NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7: Cymbal and Tambourine
Two months of peace and prosperity passed since the subjugation and complete dismantling of the Red Ribbon Holdings and their Red Ribbon Army hell-bent on conquering the world. The world government lead by the King then swept through territories once held by the conquering force and returned electrical power and basic services to these areas. Meanwhile, it was the world government in the spotlight, and not the planet's actual saviors not that Hakurei and Lucien truly minded. Both preferred the peaceful frontier life.
On the morning of the Twenty-Third Tenka'ichi Budōkai which was held on Papaya Island, the famous Oran Temple was attacked by two green skinned mutants its only survivor the star pupil, Krillin. Hakurei and Lucien walked along with Son Goku nearby, down the pier of Papaya Island and onto the paved road leading directly to the apartment for the tournament participants with the tournament-grounds prevalent in the background. Lucien spoke, "Stay on your toes, you two."
"Right, I'll keep that in mind." Spoke Hakurei, the first of the three to enter the common room that stood between their three motel rooms. The television was on, and from it Hakurei heard of the reporter speaking of how Cherri Town, only seventy-nine miles from West City, had been attacked and was now devastated from the damage. Survivors spoke of seeing fire from the far-away Oran Temple, and of the green reptilian mutants who had performed the attack. Lucien and Son Goku quickly arrived and dropped their bags.
"Looks like you were wrong, Hakurei-Sensei. The new threat appeared at Cherri Town, not here at the home of the Tenka'ichi Budōkai after all. Now that we all have Bukujutsu, we should fly to West City and help track down those two." Spoke Son Goku with a smile, his saiyan tail mysteriously absent from his posterior. Lucien nodded her agreement with the sentiment displayed by Goku, her thick and fluffy tail twitching somewhat. "Oh, they will definitely make a showing here, what with three Dragonballs finding their way to this venue?"
The two looked to Hakurei with curiosity mixed with surprise as if to exclaim 'Three!?' As both knew Son Gohan now held the four-star ball and Hakurei had taken the one-star ball from the Red Ribbon. Hakurei smirked, almost devilishly, towards the two and revealed the two-star ball to the both of them. "Yes, that's right. I have two of them in my possession, and those two know about their presence as well. So yes… I'm sure that once the preliminary matches have ended, we will see an appearance from them."
As-if on queue, a large explosion rocked the area near the tournament arena. The three of them instantly bolted from the building and took to the skies, witnessing the explosion cloud from above. Cymbal was currently fighting the survivor of Oran Temple while Tambourine was flying away with the four-star ball. Son Gohan seemed injured but not fatally so. Hakurei and team flew after Tambourine while doing their best to suppress their aura. The three would fly for an hour before coming before an ancient castle.
Hakurei, Lucien, and Goku lowered themselves into the castle whilst Tambourine handed the four-star ball to his progenitor, at whose heels sat the five-star ball gained from the Oran Temple and the six-star ball. The creature grumbled some form of great offering to its progenitor before turning towards the three of them which caused them all to hide behind the castle-work even more so, then the creature took back to flight once more and departed the great castle. Goku nearly sighed in relief before Lucien's hand clasped over his mouth.
It was another hour until Cymbal and Tambourine both returned to the castle, Cymbal bringing the unconscious form of Krillin before the hooded individual and slapping him awake. "Ah, the last survivor of that wretched eyesore now stands before me." Spoke the hooded one in a tone befitting an ancient evil warlord, "The last remnant of those damn fools who resisted my invitation to join my conquest of this world! And now you will join your elders, boy. The last of a once illustrious people I'm sure."
While the senile old man in hood and cloak talked to Krillin and his subordinates, Hakurei talked to his friends. He had already created the plan of attack from his past memories. "Lucien, Goku, you two will handle the subordinates. Lock on the same target and take them down one-at-a-time. Goku, you'll also need to make sure that temple monk stays alive. As for the big boss, I'll personally take him down. Now then, before another tragedy occurs let us strike without hesitation!"
Lucien and Goku zeroed in on Cymbal, a kick from Lucien sending the draconian humanoid away from the gathering while Goku blitzed Cymbal with the Zanzoken leaving them little time to react further. Hakurei leapt up and landed with a crashing heel-drop that scattered Tambourine away from the monk. Hakurei smiled, his power soaring from his suppressed battle power of 1,630 to 16,300 causing a crimson aura to momentarily flare around him. The ancient figure discarded his cloak, revealing himself to be an ancient Namekian.