Chapter 3: Mexico
The first thing The Chibis noticed was that there were a lot of people and a lot of cheap stuff being sold in all directions. The second was that many people looked so strange that there was little chance of anyone noticing two small boys with Gis and tails so they let down their guard and walked around freely. Trunks read carefully as he noticed the plaque on a short wall. "Es-tay-dohs Yoo-nee-dohs, what the hell is that?!" Trunks muttered struggling with the Mexican pronunciation of The United States. Goten said: "Huh? Can't you read 'Panish Trunks-kun?" Trunks turned with his trademark smirk and said: "No, but I brought this!" He held up a book titled: "Expresiónes Españoles que usted no quiere decir! Un libro del humor por Martín Gomez." unaware of its meaning.
They walked on towards a man painting a spray-paint masterpiece. Goten stopped and looked on interested as he saw the crude brilliance the unshaven man displayed in his work as he spayed in an almost random fashion revealing beautiful space-scapes. "Hey Goten, what are you doin'?" Trunks said as he watched Goten's tail swishing about drawing yet more stares from the crowds. He ran up and wrapped Goten's tail back around his waist and asked: "What? Do you want that thing?" Goten's eyes lit up, "Yeah, it's so cool! Can I buy it?" he said. "Sure," said Trunks "It's your money!" Goten happily pulled out a handful of cash and handed it to the man who looked at it confused. "Price is 10 pesos! What is this crap?!" said the man, having never seen zenni before. Trunks walked up to the man and kneeled down. He said quietly: "Take the money; I don't want to hurt you. Well, actually I do but it would be too messy so just take the money," as he charged a small Ki ball in his open palm. The man took one look and took off screaming. Trunks stood up a bit confused extinguishing the ball effortlessly; Goten beamed at him. "Thanks Trunks-kun!" said Goten. "Ahh, it was nothing!" Trunks responded grinning widely as he helped Goten gather up the twenty or so paintings and the two walked on.
A sudden rumbling sound came to no surprise of Trunks. He turned and Goten said: "Trunks-kun, I'm hungry. Let's get some food, 'kay!" Trunks said: "When are you not hungry?" but gave into Goten's huge, pleading eyes. He laughed to himself as he led Goten into a taco joint. "So, what can I get for you boys?" the man asked in perfect English, "a couple of tacos?" Trunks hovered a few inches to reach the counter and said: "Naw, how about all of that," indicating to the slices of meat rotating slowly on a skewer, "and a few hundred tortillas." The man looked like he had died and gone to heaven as he leaned close to Trunks and said very quietly: "Only if you give me all the money instead of paying the cashier." Trunks said: "Okay, but you have to accept the money I give you." handing the man a few thousand zenni. The man took the cash and pocketed it without looking at what it was. The boys walked toward a table and people looked on in wonder as the whole skewer of meat, a mountain of lettuce, and a two-foot high stack of tortillas as well as several hundred cans of soda were wheeled out to The Chibis. The stares grew wider as Goten and Trunks began to eat. Goten dug in, stuffing meat and lettuce with one hand and tortillas with the other. Trunks was a bit distressed at the lack of silverware being that he was comparably neat in his eating for a Saiya-jin but nevertheless began to fold tacos at a maniacal rate. After folding about fifty he began to devour them as Goten did, only a bit more civilized. Man, can that chibi eat messily or what? thought Trunks as he smiled inwardly watching Goten's happy-food-mode. After a few seconds Trunks grabbed the inch-wide skewer and broke it easily in half, handing a piece to Goten. Both licked their half clean and set it down on their plates, and Goten stopping to pick a piece of tortilla off of one of his spikes. About as fast as they had arrived, the two half Saiya-jin disappeared into the street, leaving a stunned crowd in their wake.
"Mmm! That was good Trunks-kun! I like their tacos, can we go again sometime?" asked Goten. "I dunno Goten," Trunks responded uncertainly, "I think we cleaned the place out." The two boys continued their trek down the street stopping occasionally to look at something, but just enjoying themselves for the most part. Goten stopped to encapsulate the paintings they had gotten and noticed a large group of people surrounding some musicians in gaudy dress and huge hats. They absently wandered toward the group and Goten began to hover to see over the crowd. "Goten!" Trunks whispered, "Get back down here, what if someone sees you!" but Goten wasn't listening and ignored his older brother. Trunks reached up and grabbed Goten's tail, dragging him down to the ground painfully. Goten started to cry out and Trunks worried that they might get in trouble but luckily for them the Mariachi Band began to play right at the crucial moment. Trunks got Goten back down and started to tell him how Yonk would be very mad if they got in trouble but the band drowned out his words. Apparently the racket was even worse for Saiya-jin ears as Goten immediately started to complain. "Don't worry Goten," said Trunks, his smirk returning, "I got this one!" Seconds later the instruments in the band members' hands exploded into flames and there was a small panic in the crowd of confused tourists and natives. Nobody noticed a small purple haired chibi underneath someone's legs pointing a finger and holding back laughter. Alright! Scratch one bunch of noisy humans! Trunks thought, congratulating himself. He climbed out from under the mess of humans and had a bit of trouble finding Goten. He had no problem locating his Ki, however, and instantly felt that something was wrong with it. Goten was in trouble!
Two huge teenagers had Goten cornered in an empty alleyway and were threatening him with knives for his money. Although he could have killed them in a second, Goten remembered that Yonk had told him not to get into fights while he was away. Never being one for logical thought, Goten didn't realize that Yonk would have excepted life-or-death situations. With his Ki lowered Goten was almost as vulnerable as a normal person; this was definitely a situation that could seriously hurt the chibi. The two boys drew closer, slashing the air and ordering Goten to hand over the cash. But Goten wasn't scared and didn't give in. "Alright you stupid kid! Give us all your money if you wanna live," one said laughing evilly. Goten still didn't flinch and when one of the teens charged Goten simply moved to the side sending the hapless human sprawling. He got up and laughed again saying he was going to get serious. "Hey! Leave him alone you dammed bakayaros!!!" Trunks yelled entering the alley, seriously pissed that anyone had dared to put his younger brother in harm. Goten, being the textbook innocent child, raised his eyebrows, having never heard such language in his life, but was nevertheless happy to see him. "Trunks-kun, whadda they want? Is this a game?" Goten called out to Trunks, eliciting no reply. Trunks was seething, balling and un-balling his small fists staring down the two teens. "So, another tough kid lookin' for an early end," said one. "Well how about this!" as he thrust his knife down towards Trunks' head. Trunks lifted a finger and stopped the knife in mid swing. The teen looked surprised but pushed down with all his might. The blade broke in two and Trunks still held up his finger, a few drops of blood falling onto the ground. The teens backed down as Trunks walked toward them, eyes shifting from blue to green as electricity crackled about the alley. "Get out of here!" Trunks said through clenched teeth his hair beginning to spike up. The kids replied with a simple nod and took off into the street, freaked to all end. Trunks powered down and immediately ran to Goten placing his hands on his shoulders and looking deep into his eyes with concern. "Goten, are you okay?" Trunks asked. Goten responded, a little confused: "Yeah, I'm fine Trunks-kun, what just happened?" Trunks decided not to explain to his thick headed counterpart why he could just have been cut up. He looked back to where the teens had run off to and felt Goten leaning against him. Trunks turned and couldn't help smiling as Goten snored softly, asleep standing up. His tail was wrapped around Trunks' leg and he slept in absolute comfort and a feeling of safety. Trunks carefully gathered Goten in his arms and flew off a bit erratically as Goten's unruly hair kept getting in his eyes and looked for a decent hotel.
Trunks didn't like the small towns so he flew on toward the east to Mexicali, the hundred mile journey took about a half-hour and the sun was nearly setting as they landed near an American style hotel. A short while later the boys undressed in their own private suite having not paid for it. Nobody knows how they did this, but it involved some pieces of duct tape, a container of shaving cream, and several rolls of toilet paper. The porter at the front desk somehow figured into this equation as well. The Chibis changed into their PJs and looked around the massive room. Goten turned on the TV and flipped the channels with a bit of telekinesis, too lazy to get the remote. Trunks raided the private fridge and found a few snacks which he munched on while watching the television as Goten stopped on a channel. The programming was slightly different than what the Chibis were used to watching, for one it was in Spanish, and it also had that kind of Kamesennin feel to it. Normal boys at their age might be utterly confused at this show, but these were certainly not normal boys, they looked on with a slight interest. Trunks was slightly confused at what was going on as there were two women, having never been educated in more taboo human mating rituals and Goten was already falling asleep again. So he absently switched off the TV and then extinguished the light. The boys climbed into a single bed together as usual, feeling comfort in each other's presence though they could have had three beds each. Trunks started to talk about what they would do tomorrow, but Goten was asleep already so he snuggled closer to him and let his blue eyes close.
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