QUEST FOR POWER:
THE WARLORDBy Konrad
PART 6
Trunks and Piccolo screamed almost simultaneously. The Saiyan extended both arms and put his fists together forward. From them came out a large, dark blue beam with light blue sparks of energy crackling all around it's entire length. Piccolo's arms were also fully extended in front of him, with the palms of his hands together and pointing towards his targets. A long blast of fire with an orange, triangular cone at it's tip, came spiralling out of his hands.
For a moment, Tenshinhan, Gohan, Android 18 and Lulu stood stunned as they watched the two blasts come hurtling towards them. They weren't aware that Piccolo and Trunks had found the time to develop new techniques. Lulu, however, was the quickest to react.
"Heads up, everyone!" she shouted to the three others. "Come on, we gotta move!"
The others finally remembered where they were: in a training session against their two comrades and in the direct path of their attacks. At the last moment, the four warriors jumped in the air, managing to avoid the blasts. They glimpsed behind them to realize the power of those attacks. Trunks' beam was the first to touch ground, resulting in an earth-shaking explosion. A large dark blue sphere with menacing purple-red electric sparks erupting at its surface emerged from the impact before disappearing. Piccolo's attack continued further, burning a hole through a hill. When it finally landed, it scorched the ground in a large radius. Under the mild sun, Chen and Yoshuro were surveying the practice session from the height and safety of a nearby cliff.
"Wow..." Yoshuro could only mutter in amazement. Chen merely nodded and continued to carefully observe the battle.
"Guys, let's make a screen!" Lulu yelled out as she charged towards Trunks and Piccolo. Screen? The two warriors pondered, not sure what she intended to do. With the others following her, Lulu unleashed a torrential wave of quick, small ki blasts. Trunks and Piccolo prepared to evade what seemed like a straightforward attack but, to their surprise, the blasts veered away from them and made contact with the ground all around them. The massive amount of small explosions lifted an incredibly thick cloud of dust, blinding and choking Trunks and Piccolo.
"Damnit!" Piccolo cursed out loud as he coughed, trying to cover his eyes, nose and mouth. "So that's what she meant, SMOKE screen!"
Not wasting a moment, Lulu, Gohan, 18 and Tenshinhan dove into the dust cloud. Piccolo and Trunks tried their best to focus their senses on locating them but only managed to do so too late. Tenshinhan punched the Namek in the back, then Gohan kneed him to the stomach. They finished their combo with a double kick to the face that sent Piccolo flying. Trunks, meanwhile, didn't fare any better against Lulu and 18. As he tried taking them in the air, they landed several hits on him, ending with him being rammed, face first, into the ground by Lulu. Hell, those two are way too in line with each other! He thought angrily. Just then, Piccolo was blasted back by Tenshinhan's beam to where Trunks had forcefully landed.
"Any ideas?" Trunks asked as he got up quickly.
"Of course, you know me." Piccolo grinned. "But first, let's even the odds."
Piccolo separated himself into three separate beings. After taking a crucial moment to focus on the locations of Gohan and Tenshinhan, who were also trying to sense their new whereabouts in the dust cloud, the three Piccolos converged immediately on Tenshinhan. In spite of his third eye helping him see through the cloud, the Triclops didn't see the three Nameks. Tenshihan was punched several times before one of the Piccolos delivered a thunderous blow by swinging his arms. The helpless Human was sent flying in the direction of Trunks.
Just as he saw Tenshinhan being sent to him, Trunks barely felt Lulu and 18 behind him. A small smile crept on his face. He caught Tenshinhan in midair and, spinning around, he used the momentum from the Human's forced flight to send him into 18. Seeing both of her partners taken down, Lulu stopped and hesitated.
"Bad move." Trunks said as he shot her with a one handed blast, blowing her back.
Trunks turned back to Android 18 who was just getting up, dazed. She blocked two quick kicks from him with much difficulty before he launched a third, sweeping high kick. It hit her in the jaw and, landing several feet back, 18 was out of the fight.
Gohan meanwhile was busy trying to contain the three Piccolos. Every blow he landed was met with another and he decided to change tactics. He bounced away from one Namek to solidly head butt another. He barely dodged a punch from the first Piccolo however when the third one appeared behind him and elbowed his back. Gohan had his breath cut, gasping at the sudden, sharp pain in his spine. The three Piccolos hit him again simultaneously, causing the Saiyan to fall to the ground. Piccolo reunited with his selves then, after taking a moment to refocus his energies and senses, he focused on his ki. His aura flowed in waves around him, dissipating the dust cloud. As Trunks came next to him, the pair surveyed their surroundings. Tenshinhan and Gohan were flat on the ground, groaning in pain, while 18 was struggling to get up, down on one knee.
"Well, looks like we won this round, Piccolo." Trunks beamed as Piccolo nodded his approval.
"Oh no, it's not over yet!" They turned around to see Lulu defiantly, if shakily, standing on her feet. "Gohan, can you still do one more thing?" Mustering his willpower, the Saiyan boy painfully got up.
"And what do you think you can do? Either of you are hardly in shape to continue against us." Piccolo smirked.
"I got more tricks than you even, Piccolo." Lulu smiled back. "Gohan, charge your strongest attack and wait until they're vulnerable!" Gohan nodded and raised his hands above his head, preparing his Masenko. Incredulously, Trunks and Piccolo looked at Gohan powering up.
"MA-SEN-KO..." the young boy yelled at the top of his lungs.
"And exactly will you make us vulnerable?" Trunks asked nonchalantly.
"Like this!"
Without further warning, Lulu lunged at Piccolo, both fists extended for a double punch to his face. Piccolo saw it coming and easily dodged by ducking his head. However, he was surprised to feel a tug at his antennae. Too late, he realized that Lulu hadn't intended to punch but instead was trying to grab his antennae... and succeeded. The Jubian looked at Trunks with a wicked grin. Trunks had a sense of dread creeping into his body.
"W-what?" He muttered while taking a step back, not knowing what Lulu intended to do but feeling that it might hurt.
"Yoinks!" Lulu merely said in an amused tone.
With all her might, the Jubian swung Piccolo by his antennae into Trunks. The force of the impact brought a crushing pain to their bodies and drew out all air from their lungs. Gohan immediately saw this was the vulnerability Lulu had intended on creating for him.
"...HAAAAAAA!" He finished his Masenko and sent it into the combined forms of Piccolo and Trunks, engulfing them completely. When the energy dissipated, the two sparring partners were a few dozen feet away, almost perfectly still on the ground and unable to continue fighting.
"Whew!" Gohan exclaimed, exhausted. "That was tough."
"Impressive." 18 conceded.
"And the victory goes to Tenshinhan, Android 18, Gohan and Lulu!" Lulu screamed as she jumped in the air.
"Woohoo!" Tenshinhan celebrated in his turn.
The quartet rushed to the fallen pair and helped them as they tried to get up, shaken up and battered. Piccolo was particularly displeased, his body but especially his antennae aching badly.
"Blasted woman!" He growled. "Do you know how much that hurt! They're very sensitive and fragile!"
"Don't have to be so grumpy about it, Piccy!" Lulu replied, smiling. "You can be such a grouch sometimes, you know."
"Whatever! I'll make you pay for that."
"Don't worry, Lulu. He always says that my dad beats him in sparring sessions but he never makes good on that promise!" Gohan laughed, making Piccolo grumble some more. The Namek simply donned his cape and turban as the others laughed at his expense.
"Hahaha! I'll say. That was incredibly entertaining." Chen said as he descended next to the group, with Yoshuro clinging to his left arm.
"I guess that was a pretty good practice, I think." Trunks replied, turning to 18. "What do you think?"
"Yeah, let's wrap it up for now and catch a break." she said.
They all got off the ground ready to fly off. Just as Piccolo started flying first, Lulu flipped his cape over his head and got on his back.
"Whooo! I get to ride the Namek Express!" She yelled cheerily while the blinded Piccolo flew wildly, flailing his arms uncontrollably and uterring a myriad of muffled curses. All the Z Squad flew beside them, enjoying another round of laughter at the expense of the Namek.
"Hey, wait for us!" Yoshuro yelled as he and Chen hadn't left immediately. "Let's go, Chen!... Chen? Sir?" He turned to see that the Jubian general wasn't paying attention and was instead looking into the sky. Finally, Chen snapped out of his trance.
"Oh! Forgive me, Yoshuro." Chen replied. "I felt... a distraction. Anyways, I guess we better catch up with the others, right?"
As he flew off carrying Yoshuro, Chen couldn't help but frown deeply. Was that a shimmering in the air...? It must've been just my imagination. He shrugged off the thought and proceeded to catch up with the entire formation.
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Cerion finally let go of the breath that she had been holding. For what seemed like an eternity, the Jubian general had stared directly into the cloaked camera, almost managing to see it. Luckily, he eventually turned and flew away. If only cloaking technology were perfect. Oh well, he didn't find it and that's all that matters for now. She thought.
Turning off the feed from the camera, Cerion relaxed and resumed sipping a warm cup of tea. She was in her personal spaceship, cloaked in orbit above Jubisei. She frowned and pondered on the next move to make. Recently, her time had been increasingly lousy and though she still maintained her cover, she wondered how long that would last. Cerion grabbed a small recorder. Whenever she felt lonely and lost in her thoughts, she liked to keep a vocal recording of her what she had on her mind, it helped her feel and think better.
"Cerion's log, 240115." Cerion spoke into the small device. "This afternoon was fairly interesting. I witnessed another sparring session of the Earth warriors and Gohan is turning out to be as strong as I hoped but I need to be stronger for now. Once that's done and he's served his purpose, then I'd have to get to real business with him... The Jubian general almost found my secret camera but he abandoned his search and he's none the wiser. Otherwise, there's always some sort of unpleasant surprise. Yesterday, Dudan convened all of the Elites, including Sulfus and myself of course. As I expected, he reported that the search for the Power Stone was going quickly and that we were close to finding it. Of course, I didn't tell him I knew where it was but I know he is getting close and this affair is getting on my nerves. It's keeping me from my other business. No matter what, he can't be allowed to win. The stakes are too high. The Jubians are no closer to knowing where the Power Stone is or how to translate the scrolls." She paused for a moment and reflected on her further course of action. "It seems that I'm going to have to intervene and 'help' them more significantly than I had originally planned."
Cerion took another pause to think of what she had to do and what it would imply. Again she started speaking into her device.
"Strange as it is, I can't figure out what to make of Sulfus. I'm not sure what to think of him anymore. After all, we've been fighting together for Dudan for years. But would I have to abandon him? Why that would bother me so is puzzling to me. Still, it's obvious that I must concentrate on what's most important. It would be a shame if Sulfus got hurt in the process. Log over."
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Trunks made his way to the kitchen to get a quick drink. He knew supper was almost ready anyways but he had to quench his thirst first. There, foraging through the fridge was Lulu. Hearing the Saiyan greet her, she pulled her head from the box.
"Hey, Trunks. You want something?"
"Um… I'll have some milk… I know it's weird as we're about to have supper and drinks anyways." They laughed as Lulu threw the Saiyan a bottle of milk. She took a large bottle of juice, intended for the big supper they were having outside.
"It's baktra milk by the way." Lulu said as she watched Trunks pour himself a glass and gulp it down in an instant.
"Baktra?"
"Yeah, it's not like your… bovidae, if I'm correct, on Earth. It's what you call a… gastropod? Sorry if I'm not using the correct terms."
"That's ok. I'm not sure I know what a gastropod, but this is really good milk." Trunks shrugged as he poured himself another glass. "You have a great house. You and your brother bought it yourselves?"
"Thank you! No, actually we inherited the entire estate from our parents. Our father was also general of the Jubian army… And his father too. So our family was pretty rich and the house only got bigger. But in truth we don't use all of it."
"Sounds like a pretty intense upbringing… not unlike ours, actually. I mean it we we're never public heroes or soldiers or anything like that. How do you balance your public life with your private life?" Trunks asked, causing Lulu to smile and blush at his attention. Since when is she shy about anything?
"Wow! You ask some tough questions. I… haven't really thought about my personal life since it's always been my brother and I. I make lots of friends easily. But lately, I've wanted something… more. What about yourself, Trunks, what's going on with your personal life? I'm sure a cute guy like yourself has some lady friends to think about." She said with a sly smile as she approached the Saiyan.
"Oh…um, I got no one for now." Trunks replied as it was his turn to blush deeply. Lulu giggled at his nervousness and lowered her head. She loved Trunks' kind but shy ways and she wondered if maybe there could be something. Just then, Gohan entered the kitchen, much to Trunks' relief as it diverted the attention away from him.
"Hey Lulu, you got the fruit juice you promised?" The young boy chirped.
"Right here!"
"Ok. Let's hurry up! The food is ready and Chen is going to start serving everyone any minute now… Trunks, are you drinking milk before dinner?"
"Yup… Baktra milk if I'm correct. It's pretty good." Trunks responded.
"What's baktra?"
"It's a type of… gastropod, as you Earthlings call them." Lulu replied. Gohan eyes widened, then he looked at Trunks taking a gulp of his glass with an amused expression on his face.
"By the way, what's a gastropod, Gohan? Is it like the family of the deer or something?" Trunks asked.
"Actually, broadly it's the family of the snail." Gohan responded grinning. Trunks' eyes bulged out their sockets and he immediately spewed the milk he had just drunk.
"Come, you guys. Everybody must be waiting for us outside." Lulu said nonchalantly, leaving the kitchen followed by the two Saiyans, one giggling uncontrollably, the other gagging uncontrollably.
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"Sorry for the delay, people." Chen said as he started serving the banquet to everyone. Lulu, Gohan and a still livid Trunks joined the others around the large table that was set up outside in the back of Chen and Lulu's home.
"About bloody time! It's night already, how dare you delay the serving of Saiyans, especially the Prince!" yelled Vegeta. "Do you know what I'd have done if I had to wait any longer!"
"Of course. You'd have died of hunger because you can't cook for yourself and we wouldn't have to endure you stupid rambling." Replied sarcastically Android 18.
"A Prince shouldn't have to serve himself. And it should be that Jubian woman serving food, not the man, even as pathetic as he is!" Chen and 18 sighed.
"Hey Piccolo, why so green… I mean blue! You're not still upset about me pulling your antennae today, are you?" Lulu joked. The Namek grumbled and hastily took another very large gulp from a pitcher of water.
"Thank you, Chen. But it wasn't necessary to do such a large dinner." Tenshinhan spoke.
"Nonsense! You people have been guests in my house for five days now. And since you have pledged yourselves to our cause, it was only appropriate that I make you an adequate welcoming party. And who knows, maybe this may our last dinner together. If not, we'll make it the first of many!" Chen laughed. Just then, a loud beeping was heard. Chen retrieved a small device from his pocket. "Uh, sorry. I gotta take this." He said as he walked away a short distance from the banquet.
"What's that?" Gohan asked.
"A transceiver, it's quite similar to your phones." Lulu answered.
"Wow. There's so much I want to know about your people." Gohan exclaimed. Lulu pondered an idea for a moment.
"Hey, you got a chance to see our society and our technology. Do you want to see our wild life too?"
"DO I?" Gohan yelled excitedly. This also picked up 18's interest.
"What are you proposing, Lulu?" she asked.
"Well, why don't we all go in the wilderness tomorrow? Chen and I can show you some fantastic scenery, as well as lots of animals and plants you've never seen."
"That sounds like a terrific idea, little sister." Chen said as he joined the group once more. "But I won't be able to go. I just received a call from the lab on Planet Terius. Apparently, they're close to figuring out how to translate the Power Stone scroll so I'm gonna have to take a look at it. It's too late right now so I'll leave first thing in the morning but you guys should go ahead, it'll be fun and take your minds off of everything for a short bit."
"We will." 18 replied smiling.
"Alright, so it's all decided. Tomorrow, we go on a nature hike!" Lulu exclaimed happily.
END OF PART SIX