QUEST FOR POWER 2: CHALLENGE KINGDOM

By Konrad

PART 6

Daylight came into Raikou's residence to wake up a sleeping Triclops. Tenshinhan groaned his disapproval at being woken up in such a way, which he wasn't accustomed to. Waking up early or late felt the best to him. The last couple of weeks have seen him spent several days inside spaceships in the middle of space without a sun to disrupt him. Home on Earth on the other hand, he'd usually be stirred either by the smell of Chaozu's delicious cooking or to Lunch cuddling to him.

Lunch… Tenshinhan thought solemnly. How long has it been anyways? Sixth day here so… seventeen days since we left Earth? Sounds right. Don't worry Lunch, and you too Chaozu, I'm definitely coming home!

"Well it's about time you're up!"

"Waaahhh!" Tenshinhan shrieked, not having noticed that his host was standing by the doorway, staring at him. "How long you been there, you crazy woman?"

"Hmmm, not long." Raikou answered after a moment's hesitation. "Just checking up on you."

"I'm fine!" Tenshinhan replied hastily, instinctively reaching a hand to feel the bandaged eye on his forehead. He looked on curiously as Raikou moved her lips, keeping from saying something. "You're not here to poke my eye again, are you?" He said half serious, forcing the Kosajin to sigh in acknowledgment.

"Actually, I wanted to know... which one of you killed Cooler?" Tenshinhan's now frozen face told her what she needed to know. "As I thought, so it was one of you."

"Yeah, he came to Earth..." Tenshinhan sighed. "Actually, Goku killed him on New Namek from what I was told. I wasn't there that time. But I was near when Freezer and King Cold were killed by Trunks."

"I see."

"How'd you figure that out?"

"A guess really." Raikou said. "I knew they were killed on Earth and since Earth is a really small planet, there couldn't be that many warriors there. So I thought it might've been you guys."

"Yeah, good reasoning I suppose."

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to accuse you of anything wrong. It's just that..."

"You're worried about Aurora, right?" Tenshinhan said.

"Yeah. I wonder how she'll take it. I don't think I could hide this from her." Raikou replied. "Cold and Freezer were the worst and she didn't know them that well so that's not a problem. But she was really close to Cooler and, as bad as he was, he really cared about her... In a sense, I felt close to him too... It'd hurt her so much to find out he died because of you guys. She likes you guys a lot, especially Gohan."

"I see." Tenshinhan paused for a moment. "Well I guess there's no point in hiding it. If you could figure it out, I guess she will too eventually. Not telling it to her would only make it worse."

"I'll tell her, I'll take care of that. Not sure how or when though but I think it'll go better."

"Man, these things are never easy, are they?" Tenshinhan sighed.

"You're better than you give yourself credit for, Tenshinhan, really." The Kosajin said. Tenshinhan lowered his gaze slightly, a small outline of a smile peeking at the corners of his lips.

"Thank you again. I'll try to keep that in mind."

"I'm sure you will... Speaking of which, how are the kids doing? They should be meeting the other Kosajin right about now." Raikou pondered.

"Want me to check up on them?" Tenshinhan replied. He closed his eyes and felt out for his friends' ki signatures. "Hmmm, the three of them seem to be doing ok. So no..." Tenshinhan froze in mid-sentence and frowned.

"Something wrong?" Raikou inquired.

The hell... That can't be... No, it is! "Gohan! He's in danger, the others too." He cried out abruptly, opening his eyes wide.

"What?! Explain yourself."

"The kids are in going to be in trouble. There's someone extremely dangerous near them and I don't think Gohan noticed yet. And even if he did... We've got to get moving, this is seriously bad. Damnit, I can't believe this!" Tenshinhan cursed as he jumped out of bed, not caring that he wasn't wearing anything.

"It's that bad?" Raikou bit her lip at the thought of Aurora in danger.

"How the hell did I not sense this?! Kami, I'm so foolish!" The Triclops raged to himself.

"Tenshinhan, get a bloody grip on yourself!" Raikou screamed, exasperated. "If you panic, then you truly are a fool. I can appreciate this is trouble but you're not helping by acting like this. Listen to me, calm yourself. The kids need us. They need you!"

"O-okay."

"You alright now? So we head out to help the kids?"

"Yeah." Tenshinhan replied as he swiftly got dressed, taking in deep breaths to overcome the dread and guilt. "It would be easier if all of us went, let's go get Vegeta too."

"Right... Eh, no wait. Vegeta's not here." Raikou suddenly realised.

"What do you mean he's not here?"

"I didn't hear him come back last night."

"Hold on, maybe he's just outside."

"Not on the mansion grounds anyways. I would've known."

"Alright, let me scan the countryside and the closest towns." Tenshinhan took a moment to reach out with his senses only to find he couldn't feel the Saiyan Prince. "Huh, he's not in the area either." He mused.

"So can you do the whole planet?" Raikou asked.

"Yeah, I guess that wouldn't be too much of a stretch given how strong he is." The Triclops replied. He pushed out much further only to come up empty again. "No, I-I can't feel him again. Did he get in a fight and die or something?"

"Nah, you probably would've felt something like a power spike I suppose. What about off the planet?"

"That's silly, what would he be doing..." As he spoke, Tenshinhan felt a faint signal nick his senses and his jaw dropped in shock.

"So is he somewhere, sleeping maybe?" Raikou asked but got no immediate response. "Well, anything?" But again, no words came out yet. Instead, a growing mask of both anger and apprehension distorted Tenshinhan's features until finally his lips moved.

"Son of a...!"

- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -

"Take this!" Blok yelled as he fired another blast at 'Gohan'. But all it managed to do was destroy another ice mirror, which was replaced quickly by Aurora. "Damn it! Are you gonna fight or what?!"

"Suit yourself." Gohan replied.

Blok couldn't turn around quickly enough when he heard the real Saiyan's voice behind him. Gohan's foot smashed him into the ground. It was swiftly accompanied by a barrage of punches. Blok managed to put up his defenses and then took a swipe at the boy.

"So your rock skin is better against long range attacks than melee." Gohan said as he dodged and retreated into the mirrors. His reflections once again gave the impression of multiple 'Gohans' moving in various directions.

"You stupid brat!" Blok cursed, struggling back up.

"Alright, go Gohan!" Aurora cheered on, as Gohan made another concealed round of attacks at the Kosajin. Blok barely counter-attacked, only managing to push Gohan back into the mirrors.

"This isn't going well. How can I…?" Blok wondered as a thought occurred in his mind. "Of course!" He exclaimed after a moment.

The Kosajin placed his hands on the ruined arena floor and almost instantly a mighty rumbling erupted from the ground. Before they could figure out what was happening, Gohan and Aurora gasped as they saw the once pristine floor upheave itself and be overturned completely by the dark brown earth beneath.

"Perfect! Now to move out of this corner and get rid of these mirrors straight at their source." Blok said with satisfaction. The Kosajin's skin quickly turned into the same dark brown as the soil and, in front of Gohan's bewildered eyes, he dissolved into the ground.

"What on earth…?" The boy started to mutter.

"Hey, what's going… on?" Aurora's gaze drifted to her feet where the soil beside her started to move. Her eyes widened as it lifted itself into a column, then it changed shape to assume to the full form of Blok.

"Oh…!"

"Finally got you!" The Kosajin male exclaimed as he landed one thunderous punch that sent Aurora sprawling to the floor.

Simultaneously, all the ice mirrors shattered around Gohan. The young Saiyan turned around to look back at Aurora as Blok stood triumphantly above her.

Damnit, how'd he get over there like that? Don't tell me that's part of his powers! He thought as he darted towards Blok.

"Aurora!" Gohan cried out as he wound up a punch at Blok.

But Blok, despite his incredible bulk, was able to turn into the same composition as the soil again in an instant. Gohan missed just as the Kosajin adversary dissolved into the ground.

Crap, he…?! "Oooof!" Gohan let out as a knee came to his gut. Almost as quickly as he disappeared, Blok had reappeared to deliver a sharp blow.

"So, how'd you like that?" Blok taunted. "I can also play the disappearing trick!" He immediately melted again into the ground.

Damnit, I can't track him like that! Gohan winced at the pain in his stomach but tried to leap as he felt the earth move barely a moment after his opponent had disappeared. It wasn't quick enough however and Blok held him by the ankle with one hand while charging an incredible amount of energy in the other.

"Finally, let's see you handle this up close!" Blok boasted.

Gohan was barely able to put up his defenses against the point-blank shot. Nevertheless, he found himself engulfed in pain and was sent careening much further. He barely remained conscious but found himself unable to get back up.

"Gohan!" Aurora shrieked furiously. She clenched her fists, ignoring the pain of her nails biting into her own skin.

"Well so much for that, Princess." Blok spoke.

"W-what? Wait, I…" Aurora started.

"Wait for what, little girl?! Your bid to have us accept you ends here!" The Ground Kosajin mocked. "Not only have you been beaten fair and square, how could you even have thought you were good enough for us?!"

"I-I worked hard... and I'm trying to do the best for all of us. I'm not weak, I'm not..." Aurora found herself choking back on her own words and lowered her head in shame.

"Blok!" Typhoon growled from the sidelines.

"You couldn't get here on your own strength… because you have none!" Blok continued.

"Blok, stop it, please." Nautikaa chided.

"And now even with your allies, I've beaten you so easily! What do you think of that?" Blok went on.

"Eh, don't you think you're going a little overboard." Tempest suggested nervously.

"You come here claiming we need a new ruler simply on the basis that you happen to get lucky with all the leading bloodlines in you." Blok said. "When all you are is a weakling. A lucky brat, that's what you are!"

"I'm not weak..." The response came, almost too silent to be picked up by the spectators.

"What's that?" Blok replied, snickering. Aurora's head snapped back up, startling the Ground Kosajin. Her face turned into an emotionless mask and her eyes blazed with an eerie white glow, hiding her pupils. Blok took fright and jumped back.

Aurora took a couple of slow steps forward. The glow in her eyes expanded until it engulfed her whole body too. Soon she started shimmering and appeared as nothing more than a whiteish blur. Beneath it, the outlines of her form could still be vaguely made out, though a part of the blur also seemed to extend outwards from the middle of her back as if something was there.

"What the hell is this?!" He yelled out, frustrated.

Aurora?! This feels like those times I transformed. A weakened Gohan pondered as he pushed himself on his arms. How's that possible?

"What's going on? This isn't like anything I've seen before, even with elemental control!" Tempest said, his eyes bulging.

"Oh, looks like she's got more in her than even I gave her credit for." Typhoon exclaimed, grinning, before turning to their partner. "What do you make of this, Nautikaa...huh?!" He froze as he looked at the Water Princess. He expected some reaction from her but the unfamiliar frown she wore now seemed, to him, distinctly worried.

"So you've got some fight left in you?" Blok taunted. "Let's see what you really got, little weakling!"

"I'm not weak." Aurora spoke plainly.

She swiped the air with her hand and the soil beneath Blok latched onto his legs. Before he could react, the Kosajin male was swiftly sinking into the ground.

"H-Hey, let me go! How come I can't control the ground? What have you done, you... No!" He cried out as the ground swallowed him entirely.

The soil continued to move at the spot where Blok was buried. Waves of it moved in opposite directions to clash against each other, indicating how Blok was struggling unsuccessfully to control his own element.

"What is the meaning of this?" Typhoon wondered aloud, his brows furrowed in worry. "I've never seen anything like this."

"I-I don't know what's going on either." Tempest replied breathlessly.

Aurora?! "Aurora!" Gohan cried out, scrambling to get his feet. But the pain from Blok's blast forced him back down to his knees. "Aurora, what are you doing?! Get a hold of yourself!" Damnit, if this is anything like my transformations...

By now, Android 18 had finally stirred up to the commotion around her. "Ugh, that's smarts. Now... huh, what's going on here?" She spoke to herself as she saw a bright form, vaguely resembling Aurora, gesticulate with her hands.

While apparently continuing to control the ground with her own will, Aurora dropped down on one knee. Raising one hand, she then slammed her palm to the ground and a coating of ice rapidly spread on it from that spot. Instinctively, Gohan and Android 18 leapt away and into the stands to where the other Kosajin were watching. In an instant, the ground had completely frozen over and no more movement could be detected from Blok who was still underneath.

"No!" Gohan cried out to the Ice Kosajin but she didn't head his call.

"How the hell did she do that?!" Typhoon said. Tempest frowned deeply.

"I don't know. But she's as much a danger as her whole damn family!"

"Aurora, stop it! You've won already, now get a hold of yourself!" Gohan continued yelling frantically.

Finally, the Ice Princess, still partially concealed beneath the shimmering glow, stood up and turned to the small group. Without a word, she raised a hand in their direction and immediately they all braced themselves.

"Stop it." Nautikaa stated simply from behind Aurora, grabbing the threatening hand.

"The hell...?" 18 wondered aloud. She looked around to confirm that Nautikaa had indeed disappeared from their midst to join Aurora in the middle of the ruined arena. "How did she move so fast?"

"That's Nautikaa for you." Typhoon responded. "Anyways, what just happened here?"

"Stop it, Aurora. You're killing him." Nautikaa repeated. Aurora hesitated before turning around. "No, you really don't want to do that." Nautikaa growled in response to the silent threat. She poured out her power and overwhelmed the younger girl, forcing her to stagger back. "Now calm down and regain control of yourself. You're the master of your body, of your powers, of your emotions. Not the other way around. Get control of yourself, Princess Aurora."

As Nautikaa said those words, the strange glow faded gradually from Aurora. Her body became clearer and her back lost whatever extra form had grown from it. Finally rid of the haze, the young girl reappeared in her normal state, panting heavily and sweat dripping from her brow.

"Wha-what happened? I..." Aurora paused when she saw the Water Kosajin towering menacingly over her. "Nautikaa? Is something wrong?"

"Yes, there is. Blok is buried under this ice frozen ground and presumably will die if we don't get him out quickly enough." Nautikaa replied nonchalantly, though a certain displeasure was vaguely concealed in her voice. "It seems you had lost your mind for a few moments there, enough anyways to have me alarmed."

"What?! Oh no, you can't be serious, you mean this was my fault?" The girl panicked, tears welling up in her eyes. "I-I don't know what happened."

All the others rushed to the arena, landing around the two female Kosajin. Tempest, in particular, was literally shooting daggers from his eyes, seemingly ready to pounce on the poor Aurora.

"Murderer!" He yelled at her in fury. "Are you here to kills us?"

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt Blok!" Aurora whimpered.

"You're just like your whole stinking family, I knew it! Just a bunch of would-be tyrants and killers."

"Please, I swear..."

"You bastard!" Gohan berated Tempest. "You know damn well that was an accident."

"Bullshit, you don't buy that, do you?" Tempest yelled back. "She's just a piece of trash. You're no better defending her like that. Are you blind and stupid, Earthling?"

"Please stop, I don't..." Aurora tried to interject sobbing.

"What the hell's your problem, you're paranoid or something?" Gohan shot back. "You keep putting everyone in the same damn basket. You didn't even give her a damn. You and your stupid friend kept pushing and pushing, that's why he's freezing his ass off!

"You stupid brat, you really who you're defending?! A murderous, conniving Cold!" Tempest replied.

"Stop it, stop it!" Aurora shrieked at the top of her lungs, causing everyone to look back at her. Tears overflowing, she hung her head low. "I'm sorry, all of you. I shouldn't have done attempted, I'm not worthy of leading anything. I'm sorry I wasted everyone's time, I promise you won't hear from me again. I quit."

With that, Aurora ran out the arena.

END OF PART SIX