I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up, but then again, you've always been full of surprises, haven't you? It's too bad, though, that you had to arrive so late. I was hoping you wouldn't miss all the fun." He said, tilting his head down towards Trunks with a cruel smirk and laughed mockingly.
"Altair, you bastard! You'll pay for this! I swear I'll make you pay!!" Vegeta yelled at him furiously.
Trunks opened his eyes at the sound of his father. He forced himself off the ground and leaned against a rock, looking up. "Dad!" He turned his head and coughed up a mouthful of blood. He took a ragged breath and fought back the urge to gag at the grotesque feeling. Mustering up the remains of his energy, he slowly rose back into the air to where they were, at least able to prevent putting pressure on his leg.
Altair ignored Trunks and continued talking to Vegeta who, on the other hand, was staring down at his son with eyes wide with shock and anger. "I see you've discovered my energy shield that is surrounding this entire battleground. It doesn't matter how much you try. You'll never be able to penetrate it, unless I allow you." He explained with a smug tone.
Vegeta glared daggers at him and growled in frustration at, once again, being powerless to do anything. That was when he glanced up and suddenly saw Bra in, what looked like, another energy bubble. "Bra!!" he shouted, instinctively trying to fly to her, but was stopped by the shield. He released a loud growl and pounded both of his powerful fists against the barrier as his power level shot up dramatically.
Bra stared down at her father. "Daddy! Daddy!!" she screamed at him, so desperately wanting him to save her, to hold her in his arms and take her home where she could be safe again. She pressed against the inside of her tiny prison, looking down at the three of them, uncertain of what would happen next and afraid for the lives of herself, her brother, and her father. It was already tearing her up seeing Trunks get nearly killed while trying to save her.
Vegeta cast another look up at Bra, absolutely awe-struck by the amount of damage that he could see had been done to her. He gritted his teeth and clenched his shaking fists by his sides, staring back at Altair again. "You low-class piece of filth." He muttered in a dangerous tone, even his voice shaking in his own anger. "You're a pathetic coward, hiding behind your little power shields and using Bra as a tool to get what you want instead of fighting for it like a true warrior!! You're an absolute disgrace to the Saiyan race and you always have been! You've never been able to handle your own problems and face them like the fighter you were made out to be, but always found ways to use things to aid you in getting around them!! You disgust me and it's degrading to know that you came from the same planet as I did! Altair, when this is over, I swear you will wish you had died with your brother and never come back to mess with me or my family!!" Vegeta roared in an outburst of unrestrained rage, getting as close to the barrier as he could without pressing up against it.
Trunks stared at his father wide-eyed and quiet, having been taken a bit by surprise at his sudden explosion of anger.
Altair, having turned completely around to face him, stared back at Vegeta with an expression that clearly showed the surprise from all that he had said, and also, the prideful offense he felt. He glared back at him for another moment in silence before blinking, the look in his narrowed eyes changing to one more solid, piercing, and angry. He spoke in an eerily calm voice that held an underlying tone of danger and seriousness. "It would be wise for you to keep your temper in check, Vegeta. Remember, I am the one in control. I am the one who sets the rules here. And don't forget, I hold the life of your daughter in my hands. So, I suggest you watch what you say, if you care at all about *ever* seeing your precious little princess again." He paused, watching Vegeta's face change as his eyes showed the realization of total helplessness he was feeling. Altair powered down completely and loosened up a little, feeling better having now put Vegeta back in his place. "This was only a game. You will know my true power when the time comes. I must say, though, that from what I can tell from this little warm-up, you might as well give up now."
Trunks, suddenly alarmed at the sign that Altair was leaving, flew at him. "I won't let you get away!" he yelled, swinging a punch with his right fist. His hand simply fell through an after-image as Altair blurred away effortlessly. He reappeared a bit higher in the air next to Bra. His arm lashed out, grabbing her wrist and yanking her roughly from the bubble, letting her dangle beside him. She screamed out in sudden fear at being in his grasp yet again, not to mention being held so helplessly at this height when she couldn't fly. Altair spoke down to the two Saiyans in a mocking tone. "This was fun." He smirked once again. "But if this is the best you can do when the real battle comes, you don't have a breath of a chance."
Bra stared down at her brother and dad with a terrified look and reached out to them with her free hand. She took a breath to scream. "DA----!!" Before her desperate cry for help could even fully escape her throat, they had disappeared into thin air, along with the power shield.
Vegeta gasped. "BRA!!" He flew forward, up towards where they had just been. He stopped and whipped his head from side to side in a frantic search for any sign of them. There was nothing. "No.. NO!" he clenched his fists, leaning forward as his power level shot up tremendously with his increasing anger. He shut his eyes and threw his head back, screaming with all the fury from within him. "ALTAIR!!!!"
Written by Mandy and Jennifer
Chapter 15 - It's Only A Game
Disclaimer - We do not own any of the DBZ characters. Yet, any new characters that we have made to fit the story are ours, and part of In the Eyes of a Hunter. Thank you! Author's Note- Hi everyone! We apologize for the long periods of time between chapters but I promise things will pick up soon. I (this is Mandy by the way ^_^) will finally be getting out of school for the summer in about two more weeks. After that, there will be a lot more time for us to work on this story. I hope everyone's stayed with us and not left yet. ^_^; Okay, just wanted to let everyone know that things WILL be getting better in a couple more weeks so just bear with us, please. Thanks a lot. Enjoy the chapter and of course don't forget to review! Ja ne! ^^
Altair flared his energy mockingly, preparing to fight.
Trunks inhaled sharply as the rush of power, from his opponent, made the hair on his neck stand on end. He tried to keep his outward expression calm and serious, though. His face must have shown the brief wave of apprehension that went through him though, because he saw Altair cock an eyebrow, followed by amused laughter.
"What was that?" he sneered, still smirking. "Are you afraid of me?" he laughed.
Unbeknownst to Trunks, an energy shield had formed around the area to prevent any interference from others who might show up.
Trunks growled deep in his throat, tilting his head down a bit and tightening his fists.
Altiar lifted a hand and motioned for him to make to first move.
Trunks' eyes flared as he let out a scream, charging forward at him with an insane burst of speed. He threw a punch with his right fist but hit nothing but air as Altair had already dodged it. Trunks spun around and looked for him, finding him a few feet away. He immediately shot several quick ki blasts in his direction, only to watch as Altair smacked them all away with one hand. Trunks was growing more and more frustrated. He let out a short growl as he increased his power even higher and rushed at him. The second before he hit him, Trunks blurred behind Altair. "Hyaa!!" he yelled and fired an immense blast to Altair's back. After releasing the energy, Trunks then blurred back in front of his opponent. In the brief moment that Altair was looking in the direction of the blast, Trunks slammed a massive punch to his stomach. Being so caught off guard, the warrior flew down towards the ground and landed hard. Without wasting any time, Trunks bolted over to Altair once again as he sprang up from the ground. He attempted to kick him in the chest but Altair caught his foot. He jerked his leg, pulling Trunks off balance and threw him against the side of a rocky cliff. Once Altair released him and watched as he hit the rocks with a crushing impact, he fired a continuous barrage of large, powerful ki blasts. He smirked cruelly as he heard the teenager scream from within the mass of explosions.
Bra groaned slightly. She shifted so that she rolled off of her arm, which felt quite sore. Her head was throbbing and she felt stiff all over. She could definitely feel the pressure on her body that the constant beatings and random bolts of electricity that had been dealt to her were taking. As she slowly opened her eyes she let out a gasp, staring down from a place in mid-air. After a moment of panic, she remembered what had happened and where she was. With a great amount of effort, she rolled over onto her side and pushed herself up onto her elbow, staying propped up in that position. She winced at the pain that stabbed through her body like a thousand knives and looked around the area below her, wearily. As soon as her vision cleared itself, her eyes fell upon the scene between Trunks and Altair. "Ah!" she exclaimed in shock as she saw her brother being beaten mercilessly right in front of her by her captor. "N-No! Trunks!" she cried out weakly, pressing a hand against the inside of the bubble as tears began to form in her eyes. She couldn't let her brother be killed! But, there was nothing she could do. She stared helplessly down at the two fighters as she could tell Trunks' power level was slowly weakening.
Altair stopped his stream of ki blasts and stared at the wreckage. After a minute of silence, Trunks suddenly burst from the thick cloud of smoke with his sword unsheathed. He ran at Altair, leaping into the air and coming down on top of him with his sword pointed down. Altiar, however, twisted to the side and avoided the blade, causing it to stab into the ground instead. Trunks landed behind it, still gripping the hilt firmly and jerked it out of the ground. Stealing the chance for Altair to make another move, he spun around, letting out a scream of fury, bringing his sword up at arm's length. In one quick motion, Trunks slashed across his shoulder. "AHH!!" Altair yelled in shock and pain, clutching his shoulder as blood ran through his fingers.
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Vegeta walked down the hallway, sighing a bit from the amount of stress that he was trying to deal with. He stopped abruptly, nearly falling over, feeling the shock of a massive energy source. He whipped his head around in the direction he felt it coming from. "That. that feels like Trunks' energy. What on Earth is he doing fighting someone with that much power??" he paused, eyes widening. "Oh God. That's Altair's energy I'm sensing." He whispered in horror as he ran for the door. "What is that boy thinking?!"
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"I'll make you pay for that!" Altair yelled, jumping into the air and slamming a powerful double spin-kick to Trunks' jaw. He flew off to the side, landing hard against the rocky ground and skidding several feet. His sword flew from his hands in the process. "Ohh." he moaned, rubbing his jaw and quickly scrambling to his feet again. He turned around to face Altair again but couldn't see him. "What the--?" he looked around frantically in search of his opponent.
"Trunks!!! Above you!! Look out! TRUNKS!!!!" Bra screamed as loud as her weakened body would permit, but to no avail. As much as she tried, her brother could not hear her warnings.
Altair hovered high in the air, staring down at the boy and chuckled, extending his arms out at full length down towards him. Trunks looked up and found him, just as Altair fired a relentless attack of enormous energy blasts, all flying at devastating speed down at him. He clenched his teeth and used his energy to create a shield around his body, bracing as much as possible for the quickly approaching onslaught. The blasts hit, pounding Trunks into the ground and drilling him farther within the wide expanse of the crater that was formed. He closed his eyes and screamed as his body was hammered more violently than he had ever felt before in his life. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of excruciating attacks, he lay still and silent under the mass of rubble.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vegeta could feel Trunks' power level dropping at an alarming rate and pressed on at incredible speed, his expression tense with desperation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bra stared in stunned silence with wide eyes at the vast crater that extended over a sizeable distance and went quite deep. She gritted her teeth and stared down into the center of the hole where she knew her brother lay so badly hurt.
Altair remained in the air, unmoving, save for lowering his arms back to his sides. He simply stared down coldly into the massive pit.
Trunks exhaled, letting out a barely audible cry. He kept his eyes closed, feeling the heavy rocks that covered part of his body. He could also feel the blood from many large cuts on his face, arms and chest. It felt almost as if his right leg was broken as well, and he sure didn't doubt it. He opened it eyes slowly and coughed, spitting out blood. With great effort he pushed the huge rocks off of his legs and rolled over onto his back. He shut his eyes tight against the pain and breathed heavily, able to tell now that his leg was indeed broken. The only thing that ran through his mind over and over again at this point was, "Why am I not dead? Why hasn't he just killed me by now? How can I still be alive?"
Vegeta finally saw the battle in the distance and sped up some more, suddenly appearing close enough to the scene to see his son at the bottom of an enormous crater. His eyes widened in shock at Trunks' condition. He was in his base form and his face was covered in streaks of blood, as well as his arms and chest. His clothes were shredded and from the looks of it, his right leg was broken in several places, if not crushed. He flared his power in anger and saw Altair floating in the air about level to him. He charged forward and yelled when he was suddenly knocked back by some sort of energy barrier. "What the??" he shook his head a bit and flew back up to it, banging his fist against the shield and creating brief waves of light in the energy.
Altair turned his head to the side and half-grinned in amusement. "Ah, Vegeta! So you've decided to join us after all. I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up, but then again, you've always been full of surprises, haven't you? It's too bad, though, that you had to arrive so late. I was hoping you wouldn't miss all the fun." He said, tilting his head down towards Trunks with a cruel smirk and laughed mockingly.
"Altair, you bastard! You'll pay for this! I swear I'll make you pay!!" Vegeta yelled at him furiously.
Trunks opened his eyes at the sound of his father. He forced himself off the ground and leaned against a rock, looking up. "Dad!" He turned his head and coughed up a mouthful of blood. He took a ragged breath and fought back the urge to gag at the grotesque feeling. Mustering up the remains of his energy, he slowly rose back into the air to where they were, at least able to prevent putting pressure on his leg.
Altair ignored Trunks and continued talking to Vegeta who, on the other hand, was staring down at his son with eyes wide with shock and anger. "I see you've discovered my energy shield that is surrounding this entire battleground. It doesn't matter how much you try. You'll never be able to penetrate it, unless I allow you." He explained with a smug tone.
Vegeta glared daggers at him and growled in frustration at, once again, being powerless to do anything. That was when he glanced up and suddenly saw Bra in, what looked like, another energy bubble. "Bra!!" he shouted, instinctively trying to fly to her, but was stopped by the shield. He released a loud growl and pounded both of his powerful fists against the barrier as his power level shot up dramatically.
Bra stared down at her father. "Daddy! Daddy!!" she screamed at him, so desperately wanting him to save her, to hold her in his arms and take her home where she could be safe again. She pressed against the inside of her tiny prison, looking down at the three of them, uncertain of what would happen next and afraid for the lives of herself, her brother, and her father. It was already tearing her up seeing Trunks get nearly killed while trying to save her.
Vegeta cast another look up at Bra, absolutely awe-struck by the amount of damage that he could see had been done to her. He gritted his teeth and clenched his shaking fists by his sides, staring back at Altair again. "You low-class piece of filth." He muttered in a dangerous tone, even his voice shaking in his own anger. "You're a pathetic coward, hiding behind your little power shields and using Bra as a tool to get what you want instead of fighting for it like a true warrior!! You're an absolute disgrace to the Saiyan race and you always have been! You've never been able to handle your own problems and face them like the fighter you were made out to be, but always found ways to use things to aid you in getting around them!! You disgust me and it's degrading to know that you came from the same planet as I did! Altair, when this is over, I swear you will wish you had died with your brother and never come back to mess with me or my family!!" Vegeta roared in an outburst of unrestrained rage, getting as close to the barrier as he could without pressing up against it.
Trunks stared at his father wide-eyed and quiet, having been taken a bit by surprise at his sudden explosion of anger.
Altair, having turned completely around to face him, stared back at Vegeta with an expression that clearly showed the surprise from all that he had said, and also, the prideful offense he felt. He glared back at him for another moment in silence before blinking, the look in his narrowed eyes changing to one more solid, piercing, and angry. He spoke in an eerily calm voice that held an underlying tone of danger and seriousness. "It would be wise for you to keep your temper in check, Vegeta. Remember, I am the one in control. I am the one who sets the rules here. And don't forget, I hold the life of your daughter in my hands. So, I suggest you watch what you say, if you care at all about *ever* seeing your precious little princess again." He paused, watching Vegeta's face change as his eyes showed the realization of total helplessness he was feeling. Altair powered down completely and loosened up a little, feeling better having now put Vegeta back in his place. "This was only a game. You will know my true power when the time comes. I must say, though, that from what I can tell from this little warm-up, you might as well give up now."
Trunks, suddenly alarmed at the sign that Altair was leaving, flew at him. "I won't let you get away!" he yelled, swinging a punch with his right fist. His hand simply fell through an after-image as Altair blurred away effortlessly. He reappeared a bit higher in the air next to Bra. His arm lashed out, grabbing her wrist and yanking her roughly from the bubble, letting her dangle beside him. She screamed out in sudden fear at being in his grasp yet again, not to mention being held so helplessly at this height when she couldn't fly. Altair spoke down to the two Saiyans in a mocking tone. "This was fun." He smirked once again. "But if this is the best you can do when the real battle comes, you don't have a breath of a chance."
Bra stared down at her brother and dad with a terrified look and reached out to them with her free hand. She took a breath to scream. "DA----!!" Before her desperate cry for help could even fully escape her throat, they had disappeared into thin air, along with the power shield.
Vegeta gasped. "BRA!!" He flew forward, up towards where they had just been. He stopped and whipped his head from side to side in a frantic search for any sign of them. There was nothing. "No.. NO!" he clenched his fists, leaning forward as his power level shot up tremendously with his increasing anger. He shut his eyes and threw his head back, screaming with all the fury from within him. "ALTAIR!!!!"