Minako and Usagi with their backs to each other as they faced their attackers. Minako kept her eyes on the man who stood in front of her. "Usagi, do something." She whispered.
The man in front or Minako snapped his fingers. "Boys, check them for valuables."
The two men who stood in front of Usagi started to come closer to them. Usagi formed her fists. "Stay away from us." She began to crouch down into her fighting stance.
The taller of the two men in front of her laughed. "Look boss, she's trying to act tough. Ha, ha, ha, ha, what can a baby do to us?" He pulled out a knife from his pocket. Usagi didn't notice it. The man kept it well hidden behind his wrist.
Usagi frowned. "We aren't babies. We are going to show you just how tough we really are."
Minako gulped. "We are? Usagi you seem to be forgetting that I can't fight yet."
It had totally slipped her mind. "I'm sorry Minako, I did. Ok, when I make my move, you try to run and hide, ok?"
"No, I'll try to help if I can." Minako never kept her eye off of the man in front of her. She didn't want to give him a chance to strike. She hoped that Usagi could run them off.
"Hurry up already. We don't have all day. After you take their things I want you to silence them." The man that was referred to as boss was serious.
' "Silence them" What does he mean by that?' Usagi didn't know what he meant by that but she didn't want to stick around to find out. "You won't touch us." Usagi turned around and pushed Minako aside and got into a fighting stance.
Minako looked up at her friend. 'What's she doing? This wasn't part of our plan. Does she think that she can take them all on by herself? She could barley take Haruka alone.' She stood up. The muggers didn't seem to notice her. They were more interested in Usagi. 'I'll wait here for a while.' She ducked behind a pile of boxes.
Usagi tried to watch both sides of her but was more concerned with the men to her left. She didn't think that the boss would do anything until his minions were down for the count. "Come on, I'm not afraid." That was a lie. Usagi's heart was beating a million miles per hour inside her little chest.
The man with the red Mohawk sneered at Usagi. "Yeah right. What can you do? The best bet you have is to run away, which won't happen." He held onto the handle of his knife.
"Well see about that." Usagi jumped for the red head with all of her energy. "Go away." She went for a punch to the stomach. He tried to jump out of the way but Usagi was too fast for him. She had gained quite a bit of speed in the last couple of days.
He doubled over with pain. He looked at his fellow mugger. "Don't just stand there Bubba, get her."
The man called Bubba leaped for Usagi. He was ready for her to jump to the right. She couldn't jump to the left because of the man she just injured. He appeared to be heading for her but was ready to turn at her first sign of movement.
Usagi did exactly what Bubba wanted her to. When she jumped to the right he quickly and swiftly pulled out his knife. He extended his arm to the right, cutting Usagi's left arm open. "Ha, ha, strike one for you missy."
Usagi fell to the ground. She hadn't anticipated that. She grabbed her arm in pain. "Oww."
Bubba saw her tail. "How interesting."
Usagi shot her attention back to Bubba who was approaching her rather slowly. She scowled at him. "You won't get away with this." She jumped back to her feet. The man with the red hair was back on his feet and had his knife pulled out. Usagi saw him too. She saw everything that she thought needed to be seen. What she didn't see, though, was what really DID need to be seen. The boss of the group. He had his gun out ready to shoot whenever Usagi became a real threat.
Both men were now coming to her. She didn't know what to do so she did what her instincts told her. She ran up to Bubba and kicked him in the nuts and hard. "Stay away from me!"
The red haired man grabbed her from behind. "I wouldn't be so confident if I were you girly."
Usagi squealed and kicked against his legs. "Let me go you bully!" She grabbed his hand and bit it as hard as she could. She could feel his flesh rip between her teeth but she didn't care. She had to defend herself. Her arm throbbed with pain and she was loosing sensation in it.
The red haired man threw Usagi down on the ground. "Oww, you stupid brat." He kicked her as she tried to get up and then stepped on her. He dug his foot into her back.
"Aahh!" Usagi now understood what her father met by her enemies won't play fair.
Bubba walked up to Usagi as she was being pinned down. He knelt in front of her. "You know, your friend is really lucky that she got out of here." He swung the knife in front of her face. That was all she could concentrate on. "Now, what should we do to you? We could kill you easily, or we could kill you the hard way. The painful way. The fun way. " He turned back to his boss. "What do you think?"
His boss just laughed and pointed the gun at Usagi's face.
Minako looked around for a useful weapon. All she could find were papers. Useless papers. She started digging around for something she could use. She looked and looked until she finally found something.
"You have been the first to strike against us kid." He cocked the gun. "We can't let you spread word of this little incident."
Usagi closed her eyes and began to cry. She thought of her father. 'Daddy, why aren't you here to help me? I need you!' Images of her family and friends began to fill into her head. So this was it. This is how it was going to end. At least she save Minako's life.
"I WON'T LET YOU HURT UASGI!" Minako jumped out from her hiding place and hit the muggers' boss in the back of the head with a large metal pole. He fell to the ground and started to bleed. Minako stared at the man. "Oh my god."
Usagi smiled. "Minako, you saved me!"
Minako looked at her friend. She ran to the man who had his foot on her and pushed him back. She pulled Usagi up off of the ground and the two ran out of the alley onto the next street. Bubba followed them out. Usagi looked behind them. "Run faster Minako. He's gaining on us." They picked up the pace and ran faster. It was a lot easier for Usagi to run now with all of that adrenaline rushing through her veins.
"Usagi, take him out."
"I can't!" Usagi was too scared. She wasn't ready for this kind of fight.
"Yes you can."
Usagi stopped running and turned around to Bubba who stopped too. She needed to fight. It was the only way to get rid of him. She pictured Haruka's face on him. She thought about her Dragon Ball. She thought about her nickname, "Monkey Girl", she thought about all of her classmates laughing at her. "NO! I WON'T RUN ANYMORE!" She was tired of being treated like trash by others. It was time for her to take a stand and defend herself. Usagi was now more furious than ever.
Bubba starred at Usagi. "I'm getting bad vibes from that girl."
Minako stared at Usagi in amazement. She had never seen her so angry.
Usagi lifted her head high and lowered the rest of her body. "You will pay." She frowned at Bubba. She charged at him. "I WILL MAKE YOU PAY!"
"Shit, she's freaking me out!" Bubba got his knife ready again.
Usagi continued to pursue Bubba as he readied himself. Right before she got to him she jumped in the air and extended her leg. Her foot rammed into his collar bone area.
He was thrown back to the ground. "Why you little." He threw his knife at Usagi. She had already turned around and had her back to him. The knife inserted itself into her leg.
Usagi fell to the ground as Bubba got up and ran away. Minako ran to Usagi and knelt by her. "Are you ok Usagi?"
Usagi touched her fingers to the cold metal blade that stuck out of her leg. She lay her head to the ground. "No! It's hurts so much. I want my daddy."
"What are we going to do about your leg?" Minako examined it closely. It looked like it was in pretty deep.
"Do you want me to pull it out?"
Usagi opened her eyes and looked at Minako. "Are you crazy? I don't want you to touch the thing." They both stared at each other. They knew exactly what one another was thinking. Neither of them wanted to ever go through something like that alone again. It was traumatizing and both of them were frightened.
Usagi lifted her head so she could see her friend better. "Thank you Minako. You saved my life back there. How can I ever repay you?"
Minako thought for a moment and came up with the perfect thing. "You can keep being my friend."
Usagi kept smiling. "I think I can manage that." She looked down at her arm. A long wound extended from her shoulder to the top of her fore arm from where the mugger's knife cut her. "Oww. That really hurts." Usagi's back really hurt too. "I guess I'm not that good of a fighter after all."
"What ever Usagi. You keep running your mouth like that. You were a great fighter. I never could have hurt them like you did."
"No, I turned my back on the enemy. Daddy will yell at me for that one. I just know it. I let him down again. I can't do anything right. I can't even fight right."
Minako felt sorry for her. "Don't beat yourself up over it Usagi. Do you think your dad will come looking for you?"
Usagi hadn't thought of that. "I hope so. I can't move my leg. And no, you still are not touching this knife." She cringed as a deep pain ran up her leg into her upper body. "I hope daddy gets here soon."
Minako thought of something from TV that she had been watching about first aid. "You know, if you leave that in it will get infected."
Usagi hadn't thought of that either. She hoped that she wouldn't regret what she was about to say. "Ok, take it out carefully."
Minako nodded. "Ok." She grabbed onto the handle. "Here it goes. Don't move." She began to slide it out of Usagi's leg as slowly and gently as possible. Usagi wailed as the pain grew. "I'm sorry Usagi." Minako hated to hurt her like this.
Usagi watched as the knife left her skin. She could feel it coming out all the way. She watched Minako take the red ribbon out of her hair and tie it around her leg. "Thank you Minako."
Minako smiled. "No problem. Can you move it?"
Usagi tried. "No." She didn't know what to do. "Wait a minute. Why don't we take the flying Nimbus to my daddy?"
"Good idea."
~*~*~
Goku, Bulma, and Vejita believe it or not sat on one of the many decks at Capsule Corp.
"So Goku, when are you going to go get Usagi?" Bulma sipped her lemonade.
"I was thinking about going and getting her now."
"I don't think you have to do that Kakkorotto." Vejita saw Usagi and Minako flying in on a yellow cloud.
Goku stood up and looked in the direction that Vejita was looking. He saw the flying Nimbus. He was disappointed in Usagi. He thought she was better than a cheater. "I can't believe it."
Bulma walked up to Goku. "I think you have some work to do Goku. Wasn't the point to you leaving her in the city for survival?"
Goku nodded. "Yes, but she has probably been riding around on Nimbus all day. How does she expect me to train her effectively if she does things like this?" He noticed Minako on the cloud with his daughter.
"Well it looks like you have a rebel on your hands Kakkorotto. Doesn't do what she's told." Vejita stood up and left the deck. "Tell me when she's really ready to learn how to fight."
Goku glared at Vejita. Usagi was not a rebel. She usually had reasons for doing the things that she did. Why else would she bring Minako with her? Nimbus landed on the ground below the deck and Minako hopped off. Goku jumped off the deck. He took one look at his daughter and could have killed himself. "Usagi! What happened?"
"Daddy, we ran into these guys who tried to silence us. What ever that is."
'Silence! They tried to kill 5-year old kids?' He scooped his daughter off of the cloud. He eyed her leg. "Usagi, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you out there alone. You weren't ready."
"No, it's my fault. I turned my back to the enemy."
"No, if I hadn't had left you out there the whole thing wouldn't have happened. Don't worry, I can fix you right up."
Usagi groaned. "Not the peroxide again." She looked up at her father sympathetically.
"No, something more effective." He set her back on Nimbus and pulled a bag off of his belt. He dug his hand into it and pulled out a Senzu bean. "Here you go. It's my last one." Goku handed the bean to his daughter.
"Thanks daddy." She consumed the Senzu bean and began to feel her leg again.
Goku looked at Minako. "Hello Minako. How have you been?"
"Hi Mr. Son. I've been better." Minako wasn't sure how to ask for training from Goku.
"So girls, please enlighten me with the story of how you got beat up so badly."
Usagi and Minako looked at each other and inhaled a huge breath of air. Usagi decided that SHE would tell him. After all, he was her father. "Well you see, after I couldn't see you anymore, I went down this street….." Usagi told her father everything that happened.
He couldn't believe it. He left her out there and she was hurt badly. He scolded himself for being so irresponsible. "Usagi, I'm very proud of you. You did well today."
Usagi rolled her eyes. "Don't try to make me feel better daddy. I can't fight. I will never be as strong as you are." Her eyes began to water. She so wanted to be like her father.
Goku watched her. For someone who wanted to be a fighter, she sure did act like a baby. But that was ok. He liked her that way. He didn't want to force her to grow up. He wanted her to have a longer childhood then his sons had. "You will be, Usagi. You are already very strong. You held up against those guys who tried to kill you. You survived. You have taken your first step to becoming strong." Goku hopped that his words made Usagi feel better.
Usagi sat on Nimbus and thought about what her father had just told her. Maybe he was right. Maybe she really would become strong. She looked up at him. "So are we still training today?"
Goku smiled. There was the spirit he knew she had. "Of course. You think I would let you get off that easily today? You have to be out of your mind to think that."
Usagi jumped off Nimbus. "Cool!" She looked at Minako and remembered why she had come along with them. "Hey daddy. Can Minako train with us too?"
Goku was startled by his daughter's question. "Is it ok with her parents." Usagi nodded with a smile. "Then ok. I'll start her today then while you are training with Vejita."
Usagi froze in place. "Train with…Vejita?"
Goku didn't understand what the problem was. "Yes, you will be training with Vejita today, with your new weighted cloths."
"But Vejita will kill me. I can't train with him. And weighted cloths? Are you crazy?" This was all more than Usagi had bargained for.
Goku laughed at his daughter. "Come on Usagi. Vejita is not going to kill you. He's just rougher on you than I am. You need that. And as for the weighted clothing, that will enable you to become strong."
Usagi didn't mind the weights as much as she minded the training with Vejita. "If I die, I'm going to come back and haunt you." Usagi grinned at her father.
Goku smiled. "Alright. It's a deal."
Bulma walked out of the door that led to the patio with a capsule. She handed Usagi a capsule. "Here you go sweetie. This is your new and improved training GI."
Usagi grabbed the capsule from Bulma. "Thanks Bulma."
Bulma got serious again. "Oh yeah, a bit of advice. When training with Vejita, make sure you don't turn your back on him."
Goku glared at Bulma. He didn't want her to scare Usagi. "Shut up Bulma."
Bulma stuck her tongue out at Goku. "What do you know Goku?" She turned around and walked back into the building.
Goku looked down at Minako who was watching every move he made. "So you want to learn how to fight too huh?" Minako nodded. "Well let's go then." He turned back to Usagi. "I'll be back for you later. Behave."
"Ok daddy." She waved to her father as he and Minako left on Nimbus. Usagi was left alone with her thoughts. "Well, I guess I should change."
~*~*~
Vejita waited for Usagi in the main courtyard of Capsule. Corp. "Where is that blasted girl?"
"Right here." Usagi walked up to Vejita. Or at least she tried to. It was more like a crawl.
Vejita snorted and crossed his arms. "You are a disgrace to the Saiyan race. Look at you. You can't even handle some stupid weights."
Usagi tried to stand up. Her outfit was basically the same as other one only weighted. Her legs were weighted with metal boots that weighed about 20 pounds each. Her main outfit weighed about 30 pounds and she had 10-pound wristbands. Her father would raise the weights as she got stronger. "The weights are too heavy."
"Nonsense girl. You just aren't trying hard enough." Vejita picked up Usagi by the back of her GI and jumped into the air.
"Where are you taking me Vejita?" Usagi looked at the city below her as Vejita began to fly.
He looked down at her and snorted. "Don't ask so many damn questions girl." 'Damn Kakkorotto has some annoying brats.'
~*~*~
When Vejita reached his destination he stopped and hovered in the air. Usagi looked around. Her legs felt as though they were going to fall off. They were being heavily pulled down by the weights that she wore on them. She looked up at Vejita who didn't seem to be doing anything. "Vejita, why are we just sitting here?"
Vejita knew what he was doing. "I'm beginning your training girl." Usagi got a puzzled look on her face. He grinned at her. He loved doing this to Goku's kids. He opened his hands and let Usagi fall to the ground.
Usagi screamed as she watched the ground come close to her at a horribly fast speed. "No!" She put her hands in front of her to break her fall. Vejita kicked her back up into the air from beneath her. She wailed. "What was that for?"
"You will do this the right way!" Vejita watched to make sure she didn't fall the wrong way, as he put it. If she didn't fall just right she would break her bones. Usagi flew back high into the air. She closed her eyes. Was this his idea of a joke or was he trying to teach her something. She put her hands back in front of her body. Vejita saw this and hit her back into the air again. "I said do it right!"
She didn't understand. "What are you talking about?"
Vejita stared up at Usagi from a lower altitude. "Falling."
"There's a special way to fall?" Usagi thought he was crazy. Her father never told her about a special way to fall. She made sure that she didn't put her hands in front of her. She tried to think of what kind of way was the correct way to fall.
"Hurry up!"
"I'm trying." Usagi changed positions as she fell back down to the ground. She managed to lift her upper body up and put her feet facing down.
Vejita smiled to himself. "She learns fast. She truly is a Saiyan. Too bad she has to be Kakkorotto's brat."
Usagi's speed increased when she changed positions. She wasn't pushing against the air as much as she had when she was going front body first.
Vejita kept his eye on Usagi. He wanted to make sure that she wasn't going to change positions. "Don't be tense. Relax your muscles!"
Usagi could barely make out what Vejita was trying to tell her as the air blew past her ears. She complied with what she said and relaxed herself. She landed on the ground feet first. Since she relaxed her muscles, her legs folded beneath her and her body was pushed forward. She quickly reacted and caught herself with her hands. Now she was just crouching. She stood up. "Wow, that really works."
Vejita smirked. "Obviously. Everyone does it." He crossed his arms. "Stand up girl."
That may take some work. Usagi still wasn't used to her new fighting gear. Tried lifting her body with her legs. She struggled with it for a couple of minutes and then fell over. "It's too heavy."
Vejita glared at her. "It's not too heavy. Now hurry up. We have things that we need to do."
Usagi struggled to sit up. When she finally accomplished that she grabbed her legs, which sat straight out in front of her. She lifted her right leg and sat her foot flat on the ground. She performed the same action on her left leg.
Vejita smirked. "What do you think you are doing?"
Usagi looked up. "I'm trying to stand up."
"Well you aren't going to stand up like that."
Usagi ignored him. What did he know? Now her feet were planted on the ground. All that was left to do was left to do was stand up. That was the hard part. She didn't know how she was going to lift her body up off of the ground. She used the ground as leverage. She tried to push herself off of the ground with her hands. She almost got up but fell. She looked up at Vejita. He was just sneering at her.
"How incompetent." He lifted her to her feet and held her there. "Now, before we go on lets see if you can even stand with your weights. Stand for as long as you can." Vejita let go and Usagi was on her own.
She swayed back and forth. Her body demanded that she fall. The weight was more than she could handle. At least she thought it was. She ached already. She wanted to drop but knew that if she did Vejita wouldn't like it. She stood up for about four and a half minutes before she lost her balance and fell to the ground.
"Get back up."
Usagi looked at Vejita. She knew it wouldn't happen. She was too tired form just standing. She tried lifting her leg. To her surprise it worked. She lifted it a little bit off of the ground. "Yay! I did it."
"Not yet you didn't. Now stop slacking off and stand up for god's sake." Vejita was getting disgusted.
Usagi nodded. She lifted her other leg too. Then she pushed herself into a crouching position. Now she was in the same position as she was when she first started. "Ok, here it goes." She pushed with all of her strength in her legs. She began to rise, very slowly.
Vejita was amazed at Usagi's strength. He had never seen a child of her age take to weights so easily. Yeah she was having trouble but that was to be expected. She was doing great. Goku was right. She was quite strong. "So you finally decided to stand up?"
Usagi didn't pay any attention to him. She just concentrated on standing up. She was getting tired but was not about to give up. She couldn't stop now. She had come so far. She pushed herself almost to exhaustion. She finally got all the way up. "I did it? I did it! Yay! I'm so happy. I finally did it!" Usagi nearly fell down but caught herself. "Whoops better pay attention to what I'm doing."
"Are you ready to move on now?" Vejita was bored.
Usagi diverted her attention to Vejita. "What? There's more? I can hardly stand up and I'm tired. Please let me rest a little bit." Usagi swayed. She had bruises forming from where Vejita hit her.
Vejita frowned. "You are not a baby, kid. You don't need to rest."
"But…"
Before Usagi could finish what she was saying Vejita's fist was in her stomach. She fell back down to the ground. "I said no."
Usagi had no energy left to stand up. She tried but it was no use. Her energy for the day was gone. She looked up in the sky and saw her father flying to them. "Daddy." She sat on the ground with her legs in front of her.
Goku landed and looked at his daughter. "You look tired."
"I am, these weights are REALLY heavy." She looked up in the sky. It was getting late. The sun was already setting.
"They are supposed to be. That's one of the most effective ways to get strong."
"Kakkorotto, teach your brat some discipline. She's not serious enough. She acts more like a kid then a fighter." Vejita jumped in the air and got ready to leave.
"Vejita, she is a kid. She doesn't have to act like an adult to be a fighter." Goku walked over to Usagi.
"That's where she takes after you." Vejita left with those words being said.
Usagi didn't understand. She didn't understand most things. "I don't act like a fighter?"
"You act like you and that's all that counts. Promise me that you will never change." He picked Usagi up.
"I promise. Where's Minako?" Usagi leaned into his chest and closed her eyes.
"I took her home. She learned a lot today. She's strong." 'She was really strong for a human.' Usagi wrapped her golden brown tail around her father's arm while he called for Nimbus. He looked at Usagi who was already asleep. "You have had a long day my little Usagi. Go ahead and sleep."
(There see, no cliffhangers this time. LOL! Ok, that's it for this chapter. Is it good or bad? Please review. Thank you. ^_^)
The man in front or Minako snapped his fingers. "Boys, check them for valuables."
The two men who stood in front of Usagi started to come closer to them. Usagi formed her fists. "Stay away from us." She began to crouch down into her fighting stance.
The taller of the two men in front of her laughed. "Look boss, she's trying to act tough. Ha, ha, ha, ha, what can a baby do to us?" He pulled out a knife from his pocket. Usagi didn't notice it. The man kept it well hidden behind his wrist.
Usagi frowned. "We aren't babies. We are going to show you just how tough we really are."
Minako gulped. "We are? Usagi you seem to be forgetting that I can't fight yet."
It had totally slipped her mind. "I'm sorry Minako, I did. Ok, when I make my move, you try to run and hide, ok?"
"No, I'll try to help if I can." Minako never kept her eye off of the man in front of her. She didn't want to give him a chance to strike. She hoped that Usagi could run them off.
"Hurry up already. We don't have all day. After you take their things I want you to silence them." The man that was referred to as boss was serious.
' "Silence them" What does he mean by that?' Usagi didn't know what he meant by that but she didn't want to stick around to find out. "You won't touch us." Usagi turned around and pushed Minako aside and got into a fighting stance.
Minako looked up at her friend. 'What's she doing? This wasn't part of our plan. Does she think that she can take them all on by herself? She could barley take Haruka alone.' She stood up. The muggers didn't seem to notice her. They were more interested in Usagi. 'I'll wait here for a while.' She ducked behind a pile of boxes.
Usagi tried to watch both sides of her but was more concerned with the men to her left. She didn't think that the boss would do anything until his minions were down for the count. "Come on, I'm not afraid." That was a lie. Usagi's heart was beating a million miles per hour inside her little chest.
The man with the red Mohawk sneered at Usagi. "Yeah right. What can you do? The best bet you have is to run away, which won't happen." He held onto the handle of his knife.
"Well see about that." Usagi jumped for the red head with all of her energy. "Go away." She went for a punch to the stomach. He tried to jump out of the way but Usagi was too fast for him. She had gained quite a bit of speed in the last couple of days.
He doubled over with pain. He looked at his fellow mugger. "Don't just stand there Bubba, get her."
The man called Bubba leaped for Usagi. He was ready for her to jump to the right. She couldn't jump to the left because of the man she just injured. He appeared to be heading for her but was ready to turn at her first sign of movement.
Usagi did exactly what Bubba wanted her to. When she jumped to the right he quickly and swiftly pulled out his knife. He extended his arm to the right, cutting Usagi's left arm open. "Ha, ha, strike one for you missy."
Usagi fell to the ground. She hadn't anticipated that. She grabbed her arm in pain. "Oww."
Bubba saw her tail. "How interesting."
Usagi shot her attention back to Bubba who was approaching her rather slowly. She scowled at him. "You won't get away with this." She jumped back to her feet. The man with the red hair was back on his feet and had his knife pulled out. Usagi saw him too. She saw everything that she thought needed to be seen. What she didn't see, though, was what really DID need to be seen. The boss of the group. He had his gun out ready to shoot whenever Usagi became a real threat.
Both men were now coming to her. She didn't know what to do so she did what her instincts told her. She ran up to Bubba and kicked him in the nuts and hard. "Stay away from me!"
The red haired man grabbed her from behind. "I wouldn't be so confident if I were you girly."
Usagi squealed and kicked against his legs. "Let me go you bully!" She grabbed his hand and bit it as hard as she could. She could feel his flesh rip between her teeth but she didn't care. She had to defend herself. Her arm throbbed with pain and she was loosing sensation in it.
The red haired man threw Usagi down on the ground. "Oww, you stupid brat." He kicked her as she tried to get up and then stepped on her. He dug his foot into her back.
"Aahh!" Usagi now understood what her father met by her enemies won't play fair.
Bubba walked up to Usagi as she was being pinned down. He knelt in front of her. "You know, your friend is really lucky that she got out of here." He swung the knife in front of her face. That was all she could concentrate on. "Now, what should we do to you? We could kill you easily, or we could kill you the hard way. The painful way. The fun way. " He turned back to his boss. "What do you think?"
His boss just laughed and pointed the gun at Usagi's face.
Minako looked around for a useful weapon. All she could find were papers. Useless papers. She started digging around for something she could use. She looked and looked until she finally found something.
"You have been the first to strike against us kid." He cocked the gun. "We can't let you spread word of this little incident."
Usagi closed her eyes and began to cry. She thought of her father. 'Daddy, why aren't you here to help me? I need you!' Images of her family and friends began to fill into her head. So this was it. This is how it was going to end. At least she save Minako's life.
"I WON'T LET YOU HURT UASGI!" Minako jumped out from her hiding place and hit the muggers' boss in the back of the head with a large metal pole. He fell to the ground and started to bleed. Minako stared at the man. "Oh my god."
Usagi smiled. "Minako, you saved me!"
Minako looked at her friend. She ran to the man who had his foot on her and pushed him back. She pulled Usagi up off of the ground and the two ran out of the alley onto the next street. Bubba followed them out. Usagi looked behind them. "Run faster Minako. He's gaining on us." They picked up the pace and ran faster. It was a lot easier for Usagi to run now with all of that adrenaline rushing through her veins.
"Usagi, take him out."
"I can't!" Usagi was too scared. She wasn't ready for this kind of fight.
"Yes you can."
Usagi stopped running and turned around to Bubba who stopped too. She needed to fight. It was the only way to get rid of him. She pictured Haruka's face on him. She thought about her Dragon Ball. She thought about her nickname, "Monkey Girl", she thought about all of her classmates laughing at her. "NO! I WON'T RUN ANYMORE!" She was tired of being treated like trash by others. It was time for her to take a stand and defend herself. Usagi was now more furious than ever.
Bubba starred at Usagi. "I'm getting bad vibes from that girl."
Minako stared at Usagi in amazement. She had never seen her so angry.
Usagi lifted her head high and lowered the rest of her body. "You will pay." She frowned at Bubba. She charged at him. "I WILL MAKE YOU PAY!"
"Shit, she's freaking me out!" Bubba got his knife ready again.
Usagi continued to pursue Bubba as he readied himself. Right before she got to him she jumped in the air and extended her leg. Her foot rammed into his collar bone area.
He was thrown back to the ground. "Why you little." He threw his knife at Usagi. She had already turned around and had her back to him. The knife inserted itself into her leg.
Usagi fell to the ground as Bubba got up and ran away. Minako ran to Usagi and knelt by her. "Are you ok Usagi?"
Usagi touched her fingers to the cold metal blade that stuck out of her leg. She lay her head to the ground. "No! It's hurts so much. I want my daddy."
"What are we going to do about your leg?" Minako examined it closely. It looked like it was in pretty deep.
"Do you want me to pull it out?"
Usagi opened her eyes and looked at Minako. "Are you crazy? I don't want you to touch the thing." They both stared at each other. They knew exactly what one another was thinking. Neither of them wanted to ever go through something like that alone again. It was traumatizing and both of them were frightened.
Usagi lifted her head so she could see her friend better. "Thank you Minako. You saved my life back there. How can I ever repay you?"
Minako thought for a moment and came up with the perfect thing. "You can keep being my friend."
Usagi kept smiling. "I think I can manage that." She looked down at her arm. A long wound extended from her shoulder to the top of her fore arm from where the mugger's knife cut her. "Oww. That really hurts." Usagi's back really hurt too. "I guess I'm not that good of a fighter after all."
"What ever Usagi. You keep running your mouth like that. You were a great fighter. I never could have hurt them like you did."
"No, I turned my back on the enemy. Daddy will yell at me for that one. I just know it. I let him down again. I can't do anything right. I can't even fight right."
Minako felt sorry for her. "Don't beat yourself up over it Usagi. Do you think your dad will come looking for you?"
Usagi hadn't thought of that. "I hope so. I can't move my leg. And no, you still are not touching this knife." She cringed as a deep pain ran up her leg into her upper body. "I hope daddy gets here soon."
Minako thought of something from TV that she had been watching about first aid. "You know, if you leave that in it will get infected."
Usagi hadn't thought of that either. She hoped that she wouldn't regret what she was about to say. "Ok, take it out carefully."
Minako nodded. "Ok." She grabbed onto the handle. "Here it goes. Don't move." She began to slide it out of Usagi's leg as slowly and gently as possible. Usagi wailed as the pain grew. "I'm sorry Usagi." Minako hated to hurt her like this.
Usagi watched as the knife left her skin. She could feel it coming out all the way. She watched Minako take the red ribbon out of her hair and tie it around her leg. "Thank you Minako."
Minako smiled. "No problem. Can you move it?"
Usagi tried. "No." She didn't know what to do. "Wait a minute. Why don't we take the flying Nimbus to my daddy?"
"Good idea."
~*~*~
Goku, Bulma, and Vejita believe it or not sat on one of the many decks at Capsule Corp.
"So Goku, when are you going to go get Usagi?" Bulma sipped her lemonade.
"I was thinking about going and getting her now."
"I don't think you have to do that Kakkorotto." Vejita saw Usagi and Minako flying in on a yellow cloud.
Goku stood up and looked in the direction that Vejita was looking. He saw the flying Nimbus. He was disappointed in Usagi. He thought she was better than a cheater. "I can't believe it."
Bulma walked up to Goku. "I think you have some work to do Goku. Wasn't the point to you leaving her in the city for survival?"
Goku nodded. "Yes, but she has probably been riding around on Nimbus all day. How does she expect me to train her effectively if she does things like this?" He noticed Minako on the cloud with his daughter.
"Well it looks like you have a rebel on your hands Kakkorotto. Doesn't do what she's told." Vejita stood up and left the deck. "Tell me when she's really ready to learn how to fight."
Goku glared at Vejita. Usagi was not a rebel. She usually had reasons for doing the things that she did. Why else would she bring Minako with her? Nimbus landed on the ground below the deck and Minako hopped off. Goku jumped off the deck. He took one look at his daughter and could have killed himself. "Usagi! What happened?"
"Daddy, we ran into these guys who tried to silence us. What ever that is."
'Silence! They tried to kill 5-year old kids?' He scooped his daughter off of the cloud. He eyed her leg. "Usagi, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you out there alone. You weren't ready."
"No, it's my fault. I turned my back to the enemy."
"No, if I hadn't had left you out there the whole thing wouldn't have happened. Don't worry, I can fix you right up."
Usagi groaned. "Not the peroxide again." She looked up at her father sympathetically.
"No, something more effective." He set her back on Nimbus and pulled a bag off of his belt. He dug his hand into it and pulled out a Senzu bean. "Here you go. It's my last one." Goku handed the bean to his daughter.
"Thanks daddy." She consumed the Senzu bean and began to feel her leg again.
Goku looked at Minako. "Hello Minako. How have you been?"
"Hi Mr. Son. I've been better." Minako wasn't sure how to ask for training from Goku.
"So girls, please enlighten me with the story of how you got beat up so badly."
Usagi and Minako looked at each other and inhaled a huge breath of air. Usagi decided that SHE would tell him. After all, he was her father. "Well you see, after I couldn't see you anymore, I went down this street….." Usagi told her father everything that happened.
He couldn't believe it. He left her out there and she was hurt badly. He scolded himself for being so irresponsible. "Usagi, I'm very proud of you. You did well today."
Usagi rolled her eyes. "Don't try to make me feel better daddy. I can't fight. I will never be as strong as you are." Her eyes began to water. She so wanted to be like her father.
Goku watched her. For someone who wanted to be a fighter, she sure did act like a baby. But that was ok. He liked her that way. He didn't want to force her to grow up. He wanted her to have a longer childhood then his sons had. "You will be, Usagi. You are already very strong. You held up against those guys who tried to kill you. You survived. You have taken your first step to becoming strong." Goku hopped that his words made Usagi feel better.
Usagi sat on Nimbus and thought about what her father had just told her. Maybe he was right. Maybe she really would become strong. She looked up at him. "So are we still training today?"
Goku smiled. There was the spirit he knew she had. "Of course. You think I would let you get off that easily today? You have to be out of your mind to think that."
Usagi jumped off Nimbus. "Cool!" She looked at Minako and remembered why she had come along with them. "Hey daddy. Can Minako train with us too?"
Goku was startled by his daughter's question. "Is it ok with her parents." Usagi nodded with a smile. "Then ok. I'll start her today then while you are training with Vejita."
Usagi froze in place. "Train with…Vejita?"
Goku didn't understand what the problem was. "Yes, you will be training with Vejita today, with your new weighted cloths."
"But Vejita will kill me. I can't train with him. And weighted cloths? Are you crazy?" This was all more than Usagi had bargained for.
Goku laughed at his daughter. "Come on Usagi. Vejita is not going to kill you. He's just rougher on you than I am. You need that. And as for the weighted clothing, that will enable you to become strong."
Usagi didn't mind the weights as much as she minded the training with Vejita. "If I die, I'm going to come back and haunt you." Usagi grinned at her father.
Goku smiled. "Alright. It's a deal."
Bulma walked out of the door that led to the patio with a capsule. She handed Usagi a capsule. "Here you go sweetie. This is your new and improved training GI."
Usagi grabbed the capsule from Bulma. "Thanks Bulma."
Bulma got serious again. "Oh yeah, a bit of advice. When training with Vejita, make sure you don't turn your back on him."
Goku glared at Bulma. He didn't want her to scare Usagi. "Shut up Bulma."
Bulma stuck her tongue out at Goku. "What do you know Goku?" She turned around and walked back into the building.
Goku looked down at Minako who was watching every move he made. "So you want to learn how to fight too huh?" Minako nodded. "Well let's go then." He turned back to Usagi. "I'll be back for you later. Behave."
"Ok daddy." She waved to her father as he and Minako left on Nimbus. Usagi was left alone with her thoughts. "Well, I guess I should change."
~*~*~
Vejita waited for Usagi in the main courtyard of Capsule. Corp. "Where is that blasted girl?"
"Right here." Usagi walked up to Vejita. Or at least she tried to. It was more like a crawl.
Vejita snorted and crossed his arms. "You are a disgrace to the Saiyan race. Look at you. You can't even handle some stupid weights."
Usagi tried to stand up. Her outfit was basically the same as other one only weighted. Her legs were weighted with metal boots that weighed about 20 pounds each. Her main outfit weighed about 30 pounds and she had 10-pound wristbands. Her father would raise the weights as she got stronger. "The weights are too heavy."
"Nonsense girl. You just aren't trying hard enough." Vejita picked up Usagi by the back of her GI and jumped into the air.
"Where are you taking me Vejita?" Usagi looked at the city below her as Vejita began to fly.
He looked down at her and snorted. "Don't ask so many damn questions girl." 'Damn Kakkorotto has some annoying brats.'
~*~*~
When Vejita reached his destination he stopped and hovered in the air. Usagi looked around. Her legs felt as though they were going to fall off. They were being heavily pulled down by the weights that she wore on them. She looked up at Vejita who didn't seem to be doing anything. "Vejita, why are we just sitting here?"
Vejita knew what he was doing. "I'm beginning your training girl." Usagi got a puzzled look on her face. He grinned at her. He loved doing this to Goku's kids. He opened his hands and let Usagi fall to the ground.
Usagi screamed as she watched the ground come close to her at a horribly fast speed. "No!" She put her hands in front of her to break her fall. Vejita kicked her back up into the air from beneath her. She wailed. "What was that for?"
"You will do this the right way!" Vejita watched to make sure she didn't fall the wrong way, as he put it. If she didn't fall just right she would break her bones. Usagi flew back high into the air. She closed her eyes. Was this his idea of a joke or was he trying to teach her something. She put her hands back in front of her body. Vejita saw this and hit her back into the air again. "I said do it right!"
She didn't understand. "What are you talking about?"
Vejita stared up at Usagi from a lower altitude. "Falling."
"There's a special way to fall?" Usagi thought he was crazy. Her father never told her about a special way to fall. She made sure that she didn't put her hands in front of her. She tried to think of what kind of way was the correct way to fall.
"Hurry up!"
"I'm trying." Usagi changed positions as she fell back down to the ground. She managed to lift her upper body up and put her feet facing down.
Vejita smiled to himself. "She learns fast. She truly is a Saiyan. Too bad she has to be Kakkorotto's brat."
Usagi's speed increased when she changed positions. She wasn't pushing against the air as much as she had when she was going front body first.
Vejita kept his eye on Usagi. He wanted to make sure that she wasn't going to change positions. "Don't be tense. Relax your muscles!"
Usagi could barely make out what Vejita was trying to tell her as the air blew past her ears. She complied with what she said and relaxed herself. She landed on the ground feet first. Since she relaxed her muscles, her legs folded beneath her and her body was pushed forward. She quickly reacted and caught herself with her hands. Now she was just crouching. She stood up. "Wow, that really works."
Vejita smirked. "Obviously. Everyone does it." He crossed his arms. "Stand up girl."
That may take some work. Usagi still wasn't used to her new fighting gear. Tried lifting her body with her legs. She struggled with it for a couple of minutes and then fell over. "It's too heavy."
Vejita glared at her. "It's not too heavy. Now hurry up. We have things that we need to do."
Usagi struggled to sit up. When she finally accomplished that she grabbed her legs, which sat straight out in front of her. She lifted her right leg and sat her foot flat on the ground. She performed the same action on her left leg.
Vejita smirked. "What do you think you are doing?"
Usagi looked up. "I'm trying to stand up."
"Well you aren't going to stand up like that."
Usagi ignored him. What did he know? Now her feet were planted on the ground. All that was left to do was left to do was stand up. That was the hard part. She didn't know how she was going to lift her body up off of the ground. She used the ground as leverage. She tried to push herself off of the ground with her hands. She almost got up but fell. She looked up at Vejita. He was just sneering at her.
"How incompetent." He lifted her to her feet and held her there. "Now, before we go on lets see if you can even stand with your weights. Stand for as long as you can." Vejita let go and Usagi was on her own.
She swayed back and forth. Her body demanded that she fall. The weight was more than she could handle. At least she thought it was. She ached already. She wanted to drop but knew that if she did Vejita wouldn't like it. She stood up for about four and a half minutes before she lost her balance and fell to the ground.
"Get back up."
Usagi looked at Vejita. She knew it wouldn't happen. She was too tired form just standing. She tried lifting her leg. To her surprise it worked. She lifted it a little bit off of the ground. "Yay! I did it."
"Not yet you didn't. Now stop slacking off and stand up for god's sake." Vejita was getting disgusted.
Usagi nodded. She lifted her other leg too. Then she pushed herself into a crouching position. Now she was in the same position as she was when she first started. "Ok, here it goes." She pushed with all of her strength in her legs. She began to rise, very slowly.
Vejita was amazed at Usagi's strength. He had never seen a child of her age take to weights so easily. Yeah she was having trouble but that was to be expected. She was doing great. Goku was right. She was quite strong. "So you finally decided to stand up?"
Usagi didn't pay any attention to him. She just concentrated on standing up. She was getting tired but was not about to give up. She couldn't stop now. She had come so far. She pushed herself almost to exhaustion. She finally got all the way up. "I did it? I did it! Yay! I'm so happy. I finally did it!" Usagi nearly fell down but caught herself. "Whoops better pay attention to what I'm doing."
"Are you ready to move on now?" Vejita was bored.
Usagi diverted her attention to Vejita. "What? There's more? I can hardly stand up and I'm tired. Please let me rest a little bit." Usagi swayed. She had bruises forming from where Vejita hit her.
Vejita frowned. "You are not a baby, kid. You don't need to rest."
"But…"
Before Usagi could finish what she was saying Vejita's fist was in her stomach. She fell back down to the ground. "I said no."
Usagi had no energy left to stand up. She tried but it was no use. Her energy for the day was gone. She looked up in the sky and saw her father flying to them. "Daddy." She sat on the ground with her legs in front of her.
Goku landed and looked at his daughter. "You look tired."
"I am, these weights are REALLY heavy." She looked up in the sky. It was getting late. The sun was already setting.
"They are supposed to be. That's one of the most effective ways to get strong."
"Kakkorotto, teach your brat some discipline. She's not serious enough. She acts more like a kid then a fighter." Vejita jumped in the air and got ready to leave.
"Vejita, she is a kid. She doesn't have to act like an adult to be a fighter." Goku walked over to Usagi.
"That's where she takes after you." Vejita left with those words being said.
Usagi didn't understand. She didn't understand most things. "I don't act like a fighter?"
"You act like you and that's all that counts. Promise me that you will never change." He picked Usagi up.
"I promise. Where's Minako?" Usagi leaned into his chest and closed her eyes.
"I took her home. She learned a lot today. She's strong." 'She was really strong for a human.' Usagi wrapped her golden brown tail around her father's arm while he called for Nimbus. He looked at Usagi who was already asleep. "You have had a long day my little Usagi. Go ahead and sleep."
(There see, no cliffhangers this time. LOL! Ok, that's it for this chapter. Is it good or bad? Please review. Thank you. ^_^)