Hi hi!

This part is dedicated to Susan and Laike-chan who have supported 

this fic since the teaser! Also thanks to everyone else who reviewed 

the first two parts - I wanted to hurry and get this out for all of 

you! *eyes Playa warily* Can I unlock my door now?

^_^ Enjoy!

Title: Curses!

Author: Stormy

Part: 3/?

Archive: FFNet - anyone else, just ask. ^_^

Comments: Yes please!

Chapter 3

After a brief recess, the group settled back into the living room. As 

soon as he had been given leave, Trunks had immediately gone to the 

kitchen and changed himself back into a guy. He had eyed his father 

with some apprehension when he had re-entered the living room but his 

father had his own eyes closed. Trunks sank back into his chair, 

spirits flagging.

Was his father upset that he had a son that was half girl? Did that 

make him weaker in his eyes? Trunks winced as he thought about some 

of the interesting developments he and Goten had noticed soon after 

the shock had sunk in and wondered what his father would have to say 

about…well, he'd get to that eventually. 

Bulma cleared her throat as she finished pouring Chi Chi her coffee 

and settled back onto her chair. Goten, having changed back, sat next 

to his mother, twisting his hands in his lap nervously. Every now and 

then he'd look up at Trunks with a guilty expression and flinch at 

the cool look he got in return. 

" Trunks?" Bulma prodded her son. Trunks scowled. 

" Let Goten."

Goten blinked as all eyes fastened on him. " Uh…"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Trunks and Goten silently made their way back to the resort where 

they were staying. The sun had completely set about an hour 

beforehand, and when Goten glanced back with a sigh, he could see the 

moonlight glinting off the cursed pools. He shuddered and resolutely 

turned his gaze forwards.

Beside him, he could tell Trunks was extremely tense. His muscles 

were all tightened and bunched, and his fists were clenched as he 

strode purposefully. The muscle in his jaw was tensing too and Goten 

gulped inaudibly.

" Trunks?" he ventured. " You okay?"

" ……….Fine."

Uh oh. Goten didn't like the sound of that hesitation. He decided to 

try and lighten the depressing atmosphere that surrounded them.

" It could be kind neat," he said lightly. " I mean, transforming? 

How cool is that?"

Trunks paused and levelled a flat expression at him. Goten `meeped 

and ducked away, but Trunks didn't even raise his hand.

Really not good.

" At least both of us are cursed," he said quietly. " We both know 

what the other is going through, to some extent."

Trunks' shoulders dropped and he sighed. " I guess so."

" What's the matter Trunks?" Goten asked, wishing he could cheer his 

friend up. A depressed person by nature, Goten knew how quickly 

Trunks could sink into a mood where he cut himself off completely. He 

had talked his friend out of many funks over the years, and that 

experience was telling him Trunks was on the verge of falling 

again. " Talk to me."

" I turn into a girl!" Trunks snapped, eyes flashing. " And you ask 

what's wrong?"

" It could be worse—" Goten attempted but Trunks rounded on him.

" Worse? WORSE? How can it be worse? I can't go home! How can I tell 

my father his son turns into a girl? You KNOW how he is – he won't 

even train Bra seriously because he thinks girls are too weak for 

fighting!"

" You're not weak Trunks!" Goten protested.

" As a guy, no. As a girl?" Trunks hands shook visibly as he raked 

one through his hair. " Tell me something Goten – did you notice 

anything different when you were a tiger?"

" You mean besides the striped coat and tail?" Goten asked 

sarcastically. " No. Why?"

" I have almost no power level."

Goten stopped completely at Trunks' point-blank statement. " What did 

you say?" He concentrated for a second and shook his head. " No way – 

your power levels higher then mine."

Trunks growled in frustration. " Didn't you hear what I said? As a 

GUY! When I'm a girl my power's non-existent!" He started walking 

again, faster this time, as though trying to outrun his thoughts. " 

When he was explaining curses and stuff, I tried to raise my ki a bit 

to dry off faster. I couldn't muster a spark."

Goten blinked. " Maybe it was the shock of the transformation…"

Trunks shook his head. " It took me a while to figure it out. Lime 

said I fell into the Spring of Drowned Young GIRL." He whipped his 

head to look at Goten with a dead serious expression. " NOT Drowned 

Young SAIYAJIN Girl."

It took a minute but A finally connected to B and Goten's mouth 

dropped open. " You mean…"

" As a girl, I'm completely human," Trunks bit off each word. 

Goten fell silent as he realized just what a big deal this was. 

Completely human – not a halfling. His powers non-existent.  His 

thoughts raced. Trunks still had his martial arts training to fall 

back on, and his sword skills – but his power, his raw energy was 

gone, leaving him with a human's strength and ability.

His eyes widened as he realized just why Trunks was so depressed. His 

father, though he cared for his children, had never made light of the 

fact that despite Trunks' incredible power that nearly rivalled that 

of Vegeta's, his son was still a half-breed. Half-breeds had been 

scorned upon by the Saiyajin race, believing them to weaker and 

inferior. Vegeta had grown past that mentality years ago, but Trunks 

had grown up for years believing that his father considered his human 

blood a taint, an insult to the royal line. Vegeta loved Bulma and 

his children but very rarely showed it, and even if Vegeta never 

believed that way of thinking, Trunks would never know it because the 

man was too damn stubborn to admit that he cared. It was a shame, 

because Trunks lived for the day when he could hear his father admit 

that he was proud of him.

But now, Trunks turned into a full human, with absolutely no link to 

his Saiyajin blood in his cursed form. He let out a low whistle as he 

realized exactly what must be going through his friends head.

" Trunks…"

" My father will hate me," Trunks said softly, crossing his arms in a 

protective gesture as they continued walking, albeit slower this 

time. " Even more then usual."

Goten didn't know what to say – only Vegeta could reassure his son, 

and he wasn't there. He cleared his throat. 

" I think you might be exaggerating a bit Trunks," he said slowly. " 

And even if you turn into a human, you can still increase your power –

 look at Krillin and Yamchua…"

His voice trailed off as he remembered a sneering Vegeta condemning 

the abilities of the human Z senshi. Trunks gave him a dry look, the 

exact thought running through his head.

" Now you get it."

The two were silent all the way back to the resort.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*  

Peach opened the door before they could and ushered them inside, 

fussing over them in her distress. Goten could tell she had genuinely 

liked them, and was truly upset that they had fallen to the curse of 

Jusenkyo.

" Peach, it wasn't your fault," he tried to reassure her. " You did 

warn us after all." His head dropped slightly and his tone was 

bitter. " I just don't do a very good job of listening."

" You poor things," she clucked maternally at them and thrust hot 

cups of hot chocolate at them. While the weather was beautiful during 

the day, at night the temperature dropped dramatically, and even now 

they could hear the howl of the wind outside getting louder. Goten 

looked at Trunks whose head remained lowered, hair covering his eyes. 

He sipped the warm drink slowly.

" Maybe we should head home and see if there's anything your mom can 

do," Goten said finally. " I mean, she's a genius. Maybe she can find 

something or create something that could prevent the change."

Trunks lifted his head with a faint look of hope. " Maybe."

" We could fly back tonight and be there in no time—"

" You can't fly back tonight," Peach interrupted. " It's going to 

start raining any minute now, and it's supposed to last for a few 

days."

Trunks' head thunked back to the tabletop. Goten sweat dropped and 

then had an idea. He reached over and snatched Trunks' cell phone out 

of the boy's jacket pocket. 

" Goten?"

" I'll see if we can get a flight home tomorrow morning," Goten said 

punching in the phone number that Peach handed him, obviously 

thinking that same thing he was. As a hotel proprietor, she had to 

have all such numbers and contacts handy for her customers. A few 

minutes later, Goten hung up the phone and gave Trunks the thumbs up.

" Early morning flight," he grinned. Trunks nodded. Peach patted his 

back soothingly.

" I have many umbrella's you can choose from! Consider it a gift!"

Trunks just groaned.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

" Sorry for being so depressing," Trunks said to his friend the next 

morning. The flight had been relatively smooth, and while the demi-

saiyajin was still a bit peeved at his friend for the whole mess they 

were in, getting a few hours sleep had let the shock sink in and 

disperse a bit, letting him wake up in a slightly better mood.

Of course, seeing the rain outside his room had made him growl at the 

raven-haired boy over breakfast, but all in all, Trunks knew that he 

had been a bit over the top. At least he wasn't alone in this – Goten 

had suffered too.

Still, a part of him was wishing he could have fallen into a 

different spring.

Goten was chewing over something that had been bothering him all 

morning. He'd had a brief accident in the shower when he'd jumped in 

before the water had completely warmed up and had huddled in the 

shower for a few minutes as a bedraggled tiger, but he had clued into 

something he hadn't noticed the night before, and wouldn't even have 

considered if Trunks hadn't mentioned it the night before.

" Trunks?"

" What?"

" How come I didn't feel a different level of power when I changed 

this morning?" He looked at his friend curiously. " Did you notice 

that about me last night?"

Trunks nodded. " Your power level was still the same."

" Why is that? You turn into a human girl with no power level, but I 

turn into a tiger and there's no change." Goten chewed his lip 

thoughtfully. " I don't get it."

" I was thinking about that," Trunks said. " I figure it has to do 

with the fact that the Saiyajin race is so animalistic in nature – 

more feral, with more animal instincts. As a tiger, you probably have 

more in common with your Saiyajin side then you do as you are right 

now." He shrugged, looking back out the window. " At least, that's 

all I can think of."

Goten marvelled at his friend's insight. " You're probably right 

Trunks! Wow."  He blinked as he thought of something and began 

laughing. Trunks eyed him curiously.

" What's so funny?"

" I was just thinking about what would happen if I turned into a 

tiger while I was flying – I mean, mom think it's bad if people see 

US zooming around!"

Trunks smiled faintly at that, letting out a small chuckle. Goten 

felt a victorious rush surge through him at finally breaking that 

blank expression. Suddenly Trunks buckled his seatbelt. Goten frowned.

" What are you—"

 " Please fasten your safety belts as we will begin our descent in 

five minutes. Thank you." The loudspeaker shut off with a decisive 

snap. Goten looked at Trunks who had returned to staring out the 

window.

" Show off."

Trunks snickered.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

It seemed like Trunks was getting over being mad and Goten was 

starting to relax a bit. So they had curses – it's not like it was 

permanent right? In a year they could gather the Dragonballs and this 

would all be some kind of freaky memory. No sweat.

He should have known better.

The plane landed and Goten stood up, stretching his muscles. Used to 

flying under his own power across the skies, cramped airplane seats 

were really not that great a substitute. Beside him, the crackling 

noises issuing forth from Trunks' spine as he snapped the vertebrae 

back into place told him the Brief's heir was having the same problem.

" At least it's over," he grinned. Trunks snorted as he grabbed his 

backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

" Let's just get it over with."

It was as they were walking down the aisle that the inevitable 

occurred. A flighty-headed stewardess noticed the handsome young men 

walking her way. Seeing as they were the last ones aboard, and from 

what she could tell, not wearing wedding bands, she decided to catch 

their attention. She picked up a tray of glasses and turned to them 

with a smile, intending to offer them some last minute refreshment.

As mentioned – that was her intent.

As she turned, her heel caught on the elevated ridge that ran along 

the airplane corridor and she stumbled forwards. One glass, perched 

precariously on the edge of the tray instead of being centred, tipped 

forwards, dousing the purple-headed one. The black-haired boy managed 

to leap backwards to avoid the splash. When the stewardess regained 

her footing, she came face-to-face with the lavender-haired…girl?

" Hey! Weren't you a—"

" Watch what you're doing!" Trunks shrieked at her, making her back 

away fearfully. Goten muffled a laugh behind him and Trunks whirled 

around, eyes flashing. 

" Don't you dare laugh Goten or I'll cut off your tail!"

Goten looked confused. " But I didn't get wet—"

" I don't mean the tiger one."

Goten turned white and stopped laughing. Frozen, he decided to hang 

back a second until Trunks had stormed off the plane. He glanced at 

the stunned stewardess and took pity on her, surrounded by spilled 

glasses. He knelt down next to her.

" Can I give you a hand?"

*~*~*~*~*~*

Trunks started growling and Goten stopped talking, ducking behind his 

mother's shoulder. Bulma threw a napkin at her son.

" Trunks!" Her voice softened. " You want to take over?"

Trunks scowled and sank further down in his seat. " I think we've 

said enough for one day."

Chi Chi frowned. " But I still don't understand why you're so mad!"

Everyone stared at her. She blushed.

" I mean, besides the obvious."

" FINE!" Trunks shouted. " I'll tell you! Then I can actually get 

around to smashing Goten through the stratosphere!"

Goten gulped as Trunks got to the point of their story.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Trunks stomped out the doorway and thundered down the ramp to the 

tarmac, still steamed. Just as she was trying to put it out of her 

mind for a while, it got thrown right back in her face. There was 

just no escaping it – her life was at an all time low. It just 

couldn't get any worse.

She should have known better.

Still fuming, Trunks didn't watch where she was going and ploughed 

right into a human wall.

" Oh!"

Arms flailing, Trunks stumbled over a bag that had been left at her 

feet and pitched forwards. Closing her eyes, she braced herself for a 

rough landing.

It never came.

Two arms slipped around her waist and hauled her upright. Bracing 

herself on her rescuer's shoulder, Trunks looked up over her own with 

a grin.

" Thanks pal—"

" It was my pleasure miss," came a smooth voice. Trunks blinked. Her 

rescuer looked down at her with a dazzling smile. Golden blonde hair 

framed an angled face with two chips of blue trained on her with an 

intensity that would have scared her had she not grown up facing 

Vegeta's death glares all her life. 

" Uh.."

" Please, allow me to introduce myself." The young man tossed his 

head back, letting the silky waves settle back around his 

shoulders. " I am Michael Sanzenine, descended from the greatest 

athlete of all time, the illustrious Mikado. " 

With a quick twist, Trunks was turned around in his arms, her face 

inches from his.

" Hey! What are you—"

" As payment for my dashing rescue of your delicate person, I'll 

accept a kiss as a token of your appreciation."

Trunks growled. It was not the fact that she was in a man's arms – it 

was the fact that she was not in the arms of the man she would have 

preferred. She pulled back one fist – weak human girl or no, she 

still knew the principles behind driving a punch through the nasal 

cavity—

" Trunks man, what's the hold up?"

Goten bounded down the stairs not paying attention to where he was 

going. As he reached the bottom he tripped over the same bag that had 

knocked Trunks off-balance and he waved his arms to regain his 

balance. One arm struck Trunks in the back, forcing her forwards.

Right into Michael.

Trunks' eyes widened in shock as her lips pressed against the 

arrogant jerk. The man knew how to take advantage of her stunned 

position and quickly darted his tongue between her lips, his hands 

sliding lower down her back until with Trunks squeaked. Her mind 

crystallized in a flash and she lashed out instinctively, shoving 

Michael away from her violently. Without pausing, her fist snapped up 

catching him flush in the jaw knocking him far enough back to drive 

her foot in a spot that would practically guarantee the illustrious 

Sanzenine line had reached a painful end. Michael gasped, turned 

blue, and passed out.

Goten blinked. " Trunks—"

Trunks abruptly turned away from him and doubled over, vomiting. She 

coughed harshly, gagging as her stomach completely emptied itself 

onto the tarmac. It was too disgusting – she could still feel that 

jerk's slimy tongue forcing its way into her mouth, his hands 

touching him, grabbing—Trunks threw up again.

Goten watched nervously. It had just caught up to him what had 

happened and he was scared out of his mind.

He was in big trouble.

" Uh Trunks?" he asked tentatively. He took a cautious step 

forward. " Are you—"

Trunks straightened slowly, still facing away from him. She spat, 

trying to rid her mouth of the foul taste – whether that was Michael 

or vomit, she didn't know and didn't care. Her first official kiss of 

her life and it had been with a perfect stranger. A very dislikeable 

stranger. And it was thanks to Goten.

She could handle this. 

Very calmly, she reached down and picked up her backpack from where 

it had fallen during the whole encounter and fastened it securely on 

her back. Still not looking, she spoke quietly, each word a chip of 

ice.

" You get a five second head start."

Goten gulped and backed away. Trunks may have been in human girl 

form, and it may have been very faint, but there was definitely some 

sort of battle aura flaring up around her. Not good.

" Four."

" Accident!" he choked out. " Accident!"

" Three."

Goten turned around to quickly and slipped on a puddle of water. His 

clothes ripped beyond repair as his tiger form burst free. Observers 

making their way across the tarmac began screaming that a tiger was 

on the loose. Throughout it all, Trunks never moved.

" Two."

Goten snatched up his bag in his teeth and looked up to see Trunks' 

sword yanked free from its sheath.

" ONE!"

Goten yelped and fled. Trunks, screaming and cursing a blue streak, 

followed hot on the big cat's paws, swinging her sword like a 

madwoman. The two practically blurred across the airstrip, leaped 

over the fence and vanished into the horizon.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

" You know the rest of it," Trunks finished sourly.  Dead silence met 

his final statement as everyone absorbed what he had said. Trunks 

stood up and Goten gulped again.

" Five seconds?"

" Three."

" Gotcha."

Goten vanished out the living room door, and Trunks took off after 

him. Bulma blinked, dazed. Then her eyes fell on the floor by where 

Trunks had been sitting.

" At least he left his sword."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

End Chapter 3

Is anyone else noticing a few similarities between what's happening 

here and what's in Ranma 1/2? I assure you - they are all 

intentional. How many references, obscure or obvious, can you spot? 

^_^

C&C please!

Stormy