Thankies for the reviews! And thanks Rejhan for telling me the names of the students. I'm going to have to write those in.
Chapter 24: a MergerTrunks landed back on the lookout and ran back to the room he had been learning to fuse in before. There he found Goku sitting on the floor with his back to the wall looking exhausted while Piccolo and Goten stood in the middle. Trunks came running in waving the radar.
"Look what I brought." He said grinning. Goku smiled at him and Piccolo took the radar from the young prince.
"Good work kid." The namekian mumbled. Trunks grinned then looked over at Goku.
"Why didn't you tell us you were that strong? That was amazing!" Trunks quickly said and Goku smiled.
"Oh that? It was just a little trick. But we don't have time to be talking, you have a fusion technique to learn." The older saiyan said as he got up. Trunks sighed.
"Aw…but I want to see you do it up close!" he said. Goten's face lit up and he ran next to Trunks.
"Yea dad, I wanna see it too! Can't you sure us?"
"Please?"
"We'll be good and learn fusion!" they begged. Goku frowned.
"Look, guys, super saiyan three takes up a lot of energy. My time here will probably be cut down a lot." He said but Goten pouted.
"Aw, but we wanna see." He said and Goku sighed.
"Fine, tell ya what, if you practise fusion for an hour then I'll show you super three. That ok with you two?" he proposed and both boys grinned and got into position in answer.
"Fu…sion…ha!"
Round the back of the lookout Zara frowned to herself as she looked off into the distance. That Goku guy is strong. He looked like he was even stronger then Buu. Wonder why he didn't finish it… she wondered before taking to the air so she was floating in the exact middle of the dome.
"I better finish up here then head back over to the others. Don't want Bulma worrying about me." She muttered then began powering up. Soon she was back to throwing punches and kicks at the air at light speed.
Roughly an hour later Trunks stopped.
"Has it been an hour yet?" he asked. Goku frowned.
"I guess…" he said before remembering his promise.
"Great. We'll like to see level three now." Trunks said grinning.
"Level three? You mean he'll show you?" a voice said making everyone turn round. There was Zara with her head poking round the corner. Piccolo frowned.
"Get out of here! We don't need you distracting us." He firmly said. Zara frowned.
"From what? Watching Goten's dad show off his power?" she said and Piccolo couldn't think of anything to say in response.
"Might as well let her watch Piccolo. She'll go as soon as they start working again." Goku said then turned to Zara. "Won't you?" Zara grinned and nodded at him and quickly went to sit on the right of Trunks.
Goku sighed and stood with his feet shoulders length apart.
"You better hold onto something!" he said before crouching slightly and starting to power up.
It went up slowly at first but as soon as Goku started screaming his power level shot right up and he gained the appearance of a level three saiyan.
The kids were blown back by the power Goku was giving off and had to hold onto the wall to stop themselves from being blown out of the small room.
When he finished, Goku looked round at them all as they stared wide eyed at him
"You guys happy now?" he asked and the kids all nodded.
"That is so call! How'd you do that? Do you think I could?" Trunks asked as he stared at Goku. Goku smiled and shook his head.
"Doubt you could Trunks. It takes up a lot of energy. Better if you concentrated more on learning how to fuse then going level three." The older saiyan said before turning back. He looked slightly pale as soon as he did and had to lean against a wall.
"Whoa…that took more outta me then I thought it would." He muttered. Piccolo frowned.
"Dende can heal you if that's what you need." The Namek said but Goku shook his head again.
"Nah, this is more of something I need to go back to other world for." Goku said and pushed himself off the wall.
Soon everyone was round the front of the lookout. Goku looked round at them all.
"Come on guys, cheer up. We'll see each other again eventually." He said. Chichi tightened her hold on her tissue.
"Oh, Goku…" she said then ran forwards and hugged him. "Why do you have to go?" she asked making Goku smile slightly.
"You know I can't stay." He said then looked down when he felt a tug on his trouser leg. It was Goten.
"You want to come up as well?" Goku asked and picked up the half saiyan and hugged him. Goku stared down at his youngest son that was holding back tears.
"Hey, 'ten, what's wrong?" he asked.
"I…I'll miss you daddy." Goten said softly. Goku looked down at his son then lifted him up at arms length.
"Hey, cheer up. You'll see me again. And I'll always be with you, just not in person." Goku said and saw he wasn't helping much.
Trunks watched the scene as Goku tried to make Goten laugh and frowned. He quickly turned away and walked off. Zara noticed him leave. She quickly looked at the father and son duo then followed Trunks.
She found him in the corridor at the back of the lookout. He was sitting on the floor with his back to the wall as he glared at the floor.
"Trunks?" she said softly as she approached. He didn't move.
"What?" he mumbled. Zara watched him as she stood next to him and then leant against the wall.
"Just wanted to know what's wrong." She said. He didn't answer. After years of living next door to Trunks, Zara had been someone for him to talk to when he was upset or angry about something. She was a good listener and usually could give Trunks exactly what he needed: someone to talk to.
"Its just everything." He mumbled after awhile. Zara looked down at him and sighed.
"Know what you mean." She said knowingly, wondering how the earth had gotten into the mess it was now in. Trunks looked up at her.
"How could you? You don't even know your dad that well! You don't know what it feels like to lose one. And you don't know what it's like to have everyone depending on you." He snapped. Zara frowned at him.
"I may not know what it's like to have everybody counting on me, Piccolo isn't even giving me a chance, but don't go assuming that I don't know what it's like to lose someone. Vegeta might not of been my father but he was still the closet I had to one. And I was there when he did it…I had to watch. You don't know what's that like." She snapped back. He stared at her then lowered his head.
"Sorry then." He said after a while and looked away from her. Zara stared at him then slid down the wall into a sitting position. They sat together in silence.
"Couldn't they use those dragon ball things to bring him back?" Zara eventually asked. Trunks shrugged.
"I dunno. I'll have to ask mum but I don't think they will for some reason." Trunks said sadly then looked at his friend.
"Did you want to be in there with us?" he asked, remembering what she had said before. Zara put her head down.
"Well…yea. I did. But that Piccolo seems to be bent on making me stay away. What's his problem?" she said. Trunks smiled.
"I dunno. Guess he's just cranky." Trunks said then stared at Zara again. "You haven't been feeling left out have you? Where've you been anyway?" he asked.
"I've been out there," she said, pointing to the window she had flown out earlier, "I've had nothing really to do so I've been training. I guess I have been feeling a little left out but what do you expect? You get training and the chance to help out. All I get is that stupid green guy yelling at me to leave." She said and frowned at the floor. Trunks looked at her thoughtfully then got up and went to look out the window and out at the courtyard that now had scorch marks and the odd broken tile across the floor.
"You were busy" he mumbled then looked back at her, "we could go out there if you want and finish our match. At least until Piccolo comes looking for me." He said. Zara's face lit up and she climbed to her feet.
"You mean it?" she asked and Trunks nodded.
"Why not? It'll give me some practise." He said, smirking. Zara grinned and teleported into the courtyard, leaving Trunks to scramble through the window.
Zara grinned at him and put the shield up around them, mainly to protect the buildings from any stray blasts, before sinking into her stance.
"You ready?" she chirped, happy to be doing something with her friend.
"Born ready!" was Trunks come back as he sunk into his stance and smirked. They both stared each other off, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Trunks was the one to start.
He charged at Zara and straight away started his barrage of punches that Zara was forced to block. She was slowly forced backwards as he attacked and waited for an opening. She watched carefully and there it was. Trunks had slowed down as he dragged his shoulder and Zara had enough time to kick his right side and gaining. Trunks had not been prepared for the blow and stumbled to the side and Zara continued her attack by shifting her weight to her left and spun round to kick Trunks hard on his side again.
Trunks stumbled over but managed to stop himself by putting his hand on the ground and quickly turned into a sweeping kick that swept Zara's feet from underneath her but she managed to turn her fall into a cart wheel and land on her feet before lunging at Trunks again.
She started throwing combos at him that he tried to block and dodge as he moved backwards. When he got to close to the barrier, he quickly powered up to his super form, golden energy radiating off of him as he took on the usual signs of the transformation. As soon as he was done he was fast enough to duck under Zara's punches and come up with an uppercut, knocking her backwards and continuing with the attack. Zara could barely block his blows and was forced backwards, towards the other end of the dome.
She frowned as she felt herself getting nearer to the edge and could only find herself with one option.
Trunks landed a good punch to her chest and she was sent backwards, into the shield. She bounced off of it and landed on all fours and frowned up at him then jumped up, her flaming red aura engulfing her as her power level shot up to match the older chibi. She grinned and leapt at him and they were at it again.
Goten was wondering round the corridors in search of his partner in crime. His father had gone and now Piccolo was fuming because Trunks had run off, undoubtedly with Zara.
Goten sighed and leant against the wall, giving up on his search. Where'd they go? Can't believe they left me alone! And with Piccolo to boot! He thought irritably as he looked sadly at the floor.
"Have you found them yet?" came Piccolo's voice and Goten looked up.
"No. Not yet." He replied.
"Then get off the floor and keep looking!" the Namek half yelled at the little saiyan.
Goten sighed and climbed to his feet as the lookout gave a violent shake. Piccolo's eyes went wide as he looked round.
"What in the world is going on?" he asked no one in particular as his eyes settled on the window. He could see a pink dome and what looked to be two blurs moving through it. Piccolo frowned and looked through the window.
What in the world? That girl can keep up with him when he's super? He thought before climbing through the window, Goten at his heels.
Inside the dome Zara and Trunks could only be seen appearing at different places within the dome as they kept phasing in and out of sight. The shield was doing its job by not only protecting the building but also stopping others from sensing the power off whoever was inside.
Piccolo frowned at it then walked right up close and hit the side of it hard to try and catch the two chibis attention. Zara was the one to notice as her eyes were more developed at seeing movement then Trunks's so she saw Piccolo out of the corner of her eye.
"Whoa, Trunks, stop!" she said and Trunk stopped mid punch and looked at where his friend was looking.
"Uh oh…looks like fun times over." He said sadly and Zara sighed.
"Looks that way…" she muttered and brought down the shield. Piccolo quickly walked towards them. Goten ran past the Namek and joined his friends before Piccolo stopped to go on his little rant.
"Trunks! Do you know how important it is for you to learn fusion? You don't have time to go off with this girl! I don't care if it would have gone towards other training or not you just need to be concentrating on fusion first and then you can train with her all you want! You just can't go running off!"
Zara had her full attention on him from the 'all you want' part and cut him off.
"Do you mean that? I get to train with the boys when they fuse? That is so cool!" she said, happy that she would be able to help out. Piccolo frowned down at her.
"Thought that would grab your attention. You're strong enough to go up against a super saiyan but I will be doing most of the work with the fusion, you got that?"
"Fine then." Zara said in agreement and followed the boys back to their practise room.
Several hours later the boys were ready to finally try the technique for real. Everybody lined up on the lookout to watch and the boys stood facing the crowd roughly six paces away from each other. Piccolo stood in front of them with Zara next to him, refusing to stand with Bulma.
"You two ready?" Piccolo asked, giving Zara an annoyed glance as she stood grinning next to him. Both boys nodded and Piccolo gave them the signal to begin.
Both boys stood as in a stance that was the exact mirror image of the other's, legs shoulder length apart and arms completely straight pointing away from the other boy.
"Fu…" they said as they made their way to the space in the centre, moving their arms past their heads so they were pointing to the other boy.
"…Sion…" they said as they quickly put their arms facing outwards again and their outside leg bent and pointing to the other boy.
"…Haa!" they finished as they bent their arms so that their outstretched fingers pointed upwards and were level with their head and they bent to the side to join their fingers together while still facing the crowd watching. As soon as they were finished, they were engulfed in a bright light that momentarily blinded the crowd.
When the light faded there was only one boy standing there. He had black, spiky hair that was streaked with lavender on either side and he had onyx coloured eyes. He had Goten's pale skin and nose but he was as tall as Trunks. He was wearing a dark blue waistcoat with a blue cloth belt and white baggy trousers. The fusion had worked except for one thing: this kid was fat and obviously too slow as he demonstrated by jogging round the lookout to test his speed.
"I…I don't understand. What went wrong?" Piccolo asked as he watched the fusion jog. Zara looked up at him.
"You mean you didn't see it?" she asked and Piccolo frowned down at her.
"See what?"
"Trunks didn't stretch his fingers out far enough." Zara said as if it was the obvious thing. Piccolo didn't say anything and just glanced at the fused saiyans who had met up with the crowd.
"What's you name?" Chichi asked the fusion. He looked up at her.
"Gotenks." He said. Bulma smiled.
"What do ya know? The fusion even comes with it's own name." She said and Chichi nodded in approval. Piccolo walked over to them.
"Trunten, you better un-fuse so we can do it right." He said Gotenks frowned at him.
"I'm Gotenks and I don't know how." He said in reply.
"Piccolo, don't tell me you forgot what Goku said! The fusion can't split until 30 minutes are up!" Zara yelled from somewhere behind the group. Piccolo muttered something under his breath about know it all little girls then walked off.
"Fine, we'll try again later!" he said as he left.
An hour and thirty minutes later and everyone were assembled again. The boys had discovered that they needed an hour to prepare for another fusion so they had taken longer then planned.
The boys now stood opposite a crowd of family and friends with Piccolo in front and this time Zara was leaning against a tree further away.
"Fu…sion…Haa!" the boys yelled as they did the dance and this time after the light subsided an incredibly skinny and weak form of Gotenks stood in the place of the boys wheezing. Piccolo slapped his forehead.
"Great. Goten didn't lift his leg up high enough." Piccolo muttered. Zara smiled from her place. It was kind of funny watching Piccolo get so round up.
Another hour and a half later and the boys were ready again.
"Hopefully it works this time." Piccolo muttered as he watched the boys perform their dance. When the light subsided Gotenks stood smugly. This time nothing appeared to be wrong.
"Wow, his energy signal definitely seems healthier this time round." Videl said from her spot next to Chichi. Everyone else nodded and Zara stepped away from her tree. She couldn't believe how well it had worked.
"Trunks?" she muttered. Gotenks smirked and looked over at her.
"Gotenks. Don't forget it." He said. Zara was about to reply when Piccolo pushed his way forward.
"Good to see you did it right this time. Now we better wait then try again but as super saiyans." Piccolo said but Gotenks shook his head.
"Not so fast old man. Can't you sense my power? I bet I could easily take on Buu now!" he said making Piccolo fume.
"What? Look here, you! You're not strong enough to take on Buu yet! We're not ready to take that chance!" Piccolo yelled at the fused saiyans but Gotenks didn't listen and just pretended to clean his ear out instead. Zara frowned.
"Hey, why don't you just test your power out first. I'll take you if you want just don't go after Buu yet." She said but Gotenks laughed.
"Me? Waste my time on a weakling like you? No way! I told you, I bet I could take on Buu. I don't need to waste my time on a little girl." Gotenks said and Zara gave him a cold glare.
"Is that bet to take him on and live 'cause I doubt it! Besides, I'm not just some 'little girl'!" She yelled at him but he just laughed.
"What ever! Zar-zar, Piccy, I'll smell ya later, I gotta Blob to wipe the floor with!" Gotenks said before taking to the air and flying off the lookout. Zara stopped fuming and ran to the edge.
"Gotenks!" she yelled but when she looked down it was too late: he was gone.
......
A/N: how was that? I looked at a couple of screen caps and remembered the starting position. Thought I'd put the description of the dance in here.
So, will Gotenks manage to beat Buu in his normal form? Or will the earth lose its last hope? You'll have to wait till next time to find out!