All characters presented herein are not of my creation. Dragonball Z and
Sailor Moon are owned by their respective creators and producers.
*********************************
To Protect a Princess
By Tunguska_Boy
Chapter 9
Piccolo let the girls fall the last four feet to the ground. They landed in
a heap and a cacophony of groans rose from the group. Slowly the girls
disloged themselves and their belongings from the pile and were back on
their feet. Unsure of what else to do the girls stood in a line and put
their packs on the ground behind their heels. Piccolo paced in front of
them and looked each of them over once before speaking.
"Have any of you been trained in any way before?" He asked of them.
"I have." Said Makoto.
"Me too." Said Rei. Piccolo seemed annoyed by the lack of response to his
question.
"So you three haven't received any training?" He asked Minako, Ami, and
Usagi.
"Well, Artemis and Luna trained us some." Said Minako.
"What did they teach you?" Asked Piccolo.
"Mostly how to handle the stress of battle and a little about how to use our
attacks more effectively." Said Usagi.
"No physical combat training?" Asked Piccolo. The three girls shook their
heads. Piccolo seemed annoyed but didn't say anything. "And how about you
two?" He asked, turning his attention to Rei and Makoto.
"I've done a lot of martial arts training." Said Makoto proudly.
"I was trained by my grandfather. He tought me a lot about the spirit, but
I also learned some martial arts in the process." Said Rei.
"That makes sense," said Piccolo, "to be strong in spirit requires a strong
and sound body. Well then, tomorrow we will begin our work. We will first
train in basic combat skills, then we will see if you are capable of
manipulating energy in any meaningful manner. For now get some rest, you'll
need it." With that Piccolo walked off into the woods and vanished from
sight.
The next morning the Senshi rose one by one as the sun krept higher into the
sky. The groggy girls got dressed and attempted to comb their hair, finding
it to be a near impossible task without the luxury of a shower or bath. As
the went about their fruitless attempts at grooming Piccolo arrived at the
camp. The girls stood and got into the same line they were in the night
before. Again Piccolo surveyed them. First Makoto then Rei, Ami, Minako,
and finally Usagi. He seemed less annoyed with them now than last night.
"Well, it looks like you're all getting closer to learning the very first
lesson." He announced. The Senshi just looked around at each other with
confusion on their faces. Piccolo waited for them to figure out the lesson
they had learned for a while before letting them in on it. "The first
lesson is total bodily shamelessness and unselfconciousness. You can't be a
great fighter without being completely unashamed of your body and
unconcerned with how you look." The Senshi didn't seemed too pleased with
Piccolo's last statement but it was clear that none of them were going to
argue with him about it. He looked them over again before going to stand
next to Makoto and Rei. "You were the two who had been trained correct?"
He asked. The two girls nodded and he motioned for them to step forward.
"Are you girls very strong?" He asked. Makoto smiled broadly and nodded,
Rei shrugged her shoulders. Piccolo focused on Makoto. "So you think
you're strong ehh?" He gripped the front of his turban and pulled it off of
his head. He held it out to Makoto who gingerly took a hold of it. Piccolo
smirked and released his grip. Once the full weight of the turban was in
her hands the weight hit her and she promptly fell forward and crashed to
the ground. Once she had regained her footing Makoto tried to lift it
again. She strained to lift it, her face turned red and her knuckles ached
with the strain. With one last mighty tug her grip went slack and she fell
backwards and sat on the ground trying to catch her breath. "That turban
alone weighs nearly 1000 pounds, there is no way you could have lifted it."
He said as he removed his armored shoulder pads and let them crash to the
ground. He stretched his neck to each side and rolled his shoulders a few
times to work out the tightness that came from carrying around so much
weight all the time.
"Are you okay Makoto?" Asked Rei as she helped her to her feet.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Said an embarassed Makoto. The two girls looked to
Piccolo who had dropped into a combat stance. He stood with his knees bent
and his feet planted far apart. His arms were raised and his fists were
clenched and ready to strike.
"Now," he said with clenched teeth, "show me what you can do." Rei shifted
uneasily but Makoto was already ready for battle. Makoto's back foot
bounced excitedly and the thin smile that always crossed her lips when she
fought appeared on her mouth. Rei was slower to ready herself, but upon
seeing Makoto's eagerness set herself to receive an attack. The three stood
motionless waiting for the trigger that would begin their battle. Sensing
this, Ami let out a lady like cough and the combat was on.
Makoto launched herself forward with Rei trailing close behind. Piccolo
watched them approach, to him they looked like they were going in slow
motion. Makoto came within striking distance and set her leading foot
firmly on the ground. Using her momentum she leaned forward and twisted her
body around. Her foot pivoted and her trailing leg swung towards the big
green man. Her heel arched through the air toward his chin, but he merely
leaned his head back and the blow missed it's mark. Rei's attack followed a
half second later. Her jab screamed towards the big mans throat and Piccolo
glanced down at the fist as it approached. Piccolo brought his hand up and
caught her fist with ease. He held her for a moment before swinging her
toward Makoto who was still recovering from her attack. Makoto had enough
reaction time to bring her arms up over her face but not enough to dodge.
Rei crashed into Makoto and Piccolo released the girls fist. The two Senshi
crashed to the ground but Makoto was back on her feet in an instant. Her
eyes narrowed and she launched her second assault.
The tall brunette released a seemingly endless barrage of kicks and punches.
Her anger grew as the fight went on. She was angry for two reasons.
Firstly, she couldn't seem to even lay a hand on him. And secondly she was
angry at his expressionless face. There was no strain or signs of exertion
on his face. This was childs play for him and Makoto knew it. She screamed
and poured all her power into one punch. The blow that would normally knock
out even the toughest of humans was dodged easily. Embarrasment began to
nag at Makoto as she fought. It was this embarrasment that led to her big
mistake. For an instant she averted her eyes to look back at where the
other Senshi stood. They were watching attentively and fear and worry were
intertwined on their faces. Piccolo saw when Makoto looked away from him
and decided to end the fight.
With movements to fast to be seen Piccolo crouched low and slammed his left
palm into Makoto's stomach. Time seemed to stop for the Senshi of Jupiter
as the force of the blow rippled through her abdomen. She could feel it
move through her skin, veins, and each of her vital organs. She felt the
force exit through the small of her back and she was thrown backward by the
strength of the blow. She landed harshly about ten feet away and curled
into a small ball on the ground. Her entire body was aching and her breath
came in ragged gasps. Her mouth was wide open and her face was contorted as
if she was screaming, but no sound came. The other girls rushed over to
their fallen ally.
"Oh my god Makoto are you okay?" Asked Usagi.
"Did he hurt you?" Asked Minako. The girls helped her into a seating
position and rubbed her back until she was able to breath properly.
"I'm okay," Makoto panted, "it was just a gut shot, I'll be fine." Makoto
looked over to Rei. "You okay?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. My wrist got twisted a little but that's all." Said Rei.
Rei rubbed her wrist and knelt down next to Makoto. "Were you able to hit
him? I wasn't paying much attention."
"I couldn't even touch him." Said Makoto. "He's too fast." She looked
over at Piccolo who stood with his arms folded and his back turned to them.
"How can someone so big move so fast?" She asked herself.
********
The main briefing room was packed with off duty personnel. Bukichi had
ordered all military personnel on the base to report to the briefing room in
order to inform them about their current situation and the deaths of
Privates Lucian and Locilus. When Bukichi entered the entire group
straightened up in their chairs and were instantly silent. Bukichi walked
to the front of the room and took his place behind the podium.
"I've spoken with Colonel Arturus about the recent deaths of two of the
Privates here on the base," he began, "and he has informed me that we are to
find the responible person or persons and make them suffer the appropriate
penalty. Now, after reviewing the circumstances of their deaths it has been
determined that the same person or group of people were responsible for both
deaths. It is also thought that the individuals responsible for the deaths
of Lucian and Locilus were drawn to the combat that the two privates were
engaged in prior to their deaths. Our plan is simple: we will cause some
trouble, draw out the killers, and eliminate them. Now, I know that many of
you know the two men that died and as such I will be accepting volunteers
for this job. So, who wants to go break some stuff and get into a fight?"
The room exploded with shouts and hoots of anticipation of the battle to
come. (
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