Chapter 8
Gohan squared off against Piccolo with a grin, rolling his shoulders a little, "So, how far do you want to take this, Piccolo?"
Piccolo grinned at him as he took off his turban and cape, "Let's keep it low-level, given that Erasa is here. When you tell her the truth, THEN we'll go all-out."
Gohan smirked as he took up his stance, "You just want to put off me beating you badly in front of her."
Piccolo grinned savagely as he also took up his stance, "In your dreams, half-pint."
Gohan was ready to launch into a probing attack when he heard a scream of, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY NIECE?" He looked up in time to see a blonde-haired missile diving at him and then saw nothing but stars as it slammed into him, throwing him through the air and into the building that both Erasa and Dende had wandered into.
Piccolo didn't spare Gohan a second look, knowing that he'd be okay as he glared at the android, "You have a lot of nerve coming here, android. What do you want?"
Android Eighteen glared at him, "I want my niece back, you asexual pixie, and I want her back NOW!"
Piccolo grunted and shook his head even as both Dende and Erasa poked their head out of the building, "She can leave here when she wants, all she has to do is ask, but coming in here and attacking us like this is NOT the way to get answers."
Eighteen fumed for a moment before she looked over and saw Erasa, "Are you okay?"
Her niece scowled at her, "I was until you sent Gohan through the wall and scared me and Dende half to death!"
Eighteen was about to say something when her power scanner suddenly went haywire and she saw that not only was Gohan awake, but he was also in a rather bad mood, "Come here, Erasa, we're leaving."
Piccolo opened his mouth to say something but was stopped as Gohan appeared in front of Android Eighteen, his hips about head high, and his foot launching out towards the android's face. It connected with a solid, if meaty, sound and Android Eighteen's body went sailing through the air even as Gohan landed. The kid looked like he'd been sent through a wall, given the way his clothes were dusty, torn and a few scrapes and cuts on his skin oozed blood, but most of all Piccolo could see the shots of golden energy that were occasionally sparking around him, "Kid? You okay?"
"Fine, Piccolo," Gohan growled even as he saw Eighteen slow to a stop and glare at him.
Eighteen slowly approached, her eyes narrowed and her fists clenched in an angry, but non-aggressive manner, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get my makeup right?"
Gohan didn't even blink, "Do you realize how little I care? Why are you here?"
Eighteen huffed, "That is none of your concern."
Gohan powered up to just before his transformation point, his battle aura flaring, "I'm making it my concern."
Erasa took that point to storm over between the pair and glared at Gohan, "Oh, stop that! Aunt Juu isn't going to hurt you." With that, she turned and glared at Android Eighteen, who was smirking, "And YOU! Why did you attack Gohan?"
The android woman stopped smirking, "Do you know who he is, Erasa? Do you know what he's capable of?"
Erasa matched her aunt glare for glare, "Well, I was just starting to get the story when you made your GRAND entrance. That said, Gohan's my friend – don't attack him." That said, she turned back around and glared at a now-smirking Gohan and Piccolo, "And you two, DO NOT ATTACK HER! She's my aunt." Gohan and Piccolo both rubbed their ears, both muttering something about 'Chi-chi' and 'frying pans' as they nodded, so Erasa nodded, "Good."
Off to the side, Dende sighed – this was surreal, even for him and the Z warriors. And he was an alien to boot!
(Later)
More even-tempered heads had prevailed and the impending brawl was stopped in that Erasa, Popo and Dende had both managed to get Eighteen, Gohan and Piccolo, respectively, to calm down enough to at least talk. Now, they sat in a cool room with refreshments around them – Piccolo sat next to Dende and Popo, Erasa next to Eighteen, and Eighteen across from Gohan, who sat alone and whom was in a glaring contest with Eighteen.
Erasa broke the ice, "So, Aunt Juu, how did you find me?"
Eighteen glared at her niece, "How many times do I have to tell you to not call me that?"
Erasa played the 'dumb blonde' card to the hilt by looking up and pretending to think as her finger rested on her chin, "Um, one more time?"
Gohan snickered and Eighteen glared at him, "I'm here because HE," she shot a glare that would have killed most men, but one that Gohan cheerfully ignored, "brought you here in a manner that activated the tracking device that I have in your earrings."
Erasa glared at the android, "You… you low-jacked me?"
Eighteen shrugged, "Essentially, yes." She glared at Gohan one last time before she looked back at Erasa, "I take it that this is the young man, the 'Gohan', that you were talking to me about?"
Erasa blushed even as the three 'males' in the room that were not Gohan arched an eyebrow at her and smirked while Gohan merely arched an eyebrow, "Well, yes."
Eighteen nodded, "Well, I suppose that you could have chosen a less worthy mate."
Erasa exploded into a blush, "MATE! He's my FRIEND!"
Eighteen didn't even look fazed at it, "Your bio-signs are eratic when you speak about him, you deny any and all relationship-like qualities to your supposed 'friendship' with him and, right now, you are acting as if I had told them you were not a natural blonde."
Erasa stopped blushing, "I am TOO a blonde!"
Eighteen held out her hand, "I know, but as I said, you were acting… irrationally."
Erasa growled, "Was not." She then looked at Gohan, who had a blank look on his face, "Gohan?"
Nothing.
"Gohan?" She crawled over and waved her hand in front of his face, "You in there?" She snapped a few times.
Nothing, which got a smirk out of Eighteen.
Piccolo sighed and fired a low-level ki blasts at Gohan, singeing him slightly, "Snap out of it, kid."
Gohan shook himself off, "Huh? What?" He looked and saw Erasa's face not two inches from his own and jerked back, "Gah!"
Erasa pulled back, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, sorry. Mind shut down for a second there…"
This made Eighteen grin a little evilly, "What's the matter, Gohan? Not used to someone saying that about you?"
Gohan, obviously not in full control of his mental faculties yet, shook his head, "No, not really. Outside of mom, Bulma, Mrs. Briefs and Lime, I don't have a whole lot of contact with females."
Eighteen stopped grinning, "How… pathetic."
Gohan shot her a glare, "Well, sorry about that little let-down. I've only been helping saving or actually saving the damned world since I was four, which leaves very little time for social interactions."
Both Eighteen and Erasa blinked at this as Piccolo groaned, "Smooth, Gohan. Very smooth."
