By Konrad
PART 1
Hello, this is a redux of a DBZ epic I started and attempted a long long time ago. (I thing my last update was like in 2002 or 2003, definitely no later!) This little(?) story takes place right after the Cell saga.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dragonball Z, or it's characters, or anything else created and licensed by Akira Toriyama and his associates. However, I do lay claim to the original characters I create in this or in any of my other works. That's all I wanted to say so I'll shut up now and let you read my QUEST FOR POWER series, starting with the WARLORD section. Reviews and criticism always welcome!
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Another day passed in the country side around Orange Star City, recently rechristened Satan City, and everything could be deemed as normal as ever. Ever since the threat of Cell had been removed, and most of his victims and his destruction somehow restored, the entire planet was at peace. Apart from those questions, the population in general wondered how long it would take for their leaders to exhaust the goodwill left from the catastrophe. After the army's debacle against the threat, and following the previous disaster against two supposed alien invaders, there was talk of creating a super-soldier force trained personally by Earth's revered champion Mr Satan. But they broke in animosity over who should be held responsible for the Cell fiasco. And then, in a great publicity coup, Orange Star City beat New York in being named after the great hero. In a matter of under three weeks, politicians were bickering again as usual.
All this could well have flown over the heads of two warriors who just mourned the sacrifice of a fellow fighter and friend in that terrible incident. They were currently meditating several dozen feet in the air a few miles from Satan City. They tucked away all thoughts about the world around them, including all the excitement around Mr Satan, and concentrated on the few things they considered important in their lives.
The sound of giggling reached Piccolo's ear and, for the first time in hours, he interrupted his meditating to look for the disturbance. Down below, two women had reached a small creak and were settling down to eat and drink. Hikers, he grumbled in his head. They were to be expected in a national park, especially one geared towards campers like this place. He didn't understand why he let his companion choose the meditation grounds, or why he chose this place... or more puzzlingly why did he accept in spite of all his instincts screaming 'people will be there'.
"Hey, can you hear me?... A bit distracted, Piccolo?" spoke Trunks, causing Piccolo to look back at him. He hadn't realized he'd been staring at the women for a few minutes.
"Don't start." Piccolo grumbled. "If you were concentrating, you wouldn't have noticed me looking away in the first place."
"Which wouldn't have changed the fact that you looked." retorted Trunks. The amusement in the Saiyan's eyes was obvious. He looked down at the women and Piccolo's gaze followed too. As far as they were, their sharp vision caught the features of the women. Both likely in their twenties, one with long brown hair, the other with short blonde hair, they could be considered 'beautiful' by human standards, thought Piccolo. And having lived with them so long, he wondered if he was acquiring their tastes... No, he corrected himself, he was just curious! He was just curious...
"Hey, I haven't known you personally for so long... I wondered since when did you show interest in women... If it's not too much to ask." Trunks said looking at the Namek. This time Piccolo didn't bother to meet his gaze and growled in annoyance.
"Funny, I wondered since when did you get to be so annoying."
"Mother... in the future... told me a lot about you. And when I first met you, I'd say that what she said was correct. But in the last few days, I think I've seen you change..."
"Whatever..."
"Hey, you think I could ever find love?"
"With your track record?" Piccolo chuckled.
"No need to mock me." Trunks replied in good humor.
"When you were mocking me moments ago?" said Piccolo. "By the way, Trunks, I'm curious what do you hope to accomplish by staying in this timeline so long." The young Saiyan sighed. None of the other fighters had thought to ask him a similar question and he hope it could've stayed that way.
"Because when I go back to my time, it'll be different from here. Everything will be..."
The pair stopped talking as a monstrous roar that had been growing louder became deafening. Piccolo and Trunks looked up to see a large blue craft not far in the distance.
"What noise. And what a weird plane, that doesn't look like a normal plane... or not even anything from Capsule Corp. Maybe it's a military experiment." Trunks asked.
"I can feel a ki in there but it's not human. I wonder what could an alien want here now." Piccolo mused frowning. He did not want to think about another invasion, but something in the back of his head nagged him that this wouldn't be good.
"Well, it's heading in the direction of West City... which reminds me, Gohan should at my mother's house soon. Want to go check that thing out and pay a visit to Gohan and my parents while we're at it?"
"So we'll have Gohan and Vegeta with us too. I'm gonna see if I can reach the others. I have a feeling this is going to be something big..."
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At Kame house, Chaozu, wearing a apron that read "Hail to the Chef!", manned the grill as he prepared to barbecue a large piece of brontosaurus meat. He whistled gently to himself, thinking about how he was lucky he didn't have to cook for Saiyans like Chichi or Bulma did, though Oolong and Kamesennin could stuff their fair share of food down their stomachs. While waiting to dine, 18, Lunch and Oolong watched as Krillin sparred with Tenshinhan. And the old man? He was on the ground sky gazing after he "accidentally" brushed up against 18's ass. That also had the distinct advantage to keep Oolong quiet...
"They've both gotten stronger." Chaozu said to Lunch.
The machine-gun-wielding blond didn't respond. She just smiled. She's been happy ever since, after the defeat of Cell three weeks, Tenshinhan invited her to stay with him and Chaozu.
Tenshinhan threw another ki ball but it missed when Krillin jumped and let the ball hit the ground. However, the dust resulting from the explosion prevented him from seeing Tenshinhan coming to him at full speed. The Triclops rammed him down to the ground.
"Aaaaack! Well, you've gotten a bit stronger." Krillin gasped. Tenshinhan gave a slight smile as he floated just above. Ever since the Cell games he was determined more than ever to not fall too far behind the Saiyans and Piccolo and be as useful as he can be in any situation. He only shared this with Chaozu.
"Well, you look like you had a bit of fun. Care for a real challenge now?" 18 smirked, taking a few steps forward.
"Ok, but don't go easy on me." Tenshinhan replied brimming with confidence.
And they launched at each other in a flurry of punches and kicks. Seeing an opening, 18 hit him in the ribs with a left, then smacked him with her backhand. Tenshinhan tried to teleport behind her but she saw it coming and, as soon he was behind her, she elbowed him in the gut before sending him flying with an uppercut. That prompted cheers from Krillin.
Tenshinhan landed on his feet but was forced on the defensive as the faster and stronger Android threw a volley of blows. Tenshinhan blocked many blows but several got through anyways and he grew more tired. A roundhouse kick got him airborne again and this time he landed with a loud thud. When he got up, Tenshinhan sported many cuts and bruises on his body.
"Hey, are you ok?" asked 18, her voice showing a twinge of remorse and sympathy. All the others save Krillin were slightly surprised, not having witnessed her cold exterior waver for even an instant.
"It's nothing I can't handle." Tenshinhan replied, not too embarrassed at having been beaten.
"That was great, Tenshinhan! You stood your ground." Chaozu chirped in his childlike voice.
"Yeah, I would've bet Kamesennin's entire lingerie collection that you couldn't last that long against 18!" echoed Oolong. Tenshinhan felt himself torn between his pride and his modesty. He managed a wide grin while looking down at his feet. That "victory" against Goku was already so long ago, he never fathomed walking into another spotlight, not even one as small as this one...
"Ah, I thought that was you." Piccolo's voice rang abruptly inside of Tenshinhan's head, causing the surprised Triclops to look up and around him.
"What the...? Piccolo, is that you?", Tenshinhan responded out loud. The others looked on in curiosity.
"Yes it is. And it's nice to see that you're stronger than ever." Piccolo spoke telepathically. "Maybe with enough training you could even as strong as a Saiyan. But anyways, this isn't supposed to be a social call. I think something big is about to happen."
"Oh, what's wrong?"
"Trunks and I saw what we thought was a spaceship and we're tracking it down. If you concentrate, you can probably sense us. We're heading in the direction of West City. If it lands near there, we can convince Vegeta to come and Gohan may be near too. But I still want as much of us there as possible, just in case."
"Alright, is there anything else I need to know."
"Actually, maybe... Dende told me something about a war out in space not too far from Earth. He didn't seem to sure about what was going on since he had only heard about it but he didn't rule out that we can get caught up in this. So I want to see if this has anything to do with it."
"Yeah, I understand what you mean. We don't want any bad surprises. I'll come right away." Tenshinhan responded. Piccolo acknowledged it and cut off the telepathic link. It wasn't until the conversation had stopped that Tenshinhan realized that the others were looking at him with curious expressions.
"Uh, why were you talking to yourself there?" Oolong asked, puzzled. "You need better friends or something?" which prompted a knock to Oolong's head by Lunch. "Owww!"
"Don't you dare talk to my Tehnshinhan like that, or else I'll make pork chops out of you!" Lunch yelled. Chaozu sweat dropped.
"Sorry guys, that was Piccolo talking to me in my head. He said that there's a spaceship that's about to land here. Him and Trunks are going to investigate and he asked that as many of us fighters come too just in case it's trouble."
"Well, I guess that makes sense given our history with invasions." Krillin joked. "Another space adventure seems overdue."
"Krillin and I will come with you." 18 said stepping forward, then she turned to Chaozu and Lunch. "You guys are probably better to stay here out of harm's way."
"What! Who made you boss and what makes you can tell me what to do, you hussy!" Lunch screamed. While everyone else sweat dropped at the hyper active blonde, Chaozu merely sighed heavily, grabbed the pepper dispenser he was using on the meat and shook it in the direction of Lunch's face "Why, I oughta kick your aaaaAAACHOO!... Oh my, I guess my split personality must've said some nasty things again, huh Chaozu?" said the docile blue-haired personality. The tiny emperor nodded.
"Krillin, 18 and I are going to check out something that's probably dangerous, so can you stay here with Chaozu and Oolong?" Tenshinhan spoke to her.
"Oh... alright but please be safe!"
The Triclops nodded. He searched briefly for the ki signatures of Trunks and Piccolo before taking to the air followed by 18 and Krillin.
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Gohan rang the doorbell at the Briefs residence. A few minutes later, he was face-to-chest with Vegeta, who was holding baby Trunks. As soon as he saw him, Vegeta was quick to dismiss him.
"What are you doing here, squirt?" The Saiyan Prince said. "Get outta here!"
"Hey! That's rude, you can't kick me out just like that." Gohan replied.
"I can well decide to keep Kakalotto's offspring out of my house."
"Funny. I'm sure Bulma would like to hear you say who this places belongs to." Gohan chided, smirking. Vegeta thought about replying then decided against it. "I'm here to see Trunks."
"You came here to babysit? Fine by me!" Vegeta said mockingly and immediately handed Gohan the baby. Trunks smiled and giggled.
"Go...go...go...!" the toddler cooed. Gohan looked puzzled.
"Uh, I meant the other Trunks. You know who I'm talking about, the one who's from the future."
"He's out training with the Namek." Vegeta replied.
"Again? Wow, it seems like he's always training with someone. First you, then last week he spent time with Tenshinhan and now Piccolo."
"He's just thriving to be the best just like his father." Vegeta replied, his eyes close to tearing with pride. Gohan rolled his eyes instead.
"Well, maybe I should train some more."
"What? You stopped training?" asked Vegeta.
"Well, without anymore threats, there's no reason to train for a while. Plus I'm gonna be going to go to school at the end of summer, mom wants me to be ready. Training may have only been a necessity before, but now I may just have to stop altogether." Gohan said lowering his head. He felt torn between listening to his mom's sensible advice and honoring his dad's memory. Didn't he just become the strongest fighter in spite of his lukewarm love for combat?
The prince of Saiyajin frowned and took a more serious tone. "Listen, squirt…"
"Stop calling me that!" Gohan yelled.
"Listen. That's fine and all but It's still important that you don't take your training and your skills for granted. You may be only 10 years old but you're the strongest here and there's always beings and forces beyond us that will to ruin it all for everybody. You may to have to stand up to the universe's fiercest warriors and be ready."
Gohan looked on in surprise saying nothing. He had never heard Vegeta being so serious and concerned.
"You get what I'm trying to say?"
"Um, I think so, yeah."
There was a moment of silence between them. Then Vegeta smirked.
"Squirt!" Vegeta said.
"Hey! You know, you're mean."
"Hehe! Yeah, I know..." Vegeta started before looking up away from Gohan. "What the...? Do you hear that?" Gohan frowned and turned to try to find the source of the deafening sound of engines that now seemed to engulf them.
"Yeah, like an airplane coming here."
They looked up and saw the underside of a large aircraft descend from the sky. As the ship landed on the vast front lawn of the Briefs' residence, they took in it's full features. It's main body was triangular and a grayish blue color, the point of it seemingly being the front. At the rear was three engine turbines. Two large windows were at the front while the side sported smaller round ones. Two wings sprouted from the sides upwards at a sharp angle. On the tip of each of them was another small engine. The craft looked large enough to hold about a dozen people.
Before they could recover from their surprise at the sudden arrival, a door opened on the side of the ship. Vegeta immediately tensed up, ready to react at any sign of hostility, while Gohan held the baby closer to him. A young man, with brown hair and a green body suit, stepped out of the ship to greet them. The new arrival went to the pair quickly and promptly dropped to his knees to bow before them.
"Greetings, I believe you to be the Saiyans Son Gohan and Vegeta? I come representing my people, the Jubians. We are at war against a warlord named Dudan and we are in terrible need of help!"
Gohan and Vegeta looked at each other puzzled. Neither of them had a clue how this strange man could know of them. They had never heard of Jubians or their world. And who was this Dudan?
END OF PART ONE