Running out of the cafeteria, I headed straight for The Forty-Four. The energies I felt fighting were gone, along with the third one I had felt somewhere here on C level.
Reaching the top, I flew down the stairs. At the bottom, I went for the closest set of doors that led to the gym. Throwing them open, I could see the gym, destroyed. The walls had holes in them, and the floor was torn up in multiple places. The bleachers were probably the least affected, and they still looked about forty years older than what they actually were.
I quickly spotted two bodies. One was Mr. Henry, and he was the closest. Going over to him, I quickly found that he was the better of the two. Jogging over to the other one, I knelt down, gently turning it over.
I recognized him as Mr. Clarkington. He had a lot of cuts and bruises all over his body, and he looked drained. Not spent, like he had just used up a lot of energy, but drained, like someone had forcibly taken it from him. He was alive, but barely. I had to get him to the hospital quickly.
As I was about to pick up the limp man up, the gym doors swung open and teachers swarmed in.
"Somebody call 911!" I head one of them yell. I backed off Mr. Clarkington as they surrounded him, checking for a pulse.
"What happened here?" An elderly lady with glasses asked.
"I have no idea. I felt both of their energies drop, so I came running down to see what happened." Okay, so it wasn't the whole truth, but it was all they needed to know.
Nodding, she led me out of the gym. "Wait here for the paramedics," she ordered. I nodded as she went back in, leaving me alone.
A few minutes later, the paramedics arrived, and, as instructed, I showed them to the gym. After they went in, I walked back upstairs to the cafeteria, where they were holding the students.
"What the hell was that all about?" Nate asked me as I sat back down across from him.
"Mr. Clarkington, the Athletic Director, and Mr. Henry, the Principal, are in the gym. It looks like they were involved in a fight or something."
Nate's eyes grew wide. "What?! Really?!"
I nodded. "Yeah. But it wasn't with each other."
"Then who was it with?"
"I'm thinking one of the new students Mr. Henry was testing. But I know it's connected to the destroyed English room down the hall."
"Man," Nate said, leaning back on his chair. "That's fucked up. Why would someone want to beat up an Athletic Director and a Principal? And then tear up an English room?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's cause they have a grudge against English, sports and principals?" Alex Waterson said. He was captain of the school's Karate team, much like I'm the captain of the school's Flight team.
I rolled my eyes. "Come on Alex. This is serious." Alex was also known as "the bad boy" or "the rebel". He definitely fits the titles.
"Well maybe I was being serious, Briefs," he retorts. Nate face-palms and Alex glares at him. "You got a problem with my reasoning, Mathews?" He challenges.
Nate holds his hands up. "Yes, I do." I reply, daring him to proceed. He may a rebel, but even he knew when to stop around me.
"Whatever," he grumbled, getting up and walking to a different table. Nate exhales loudly.
"Thanks man," He tells me.
"No problem," I say. "Now, lets-"
"Attention students," A voice says over the intercom. The entire room goes silent, listening to see what it was that was keeping them here.
"Due to events that took place this morning, school is canceled for the rest of the day. Please..." The rest of the sentence is cut off from the cheering that erupted.
"Well, that's awesome. One more day of Summer Vacation," Nate said, a huge grin on his face.
I nodded. "Yeah, it is." We sit and wait for the majority of the cafeteria to clear out before we stand up and leave.
As we're leaving, he asks, "Hey, wanna hang out for a while?"
"Sure. Where we going?"
Nate shrugs. "I don't know. The pool?"
I laugh. "Nice. You're just lucky I like swimming."
Nate laughs as well as we exit the building. When we get to my house on Clayton Avenue, I quickly and quietly slip upstairs to my room, getting my swim shorts and a towel. I knew the school probably called home to all parents by now, but I didn't feel like having to sit down with Dad and trying to figure out what was wrong. I would worry about that when I got home.
"Okay, next stop, your house," I tell Nate as I come back out. He lives on Second Street, about a block away from my house. As we walk up Second Street, I can hear arguing inside one of the houses.
"Those people always seem to be fighting," Nate says, sighing. "The one woman has a really annoying voice when she yells."
I laugh, then sigh as well. "It's a shame that the Coopers moved out. Emily was awesome."
"Yeah, she was..." We stare at the house in front of us for a little bit, remember our old friend. Then we both sigh and across the alley to Nate's house.
"I'll be right back," He informs me, opening the door and walking in. I nod and look back over at Emily's old house. A girl about my age who was wearing tattered clothing and a man in his late twenties. early thirties come out and sat on the porch. They both look exhausted. Not that I blame them, with the way the woman is yelling inside.
Suddenly, the man looks up and right over at me. Shock and relief show on his face.
"Trunks?" He asks, standing up. The girl looks at him, confused.
"Gohan, what is it?" She asks. Gohan... Why does that name sound familiar? Why does he look familiar?
"Trunks?" Gohan asks again, walking towards me.
Unsure of what else to do, I nod. "Can I help you?"
A big smile spreads across his face. "It's good to see you again! I haven't seen you since you were a baby!"
Suddenly, I remember why he looks familiar. Mom has a picture of a bunch of her old friends from before Dad and her moved here. On the back, it tells the names of everyone. There's a kid, about eight-ish, in the front row next to a man named Goku and a woman named Chi-Chi. His name is Gohan. This man walking towards me looks like the kid. There's no way it can be a coincidence. How many people have the name 'Gohan'?
"Gohan? Gohan Hokusai?" I ask, remembering the last name.
He nods. "Yes sir! That's me!" Then his face turns serious. "You don't know how happy I am to have finally found you."
"Finally found me?" I question.
Gohan nods. "Where are your parents? Are they okay?"
"My parents are fine. What's this all about?"
"Rosa, go tell Mom and Dad," Gohan says, looking back at the girl. Rosa nods and runs into the house. Then he looks back at me. "It's very important that you listen to me. You and your father, Vegeta, are in trouble. Baby is looking for you. I need you to tell me where you live so I can talk to Vegeta."
"Why is a baby looking for us?"
"Not a baby, Baby. He's a parasitic being that is hunting down the last of the Saiyans."
I tense up when he mentions Saiyans. "How do you know about us?" I ask as Nate comes out of his house.
"Sorry, my Mom was... Who's this?" He asks, looking at Gohan.
"I'm Gohan. I'm an old family friend of Trunks'," He explains to Nate.
Nate looks at me, confused. "I thought you lived here your whole life?" He asks.
"I have. He know's my parents from where they lived before they moved here." Then I look back over at Gohan. "Where is that exactly?"
"West City is where your parents used to live. We lived a small village about forty-five minutes away."
As I open my mouth to say something more, I hear a small shriek. Looking behind Gohan, I'm suddenly pulled into a bone-crushing hug.
"Oh Trunks!" I hear a woman exclaim.
"Mom, come one. You're gonna kill him," Rosa says, pulling the woman--Chi-Chi--off me. I shoot her a quick 'thank you' look before I look back at Chi-Chi. Another man stands behind her. There's no doubt that it's Goku.
"Trunks, it's good to see you! How's your mother doing? And Vegeta? How's he?"
"They're both fine, but could you please explain to me how you know about us being... What we are?"
"Oh, you mean you being a Saiyan?" Goku asked. "We know cause we're Saiyans as well." He gestured to himself, Gohan and Rosa.
"Saiyan? What the hell is a Saiyan?" Nate asks. Rosa facepalms.
"Nice going, Dad," She mumbles.
"He-he, sorry," Goku says, rubbing the back of his head.
Gohan pinches the bridge of his nose. "Let's just go inside an we'll explain everything."
Nate looks at me, worry and confusion on his face. I sigh and follow the Hokusai's into the house, Nate right behind me. I have no idea what any of this was about.
But I knew I wasn't going to like it.
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Pic over to the side is of Alex and Nate!