Dragon Ball Lost Universe
Chapter 1
Bolded Paragraphs - Narrator
Italicized - Thoughts or emphasis
Earth. The planet humanity calls home. A haven of greenery, ripe with resources. The year is 774X, and a young man and woman are about to engage in one of the most passionate acts of our time.
"Gah!" a twenty-one year old male, with an average height of 5'9" and mid length, somewhat spiked hair is thrown across a grassy field by a young woman, who just punched him in the face. Flipping midair and planting a hand into the dirt, he grinds to a halt. Standing straight, he dusts off his black pants and white jacket, then readjusts his purple scarf.
Fighting.
"Solid combo, Shrike," the girl heaves out, arms up in a ready stance, "But you have a huge tell when you throw those side kicks."
"Oh, thanks Aao! -ow- I'll have to change that for the tournament," the young man, Shrike, grins optimistically as he rubs the back of his neck. His bright blue eyes flash with excitement at the thought of victory.
"You're trying to fight in that again?" Aao, a twenty year old female, asks, "You know that Dano wins almost every year. You're not strong enough to beat her."
"Well, you never know, I think I've got something that will surprise everyone this year!" Shrike says with a smile, his right hand glowing as a small orb of energy forms.
"Sure you do," scoffs Aao. She stands at 5'7", with honey-blonde hair cut off at the small of her back. The red tank top flutters with a gust of wind, settling down to cover part of her dark sweatpants. Her cold, hazel eyes blaze with determination as she rushes Shrike.
Shrike crushes the energy ball as he clenches his fist, shattering it into a million small flashes, and unleashes an energy blast that rends the air with its heat.
Aao's form blurs as she narrowly evades, escaping with a minor burn on her arm. However, the quick movement interrupts her concentration, and the girl crashes to the ground facefirst. She gets up shakily, spitting out a clump of grass.
Shrike notices, and his eyes widen. "Oh my god, Aao, I am so sorry-" in his frantic explaining, he fails to notice Aao closing in on him.
"Don't let your guard down!" Aao socks him a second time. In total, similar situations had happened three other times that day. Shrike flies into the field once again.
"Owowow…" Shrike cringes as he sits up, picking rocks off of himself, "That's the fifth time this has happened!"
"You're too kind hearted, Shrike," Aao walks up to him, "You need to be unmoving in combat, even if the person you are up against is your friend. How do you expect to fight Dano if you can't even follow up your attacks with me?"
"Well, this is just training. I don't want anyone getting hurt!" Shrike stands up, brushing himself off.
"You're hopeless," Aao sighs. "Anyways, we should get to the tournament if you wanna sign up." Aao picks up her red and black tracksuit sweatshirt and slides it on
The two lift off the ground, grass waving as their ki pressure is exerted.
As they fly, a city is seen off in the distance, a small dirt path winding up to the larger highway leading to the city. Small specks are visible on the road, becoming larger as Shrike and Aao fly closer. The specks focus into a group of men, one being surrounded by seven others.
"C'mon man, just give us your money!" One of the thugs shouts at the man in the center.
"I apologize, but I have nothing that I can give," The man, a 5'11" black-haired man wearing a light blue gi with slightly shaggy and crudely cut hair covering his eyes, bows in apology.
"What the heck!?" Shrike wonders aloud, "Why did that guy apologize?"
"We should help him," Aao says.
A second thug, this on larger and more intimidating, suddenly rushes the man. "I've had enough of his crap! Let's get him!" The other thugs yell war cries as they follow the second one.
The black-haired man tenses up, and Shrike and Aao start to drop to help him.
The second thug makes it to the man first, and takes a swing. "This'll teach you to listen to me!" his swing is deftly avoided as the black-haired man leans back just enough that the punch misses, causing the thug to lose balance.
The man then lunges forward, burying his knee in the thug's stomach. The thug is stunned, and the man twists his body around the thugs, so that his elbow is on the small of the thug's back. The man mutters, "Snake Dance," before slamming the thug into the ground with his elbow.
"Boss!" the cries of the rest of the thugs is heard when the larger thug doesn't get up.
"Do you wish to share his fate?" the man asks quietly, but just loud enough to be heard. The other thugs look at each other then sprint off. Shrike and Aao land just as the thugs leave.
"Those were some pretty good moves, bud!" Shrike walks up to him and places a hand on his shoulder. The man attempts to throw him off but Shrike slips from his grasp.
"Woah man." Shrikes says putting his hands up. "I'm just applauding what you did to those losers."
"Are you another thug?" the man asks, staring at Shrike and Aao
"No," Aao assures him, "My friend is just very social. We were wondering if you were going to fight in the tournament?"
"I see," the man turns to face them,"In that case, yes, I am hoping to find strong opponents there."
"Cool!" Shrike grins, "So, what's your name? I think it would be weird to just call you 'black-haired dude in a gi'."
"I will tell you my name, if you return the favor." the man says sagedly.
Shrike nods, "Of course I will."
"My name is Tsuyoi, I am the second son of the Tatakai family, and I am on a journey to become stronger as a being," the man, Tsuyoi, raises his head, and his light grey eyes show a determined fire.
Shrike's grin widens, "Nice to meet ya, Tsuyoi Tatakai! I'm Shrike! I'm a fighter too!"
Wow look at this guy Aao thinks for a second then asks "Tsuyoi, doesn't your name mean 'strong'?"
"Yes, my father wished for me to become the backbone of our clan when he could not support them anymore, which is why I decided to take this journey."
"Oh, is your dad strong!?" Shrike's eyes are shining.
"He was known as the strongest man in the world, Chikara Tatakai," Tsuyoi nods.
"Please don't encourage him," Aao asks politely.
Tsuyoi nods again, "As you wish," he glances at the sun, which is slowly moving west, "I must leave, so I make time for the tournament. Farewell," He quickly blasts off in the direction of the city, his ki pressure hitting Shrike and Aao with a small blast of air.
"Did you feel that power?" Shrike asks "Oh, he is gonna be a blast to fight in this tournament."
"Yes, we may see a new champion this year,"Aao replies, "Now that we got that out of the way, we should head to the sign up."
"Definitely," Shrike laughs as the two blast off towards the city.
-()-
Outside the tournament stadium, the roar of the crowd can be heard. Vendors line the streets, and a steady flow of warm bodies crawl towards the entrance.
"Jeez, there isn't anywhere to land around here!" Shrike and Aao are on the lookout for any open space, "We're gonna be late!"
"Be patient, we'll make it," Aao assures him. The thickness of the crowd made it nearly impossible to make it to registration. Tsuyoi was nowhere to be seen, but the two assumed that he had made it before the rush happened.
They had been hovering there for half-an-hour when someone in the crown yelled, "What's that!?" the civilian pointed up into the sky, and the two warriors looked behind them.
Two small, spherical objects, both with round windows, one black with two purple stripes, the other a forest green with white stripes, were rushing towards the crowd.
"Are those meteors?" Shrike asked Aao.
"I don't know, but they're going to hit the civilians!" Aao sticks out her arm, charging up a ki blast, "I'll take the black one, you take the green one!"
"Right!" Shrike mirrored her action, charging a blast of his own.
The two released their respective energy spheres, and the ki blasts soar towards the two objects.
The two 'meteors' suddenly swerve out of the way of the attacks, and the energy harmlessly fizzle out.
"What!?" Aao exclaims, "Shrike, again!"
"Already on it!" Shrike is rushing towards the green one, two ki blasts charging up, "Now I can't miss!" He is about to meet the green sphere when the black one blows up from the inside, and a wave of pressure and debris hits him, causing him to lose focus on his ki. "What the-"
Suddenly, a purple and black blur slams into him, knocking out of the sky. Shrike speeds towards the ground, but stops himself just before he hits. Through blurred vision, he sees Aao blasting the debris from the destroyed sphere, preventing harm to the crowd. He looks up to see the second sphere hovering in midair, a figure in purple and black, wearing some kind of armor with a… was that a tail wrapped around his waist?
"Shrike, what happened!?" Aao shouts to him, still vaporizing the debris.
"I don't know," Shrike replies, "But it feels like I got hit by a truck!"
"Why did you attack us?" a voice is heard behind him.
Shrike turns around to see the figure that was next to the green pod standing behind him. "What the…?" he looks back up at the green pod, which was now descending, but this time much slower. He turns back again to the purple-clad figure.
"Again," the person asks, "Why did you attack us?" when Shrike is unresponsive, standing there dumbstruck, he grunts and addresses the crowd of civilians, 'tail' twitching, "My name is Toma. If you can, please make room for the green and white ship to land." The crowd follows his orders, pushing and shoving, so that an area large enough for a car is formed.
The green pod gently lands on the concrete, and a hiss is heard as a door opens on the front. Slowly, a figure emerges from the shadows of the pod and steps into the sunlight.
End of Chapter One