Chapter 31: history
Trunks flew through the desert as fast as he could in super saiyan mode. Zara's energy signature had nearly gone and that frightened him. Out of everyone that went out to challenge the dragons, she was the one he couldn't lose. So he sped towards the ice city in the desert with the help of Bulma's directions.
Once there, he hurried to the centre of the city and followed the damage to Zara. She was still encased in ice and he panicked when he laid eyes on her, expecting the worse. He hurried to her side and quickly checked for her energy signature. He smiled when he found it and quickly set to work blasting her, out after taking note of the Dragonball in a nearby snowdrift.
He blasted away most of the ice and heated the rest as soon as it got too thin. A moment later and Zara was free again.
"Well that's one catastrophe averted…" he muttered as he stared down at her. He smiled before scooping her unconscious body up in his arms. He then turned back to the Dragonball and frowned. It wasn't in its snowdrift any more.
"Weird…" he muttered and looked round to make sure it wasn't there. It was as if it had completely disappeared so Trunks decided to call Bulma up to check the radar.
"Well that's strange…Its on the move. Its already a mile away from your current position." She told him, confusing Trunks even more.
"Weird, how'd it get that far away?" he wondered aloud.
"Maybe its not so strange, its with another Dragonball. I just don't see why." Bulma replied. Trunks frowned.
"What should we do?" he asked.
"Leave it for now, I'll warn Goku and he can handle it. You just get Zara back here so that I can treat her. We're going to need her."
"Ok…but why do you need her?" Trunks asked as he began to take off.
"I'll explain when you get here, just hurry." She replied. Trunks blinked a few times then shrugged it off: He'd find out soon enough.
Meanwhile, Goku was walking through a city on the other side of the desert. This one just happened to be sweltering hot rather then icy cold. In fact, Goku was starting to think that it was too hot.
Maybe it's the dragon. No way is this heat natural. He thought as he wiped some sweat from his brow.
"Son Goku I presume. It's about time you showed." A voice greeted Goku's ears as he stepped into a park. Goku frowned as he noticed the reddish-orange figure sitting by the side of a fountain with his hands over the side, turning the water into steam. The figure – or creature – was well toned with a pair of wings attached to his back and fiery red eyes that were fixed on Goku.
"And I take it that you're a dragon, but which one?" he asked. The dragon stood up and raised his palm to Goku. A blue Dragonball appeared in it with four black stars.
"I am Nuova Shenron, the four star dragon of fire and the Sun." the dragon then replied as Goku continued to stare at the ball.
"So you're the one that got my Grandpa's Dragonball. That's a good sign." He muttered before looking up at the dragon again.
"Just out of curiosity, what wish were you born from?" Goku then asked and the dragon smiled.
"Both my brother and myself were born when the demon king Piccolo wished for youth. Is that all you want to know?" Nuova asked. Goku nodded.
"Guess it is. So it's about time I fought for my grandpa's ball."
Nuova nodded and sunk into a stance.
"You know I've heard about you, Son Goku. You're a good man and the strongest fighter this planet has to offer. It should be fun testing my strength against you." he replied and Goku grinned back.
"Well then you better be strong or you won't last long." He replied and got into a stance as well.
"We'll see." Nuova replied, smirking before both he and Goku disappeared.
Goku swung his fist at the dragon but Nuova ducked under it and kneed Goku in the gut. Goku doubled over then fired a blast at the dragon who slapped it away before charging at Goku with his fist raised but the saiyan blocked and kicked at Nuova who was hit backwards slightly. Goku chased after the dragon and readied a punch but Nuova was too fast and kicked Goku's exposed gut. Goku grunted and elbowed the dragon in the face. Nuova grabbed the saiyan's arm as he pulled away and flung the saiyan into one of the buildings across the street.
Nuova then chased after Goku but before he could get past the hole the saiyan had created; the dragon was hit full force by a kamehameha wave. Nuova rolled off of it and threw a fireball at the hole just as Goku was coming out but he instant translocated behind the dragon and attempted a drop kick that the dragon avoided before grabbing the saiyan's arm and then neck.
Goku gasped in surprise as he felt the dragon squeezing his neck. The dragons grip strengthened and Goku glanced at the dragon before - to Goku's surprise - the dragon let go. Goku peered up at Nuova in confusion.
"You can do better then this." The dragon said, smirking as he floated away from the saiyan and settled into a stance. Goku continued to stare at the dragon in confusion before grinning and sinking into his own stance. Both warriors then charged at one another again, signalling the start of round two.
Zara's eyes fluttered as she was carried. She didn't know where she was but she did know that it was comfortable and warm and if it weren't for her common sense then she would have stayed asleep.
You were frozen solid! Wake up! Her mind screamed at her and finally her eyes fluttered open. What she saw made her groan.
"Nice to see you too." Trunks replied, smiling down at her. She was silent for a long moment.
"You know I'm not going to talk to you," she said.
"I didn't expect you too right away." he replied. Zara frowned at him.
"Why'd you have to be the one to save me anyway?" she asked.
"Well I wasn't going leave you frozen. That's not what friends do and you're kind of important." He replied.
"After what you did, it might have been less of a blow to my pride." She shot back.
"Well I'm sorry for what I did."
"And sorry is supposed to make it better?"
"Well it's a start."
"Doesn't change what happened."
"Well I don't exactly have a time machine to use." He pointed out in a lame joke. Zara turned her head away to hide the smile.
"But I really am sorry. It was a bad mistake and I want to sort it out. Just give me a chance to explain, ok?" he asked and Zara sighed. Trunks took this as a fine and quickly found a small oasis in the desert below to land in.
Once there, he dropped out of super saiyan and set Zara on the floor before sitting across from her.
"Ok then, listen. Back in the GR I had a lot on my mind. Goten had given me this whole speech about how impossible it is to take a relationship further then go back to how things were and how easy it is to ruin everything with just one mistake or bad experience. Of course now I know Goten wasn't expecting to be taken so seriously and just how paranoid that is but at the time it had me pretty scared." He started and sweat dropped nervously. Zara continued to stare at him blankly so he decided to continue.
"Then there was Goku's little panic attack. He kept stressing to me how important everyone and the earth is. I guess I was worried that our feelings would end up making us make mistakes in battle and I'd end up messing up again."
"If you haven't noticed, Trunks, are feelings already does that too us but we get by. Besides, its not you that has to take over from Goku. He talked to all of us, not just you so all of us are going to take over. You have six people working with you that will help you if you mess up, me included." Zara pointed out and Trunks nodded.
"I guess you have a point there." He said slowly.
"Of course I do. Do you really think I'm going to let Goku get between us after everything we've been through together? We'll still be able to help defend the earth, even if we're boyfriend and girlfriend or more. And anyone who disagrees is…well…paranoid." She replied. Trunks nodded again and smiled slightly.
"Look, Trunks, you have more power over me then anybody else. And what you did hurt me a lot more then what most of the bad guys we face do. Pain I can handle, heartache is harder. I don't want to go through that again just yet but I'm still willing to risk it against my better judgement. I need to know if you're going to do the same." She continued. Trunks stared at her then lowered his head thoughtfully.
"You know, this would have been a lot easier if we had gotten together earlier. Like back at that new years party 11 years ago, after you got back from space." He pointed out. Zara nodded.
"Probably would have been." She agreed.
"Yea but you disappeared for a week and everything got awkward for a while." He said thoughtfully, trying to remember. Zara frowned lightly.
"Hey, I was in heat. I couldn't exactly help it." She mumbled. Trunks blinked and stared at her and she then blushed.
"What was that?" he asked and Zara knew that he wouldn't leave it alone so she sighed heavily.
"I go into heat once a month. It's a kalroo thing where I produce a pheromone for a week that's supposed to attract guys and we didn't know how it would affect humans or saiyans. That and its plain embarrassing." She explained, still blushing. Trunks nodded at this explanation and decided that she'd just explained why she hadn't told him as well. It was probably easier just to hide.
"Sorry I didn't tell you." she said quietly and Trunks shrugged.
"Doesn't matter, I know now." He replied.
"Ok, but I didn't know how'd you would react. That and Bulma seemed to think that you'd track me down if you knew and thought it'd be kinda dangerous." she added and Trunks waved it off again.
"Its fine." He said firmly. She nodded but continued to stare at the floor. They were silent for a long time after that.
"You know if we listened to a few 'friends' then we probably wouldn't be here either." Zara eventually pointed out. Trunks stared at her.
"What do you mean?" he asked and she smiled at him.
"Don't you remember what happened about three months before Goku came back from training Uub?" she asked. Trunks blinked then nodded.
"How could I forget?"
Both Trunks and Zara had been seeing separate people before Goku had come back, only Trunks's girlfriend had been a suspicious woman and had broken up with him not long before. Zara had gone round to his condo to check on him.
Half way through their little meeting, Zara got a call from her boyfriend, a man called Dick. She had told him where she was and he had driven right over. Once he got there he had pulled her into the kitchen to talk.
"Zara, just what is going on here?" he asked and Zara shrugged.
"Nothing as far as I know." She replied, clueless. Dick frowned at her and leaned against the side.
"You sure about that? Every time I want to speak to you, you're with him. Every time I want to be with you, you're with him." He replied, glancing towards the living room and Trunks.
"Well he's my best friend. I thought I was entitled to spend some time with him." She said, frowning as well now.
"Friend? Kami, you're more then just friends. I see it every time you look at him! You're always with him! And the way you two act, it's no wonder that you've been mistaken for a couple before now. You two aren't friends." He explained, raising his voice before sighing.
"And that's why I have to do this. Sorry Zar, but it's over. I'll see you around." Then he left, leaving Zara to keep staring blankly ahead as his words sunk in.
"Do you think he was right?" Zara asked slowly. Trunks blinked and stared at her before looking thoughtfully at the ground.
"I…don't know. Does it matter?" he asked.
"Well yea, kind of." Zara replied and watched him carefully before continuing.
"You know, I've had this theory for a while now. I think you're too worried about letting everyone down. You're still working a job that you hate and you're constantly sneaking out of your office. You've been forced to live your life as both a human and a saiyan your whole life and that has always left you no time to be yourself and now that Goku had his panic attack, you're going to add earth's saviour to the list. Adding boyfriend might be too much." She started.
"Its not, I can-" Trunks started but Zara pressed a finger against his lips to silence him.
"You've stretched yourself a bit too thin over the years. I know that you'd rather be training then working in an office but you never have enough time. Its part of the reason why you're still only a super two. I know it's hard to just give something up but you'll have to choose sooner or later." She explained and Trunks gently moved her hand away. He stared into her eyes thoughtfully for a long moment before leaning in and kissing her deeply. She blinked and when he pulled back she could only stare at him.
"Wh…what was that for?" she eventually asked and Trunks smiled.
"Choosing." He said simply. Zara blinked then grinned before she wrapped her arms round him and kissed him just as deeply as he returned it.
This continued as several years worth of pent up feelings were released and they both fell into a lying position. Eventually they had to part for breath but they weren't finished. Trunks moved to start kissing her neck and paused just above where the neck met shoulder. Something was telling him to bite. It was some kind of instinct but he didn't know why it was there so he decided to follow it through. He bit down on the spot and when she gasped he held her head in the same spot on his exposed neck so that she'd do the same.
Neither could understand what was happening at first but soon neither cared. Their ki was moving through the bite marks in thin strands to make a loop, entwining with the other's ki before travelling back, creating a type of ki chain mixed in with the other person's life energy.
Their ki continued to act like this for a while longer before fatigue set in and they had to part. Both Zara and Trunks stared into each others eyes, trying to make sense of what just happened until she moved aside and nestled into his arm, going back to sleep.
Goku smirked at Nuova. This fight was really getting his saiyan blood pumping and Nuova was keeping up expertly. Goku was going to have to fully transform and the thought made him grin. This was going to be exciting.
"So tell me Goku, are you ready to show me your true power yet?" the dragon called and Goku nodded.
"I don't see why not, you've earned it." Goku replied and started powering up, calmly at first but after his power reached a certain point he doubled over and screamed as the power rushed out of him. His arms grew the brown monkey hair and his pupils disappeared as his eyes turned red. Finally his hair grew out and Goku was left standing fully transformed with his tail wagging proudly behind him.
The dragon swept his eyes over Goku's new form and smiled.
"Very good, now it's my turn." Nuova said and then began to power up himself. His skin began to glow and then melt away as a more yellowish skin covered his body. Nuova flexed his hands as soon as he was even in power to Goku.
"So you're pretty strong after all. This should definitely be good." Goku commented and settled into a stance. The dragon nodded, a smirk on his face, before he decided to make the first move and charge forward.
The dragon swung his fist at Goku who raised his arm to block. The dragon continued to press down on Goku's arm and the saiyan then noticed his fur beginning to get singed. He frowned kicked the dragon away and Nuova flipped onto his feet and watched Goku check his arm.
"Didn't I mention that my skin can produce the same surface temperature as the sun in this form? That's a maximum of 6000 degrees." The dragon announced and Goku frowned lightly as he rubbed his arm.
"Is that right? Well I guess I'll need to be careful then." He replied and then disappeared. Nuova looked surprised momentarily then ducked as Goku sailed over him with his leg out stretched. Goku landed and turned quickly before having to dodge left as Nuova's fist came flying towards him. Goku frowned then spun round to kick the dragon hard in the gut but Nuova managed to catch the leg and swing Goku into the wall.
Goku frowned and quickly pushed himself out just as Nuova's fist slammed right through the wall and Goku sweep kicked the dragon before trying to punch him in the chest but Nuova grabbed the saiyans arm and used his foot to help flip Goku over him. Nuova then quickly jumped back onto his feet to see that Goku had already disappeared.
"Surprise!" Goku's voice called and Nuova turned round just in time to be kicked in the chest by Goku. Goku quickly landed on his feet and cupped his hands at his side.
"Kamehameha!" he yelled and fired the blast at Nuova. The dragon saw it coming at the last moment and just managed to raise his arms in a lame defence as it hit.
Nothing happened and Nuova opened his eyes to see Goku smiling down at him. Nuova blinked several time before frowning at Goku.
"What was that about?" he asked.
"You spared my life once and I just did the same for you." Goku explained simply. Nuova continued to watch Goku before he climbed to his feet.
"That's it? Fine then, but next time there will be no excuses for either of us." Nuova pointed out and Goku nodded before they both started again.
They both materialised high above the city exchanging kicks and punches as fast as they could. Goku threw a punch that Nuova ducked under before throwing one of his own back that Goku flew over before turning and kicking the dragon across the jaw. Nuova was sent backwards but he managed to fire several fireballs at Goku that he mostly dodged until he slapped away the last one. Nuova appeared in front of the saiyan as soon as he'd deflected it, and the dragon threw his leg round in a round house that Goku blocked before firing a blast into Nuova's chest. The dragon rolled off the blast and flew towards Goku, cupping his hands as he went. Goku cupped his hands at his side then thrust them forward to fire a kamehameha. Nuova fired his own fiery beam and the two hit head on. Both warriors struggled to dominate the other and energy crackled around them and through the blasts until the energy built up and both blasts exploded.
Goku panted as he kept his eyes fixed on Nuova and the dragon did the same to Goku as he caught his own breath. They were both absorbed in their little stare down and strategising that they didn't hear the clapping at first.
"Bravo, bravo. Very well done." A voice called and both of the warriors turned to stare at a figure on a rooftop. He had white skin with two white horns protruding from the top of his head and chest. He had one black horn on his chin and some more on his back, elbows and knees. In the centre of his fore head was a blue one-star Dragonball.
Nuova frowned at the new comer.
"Syn, what are you doing here?" he asked and the second dragon grinned evilly.
"I just wanted to see if you recognised this." Syn replied and held out the orange three-star Dragonball. Both Goku and Nuova stared at it in surprise.
"A Dragonball?" Goku asked.
"That's my brother's ball! Where did you get it?" Nuova asked, raising his voice as the air around him heated up. Syn chuckled slightly.
"Ah yes, so it is." He answered and tossed it into the air and caught it playfully. Nuova growled.
"You didn't answer me!" he yelled.
"I was just thinking of starting a little collection, that's all." Syn started to explain before staring directly at Nuova.
"And I think two brother balls will be quite good." He finished and in a motion too fast to see, Syn had raised his index finger to point at Nuova before firing a blast. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for Goku as he watched the blast hurtle towards Nuova and impact with his chest before it exploded and incinerated the dragon instantly so that only the orange four-star Dragonball was left. The ball then floated over to Syn who started to laugh.
"A perfect ending for a poor excuse of a dragon." he commented and held out the three-star ball in his palm. The ball sunk into his skin and the dragon glowed momentarily as the one-star ball disappeared from his forehead and appeared with the three-star ball on the appropriate place on his chest, both now blue.
Syn smirked and was about to do the same with Nuova's ball when Goku swooped down and snatched it right out of the dragon's hand. Syn stared at Goku as the saiyan turned to face the dragon.
"You owe me some answers! Why did you do that to one of your own kind?" Goku asked and Syn shrugged.
"He was pathetic. He wouldn't kill the humans that lived here, only scared them away. He was barely even evil and a poor excuse of a dragon. He even spared your life once instead of crushing your neck. Besides, humans kill their own kind every day for no good reason, why can't I kill another dragon for a power boost?" Syn replied and Goku's face turned into a look of confusion.
"What power boost?" he asked. He hadn't sensed it as Syn was suppressing his energy signature.
"What power boost? The one I need to defeat you and your kind of course, or at least part of it." Syn replied with a sneer. The dragon then floated off his building and circled Goku.
"I'm going to have to thank your friends. They've saved me a lot of work. Thanks to them I can get all of the Dragonballs with out hunting and killing the other dragons." Syn explained and Goku frowned.
"They would never give you the Dragonballs." Goku replied and Syn laughed.
"Oh please. I could keep up with you even without a boost! They won't stand a chance against me and victory will be mine." He replied. Goku's eyes widened and he clenched his fist.
"Is that so?" Goku asked then quickly fired a blast at the dragon in a desperate attempt to stop it. Syn ducked and grabbed Goku's outstretched arm before pulling it behind the saiyan's back. Goku winced in pain.
"Make no mistake, Son Goku, I get stronger with every Dragonball I absorb. With just one I am your equal. Just imagine how powerful I'll be with all seven." The dragon hissed in Goku's ear.
"You won't get them all." Goku replied through gritted teeth. Syn chuckled.
"We'll see," he muttered and took the four-star ball, "and I'll tell your friends 'hi'." Then he let go and smacked Goku forward before disappearing. Goku quickly turned and stopped in mid air. He looked round for the dragon then growled as he raised his index and middle fingers to his forehead and disappeared, praying that he would get to the others in time.
A/n: well I got bored and typed this up. Surprise! And it looks like Syn Shenron is out to turn into Omega, oh what shall the gang at C.C do?
Well I tried to make Nuova look a little good but it's hard without him not killing Pan like in the series. But you can still sort of see how bad Syn is at least…
I also tried to shed some light on the whole fan fiction bound thing. After spending over a year on a RP board I picked up this whole bound theory that I'm going to try and explain in up coming chapters. In here is how I think they are made and I was kinda nervous about it just in case I'd go too far, but it doesn't seem that bad.
The final thing I wanted to do here was to tell you a little bit about the Kalroos, since Zara is half of one. I've been thinking about writing and adding in the black star hunt chapters and that would include a chapter or two on the Kalroos and their story but that would be if I get some persuasion. Typical that I get ideas for those chapters when I'm this far in the story really.
Reviews:
Chi: heh, sorry about that. And here's another one! Oh no! But I don't think I have many more cliffies coming up. :p
TK is cool…there maybe a reason there for why most of my OC's seem to have it…and I already have some changes to Syn's fight and he's not even fighting yet! How'd I do that?
Trugeta: yea, trust her to be that way. Although I have no idea how she got stubborn. And the ironic thing is if she just swapped with Goku then she would have been in her element and right at home with Nuova's fire powers. Oh well.
Ii Shenron? I have him down as Syn here. He has a few too many names. But thanks and I have a few surprises in store for Syn/Ii/Sin/Omega/whatever.
Rejhan: well he did save her; I'd just be mean to throw something else their way now. But I've finally gotten them together! Yay! And you're right about Eis. He just blinded Goku and got killed in the series. That was about it. Nice to actually have him fight.
Darksupersaiyan: thanks!
Well that's it; I'm just going to give you some questions to ponder over until next time. Why does Bulma need Zara and what has she got in store for the others? Will Goku make it in time to warn his friends and stop Syn Shenron? And will anyone guess what I'm going to do?
See you next time!