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CHAPTER 7:
Danse Fatale

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There was a legend among the pirates in recent years - a scandal beyond any pirate's wildest dreams. It was a theft of a legendary, super scale.

Overnight, the largest drug cartel's premium dragonweed crops vanished in an afternoon.

There was no trace of any vehicle driving in, and there was never a sale into a black market.

It was simply… taken.

There was a massive bounty put on the thief, that was pinned to every bar's Bounty Board.

There was no name or face, so it simply said, in big bold letters:

WANTED
DEAD

SEVEN-LEAF DRAGON

฿5,000,000,000 berries

At the time, ฿5 billion berries would have exchanged to be about $1.2 trillion zeni.

There had never been a bounty higher than three billion berries before ($720 billion zeni).

But the culprit was at large, and had no face, and had no name.

There might never be a pirate who would achieve the ultimate one piece of pirate glory: the biggest treasure in all of pirating history.

There might never be a bigger bounty, in all the future.

This kind of bounty would make someone a legend.

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Everything felt like it was in slow motion for a moment.

If Trunks could have gone back in time to ever change a decision of his, to save himself a decade of grief and loneliness and sorrow, he would have told himself to stop then and there, and just go home.

But Trunks made his choice then. Regardless of warnings and red flags, Trunks had decided to move forward and follow Havana inside.

Entering her home, Trunks learned she lived alone.

He never asked how she could afford a two-story home alone in the middle of the city, because he neither understood the value of money, nor ever thought to ask something like that.

He never asked why her parents were never home. Both of those could have been red flags, but because of his sheltered upbringing, Trunks never thought anything was beyond normal.

He did ask why she had so many cameras around her house, and she said it was for security purposes. He probably should have viewed that as a red flag too; but instead, he believed her, because it made sense - she was a single, struggling international girl who lived alone in a big house.

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At first, she offered to teach him dance lessons.

And so, Trunks learned to dance.

Trunks was shy and embarrassed in the beginning, as he constantly was watching his feet, and stumbling about with her in laughter. He had never really danced with a girl before.

In his effort to sound cool, he innocently offered to teach her the steps of the "Fusion Dance."

They shared an apple. They smoked a joint.

At some point, Trunks regaled her with his dragonweed story from three years ago, and about how he had a whole capsule at home that contained a field of this stuff.

Havana's eyes sparkled. She said Trunks was a legend.

He laughed and teasingly chided that he'd rather be seen as a superhero.

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That first night, Havana fused their lips as she danced and melted upon his body. That night, she induced physical feelings he had never experienced before. She taught him moves with her mouth against his that were closer and more sensual than a fusion-ha.

That first night with Havana, Trunks' senses were alive, and she touched him with her hands in ways that ignited his senses. He felt like fireworks and spicy mango salsa.

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The second time Trunks had their "dance lesson," those fireworks and mouth dances had moved down to fuse between his legs, and his entire body had erupted in a pleasure that he had never felt before.

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The third time, Trunks fused with her body.

And it was the most incredible experience of his life.

When they made love, it was with a fiery passion.

She moved like a professional, dancing against him, encompassing him as she grinded her hips against his and threw his head into cloudy spirals of joy and nirvana and enlightenment.

––––––––

Trunks never had sex education through school, and he had rejected the discussion with his mom.

He had avoided bringing condoms to Havana's house because he didn't want the guilt of thinking he had purposely planned to fuck her. He wasn't intending to go around Goten, and to Trunks, the condoms would have symbolized intention, and motivation. They would have counted as evidence that Trunks plotted to betray his friend.

But Trunks never plotted this. And he was lost in shock and denial.

Trunks was unprotected with her, but he understood enough about sex to understand that if he came outside , then everything would be okay.

But then, after he came outside, she told him she "missed the feeling of having him inside" of her. So, he slipped it back in and was rewarded with a sexy purr each time.

Nobody had taught him about those kinds of certain sexual taboos. He truly did not know better.

In Trunks' mind, it was okay to slip it back in, because he came outside of her.

Trunks justified to himself that because he never came inside of her, it was almost as if they never had sex at all. She could walk away, and go right back to Goten, and Trunks would just continue to admire her from his garage.

Trunks thought, after those "dance lessons," that things could go back to normal. The whirlwind would subside, and he could sweep everything under the rug and just go off to college and treat it all as a bad learning experience.

But no matter how much he denied that he had emotions that were attached to their "dance lessons," it was inevitable that his heart could not accept being her number two.

After that, when Havana came to visit… the jealousy set in.

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Goten continued to drop by Capsule Corporation with Havana after school, and Trunks spent his time adding modular additions to his car. He decided his next project was to install some recreational vehicle features, such as camper additions.

All of the extra features were above and beyond what Trunks really needed for his car, but it kept him busy and available for Havana to keep coming by with Goten every weekday. It also gave him a chance to learn under his Grandpa Brief more about engineering software to develop the car's motherboard.

Each time they dropped by, Havana kissed Goten's cheek, and Trunks felt waves of envy darken his spirit.

Now, seeing them together, and knowing how he also felt about Havana, Trunks' emotions ate away at him. And, there was nothing Trunks could do.

There was no one for him to talk to.

He couldn't let Goten know how he was feeling.

He couldn't let his mom know, or she'd intervene.

––––––––

At some point during that time, Mai tried to pursue Trunks again, but Trunks at that point had solidly moved on.

Trunks, at the time, had been emotionless and cold to her. He only had one question.

"Did you ever love me?" he asked.

"Sure, Trunks," Mai had stated in a cool yet friendly tone, "You're easy to love. You're funny and attractive and you have positive energy. You're a superstar, and you don't even know it yet."

Trunks was not satisfied with her answer, "But did you ever love me?"

Mai had shrugged and looked vulnerable for a moment before looking away, "Trunks, I was so much older than you, and you were a minor."

"So? You looked the same age as me. Wasn't that good enough?"

Mai shook her head, "No matter what age I was, you were still a minor. I was an adult in a child's body. It would be a disservice to me if you considered me a child. I doubt you'll ever see it in your own future, an adult turned into a child again - but if you ever do, maybe you'll understand then that I couldn't stop being considered an adult."

"Your story was a fluke." Trunks was unaware at the time of the future irony, "You should have just embraced being young again."

"You can't just be young, Trunks," Mai shook her head, "Being young is a mindset. You were young. And I was not. I didn't feel right to make any advances, and it was also not right, since I was working for your mother."

Hearing that news again triggered a wave of grief from him as he re-lived his emotions after learning of her betrayal.

"I know you will never forgive me, Trunks. But in case you could… please let me say one thing."

"What…" Trunks felt stiff.

"I've always been one of the best spies in history. That's why Emperor Pilaf first recruited me. My job was to be a spy."

"So you never loved me," Trunks felt she confirmed his former unanswered question, and his eyes stung.

"I'm not evil, Trunks," Mai looked sad somehow, and vulnerable to him, but he couldn't understand why. "I wanted your happiness, too. You were so innocent and pure, I felt compelled to protect it. I never wanted to touch you - I felt if I did, I'd somehow damage you."

Trunks had not understood, "How would that have damaged me?"

Mai had responded, "I spent most of my life as a villain, and I was a predator. My experience qualified me to identify and ward off predators, and that's why your mother paid me so well."

"You're still a fucking predator, then," Trunks cried, "You're only interested in money in the end."

"I never touched you," Mai looked at him, "but I won't lie. I always wanted to."

"I wanted you to," Trunks wept.

"If you truly knew my past, and my true soul, you would have agreed. I didn't deserve to touch you."

Trunks was resentful, and angry as he shouted through his tears, "You should have at least given me the chance to make that choice, myself ."

"That's why I'm here," Mai stood strong. "Now that I can pass as eighteen, I'm branching off from Capsule Corporation and starting a new life. I am no longer working for your mother so there is no conflict of interest anymore. I wanted to see you one last time."

"For what," Trunks had looked at her coldly, anticipating her words.

"I know I don't deserve you. But, if you're interested, we could try again to have something real, this time."

"If you didn't feel it before," Trunks was icy, "then you're just interested in my money."

Mai denied it, but Trunks at this point was in no mindset to take her back.

Trunks was done. He had already moved on.

He had already felt the fiery embraces of his best friend and of another woman.

There was nothing in Mai's overall cold demeanor that could ignite any passion in Trunks' heart anymore.

Havana was a grand pirate ship of adventure and thrill to Trunks, compared to Mai, who was a waterlogged dinghy.

Trunks was over Mai. He told her that, and it was made clear.

Mai understood, and left.

And as Mai left the Capsule Corporation compound for the last time, Trunks felt nothing at all. He was solidly broken up with her.

All of his attention and thoughts and feelings were already lost and swirling in his desires and daydreams of Havana.

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The more the days and weeks went by, the more Trunks got used to their routine: Havana was Goten's hand-holding and kissing buddy by day; and by night, she was Trunks' sweaty and passionate lover.

Throughout the whole time, though, Trunks still was convinced that he had his head together.

He convinced himself that Goten came first for him. If he had to choose between Havana and Goten, Trunks knew he'd always choose Goten.

For him, it was a truth - an absolute. It was the one thing that kept him feeling good about himself while dancing the truth around Goten.

Trunks knew Havana was a fling. Trunks knew Havana wasn't going to be his wife. She was his "side dish."

Trunks didn't know why he was sneaking around with Havana to this extent. He didn't want to truly steal her away from Goten. He didn't want to keep her. And stealing her away would make him a bad friend.

He knew he should stop seeing her, but the sex was just so good, he couldn't stop.

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After the first few weeks, Havana started to take things up a notch with him to introduce a few more types of sexual experiences. She had started to do some sexual things with him that were not usual practices in the bedroom, and it had been igniting him in ways he never thought he could be aroused.

Havana acted as if she had more experience than the average eighteen year old. Her dance moves were captivating, good enough to certainly earn her a good amount of money if she ever put her hips to use.

She was teaching him so much about his body, and sexuality, that Trunks never wanted to put an end date to his time with her.

And, because he was so spellbound by her, he continued to ignore more and more red flags.

He felt invincible. He felt thrilled. He was naive, and fueled with a teenage hormonal passion that was ignited by intrigue and guile.

Trunks "danced" privately with Havana from the beginning of July until the end of August, leading up to Goten's eighteenth birthday on August 26th, Age 786.

That was the day when Chi Chi met Havana.

And shit hit the fan.

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–1/10/24–

A/N: Be sure to follow! Lots more to come.