I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the rights to any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 69: Hostages
Verto slowly munched an early breakfast as he brooded at the Capsule Corp dining table. Lenz sat next to him, eating at the same pace though far more concerned with Verto rather than her food. Each time she was about to say something, a sudden shift in his wall glaring stopped her abruptly. This continued until Trunks bounded into the room, full of energy by comparison. Verto barely even noticed his presence, aside from the strange gray gloves that he was wearing. Trunks stopped in surprise when he saw them both there, though his reaction was more directed at Lenz.
"So, you're also back?" Trunks asked spitefully.
"Well good morning to you too!" Lenz retorted.
"I thought you had gone back to your people, whatever they're called," Trunks remarked.
"All my people are dead, you want me to kick your ass?" Lenz growled back.
Trunks grimaced and switched his attention, "Hey big brother, you wanna help me look for a dragonball today?"
Verto finally looked at him, "Why are you looking for those?"
Trunks shifted nervously, "Uh, no reason. I just figured I'd get them all found before we needed them again. A lot of stuff has been happening after all."
Verto snorted, "How noble, I guess I'll ask what your real reason is later. As for today, no. We've got training to do, very important training." Lenz took notice at the stern tone of Verto's voice while Trunks became frustrated as he walked off.
Once he was gone, Lenz turned back to her teacher, "Um, what kind of training exactly?"
Verto glanced at her briefly, "I'm going to have you attempt Super Mystic today."
"What?" Lenz yelled, "Already?"
"You can sense your Psi energy within you now, right?" Verto asked.
Lenz nodded slowly, "And kinda use it, but it was only in that one battle."
"Then you're ready to try it," Verto claimed.
"Hold on, I thought you wanted me to master both types of energy before I tried going to the next level?" Lenz asked.
"Except I already know that you'll ignore that suggestion. The process has been a tad different than mine, but overall it's the same. Besides, there's no point in teaching one without the other. You're ready to at least attempt and perhaps experience this. It'll give you something to work for, but you'll have to figure most of this out on your own," Verto stated.
Lenz looked nervous, "But what if something goes wrong?"
"Then we'll deal with it together. All I want to see today is the attempt. If you don't make it, we'll just keep trying until you do. After that, I'll teach you some Psi techniques that I picked up, learning them will help you master it. Super Mystic is a mere formality after that," Verto explained.
"Alright, do I keep my necklace on for this?" Lenz asked.
"I think so, I didn't have one of those originally but I didn't have this crazy Berserker power either. In fact I don't think I was supposed to have it at all, until Dabura taught me that damn technique that unlocked it. Oh well, we'll leave in a few hours and head back to the training area we used with Piccolo, but he isn't invited today."
Lenz seemed relieved, "Good, I hate how he's so logical all the time."
Verto rolled his eyes, "Why does that not surprise me."
Three hours later, Verto and Lenz were standing in a grassy field not far from the capsule house they had used previously. Verto had his arms crossed as he watched Lenz prepare herself for the transformation attempt. Verto could sense the nervousness rippling through the air, showing that Lenz was clearly worried that she couldn't produce results.
"Don't focus on pleasing me Lenz, only yourself. You don't have to be angry for this change, though it can help if your deepest power is being stubborn like mine was. Once you have your energies released, balance them to an even level and force them together. If you do that, it will happen," Verto suggested.
Lenz grimaced, "That's a lot of work."
"Well duh, you think it was easy for me?" Verto asked.
She shrugged, "I guess not. Alright, I'm ready." She hunched over slightly, as if preparing for a larger amount of energy than she was used to. Blue and gray swirls of power filled the air around her as the wind picked up. The sharper aura that followed sparked a few times as her power seemed to top out.
"That's all your ki. Now keep it at that level and bring your Psi energy out," Verto ordered. Lenz cringed as her aura became very erratic and uncontrolled. More sparks of lightning flashed as her eyes took on a brighter shade of blue. Verto shut his eyes so he could focus on Lenz's energy a little better. She appeared to be struggling to bring out her deeper power, and he could feel some tense frustration building up.
"Easy, you're not going to do anything if you tense up so much. Find it within yourself and force it to the surface, use your ki if it helps," Verto said. Lenz's aura shifted to a lighter gray with continued blue and green sparks. Verto let her feel it out a bit more before speaking again.
"Alright, you're very close. Just bring them together, use them as one." Lenz grunted slightly as her power surged outward, leaving decent cracks in the ground. Her hair started to spike upwards for a brief moment before settling back into a wild movement. Verto could feel that she was losing it already as her breath came short.
"Okay, that's enough for now, good try," Verto said. Lenz immediately powered down and dropped to a sitting position, sweating heavily.
After catching her breath, she seemed flustered, "Are you sure I can do this without getting angry?"
"Yes, you nearly did it just now. You just have to focus, because that's the only thing that will allow you to control this power whether you're angry or not. Let's take a break and try it again tomorrow. Burning yourself out won't do any good after all. I want you to meditate the rest of the day and try to focus your Psi energy around you," Verto said.
"But that's sooo boring," Lenz whined.
"I can call Piccolo down if you want," Verto offered.
"Argh, no!"
Trunks flew through the sunny skies with a deep scowl on his face. In his right gloved hand was the dragon radar, which was signaling a distant dragonball. For the moment he was ignoring it, even though he was slowly approaching it's location. I can't believe he brought that girl back. I thought for sure that she would go back with her own kind or something. I guess I forgot that they were all gone. Well that's fine, Shenron can fix that! It's obvious that Mom and Dad aren't in a hurry to get rid of her even though they keep saying that she's dangerous. I wonder why they let Verto stay around her so much if she's so dangerous? Then again, it's not like he'd listen to them if he doesn't want to. Man, I wish they'd let me do what I want! I guess I better get all these balls collected so we send her back to her own people and Verto can come back home. That girl must have some sort of hold on him or something.
He picked up speed and turned south, making a beeline for the blip on the radar. He reached the area within ten minutes, finding a large city there instead. It was South City, very near the ground of the World Martial Arts Tournament. the radar was showing the ball near the downtown area, deep inside one of the buildings. Trunks found the right one quickly, but stopped when he noticed all of the police cars that surrounded it. Helicopters swarmed around the structure, with gunners aimed at the windows about halfway up. Trunks landed on the roof across the street, where a few snipers were deployed.
He walked right up and startled them, "What's going on here?"
The assistant jumped initially, but reached for his radio once he saw Trunks, "Damn it, who the hell is supposed to check building R for civilians? Because you missed one! Get outta here kid, can't you see we have a crisis?"
"What kind of crisis?" Trunks asked.
"Hostages! Now go down those stairs and clear out!"
Trunks didn't budge, "Who's taking hostages and why? Maybe I can help."
The sniper at the ledge shrugged without turning around, "Maybe if you had golden hair you could do something."
Trunks looked ahead for a moment and then back at the gunner, "What for? There's no one strong around here. But I do need to get in there. When do you guys think you'll be done?" The radio filled with chatter, which caused most of Trunks' words to fall short.
The gunner sighed, "Why doesn't the chief petition for one of them gold fighters to help us down here? Not for the petty crap, but we sure could use one of them or a Great Saiyaman type to help with the major problems, like this one."
Trunks gave off a bewildered glance while the assistant just shook his head, "Dunno, I don't think they're mercenaries for hire and I imagine they're difficult to reach."
Trunks grimaced, "I'm right here!"
The gunner ignored him, "Probably, maybe they could station one here...as long as it's not that Vegeta guy with the crazy hair. He scares me."
"Hey! I'm a gold fighter!" Trunks shouted.
Both men stopped talking long enough to glance at the shouting boy, "No way!" They both held onto the roof ledge when Trunks suddenly powered up and transformed into a Super Saiyan, leaving them speechless. He powered down just as quickly, but it was enough to affect their view of him.
"So, you wanna tell me what's going on now?" Trunks asked.
"One of our guys is holed up in there with hostages," the sniper replied.
Trunks was confused, "One of your guys? You mean another cop?"
The sniper nodded, "Exactly, just went nuts after he killed his own partner. He claims to be innocent and I wanted to believe it, but this is all the evidence I need to know he's guilty."
"Why'd he kill his own partner?" Trunks asked.
"Wish I knew."
The assistant shook his head, "It doesn't matter why he did it at this point. Taking hostages hardly proves any sort of innocence. He probably just got desperate and doesn't want to go to jail. The only problem is the fact that he knows all of our tactics and procedures."
Trunks cracked his knuckles, "Let me go in there and save them then."
The assistant coughed hard, "But you're just a kid!"
"Who's a lot tougher than all of us," his partner cut in, "I say let him do it, he can end this standoff once and for all."
Trunks nodded, "Yeah, no problem."
The assistant grabbed his radio, "Attention, we have one of the golden fighters willing to help end the situation, he's heading for the roof."
Trunks then lifted off and started to fly towards the roof before turning around, "What floor are they on?"
"Twentieth, special projects division. Follow the directions of the other officers and don't go wondering off. Who knows what they have in those labs," the sniper advised.
"Labs? Whose building is this?" Trunks asked.
"It's owned and operated by SHARC," the assistant said.
Trunks took note of the large lettering on the building south side, "Never heard of them. What does SHARC stand for?"
"Good question, they've never formally said. They do partake in a lot of science, mostly genetic engineering and medical products I think."
Trunks rolled his eyes, "Boring." He soared into the air and arrived on the roof of the SHARC building within seconds. Part of the SWAT team was also there, obviously covering any and all escape routes. They pointed their guns when Trunks landed, but eased up once they overheard the radio chatter.
One of them gestures to the lone door, "Down the stairs all the way to the twentieth. We've shut down the elevators and also the heat. We don't plan to completely kill the power, but we will if we have to. Do what you can to end this please. We have no eyes or ears in that office, so be careful," the officer advised. Trunks nodded and entered the darkened stairwell, silently wondering why they had let him in so easily. Maybe it's our reputation or something, about time. Trunks took note of the fifty-third floor, which didn't include the roof access or any basement levels. After a few levels of stairs, Trunks hopped the railing and allowed himself to drop straight down. In the process of freefalling, he startled several other policemen until he reached the twentieth floor. Only two doors were inside, the elevator and the office. He heard voices coming from the office and turned the handle. Almost immediately there was shuffling inside as Trunks swung the door open.
"Don't move! I've got a gun at this man's head and I will shoot if you come any closer!" Trunks stepped in anyway, drawing a very bewildered reaction from the gunman. Any other time it would have been funny to see, but not this time. The gunman was indeed a policeman with a medium build and brown hair, holding a sidearm to the head of an older man in a suit. Thick beads of sweat dropped out of the older man's gray hair and slid down the side of his partially wrinkled face as the cold iron of the gun met the side of his ear. Trunks could see a few others towards the back of the room, one of them appeared to have a white lab coat on. Once he focused on the gunman, he found that he looked slightly familiar, but he couldn't place his face. His hostage had a detective's badge clipped to his belt, showing that this was also an internal police affair.
"Release these people, or I'm gonna thrash ya!" Trunks declared. The gunman hesitated as he clearly recognized Trunks as a threat.
The hostage he had was much more vocal, "Why the hell did they call you in? This is a human matter, not another grand alien invasion!"
The gunman scowled as he pressed the gun into his hostage's temple, "Shut up Ace! I'll do the talking here!"
Trunks snorted, "I was just passing by, and I am half human for the record. You gonna lose the gun?"
The gun against Ace's head relaxed slightly, "Hmph, it doesn't matter. Humans or aliens aside, everyone will know the truth eventually!"
"Give it a rest Sonny," Ace said.
The hostage taker, Sonny, resorted to an elbow in Ace's back, "I told you to shut up!"
"What truth? That you killed someone?" Trunks asked.
"I didn't do it, I've been set up!" Sonny claimed.
Trunks grimaced, "That sounds awfully familiar. I don't suppose that some crazy girl made you do it?"
"Crazy girl? No, I found my partner all cut up in a pool of his own blood in an alley not far from here. I was first to the scene and somehow I'm the culprit!" Sonny said with clear exasperation.
Ace cleared his throat, "Your fingerprints were on the murder weapon Sonny."
"Quiet! I pulled the knife out to try and save a dying man's life, it's what any decent human being would do! That kind of thinking is what got my cousin Marcus locked up! And there is no way he was guilty either!" Sonny shouted.
Trunks paused, "Your cousin, was his name Marcus Satsu?"
Sonny blinked sharply, "Did you know him?"
"For a little while, I tried to help him prove his innocence. He ended up killing the guilty one in front of the cops so they assumed he was the culprit the whole time," Trunks explained.
"I guess murder just runs in the family," Ace muttered.
Sonny cocked the gun and pressed it into Ace's ear, "One more word and I swear, I'll blow your head off!"
Ace's arms and legs were clearly shaking even though he tried to hide it, "That would just prove my point Sonny."
"Just calm down, you don't need to do this!" Trunks urged, "Just put the gun down and give up!"
"Oh no, not that easily kid. I intend to show the world what is going on here, not just let things go with a cover up," Sonny declared.
"There is no cover up Sonny, you're just making this harder on yourself!" Ace said.
"For the last time, shut the hell up! I didn't kill him!" Sonny shouted again. Sonny took his eyes off Trunks as he threw Ace to the ground. Trunks flashed forward and knocked Sonny across the room with a flying forearm, disarming him for the moment. When he made the brief contact, his vision blurred and Sonny's thought memory transferred instantly. Trunks found himself staring at Sonny, standing over another man laid out on his side and covered in deep gashes.
Sonny was teary-eyed as he reached for a radio strapped to his shoulder, "This is Satsu, officer down!" His partner jerked slightly, revealing that there was a large knife embedded in his back. Without much regard for procedure, Sonny pulled the knife out and tossed it aside while he held pressure on the wound. The man coughed and smiled lightly when he saw it was Sonny.
"Who did this to you Mac?" Sonny asked.
"Sh..Sh...SHARC!"
"SHARC? As in the new company you were investigating?"
Mac managed half of a nod, "Y-yes!" Mac slumped abruptly as he continued to bleed out. Sonny shouted randomly at the air as the vision faded and Trunks heard the distinct click of a gun. Trunks glanced up to see Sonny had recovered and found another gun to point at him.
"Don't move kid, or this one goes through your head!"
Trunks stood up and put his hands up peacefully, "No, I'm not your enemy. I know you're innocent now."
Sonny was confused, "What? Just like that, how? Can you read minds or something?"
"I just know, it doesn't matter how. You said someone with this company was responsible right?" Trunks asked.
"That's what he told me when he died. I started investigating and found that they're performing illegal experiments on humans," Sonny replied as he lowered the gun.
"You know that's not true Sonny," Ace claimed.
Trunks ignored him, "What kind of experiments?"
"I haven't been able to find out what they're trying to do yet, but I know it's something involving weird chemicals and it's affect on humans," Sonny said. Trunks felt a hint of deja vu sweep over him slightly as he pondered what this all meant.
Unfortunately, Ace wasn't done enticing his fellow police officer, "It's basic medical research Satsu, you stupid fool. You're just dreaming up this cover up scenario because you can't face the mirror!" Sonny walked over and slammed Ace in the side of the head with the butt of his gun, knocking him clean out.
"Sorry, but he was getting really annoying. Anyway, there's been a number of missing people around South City, though less than half have been officially reported. Mostly homeless and criminals, thus why there hasn't been much concern. My partner had a family member go missing and turn up dead. He started the investigation into SHARC and probably found something he wasn't supposed to see. I already told you what happened to him, but he did try to warn me about it the night before he died. I was like this idiot and didn't listen soon enough," Sonny said with disgust.
"So why take hostages? That doesn't make much sense," Trunks reasoned.
"Maybe not, but it will open eyes. And until SHARC admits their guilt, I don't intend to back down. I've got two of their lead scientists right here, and a few assistants. Odds are someone knows somethin..." Sonny suddenly paused just as Trunks sensed others nearby. Glass shattered behind Sonny as a few SWAT members were propelling in.
"Shit!" Sonny shouted. He pulled his weapon and ran towards the disturbance in the far back of the office, grabbing one of the scientists in the process. Multiple voices started shouting randomly as the two SWAT members pleaded with Sonny to drop his weapon.
Sonny showed no signs of yielding, "You're going to get this man killed, you drop your weapons!" Trunks walked towards them, vaguely becoming aware of a red light shining through the windows and aiming at Sonny's head.
Trunks' eyes widened, "Get down!" Everyone glanced at him in question as Sonny back-stepped. A sharp thunk sounded just as blood splattered into the air, followed closely by a loud crackle from outside. The scientist Sonny had been holding onto slumped down, revealing a gaping, bleeding hole where the bullet had penetrated his head.
Both of the SWAT members panicked as they reached for their radios, "Civilian hit! Hold your fire!" Sonny dropped to a knee and out of the sniper's view as he aimed at the two newcomers, who had lowered their weapons in the chaos.
"Drop all of your gear on the table and join the party. I think you guys have screwed up enough today!" Sonny ordered. Trunks stood still, slightly dazed and shocked at what had happened. He was trying not to feel guilty, seeing as either Sonny or the hostage would have been hit whether he had shouted the warning or not. His fists balled up and he stomped towards the shattered windows.
"What are you doing kid?" Sonny asked. Trunks didn't answer as he blasted out of the building, straight towards the sniper team on the next building over. They jumped to their feet in slight fear when he came at them and landed behind them, fuming.
"You idiots! You shot a hostage! I thought you wanted me to help!" Trunks yelled at the top of his lungs.
The sniper shrugged, "You did help. You distracted him and we saw a chance to end this, so we took it."
"At the cost of someone's life?" Trunks asked in anger.
"It happens sometimes in a hostage situation, very regrettable. It's called collateral damage and no one feels worse than I do..." the sniper was cut off when Trunks suddenly back handed him across the rooftop. He went through the open door of the roof access and dropped down the first flight of stairs.
The assistant panicked, "Wait kid, what are you doing?"
Trunks' eyes flickered briefly to green, "You want to join him?" The decidedly weaker man shook his head quickly and backed away.
"I'll find out what's really going on here, it's obvious you're trying to stop him before he finds something out. Until then, tell your guys not to try that again!" Trunks warned as he pointed at the decidedly weaker man. He flew back to the SHARC building in full view of every surveillance camera nearby.
The sniper's assistant fumbled for his radio, "Chief, we have a big problem. I think that gold fighter kid has joined Satsu!"
The radio emitted fuzz for a moment before another voice answered, "Tell our guys to back off and wait for orders. There's no way we can take him on."
"Yes sir."
A/n: Think you know where this is going, hell no you don't! But it'll become clearer by reading the next chapter.
VB: WDG's computer died so I'm up to doing my own editing for the time being. Here's the lesson: don't buy cheap.