Chapter 3

"Ok, so here's the plan." Marron started to repeat the complex strategy for the twentieth time. Hotiku and Miyako were just about to fall asleep.

"So then, we divide up and meet at point A. Then return to quadrant 7482, and then--"

"Marron!!" Miyako yelled, cutting her off.

"Nani?!" Marron turned around from her graphs and maps posted on the wall.

"This is way too complicated!" She cried.

"Ok, we go to this guy's house, get him and his dad, meet up with you and go back to the spot we felt the ki." Hotiku said.

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Miyako cheered and got up to start. Marron sighed and put away her metal pointer.

"Why do I even bother?" She asked herself and followed them outside to "commence" the operation.

"Um, Marron?" Hotiku turned to her.

"Hun." She perked up.

"How do we get to this dude's house?"

"*sigh* Go down six blocks, take a left and down three more blocks. It's the big yellow dome house. You can't miss it, it's the biggest house around." Marron pointed ahead of her to indicate the six blocks.

"Ok, we'll meet in an hour." Miyako said, taking Hotiku's hat and putting it on her head before taking off. Hotiku turned around and followed her.

"Well, they seem to not be taking this seriously. I hope they aren't like the people who think Mr. Satan is the world's savior." Marron sighed and went back inside to prepare.

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

Just as the girls made their way to the house, they saw someone knock on the door, but he was quickly thrown out by security. The girls sweatdropped before proceeding. Miyako walked up to the door and was about to knock when Hotiku pulled her back.

"Nani?!" Miyako spun around to face her.

"Didn't you see what just happened to that guy? Come on, let's go around the back." Hotiku walked around back and hugged the wall so she wouldn't be seen. When they made it around, Miyako poked her head around to see, and Hotiku did the same below her. They spotted something in the distance and looked at each other before nodding and running towards it. Hotiku saw a panel with a keypad below it. She turned around and looked at her friend puzzled.

"What the heck is this thing?" She pointed behind her.

"I don't know," Miyako caught a glimpse of the keypad and got a glint in her eye.

"Move aside, I'm doin' ma stuff!" She wiggled her fingers and placed them on the keys. Her fingers danced around and finally, a beeping was heard as the door slid open. They walked inside, observing their surroundings. The room was filled with a red light instead of white, and there was a panel that read "400 g." They looked at each other as if to say, "what is that?" Suddenly they heard the door behind them open again.

"Who the hell are you?!?!" They heard a booming voice behind them. They turned around and saw a short guy with black hair that swept up like fire. They panicked at his reaction and ran past him into the house. Hotiku looked back and saw that he was following them.

"Eep! He's coming.... I've seen him before, but... where?" She asked herself as Miyako pulled her into the hallway. Suddenly they were sent crashing to the ground by a moving object. When they looked up, they saw someone with purple hair standing there, confused. The girls stretched out a scream and got up, quickly running from him.

"Hey, wait! Get back here!!" He yelled. Suddenly the other man came up behind him running.

"Don't just stand there, brat. After them!" He said and ran ahead of him. The boy ran behind the other man and followed the direction of the girls. The two girls had made their way to an abandoned hall way and stopped for a few short seconds to catch their breathe.

"Ok, they can't get us as easily if we split up so you go--" Hotiku started, but couldn't finish as the two guys turned the corner and ran towards them. Instinctively, the girls split up and headed in different directions, through opposite corridors. The boy with purple hair chased after Miyako and the other guy ran after Hotiku.

"Have to get away, keep running, keep running." Miyako told herself as the boy was catching up to her. Just then she got a sudden burst of energy and was able to outrun him to the next hallway. She turned the corner and saw a banister.... then stairs, and the door below. She felt relief and started to run faster. Suddenly Hotiku's hat fell off her head, and she lifted her hand and tried to catch it, but it was too late.

"No, her hat!" She screeched to a halt and quickly turned around to pick it up. Just as she reached it, the boy had stopped in front of her. She lifted her head slowly and looked at him. No one moved for a few seconds. Suddenly, Miyako tried to get up and run, but he picked her up and hauled her away.

"Let me go!!" She kicked and tried to get free, but he was too strong for her. He took her into a room that was completely white and dropped her onto the floor. He took the hat before walking out.

"Hey, give that back!! Let me out of here!!" She pounded on the spot on the wall that he left. Other than the mirror on the far wall, which she immediately knew was a double mirror; the entire room was just white panels, including the floor and ceiling. She sighed and looked through the mirror.

"You may have caught me, but she won't be as easy!" Miyako said out loud, hoping that he had heard her, which he did.

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

The guy was walking slowly, after losing the girl when she turned the corner, and for some strange reason, he couldn't sense her ki. Hotiku was supporting herself above the doorway, being as silent and motionless as possible. It had obviously been working since he hadn't found her yet. Just as she thought he was gone, he walked through the doorway scaring her. She nearly screamed in shock, but managed not to. Once he was a few feet ahead of her, she jumped off the top of the doorframe and grabbed the horizontal pole that was in front of her. She swung down, just as he turned around, and planted both feet on his chest, sending him ten feet back. He landed on his back, but quickly rose as she landed on her feet. She decided to cheat fate and ran past him down the corridor and past another corner. She found an unlocked door and ran inside. She shut the door loudly, and then panicked as she realized he could've heard it. She looked around the room frantically and found a large wooden crate. She broke of a piece of it and held the board in both hands, and then hid behind the door. A few seconds went by and she swallowed hard as she heard footsteps approaching. She looked down at the doorknob as it slowly turned and the door opened. As soon as she saw him, she swung the board around and hit him in his back sending to the floor, again, only this time flat on his face. She ran out the door and saw the other boy walk out of a room. She quickly hid against the wall in the shadows and waited for him to leave, except he started walking towards her. Then she heard a commotion coming from the room she just left. The other guy walked out and started walking in her direction too. Beads of sweat appeared on her fore head and she cursed herself for getting in this position. Without thinking, she ran out of the shadows and in the middle of the hallway where they could see her. They both ran towards her, but just as they reached her, she jumped up and held herself up by pushing her hands against the wall and her feet against the opposite wall. The two guys crashed into each other and fell to the floor. Before they could get up, she jumped down and into the room the boy with purple hair came out of. She found Miyako and ran towards her.

"Come on, hurry before they get back!" Hotiku helped her up and they ran out the door. Just as they did, the two guys got up and ran after them. The girls split up again, and the guys chased them, each going after the one they did. The guy with black hair decided to cut her off and ran around through another hallway. Hotiku looked back to see him not following her, and then looked back in front of her and saw that he was there. She screamed as she fell to the ground and twisted around. She got back up and ran in the other direction.

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

Miyako had just turned a corner and saw the stairs again. She started to run faster again, but the boy ran in front of her and blocked her path. She screamed and dived under him and rolled onto her feet, taking off towards the stairs again. She slid down the banister and jumped off the end and ran into a room, which seemed to be the kitchen, where she nearly crashed into someone. They both screamed, and breathed hard when she realized it was Hotiku.

"What the hell is going on?!" Hotiku yelled, just a little too loud. Miyako slapped her hand over her mouth and looked at the entrances to the kitchen. They sighed in relief, but a little early as the guys came in from the left entrance. The girls screamed and ran out the right side. They ran out the back door, and around to the side of the house.

"Look!" Miyako pointed to a car. Without thinking twice, they ran towards the black convertible and jumped in.

"Keys, keys. Where are the damn keys?!" Miyako yelled looking around frantically.

"No time for that!" Hotiku flipped upside down under the steering wheel and pulled out wires behind the pedals.

"You can hotwire a car?!?!" Miyako yelled.

"Can I hotwire a car? Can I hotwire a car?" She repeated, giving her the answer she needed. Miyako spotted the two guys exit the house and see them.

"Hurry up..." She said nervously.

"I'm going as fast as I can! .... Got it!" She flipped right side up and started the engine. She drove off around the corner and speeded down the street.

"You don't know how to drive!!" Miyako shouted.

"There's a first time for everything!" She said.

"Are you crazy?!?!" Miyako looked at her.

"Yup." Hotiku replied.

"Stupid question, stupid answer." said Miyako and turned around to sit down. She buckled her seat belt tightly, looked in the rear-view mirror and paled.

"Um, you're not going to believe this, but Marron's behind us!" Miyako said dryly.

"Why wouldn't I believe that?" Hotiku said still looking ahead.

"Because she's flying." Miyako said and held her head.

"NANI?!?!" Hotiku turned around and looked behind her.

"Watch the road!!" Miyako grabbed the wheel, and tried to control it from her angle. Hotiku turned around and lifted the pedal, so Marron could catch up. When she reached them she flew into the backseat.

"Where are you two going?!" Marron yelled at them.

"Those guys attacked us!!" Miyako yelled back.

"Those guys were trying to see what you were doing in the house!!" She yelled again.

"Stop yelling!!" Hotiku screamed louder than them and slammed her foot on the brakes, making them jerk forward a bit, finally they stopped screaming and started talking normally.

"Well, maybe if you had entered through the front door like a normal person, we wouldn't be in this mess!!" Marron said. Miyako slapped the back of Hotiku's head.

"I told you!!" She said as Hotiku rubbed her head.

"Ow!"

"Well, just come back to their house and we'll settle this whole thing!" Marron said and took off in flight towards the house again. Both girls sighed and Hotiku turned the car around. As they arrived, Hotiku was able to park the car without damaging it. She jumped out followed by Miyako and walked up to the two guys.

"You hotwired my car?!?!" The boy with the purple hair yelled.

"Yeah, so?" Hotiku raised an eyebrow.

"So? SO?!?" He restated.

"Oh yeah, and you need to get an oil change and a new spark plug. And get someone to work on that transmission." Hotiku patted his back and walked past him.

"How does she know that?!" He asked, getting a reply from the other girl.

"Her dad is... er was... or is it is? Anyway, he's a mechanic. Taught her junk like that." Miyako said. Hotiku kept walking, only to run into the other guy. She backed away and paled. He just scowled and walked away. Hotiku let out a sigh of relief and walked over to Marron.

"Oh yeah, guy's these are my friends. Hotiku, Miyako, this is Trunks, and Vegita." She said pointing to both of them.

"Umm, hi." The girls said simultaneously and looked at them. Vegita snorted and Trunks just sweatdropped.

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

"So, you all felt an unfamiliar ki, and tried to locate it, but it disappeared before you got to it?" Trunks asked.

"Hai, and it moved rapidly when we were in a forest to the other side of it." Marron explained.

"Are you trying to say that these two humans were able to detect the ki? And they were in the gravity room set to 400?" Vegita asked.

"Hai." Marron said slowly afraid of what he might say. Luckily he just growled and looked away.

"Then they're not human...." He muttered, "It's impossible if they were."

"Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight. You sensed an unfamiliar ki that you couldn't find, and now you want us to risk our lives to help you find it?" Trunks asked.

"Hai?" Marron said like a question.

"I'm there!" Trunks jumped up scaring the girls.

"Gomen." Trunks apologized and sat back down, pulling out the hat he took from Miyako and put it on his head. Miyako flinched and slowly turned to face Hotiku who was glaring at Trunks.

"Nani?" Trunks asked.

"Gimme that." Hotiku said plainly, but in a low voice.

"Iie, it's mine since you all broke into our house." Trunks said. Miyako twitched and slowly moved her eyes to him.

"Oh, you've done it now! You are so dead!" Miyako stated.

"Give me the damn hat." Hotiku said less calm and more aggressively.

"I said no!" Trunks said, but didn't have anytime to do anything else as Hotiku pounced on him and reached for the hat. Trunks held it away from her, but she punched his chest and took the opportunity to take the hat. She grasped it and got off of him. She flipped the hat around her hand and placed it on her head backwards.

"What the hell is your problem?! It's just a hat!!" Trunks got up and yelled in her face.

"My mother gave me this hat, baka!!" She yelled back at him.

"SO?!" He shouted. Hotiku growled and glared at him.

"Hotiku, honey, maybe you would like to go get something to drink from the fridge?" Miyako pushed her to the kitchen before her friend could cause any more damage, then returned to Trunks.

"What was that all about?" He asked.

"It's the only thing she has left of her mom." Miyako said.

"Nani? Did she die?" Trunks asked.

"Iie, she left her when she was twelve. She's been on her own ever since. She needed a mother, or someone to take care of her during that time of change. She had her older brother who was like a guardian to her, but that's not enough, and now she doesn't even have him. I'm the only one she has left." Miyako explained and looked into the other room to check on her to see if she was okay. Now Trunks felt bad about what he had said.

"I should go apologize." Trunks started walking for the kitchen, but was stopped by Miyako who just shook her head.

"Give her some time. She's used to it anyway, she'll be fine." Just as she said this, Hotiku walked in.

"So are we going to find this ki dude, or not?" She crossed her arms.

"Hai, we should go now." Marron said and headed out the door, followed by everyone else.

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

The four had made their way into the forest and were now searching for the ki signature. They made their way up about ten feet from a waterfall.

"Why didn't Vegita come with us?" Miyako asked.

"Because he's an arrogant jack-ass." Hotiku answered.

"How could you say that? You just met him." Marron stated.

"Trunks is your dad an arrogant jack ass?" Hotiku asked.

"Well, that's what most people think... including me." He said.

"There you go." Hotiku said and walked past, yet, another tree.

"Just don't tell him I said that or he'll kill me." Trunks followed them.

"Are you guys picking up anything yet?" Miyako asked.

"Not yet." Marron said. Suddenly, Miyako stopped and sat on a rock.

"Mi-chan? What are you doing?" Marron asked her.

"I'm like starting to sweat." She said, causing everyone to facefault, except Hotiku, who was used to it.

"Let me handle this." Hotiku walked past Trunks and Marron. She bent down beside Miyako and looked at her.

"See that waterfall over there?" She pointed to it and Miyako nodded. "We'll go swimming it the lake below if you keep going a few more minutes, 'kay?" she asked. Miyako perked up and walked off.

"Come on, let's move, move, move!" Miyako said and took the lead.

"What did you do?" Trunks asked Hotiku.

"The girl loves swimming." She said plainly.

"What about you?" He asked.

"I like swimming, just not as much as she does. No one loves swimming more than she does. It's like impossible." That said, Hotiku followed Miyako, with Trunks and Marron behind her. Suddenly, Marron and Trunks picked up on the ki, and it was very close. They turned around, but before they could see who was there, a strong force knocked them away over the waterfall. Miyako and Hotiku screamed as they plummeted down to the sharp rocks below. Trunks was able to fly over and catch Hotiku and Marron was able to catch Miyako. They flew over away from the rocks.

"You guys okay?" Trunks asked, but they never got to answer as the force knocked them down into the water. The power was so strong that it knocked them unconscious on impact with the water. Luckily their bodies floated to the shore, before they drowned.

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

A ship hovers somewhere out in space. It's rough looking on the outside, appearing as if it had been in many battles, but on the inside it was beautifully decorated, as if for royalty. Soldiers watched a large screen in front of them, showing the four teens.

"What should we do now?" A soldier asked the head of the mission.

"Teleport those two," The man pointed to Trunks and Marron, "Back to their homes."

"Yes, sir." The soldier obeyed and pushed multiple lighted squares on the panel in front of him.

"And bring the guardian here."

"What about the heritage?" he asked.

"Leave her, she needs to stay on the planet, we'll send down a rookie to care for her." The man said. The soldier pressed more squares and managed to teleport Miyako to their ship and left Hotiku near the waterfall.

"One more order for today, erase all memories of the heritage and the guardian. We want no one to know about them, not yet." He said, and was about to turn to leave.

"Uh, sir?" The soldier said.

"Nani?" He turned back around.

"Something had happened prior to our encounter with them. They were in a hyper-sleep orbiting the atmosphere of earth for a week. Memories of another life, an entire life up to their age now, are engraved into their minds. Cause... unknown."

"Delete all memories of this "dream," but keep the emotional attachment.... They're going to need it."

"Sir, and the unknown cause of the dream?"

"Dream? Dream...." He thought for a moment for what the cause could have been. Then it came to him.

"Serapis."