Dragon Ball: Space Adventures
About as well it could have gone V
The earth quivered, the clouds darkened and the women grabbed their children and ran for the mountains. Uub turned around as the evil presence approached and smiled Evily and with excitement. It was Mata Marah, with the brown tail waving on his back and that orange bandana like a shining star on the skies. The boy looked happy carrying the Dragon Ball in his right hand and when he flew down Uub had already loaded his evil grin. Softly, surely, making sure it was as large as it could and in his eyes reflected the endless feeling of satisfaction that passed through his veins. With all the buying he had completely forgotten about him, and now, he had a first class seat to witness the cheeky and confident smile of the tanned boy completely evaporate as their eyes met. He even waved the clothes around like a tower of rocks saying hi.
—Hey, Bulla. Why is our hostage free? There was hostility in his voice, rage in his eyes and the tail that waved freely came to a screeching halt. Uub could physically see how the boy's perfect day had basically turned into the worst thing ever. It was so beautiful. He would make sure to remember this day for many decades to come.
—You know very well why.
The boy looked at her and then at Uub. Quickly, he raised a hand and pointed at him as if saying; "You stay here" and positioned himself besides bulla, put an arm over her shoulder, turned her around, and leaned the head closer.
—What did we talk about?
—We're no longer in our home galaxy, and furthermore, he has no knowledge of the ship inner workings, and he's not foolish enough to try.
The boy aimed his left hand straight into Bulla's face.
—If he starts shit, it's gonna be on you.
—If he causes trouble, I'll take care of him myself.
Uub rolled his eyes on the back, and made a face that said; "I doubt that". Even if the heiress did have training he really didn't see her being capable of even hurting him at all. She was just some girl after all. What could she possible do? Kick him in his royal jewels? It made him smile just thinking of that.
—Wipe that smirk out your face shithead. It won't be long till' you're back wearing them.
—Oh really? What are you going to do about it?
—I'm going to kick your ass until it's burning like a fucking house fire.
—Please, I implore you to try.
Mata Marah cracked his knuckles and smiled side to side. The invitation accepted without another thought.
—Bulla, grab your clothes, I'd be a shame if they get dirty.
—Pan, can you not? I'm in the middle of trying them!
Pan, the boy said in his mind like a key turning in a closed door that suddenly opened wide. Pan, like bread, food that is eaten every day, on his case devoured by the hundred every day just as his master does. Pan, with the skin color so similar to his master. Pan, with those carbon eyes that seem to devour the light just like his master's. Pan, like the name he barely remembered being mentioned some time ago. Uub stared at him as the pieces of the puzzle laid in front of him like an open door that now shows the room behind, and Bulla continued grabbing every piece of fabric with the uttermost care—completely ignoring the burning, firing charcoal eyes that burned right besides, belonging to the boy, no, the girl, with the red shirt and brown tail—Son Goku's granddaughter, Pan.
—You're a girl?
He uttered, with the utter most confused string of words he'd ever put together for a sentence.
—What the fuck do I look like to you?
Uub decided, based on very recent developments concerning his failing ability to correctly asses someone's gender, that perhaps I'd be better if he didn't reply to that question. Instead, he limited to look away and admire the slowly growing crowd of people that had now began to turn and stare. The boy examined quietly, but found no cause of concern between the people who watched them like lions in a circus, one was even taking notes. Of course, they could just be hiding their true strength, but what were the odds of someone strong enough to fight them?
—Hey asshole I'm talking to you. What do I look like to you?
If you act like a rock, Uub thought, the world will treat you like a rock—unless she knows how to break rocks in half, on which case that might be bad.
—Pfff! Obviously he doesn't know what to say! You are a very masculine girl. I wouldn't be surprised if he thought you were a boy all this time.
Bulla please stop.
—You got a problem with that?
—I have a literal million things better to care about, and I actually love your outfit! but you can't be mad at Uub for being confused, you look like a total tomboy!
While Uub momentarily wondered what the hell a tomboy was, he continued to focus on his rocky plan, all the while Pan stared at him with her cold dead eyes, trying to sniff out even the slightest emotional response from him, but the boy remained still, immobile, even as a mosquito sat his legs on the corner of his right eyebrow and flapped his wings around victoriously the boy remained so still he inspired someone in the crowd to one day draw a statue of him in the coming future; "The boy who turned to rock." featuring him, an angry dwarf, and a princess. They stood there for a while, motionlessly, both locked in a trance from which the loser could die. Time passed, clouds went by, and the never stopping clock of the universe moved forward to it's final hour, but neither moved, neither blinked, even as Uub's eyes reddened for the effort, and his veins screamed in agony and his body trembled like an earthquake threatening to fall he remained still. Pan followed his example, her eyes stood like planets in the solar system, objects in the background that'll forever be there, empty and silent, never to be whole, never to harbor anything our species considers of worth. Only the dust and particles of a forgotten world that'll never see any light.
After an eternity happened, or around twenty-five seconds in our time, Pan sighed, and for the first time she turned around and watched the crowd. Slowly, the singulars had turned to pairs and the pairs had turned into dozens, all piled in a circle that blocked their path no different than squadron of riot police. They all spoke, in a tongue no one but Bulla, who did not care, could understand. The girl turned around gave Uub that grin you start to make when a couple of people at the bar start arguing a little bit too intensively near you. He recognized that she wasn't afraid, but a thousand eyes did make her uncomfortable, and for the first time since they've had locked eyes, their thoughts were in agreement in something; They had to get out of there.
—So— She started, trying to take her mind of the crowd —I got the dragon ball, you've guys finished your stuff?
Bulla crossed her arms and smiled, and Uub wondered what the "stuff" meant. It wasn't like they had even settled down or made a plan, they just split and did their own thing. As far as he was concerned, the black-haired girl might've started a war or two famines, or just broke into some place and beaten up some people. There was no way of knowing, and in his eyes maybe it was best he didn't know, because such thing would imply a cleaning operation he had no time for.
—Well, we were examining around for anything that may be valuable.
Pan looked at her, and then at him, which he immediately revealed his opinion with a mere, very contradictory stare.
—So that's a no.
—And I have continued that duty faithfully. That being said, Uub has been at liberty ever since you left the ship, I suppose he hasn't done much so far.
A loud, squeaky and very angry noise made both girls turn towards the right, where the boy grinned his teeth trying to not speak out loud his thoughts, act which suddenly had turned impossible.
—I-I Y-YOU—He struggled—It's a foreign planet! I can't just let you walk alone!
—Sure you can.
—No!?
As much as he hated being a mobile clothe carrier, both his pride and sense of duty would kill him rather than allow the daughter of his teacher's best friend to go alone in an unexplored and unknown world. What would his master say? What would the people from his village say? The mere suggestion of the idea sent shivers down his spine as if his master was charging his Kamehameha. Even if she had training—which meant nothing to him as far as he was concerned—It was simply not something he could allow himself to do.
Bulla put her left hand forward, and the right one behind her back, above where her tail was.
—I appreciate your concerns, but I can safely defeat on anyone on this planet, I could easily defeat someone like you or Pan too if need be.
Pan laughed.
—Yeah, sure.
Uub basically though the same words and Bulla turned to her left.
—I could defeat you only using my legs.
She said, putting both hands behind her back. Pan looked her up and down, and smiled smugly.
—Just don't blame when your clothes get dirty.
—Ahem! —The boy interrupted and Bulla turned annoyed. —May we leave?
—What is the rush?
—Our planet's incoming doom? The crowd that keeps getting larger? Uub wondered if either girl knew that they were on a timer, or if they didn't just care. Both were equally possible in his mind.
—It's just townsmen, Uub, nothing to be concerned.
Bulla said smugly while Pan looked at the crowd. If it had been a dozen minutes ago now it had turned into hundreds. In the other side of the river, more and more people had stopped by in awe or confusion, and for a moment, she thought back of the assault of the castle. They probably had raised the alarm, but she thought it wasn't that important. That wasn't making her uncomfortable. It was the endless wave of eyes that laid upon them like leafs falling down to the ground in Autumn. All watching, all judging with their quiet whispers and thoughts completely unaware how their words were being listened at all. For a moment, she returned to school, and all those eyes fell on her with the same judging stare as before.
—Uub's right. Let's just go, there's nothing here for us.
Bulla looked at her very very surprised but also annoyed, and sighed.
—Fine. —She said, raising both of her hands upwards. —If a group farmers scare you that much, then I suppose I'll oblige you.
—They don't scare me.
She quickly replied.
Suddenly, a gust of wind moved Uub's hair, and like the clouds shining with light as the storm approaching, it told him what was about to happen next, and that there was nothing he could do about it.
—Then why are you so afraid?
—I'm not afraid. —She repeated, feeling the discomfort on her tongue —I'd rather not be watched by an entire fucking city.
Bulla laughed.
—I suppose that's a first for you.
It all happened in a second. Pan's right hand clenched with a terrifying speed, and lounged itself towards the blue-haired girl's face. Her head recoiled to the right. Uub rolled his eyes and sighed, and Bulla quietly turned back and massaged her cheek where the impact had landed.
It was so strange for Bulla, there wasn't anger or surprise—it was empty and it took her back where she used to think a child-eater monster lived below her mattress, waiting for the night to arrive to eat her. The girl remembered making cameras capable of detecting movement that would deploy an ear-shattering noise the second something was detected, and in a second, she would raise from the bed and explode that monster into dust in seconds. For that scenario, she trained a thousand times. At night, she put the alarm at varying hours of the night, and when the alarm went off she'd attack the ground below. Bulla had trained for so long that when her alarm went off at 4am every night it was a fight to not blow the ground beneath into a billion pieces. She thought that nothing would surprise her at night, day or fall, that she was ready. But now, the burning sensation in her cheek had left in a state of shock so profound that words barely managed to fit what she felt.
—Y-you've punched me!
She said in disbelief.
—What you gonna do, huh? Gonna cry?
—Y-you've-I
—Oh my god!- She said, tilting her head forward. —You ARE crying! - She exclaimed, holding back laughter.
—N-no I'- Then, she felt it. That sensation of water on the eyes, the one that should only appear when dust gets in the eye. A wave of liquid metal seemingly ran through her body, a feeling of insecurity so large that seemed to encompass the whole world. Something that turns your face into a tomato and makes you want to run and hide. She was being laughed at, like a joker against the king. There in front of the entire town, she was being laughed at. For a moment nothing happened. The people kept rounding up, the sun kept shining and before Uub said a word, another gust of wind flew, this one was worse than before, this one said; "run".
A wave of fire ran through her body, suddenly, every bone regained motion. She wasn't going to let her get away with this, she wasn't going to allow this to stand. She roared, like a monster, shaking every window in a mile radius.
Her KI exploded. A violet burning aura engulfed her as she kept on roaring, Uub jumped back as dust and rocks and clothes were sent flying away at all directions like a Taufan. The people ran and fell and trampled desperately screaming in horror as the girl in blue had now turned into a violet tornado of fire and rage, engulfing the girl and the world. The boy dropped the clothes and watched them fly away. Red and blue and brown and white fabrics all disappeared into the distance like flowers, sucked in the swirl of energy that was ragefuly spiting everything alive and in existence away. The boy was completely distraught, he couldn't believe what he was seeing or feeling, because it meant that the the girl might haven't lied, It was so much KI. then, he rushed down to where both girls where. Pan didn't seem to mind, she was smiling side to side—like this was the best moment of her day. It was up to him to stop this madness.
—Enough!—Uub yelled, putting himself in the middle of the two with a speed that surprised both. Raising his power to try and equal that of the girl, momentarily ignoring the feeling horror he felt as he realized how much KI he had to release to match that of the girl and how it was almost everything he had. His pink aura exploded and clashed towards Eschalot's like two waves clashing against each other, roaring and fighting for control, a carmesi tornado shaked the earth as both sides pushed for control, none bulging and refusing to let go. Slowly, they pushed, and furiously Bulla's attention changed to him. Those eyes were burning brilliantly like the sun in the skies, filled with an unearthly rage that belonged to something else, something that lacked a basic feeling of humanity in it. A predator.
—There's an empty field less than minute away, If you wish to fight do that there instead. Not here, not with all the people!
Bulla looked around to the crowd, trampled people rushed away with fear, mothers held their children tight and everyone crashed against each other desperately attempting to avoid being sucked inside the colored swirl. Suddenly, The burning violet fire that surrounded her disappeared, and as she did Uub did the same. silence fell deaf to the area like the day after the storm, an empty vacuum where people tried to sneak away and stared. Bits of rock and dust and dirt began to fall down towards the earth, raining slowly towards the earth. Every hair on her head was raised upwards like a mountain, and every eye was dead set on them, every woman and child grabbing each other tight coveted in fear. They all stared. Like the audience in a play.
—Fine.— she said in anger, not sighing or doing anything to release her rage, no it was still there, building up to explode again. The boy had no idea how that had even worked in the first place—I'll let you pick her grave.