Finding Hope

Chapter 60: The Question

Trunks' pov

I had never seen Goku so angry before, he looked like he could kill somebody at this very moment. Hunter was currently stitching up Tsubaki's wound, while I held her close to me. Gohan had the same look on his face, I could just feel the anger and hatred radiating off the two of them as they stood in front of us. "Guys, we came here for that gem. In the process, she nearly killed us so it's only fair that I do the same." Riko snapped, "And like my father said, it's not going to happen. You're going to have to go through the two of us to get to my sister." Gohan spoke up, "Why is it that the four of you came here? I assume that if you're here then Piccolo, Krillen and Tien must be here too." Dad spoke up, he had been so calm despite what had just happened. "You guys don't know what's going on with the village?" Yamcha asked, looking to us in shock. "No, what's going on?" I looked over to him, shaking my head at his question. "They've been broadcasting what's been going on since you guys went in the cave, they are also broadcasting what's going on in the village." He explained, making me look over to Hunter. "After you guys got trapped in the cave, these random two people decided to attack the cameraman filming the cave. They claimed that they wanted to take the gem for themselves and since they couldn't get into the cave due to it collapsing, they've been terrorizing the villagers." Kid Trunks explained, he must have been watching T.V. at the Kame House with the others. It's a wonder how Goten and the Kid Tsubaki got Chichi to even let them come, when they all knew that the village was being terrorized. "What?!!" Hunter stood next to Dad, shock written all over his face and it wasn't hard for us to tell how he felt about the situation. Goku and Dad didn't seem the slightest bit surprised at this and it seemed that both Gohan and Goku however, didn't pay attention to the news. The two of them were still having a staredown with Riko, who glared just as harshly as they did. 

"Who else came here besides the four of you?" Dad spoke up, looking over to Yamcha and the kids. 

"Piccolo, 18, Krillen, and Tien. We all traveled here together and Piccolo split us up to take care of things. 18 and Krillen were assigned to help get the survivors to a safe location, while Tien and Piccolo are tracking down the people who are attacking the village." Goten explained, "Dad, did you know about those people?" I turned my head towards Dad, I was curious because he and Goku hadn't reacted to the news of having two people currently destroying the village here. "That's why Kakarot and I came here in the first place, but we decided to find you kids and make sure that you were all fine. Your mother wouldn't stop worrying about you, so I had no choice but to come here. Otherwise, I would never have heard the end of it from that woman." Dad spoke and although he seemed and looked calm, I could tell that he was annoyed. "Riko, I suggest you back off now. I will not let you harm my daughter any further than you already have." Goku stated, which only seemed to annoy Riko. I could see that Goku was not going to back down and neither was Riko, which was something I was hoping for. Before anything else was said, Riko charged at Goku and Gohan. 

"Gohan, stay back. You too, Vegeta. I can handle this." 

Dad looked over at Goku, the look in his face suggested that he was a bit taken back by Goku's attitude and so was Gohan. Instead of arguing, Gohan just took a step back beside Tsubaki, Videl, and I. Goku let Riko charge at him as Dad stood in front of me, Riko threw several punches but Goku dodged them all. This only frustrated Riko, to the point where his punches and kicks became much more sporadic. Goku simply dodged each one, landing a precise blow to Riko's stomach as he had the opening to hit him. The impact of the punch caused Riko to hit the ground hard but he quickly stood back up to his feet, although he was struggling to stand up properly. It amazed me just how resilient Riko was, it also stunned me that Goku's punch hadn't knocked him out. There wasn't any doubt that Goku wasn't holding back, seeing as Riko had dangerous intentions as to wanting to kill Tsubaki. It seemed that Rin was very different from her twin, just like Keiko and Keitaro and the two were already on good terms with Tsubaki. Tsubaki has the same gift Goku has, turning their enemies into friends with a few exceptions. I felt Tsubaki shift slightly, as Videl helped wrap Tsubaki's wound as well as Hunter's bumps and scrapes. The two were carefully watching the transaction between Goku and Riko, just like Keitaro and Keiko. Goten and Kid Tsubaki were standing behind me, beside Yamcha who looked just as concerned for Tsubaki as Gohan did. 

"Riko, I honestly suggest that you stop trying to kill Tsubaki. When she was fighting us, did you ever stop to think or even realize that she wasn't herself? Didn't you notice anything different from when you first met her?" Goku questioned, keeping his eyes locked on Riko.

"What does that matter? She nearly killed my sister! I don't care that she was different during the fight, all I care about is the fact that she nearly killed my sister with one move and she didn't bother to think about if she had killed her or not. All that was on her mind, was to keep us away from the gem." 

"Riko, that doesn't matter right now! None of this ever mattered! We were the ones in the wrong, trying to take that gem from here in the first place. We all heard the rumors, all the stories that people told us about that gem and the so-called gem guardian. Just let this go! Please! Those people out there are suffering right now and all because we wanted to be selfish and take the gem! The five of us have lived in this village since we were little, it isn't right!" Rin argued, tears formed in her eyes as she stared at her brother. Riko's eyes softened as he looked back at his twin, I felt movement on my lap and looked down to see Tsubaki move. Her eyes opened slowly as they met my blue orbs, I let out a relieved sigh and gave her a small smile. Kid Trunks appeared next to me, as I helped Tsubaki sit up. 

"Tsu, how are you feeling?" Gohan asked, he had noticed that she finally had woken up.

"I'm fine, what happened?" She groaned softly as she sat up, Gohan bent down to our level. I was still sitting down, holding Tsubaki up with one arm. "Riko happened. You were shot in the side." Kid Trunks explained, "Trunks? What are you doing here?" She asked, looking to the smaller version of me in confusion. "We came here because you guys didn't come out of the cave and the village is being destroyed." He explained, "Who else besides you came here to the village?" She asked, sitting forward. "Kid Tsubaki, Goten, Yamcha. Piccolo, 18, Krillen, and Tien. Yamcha, Tsubaki, Goten, and I were assigned by Piccolo to come find you." He added, "Well thanks for the help, little man." Tsubaki smiled, ruffling his hair which caused a blush to shade his cheeks. Tsubaki stood up to her feet, with me holding her hand just in case she fell. Her eyes shifted from him to Riko and Rin, before hardening. 

"If this whole thing wasn't about that gem at all, what was it really about?" Tsubaki asked, turning all attention to her. 

"You," Riko sneered. He looked like he still wanted to take his revenge on her, but I could sense that he didn't want to kill her.

"Well... What was this whole thing about? What was the real reason as to why you four wanted to take over this village in the first place, Riko?" Tsubaki asked and the look in her eyes said that she was now serious, she looked curious as well. 

"Is there a reason why you decided to take the gem and try and take over the village?" Hunter asked, standing to his feet. He looked just as angry as Tsubaki did, the two of them seemed to have the same general curiosity about their real motivations. It was something we were all curious of, Riko shifted on his right foot as he stood to face all of us fully.