Not even ten minutes had passed before Gohan, Goten, and Goku appeared in the garden, their faces blank with surprise. Goku looked suspiciously at Trunks, who was crouching over the scorched grass, and announced,
"We sensed powerful energy here. What's going on here?"
Vegeta glared at him angrily.
"Don't be a jerk, just think a little! It's clear that something wants to take over the entire universe again, and as usual, it's chosen our neighborhood as its first target!!!
"But who...?" Goten asked quietly.
That question was on everyone's mind now. There was a brief silence, and then Trunks spoke up.
"Do you think this someone wants to destroy us all?
" "My own son!!!" Vegeta shouted. "Isn't it obvious?!?"
"If so, then he's not the powerful warrior we expect.
" "WHAT?!?" Vegeta said in disbelief.
"Because he missed twice! He missed his target on the train too!!!"
"What if he's doing it on purpose?"
Gohan interrupted the father-son argument.
"So this guy revealed himself earlier? Why didn't you tell me?"
Alex sighed heavily and told him the story. Goten and Goku nodded in understanding.
"Looks like we have a new job..." Alex said, sitting down on the fresh green grass, lightly sprinkled with morning dew.
"Right now, our most important task is to identify this guy. And his goals. Just..." Gohan began.
"Just what?" Trunks interjected.
"I wonder what he's trying to achieve if he's already missed twice. Either he can't even hit the target with a bullet, or he was deliberate. Maybe he wanted to provoke us or something...
" "We'll think about it later!" Goten said impatiently. "Trunks! You said something about a movie yesterday..." Trunks jumped up. "Trunks! You said something about a movie yesterday... "
Trunks jumped up.
"Trunks!" I almost forgot... Wait, I'll change..." and ran into the building. Goku and Gohan flew to their homes, and Vegeta returned to the kitchen. Goten sat down next to his friend.
"What do you think about all this?" she asked.
"Me...? I don't know... Just another jerk with a thirst for world domination wants to beat us up... I just have no idea who it could be...
" "Everything will be explained.
" "I hope so."
They sat in silence for a moment. Alex stared into the distance, mentally absent. Goten glanced at her every now and then: he was clearly feeling awkward. Finally, the silence was broken by Trunks, who was already waiting at the gate. "Hey, you guys! Come on, we have a show at 12! "
They stood up and followed the purple-haired boy, their expressions pensive.
As one might have guessed, the strange events had only just begun. Atop the tallest building on the street, a strange figure stood, watching the daily bustle below with hatred. People ignored the man; it was difficult to spot him from such a height. The individual looked unusual: tall, taller than the average man, and very muscular, which made him stand out significantly from the others. Even stranger was his attire: he wore tight-fitting dark green clothing, white gloves and boots, and a strange armor plate on his chest. His long, wild hair (reminiscent of Goku's) swayed in the chilly breeze, and his equally cold eyes continued to scan the crowd on the street. No one noticed this guy...
Shouts came from the second-tallest building, the cinema.
"WHAT??? AN ROMANCE AGAIN??? MOTHER ALWAYS WANTS TO HAVE ROMANCES, AND NOW YOU???????
"Is that so strange????" I like romantic stories and I want to go see this movie!!! Apparently it's actually pretty good!
"I WANT TO FINALLY WATCH SOME GOOD HORROR MOVIE!!!!!"
"You'll have a horror movie when we get out of here! Damn you..."
Goten and Alex's argument, punctuated by shreds of movie flyers flying everywhere, was interrupted by an embarrassed cashier asking if she could help.
"Of course!" Trunks agreed with a smile, pulling the arguing friends to a far corner. After a moment, he returned to the cashier. "Three tickets for that romance my friend was talking about." He looked pointedly at the distant spot where Goten and Alex had disappeared, and where there was now complete silence, broken only by quiet giggles. "Thanks a lot. GO THERE!!! COME ON, ROOM NUMBER 8!!!"
They returned, strangely amused and flushed. They climbed the wide staircase and, after a few minutes, were immersed in the darkness of the movie theater.
***
"Sorry, I have to go out for a moment..." Alex whispered during a captivating scene on the huge screen. She left the room and went to the women's restroom. The bright, clean room, smelling of strong women's perfume, and pleasantly airy, usually full of giggling women chatting cheerfully about fashion, was now completely deserted. Alex had no intention of using the restroom. Rather, she wanted to be alone for a while... Ever since she'd returned to her hometown, she'd been having a hard time adjusting to her surroundings. After all, the last time she'd been here, she'd been just a little girl, enjoying life and not worrying about anything. And now...
She leaned against the cold tile wall and lost herself in thought. She didn't notice how several dozen minutes had passed before the bathroom door opened, and the person she least expected entered. And it wasn't the woman wanting to touch up her makeup. Alex glanced in that direction. It was Trunks.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, completely surprised. He walked up to her and stood about two meters away.
"You've been gone for half an hour. What do you think? That we'll be worried about you all the time?
" "I'm sorry..." She lowered her head and blushed. Trunks was still watching her intently. "Okay, let's go back."
He thought for a moment, observing her silently, then took her hand and led her to the exit. Neither of them felt like going back to the movie, so they strolled around the cinema complex, talking nonsense and lightly touching each other's hands.
***
`
When they returned, hand in hand, the movie had long since ended. Goten was sitting in a café, reading a newspaper and drinking a beer, looking utterly shaken. As soon as he saw his friends returning, a flicker of relief crossed his face.
"God, finally! Something terrible has happened!" "Hey, I'm sorry! " he shouted, waving his arms, knocking a can of beer over onto the clean table, spilling water on the open newspaper.
"What happened?" Alex asked.
"The supermarket... The one Trunks was supposed to go to and pick up the microwave he ordered! It blew up!
" "WHAT???" they asked simultaneously. Alex paled.
"They were just talking on the news... Terrorists... Jesus, everything just exploded! The store was reduced to rubble, and the customers... Dead bodies! No one survived!"
Trunks called to the pale waitress to turn on the decades-old television to a news program. A moment later, the booming voice of the announcer filled the cafeteria.
"...154 people died, the bodies of the deceased are currently being searched for personal information and identification." A huge crowd had gathered in front of the building, and the police were having trouble calming the panicked people. The manager of the supermarket at 87 Niepodległości Street...
"No need to wait, we're going there!!!" Trunks shouted, pulling a frightened Alex by the hand toward the exit. Goten cast a worried glance at the angry waitress who was wiping down a wet table and followed them.
***
They reached Independence Street in the city center. Indeed, an incredible crowd of people obscured the remains of the largest shopping mall in this part of the country. Clouds of choking smoke hung over everything. Here and there, fires blazed, already extinguished by firefighters. Busy policemen in blue uniforms tried in vain to silence the loudly wailing women and screaming, outraged men. At least ten ambulances stood idle, as there was no one left to save. All died instantly.
The bodies of the fallen had been transported earlier to a nearby morgue. Nearby, a tired policeman was studying all the miraculously preserved ID cards and other identification documents. They approached him when the crowd in front of the ruined building had already thinned considerably.
"Officer, how did this happen?" Alex asked.
The policeman took a moment to look at them with weary eyes, but then regained his composure.
"Oh, I'm sorry, guys... I'm so busy... Well, we reassure people that gas cylinders in the building's basement exploded, but the few witnesses believe the cause of the explosion looked like some kind of missile from the sky... A red ball of light, or something like that.
" "Oh my god..." the terrified girl whispered, covering her mouth with her hands.
"I have no idea what it could have been. Most likely a terrorist attack with a strange type of weapon." I've never seen anything like this, this is the first time in my career...
Trunks looked pointedly at Goten and said quietly,
"If it had happened an hour later, we would have died..."
Alex suddenly knelt down and cried, clutching something to her chest. Trunks hugged her and slowly lifted her from the ground. He gave the policeman an apologetic look, and together he and Goten led her, still sobbing, to a wooden bench, one side broken, where she sat down and sobbed loudly. A rectangular piece of plastic fell from her hand. An ID card. A photo of a young girl with long blonde hair, from Satan City, named Adams.
Carole Adams.
***
She didn't know how she'd ended up in her room. She felt Bulma's embrace, speaking quietly to Vegeta, who was sitting on the couch with Trunks, staring blankly at her. She didn't know what was important to her now, or why she was still alive. Carole... This girl, contrary to appearances, was amazing. She experienced each meeting with a different boy differently, always smiling and full of life, and Alex was literally infectious with her boundless optimism. After the meeting, she told her everything in minute detail, sharing all her impressions and feelings, and then together they brainstormed new excuses for the teachers to somehow justify Carole's absence from classes due to her subsequent romantic experiences. It had been like this every day. For three years. Their friendship had always seemed to exist, even when they didn't even know each other. And now... Without Carole, nothing made sense. She promised to visit them... to meet Goten and Trunks, to try to become friends with them... And she came, without telling anyone, just for the surprise... And what happened?... A stupid accident, the kind that happens so often all over the world, robbed her of what was most important...
Alex stopped crying and suddenly stood up, surprising the others present. She walked over to the window and stared blankly at the view outside. She fell into a deep thought. Bulma gave her husband a warning look, and they both left the room. Only Trunks remained.
"I hate that guy," she said quietly and clearly. Trunks jumped.
"He...?" he asked intelligently :P
She turned to him. There was no smile on her face, so she looked a little older than she really was.
"I hate him! Whoever he is! He murdered my friend and hundreds of innocent people, and I'm alive, and I'm not going to stand here and do nothing! We have to find him somehow..."
Trunks didn't know what to say, so he just sat there and stared at her, saying nothing.
"I won't let him get away with this. We have to find him!!! No... I won't forgive him!"
She began throwing the most necessary things into a small backpack. Then she changed into more comfortable clothes, inadvertently revealing her feminine charms to Trunks, who stared at her, speechless. Finally, she looked up at him.
"What are you staring at?" she snapped angrily, running down the stairs. "Move! We're going in search of the Dragon Balls!!!
***THE END OF PART TWO***
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