Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Swarm Saga ❯ Of Old Age and Treachery ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: I own neither Dragonball Z nor the song "Old Age and Treachery" by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.

Chapter 9: Of Old Age and Treachery

Uub flopped down onto the grass next to Goten with a groan. Goku never hit that hard. He wasn't sure, but he suspected that Vegeta had anvils hidden in his gloves. Every inch of his body hurt. Suddenly, he had an entirely new respect for Goten and Trunks, they grew up with that and survived. The last combination blast sent him careening towards the ocean in an undignified belly flop which left pinpricks of pain over his front.

"Problems Uub? I believe I warned you to watch out for that combination."

The island boy rolled his eyes and looked around Goten at the purple haired demi saiyan. "If I could move I'd hit you. It was a whole lot easier to see from the ground." Uub's lips curled up into a full smirk. "Oh, and Trunks, he said you're next." He chuckled to himself as he looked back up and saw Vegeta, standing in the air with his arms crossed across his chest, tapping his foot on the non-existent floor.

He closed his eyes and let the ocean breezes cool him off. Beside him, Trunks pushed himself off the ground grumbling to himself about the pain he was about to be in. Marron said something about him being fine.

"So when are you heading home?"

Uub smiled wider. "Tomorrow, unless your mom succeeds in sabotaging my packing." He normally would not admit it but he was looking forward to going home. He liked the Sons, considered them family and Gohan and Goten his brothers, but it would be nice to see his relatives again. No offense, but Goku had a tendency to really loose track of time when he was enjoying himself or life in general.

"So you're going back to being an islander like me huh?" Marron had pushed into Trunk's spot. The teen turned and looked at her. It was hard to imagine her describing herself as an islander. She was so very blonde and pale. She just didn't fit the part. Everyone back home was dark skinned and dark haired.

Uub was able to sit up again as Gohan approached from behind with the girls in tow. "Hey guys. I brought food. Goten that's your stack and Uub," he reached up and removed the top platter off the second stack, "that's yours." He then plopped down on the grass next to them as the girls ran down toward the beach. After a stern warning for them to be careful he faced the youngest member of their group. "How did you fall for that combination? I don't spar with Vegeta often and I knew about it; Goten uses it all the time."

"No I don't!"

The blonde next to him laughed while saying, "Actually, you do. You're just not as good at it."

"Gee Marron, thanks. Glad to know you have faith in me."

"You're one of my favorite people. Of course I have faith in you."

Uub watched the match between father and son while eating and listening to his brothers and Marron joke around. He was actually a little shocked at how relaxed Gohan was after the way he looked last Thursday. "I hate to break up the fun guys but I'm going back up to the house to talk to Goku and let your mom fuss over my bruises."

"I'll walk with you. Otherwise my mom will start fussing because it's my party and I'm not circulating enough."

---

Marron skipped over to the pit and snagged a piece of meat off the tray. She rolled it around in her mouth as the juices slid down her throat. "Uncle Yamcha, you're my hero."

Yamcha laughed and smiled at her. "I'm not sure what I did but I'll take it." When she was a little girl she thought that her Uncle Yamcha was the cutest guy in the entire world and tried hard to get him to smile at her. She still took a small amount of giddy pleasure whenever he bestowed one, despite the creases in the corners of his eyes and around his mouth.

"Mom told dad he had to do the grilling."

"I heard. And if all it takes is non-burnt meat, you're right I am your hero. Although, I think you should set your standards higher."

"So," she swiped another chunk of meat, "When are you going to put on your gi and come spar with me."

"I wasn't."

"Oh come on. I'm tired of sparing with mom and dad. I'd ask one of the guys, but Vegeta has already started in on them; which means that they are already fighting full out and you know how hard it is to get a Saiyan to come back down to a normal level once they've started. And, Goku has already agreed to spar with Piccolo once he's done talking to Uub. That leaves… only… you. So go put on your gi."

"Marron…" Yamcha shot a meaningful glance at the teen sitting at the end of the picnic table talking with new fighter Roshi was still trying to corrupt.

"Oh come on. Come fight with me." She sounded whiney even to her own ears but it was her party and she should get to play too.

Next to Yamcha, Aki straightened up. "You know how to fight; like," he backed up and pointed up at the pair trading blows in the sky, "that?"

"Yes, he can; semifinalist in the World Martial Arts Tournament twice. He even has his own character on Satan's Bodukai I." She rounded back on the fighter in front of her. "And shame on you for not telling him." The young man's eyes widened as his glance moved between Trunks cutting a wedge in the ocean as he blocked his father's attack and the man he came with. "Aki, tell him that you want him to show off."

The blonde found herself fidgeting under the stare of her uncle, the scar on his cheek angry against the tan skin. He stopped and looked at Aki, his face softening. The teen just nodded.

After he changed, they took to the air where Yamcha opened with a frighteningly accurate punch. She took the first hit and managed to dodge the second as it came at her head. She began to counter. Unfortunately, she was never able to pierce his guard. Forty years of fighting and avoiding fast balls gave Yamcha a high preservation instinct. His style was also different from her father's. While the Kame House style was predominate, influences from both his early years and from Tien flavored his movements. He was also almost as aggressive as her mother, although less strategic. He seemed to fight by instinct alone. In general, she was thoroughly enjoying the fight.

Yamcha looped up and away from her last attack, putting some distance between them. His opponent took the opportunity to power up and let loose a stream of ki at him. As he deflected the blast, he ball player found himself huffing and wishing that he hadn't agreed to this. He looked at the girl and quickly considered his options as well as what she would be used to fighting. He sent out his own ki, shooting it off like his best curve ball. It hit Marron at threw her backward.

She grabbed her shoulder and tried to make herself smaller. She had heard that Yamcha was good with ki but she wasn't expecting that curve. She would have to get back inside his range. She charged him, only to be met with both of his fists in her stomach.

"I'm done," she squeaked out. She looked back up at him and noticed him panting and nodding before touching down.

When they reached the house, Yamcha threw himself into a chair with a groan. He was getting to old for this. "That is not fair Yamcha. I have to pull teeth to get you to train and you can still go up there and beat Marron."

"It wasn't that impressive Kuririn. That fight was just proof that old age and treachery always overcomes youth and skill."

"Will you teach me to do that Yamcha?" The ball player started and looked aver at the boy he brought with him. He wasn't sure what to tell him. Goku is always saying that they need to train the next generation of fighters, but did he really want to be responsible for shackling another person to the life he led?

From the other end of the table Roshi spoke up like a wizened sage, his glasses bobbing with each nod of his head. "With great power comes great responsibility. Learning to fight like that is a decision that should never be taken lightly."

For once, Yamcha was proud of his old teacher. At least until Videl pulled a shocked face and decked him.

Trunks walked up as Marron lowered her head and bit her lip. He suddenly felt that he missed something important. He reached out and touched her shoulder. "You OK?"

She looked at him sideways and smiled. "Yeah I'm fine."

He stepped back and held out his arm. Inside he was jumping when she moved to walk with him. He walked next to her silently for a while uncertain of what to say. "That was a really amazing fight."

"Yeah. Thanks. Though I still think I'm trying to find my stomach." Her hands fluttered to her waist and she began picking at her nails. They walked down the beach hearing nothing but the waves crash. "So Trunks…" He looked up into her eyes. She looked almost desperate. "Did I hear Goten mention something about a picture yesterday?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Please. After the week I've had I'd love to hear somebody else complain about the press. I told Goten that my boss was threatening to start sniping them off from the fifth story window."

Trunks laughed at the image. Somehow it was fitting. He looked at the woman next to him and couldn't believe that this powerful woman was actually showing an interest in him.

---

Gohan watched his brother watch the couple walking along the beach.

"I'm happy for them. She's been interested in Trunks for a long time now. She'll be good for him; probably keep him grounded." The older demi saiyan wondered which one of them Goten was trying to convince.

The younger man's smile was genuine and his voice held no hint of a quiver. His breathing, however, seemed pained. His eyes locked on the pair and lingered a little overlong before his smile brightened and he turned back. "Besides, they look good together don't you think?"

Gohan wondered if Trunks even realized what he was doing to his friend. He assumed not.

"Gohan, would it be OK if I stopped by tonight?"

"Sure we don't mind. Although I've got to warn you Videl is threatening to make me go to bed early again tonight. Why?"

"I need to have you look at some research I've done. Tell me what you think."

"If it's about the ground underneath a site, I'm not…"

"It's not that. I just really need to talk it over with someone. You maybe even Dad, just get your opinion."

"Do you have it here?"

"No. It's a party. I didn't want to bring anyone down."

"Should I be worried?"

"I hope not." Gohan's face fell. His brother knew better than to use open ended statements like that around him. He hated statements like that. Hope, suppose, they were never good words. Someone always got hurt when those worse were bandied about. They sat in silence for a minute before Goten looked back up. "Wait a minute. Why is Videl making you go to bed early?"

"Apparently I haven't been sleeping." Goten looked at him carefully. "Don't worry, I got my full eight hours last night."

"Good. That means you're up to helping me bring down Dad."

"Do you want me to look at your research tonight?"

"Fine. Fine. I'll just go ask Pan. She's probably better than you anyway; younger, moves faster and all that."

As soon as his back was turned, Gohan pounced on his brother. Placing him in a headlock, he screamed into the sky.

---

Gohan sat at the kitchen table with a cup of tea waiting for his brother and watching his wife move gracefully from one cabinet to another putting up the dishes she had started to wash before they left that afternoon. He would have helped but he had learned long ago that she was very particular about where things went and would spend even more time redoing his part.

On the other side of the room his daughter was dragging her feet with all the obstinacy that her twelve year old body could muster.

"Daddy, do I have to go to bed?" Funny, she always used "Daddy" when she wanted something. More recently it had been "Daaad, don't hug me in public" or "Daaad, that's for babies and I'm not a baby anymore."

"Yes Pan. It's late."

"Oh come on you two, let her stay up. It's not like she has school in the morning," Goten said as he strolled in.

Pan's face brightened. "Yeah! Like Uncle Goten said it's not like I have school in the morning. Besides Bra is the same age and she's allowed to stay up late." Both parents shot Uncle Goten an evil look.

"Young lady you know perfectly well that Bra is a year older and about to turn thirteen. Now get up those stairs and I don't want to hear another word about it."

"Whatever."

"Watch yourself young lady." Sighing, she looked at her husband. "How long are we going to have to put up with that attitude?"

"At least until she turns eighteen."

Videl rounded on her brother-in-law. "You're really not helping any Goten and you're going to spoil her."

The younger man just shrugged and grinned. "As the uncle it's my job. Besides, she'll still be asleep before you."

The dark woman's face hardened as she wielded her `thawping spoon' (as Pan affectionately called the large wooden spoon that Videl used to smack hands that got too close to the food while it was cooking.) "Oh no. Gohan needs his full eight hours of sleep too. If you're going to keep him awake tonight, you are going to have to leave."

"I did warn you."

"Yeah, Videl, I know. But this is really important."

Gohan looked at his brother. "So, what do you have."

Goten pulled out the stack of papers from last night and handed the tabloid to his brother. The older saiyan looked at the cover and laughed. "This is your research? The Examiner? Surely you, of all people, should know that ninety percent of what's printed in here is complete lies."

Goten crossed his arms over his chest and held onto his chin. "Page 43. The words may be lies but pictures are still worth a thousand."

His brother raised his eyebrows before sighing. He pulled the `If you say so' face and began flipping through the leaves of the newspaper. When he reached the instructed page, his face fell. "Kami! Videl can you go get Dad?"

She stopped and looked over his shoulder. "I'll be right back."

The older demi stood up and refreshed his tea mug. He placed another cup in front of his brother. "Got any coffee?"

"Videl threw it out when she decided I needed sleep." Goten made an understanding face and sipped the warm liquid. "So is the rest of that stack the same?"

"Yeah."

Videl walked back into the room. Her face was red and she just kept blinking. "I told your dad. Your parents were…"

"We don't need to know any more. Thanks Videl." Both men closed their eyes trying to block out the mental image.

"Your mom yelled at me. Your father went to get Vegeta."

Goten's eyes snapped open. "Oh shit!"

Ten minutes later Vegeta sat at Gohan's table, being swallowed by Gohan's robe, and glaring at Goku, who was stretching out one of Gohan's t-shirts. Goten sat between them, still experiencing the occasional twitch. Videl sat across from him trying not to look at either of the older Saiyans; she had noticed enough, despite being covered by their respective pajama bottoms, to realize that apparently it was a saiyan thing.

"So, are you going to tell us where she is or do we have to guess?"

"That's the problem. I don't know. The pictures and articles have her all over the place."

"So I was pulled away from my woman for nothing? What articles are you speaking of?"

Goten started pulling out the papers and explaining where he found them. Sources ranged from local newspapers to Martial Arts Magazine. "Generally, she is staying out of the cities. I checked with Marron and got the routing information from her tournament check. With that information I discovered that our visitor deposited hers to open an account at the Blue Bush Bank. Since then, she's made two small withdrawals on the account."

"Do I even want to know," Videl queried, "where you learned how to hack into a bank computer?"

"He learned it from Trunks. They've been hacking in Capsule Corps' since they were fourteen."

Goten looked up guiltily as Gohan glared at him. "Well it's not like that lasted long. Bulma built some kind of weird firewall we couldn't get around."

"Actually Bulma didn't. I did."

"Wow Vegeta, I'm impressed!"

"What? Did you think I was some brainless muscle like your father? Not that I need your approval, but thank you."

"How did you learn?"

Vegeta looked down at the paper he held in his hand and seemed to study it intensely. "Frieza's ship was paperless. You learned to protect any personal logs you didn't want him to see."

Goku looked at his friend as he tried to shrink out of existence for a second. He then looked down at the paperwork searching for a change in topic. "Is this the Police Beat?"

Videl leaned over and read the paper in Goku's hands. "Let me guess, it's the destruction of property."

"No that one is the missing cow." Goten rifled through the papers in front of him. "This one is the destruction of property."

"I'm going to get my laptop out of the other room. My old password still lets me into the SPD databanks."

"Goten, you don't have dates on half of this. Do we know what city she was in first? Videl while you're in there get me one of the global maps."

When Videl returned and began looking through files on her laptop, Gohan spread out the map. "Ok let's start with the bank account. It was set up in Blue Bush on what date?" Gohan circled the city on the map and looked up at his brother.

"Monday. What are you doing?"

"I'm mapping out her route. Didn't you learn anything in my class?"

"Yeah. I learned all about house types and that when you build a house you change the landscape." When Gohan glared at him he looked back down at the stack in front of him. "I have Bottleville on Wednesday."

Vegeta held up the piece of paper in his hands. "Some martial arts website says they spotted our little problem in Cut and Shoot on Wednesday."

Videl spoke up from behind the screen of her laptop. "I have an incident report from there. It says here that some guy broke both his hands and was thrown into his car during a solicited fight. No charges were filed against either party."

An hour later Gohan leaned way from the table and assessed the map. "The last report was here, at the edge of the desert. Since we don't have any reports from the other towns around it, my guess is she's crossing it. She's heading south at a fairly fast pace."

"So we don't know where she is?"

"No Vegeta, but we've at least narrowed it down to the big brown spot on the map."

"Actually, if she's on foot, she is probably staying near the mountains. That desert does not have a lot of oases."

"How do you know that, Kakarrot?"

"It's where we met Yamcha."

Silence screamed through the room. Until Vegeta sighed and asked, "Where is she headed?"

"I won't know for sure until she comes out the other side. Could be anywhere down there."

"Well this was a pathetic waste of time. Kakarrot, take me home." Goku looked up as Vegeta stood; his mouth working. "I'm not flying home dressed like this."

"But Vegeta, the only ki to lock onto is Bulma's and she's mad. She'll yell at me!" The prince crossed his arms over his chest and lifted a brow.

"Yes, and I'm looking forward to it."

TBC

A/N: I really like reviews so please review. Tell me what you think. I want to hear it all good, bad, and ugly.

Lil Melfina64 - Thank you. I'm glad you are enjoying it.

Vellongria - Thank You. I will try to keep this original. It helps that the OC keep asking if she can kill off random people. Unfortunately, I have to keep telling her no.

ilex9 - Yeah, the paparazzi thing seems to be popular. And I kinda like Yamcha's personality. Even if he is currently doing the whole broody, moody, what the hell have I done with my life thing. He's a little old for a midlife crisis but then I realize he's actually on his way out of it.