Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Mystery Within ❯ A New Beginning ( Chapter 11 )

The Mystery Within

Part I - Prelude to Terror

Written by Namek kaia

Disclaimer: You know the drill by now…

**Author's Note** Sorry it's taken me FOREVER to update, but I have been very very busy with school, work, and life in general. But hopefully I'll be able to update one more chapter after this before I have to go back to the dreaded classroom! Hee hee. Anyways, enjoy. And don't forget to leave me a review! ^^v Laterz! ~ NaK

Chapter Eleven

A New Beginning

As usual, Niko awoke as the morning's sunlight streamed through her room. After a lazy yawn and long stretch, she made her way sleepily across the hall for a shower, nearly stumbling over her own feet as she reached her bedroom door. Steadying herself on the door frame, she flicked on the small hallway light when something caught her eye. She wiped her half-lidded eyes and tried to focus on the movement in her living room, a hard feat for her in her half-awake state. Whatever it was, it was the stark white against the vast darkness of her living room. Slowly, she began to connect dots. The white object, most likely cloth, shifted along with something much larger, which meant someone was in her house. With Piccolo gone for who knows how long, maybe indefinitely, there was no doubt in her mind that her enemies had decided to make their move. She quickly became tense and focused, but moved with cat-like stealth down the hall.

To say that she was surprised when she rounded the corner into the living room would be the greatest understatement of the year. Floored might be a more appropriate description of what she saw. There, meditating in the corner beside the empty fireplace was Piccolo.

At first she was speechless. Then, a sea of questions flooded her mind and she wasn't sure which to ask first. But finally, her agape mouth articulated sensible words. "What… why?"

Well… somewhat sensible.

Piccolo's eyes slowly opened to give her a blank stare. "Why what?"

`He acts like nothing happened at all….' "Why… did you come back? Why would you come back? I… I don't understand…" She paused and sighed. "Gohan. He talked you into it, didn't he? I told him not to say anything to you."

"What exactly did you two talk about?" he questioned in a short tone.

She gave him a confused look, then rolled her eyes when his meaning became clear. "It wasn't anything that I haven't told you, if that's what you mean. If I won't tell you, then I have no intention of telling anyone else either. I've known Gohan for two days. What would make you think that I would so quickly open up to him?"

"It doesn't matter," he snapped back.

Touchy still, I see. Well… at least he's back. Niko let the comment go, deciding another argument should be avoided if necessary. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she stood in front of him, obviously not concerned if he saw the `barely-there wear' that she proudly sported now that winter had finally left them with the warmth of spring. "So… why did you come back?" she asked again.

"I figure that we're in this together now. It's better that we fight them as a team, or else we could both die, not to mention everyone else on the planet."

"So, a new beginning then?" she offered.

"What?"

"I propose a new beginning, a fresh start between you and me. I promise to answer more of your questions if you start talking to me about yourself or at least answering some of the questions I ask you. Deal?"

"Agreed," he answered after some hesitation.

Completely relived that they could forget about what had happened, she smiled and turned to leave, heading back toward the bathroom. Halfway there, she angled her head over her shoulder at him. "You up for a spar after I'm done?"

"You have to ask?" he questioned. The smirk absent from his face was apparent in his eyes.

Her eyes held the same look in response. "Just making sure…"

***************

Later that day during the middle of Piccolo and Niko's spar, Gohan had eagerly joined them, no doubt just after finishing his homework assignments. Gohan and Niko now sparred while Piccolo acted as a mediator. He watched with great fascination as the two sparred, following nearly every move and paying close attention to both fighters' actions and reactions.

Gohan displayed the skill of a great warrior just as he always had. His sleeveless blue gi showed little damage courtesy of his expert blocking, and his golden spikes of hair swayed with his every move. While observing the battle, which was like slow motion to him, Piccolo examined Gohan's instincts to block Niko's attacks and counter with his own. It was like an intricate dance. How they moved with such ease and agility was like moving art.

Though, what amazed him most was that Gohan was in his twice-ascended form and Niko was easily keeping up with the pace. Her sleeveless, short, lavender-colored training gi barely showed dirt, let alone any physical damage. `What is with this woman? Usually, she's struggling when it's just a spar between us. But now… now she's fighting with amazing skill and stamina. There's no way that she could have improved that much in such a short amount of time.'

Gohan was trying his best not to be frustrated by the fact that Niko had blocked nearly every advance he made on her. He had tried everything he knew about hand-to-hand attacks, and nothing had worked. But he hadn't lost his confidence just yet; it was still the beginning. Remembering his training from his father, he turned his near frustration into determination.

"C'mon, Gohan! I know you're better than this. Hit me!" she yelled.

And no sooner did she say it did his fist connected to her jaw with a left hook. Her lip had been slightly cut by her canine and the momentum was nearly enough to knock her off balance, but her footing remained solid. When she faced him again, all she could do is smirk. "Not bad, for someone who's been out of practice," she taunted, clearly not effected by the connected punch.

"Alright then. Care to take it up a notch?" he challenged and lifted off the ground.

Her eyebrow quirked upward at him. "You sure you can handle it?"

"If you can, then it should be a piece of cake for me," he retorted, joining in the friendly mocking.

"Well, in that case," she started, quickly rising to hover at his level in the air, "let's not waste any time. Give me everything you got, and make it a ki blast."

"What? Niko, I don't think…"

"Just do it. The sooner we get to the good stuff, the sooner you start taking me seriously. And the sooner you start taking me seriously, the sooner we can actually improve. If you were serious at all about what you're doing, I'd at least have some dirt on me," she explained.

`Could she have known I was holding back? But how… when we've never sparred before…'

"C'mon! I'm gonna get sun stroke over here waitin' on ya!" she yelled, propelling herself away from him in preparation. Both Piccolo and Gohan could tell she was excited about this. Wind started to whip around her body, bringing with it loose rocks and debris from the ground below. Her hands clenched and unclenched and her muscles were taut beneath her skin. He hated to admit it, because he knew that he shouldn't think of her like this at all, but seeing her so battle hungry stirred something within him that he couldn't really name. It could have been pride or… or desire. He couldn't think of any other ways to describe it after that. He snuffed that flame fast, knowing that nothing more would come between them, and to think so would be utterly foolish.

Meanwhile, Gohan was gathering up his energy and concentrating it to the singular point in his cupped hands. The atmosphere around him too was becoming unstable, creating wind and small quakes of the earth in reaction to the immense power. Gohan was taking his time and concentrating most of his power into the attack. Maybe if he showed her exactly what she was dealing with, she'd think twice before challenging him. This was so much fun…

Niko had yet to begin any sort of defensive preparation. Instead, she was practically bobbing like a boxer in midair. This was too much fun. She couldn't wait…

"You're sure about this, now? Think you can actually block it?" Gohan asked before completely gathering the energy he needed.

"C'mon… let's see what you've got in that scrawny body of yours!"

"Ha… we'll see who's scrawny in just a moment," he retorted.

They sound like children. Just get on with it already… Piccolo thought to himself.

"You asked for it! Ka-meh-ha-meh…"

It was just before he was ready to release his attack that Niko finally stilled and quickly gathered up an amazing amount of energy herself. Even from his distance, Piccolo could see the smirk and the menacing expression on her face. She almost looked like Vegeta. He cringed slightly.

"Ha!!" The immense attack was released and advanced with amazing speed in the direction of Niko, who finished her own attack.

"Tsukimetsu!!" she cried just before the Kamehameha reached her. Her violet energy blast blocked Gohan's attack and began to push against it. It wasn't long before her attack began to overpower his.

"What?!? That's not possible. How can she have enough power to push back that sort of attack?" Gohan asked to no one in particular. Piccolo, too, was shocked. This Niko was not the same person that he had been sparring with for months. This Niko was beginning to be a challenge for a twice ascended Saiyan. What had happened to her while he was gone?

Niko's tsukimetsu finally managed to absorb the kamehameha and push onward towards Gohan with such speed that he barely had time to dodge. Three sets of eyes watched as the blast finally landed into a distant plateau, disintegrating it like sugar in water. "No way…" was all Gohan could say. Piccolo's brow was raised in sheer amazement. Niko just smirked while inside she was beaming with pride.

"How?" Gohan finally asked her as she approached him, still in the air.

To his question, she only shrugged. "It's something that I've been working on for quite a while and haven't been able to fully test. I wanted to see how it would stack up against the power of a Saiyan. I have to say that I'm quite impressed myself. I had no idea that it would be such a success." Then after a pause. "I'm sorry. That sounded a little too arrogant and rude, didn't it? I'm just overwhelmed is all. You didn't hold back did you?"

"No… I hardly held back at all. I think your attack would have blown mine out of the sky if I'd have put every bit of my energy into it" he replied, obviously trying to compliment her. He showed his pearly white teeth in a glorious smile, making him look sweet and younger than he was.

"Well… if you're so impressed, that's just for starters. Let's get down to some real business, shall we?"

And so the real sparring began.

It was nearing sunset when the sparring had finally ended. And the turnout of the spar was much different from its beginning. In the beginning, Niko had dominated the spar for the most part, being able to utilize offensive moves rather than defensive ones. Hours later, when the sky had gone from overcast to mostly sunny, Gohan had literally pounded Niko into the ground. More than once. She had gotten more sluggish in her attacks, and then in her blocks. It wasn't long before Gohan had knocked her to the ground with such force that the crater nearly reached Piccolo's feet. It had taken her a while to get up, so long that Gohan was about to drop his guard and assist her, and when she finally did rise, she had been coughing the dirt and blood out of her lungs. Piccolo had immediately made his way down the side of the crater, but she waved him away when he came close. "I'm fine…" she had said before another fit of coughs. Piccolo could see that her eyes were watering and sweat streamed profusely down her face. "I just got the wind knocked out of me, that's all." She finished when she had recovered well enough for her liking.

To her dismay, it had not been to Piccolo's liking. "You're finished. And you're not going back up there. You're exhausted… we're all exhausted," he lied.

"You are not my father. You will not tell me about my own condition. I can finish sparring, whether your highness ordains it or not," she retorted smartly.

He snatched her ankle as she rose in the air and brought her back to face him. His eyes were livid. "I may not be your father, but I am you're training partner. I know your limits, and you have reached them. You don't need to push yourself into ill heath if you intend on improving. Now we're leaving!" To anyone else, his speech would have sounded as if he was forcing her to bend to his will, but to her, it was not so callous as all that. He could see something else in his eyes besides anger, and his tone wasn't completely filled with it either. This tone hinted at something else, something like concern, but she couldn't exactly name it.

Not bothering with arguing, or using any more energy than what it took her to fly home she finally, after much hesitation, complied. "Fine, I'll go home. Gohan! His royal hindass is making me forfeit. Shall we continue tomorrow?" In waiting for his reply, she smirked at her play on words and wondered if Piccolo had caught it. Considering his glare, he had and didn't like it, and then resolved not to care.

"I can't tomorrow… have to watch Goten again while Mom run errands." Niko could sense the irritation in his voice. Gohan was obviously not happy about it at all. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yep… I'm fine," she called back even as she winced as her side pulsed with a sharp pain. "I guess we'll spar again in a few days. See you then!" With that, she rose into the air and headed east to her home, the sun at her back.

After she had gained some distance from them, Gohan descended to meet his former sensei. "Is she really okay?" he asked with sincere concern.

"No… she's not. She gets pretty tired after sparring all day, but never have I seen such a reaction to an injury. Something's wrong. Something's very wrong. I had better go after her."

Gohan nodded. "I'll see you in a few days. Take care of her, please."

"What are you…"

"I mean… give her less hell. If she's ill, you'll only make her feel worse," he clarified.

"Since when do you give me advice?" Piccolo asked before lifting himself off the ground.

"Since you started dealing with women. You're not exactly Romeo Montague."

"Who the hell is that?" Piccolo responded, wanting to know what was so great about this Romeo person.

"No one in particular. Later Piccolo!" he called before heading home.

Piccolo sighed. "Everyone's excessively witty today… and it's pissing me off."

***************

Piccolo arrived at Niko's home to find her ransacking her own house. Clothes were thrown around in her room, mostly from her closet, and she was now in what looked to be a study-like room full of junk. He could hear her panting from her efforts as she shoveled stuff out of her way to get to the corner where the summer items were stored. "Need some help?" he asked at the door, trying as best he could to act like he cared. He was more concerned that she was wasting so much of her energy on whatever menial task she was so engaged in. At the sound of his voice, Niko shrieked and spun around so fast that she stumbled and almost fell backward.

"Are you sure you're alright? You're not acting like yourself today."

His statement obviously made her angry, for she replied, "I said already that I'm perfectly fine. Gods, do you always have to be on my case like this? The fucking air conditioner is broken and it's sweltering in this stupid house! I'm looking for the fan. And now I have to deal with you hovering over me like… like… something that hovers. And suffocates. It's has to be somewhere in here. Why is it so hard to find the damn fan!? Why are you just standing there? Are you not hot or anything?" After her speech, she started breathing hard again.

What the hell was going on with her? The temperature in the house was the same as this morning and she hadn't complained about it then. Now she was still sweating and panting despite her flight home in the cool spring wind. She shouldn't be hot at all. Not to mention that she was talking like a lunatic, jumping from subject to subject. It was like she didn't realize what she was saying.

He was interrupted in his thoughts by a frustrated scream and a loud crash as something was thrown across the room. "Fuck the fan! I'm going to the spring to cool down," she cried before literally stomping out the back door like a child less than half her age.

Hours later, Piccolo paced the length of Niko's living room. Niko was still gone. He couldn't feel her ki… he could hardly ever feel her ki, and he had no real idea where she was. Needless to say, he was severely annoyed. He had thought about going to look for her several times, but always thought it would be best that he stayed and waited for her to return. Now there was some uneasy feeling nagging at him, like there was in itch deep inside him that he couldn't scratch. Maybe he should be worried. Niko hasn't exactly been herself today. Her powers could be thrown off so much that something or someone could have attacked her and now she could be in trouble. Or perhaps she had fainted in the spring and drowned. Both unlikely scenarios, but with Niko, you never knew what could happen next. Not being able to stand the urge to go look for her, he strode out the back door in the direction of the spring, expecting the worse but hoping that for once that he was being a fool for his wild imagination.

As he neared the spring, he could see that Niko wasn't dishonest when she explained how hot she was. Her discarded clothes made a trail to the spring lake, proving she was hasty in her stripping. A shiver ran up his spine as the visual came to his mind, and he quickly brushed it off. Much to his dismay, the image of her naked body kept coming back to entice him. It was hard enough to cool down after seeing her in that scant lingerie this morning, but this was just too much. To distract himself, he carefully gathered each item of discarded clothing, which also made him think of sex. Sex with Niko.

He cursed himself and his wandering thoughts. He didn't need her to see him with an erection when she should realize she was wrong to make him worry like he had. Was that really why he was mad? This whole time he was sure it was because she was being irresponsible and she had left him alone. Damn… that still wasn't right.

The last piece of clothing was her small panties and he snatched them up to put them with the rest of her clothes like he didn't want anyone to realize what he was doing. He was angry for so many reasons right now that he couldn't single out just one, and when he did find Niko, he would give her a good tongue lashing. No, wait. He would give her a good talking to… that was a better way of putting it. Though, the tongue lashing would have agreed with his desire for her at the moment.

With a quick scan of the lake, all his emotions drained away and seemed to gather in his stomach until they were a tight knot that could only be called fear. There, face down on the far bank, was Niko.

~ To Be Continued… ~

***

Note to Readers: I'll be starting Review Responses for this fanfic with the next chapter. If you've read the latest chapters of Shattered Glass (a Piccolo romance) you already know what they are, but for those of you who haven't read it; Review Responses is a section at the end of every chapter where I respond to any new reviews I receive between chapters. So if you leave a review, look for your name at the end of the next chapter! You can also think of it as like a question/answer section if you need to ask me a question about the fic. I'll be sure to respond to every question at the end of the next chapter. Until then!! ~ NaK

Tsukimetsu: a combination of the Japanese words "tsuki" meaning moon and "inmetsu" meaning destruction. So the gist is lunar destruction, but it actually means nothing. It's just something I came up with for one of her signature attacks. There will be many more… I think. :D