Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Illumination ❯ Mission 12: Honeypot ( Chapter 19 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: Dragonball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama and numerous other companies. This fanfic is only for fun, no monies are being made.

-+-

Despite having visited First Mercy of Malleas hospital several times before, Trunks had never really taken in the surroundings. Every time he had been previously had been a crisis, for himself or someone else. Without the pressure of worrying about someone dying, Trunks could actually watch the hospital function. Despite the amazing technology the Bmyhadians possessed, the hospital wasn't unlike hospitals on Earth as far as how it operated. There were hospital staff, patients, and visitors heading from one place to another; doctors were frequently paged from a hospital-wide communications system; everyone complained about the food. Sometimes it really struck Trunks how different life was across the universe, and yet, how similar it was at the same time.

“Toran?”

Trunks looked up from his seat to see a male nurse calling his name. From the look on his face, the guy had no idea what 'Toran' looked like and was hoping that someone in this waiting area would answer. Trunks stood up, and the nurse looked at him. “Yes?” Trunks asked.

“You can come back now,” the male nurse nodded to him with a slight smile. “Follow me.”

A short trip down a few hallways and Trunks had arrived at the room in question. The nurse showed him the door and quickly left on another task. The door was open so Trunks didn't hesitate to enter.

“You might have some digestive issues with the medication, mostly diarrhea and intestinal cramping. If it gets really bad have your friends bring you back here,” Dr. Alten Rema spoke to his patient as Trunks entered.

“Okay,” Marice replied and nodded to Dr. Rema from where she sat on the examining table.

“Toran,” Dr. Rema turned and addressed Trunks. “I was just telling your friend Marice about the results of all of the tests.”

“And?” Trunks asked, an eyebrow raised. He'd hoped that everything had gone well, but there was really no way to tell.

“Great news, she's doing fine,” Dr. Rema quickly answered. “Looks like her genetics have gained a resistance to radiation, so that's good. However she still has high levels of radiation internally, so I'm prescribing a medication to accelerate the rate of radioactive decay.” He paused a moment to glance at Marice before looking back at Trunks. “I've never worked with a Euphorian patient before. Her DNA sample is way beyond my ability to comprehend,” Dr. Rema continued, sounding almost excited. “I've sent it to a colleague who is much smarter than me in the area of genetics in hopes that she can get a better analysis on it than I can.”

Trunks immediately felt nervous. “How often do you send off DNA samples?” Trunks asked, trying to sound curious but unconcerned. Had Dr. Rema sent his DNA to this colleague of his?

Dr. Rema laughed and it came out almost as a snort. “Not very often, she doesn't like to be pestered unless it's really fascinating. But Marice gave me permission and I'm sure that Dr. Luotone will be pleasantly surprised to receive the sample,” he finished with a smirk.

“Anyway Marice, you are free to go my dear,” Dr. Rema said, turning toward his patient once more. Marice jumped down from the exam table and looked up at the taller Dr. Rema. “If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to call me, okay?” Rema added. Trunks was a bit surprised, as Rema sounded very fatherly with the caring tone he used when speaking to Marice.

“I will,” Marice replied. “Thank you Dr. Rema!” she said jovially.

Rema moved to leave but Trunks held out a hand to stop him. “Hey doctor,” he started, “what do we owe you?”

Rema smirked. “Nothing. You provide me with great research materials, especially bringing in someone from Euphoria. There's no charge.”

Trunks wasn't quite buying the doctor's answer. He was certain there was more going on. “So you let all your patients get free treatment if they provide you with interesting research? How does the hospital write off the bill for that?”

Rema sighed. “No, I foot the bill. It's part of an agreement I've made with your boss,” he answered quickly.

Armada,Trunks thought as his eyes narrowed slightly. “What exactly is this agreement?” Trunks asked. He wasn't letting the Bmyhadian doctor off the hook thateasily.

Rema smirked. “That's privileged information son, and you're not privileged enough to know.” With that said, the doctor hurriedly left the room.

Trunks frowned at the doctor's quick retreat. He was hoping to get more information from Rema, but the man was a lot more sly than he let on. Trunks supposed he could ask Armada about it, but he wasn't sure that would get him anywhere. Besides, he didn't want her to know he thought about these things. He liked to play dumb with her a bit, so that she might underestimate him. He knew she was his comrade, but he would say their alliance was still uneasy at best.

“Ready?” Marice asked, dragging Trunks out of his thoughts.

He turned and looked down at Marice, shooting her a bright smile. “Yeah, let's head back.”

-+-

Illumination

Mission 12: Honeypot

-+-

Upon returning to the ship, Trunks and Marice entered the lounge to find the monitor playing the news at a low volume as Laiserta sat at the table watching it. “How'd it go?” she asked as Marice walked by and headed straight into the galley. Trunks stopped and stood on the other side of the table to talk to Laiserta.

“Dr. Rema says she's doing really well, considering everything,” he explained. “She's got a prescription to help flush the remaining radiation out of her system.”

“Wow, I'm shocked they didn't find anything seriously wrong,” Laiserta replied, her face showing genuine surprise.

“Yeah, me too, but I'm glad she's okay,” Trunks added. It wasn't his idea to take Marice to get checked out once they landed on Bmyhad; that was Armada's call. 'Take her to Dr. Rema for a full checkup,' she'd told him. 'No refugee program will accept her without proper medical history.'

At that moment, Armada walked into the lounge from the back hallway, carrying a few tools in her hands. She had her hair tied back in a braid and she had soot smeared all over her clothes, hands and arms. She looked to her comrades, but before she spoke, Marice entered the lounge with a bottle of water in her hands. She bounded past Armada and sat down at the table to Laiserta's right.

Armada glanced at Marice and then Trunks. “What did Dr. Rema say?” she asked Trunks.

“He said she's doing fine despite the high levels of radiation. He wrote her a prescription to help eliminate the remaining radiation from her body,” he explained for the second time in the last minute.

Laiserta rose from her seat on the bench behind the table. “I think it's time for lunch,” she announced with a smile.

-+-

Over an hour later, Laiserta had finished eating and was in the galley cleaning up. Trunks and Marice were still seated at the table eating. Armada had already finished her meal and had a panel open in the wall of the lounge near the main monitor and was working on an issue in the ship's electrical wiring.

“So how far can you go in this ship?” Marice asked Trunks, continuing their conversation. She'd been asking him all kinds of questions and he'd been doing his best to answer.

“Anywhere, really,” Trunks replied after swallowing another bite. “We just have to make sure we've got enough fuel and we can go anywhere.”

Marice shook her head slightly and smiled. “Wow, it's so hard for me to imagine how big the rest of the universe is. I mean, I know people fly ships to other worlds, but it's not something we learn much about at home,” she explained.

“I know what you mean,” Trunks said, feeling the urge to laugh. Sure, he knew about space travel because his mother had given him a thorough education in the sciences, and she had regaled him with tales of her time on Namek when he was a child. But like Marice, it wasn't something he thought about. Additionally, the Earth wasn't surrounded by inhabited worlds like Euphoria was, and with the problems plaguing is own world, Trunks rarely thought about space and the wider universe. Marice's problems were different, but similar enough to his own that he could relate.

Laiserta emerged from the galley and fell into a seat on the bench next to Trunks. Marice squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, a grin plastered on her face. “Sometimes this is so hard to believe, that I'm not on Euphoria anymore,” she said excitedly while opening her eyes to look at Trunks again.

'You're telling me,' Trunks thought, though he chose not to voice those words. He wasn't as excited as Marice about being away from home. For her, it was an opportunity at a new life. For him... it was far more complicated.

“Oh you kids,” Laiserta spoke up, the smirk on her face matching her teasing tone. “You're almost so adorable that it hurts.”

“Kids?” Trunks repeated, raising an eyebrow at his Taydran comrade.

“Yeah, you don't look much older than us!” Marice added, her face suddenly morphing into concern.

“Pssh,” Laiserta waved off Marice, “that's because Taydrans age gracefully.”

“Well how old are you, exactly?” Marice countered, challenging Laiserta's comment.

“Thirty-three,” Laiserta answered coolly. “Well, thirty-six years RST,” she quickly amended. “Taydr's year is a little longer than RST.”

Marice now appeared confused. “What's 'RST?'” she repeated and blinked a few times in quick succession.

“Republican Standard Time,” Trunks replied. “The Republic created a time standard to ease confusion between different nations when they were dealing with one another.” He paused a moment but Marice still seemed a little lost. “That way, when people are discussing matters involving the passage of time or scheduling, everyone knows what everyone else is talking about,” he elaborated. It felt slightly strange to explain something to someone else instead of the other way around, but Trunks had learned quite a bit about the wider universe since he began traveling with Armada.

“Oooh,” Marice replied, finally understanding what Trunks was explaining to her. She was silent a moment and looked between both of her comrades before finally speaking. “Well, I'm eight years old!”

Trunks had chosen the wrong moment to sip from his water bottle. He immediately choked on the water in shock at Marice's statement. He leaned forward and coughed a few times; Laiserta slapped him on the back in an attempt to help.

“Wh-what?” Trunks finally managed, looking to Marice with shock on his face, who still beamed at him with pride.

“Oh calm down wonder boy,” Laiserta broke in. “Euphoria's year is over twice that of a year in RST. So if she's eight in Euphorian time, then she's probably,” Laiserta's eyes rolled up for a moment while she thought, “about eighteen or nineteen RST.”

Trunks sighed heavily and his head fell slightly. “Thank Kami; I was worried we had a little kid with us.”

“Hah,” Laiserta laughed spitefully, “then you'd better start worrying again because she is pretty much a baby.”

“I'm not a baby!” Marice huffed, pulling her lips in tight as her cheeks puckered out slightly. Laiserta smirked before sticking her tongue out at Marice in response.

Trunks turned to Laiserta and shot her an exasperated look at her actions. “And who's calling who a kid again?”

Marice looked down at her food again before another thought hit her. “Oh!” she said, her head shooting up and her gaze falling on Trunks. “How old are you, Trunks?” she asked enthusiastically.

Trunks had to stop and think for a moment at Marice's question. It had taken him by surprise slightly, sure; but the bigger issue was that he hadn't thought about his age in a while. Trunks looked down at his watch on his right hand and pressed a button to switch the digital display to the date. Trunks's eyes widened as he read the date on his watch. January...? Trunks thought, his stomach twisting. According to his watch, he'd been gone from home for almost six months. He knew it was a significant amount of time, but he hadn't actively thought about exactly how long he'd been gone Seeing it so coldly in front of his face made his heart wrench in guilt. All that time had passed, and he'd really accomplished nothing toward his goal of destroying Rieve alongside Armada. He felt useless.

“You okay?” Laiserta asked, breaking Trunks from his thoughts.

“Yeah,” he replied, shaking his head and turning his attention to her. “I just didn't realize...” 'how much time had passed,' he'd stopped himself from saying. Laiserta didn't know anything about where Trunks was from and what he was really doing on the ship with Armada, and for now he wanted to keep it that way.

“I'm twenty-six now,” Trunks quickly amended to try recover from his almost-mishap. “I missed my birthday last month,” he explained. It was the truth, at any rate; his birthday was in late November and he hadn't even realized it had come and gone.

“Happy anniversary!” Marice cheered from her seat, a wide smile on her face.

Trunks turned toward the young woman and forced a smile. “Yeah... thanks,” he added lamely.

“You almost done with that?” Laiserta shouted at Armada who stood on the other side of the room, still working at the wiring behind the open panel in the wall near the monitor. “I wanna watch my favorite game show,” Laiserta continued.

Armada didn't respond, but continued working. The exchange, however, caught Marice's attention. “Armada, how old are you?” Marice asked happily.

Armada stopped what she was doing so she could turn and look back at Marice from where she stood. “About the same age as Trunks,” she answered flatly.

Trunks didn't let his emotions show on his face, but he knewthat Armada was lying. Based on things she had said and what Dax had told him, he estimated that she had to be at least in her mid-forties. Sure, she looked young, but so did Bmyhadians like Devan who were much older than they appeared to be. Trunks knew that Armada was lying, but he didn't understand why. What advantage would she gain from lying about her age? She certainly wasn't vain enough to care if people thought she was 'old.' Or at least he thought so.

“'About the same age as Trunks;' why do you gotta be so damn cryptic?” Laiserta asked, mocking Armada's response with a higher pitched voice than her own. “What, is your age some big mysterious secret?”

Internally, Trunks wanted to laugh. He didn't have to press Armada for answers now that Laiserta was doing it for him. He made a mental note to thank her later, even if she didn't understand why.

After answering Marice's question, Armada had turned back toward the open electrical panel. She turned and looked pointedly at Laiserta. “I'm approximately twenty-six years old, RST,” Armada stated coldly. “Happy now?” she asked bitterly.

“'Approximately,'” Laiserta repeated. “Ooooh, you're so badass that even your age is top-secret!” she chided while shaking her hands in front of her, pretending to be afraid. Trunks couldn't help the smile small that crossed his face as Laiserta picked on Armada.

Armada narrowed her eyes at Laiserta. “It's an approximation because I don't know exactly when I was born,” she spat.

Laiserta's visage quickly changed in response. “Why don't you know your own date of birth?” she asked, this time much more seriously than she had carried the conversation thus far.

“Because the only people who knew died before I was old enough for them to tell me,” Armada replied bluntly, her eyes still narrowed in irritation. Everyone was silent in response, and Armada turned back around to return to her work. “You'll get your monitor back when I'm done,” she said with her back still facing her comrades, answering Laiserta's earlier question.

Trunks quietly finished his lunch and thought about what he'd just seen. Armada didn't seem to be lying about not knowing her birthday... but she was definitely lying about the rest of it. He just needed to figure out why. Because if she was lying, then she was hiding something.

-+-

The next day, Armada called Trunks and Laiserta to meet with her in the lounge about a job. Marice stood nearby, sipping water and watching as the three mercenaries huddled around the laptop computer that Armada had sitting on the table in the lounge.

“Lutz Deitreich,” Armada said plainly as she brought up a dossier on her laptop, revealing the face of a haggard man with short dark hair and stubble across his jaw. “He was recently prosecuted for sexual assault against several minors in Hrimth, however he got off free due to a technicality. The Hrimth police department made an error when processing evidence and it was enough for the judge to declare a mistrial,” she continued, and brought up several news articles about the trial.

“Oh I've heard of this scumbag,” Laiserta said, standing to the side of the table and leaning down over Armada to look at the screen. “He preys on young girls on the streets, figuring no one cares about them if they do report him,” Laiserta spat, clearly disgusted. “The asshole is only a Taydran citizen because he fled conflict in LOKI and we granted him asylum,” she added, throwing her hands up in defeat.

“An anonymous donor is offering four hundred thousand betas for a mercenary to pick up Lutz and drop him off into someone else's custody,” Armada began explaining the job offer with a guarded tone.

“You don't think it's just an upstanding Taydran citizen, do you?” Trunks asked Armada with a smirk. He sat next to her at the table in the lounge, to her right.

“No,” Armada replied. “This looks and smells like spec-ops, however you slice it.”

Laiserta had moved over to the monitor on the wall and turned it on, changing the channel to a Taydran national news station while keeping the volume low. “Probably TSIA,” Laiserta cut in, turning around to face her comrades. “They have easy access to dark money and they're not shy about hiring mercenaries for things like this.”

“My guess is that's who we would be delivering Deitreich to,” Armada added.

“Hah, good riddance,” Laiserta laughed darkly with a slight shrug. “They'll make him disappear and the universe is a better place with one less piece of garbage running around free,” she spat.

“So how do we find this guy?” Trunks asked, getting straight to the heart of the matter.

“He's been in hiding since the trial, so we'll need to draw him out,” Armada answered. “The intel included with the job posting indicates that he's believed to still be in Hrimth. It also provided a comm address for him.”

“Well there's one thing that will get a pedophile to come out of hiding,” Laiserta trailed off.

“Another victim,” Trunks filled in, understanding what Laiserta was thinking.

Armada opened up another file on her laptop. “According to the court documents, all of Deitreich's victims were young women between the ages of thirteen and sixteen RST,” Armada said before looking at Trunks. The three mercenaries were silent for a moment while they thought.

The sound of someone sipping from a straw in an empty cup filled the silence in the lounge. Three sets of eyes turned and looked at Marice who was standing in the doorway to the galley. “You know, I could help you guys out with your job,” Marice offered once her shipmates were looking at her.

“No,” Armada immediately answered, her face growing stern.

“It's not a bad idea,” Laiserta mused, one hand on her chin while she thought.

“No,” Armada repeated.

“Come on spider-head, she can pass for a young kid,” Laiserta chided. “Besides, where else are you gonna find someone to be the bait? None of us are this guy's type,” she added, looking pointedly at the blonde woman.

“I can do it!” Marice chimed in, moving over to the table. “Let me help, please! As a way to thank you for taking me away from Euphoria,” she added, smiling broadly.

“I'm kind of with Armada on this one,” Trunks broke in. “I don't think we should drag Marice into this,” he said while looking at Laiserta.

“Come on, all we have to do is use her to video chat with the guy and get him to agree to meet. When he shows up, we grab him before anything bad happens, and we net a cool four-hundred-thousand. Easy,” Laiserta continued, now more sold on her plan than ever before.

Trunks thought it over. Laiserta was right; they only needed Marice to get Deitreich to agree to meet somewhere. They would be ready for him and lay an ambush, and between the three of them, taking down one guy shouldn't be a problem, even if they met inside a Minovsky field. Trunks turned back toward Armada, who seemed to be looking to him for guidance. “Actually... I think Lai's right,” he started, while Laiserta shouted 'Yes!' aloud to herself.

Armada turned back to stare at her laptop screen, her right hand forming a fist in front of her mouth while she thought. After a long moment of silence, she finally relented. “Fine, we'll use Marice, but only in the video chats; we won't bring her on-site to the meetup,” Armada said sternly, looking at both of her comrades.

“I promise I won't let you down!” Marice said, nearly jumping with joy.

“I'm going to set us on a course for Taydr,” Armada said while closing her laptop. She stood and looked to both of her comrades, her gaze falling hard on Trunks. She looked as if she was about to say something, but instead turned and walked out of the lounge.

“This is so cool, I'm gonna help you guys catch a bad guy!” Marice nearly shouted, barely containing her excitement.

“Slow down there, kiddo,” Laiserta said while patting the excited red-head on the top of her head. “First thing's first, when we get to Hrimth we have got to get you some new clothes,” she said, staring hard at Marice's dark, patchwork clothing from Euphoria. “Something a little less post-apocalyptic, more Taydran teeny-bopper,” Laiserta added with a smirk.

-+-

After landing in Hrimth and securing the ship with the help of Laiserta's local connections, Trunks and his comrades headed for downtown. Laiserta drove them in a rental car, explaining that they would use her home as their base of operations. When she pulled into the parking garage of a high-rise, Trunks hadn't thought too much of it. When Laiserta swiped a keycard and they rode the elevator to the top floor, however, he exchanged a curious glance with Armada, who seemed as perplexed as him.

Once the elevator doors opened, Laiserta stepped forward eagerly. “And we're here!” she announced while throwing her arms wide before turning around to look at her comrades.

Trunks stared in awe at the 'apartment' he now stood in. The room was completely open in front of them, revealing a huge living space. Tall white walls lead up to a white ceiling with ornate molding in all of the corners. Floor-to-ceiling windows off to his left showed off the Hrimth skyline, with the afternoon sun pouring in to light the space. The decorations were sparse, but appeared to be unique, like pieces of art. Overall, it reminded him of the luxury space station where he had first met Laiserta.

“Wow,” Marice was the first to say after a long moment of silence. She stepped forward from behind Trunks and Armada, slowly walking toward Laiserta.

“Well at least someone appreciates it,” Laiserta remarked sarcastically, shooting accusatory glances at her two silent guests. She turned and followed Marice farther into the apartment, leaving Trunks and Armada standing just outside the elevator.

Armada spotted the open kitchen, which included a table with seating for four. “Start setting up on the table over there,” Armada said to Trunks, nodding her head toward the kitchen. “I'll find out where we're putting the other end,” she added before following after Laiserta. Trunks and his comrade had carried in large duffel bags with the necessary computer equipment for their job. He did as she instructed and made his way over to the kitchen, unloading the bag on the table.

“Lai, where are we setting up Marice?” Armada called out to her comrade who had disappeared into another room.

“Over here in the guest bedroom,” Laiserta replied, emerging from a doorway behind the kitchen.

While the others were getting to work, Marice had wandered into the master bedroom. It looked just as un-lived-in as the rest of the apartment. She slowly walked around the bed before finding the closet. Taking a peek inside, Marice raised an eyebrow at the mostly empty closet. A few empty hangars were accompanied by exactly two trench coats similar to the black one Laiserta wore. “You really don't have many clothes, do you?” Marice asked, not making an attempt to shout to Laiserta.

The Euphorian teen then made her way over to a chest of drawers, opening them to find a few more garments but nothing that she recognized. She picked up one bright blue item, and it was much larger than she thought when she lifted the top of the folded pile. “What is this?” Marice asked mostly to herself.

“Hey!” Laiserta shouted as she marched into her room and snatched the garment from Marice's hand. “Don't you know it's rude to go through other people's belongings?!” she demanded, an irritated look on her face. Marice merely shrugged in response before walking around Laiserta and out of the Taydran woman's room.

Marice headed back out toward the open living area and toward the kitchen, where Trunks was finishing setting up several computers and monitors. “I've got both nodes on the network now, do you see them?” Trunks asked loudly, shouting so that Armada would hear him in the other room. He looked up from the two monitors while awaiting her response.

“I see you; joining the network now,” Armada replied.

Trunks's eyes fell back down to the top-most monitor of the two he had setup, and the screen shifted to an image of Armada standing in front of a camera in the guest bedroom. “You're online,” Trunks shouted again. “Signal looks good,” he added.

Armada left the guest bedroom and came over to look at the setup with Trunks. “Hah, a regular techie now, wonder boy?” Laiserta asked while walking past the pair.

Trunks glanced at Laiserta but didn't reply. His mother was one of the most intelligent humans on Earth, even before the androids had nearly decimated the human race. He knew a fair amount about computer infrastructure back home, so picking up how to use computers on Bmyhad or on the ship wasn't a difficult task for him in the least.

Laiserta reached her destination near the elevator, and found a large brown box placed nearby. Marice bounded over to watch what her hostess was doing. “What's that?” Marice asked as Laiserta easily lifted the box from the floor.

She walked over to one of the couches in the sitting room and set the box down before proceeding to rip open the tape across the top. “Some stuff I ordered online for you,” Laiserta replied, a smirk growing on her face. “Since you need to look the part of lonely Taydran jailbait,” she added with a dark laugh.

Laiserta started pulling out items and tossing them aside on the sofa, while Marice started picking them up and looking through them. Once she reached the bottom of the box, Laiserta beamed. “Ah, here it is,” she said, pulling out a black bag. She ripped the bag open, revealing a long haired dark brown wig. “The final touch,” Laiserta said, turning toward Marice and plopping the wig down ungraciously on the teenager's head.

Marice looked curiously at the long dark bangs that were hovering over her eyes from where Laiserta had carelessly set the wig on her head. “What's this for?” Marice finally asked, her eyes tracking back up to Laiserta's.

“Your hair makes you stick out like a sore thumb,” Laiserta replied. “At least with this, you'll look more like a native Taydran, even though you're much paler than most.” Laiserta smiled triumphantly at Marice, who still carried a blank look on her face. “Now, go get dressed so we can get this show on the road,” Laiserta added, picking up the pile of clothes and shoving them into Marice's arms. Marice struggled to hold everything, but nodded and headed toward the bedroom to do as she was told.

Laiserta headed over to the kitchen, passing her comrades at the table and moving to grab something to drink from the refrigerator. Armada sat at the table with her laptop open, talking to Trunks. “With this we'll be able to remotely control Marice's computer, and record everything that happens,” she explained, demonstrating the ability to Trunks as she opened up a video chat program on the remote computer which displayed on the lower monitor on the table. “We'll be able to watch from here as she chats with Deitreich,” she added, pointing to the monitor from her seat.

Trunks was standing at her side, nodding as she explained the setup. It wasn't complicated for him to grasp. He'd worked with computers and other technology at home. Considering his lineage on his mother's side, he'd be a family embarrassment if he couldn't do simple things like this.

Laiserta had turned on a small monitor in the kitchen and changed the channel to a local Taydran news station. She was sipping her drink and watching the news, before she finished off the can and tossed it in the garbage. Just as she moved to get another can from the fridge, a news story suddenly caught her attention.

“An information leak from the Justice Department today has revealed that Dr. Baqir Ibrahim, convicted of over four hundred counts of torture in the Lorraine Medical Company scandal almost twenty-five years ago, is being transferred from the ultra-max facility in Freising to the new maximum security prison at Uslar.”

Laiserta stared at the screen, her right fist involuntarily clenching as she tried to keep her composure. She had no idea why they were movingthat bastard out of Freising, but she couldn't ignore it. A brief memory of Dr. Ibrahim's smile floated up in her mind, and she wanted to put a bullet through the screen in front of her, despite knowing how futile the action would be.

“The NIS is investigating the source of the leak, but at this point in time it's unknown. The Justice Department has not responded to any of our inquiries at this time, but we will be following up on this story.”

Trunks glanced up at Laiserta over in the kitchen, and despite only seeing her in profile, he could view the stern look on her face. It wasn't an expression she wore often, and she was staring at the monitor in the kitchen with a rare intensity for her. “Hey Lai,” he called out, “you okay?”

Laiserta immediately turned to Trunks and flashed him the typical lackadaisical smile she wore. “Of course wonder boy. We're hanging out in my swank pad, what's there to be worried about?” she asked with a carefree, light tone.

“Okay,” Trunks replied with a slight laugh. Perhaps he was looking too deeply; this was Laiserta after all. She hardly carried a serious bone in her body.

At that moment, Marice finally emerged from the guest bedroom. “Well, how do I look?” she asked, holding her arms out to her sides.

Trunks looked over to see Marice standing just outside the kitchen. She was wearing a short-sleeved shirt cut off just under her breasts, exposing her midriff; a pair of shorts that could barely be called as much; over-the-knee tights and what looked like suspenders that held on to her shorts and went up over her shoulders. Her hair was a long dark brown, cut in thick, wavy layers that fell down to her lower back, with long bangs swooped to the side over her eyes. She looked like a completely different person.

Seeing her dressed like that, Trunks suddenly felt awkward. “Uh...” he tried to think of something to say in response, but nothing was clear in his mind. She looked bad, but he supposed the look would attract a pedophile? The more he thought about the idea, the more sick and awkward he felt.

“Haha! I'm a genius!” Laiserta shouted victoriously as she walked over to Marice. “You look great! I mean, not really, you look horrible,” Laiserta amended, “but that's exactly what kids these days are wearing so you look the part.” Laiserta paused a moment and thought. “Hmm, but we've gotta cover up your tattoo,” she said, pointing to the black tattoo on Marice's upper left arm, “because minors can't get tattoos on Taydr. Let's go look through everything and find something to cover it up.”

“Oh, okay,” Marice nodded and followed Laiserta back into the guest bedroom.

After they had disappeared from his sight, Trunks sighed heavily. “I don't know how I feel about this,” he said aloud to himself.

“Me neither.”

Trunks turned and looked down at Armada, who seemed just as disturbed as he was. I guess even someone like her has to draw the line somewhere, Trunks thought, still feeling no better about this job than before.

-+-

Under the cover of night, Trunks walked quickly but kept bent over so he didn't cross any sight lines while getting into position. Once he had reached the western side of the dilapidated yellow house, he moved along the outer wall and kept his head below the bottom of the windows. He moved all the way to the back of the house and peered around the corner, to make sure the coast was clear. No one was in the back yard, and the lights were turned off. Just then he saw his comrade Armada lean around the corner from the east side of the house, and the pair made eye contact. She nodded to Trunks, and he moved around to the back side of the house, settling down on one knee beside the back entrance into the home.

“Spider-head and wonder boy are in position, you're clear to approach,” Laiserta's voice crackled over the radio in Trunks's right ear.

“Okay,” Marice replied softly.

Laiserta watched from their parked vehicle down the street in the run-down neighborhood where Deitreich had agreed to meet Marice. The young woman posing as a teenager slowly walked down the sidewalk toward the yellow home in question without a care in the world, despite the not-so-great neighborhood she was in. Laiserta shook her head; the kid was a good actress, that was for sure.

Marice skipped up the steps to the home, her long dark brown hair swaying as she did so. She tapped softly on the wooden front door and giggled, keeping a smile plastered onto her face. She was pretending to be a naughty teenager meeting up for sex, so she kept the pretense going even when no one was watching. It was easier that way.

After a minute of silence, Marice raised her fist to knock again when she heard several clicks on the other side of the door. She held off, and a few seconds later the door swung open, little paint flakes falling from the door where the paint was peeling. The home was dark inside, and Marice peered in only to be stopped when Deitreich's face appeared to greet her.

“Hey,” he said and smiled. “Come on in,” he added, stepping back to open the door all the way and let Marice enter.

She followed him inside and he closed and locked the door behind her. She looked around; the house had no furniture and was clearly in disrepair. It looked a lot like homes on Euphoria, which was a bit surprising to her. Deitreich switched on a lamp, filling the room with a dim light. With more light to see, Marice now saw a mattress on the floor near the kitchen, where some computer equipment was setup on a table.

“Would you like something to drink?” Deitreich asked, walking over to the kitchen to open the refrigerator.

Marice had already been warned about this, so she politely declined. “No thank you,” she said sweetly, brushing some of her hair over her shoulder. The scary thing about Deitreich, in her mind, was that he looked like a normal person, and was somewhat handsome. She knew he was a monster and preyed on young girls, but that he couldn't be quickly identified as such was what worried her. Despite all of that, she knew her comrades were waiting for the right moment to burst in and take down their target, so she wasn't afraid of him in that moment.

“All right,” Deitreich replied. He moved over to two chairs setting near his computer in the kitchen. “Come over here and have a seat by me, then?”

Marice giggled, before slowly moving in his direction. “Okay, he's sufficiently distracted, move in,” she heard Laiserta say over the radio to the two mercenaries she knew were waiting outside.

As soon as Laiserta had given the signal, Trunks used his ki to move faster than normal eyes could track. He burst through the back door with ease before flying through the house, past Marice and into the kitchen where with a quick, solid hit to the base of the neck, Deitreich dropped to the ground like a stone.

Armada was on Trunks's heels when he moved, and stood behind him after he had taken down their target. “Nice work,” she said shortly before kneeling next to Deitreich's unconscious form.

“You okay?” Trunks asked Marice.

She nodded in response. “I'm fine. Nothing happened,” she added with a relieved smile.

“Of course nothing happened,” Laiserta's voice cut in over the radios in her comrades' ears. “With me running as air traffic control over here, nothing was going to happen. But of course, I get none of the credit,” she added, sighing heavily for affect.

Armada had rolled over their prisoner and put handcuffs around his wrists, securing them behind his back. “Pull the car up so we can get out of here,” Armada said flatly into the radio.

“Roger that,” Laiserta replied. Armada lifted up Deitreich as she stood up, and then hefted him up over her shoulder, like she was carrying a heavy bag. Without another the word, she headed for the front door to the house, kicking it open and tearing the door off of its hinges. Trunks and Marice followed closely behind as they approached the street, just as Laiserta pulled up with their black rental car.

Laiserta rolled down the window on the driver's side. “You need any help with that?” she asked as Armada moved to walk around the car by the back while her comrades moved around the front.

“Open the trunk,” Armada called out over her shoulder. The trunk popped open slightly, and Armada opened it the rest of the way before carelessly tossing Deitreich inside. After securing his limbs, she shut the lid and moved around to sit in the front passenger seat, the last open seat in the car.

Armada nearly fell into her seat and pulled the door shut tightly. “We good?” Laiserta asked as her comrade fastened her seatbelt.

“Head to the drop,” Armada ordered before picking up a phone she had left sitting in the center console of the vehicle. She dialed a number while Laiserta pulled away from the beat-down yellow house where they had picked up Deitreich, taking off into the night.

From another house on the same block, a young man watched from the front window between a set of curtains as the black car rolled past him and on down the street. He let the curtains fall back into place as he turned around to look at his friend, another young man not much older than him. “We'd better call Niko,” he said, his friend nodding in response.

-+-

“Whoa , this is so cool!” Marice exclaimed, completely stunned by the sight before her.

“Heh, it is, isn't it?” Laiserta laughed. Watching Marice's reaction to things that appeared mundane to the rest of the universe had become her new favorite pastime since she and the Euphorian teen had left her apartment this morning to hit the town. After turning in their captured pedophile last night and receiving their reward, Armada wanted the group to leave immediately. Fortunately for Laiserta, Marice and Trunks were tired and didn't want to pack up in the middle of the night. With the other two crew members on her side, Laiserta was able to wear down Armada and convince her to let them stay at least another day. Laiserta had a love-hate relationship with her homeworld that was by all accounts very complicated. But she did enjoy the food and shopping, so for now she was going to enjoy doing those two activities while she had the chance. It had been nearly a year since she'd stopped by her home in Hrimth, and she did miss it.

Marice had moved closer to the water fountain, watching as water was shot up in intricate displays to match the timing of music playing from speakers mounted nearby. She was fascinated by the display; she knew what a water fountain was but she had never seen one functioning with her own eyes before. Maybe her friends would laugh at her for it, but she thought it was the most interesting thing she had ever seen in her life.

As Marice stuck out a hand to touch some of the water that shot up from the sprinklers in the ground, Laiserta watched with a lazy smile on her face. She had paid no attention to her surroundings, as people milled around the fountain and others passed them by, moving on to other stores and restaurants in the outdoor mall. So when a group of rough looking teenage boys walked up to her from behind, Laiserta was completely oblivious.

“Hey mama, we need to talk to you,” Laiserta heard a young man say from behind her. Just as she began to turn and face the source of the voice, something slammed into the side of her face, knocking her off balance. Laiserta stumbled, her yellow sunglasses falling to the ground as she quickly realized she had been hit by a shock rod. Her vision was completely scrambled and useless, and the tingling sensation of being hit with a serious electrical shock started trailing from her face down to her neck and shoulders.

“Lai!” Marice screamed, having turned around to see what was going on. The five young men surrounding Laiserta immediately looked up at her.

“Get her!” one of the boys shouted, and three of them charged toward her in response. Marice jumped down from the lip of the fountain, tackling one of the boys to the ground. The other two reached for her arms, and Marice swung her elbows at them, trying to keep them away. She managed to hit on with a hard left elbow right in the front of his mouth, causing his lip to start bleeding. With one stunned, she pushed up and toward him, rising to her feet while shoving him to the ground.

While Marice struggled with the teenagers in black and gold clothing, the remaining two attackers were fighting with Laiserta. Despite her inability to see due to the electric shock she had sustained, Laiserta was no pushover when it came to hand-to-hand combat. The one with the shock rod swung several times and Laiserta was able to deflect his hits at the last second, avoiding a direct hit and another shock. He swung hard one last time, and instead of deflecting the shock rod, she caught it in her hands. The man panicked and tried to yank the rod backwards, but her grip was like a steel vise. Laiserta laughed darkly, and swung the rod around to her right. Her assailant made the mistake of not letting go immediately, and was swung in a wide arc to her right along with the shock rod. Laiserta jerked back toward her chest at the last second, and felt her attacker lose his grip before a loud crash.

Laiserta flipped the shock rod around in her hands so she was wielding the weapon properly. “Come at me you little shits,” she said, smirking darkly as she awaited the next attack.

“Forget about that one, let's go!” someone yelled from her right, and Laiserta waited for another attack that never came. She heard several pairs of footsteps running away from her, and figured that the idiots who tried to mug her were finally giving up. She stood upright and let her guard down slight, about to call out for Marice when she was interrupted by the voice of her comrade.

“Lai! Help!” she heard Marice shout, but she sounded as if she was running away in the same direction the footsteps ran.

“Aw, shit!” Laiserta shouted, taking off in the same direction as the group. Her vision was still completely fried, so she was running blind through a mall in Hrimth. She knew the mall, but not well enough to run through it blind. After running after them only about thirty meters, Laiserta tripped over something and fell forward, tumbling over once before stopping face-down on the ground.

“Son of a bitch!” Laiserta yelled, slamming her right fist into the ground.

-+-

Trunks had enjoyed the night they spent at Laiserta's apartment. He still wasn't used to sleeping on the ship in artificial gravity, so catching a night's rest on a real planet was very nice after several days traveling through space. Early that morning, Laiserta had woken him up to ask if he wanted to go out with her and Marice, and he'd declined. The bed in the guest bedroom, where he slept, was better than anything he'd ever slept on. He wanted to stay in bed a while longer and soak up the rest while he could get it.

So late that morning, Trunks was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. Across from him sat Armada, working on something on her laptop, while the computer equipment that had occupied the space yesterday had already been torn down and put away. He assumed Armada had taken care of it. Last night when they finally got in, Laiserta explained that there were only two bedrooms in the apartment. She said that she would “take the kid” with her, leaving Trunks to assume that he was to share a bed with Armada. Laiserta had smirked before disappearing, and Trunks was more annoyed at her than the situation. Regardless, he went to bed, but he was fairly certain that Armada never set foot in the guest bedroom. He'd never caught her sleeping, so he assumed that she just stayed up all night.

He thought about asking Armada about it when the elevator doors leading into the apartment opened and Laiserta rushed out.

“We've got a problem,” she wheezed, completely out of breath and leaning against a wall for support.

Trunks and Armada both jumped up from their seats and approached Laiserta, Trunks moving to help her since she appeared to be in distress. He went to take her left arm and help her stand upright but Laiserta shook him off, then stood up on her own.

“What happened?” Armada asked, her voice hard. Trunks hadn't missed the fact that Laiserta was alone, either.

“Marice and I were attacked while at the mall,” Laiserta started. Both Trunks and Armada gave Laiserta a disbelieving look, and she balked. “Hey, don't give me that shit,” she spat, “they came up out of nowhere and nailed me with a shock rod.” She then proceeded to reach into her coat and pull out the shock rod she'd managed to snatch from them.

“So you were blinded,” Trunks said lowly, more to himself than anyone else.

“Exactly,” Laiserta replied. “I don't know what happened but I heard them drag Marice away. I tried to chase after them, but you know, the whole 'I can't see' thing got in the way and I didn't get very far,” she finished.

“No one knows who Marice is,” Armada began, “so why would anyone kidnap her?”

“I don't know,” Laiserta said, still panting. “Drugs? Human trafficking? Pick something,” she added.

“Who cares about the reason, we need to find her,” Trunks broke in with steel edge to his voice.

A low, beeping melody began playing and the three mercenaries looked at one another in confusion. As the sound continued to play, realization suddenly dawned on Trunks. His eyes widened, as did those of his two comrades as they came to the conclusion that he did. “The computer!” Trunks exclaimed before turning and flying into the guest bedroom, his comrades on his heels.

The chat program on the computer Marice used to talk to Deitreich was ringing, waiting for someone to answer. Trunks moved to answer the call but Armada stopped him. “Wait,” she said sharply, drawing his eyes to hers. “They've already seen Laiserta, so let's have her answer it.” Trunks nodded and backed away from the computer, out of the sight of the camera. Laiserta quickly sat down at the desk where the computer was setup and answered the call.

The mercenaries were all surprised to see the video feed appear on the other end, revealing a young man, perhaps a teenager, sitting on the other side. His skin was slightly lighter than Laiserta's, and his black hair was cut close to his scalp. “Hi there,” the young man said. “We've got your friend and I'm assuming you want her back.”

Trunks and Armada stood off to the side out of view of the camera but close enough to view the screen. His eyes narrowed at the young man on the other side of the screen; whenever he saw him, he was going to make sure he saved a nice punch for that guy's jaw.

“Ah, a bunch of street punk Cintas losers, now I get it,” Laiserta replied.

The teenager laughed. “If you know that we're Cintas then you oughtta know that we won't hesitate to hurt your friend,” he threatened, still keeping a smirk on his face.

Laiserta sighed, knowing that she needed to play along. “What do you want, you little prick?”

“Hmm,” he feigned thinking about her question. “One million betas sounds nice, considering you snatched up one of our best customers,” he answered.

Laiserta's eyes shot up to her comrades; Trunks could tell she was clearly frustrated. Armada nodded to her, indicating that she should agree to the deal. The Taydran woman turned back to the screen.

“Fine,” she replied. “But we need to meet in a public place, to make sure you aren't gonna try to double-cross me.”

The teenager smiled wide and sat back in his chair. “Come on, we're Cintas. We're men of honor,” he added, laughing as the words fell from his mouth. “We'll be waiting with your friend on the south side of Rolling Park. You'll drop off the money in cash, in an unmarked bag, in a black trashcan at the corner of Vine and Seventeeth. Walk across the street and take a seat on a bench in the park, and we'll verify the money is legit. When that's done, your friend will walk over to you without our escort. Easy enough, right?”

“When?” Laiserta asked flatly.

“You've got three hours,” the Cintas gang member replied before ending the video chat.

Laiserta sat back in her chair and looked over to Trunks and Armada. “Well?”

Armada smirked. “These assholes won't even know what hit them.”

-+-

Afte r they made their plans, Laiserta explained that Cintas was a street gang in Hrimth that sometimes worked for more organized criminal enterprises, but more commonly ran their own 'business.' That business included running drugs, guns, and a prostitution ring. They operated in various parts of the city, including the neighborhood where the mercenaries had captured Deitreich. Her knowledge combined with what the gangster had said on the video chat lead the group to believe that Deitreich was Cintas's customer that they were upset about losing. The mercenaries surmised that they must have been seen and followed after snatching their target. Regardless, they had a plan and Cintas wasn't going to get what they wanted.

Laiserta walked down the streets of Hrimth, the afternoon sun beating down from above. She carried a black duffle bag in her right hand, the heavy weight nothing in her hands. She wore a dark pair of sunglasses, a cheap replacement for her custom yellow-tinted shades that were stomped on by the Cintas gangsters when they attacked. Laiserta stopped at a light, waiting to cross the street and head down the last block of Vine Street, spotting the trash can at the next corner across from Rolling Park.

“I'm a block away now, should be there in about two and a half minutes,” Laiserta said lowly. A teenage Taydran girl turned and looked up at Laiserta, who appeared to be talking to herself. Laiserta smirked back at her, and the girl turned back around.

“Alpha-One, in position,” the voice of Armada sounded in Laiserta's ear over the radio.

“Beta-One, ready in position,” Trunks's voice echoed behind hers.

The light changed, and it was Laiserta's turn to cross the street with the rest of the pedestrians on the southeast corner of Vine Street. Once she had crossed the street and started walking toward the trashcan specified by Cintas, she smirked to herself. “They've got two guys on Marice in a tunnel closest to spider-head, but at least six more assholes near the specified bench where I'm headed. Then there's four behind a building on this block, and two inside the cafe across the street to the west,” she finished, giving away all of Cintas's positions. They were easy enough for her to discern from all other bodies wandering around, since they dressed in black and gold with a particular style of clothing. She almost laughed to herself; this was going to be too easy.

Laiserta casually strolled up the black metal trashcan, dropped the black duffle bag she was carrying in it, and immediately crossed the street over into the park. She turned back slightly as she walked to see the two Cintas gang members in the cafe on the other side of Vine walk out and prepare to cross the street. “Two guys are going to pick up the bag, you've got about forty seconds,” Laiserta said, continuing to the bench as if everything was fine.

Several meters away, Trunks was sitting on a bench along one of the concrete pathways in the park, near a number of other people. He pretended to be engrossed in a throwaway news tablet he'd purchased before walking into the park. He could see several people in dark clothing walking his way from the corner of his eye, but made no move to look at them until they had passed by. His eyes looked up from the tablet once their backs were to him, and he saw four young men in black and gold clothing, like Laiserta had described.

Trunks rose from his seat and slowly followed behind the gangsters, holding the tablet in his right hand down at his side as he walked. He kept his distance from the men in front of him, and pretended to look around at the park scenery, especially the trees above. They began to head downhill, toward the bench where Laiserta was going to have a seat. In the distance, he noticed the remaining two Cintas members approaching the first four from the east. Trunks knew he only had about twenty more seconds before Cintas opened the duffle bag to learn the drop was a ruse.

The Earthling walked faster, taking longer strides to catch up to the gangsters in front of him. When the other two joined them, the criminals were busy talking to one another and Trunks knew he had his chance to strike. Before any of them had a clue what hit them, Trunks used a burst of ki to rush forward and strike each of them once at the base of the neck, knocking them unconscious. Trunks glanced around; no one had noticed him yet, but he needed to get away from the pile of bodies at his feet.

“They've opened the bag,” Laiserta updated her comrades as she watched the two gangsters rifle through the duffle bag they had retrieved from the trash. She watched as their expressions changed, and one of them whistled loudly. “They know,” Laiserta added sternly, standing up from where she had been sitting on the bench. The two gangsters who were sent to pick up the money, as well as the remaining four hiding behind a building on that same block then charged out, sprinting across the street and straight for Laiserta. She smiled darkly; she was ready for them.

A fair distance away to the north in the park, inside a dark tunnel, two men held on to Marice, who had her wrists bound together behind her back. A phone rang out, and one of the men pulled the small phone from his pocket to answer it. “Yeah?” he asked, followed by a long pause. He looked to his ally and then Marice, before grimacing. “Shit!” he shouted, slamming the phone shut. Before he had a chance to shove it in his pocket, he flew forward, rolling a few times across the pavement before coming to stop.

Marice turned around just in time to see Armada slam a hard elbow into the center of the remaining Cintas guard, knocking the air out of his lungs. She then slammed her forearm against his face, using the arm-guard of her armor as a weapon. The gangster was also sent flying backward, landing on his back as blood and saliva trailed from his mouth. Something else hit the ground, and Marice's attention was drawn to the sound. She looked as a bloody tooth fell down next to the gangster.

Armada grabbed Marice's restraints and ripped them off of her with no fanfare. “I've got Marice,” Armada said to herself, and the Euphorian teen eyed her warily, not understanding why the mercenary was talking to herself.

“Good,” Laiserta replied as the six Cintas gangsters charged at her, “that means I don't need to hold back.”

Two of the gangsters pulled pistols from their long shorts, while the rest brandished melee weapons. Laiserta stood still as they approached, unmoving while she waited for the right moment. As soon as they were within her reach, she quickly yanked out a shock rod from her black trench coat, immediately swinging for the first two enemies within her reach.

She nailed them across their faces, simultaneously pressing the button to deliver a significant shock. They dropped to the ground, groaning in pain. The two men with pistols stood back, aiming their weapons at her. Laiserta ignored them, knowing they wouldn't fire unless they absolutely had to, because they didn't want Hrimth police to descend upon them like a swarm. She focused instead on taking out the last two losers who charged at her.

One swung with another shock rod, but his attack was wild and Laiserta easily ducked it. His momentum carried him past her, and Laiserta kicked him in the back, knocking him face first into the ground. The second enemy tried to swing with brass knuckles on his right hand, but she caught his fist in her left hand. Before he could react, she shoved the shock rod into his gut, delivering a sustained electrical shock. The young man's body quivered for several seconds until she stopped, at which point Laiserta smacked him in the face with the shock rod, knocking him to the ground off to her right.

The last two gangsters raised their pistols and prepared to fire. Laiserta was ready to draw her own if they did, but neither had to chance to pull the trigger. They both fell forward, eyes rolling into the back of their heads. Trunks stood behind them and watched as they collapsed. His eyes shot up to Laiserta's and he smiled.

“Thanks wonder boy,” Laiserta said calmly, standing upright. She noticed one gang member struggling to get to his feet, the one that she had kicked in the back. Just as he leaped to his feet, Laiserta swung the shock rod, slamming it into his jaw with a nasty crunch. “You like how that feels, asshole?!” Laiserta shouted, still clearly angered by their use of a shock rod on her earlier that day. “Bunch of little pricks,” she said lowly, spitting on the ground near their downed enemies.

At that moment, Armada and Marice came running downhill, down the path from the direction Trunks had originally come. “Let's get out of here,” Armada ordered, and everyone fell into step behind her.

-+-

“Ev erything was so good!” Marice nearly shouted in a sing-song voice, turning around to look at the three people walking behind her.

Laiserta smirked. “Of course it was; Taydran food is the best in the universe,” she added, her words dripping with pride.

The three mercenaries and their temporary charge walked through downtown Hrimth, headed back to Laiserta's apartment. The sun was just starting to set as they left the restaurant after dinner. Laiserta was adamant that for their last night in Taydr, she should get to choose where they ate. Nobody really disagreed, and so she made her selection, graciously paying for everyone.

Marice skipped a few steps ahead and stopped, turning to face her friends again, a curious look on her face.

“What's up?” Trunks asked, as Marice appeared to be thinking hard about something.

“Hey Lai,” the red-haired teen looked up at the much taller Taydran woman. “What happened to all of the stuff we bought this morning?”

The group was silent for a long moment, Trunks and Armada confused as to what Marice was talking about. “Aw, son of a bitch!” Laiserta cursed, closing her eyes in frustration. She looked back to Marice, her face showing disappointment very clearly. “I forgot to pick up our stuff after you were taken,” she explained, seemingly more annoyed at herself than anyone else.

“Oh,” Marice said, her face falling. Clearly she had been excited about their shopping spree, and was now heartbroken that they had lost their belongings.

The group was silent a moment before Trunks spoke up. “Why don't you just go back to the same stores and repurchase what you'd already bought?” he asked, like it was the most obvious question in the world.

Marice's fast instantly lit up. “Lai, can we?!” she nearly begged, holding her hands together in front of her.

“Sure kid,” Laiserta smiled. “Everything should still be open for a few hours.”

Marice beamed, a wide smile growing across her face. She suddenly turned to look at Armada. “This time you're coming with us!” she shouted excitedly.

“What?” Armada blinked in confusion, but before she realized it Marice had grabbed onto her right arm and started tugging her forward. The girl's strength was beyond that of an average person, and Armada wasn't ready for it, so she stumbled forward a few steps.

“Laiserta bought me all these cool clothes! And she said that you need something too because your fashion sense is awful, so you should come with us!” Marice continued, still pulling Armada forward.

“Come on spider-head,” Laiserta slapped her right hand on Armada's back, between her shoulders. “This'll be fun,” she added, showing off her trademarked devious smile.

Armada tried to protest but with one woman on each side of her, she was pressed forward, Marice talking over her every time she tried to speak. Trunks walked slowly behind the three women, laughing as the scene unfolded before him. He knew Armada was more than strong and fast enough to escape Laiserta and Marice, but for some reason she wasn't doing it. Whatever that reason was didn't much matter to him, he just wanted to keep up to watch Armada's awkward glances at her comrades and laugh at her misfortune.

-+-

That's it! Thanks for reading everyone. Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts – good, bad, or ugly, I'll take them all. :]

If you are looking for anything else to read, I have a few recommendations:

Check out the newly posted Gohan/Videl fanfic, “To See You Again” by the lovely Lilly-sama: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11327767/1/To-See-You-Again Set in the Future Timeline it is a different look at a Videl and Gohan relationship while living under the terror of the androids.

“Starting Over Again” by balthezarian https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5535752/1/Starting-Over-Again is great. She's a very talented writer and her DBZ fics are spectacular, but I really love this one especially. It's a very realistic look at the Son family and how they react to and survive hardship. A bit of a tearjerker at points but a really wonderful story.

“Unconventional Love: Book I” by Mallie-3 is amazing: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8782984/1/Unconventional-Love-Book-I It's a Bulma/Vegeta fanfic AU setting where Bulma is a slave in the Saiyan empire. Yes that idea has been done, but this fanfic executes it really well, and Mallie does a wonderful job of building not just a world, but a whole society. And the B/V is very well developed, too.

“Dragonball OT” by Raos is a really creative and great story: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10733290/1/Dragonball-OT It explores what would have happened to the version of Trunks who was killed by Cell when Cell stole the time machine to flee to the past. It is a Mirai Trunks/Android 18 fanfic, which I am normally not a fan of, but the author has taken great care to develop their relationship at a realistic pace. The story needs some polish and I am helping the author with that. There are so few fanfics about Mirai Trunks and this one has some really original ideas, so I recommend it if you are a Mirai Trunks fan.

So check out these authors and give them some love! You can tell them I sent you, hahaha. :]

Silvia