"Shhh!" Sakura hissed, looking back at the others behind her. "If we want to find out where they took Marron we've got to be quiet so they take us to her."
"But I reeeeallllly have to peeee!" Goten said dancing back and forth. "Can't we just go make them tell us?"
"Goten's right." Trunks said crossing his arms. "I AM the Prince here, you know, I can just make them tell us."
"And what if they alert that Ornja lady?" Cheri said frowning.
"Tie them up or knock them out after they tell us." Trunks said with a shrug.
"Oh, yeah, real smart there." Sakura said with a roll of the eyes. "And what if they're supposed to check in or something and don't? Ornja could be gone by the time we get to her location."
"But I have to PEE!" Goten wailed.
"Ugh, fine..." Sakura said looking around. They'd made their way pretty deep into the palace. They were in a part that wasn't even used these days. An old military barracks that had been closed down for some reason or other a long time ago. She spied a door that was cracked open a little to the side and peeked in. "Here, go in there and use a corner or something."
Goten nodded rappidly, Sakura was suprised his head didn't fly off his shoulders, and hurried into the room. A second later there was a sound like running water and a long sigh. Sakura closed her eyes and hung her head a little as Cheri and Akemi giggled. A few moments later Goten came back out into the hall still retying his belt. "Ok, I'm done!"
"Good, now can we get going again?" Sakura asked. Goten nodded so she turned her attention back to the scouter she had on. It was easier to track these two with the scouter than with their senses. The scouter had a map overlay of the palace, even this disused portion, and that came in handy for tailing the two Sai-jins. "Hmm, they've stopped..."
"Any other powers there?" Trunks asked.
Sakura shook her head. "No, there's... what the...?"
"What is it?" asked Cheri.
"They... vanished."
"Maybe they lowered their powers." Akemi said, looking up at her sister.
"No, the powers didn't drop, they just vanished."
"Sheilding." Trunks said, furrowing his brow. "I've been learning recent history and just last week Pug told me about a Namek named Slug that had armor on his ship that blocked senses and scouters. Mom's been researching some of the metal she found from his destroyed ship and started producing her own a few months back. These guys must have gotten hold of some of it."
"So... now what?" Goten asked.
"Akemi?" Sakura asked, kneeling down in front of her sister. "Think you could take a look?"
"Ummmm, I don't know... I can try."
"Ok." Sakura said. "That's all I ask, just try. If you can't that's ok."
"Ok." Akemi said closing her eyes. The five year old focused her young mind reaching out with her senses. Tanarian's had mental abilities of varrying degrees, Sakura's were a little below average but Akemi's were well above superior. She could do things only a few were cappable of, and even a few things that no one else could.
As she focused the darkness cast by the back of her eyelids vanished and a distorted view of the hall and her friends took shape. The edges of her vision seemed to be stretched and rippling. With her mind's eye now open and her astral form free of her body she moved through the halls, or her astral body did. It passed through the walls like they weren't even there and followed the softly spoken guiding of her sister toward where the two Sai-jins had been a moment ago.
It took a moment to find the area and she looked around. A door stood out on the wall different than the rest. Newer, cleaner, and not as rusted. She moved toward and then through it emerging into a large room that had boxes stacked up along the walls, a large round table in the middle with chairs arround it, and a couch in the back where Marron was currently sitting tied up.
The view faded away into blackness and the girl opened her eyes again. She smiled as she looked up at her sister. "I saw her!" she said happily. "There's a room down there, and there's five people in it at a table. Marron's on the couch and they tied her arms together."
"Five of them? You sure?" Trunks asked.
Akemi nodded. "Yep. I counted them twice to make sure!"
"Alright, let's move." Sakura said starting down the hall. The kids moved quickly following Sakura and Akemi's directions. In a few minutes they reached the door the young girl had mentioned. It was clearly brand new and very much out of place among the rest of the dis-repaired halls. "I still find it odd that any part of a palace that's still being used would end up like this."
"Yeah." Trunks said frowning as he wiped a little dust off the wall with a finger. "They stopped using this area about two hundred years ago, dad said. One of my ancestors was killed here and his brother had the area closed down while they investigated. Apparently he died before openning it again and it just sort of stayed closed." he said with a shrug.
"Well, whatever, let's just get Marron and go." Cheri said walking up to the door. "Hey, Trunks, Goten, stay back here, ok?"
"Huh, what for?" Goten asked.
Cheri smirked. "You two would scare them too much. It wont be as much fun if their shaking in fear."
"Why would we scare them?" Goten asked blinking.
Trunks sighed. "Because I'm the Prince and you're the brother of the strongest person in the galaxy." he explained.
"Oh. But, staying out here wont be any fun..."
Sakura put a hand on Goten's head and ruffled his spikey hair. "You can catch anyone that slips passed us." she said. "Incase they try to get away."
"Well... ok." Goten said after a moment. While he and Trunks moved back to the wall across from the door Cheri reached up and activated it. It slid aside with a hiss and quickly drew the attention of those inside. The three girls walked into the room and the door hissed shut behind them.
"Heh, just a bunch of brats." one of the Sai-jins laughed as all five visibly relaxed. The five were sitting around the table, two on the left, two on the right, and one directly across from where the girls stood. Sakura recognized the two on the left as Torrac and Rycel. She could see them better now. Rycel was short, only about four and a half foot tall, and a little on the thin side, though his musscles were still well defined.
Torrac was at least six foot tall and his chest was as thick as a tree, his arms and legs not much smaller. While Rycel's hair was short and stuck straight up in dozens of spikes while Torrac's was long, hanging half way down his back, and even more wild than Raditz's. He also had a scar going across his forhead.
The two on the right Sakura didn't know. A male and a female. The female was at around five foot and had her long hair pulled back into a ponytail that stuck up and out at least a foot before curing down and still reaching her waist. She had a number of scars on her arms and had well defined musscles and quite pronounced curves.
The man was only a couple inches taller than her. His body was a little thicker than that of Rycel and while the top of his head was bald he had a spikey horseshoe of hair wrapping around his head. He too bore a scar on his face, a criss crossing X scar over his left eye which was covered by an eye patch.
The other Sai-jin there, also a woman, had shoulder length hair. She had five or six tufts sticking up and back and the rest hung down. Her muscles were well defined as well and she bore no visible scars. She did, however, have a deep scowl etched on her face. The first four were in white and black armor bearing the palace insignia, meaning they were palace security. The fifth wore a red and white armor meaning she was one of the Hunters, the Sai-jins that tracked down and captured fugitive Sai-jins that had royal contracts on their heads. She was most likely the Ornja she'd heard mentioned.
Sakura could feel the powers now that she was inside the room and all five had definately earned their positions. Not that even just the three of them would have any real trouble handling them. They could over power all five of them without any trouble. Sakura looked passed them and saw Marron sitting on the couch with her hands tied, just as Akemi had said. "You ok Marron?" she asked.
The little girl nodded. "Yes. They said they'd give me candy but they lied!" she said pouting.
"You know you shouldn't go with people you don't know Marron." Cheri said with a frown.
"I know..." Marron said, pouting more. "You're not gonna tell mommy and daddy, are you?" she asked suddenly.
"No." Sakura said, crossing her arms. "That's why we're here. They're not going to know about this because we'd get in trouble too."
"Heh, would you look at that, they know each other." Torrac laughed.
"What I find amusing..." the guy on the right started. "Is they think they can rescue their friend by themselves."
"Well, Rhubar, they're just kids." the woman beside him said laughing. "They don't know any better."
"Careful there, Apalla." Rycel said looking them over. "The two silver haired ones aren't an issue, they're Tanarians for sure. No power until they're older. But the other kid looks like a Sai-jin."
Apalla looked over to the kids again and gave them each a quick look over. The oldest girl with her silver hair, black eyes, black pants, white t-shirt, and scouter. The other silver haired girl was obviously the youngest. She had orange eyes, shoulder length hair like the other, dark blue pants, and a light blue t-shirt. The third girl had black eyes, wild black hair that stuck up everywhere but would have reached just passed her shoulders if it didn't, and had on green pants, a white t-shirt, and a red belt around her waist with a slight but, now that she was looking, noticable bulge to its center that moved slightly now and again.
"Hmm, I think you're right about her." she said. "Seems she's got a tail. Still, not even the King was as strong as I am now when he was a child."
"What do you think Ornja?" Rhubar asked. "Hold them too? Might make for more leverage. If they know blondie here then their parents probably have some connection to our King too."
"You couldn't handle our parents." Sakura said, putting her hands on her hips. "Or Marron's for that matter. Not that you could handle us, either."
"Hmph. Arrogant kid, isn't she?" Apalla asked smirking.
"I know them..." Ornja said slowly, finally speaking. "Why do they look so familiar...?"
"Oh, hey!" Akemi cried, eyes widening a bit. "You're that lady! The one that came for the guy daddy caught!"
The four other Sai-jins arround the table blinked at the kid and then looked over to Ornja to see if she knew what the child was talking about. Ornja's scowl deepened a little as she thought. It had been a few months since she'd been sent out on a mission, the last one was to... Tanaria. She'd gone to recover an escapee from a prison transport that had found his way to Tanaria and wound up drawing the King's attention...
Ornja's eyes widened in disbelief. The Tanarian King, the Human named Yamcha, had been the one to capture her target on Tanaria. That meant that... the kid was... Suddenly she smirked. "I think you're right about that Rhubar, they do have a connection. The two silver haired brats are the Tanarian princesses."
"What!?" Rycel cried, turning to look at them, eyes going wide. Slowly the shock faded and a grin took form on his face. "Well, isn't this a nice turn of events, eh? They'll prove great leverage."
"I don't know what it is you're after." Sakura said glancing from one to the other. "But you wont be getting it. Now, give Marron back or before we take her back."
Ornja snorted. "I'm a Super Elite, kid. You couldn't even scratch me."
"Low end of Super Elite." Cheri said, looking the woman over. "Much lower than us."
Torrac started laughing, putting his hands on his stomach and leaning back in his chair. "Little brats, Super Elites!" he cried, shaking with his laughter.
"Why's that funny?" Akemi asked, looking up at her sister.
"Because he doesn't think it's possible." she answered with a shrug.
"I'll admit..." Torrac said after a moment. "That there are a few unique cases out there. That Gohan kid, for one. Damn powerhouse, that one. And according to rummor the Prince is already a Super Elite too. But those are it, kid. Besides, you're Tanarian. No Ki control until you're eighteen."
Sakura smiled. "Normally, yes." she said. "But we're hybrids, hybrids are different. Our Ki control starts waking up around the age of four, and by five we're perfectly cappable." To prove her point and back up her words Sakura flared up her aura. A spark of red came just below her feet and then her aura shot up around her, the rush of energy blowing her clothes about and cracking the floor under her feet. "Now, giving up yet?"
"Bah, I'll knock them out." Apalla said standing as she recovered from her shock. "They're becoming annoying."
Sakura turned to face her and motioned with her arm for the other two to move aside. Akemi did so right away but Cheri hesitated before following suit. With them out of the way she lowered her arm again. "Well, I'll make this quick then. Sanjuu Kinryoku!" Her red aura flashed and flared up brighter as it turned silver. And then she vanished.
A second later there was a loud crack as she appeared once again, beside Apalla, fist smashed into her stomach. The Sai-jin hung there for a second and then, as Sakura moved her fist away, collapsed to the floor unconcious. The child turned sensing movement behind her but before getting all the way around another crack sounded as a bright blue light flashed. Floating between her and Rhubar was Cheri, small arm held up holding off the man's punch, deep blue aura coursing around her.
"Let's just knock them out and go." Cheri said. "We don't know how much longer Chaotzu's going to be sleeping, we'll still get in trouble if he wakes up and we're not there."
"Right." Sakura said, vanishing again. Four more cracks sounded in the room almost simultaneously. The Sai-jin kidnappers dealt with the two girls moved over to Marron and untied her. "Well, let's go." Sakura said. "And remember Marron, don't tell anyone about this, ok?"
"I know. Mommy would be mad at me if she found out, I wont tell."
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Sai-jin Palace, Hallway
"Raditz?" Tien repeated, turning to face him completely. "What is it?"
"One of the... people in the tournament..." the Sai-jin said slowly. He paused again and then blinked and shook his head. "No, that's not possible. It has to be a fake name, some arrogant fighter..."
"What are you talking about?"
"One of the names on the competitors list." the other said after a moment. "Tatamo."
"Tatamo? Should that mean something?"
"Oh, sorry." Raditz said, his composure returning. "Tatamo is a legend among our people, the first great Sai-jin hero. There's a number of legends surrounding him. He was the right hand man of the first King and, according to myth, was the one to defeat Yadish when he returned. Supposedly gaining a power that surpassed that of Super Sai-jin."
"What, like the second transformation?"
"No, something unique that was given him by an alien." Raditz said. "A power that was so far above even the King of the time, even when he was a Super Sai-jin, that he was like a god, or even beyond a god."
Tien nodded. "Well, it could just be someone with the same name."
"No, it couldn't. No one's been given that name since." Raditz informed him. "It's an unspoken law, tradition... it's taboo. Just like only the royal family can carry the name Vegeta no one can carry the name Yadish or Tatamo. Yadish because it's considered an evil name and Tatamo because he is the closest thing to a holy figure we've ever had.
"Well, whatever. Like I said, it can't be the real Tatamo. He died more than ten thousand years ago. It's probably some arrogant idiot who thinks he can take the entire tournament. Should be interesting to see how good he really is, at least."
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Sai-jin Palace, Conference Room
Piccolo lowered the data viewer and looked over toward the two royals. "They've managed to find a possible location for this Ornja's hideout." he said. "Apparently there's been activity in an unused portion of the palace. The Level 4 D Barracks?"
Vegeta frowned. "That would make a good hiding area. Right in plain sight but still out of view. No one goes in there. Well, then, let's go check it out."
Piccolo nodded and made his way out the door, Vegeta and his father following after him. The younger of the two Sai-jin's soon took the lead, however, as they made their way through the halls. It took almost twenty minutes to get from where they'd been to the Level 4 D Barracks. "There's definately people here." the Namek said after a moment.
"I sense them too." said Vegeta. They were low, faint, but there. The three made the trip in silence, following the powers they sensed and backtracking when a hall dead ended on them. At last they reached the room the powers were coming from, the door hanging wide open. All three raised an eyebrow as they looked into the room. Two Sai-jin's lay sprawled on the floor and three others were slumped over the table in the middle of the room.
It was now obvious why the powers were so low and faint. The five of them were unconcious. Probably would be for several days at the least. "It looks like someone beat us to the punch." Vegeta said, noting the snaking cracks on the floor, a clear sign of a sudden power release.
"Indeed." said his father as he stepped into the room and gazed at the five downed Sai-jins. "And they had considerable power too. These four are Elite and that one is a Super Elite." The three of them glanced about at the unconcious Sai-jins a moment longer before picking them up and carrying them off to the brig.