Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Shadow in the Twilight ❯ Chapter 36 ( Chapter 36 )

Chapter 36

This is a fine pickle you've managed to get yourself into, you dumbass! thought Lluvia, mentally chastising herself. Poor Master Masaki must be rolling around in his grave at my sheer stupidity. I can just hear him now:

"All battles are won or lost in the mind long before the first blow is struck, regardless if you have had years or mere split-seconds to prepare. And you must always be judicious in deciding whether or not winning is worth the price that you will pay for it. Will the fleeting victory ultimately cost your very soul? Lluvia, my child, in all the battles you will fight from this point forward,you must strive to be a discerning fighter rather than a vain-glorious one."

Truer words were never spoken, she mused. I've got to figure some way out of this! Dragon's Kiss, my dear companion! Use your powers to seek out the most vulnerable part of this structure, now!

Momentarily dropping her one-eyed gaze from Prince Vegeta, Lluvia shifted her position so that the small of her back pressed harder against the smooth inner wall. The deliberate pressure pushed the metal chain more firmly into the cold, hard surface and against her spine at the same time. The Dragon's Kiss responded to her wordless request by sending out sub-level vibrating feelers throughout the metallic skin of the training dome, which sought out the nearly seamless surface's weakest point. The softly thrumming sound passed through the walls, masked completely by the louder noise being generated by the room's air re-circulators. Once the feelers located the most vulnerable stress point, the vibrations returned to the chain and sent their report directly into Lluvia's neural system, via her spinal cord. The image now presented to her mind broke down the inner portion of the construct into a curved grid pattern with the target point highlighted.

Ah, perfect, she thought as she mentally analyzed the vibrations' input. The Dragon's Kiss has just told me that the best point to affect my escape is…right there, mid-height and a foot just to the left of the entryway...

Her purposeful concentration was abruptly cut off by a mental distress call from a familiar, beloved mind: ((You baka onna! What in Kami's name are you doing? Get out of there, at once!))

((Hello there, my Saiya-jin sweetie! How's the trip to Meat-sei going?))

((Arrgh! Never mind that! I sensed through our bond that you are in mortal danger, and I am heading back as fast as I can to Vegeta-sei! Lluvia, I need to warn you that the prince is the most ruthless, conniving opponent you could ever hope to face, outside of Frieza himself and his highest soldiers. Even before he could stand up straight, Prince Vegeta was trained to be the most powerful Saiya-jin warrior ever born! If you attempt to fight him, he'll surely kill you!))

{(Trust me. I'm not planning on letting this little command performance get that far!))

((You've got to promise me that you'll try to escape by any means possible! Now that I have found you, I…I can't lose you, Lluvia!))

((Cross my heart, Saiya-jin mine, I want nothing more than to get the hell out of here, and, thanks to the Dragon's Kiss, I think that I might have uncovered the means to do just that!))

((My pod is currently skirting the second-closest planet to Vegeta-sei and…))

Bardock's announcement was interrupted by the sound of male and female voices, joined in song and coming out of the transceiver clip's tiny speaker:

I'll be seeing you
In all the old familiar places
That this heart of mine embraces
All day through…

Lluvia could tell from the little catches in their voices that most of her friends were crying as they sang. Despite the great physical distance between them, Bardock felt the sharp pang of heartache pass through his mate as she listened to their voices:

I'll be seeing you
In every lovely summer's day
In everything that's light and gay
I'll always think of you that way…

((What was that?)) Bardock asked quietly, already dreading the answer.

((That was my signal from Addy. It means that Willard has gotten them all sufficiently away from Vegeta-sei to be safe.))

As if she'd been holding it in all this time, Lluvia expelled a long sigh, as she gave up a grateful mental prayer. The sound of her prolonged exhalation made the prince quirk up one eyebrow in puzzlement.

She unclipped the transceiver to cradle it her cupped right palm and stared at it, picturing the treasured faces on the other side of the transmission. Her voice rose in soft reply, so that they could hear her sung acknowledgement:

I'll find you in the morning sun

And when the night is new

I'll be looking at the moon

But I'll be seeing you.vii

After she pushed herself off the wall into an upright stance, she whispered into the input speaker, "May Kami bless you all and hold you in his heavenly hand forever! Fare thee well, my dear friends!"

((Why did you say that? What does that mean?)) Lluvia could sense her bondmate's increased anxiety in his inquiring thoughts.

((It means that I have run out of time and will have to put my plan into action now! Hold me close in your heart. I love you, Bardock!))

((LLUVIA!!…))

((Please forgive me, my love)), she wordlessly pleaded. ((But I need to blot out any and all external distractions. It's time to shut down our bond…))

Staring hard at the transceiver, Lluvia tightly closed her fingers around it. Tensing her body, she sent a small surge of ki energy into her right hand, just enough to quickly disintegrate the tiny electrical device into metallic dust. She blew a gentle puff of breath into her opened hand, sending the tiny, shimmering particles to join the other motes dancing in the sunbeams. At the same time, she closed the telepathic door between herself and Bardock.

Lluvia stood pensively, her gaze unfocused, for a moment or two. Suddenly, she slapped both palms flat onto the chain resting on her hips.

"Dragon's Kiss! To me! Now!" The harsh sound of her shout made everyone jump. The katana sprang to life into her grasp, the sound of its instantaneous transformation slicing into the air with a metallic zhing! Once fully formed, its anticipation for the fight made it pulse like a living thing in her palms; the ancient weapon was definitely hungry for battle…and eager for blood.

Lluvia hefted the scale-covered handle in her right hand; the warmth and texture of its familiar weight was a comfort to her. She expertly swung the flashing blade a few times around her body, catching the incoming sunlight on its brilliant edge; all the while keeping her midnight eyes affixed on her foe.

Zarbon didn't care that he was openly staring, his mouth an "o" of amazement, as the light reflected off the slinky, sexy body of the dancer-turned-warrior-woman below him. There was no question about it, not that there was before; he wanted her, and badly, too. He had to tamper down the evidence of his growing ardor among these all-too-nosy Saiya-jins. When this was all over, that female was going to be his; if she didn't get too damaged in the process, of course.

Regardless of his previous assertion to Zarbon, the Saiya-jin king still harbored doubts about the outcome of this whole situation. His son could put down a dozen Saiba-men at once without breaking into a sweat, so what chance did someone like Lluvia have, really? Yet, he could not shake the feeling that there was an indefinable something, in the way the light played across her features and glanced off her sinuous body, that told him this would not turn out to be the quick and easy victory that most of them expected.

The sergeant, Puerro, was the only one there who truly believed, deep down in his gut, that once the street fighter in her emerged, there would be no stopping her.

"Ha!" sneered the prince, as he watched her movements. "Very flashy, woman, but so very futile! You're quite misguided if you think that you'll ever get anywhere near me with that thing!"

In response, Lluvia brought the weapon up with both hands and held the blade's point extending towards Prince Vegeta. "You needn't tax yourself over such small details, Veg-ster. The Dragon's Kiss is but an extension of myself and I assure you," she softly said. "As swiftly as I can maneuver, you'll never feel its touch."

"You're damned right about that, bitch!" Vegeta shouted in maddened defiance, the last of his patience finally depleted. "I am the Prince of all Saiya-jins! The premiere warrior of all Vegeta-sei! And you are nothing in comparison! Do you hear me?!"

"Criminies, Veg-o," she chuckled under her breath. "Everyone from here to Frieza-sei heard you!"

Her amused reply was the last straw, pushing the already irate prince over the edge. Just as he launched himself towards her, he roared, "YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!"

vii I'll Be Seeing You - Irving Kahal & Sammy Fain