Okay... this is going to be the only time in the course of this tale you'll be hearing from me,
the author, in a non-narrative fashion. For those of you who've already known TRIO from it's
previous incarnations on both the FFML and my now defunct web page... keep reading as this is
an entirly different story from what you remember.
I've gone back and, not only have I given it a long over-do going over, but I've tightened up
continuity and have even changed the entire course of certain events to make it more enjoyable
and less hectic and messy that the original version was. Enjoy.
Flashman
+ + + + +
Based on the ideas of Akira Toriyama, Naoko Takeuchi and Rumiko Takahashi...
The author Flashman presents to you...
TRIO
How it began:
Lost Memories
+ + + + +
The moon hung full in the sky. The figure threw several curses in
its direction because it made his stealth mission that much more difficult
with the extra light it was giving off. The figure was hit by a sudden shaft
of moonlight and was briefly illuminated before he ran back into the shadows.
He tugged at his camouflage armor as his eyes burned with an inner
molten red fire and he stood with the practiced grace of a martial artist.
The sound of displacing air behind him, made him turn and face the
new being that suddenly appeared. This figure was not so careful about
hiding herself. It was hard to, when you entered from a portal that gave off
a glaring yellow light. The first figure growled at the second, "Your late
Warp."
"Sorry," Warp replied as she straightened her pink bodied, yellow
masked, green gloved, red caped and blue booted spandex costume, casually blowing
a pink bubble of gum through the mouth hole of her mask and sucking it back in with
practiced ease. "So," Warp continued as she looked in the same direction the first
figure was looking, "Is that the place, Snatcher?"
Snatcher nodded once and replied, "Yes. We move on three, you know what to do?"
Warp laughed, blew and deflated another bubble and said, "Of course!"
Snatcher grumbled, "Why am I always saddled with the annoying ones?"
"Eh?"
"Never mind. One.. two... three! GO!"
Warp opened another portal, spit out her gum into the bushes and stepped through.
Snatcher stood as a small compartment opened on his leg and he pulled out a small wad of
plastic explosives. He then tossed the dark green ball towards the thick main gates and
ducked back down as a large eruption of fire and metal resulted from the impact of the
explosives against the iron barrier.
Through the new hole, came a platoon of specially trained guards in full bodied
suits of black riot armor and carrying some of the most advanced forms of personal weaponry
known in the majority of leagal and illegal circles. They might as well have had pea shooters
as their target in the camafloged armor was simply was too fast for them to hit. They however,
were easy pray for him as he mercilessly shot them one after another after another with bolts of
purple energy that came from the small gun that he pulled from a compartment on his left forearm.
Suddenly, a young womans' voice cried out, "STOP RIGHT THERE!"
Snatcher blinked in suprise and looked at the source of the voice and saw five figures
silhouetted against the moon. The middle figure started a whole routine of complex arm motions
as she said, "I am Sailor Moon the champion of Justice! This is a place of research to bring
new light and discovery to the world! Your darkness and greed shall never touch it and in the
name of the moon... we shall punish you!"
"Little girls..." Snatcher said indignantly, "All the work I've done and the best I rate
are a group of little girls?!"
The five Senshi were displeased by their opponents rather unconcered comments, although
Sailor Jupiter was the first to respond. "We may be young but we'll kick YOUR ass!" Sailor
Jupiter said angrily, "SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!"
A concentrated ball of electricity formed in the green and pink attaiered Senshi's hand
and she flung it at Snatcher with all her might. Snatcher dodged quickly and fired again,
causing the Senshi in turn to leap and dive to avoid the purple beams. Sailor Mars rolled to
a kneeling possition and fired off a Fire Soul, which Snatcher avioded with a vertical leap and
forward flip, somehow able to maintain his aim and fire at the dodging Senshi the whole while.
Sailor Mercury landed from a jump and as she turned she saw a flash of pink spandex from
an open iron door. "Sailor Moon," she whispered to her pony tailed companion as she stood, "I
thought I saw something over there," she pointed to the door, "this guy may not be alone."
Sailor Moon nodded and she said to the others, "Keep this guy busy. Mercury and I
have to check something out."
"Right!" the others said.
Snatcher was worried. Had they seen Warp? If they had, the plan could be ruined.
He aimed for Sailor Moon and..... suddenly his arm was hit by a red rose and he dropped
his gun. He looked up and saw Tuxedo Kamen standing on one of the outer walls of the facility,
his cape flaring behind him in a sudden light breeze. "Go Sailor Moon," Tuxedo Kamen said, "the
other Senshi and I will make sure this miscreant does not bar your way."
"... And now someone in a Tuxedo. Such strange people in this country," Snatcher said
as he reached for his gun but Sailor Venus fired a Crescent Beam and Snatcher growled out a curse
as he lept back and his gun shattered from the force of mystic energy.
Snatcher thrust out his hand and a long chain, hidden under his armor by the left wrist,
shot out at Tuxedo Kamen. Tuxedo Kamen raised his cane to stop the chain but as it wrapped
around, Snatcher pulled and Tuxedo Kamen went flying forward.
Tuxedo Kamen flipped in mid air and landed on his feet in front of Snatcher. They both
pulled on opposite ends of the chain with all their might as they tried to disarm each other.
Snatcher's red eyes flared for a moment as he said, "Not bad."
"You have great strength," Tuxedo Kamen replied, "A shame you use it for evil."
"Whatever."
The other three Senshi watched the duel and wanted to help, but held their fire for
fear of hitting their ally. "We've got to do something..."Jupiter said.
"Leave it to me," a new person said.
The three Senshi turned and saw a young man dressed in a red Chinese shirt, blue silk
pants and having black hair done with a short pigtail in the back, rush into the yard, leap up
into the air and deliver a picture perfect drop kick to Snatchers head.
It was a bad day to be Ranma Saotome.
As usual, his life had sucked due to the incompetence of his father (all those damn
fiances), his "fiances" (pick any of the three that were either hugging him, hitting him or
doing both at the same time), her father (always crying at the drop of a hat), the money grub
she called a sister (who he now owed about three million yen at last count), and his "friends"
(all of whom wanted to beat him up and/or go out with his girl form). So, now that he'd been
wandering the streets aimlessly after his last shouting match that ended in a punch to the face
from an "uncute, flat chested tomboy" named Akane Tendo, he could now blow off some steam by
pounding this loser and showing up the semi-famous Sailor Senshi at the same time.
Snatcher rolled on the ground and stood. Only to be thrown a second later by Tuxedo
Kamen, as the distraction had allowed him to get a better grip on the chain. Snatcher flipped
in mid air and he scored a perfect two point landing. He turned towards Ranma and said, "Oh,
did you make a mistake, boy."
"I don't think so," Ranma said as he took an offensive stance.
"Confident aren't you? Interesting."
Snatcher hit a button on the side of his armors left arm and the chain released. The
sudden end to the resistance made Tuxedo Kamen fall backwards as his momentum made him lose his
balance. Then Snatcher got into a fighting stance of his own and, with a roar, charged at
Ranma.
Meanwhile, inside the facility...
Sailor Moon looked around nervously. "Are you sure you saw something
Mercury?" she asked, "We have to get back out there and help the others... it sounds like
they need it."
Mercury nodded grimly as she materialized her visor and said, "I want to run one last
check and if we don't find anything we'll go..." she stopped as her visor beeped and she said,
"There! I'm getting an unusual bio-energy signal from down that hall!"
Then, as they raced in the dirrection the signal lead them, they heard a voice say,
"All right egg head! This had better be the right place."
"Yes. Yes," A nasally voice replied, "It's in there. Please, don't kill me!"
"Awww. I won't kill you. I'm just gonna send you on a little trip.
To the top of Niagara Falls that is. Yee hee ha ha!"
The two Senshi turned the corner and saw Warp as she threw a man that looked like some
kind of technitian, into a yellow portal and he disappeared with a pop. "Hold it!" Sailor Moon
shouted, "You shall pay for your cold blooded actions and your color blind fashion sense! I am
Sailor Moon the Champion of Justice and clothes that don't flash! In the name of the Moon, I
will punish you... and get you a make over you'll NEVER forget!"
Warp suddenly disappeared in a blink of the eye and reappeared inside the room the
scientist had led her to. She grabbed a small device with a red ball on top off a table and
said, "Yeah yeah yeah... make fun of a color blind girl. Like you do any better..."
"SHABON SPRAY!!!"
The bubbles that Mercury fired spread out and became a mist that blinded Warp and so
she was caught completely off guard as Sailor Moon pulled out her scepter and fired the crescent
moon shaped bolt of energy from it with a cry of, "MOON PRINCESS HALATION!!!!"
The blast hit Warp right in the stomach and she screamed in pain. Fortunately for her,
the device she held absorbed much of the power that was forced into her into it before it could
do much damage. However, none of them, even Warp herself, were prepared for what happened next.
The device, charged by Sailor Moon and Warp's unique energies, unleashed three small
balls of golden energy. The first hit Sailor Moon and she disappeared in a flash of light.
"USAGI!" Mercury yelled in shock.
The other two portals flew out the window.
Back outside...
Ranma hit Snatcher with a spin kick to the side of the head and Snatcher answered with
a punch to the face. At that moment two gold energy balls flew out of the building. One flew
high into the night sky and the other ran into Ranma and he disappeared in a flash of light.
"What in the hell?!" Sailor Jupiter exclaimed.
A yellow portal opened and Warp, still holding her chest, walked out
and gasped, "Got it... let's go."
Snatcher looked at her with a snort and said to the Senshi, "I must leave. Someday,
there will be a rematch."
He jumped into the portal with Warp and the two of them disappeared. Mercury ran out of
the building in tears and the others quickly noticed the absence of one of their own. "Where's
Sailor Moon?" Mars asked.
"Gone," Mercury said in a grief stricken whisper, "The woman... Warp. Did something
with the device she was trying to steal and.... Usagi.. she... she's.... gone."
Meanwhile...
The third ball of energy did more then just travel through space. As it gathered more
momentum, even time itself warped around it...
And a Guardian with a silent vigil took notice.
In the far future, in a wild jungle...
The man looked around for his opponent warily. He knew his opponent was very crafty and
could strike from anywhere at anytime.
That just made the game more fun.
He was a man in his late teens. He wore a black karate uniform that was an amalgamation
between his fathers' and his first teachers'. His opponent was the latter.
A voice from the south said, "Gohan," and he turned.
The attack came from the north. Gohan had expected this and he blocked the incoming
blow. He reached deep inside himself and called forth his ki. His black hair turned blond and
he felt his power grow. The golden flame that represented his ki flared around him.
His opponent also flared his ki. However, his hair did not turn blond. That was
because he had no hair. He was green skinned, with a black uniform and a turban and cape that
were currently falling to the ground where he had left them exactly two seconds ago.
"Nice try Piccolo," Gohan said with a grin, "but I haven't fallen for that trick since I
was little."
Piccolo also grinned and replied, "Good. Now let us see if you can fight better than
you did when you were a child."
"OK!"
The two flew into the air and clashed. They threw punches and kicks with a speed that
no untrained human eye could have kept up with. The best a casual watcher could have hoped for
were streaks representing the participants and ripples representing where they collided. They
seemed to be equal but both of them knew better. "Show me," Piccolo ordered, "show me more than
just a small portion of what you can do!"
Gohan shrugged and replied, "Whatever you say."
His aura flared even larger and he moved so fast, that Piccolo had no hope of blocking.
Gohan hit Piccolo with several punches to the stomach and followed up with a snap kick to the
jaw that sent Piccolo spiraling down to the ground with a crash. Gohan lost his smug grin and
flew down to the ground. He looked in the small crater Piccolos' crash had created and he
called out, "You okay? I didn't hit you THAT hard did I?"
Piccolo shot out of the crater and hit Gohan with a strong chop to the jaw. "Guess
not," Gohan mentally noted as his head snapped back.
Piccolo moved in and tried to chop him again but Gohan moved and flashed out his foot
into Piccolos midsection. Then a forearm blow sent Piccolo to the ground. Piccolo stood and
wiped purple blood from his lip as he said, "First blood goes to you. You win.... again."
Gohan smiled and turned off his ki, his hair turning back to its natural black color.
He replied, "Your still awesome Piccolo, and one of the best friends I've ever had."
Piccolo grimaced slightly and said, "Yeah, well, don't start getting all mushy on me."
Both of them turned as they sensed a tearing in the natural order of the fields of ki
that were all around them. They saw a little yellow ball appear in the sky and before they
could move, it rushed forward and hit Gohan, his ki disapearing along with his body. "GOHAN!"
Piccolo cried out.
"I can't feel his ki anymore," Piccolo thought, "No.... my friend. It's a good thing
Goku is already dead. This would have killed him for sure. How am I going to tell Chi-Chi?"
New York City, USA: The Present Day...
It was night but not dark. The numerous streetlights saw to that. Even past the
midnight hour, their glow made people feel safe as they walked to and from their homes, jobs
and places of late night recreation.
However, this night, there was an even greater light than the ones that hung over the
streets.
It started with the crackling of electrical energy, as, in the center of 34th and
Randall strange bolts of golden lightning began to appear, striking cars and lightposts, causing
sparks to fly in all dirrections as the people on the street either ran in terror or looked on
in stunned awe at what happened next.
A giant dome of golden light that extended from the middle of the street to spill over
to the sidewalks, flared to life for the span of thirty seconds and then faded away to nothing,
leaving behind three, still, human forms.
"Are they alive?"
"Someone call an ambulance!"
"Jeeze... what the hell happened?"
"Would someone, for the love of GOD, call an ambulance?!"
"I think they're moving..."
The girl, a blonde in what appeared to be some kind of white blouse and a longish blue
skirt, cracked open her eyes and leaned back her head, looking directly into the faded blue-grey
eyes of the pig-tailed boy across from her. She blinked a few times and twisted her head to
the side to see another boy, this one with eyes the color of coal, looking at the both of them.
"Who... Who are you?" The girl asked, "... and do you know who I am?"
"Well," the boy with the black pony tail said, "there goes THAT idea."
At the girl's confused look, the other boy, who's hair was also black, but much shorter,
said, "We were going to ask you the same thing."
LATER...
the author, in a non-narrative fashion. For those of you who've already known TRIO from it's
previous incarnations on both the FFML and my now defunct web page... keep reading as this is
an entirly different story from what you remember.
I've gone back and, not only have I given it a long over-do going over, but I've tightened up
continuity and have even changed the entire course of certain events to make it more enjoyable
and less hectic and messy that the original version was. Enjoy.
Flashman
+ + + + +
Based on the ideas of Akira Toriyama, Naoko Takeuchi and Rumiko Takahashi...
The author Flashman presents to you...
TRIO
How it began:
Lost Memories
+ + + + +
The moon hung full in the sky. The figure threw several curses in
its direction because it made his stealth mission that much more difficult
with the extra light it was giving off. The figure was hit by a sudden shaft
of moonlight and was briefly illuminated before he ran back into the shadows.
He tugged at his camouflage armor as his eyes burned with an inner
molten red fire and he stood with the practiced grace of a martial artist.
The sound of displacing air behind him, made him turn and face the
new being that suddenly appeared. This figure was not so careful about
hiding herself. It was hard to, when you entered from a portal that gave off
a glaring yellow light. The first figure growled at the second, "Your late
Warp."
"Sorry," Warp replied as she straightened her pink bodied, yellow
masked, green gloved, red caped and blue booted spandex costume, casually blowing
a pink bubble of gum through the mouth hole of her mask and sucking it back in with
practiced ease. "So," Warp continued as she looked in the same direction the first
figure was looking, "Is that the place, Snatcher?"
Snatcher nodded once and replied, "Yes. We move on three, you know what to do?"
Warp laughed, blew and deflated another bubble and said, "Of course!"
Snatcher grumbled, "Why am I always saddled with the annoying ones?"
"Eh?"
"Never mind. One.. two... three! GO!"
Warp opened another portal, spit out her gum into the bushes and stepped through.
Snatcher stood as a small compartment opened on his leg and he pulled out a small wad of
plastic explosives. He then tossed the dark green ball towards the thick main gates and
ducked back down as a large eruption of fire and metal resulted from the impact of the
explosives against the iron barrier.
Through the new hole, came a platoon of specially trained guards in full bodied
suits of black riot armor and carrying some of the most advanced forms of personal weaponry
known in the majority of leagal and illegal circles. They might as well have had pea shooters
as their target in the camafloged armor was simply was too fast for them to hit. They however,
were easy pray for him as he mercilessly shot them one after another after another with bolts of
purple energy that came from the small gun that he pulled from a compartment on his left forearm.
Suddenly, a young womans' voice cried out, "STOP RIGHT THERE!"
Snatcher blinked in suprise and looked at the source of the voice and saw five figures
silhouetted against the moon. The middle figure started a whole routine of complex arm motions
as she said, "I am Sailor Moon the champion of Justice! This is a place of research to bring
new light and discovery to the world! Your darkness and greed shall never touch it and in the
name of the moon... we shall punish you!"
"Little girls..." Snatcher said indignantly, "All the work I've done and the best I rate
are a group of little girls?!"
The five Senshi were displeased by their opponents rather unconcered comments, although
Sailor Jupiter was the first to respond. "We may be young but we'll kick YOUR ass!" Sailor
Jupiter said angrily, "SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!"
A concentrated ball of electricity formed in the green and pink attaiered Senshi's hand
and she flung it at Snatcher with all her might. Snatcher dodged quickly and fired again,
causing the Senshi in turn to leap and dive to avoid the purple beams. Sailor Mars rolled to
a kneeling possition and fired off a Fire Soul, which Snatcher avioded with a vertical leap and
forward flip, somehow able to maintain his aim and fire at the dodging Senshi the whole while.
Sailor Mercury landed from a jump and as she turned she saw a flash of pink spandex from
an open iron door. "Sailor Moon," she whispered to her pony tailed companion as she stood, "I
thought I saw something over there," she pointed to the door, "this guy may not be alone."
Sailor Moon nodded and she said to the others, "Keep this guy busy. Mercury and I
have to check something out."
"Right!" the others said.
Snatcher was worried. Had they seen Warp? If they had, the plan could be ruined.
He aimed for Sailor Moon and..... suddenly his arm was hit by a red rose and he dropped
his gun. He looked up and saw Tuxedo Kamen standing on one of the outer walls of the facility,
his cape flaring behind him in a sudden light breeze. "Go Sailor Moon," Tuxedo Kamen said, "the
other Senshi and I will make sure this miscreant does not bar your way."
"... And now someone in a Tuxedo. Such strange people in this country," Snatcher said
as he reached for his gun but Sailor Venus fired a Crescent Beam and Snatcher growled out a curse
as he lept back and his gun shattered from the force of mystic energy.
Snatcher thrust out his hand and a long chain, hidden under his armor by the left wrist,
shot out at Tuxedo Kamen. Tuxedo Kamen raised his cane to stop the chain but as it wrapped
around, Snatcher pulled and Tuxedo Kamen went flying forward.
Tuxedo Kamen flipped in mid air and landed on his feet in front of Snatcher. They both
pulled on opposite ends of the chain with all their might as they tried to disarm each other.
Snatcher's red eyes flared for a moment as he said, "Not bad."
"You have great strength," Tuxedo Kamen replied, "A shame you use it for evil."
"Whatever."
The other three Senshi watched the duel and wanted to help, but held their fire for
fear of hitting their ally. "We've got to do something..."Jupiter said.
"Leave it to me," a new person said.
The three Senshi turned and saw a young man dressed in a red Chinese shirt, blue silk
pants and having black hair done with a short pigtail in the back, rush into the yard, leap up
into the air and deliver a picture perfect drop kick to Snatchers head.
It was a bad day to be Ranma Saotome.
As usual, his life had sucked due to the incompetence of his father (all those damn
fiances), his "fiances" (pick any of the three that were either hugging him, hitting him or
doing both at the same time), her father (always crying at the drop of a hat), the money grub
she called a sister (who he now owed about three million yen at last count), and his "friends"
(all of whom wanted to beat him up and/or go out with his girl form). So, now that he'd been
wandering the streets aimlessly after his last shouting match that ended in a punch to the face
from an "uncute, flat chested tomboy" named Akane Tendo, he could now blow off some steam by
pounding this loser and showing up the semi-famous Sailor Senshi at the same time.
Snatcher rolled on the ground and stood. Only to be thrown a second later by Tuxedo
Kamen, as the distraction had allowed him to get a better grip on the chain. Snatcher flipped
in mid air and he scored a perfect two point landing. He turned towards Ranma and said, "Oh,
did you make a mistake, boy."
"I don't think so," Ranma said as he took an offensive stance.
"Confident aren't you? Interesting."
Snatcher hit a button on the side of his armors left arm and the chain released. The
sudden end to the resistance made Tuxedo Kamen fall backwards as his momentum made him lose his
balance. Then Snatcher got into a fighting stance of his own and, with a roar, charged at
Ranma.
Meanwhile, inside the facility...
Sailor Moon looked around nervously. "Are you sure you saw something
Mercury?" she asked, "We have to get back out there and help the others... it sounds like
they need it."
Mercury nodded grimly as she materialized her visor and said, "I want to run one last
check and if we don't find anything we'll go..." she stopped as her visor beeped and she said,
"There! I'm getting an unusual bio-energy signal from down that hall!"
Then, as they raced in the dirrection the signal lead them, they heard a voice say,
"All right egg head! This had better be the right place."
"Yes. Yes," A nasally voice replied, "It's in there. Please, don't kill me!"
"Awww. I won't kill you. I'm just gonna send you on a little trip.
To the top of Niagara Falls that is. Yee hee ha ha!"
The two Senshi turned the corner and saw Warp as she threw a man that looked like some
kind of technitian, into a yellow portal and he disappeared with a pop. "Hold it!" Sailor Moon
shouted, "You shall pay for your cold blooded actions and your color blind fashion sense! I am
Sailor Moon the Champion of Justice and clothes that don't flash! In the name of the Moon, I
will punish you... and get you a make over you'll NEVER forget!"
Warp suddenly disappeared in a blink of the eye and reappeared inside the room the
scientist had led her to. She grabbed a small device with a red ball on top off a table and
said, "Yeah yeah yeah... make fun of a color blind girl. Like you do any better..."
"SHABON SPRAY!!!"
The bubbles that Mercury fired spread out and became a mist that blinded Warp and so
she was caught completely off guard as Sailor Moon pulled out her scepter and fired the crescent
moon shaped bolt of energy from it with a cry of, "MOON PRINCESS HALATION!!!!"
The blast hit Warp right in the stomach and she screamed in pain. Fortunately for her,
the device she held absorbed much of the power that was forced into her into it before it could
do much damage. However, none of them, even Warp herself, were prepared for what happened next.
The device, charged by Sailor Moon and Warp's unique energies, unleashed three small
balls of golden energy. The first hit Sailor Moon and she disappeared in a flash of light.
"USAGI!" Mercury yelled in shock.
The other two portals flew out the window.
Back outside...
Ranma hit Snatcher with a spin kick to the side of the head and Snatcher answered with
a punch to the face. At that moment two gold energy balls flew out of the building. One flew
high into the night sky and the other ran into Ranma and he disappeared in a flash of light.
"What in the hell?!" Sailor Jupiter exclaimed.
A yellow portal opened and Warp, still holding her chest, walked out
and gasped, "Got it... let's go."
Snatcher looked at her with a snort and said to the Senshi, "I must leave. Someday,
there will be a rematch."
He jumped into the portal with Warp and the two of them disappeared. Mercury ran out of
the building in tears and the others quickly noticed the absence of one of their own. "Where's
Sailor Moon?" Mars asked.
"Gone," Mercury said in a grief stricken whisper, "The woman... Warp. Did something
with the device she was trying to steal and.... Usagi.. she... she's.... gone."
Meanwhile...
The third ball of energy did more then just travel through space. As it gathered more
momentum, even time itself warped around it...
And a Guardian with a silent vigil took notice.
In the far future, in a wild jungle...
The man looked around for his opponent warily. He knew his opponent was very crafty and
could strike from anywhere at anytime.
That just made the game more fun.
He was a man in his late teens. He wore a black karate uniform that was an amalgamation
between his fathers' and his first teachers'. His opponent was the latter.
A voice from the south said, "Gohan," and he turned.
The attack came from the north. Gohan had expected this and he blocked the incoming
blow. He reached deep inside himself and called forth his ki. His black hair turned blond and
he felt his power grow. The golden flame that represented his ki flared around him.
His opponent also flared his ki. However, his hair did not turn blond. That was
because he had no hair. He was green skinned, with a black uniform and a turban and cape that
were currently falling to the ground where he had left them exactly two seconds ago.
"Nice try Piccolo," Gohan said with a grin, "but I haven't fallen for that trick since I
was little."
Piccolo also grinned and replied, "Good. Now let us see if you can fight better than
you did when you were a child."
"OK!"
The two flew into the air and clashed. They threw punches and kicks with a speed that
no untrained human eye could have kept up with. The best a casual watcher could have hoped for
were streaks representing the participants and ripples representing where they collided. They
seemed to be equal but both of them knew better. "Show me," Piccolo ordered, "show me more than
just a small portion of what you can do!"
Gohan shrugged and replied, "Whatever you say."
His aura flared even larger and he moved so fast, that Piccolo had no hope of blocking.
Gohan hit Piccolo with several punches to the stomach and followed up with a snap kick to the
jaw that sent Piccolo spiraling down to the ground with a crash. Gohan lost his smug grin and
flew down to the ground. He looked in the small crater Piccolos' crash had created and he
called out, "You okay? I didn't hit you THAT hard did I?"
Piccolo shot out of the crater and hit Gohan with a strong chop to the jaw. "Guess
not," Gohan mentally noted as his head snapped back.
Piccolo moved in and tried to chop him again but Gohan moved and flashed out his foot
into Piccolos midsection. Then a forearm blow sent Piccolo to the ground. Piccolo stood and
wiped purple blood from his lip as he said, "First blood goes to you. You win.... again."
Gohan smiled and turned off his ki, his hair turning back to its natural black color.
He replied, "Your still awesome Piccolo, and one of the best friends I've ever had."
Piccolo grimaced slightly and said, "Yeah, well, don't start getting all mushy on me."
Both of them turned as they sensed a tearing in the natural order of the fields of ki
that were all around them. They saw a little yellow ball appear in the sky and before they
could move, it rushed forward and hit Gohan, his ki disapearing along with his body. "GOHAN!"
Piccolo cried out.
"I can't feel his ki anymore," Piccolo thought, "No.... my friend. It's a good thing
Goku is already dead. This would have killed him for sure. How am I going to tell Chi-Chi?"
New York City, USA: The Present Day...
It was night but not dark. The numerous streetlights saw to that. Even past the
midnight hour, their glow made people feel safe as they walked to and from their homes, jobs
and places of late night recreation.
However, this night, there was an even greater light than the ones that hung over the
streets.
It started with the crackling of electrical energy, as, in the center of 34th and
Randall strange bolts of golden lightning began to appear, striking cars and lightposts, causing
sparks to fly in all dirrections as the people on the street either ran in terror or looked on
in stunned awe at what happened next.
A giant dome of golden light that extended from the middle of the street to spill over
to the sidewalks, flared to life for the span of thirty seconds and then faded away to nothing,
leaving behind three, still, human forms.
"Are they alive?"
"Someone call an ambulance!"
"Jeeze... what the hell happened?"
"Would someone, for the love of GOD, call an ambulance?!"
"I think they're moving..."
The girl, a blonde in what appeared to be some kind of white blouse and a longish blue
skirt, cracked open her eyes and leaned back her head, looking directly into the faded blue-grey
eyes of the pig-tailed boy across from her. She blinked a few times and twisted her head to
the side to see another boy, this one with eyes the color of coal, looking at the both of them.
"Who... Who are you?" The girl asked, "... and do you know who I am?"
"Well," the boy with the black pony tail said, "there goes THAT idea."
At the girl's confused look, the other boy, who's hair was also black, but much shorter,
said, "We were going to ask you the same thing."
LATER...