To See the Old Neighborhood.....

Part 20

Lomen had absorbed Goten's chi attack. That was the only thing Trunks was able to realize for a second. He had only seen Gohan do kyushu suru from the corner of his eye when he was fighting Vegita and he had been rather distracted to think much of it at the time.

But here, before him, was another person doing it. And this time, he had Trunks's FULL attention. Trunks wished he had asked more about it.

"What's going on?" Goten asked him, holding his little neice tightly.

"We're in trouble........," Trunks said softly, his brow knitted.

"Yes, children," Lomen said softly, "You are all in trouble."

"Okay, okay! We'll answer your stupid questions!" Vegita said hurriedly. Though he wasn't wearing a scouter, the visible power-up and the raising depris was enough of a hint for anyone to tell when someone is strong.

And compared to little Vegita, he was very, very strong.

"I don't need all of you," Lomen said slowely, circling his silver eyes around to look at each of them, "One is enough to answer questions.......and with all this extra power I just got....... I think I should have enough to get what I want."

Goten and Trunks exchange glances that were somewhat less than fear. Goten hadn't even gone Super Saiyan when he threw that blast. They were still ahead of him by millions.

"But which do I let live and which do I let die?" Lomen asked himself perplaxedly, "I don't think I need the little smart mouth Prince. He'll die first."

Lomen shifted out of Vegita's sight.

"Where the-" Vegita hardly got the words out before he felt a strong wind at his back. He turned not nearly fast enough to see the exchange that went on there. Lomen raised his fist to drive through the little Prince's heart. His hand never made it withing inches of Vegita, howerver, before Trunks had fazed in and caught it, showing now strain at all.

All Vegita saw, however was Trunks holding Lomen's fist where no one had been a second ago.

"We don't want any trouble right now," Trunks said strongly, "But if you'll come with us to the palace, we can get the little brats out of the way and settle this one on one."

"What are you talking about.....," Lomen asked, his voice filled with malicious laugher, "You ARE little brats!"

Trunks glared.

"And I WANT trouble!" Lomen said, his voice taking on a disturbing note. Lomen shifted his hand that Trunks was holding so that he was holding the lavender haired boy by the wrist, "And I get what I want!"

With that, a bright aura surrounded the two, blowing Vegita many yards away from them. He would have blown farther if Goten hadn't caught his arm as he whizzed by.

"What are you DOING?!" Trunks said, feeling slightly concerned as he felt his chi rising agenst his will.

"Trunks! Stop powering up!" Goten yelled at him, "Gohan says that's an easy way to expose your chi to be stolen by kyushu suru!"

"Goten......argg......," Trunks forced his chi down a tad, "I can't control it! It just keeps going up!"

"I always get what I want!" Lomen repeated, and squeezed Trunks's wrist harder, "And I want your power!"

"Ahhh!" Trunks yelled as his chi rose so fast he was afraid his body might not take it.

"STOP!" Goten yelled, and, shoving Pan into Vegita's arms, vanished from the point he was floating it, reappearing behind Trunks's attacker and hammering his fists downward on the other's back.

Lomen gave a startled yelp as his grasp on Trunks's arm was released before he pummled into the ground. The dust settled to expose a craiter, where Lomen lay at the bottom.

"Trunks, you okay?" Goten asked, catching his friends arm as he swayed drunkenly in the air for a second.

"Yeah......fine. I'm fine. It's just creepy not being in control of your chi. And......and I'm missing some of my chi, too. I feel so dizzy."

"Betcha Vegita felt the same way when Gohan stole his chi......c'mon. He won't be getting back up for a while, I betcha," Goten looked down at the craiter again to make sure Lomen hadn't moved, "Besides, Vegita is getting mad again 'cause he doesn't know what's going on, an' I'm so hungry you're begining to look like a lamb-chop."

"Heh, would you REALLY eat me if we were starving?" Trunks asked, amused, as he and Goten flew toward a ruffled Vegita.

"Only if you didn't eat me first!"

"Can someone else take this......baby....thing from me now? I have already grown to hate the thing!"

"Just hold her for a little while," Goten said and all three started to slowly fly toward the palace, for Trunks seemed to still not have fully shaken off his sudden loss of chi control.

Lomen, unnoticed by the departing trio (who were down one member now that Brolly was gone) slowely lifted his head and looked at them as they flew with their backs to him.

"I.....need.....energy.....," he said, and slowly took off his cloak, revealing a fine purple silk gi, slightly torn and messy looking from the recent scuffle he had suffered. He lifted into the air slowly, using only the chi power he had stolen from Trunks to avoid them sensing his own. He had indeed mastered the art of other people's chi manipulation.

"Ung, I feel like I'm flying for two people!" the man heard Trunks mutter to Goten and he smiled to himself. He had been able to make an unsteady link to the boy's increidble power source. It might not last much longer. If the boy's power fluxed at all, as it would if he increased his chi too fast, or used his aura when he flew, the delicate link would be broken, and the child would be freed from Lomen's leach like attachment.

"Let's hurry-" Trunks was about to say, when he wildly arched his back and screamed.

Both Goten and Vegita jumped in mid air (in mid flight) and all of them stopped as Trunks suddenly plummeted to the earth, Bra screaming in terror as she clung for dear life.

"Trunks!" Goten hollered and flew down after the suddenly limp form, "Trunks, what happened?!"

He caught his friend by the back of his uniform. Trunks groaned.

"Trunks-"

Lomen suddenly appeared infront of Goten and grabbed Trunk's limp body out of his grasp.

"Give him back!" Goten yelled and reached out to snag his friend back again. Lomen raised a foot and placed it agenst Goten's chest to keep him from getting closer.

"Stop advancing now, or I'll kill him!" Lomen said, "I have a good strangle hold on his spirit and power, so you'd better back off!"

Goten hesitated for an instant.

It was long enough for Lomen to shift his grip on Trunks to that he held him by the neck.

"Stop!" Goten cried, straining agest Lomen's foot to aid his friend.

"No." Lomen said, and concentrated on his link to Trunk's seemingly limitless source of power.

"I SAID STOP!!" and, so enraged was he, that Goten went Super Saiyan, dispite the warnings not to his brother had given him.

"What is this?!" Lomen asked, and before he could react or even comprehend what was going on, Goten vanished from site, leaving a ghost of a light image in Lomen's eyes, blinding him with his brilliant golden aura. Suddenly, Lomen felt two small, strong hands on the back of his neck.

One quick squeeze, and Goten would have broken his neck.

"Let. Him. Go." Lomen hesitated and Goten tightened his grip, "N-o-w!!!"

With stiff fingers, trembling and thin, Lomen released Trunks again. Both the boy and Bra fell the few feet to the ground beneath them. Bra continued to cry as Goten tried to consider his options.

He had the enemy by the throat.....literally.....but what COULD he do now?

"Kill him!" Vegita yelled, his commanding voice doing nothing to hide the thin stream of moisture that trickled down his forehead. He was deeply disturbed by this whole chi absorbtion thing. Who knew there were a trick like THIS out there? If anyone knew, it certainly WASN'T the young Vegita.

And what was with Goten? He looked different........and looking at him gave Vegita distant images that made no sense to him. A mixed up world of blue grass and green sky............but the very thought was elusive, ever changing and shifting, never within his mental grasp. Nor could he see it in the now teal, pupiless eyes of this strange, new Goten.

Trunks, pushing his way back to consciousness, went Super Saiyan instantly. He jumped back to his feet and turned to face Lomen, who's tender neck was still held in the firm grasp of an angry Super Saiyan Goten. Lomen looked terrified for an instant, then grinned in a twisted way and said in a voice too calm for someone in his position, "You got alot stronger.........I'm glad I completed the link to your soul's chi."

"What are you-gah!" Goten started to ask, but was shocked when Lomen reached back with speed and strength he didn't have seconds earlier and grabbed Goten by one of the hands that held the back of his neck before Goten had the chance to crush his wind pipe. With the strength and speed of a disturbingly familiar chi, Goten found himself being thrown to the hard ground where he found a painful meeting with the ground.

Goten looked up through squinted eyes, trying to see through all the dust and grunge that had gotten into his eyes when he hit. He had made the mistake of widening his eyes when he was thrown instead of closing them.

"Goten, take Bra and go before he attaches to you too!" Trunks said, and Goten looked up to see Trunks straining as though he hadn't the power to even stand, "He......he has nearly every drop of my chi! I can't power up! I can't even-" Trunks shoved his sister into Goten's arms before he coun't remain standing anymore, and he fell to his knees, but refused to go down all the way yet, "I can't even stand!"

"What......what do I do?"

"Go get help! Get my dad! Get your dad! Get Gohan! Get anyone, but get them fast!" Trunks's eyes were having a hard time staying open and he slowly dropped out of Super Saiyan as he fell onto his hands, "But make sure to warn them he knows kyushu suru........we can't afford to let him have anymore of our power!.......don't let him even touch you!"

"I.....okay......" Goten said and slowly lifted into the air.

"GO!" Trunks shouted and Goten jumped and turned and streaked toward Vegita, "C'mon, we gotta get outta here!"

"We're leaving him?" Vegita asked, looking down at Trunks's now prostrate form.

"We gotta!"

"I'm not running away, you go!" and withouth another word, Vegita flew in at Lomen, who had been standing and watching the whole exchange with mild amusment.

He raised a hand and caught the elbow the Prince was trying to hit him with, "This blow would have killed me.........if I were my old self......."

"I know you're gonna change back to your old power soon!" Goten yelled, his face red.

"Why do you think that?" Lomen asked quickly, "You don't know a thing about kyushu suru so what makes you so smart?"

"MY DAD AND BROTHER CAN DO IT TOO!!" Goten yelled, tears brimming his eyes as he looked around. Trunks lay on the ground unconscious, Vegita's arm was still in Lomen's clutches while Pan was still held firmly in the other.....but why was Vegita suddnly looking so tired?

The look on Lomen's face quickly answered that as his smile broadened as though he were feeling a drug pass through his veins.

He was in the process of stealing Vegita's chi as well.

"Do what Trunks said!" Vegita yelled before going limp. Pan clung with her own strength to the front of his now marred uniform.

'go.....get help.......'

Trunks's words played in his head as Goten, clutching Bra tightly to him, turned and sped off to the palace, not even noticing as it started to rain so hard it tore at his skin and pelted his scalp.

He was zeroed in on his brother's chi and plowing through anything in his path that stood between them.

To be continued............