(At the lake)
After managing to escape the clutches of the three gorgeous girls in his company, Gohan wasted no time in dragging his soaking wet body back onto shore to stretch and dry off under the sun. When the rays evaporated a majority of the perspiration gripping his skin, with a quick burst of ki, the teen was able to dispel the rest of it, before going about the arduous process of putting the rest of his clothes back on. The girls, seeing the boy begin packing up, did the exact same thing, only… they decided to spend a few extra minutes trying to make life for their half-Saiyan hunk of a crush a little more challenging. They did this through a number of different means, from jumping on his back while they were still soaking wet, to teasingly moving over to where he was standing so that they could rub-up against him in a provocative manner.
Sure, the girls enjoyed the feeling of physical contact with their spiky haired hero, but the real reason they teased him in such a manner was to see if they could get him to a point where he actually started to return fire.
They'd seen his playfully, innocent side, and did so almost every single day. Now they wanted to see his wilder, more daring side.
They knew he had one. He was just very good at hiding it.
Before they could take their fun and games any further, Gohan, quick as ever, was able to dodge them long enough to get back into full uniform. After making a mental note to pick this up on a later date, perhaps at a time when they had him alone, Videl, Lime and Zangya also spent a minute drying themselves off and getting dressed. As soon as they were all fully clothed and had their boots back on, they then gathered up alongside the teen's freshly caught fish and watched as the hybrid gave his dragon friend Icarus a pat on the head.
"I don't know about you, but I think this was a really good morning," Gohan commented cheerfully, at the same time earning a playful head nudge from the pink, mythological reptile.
An approving murmur quickly followed his remark. "You can say that again," Videl said, regarding the teenager in front of her with a look of both mischief and longing. It was an expression she shared with her teammates Zangya and Lime, both of whom were also eyeing the demi-Saiyan with a predatory gleam.
Picking up on his girlfriend's tone as well as taking note of the trio's respective stares, Gohan gave them all a good-natured laugh and placed his hands on his hips, "Come on, girls. Enough of that. I know what you're all trying to do and I'm going to tell you right now; it's not going to work."
A smirking Zangya shot a teasing look towards the young male, "You sure about that, spike?"
Siding up next to Gohan with her hands behind her back, an impish Lime then tapped his leg with her foot and grinned, "You may look as cool as a cucumber on the outside. But inside I bet you're just hanging on by a thread."
"Who's to say that a tough guy like you wouldn't crack under pressure," the Hera continued, at the same time giving the teen a suggestive shrug. "Everybody breaks sooner or later."
"Besides… we haven't even done anything to you yet," Lime concluded assertively, while simultaneously leaning into the boy and putting her weight on him.
Smiling in amusement, the half-Saiyan warrior then brought his hand up and began counting on his fingers, "You all tried to grab my tail, you all kept getting me wet by jumping on me in the lake, and all three of you keep trying to pinch me in places that's just not called fo-hey!" He then dodged Zangya when she attempted to make another sneak attack on him with her fingers, which had the teen hold his hand up defensively and laugh. "I'm serious, Zangya. Don't even try it." He then looked behind him to see Videl creeping up on him with the voracious stalk of a Velociraptor. "You too, V. I see you."
"Aww, come on, Gohan," the raven haired girl whined with an amused grin in play. "You know you love it."
"Just one last quick feel for today," Zangya pleaded childishly, raising her hands and making a 'squeezing' motion in the air. "Pleeeaase. I promise we'll stop bothering you if you do."
The hero raised an eyebrow at the Hera and gave her a disbelieving look, "Oh yeah? And what makes you think I can trust you to keep your word?"
Stopping for a moment to think about it, the orange haired woman's leer only became more intense, "Do you really want to hear the answer to that question?"
The stares from the three girls attempting to flank him drew a nervous laugh from the man in red and blue, as he slowly started to back away. "Something tells me that this isn't going away anytime soon."
As of that moment, Son Gohan had no idea how accurate that prediction actually was.
Before the demi-Saiyan could begin comprehending the full weight and breadth of his situation, a sudden ping on his ki radar unexpectedly snapped him out of his funk. The same thing happened to both Zangya and Videl who, after stopping in their tracks, the three Z-fighters then turned their attention towards the treetops. It only took them a couple of moments, but as soon as their gazes fixated upon the horizon, they quickly realized that the sudden feedback of energy that shot through them had come from the direction of their house.
"Hey. That's Goten," Videl murmured, at the same time furrowing her brow in concern. Icarus also seemed to pick up on the disturbance and, along with his human counterparts, turned in the direction they were all looking. "Why'd he go Super Saiyan all of a sudden?"
After honing in on the signal coming from afar, Zangya then balked in shock when she picked up something else hanging on the precipice of her senses.
There were two of them… that much was clear, and they were faint… but they were definitely there, standing right next to Chi-Chi's and Goten's energy signatures, the latter of whom was now serving as a beacon for all three fighters positioned by the lake. It was a realization that put a tight knot in the Hera's chest and caused her to look towards her crush with fearful look reflected in her eyes. "Someone is with them."
When Gohan picked up the trace amounts of energy as well, he then concentrated all of his efforts into figuring out who they were. Initially he thought they were normal people visiting their place, but their energy levels were reading so low that it didn't seem natural. It was almost like something was blocking them and only tiny amounts of ki were slipping through, perforating the air around them. After concentrating even harder, the teenager was soon able to get somewhat of a bead on one of the energy signatures and, eyes widening in horror, his entire body did a full, ninety degree turn.
"No." Without another word, the half-Saiyan took off at such a great speed that his form seemed to vanish, an act that was immediately followed by a sonic boom.
Zangya didn't even wait for the cloud of dust to fade before she too powered up and took off, "Shit! This is not good!" Videl took off along with her and the pair began burning a path straight towards the house.
Startled by the group's sudden flight, a perplexed Lime quickly waved away the cloud of dust surrounding her and jogged after them, "Hey! What's going on?!" Stopping when she realized running was useless, she then turned her attention to Icarus, who ambled after her and squawked inquisitively. The brown haired girl shrugged in response, "No idea. But we're going to find out. Come on, boy." Focusing her energy on the ground, the brown haired girl then called upon all of the training Gohan had started putting her through in the last couple of weeks. After a few moments of concentration, the teenager then levitated off of the floor and into the air.
At first clumsy and apprehensive, Lime began a slow flight in the direction of the Son household, with Icarus spreading his wings and following right on after her. Though they had no clue as to what had gotten the three strongest warriors in the region so riled up, the pair of misfits figured that it had to be something bad.
After all, they were all so quick to leave the area that they completely forgot about the fish Gohan had caught for lunch…
XXX
(Back at the house)
"Your group is looking for the Saiyan that killed Frieza?" Chi-Chi asked, earning an affirmative nod from the spiky haired woman in front of her. Tilting her head curiously, the mother then narrowed her eyes on Maya and gave her a puzzled stare. "Why? Are you here to take revenge on him or something?"
Scratching the hair protruding out of the back of her helmet, Maya exhaled exhaustedly, "It's… a little bit more complicated than that." Turning to her left, the woman saw the young Goten, still assumed in a controlled Super Saiyan state, checking out the tall and imposing figure of her partner. "Our group follows a very unique set of codes and practices when it comes to dealing out justice. Since Frieza and his family were responsible for killing billions of innocent people without cause, including our entire race, it stands to reason that there were many out there who wanted to see them dead. My best friend wanted to take care of the lizard herself, but somebody else beat her to it."
The raven haired mother then looked at the armored female strangely. "So in other words… your boss felt robbed of the opportunity and now wants to take her frustrations out on the one responsible for stealing her mark?" When Maya looked back at her, Chi-Chi frowned in a manner that conveyed her disbelief, "Isn't that a little counterproductive?"
Maya chuckled and turned to smile at the mother, "Since your son is half-Saiyan, I think you know full well what a true Saiyan is actually like." She then raised a hand and placed it against her chest plating. "Our people are a warrior race; born and bred to fight against the most exciting and impossible of opponents. As it is in our nature to gain strength through combat, we are constantly seeking new obstacles to conquer wherever we can… otherwise we lose all sense and purpose in our lives."
Her response put a small, amused grin on Chi-Chi's face, as the wife and owner of the household then folded her arms and leaned against the frame of her door. "Oh… I think I have a good idea of what you're getting at."
After all, her Goku and her sons were exactly the same, and were unshaken in their pursuits. If they didn't get out to fight or train at least once a day, they became stir-crazy and were unable to sit still for even a second.
Shrugging, Maya then glanced down at Goten, whom she now saw was tapping against the shin-guard of Cal's leg. The giant of a man then took a step back and, raising his hands in the air, began waving them about in a goofy manner, causing his metal plating to chime loudly with every hop. It was this little performance that had the child Super Saiyan giggle and the armored Saiyan shake her head. "Aside from wanting to do battle against opponents we deem worthy, both my friend and I have also developed a code of honor that we feel we must uphold, both as individuals and as a group. Looking at your family dynamic and the way you've raised your son, I have a feeling you understand what we mean."
The mother quickly nodded in acknowledgement of this fact, "I think I do." She then gestured towards the woman inquisitively, "So… you and your group are truly set on finding this Saiyan and fighting him, huh?" Despite sounding sincere, the woman couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for this woman and her friend, as neither Goku nor Mirai Trunks were currently around.
Oh well. Perhaps they could find somebody else to play around with… preferably soon. If her internal clock was working fine, Chi-Chi was positive he was going to show up right about…
Maya chuckled and turned her attention to Goten, whom she then approached with a casual pace. While Cal took a step back, the armored woman placed her hands on her hips and sized the young half-Saiyan up. "If I know Sandra, she won't rest until she's fought against the Saiyan we felt from our side of the cosmos. To be honest, I'm pretty excited about fighting this person as well. For someone to generate the amount of power our computers picked up, he must be really incredible… probably the strongest warrior on this planet." She then grinned down at the adolescent hybrid in front of her. "Although… I don't think that person would be you, huh, short stack?"
Blinking, Goten then gave the woman an innocent smile and shook his head. "Uh-uh. Nope." Upon which, a very proud grin then appeared across his lips. "My big brother is actually the strongest person on this planet."
It was this bit of information that had Cal and Maya stop, with the latter staring down at the child in silence.
"Wait. You… have a big bro-" Her words were cut short when a warning arrow suddenly jumped up onto her visor and pointed in the direction of a massive power level. Recoiling in surprise, the woman then turned when she heard a sonic boom echo in from the valley to her left.
Then, before she could respond in any way, it happened.
Tearing a cloud of dust across the grassy fields at a ridiculous speed, a human-sized orange and blue mass tackled the armored woman in the stomach and, picking her up, rocketed into the distance like a missile. Passing over valleys and rolling hills in a blur, an infuriated Gohan, with his face pressed into Maya's stomach, bellowed at the top of his lungs as he plowed his opponent straight through a forest of evergreens. Trees exploded one after the other in rapid succession as the young warrior used the woman's armored back to cut a swath right through the woods.
Traveling at a speed greater than any other object on the planet, the pair soon burst out the other side of the forest, where the demi-Saiyan ended up flying them over an enormous stretch of farmland. Approaching a cluster of silos, Gohan didn't hesitate one bit in pushing his hapless foe straight through them. Three of the towering grain containers exploded from the fast-moving figures blasting out the other end, transforming the cement structures into a cloud of smoke and debris. Continuing along a straight line through the cloud, the half-Saiyan then gripped his enemy by the shoulders and pushed her into the earth, where he proceeded to drag her through the wheat fields.
Cutting a trench across the vale, Gohan held the startled Maya by the throat and began to viciously bash her head in with his fist. His knuckles impacted against her visor over and over again as he continued to push her through the crops at breakneck speeds, causing her to yelp out in pain with every blow while her head bounced back and forth in time with his haymakers.
"Ugh! Ah! Hey! Ugh! Wait!" Maya grunted between each of his hits. "Augh! Stop! Gah! It!"
Gohan however, was having none of it.
"YOU THINK… YOU CAN ATTACK… MY FAMILY?!" he yelled between blows.
Actually, it was more like he couldn't hear her above the sound of his knuckles burying into her helmet.
On the verge of blacking out from being dragged through the earth while simultaneously being clobbered in the face plate, Maya let out a cry of pain as the two of them flew out of the wheat field and bounced from hilltop to hilltop. A few seconds after the epic tackle on the Son family's front lawn, the pair soon came across the neighboring town, where Gohan sent both of them flying straight into the back wall of a Bait Shop and out onto the street. The pair eventually collided into a petrol station on the other side of the road, and it was here both warriors ended up smashing through the main building and the multiple filling stations, which exploded in a massive ball of fire and debris.
It was this particular explosion that startled any and all nearby civilians, and had every single person out on the streets duck for cover.
Back in front of the Son household, Chi-Chi, Goten and Cal were gaping in the direction Gohan and Maya had gone shooting off in, leaving the three members at the front door to the house stunned. Being the first to snap out of his dazed state, the big, armored warrior frowned and quickly moved to give chase.
After all, his comrade had just been blindsided by a very fast and powerful adversary. Based on the readings he'd just received from his helmet, he knew that while encumbered and protected by her thousand ton training armor, Maya was going to be in serious trouble against this particular foe.
However, before the man could take flight, a few more numbers popped up on his screen, which immediately had him spin around in alarm. When he did, he was suddenly attacked from above by Videl dropping down to deliver a killer knee right into his visor. The blow crashed into the alien warrior with a terrifying 'crack', knocking Cal sliding back along the grass and away from the house. His feet digging two trenches into the earth, he then raised his arms up when he saw Videl come at him again from the front to deliver a punishing hook into his face. This hit knocked him stumbling backwards a second time, giving Videl the perfect opportunity to charge in and continue her assault.
Blasting off from the ground, the human fighter leapt at him with a wild haymaker. "Take this, you oversized, metal freak!" the girl shouted.
Just before her hit could land however, the large alien's hand suddenly shot up and caught her attack by the forearm. Startled, Videl then let out a cry of alarm when she was suddenly thrown through the air and straight into the ground, which she struck with her back and punched a sizable crater into the earth. Blinking in shock at literally having the air knocked out of her lungs, the stunned Videl stared up at the sky in silence.
"Ow."
Upon uttering her wheezed response and giving a couple of astonished blinks, she then saw her opponent loom over her frozen body and stare down at her oddly. At first she thought he was going to continue her attack and braced herself for the inevitable. It was only when the scouter in Cal's helmet lit up again that the enormous warrior turned his attention away from her, spinning around and backhanding the air.
His knuckles almost immediately struck something invisible with a loud 'clang', prompting a charging Zangya to materialize out of thin air with her arms raised in defense.
"What the-WHOA!" The surprised Hera took the blow as she was knocked spinning into the sky. She quickly halted herself with a quick burst of ki, after which she repositioned herself upside down and about ten stories above the ground. After a quick recovery, she once again charged towards the large alien in black armor. With a battle cry, the woman brought back her fist for a running hit, only to be caught completely by surprise when the armored Cal suddenly vanished from his spot on the ground and reappeared directly in front of her.
Zangya's jaw dropped in shock. "Mother fu-"
The instant she began to speak, the Hera left herself wide open for a punch to the face that sent her spiraling towards the ground, which she struck hard and fast. Her collision with the earth was marked by a small mushroom cloud of dust and debris, and when the plume cleared seconds later, it revealed the woman lying in a small crater; the top half of her body buried in the soil and bottom half sticking into the air.
Cal landed a few feet away from Zangya's position, where he then stared silently at her for several seconds before then turning towards the house. When he saw Chi-Chi and Goten gaping at him in shock, the warrior quickly realized what he'd just done and, panicking momentarily, placed a hand over his chest in a bow. "I… apologize for ruining your front lawn, ma'am." After making his worry and guilt known, the man quickly turned towards the horizon and took flight, blasting off with a clap of thunder as he effortlessly broke the sound barrier. Seconds later, he was gone.
Realizing their family member was in deep trouble… literally, Chi-Chi and Goten rushed out to see if Zangya and Videl were alright. While the Son mother helped the raven haired girl to her feet, the little Super Saiyan stopped beside his big sister's legs, only to jump in surprise when Paprika suddenly dropped down from the sky and landed right next to them.
Arms crossed, the green demon girl with the red, hooded cape and scarf, gazed down at the laughable sight of Zangya's bottom half sticking out of the earth. After a few seconds of burning the image into the back of her brain and watching the woman's legs twitch, the Makyan sighed.
"Zangya… that was pathetic." When she saw the legs in front of her stiffen, she then tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "Need a hand?"
Miraculously hearing the estranged teenager through the upturned earth, the Hera could only utter one thing. "Fuck… you…"
Paprika smirked, "That's what I thought." Reaching forward, she then grabbed the woman by the ankle and effortlessly yanked her out of the ground with a comical 'pop'. She then unceremoniously dropped her on her ass, leaving the woman sprawled out on the front lawn, covered in dirt. As Goten dropped down to ask if his big sister was alright, the red-caped female began marching away from the house. "Feel free to join me after you two are done cleaning yourselves off." She was of course referring to both her rivals, who were still trying to get the ringing from their one-sided beating out of their ears.
Videl, Chi-Chi, Goten and Zangya then watched silently as Paprika took off from the ground and began flying at a leisurely pace in the direction Gohan and his opponents had disappeared.
Though they had no clue what was happening, judging from what the ki sensitive members of the group could feel taking place in the neighboring town, they had a pretty good idea of what was unfolding…