Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Shadow in the Twilight ❯ Chapter 34 ( Chapter 34 )

Author's Notes: Thanks for the generous words of encouragement from kagajaku no hoshi and dragon's moon. My apologies to all who have been patiently awaiting the next installments, but real life obligations do take precedent, no da? That, on top of hitting the occasional writer's block speed bump; but the sun is shining, my tank is full, and I'm putting the pedal to the metal, y'all. Hope you enjoy the ride!

Chapter 34

Despite the tense situation taking place right below them, most of the occupants of the observation deck were either softly chortling or grunting to themselves in amusement. This day was going to be one for the books, all right! Perhaps the young prince had finally bitten off more than he could chew with this unusual female...

The Saiya-jin known as Puerro was clutching his aching shoulder and staring down at the alien male and female. There was something in the way that they stood next to each other, how she positioned herself as a shield between him and the prince, how she carried herself…

When he had earlier scented the light-haired female as she'd passed by him, a triggered memory had arisen. It told him that he'd come in contact with her somewhere before…but where and when? A Saiya-jin's sense of smell was uncannily accurate and once an individual's scent registered, he or she could recall that person's smell many years hence. Puerro scrunched his eyebrows together in concentration for a second or two, allowing his mind to place her pleasant aroma with the context of his mental database.

Standing right next to him, a startled Cebolla nearly levitated off the deck floor when his companion shouted in alarm, "Ultra-Violet! It's Ultra-Violet!"

The outside audio feed picked up Puerro's outburst, and carried it towards the ears of the three people standing inside the training room. Tristan and Lluvia flashed a quick, knowing look at each other and suddenly broke into huge grins, as if sharing an inside joke. A perturbed Prince Vegeta snapped his head around to throw a dangerous glare up towards the originator of the racket.

"Now, there's a handle I haven't heard in a sea turtle's age," said Lluvia, in an aside to her friend.

"I'll say! Talk about a 'blast from the past'…" agreed Tristan, still grinning.

"What gives with you, Puerro? Did Prince Vegeta kick you one too many times in the head or something? Who or what the hell is an `Ultra-Violet'?"

Cebolla didn't like the way Puerro suddenly went bug-eyed, gulping for air in quick, desperate intakes. Maybe they should've gone straight to the local infirmary, because his companion looked like he was going to keel over at any second. Or perhaps it was because the ningen female had turned her smiling face up to catch Puerro's surprised eye, and gave him an acknowledging wink, accompanied by hugely exaggerated blown kiss. This caused the Saiya-jin's face to redden in embarrassment, as he felt the abrupt weight of numerous eyes descend upon him. The displeased look he caught from Captain Apio didn't help things any.

"Sergeant Puerro?"

"Sir! Yes, sir…!" The warrior automatically replied, and briskly turned towards the speaker, thinking that it was Captain Apio who had formally addressed him by his rank. Instead of the head of the palace guard, the Saiya-jin king was now standing in Apio's place.

Oh, dear Kami! I am sodead! thought a panicked Puerro. "Y…your majesty?" Without sufficient room to affect a decent kneeling salute, the warrior immediately crossed his one good arm across his chest and brought his trembling chin down into his chest.

The ominous look in King Vegeta's dark eyes was enough to cow anyone, and the terrified Puerro was no exception. But he knew that the king would not tolerate a lie of any sort and, if asked, the soldier was obliged to tell him the truth.

"Sergeant, do you have some inside knowledge that you would like to share with the rest of us?"

"Sire, you know that we Saiya-jins can never forget a person's smell, right?"

The king slowly nodded his head. "Of course."

"When that female passed by me prior to entering the training room, I knew by her scent, that I had encountered her before!" Puerro insisted, with ever-growing certainty. "Your majesty, I believe that she is none other than Ultra-Violet, the undefeated champion of Xenobiron's street fighters!"

Hanging just behind Apio and King Vegeta, Zarbon shook his head at the improbable declaration. That settles it! These Saiya-jins are definitely certifiable! he thought to himself. The whole bloody lot of them! How can anyone in their right mind possibly think that Lluvia, that gorgeous woman of obvious quality and breeding, could be a…a commonstreet fighter?

But as Puerro began relating his tale about meeting this entity known as Ultra-Violet, Frieza's envoy, as well as all of the other nearby spectators, pressed in closer to give a listen.

"Think back, Cebolla! Do you remember when we two went on an overnight leave to Xenobiron?"

I guess I'd better humor him through his trip down memory lane, thought the other Saiya-jin. "Yeah, yeah, I remember! It was like--a dozen years ago! You'd gone off looking for some underground fight club that a couple of seedy local types couldn't stop talking about. I, on the other hand, got referred to a popular brothel and wisely opted to spend the night in the arms of a very lovely and quite flexible…"

Puerro's sharp words cut in. "I never told you, or anybody, for that matter, but I did find that fight club. It was a sleaze pit run by an equally greasy character named Mathias. The place was just as advertised; dark, dank, and packed to the rafters with the most disreputable, disgustingly smelly ningens imaginable. Most of them probably hadn't seen the inside of bathtub for months! I had to breathe through my mouth most of the time I was in there else I would've lost my lunch as soon as I walked in! The only thing that kept my interest was the relatively decent fight action taking place; decent for amateur talent, that is. As the night wore on, I kept overhearing some of the regulars asking this Mathias person if someone named Ultra-Violet was ever going to show up.

"I had already stuck around for a while to watch any number of guys face up and pound the living daylights out of each other. It was the kind of action I really liked, too; no-rules, no-holds-barred, and really bloody.

"After this one match concluded, the entire room went death-quiet. The crowd nearest the entrance slowly parted, clearing a path from the door to the center of the room."

Puerro's eyes were fixed, staring out at nothing in particular, as he kept speaking aloud:

"From where I was standing, I could make out two small figures walking out of the night into the joint. Both were covered from head to toe with ill-fitting, ripped clothes. I could tell one of them was a girl, just on the verge of her pubes. Like her companion, her face, hair, and body were smeared with dirt, like she'd been living outdoors all her life.

"Up to that point, the stench inside the room had been, well, unbelievably foul! Just then, a small breeze blew in behind her from the opened door and carried her scent into the place. It was so pure and sweet; like nothing could touch her, not even the imbedded stink of that awful place! I can still see her eyes! They were as big and dark as the sky at midnight, and she stared briefly into every face that looked her way, almost daring anyone to dispute her right to be there!"

Cebolla was getting really uncomfortable with the way this story was heading and tried to make light of it. "Puerro, you dolt! You were probably shit-faced on the local hooch that night! Admit it! You've imagined the whole thing!"

"No, you're wrong. The entire time I was there, I hadn't a drop of anything to drink, not even a watered-down beer!"

It was a curious Apio who prodded the dazed speaker, "And…"

"The boy walked up to Mathias and asked him how the night's take was. Mathias grinned down at the boy and told him that it would be worth their while. Satisfied with the answer, the boy returned to the girl, who silently nodded her head when he whispered the news to her. This time Mathias himself came out onto the center of the open floor to announce the contestants for the next fight, which was to be the main event. A huge, ugly bruiser, his body covered with some nasty-looking tattoos and piercings, was the first to be introduced as the challenger. My mouth nearly dropped to the floor when Mathias pointed to the girl and introduced her as Ultra-Violet--the undefeated champion of the fight club and queen of all the street fighters on Xenobiron."

Almost as one, the king, the Saiya-jin captain, and Zarbon quickly jerked their heads around to glance down at Lluvia. She, along with Tristan and a very annoyed Prince Vegeta were looking up in the direction of the storyteller. Apio pulled his gaze back to Puerro, demanding, "Sergeant, are you absolutely certain the female standing down there, is none other than this Ultra-Violet person...now grown?"

"Yes, sir!" He replied, meeting his superior officer's still-skeptical gaze with a brisk nod. "I'm dead certain!"

All the Saiya-jins who had pressed in closer to hear Puerro's story were flabbergasted, to say the least. A ripple of speculation passed throughout the observers, while quick, upraised fingers and discreetly nodding heads signaled the silent placing of wagers between them.

Finally, a female warrior standing behind him became bold enough to ask the Saiya-jin sergeant about the outcome of the arranged fight. Puerro briefly closed his eyes to recall the memory then shook his head, continuing in a low voice, "When she removed her outer coverings and handed them to her friend, her grime-streaked face held the hard, cynical look of a fighter three times her age. I sized her up, thinking to myself that if she'd ever gotten a decent meal into that scrawny body of hers, she might get to be some kind of a looker. Like a lot of people there, I also thought for sure that the big guy'd snap that skinny little thing in half with one blow. But, once the action started, she moved like the wind, blocking all of his hits and kicks like they were nothing at all! The big galoot was all force with no finesse whatsoever and, as the bout went on, I began to realize that she'd somehow learned to anticipate his every move.

"After a few more minutes passed, she suddenly got a look on her face like she was getting bored and decided to put an end to it. I couldn't believe my eyes! Suddenly, that puny little girl came in like a blur under him and caught him in an upward blow with her bony elbow, right into middle of his breastbone. Even through the deafening noise of the crowd, I could still hear the crunching sound of the break. That guy froze in mid-air for a second or two then folded like a house of cards, breaking his own nose when he hit face-first onto the filthy floor. The place went absolutely nuts!

"Mathias was the only one who looked kind of disappointed that the bout hadn't stretched out longer, but he grudgingly ponied up their share of the night's take. I guess that he was smart enough to know not to try and stiff those two! Once they pocketed the money, the two brats disappeared out of the door and into the night. And that's the last I time I thought of them or that incident…until now."