Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

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Kanassa
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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Kanassa » Mon Aug 28, 2017 9:10 pm

Chapter 24: Pressing Matters - Trunks on the Hunt

Gonna be honest, do not have much confidence in this chapter.
[spoiler]The view from the skyline was a limited one, as soon as something appeared within Trunks’s line of sight, it would disappear within the next millisecond. Mountains, fields, cities, oceans, all were but blurred lines as he shot past them. “I’m going as a fast as I can, Mom” He spoke through a small metal ear piece, seemingly unaffected by the speed and pressure of his flight. “Just use the time we have to explain what this’s all about” All he had been told before taking off was that Bulma had made possible progress on the Android led and that he was needed for an errand.

“Well, first off I want to remind you that this could be completely unrelated to what you think you saw” Her tone was careful, hesitant, she didn’t want to make a wrong move and send her son into a panic. “Maybe-“

“Just explain, Mom. Clearly.” The voice felt like he punched her in the gut, both desperate and firm, like a superior yelling an order at an employee.
“We picked up readings of two other locations using technology that matches that of the ship Frieza had arrived on when he came to Earth all those years back” He could hear her stopping to make quick orders to whoever was with her.

“Someone’s been salvaging from the site of Frieza’s demise” The thought of that location spurred on Trunks’s thought, he’d never fully wondered on how Goku had handled the situation that day. When Trunks had gone back in time, he had been forced to intervene and kill Frieza because Goku arrived late. But in this timeline, how had Goku dealt with the returning foe? Had he turned Frieza to dust like Trunks? Or did he leave the tyrant limping home with a hole in his pride that could never be repaired?

“Not just anyone” Bulma’s voice fell to a glum overtone. Trunks could already feel his heart rate picking up, waiting for the bad news. “I sent 16 out to the original site of Frieza’s landing and he found people. Scavengers, looting the wreckage” That didn’t seem too bad, maybe I could cal- There was a gulp heard.

“What else, mother?”

“…They were Red Ribbon, Trunks”

Suddenly everything felt a tad too hot, burning rays seeping into his skin, pulling at his flesh until his skin swept sweaty tears. Was it him or was the sky going red? In seconds 18 and 17 were there, floating beside him, easily keeping up with his pace. You’re not looking too good, Trunks Their taunts echoed off of non-existent wall, crawling in his skin, forcing apart his ear lobes. Do the small soldiers scare you?

“Do we scare you?”

His blue aura flickered in response to his breathing, like a grim rhythm laughing at his fears. “That could mean…”

17 moved up behind his sister, their grins burning into the back of Trunks’s head. “What do you have to be afraid of? You beat us.” 17’s hand crashed through his sibling’s chest, blood that they shouldn’t have had staining his hand and dripping on Trunks’s cheek. “You slaughtered us” Gravity returned in all of it stubbornness, grabbing at Trunks, dragging him down bit by bit, draining all layers of resistance from his body. “Because you wanted revenge. Because you had power. Because no one could stop you”

“It doesn’t prove that what you saw was real, Trunks!” Bulma screamed through the earpiece, if she was here she would have been wrapping her arms around him in a motherly embrace. “Gero was a genius, not many people could rebuild his Android designs. And in the Red Ribbon Army, he was one of a kind”

“The rules didn’t apply to you, because nobody could stop you” 18 and 17 began to circle Trunks, 18’s wound still dripping with blood.

The gravity increased, the chains tightened, Turnks didn’t even notice that the ground was getting closer.

“Just like us” Each head leaned close towards his ear, dragging out every word of his crimes.

His body felt numb, tired, longing for rest. It welcomed the fall, it asked for punishment.

“Is that why you keep causing problems? As a distraction?”

“Sickening.” Gohan chimed in just moments before Trunks realised he had stopped flying, instead plummeting into the ground. In a moment of quick thinking, Trunks threw all his weight to one side, turning his body to face skyward as he crashed into the ground, dirt pouring down on his head like rain.

“Trunks! I heard something crash, are you okay!?” His hand came up to clasp his still beating heart, his entire body reeling like he had just ran the length of a planet, wheezing for air. But before he could breathe his eyes burned at the sight of an object high up in the air that gleamed in the sun, something metal, with a hilt... It took three seconds for Trunks to notice his sword descending from the sky like a flaming meteor. As if it was possessed by a bloodthirsty spirit his trusty weapons seemed to guide itself towards his fallen form, where only a second later it landed… Only an inch away from his throat.

“I’m fine mom... I just…” He fought to steady his breath, taking in the view of his reflection in the blade of the object that came so close to just ending it all; he had done nothing to stop it. “Lost my balance”

“Don’t scare me like that” Her voice almost sounded broken. “I don’t think I can survive a heart attack”

Talking was good, thinking was good. It took him away, it blocked out the noise. It blocked out them. He needed to distract himself before he did something regretful, before he put his mother through more stress. “Mom?”

“Yes, Dear?”

Gero was dead. Trunks knew that, it was he Devil’s Pair’s greatest achievement. If he was going to do this right, he had to think. Ask the right questions. How could the Thirteen have been there taunting him? Possibilities: He missed a safe house. Or, somebody took Geros designs and rebuilt or repaired Thirteen. They were already looking for leads on missed safe houses, but was it possible that there was someone who could replicate Geors work? “You said that Gero was one-of-a-kind in Red Ribbon, right? But… Didn’t the files say he had an assistant? Wouldn’t they be able to recreate his work?”

“Hmmm. I do remember Goku mentioning once that when he originally fought the Red Ribbon Army, he met a man… Dr. Frap, I think. The man had claimed to be the one who created Eighter actually”

Trunks picked himself up, the possible answer pushing back against gravity and keeping him up straight. He looked around, no androids to be seen. With that he gripped the handle of his sword and pulled it up to examine the blade. “Then maybe I should pay the good doctor a visit”

Bulma wanted to tell him that she still had a job he could do by going to the other site of Frieza’s space ship match, but she couldn’t tell him. It seemed having a solid lead kept him going, at least for now, and she didn’t want to add to that stress. She just wanted her baby boy to be happy. “He should still be at Jingle Village if you’re so sure of this”

“It’s the best bet we’ve got” His let some joy leak into his voice, hoping to encourage Bulma to smile. “Just be careful. You’re at the lab, aren’t you?”
Unknown to him Bulma currently sat between the cover of two boulder, peaking through the gap between them and down towards an opening in the mountain-side, where a space ship with a very familiar design sat under the cover of the mountains. Behind her she had only her three assistants fighting over the supplies they had brought, Pilaf somehow ending up on Mai’s head, pulling her hair.

Bulma raised her binoculars up a top her nose, where the extended sight of the tool allowed her to make out Salza and Neiz playing a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

“Oh, you know. I’m just out… Getting some raw data samples”
***
Salza did not enjoy the hour of silence that had fallen over the room, an hour of him waiting with his back straight beside his Master, anticipation dripping down his cheeks in the form of sweat as he wondered what would happen next; barely able to keep himself from letting out some random jumbled groan at the fatigue falling upon his knee caps. Cooler on the other hand registered no such irritation with the situation, sitting comfortably in his chair and leaning forward, a stern gaze observing the various footage that played on the monitors before him.

Crime reports, military documentaries, news coverage, Red Ribbon Army remnants invading a village. Recordings of bloody combat and high-speed games of cat and mouse painted Cooler’s view, his eyes eating up every display of these Earthling’s resolve and endurance. But in Salza’s eyes he could see nothing of value in these clips (Data gathered over time by the Armoured Squadron), there was no tactical advantage in studying the common brawl between such people, after a few clips it only went on to prove how under powered and under developed any type of resistance would be to the likes of Lord Cooler.

And with that contemplative glare. Salza didn’t know what to make of it, it unnerved him slightly. Like Cooler was trying to intimidate the non-sentient objects. Was he hoping to find footage of the one that destroyed the Androids? Maybe Cooler was simply looking at footage that allowed him to laugh at how primitive life was. No… Salza shook his head, he knew that look. With the likes of other threatening nobles Salza had come across, he had long ago learned that a stone-cold expression on an Arcosian meant they were in deep thought. Plotting.

Which didn’t make anything much better. The lack of involvement Salza seemed to have here only made the young Captain doubt himself. He was the Captain of the Armoured Squadron, a rank gained over years of frivolous loyalty to the Master’s whims, who personally picked out and recruited his fellow members for the perfect team. He should be privy to his Master’s schemes and vision, he proved his right for such a privilege, did he not? Listen to yourself! He thought If our EMPEROR thinks zhat ve do not need to know such information, zhen ve should trust his judgement.

Salza shook his head for a brief moment, before realising he moved and instantly whipped his head back into his statue-esc stance. His mind told him that any fast movement threatened to hurt Cooler’s concentration. He could wait, Salza knew he could be patient. He was able to wait for his allies in the vicinity of an erupting volcano. He was able to wait in a failed peace treaty for his Master to give the go ahead. He was able to wait in baited breath for Tinsel to accept his proposal.
A ‘You got mail!’ icon flashed on his scouter, not followed by any sort of sound as the symbol dissolved into the ID of the sender. Speak of zhe devil Salza felt a smile grow on his face. Though he could not real the e-mail at the moment, he could see the subject was titled ‘Missing you, Bonbon!’. Oh, and it even had a sweet little love heart at the end-

“Salza.” Cooler barely had to raise his voice to make the soldier jump in surprise, Salza quickly fingering his scouter to remove the e-mail from view. The Arcosian looked unimpressed as he rose to his feet, quickly shutting off the monitors with a click of his fingers. “We’re leaving, bring along a spare energy cannon”

“Of course, Sir!” Salza had to admit, it felt damn good to move his knees again as they pumped in a rush for him to get the cannon and return to his Master’s side. “Vith all due respect, Sir. Vhat are ve doing? And vhat does his have to do vith those tapes?

“Let’s just say I’ve come to a realisation, Salza” Cooler, while still stone faced, did have a tinge of excitement in his voice, grabbing a spare scouter as well. The two marching through the ship and down the boarding ramp, passing by a rather intense game of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ with not an eye batted in Neiz and Dore’s general direction. They knew their orders. “A habit, if you will, of my family history in how we like to be viewed. Fear and status was always the key”

“Vhere are ve going, Sir?” The question went on ignored as Salza watched his Master come to a stop, scanning the area around them with the scouter, before muttering something along the lines of ‘I was right, how about that?’. And then like that he was off, stalking towards the cliff that was visible in the distance.

“Age old tactic, really. King Kold was respected because of his blood, Frieza’s spot on the throne over all other rivals and his lucrative control over the galaxy was due to his ability to blow up planets with a flick of his dainty fingers” At this point Salza was starting to think that Cooler had forgotten that he was there, rambling thoughts laid bare as the two walked. “Yes, I always try to play my cards more pragmatically and certainly don/t butcher my own forces as much, but I did always generally try to follow these examples. Even if through different methods, I still produced my power as something to be feared and my birth right respected”

“Fear is a brilliant motivator, but to rule by fear alone would prove foolish. Look at the state of our Empire, as soon as Frieza was out of the picture, that power stripped away from our image, the galaxy turned against us. My brother’s fall was a sign to the universe that no one was untouchable. A disgusting insult to my family to be sure, to drag our names down to the level of the common people” His right hand came up and started doing ecstatic gestures, clicking his fingertips together to keep his mind focused, his speech going off track. “But backwater planets like this dust ball don’t know that. They’ve never heard of our Empire, in either it’s failings or it’s victories. Never opened their eyes to the greater universe… And yet they’ve shown themselves as the most resilient and stubborn creatures in this sector, who even now have produced fighters who’ve been able to break the same machines that killed the Super Saiyan”

Salza took a moment to try and replay the words in his head, the fast-pace vomit of words were hard to decipher. At least Cooler was good at making everything he said sound important no matter the meaning. “You think zhat zhis planet could be of use to our Empire?”

They now stood at the edge of the cliff, looking over an old looking road that twisted around the bend of the cliff, only having one actual car passing by. “This planet is still just coming out of it’s age of destruction. It has been decimated by infernal machines, stripped of resources and hope. Now, amongst the rot and ruin the people try their best to get by. It’s perfect”

Salza didn’t get it. “I don’t think zhey find zhe turn of events zhat perfect, Sir”

“Precisely. I think it’s time I make my first official appearance on this planet” Down on the road, the truck had stopped, three people seemed to be in the midst of a heated argument around the front of the truck while a large grey grizzly bear (According to Salza, that’s what the Earthlings called them) was resting at the back. “I have a cunning plan” Was the only thing he said before jumping down onto the road.

“Can’t believe you drove us away. What do you take us for, a bunch of putz!?” A particularly angry shout was the first thing Cooler heard as soon as he got close enough. “I oughtta just fill you with holes now, Pipsqueak!” The loud mouth was tall and blonde, opening her leather jacket to reveal a large array of capsules marked ‘Firepower’ hanging on the inside. If Cooler’s research was correct, this woman was Launch, known as the ‘Two-Faced Bandit’ in the reports he had his men steal. Gang Leader.

“We were outnumbered and outgunned, man!” The much smaller man’s voice came out as a squeak. “Those Red Ribbon thugs woulda turned us into swiss cheese” While he talked, the small man instinctively inched closer to his bigger and buffer companion, waiting for the chance to use the man as a human shield.

“UmHm” The buff man grumbled out, nodding his head.

“That’s an awesome point, Loco!”

‘Loco’ looked to Launch, crossing his arms. “UhHm”

Launch sighed in defeat, growling out “Just shut up, Loco. The Pipsqueak lives, this time”

Okay, so these people have some one word language I’m unaware of… How does that even work!? Cooler shook his head, no time for questions as he pushed on forward. It was time to introduce himself. “Sir, vhat are you aiming to achieve here?”

Cooler gave a dark chuckle, taking one step closer “I’m just one generous man who wants to help some… Down on their luck fo-” Only to stop as an unsuspecting bullet whipped past his nose.

“Better stop where you are before you lose something, Bucko!” The voice was gruff, deep, barely literate and was certainly not coming from the three by the car. Come to think of it, it came from Cooler’s right, but the only thing over there was the bear… That was currently standing on to legs. The Bear that had just reached into its fur to pull out a machine gun. The Bear Cooler only now noticed seemed to have a hat.

“What is wrong with this planet!?” The Bear seemed to take offence to this, within seconds of pulling the trigger a hail of bullet fired at Cooler, much to his dissatisfaction. Yes, he can easily catch the bullets, but the feeling was akin to an insect biting you; doesn’t really hurt, but just plain irritating. Soon, the Bear an out of ammo, but that wasn’t really a problem as Launch had already jumped on top of the truck to back the animal up and she seemed to have plenty of ammo to spare.

“Eat lead, you lizard freak!” She showed absolutely no hesitation in unloading on this random person for the simple crime of walking close to them, though what Cooler found more amusing was that Salza had ducked for some sort of cover on the ground.

“Salza, seriously?”

“Sorry, Sir. Old habit on the battlefield…” With a nervous laugh the soldier got to his feet and mimicked Cooler’s hand movements, deflecting and catching bullets in ‘silence’.

After a few minutes of this Cooler has to admit that this was a little excessive.

Another minute passed. How much ammo did she have!?

Three minutes “Uh, Boss Lady? I don’t think it’s working” Pipsqueak piped up.

Four minutes “Look, Boys, he’s getting tired!” Launch tried to reaffirm

After the five minute mark Cooler’s patience had reached its end, and with an annoyed growl and a mutter of ‘Diplomacy is hard’ he directed a glare squarely on Launch. For a moment nothing happened, but within a split second a shine similar to the glare of the sun could be seen twinkling in his eye, following that was a pair of thin twin beams of light that seemed to shoot out from his eye balls and narrowly graze Launch’s shoulder. “Can we now be civil, you impudent peas-… Friends.” As he said this the shock of the sudden attack caused Launch to fall backwards off the roof of the truck, a loud thud being heard from the other side, accompanied by a pained groan.

Pipsqueak was already in a panic. “Why do we ever listen to the Boss Lady!? You’re Red Ribbon, aren’t you? Some sort of twisted monster here to violate our souls and suck out our flappy jubblies!”

Cooler’s eyes only narrowed at the implication that his appearance was in any way ‘monstrous’. “You know, where I come from I’d be considered quite the stud” His hand instantly shot out to the side to silence Salza before the soldier could even start trying to add to Cooler’s statement. The last time Salza had tried to ‘Defend his great Lord’s honour!’, it had led to many awkward implications. Now, stop whimpering. I do not come seeking harm, despite the very RUDE welcome, I simply wished to help. You all seemed to be… Troubled”

“We don’t need no help, we’re not spineless wimps” Launch came back around the truck, still as aggressive as ever, though at least she wasn’t shooting. “Well, except for Pipsqueak over here, but he’s the one that drives the truck”

“Strange, from what I overheard, you were having trouble with- What was it? The ‘Red Ribbon Army’?” Cooler had to pretend to be in the dark, too much knowledge was a suspicious thing to have.

“Those losers are nothin’, ya hear me? Nothin’ but a bunch of bums with guns!” Launch seemed fired up at the mere mention of them, wagging her finger violently in Cooler’s face (An action that made his royal blood growl). “Yeah, they got the drop on us. Just cus’ we were distracted by trying to find good junk we could sell off. Those weird space ship ruins would sell good on the market. But if it were any other time, we’d have slaughtered them! And then we’d fill their corpses with so many holes they’d come back to life to beg for mercy” She was practically spitting in the Emperor’s face.

“You seem to… Dislike these people” Cooler put it lightly.

“Boss Lady hates everything. But the Red Ribbon army above all e- ARG!” Pipsqueak couldn’t finish before Launch had punched him straight in the stomach, causing him to keel over in pain.

“Yeah, and so what if I do? Those Red Ribbon jerks took everything! If bullets can’t rip an Android into shred, then they can at least turn the soldiers into gooey mess” She walked back over to the hood of the car, slamming her fist into the hood, obviously finding that punching other people wasn’t helping. “And I’ll do the same to every last one of ‘em, down to the last Ribbon”

“I was under the assumption that this army had long since been disbanded”

She sat down, head finding comfort in the metal head of the truck. “They ain’t what they used to be, but some are still kicking around. Been after them for a while… Funny, the Kid took ‘em down on his own in a few weeks, yet I can’t even make a dent in years” Cooler told himself that he must have misheard that part, how could a mere child have taken out an entire army? “If only that Kid was still around…” Launch muttered

“Sounds like you need an edge over them. No use fighting ants without bugspray, hm?” Cooler held his hand out to the side, where Salza took the cue to place the spare Energy Cannon in his Master’s palm. “This is a standard issue BDC Mark 3 Energy Cannon, a wrist mounted device that converts electrical waves into pure energy and unleashes them as devastating blasts. Far more explosive than the meagre weapons you seem to carry” He tossed the small weapon over to Launch, who easily caught it with interest fighting against her aggressive tendencies.

“How does this thing work?” Part of her was immediately suspicious of the random stranger giving her a weird device, but another part of her excitedly screamed ‘Free Gun Thing!’

“You put your hand through the underside of the Cannon, wrapping your fingers loosely around the handle at the other end” Launch did as the man instructed, flipping the device on its back so the bulbous shape didn’t get in the way. “Then it’s simply a matter of increasing your grip on the handle to fire”
She raised the cannon up, surprised at how light it felt as she looked around for a target. Below them a river ran down stream, a rather large rock protruding from the currents. “So, like this?” Her arm was out stretched (Pipsqueak and Loco scrambling out of the way), prompting a small aiming attachment to pop out of the top. With only curling of her fist the device shook, within moments golden light exploded from the front, bursting out with such strength that it threatened to knock Launch on her ass. She couldn’t even see what happened when the blast hit the target due to the light being so bright, but oh man, she could feel that rock disintegrate as the light enveloped it.

“I probably should have mentioned that it works best with long range targets…” Cooler muttered as the light died down.

“Damn, so that’s how it feels!” Launch exclaimed, patting the cannon like it was a pet, a smile stretching from ear-to-ear. Which really looked as unnatural on her as it would have on Cooler. “I always wondered. It’s like when Tien that donut ray”

“I’ll just assume you’re impressed”

“This. I like this. This could do some serious damage” Okay, now Cooler was starting to find it a tad creepy how instantly attached she had become to the weapon.

“What’s the catch?”

“I’m just a man that wants to help out” Cooler put on his best impression of what he assumed was a noble and kind idiot. “I think we can both agree that these Red Ribbon fools should not be allowed to continue their exploits” Salza was still unsure of Cooler’s plan in all of this. He obviously saw something of value with these people, he had purposely sought them out. Though Salza could at least see the logic in wiping out the rest of Red Ribbon, if they could build something to rival a Super Saiyan, then left unchecked there could be a day they create something that rivals Lord Cooler.

“Excuse me, miss-“ Salza butted into their conversation, receiving a glare from Cooler

“It’s Launch. Get it right or I’m using you for target practice”

“Launch. You mentioned zhat zhese people took you by surprise because you were... Scavenging some sort of space craft?” At first, Cooler didn’t understand the point of the question, before reminding himself that the Earthlings were not a species that had achieve Space Travel yet. Meaning that the space ship could be…

“Just some old ruins, people say a UFO was there once. Big circular space ship, but it exploded or soothing” She leaned in, examining the emblem on Salza’s uniform.

“Hey! I’ve seen that symbol, it was on some of the parts in the ruins”

“You did!?” Salza exclaimed. She must have stumbled upon the remains of Frieza’s space ship.

“Wait a minute… That means you’re from space!” Launch exclaimed. “YOU’RE ALIENS!” She pointed an accusatory finger at Salza’s scouter “I knew I recognised those dumb glasses from somewhere. The Aliens that blew up East City all these years ago wore ‘em”

“Don’t do anything drastic” Salza pulled his hands up with an awkward laugh, hoping the woman didn’t get too mad.

“I’m watching you, Greenbug” Her eyes narrowed on Salza, her hand patting the energy cannon.

“Where did you get attacked?” Cooler moved in front of Saza, glaring Launch down, he wasn’t going take any stupid answers.

After a moment of staring, Launch shrugged and went back to appreciating her new toy. “Up north, I’ve got the co-ordinates down on the radar” She held up a small square device, seemed to be some sort of advanced map.

Cooler turned to Salza, his voice frim and strict. “Salza, tell Neiz and Dore to go to these co-ordinates to investigate” Before looking back to Launch with a fake smile.
“And to kill any Red Ribbon soldiers they find”

Launch seemed to take this as a challenge of sorts, smirking as she turned to bark at Pipsqueak “Get off the floor and into the truck, we gotta get there before anyone else! I wanna test the new gun”

Cooler handed her the spare scouter “If I ever need to contact you” He stated, to which Launch only responded to with a nod before jumping in the truck, and within a matter of minutes the truck had turned around and took off for the north. “Hook, line and sinker as they say” Cooler crossed his arms and took the moment to pat himself on the back, Salza returning to his side to inform him of the other two soldiers receiving their orders.

“I still do not fully understand, Sir”

“It’s simple, Salza. Ever since we landed on this planet I’ve had you and the rest of the Squadron looking into various aspects of this planet. Information on its defensive capability, some of it’s culture, though the bear was still a surprise, everything. I’ve been pooling over all this information for a while now, and the picture painted was of an opportunity. See, that Launch girl took lead of a gang after the Androids came around, one that is well known. At first they were your usual thugs, bank robberies and all that” As he monologued he began to pace about in front of Salza, swept up in his own voice. “But it seems more recently the various inhabitants of this mudball have found themselves adoring these thugs for how they deal with what remains of the Red Ribbon Army. In a way, amidst the after math of the Androids, this gang is one of the few pillars that people look up to. The only other I have found so far has been the scientist that is heading their rebuilding efforts; Bulma Briefs”

“Ah, I think I get it now. Sir. You want to build their trust and loyalty to achieve their influence?”

“Something like that. See, the Red Ribbon Army have left this planet in the perfect state of disarray. People are lost, they want things, symbols, people, objects, anything; to put their trust in. The more I think about it, the more value I could see in owning this planet. On other planets, we went for sheer conquest, beating down the popular until they could no longer resist. But such acts only breeds a need for vengeance in the survivors, which stays until they find the right moment to wiggle out from under our thumbs. So, what if instead of conquering this world, we build ourselves up. We earn their trust, we earn their dependency. To the point where they’ll look to me as a messiah of sorts”

“You mean, you vish to take advantage of zheir darkest hour?” Cooler couldn’t see at the moment, but Salza’s face fell into an almost repulsed expression. “But that’s…”

“Brilliant, I know” Cooler couldn’t compliment himself enough. “As you told me after your first scouting mission, there still remains androids. It’s perfect. Wait for the Androids to cause some damage, get the fear out there front and centre, and then out of the goodness of my heart, I dedicate my resources into protecting the civilians. And if we play our cards right we'll have those that these Earthlings look up to singing our praises” He clapped his hands together, looking over the road with glee. “They’ll be so desperate for my protection, they won’t bat an eye at bringing more troops here to occupy and take resources”

“A brilliant plan, Sir” Salza did not sound enthusiastic.

“Maybe taking the planet the Super Saiyan called home could even erase some of the stained that still dirty of family’s legacy” He turned back to Salza, floating back up the cliff, it was about time they got back to the ship. “My Empire will be able to heal. Earth will be the starting point to rebirth of this great Empire” His lips frowned as he added on in a mutter “I haven’t failed. Not yet. You’ll see, Father from whatever hell hole you ended up in”

Though, as Cooler was about to find out when he returned to his ship, someone was about to put a huge crimp on a other wise good day.[/spoiler]
When Super apparently shoves Goku down our throats:

Kanassa wrote:
FoolsGil wrote:I hope Mark is dead. But chances are the dragonballs will bring his stupid ass back. :D
- FoolsGil, Out of Context, 2017

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Kanassa
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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Kanassa » Sat Sep 09, 2017 7:23 am

Chapter 25: Wishful Faces

You ready for a chapter of foreshadowing?

[spoiler]The preliminaries was both cramped and wide open. It was a rather humid room that stretched to fit in a group of mini-stages (None of which compared to the big stage outside, they weren’t even cleaned as much), with a sea of competitors fluctuating between crowding around one spot, and stretching out to every corner of the room. Though with each injury sustained through a loss, the crowd got smaller.

Ever since exiting the changing room Pan took every opportunity to distract herself with examining all of her possible opponents, easing her nerves and throwing away the creepy feelings surrounding that strange girl. While waiting for her turn Pan found her feet moving on their own wondering throughout the hall, even as someone who could most likely blow most of these people away with her less than human abilities, it was quite the sight to observe the different matches.

There was something of a rush watching two fighters of equal calibre square up in a close-call beat down, maybe it was that old ‘Saiyan blood’ that Bulma would always bring up in regard to fighting. In one of ChiChi’s stories Pan could remember learning that sometimes, no matter the situation, her Grandfather would purposely weaken himself to fight on equal-footing with his opponent. While Chichi could never understand the reasons behind it, Pan always wondered, did Goku have a sense of fairness? Or did he simply want that rush of an opponent who had a chance?

When she eventually found her time to take to the fighting stage and face down her opponent, she found the match moving in a blur. Her eyes could already make out her victory before she even reached the stage, and in a few seconds, it was all over. Honestly, she didn’t mind much. These were the preliminaries, the time to wade through the weak and prop up those who would fare well up for everyone else to see. Unlike Goku, it seemed that she wasn't that good at scaling down her strength for big power gaps.

Not that she wanted to brag or anything (Correction: She loves to brag), but she was most certainly not weak and would be standing among those head to the top eight. Really, for the first time in her life she found it more exciting to watch to weaker fighters face off against similar opponents. Of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t scouting for those that looked like they might carry their way to the final eight.

From old recordings, she had seen of previous tournament, the phrase “Don’t judge a book by its cover” wasn’t completely true, looks were a damn good indicator for the most part. Almost half of every tournament’s final roster had some odd-looking people, which instantly made her note that the Kassy woman might have a good chance of being someone to watch out for. Pan found it weird that she hadn’t seen any sign of the woman since the encounter in the changing room, she at least thought she’d catch at least a glimpse of the woman fighting or in the crowd.

Pan’s train of thought was interrupted by a fighter suddenly slamming into the wall beside her, in a split second beforehand she could see the fighter was in the middle of a flying kick and seemed kept a look of complete surprise. Pan could even hear him groan “Who put that wall there?” Looking around she could see the fighter came from the stage beside the one she had been watching before, and yes; She’d call this guy odd.

Charcoal skin. Puffy red lips. And that turban get-up kind of made the plump man look like a genie. A racially unfortunate genie. “What happened to that guy?” Pan asked the nearest person to her, gesturing to the man on the ground.

The response was a simple shrug “I dunno. One moment they were staring each other down, then the next second the guy tries attacking the air behind him. Must have been seeing things” The small crowd of spectators dispersed to go look for another fight while they waited to be called up, and as Pan turned back towards the stage she found the Genie walking down the steps of the stage, his eyes looking straight at her.

“Uh… Can I help you?” She backed away slightly in case the man was simply looking for room to get through the crowd, but he came to a stop in front of her, his mouth hanging open in thought. As if he was trying to put together a puzzle.

But before Pan could voice her question again, the man’s lips pulled back together into a sudden warm smile. “Oh!” A joyful sigh as he bowed his head. “Little Pan, all grown up” His voice surprised her, it was filled with such relief. Like he lost a dog or something.

“You know me?” She tried to reel in her surprise, the strange aura of warmth the man exuded discouraged her from being rude.

This only made him chuckle, nodding enthusiastically. “Of course. I did deliver you, of course”

“Deliver me? Royal mail or Express?”

“I mean, I pulled you out of your Mother-“ Pan waved her hands in front of her, letting out a disgusted ‘eck’ before cutting the man off

“I was joking!” The two moved away from the stage after another person bumped into them, giving Pan time to think over the man’s words. She had heard a lot about the circumstances of her birth, and how it had come at a bad time. And the person who delivered her? “Hey, wait a second. You’re Mr Popo! The guy who lives with God”

Again, he nodded. “Yes. I once lived in the home of this planet’s guardian” But then he began to frown. “But that was long ago. Now… Kami is no longer with us” In a split second that warm aura turned into a hollow wreck. “I’ve been wondering the Earth for many days now, looking for… Something”

“Something?”

He shrugged. “Yes, something. I am unsure of what it is”

“But don’t you have, like, a castle or something to live in?” She threw her arms behind her back, not sure to keep the mood from going too dreary. She never intended to dredge up bad memories.

“Kami’s Lookout’s is no longer my home. I failed in my duties, meaning I had no business or right to there anymore. The least I could do was move it after the Androids reduced Korin Tower to rubble when they burned down that poor village under it, but after that I’ve left it on its own until another guardian comes to take Kami’s place” Mr Popo linked his fingers in a sad bow, taking a moment of silence. “However long it will take”

Pan at first wanted to ask how he MOVED something that from what her father once told her was an entire palace, but she realised that might have been a bit insensitive. Instead clapping her hands together and stating “Hey, you haven’t failed!” Granted, she knew little about the man’s job or his situation, but she couldn’t just let him beat himself up. “I mean, I might not even be here if it wasn’t for you”

“Hmmm… You do have a point” He seemed to put on a smile for her effort “Do you know much about how you were born?”

Pan rolled her eyes “Yes, I know that my mom and dad bumped uglies. Just because I thought babies came from kisses on the cheek until I was fifthteen…”

“…Another joke?”

Pan paused. “Let’s go with that” Before settling her mind on looking back on that night. “I don’t remember much, but people have told me a lot. Mom was sick, really sick and Dad didn’t think she was going to make it. Resources were scarce and Bulma didn’t know what she had. But then you showed up out of the blue, apparently”
“Out of the blue is right. I didn’t even know where I was going” He explained, twiddling his thumbs. At Pan’s questioning gaze, he continued “I had a feeling that night, one that led me to your house. Like someone was calling me there”

Well, that’s not suspicious She noted with a shrug. “And then what?”

“I helped”

“But how?”

“Magic.” Mr Popo gave a stare that showed he really wasn’t joking. “I worked beside Kami. I picked up a few tricks” His puffy lips went back into a wide smile “It was the first time I ever witnessed the birth of an infant, it was quite beautiful. Kami always told me the birth of new life was amazing in every form. Though I had to take my leave afterwards, but I did stay long enough to see you kick that poor little boy in the face when he tried to hold you”

Without hesitation Pan let out a snicker. “Yeah, that’s the part I remember clearly. I heard Trunks sulked for weeks after that” Now that she thought about it, Trunks and her never really did get on as children, but that didn’t matter when Gohan died six years later. That was probably around the time Trunks stopped talking to her. “And back on topic: See? You’re not a failure”

He nodded “I appreciate your confidence”

With a nod in return, Pan thought it was about time to steer away from any drearier subjects. “So, you’re here to compete? No offence, but with all I’ve heard I never pegged you as a fighter”

At this, Mr Popo chuckled, a smile growing as he wagged his finger. “I’ll have you know that for a time I trained your Grand Father”

Immediately, Pan’s eyes lit up “Really!? You trained Goku?”

“Oh yes, I still remember the first day he arrived on the lookout. Eager, head strong, cocky and reckless” He shook his head before Pan could ask for more information “But those are tories for another time, we still have this tournament to think about”

“Fine…” Her face fell into a pout. “Hey, you never told me why you joined in the first place. Another ‘feeling’?”

“I wondered if perhaps any trace of Goku or his friends had survived. A gathering of the world’s greatest fighters would definitely attract them, and so I found you” He fell silent for a moment, contemplating as he looked Pan up and down. “May I ask you a question?”

“Huh?”

“Why do you fight?” is question sounded so simple, yet when Pan opened her mouth she couldn’t find any words to answer it with. She looked back to the conversation with her mother. Was it because she felt obligated to follow her father? Was it just fun and games? Was this what people called a mid-life crisis? “It’s alright, you don’t have to answer it now. But I’d advise that you search for that answer, for it can be quite important” His gaze moved above her nose, and spoke again in a jarring example of changing the subject “You have Goku’s eyes, you know”

“Not to be rude, but everyone in my family has the same eyes…”

Another ‘oh’ of surprise before returning to his smile. “I never noticed. Are you-“ His gaze moved to behind Pan, his face twisting into a rather worried look “Do you know them? One seems to be glaring at you”

Turning around Pan came to see a familiar sight, the purple dwarf and the pony tail dude looking directly at her, and Pan had to admit those did look like glares. But maybe that was just their default expression. “I’ve seen them before, didn’t get their names though. I think the purple one might still be mad at me for landing on his head…” The small one was in the middle of walking down the steps of the stage, behind him Pan could see a hole in the wall where his opponent had been smashed through. That brought a smirk to Pan’s lips. So, the midget’s stronger than the average fighter here… “Let’s go greet the competition, Mr P!”

As she made her way over to them she saw the third one, the big trucker hat muscle guy, enter through one of the doors and make his way over to them. He seemed conflicted about something, though when he saw her his mood shifted to a pleased smile. “Well, I’ll be… You’re the Son lady, ain’t ya?”

Mr Popo followed closely behind, muttering “I don’t know, Pan. Something isn’t right here”

“They’re just competitors, Mr P” She whispered back before greeting the three “Yep. I’m Son Pan, the girl who landed on your friend’s head. Sorry about that, by the way” Despite her apology, the dwarf still continued to glare at her. Geez, I just landed on his head. It’s not like I killed his dog or something.

The trucker waves his hand dismissively. “No apologies needed, we good. We all end up in some unfortunate position sometimes. Ain’t that right, Dj?” He pats DJ on the head, pushing the dwarf towards Pan. “Don’t be rude! give hurr ayy handshake ta show that there there’s naw awful hard feelings. Ayy firm one”

“What did you say?” The accent made his sentence hard to understand sometimes.

“Handshake” Dj grunted, stretching out his hand

“Sorry ‘bout the attitude. Dj is just getting those competitive urges rushing through ‘em at the moment. Ya know. I’m Tucker by the way” Pan gripped the smaller man’s hand as Tucker talked, the man then gesturing to the tallest of the three. “This is… Tail” He almost sniggered, Pan guessed it was a joke name. “He can talk, but he don’t talk much”

“I can see that” Pan noted that Dj seemed to be squeezing her hand hard, so she followed suit and applied equal strength to his hand. Looking back up at Dj she could see him staring at her in the same way as before, though now she took the stare a bit differently. He increased his grip, so did she. He narrowed his eyes, Pan started to smirk, was he challenging her to something? For one minute, straight the two stared the other down, locked in a small and petty contest of who had the stronger hand shake. Tucker, Tails and Mr Popo were just awkwardly standing there wondering what was going on.

“If you keep this up, you’re going to break something” Mr Popo’s statement seemed to go to both of them, frowning as he reminded them. “There is to be no violence of any kind between competitors outside of the ring. If anything breaks, you will be disqualified”

At this both of them let go, Dj simply grunting again, turning around and walking away “I’ll see you in the ring, Son”

“What’s his problem?” Pan slammed her fist into her palm, she could tell that this guy was strong; she couldn’t wait to meet him in battle. While her question sounded annoyed, she couldn’t help but smirk.

“He’s grumpy because he didn’t get his milk and cookies before bed” Tucker shrugged with a coy wink. “Better go after him before he screws something up. Good luck, Son. I’ll be watching from the side-lines”

“What? Aren’t you going to be participating”
He laughed in response. “Me? Naw, I’m just sneaking in to get the best seats in the house. Because mark my words: This Tournament’s gonna be a wild one. I can just tell”
[/spoiler]
When Super apparently shoves Goku down our throats:

Kanassa wrote:
FoolsGil wrote:I hope Mark is dead. But chances are the dragonballs will bring his stupid ass back. :D
- FoolsGil, Out of Context, 2017

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Kanassa
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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Kanassa » Sat Sep 23, 2017 7:54 pm

Chapter 26: Time for Action! The Tournament begins!

[spoiler]Pilaf would like to think that he was never one to turn the other cheek to danger, in fact some people would say the great emperor did not know the definition of danger. For there was no man mightier than the great Emperor Pilaf (And any you just thought of don’t count!). But even he had to admit… “No, no, no! I am not going in there!”

“Don’t be such a coward, Gibble” Bulma dismissed Pilaf’s cry of fear as she rummaged through the back pack they brought along, looking for her capsule kit. She was still adamant on not remembering Pilaf’s name. “We came here for a reason, and we’re not leaving until we’re done”

Behind her Mai and Shu were working on separating themselves from the rocky wall they’d climbed down, their climbing equipment getting tangled up which was not made any better with the two constantly thrashing about. “We came here to find the ship. We found the ship, now let’s leave before the aliens come and suck out our brains!” But Bulma just ignored him, finally pulling out the thin case that held several capsules. “Then we can get 16, Trunks, ANYBODY to go and beat them up for us! Why do we have to go?”

“Because we can do this ourselves. Just because we’re not super humans who can bench press mountains-“ She took one capsule out, clicking the top of it with her thumb and throwing it off the edge of a small steep drop down below. “-doesn’t mean we’re helpless. Besides, we wouldn’t be here if your ‘genius’ didn’t show me what I needed for 16’s upgrades” While her face was looking down to where the capsule smoke had faded to reveal a hover cycle, Pilaf could almost feel the smug look on her face.

By this point, Mai and Shu had given up and were tangled up, dangling loosely off the ground. “Yeah, thanks, Sire” They both groaned in unison.

But Pilaf had to put his foot down, for the sake of his loyal servants, of course. “I’m not going”

Bulma rolled her eyes “Yes, you are. We need to get in and out before any of those guys come back” A minute prior, the two remaining soldiers at the ship had given up on their game of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ and flown off in a rush.

“I refuse! I’m sure purposely putting your employees in mortal danger is breaking some kind of-“ Pilaf was not allowed to finish his sentence, as the toe end of Bulma’s boot rammed into the small man’s back, kicking him off the platform like a football. His landing was… Abrupt. And his many curses of Bulma’s name only came out as muffled as he had landed face first into the dirt right beside the hover-cycle. “You will rue this day, Breifs! You are on my- Oh god, did something just crawl into my sleeve? Ew, ew, ew”

The likes of Mai and Shu came tumbling off the edge of the platform in a tangled heap, it seemed that Bulma had tried to cut them down, but only managed to get them rolling. They landed on top of Pilaf, stirring up a violent mini-whirlwind of dust. Bulma, on the other hand, found her landing quite safe and clean, propelling herself down with rope and sighing at what were supposed to be ‘valued’ employees. She was starting to regret bringing them. But she needed the extra hands, and she agreed with Trunks not to bring in anyone else on this whole thing.

As she mounted the hover bike, the trio managed to untangle themselves and get to their feet, Pilaf in particular grumbling as he stood by the hover cycle. She sighed, tapping her forehead in frustration “Good, you got down here. Now, hang on” They all shared a look of confusion. “What? It’s a one-seater. Speed it up, we don’t have all day” Hesitantly, Mai placed her hand on the vehicle, followed by Shu standing on the cover of the back wheel; Pilaf just grabbed the front, trying to throw his tiny legs over to get a good and balanced grip.

“Give me a sec-“ You wouldn’t be faulted for thinking Bulma couldn’t hear Pilaf, as before he was even hallway through with getting on she blasted the engine and took off at top speed. Th experience could only be described as thrilling, Bulma had never tested this speed before, but just witnessing the wide-open mix of grass and desert blur together, with the wind crushing against her arms and whipping at her vision; it made her rather jealous of the Z-Fighters. They got to feel like this every time they flew!

“Pilaf, reach into the bag and bring out the ship schematics” Schematic taken from what little of Frieza’s ship Bulma had remembered to scavenge back just before Goku destroyed it (And everybody had called her crazy when they found out she’d snuck aboard the ship while Goku and Frieza were swapping one-liners). “Mai, get me the tool box. And Shu, I need an E.M.P Deployer now; or we’re toast” Strugling against the violent wind, Bulma’s left hand relinquished it’s grip on the handle, reaching back with an open palm for Shu as. The image of the ship growing as they closed in. It was really starting to look intimidating. It’s certainly bigger than Frieza’s ship, I hope that’s the only part of the design that’s changed over the years

At this point, her watch began to beep, which came out as a low squeal over the howling of the wind. “Shu!” She screeched, staring down at the path ahead with panic in her eye. If the schematics were still relevant, Bulma knew there’s be a 20 meter wide force field covering the perimeter around the ship, which would either sound the alarm that there are unauthorised personal near the ship; or activate an electrical field that would fry them all like Sunday night chicken. Either way, not gonna end well. And I just did my hair...

Thankfully, she finally felt Shu push a thin metal device into her palm, bringing it up in front of her eyes she could see it looked like a miniature mine. With the clock ticking down (Because Bulma wasn’t the type of person to just stop the vehicle and throw it), Bulma closed her hand to make a fast, pressing down on the button atop of the mine and slotting it in her wrist watch. Of course, she couldn’t just chuck it, the wind and momentum of the vehicle would just have it fall back towards her, instead she’d stored it in her wrist mounted ‘micro launcher’ (Something which she’d been dying to use for a year), to give the mine enough momentum to fight against the wind.

With a push of another button, the watch mechanisms propelled the small device into the air, pushing through the pressures of gravity and the lashings of the air, which would allow it to sail through the air for just about 5 seconds. Good thing the mine was set for 4.5 seconds. As it experienced the slight flick of the wind that would start its journey backwards, with .5 seconds to spare, the top section of the device erupted into what could be considered akin to a banshee scream.

The supersonic waves it was emitting to disrupt the ship’s technology were virtually invisible to the naked eye, but Bulma could certainly witness the effect of the waves. Ahead of the hover cycle, just a few inches off, the field surrounding the ship became visible, lighting up in a parade of sparks and fizzing; all before breaking apart in a short-lived burst. Though the field wasn’t the only tech effected by the E.M.P, which Bulma realised shortly after she noticed her vehicle slowing down to a complete stop, choking out its last few gasps of life through its engine before going completely stiff.

Bulma sighed. “Well, looks like Pilaf is staying behind to get this up and running again. Mai and Shu, you’re with me” The old woman slid off the now dead machine. Her calm demeanour and spry steps were in stark contrast to the younger Pilaf Trio, who looked like the ride had taken their life away a few miles back, completely shaken; you’d never guess that Bulma was the oldest of the group. As much as age tried to weigh on her figure, Bulma never let it kill her energy and spirit. And as she had learned from Vegeta in the short time he spent with her, energy, determination, and spirit can keep a body moving past it’s breaking point.

A few minutes later Bumla found herself standing directly underneath a section of the ship, her clothes fitted with enough straps and pockets for all her equipment. In her hand she held the schematics, comparing them to what she could see of the ship’s underbelly, if her calculations were correct this would be the perfect blind spot to make their way aboard. Now, she just had to get up there…

All at once the weight of the task spoke up in her mind. It would be a race against time, no telling when those men would be back. Was she scared? Oh, quite terrified. She’d got a glimpse of Frieza and his men in action before. If they were caught, they were dead. If they got in there and the old schematics lead them wrong, they were dead. It was a very risky situation. But as a determined smile reached Bulma’s lips, she realised that she liked it that way. “I need the laser saw, the grappling hook and something I can use as a platform…” She looked to Mai “I think one of the plates from the hover cycle will do” And to think, a few years ago she’d be the one with Pilaf, screaming for an opportunity to run.

Yamcha could play baseball with Gods. Vegeta could wrestle with the sun. Goku could take on someone far above him in every aspect and still pull a win. They were fighters, they had pride, that’s what they did. But Bulma had pride to uphold too. I couldn’t do anything when the androids attacked us first. I couldn’t do anything but look away from everyone I cared about being slaughtered. This time… Whether it’s the Androids coming back for round 2, or Frieza and his mooks sniffing for revenge. This time I refuse to be a bystander. Because I’m Bulma Briefs, damn it!
***
After the encounter with the odd trio and Mr Popo, Pan’s experience with the preliminaries passed in a flurry of blows and selected moments. Her first fight had ended in seconds, one shockwave in the air from her fist was all it took to push her opponent off the ring. The next opponent had managed to last longer, using quick words and strange movements to confuse her, almost leading her to the edge of the ring; but a blur of split-second footwork allowed her to tip-toe out of a loss. She’d like to remember her final match as a fight too awesome to even explain, or look back on. So, by the time she entered the main building of the tournament grounds, one of eight following the loud mother announcer, she had forgotten the third match.

Instead, she found her eyes darting around the room as her future opponents dispersed to get their own space, sizing up each one with a critical eye. Pan already noticed those she had expected to be there.

“Alright, people. This is it. You’re the eight on top of the world. The meanest, baddest and most gifted fighters on this planet! Doesn’t that get you excited!?” Every time the Announcer talked, Pan only had the thought of how little justice those old TV recordings and radio broadcasting did for the guy. Even when using his indoor voice, his words were full of excitement and energy, pumping so hard that even without the microphone, you’d think his voice was being filtered through one. Then again, who else would you expect to be the front seat witness to all the craziness that occurred in the World Tournament?

At his excited probing, the level of energy seemed to die down, almost all the other competitors simply standing in awkward silence. Though as Pan tried to pump her fist in the air to show her support for the announcer, she could hear one guy let out a weak ‘yahoo?’. Maybe they were just all tired. The Announcer didn’t seem too deterred by this, though you could see his smile falter for a moment “Okay… You’re right, I don’t need to hear you say it, I can feel the violent explosions of intense emotion swirling round us!” Another awkward pause, Pan raised her hand to try and sound excited, but the atmosphere forced her nerves to bring her hand down into a cough. “Well, you can’t dampen my spirit. I know how things will heat up when the bouts start. You don’t know how much I’ve missed this job”

Kasonna had resigned herself to stand against the wall, a skin-stretching grin etched into her face, as unnatural looking as always. Mr Popo had his gaze firmly pinned to the Dwarf and Pony tail duo (She had to think a moment to remember their names: Dj and Tail), his features narrowed in a constant effort of suspicion. And the duo in question were focused on keep quiet and… Yeah, still looking at Pan. “I see a lot of new faces here, maybe the face of a new champion? Eh?... I’ll just skip straight to the proceedings then”

The announcer clapped his hands together, breathing in the atmosphere and letting out a grin, as if he was hyping himself up for his performance. “Using the preliminaries, you can see we’ve narrowed the contestants down to eight“ With a dramatic wave of his hand, he struck a pose, showing eight fingers. “This is how the tournament goes. Two versatile opponents enter the ring when called and fight ‘till either one is knocked out of the ring, one gives up or one is down for ten seconds. No killing, no aiming for the eyes or the happy sacks. Good, honest, TV Friendly fighting!”

He pauses to allow for any questions, but it was simple enough for everyone to understand, which gave him some relief. “The tournament will consist of three brackets. The Quarter-finals, the Semi-finals and the Finals! Win your match, you go into the next bracket. If you don’t have any questions, I can reveal to you the order in which you’ll fight” He strolled across the square room, arriving at a set of large, spotless doors made of oak, which the Announcer put his ear up against with a coy smirk. “Can you hear that? I think we’ve kept the audience waiting long enough!”

Before anyone could get a word out, the Announcer, in a burst of energy, slammed his foot into the line where both doors connected; kicking them open. Suddenly Pan’s eyes were assaulted by a sea of light flooding into the room, accompanied by the now audible cheers and screams of the crowd. After rubbing her eyes Pan realised that on the other side of the doors stood a short intersection, flanked by two large signs, with two walls running parallel to each other to form a small courtyard outside of the Fighter’s waiting room, leaving one opening opposite the building that opened up to reveal the main event; the Tournament Stadium.

Once again, the Announcer took lead, a microphone now in his hand as he strode through the archway, taking in the crowd. “Welcome, ladies and gentleman! Are you ready for the greatest line up of fighters to duke it out for the championship title?” The cheering rose at the announcer’s appearance, and it took all of Pan’s strength to resist cheering alongside them. She needed someone to pinch her, because she couldn’t believe she was really here. “Are you ready to meet our warriors?” Pan could hear the distinctive yelling of both her mother and grandmother, with a smile she looked to the source of their voices to find he two standing on top of their seats, screaming their lungs to death. Though they placed themselves far apart from each other, exchanging glare over the head of the old man who stood between them.

“Wait a minute…” Pan gasped as her eyes fell upon the man, though no one could hear her over the crowd or the announcer. There was no mistaking it, the bald head, the long beard, crooked grin, crimson shades and a giant turtle shell? “That’s Master Roshi!” She was starting to understand those girls who start hyperventilating when they see their favourite celebrity in public. Yeah, she had met the old man a few times (Though her mother repeatedly told her that she didn’t feel comfortable with Roshi talking to her), but he was going to watch her fight in the tournament? That was on a whole new level.

The urge to faint came when the old Master gave her a wave along with a toothy grin. “Now, please give an enthusiastic welcome to all our fighters! These brave warriors that fought their way through the preliminary rounds and seek victory in the finals!” By this point they had all reached the main tournament stage, standing in the middle while two bald men in orange robes hurried after them; one holding a white box while the other wheeled in a white board. “To employ fairness into how we decide the match ups, we will call each contestant up to pick a number from within the box, which will decide which bracket match they’ll fight in! When I call out a name, that contestant will step up to get a number”

It wasn’t a long process; the audience were already getting twitchy so there was no attempt to draw the proceedings out. By the end of it, Pan had drawn the number ‘1’, which she thought was only natural for her to pull out. She kept her eyes closed for the rest of it, she wanted to surprise herself on who her first opponent would be. “The match ups for the first round have been set!” Alright, looks like I’m opening this tournament.

“First up, we have Son Pan VS Mr Popo!” She was a bit surprised, but pleasantly so. This was one of the people who helped train her grandfather, he was bound to have some tricks up his sleeve. Though speaking of tricks, she still hadn’t figured out what exactly Mr Popo did to that other fighter. I’ll figure it out somehow, though. I’m not losing in the first round.

“Next comes Kasonna, up against Schnitzel!” Kasonna, Pan knew and expected to be here, but as soon as she looked at this Schnitzel guy, she was in doubt. He was a short fox-man and he looked absolutely terrified, his bright orange fur standing on it’s end as he gave Kasonna a nervous cry. He wasn’t even dressed for a fight, he was only wearing a business suit. What the hell?

“The third match is between DJ and Tao Pai Pai!” The name echoed across the stadium like a bomb hitting the end of its fuse. Silence falling over the audience, the excitement wheezing to a halt like a balloon letting all its air out. Pan immediately looked to DJ’s opponent, and sure enough there was the man she really should have noticed by now. THE Tao Pai Pai, the mercenary known for his killer tongue and pink attire (Some even say the guy rips things like pillars or trees out of the ground and THROWS them across the planet like javelin, just so he can jump atop and ride them). The last anyone had heard of the man had been the same tournament that was overshadowed by the appearance of King Piccolo’s son, Piccolo.

“This has to be against the rules” Pan spluttered out. “Wasn’t he disqualified and arrested for trying to KILL his opponent in the last tournament he participated in?!” She was caught off guard when the crowd shouted out their support, booing at the mercenary who only continued to grin at the outbursts. “And I thought no weapons are allowed in the fights... Those have to count!” She pointed an accusatory finger at the clearly metallic cybernetic implants that decorated the man, the upper portion of his head completely covered by emotionless robotic eyes.

“Hold your tongue, girl. And show some respect. Less you ask even more stupid questions” His voice was like pure venom lashing out at Pan, causing a slight shiver in her ears, but that wasn’t enough to stop Pan from glaring at him. “If any of that mattered or effected my participation in this current tournament, I would not be standing here listening to you dribble out words before thinking” His cruel gaze turned away from Pan in a lazy manner, as if she was so far below Tao’s notice that it was aggravating to just look at her. Instead, his eyes looked to his opponent. “So, I am to be fighting the purple munchkin? Hmpf, he should count himself lucky he’ll only be the first victim”

“Now, now, save that animosity for the ring, people!” The Announcer let out the most fake laugh he could muster, standing between the two and turning towards the audience. “It has been many years since Mr Tao’s disqualification, long enough for us not to hold it against him, as long as he adheres to the rules this time. As anyone who’s read the updated rule book will know, there has been an… Adjustment to the ‘No Weapons’ rule. As long as the weapons are approved by our Tournament officials as non-lethal, they are allowed. This includes blunt instruments, armor and- You get the picture”

“That’s a load of crap!” The boos began to pour in, the Announcer only able to hold up his hands in verbal defence. “I thought this was supposed to be a martial arts tournament!” He had to repeat peaceful proverbs through the microphone to keep the crowd calm “YOUR HAIR IS DUMB!” One last jab got in before the audience fell silent.

“Before I was interrupted…” He coughed into his fist, desperately trying to get the crowd excited again. “And to end the Quarter-finals, it’s Tails VS Banner!” The Banner guy looked like more what you’d expect of a fighter, traditional blue gi only covering half of his upper chest, putting his arms on display. Muscles to spare. Though the black mohawk was different.

Pan remembered seeing a few of his fights in the preliminaries. He was a man who preferred not to dirty his own hands, relying on quick footwork and powerful kicks that sent fighters reeling. She couldn’t figure out just how strong he is or how he compared to her or any other fighter, but she knew that he was at least above average. Maybe Tails would get some trouble from the guy.

“And with that, I’d like to request that all fighters return to the waiting room to rest up and prepare for the fight. While we set up the first match, feel free to embellish refreshments from the kitchen!” The cheering began to start back up against as they all left the stage, Pan a tad disappointed that she wouldn’t have time to feast before her match with Mr Popo.

As they reached the doors, she turned to her opponent and held out her hand “I hope you give it your all, Mr P”

“You as well, Pan. I won’t lie, witnessing your experience as a fighter up front will be a pleasure. I hope you took Trunks’s lessons to heat” His face lit up with a smile, taking her hand in a firm grip. But following up his reply, his voice turned to a more amused and sinister tone “Though if I could offer you some free advice: Stay focused” So, he already had a strategy? Pan couldn’t fight the smile on her face. All while in the background the crowd cheered, and the Announcer held in tears of joy as he shouted the words he was born to shout to the world.

“I hope you’re as pumped as I am, because: THE GRAND -RE-OPENING OF THE WORLD TOURNAMENT HAS FINALLY BEGUN!”
[/spoiler]

Next time: Chapter 27: Power isn't everything - Popo vs Pan!
When Super apparently shoves Goku down our throats:

Kanassa wrote:
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- FoolsGil, Out of Context, 2017

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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Gog » Fri Sep 29, 2017 2:01 am

Chapter 25: Wishful Faces.

I have to ask, but for this chapter where you aiming for it to not be as humorous as your chapters usually are? So, why did Mr. Popo end up joining the Tournament? He doesn't have much to gain from battling their, and I don't think he would want to actually participate outside of burning off some time, but he would have tended a flower garden if that was the case, I imagine. Also, I want to mention that while Mr. Popo was written well in this chapter his speech pattern doesn't match up to how he usually talks in the original series, he speaks in third person. It's like Freeza heavily cussing left and right, it just wouldn't be Freeza, how the character talks is apart of their character.

Chapter 26: Time for Action! The Tournament begins!

The Pilaf Gang as usual were a joy to read, how many one liners did Goku and Freeza have to exchange for Bulma to have been capable of scouring the ship? I can only imagine that the sound hanged low in the sky when they were done. Not much to say on this chapter, but I bet Schnitzel is possessed in some form or the other.

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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Kanassa » Fri Sep 29, 2017 2:13 am

Gog wrote:Chapter 25: Wishful Faces.

I have to ask, but for this chapter where you aiming for it to not be as humorous as your chapters usually are? So, why did Mr. Popo end up joining the Tournament? He doesn't have much to gain from battling their, and I don't think he would want to actually participate outside of burning off some time, but he would have tended a flower garden if that was the case, I imagine. Also, I want to mention that while Mr. Popo was written well in this chapter his speech pattern doesn't match up to how he usually talks in the original series, he speaks in third person. It's like Freeza heavily cussing left and right, it just wouldn't be Freeza, how the character talks is apart of their character.
It's supposed to be kind of bittersweet, as you have Pan trying to remain upbeat, but Mr Popo talking about the bleak endings many characters experienced (Like implying that the Androids killed Upa and his tribe). You'll see more of this when I have Master Roshi talking.

Mr Popo joined the tournament because he wanted to meet any possible descendants of the Z Fighters personally, he's lost in life and feels the least he could do for Kami after failing him is keep Kami's training alive.

Yeah, I was finding it rather difficult to nail down his speech pattern as well as his personality. Looking back over the series I realise how little screen time he actually got where he talked.

Did you enjoy this chapter?

Chapter 26: Time for Action! The Tournament begins!

The Pilaf Gang as usual were a joy to read, how many one liners did Goku and Freeza have to exchange for Bulma to have been capable of scouring the ship? I can only imagine that the sound hanged low in the sky when they were done. Not much to say on this chapter, but I bet Schnitzel is possessed in some form or the other.
Plenty of "I'm gonna give you ONE more chance, Frieza!"

Really, the point of that was both to give Bulma more relevance and to show a contrast between how Goku and Trunks handled that situation.
When Super apparently shoves Goku down our throats:

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- FoolsGil, Out of Context, 2017

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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Gog » Fri Sep 29, 2017 2:19 am

Kanassa wrote: Mr Popo joined the tournament because he wanted to meet any possible descendants of the Z Fighters personally, he's lost in life and feels the least he could do for Kami after failing him is keep Kami's training alive.
That should definitely be mentioned in the next chapter. It would be a great moment, and his fight with Pan would be a good chance for it to be brought up.
Did you enjoy this chapter?

Obviously I did. :)

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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Kanassa » Fri Sep 29, 2017 2:23 am

Gog wrote:
Kanassa wrote: Mr Popo joined the tournament because he wanted to meet any possible descendants of the Z Fighters personally, he's lost in life and feels the least he could do for Kami after failing him is keep Kami's training alive.
That should definitely be mentioned in the next chapter. It would be a great moment, and his fight with Pan would be a good chance for it to be brought up.
Definitely his fight with Pan! There's a reason why he asked her why she fights
When Super apparently shoves Goku down our throats:

Kanassa wrote:
FoolsGil wrote:I hope Mark is dead. But chances are the dragonballs will bring his stupid ass back. :D
- FoolsGil, Out of Context, 2017

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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Kanassa » Mon Oct 09, 2017 2:22 pm

Okay, originally this chapter was gonna be the Pan VS Popo fight, but for one reason or another I've pushed it to hopefully start next chapter.

Chapter 25:Self-insight or Self-delusion?

[spoiler]Ten minutes, Pan was given ten minutes to prepare for the opening fight of the tournament. Being the disciplined and hardworking fighter she was, she of course spent this time stuffing her face full of every piece of meat she could reach. Other competitors sat in awe as Pan seemed to take the form of a human vacuum cleaner, sucking up platefuls of food into the endless abyss that was her gob without even taking a moment to chew.

“She’s definitely related to Son Goku…” Was all the announcer could mutter, crouching behind Mr Popo in hopes of avoiding any misdirected flakes of food flying through the air. It was almost comical to look to Pan’s savage mutilation of the table in comparison to Mr Popo calmly chipping away at his small salad, acting as if a slight breeze had just flown in.

Tao stood against the wall, turning his head away with disgust, muttering to himself about Pan reminding him of some ‘Spikey-haired punk’. Pigtails and DJ simply sat back, almost looking jealous at Pan’s display. Schnitzel and Banner seemed to be the odd ones out in this equation, just off to the side, having a conversation of their own while ignoring Pan’s terrible manners, Banner standing tall and confident while Schnitzel seemed to grow timid and quiet.

Pan’s gorging was interrupted by a flicker in the corner of her eye instantly reminding her that Kasonna was right beside her, inhuman smile, and all. Just the sight of the woman almost made Pan’s heart leap out of her chest. It was now that Pan noticed another thing about her, that look the woman gave, the aura she exuded, an air of recognition that she shouldn’t have. Like when you realise someone knows something about you that even you don’t know.

“Eating well, Champ?” Kassonna leaned over Pan (Making the Saiyan side of Pan practically growl at the prospect of the woman being near her food), craning her neck to look down at Pan, her hands clasped together in a polite manner.

Pan never listened to her mother on not speaking with your mouth full “Sh-am-paf?”

“Of course, I mean; you do intend to become the champ, don’t you, dear?” She tilts her body, attempting to be reassuring. “Oh, I know it might seem intimidating and all, but I’m sure you have a fighting chance this time! I mean, Schnitzel is an unexpected change. Maybe you’ll get lucky and he’ll sweep me off the arena”

Well, at least she’s confident that I’ll beat Mr P. Pan took a moment to swallow down the food, she couldn’t try and look arrogant with food on her face. She glanced to the fox-man, who’s glasses had ended up on the floor, forcing him scavenge the ground for them. Him constantly kicking the glasses away by accident only made him look more unimpressive. “Yeah, I’m sure Schnitzel is your biggest problem”

“You, of all people, should know that looks can be deceiving” The words made Pan wonder if the woman knew how suspicious and uncomfortable she made herself look.

“You’re pretty confident that you can kick my ass, aren’t you?” While she spoke mockingly, Pan didn’t doubt that Kasonna did have some sort of power or ace up a sleeve. But Pan refused to be intimidated… This time. The food helped.

“Don’t worry, dearie. I know you’ll put up an admirable fight, you always did” Pan’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. She makes it sound like we’ve met before, fought before; but there’s no way I’d forget someone like…. THIS. Kasonna’s straining smile then faltered to a weary pout, her body turning to lean against the table, sighing.

“And to think, Trunks won’t even be here to cheer you on. He never gets here in time, that meeting with Flappe takes too long" At this, Pan froze. The sentence repeating in her head with an icy edge, only her fear and paranoia allowed to paw at the words, scrounging for only the worst conclusions. In her head, that sort of sounded like a subtle threat to guide Pan’s actions. Or perhaps a boast that this woman had done something to Trunks. But in the jumbled mass of conflicting conclusions racing through her mind.

Pan could only come out with “You know Trunks?” As that was, of course, the most important piece of information.

“Trunks? Oh… I know him...” The giggle of a school girl that broke out, followed by a sigh of content reminiscing, gave Pan the distinct impression that Kasonna was only a second away from adding on ‘intimately’. “Such a charmer. Though, very easily distracted, that one. When duty called” It was strange to hear Kasonna’s chirping voice in contrast to the frown that broke onto her lips, standing out as the first thing Pan felt was real. “But… That was long ago…”

Of course, this only made Pan’s paranoia quickly come to the forefront of her mind to suggest the worst implications. So, Crazy Ex-girlfriend? Stalker? All of the above? Never thought I’d hear about Trunks dating. It wasn’t that Pan thought Trunks wasn’t an attractive guy (She would never admit such a compliment to his face. If she let on that she could consider him attractive, it'd go straight to his head... And she’d lose the privilege of insulting his hair), but by the time he grew out of the whole ‘The-Opposite-gender-is-icky!’ phase, he had dedicated his heart and soul to the fight against the Androids. Outside of his mother and Gohan, Pan could only remember him closing himself off to the world. “Huh… He never made time for anything else. Even when everything was peaceful again” Pan felt herself mutter out the rest of her thought aloud, with a rather bitter tone. If Kasonna heard she didn’t let on.

“The nice Announcer man is going to call you in one minute. Had better get a head start now, honey” Before Pan could mutter a response, a long, pale finger (More like a large icicle) poked against her forehead. And the moment the freezing touch of the finger reached Pan’s skin, it was like a bolt of lightning had struck her brain, the world around her crushed in mere seconds under the weight of an array of images that flashed in the depths of her mind.

The sky, the walls, the floor, the people; everything enveloped in a never-ending whirlpool of white. Her limbs crying, her blood burning, and despite her confusion she could feel a predatory grin stretching her cheeks until they ached. She didn’t know why, but she felt hot, excited, she wanted to let out a laugh that would echo to every corner of the void.

At first, the pain shocked her, drained her, shook her, but even if she didn’t want to admit it; it started to feel good. The aching increased up her leg, something was punctured, letting everything within pool out in a stream of boiling passion. D-did I just think that? As if the pain gave her the release of a thousand years of built up aggression. What did that Witch-Doll do to me!?

She lifted her hands, hoping to wipe away the sweat produced by her burning flesh, only to find herself gaping. The light peachy tone of her skin could barely be seen through the crimson pool that stained her fingers, strings of blood joining her fingers together with their sticky texture. Her fingers moved on their own, moving to rub her fingers together, enjoying the balanced feel of smooth and rough. This isn’t my blood… Is it? Somehow, she knew it wasn’t. Maybe some of her own blood was mixed in, but there was definitely another’s in there, maybe one or two others.

When her fingers separated again her eyes finally looked through the gap created between them, through her hand she spotted the first sign of any other colour; black. It was a person, a silhouette of a person. They were face first into the ground and casted no shadow, nor did they make any noise. She knew that he was dead. And she was shocked that she couldn’t make herself feel less happy about that.

The more she looked, the more her bones began to shake with a wave of ecstasy. More and more bodies began to pile up around her, blocking out the empty void and filling it with a scent of satisfaction. They were dead, all dead, she made sure. Some put up a fight, while others fell to the wayside like sand. Her only regret was that it was over.

She couldn’t vomit, she couldn’t cringe, couldn’t cry, couldn’t let out any sign of utter disgust. I… I feel… Satisfied. It was almost orgasmic.

And then everything began to be pulled back, the scenery, the landscape, the people; everything was sucked away from her. Maybe she finally succumbed to the pain, maybe gravity was just too much for her, but she fell to her knees. The sense of fulfilment gone, the void empty again. Leaving her with only a sickening laugh surrounding her, drowning her with it’s merciless amusement.

“What did you do!?” The words came naturally to Pan as she found herself back in the Tournament waiting room, a desperate roar of anger and shock aimed at the grinning woman sitting on the table. Now back to reality, Pan’s heart cried out in a silent sob, that treasured reaction of disgust and horror thankfully finding her. “You… You… Witch!”

“Think of it as a helpful hint…” Kasonna tapped her hand against her cheek, pushing her head to tilt to the side in a thinking motion. “…Or more of a teaser. It won’t make sense right away, of course; but it’ll dawn on you at the convenient and dramatically suitable moment. Either way, I’m sure you’re excited. I know I am”

“I don’t know what you did to me” Pan shook again, but this time with anger taking over, a weak hand reaching up to grasp her shoulder. She never wanted to temp that ‘vision’ again. On the bright side, any prior fear she had of the woman had been overridden by this anger. “But you better beat that Fox, because I’m going to kick your ass in the ring!”

There came the hyena-like laugh, her hands shooting up to grip Pan’s cheeks. “And I can’t wait to see that beautiful face when you do. I know your expression will just be… Priceless” Kasonna leaned closer, her face darkening until all that was visible were puffy crimson lips, pressing against Pan’s forehead. “And I’ll make sure to put it in my pocket, to keep until the end of time”

It took all of Pan’s willpower to stop her from decking the witch out cold, but even with all that was going on; Pan refused to jeopardise her position in the tournament “Now, if you excuse me; I have a genie to knock back into the lamp”
***
For once Trunks found a foreign comfort in the cold, the army of snowflakes dancing with the harsh winter winds descended upon him the moment he dropped down into the snow tipped landscape surrounding Jingle Village, sticking to his skin and sucking at his warmth like leeches. The annoying twinges of pain provided relief for the demi-saiyan, a pinching sensation that kept his mind focused on what was going on around him, instead of leaving room for his mind to start playing dead games with his perceptions of reality.

Around him there wasn’t much to see, Jingle village wasn’t a closely-knit community, just a bunch of dome shaped homes spaced apart over a bumpy terrain with a cobblestone road running through it. A tall tower of brick and metal looming in the distance. Outside of that, it was just long stretches of white blankets over grass, sprinkles of ice decorating dense groups of trees, and maybe some mountains far off back were Trunks had flown from.

Not many people would brave the environment to travel out here, so not many outsiders. Pretty isolated all things considered. Trunks thought as his eyes combed over the view Perfect place for a mad scientist to indulge his obsessions. At the thought Trunks felt a jolt of aggression strike at his mind, his teeth grinding against one another. “If Frap is a part of all this…”

Before reaching the village, Trunks had made sure to comb through all data his mother had on the scientist, wanting to know exactly who he was dealing with. Lucky for Trunks, Bulma had taken to storing information about all the adventures of her late friend; Son Goku. Even when she wasn’t there for them. Years before Trunks had even been born, this village had been under the control of the Red Ribbon army when they were searching for the Dragon Balls. After freeing the village (By breaking the bones of every Red Ribbon soldier in sight), Goku had apparently met the good Doctor.

Trunks noted to himself that this Frap was as old as a fossil when Goku was a kid, so the fact the man still lived and breathed to this day was instantly suspicious. “If he worked with Gero on the Androids, maybe he’s also responsible for Gero’s brain ending up in an Android body. Or maybe he was the first test subject for that project”

“Oi! Hey, you there!” As a natural reflex, the tone of a loud elderly voice made Trunks stand at attention, his head snapping to look back over towards the village. Most of the woman’s height was made up of the large fur trapper hat that seemed far too large for her, though even through the filter of the snow, her fiery hair stood out. “Whatcha doing standing out in the cold without any fur? You’ll catch… Um… You’ll catch a cold beast? No no, that's not it...”

Mom mentioned an old red head… The boy moved towards her, noticing the approaching man behind her, tall and hulking, somewhat hunched. “Ah, are you Chief Suno?” He asked in a friendly manner, the man finally came into full view with a large smile pinned to his cheeks, wide eyes twinkling with mirth. Which conflicted with the man’s outward appearance of a towering Frankenstein monster, covered in stitched, wearing a blue jacket. Trunks found himself recognising the man from pictures 16 had received a few times. An Android… He noted to himself. Trunks didn’t remember how Android 16 had come into contact with Android 8, but it was the first thing 16 mentioned to Trunks when they started exchanging letters.

“That’s my name, ain’t it?” She clapped her hands together, before her eye brows furrowed, a hint of frustration as she strained her brain. “Do I know you?”

Android 8- Eighter, as Android 16 referred to the man, seemed to recognise Trunks. “I know who it is- “

“Don’t tell me, Eighter! I can figure it out myself” She pouted as Eighter let out a small chuckle, before inching closer to Trunks, narrowing her eyes on him. “I got it…. You’re that Bulma lady that makes all the machines in the cities!”

Trunks’s prior thoughts all turned blank as his expression widened in shock. “Wha- No! I’M NOT A GIRL!”

She leaned closer, one eye widening. Unconvinced. “Are you sure?”

“Very sure. I assure you, I check a few times every month!” He’d always heard he’d inherited his mother’s beauty from the gene pool (Well, Bulma was the one who told him this), but he didn’t look THAT much like her. Did he?

“Suno, that’s Trunks! He’s Bulma’s son” The Android lunges forward, which made Trunks tense up on pure instinct despite knowing the man would pose no threat to him. Eighter eagerly grabbed Trunks by the hand to initiate a rather ‘excited’ handshake. “He’s friends with 16. 16 says a lot about his other friends-“ Eighter paused for a moment, gaping as if he had said something offensive. “-N-nothing bad! All good things!”

Trunks chuckled, relaxing his shoulders a bit before returning the handshake with an equal amount of vigour “I’m sure 16, of all people, wouldn’t say anything bad behind my back” At least Trunks hoped.

“It is good to meet you, Trunks. A friend of 16 is always welcome in our village… Everyone is welcome in our village, except those who make people suffer like the Red Ribbon Army”

“How is 16? We haven’t heard from him in a while” Suno backed off now, back to an innocent smile while she tried to keep the oversized fur hat on her head, fighting against the strong wind.

“He’s been pretty busy lately; Capsule Corporation has some…. Big projects coming up” Trunks wouldn’t say he had the best poker face, so he decided to go for a little white lie.

Eighter nodded at this, his smile notably warm in the cold weather. “He’s a hard worker. I wish I could help him, but I can’t leave Jingle Village on its own”

Suno poked his shoulder, laughing “Hey, don’t start complaining now! If you were over there, you’d be too busy to watch the World Tournament with me”

“World Tourna-“ Trunks stopped himself with a mental slap to the face, a groan leaving his throat as the reminder came screaming through his ear. Pan! I took off without a word, and she made me promise I’d be there too. If I hurry with this, maybe I can get there in time to cheer her on… She is not going to let me hear the end of this. “I’d love to stay and talk some more, but I’m here on urgent business. Do you know where I can find a Dr Frap? I’m told he lives around here”

“Dr who?” Suno pursed her lips in confusion. “I don’t know a Doctor Frap, but maybe Doctor Flappe would know him”

Trunks paused for a moment, looked down to the small device he’d been reading the database from, and took a moment to curse his tongue. “I’ve been pronouncing it wrong this whole time…” He muttered to himself, before looking up “Oh, if it’s not too much trouble, could you point me in the direction to Flappe?”

Eighter laugh once more, throwing his arm around Trunks’s shoulders “I’ll lead the way, Trunks!”[/spoiler]
When Super apparently shoves Goku down our throats:

Kanassa wrote:
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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Kanassa » Mon Oct 23, 2017 9:15 pm

Chapter 28: Bad Blood!
[spoiler]Before the competitors had even emerged from the Tournament hall for the introduction ceremony, Chi-Chi and Videl were already at each other’s throats, in a glaring match that managed to cause three rows of people who did not want to get caught up in the crossfire to inch away. Not even five minutes since Chi-Chi got to her seat and she was already barking up a storm about Videl leaving the ‘Poor Old Lady’ to struggle with a hammer, though Videl was quick to respond on how she didn’t dis-agree with Chi-Chi being a frigid, fragile, hag. After that, they didn’t really know what direction the conversation was going in.

“-nd I was stuck with that damn game for over twenty minutes. Because some rotten floozie was too lazy to help her elders” Chi-chi held up the stuffed bunny, waving it around enthusiastically. “An Old Lady who just wanted to get her Granddaughter a ‘Good Luck’ present. Any GOOD mother-“ A lot of emphasis on the ‘good’. “-would be thrilled to help get their daughter such a present. But then again, I was mixing you up with all the other girls my son could have married…”

“I’m a great mother! Pan’s a god damn adult, she doesn’t want a stuffed bunny. Last thing she needs is a sign that we still see her as a little kid” Videl violently shoved the stuffed animal out of her face, the two woman’s glares emitting sparks between them. “If you wanna make her life worse, why don’t you just hold up her baby pictures during her fights?”

For a moment Videl could hear a small russle of cloth as Chi-Chi shoved something back into her pocket. “Y-you don’t know what she wants”

“She’s my daughter!”

Chi-chi spat back in a tone harsher than she originally intended. “Funny, I couldn’t tell. If I didn’t know any better then I’d think she raised herself”

“Oh, what would you know?”

“I raised two children!”

Videl put on a forced and obviously not sincere smile as she tried to speak calmly “That’s great and all, but Pan’s MY kid. Not yours. I raise her my way.”

For a moment Chi-chi was quiet, Videl taking this as the woman taking time to think of a comeback. “At least you managed to keep her living in your house” It didn’t sound like an insult, though Chi-chi’s voice did sound grumpy with the answer.

“What kind of pot shot is that?”

The old woman seemed to stack on a few years for that moment, looking a tad confused “I don’t think it was…” But Videl didn’t have time to respond.

“Hehehehehehehe” Chi-chi shook off her momentary wrinkles at the loud, boisterous laugh erupting from behind them. Recognition written in her facial expression. “Oh my, curves in the right places... what a beautiful figure!” The voice sounded breathy and penetrating, getting closer as Videl’s sixth sense trembled with the knowledge that the person’s eyes were on her. “You’re making me itch all over!”

Chi-chi let out a happy sigh, reaching into the folds of her blue kimono grabbing a hold of something. “I’d recognised those perverted cries anywhere” Before pulling her hand out, revealing that she had grabbed hold of the handle of a large black frying pan, seconds before snapping to face the owner of the voice and slamming the kitchen utensil over his head; accompanied by a thunderous metal THUMP. “You never change”

Videl was of two minds when she turned around, completely speechless as she took in the victim, an old man. One part of her was dealing with the fact that Chi-Chi had assaulted an old man Who looked way weaker, meeker and overall smaller than her) with a blunt, metal object. But another part of her was a bit scared of just how quickly and efficiently the old woman had retrieved and used said weapon. Does she always have a frying pan at the ready!?

“Ah, Chi-chi! Haven’t lost your… Passion I see…” The man swayed dizzily for a moment, his red rimmed sunglasses worse for wear as they hung from his bloody nose. Though when his eyes landed on Chi-chi, he immediately snapped out of his ‘dazed’ state with a toothy grin. “Still the voluptuous hot head I remember!”

The most notable thing about the old man was the purple turtle shell hanging on his back, which immediately caused a name to click into Videl’s head. “You’re Muten Roshi!”
“You’re a fan, ey? Well, if you don’t mind I could show you a few secret moves later in priv-“ His grinning response was cut short by Chi-chi reaching forward and violently grabbing his ear, twisting it with an expression of utter exasperation.

“Master Roshi, this is Videl; Gohan’s Wife and Widow-“ As she grumbled, Chi-Chi shot Videl a glare while slowly nodding “-And. She’s. Not. Interested.”

He still managed to laugh in response, though stopping to grimace at the immense pain of Chi-Chis pinching. “I was just trying to show her how much she brightens up this old man’s lonely days!”

Chi-Chi let go with a roll of the eyes, though a slight smile as if she was dwelling on a passing memory. “What are you doing here, anyway? Just came to prey on innocent women?”

Roshi nursed his ear with one hand while his other went to smooth down his shirt, his breath slow and steady as he tried to avoid poking the bear. “You mean why am I at the tournament, or why I came over here?” He laugh for a few awkward moments at his own ‘joke’, before realising that no one else thought it was funny. “Well, with the big crowd backing away and all the empty seats, I thought maybe Launch was already here shooting up the joint. Haven’t had much of a chance to… Reconnect. Not a lot of old friends remaining these days” He purses his lips, his voice going soft. “Suppose that’s what happens when you live as long as me. Pushing 300, I think; Lost count at 103”

“You came to see Pan fight, didn’t you?” Videl interjected with a small smile, if there was one thing people could find common ground these days it was all the people they outlasted. Not a good fact to dwell on.

“Course I came to see the little scamp, I owe it to Goku and Trunks to see how far she’s come” He moved over to the railings, looking over the smooth cut grass and stainless stone of the arena. It was a nostalgic sight. “To be thrown into the ring is crucial moment for a martial artist. A true fighter can’t truly improve themselves until they’re shown how far they still have to go, and the only way they’ll be able to see through that fog is through facing defeat at the hands of the more experienced” He dropped the perverted act for a moment, his smile warm and unwavering. If he looked just right he could even picture Goku in the ring, facing down against the likes of Tien or Piccolo. Determined.

Videl gave a slow nod, understanding the basics, but as someone who didn’t really learn her combat prowess from what others would say ‘traditional’ sources, she wasn’t well versed in the smaller details. “I guess that makes sense…”

He looked up towards the sky for a moment, his fingers tapping against the railing. His tongue clicked. “Let me put it this way… Do you think Earthlings would ever try to reach the sky if it was only as tall as the trees?” He stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Anyway, as a Master of my own school of arts; I’m intrigued to see the style that emerged from Trunks’s training methods. I already have a few guesses, but we’ll see”

Chi-chi clasped her hands together, nodding. “My father used to tell me that you could tell a lot about a master from observing a dedicated student”

“Don’t make this old man nostalgic, now” Roshi chuckled, gripping his staff tighter “Thinking about the old days just reminds me of how old I am! It was bad enough when Trunks was asking me for teacher tips!”
While Videl giggled at this, Chi-chi’s eyes narrowed into a suspicious gaze, soon glowering down at Roshi. “You gave him tips?” Roshi looked confused, what had he done this time? “You better not have put any perverted ideas of training into Trunks head!”

She reached to grab his beard, but Roshi was ready this time and scuttled over to Videl (Standing as close as he could without her noticing) “H-how dare you accuse me of such a thing! I may be a perverted old man, but I still take the training of the youngsters very seriously! I just helped the boy with schedules, location suggestions and some basic training routines. I even threw in some wise-sounding mumbo-jumbo about finding his own way” Thinking back to it now, Roshi had stopped to stroke his beard. “I did send him some dirty magazines to borrow as a good luck present… Never got them back”

At this, the two women pressed their hands against their foreheads, half-way through groaning and sighing. Videl was the one to speak “You know, some people just send chocolates or something”

“What? Every grown man needs a ready supply of private relief, or else we’d all go crazy. I was doing him a favour!” Roshi crossed his arms, indignant. “I don’t know about you, but the last thing we need is a mindless frustrated Saiyan”

Before the conversation could continue, the whine of a microphone’s backlash pierced their ears, bringing their attention to the square arena in the centre of the stadium. “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! Are you ready for the greatest line up of fighters to duke it out for the championship title?”

Roshi’s eyes immediately landed on Pan, already mentally noting that she had definitely developed (In the muscle department, of course), and her eyes seemed to find him just as quick; immediately resulting in her face shifting to look akin to a deer caught in head lights. So, Roshi simply smiled a simple smile, nodded, and waved. Perverted inclinations aside, Roshi found a certain warmth in how excited she looked; perhaps it as the traces of Goku in her, or maybe it just took Roshi back to his first ever tournament. How he longed to relive that feeling again.

“There she is!” Chi-chi squealed

“I know. I have eyes” Videl barked back

His fighting instincts instantly encouraged Roshi to look over who Pan will be facing. It was a rather tame looking roster compared to past tournaments, though Roshi had to do a double-take at the small, nervous fox in a suit. To eyes that lack experience, this would be a time to underestimate him. But with all I’ve seen, meekness always seems to be early warning signs of something greater in fighters. The familiar sight of Mr Popo was a welcome one, despite the power difference Roshi was fully confident the man would give Pan a good fight. And then there was… “-and Tao Pai Pai!”

“Master Roshi, isn’t that…?” Chi-chi didn’t really need to ask, she had a clear memory of that tournament day since it was coincidentally the day of Goku’s proposal to her.

Roshi’s brow furrowed, his eyes moving to scan the watching crowd, searching for any sign of Tao’s brother, and the Turtle School’s rival, Shen. “Was the shame of defeat back then not enough for you, Tao?” He spoke through gritted teeth, and for a moment he saw the assassin look directly at him through cold eyes before snapping to spit insults towards Pan. “You have no thirst for improvement or glory, Tao. Why would you return here? Have you really changed in all these years?”

Videl slammed her hands against the railing, glaring daggers at Tao with the type of fury only a mother could exude. “Hold her tongue? Show respect?! How about a better idea, Pinkie; how about I punch you in the throat so hard you won’t have the air to speak to my little girl like that!? Bastard. I hope that midget humiliates you”
At her anger, a small trivia note came to mind.

“Videl, your father. He was Hercule Satan, correct?” Videl gave a curt nod, her eyes still locked on Tao’s form, an insult about his hair on her lips. “He took the name Satan in reference to his training at the ‘Satan Castle’ dojo, wasn’t it? I wonder if you still hold your Father’s bad blood here”

“Am I missing something?” Chi-chi questioned, dumbfounded.

“Tao Pai Pai is very insecure man” Videl’s answer was firm, almost growling. “My dad told me about it once, when he was young and still in-training, when he watched Tao murder his master with a simple flick of a tongue. Just for making fun of that stupid pony tail. He always said it was the most shameful moment of his life. Never let it go…”

“And that led to drastic actions” Roshi stood at full height now, placing a comforting hand on Videl’s shoulder. Letting the implication hang in the air.

Chi-chi turned back to the arena, a worried sigh “Do you think he’d go after Pan?”

“If he does, he’s not stepping out of that ring alive” Videl spat out, raising a fist and slamming it back down on the surface below.

“Don’t let anger cloud your heart, young lady” Another comforting pat, Roshi’s tone taking on a more light and gentle sound. “It’s a beautiful day, and we’re here to see your daughter participate in her first tournament. Tao has lost all that makes him a man, the shell of shame that stands upon the arena is not worth running your daughter’s great day, is he?” He gave another toothy grin, Videl nodding. “Now, let’s see a smile; Pan’s about to come on”
***
By the time the audience’s multiple outbursts had died down, Pan hadn’t even realised that she was on the tournament stage. The announcer was already standing front and centre, his entire body basking in the attention he received from the crowd. It took a few moments of blinking for Pan to fully ground herself back into reality, as ever since she left the presence of that woman her head had been firmly left standing in the fleeting images that did nothing but make her blood boil.
“Are you feeling okay, miss?” Looking up, Pan found that the announcer had turned away from his spotlight to lean over towards her, covering the microphone while he gave he a worried look. It was almost unnerving to see such an energetic man looking worried. “You’re looking a bit green”

“It’s nothing” Pan spat out through gritted teeth, her anger flaring up as (Even if she couldn’t see Kassy) she knew Kasonna was sitting atop the outer walls of the main tournament building, probably with that fake, unnatural smile stretching across her leather skin. Just don’t look. Focus on the match. You can beat her ass into the ground when you make it to the second round.

“Alrighty then!” The announcer’s usual energised demeanour returned as he jumped back to the audience, yelling into the microphone. “That’s about enough stalling, don’t you agree!?” Another round of cheers from the audience really did help lift Pan’s spirits, their excitement was contagious enough to dampen the source of her current anger.

As the announcer began his opening spiel Pan fully turned to face her opponent, a smirk tugging back onto her lips, allowing a bit of her ego to seep out to front of her mind. Mr Popo didn’t seem at all intimidated by this, simply keeping on his warm smile and matching her competitive stare with an encouraging one. “Any requests before the fight begins, Mr P?”

“Only that you heed my words” Mr Popo broke into a bow, his hands behind his back in a formal manner. “And clear your mind”

Feeling rude, Pan followed suit and bowed in return, nodding at the plump man before moving her feet into a fighting stance. Everything around them seemed to fade away. The audience, the announcer, the sound and the stage. All that remained were two opponents staring one another down, with their calm breathing setting the background noise for the battle. “Mr P?”

She spoke softly in almost a whisper, surprised that Mr Popo could even hear her. “Yes, Pan?” It was a bit intimidating to stare into his eyes, as they didn’t move very much. They always seemed to be wide and awake, but rooted to one direction.

“You asked me why I fight, but you never told me why YOU fight” The wind blew softly, creating a small tickling sensation as stray gusts tugged on her raven locks. “You don’t ask a question like that if you don’t have an answer yourself”

He paused for a moment, his lips curling to a small ‘oh’ expression as a flash of thought flickered. Before returning to his smile, the answer rolling off his tongue naturally. “For Kami, of course”

Pan’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I don’t get it, what does you fighting have to do with Kami? Wasn’t he supposed to be the peaceful watcher instead of an action guardian?” Taking a moment to adjust her stance, straightening her back.

“I don’t believe words can fully explain it for you”

Pan’s arm muscles tensed.

The crowd let off one final cheer.

The gong was hit and the announcer called for a fight.

The match had begun. “But don’t worry. I promise that it will be clear by the end of this fight”[/spoiler]

In case anyone's wondering, the tidbit about Tao killing Mr Satan's master? I didn't make that up. That's an official part of Hercule's backstory. Apparently while in a bar, Mr Satan and his master made fun of Tao's hair; so Tao murdered the master and left. He's a tad sensitive. The implication of the 'desperate actions' line is that in my timeline of events I have it so that in Future Trunks's timeline, the reason Hercule isn't around? It's because he finally decided to try and take revenge for that incident and, well... Didn't end well for him.

Next time... Chapter 28: Power isn't everything - Popo The Genie
When Super apparently shoves Goku down our throats:

Kanassa wrote:
FoolsGil wrote:I hope Mark is dead. But chances are the dragonballs will bring his stupid ass back. :D
- FoolsGil, Out of Context, 2017

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Kanassa
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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Kanassa » Wed Nov 08, 2017 9:04 pm

Welp... This was late. Yeah, shit happened. See, a lot of progress on this chapter was made, and then lost, then made, and then lost again. Because my computer is the biggest cunt in the universe, even when I get her a shiny Terabyte Back Up Hard Drive. But.. Here's your chapter for the day.

Chapter 29: Power isn't Everything - Son Pan VS Mr Popo

[spoiler]Take it slow. Pan repeated these three words in her head like a mantra, with every punch thrown, every swing of her body, every step, she told herself to remember to hold back for now. This was only the first round, and Mr Popo was an opponent who would benefit from her wearing down her own stamina. The fight had started off with a rush of power, the Announcer’s final call still ringing in her ears as launched herself at her opponent. He stood still, not showing any reaction to her in the few seconds it took for her to cross the distance between them; could Pan could attribute the lack of reaction to her moving too fast for the man to see? She didn’t go in for the first punch straight away, instead opting to stop just in front of the man, thinking that maybe the shock wave caused by her speedy landing would send Mr Popo flying.

While it did have the announcer jumping off stage to stop from being blown back, Mr Popo was only forced back a few paces, still waiting for Pan’s first move. “You gonna do anything other than stand around any time soon?” She challenged, smirking at him, looking for any hint of taking the bait.

Instead, he simply responded “Are you?”

Well, so much for ‘Let your opponent throw the first punch’. She kept that indigent smirk on, pretending she didn’t hear that coy comment, throwing her tensed fist forward, towards his chest; starting off with a nice tap. However, her fist only met the plump flesh of his fingers, a hand easily sliding in front of his chest and blocking the blow. “You’ll need to be faster than that”

Pan brought her fists up close to her chest, keeping her stance steady and strict. “Just making sure you could keep up, Old Man” She went in for another jab, this time a mean right hook to his cheek, quick and to the point; and yet again she was met with the base of his palm, cushioning the blow, and pushing it back to her. “Hyaa!” Quickly following her attack with another strike, soon launching into a blur of fists all rushing to strike at the man, with his own hands shifting at such a pace that it looked like his skin was smearing an invisible shield black.

For the next two minutes Popo was stuck on the defensive while Pan tried her best to land a solid blow, with his defenses no worse for wear. As Pan made a quick leap backward, her frustration building up, she wondered if this was the extent of Popo’s fighting style. It certainly was effective if so. You can’t beat your opponent if you can’t hit them, could you? Well, maybe if I was on the same level… Pan thought to herself, smirking. She could admit that this wasn’t the best start for her, and she could tell that Popo wasn’t just fast with his hands, he was managing to easily predict the target of each of her punches.

But I don’t need to get around him blocking, do I? With a simple idea in mind, Pan slammed her foot into the floor, lunging back into the fray with much more power behind her punches. “Blocking won’t do you much good if my fists are stronger” Why go around a wall when you could just bulldoze through it? If she hit an object hard enough, she'd create a shockwave on the other side of the object. So, if she implemented more force behind her attacks, even if Mr Popo blocked them, the resulting shockwave would go through his defenses and at least disorient him. I still want to keep some of my power for other fights, can’t show the crowd all I got when it’s just the beginning; but this wall getting in my way is pissing me off.

But alas, before Pan could even get her hopes up, her fist had reached its destination; only to be pushed to the right side of Popo’s head by a well-timed smack. To her credit, the act of her attempting a punch did manage to partly demolish the brick work of the arena behind him. “Thank you for the warning” He made no motion to move, still striking that smile of is. First, it was warm for Pan, but now that it was associated with her failure to perform; it only added to her growing frustrations. “If you had not explained your next attack, I doubt I would have been able to deflect your attack”

Pan found herself gritting her teeth, spinning around on the tip of her toes, this time throwing her leg into the air and hoping the momentum would drive it into the man for her. “You are only creating an opening, Pan” As soon as she felt his fingers brush against her knee, she realised her mistake. This random act of anger easily allowed for Mr Popo to grab a hold of her leg and shoving it to the side, forcing the weight of her left leg to pull her body with it, throwing Pan off her balance and sending her backwards. “And openings are meant to be exploited”

To Pan’s credit as a fighter, she didn’t allow this to fully screw her over as she was thrown. Instead throwing out her arms and twisting her body through the air, allowing her the small push she needed to right her position up, landing on her feet with her finger tips sliding across the ground. “Let’s kick it up a notch!” From the point of view of the audience, Pan seemed to fade from view in a blur of colour, her form only briefly seen as it rushed around Mr Popo to try an attack from the rear.
Another kick sent his way, sailing through the air at speeds the average eye could comprehend, causing the air around the arena to disperse immensely. This time, Mr Popo whole body twitched in anticipation, his feet shuffling an inch to the side; allowing Pan’s leg to fall past him.

But like a ping pong ball, the resistance of hitting the floor again only made her bounce back; jumping up to come down from above with a harsh chop. It was a close attack, her hand slashing through the air causing an explosion of sound that made many audience member’s ears pop; and actually, managed to force her opponent to fully move. Jumping out of the way and into the center of the arena, leaving Pan to collide with the stage, which also left the stage breaking apart as the impact of her attack shattered the brick work; cracks spreading across the stage.

For a moment she came to a stop, admiring the sweat and strain adorning her muscles, a few cuts and scrapes littering her arms from a few of her manuvers. Mr Popo was giving her a good workout, more than she expected. Looking to the large clock hanging above the archway (Where Kassy sat, with the grin of someone who understood a secret joke) Pan noted that it had only been two minutes since the match started. 10:31? Looks like it was time to end the warm up and launch into the real deal. And so Pan went for her next punch.

They continued in this power dance for a while longer, 10:31 turning into 10:35; Pan using speed to try and out-manuver Mr Popo, only for the man to find a way to side step the attack at the last second. As the fight drew on, Pan’s attacks became more and more frantic, more fueled by her random bursts of frustration at her lack of success in this fight. The less calculated and precise attack gave Mr Popo the edge allowing him to more easily predict, react and avoid the slew of punches as he danced around the edges of the arena. “You are quick to anger, easy to goad. Detrimental traits to a fighter”

Pan then felt a strange shift, nothing visible, not a sound alerting her to anything, just small churning in her sides. Within a blink of an eye she realized that Mr Popo was no longer in front of her, he had vanished. Panic fueling her, she jumped back and swerved to look around the arena, finding her opponent situated at the center with his eyes looking skyward. It took a quick glance to confirm that there was nothing distracting above them, so she shrugged; perhaps Mr Popo ate something that didn’t agree with him, or stretching his neck. Here’s my chance! She pounced on the opportunity to take him by surprise.

She threw more force behind this kick, pushing herself into the air in a burst of energy, increasing her momentum and overall speed as she barrelled towards her target. He still stood oblivious, unblinking. The air scraping past her felt like silk slipping off her skin, it was a freeing and powerful feeling, helping channel her energy into her kick. He didn’t blink. The churning feeling came again, calling out in distress; must have been the adrenalin rush as she closed in on Mr Popo. He didn’t blink.
She blinked.

“In a crazy turn of events, it looks like we might have our first round end in shame; with one contestant running off the stage in fear!” The Announcer’s voice and the collective gasp of the crowd suddenly pooled into Pan’s ears, shocking her as if she were a deaf person who could suddenly hear again. “Seems Miss Son is a bit shy after all”

Pan felt her eye lids open slowly, before reeling in shock at the sight of grass painting her vision, her body mere inches away from jumping off the stage. Luckily, the shock of the moment kicked her into ‘deer-in-headlights’ mode, one leg frozen in place, raised over the edge of the stage. One more step and she’d be out of bounds. “W-What the hell?” Questions flooded her mind. The most prominent, how’d she get over here? She had attacked Mr Popo at the center of the stage, hadn’t she? She knew that, and Mr Popo had been… Craning her neck, she found that Mr Popo was… Back at the other end of the stage, where he’d been before her last attack. “How did you…”

“Are you feeling well?” Her opponent faced her with a knowing smile, his eyes wide with mirth and teasing. “I trust my appearance isn’t too intimidating. My opponent trying to escape me in a hurry is new for me”

“Wha- Hey! I was not running scared, alright? I was trying to kick you, then you… Vanished.” Could this man have really be so fast that Pan couldn’t see him move? Or was it something else? He’s a Genie, not a magician. Maybe she really did just throw herself so hard that she shot her self from the center to the other end in record time.

“Are you sure? Those five minutes you spent frozen stiff sure looked fearful to me” His voice was taunting her now.

“Oh, common; now you’re just puling things out of your as-” Her tongue fell limp when her eyes reached the large clock, finding that it was not indicating 10:40. But that was impossible, no matter how into the fight she was, there was no way she had taken five minutes to jump into that last kick. Thirty minutes at most. She looked back to Popo, who only grinned at her confusion, which prompted her eyes to narrow.

Okay, something’s going on here. And it. Is. Bullshit.
***
The snow seemed to come down heavier the deeper the two ventured further into the mountains of Jingle Village, luckily Suno had gone back to her house (Not wanting to miss the tournament), leaving just Eighter and Trunks; who weren’t bothered that much by the cold. “I’m surprised you’re not bothered by all this deep snow” Trunks didn’t want to say anything about the android’s size, but he did find it odd how unaffected the man was. His body type definitely didn’t look like it would react well to tricky terrain. Even Trunks had resorted to floating above the snow after the fifth time he tripped and fell flat on his face.

“I-I know I don’t look like that much- General White used to tell me that all the time…” Eighter’s feet seemed to reduce all snow in his path to nothing with every stride. “But I was built to gather resources and research in the coldest parts of this mountain”

At this Trunks spoke his next words cautiously “That was when Dr Gero worked here?”

Eighter came to a complete halt, his body visually recoiling at the name drop. “Y-yes… Long before General White entered Muscle Tower and took the mayor hostage” Before he allowed himself to smile for a moment. “That’s when Goku came” He looked towards Muscle Tower, where you could just see the tip peeking through the atmosphere. A distant memory. “He was a little boy with a tail. If it wasn’t for him…” Eighter sighed, wiping particles of snow off his shoulder. “Well, I wouldn’t be here. We wouldn’t be here. I might have even been forced to do-” A wince “Terrible things”

“Ah, Son Goku. Yeah, my Mom told me about how he took on the whole Red Ribbon Army by himself. Reduced an entire fortress to rubble” Trunks joined Eighter in taking in the view of Muscle Tower, trying to imagine a tiny Goku storming the place, with only a stick to defend himself.

“Y-you know Son Goku?”

“Know him? I idolised him for half my life, his son was my mentor” The thought of idolising Goku had been an amusing one, getting a chuckle out of Trunks as he thought back to the day he went back in time, when he finally got that chance to meet Goku. It was a rather humbling moment. “He was a great guy” He remembered his trip, all of it. Laying out the tragic tapestry of his life, the hell bestowed upon his world, and begging Goku to stop this future from befalling another time line. And then finding out later how prepared Goku was to simply let it happen for the thrill of the challenge. He still didn’t know how to feel about that. “Flawed, but his heart was always in the right place”

Eighter had practically pounced on Trunks, an overpowering grin on his face as he took Trunks’s shoulders in a tight grip. “Oh, that’s wonderful, I’ve never had to chance to meet him again after all this time. He doesn’t use phones, and-… How is he doing these days!?”

Trunks could have possibly responded better. “He’s dead.” And less bitterly.

That fact was like a bomb of despair exploding on Eighter’s face, his eyebrows crinkling, his jaw hanging agape and his back hunching under the pressure of the news. “Oh…” Was all he could say at first, looking back to Muscle Tower, trying to keep focused on the god memories. “I guess we always assumed it”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring the whole mood down” Trunks stepped forward, unsure of what to do; he’d never really comforted someone before. Usually he was the one that needed someone to cheer him up. Hand on shoulder, maybe?

“H-How did he die?”

The question instantly brought to mind the fate of this timeline’s Goku, Bulma telling Trunks that the great Warrior, Son Goku, was taken on his death bed; slowly strangled by a virus no one had ever heard of. No fighting, no struggling, no explosive battle, no dramatic monologues; just a pathetic whimper. “He died…” That wasn’t a death fitting of Son Goku. So, Trunks’s mind went back to the Son Goku of the other timeline, the image was crisp in Trunks’s Mind.

Goku stood before Cell, seconds before the pathetic creature was set to self-destruct, causing an explosion that would take the whole planet with it. And with one wave goodbye, Goku announced his plan to teleport the creature to a place where the explosion couldn’t hurt anyone, and then Goku told his son that he wouldn’t be able to come back. “He died a hero, sacrificing his life for the good of others; surrounded by his loved ones. And nothing will ever change that”

Eighter nodded, and despite the depressing tale, the Android seemed to find solace in this; staring at the memory of Goku. He smiled, nodding. “Yeah… Seems about right”

“Everyone else died that way. His friends, his rival, his son…” He felt his hand tighten into a fist, his memories of his own time and the other timeline muddling. “They deserved to live happy lives, they deserved better. But Dr Gero took all of that away. He took everything away”

“Dr Gero?” Again, Eighter flinched away at the name, guilt evident in his eyes.

“Something wrong?” Trunks stepped away from Eighter. In the distance he could just make out their destination, the fading outline of a large cabin, barely visible behind the warm light pooling through the windows.

“I just don’t like hearing that name. It makes me feel so confused” There was a sigh, the android tugging on the Red Ribbon logo sown into his jacket. “I always hear about all the terrible things he’s done, and it makes my head hurt. Why would he do such terrible things?”

Trunks’s eyebrows furrowed, finding his body tense up and his fingers curl in unusual soft anger. The snarling response was unintentional. “Because he was a sick, sadistic and evil monster” There wasn’t much logic to his anger, or any attempt at rationalizing it. His mind simply could not stand the thought of someone honestly questioning otherwise. “And he got everything he deserved in the end”

“That’s what confuses me…” Eighter seemed slightly taken aback at Trunks’s random outburst, but still continued. “He always seemed fine to me. I mean, he was grumpy a lot and yelled; b-but I could never see him trying to kill so many people” The way Eighter emphasized ‘kill’ made it sound like a forbidden word. “I’m sorry, is this upsetting you?”

Trunks fell silent with a stoic look (One he knew his mother would say made him look just like his father), before sighing, floating past Eighter. “I can see the house from here, Eighter… You can go back now” Eighter didn’t attempt to argue, simply nodding and turning back, while Trunks rubbed his fingers over his temples. “That was… Rude… Mom taught me better” Trunks thought he had better control of his emotions than this, but maybe he was more like his father than he thought. “I’ll go back and apologize to him after this”

Looking back at the door, he decided to put that thought to the back of his mind, trying to psyche himself up for this. This meeting could easily be pointless or calm his nerves, but if this Flappe guy is working with Gero… Trunks hoped he could keep his emotions in check.
***
Once again, Pan found herself dangling closer to the edge of a ring out, sweat dripping from her brow and frustration pulling at her fists like gravity. Whatever Mr Popo as doing, she was finding a hard way to get around. Every time she thought she had a clear opening to get a punch in, she’d charge in to take advantage, and then before she could even blink she’d find herself running into a danger zone.

The echoing thuds of footsteps alerted her to her rushing opponent closing in on her position. A quick glance was all she needed to confirm how close Mr Popo was, and with this strange technique he was employing, she doubted she could just simply run away. She just needed to be pushed an inch to be disqualified and even she could understand that despite her power, tipping her balance to make her fall that extra inch would be a simple matter. Time for some improvisation.

Her mind scattered, picking up on the first useful sounding words she could find. Energy. Energy building up can cause damage and pushback. Pushback can provide movement. Movement with momentum. Power. Power gave energy, power would save her here. In the span of a few seconds, Pan summoned blue spheres of energy within her palm, power fluctuating around her. Pan flipped her palm so that the ball now faced the ground and without hesitation slammed it down, a small blast around Pan's body quickly following.

The power from the blast easily launched her body forward at an alarming rate, sending Pan into a mid-air spin for to see. The surprise and suddenness of it all restricted Mr Popo from continuing with his attempt to push Pan off the stage, allowing Pan's spinning body to flip up high, leaving behind a trail of smoke. While in the air, Pan had used her hand to redirect the remaining energy from the blast and slide it onto her foot like passing a ball.

Soon, the girl ended up above Mr Popo with her entire body upside down, a trail of blue energy following her foot. She didn’t exactly know what she was doing, she was simply doing what her instincts said felt good, like silent instructions from her muscles. The blue hue of her attack began to envelop her foot as she continued to spin in the air, almost like a glowing pin wheel, a pin wheel that could wreck landscapes with it’s speed.

And in the span of a second the pin wheel dropped, the energy coated foot slamming down on the stage with an ear shattering KABOOM. The effect was instantaneous, the stage itself ripped to shreds, the grass surrounding them torn from the ground and split apart. By the time everything stopped shaking, the arena looked like a warzone that had just had a bomb dropped on it.

Mr Popo had disappeared again, but not without a few bruises. “You’re over there again!” Pan exclaimed with a growl, her head snapping towards the other end of the arena, where Mr Popo knelt down; looking a little winded. His turban had been knocked off during the fight, allowing Pan to make out the sweat glistening on his bald head.

“Where did you learn that from?” He breathed out his question through a few short gasps, struggling to get to his feet. The shockwave of her attack must have hit him this time.

“That?” Pan took a moment to realise exactly what she had down, the explosion bouncing her upwards, the spin, and the energy forming around her foot. “Huh. I didn’t… I didn’t learn it from anyone, I was just improvising” She shrugged.

This earned a chuckle from Mr Popo, back to standing at full height as he let out that warm smile. “Kami always said that fighters were proficient in pulling their trump cards from thin air, on the spot”

“Wouldn’t call it a trump card” Pan rolled back her shoulder, taking this moment of breathing to get a few satisfying cracks in. “You’re still standing, and you’ve still got the advantage in this match. Even if I don’t know what it is…” She dropped back into a fighting stance, spreading her legs firm and pulling her hands together at her side in a pose all too familiar to both Popo and her family watching from the stands. “But, lucky me, you seem a bit tuckered out. Might find it hard to get out of the way of this one!”

"Oh? Is that so?" Despite his battered state, the man still looked confident as he shifted to a more defensive position. "I'll take this one head on then, if you don't mind"
"You're not gonna try and dodge? I mean, I'm sure of it. Your defensive style ain't gonna mean anything here. But you could at least try to run away..."

"You're mistaken, my style is not my own" He put his hands together, looking up for a moment, as if looking for someone. "In this style is the fingerprints of every guardian that's ever watched over Kami's Look out." His expression hardened. "It would be disrespectful to throw away what remains of their achievements simply to save a few bruises. If you knock me off the stage because of this, then so be it."

"Have it your way... I'll admit, you've been on the defensive this whole match and it's been working out great for ya. You're good at it. But even you won't be able to block this" This was her chance, he was confident, sure of himself; if she could continue to goad him into taking the blast, he was finished. Her true trump card was her power, she just needed to unleash it at the right angle.

Recognizing the familiar position, Mr Popo grinned. "You're trying to replicate the Kamehameha wave, aren't you?" The air began to swerve around Pan, embracing her as if she had a gravitational pull that picked up the shattered pieces of the stage, she was just powering up. "Was this taught to you? Or is this more improvisation?"
With a grunt, Pan admitted "It's my first time using it, actually" By now her power and energy sunk into her aura, creating a visible blue hue around her. "But I practically slept in the old tapes of my Grandfather's best matches, I've seen my father use it too. And from I can tell, all you need to learn the technique is to watch it once"

She heard a loud grumble from Master Roshi, calling from the side-lines. "Hey! Just because all of my students happened to be prodigies, doesn't mean you can just treat the Kamehameha so lightly. It took me fifty years to develop it!"

Which was swiftly followed by Chichi grabbing his ear "Don't distract her!"

Mr Popo dropped, his knees bending into a squatting position, with his shoulders tensing up and his face looking absolute. Pan followed suit, pooling her energy into the space between her hands, her mind repeating the videos she watched of Goku in her head. His stance, his stare, his yelling. She mimicked, imaging herself as a mirror reflection.

"Kaaaame-" The words escaped her mouth, they felt so natural to say, to call, to yell; they felt powerful on their own. But the blue glow emitting from her palms was also pretty good. "-Haaaaame-" The glow built up in pressure and intensity, it was like trying to push two opposing magnets together, but the force increased by a hundred. It caused an itch, an almost unbearable itch that irritated her whole body. It begged for release, the build-up was too long. "-Haaame-" The ball was large now, sparkling with power, and dear god did that pulsating effect of it every few seconds fill Pan with satisfactory glee.
The crowd held their breath. The Announcer piped up with plenty of adjectives to add to the amazement (Personally, seeing that technique again after such a long time almost made him weep with nostalgia. Oh, how he missed this job). Mr Popo stood still, determined to be a wall.
And Pan scratched that itch. "-HAAAAAAAA!"
[/spoiler]
Hope you enjoyed, next time will be "Chapter 30: Under Pressure - The Genie's Trickery"
When Super apparently shoves Goku down our throats:

Kanassa wrote:
FoolsGil wrote:I hope Mark is dead. But chances are the dragonballs will bring his stupid ass back. :D
- FoolsGil, Out of Context, 2017

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Kanassa
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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Kanassa » Thu Nov 23, 2017 7:30 pm

Chapter 30: Under Pressure - The Genie's Trickery
[spoiler]Hearts pounded so hard the extra blood would make the audience feel dizzy, their breaths held in place by the sheer force of anticipation as they witnessed that heavenly shade of blue spin in the young girl's palms. The light was like a wild animal, itching to get out of its cage and let its primal instincts explode. And when the final call of passion and fury was ripped from Pan's lips, when she pushed out her hands and uncurled her fingers, when she let that wild energy beast free; the Kamehameha was unleashed.

There was no question of its versatility or power. The size the beam expanded into when it exploded from Pan's hands, the rippling effect on the stage as the force of the energy tore the stone from the ground, the primal roar that accompanied it as it streaked across the stadium; it all managed to make Mr Popo look worried in the quick moment he had to think.

Videl and Chichi were locked in a competition of who could cheer the loudest at the sight, while Master Roshi stood stone still with his lips puckered in thought. On one hand, it was a powerful sight to behold, certainly a blast that would pack quite the punch. On the other hand, this was yet another example of how the technique that took him 50 years to develop, had been reduced to being so simple to use. He had a right to be grumpy, damn it!

Kassy was by far the most excited spectator, clapping to herself as her eyes went directly to stare down at Pan, having a good bird's eye view of the battle. You'd think by the 50th time you've seen a fight, it'd be so boring, you've seen 'em all and they're all the same; but sometimes you just can't help but get hooked on that beautiful schadenfreude. Making me feel glad that I'm not you, hehe. I know I wouldn't react so well after putting in all that effort.

From Pan's perspective? She was coping. The moment that attack escaped her hand, it was like a mountain of frustration, a horde of weights and build up, all were suddenly liberated from her body in one hell of a push. It sounded creepy in her head, but it was almost orgasmic. A flood of relief and ecstasy dripping down her spine, curling her lips into a smile of pure satisfaction.

Oh, what the hell? I'm greedy She giggled to herself, giving off another explosion of sound in the form of a 'HAAAAA' roar, reaching deep within herself to find any remaining energy she could spare. That energy being there was fine, calming even; but feeling that power trickle on the tips of her fingers before rushing out to deal damage…. Was this the part where she should start lighting up a cigarette to take it all in?

Maybe it was just her ego, maybe it was just her Saiyan side kicking in, but she felt like her body was in another world. This brief moment of power was like an intoxicating aroma, pooling through her nose, gripping her lungs in a vice and whispering sweet nothings in her ear. Images, she loved the images. She could just imagine the stage itself, defenceless stone skin crumbling to dust at just being near the blast.

Maybe the weak audience members were knocked down to their knees by the resulting shockwave. Their knees would shake at the pain, while her entire body trembled at the pleasure of that pain. Were a few bones broken? In her mind the echoes of snapping limbs made her shiver, made her smile wider, made her want to push one. Maybe if she broke one of Mr Popo's leg he wouldn't be able to keep dodging her? Was he hurting bad from this blast?

Now that thought about it, she noticed that there was a strange feeling that sparked to life as soon as the blue glow of the attack had enveloped Mr Popo. It wasn't like anything was blocking or resisting the force of the beam, but neither did it feel like she was hitting anything, and yet she could tell by the thin sliver of black that poked through the blue; she was hitting Mr Popo, dead on.

And yet the Kamehameha was still moving.

It took only a few more second for her energy reserves to tap out, she'd need time to recharge before firing off any more energy-based attacks. The effect of unleashing all that energy immediately took effect as the blast began to dissipate before her eyes, a burning sensation tingling on her palm; she probably over-did it for her first Kamehameha. She twisted her head to try and get a better look at how Mr Popo was dealing with this, raring to see some bruises, blood, anything that indicated damage through the blue veil.

But all she could see was a perfectly healthy, though winded, Mr Popo, his jaw unhinged and slacking under a wide-open mouth. He was quite literally eating Pan's attack, the Kamehameha swirling straight into his open mouth and down his throat, a visible bulge on his stomach where the attack ended it's journey.

"Wha- Fa- You-… BULLSHIT! I call foul! No way, just no way" Pan gritted her teeth together, clenching her fist tighter as her anger bubbled to the surface. "I did all that, made such a flashy fuss, put in all that build up, FOR THIS!?" The worst of it was how dry and abruptly it ended the climax of all the good feelings she was just having.

In time, what Pan had once thought was gonna be her finishing move for this fight, dissipated with a disappointing puff. Mr Popo seemed rather jolly at this, rubbing his stomach, satisfied. "Ooof, I must say. I'm stuffed" Before letting out a monstrous belch, smoke briefly exploding from his lungs. "Oh dear, that just wasn't polite" At Pan's glare he merely chuckled "I apologise. Do you need a moment? You seem quite mad"

Pan opened her lips to respond, but merely found herself crashing her mouth shut when she realised any words that come to mind would only make her look more like a brat. "Not at all, Mr P" She took in clean air, pumping her lungs with something calm before raising her fist up, trying to get back into a fighting stance. Her hands were shaking with adrenalin, with lust for some progressive damage. "I'm just surprised. I came here expecting a stomp"

"You seem to be making a habit of underestimating me. Did your mother never tell you to never try and win against a Genie with brawn?" The smirk curled, a knowing twinkle in his eye. "They are the ultimate tricksters after all"

"Well, I'm su-" She had a witty remark ready, one filled with cockiness and arrogance to stall her time until she regained her energy; but then Mr Popo's words hit her, an idea immediately popping into her head. She had a solution. "Tricksters?"

"I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to re-evaluate your approach to combat from the side-lines, Pan. But now, I think this fight has gone on long enough"

In the heat of the moment, it was hard for her to determine if her opponent would be able to force her out of the ring in her current state. This was his plan from the start, wasn't it? He knows how much damage I'll deal, so he spends the match playing keep away, goading me into wasting my own stamina to the point that he can push me out without much resistance. One part of her brain registered this as a failure on her part, bemoaning her for falling for such a ploy so easily. That part had a point. "Genies are the ultimate tricksters, huh? It feels so obvious now…"

But within the reveal of her folly, Pan also found the something to latch onto, that idea ticking in her mind; a ledge to grab onto and rebuild her confidence on. "You have a point there, Mr P. The fight's out stayed its welcome. So, I'll just have to finish it soon" Mr Popo's eyes seemed to narrow an inch, completely surprised at the return of her cocky grin and tone. "Looks like I'm not the only one who got a bit too cocky, because your arrogance just gave me a way to win" He was planning on her stamina being too low to put out an attack that could hit him, and if what she thought was right, he would have a way to counter a frontal attack with ease. He expected much from her.

"Oh?"

"You told me to focus, and that's what I'm gonna do" She held one hand out, these precious few seconds stalling Mr Popo allowing her to gain back some of her energy. "And right now? I'm focusing on the fact that you've told me exactly where you are…" One energy blast was all she threw his way, the confusion of why she would throw such a thing was very visible. As it shot towards him, Mr Popo could tell it was a rather weak one, even he just needed to simply bat it away with the back of his hand.

For a moment, he allowed himself to think it was just one last act of desperation from a foe who couldn't accept their defeat. But as soon as the energy blast was out of the way, Mr Popo realised his mistake as he saw that Pan was gone. And the voice that tickled his ears confirmed that she was now behind him. "And when I say that, I mean the REAL you" She was more resourceful than he thought, her voice practically dripping with satisfaction as she brought her knee forward, getting her first real hit on the back of Mr Popo's head.

And she made sure it hurt like hell.
***
The inside of Flappe's house was much more spacious than Trunks was expecting, he only now could see the house was more of a large log cabin, a fire roaring off to the side under a hanging television, the welcoming warmth licking at his frozen limbs. On the way here, many images had popped into Trunks head, of steel walls cutting off every chance of air, low ceilings forcing visitors to hunch and lab equipment littering the floor in preparation for the next twisted experiment. Average mad scientist stuff. Sort of like his mother's lab. But this glow, this overwhelming warmth, the open hallway, the shelf filled to the brim with worn books; it looked so… Cozy.

"Can't you people ever just knock anymore?" The old man sat in front of the fire, hunched over in his wooden arm chair, his voice tired. "Just barging in like you own the place. Who do you think you- Oh, close the door, you're letting snow get all over my carpet!"

"Oh, sorry" Trunks grumbled out, caught off guard by the rather aggressive welcome. Well, he did just barge in.

The man reached down to grasp the cane that was lying beside his chair, gripping the rough chunk of wood and pressing it against the floor; it was definitely a struggle. A rather pathetic sight as the man's bones and mind fought against one another to push the other down, the mere act of getting up causing his entire body to shake. "Those hacks who make up the heating bill are not getting a zeni more than they deser-" He came to his full height, his back hunched over and his weary eyes now trained on Trunks, a flicker of shock registering on his face. "Y-you! You're… You're…" His eyes darted towards the visible hilt hanging over Trunks's shoulder. "The swordsman…"

"We've met?" Trunks quirked an eyebrow, his mind still trying to decide if this was a good or bad sign.

"Not met, no. But I have seen you" Flappe began to back away, as if Trunks had taken the form of some sort of monster. "I was there, the day you killed that Cell monstrosity; your anger shook the whole town"

Trunks's eyes narrowed, muscles tensed, a step taken forward. That day, he remembered clearly, that day he tied up the last loose end of Gero's creations; 'it was finally over' he had thought. How naïve that thought seemed now. It was never over. "How do you know that name?" To be fair, Trunks had screamed out Cell's name many times during that encounter, but Flappe didn't seem keen to point that out.

"Why are you here!?" Flappe's question came out rushed through shaken breath, his fingers gripping his cane for dear life, back pressed against the wall for support. "This is m-my home, you can't be here!" The man was in shambles. The roar of the fire casted a fleeting shadow over Trunks, paining half of his face in darkness as he stood tall and imposing above the crumbling old man. From an outsider's perspective it was almost sinister. "Leave! I don't want you here! Please, I'm begging!"

"Not gonna happen" Trunks spat bluntly, aggression growing stronger like the flickering fire. What's gotten into me today? Trunks reasoned that he was just a bit on edge, the stress of the week, the hallucinations, the training, almost impaling himself on his own sword… He was just generally annoyed today at everything. Was this what Vegeta constantly felt like? "I need answers, leads, clues; anything that can reveal that I'm just a paranoid bastard"

"But I have nothing to give you! I'm just a sad old man living in the middle of the mountains, I barely even leave my cabin to go down to the village; I don't know anything, and I don't want to know anything" In a lacklustre sing of defiance, Flappe held up the cane towards the half-Saiyan's chest

Trunks simply moved forward, the cane pressing harmlessly against his chest to show off how empty to threatening gesture was. "You worked closely with Dr Gero on the creation of the Androids; is that true or false?"

"That name, that blasted name" Flappe took to hissing, a hand reaching up to clutch his chest, straining his lungs. "I've spent twenty years hiding from that shame, that name, that man; why must you bring him back into my house?" His tone was like an emotional tennis match, the ball being hit between the two opponents: pleading and bitterness. "Android 20's purpose ended with the creation of Cell, that was the last trace of him, which you have taken care of. Gero is dead and buries. 20 is dismantled by the hands of his own creations. And every molecule of that absorption creature has been erased by that… Super Saiyan form of yours"

"How did you-"

"I've had nothing but opportunity to learn about your 'people', so remarkable; such a shame every research note was stained in the blood of 20's victims" Finally, that tennis match seemed to find it's winner, his shoulders slumping in defeat as any more pleading dissolved. "Yes… I worked side-by-side with Gero. We were like-minded friends since our school days, such a 'happy' coincidence we both ended up under the thumb of the Red Ribbon Army" He gave in to his bitterness, hobbling back over to his chair and sitting into a slump, the fire seemingly the only thing he could focus on. "He's returned, hasn't he? Of course, he has, that Android duplicate was a being forged only from hate and obsession; it won't die until it takes everything else with it"

"Nothing concrete…" Trunks allowed his tone to fall to a much softer scale as he came to stand beside the man, his emotions confused. "But I swear I've seen Android 13 up and walking round, and I know that he was an Android left inactive along with two others"

Flappe ran his fingers over his face, groaning. "Oh, Tucker"

"Tucker?"

"Gero based all of his Androids on something, someone. 13 is based on a friend of his son, Lt. Tucker. In life, he served beside Gero's son in service to the Red Ribbon Army" He leaned back, contemplating. "Disciplined and loyal, died crashing a plane into an enemy war machine, if I recall correctly. He lived up in Tunson, his wife garnered a reputation for spicy food; I think his granddaughter is still there selling Dinosaur Meat"

"He was like 16, a mechanical recreation?" Trunks turned to lean against the opposing wall, his face growing hard as he started down his list of questions. "How involved with the Androids were you?"

There was hesitation, contemplation, self-doubt and guilt; all fighting for control of his shaking voice. "Let me just say right off the bat that… That I didn't… The Twins, those orphans; I didn't help kidnap them or experiment on them. I worked alongside Gero on for the first eight androids, Eighter was the last one before I 'retired'… Well, mostly…" He sighed again. "Maybe I should start from the beginning. Know thy enemy, and all that"

"You'll really tell me everything? Why?"

"Maybe it's you 'persuasive' presence-" He gestured to the bulging muscles and gleaming sword. "-Maybe I've finally caved in under all this pressure I've been carrying all these years. No doubt my back's felt it." He looked back to the fire, it all came back to him with ease, the images, the confusion, the guilt. "I've been running and hiding from what we did for years, all the blood I'm responsible for, and I suppose someone has to know the true story. Yes, I will tell you. But it won't matter…"

"Everything is ending already, starting with Earth"
***


"Trickster, trickster, trickster" Pan had fully regained her ego-fuelled strut as she watched Mr Popo struggle back to his feet, his landing causing a few visible scuffs and bruises to appear at last. "Now that I realise what's been going on, I feel like such a fool" Her foot moved swiftly, driving into the man's stomach and sending him back to the ground. She couldn't give him the chance. "That's all this has been, right? Tricks. I thought you were a Genie, not a magician. Conjuring up all those illusions"

She had thought the fight had been suspicious since the start. The man's surprising agility, the strange way the world seemed to be stuck in a jump cut every time she attacked, how time seemed to move faster than she thought, the edge of the stage coming out of nowhere… It wasn't that Mr Popo was extremely quick, he was just messing with her head. That's why the audience saw her standing around for five minutes before darting to the other end of the stage when she thought she had immediately pursued him after thirty seconds; this illusion bullshit was messing with her perception of time.

All it took was him to practically tell her that he was more a trickster than a fighter for those instances to finally connect in her mind. "That's why that other fighter back in the preliminaries was acting so weird. You were tricking him in the same way" She went in for another hit, but she immediately found her foot going through an image of Mr Popo. Does that mean he's getting weaker? I punched him hard.

"It took you this long to figure it out then?" The mocking tone had no source, instead seemingly a disembodied voice that floated around her. In response, Pan quickly jumped backwards, thinking back to the distance she had covered from the middle of the stage after hitting Mr Popo the first time. There she'd at least be able to trust that she was as far away from the edge as she could get at the moment. "I suppose that means the time for subtlety is over…"

Pan quickly withdrew breath, keeping her mouth shut and letting her mind talk. It was time to do some critical thinking, something something method, whatever her Dad used to talk about when she was 3 and he was trying to get her into science early. First things first, what did she know about Mr Popo's abilities? Aside from the energy eating, he was an illusionist. Attributes of the illusions? So far, sight and hearing are the only things affected by the illusions. Doesn't affect touch, none of these illusions were physical, judging by how any attack would go right through them. Limitations? Her hunch was that the ability required complete concentration, that's why his Kamehameha eating mistake showed her exactly where he was, as well as why he wasn't quick to attack while she was still in the illusion. Perhaps he could multitask if he concentrated hard enough…

"You asked me why I fight, and I hope you too have found the answer in this fight. Kami was a guardian of the Earth, his duty was to defend. To defend the innocent, the weak and the planet itself." Around her the world began to shift in more obvious way, the audience could no longer be seen, everything around the stage twisting into a light blue void, while the arena itself contorted and tore apart. Even though she knew it was all an illusion, the image managed to cause unease in Pan's stomach. "Kami was a great man, but sadly one that had grown frail in body under the pressure of his duties. Sometimes you need an outside source to defend, in that he sought the use of magic, that allowed him to defend and train those whose body and mind were equally strong"

Pan was out of the frying Pan and into the fryer, with this new overpowering image she was stuck to this spot. One rash move, and she'd lose any sense of where she was on the arena, her feet were the only things telling her where she was, for her eyes and ears would only betray her. "You are facing the fighting style of the Earth's Guardian. It is not my own style, it is not my technique, but it is my duty as his attendant" The tone grew soft, but undercut by a power and righteous edge. "His body died. I failed him. But I will not abandon him, for even in death I will make sure he lives on; I fight to keep Kami, his sprit, his training, his legacy alive through his own style in combat!"

In a blink of an eye, Pan only now found herself noticing the multiplying silhouettes surrounding her spot, soon contorting to take on a more human-esc form. Bbig red lips, wide eyes, large belly and all struck with the same look of unyielding determination. An army of Mr Popos. She and the Popos shared a grin, as if a private joke or understanding was made between them. "Then you better show me what Kami's got, and go all out!"

She hoped more than ever now that her 'non-physical illusion' theory held water s the army marched upon her from all sides, closing in on her with ease with many Popos scrambling over each other to get a shot at her. Ain't I popular today… Her vision was soon painted in nothing but a whirlwind of black and red, a flood of furious fists pounding at every space available, her every sense hounding at her.

As she hoped, the illusions could not hurt her, even then the mere sight of every punch made her flinch. But that wasn't their purpose, they were a distraction something to disorientate her. No matter what she still had to pull up her arms, chuck her body every-which-way and doing everything in her power to keep her feet rooted. She had a sneaking suspicion that the real Popo was here somewhere, waiting to briefly let his concentration slip and get a punch in. Every fake punch had a chance of concealing the real punch.

BAM

Right in the gut, a blind spot in this mess of furious dancing, managing to wind her for a brief second. It pushed her back an inch, but it didn't stop her from keeping up her guard. She needed a plan, quick and fast, she couldn't just stay tanking and hope to outlast Mr Popo. He wasn't trying to do damage, he was trying to push her away. Maybe I can track the source of- ARG! That punch was straight to the knee this time, trying to shake her off balance.

She attempted to look for the source of the punch, maybe tank the real hit and catch a glimpse of sort of trail. Nope. The fake punches acted as a thick fog the real fist easily sank into after delivering a blow. Her eyes were no help, while the illusions were still strong her sight would bring her nothing but grief and nausea. What she needed to do was find a way to focus.

Focus.

Another tip Mr Popo had given her before the fight, focus. Did he mean it like keeping an eye on him, so the illusions wouldn't trick her? Nah, that boat already sailed, and Mr Popo already seemed quite capable of masking himself in these illusions. She needed to focus, but on what? Her eyes couldn't help her, not what she sees. Her ears betray her, she can't focus on sound. She couldn't focus on Mr Popo, the announcer, the audience nothing around her would allow her to focus. All except… herself.

She had to focus on herself. What did Trunks say during training about ki? Like using all of your senses without using your body… See herself without sight, hear herself without sound, feel herself without touch. She needed to let go and trust her own energy and body to guide her. "Right…" Another punch came, another inch was given, but she had to keep calm. She closed her eyes, tuned out her ears, ignored her wiggling toes; completely locked herself away from the outside world.

It wasn't that she could see, it was that she could only see darkness. It wasn't that she couldn't hear, it was that she only heard what she wanted to hear. No more punches were felt, no more images jumped out and surprised her, no more distorted sounds in her ears. She was in the dark room, all she needed to do was bring in the light.

There was something out there, somehow, she knew it. A spark, it left a trail, it moved slowly and independently of everything else. Her own energy flowed around her, the ethereal feeling came when she realised that she'd launched an energy attack outward, probably out of her hands; was she not blocking anymore?

As she continued to watch her energy, the stray attack flew across the room, along the way acting as a source of light that punctured the soft texture of the darkness, revealing inklings of the tournament arena before fizzling out. I only have to light the way. More energy disconnected from her without her knowledge, spreading out around her, lighting up different parts of the stadium, the REAL parts.

And there it was. The trail.

It looked more like a swarm of fireflies instead of her usual energy blast, these fireflies working together to form a general outline of a man. A man with a rather large belly. A man who wasn't an illusion. A man who was currently circling her. Energy, she could find his energy, like a beacon through a fog of delusion.

Mr Popo came in for another punch, his confidence rising as he witnessed Pan shut off her senses, she'd be out of the ring in no time if he kept this up. So, for the next punch he pulled back his arm, really putting his back into it this time and throwing his full force forward, aiming for her face this time; but instead of Pan's face, his fist instead was stopped rather abruptly by the steel wall that was Pan's palm.

He only had a short moment to register the strength of her iron grip crushing down on his fingers, the final words from Pan's lips "Time to end this!" and prepare himself for the finishing blow. When Pan opened her eyes she could only see an empty space, and yet she held something in her palm, something which allowed her wind up her shoulder and deliver a strong right hook to the air, shattering the illusion into a million little pieces with a mighty WAM.

And it was over.

Mr Popo was sent flying over the side of the ring, landing on out-of-bounds area with a large lump growing on his forehead. The chorus of cheers from the crowd was almost deafening, and certainly came as a shock after the false noise Pan had been hearing the whole time. "There you have it, ladies and gentleman! With a win pulled from the edge of defeat, a match that I sure hope had you all on the edge of your seats; I'm proud to confirm that our winner for the first match of the World Tournament is… SOOOOON PAAAAAAAN!"

She could hear the voices of Videl and Chichi overpowering all other sounds from behind her, causing her to giggle as she realized that she couldn't tell the difference between either voice at this volume. "THAT'S MY BABY!"

"No, THAT'S MY LITTLE GIRL!"

It took a minute for Pan to take it all in, waving at the audience in a rather shy manner; she'd never had this many people cheer for her before. It was nice. Refreshing. It gave her that power that made her feel like she could take on the world. And maybe she would someday, but right now, her bones were aching from all that wasted energy.

But first she made her way over to where Mr Popo had landed, the man now pulling himself into a sitting position, his head and shoulders slumped as he took in deep breaths. "That was a truly… A good match. My heart is, how could I describe it, rocking like the dragon?"

She grinned down at him, offering her hand. "Yeah. I pegged you as something simply in my way, but you really managed to kick my ass out there. I almost thought I wouldn't be able to win for a second there" They both shared a laugh with each other, Mr Popo taking her hand and hoisting himself to his feet. When their hands separated, Pan took this opportunity to throw her weight forward, offering Mr Popo a respectful bow. "Thank you, Mr Popo"

"You're thanking me?" He seemed quite amused by this.

"Kami's techniques were truly impressive. It was an honour to see them in action up-close, you did Kami a service" Her voice almost sounded calm and sage-like, but that didn't last long as her usual grin broke onto her face, childish and mischievous.

"Thank you, Pan. You were a more than worthy opponent" For a moment, Mr Popo looked nervous, awkwardly chuckling. "I hope I did not come off as rude, I was under the impression that some degree of mocking was traditional in competitions"

"No problem, I got a few of my jabs in there too" The two laughed again, probably being the most relaxing way for them to breathe their fatigue and stress in and out. "And Mr Popo?"

"Yes?"

"I've only known you for a short time, but I'm happy we met both in and out of the ring. You've shown me some things I need to think about, and I don't like thinking a lot; you talked about how much shame you felt about your 'failures' earlier… And yet you never let that jolly aura drop. I think now I see why" She held out her hand, clasping it over his for a handshake, making a vow; a promise. "I still don't know exactly why I fight. I like fighting, I come from a legacy of fighters, but… I know there's something more. But, I will find that reason, and when I do I'll keep in close and cherish it like you do"

He smiled a simple smile. His smile was all she needed "Good luck, Son Pan. I hope you find peace"

And scene. Damn, this chapter changed a lot during the writing phase. Especially with how the fight ended, originally I planned something more flashy, but I felt that Pan 'seeing herself' was a much more simple, but effective approach that added more meaning to her win. Hell, in the original, original version of this match Mr Popo and Pan left on much less happy terms. Where Mr Popo would forfeit the match, but in a way that makes it clear that he would have won if he didn't, pissing Pan off plenty because she see's that as humiliation as well as showing her how narrow her mindset towards the match was.

But in my mind, I realized that I kind of already put forth that layer of Pan's character in the beginning of the match, as well as her little vision with Kassy and thought that it would be better to give Pan's better side a chance to shine before the shit hits the fan. Do you guys think the match is better as it is, or would be better with Pan basically getting a humiliated win?

Also, I hope people caught the tidbit about 13, revealing that all that there was a good reason for that familiarity he was getting when he went to Tunson. And that the woman selling Dinosaur Meat in Tunson was his Grand Daughter.[/spoiler]

And scene. Damn, this chapter changed a lot during the writing phase. Especially with how the fight ended, originally I planned something more flashy, but I felt that Pan 'seeing herself' was a much more simple, but effective approach that added more meaning to her win. Hell, in the original, original version of this match Mr Popo and Pan left on much less happy terms. Where Mr Popo would forfeit the match, but in a way that makes it clear that he would have won if he didn't, pissing Pan off plenty because she see's that as humiliation as well as showing her how narrow her mindset towards the match was.

But in my mind, I realized that I kind of already put forth that layer of Pan's character in the beginning of the match, as well as her little vision with Kassy and thought that it would be better to give Pan's better side a chance to shine before the shit hits the fan. Do you guys think the match is better as it is, or would be better with Pan basically getting a humiliated win?

Also, I hope people caught the tidbit about 13, revealing that all that there was a good reason for that familiarity he was getting when he went to Tunson. And that the woman selling Dinosaur Meat in Tunson was his Grand Daughter.
When Super apparently shoves Goku down our throats:

Kanassa wrote:
FoolsGil wrote:I hope Mark is dead. But chances are the dragonballs will bring his stupid ass back. :D
- FoolsGil, Out of Context, 2017

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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Kanassa » Thu Dec 07, 2017 7:21 pm

Chapter 31: Sage Words of the Pervy Master

[spoiler]"You were amazing, Pan"

"I mean, I knew you were going to win from the start; your mother on the other hand…"

"Oh, lay off it, you old hag! I'd like to congratulate my daughter without the sag butting in"

"Sag? Of course, you'd say something so immature-"

Once more the two widows locked horns like bulls, verbally pushing against one another as Pan simply stood in the middle of it all, feeling very small and embarrassed amidst it all. They all stood in the mostly empty courtyard of the Tournament grounds, an area that participants could relax and rest while waiting for their next fight. The audience, on the other hand, were not supposed to be here.

Pan did not doubt that any security the tournament could offer would be able to stand against her mother and grandmother, looking around she could see Mr Popo having a sit down against a rock, his eyes closed. "Never seen Chichi this active since she wailed on Goku, hehehe"

Turning her head to the side, Pan was surprised to find that Master Roshi standing beside her, looking on in amusement at the two arguing women. She hadn't seen him approach, but now that he was here, she instantly felt nervous. Again, that feeling of meeting a celebrity you like and being enveloped by a wave of tied tongues and stutters. She tried to go along with the conversation, quietly spitting out "Why do they have to fight so much?"

"You know, back in the day she would have loved Videl to pieces. Perfect gal for Gohan" She stayed silent, listening to Roshi's musings with hesitant confusion. "I guess at the end of it all, she only had him left. Her little boy, keep him close and away from harm; or be a failure who betrayed his trust" He tapped his wooden cane against the ground, like the soft rhythm of thumps helped him think. "I wouldn't blame 'em too much, I think Chichi just wanted to make sure Videl doesn't make the same 'mistake' as her"

"By insulting her"

"By hammering it in" The old man slammed his fist into his palm for effect, sharing a small grin. "Never said it was a legitimate strategy, but Chichi's always been such… Driven woman. Hehehe"

She coughed into her hand, feeling awkward as she attempted to keep the conversation going. "My mom could still stop egging her on…"

"Chichi's poking a very sensitive area" He stopped for a moment, considering if he should continue before nodding to himself. "Do you know about your Grandparents? Your other Grandparents"

At this Pan's smile grew "You mean Mr Satan? Hercule Satan, the Champ?"

"He was quite the character, I heard. Never got to meet the man myself, but I knew his Master; the Master of the Satan's Castle Dojo. I remember Hercule's wife, my oh my, was she fin- I mean, a very nice lady. Though, I guess when compared to people like you and Trunks they're not much" He and Pan moved away from the arguing dup, Mr Popo opening one eye to watch them as they passed. "A lot of heart. A lot of ego" He tapped his cane against Pan's shoulder, chuckling. "Maybe that's where you get it all from"

"What does this have to do with my Mom being sensitive?"

Roshi's expression grew dim. "Her father left to defeat the man who murdered his Master so long ago. Her mother left to a fight a criminal stole her Daughter's favourite toy. Her husband left to defeat the monsters that took everything from him" He clapped a hand on Pan's shoulder. "All of them left, never to come back; leaving little Videl alone with a small child crying for her missing family. Maybe after losing so much, she grew attached to being a mother, so much so she over compensates. Constantly thinking she's a failure"

Pan nodded, looking back over to her family, their snaps at each other routine at this point. Almost rehearsed, prepared. "Like Grandma Chichi?"

"In a way, I guess you could say they depend on each other for support. They think themselves failures, so they find victory in beating each other" Roshi's body fell stiff, like that large purple turtle shell suddenly gained more pounds than he could carry. "In these dire times… I guess we all know what it's like to feel we've become failures. That there is more that we should have done. But it also shows us the value in not standing alone"

"Even you?"

At this Roshi attempted a wryly smile, chuckling. "I live on a small island in the middle of the ocean. Once I had the company of three rowdy people… Now, I… I only have my magazines for company" Pan kept her gaze ahead, moment like this were not her area of expertise. She punched things, talking and personal stuff? That was just awkward. "But when you're over 300 years old, you find that you're used to it!" He laughed louder, seemingly more trying to convince himself that it was a joke. "Though, I will admit, I did cherish the day Trunks arrived at my door step for advice. The house felt warmer cooking for more than one person"

"I'm sure you've got family to visit, right?"

"My sister would never leave her palace, even if it was collapsing around her"

"What about Jackie Chun? He was a relative of yours, wasn't he? And you both were on good terms, right?" She was trying to be nice and comforting, but the look on Roshi's face told her she was doing a bad job. "Speaking of him, I'm surprised he didn't show up for the tournament; woul have been great to see him in action up close"

"Jackie Chun is dead." It was blunt, told straight and now Roshi seemed to more easily resemble that skinny old man. "Dead and buried, along with the Z Warriors. He died beside them, crushed under the Androids boot-heel"

"I've never been to Kame House" Pan clapped her hands together, a happy thought hitting her on the head like a baseball as she desperatly foguht to keep Roshi smiling somehow. "I'd love to go there some time. Oooo, maybe after I win this tournament we can head over there to celebrate. We could get Grandma to cook and everything"

He stood 'stoically', stroking his beard in deep thought, a myriad of emotions flashing across his face; then a small amount of blood trickles from his nose. "Three saucy ladies keeping me company? Oh my… Hehehe"

"Grandma always did tell tales about your perverted nature" Pan was halfway through a disgusted grunt and a polite giggle, maybe that grin he wore was infectious. Or it was the beard, she always felt comfortable around people with beards.

"Perverted Nature? I'll have you know that I'm a connoisseur of the female body, a lustful gentleman of bachelors!" He waved around her staff with vigour "I've just been out of practice for a few years" Suddenly he turned to Pan, his eyes immediately moving downward as his grin grew. "Looks like my old Turtle School gi. Might I add that it fits you rather well, hehehe; in all the right places!"

"Oh, brother…" His perverse gaze suddenly made Pan feel very self-conscious her chest, though all she could think up to muster was a loud sigh, accompanied by her hand pressing against her head. "Is that a yes, then?"

He laughed again, returning to his less-perverted expression, a small and natural smile reaching his lips. "Yes. Having you all around sounds nice. All the noise, confusions and fighters? Hehe, it'd be like old times again" Finally, his legs seemed to give way under the invisible weight on his shoulder, dropping to the floor to sit down. "So, do you really think you can win this tournament?"

Her laugh came out loud and smug. "Pfft, is that a joke? Course I'll win, I'm the best! This is just me proving it" From behind her she could suddenly hear Mr Popo humming, as if to purposely interrupt her conversation with a reminder. "Yeah, yeah, I had a little trouble with Mr Popo; but that was because I underestimated him. I'm pass that now"

"I'm afraid not"

"Excuse me?"

"Your ego isn't the only thing holding you back, Pan. You lack focus, inner-guidance, direction" He tapped his staff against the ground twice, inviting Pan to sit down next to him. "You threaten to blind yourself with your own power and forget the fact that you're still only starting your journey as a fighter; it's all in your fighting style"

"What's wrong with my fighting style!?" She dropped beside him in a huff, leaning over him with a glare.

"It's like two heads arguing with each other, clucking like chickens and drowning out the other one until they can't even hear each other" He seemed outwardly unaffected by her intense glare, his eyes soft and wise. "Perhaps you'll understand it better if I explain other Fighting Styles"

"But- Well-… Uh, okay… Master Roshi"

Roshi gave her a raised look that expressed 'Seriously?' before shaking his head, digging his staff into the ground as he began. "Let's start off with me; I lead the Turtle Hermit School of Martial arts, been doing so for as long as I can remember…" He held out his hand, forming a small orb of energy in his palm, reminding Pan of when Trunks explained ki blasts to her the first time. "See, the Turtle is a wise, albeit weak creature. They live long, finding understanding of themselves. The way they work, how far they can travel, their place on the food chain. They understand, they're content." The orb began to circle around Roshi's hand in simple, but controlled motions. "In that vein, the Turtle School focuses on where your limits lie. What can you do? What can't you do? What are you compared to your opponent? Can you open your eyes to the folly of your body? Making sure you don't take unnecessary risks on the battlefield trying to do something you can't"

"The Turtle School isn't focused no being the best, or even being victorious, the Turtle focuses on finding peace in what it is" With the flick of his wrist the orb was sent up into the air at a break neck pace. "My students, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and even your Grandfather all had to learn this. And in learning their limitations, they were able to break those limitations" He looked back to Pan "They did not fight for the sake of victory, they fought in the hopes finding their next step in the journey of improvement"

"So, just the age-old phrase 'Always room for improvement'?"

"It's not that simple… Moving on" He lowered the Ki orb back down before performing a flicking motion to send it hurdling towards a large rock resting on its side in front of the two. "The Crane School took their opponents as vehicles to prove their strength, obstacles to take down as quickly as possible" The small orb shot through the lower region of the rock, which instead of leaving a small hole, instead caused the stone to falter and fall apart in a matter of seconds. "They act in precise strikes, almost always lethal if they're allowed. This style fits with the likes of Tao Pai Pai well, it is the style of the cunning predator, the assassin. They're a mix of speed and power"

"What about the likes of Mr Popo?" Pan had to admit, she was sort of getting invested in these explanations.

"He wears the marks of Kami well, no doubt that Kami was the guardian of the Earth" He brought the ki orb back, this time the orb twisted and shook as if it would be ready to explode any minute now. "In all aspects, right down to his style, he was a defender. A guardian. Instead of seeking victory through brute force or precision hits, he aims to outlast the opponent through trickery" When the ki orb got close, Roshi batted it away with his hand in a very similar motion to when Mr Popo deflected Pan's attacks back in the match. "He drains his opponent's stamina, masks himself in illusions to hide, lets them wear themselves out and leads them to their misfortune through mind games. At all times keeping the important parts of him safe from danger. A truly defensive strategy, making the opponent's true enemy themselves"

"Well, it's effective" Pan reached over to scratch the parts of her body where she could remember a stinging punch delivered by Mr Popo. "Very effective"

"And then there's Trunks" Roshi's glasses seemed to slip down his nose, giving her a good view of his eyes staring at her. "Now, I don't want to insult the boy; but while he's taught you well enough, I fear he has also instilled hinderances" She felt her body go stiff at this, two separate feelings tugging at her lips. One wanted to simply listen to Roshi's words, because he was Master Roshi and he probably had much more experience to comment on Trunks's training strategies (Especially when Trunks himself had little to no experience in training another). The other was ready to jump down Roshi's throat in defence. This kept her from speaking, had she always been protective of Trunks? This is just irrational, he's not trying to insult Trunks... "Specifically hinderance for you-" Me, on the other hand, it's a free-for-all!

"That boy lived on the front lines of the Android's genocidal rampage since childhood, he's grown bracing the dangers of those monsters. Monsters he could never dream of taking head on, alone. His style is one of survival" He paused, the next words on the tip of his tongue, but his brain was briefly caught in memories that made his face tighten. "In his years facing the Androids beside Gohan, he always employed 'hit and run' tactics. Facing opponents that outclass him in power was always a way of life for him, and so his mentality and actions reflect that. He jumps into the fray with weak, but quick blows against his opponent. His blows are intended to distract, to stagger, to prolong the danger all before he'd retreat to a safe distance; Live to fight another day. Because Trunks doesn't fight to win, he fights to survive"

She crossed her arms, her voice quiet as she asked, "And what's this got to do with making me fight worse?"

"While Trunks's style could work for him, it proves rather problematic for you. And your fight with Mr Popo proves it" He took his finger and, quite rudely, waved it around Pan's face like he was trying to get the attention of a dog. "You are brash, you have shades of arrogance, recklessness and instinct. All of this is second nature to your body, to give into primal instinct and truly savour your fight. I assume that's down to your Saiyan roots" Then his finger tapped against her forehead. "But your mind is thinking of your lessons, it's thinking about what Trunks has tried to pass on, that thought to hang back, that doubt in going in for a big attack; when you enter a battle your mind and body are against one another"

"Okay, I didn't do amazing, but I think I've been flying through this… At a … Good pace" Now that she thought about it, she had found it all too easy to sink into powering her way through Mr Popo even when she told herself to fall back, playing directly into Mr Popo's hands.

"Some fighters find that they rely too much on their mind that they lose the time to actually react, others let their body lead on pure instinct alone which drops their guard and falls prey to simple strategy; you have no such extreme. Instead, you flip flop on either side of the scale like a roller coaster" Without warning, Roshi twisted his staff to slam one inch away from Pan's foot, causing the ground around the pressure point to shift. As if the ground had become a wave in a sea of green and brown. This sudden uneasiness knocked Pan off her feet and easily sent her tumbling to the floor. "This leaves a completely unreliable form that more experienced fighters will exploit with ease. You must find balance, your mind and body must act as a single unit, not separate entities. Otherwise you'll find only defeat that wills stunt your personal growth"

From her sorry position on the ground, Pan could only groan pathetically. "What are you saying? That I should give up on Trunks? Tell him that I can't be his student because my personality's wrong?"

"No. There is no such thing as a bad fit between Master and Student, but you must learn to channel your mind through your body, to adapt to these new techniques and methods that clash with your own personality; you have potential, Pan. But you'll only be a mockery if you squander it"

She sighed, disappointed. This is not how she imagined meeting a legend such as Master Roshi "Well, I'm sure in the months after the tournament I can overcome this since I doubt I could master something like that in the span of a day"

"We may not have months" Nature itself seemed to slow to a halt at these words, letting the implication hang over the two, Pan only now realising the strangely grim demeanour Roshi had been holding throughout this discussion (That a few jokes hid) might mean something more.

"You had another reason for coming to this tournament, didn't you?"

He sighed. "Yesterday, I went to visit my sister, Baba. Hadn't seen her in ages. She works as a Fortune Teller, you know. Can see the future with 100% accuracy. And hey, I thought it'd be nice to get my fortune read. Had to do a lot of haggling for that family discount" He shifted uncomfortably in his spot, now looking up at the sky as the grip on his staff tightened. "When we finally got to the fortune telling, her crystal ball, an heirloom for over a century and durable as the Dragon Balls themselves; cracked. And soon, exploded into a million pieces. Something was wrong, maybe something with the nature of magic being disturbed, maybe something to do with the flow of time; all that mattered was that something was wrong" Clouds began to dot the sky, as if moving to match Roshi's grim mood. "But before it exploded, we saw a single vision in the glass…"

"The sky falling over the desolate remains of the Earth. The ground uprooted and twisted. All crushed under the weight of pure crystal. And there remained only one. One lone laughing survivor, flaunting a missing ki. The world was… Missing"[/spoiler]

Finally, this was one of those scenes I've been waiting to get to since the start of the story. Having Roshi explain how telling someone's fighting style to Pan was a scene I saw as having a lot of interesting potential in it, especially in a story about show where fighting is such a founding aspect. And for those that have seen Resurrection F, you can see the obvious ripof- Homage to Whis's teachings with Goku and Vegeta. Except this is more at a basic level and doesn't foreshadow a technique even the Gods of Destruction have trouble mastering, more a nod to some of the basic principles of the roots of Dragon Balls fighting mechanics.

With Chichi and Videl, I hope to have more scenes in the future where their arguing is toned down, while it does serve a purpose of furthering their characters with what was revealed this chapter; I can see how their arguments can easily turn to an annoying hindrance in the future. Hell, originally this scene would be taking place during one of Pans fights, with Roshi explaining this to Videl and ChiChi while Pan struggle with her fight; but I felt that maybe it would be more fitting and valuable from a character perspective if Roshi was explaining this directly to Pan after a fight. Plus, this was a better place to shove in Roshi's warnings that something is going on; going hand-in-hand with Flappe making the same conclusion last chapter.

But yeah, I'm actually happy with this scene (Considering I'm usually Mr Negative when it comes to my own work...) and can't wait to get to all the other moments I've had in my plot outline since the inception. I would start listing specific characters I'm excited to have their shining moment (From Android 16, to Dr. Sludge, to Bulma, to Dabura, to even the likes of the Pilaf Gang), but at this point I'd say every character has moments in this story I know I'll enjoy writing; especially when we get to the third arc.

Oh yeah, if I haven't mentioned this before, I see this story as having four arcs in total. We're currently around half-way through the first arc, and this arc isn't even that long; compared to the others I know it will be the shortest. The third being the longest and probably the arc I'm most excited to write, with a lot of weirdness, character interaction and adventure.

I just hope that we get that far :D

Don't think I've said this yet: I know this must be a bit of a time investment, so thanks for spending the time to read this story, I appreciate it. Just know that you can never get that time back.
When Super apparently shoves Goku down our throats:

Kanassa wrote:
FoolsGil wrote:I hope Mark is dead. But chances are the dragonballs will bring his stupid ass back. :D
- FoolsGil, Out of Context, 2017

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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Kanassa » Thu Dec 21, 2017 12:06 am

Now, for this chapter I will admit it is a very information heavy one, it is most of Gero's backstory; so I hope I've communicated this information in a natural and easily understandable way.

Chapter 32: Path to Damnation


[spoiler]"It all started years ago, before Cell, before the androids, before 20, before the fall of the Red Ribbon army. With a man, one Dr Gerald Gero." By now Dr Flappe had settled back into his chair, leaning back thoughtfully while Trunks towered over him from the side. "His son, Klein had signed up with the Red Ribbon Army. Never really knew the boy, but he seemed like a soft-hearted and driven child. The Army had set up near his mother's animal preserves, armed with propaganda and promise; Gero told me the boy found it hard not to get swept up in the passion of the recruitment officers"

Trunks's eyebrows perked up at this, he had picked up hints about Gero's wife when e and Bulma combed through Gero's database, it was rather amusing to think of her being a nature lover. A man of industry and artificial life with a woman of botany and nature. Still, it explained where 16's strong nature of life came from. "Soon, Gero followed suit out of concern for his son's wellbeing. Gero wasn't a soldier, he couldn't follow his son onto the field of battle, but he could at least make sure that Klein was well equipped"

"Such pure intentions" Trunks snorted, leaning in slightly "And how does protecting his son lead to kidnapping and torturing children?"

"That wasn't-… Gero didn't…" The old man felt like Trunks was reaching through his chest and strangling his heart, but none the less he sighed and collected his thoughts. "Gero ended up causing many atrocities, with every progress in his machines more innocent people lost their lives. But-… But he never…"

"He never intended to hurt anybody? What? Did he think that Red Ribbon Arm weren't going to employ weapons in warfare?"

"He wasn't blind. He knew damn well what he was getting into, he had those morals come up time and again; but he always could spin a tall tale, a reason to justify his work. It always came back to his son" Flappe leaned forward, massaging his forehead as he paused.

"And you?"

"I had no choice in the matter. Red Ribbon caught whiff of my scientific potential and held my village at gun point" A nervous scratch of the nose, cringing at the memory of that fateful day. "They were making big plans, wanted to chase the legends told of secrete wishing orbs. Something about some Dragon's testicles" Flappe briefly shared an amused look as he thought back to when that little Goku kid came to jingle village, in search of one of those wishing orbs. "And for this they needed better tanks, better submarines, airships, the whole lot. And they were prepared to do anything to drag the greatest scientific minds before them any create something wonderful. The likes of Dr Briefs, you Grandfather I believe, had enough money and sense to avoid the attempts. Wheelo was a great mind who just up and disappeared. I was third on the list"

"And Gero wasn't?"

"He was a brilliant mind, but not a well-known one" His head looked back down, eyes taking in the low flames of a quickly dying fire. "Sure enough, he quickly proved his worth and was placed in the same division as me" He grabbed his walking stick and used the blunt end to prod the logs, letting the flames rise. "And from there our plans unfolded, a desire to lower the body count. See, in battle there are many casualties, many well-loved and able-bodied people reduced to cannon fodder" He could see them now, proud smiling men lined up on a beautiful field, only to have their blood paint the countryside the next second. "Gero always believed that life is a precious commodity, and to waste it was a heavy loss. So, why waste life?"

"And that's when you came up with the Androids?"

"The perfect soldiers. Endurance, powerful and expendable" He paused, thinking for a moment before scratching his cheek. "Well, when the kinks are all hammered out and they can be mass produced, but you get my meaning. The Android you're most familiar with are a far cry from their humble beginnings" He could remember the notable first batch, such as Major Metalitron and Eighter. "Android 1 to 16 were completely mechanical. The first Android, the Super Prototype, was an utter disaster. Big and hulking, little movement speed, little strategic value and lacked enough processing power to accomplish much; especially on the battlefield" He pulled back the walking stick, watching the flames lick the edges of the fireplace, taunting him. "Each unit got progressively better, but all the way up to Android 7 they experienced similar problems. Their programming got better, but confining them to the guidelines of programs and codes severely limited their combat potential. They could not think on their feet, only trip on their own commands"

"And so, we came to the decision to add a human factor. Giving the Androids their own personalities. The first subject with this in mind was Android 8, who I believe you already know" Flappe took on a tone of both joy at talking about the innocent Android and guilt at what he originally intended for Eighter. "We designed him as a simple assistant, one who could traverse and survive harsh terrains and weather. We planned on integrating combat features when we fully explored the advantages of the human factor" And then there was guilt. "In the end, he was left locked away in Muscle Tower, at the mercy and command of General White"

Trunks took to leaning against the fireplace, welcoming the warm heat to sooth his rather cold mood. "Why'd you leave Eighter there?"

"I finally got the opportunity to 'retire'. I still had to stay close, but I was allowed to keep a peaceful life as long as I was quiet, kept to myself and looked the other way" Eyes closed, another sigh out. "Gero was relocated to another facility, dedicated to this project by now and creating two more Androids who were so advanced… They were capable of hatred and distain. And they did not appreciate being tools" His fingers curled, muscles tensing. "I learned later that at that moment Gero, for the first time, considered taking some unethical roads to success. To give these androids personalities, then take away their will to use it freely"

Flappe stopped, staring into the fireplace where the fames now began to rise further, engulfing the log and hissing at all who burned under its touch. "And then… The Red Ribbon Army was defeated. By a small boy with a tail."

In the back of his mind he could hear his phone going crazy "Something happened, Commander Red… Everyone… They're all dead…" The rustling of paper, the hurried footsteps of a desperate man running once more. "I didn't know who else to call…" Gero's voice muffled through choking panic "He could be out there. I need you to help me, no one else will!"

"We arrived at what remained of the base…"
***
"Gerald! Hold up!" Gerald Gero was not in any sort of state to be making rational decisions, when he had first set eyes upon the burning rubble that used to be Red Ribbon HQ, any other thought was cast to the wayside in favour of only one: Find his son. "You can't ju-" Fredric Flappe had managed to grab a hold of Gero's shoulder, but for this scientist, physics was just a mere suggestion.

He was a hard worker, a late worker. He hadn't slept a wink for a few weeks, his body hadn't the privilege of a healthy meal plan and his old bones were already crying for mercy as shrapnel scratched against his exposed legs. Still, his body pushed on, dragging along the helpless companion, fuelled only by willpower and a father's desperation.

It didn't matter that many structures in the site were still in the process of falling over. It didn't matter that every step he took had him staggering as the ground was built upon a layer of unstable stone fragments. It didn't matter that his nose twitched at the prevalent smell of gasses he knew were quite explosive. It didn't matter that anyone who saw him would be able to see fresh tears burning his flesh. All that mattered is that somewhere in this sea of choking skies and scorching flames, his little boy was alone and afraid.

One steep slope laid itself before him, built out of shrapnel and turned over vehicles singed by some sort of energy beam. Gero didn't hesitate, caution lost in the wind as he attempted to rush down the dead hill; of course, with that speed at that angel, it only took a few steps before Gero's foot was dragged forward by a loose surface and sent rolling down the slope. He felt the consequence of his rashness almost instantly, a river of metal glass shredding his arms and legs with each centre meter of ground he managed, drawing out more tears. Leaving him a bleeding mess at the foot of the metal hill. The only comfort he could take was that he landed on something soft…

A foul stench of dried blood exploded in Gero's nose, causing him to throw his head back of cough out a disgusted cry, wrenching his eyes open to see what he landed on. The only thing he needed to see were the eyes, those blue, kind, lifeless eyes. Those same eyes he stared into twenty-five years before, where on the edge of the void he was given a reason to live, where he promised to never let harm come to this bearer. Those same eyes had been full of so much innocence, so much kindness, so much love.

And now they were empty, sucking out what remained of Gero's own love from his already bleeding heart. "F-Flappe! Get down here and help!" Maybe it was desperation, maybe it was just tradition. But Gero pulled himself from the body of his only Son and turned to the hill, observing that half of the man's body was swallowed by the build up on ruin. He flung himself onto the heap, grabbing any piece he could get his hands on and throwing them behind his back.

He didn't know how long he had been going at it when Flappe caught up, desperately scraping at the wreckage, tears mixing in with the blood, his emotions pushing aside all feelings of pain and loss. "Gerald… You're only going to hurt yourself!" Still Gero punched weakly at the bigger pieces of the pile, struggling to move them while his muscles cried out in pain. "Good god, man. He's dead! You can't save him!" He felt Flappe's hand again, pulling him away from the body. Gero could hear the trembling in Flappe's voice, but that didn't make it sound any less heartless.

"I'M NOT LEAVING HIM HERE!" Gero's entire body shook as the grief fully hit him, reverbing through his body like a violent echo. "I can't abandon him" He fell back to his knees, clutching what he could hold of the body, ginger hair tickling the ground as the head fell limp over Gero's knee. "Ii did as I was ordered, I followed him to hell and back, I dropped everything… How could this have happened?" He looked to the sky, his voice rising as he yelled, hoping that maybe his grief could pierce the heavens. Hoping someone would hear his cries. "I MADE MY BED! I MADE MY MISTAKES! Why must my hollow heart keep beating while he, who had a whole life ahead of him, had to be taken?"

Flappe fell silent, arms falling to his side as he watched Gero cradle is sons body, silently sobbing in the corpse's shoulder. Despite the sun blazing in the sky, every ray of light was sucked from his world, leaving the world in utter darkness around the boy's body. There was only one ray of light left. One beacon. One clear way forward. The fire rose through the darkness, all burning, ever consuming.

"This wasn't done by an army." The tears had stopped, Gero's quiet voice only holding venom and vitriol. "This was done by one boy. One imp. One devil with a tail. Riding on a cursed cloud" Flappe felt the scolding heat of Gero's accusing glare. "The same Devil that attacked Muscle Tower… You were there"

"Gerald, this is not the righ-"

"His name."

"Gerald!"

"We all worked for the Red Ribbon Army. Most of us have been here for over ten years, ignoring loved ones, damning our souls, sacrificing our heart and lungs for metal and grit. This was everything" Gero took a handful of dirt and let it softly drift with the wind away from his hand. "Who took everything away from me? From them? From us?"

Flappe couldn't help but let guilt grab him by the throat, desperation and confusion dragging out his tongue. "Son… Son Goku" Maybe he thought Gero would be happy with just the name. Maybe he thought Goku was much too powerful of a kid for Gero to cause and problems. No matter what, he told Gero. And he couldn't bare it. Forgive me, boy. I am too weak…

"Son… Goku…" Gero first said the name softly, no anger, no fire, no malice. It was new for him, something stirring that confused him. He looked skyward, his soul asking all who listened "Son Goku?" He repeated the word with a more questioning tone, frustrated at the feeling he couldn't recognize. But then it clicked, his heart beating just a tick or so less. His eyes spared a glance at his son before he stood up, looking over what remained of his heart; burning towers of rubble, broken down and ineffectual war machines, all loyalties repaid in death.

He said it one more time. His eyes blank and empty, only reflecting the smoke that swirled around him. The darkness was hot, but the fire would guide the way out. It was a promise. "Son Goku."
***
Flappe now stood to his full height, all his strength and years of experience holding him up. He felt competent, healthy, powerful. And yet he stared into the raging fire, one he could see was starting to become uncontrollable and volatile, threatening to leap out and burn him. He did nothing to stop it. "He had experienced loss before. But finding his Son lying there, under the rubble after an event he wasn't even there to change, he found a new type of loss; loss at the hands of another. A loved one taken by another"

"I know the feeling" Trunks immediately slammed his mouth shut after that comment, his throat tightening at the mere thought of empathising with that monster. "Guess even monsters have something to lose" He quickly added.

"The only thing he had left to lose were his morals" Flappe leaned on the wall, looking as weak and tired as he felt. "I knew I was losing Gero, I knew that his hatred was only going to grow. But I had to help him. I thought that maybe in the years it would take for us to continue our project… His hatred would drain away" Flappe's eyes closed solemnly. "Gero didn't discontinue the Androids, he had a new purpose to build something that could rain retribution upon Goku. Android 11 and 12 were live subjects, cyborgs but we called them Androids for convenience's sake. Gero saw no wrong in it, they were dying people desperate to live, and they weren't exactly innocent. 12 was even the highly paid assassin, Tao Pai Pai, soon Gero only knew by the fact he failed to kill Goku"

Trunks almost found the irony amusing. "Gero looked down on Tao? Tao ended up doing the same thing as Gero, hunting down Goku for revenge" When Flappe had no reply Trunks shrugged and continued. "Next was 13 then? The Trucker"

"13 was where the ideas that would later build Cell took root, the idea of an Android that could be made stronger by taking parts from other androids when he needed to" Cold air began to set in, the fire seemed to have completely extinguished itself on its own. "The idea came from when Gero was ranting about how this would progress faster if both our minds could act as one. To celebrate the idea, Gero was also inspired to use this technology to bring back an old comrade. Tucker."

The image of the chuckling Trucker flashed in Trunks's mind, a split second of fear and apprehension causing his muscles to tighten. Flappe continued. "A loyal friend of his late son, a soldier; the perfect candidate be brought back as a weapon of vengeance. We were successful, Tucker was brought back to the living with his personality intact. I don't know what happened. But the next day, Gero was broken, and Tucker was deactivated" Flappe hobbled over to the side of the rom, opening a drawer and pulling out a large and worn out folder. "The same day, I found this"

Trunks immediately recognised the pictures attached to the front of the folder, and on cue his stomach turned. "17 and 18." In the photo, the two were much younger than what Trunks recognised them as. 12? 15? They had this innocent look about them, almost cute even.

"He was planning long before you'd think. He had been watching them for years. I confronted him about it and it was only then I realised how foolish I was. He was broken beyond repair, there was no turning back on this, only more shards to pick up and dust away. Something about Tucker had shook him that day. It was a moment of weakness that broke through his rage and blinded him with the moral question of what he'd been doing"

"What did you do?"

"I ran" He slammed the folder onto the ground, spilling across the ground paper and photos detailing the two orphans. "I ran, and I ran. I found the largest, heaviest rock and I hid under it. I couldn't face him, I couldn't face the world, I couldn't do anything"

"You watched him plan and scheme his hatred, and you did nothing" Trunks spat pure venom as he advanced upon the old man, punching through the wall just beside him. "You found these, you knew what he was planning to do to those children… AND YOU STILL DID NOTHING!?" Flappe had no time to protest as Trunks grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up, before slamming him into the wall. "You could have told someone. You could have stopped him yourself if he was so distracted. You could have stopped all of this. You let the world die, you coward!"

"Yes, yes…" Flappe cried out in pain, but he still managed to keep his desperate eyes locked onto Trunks, the guilt obvious. "I am a coward. I never had much courage. I never told Eighter about how I put a bomb in his chest. I never pulled the grieving man away from the path that would lead him nowhere. And I didn't stop him even when my eyes were open. That guilt has been choking me for twenty years, but…" He sighed, he sobbed, he muttered hopes of forgiveness under his breath. "Trunks, I want to ask you something…"

"Ask me someth-"

"Could you do it?"

"What?"

"You have people that you love, people you hold close. Some like lovers, some like friends, some like brothers. I grew up with that man, I was his partner for our first official big invention, I was the best man at his wedding. I loved him like a brother." His shoulders shuddered, his mind crying out for the good old days. "If your loved one fell into a dark place, their spirit broken and their intentions destructive. Could you bring yourself to stop them? Could you take that burden? Could you hurt them?"

Trunks stood frozen for a few moments, his eyebrows furrowed as he thought back to his loved ones. To those he'd come to care for. 16 could become Gero's puppet again if his programming was modified. To those he knew were family. My Mother and Videl could snap, they've been through so much... And to those he didn't know how to describe yet. Pan reminds me of my Father in some ways, would she disregard life like he did? His eyes hardened, already chewing himself out for taking more than a second to answer the question. "Of course I would. They're important to me, but I will sacrifice anything to keep this world safe, even if that sacrifice has to be my happiness" I mean, of course I would. Right?

Flappe relented with a slump in his eyes, like something inside just broke. "Then you are stronger man than I"

Trunks had to admit, he was suddenly feeling like a bit of a jerk for assaulting the man. No one could be expected to overcome everything. "You can still be strong, Flappe. You can help me protect this world by helping me find out if the Androids are still around"

"I can?" He responded as if the thought had never occurred to him, like the idea itself was impossible.

Trunks set him down. "Do you know what happened after you left?"

"I pieced things together from data I could find" The old man slid down the wall, slumping against it as his shoulder shook once more. "16 was the most significant point. I gather you already know that 16 was modelled after Gero's Son. Seems obvious now, bring back his son and everything gets better. But with his Son, his core reason for everything he's done; he started to wonder if his Son would agree with this" He paused, closed his eyes and braced himself. "He never activated him. He felt guilty. He finally acknowledged it out loud, he couldn't do it. No human could. One part of him chastised him, he was held down by his emotions and no matter what he'd never be able to push him to go as far as to kidnap children"

"Then what pushed him?"

"Nothing"

"I don't understand"

"Trunks, if you were a mad scientist who built fully functional, fully sentient Androids. What would you do when you realize that you can never get past your human flaws?"

"I'd… Build a me that wasn't limited by those flaws"

"Exactly. An android had no mental limits. Personality? Ethics? Boundaries? Moral stomach? All can be reprogrammed. And so Android 20 was born, forged in hatred, indoctrinated into obsession, powered by the thought of Son Goku's death" He got back up and stamped down on the file with his boot. "Dr Gerald Gero died that day, and from his ashes Android 20 took his place. So, when I looked back on this broken world, the monster that caused it all… Yes, it was Gero and me who made the schematics, but it was that monster, 20, who built the machine. Who doomed this world"

"You keep mentioning that…" Trunks crouched down in front of the man, trying to be on even level with him. "Sure, the world's not in great shape, but we're all pulling together and rebuilding. And if the Androids are back, I can beat them like I beat Cell and the Twins"

"I'm afraid that isn't it, Trunks" A faint hand reached across and clasped itself on Trunks's shoulder. "Though Gero might have something to do with it, something far worse is troubling our world. Haven't you noticed? Strange weather patterns, the World GROWING, landscapes rising and switching and falling. Gravity shifting" His eyes were wide and pulsating, crazed. Trunks had to admit, he did feel heavier as he approached the house, but he just attributed that to the snow. "The distance between this house and Jingle Village was once half an hour, yet now that travel time has stretched to a full hour. Mountains taller, Wastelands wider. Next thing you know, the sky will be falling upon. These aren't just anomalies, these are the signs of the apocalypse"

"I haven't really been paying attention… But I'm sure it's just a bit of rough weather, irregular things happen"

"Irregular? IRREGULAR!? A man in a devil costume dancing atop a toilet is irregular, this is catastrophic!" With his free hand, Frappe wiped sweat from his brow, his voice panicking. "I've read theories about this kind of result made by your Grandfather"

"My Grandfather?"

"Yes, yes, once upon a falling apple he had the thought to try and build a Time Machine, in which he began investigating the adverse effects and application of time travel. Ended up scrapping it all though…"

Trunks had sworn his entire face had gone blue as he blurted out "Time Travel? Hold up a sec, you mean these line up with the effects of using a Time Machine"

"Well, yes… But as I said, he ended up scrapping it, so I suppo-… Why are acting so jumpy when I bring up Time Tr-" Flappe stopped, the gears in his head working, and before Trunks could interrupt Flappe's jaw had already dropped. "That brilliant woman! She did it, didn't she!? SHE BULIT A TIME MACHINE!"

"You already figured out it was my mother who did it?"

"Of course! Your mother's scientific mind rivalled that of Gero and her Father's combined, she'd be the only one who could do it" A fire seemed to have been relit inside Flappe's eyes, his groaning bones paid no mind as he launched himself at Trunks, gripping the boy's shoulders with glee. "Did you use it? Have you time travelle- Of course you have, that's why this is all happ- Oh, the anomalies; this both terrible and amazing at the same time. I'm not sure my heart can take it!"

"Your mood swings are confusing…"

"Don't you get it? This is a scientific extravaganza of the century! The pinnacle of knowledge, the impossible!" Flappe got to his feet with a new spring in his step. "So impossible that even Dr Briefs gave up and he never gave up. I always had suspicions, but to know now that such a thing is a reality; it makes me… Makes me hopeful" He hopped over to the bookshelf and started tearing down pages, scattering them all over the floor. "You're right, I'm weak. I'm at the bottom. But being at the bottom doesn't mean the end, it just means that the only way to go is up" He briefly stopped to grab a large bottle of alcohol and take a swig. "Now, this might just be the stages of my body reacting to the alcohol drank before you came in, but I feel like there's hope. I feel… I feel like saving the world!"
And just after that moment, much like Flappe's confidence, the house exploded in a blinding tornado of golden light. All Trunks could do was throw himself in the way to protect Flappe as they were both engulfed.
[/spoiler]

That was... Longer than I thought it was. Hope you enjoyed and, again, I hope the information was neither lost nor annoying to read through.

I wanted to get across that at his core, Gero wasn't just a mindless villain, he had personal reasons for what he did. Now, one thing I worried about with this chapter is how I presented Gero's backstory. I didn't want it to look like what he did was being justified, the intention is only to understand why Gero goes on to do such terrible things. We will be returning to this backstory more in depth later, which will certainly be better than Flappe just explaining this.

One thing that did make presenting this backstory hard, is that at the same time I'm also balancing Trunks's behavior. I wanted to convey his inner struggles that the return of the Androids has stirred, how his desperation and anger is getting the better of him when it comes to anything related to those subjects. To the point that he lashes out at people who don't deserve it because they try to look at the full picture, I had a bit of this back with Eighter. This is because, in my view, Future Trunks has always been a rather impulsive character. He may not share Vegeta's combat boner, but he has his Daddy's impulsive nature when something gets his hackles up.

I also really wanted to portray Flappe as someone who feels his years catching up to him. Someone who's been carrying the guilt of inaction for years on end, so much so that he's secluded himself with suicidal thoughts. He's thought about uing science to combat the androids before, but he always called it impossible, he called every situation impossible. Which is why acknowledging that Trunks killed Cell and the Androids, as well as the fact that Time Travel is possible, it gives Flappe hope that maybe his situation isn't so impossible after all.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, see you next time!
When Super apparently shoves Goku down our throats:

Kanassa wrote:
FoolsGil wrote:I hope Mark is dead. But chances are the dragonballs will bring his stupid ass back. :D
- FoolsGil, Out of Context, 2017

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Kanassa
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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Kanassa » Sun Jan 21, 2018 5:31 pm

So, how did I fuck up today? Well, I a hapter done two weeks ago when I was supposed to upload it. I thought I posted it here, but apparently something on my end went wrong and I didn't notice until now, So, technically this chapter is two chapters, but they flow well together since they're two parts of the same fight

Chapter 33: Schnitzel VS Kassy - A Battle of Odd Proportions


[spoiler]“Contestants! Please make your way to the fighting arena for our second match up!” As Kassonna dropped down from her perch atop the stadium walls she could see the Announcer curiously poking at the stage, the whole and completely spick an’ span stage. “I would have called a recess to repair the damages cause by our previous cataclysmic fight, but… Uh… It seems our resident Genie, Mr Popo, was kind enough to… Whatever he did”

She tapped her index finger against her forehead in-rhythm with her own footsteps, contemplating on her general demeanour on the way in to the ring. Should ‘Kassy’ strive confidently, but with a good-natured wave? Maybe she should tuck her arms around her back, regal, but with the illusion of contemplation and humbleness; like how Dashade usually walked. Nah, not my style. Torne had a nice walk. Confident, long strides with the speed of an old lady; bobbing her empty head back and forth like the air was playing ping pong. Though that egotistical smirk of hers does always remind me of a horse passing gas.

As she reached the first step she wrote of Dr. Sludge, the man was a sweetheart, but the waddling footsteps Christmas-esc mirth did not fit. Trebel! Trebel’s would be perf- Ah… I don’t know any of his dance moves. I always forget to steal his moves! By the time she realised that the announcer was staring at her, waiting for an answer, her hand had found itself locked over her jaw. Inquisitive? Hmm… I think I can do this right. Work the mystery angel. Much better than my last role.

Her left shoe trembled slightly in response to the movement of her big toe, a voice coming out muffled through the material “Screaming ‘The Nameks are coming! The Nameks are coming!’ didn’t make that stupid outfit any bet-” Before swiftly being silenced by the right foot kicking the mouthy toe.

“Hey, no mind reading!” Came the more ‘feminine’ response “Don’t make me come over there and paint your nails red and purple!”

Of course, the muffled cries of warring, sentient feet were quiet enough that the Announcer and Kassy’s opponent could only understand that someone’s feet were a bit itchy. “Are you okay, Miss?”

“Oh, they’re fine. Just a bad case of the grumpy guts” Kassonna clasped her hands together with a jaunty laugh. “If you think they’re mischievous, you should hear the other voices in my head” At her straining smile, the Announcer and Schnitzel could only look to each other in confusion, a moment of silence passing between them. Eventually the Announcer nodded to him, let out a chuckle and turned to face the audience.

“Well, you can’t say we don’t deliver personality here, folks!” The audience joined in with his laughter, obviously taking her words as a joke. After a few seconds, the Announcer raised his hand with a good-natured grin “Settle down, settle down; otherwise we’ll never have time to start this match”

“Quite right” Kassy glanced down at the watch that wasn’t on her wrist, tutting out loud. “A bit of time crunch. You people don’t have much longer left” The scandalous giggle that followed was promptly ignored. “Let’s hurry to the showdown!”

“Sure, sure, sure” By this point in his life The Announcer, of all people, had no place to be surprised about strange contestants. At least they were as enthusiastic about the fight as he was. Sure, at first he had his doubts with Kassy’s opponent being less than stellar in the warrior looks department. But… “Contestants, get into position! When I say ‘Begin’ I hope to be unleashing one of the most exciting matches yet to come”

“Exc-c-citing?” Schnitzel finally spoke, his voice coming out like chattering teeth due to his constant fearful shakes.

Th Announcer stopped himself to add “And explosive, of course. Just… Try not to blow up the arena. I don’t want to think about the legalities of Genie magic”

Schnitzel’s expression only grew more wide and fearful, sweat leaving a damp trail down his fur. “Explosive!? Oh no…”

The microphone was given a stylish twirl, the Announcer pushing his free hand in between the two competitors, his voice only getting louder. “Now; READY!” The crowd cheered. Schnitzel began to feel itchy. “SET!” Kassy stood with relaxed posture, slowly swaying side-to-side like an impatient child. Schnitzel let out a whine, his sharp nails digging into his arm as he tried to scratch at the itch. “And…” His shaking had increased to violent vibrations, his comforting scratched only growing more savage, pulling against whatever flesh he could find. It was like there was something under his skin that was tearing at him from the inside. “BEGIN!

Kassy stood up straight, looking down with a poisonous smirk.

The Crowd held their breath, waiting in anticipation for the fight to begin.

The Announcer jumped back until he could find anything that would be considered cover. He’d learned his lesson by now.

Kassy gave Schnitzel the first move.

And so Schnitzel cried.

“W-WAIT! WAIT A MOMENT!” Tears were flicked off the ends of his fur as his head swayed with dismay. “I n-n-need you to wait! I don’t wanna die!”

Kassy squinted, trying to find something to combat the tinge of disappointment in her stomach. “Huh?”

The Announcer’s yelling into the microphone was heard from the safety of out of bounds area “Hey, I said ‘Begin’. Hit each other!”

“I can’t!” The small fox sniffled, his ears flopping downwards.

“What do you mean?” There was certainly more aggression in the man’s voice now. “Come on, we can’t have victory by pre-fight mercy calls in the second fight!”

“I am n-n-not calling for m-mercy” Quickly his beady eyes looked back over to Kassy, who was apparently quite intimidating, judging by the panicked manner in which
he jumped back. “I need moment. I’m not ready. T-turn around”

“You want me to turn my back on you?” Even Kassy found this proposal strange.

“A-all of you. Please, just a moment. All I need. Then we can fight” He shuffled his feet, his posture in a nervous hunch. “We can g-get this show on the road. Be fair”

Where the audience and Announcer shook their heads in frustration, Kassy simply offered a casual shrug. “…Sounds legitimate. But I really need to speed this up a little, and this better be fun!” To the confusion of the audience, Kassy complied with the offer and turned her back upon Schnitzel. “I must say, you should keep it in mind how rude it is to inconvenient everyone in a spectator event. Next time, you need-” A split-second was all Kassy had to feel the quaking in the air, before dropping down into a crouch as as a crackling force of crimson energy shot right past her. “-make preparations before entering the ring. And I know people like to think they’re so sure, but creating a list to remind yourself you have everything is crucial. Otherwise, you just look like a poopooer”

“Stupid little Kitty…” Schnitzel’s voice had shifted to a deeper pitch, his tone completely devoid of that fear and doubt that had been so prevalent before. “Damn it all, I miss-fired. Didn’t mean to scare you”

The tone did nothing but set her face on permanent grin mode, her energy and anticipation returning to her bones as she stood back up. “I get it, all this build up to a dramatic entrance, ey? I can respect that” She span back around to face Schnitzel with her own little flourish, striking a delicate pose with a flic of her hip. “I do respect that” Now, she was able to take the opportunity to look over this new Schnitzel.

This fox must have been a wizard or one hell of a quick-change artist, as his entire appearance had been switched. His orange fur had seemingly been frozen over, replaced by white strands. His business suit now ripped and cast aside in favour of a full white spandex costume, with a glowing green ‘X’ running across the torso.
“Hope I didn’t startle you too much, Lady” His once fragile grimace had now been replaced by a teeth-filled snarl, drool and all. He’d even grown a few inches.

“I almost forgot you make it past the preliminaries”

He picked at the crevice between his sharp teeth, giving Kassy all the time to take it all in. “Yeah, yeah. All those tough-tough brawlers had the same expression when they found out that Little Schnitzel wasn’t coming out to play”

“I approve, most definitely! Now, the million-dollar question on my mind; was that down trodden loser just an act? Or have you just completed the extreme cycle of fear?”

“That loser?” The emphasize the disgust in his tone, Schnitzel spat on the ground in front of him. “He’s no act. He’s just squatting here. I’m the main event, I handle the deprived and dirty; the little fox is my receptionist you could say”

“So, you’re the bull-goose loony”

“Undisputed”

Kassy nodded, closing the distance between the two with mischievous glance “I’ll take it” He would be a fine addition to her fingers, her thumb had been needing a pillow.

Schnitzel’s look never faltered, he seemed mildly entertained by the strange woman, sticking out his hand with a wink. “Just shake my hand and we’ll get this show on the road” A suspicious eyebrow was raised. “We’re fighters, we should uphold courtesies. A display of sportsmanship. Loser leaves the stage a bloody stump” With no hesitation Kassy reached forward and clasped Schnitzel’s hand, the audience yelling obscenities surrounding the topic of ‘Getting on with it’ in the background. Immediately upon contact, Schnitzel’s grin grew, and a choking chuckle rattled through his throat. “I can’t believe you actually did it” No further explanations were needed as a very prominent humming noise could be heard emanating from Schnitzel’s palm, followed by the buzzing of electricity as his shock gloves lit Kassy up like a Christmas tree.

The sting of electrical currents felt like a wave of fire and rashes were moving up the skin in waves, her flesh instinctively moving upwards as the current moved over, as if dragged upwards by the electricity. Each sting inviting a world of burning pain, insects burrowing into her flesh and injecting fire into her bones, before coming back in forceful wave that threatened to tear her skin apart. A thousand needles piercing her at the same time.

Worst of all was that by the end of it Kassy’s skin had began bloating up, close to turning into paste and falling right off, much like how it had looked before when Kassonna had turned back into his true form. The electricity had tarnished her skin. Kassonna had to admit, as little as he thought of this body, he was a tad annoyed.
“That hertz” His prompt response was followed by a quick hand reach up and pushing his identity back into place.

“You look like melting butter” Schnitzel made no move while his opponent repaired the damage to their skin, more curious than angry at the fact that the person was still standing after being electrocuted. “Usually, people just start smoking and smoking ‘till they collapse. What are you made out of, silly putty?”

“I’m made up of pure, lazy, drunk inconsistencies” Still holding on the electrifying glove, Kassy increased her grip, outing enough force behind her fingers to easily crush through the mechanism producing the electrifying attack. “This body, however, is built upon desire. And currently, someone is very hungry”

“What are-” There was no time given to be concerned or confused from the audience’s perspective, all they saw was Schnitzel interrupting himself to yell out in pain and lurch backwards. At first, it was assumed that Kassy had absolutely crushed the man’s hand with her grip, but immediately after his scream he followed up with “Y-you bit me! Somehow, you bit me!”

“No, that was just Little Timmy. He likes Fox Meat, the little scamp” She let out a sigh, a wistful one at that as her fingers crossed over one another in an attempt to cover a violent response. “Personally, I prefer my meat roasted and shivering in a whirl of warm colors”

“That a threat, lady?”

“I don’t hand out threats, just preferences” As Kassonna smiled sweetly, she noted that the large X symbol on Schnitzel’s chest was beginning to light up. That couldn’t mean anything good.

“And people call me rude”

“Nonsense, you’re plenty rude. I’ll even use you for rude gestures next time I feel immaturity beckoning me” For emphasis, she pushed down upon the knuckle of her index finger until she heard the peasant crack of bone. “Now, Mr Schnitzel-”

“X”

“Excuse me?”

“I already told ya, Schnitzel’s just the receptionist. I’m the real deal” The fox, who was now more beginning to resemble a wolf, jump into his next position. He flung his arms out around him, stretching each limb in a diagonal direction until his pose resembled the X on his clothes, said X now pulsating crimson. “When the tempting smell of profit and plunder crosses his mighty nose, the mild mannered banker, Schnitzel, falls into a downward spiral of crime and depravity. He sits atop the throne of the dark underbelly of civilisation, a grip of iron on very criminal operation the police can’t crack. He becomes… CAPTAIN X!”

“…So, you’re a Super Hero?”

“Wha- No! Didn’t you hear me!? I rule the criminal underworld. Super Villain, VILLAIN” He continued with his poses, sweeping his legs to come together and keel over into a new position, hoping this would give him more credibility. “Do you not recognise the deranged power of pure, unadulterated evil in my eye?”

“I’m still not sure who you are”

“What!?” He stomped his feet, steam shooting out of his pointed ears. “I’ve robbed banks, taken government officials as hostages, stolen candy from babies!”

Through the silence of the dumbfounded audience, the Announcer peaked out from his cover. “I don’t know who you are either” Somewhere in the world, for a reason he’d never know, Pilaf felt a strange wave of understanding and sympathy for someone.

From the entrance archway back near the main building, Pan piped up. “Am I the only one that finds the fact that he’s a convicted criminal… I don’t know, alarming?” She had just managed to get back in time to witness the match, and was extremely surprised to find that it hadn’t started yet. “Like, shouldn’t someone be calling the police”

“Look, we were lax with the rules and qualifications. We were REALLY desperate for any marketing appeal…” The Announcer grumbled into his mic, looking to his two attendants who held up the rule book, shaking their heads. “Besides, we don’t really have any police here and the police from other towns don’t have any jurisdiction. The island technically counts as its own country… Don’t ask me how that works”

“Shut up!” Schnitzel howled into the sky. He was almost to the point of seething with anger at this obvious mockery, and the match had yet to actually begin. “You don’t know ME? Well, then I’ll just have to engrave my name into your corpses!”

“That’d be in direct violation of the rules” The Announcer quickly added.

“Oh... Well, then I’ll mark it into the ground”

“No, no. Graffiti is strictly prohibited after the Janitor kept on nagging us about it”

“I am a crime lord!” As if reflecting his anger, the X glowed brighter, flashing its displease with the conversation. Raring to go.

“Listen, you win the tournament, we’ll be putting you on T-Shirts anyway. You can put your name on those”
Schnitzel narrowed his eyes at the man cowering off stage before finally relenting with a nod. “Done. Now, to the match…” He went back to smiling at Kassy, who had just got done with using her pinkie to pick her her nose. “Perfect.” With her focused elsewhere, he threw his arms out wide, completely opened as the flashing of the X picked up in speed. Within a few seconds the flashing came to a stop, crimson electricity sparking around the letter; before an energy blast in the shape of a giant red X was unleashed from the suit. “EXTREME BEAM!”

All Kassy could do was clap while the attack came towards her. “Awwww, you even have a theme. I’m delighted! Now, hit me with your be-”

...

...

...

"You missed?" Kassonna statement came out more confused than anything, her eyes squinting at the imprint left on the stage after the energized letter had completely passed her by. "You missed." This one was more accusatory, almost glaring at Schnitzel, but managing to reel in her disappointment. "You. Missed"

"It happens to the best of us"

"You were at point blank range!" Honestly, Kasey had witnessed and experienced a great variety of screw ups and flubs, but this managed to surprise her. "I didn't even move" The audience wasn't focused on the miss, instead shaking off the shock as only now did any of them acknowledge the risk of a stray energy attack hitting the audience, only to be saved by foreword thinking.

"A generous donation from Capsule Corp" The Announcer had inklings of pride at this revelation, gesturing to the visible blue dome that stood strong in front of the audience stands, the giant crimson X fizzling out upon contact with the field. "We figured that after the last few tournaments ended with the entire stadium exploding, we needed to do something to get the Government off our backs…" When the crowd displayed surprise at this, the Announcer looked almost offended. "Did no one read our introductory brochure? I spent a week on those…"

"I read it!" Came the lone voice of Pan, who everyone promptly ignored. She looked and felt much smaller now.

"Aha!" Kassy's attention was brought back to the fight, her foxy opponent already charging at her. "Fool! The second you took your eyes off of me was the second you sealed your fate!" Her muscles tensed, her feet already pushing her upwards. "EXTREME CHARGE!" Another crimson flash, this time from his nose, before another energy blast erupted from his glowing snout.

"That's the spirit, Great Saiyaman!" In an instant the two fell into a battle of speed and reflex, Kasey on the defensive and zipping across the stage with Schnitzel firing an army of beams that chased her down at every turn. He was quick, she'd give him that.

"It's Captain X. X as in the shape of your eyes when you draw your final breath!" The barrage continued in a storm of crimson rain, crashing down hard upon the recently repaired stage with a thunderous impact. The Announcer was already asking Pan if she knew where the genie guy was. "Is running all that you're good for?!" Schnitzel's taunts could barely be heard over the explosive cries of his beams, especially for Kassy, who upon being unable to hear his words decided to get closer.

"Did you say something?" Was the only thing that Schnitzel heard before Kassy's head came up from under his snout, slamming into his favourite facial feature and snapping all the bones underneath in half. The barrage drew to a sudden close, Schnitzel throwing his head ball to howl in pain as he clasped his broken appendage tightly.

"What da hell, man!?" He cried, leaving Kassy confused as he fell to his knees. "You can't just DO that! What type of display of sportsmanship is that?"

A disgruntled sigh from Kassonna. "You get really grouchy when you start losing" Not giving Schnitzel time to recover, she reached down to grab him by his broken snout and raise him to eye level. "Where's all the glorious ham? Don't tell me that all you have left is pitiful whining, because that's not fun, or entertaining; that's just annoying" The added pressure on his snout coaxed out a severe whimper, before a sweet, but rough relief as Kassonna threw him to the floor with an expectant glare. "Amuse me! We haven't got long to waste with this tournament" When the man was still grovelling, Kassonna patted him on the shoulder and leaned down next to his ear. "I am not amused, little pup. Make this an entertaining match, or I'm shifting the whole tone of this tournament to the bloody kind. I prefer to cut straight to the interesting bits and leave the borefests in the trash"

For the third time that day, Kassonna offered that look. Her words weren't exactly something the crime lord hadn't heard before, but there was a certain weight to the sickly, sweet and casual tone. A sense of smugness in a secret she knew but no one else did. A crack in that mask that nobody bought. In his mind there was an echo to her voice, as if it wasn't just one person speaking. "You don't want to just take your win and go on? W-why?"

There came a frown, as if insulted by the very question. "To be surprised by next day, to be fearful of the next moment, to bleed from an attack I never expected, to lose something dear…" At this point Kassonna didn't seem to be talking to Schnitzel, more musing to himself. "Oh yes, I'd die for that. Over and over and over" In an instant, as if to add punch to her words, her knee came up to kick Schnitzel into the air. "AMUSE ME!"

Well, if my life is truly on the line here… Then I won't kneel before such threats, by doing EACTLY what she wants me… To… Do… The pain in his snout was burning, but he pushed on through the pain, biting down on his lip to hold in growls. He had to focus on surviving this match, whoever this woman was, she was serious. She'd make a good body guard. But there was time for those thoughts later, right now he had to unleash his arsenal. Only problem is he didn't exactly remember what that arsenal was. Damn vacations!

He flipped a switch on his right arm, which fortunately caused two small compartments to open on either forearm, letting loose stacks of smaller red 'X's. From the looks of them as they rained down the sky, Schnitzel had o smile. Bombs, of course, this was sure to scratch this she-witch!

PLOP

Only for that smile to instantly dissolve as he observed the 'bombs' to hit the ground with a soft plop. No explosion, no big noise, no damage. Just a the whispering hiss as some chemicals within fizzed. "I feel a very easy innuendo coming on…" Kassonna, on the other hand, seemed enthralled by the red Xs, the previously threatening presence of Kassonna faded away, covered up by the mask of Kassy.

"Now, what do these little babies do?" She giggled, watching as the X began to grow, the edges stretching past her foot and that age old glow effect rearing its face once more. "Is it something flammable? Oh, is this some sticky substance that will sweep me off my feet when I try to run? Or may-" As soon as the X came into contact with her, it seemed to ignite, the hellish hue engulfing her along with a shockwave. For the first time in the fight, Kassy cried out in pain.

"Oh,, that's right. Those are the electrical land mines" Schnitzel managed to stick his landing, a bit winded from the kick, but still able to start laughing it up as he started getting some headway in this fight. "AHA! You have fallen for my trap. The EXTREME NET"

Each string of the electric 'net' wrapped around and secured Kassy's limbs, holding her in place and pulling her down with chains of pain. The current wasn't just a sting on her muscles, it managed to bypass her defences and rattle even her bones. Even if she was powerful, she still had nerves and organs. And none of those liked electricity.

Soon the pain came to an end, the mine turning off and letting Kassy drop to her knees, gasping for breath as echos of pain rattled her. Still, she managed to look up at Schnitzel and fire off a smile. "Now… T-this is m-more like it! You may be the side dish, but more of this will sure sweeten my meal"

"You're still standing!?" It was a mix of a yelp and an annoyed growl from Schnitzel, the fox jumping back as Kassy got to her feet, rushing forward with the smirk sticking. "Well, I'm only just getting started" While he backed out of arms reach, he chucked down a few more mines, these covering more ground at a fast rate, meaning that Kassy was forced into a game of 'The Floor Is Lava'. Her form was almost a blur, hopping from one space in between Xs and the next like a basketball. "I can't knock you out myself, so I'll just make sure that the only place you can stand is out of the ring!" With a new found determination, Captain X began spitting out more mines like a sprinkler spits out water, chucking them at every available inch of the stage until gradually Kassy had to fall back to avoid the walls of danger zones he was making.

"This is the time for taunting, my furry friend!"

"Uh, of course…"

"Try to have some fun! It's just a fight"

"Right…" His tone devolved into sarcasm. Just a fight. A fight that might end in me getting killed because you're some drama obsessed freak! But, to appease his opponent, Captain X dug deep within himself and let the ham flow into his laugh. "One step too close and it's all over. You're just a bug! One that will soon be caught in my zapper"

"Zap me then, X man" Her laughter carried across the whole stadium, who enjoyed the lights show but were utterly confused with the two combatant's attitudes. Never the less, their interest was hooked as Kassy began her charge, firing off light ki blasts at the traps, setting them off one-bye one. The end result was a very visible wall of surging power between her and Captain X. "Do you prefer me cooked or raw?" She charged. "Just kidding, love; you're getting cooked whether you like it or not!"

Another explosion erupted in front of her, but this time intentional as it propelled her into the air, almost over the pillars of electricity, but she wouldn't win the fight that easily. Well, not that boringly easy for her. Instead, she twisted her body into a diagonal angle and dived straight into the pillar, smashing through the wall of defence. Instead of being stopped or held up by the mines, the current seemed to either avoid her or just brush against her skin as she blasted through, sending small little tingles of pain up her spine. "You're a living rabbit's foot, but that luck won't last forever!"

The closer she got to her opponent, the more frequently the current would hit and attempt to drag her down, slowly with each passing second her skin was set on fire. Each fire more intense than the previous one.

"Your efforts are admiral, but still futile. Give up!"

Almost there and she could feel her this body start to ask for a break, gravitating towards the ground where relief could be found.

"It isn't possible, your endeavour is pointless-"

Just a little closer, but her bones still cried, this body was beginning to show it's weaknesses. Kassonna was more endurance, but Kassy was the role for now.

"Dear god, just go down!"

And finally, the payoff.

"You should ju-" Beat, bruised and crispy; Kassy's body broke through the wall with such force that X was blown backwards, but still standing. Unfortunately for him, her body still had the momentum to move forward, her forehead slamming into his stomach with enough power behind it to completely squeeze his lungs with just the shockwave. This also had the effect of knocking him completely out of the ring, over the ring out zone and crashing against the force field as a twitching, screaming mess.

"And with that amazing display of resilience, Kassy whatshername has knocked her opponent out-of-bounds. Meaning that we have our winner!" For a moment, Kassy seemed to be spazaming out on the floor, her flesh throbbing visually like stimulated clay, but in time she managed to struggle to her feet and smooth out her face. "Let's give a good round of applause to our second match winner; KASSY!"

Kassy didn't put much stock in the praise and love of the audience, but Kassonna was lapping it up like it was chocolate. But, soon she had to turn around and make her way off the stage, giggling to herself as she glanced back, catching a glimpse of Schnitzel being wheeled away on a stretcher. His personality seemed to have devolved, his face tearing up as he struggled to breathe.

"That was a nice show you put on out there" She wasn't surprised to meet Son Pan at the entrance, she knew the battle hungry tyke was watching the match, probably taking pleasure in Kassonna's pain.

"Do you really think so?" A hand up to her forehead, Kassy pretended to swoon "That's quite the compliment coming from you, Pan!" She clapped her hands together, eyes wide with joy and lips flapping to squee. "Oh, this means that next round we'll be fighting. I can't wait to make you sweat!"

Pan looked unsure at this decree, leaning against the wall with a grunt. "You were holding back in that fight, weren't you?" Her eyes narrowed on Kassy, an impatient tapping rhythm coming from her feet. "I don't know why, but you had to be" It wasn't like Pan had any proof that Kassy was a much more powerful fighter than she appeared, but her gut had been feeling some hidden power ever since the two first met. "Could have cost you the match"

"Oh, Pan. You're so cute" Kassonna leaned in uncomfortably close, running a dainty-looking finger up Pan's neck until it reached the chin, tilting Pan's head up to look at her directly. "You must understand how foolish you're assumption is. I do not walk this journey to get to the end, I backtrack to find the perfect destination" Something about those fake, unnatural eyes kept Pan from moving. "Besides, I'm not more guilty than you. I believe we share common ground. Inflicting and taking pain, reminding us of our own mortality is sick fascination of ours"

Kassy backed away, continuing to move back into the waiting room, relinquishing whatever hold she had over Pan's body. While the unease was still there, Pan was able to keep her confidence strong and declare "You better not pull the same stunt in our fight. Kicking your ass in a one-sided fight is no fun"

The woman merely waved Pan off with a dismissive hand, softly laughing. "I will try my very best, Pan, though I must abide by the limits of this body. But that is no concern of yours" Soon her form began to fade, taken from sight by low lighting. "For you enjoy inflicting pain on a level far more pleasurable than you would like to admit"[/spoiler]

This chapter was might have some muddy reception. Yeah, overall this was a gag fight, with Schnitzel being far outclassed. My thinking was that after the recent Flappe chapter where we explored a broken man lamenting on how he watched his friend go insane, I thought it'd be good to have a cool down chapter or two. Don't worry, we'll be following up on the after math of that sudden attack next chapter.

Another reason for the gag fight being Kassonna's was to help display the strange dynamic Kassonna has going on, slipping from over-the-top ham to serious when she isn't getting her fun, like a very deadly mime. As well displaying some of the flaws of her 'Face Stealing' abilities before his/her fight with Pan, while also showing just how he/she treat these separate identities.

See you next time, thanks for reading this far!
When Super apparently shoves Goku down our throats:

Kanassa wrote:
FoolsGil wrote:I hope Mark is dead. But chances are the dragonballs will bring his stupid ass back. :D
- FoolsGil, Out of Context, 2017

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Kanassa
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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Kanassa » Mon Feb 05, 2018 3:41 pm

Chapter 34: Mark of a Warrior - Trunks Under Attack!

[spoiler]Pain hurt. Pain burned. Dashade had to admit he found pain useful for himself, feeling pride while it pumped through his body with no sentience to shed mercy or arrogance. Pain was comforting, a reminder that his hollow body still had some life in it, that he wasn’t a shriveled husk yet. When his agile opponents materialized from the darkness and hit him with a hard-right hook, he grimaced, he cried out as pain electrocuted his nerves. For this exercise he had opted to fight without his natural armor, allowing the strike to connect with an old fading scar on his shoulder, stinging his vision with red.

It wasn’t pain alone that helped him, that made him feel worth it; it was personal pain. Yes, the reignited fire of his scar, associated with bad memories and crippling harm, made his body cry out. But it spoke to him in clear understanding. Pain didn’t lie, pain wasn’t subtle, pain was trustworthy. It spun you around and shoved blunt force down you throat. The pain told him what protect meanwhile and what to improve later. It told him he was still lacking in the areas he needed to master. It told him he was progressing because it stung less than last time. It told him he was alive.

So, when his opponent appeared again, aiming to exploit this new weak spot, Dashade naturally pivoted around the incoming attack on his heels; spinning around and slamming his tail into his foe’s back. Pain still screamed at him for taking the blow in the first place, but it was content for a second more. It reminded him of his old instructor, big, loud and red in the face, kicking you into the dirt and daring you to struggle to your feet. If you stayed down, if you let pain win, you were already as good as dead on the battle field.

Dashade didn’t enjoy pain, but he needed that pain. He needed those shameful memories that lead him here, he needed the faces of those he failed, he needed the acknowledgements of those that put up with him. It almost made him crack a smile: Even years after being discharged, he kept his strict form and exercises in his heart. At this thought he looked down to a particular scar. Yeah, everyone has a story behind their bruises and marking, but this one was one he’d never forget. Stitch markings and strained flesh, where a hole used to be. “You may have shunned me, Sir. But I never strayed away from the path you put me on. My loyalty is still pure”

“And I thought Kassonna was the one with voices in his head” Around Dashade the veil of shadows faded, his sparring partner face down on the floor of the training room in a pile of junk and wires. The rush of battle began to fade from his system, replaced with gruff annoyance as he looked to the side, where he met the snarling face of Torne.

“I’m paying my respects to my teachers, Monkey” Torne was an aggravating one, Dashade would give her that. Pride driven and combat hungry to unreasonable heights, certainly a Saiyan to the core. His assessment of her was that here and now, she was useful and efficient under the right circumstances.

“Don’t think the dead need money, Conehead” Admittedly, she could certainly be an aggravating woman, but where it counts she could knock a few heads around. Dashade knew that no matter what he thought of his own abilities, this was a team effort, so he would put aside his petty grievances for the sake of Lady Yarimasu. “Have you been doing this after every battle, or is today just special?”

He pushed on wards, approaching her where she sat hunched over on a bench, her body glazed in a sheen of sweat that sunk through her training clothes. From her exposed stomach, Dashade noted the multiple green patches that were growing over her skin. “Your condition is stable?”

In one hand she held up a water bottle, freely pouring the contents over herself and letting the cold liquid drown the swelting heat and irritation of sweat. Her smirk grew into a snarl at the question. “Aww, your concern is cute. Trying to earn a treat? Remember, you’re the Boss’s pet, not mine”

“I’m attempting to discern whether I should keep you grounded to the ship for the next few missions. Frivolous back-talking will get you nowhere” He now stood over her sitting form, looking down to her as she threw him up a small towel. “If your condition keeps you in a state unfit for battle, you’ll be a hindrance to the mission. I won’t risk you or anyone else in that regard”

“Sure, sure” She waved her hand dismissively, throwing her head back to shoot her usual smugness at the man, speaking in a mocking tone. “Make sure to note this all down in your little log book, your Master will want to know every detail her little pet can get” He showed no visible reaction to the comment, his eyes merely boring into her with that same intense focus they always held. It was practically a game in her eyes.

“As you wish, Monkey” He turned away from her, his tail trailing along the floor through a hole in his shorts. Taking in the bright green sportswear made Torne tilt her head in confusion. “Make a mockery of my loyalty and devotion all you want” Maybe he could fall prey to her insults and mocking words, but he thought himself above such pettiness. As long as he could successfully express his respect for their masters, he would be able to steel himself from the voice inside that yelled for disrespectful reactions. “You’re staring”

“You’re wearing clothes” She snorted.

He reached a locker on the other side of the room, reaching in to retrieve his armor. “And? Do you prefer that I fight without clothes?”

He heard her chuckle from behind him. “Not that desperate today, Goal Post Head” There was the sloshing of water, probably her taking a sip from what remained of her bottle. “Just surprised. Why is it only now you’re not going commando?”

Dashade shook his head in frustration, his chest piece balancing on his arm. “You may find it hard to believe with the similar color scheme, but what you usually see me fight in is not my flesh. It is armor made from my own muscle tissue” He turned, holding up the armor piece for Torne to see. “This might be too complicated for your primitive brain, but think of it as a natural shell that forms around any member of my species from birth. One we can shed at our leisure”

She got up from the bench, shrugging off his words with a bored sigh. “I liked it better when I thought you were streaking” As she turned towards the room’s exit she held out the water bottle to Dashade. Without a word, he took it dubiously, squinting at the contents as if he expected it to be poisoned. “This is where you say ‘Thanks’, or do you not know that word? Thought your mother would have thought you upper class clowns some manners”

He stood still for the moment, his eyes lingering on Torne, eyelids lowered in silent consideration. “No, she didn’t” Before he took a cursory sip of the bottle, the sweet relief of heat being smothered by cold soothed his aching muscles. Another reason for pain, it made relief that much more refreshing. No satisfaction or achievement in victory gained without struggle. Not to say that Dashade would purposely invite struggle to those around him. “That doesn’t mean I have not learned, Monkey” Silently, he offered a thankful nod in the woman’s direction, which she seemed to find amusement in.

“Is being a total doormat the only reason you’re here?” The question was rhetorical, but it had its effective sting as she slipped out the door, leaving Dashade to momentarily lose his cool. Past pride and anger bubbled over his face. Thankfully, Torne closed the door before she could see his ‘shameful’ display.

I will not waste anger on such petty jabs. I am better than that, aren’t I? He looked back into his locker, greeted by his own reflection in the mirror. He was out of breath, haggard, bleeding. Some might call him a pathetic sight. But the felt it was a look of a productive worker. The lack of any notable expression, the stare with green-lenses longing for the next order, swelling of his flesh where his inner demons fought to burst out of his skin… He was fine. He was doing great. He just needed to keep himself occupied until Dr. Sludge was done with his current project. “Stupid Monkey. Spitting in the face of my devotion… Why was I expected to work with someone so volitile?”

He took a deep breath, slamming the locker door shut after retrieving the rest of his armour, gathering it into a little pile before taking off for the showers. “No, no, not why, but how. How am I to deal with this? Lady Yarimasu trusts me to handle it, so I WILL handle it. I can handle it. I must handle it” He draped the towel over his shoulder, dampening the fabric with his hard work. “I only hope that I am truly worthy of this task, my Lady” Torne was a difficult person to deal with, but she was his comrade n arms. They would have to come to an understanding somehow. “Perhaps this is a Saiyan thing…” The door opened before him, his form slinking into the bright and winding hallway, situating him across from a window.

The window usually displayed the space outside, but right now all there was to see was rock and darkness. Not exactly the homeliest of bases, but tight enclosure unstable surroundings did make Dashade a bit nostalgic. “Dr. Sludge could have some useful knowledge on Saiyans, especially the ones of this universe. Seeking another perspective could be the solution” He nodded to himself, the logic making sense to him. He would trust in his Mistress’s judgment and carry out her tasks, proving his loyalty. He just hoped that no more complications arose.
***
“Do you think he’s okay?” Trunks was awoken by the sensation of smoke rising through his nose and choking him from the inside out, his nostrils flaring up with a burning pain. “I think you might have killed ‘em”

“Wha- No way! The clock-thingy says he’s like one mega battery. No way this dude’s packing that much energy if he’s a weakling” The voices trickled by Trunks’s ear, heard loud and clear, but not important enough to focus on. He had to gather his bearings first. Gohan always said, a clear head keeps you two steps away from death.

“If he’s dead, you’re the one who’s telling Master Babidi about the screw up” Wood. Fire. Snow. Temperature whiplash. Trunks struggled against a tide of grogginess to open his eyes, taking in a limited view of the pile of debris his body was buried under. Under him he could feel the frail and lumpy bones of Flappe, and when the other voices weren’t squabbling, he could just hear the doctor breathing. Good, still alive. Maybe a few broken bones, but still breathing at least.

Trunks pushed against the collapsed remains of Flappe’s house, careful to pack very little force behind his push as not to make his situation obvious to his attackers. “Uh, do we need to tell him anything?” Soon, Trunks managed to get himself some wiggle room. Room to wave away the smoke and try to breathe cleaner air. Room to assess. He closed his eyes again, focusing on putting the situation together. He could sense five people grouped up, all assumed hostile, all assumed to have the capability of flight and energy control. The brief look he saw of them before the blast hit the house told him they certainly not human. Off-world military force? Monsters of the Demon Realm? Space Pirates? It was impossible to tell at the moment, Earth wasn’t exactly a planet in short supply of strange creatures.

“You think we should lie to the Master!?”

“Shut up, you idiots!” Trunks was struck with tidal wave of panic. His mind wasn’t playing tricks on him, there was no way that screechy voice in his head wasn’t just a figment of some delusion. “No, you cannot lie to your master. BECAUSE I’M IN YOUR THOUGHTS! I’m seeing everything that you are seeing. Understand, morons?” He whipped his head around, looking for the source of the echoing insults. “And of course, you didn’t kill him, your shots barely slowed him down. Also: HE’S RIGHT UNDER YOU”

Well, there goes subtlety. The first speaker didn’t have time to let out so much as a ‘oh’ before Trunks’s body shot out from the debris in a shower of wood and dirt, throwing the semi-awake Flappe to the side to safely land in a pile of snow, Trunks going on to slam headfirst into the first speaker’s stomach. Opening strategy; Sudden Diversionary Tactics. Trunks spun backwards, holding out his hands to fire a barrage of small ki blasts, showering his foes in a yellow assault. This wasn’t intended to hurt or kill them, merely to fill the dimly lit day with sudden flashed. Disorientation.

He didn’t know much about who he was up against, maybe he could stall for information and time before engaging them full-on. With this in mind, he jumped to his net strategy, quickly readying his trusted sword and rushing to the closest person. When the dust settled and the confusion dialed back, one man found a very dangerous looking sword at his throat, faced with Trunks’s calm eyes glaring at him. “Hello. I’m a bit lost, mind if I let you guide me through this for a few minutes?”
Trunks looked away from the man, his casual motions with his blade made it clear that if the man tried to run, he’d be cut down. “This is because of the whole ‘shooting at you’ thing, isn’t it?”

Now that he had the opportunity, Trunks could fully take in the sight of his foes, hoping for a telling mark or familiar armor. All five-looked identical, tall and lanky builds, pure white and orange armor sets that came with an array of spikes, reminding Trunks of some tropical rare fruit collection. Their heads, however, closely resembled the shape of a mushroom, their bulbous top pulling their skin up into a tight knot. It was as if they were born with skin too big for them. The most defining aspect was the large ‘m’ shaped tattoo all shared, seemingly branded into the flesh of their foreheads.

“Well, you’re certainly not an average earthling” The cackling voice rang throughout his mind again, the warriors before him cringing at the voice, as if it strained their brains to listen to him. “Hmmm, no… You seem far more… Alien” Trunks didn’t know why, but he suddenly had the mental image of a dog sniffing a stranger. “Ah, you’re a Saiyan aren’t you? Not saying much, but still far above the quivering insects that live on this filthy planet”

“Who are you?” Trunks spat out the question through gritted teeth, the sword’s edge causing the minion’s neck muscles to tense up. “And how are you… Speaking to me!?”

“You dare take that tone with ME?” There was a snort, the mental voice curling with loathing as he continued. “I suppose it’s too much to expect a being such as you to know the great Babidi through voice-only. Yes, yes, I am THE Babidi. Great Sorcerer, Bibidi’s successor” The tone picked up into a smug chuckle. “But don’t worry about that, it’ll just be Master Babidi to you”

Trunks didn’t like this voice, it hurt to listen to, it was annoying to experience and the mere act of someone being inside his mind pissed him off to no end. But, this was the perfect time to get information, especially if it was related to recent events. “Alright, Master Babidi” Ooh, Babidi certainly liked that. “What did I do to attract such a, uh, Illustrious figure?”

“I probably shouldn’t be telling you anything, but if you must know…” Didn’t take long to get this guy squawking. “You are one of the lucky few whose energy is sufficient for my plans. We didn’t notice you at first, of course, but then you almost blew up our Ki Reader. You will make a perfect addition”

It was simple to guess that Babidi’s men must have been somewhere near by when Trunks’s ‘mishap’ happened earlier, when those visions started surfacing again, Trunks must have instinctively powered up. “You want my energy? For what?” They were here to take his energy. That added some implications that could make this battle complicated.

“Your generous donation will be going towards the revival of the great Majin Buu!” Another chorus of incessant laughter echoed in his mind, his eyes looking to the gathering group of twitchy men. He didn’t know what a Majin Buu was, but there was nothing comforting about this. “An event centuries in the making. It was a stroke of luck when that insolent duo sealed the deal” A measure of bitterness stung at Trunks, as well as curiosity on his end. A third party? ”Yes, they leveled half of my base, but as long as they prove useful I can simply use Majin Buu to dispose of those rodents”

“A duo?” Trunks’s breath hitched at the thought. A deadly duo, a pair of obnoxious punks drunk on power certainly fit the bill. Was it 17 and 18? No, couldn’t be, even if those two were back; what would they care about some old wizard? “Who would be attacking you?”

“Maybe you know them, one of them was a Saiyan, just like you. She was a piece of work, completely disrespectful to some one of MY station” Trunks froze in place, jaw stuck low as he processed the information. A Saiyan, a female Saiyan. But he only other Saiyan in this timeline would be Pan. He shook his head, there had to be some mistake; Pan had no part in this. “The other one was pitiful, but at least he knew where he stood. It was rather funny to me, his face reminded me of that Galactic Brat, Frieza. Why if I could I’d…” The words descended into inaudible grumbles.

A Saiyan, working with one of Frieza’s people? This was just unreal. It was a solid lead, but didn’t seem to have anything to with his sightings of the android. Could the incidences be related? Perhaps the two were Androids based off of Frieza and Goku or Vegeta specifically. “Now- Wait a minute… Ohhohoho; you think you’re being cute. Standing there and letting me dribble all that information out without a care” Well, there goes his fishing session. “I’ll let you off for being such a nosey pig. With the Supreme Kai’s death, I’m in a good mood. Now, just stand still and let my men drain you dry” The group began to spread out, leering at Trunks. “And tell me of any other bountiful individuals like yourself”

“I don’t want to burst your bubble, Babidi, but I’m not interested. I don’t know what who this Buu guy is, but I know I’m not letting your schemes continue”

“So, cock sure in the face of your betters. You are a Saiyan” Babidi cackled, undeterred by Trunks’s resistance. “Not to worry, I only asked out of common curtesy. If I want your knowledge, I’ll simply take it straight from the mind-” Trunks suddenly felt a heavy weight on his brain, the presence of fingers piercing his skull and sinking into his brain matter. It was much more intense than when Babidi was simply speaking through his thoughts. “On the surface- Oh, there is a lot of angst in this one. Oh yes, so much damage; you have been through a lot haven’t you? Peel away a few layers… Ah, so many traumatic images burned into your soul, paints such a pretty picture of your mind. But I need some memories here!” It was cold. As if all warmth had been drained from his skin, all defenses stripped away at the drop of a hat. He was currently the strongest being in the world. Yet, neither his enormous power or moral quality could protect him from this violation. “Here we go, a nice library of memory lane. Now… Let’s see. Oh, this Pan girl is cute; and my what a high power you associate with her and-” A chiding laugh, an edge of disgust, a mocking tone. “So many dirty, perverse thoughts, Trunks. I’ll have to wade through them all, but I think this Pan will do”

Trunks didn’t realize that his body was moving again until one of Babidi’s men screamed out in shock, the sensation of the blade cutting through the hostage’s neck didn’t register in Trunk’s mind, his arm had moved on it’s own. With Babidi’s words, Trunks had cleanly cut off his hostage’s head, a familiar fury rushing through his veins, every part of his body telling him that he needed to end this before it gets a chance to begin. “You won’t touch her. YOU WON’T GO NEAR ANYONE!”

“Uh, Master Babi-” Trunks felt himself power up, his body steeling itself for battle and unleashing a force around his that pushed his opponents back. “His energy readings are changing”

“You mean, that wasn’t all he had before!?”

“You sound scared, Wizard” He pulled himself into a fighting stance, eyeing his opponents and waiting for the first move. If they were after his energy, they had to have some sort of ability or method that allowed them to take it. If this process was in any way similar to the way Gero’s later android models worked, then Trunks was limited in what he could do. With the chance of absorption at play, Trunks told himself that energy attack or powering up to Super Saiyan was a no-go at the moment. Such manuvers could accidentally end up giving his opponents the edge. “Is it because you miscalculated? Or is it because you know I’m coming for you next?” Such a self-gratifying remark; Vegeta would be proud.

“Are you threatening me? ME? You think that I would fear you!?” Babidi’s rage echoed through Trunks’s mind, leaving head ache’s in its wake. “You’re just a brainless ape. My men will thrash you within an inch of your life and then they will drain every drop of ki wasted on your worthless body. UNTIL YOU ARE A SHRIVELED UP CORPSE. Yes, I’ll take my time with such insolence”

All at once, the group sprang into action, circling around Trunks before charging in at full throttle. Trunks took this in with a glare, readying his sword in a defensive stance and looking to all the weak joint areas of his foe’s armour. “You wouldn’t be the first to make that mistake”[/spoiler]

Nothing really big to comment on this chapter, just some rising tension and expanding upon Torne and Dashade's dynamic, as well as giving more of a display of implied backstory for the two and what they think of their superiors.
When Super apparently shoves Goku down our throats:

Kanassa wrote:
FoolsGil wrote:I hope Mark is dead. But chances are the dragonballs will bring his stupid ass back. :D
- FoolsGil, Out of Context, 2017

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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Kanassa » Mon Feb 19, 2018 7:18 pm

Chapter 35: Test your Metal - 15 VS Tao!

[spoiler]“Welcome back, Folks. I hope your hearts are prepared for another earth shattering match-up!” By this point the audience wasn’t as enthused so much as cautiously excited. It was clear that a lot of strange occurrences were surrounding this tournament, in some ways this increased the excitement and awe of the experience, but in other ways this could quite literally endanger lives; none were quick to forget the famous final match between a pervious champion, Son Goku and some horrid green monster who bore a striking resemblance to King Piccolo.

To be fair, the history of the World Martial Arts Tournament became quite the cluster of strange activities after one tournament ended with a kid turning into a giant monkey and the moon being blown up by an old man. “Entering the ring for our third match in the Tournament’s first bracket is a returning warrior turning over a new leaf (We hope) and a small portion of purple fury with a lot to prove” When Dj’s stiff head turned to send a glare towards the Announcer, he broke into stutters and nervous laughter “-Don’t sweat it, DJ. I’ve gotta play it up for the crowd, right? Hehehe…”

“Hmpf, this shouldn’t be too difficult” Tao shook his head, a sinister chuckle rumbling in his throat. His height gave him a clear opportunity to look down upon the dwarf. “Be thankful this is a match in front of a live audience. Not many are given the privilege of keeping their life after encountering me”

Dj didn’t even attempt to look up at Tao as he talked, to the android Tao’s words were worthless chatter, this entire fight was a formality. A means to an end. A boring, patient road that ended in the closest thing the androids could get to killing Son Goku. “Were Son Goku and Tien Shinhan exceptions? Or a clear sign of actual talent?”

Tao did not take well to this comment, his grin splitting into a grimace at the memories resurfacing in his mind. “You… You dare mention those names in front of me?” He spat out his words, fists trembling with rage that had been building up for years. “That brat. That traitor. They’re responsible for everything, dragging me through the mud with the crane school along with it” Oh, how Tao would have loved to have Goku’s neck in his metal hand, squeezing that brat’s neck until his eyes popped out. But he’d never get the opportunity to try that now. And Tao reminded himself how that’s a good thing, how even under all that talk and blood lust, he still knew that Son Goku and to a lesser extent Tien were ones to fear. “But that doesn’t matter now, does it? Those two morons are dead. Wasting away in their own drool after the Androids came for them” He felt like laughing, but this wasn’t the time.

“And an armature like you still lives? Heh, I guess fate does have some black humour” 15 did recognise Tao, he had been an assassin that did a lot of good work for the Red Ribbon Army back in it’s hay day. But Gero mostly regarded Tao as yet another fool who failed to kill Goku. “Don’t worry about me being thankful…” Finally, 15 decided to look up into Tao’s eyes, looking into the far more primitive machinery at work. “When I kill you last, I won’t need an audience”

From off-stage some could hear Tucker chuckling away, yelling “See, you can have a sense of humour when ya try”

“I hope your friend is right, Dwarf” Tao chuckled as his legs crouched into a fighting stance, lips wide with confidence and distain. “I would hate to think you were so foolish as to think you stand a chance against the great Mercenary Tao”

“Don’t worry, I can tell how much you hate thinkin’ ”

“Looks like things are heating up in the ring before the match has even begun! You can practically see the sparks flying between these two rivals in the making!” The Announcer stood on the edge of the ring as he tried to rile up the crowd, making sure that if anything should happen, he wouldn’t be caught in the cross fire.

Tao took one look at the Announcer, before barking out “Ring your silly bell before I ring it with your head” sending the poor man into action.

“Right, right, right. Match begins, go fight, no killing; LET’S GO!” With that, the bell chimed and the Announcer scrambled off the stage. It took a moment or two, but soon the crowd was back to roaring for violence.

“Just remember; you brought this on yourself” With not a moment to waste, Tao charged forward with a single metal hand raised to strike. With the clean force that could reduce any man to mush, the hand came down in a chopping motion ring down on Dj’s shoulder. Dj did not move, he did not flinch, he did not express anything; he just stood there and took the blow. And only the fabric of the dwarf’s suit actually moved in response to the attack.

“Oh, made of stronger stuff, ey?” Tao jumped back, examining his hand to find that, to his surprise, the attack had instead given his metal limb a dent. “I see, wearing some protective armour under your clothes, hm?” As Tao lunged forward for a short barrage of jabs and punches, 15 could feel a glimmer of Gero’s amusement spark in his mind. He remarked on how far legends fell before his genius, which 15 didn’t really care that much about hearing. 15 just wanted this fight to be over and done with.

Once again put at a few paces away, realising that his attacks were having no effect on the man, Tao let out heavy pants. “What is that skin of yours made of, metal?” The once great and feared mercenary was not pleased to learn of yet another creature in this world that could stand up to him. “It matters not… I just need to think bigger” With a low ‘plop’ his right hand detached from his wrist and dropped to the floor, revealing a very obvious cannon built into the arm. “Now, get a load of THIS!” Before anyone could ask, gasp or speak golden energy was already shooting out of the cannon in a powerful thin stream. “Try to take my SUPER DODON RAY!”

And once again, 15 did not move an inch. He just began to walk forward.

Tao hoped the dodon ray would keep him down, or at least slow the bastard; but no such reassurance came for Tao. Instead, he was left to watch as the dwarf batted away the blast with one hand, looking none-to-impressed with this ‘display’. “Arg! You’re really in for it now!” Switching away from the ray and throwing away his other fake hand, Tao unsheathed his sword in a moment of frustration reaching it’s boiling point. He jumped over head and came crashing down on Do, slicing his blade across the dwarf’s chest to cut him in t-

SHINK!

Almost immediately upon contact, Tao found that his blade snapped quite cleanly in half as if it were nothing more than a toothpick. “You-Whu-Bu-…” He was stunned into stuttering, staging in front of his opponent with his eyes locked mournfully on his broken weapon. In this time, 15 approached the man, grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into the ground in a quite clean and painful display of force.

When the dust settled the crowd could see Tao lying motionless with his head in the ground and 15 walking calmly past. “Better start counting”

Well, that’s no fun.

15 took one last look at Tao, it was a pitiful sight… “Uh, 10!”

No real fight, just a two second brawl? “9!”

He turned back. “8!”

That’s just boring. “7!”

The crowd waited with baited breath as they watched the scene. “6!”

If only there was someone here who could spice things up. “5!”

The enthusiasm and energy seemed to die out the closer 15 got to the edge of the stage, but that was fine. 15 wasn’t here to entertain anybody, he was there to sate his very specific bloodlust. “4!”

Oh… Wait… “3!”

Just as 15 went to take his first step out of the ring, a distinctive sound of rocky remains shuffling broke through the quiet atmosphere. Even the announcer stopped his counting due to the suddenness, looking towards Tao to find that indeed the body was moving. To 15’s shock, Tao wasn’t just moving, he seemed to be stronger. In his mind, Gero was expressing surprise as Tao’s energy readings began to reach levels that shouldn’t have been possible for the man. “I said-” Tao’s voice became more strained, more off putting, more thunderous; like it was a great struggle for him to talk “-you’re in for it now!”

By the time Tao regained his footing, still hunched over with an unnatural amount of sweat leaving his body, 15 had fully turned to face him with the face of someone who was a little concerned. “This shouldn’t be possible…” The Android muttered. The data didn’t add up and Gero’s data was never wrong. But as Tao rose to full height, Gero immediately recognised the source of this new found strength. Something he’d been warned about by his new ‘associates’.

Tangled in a web of bulging beings and throbbing flesh, bound by every fibre of hatred and selfishness that Tao had ever felt, there was a symbol engraved into Tao’s forehead. An ‘M’ symbol. “Yes… I see now, Master… I will obliterate him!”
***
"It seems that our contestant has snatched a second wind from the jaws of defeat-" The Announcer yelled into the mic in unison with the Crowd's amazed cheers at the sudden development. "-What's the source of this new-found resolve? We might never know, but the important thing here is that it drags out this fight past one minute. At the end of the day, that's the most important take away!"

However, in the stands Videl was having none of this nonsense "This is ridiculous!" She spat, leaning over the railing and gripping the metal so hard she could bend it. "That dwarf was kicking him to the curb, he shouldn't be allowed to get back up!" To punctuate her problems, she slammed her hand down, snapping the metal railing in two. "Why is he stronger now? Why? Why!?"

"This is a sudden turn of events, but that doesn't mean it's time to lose your cool, Videl" Roshi piped up from behind her, attempting to sneak a hand around her waist. "If you need comfort, I have a few ideas; if you catch my drif-" He didn't even get a chance to let out his usual laugh before Videl shoved him off her while taking hold of his nose.

"This isn't the time for you to try and cop a feel, old man! There's a scumbag who's not getting his well deserved ass-kicking at the moment!" The truth to her words was displayed in the ring, where Tao's newly discovered strength and vigour managed to push DJ back, who had a look of rage directed back at the main building. Someone must have pissed him off.

"Just trying to- Ow!- Lighten the mood, Videl! Hehehehe" Currently, Roshi was forced to slink back, nursing a growing bruise on his nose.

"I didn't realise Tao could get this strong" Chichi sat off to the side, more curious than annoyed at Tao's situation.

Master Roshi, while not that concerned with Tao, was curious. It wasn't that Tao was stronger, it was how he was stronger. There was no doubt in Roshi's mind that this strength was not the result of viscous training. No, the earlier performance showed that Dj was far out of Tao's league with only a punch, this was something that seemingly even Tao wasn't sure of. And then there was the strange energy the man gave off. It was Tao's to be sure, but something felt more strained and wild about it.
And to make things far stranger, when Roshi listened closely he swore he could hear mad mutterings about obeying the 'Master'. There was definitely something off, Tao would never give another the privilege of being called his 'Master'. "It is an odd turn of events, indeed"

"But you're still staying so calm" Videl almost sounded hurt when she spoke, as if Roshi had gravely offended her. "Doesn't it bother you? That a murderous scumbag like Tao is this strong?" Her fists clenched, muscles tensed in a silent fury. "What if he suddenly decides to use that power to hurt the people around him? What if he goes against Pan and pulls even more power otta his ass, huh?" She was perfectly fine with her daughter taking part in a fighting tournament, but that was when she assumed the rest of the contestants would have no interest in murdering or brutalizing her little girl.

"Then we'll deal with it when it comes to that, but for now we sit down, fold our cards and let the more capable fighters handle the situation" His voice came out gruff, tapping his staff against the ground to gesture Videl to sit. "Besides, I am confident that Tao won't be progressing to the next round"

"Huh?"

"Dj may have been caught off guard, but he is not outmatched" While Tao's opponent certainly took some blow, he seemed to be on a quick way to recovery as he ducked and weaved through Tao's attacks. Though, as much as Roshi assured himself, he couldn't shake the feeling that he wanted neitherese fighters to win.
***
Tao rushed in, eyes wide with malice and sinister joy as he charged at 15 with his single remaining arm. The smaller and more agile fighter found it easy to side step the powerful punch, a resulting shockwave rocketing through where his head used to be, before slamming his foot into Tao's stomach. This paused Tao back quite a few meters, but the attack did nothing to hinder Tao's new confidence.

"That symbol, this power increase. This is the work of Babidi" Gero was the first to piece it all together, disdain riddling 15's mind as Gero expressed his annoyance with this new hiccup.

"Why the hell would Babidi mark you?" 15 made no attempt for subtlety in how he addressed Tao, leaving the crowd to either not hear his words or become confused at what he was saying. "You're not really soldier material"

"The Frieza look-a-like did mention that Babidi is obviously one who does not like to be controlled, subordinate to none" Tao let out a mad laugh, looking absolutely off his rocker with how his face muscles bulged and exaggerated his features. "Perhaps Babidi is recruiting fighters to mount a surprise attack against our new allies"

Surprisingly, it was 13's thoughts that interrupted them both. "This ain't that wilting cactus. Doesn't seem the sort stupid enough to think this would work, he knows how powerful our gracious bosses are" For 13, the line of reasoning made a strange amount of sense. "If he wanted to take 'em out, this cowboy wouldn't be sending a yellow-belly scab like Tao against us here"

The possessed assassin charged once more, zipping across the stage with his metal arm glowing a bright shade of orange, empowering his hand with ki. "Tucker makes a good point. It would take a severe stroke of stupidity for Babidi to oppose us in this manner" The two warriors clashed with such force that the stage shook, 15 meeting Tao's weaponized hand head on with his own fist. "And that's not even including the data that offers a 97% probability that Babidi is out gathering energy for his monster's revival; a much more opportune method of betraying us all"

"Big numbers are nice..." 15's spat out with a sarcastic snarl, momentarily pushing Tao away and following up that split second by ramming his head against Tao's. There was a brief moment of nervousness as he realized that Tao had almost knocked off the hat that concealed his less-than-human parts. "But how else do you explain the big ass 'm'?"

"Yes, Master..." Tao's mutterings increased in volume, wiping off the trickle of blood that poured from the impact bruise created by 15's headbutt. "I will taunt and tease them for your entertainment" He pulled himself into a straight stance, working over his shoulders with a grin. "For your information, Dwarf, I have no idea who 'Babidi' is. All I know is that my new Master is allowing me access to realm of power I could only dream of before"

13's snorted "For the low, low price of your soul" 15 could practically feel 13's shaking his head in amusement. "This wackjob is even worse when possessed" The two began to exchange blows for a few seconds longer, Tao coming down using his hand like a jack hammer while 15 batted the attacks away, bouncing off punches.

"No matter, it seems Babidi is not responsible for this. Information we should ponder on later, after we've taken care of this failure" Gero's order was clear, so 15 cut the crap and began to push forward, jumping to the offensive. Now it was Tao who was forced to keep on his toes and dodge, but unlike 15, he did not carry the height or agility advantage, making him a much easier target to hit. Each hit came with the satisfying scream of metal tearing into metal, forcing Tao to leap over the shorter fighter, using the oversized have as leverage to boost him upwards into the sky.

From his birds’ eye view of the stage, Tao pulled out his sword-arm, which currently held half of a damage blade. With the blade made useless, it quickly slipped out from it's socket in pieces. This revealed that yet another arm cannon hid up inside the elbow, though this cannon was equipped with four separate barrels that shot out of their hidey hole. Along with that, a small blue targeting reticule popped out over the top. "Better start moving, little man. DODON DEADEYE BARRAGE!" Within an instant the individual barrels charged up with a red hue, heat burning colour into the metal before unleashing a multitude of separate golden beams, all bearing down on 15 in a rain of blinding light. For a moment, the android didn't give much thought to this attack, just dodge and leave Tao wide open. But after he side stepped the first bolt to reach him, he quickly noticed he energy blast swerving to skid just past the ground and making a b-line in his general direction. Great, tracking shots.

15 launched himself into a forward roll to avoid the next shot, quickly tumbling to his feet and pushing off into a summersault, his agility and size being the only thing that stopped him from getting hit. These blasts were fast and precise, Tao wasn't messing around. While it was most assured that he could survive a hit from one of these attacks, it was also a certainty that his clothes and fake flesh could take damage; and Gero wouldn't be happy with 15 exposing their true origins just yet in front of the crowd.

So, the android was forced to keep the exposing attack at bay through every mean possible. He jumped back, only for the blasts to swerve. He punched them away, only for them to bounce back. He thought that maybe he could diffuse or overpower them with a strong ki blast, however as soon as he fired off his crimson attack, he was met swiftly with failure. When the two blasts collided, there was an instant destination that held enough force to send 15 tumbling backwards, almost right off the stage.

"You idiot, how are you letting someone so insignificant push you around like this" Well, Gero was disappointed and whiny either way.

"This player's got me pinned down, man" His voice wasn't as smooth as usual, getting more frustrated with this obstacle. "I can't get an inch over him" If it wasn't for his infinite stamina, 15 was sure all this evading would have started taking its toll by now.

"Then you will have to find a way around this" Gero spat "I REFUSE to have my work be upstaged by a two-bit failure of a mercenary with a power boost!" Another close call, this blast just hitting him and colliding with the stage, following his escape with a background explosion. "15..." Gero's tone didn't change, but something in 15's mind began to blare, like an alarm, it was almost like a panic button. "Let me make this perfectly clear. If you cannot overcome such a simple obstacle, then you must be malfunctioning. And if this is yet another malfunction in list of malfunctions, you are a defect. Defects aren't worth keeping active" 15's eye widened, a sudden weight lodged in his throat and weighing down upon his overheating circuitry. "In other words, win this fight; or I will melt you down into parts for your replacement!"

There was that panic, there was that dread, that cold reminder. That booming and sinister laughter that told him once again what he was, a simple tool, an expendable resource that could be broken down and replaced with a more obedient pet at Gero's leisure. A slave to his own destruction. "I-I know I can find a winning strategy, man. Just c-c-chill!" No cool, no smoothness, only cold hard despair.

15 was desperate now, kicking into overdrive and rushing around the stage, zipping past, over and through various blast; each threatening to be the one that brings Gero's wrath upon him. He didn't want to be melted down, he didn't want to be unwillingly recycled into something else, he didn't want to be reprogrammed. Some ask if Androids could feel fear and at this moment that was the only thing 15 could describe himself going through as he looked for any way to success. He'd rather blow himself up, destroying every remaining piece of himself with his own attacks than having any living remains that could be attached to something that wasn't him.

"Wait! Now that's an idea..." The blasts were all tracking him, sharply taking any turn or shortcut to chase him down; he could use this. With a direction in mind, 15 took off rushing into the path of the blasts to make sure that they were all on his tail, nipping at his heels as he took off into the air. He shot upwards, still checking behind him to make sure that the blasts were close enough, even slowing down at some points to let them catch up.

While Tao was mercilessly spamming his attack, so assured of this bringing him victory as he gave his opponent no breathing room, he neglected one single factor. In using this attack h left one blind spot in the form of his back, a blind spot that could be exploited. Pouncing on the opportunity in desperation, 15 moved behind Tao and threw himself at the man, grabbing him from behind. Before Tao could struggle out of his grip, 15 quickly flipped them around, making it so that Tao now faced the opposite direction; where the speeding energy blasts made their way to 15, not accounting for anything in the way.

In that moment, it was all over. Tao could do nothing by scream out in agony as his own attack, a barrage of a dozen devastating blasts, pounded against him, each blast tearing into his skin, searing his flesh and knocking off metal. By the end of the ordeal, Tao was left a twitching, blackened mess with his clothes in shreds; his right arm completely blown off. With his body broken and bleeding, 15 dropped Tao, the body falling like a sack of bricks and sashing into the ground. Tao was out for the count.

"It seems that despite overwhelming odds, Dj has snatched victory in his hands in a blinding flash of glory!" The crowd were murmuring at first, unsure if they should cheer, but soon they began to rise for the winner. "Well, that is... If Tao's still alive... I think he's still breathing"

Without a word, 15 landed back on the ground, dusted himself off and softly plodded down the steps of the stage. As he approached the main building he spotted the two looming figures of 13 and 14 standing by the archway. 13 waved at him with a shit eating grin. "Congrats, little buddy. Looks like it's true what they say, it ain't the size that counts" But 15 couldn't care less about 13's words, instead look directly to 14, where Gero's violent eyes stared back at him. There was a nod and 15 let out a sigh of relief, retreating inside the building to calm down. "You weren't really gonna melt the munchkin down, were ya?"

Gero didn't answer for a moment, before shrugging. "I would have taken out the more useful parts first. Especially the ones built for you" The two walked side-by-side towards the building entrance. "Now to find out who our mysterious trouble maker is..."

13 stared straight ahead, Gero following his annoyed gaze to find himself looking directly at Kassonna, who leaned against the wall clapping energetically. A devious grin sown into her face. "I think I have a few suspicions"[/spoiler]
When Super apparently shoves Goku down our throats:

Kanassa wrote:
FoolsGil wrote:I hope Mark is dead. But chances are the dragonballs will bring his stupid ass back. :D
- FoolsGil, Out of Context, 2017

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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Kanassa » Tue Mar 06, 2018 8:05 pm

Sorry that this is a bit late. You see, my birthday came up, which was also the day me and my family decided for me to drink for the first time in my life. Did not end well.

Chapter 36: Get to the point!

[spoiler]When Schnitzel opened his eyes, the first thing to hit him was the pain. The pain of the ceiling light's bright eyesore bore into his vision, rather overpowering after just waking up. And this was all before the muscle memory of what lead to this result kicked in, every punch laid against him, every bruise grown, every bone broken, all cried out in memory of the beating Kassonna gave him. It felt like he was taking them all individually, replaying the feeling of each punch before the finishing headbutt.

"D-dear god, the pain…" He took deep breaths, his lower lip trembling as his muscle groaned. "What joke are these tournament officials playing, have they never heard of painkillers?" He tried to raise his arms, only to bite back on his lips to suppress a howl, only now realizing that one of his arms had been broken and slung into a cast.

Through the blinding fog, a familiar giggle pierced through, striking him rather forcefully. At least, that's how it felt to hear. "I'm so sorry, but we appear to be out of painkillers" He recognized Kassy's voice immediately, his body instinctively squirming at the presence of the one responsible. He tried to calm himself, remind himself that the fight was over. She was probably here just to wish him well him or something; she did enjoy the fight a lot. "Not to worry, that won't be that much of an issue"

But even then, as he tried to blink away the overwhelming display around him, his body couldn't help but still let dread creep up his spine. "Kassy? Is that you?" It was disorientating, to say the least, unable to make out any other feature of the room outside of his immediate vicinity. The fact that he couldn't bring his hands up to cover his eyes only made it worse to sit through.

"Oh, silly me-" There was some shifting heard from the other side, a jingle of metal objects as someone's hip bumped into a table, followed by a myriad of aggressive sounding whispers. "-No, I'm just trying to keep the patient calm-" The response sounded like a snort. "Of course, I'm a qualified medical professional. I gave you those nail transplants, didn't I?" Through the light, a figure finally through, though from this perspective 'Kassy' was bathed in shadows as her form shuffled over to the medical bed. "Ignore that rat, she's such a whiner. How is our favorite patient doing?"

The closer she got, the more he could make out the dirtied soft blue of a nurse's uniform. Kassy was a nurse? "Oh dear, you're looking a bit under the weather. Nihehehehe" Soon, she was close enough that Schnitzel could make out that she was, in fact, a he. Invading Schnitzel's personal space as he leaned forward, Schnitzel was not met by Kassy's violet pigtails, instead replaced by a wild mane of red and gold curls that framed his even paler face. The nose that had originally been rather flat and small now has been stretched out as if to form a beak to peck with. Where Kassy looked like a mismanaged mime, this one looked more akin to a clown that had a painting vomit on him. And yes, it was quite obviously a man in build, face, and shoulders that was somehow filling out that nurse's uniform. "Oh, I know that look; you're in love already, aren't you?"

The voice was similar to Kassy's, so was the high pitch laugh that had Schnitzel's ears screaming for mercy, even the eyes were the same; perhaps a relative? The stranger wore no gloves, instead, each of his fingers were adorned with finger puppets; yet the puppets didn't look like they were made from cloth, but like they were patches of skin sown into his muscles. In fact, one of the fingers bore a striking resemblance to Kassy. "I'm sorry, but I'm taken for now. Don't let it break your itty-bitty heart" He reached forward with his left hand, caressing Schnitzel's cheek as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Are you alright? You haven't said a word"

Schnitzel tried to speak, but he found his voice ripped away from him the moment his eyes caught sight of movement. A bump on the upper section of the man's forearm began to shuffle under cracks. They were detailed cracks, infesting his skin like a parasite, revealing a shadow of pulsating movement underneath. As if an army of insects were trapped under the skin and tried to force their way out by scratching away at the inside of the pale flesh. "You… Your… Your arm"

In response, the insects continued to move, inching away under the Nurse's disappointed gaze "Oh, that scamp. Always going where he shouldn't be, sticking his nose into everything" They changed course, retreating from the shoulder and marching downwards, the flesh straining like leather and hissing in pain the insects caused. By the time the bump had shuffled down into the man's thumb, the cracks had grown in size, offering a teasing view of what lay underneath. But Schnitzel couldn't see anything. "I'm serious here, this is the last straw" He glared down at the offending thumb which the insects seemed to take shelter in. "You don't think I'll do anything crazy? I stole credit for the book on crazy" Without warning the man's other hand shot out and wrapped around the thumb, the mini-limb struggling hard against the iron grasp of five other fingers. "I'm terribly sorry. Family dispute"

Schnitzel could hear muffled weeps from within the nurse's hand, the thumb wiggling and squirming violently against the simple grip. "I mean, some people think it's cruel, but there are just points where you have to put your foot down" A quick jerk to the side elicited a sharp crack of bone, accompanied by a muffled whimper. "Otherwise, people just walk all over you" Another crack, pieces of bone grinding against what remained before…

The following sound of his bones completely tearing apart and his flesh ripped to pieces echoed throughout the room, the instant act of the man ripping off his own thumb sparked an immediate flow of panic within Schnitzel. He watched as, instead of the expected blood and gore, he was met with an explosion of dust in his face, all coming from the empty hole where the thumb once was. There was only dust. No bone, no screams, no veins. Just an empty husk releasing a coughing fit in particle form. "I've been looking for a new thumb, anyway"

Strange, Kassy had mentioned something about her thumb before.

"Why did you just… How did you... WHAT!?"

Another hand shot forward, forming an iron grip over the fox's snout, clamping it shut and forcing his teeth to grind against one another. "Shhhhh, my little patient. If you get too rowdy, you'll only make the operation worse" Schnitzel tried to struggle, his eyes widening with panicked energy surging through his body, but the nurse merely forced him down. His will dismissed as a suggestion, a rough hand violently grabbed a hold of his broken arm and forcefully pulled it upwards and to the side where clamps were waiting. "It'll all be over soon. Don't cry, just…" He wanted to cry out in pain, growl at the burning sensation of his disjointed and fragmented bones being shoved aside, but his voice was gone, stolen from him in an instant.

The light dimmed, bathing the room in shadows and hollow grime; the walls had long ago lost their white cleanliness, replaced by a disgusting shade of green as old age ripped away at them. The ground couldn't be seen, there was only a fog surrounding the bed, as if Schnitzel was aboard the only boat on a polluted sea with the nurse floating through it like a wraith. "…Think of your future" Out of the fog under him a decomposing hand shot out, falling short of the bed, only to be followed by another grizzly limb, and another, and another, and another; until the room was overflowing with desperate and damned fingers dogpiling on top of each other to reach up and pull Schnitzel down.

They grabbed at him, pulled at him, suffocated him, leaving no room for him to move or even see. He could only look to the nurse, who gave him a sickly sweet and crawled forward, straggling the man and raising the hand with the missing thumb. Only now the flesh of that hand began to crack, bursting off to reveal another layer, like wearing a skin glove.

It reached for him.

It softly caresses his cheeks, making false promises of safety.

It lied. He knew that, but he couldn't help but lose all sense of struggle as he stared into it, slowly leaning forward until he was enveloped in its glow.

As the white sheets of the bed came over him, concealing him from the world, squeezing his heart until his lungs began to sputter, he let himself be suffocated by the light.

Later in the day, the World Tournament's Medical Officials would return to the medical ward to find Schnitzel in a peaceful sleep, his body worse for wear and the bed untidy. It wouldn't be until it was too late before they'd figure out that this was one sleep he'd never be able to wake up from.
***
Trunks immediately slammed his feet into the ground, propelling himself upwards just in time to avoid the sudden appearance of his foe's sweeping attack. These little mushroom grunts were a speedy lot and when they put that speed together, they could deliver some deadly blows, which kept Trunks constantly on his toes as he hopped from place-to-place to avoid them. This was bad for him, putting him fully on the defensive front for the fight, keeping him dodging instead of attacking.

He had to find a way to slow them down.

Any time he attempted to lunge forward at one with his sword raised to attack, the target would sliver out of the way in a flash while another used this distraction to come up from the rear and kick Trunks down. He managed to stand his ground, albeit on the back foot. If I can just knock one of them off balance, just for a moment, then I'd have a way through their speed. Like before, he charged towards the first available target, but instead of finishing the charge he stopped just short of his target, taking the risk and letting out a short burst of ki around him. It was risky considering that they were looking to take his energy, but letting his energy explode caused a shockwave, this shockwave had the advantage of knocking around the person who'd attempt to attack Trunks from behind.

He spun himself around to find his plan had come true, momentarily he was allowed to witness one of the mushroom heads stagger back in reaction to the shockwave. Jumping on the chance as quickly as he could, Trunks pushed on forward and slammed his fist into the opponent's stomach, passing through bone and strangling the innards before the man could even let out a pained squeak. "Take it all!" Before the man could utter a response, Trunks's hand let loose a split second glow before he allowed his energy to all pour out, unloading right into the man's stomach; going right through him like a sharp blade.

"Now, I got you!" In the heat of the moment, Trunks had forgotten to consider if this move would leave him temporarily vulnerable, which the mook he'd tricked before took full advantage of. Before Trunks could retreat or turn away, he found that said goon had materialized behind him, long moldy arms clamping down on him as they encompassed his arms and chest. "Right, Ugi, let him have it!" Trunks attempted to struggle, but something about the texture of the creature's arms as he scratched against it, the feeling was like rubbing sandpaper over your skin and it struck a chord with the young demi-saiyan.

"On it, Fon" An identical looking henchman rushed through the air towards the two, holding a giant needle-esc device in his hands, charging straight towards the new captive. "Time to take your medicine, meddler! Master Babidy will be taking all that pesky energy now" Almost on pure survival instinct alone, Trunks quickly threw his weight backwards, slamming his head against his captors and sending them both spinning in the air. By the time Ugi reached them with the ki drainer outstretched, Fon had been flipped over, leaving him in the path of the weapon.

"UGI, TURN AROUN-" It was too late to turn back for Fon, the sharp tip of the needle easily sliding through the skin of the mushroom man's back, like a knife through butter. "Gah, you idiot!" The device was firmly wedged in his back and judging by the sounds it was making, it was beginning to lick up some energy. At the sudden impalement, the grip Fon had on Trunks had loosened to the point where Trunks could throw his arms to the side, hitting his captor's hands away and flying forward. "Oh god, now you've broken it! You know it's not supposed to take OUR energy!" As Trunks looked back, he could see evidence of this malfunction from the churning noises and obvious cracks growing over the display of the needle. "Master Babidi is gonna kill us!"

"You won't have to worry about him for long!" Swinging his body around, Trunks faced the two henchmen, tangled in their own screw ups. That's how they drain energy? With a needle? Then I can be less lenient with my energy output… He held his hands high, crossing his open palms against one another as he charged his energy. "MASAKO HAAAAAAA!" At this he released a devastating golden blast from the space between his palms, shooting the explosion of energy right on course to envelop the two.

They didn't realize until it was too late, giving neither the opportunity to scream before they were completely eviscerated by Trunks's attack. One minute gone, but in a flash, they disappear like many before them. And to Trunks's relief, the energy draining device with them. Leaving only one more enemy remaining, but even with his speed, even he knew he stood no chance against the pissed off Saiyan.

Jumping straight to intimidation tactics, Trunks made a loud landing by slamming into the ground in front of him, taking all but a second or so to power up and flaunt his superior power over the fallen foe. "This is how it's going to work. You tell me everything you know and I give you one chance to leave my planet peacefully"

"Fon? Ugi!? Oss, no!" He reached out for his fallen comrades, more frustrated than generally broken up about the death of his comrades. "No, no, no, no. I did good, I can't die here!"

"Then start spilling… Uh… Otherwise, I'll spill your guts" Trunks spluttered out, not exactly being used to trying to intimidate and/or interrogate another person.

"I did what you wanted, just let me go; please!" He looked at his hands, eyes wide and body trembling. Immediately his gaze went over to the only corpse left, panic increasing, only to start screaming.

"I've already said-"

"I'M NOT TALKING TO YOU!" He backed away, fear pulling at his muscles and causing him to fall backwards. He plummeted to the floor, clutching his forehead and wriggling. His heels dug into the ground, kicking up snow and dirt with how frantically he struggled against the invisible force. The large M symbol on his forehead began to noticeably pulsate. With every cry, the symbol began to swell up. With every shout, a bone could be heard cracking. And before he could even entertain the thought of struggling once more, the henchman found his head expanding o such a height that all it took as a small 'pop' to cause his head to explode.

Trunks backed away from the sight of the explosion, dodging the resulting rain of gore with a disgusted look on his face. "Was this... Babidi's doing!?"

"Yes, boy. Look upon this pathetic creature and witness the consequences of those who don't fall in line!" The laugh returned, racking Trunks's mind with more paranoia of these mental games. "Count yourself lucky I can't finish you off now. I'll be letting you off briefly, but the next time I have the misfortune of seeing into your disgusting mind; there will be no mercy"

"That's what I'm counting on" While this mental deformation had great in fear in Trunks's mind, if Babidi was connected to all this; Trunks would track this wizard down, no matter what. "I'll be coming for you next, Wizard" There was no response. Trunks assumed that this was Babidi hanging up the phone in a huff. There was no time to linger on the thought as a violent cough caught Trunks's attention, drawing his sight back to where D. Flappe lay, worse for wear, but at least intact. "Dr. Flappe!" Trunks was by the man's side in an instant, kneeling down to help the man lean against his shoulder. "You okay, sir?"

"I'm… Hehe, fine. Nothing more than a few scrapes and- Ack- bruises" Despite the words, Flappe still clung to Trunks for dear life. "But those… Things…"

"I take it you didn't know who they were either?"

He couldn't shrug no matter how much he tried, so he just sighed "Not a clue, my boy"

Trunks carried him forward, taking off into a slow and steady flight towards Jingle Village "Ever heard of the name 'Babidi'?"

"Outside of an old children's story rhyme? No."

"I'm sorry about your house"

The good doctor shook his head with a forced smile. "Not to worry, I was thinking of getting that old lab refurbished anyway…" The smile faded as he took on a more nervous look. "What will you do now?"

It took a moment for Trunks to think over his next action "I'm going to check on a friend, Android 16" The name left Flappe wide-eyed, recognition of the unit flushing against his cheeks. "Babidi and his men let it slip that they're taking energy from people and using it to revive some guy named 'Majin Buu'. If he's tracking down people with high energy levels… 16 has that infinite energy component like 17 and 18, right? That sounds like a lot of energy that Babidi could use" It wasn't the decision that Trunks liked. His heart instantly worried for Pan's safety, his mind already thinking up scenarios of her being subjected to the evil wizard's magic. Scenarios that made his blood boil and his body tense. But, through this short interaction with Babidi, Trunks reasoned that the tournament grounds would be an unlikely spot for Babidi to show up unless desperate. Too public. She'd be in the company of fellow martial artists. At least, that's what Trunks thought. Though, there was also the question of if that device the mushroom creatures used to track him down could even detect 16's energy. "Could you do me a favour?"

"Of course,"

"I'm going to drop you off in the village now. As soon as you can, you need to contact my mother using this and tell her everything that's happened here and what you told me" Trunks landed on the outskirts of the village, where the towering form of a worried Eighter Lumbered towards them. He left out talking about Babidi's reveal of the alien duo, wanting time to make sense of the information before he tried to explain it to anyone. "Well, if you're not still too bruised from the explosion"

Flappe shook his head, a determined glint sparking in his eye "I'll help in any way I can"

"Thank you" Trunks managed to form a smile for the day, offering the smaller man a bow before taking off into the sky. "I have the feeling that I'll be needing all the help I can get"[/spoiler]
When Super apparently shoves Goku down our throats:

Kanassa wrote:
FoolsGil wrote:I hope Mark is dead. But chances are the dragonballs will bring his stupid ass back. :D
- FoolsGil, Out of Context, 2017

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Kanassa
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Re: Fanfiction: Dragon Ball - Another Road

Post by Kanassa » Sun Mar 25, 2018 12:32 am

This is a few days late and I'm sorry for that. The past few weeks have been rather hectic, so I hope you bear with me since the next few uploads, though I will try my best to get them done on time, will most likely be late.

Chapter 37: Twisted Temptations


[spoiler]No sooner had Tails and Banner left the main room to take their place on the fighting stage, no sooner than the crowd even had their chance to cheer, no sooner than the moment before the Announcer could gleefully start the final match of the first bracket, no sooner than that… Did the body of Banner come smashing through the wall, just above Pan's head, and slam into the ground with his shoulder, breaking the titled floor with a few broken bones.

Pan for the moment couldn't really have much of a reaction, but the vent did manage to stop her slurping on her cold can of 'juice' to look. Her eyes went to Banner, then she shifted in her set to look out of the new hole in the wall, then to Tails with one arm held up and a disgruntled glare towards the Announcer, then to the stunned audience, then she awkwardly shifted her eat away from the hole and went back to loudly slurping on the straw.

To the annoyance of everybody in the room.

"And- Uh… With that, the winner is TAILS!" Unenthusiastic claps ensued as the Announcer laughed nervously. "Which means we are officially moving onto the semi-finals bracket of the tournament!" Dead silence. "Wahoo?"

Pan found her can empty and her straw just emitting empty noise, prompting her to finally "That was quick" as she shook her can mournfully. She was thirsty, damn it!

"Boring, unsatisfying and over before you can really get a taste of it" A sigh came from Kassy, who, for reasons that Pan would never understand, had decided to sit in the middle of the room balancing on her own head. "Too many flashbacks coming on"

Unnerved or not, Pan had to agree with her future opponent, leisurely crushing the empty can in her hand (A feeling Pan never tired of) and dropped it to the floor. "Shame that Banner can't suddenly go demonic like Tao" She peered closely at Kassy's face, hoping for some sort of telling reaction from the woman. There had been some weird occurrences after Kassy's match with Schnitzel, namely that Kassy almost immediately disappeared from the room after it, only coming back half-way through Tao and Dj's match looking extraordinarily pleased with herself, before going on to piss off Tails and Tucker somehow. Seriously, after Dj beat Tao, Tails had began glaring daggers at her.

Kassy simply looked disappointed. "We can't always get what we want" After a few seconds of pouting, the woman grew bored of it, instead turning that frown upside down, making it a… Frown? "Silver Lining; that just means we get to our bountiful bout sooner!" Her voice swept up into a sing-song tone. "Oh, I do feel a beckoning wind of excitement at the prospect of ramming your face into the ground"

"Yeah, I look forward to breaking your bones too" Pan waved her off dismissively, muttering under her breath "That jaw for instance. Hard to speak with that broken"

"Bah! Such a negative nancy" A sigh followed by a dry delivery, all while the woman showed off her flexibility with her legs; Pan didn't find it that impressive. "Come now, dearie; your adoring fans in the audience aren't here to judge you, neither is Trunks. You can let out all your satisfaction with your dark desires here. Look at that beast raging under your skin, starving for attention and smile at it, welcome it"

As Pan rolled her eyes, she was starting to wonder why she ever felt so fearful of this woman in the first place. "You know, I think it's stuff like this that weirds me out and makes me want to distance myself from you" The less she heard Kassy talk about her 'dark desires', the better. "And Trunks will be here, he's just running a little late"

"Oh, don't you worry your pretty little-swollen head, Panny" She chuckled in a rather condescending way. "I'm sure your Master is simply busy with other matters, matters that are far more important than his… Student, was it?" Pan felt an eye-twitch akin to her mother's coming on. What did this creep know about Tru- How did she even know about Pan's training? "Pity he can't catch your shining moments, you are certainly surpassing his expectations. He'll be so surprised" The way Kassy spoke… Pan shook her head, rejecting possibilities that popped into her mind.

Kassy was probably some stalker who watched their training sessions, trying to psyche Pan out before the match. Pan trusted that Trunks wasn't talking about her behind her back with some random girl. Imaging such a situation in her thoughts, imagining insulting words coming out of Trunks as he complained about his student and laughing at her pathetic performance… Yeah, it'd feel bad to hear from him, but it'd also feel unnatural. Trunks was too nice for such a thing and it made Pan feel ashamed for even humoring the idea for a second. "I think you're a bit too obsessed with the lives of others, Kassy dear."

"Panny, you can't keep this all bottled up" She dropped from her headstand and rolled onto her feet, leering at Pan as she approached. "Such a beast is impossible to cage. Why deny the inevitable when accepting who you are is such a pleasure? To lug it around by a steel chord, every day is such a tiring and thankless method. Why not have it walk loyally beside you, nuzzle at your hand and roar at your beck and call? Let it roam free, otherwise, it'll scratch" A step closer. "It will claw. It will beat against its cage and it will break free. And when it does break free…" She slinked in beside Pan, a sharp looking finger drawn against her chest. "It will hurt. For every one"

"I did the same thing once. I had this urge, this desire, this idea that pulled at my flesh and set my passions ablaze!" The fingers withdrew, reaching around to clap themselves over Pan's shoulders, pulling the girl close so Kassy could whisper in her ear. "But I turned up my nose at it, I ignored it, I left it to rot" Once more, Pan could see it, that blank world surrounding her, a world without color, a world lost and lacking in all sense of life. There was nothing. "And it burned me, it started a fire that singed my very skin until I was consumed until I was flayed. There came a moment where I faced it, I looked into the mirror, the flames at my back. And the flames didn't burn me"

The voice twisted in her mind, dripped into the world around her, swirling variety into this blank space. Something punched her straight in the gut, the pain flashed before her very eyes, but the pain brought something with it. The flash showed her potential, it showed her a more colorful world, one she could enjoy. "Don't deny who you are, embrace it. Savor the spices of life" Her hands reacted on their own, they pushed forward, a scream tearing through the veil of monotony. She hit something, broke something and it bled onto the ground. "Just break free from your inhibition, break through your shell. Break." The blood came in drops, but they were instantly the center of attention, immediately the first thing she looked to. The blanks were filled with such vibrant red, so many shades and tints seeping into the world, a breath of fresh air that ended her suffocation.

She reached forward, the splotches growing into a pool, one she could sink her hands into. It was as smooth as silk and when she pulled her hands back out of the pool, the smell hit her, the smell intoxicated her. There was power, energy, life all forging a blistering heat that burned her hands. Pan looked down at her hands, the blood dripping off to soak the rest of her body.

And in that moment, she felt her tongue lash out at her lip. Drool leaking from the corner of her lips.

"Stop it!" She growled. A desperate growl that fit more with a whimpering little girl than a grown woman. "I don't know what the hell you're playing at, but STOP IT!" She was back in reality, she was still clean, but right now she was stumbling forward like a drunk. Her skin flushed red, sweat dripped from her brow and her body squirmed. But as she braced herself against the wall, her knees falling weak under a pressure she didn't realize was there, she could see no sign of Kassy in the room. "That bitch…"

She was simply left with the odd glances of the participants that still remained in the room, as well as a bit of attention from the crowd, who, while hadn't understood what she was saying, did notice that the crazy lady was yelling at herself. "I… I need a bathroom break" A hoarse excuse spoke through a dry throat before she shot off down the hallway, just hearing snippets of the Announcers informing everybody how there would be a break before the next batch of fights started when she was halfway through the door at the end of the hallway.

The bathroom was spotless, spotless and white; fucking shining white. The sight made bile rise in her throat, the heat increasing as the air in the room suddenly felt limited and thin. "Who does she think she is? Some… Some psychopathy person?" Once more, she felt herself leaning against the wall, digging her finger into the tiles. Making holes, making plenty of holes on her way to the tap.

There was a moment of consideration, looking to the stalls where she could empty all of that that swirling mass of disgust in her stomach into the toilet bowl. She opened her mouth, testing to see if her stomach would twist, but it refused to surface, it wouldn't be leaving her anytime soon unless she cut it out. "What would Mom say about this? Heh, she'd probably grab Kassy by the ear" A few turns of the knob and the water came down. When a few stray droplets of water landed on Pan's arm, she let out a gasp, for the first time really embracing how good the cold touch felt on her burning skin.

The liquid spilled out over Pan's hand, soaking her fingers with the relieving substance as her other hand reached over to the soap dispenser. A press of a button. The fluffy, gleaming slush wobbled in her hand, only to be immediately turned to dust when she slapped it against her other hand. And she rubbed it in, she rubbed it in hard, practically strangling her fingers as she pushed them under the cold water.

Her hands were clean.

But she couldn't stop.

Her hands were clean.

But she needed to clean them. Scrub them hard, make sure that no spec goes unnoticed. Scrub them until the flushed skin becomes bruised until she could feel clean again. Until this room stopped being so god damn white!

She could feel her reflection laughing at her antics, looking down on her for such hygienic diligence that she'd never displayed until now. With that, Pan shot a glare at her reflection, her much older looking reflection. Or maybe Pan was just tired, and it was showing. The woman that grinned back at her stood a few inches taller, a bit buffer with veins popping out of her flesh and a few bruises decorating a face that had once been rather cute. The hair was longer as well, the fringe now over her forehead, covering up something new. Something sinister.

The reflection grinned at her, tapping a gloved fist against the metallic chest piece she bore. It was armor, resembling what Pan had been told Saiyans would tend to wear to battle. Another shake of the head. It wasn't real. More cold water splashed against her face, dowsing the foul flames that grabbed at her flesh.

She looked up.

And she saw her normal reflection once more, a haggard young face with a desperate glint caught in her eye, completely vulnerable as she stared. "I'm fine… I'm fine… I'm fine…" She felt herself flinch involuntarily when her finger came forward against her forehead. She was heating up and as with most heat, it also came with an itch, but where that itch was, Pan couldn't say. Might as well have been all over her body.

You're scared.

While the reflection had dissipated, that itch carried the presence of it, an itch to give in and scratch.

If they knew the real you, would they accept you?

And Pan knew scratching an itch only made it worse.

Would Trunks?

So, she wouldn't scratch it, no matter how much she wanted to.

Will you?

As she exited the bathroom to the tune of her own thumping heart, she managed to look ahead and focus, focus on one thing. Something simple. Something that felt therapeutic for her. Something she held no shame in being both excited and determined in.

She was gonna kick Kassy's ass.[/spoiler]
When Super apparently shoves Goku down our throats:

Kanassa wrote:
FoolsGil wrote:I hope Mark is dead. But chances are the dragonballs will bring his stupid ass back. :D
- FoolsGil, Out of Context, 2017

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