An Old Evil Returns
*~~Chapter Three~~*
*~Trouble for Marron~*
Disclaimer-I don¹t own DBZ (wish I did though ^_~)
Marron zoomed into town and near the edge of the water, closed up her dino cap, and walked into town. She knew that she would have to walk because she only had dino caps for the sea, not for the air.

³Wow, I never knew the city could be so pretty at night. Just look at all the lights!² Marron said to herself.

³Hmm, now let¹s see. If I keep on going straight, then I¹ll come to Kame¹s Place sooner or later I guess.² She took a deep sigh and started walking. Soon, she was right in the middle of the city, next to a strip mall. One of the stores was a dino cap store. Inside, was Trunks who was buying dino caps for Bulma.

³Let¹s see.........I¹ll take the blue one, that one, the green one, the red one, and that one please. Oh and I¹d like a box for them, please.²

³Sure.² said the clerk. As Trunks got out his wallet, he spotted Marron outside.

ŒNow, what¹s she doing here in the city at night?¹ he thought. He gave the clerk the money and went outside to go see Marron with his bag of dino caps with him. Marron was all the way on the other side of the strip mall, next to an ally.

³Hmmmm, I think I¹m going in the right direction.² Marron said, putting her hand on her chin and looking up at the sky. Suddenly, Marron got this queasy feeling in her stomach.

³Well, hello there, precious.² a voice said. Marron jumped and goosebumps popped up all over her skin.

³Who¹s there?² the said in a demanding voice. Although, she was clearly shaking all over.

Silence.

³I said, who¹s there!?² she repeated. This time, she just heard laughter. Suddenly, she saw a shadow move in the ally. Marron stood her guard.

³Now, now, there¹s no need to be hasty.² said the voice. A tall, dark figure stepped out. Marron took a step back. Out came a tall man, with broad shoulders and dark blue hair. He had golden eyes which seemed to mesmerize Marron, but she quickly snapped out of it.

³What do you want?²

³Oh, nothing much...² the man grabbed Marron so fast and pulled her into the ally, that she didn¹t know what hit her.

³Just, a good time.² He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed hard so she couldn¹t get away.

³Let go of me you creep!² she yelled, squirming.

³It¹s no use fighting. Just give in.²

³No!² Marron started kicking him, but he had so much strength and it didn¹t even look like he worked out. He started to learn towards her, squeezing her harder. Marron started thrashing her head.

ŒPlease! Someone help me.¹ Marron thought. He moved closer.

³Let her go.² a voice said. Marron and the man were caught off guard. Marron thought the voice sounded familiar, but she couldn¹t see his face.

³Why should I?² the man said.

³I don Œt have to tell you why.²

³I¹m not giving her up. Not unless you want to challenge me, in which I will squash you like a bug.²

'I'll bury this scrawny kid into the ground.' the man thought.

³RRRRRRR. Fine. But.......I will win.² the man took off his coat and threw it on top of Marron who glared at him.

³Let¹s get this overwith. I have some business to attend to.² the man looked over at Marron in such a way that it made her skin crawl.

ŒPlease, let that other guy win.¹ she thought. A glimse of something shiny caught Marron¹s eye.

ŒThat looks like some type of sword. I don¹t know anyone who has a sword except maybe.....² Marron gasped. The two men stepped forward. The one who attacked Marron sent a punch towards the other. The other man caught his fist and punched him in the stomach and then jabbed his elbow into his back. The man who attacked Marron fell on his knees and was leaning over with his hands on his stomach. He was breathing heavily. Marron ran forward and jumped over the man to greet the guy who saved her.

³Thank you so much, Trunks!² Marron said.

³Hey, I couldn¹t just watch you get hurt by that weird-o. What are you doing here, anyway?²

³Well, what are you doing here?²

³I was picking up some dino caps for my Mom, what are you doing here?²

³I.........can¹t say.²

³Why? Is it something personal?²

³Sort of.........I guess you can say that.²

³You know you can trust me, if you needed to get something off your back. I don¹t want to pressure you into telling me, but maybe I could help. By the look of it, I would say your trying to get somewhere.² Trunks said, pointing to Marron¹s backpack.

³Hmmmmmm.² Marron looked down at the ground and paused for a minute.

ŒWell, he can fly, and I bet he knows where Kame¹s Place is so.......¹

³Alright, I¹ll tell you.² she said. Marron didn¹t tell Trunks everything about how she felt about fighting and why, but she gave him a good idea of why she wanted to go Kame¹s and train under Piccolo. Trunks laughed when he heard about what she thought about training under him becuase of Vegeta.

³Haha, ya I would be happy to train you. But my father would probably get mad at me if he knew I was training a girl. You know how my father is.²

³Yeah.²

³I promise I won¹t tell anyone. Especially your parents.

³Thanks, I trust you.² Marron said, staring straight at Trunks with a look that seemed to say Œ I trust you with all my heart, but If you do tell, I¹ll never trust you again.¹ Trunks got the messge.

³So..... need a lift.²

³Yes, very much so.²

³Ok, just climb on my back and lets go.²

ŒYes! Now, I can finally learn to fight!¹ Marron thought as she climbed on to Trunks¹s back and took off.

³How are things coming with finding the dragonballs?² she asked.

³We¹re getting there. It¹s taking much longer than I expected because we keep on running into trouble.²

³I see. Well, I hope you find the rest soon.²

³Me too.² Before long, Marron and Trunks were coming up on Kame¹s Place.

³Woah, so this is what Kame¹s Place looks like.² Marron thought out loud.

³Yup, this is it.² Trunks and Marron landed on the ground. Mr. Popo came out with a watering can in his hand.

³Hello, Trunks. Who¹s this?² he asked, pointing to Marron.

³Oh, this is Marron. Krillin and 18¹s daughter.²

³Nice, to finally meet you, Marron.² Mr. Popo said, shaking her hand.

³Likewise.² Marron said.

³Where¹s Dende?² Trunks asked.

³He¹s inside taking a nap. Only a short one though. Being the guardian of the Earth can take a lot out of a young boy like himself.² Mr. Popo said.

³I can imagine.² Trunks said.

³I¹ll tell him you said ŒHello¹ when he wakes up and he¹ll be glad to meet you Marron.² Marron smiled.

³What brings you two here?² he asked.

³Well, Marron wants to learn how to fight. So she was wondering if she could be Piccolo¹s disciple? Is Piccolo here?² Trunks asked.

³I¹ve been expecting her.² a voice said, before Mr. Popo could answer.

³Mr. Piccolo?² Marron said, ³Is that you?² A tall figure emerged from inside the temple. It was Piccolo.

³Hey Piccolo.² Trunks said.

³Hi Trunks.² Piccolo turned from Trunks to Marron who was standing next to him and gave her a glare. Marron let out a little gasp and took a step back. She felt uneasy about the way he was glaring at her.

ŒI think he¹s trying to measure her power level, and how much potential she has. I don¹t know how much power she has, but I know he does.¹ Trunks thought as he watched Piccolo eyeing her. After about five or six minutes of scanning her, Piccolo stood back and folded his arms. He closed his eyes and said,

³I¹m sorry, but I cannot train you.²

³Why not? I know I¹d be a good fighter!² Marron protested.

³It¹s not that. If your father found out that I was training you, he¹d lose his mind.²

³I¹ll make up something where I can be gone without him knowing that I¹m training under you.²

³Like what?²

³I¹m really good at playing the flute, but my parents don¹t know I¹m good at it. So I¹ll just tell them that I¹m getting serious about playing and I need to spend every day at the auditorium for practice.²

³Fine, but if he finds out-²

³He won¹t, trust me. Besides, they¹re on a cruise right now for their second honey-moon. They think I¹m on a school field trip out in the woods. And I really, really want to learn how to fight. Please.² Piccolo stared at her for a minute.

³Before I will let you become my student, you will have to pass a test.²

³A test?² Marron asked.

³Yes, you have to prove that you¹re worthy enough to train under me.²

ŒWoah, this is new. Gohan never told me he had to take a test to become Piccolo¹s student.¹ Trunks thought.

³I will be right back.² Piccolo said.

³Where is he going?² Marron asked as Mr. Popo turned back to his gardening.

³I don¹t know, but I think I¹d better go. My mom is probably wondering why I¹m not home yet. I¹m already going to get a lecture about not letting her know where I am.² Trunks said, starting to laugh.

³I¹m sorry. I didn¹t mean to-²

³Ah, it¹s ok. I¹m sort of used to it now.²

³Well, before you leave.....² Marron said, giving him a little hug.

³Thanks for saving me from that creep and bringing me here.² Trunks blushed.

³No problem.² Marron let go and Trunks waved good-bye and took off.
Soon after Piccolo came out.

³Well, it¹s too dark to start the test so I want you to sleep out there.² he pointed to a forest below. Marron¹s eyes widened and opened her mouth to say something, but closed it.

ŒIf I want to be Piccolo¹s student I can¹t be afraid of anything.¹ she thought.

³You will have no blankets, food, or any other type of necessity. You¹ll have to survive on your own.² Marron nodded with a determined look on her face and clenched her fists. Although, inside she was trembling with fear.

³Here.² he said, handing her a pair of clothes, ³You can¹t train in that dress so here are some new clothes. You can change in there.² he pointed towards the temple, ³I¹ll wait until you¹re done.²

ŒHmmm, training a girl might be different. But I won¹t except any laid back training. If she wants me to train her, she¹s going to have to train like I did with Gohan, Goten, and Trunks. She has great potential. I can feel her energy level is high for a human, and she has it in her blood.¹ he thought. After Marron changed into a yellow and orange jumsuit ( with a turbin) she came over to him.

ŒWell, this isn¹t what I¹d call pretty, but it¹s comfortable.¹ she thought. Then she looked down below and saw the forest. ŒHow in the world will I survive this?¹ Piccolo picked her up and brought her down to ground level.

³I will see you tomorrow in the mid-morning.² he said, taking off. It was freezing in the forest and Marron shivered as a gust of wind flew by her.

³I have to p-prove that I-I¹m stong.² Marron stammered, ³S-so, let¹s get started.² She headed towards the trees and used a sharp rock to cut down the branches. She used the branches with the leaves to make a fort.

³Well, I guess this is sort of like a field trip out in the woods, except I¹m the only one here.² Marron said to herself. She heard something grumbling and looked around. Then she looked down.

³No wonder. I didn¹t realize I was so hungry.² She looked around and spotted a bush with berries on it.

³I may be out here in the woods, but I am not going to eat snakes, frogs, or any other gross being that might live out here. I guess I¹m lucky. So far, things aren¹t so bad out here, but I¹m not going to hold my breath.²


*~*~*~Later that Night*~*~*
After Marron had put out her fire, she laid down in the small fort that she built. It got colder as the night went on and Marron couldn¹t sleep. It felt like any second a bear, mountain lion, or cobra was going to attack her. Any sound she heard made a chill run up her spine.

³This is the hardest night of my life.² Marron whispered, ³My fingers and toes feel like they¹re going to fall off from frost bite. I never knew the woods could be so scary at night.² she shivered. When Marron finally drifted off to sleep, all she had was nightmares. She had a dream where she failed the test, her parents died when the cruise crashed into a coral reef, and worst of all, that evil Cell came back and killed all her family and friends. Meanwhile, Piccolo was meditating at Kame¹s, overlooking her. He could sense her fear.

ŒJust hang in there, Marron. I know you can do it. You have to. I have to know what kind of fighter you¹ll turn out to be.¹ he thought.

*~*~*~Next Morning~*~*~*
³No!² Marron screamed as she woke up in shock. She cluched the grass in her hands and ripped off a piece. She looked down at them.

³Oops.² she said, letting go of the grass. She looked up and saw light peeking through her fort. She shaded her eyes.

³It can¹t be.......morning?² she said, coming out of the fort.

³Oh my gosh! It is morning! I made it!² she said, jumping up and down.

³I made it!²

*~End of Chapter Three~*