Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Royal Namekian Blues ❯ Daughter of the Champion ( Chapter 72 )

 

Disclaimer: The characters of the DBZ series are the sole property of Akira Toriyama. I only own Stellari and any fancharacters. I don't get any money from this, and do it purely for fun, not to harm the manga or anime.

 

Royal Namekian Blues

Daughter of the Champion

***

Raditz held Stellari close to him like something precious. Every passing second confirmed the illusion she didn't wish to remain in the company of a super Saiyan. Just why he did not know. Why couldn't he expunge the nagging doubt growing inside him? Despite all the caresses and kisses he knew there was only one avenue open to him. Through the action of mating perhaps he could assuage her fears.

 

Not only did humans closely associated with Saiyans fear for their lives, but also the common folk living in the cities of the world. Raditz heard of Fasha and Tora's feats from Stellari, and mused the consequences. Fasha had spoken of a small girl who had acted with bravery, and had piercing blue eyes. Though to Saiyans such a color was outlandish, Fasha had said she had the gaze of a true warrior. IT gladdened Raditz to know his fathers comrades were making strides with bridging the gap between Saiyan and human.

 

"She said she was the daughter of a champion," Stellari said.

 

"Who?"

 

"The girl Fasha said she met. And I think I know who it was," said she.

 

"Champion?" Raditz asked.

 

"The Great Hercule, the winner of the World Martial Arts tournament last time," said Stellari.

***

 

Far below the daughter of a champion shivered at the thought of that week's occurrences. The vast living room stretched around them, dominated by a six foot television set taking up the entire front wall. Across from it stood a sectional sofa and deluxe recliner chair covered in butter soft leather. Both his feet were propped up on the footrest as Hercule leaned over to grab a cigar from the wooden box to his left. IN his right hand he held a conical glass, his fingers wrapped around its long stem. Draped around his muscular body was his ever present brown bathrobe with a pair of white comfortable pants.

 

That afternoon the world's martial arts champion and Strongest Man in the world sipped a martini and watched the news coverage along with his daughter. Earlier that week she had indeed rescued all twenty fellow passengers on her school bus when the bridge had collapsed under them. Of course the world champion knew four strange beings had assisted his little champion, but they were obviously using strange tricks to do so. They were called Saiyans, and he wasn't entirely sure he trusted them.

 

"Who does that clown think he is interrupting my daughter's moment of glory," Hercule shook his fist at the TV. He almost threw his drink at the television when a shot of his daughter helping save schoolchildren during a bridge accident was preempted by a special news update.

 

"Wait Daddy, that's the creep who's been on the news channels at school, isn't it?" Videl asked.

 

"Why that piece of trash thinks he can stop your news coverage is beyond me!" Hercule raged. Then his stream of curses stopped at the appearance of a hideous blue faced being coming into view. Reporters cringed and shivered in the presence of the hulking giant.

 

"I'll say!" Hercule blinked, shirking back in his chair a bit and taking a drag on his cigar. "That jerk's been hogging all my publicity! He says he's some big hero and he didn't even STOP to acknowledge that I'm the champion! I can't believe he's trying to fool all these people with that stupid costume!"

 

"But he's saying something about Saiyans," Videl hushed her father. Both of them riveted their blue eyes to the screen and listened to the voice of the reporter holding his microphone up to the stranger.

 

"So you claim you're here to help us from what exactly?" asked the TV newscaster.

 

"From the menace of the Saiyans. They're only trying to deceive you," he said.

 

"That's not true!" Videl shouted at the TV.

 

"But how can you explain the rash of such beings saving people if they are here to harm us? And is it true that you are one of those… androids?"

 

"Perhaps I may be. But it would be wise of people everywhere to heed my warnings. Accept my protection or else disaster might prevail. Any who wish to question the validity of my motives can challenge me…"

 

"Is it true that you've been challenged to face some of the worlds heroes in a martial arts tournament?" asked the reporter, stepping back. Drawing back his head, the hulking blue giant laughed.

 

"Indeed. Everyone will see that my intention is only to protect this world from danger. And those foolish enough to question my validity will see that their fears are unfounded," he stated with a voice that held icy calm.

 

"Just who does he think he is?" Hercule complained. "Claiming such a pack of lies! It's all some big publicity stunt! He's probably paying people to cause disasters and probably is in cahoots with those so called Saiyans to make himself look good!"

 

"Are you so sure Daddy?" Videl blinked up at him.

 

"That's exactly why I'm going to go and kick his blue butt to find out for sure," Hercule boasted. "But I'll let my other fighters soften him up… and anyone ELSE who might show up."

 

"Like the Saiyans?" asked Videl quietly.

 

"Heh, it'll be good publicity to have this loudmouth kicked off TV when I beat him at his own game. And then I'll be number one again!" Hercule nodded. Videl glanced down to see his knees were knocking together, and shook her head. Her father just had to turn any situation into an opportunity to further his career. Sometimes she wished he would never have won the world championship at the Tenkachi Budokai.

 

Fresh in her mind were the sensations onboard the school bus. Around her the children had laughed and carried on during the bus ride from Orange Star Elementary school to the various homes outside the town. Crossing over the bridge all eyes had drifted to the harbor complete with boats. Unfortunately smiles gave way to frowns and then open mouthed shock.

 

Suddenly the tractor trailer immediately in front of the bus had dipped out of sight. Frantic eyes of the bus driver glanced from just ahead to the whispering children hunched in their seats. Everyone was jostled forwards as the brakes squealed and Videl almost launched herself over the seat. Next to her she gripped the back of someone's shirt and kept them from suffering the same fate.

 

"Keep calm children," the bus driver shouted back, glancing over one shoulder. Other vehicles had screeched to a similar halt, and all eyes snapped forwards to stare out the window. Although they were brought to a dead halt the bridge itself began to sway dangerously back and forth. As if a giant had taken hold of one edge of the bridge and swung it back and forth like a jump rope. Back and forth the bus lurched, along with the entire span around them.

 

"Oh my gods look at that… some of the cars crashed…" whispered one child before the daughter of the champ. She stuck her head over the seat and rapidly stared around her. Through the windows she saw people struggling to climb out of their cars or turn them around to clog the already crowded lanes of traffic. Huge cables seemed to snap just outside, waving in the wind of the bay.

 

To the lane on the left cars tipped off the edge of a gaping edge of jagged road. Videl could see the bits of pavement dropping like breadcrumbs to infinity below. Then the bus lurched forwards, and the children shoved one another and screamed. Instinctively they tried to get out of their seats and madly rush to the front.

 

"Someone HELP us!" they cried.

 

Videl leapt over the seat and rushed to the front of the bus. Being the daughter of the World Martial arts champion gave her certain clout and she blocked the aisle standing on the white like. Throwing her hands to either side she shouted back, "Everyone what she said! Everyone get to the BACK of the bus NOW"

 

Blue eyes gleamed brightly and the small voice piped through the chaos. All the children scrambled back to the rear seat, and Videl grabbed the stunned bus driver. Shocked a small child of seven could grab her and toss her like a sack of potatoes, the bus driver landed harmlessly into the seat halfway back. Videl pushed other children back who wouldn't listen.

 

"Everyone back! The bus will tip off the bridge if you don't go to the BACK!" Videl hollered in a voice that nobody dared disobey. Her sudden thinking paid off for the bus leaned backwards out of danger. But she could tell the front tires were dangerously close to the jagged edge. Hands grabbed the emergency exit handle but couldn't wrench it free.

 

"Stand back!" she shouted. Almost atop each other the children parted and let the small girl with the pigtails back up. With a loud Kyai her sneakered foot slammed into the door, kicking it open.

 

"Everyone out!" the bus driver shouted. Children began to scramble out, but then the very bridge continued to sway. In the cars and vehicles people were scrambling over one another to try and get out of their cars before the angle of the bridge tipped even more. Those lucky enough to do so grabbed onto the bridge railings while their cars scooted inexorably towards the end of the forty five degree roadbed. It pitched to a greater seventy five degrees, sending some of the children still in the bus tumbling back in. Videl grabbed the edge of the door, snatching the shirts of some who were close. Others held on in a human chain. People screamed around them in a cacophony, and all the vehicles slid down, pushing the ones closest to the edge off.

 

Videl's heart came into her throat as she felt herself go weightless. What good was being the daughter of the champion if she couldn't even save the lives of her fellow students. Then came a jarring thump that caused the bus to arrest in mid fall. Ten students still clinging to their seats and Videl all caught the breath they'd held.

 

"Stay inside, kids!" shouted a male voice. Videl peered out the door and the other children still left on the bus shouted and pointed. Just outside a portly man with strange armor shot down out of sight. Three other specs darted by. Glancing through the jagged hole of the emergency exit door, Videl saw that these newcomers were flying towards the bridge, catching vehicles and people as they fell. One blue armored speck had grabbed the bridge front and was struggling. Each of them was flying to her shock. The entire bus rocketed up and then landed gently on the roadbed again. Videl stumbled out of the bus, determined to find out what was going on. Still people clung to the bridge, now leaning at a less steep angle. Darting around the bus front she saw the blue armored figure grabbing the roadbed with his hands, his face creased with effort. Around his body glowed white tongues of fire. With magic it seemed this figure was using some unknown force to pull the bridge back into a flat position. Overhead she saw cables being dragged into place by another armored figure. Flashes of energy came from her palm, welding the broken cables. Across the jagged gap, a massive male with triple scars on his forehead was ferrying fallen vehicles and people along with the portly armored man she had seen fly past.

 

"Who are you?" Videl cried.

 

"Watch out!" shouted a female. Videl turned her head to see a massive loose cable swinging down towards her. It slammed into her, knocking her towards the railing where people were climbing down. A pink blur rocketed down and gripped her around the waist, yanking her back from the side.

 

"You should stay out of the way, little one," the female said, holding Videl around the waist. Looking up into the face of a strong female Videl gasped in disbelief. Both of them hovered hundreds of feet above the ruined bridge. From this vantagepoint she could see the three other armored strangers flying to and fro to pick up people and set them back near their vehicles as well as struggle to secure the bridge again. The scarred faced man and the handsome one with the ponytail were using beams of some strange light form their hands to melt pieces of roadbed into the gap that separated the two halves of the broken bridge.

 

She then realized the woman carrying her in flight was the one overhead who had been welding the snapped cables back together to the main tower of the bridge. Unwittingly she had missed one, and that had been what almost swept Videl over the side to certain death. She could hit the water like concrete from such a height. Gold flashed off the earring in the female's right ear. Over her left eye gleamed a strange green lens attached to what appeared to be an earphone. Close to a black armored chest Videl was clutched, stretched over the ample bosom of the uknowon woman. Like the fighters her father promoted the woman was solid with muscle and slender. Her hair was cropped in a short cut around her face, giving her the look of someone who meant business.

 

"Who are you?" Videl demanded. "And what are you doing?"

 

"We're friends, small one. No need to worry. I'm Fasha… I saw you trying to help those people before I grabbed your bus," she said.

 

"You… grabbed the bus… you're… flying… no way," Videl stammered, her gloved hands gripping Fasha's arm. Her toes dangled only a few inches from the white booted knee of Fasha. "It's some trick! It's got to be."

 

"No trick, little one. Just relax. We're all here to help," Fasha explained. "But I'll have to get that cable before I put you down, so you'll have to hang onto me tightly ok?"

 

"Okay," Videl promised, grabbing Fasha around the neck. Her rescuer swooped down and grabbed the wagging cable, then shot down towards the other half dangling from the bridge's railing. Once she held the ends of either cable between her white gloved hands, Fasha strained to tug them together. Her hands glowed, causing Videl almost to lose her grip around Fasha's neck. Energy surged, melting the cables together again like water flowing and then hardening to ice.

 

Finally Videl felt Fasha's arms around her again. They dropped, wind whistling around them, but she trusted Fasha wouldn't drop her. Gently the white boots tapped against the pavement, and she gently set Videl down. Videl's pigtailed head came only to Fasha's waist, and she saw the people standing around in shock at the three other strangers there.

 

"Everybody it's over. Go back to what you were doing," the blue armored male said.

 

"That's Tora, Borgos and Sugesh," Fasha pointed to the others, in answer to Videl's unspoken question.

 

All around the four figures gathered members of the crowd. Choruses of "Who are you guys?" and "They must be superheroes…" echoed along with murmurs of "They're freaks… aliens…"

 

"We're Saiyans," said Torah, who appeared to be the leader of the group. The tall Borgos glanced around at the humans he towered over while the dubious Shugesh wrinkled his nose in annoyance.

 

"You must be super heroes?" came another few voices. Stares and whispers dominated the shocked crowd, and the four Saiyans tensed, standing back to back.

 

The portly Shugesh shouted to the closest humans, "Enough of the staring already!"

 

"Everyone it's okay!" Videl said , realizing she had to use her father's influence to convince people from suddenly panicking again.

 

"Isn't that Hercule's daughter?" asked some of the citizens.

 

"She won the junior division of the martial arts tournament!" said another.

 

"They saved us," Videl shouted to all people who were huddling against one another in fear. Her white tank top flapped in the breeze, swirling around the legs of her excercize shorts like a miniskirt. Under it she wore a purple T. Something about the determined look in the blue eyes told Fasha this was a warrior.

 

"That's right," someone said.

 

"They're heroes," said another.

 

"Way to go! They saved us!" shouted ten more. Soon the four Saiyans were swarmed not by a crowd of enemies but an audience of grateful people. Shugesh and Borgos exchanged glances, laughing at the hands reaching out to shake theirs, or the arms of the people hugging their knees. Before any knew it there were packages of food, soda cans, and even wads of zenni being pushed in their direction. Borgos eagerly took the food while Tora accepted any money. None of them were about to turn down the gratitude of those who had saved them. They were Saiyans, not fools.

 

"You seem to be pretty important, little one," Fasha leaned down to look at Videl.

 

"My dad's the strongest man in the world," she said proudly. "Although he does talk a lot and he's always trying to make money promoting himself…"

 

"Your father's a fighter then?" Fasha chuckled. "And you look like you're a warrior yourself!"

 

"I sure hope so! My daddy trained me himself to be the best," she pointed to herself in pride. Reaching down Fasha ruffled the girl's hair.

 

"Quite a kid," Torah winked at Fasha. The whole crowd buffeted them, pushing them towards the far side of the bridge. What seemed like weak humans were banding together to lift each of the Saiyans up and carry them on their shoulders towards Orange Star City.

 

"Whoah," Fasha yelped as she was picked up and balanced on the shoulders of two strong men. Videl shrugged and accepted the children who were bearing her aloft.

 

"This is how they treat heroes huh?" Borgos looked to Shugesh.

 

"Not a bad deal. This saving lives pays off," Shugesh chuckled.

 

Since that day, she knew the Saiyans were most likely friend. Still she wondered what tricks they had used to create welding beams from their hands or to fly. When her father heard about it he'd grabbed her up and showered her with kisses. Then he had spent the next hour hamming it up with the press how his daughter had saved the lives of the schoolchildren on her bus, and lead the strange beings to save everyone on the ruined bridge. Some earthquake was said to have jostled it loose, and Videl groaned as cameras were shoved in her face along with microphones.

 

Later on she had sat with her father while he spoke with another bevy of reporters. It was quickly decided these Saiyans must have advanced jetpacks or something to fly around so easily. A flurry of speculations flew like a blizzard and then she was left to ponder the strange woman named Fasha who had saved her.