Chapter 3
Two boys in torn school uniforms were peaking around the side of a brick schoolhouse at a small cluster of little girls jumping rope and singing some mindless rhyme.
"Do I haf-to, Trunks?" Goten whined.
Trunks nodded severely. "If you don't then she'll make you."
"She can't make me. She's not tough enough," Goten said. "I'd fly away if I had to."
Trunks shook his head and sighed. "But you're not allowed to fly at school."
Goten groaned and looked at his shoes. "Okay, but you haf-to watch and if she tries to make me, you help." Trunks shoved his best friend around the corner and concealed himself to watch.
Cautiously, Goten approached a red-haired girl whose long locks were tied back in pig-tails. She was singing along with the jump rope song and clapping. He reached out carefully and tugged the red ribbon out of her right pigtail. The rubber-band supporting the hair style remained behind, and the girl didn't seem to notice, but when he went for the left ribbon, she grabbed his hand.
"If it isn't Goten," she said. Her smile revealed a double row of braces.
"Hi, Jenny." Goten grinned and tried to hide the other ribbon behind his back.
She leaned over and gave Goten a sloppy kiss on the nose. "There, now we're married. I told you, you were my boyfriend."
Goten screamed and almost forgot that he wasn't supposed to fly. "TRUNKS!!!!" He pulled his hand loose and ran for cover where Trunks was. "You didn't help!!!" His friend was curled up on the ground laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face.
"You let her kiss you," Trunks gasped. Sometimes Goten could be so pliable it was ridiculous. "Now you've got girl cooties." Goten plopped down and started rubbing his nose valiantly on his dirty shirtsleeve.
"Shut up," Goten said. He gave up wiping his face and glared at Trunks. "If I have cooties, then I'm gonna give 'em to you." Goten jumped on Trunks and they started fighting.
Just off the elementary school grounds, Gohan leaned against the fence surrounding Goten and Trunks' school. The loud yellow busses that would carry many of the children home were already assembling along the road, and he should really be locating Goten and Trunks.
Gohan slid his fingers through the chain link fence. Videl said she loved him. He still got a warm tingly feeling when he thought about it. The initial euphoria at hearing the words had faded. You'd think it would have lasted longer. Of course she had followed the declaration up with an essay on why he was a hard guy to get involved with.
Well she wasn't perfect either. There was her dad. He was a nightmare scary enough to send most sensible Saijins running for the hills. Trying to be negative didn't last. Videl was his dream girl. Smart, sexy, and to his young eye as perfect as he was likely to ever find. She could have Buu for a Dad and he'd still love her.
Gohan jumped and looked around. Energy in the area was spiking, like a couple of 8-year-olds about to go super-saijin. He went over the fence and lightly jogged through the schoolyard. There they were, a ball of dust fighting so fast a normal person might have problems following it.
Gohan skillfully interposed himself on the battle and pulled the two scuffed up combatants apart. "You two want to get in trouble?" Gohan asked. "Fighting at school will land you both in detention."
"He started it, Gohan. He let a girl kiss me," Goten shouted.
"But she loooooves you, Goten," Trunks taunted.
"Hey, whoever started it. It's over," Gohan said. "If you want to fight, we're going to Master Roshi's later." He stepped away from them and winced. "What's mom going to say about your school uniform. Didn't she just patch that up?"
"I have twelve uniforms," Trunks said. "It doesn't matter."
"Well Goten doesn't have a spare dozen at home. Mom's not going to be happy. She may not let you go with us to Master Roshi's," Gohan said. Goten frowned as though it were a truly terrible possibility. "Get your stuff now, let's go."
**********************
Rinback followed the sprites down the street, through the throngs of people. He reached out with his senses trying to find a powerful being nearby. The champion must be far away he mused, because he felt nothing. The sprites coalesced and hovered near the stoop of a large white building. "What is it? Are you lost?"
"No master, this is the dwelling." The sprites flowed up and through the front door. Rinback puzzled at the square of wall for a moment and attacked it with an energy blast. He stepped through the smoking hole he'd made of the door. His guides led him up a flight of stairs and they passed through another door. A second energy blast, yielded similar results as the last and Rinback entered an apartment.
A large, hairy, alien came barreling at him. Rinback caught the beast by the neck and held him off the ground. "Are you the champion's pet or servant?" The series of gargles and grunts that emerged from Hercule's mouth were unintelligible. "Read its mind, if it has one," Rinback ordered. The sprites flew through Hercule and Rinback tossed him aside.
"He is a champion of sorts. He has no real power, but he has had dealings with some who do."
"This thing is their champion." Rinback spat the ground in disgust. "Can it direct us to the actual beings of power in this world? Might any of them fit the profile?"
Hercule was regaining his equilibrium. Who the heck did this clown think he was? Did he really think he could rob HERCULE?? "Hey you, you know whose apartment you just broke into? I happen to be the world martial arts champion. Now that I know what I'm dealing with, you're toast buddy." Hercule assumed a fighting stance and glared at the pretty-boy felon. Blue fire erupted from the stranger, surrounding him in a cloud of energy.
"I have no desire to kill you, but if you continue to hinder me, I shall be forced to destroy you." Rinback returned his attention to the sprites. "Do we need this creature to find the others?"
"No, master we know all he knows which is quite little. He fears them, the ones with power. Were they not so reclusive, he would not be considered the champion of these people, and he values that position above all his other possessions."
Hercule dropped back. Sure the guy was carrying on a conversation with thin air, that meant crazy, but generally people who glow were not to be tangled with. "There's absolutely no need to kill me. Just take whatever you want, buddy."
"Can we find the ones with power? Is the one we need among them?" Rinback asked.
"We don't know where they are, but we may have found the one to kill you. A golden warrior, he has the power, unless this creature is mistaken."
Rinback gesture impatiently. "And the profile?"
The sprites nodded in unison. "Possibly. He may be made too serve."
"One of you, stay with me, the rest of you go, find this warrior." The sprites scattered. Rinback allowed his energy to fade, and he faced the so- called-champion in front of him. "I seek a golden warrior. You know of him?"
Hercule nodded slowly. He means that skinny kid, Videl's alien. He had to mean him. Typical of that kid to bring trouble calling. "I don't know why you came looking for him here. He and Videl are just friends, hardly that even."
Rinback cocked his head to the side, interest sparking in his eyes. "Videl? Who is Videl?"
"I told you, my girl doesn't have anything to do with that kid, so it doesn't matter."
Rinback was across the room in a flash and he had Hercule suspended in the air by his throat again. "That was a lie. I'll wait here, for 'your girl.' My lady will be pleased." Blue energy passed through Rinback's hand and into Hercule's head. "You, my inept friend, will sleep." Hercule collapsed onto the carpet with a soft thud.
Rinback sent tiny blasts of energy at all the light fixtures and settled into a dark corner to wait.
Two boys in torn school uniforms were peaking around the side of a brick schoolhouse at a small cluster of little girls jumping rope and singing some mindless rhyme.
"Do I haf-to, Trunks?" Goten whined.
Trunks nodded severely. "If you don't then she'll make you."
"She can't make me. She's not tough enough," Goten said. "I'd fly away if I had to."
Trunks shook his head and sighed. "But you're not allowed to fly at school."
Goten groaned and looked at his shoes. "Okay, but you haf-to watch and if she tries to make me, you help." Trunks shoved his best friend around the corner and concealed himself to watch.
Cautiously, Goten approached a red-haired girl whose long locks were tied back in pig-tails. She was singing along with the jump rope song and clapping. He reached out carefully and tugged the red ribbon out of her right pigtail. The rubber-band supporting the hair style remained behind, and the girl didn't seem to notice, but when he went for the left ribbon, she grabbed his hand.
"If it isn't Goten," she said. Her smile revealed a double row of braces.
"Hi, Jenny." Goten grinned and tried to hide the other ribbon behind his back.
She leaned over and gave Goten a sloppy kiss on the nose. "There, now we're married. I told you, you were my boyfriend."
Goten screamed and almost forgot that he wasn't supposed to fly. "TRUNKS!!!!" He pulled his hand loose and ran for cover where Trunks was. "You didn't help!!!" His friend was curled up on the ground laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face.
"You let her kiss you," Trunks gasped. Sometimes Goten could be so pliable it was ridiculous. "Now you've got girl cooties." Goten plopped down and started rubbing his nose valiantly on his dirty shirtsleeve.
"Shut up," Goten said. He gave up wiping his face and glared at Trunks. "If I have cooties, then I'm gonna give 'em to you." Goten jumped on Trunks and they started fighting.
Just off the elementary school grounds, Gohan leaned against the fence surrounding Goten and Trunks' school. The loud yellow busses that would carry many of the children home were already assembling along the road, and he should really be locating Goten and Trunks.
Gohan slid his fingers through the chain link fence. Videl said she loved him. He still got a warm tingly feeling when he thought about it. The initial euphoria at hearing the words had faded. You'd think it would have lasted longer. Of course she had followed the declaration up with an essay on why he was a hard guy to get involved with.
Well she wasn't perfect either. There was her dad. He was a nightmare scary enough to send most sensible Saijins running for the hills. Trying to be negative didn't last. Videl was his dream girl. Smart, sexy, and to his young eye as perfect as he was likely to ever find. She could have Buu for a Dad and he'd still love her.
Gohan jumped and looked around. Energy in the area was spiking, like a couple of 8-year-olds about to go super-saijin. He went over the fence and lightly jogged through the schoolyard. There they were, a ball of dust fighting so fast a normal person might have problems following it.
Gohan skillfully interposed himself on the battle and pulled the two scuffed up combatants apart. "You two want to get in trouble?" Gohan asked. "Fighting at school will land you both in detention."
"He started it, Gohan. He let a girl kiss me," Goten shouted.
"But she loooooves you, Goten," Trunks taunted.
"Hey, whoever started it. It's over," Gohan said. "If you want to fight, we're going to Master Roshi's later." He stepped away from them and winced. "What's mom going to say about your school uniform. Didn't she just patch that up?"
"I have twelve uniforms," Trunks said. "It doesn't matter."
"Well Goten doesn't have a spare dozen at home. Mom's not going to be happy. She may not let you go with us to Master Roshi's," Gohan said. Goten frowned as though it were a truly terrible possibility. "Get your stuff now, let's go."
**********************
Rinback followed the sprites down the street, through the throngs of people. He reached out with his senses trying to find a powerful being nearby. The champion must be far away he mused, because he felt nothing. The sprites coalesced and hovered near the stoop of a large white building. "What is it? Are you lost?"
"No master, this is the dwelling." The sprites flowed up and through the front door. Rinback puzzled at the square of wall for a moment and attacked it with an energy blast. He stepped through the smoking hole he'd made of the door. His guides led him up a flight of stairs and they passed through another door. A second energy blast, yielded similar results as the last and Rinback entered an apartment.
A large, hairy, alien came barreling at him. Rinback caught the beast by the neck and held him off the ground. "Are you the champion's pet or servant?" The series of gargles and grunts that emerged from Hercule's mouth were unintelligible. "Read its mind, if it has one," Rinback ordered. The sprites flew through Hercule and Rinback tossed him aside.
"He is a champion of sorts. He has no real power, but he has had dealings with some who do."
"This thing is their champion." Rinback spat the ground in disgust. "Can it direct us to the actual beings of power in this world? Might any of them fit the profile?"
Hercule was regaining his equilibrium. Who the heck did this clown think he was? Did he really think he could rob HERCULE?? "Hey you, you know whose apartment you just broke into? I happen to be the world martial arts champion. Now that I know what I'm dealing with, you're toast buddy." Hercule assumed a fighting stance and glared at the pretty-boy felon. Blue fire erupted from the stranger, surrounding him in a cloud of energy.
"I have no desire to kill you, but if you continue to hinder me, I shall be forced to destroy you." Rinback returned his attention to the sprites. "Do we need this creature to find the others?"
"No, master we know all he knows which is quite little. He fears them, the ones with power. Were they not so reclusive, he would not be considered the champion of these people, and he values that position above all his other possessions."
Hercule dropped back. Sure the guy was carrying on a conversation with thin air, that meant crazy, but generally people who glow were not to be tangled with. "There's absolutely no need to kill me. Just take whatever you want, buddy."
"Can we find the ones with power? Is the one we need among them?" Rinback asked.
"We don't know where they are, but we may have found the one to kill you. A golden warrior, he has the power, unless this creature is mistaken."
Rinback gesture impatiently. "And the profile?"
The sprites nodded in unison. "Possibly. He may be made too serve."
"One of you, stay with me, the rest of you go, find this warrior." The sprites scattered. Rinback allowed his energy to fade, and he faced the so- called-champion in front of him. "I seek a golden warrior. You know of him?"
Hercule nodded slowly. He means that skinny kid, Videl's alien. He had to mean him. Typical of that kid to bring trouble calling. "I don't know why you came looking for him here. He and Videl are just friends, hardly that even."
Rinback cocked his head to the side, interest sparking in his eyes. "Videl? Who is Videl?"
"I told you, my girl doesn't have anything to do with that kid, so it doesn't matter."
Rinback was across the room in a flash and he had Hercule suspended in the air by his throat again. "That was a lie. I'll wait here, for 'your girl.' My lady will be pleased." Blue energy passed through Rinback's hand and into Hercule's head. "You, my inept friend, will sleep." Hercule collapsed onto the carpet with a soft thud.
Rinback sent tiny blasts of energy at all the light fixtures and settled into a dark corner to wait.
