(AN: Okie dokie, I'm BACK! Sorry about the delay, folks, but my friend's computer wouldn't post my story! If this doesn't work, I'll get one of my other friends to do it. Thanks for waiting patiently! Also, I apologize beforehand for the extremely LAME jokes in this chapter....... They were funny for about a second, but I'm posting them anyway! Anyhow, enjoy! Ja ne!)
Chapter Three: Journey to the Past
"Hello?" Puar yelled into the empty hallway. "It's Puar, with four friends!" Three figures stepped out of the shadows, grinning.
"Puar, good to see you," one of the figures said, smiling. She was a woman in her late thirties or early forties, with graying blond hair and bright blue eyes.
"Hi Marron!" Puar chirped. "Look who Rayne found!" The woman's eyes flickered towards the other four, and she did a double take.
"Trunks? Goten? Bra? Pan?" she gasped as Trunks said incredulously, "Marron?"
"You're old!" Goten said, his eyes wide.
"You're young!" Marron said dryly. "I'm over forty, Goten. You may be forty-five in real age, but you're still the dumb twenty-five-year-old I remember."
"Hey!" Goten protested, as the others weakly laughed.
"Marron, you know these four?" one of the other figures questioned, staring at the newcomers suspiciously. He had a scowl on his deeply lined face, looking to be in his late forties.
"Of course I do, Kare!" Marron declared, hugging Bra and Pan. "These are the Four Last! Trunks, son of Prince Vegeta and Doctor Bulma! Pan, daughter of Son Gohan and Videl! Goten, son of Son Goku and Chi-Chi! Bra, daughter of Prince Vegeta and Doctor Bulma!" Both men stared in shock at the four, who grinned uncomfortably.
"Hey, Marron, we came to see my dad. Where is he sleeping?" Goten said. Marron became serious.
"I'll take you to him," she said. "Come with me."
"Marron, you know The Sleepers?" Kare gasped. "And that's them?"
"Hai, koi," Marron said absently, suddenly looking into her pockets. "And we need to get them ki concealers- Aha!" She pulled out four silver bracelets.
"Put these on," she instructed, throwing each of them one. They all snapped the bracelets on their wrists.
"Whoa," Pan exclaimed softly, as Goten whistled with admiration. Pan and the others couldn't sense any of their power levels.
"Now no one can sense you, but we can track you," Marron said, grinning slightly.
"Thanks," Bra said. "Rayne said my mom created them?"
"Doctor Bulma's created numerous important objects, including the ki concealers," the man called Kare said, a note of pride in his awed voice.
"Please, introduce us to your friends, Marron," Pan said, grinning at her best friend. To the group's surprise, Marron blushed.
"This is Willis, a guerrilla fighter," she said, motioning towards the man who hadn't spoken. He smiled shyly, his dark green eyes not meeting theirs.
"Hi," he said quietly. The shy young man looked around Goten's age.
"And this-" Marron blushed even more as she moved to stand beside Kare, who wrapped his strong arms around her waist "-is my husband, Kare Raretoma."
"Husband?" Goten yelped as Trunks's jaw dropped. Pan and Bra immediately began to squeal.
"How kawaii!" Bra cried. "Marron's got a HUSBAND!"
"Do you have any kids?" Pan asked, grinning at her now beet-red friend. "I'd love to meet them after we see Grandpa."
"We have two," Marron admitted, and laughed as Bra giggled. "A daughter named Ikara and a son named Krill."
Kare's hazel brown eyes twinkled wickedly as he added, "Ikara is just a beautiful as her mother."
"And Krill is just as handsome as his father," Marron finished with a smirk. Kare laughed.
"I'm ugly and you know it," he said, grinning into Marron's upturned face.
"Are not," she murmured, her eyes soft. "We've both just aged." Kare grinned and gave her a quick kiss.
"That's a lie and you know it," he said. "You're just as young as when I first met you." Marron laughed, then her face grew solemn.
"Want to come with us to visit Son Goku?" she asked her husband. He grinned ruefully.
"Sorry, koi," he said. "Gohan's expecting me to finish my mission up today. I'll be home late tonight. Tell the doctor I said hi." Without another word he released her and melted back into the shadows. Willis grinned bashfully at the group before following Kare. Marron turned back to them with a small grim smile.
"Let's go," she said quietly.
"Marron, about Rayne-" Puar began softly, and immediately the blonde half-human, half-android's blue eyes were upon the blue cat.
"Where IS Rayne?" the daughter of Krillin and Juhachigou demanded, her eyes now deadly serious and her lips pressed in a thin white line.
"We were heading here when someone called Dean Morris attacked us," Trunks said.
"Rayne stayed behind to give us time to get away," Pan added. Marron swore so colorfully that Goten once again stared wide-eyed at her. She hadn't known that sort of language when they had last seen each other.
"They'll have captured her by now," she said, her voice rising in rage. "Damn her! The stupid fool! She'll doom us all by playing that damned prophecy word for word! The baka!"
"Marron!" Puar squeaked anxiously. "Calm down!" Marron clenched her fists, ignoring the floating cat.
"If she dies we all die!" Marron roared, and suddenly spun and stalked off, yelling for them to follow her. The bewildered five looked at each other, shrugged, and followed her.
"I'm taking you to Doctor Bulma, and then I'm going to try and dig Rayne out of her cursed hole," Marron barked after Puar timidly asked where they were going. "Doctor Bulma will take you to see Son Goku." The group was silent as they followed the furious woman, once their closest friend, now a grown, aged, married woman they barely knew with an explosive temper.
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Rayne stared in wonder at Marron's father, long since believed dead.
"I know your daughter," she said softly.
Krillin beamed proudly. "How my little Mar-chan?"
"She's married," Rayne said, and Krillin looked shocked, "to a wonderful man and devoted rebel. They have a ten-year-old daughter and a eight-year-old son who's named after you." A look of wonder crossed his face.
"Grandchildren," he said softly. "Juhachigou and I have grandchildren."
"Senshi Krillin-sama?" Rayne asked hesitantly. When the old monk looked at her, she took a deep breath. "Why haven't the androids killed you?" To her surprise, Krillin laughed.
"They like to torture me, telling me only horrible news of my fellow comrades. The only bad news they don't tell me about is news about my friends and family. I don't know what's happened to my friends and family in fourteen years," he said, sounding both sad and relieved.
"Well, Doctor Bulma is still working on her experiments," Rayne said slowly, carefully choosing words so that she wouldn't give anything away to any unwanted listeners. "Marron and her husband Kare are well-known guerrillas. Gohan's still kicking android-ass as the guerrilla general." Krillin laughed softly. "Puar hangs out with me, Marron, and Doctor Bulma." Krillin raised an eyebrow.
"You?" he said. "How do you know some of the biggest rebels on Earth?" Rayne smiled, her eyes shadowed.
"I am one of the last of the Sirec family line," she said evenly. Krillin stared at her, frowning absently, as if trying to remember something long ago.
"Sirec? Isn't that the name Baba said during the prophecy?" he muttered, looking bewildered.
"Yes," Rayne said. "There are only three Sirec left. Cloud, Storm, and myself."
"But I remember Goku and Gohan talking about a couple called Icicle and Damson Sirec," Krillin commented, still frowning slightly.
"Our parents," Rayne said shortly, her shadowed eyes narrowing. She didn't like talking about her past. Krillin noticed the dark tone in the girl's voice, and silenced his questions.
"Hello, Weeper," a voice suddenly said from beyond the dungeon door. "I do hope you're comfortable."
"I hope you're enjoying your burns, Morris," Rayne sneered, feeling rage quickly start to creep from her heart. She tried to hold back the anger, knowing that if she could buy some time, something would come up. Krillin laughed quietly.
"You won't be laughing soon, monk," Morris threatened. "You and Sirec are to be killed tomorrow at dawn."
"Lovely," Rayne sighed, trying to attempt cheerfulness. "Nice and proper. I suppose we'll get to be hanged? Then I might get to say Nathan Hale's speech. 'I did not take up this cause for which I am dying in an idle moment-"
"Silence!" Morris roared. Rayne attempted to pout, but her swollen lips prevented it.
"But I learned that entire speech by heart!" she whined, winking at Krillin, who grinned.
"I'm sure you're dying to use it," Krillin added, and laughed at his pun. Rayne smiled.
"You could say it's been dangling from my reach for a quite a while," she replied, and the two chuckled at their lame jokes.
"You two will die screaming," Morris seethed, and stomped off while the two new friends laughed together. "I'll make sure of that."
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"Doctor," Marron said shortly as she opened a metal door.
"Marron, how many times have I told you to call me by my first name?" reminded the person who sat with his or her back facing the door. From that sentence Pan knew instantly it was woman who sat there.
"A million," Marron snapped. "Rayne's been a damned fool again."
"Don't swear," the woman said calmly. "Your parents wouldn't approve." Marron gave a harsh laugh.
"My parents are dead," she snapped. "And now Rayne's doomed us all."
"What did she do this time?" the woman sighed. From the tone of her voice, Pan got the impression that Rayne had gotten into trouble many times before.
"She's woken the Sleepers, then got herself captured," Marron said bitterly. "Why Kami chose such a baka to help save our world, I'll never understand." The woman's back straightened.
"W-Waken the Sleepers?" she said, tremble in her voice. The woman slowly turned.
"Ano........ Konnichiwa okaa-san......." The words had barely left Bra's lips before the woman let out a wondrous cry.
"Bra! Trunks!" cried the woman who was Trunks and Bra's much aged mother, hugging them both fiercely. "Oh Kami! You're here! You're really here!"
"Hi Mom," Trunks said, blushing slightly as Pan and Goten smirked. As the family and friends rejoiced in the reunion, a grim-faced Marron slipped out of the room and back to her mission.
(AN: Any suggestions would be helpful. Anything at all! Arigatou! Ja ne! ~Annclaire)
Chapter Three: Journey to the Past
"Hello?" Puar yelled into the empty hallway. "It's Puar, with four friends!" Three figures stepped out of the shadows, grinning.
"Puar, good to see you," one of the figures said, smiling. She was a woman in her late thirties or early forties, with graying blond hair and bright blue eyes.
"Hi Marron!" Puar chirped. "Look who Rayne found!" The woman's eyes flickered towards the other four, and she did a double take.
"Trunks? Goten? Bra? Pan?" she gasped as Trunks said incredulously, "Marron?"
"You're old!" Goten said, his eyes wide.
"You're young!" Marron said dryly. "I'm over forty, Goten. You may be forty-five in real age, but you're still the dumb twenty-five-year-old I remember."
"Hey!" Goten protested, as the others weakly laughed.
"Marron, you know these four?" one of the other figures questioned, staring at the newcomers suspiciously. He had a scowl on his deeply lined face, looking to be in his late forties.
"Of course I do, Kare!" Marron declared, hugging Bra and Pan. "These are the Four Last! Trunks, son of Prince Vegeta and Doctor Bulma! Pan, daughter of Son Gohan and Videl! Goten, son of Son Goku and Chi-Chi! Bra, daughter of Prince Vegeta and Doctor Bulma!" Both men stared in shock at the four, who grinned uncomfortably.
"Hey, Marron, we came to see my dad. Where is he sleeping?" Goten said. Marron became serious.
"I'll take you to him," she said. "Come with me."
"Marron, you know The Sleepers?" Kare gasped. "And that's them?"
"Hai, koi," Marron said absently, suddenly looking into her pockets. "And we need to get them ki concealers- Aha!" She pulled out four silver bracelets.
"Put these on," she instructed, throwing each of them one. They all snapped the bracelets on their wrists.
"Whoa," Pan exclaimed softly, as Goten whistled with admiration. Pan and the others couldn't sense any of their power levels.
"Now no one can sense you, but we can track you," Marron said, grinning slightly.
"Thanks," Bra said. "Rayne said my mom created them?"
"Doctor Bulma's created numerous important objects, including the ki concealers," the man called Kare said, a note of pride in his awed voice.
"Please, introduce us to your friends, Marron," Pan said, grinning at her best friend. To the group's surprise, Marron blushed.
"This is Willis, a guerrilla fighter," she said, motioning towards the man who hadn't spoken. He smiled shyly, his dark green eyes not meeting theirs.
"Hi," he said quietly. The shy young man looked around Goten's age.
"And this-" Marron blushed even more as she moved to stand beside Kare, who wrapped his strong arms around her waist "-is my husband, Kare Raretoma."
"Husband?" Goten yelped as Trunks's jaw dropped. Pan and Bra immediately began to squeal.
"How kawaii!" Bra cried. "Marron's got a HUSBAND!"
"Do you have any kids?" Pan asked, grinning at her now beet-red friend. "I'd love to meet them after we see Grandpa."
"We have two," Marron admitted, and laughed as Bra giggled. "A daughter named Ikara and a son named Krill."
Kare's hazel brown eyes twinkled wickedly as he added, "Ikara is just a beautiful as her mother."
"And Krill is just as handsome as his father," Marron finished with a smirk. Kare laughed.
"I'm ugly and you know it," he said, grinning into Marron's upturned face.
"Are not," she murmured, her eyes soft. "We've both just aged." Kare grinned and gave her a quick kiss.
"That's a lie and you know it," he said. "You're just as young as when I first met you." Marron laughed, then her face grew solemn.
"Want to come with us to visit Son Goku?" she asked her husband. He grinned ruefully.
"Sorry, koi," he said. "Gohan's expecting me to finish my mission up today. I'll be home late tonight. Tell the doctor I said hi." Without another word he released her and melted back into the shadows. Willis grinned bashfully at the group before following Kare. Marron turned back to them with a small grim smile.
"Let's go," she said quietly.
"Marron, about Rayne-" Puar began softly, and immediately the blonde half-human, half-android's blue eyes were upon the blue cat.
"Where IS Rayne?" the daughter of Krillin and Juhachigou demanded, her eyes now deadly serious and her lips pressed in a thin white line.
"We were heading here when someone called Dean Morris attacked us," Trunks said.
"Rayne stayed behind to give us time to get away," Pan added. Marron swore so colorfully that Goten once again stared wide-eyed at her. She hadn't known that sort of language when they had last seen each other.
"They'll have captured her by now," she said, her voice rising in rage. "Damn her! The stupid fool! She'll doom us all by playing that damned prophecy word for word! The baka!"
"Marron!" Puar squeaked anxiously. "Calm down!" Marron clenched her fists, ignoring the floating cat.
"If she dies we all die!" Marron roared, and suddenly spun and stalked off, yelling for them to follow her. The bewildered five looked at each other, shrugged, and followed her.
"I'm taking you to Doctor Bulma, and then I'm going to try and dig Rayne out of her cursed hole," Marron barked after Puar timidly asked where they were going. "Doctor Bulma will take you to see Son Goku." The group was silent as they followed the furious woman, once their closest friend, now a grown, aged, married woman they barely knew with an explosive temper.
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Rayne stared in wonder at Marron's father, long since believed dead.
"I know your daughter," she said softly.
Krillin beamed proudly. "How my little Mar-chan?"
"She's married," Rayne said, and Krillin looked shocked, "to a wonderful man and devoted rebel. They have a ten-year-old daughter and a eight-year-old son who's named after you." A look of wonder crossed his face.
"Grandchildren," he said softly. "Juhachigou and I have grandchildren."
"Senshi Krillin-sama?" Rayne asked hesitantly. When the old monk looked at her, she took a deep breath. "Why haven't the androids killed you?" To her surprise, Krillin laughed.
"They like to torture me, telling me only horrible news of my fellow comrades. The only bad news they don't tell me about is news about my friends and family. I don't know what's happened to my friends and family in fourteen years," he said, sounding both sad and relieved.
"Well, Doctor Bulma is still working on her experiments," Rayne said slowly, carefully choosing words so that she wouldn't give anything away to any unwanted listeners. "Marron and her husband Kare are well-known guerrillas. Gohan's still kicking android-ass as the guerrilla general." Krillin laughed softly. "Puar hangs out with me, Marron, and Doctor Bulma." Krillin raised an eyebrow.
"You?" he said. "How do you know some of the biggest rebels on Earth?" Rayne smiled, her eyes shadowed.
"I am one of the last of the Sirec family line," she said evenly. Krillin stared at her, frowning absently, as if trying to remember something long ago.
"Sirec? Isn't that the name Baba said during the prophecy?" he muttered, looking bewildered.
"Yes," Rayne said. "There are only three Sirec left. Cloud, Storm, and myself."
"But I remember Goku and Gohan talking about a couple called Icicle and Damson Sirec," Krillin commented, still frowning slightly.
"Our parents," Rayne said shortly, her shadowed eyes narrowing. She didn't like talking about her past. Krillin noticed the dark tone in the girl's voice, and silenced his questions.
"Hello, Weeper," a voice suddenly said from beyond the dungeon door. "I do hope you're comfortable."
"I hope you're enjoying your burns, Morris," Rayne sneered, feeling rage quickly start to creep from her heart. She tried to hold back the anger, knowing that if she could buy some time, something would come up. Krillin laughed quietly.
"You won't be laughing soon, monk," Morris threatened. "You and Sirec are to be killed tomorrow at dawn."
"Lovely," Rayne sighed, trying to attempt cheerfulness. "Nice and proper. I suppose we'll get to be hanged? Then I might get to say Nathan Hale's speech. 'I did not take up this cause for which I am dying in an idle moment-"
"Silence!" Morris roared. Rayne attempted to pout, but her swollen lips prevented it.
"But I learned that entire speech by heart!" she whined, winking at Krillin, who grinned.
"I'm sure you're dying to use it," Krillin added, and laughed at his pun. Rayne smiled.
"You could say it's been dangling from my reach for a quite a while," she replied, and the two chuckled at their lame jokes.
"You two will die screaming," Morris seethed, and stomped off while the two new friends laughed together. "I'll make sure of that."
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"Doctor," Marron said shortly as she opened a metal door.
"Marron, how many times have I told you to call me by my first name?" reminded the person who sat with his or her back facing the door. From that sentence Pan knew instantly it was woman who sat there.
"A million," Marron snapped. "Rayne's been a damned fool again."
"Don't swear," the woman said calmly. "Your parents wouldn't approve." Marron gave a harsh laugh.
"My parents are dead," she snapped. "And now Rayne's doomed us all."
"What did she do this time?" the woman sighed. From the tone of her voice, Pan got the impression that Rayne had gotten into trouble many times before.
"She's woken the Sleepers, then got herself captured," Marron said bitterly. "Why Kami chose such a baka to help save our world, I'll never understand." The woman's back straightened.
"W-Waken the Sleepers?" she said, tremble in her voice. The woman slowly turned.
"Ano........ Konnichiwa okaa-san......." The words had barely left Bra's lips before the woman let out a wondrous cry.
"Bra! Trunks!" cried the woman who was Trunks and Bra's much aged mother, hugging them both fiercely. "Oh Kami! You're here! You're really here!"
"Hi Mom," Trunks said, blushing slightly as Pan and Goten smirked. As the family and friends rejoiced in the reunion, a grim-faced Marron slipped out of the room and back to her mission.
(AN: Any suggestions would be helpful. Anything at all! Arigatou! Ja ne! ~Annclaire)