~*~*~*~
After being deserted in the park, Usagi had no idea what to do. No one else had come to see what was going on, not that there was a chance for them to. It had all happened so fast that it probably didn't even register in the minds of her friends and family. They weren't always just looking for disturbances, if they were going to feel it, it would have to last longer than what had just happened.
Sighing to herself, Usagi shot a glance around the park. Nothing seemed to be any different. No one seemed to have even noticed what had happened. Not that there was really anyone around. There were mostly just business men and women passing by on their way to work, too busy to notice anything but themselves.
She was lucky for that. The world didn't need to know of yet another upstir of trouble. There had been too many of those in history, even though two of them had been erased from their memories. Another enemy would only mean more deaths, something they didn't even have the Dragon Balls for. That little blue guy did. As she thought more, she came to realize that anyone who died now would never be revived if the Dragon Balls were used anytime after for something other than bring them back to live. The Dragon Balls would be stone for another year, but they can only bring those back who died within a year. She remembered that from all the stories she had heard from her family.
That's when she realized what she would have to do. She would have to return right home to inform everyone of what had just happened. Although, she would have to keep out the little bit about the guy wanting to trade the Dragon Balls for her broach. Then they would know for sure that there was something more to it than she was really telling. But as she thought more, she remembered that, as soon as she turned into Sailor Moon, the little guy went nuts saying that it was the power that he had felt before. What was that supposed to mean, she wondered.
She took another look down at the fine scratch on her arm. Why had the little thing done that? What was the purpose? He ran from the battlefield, leaving her with bruises and one little scratch, not to mention her torn School Uniform. Not even three days into the school year and she had already gotten one of her uniforms ruined. Why was this reminding her of her first day of her school career?
Usagi picked herself up and prepared to teleport home. She would have to go there and tell her father of what just happened, as well as pick up some new cloths. It was certain that her mother would send her back to school, not that she had any quarrel with it. She needed to speak to her friends about the news broadcast of Tatsuo's body, as well as what just happened with the broach and how her Senshi powers would not work against this creature. They seemed only to bounce back.
~*~*~
Meanwhile...
It was already twenty minutes into the school day when Tatsuo walked into class. The girls had wondered where he was, but their minds were mostly on Usagi. When she hadn't showed up at the beginning on time, they had figured that she was just falling back into her slump of getting to school late, but when she hadn't shown up ten minutes into class, that was when each one of them began to worry that something had happened. But to make matters worse, they felt a quick surge of Sailor Moon enter world. For what reason they didn't know, but it couldn't have been good. It was gone almost as soon as it appeared, which worried them more. What had happened to her? Had she fallen at the hands of evil? Had she destroyed it that quickly? These were all questions that flew through the minds of her friends, who were currently not in a position to run out to help her.
What worried them even more was the fact that they couldn't exactly feel what she was fighting. They hadn't felt a thing, only Sailor Moon, who's power always shone bright whenever it emerged from Usagi's soul. Each one of them shared a constant look of concern with one another, while Tatsuo sat facing straight forward listening intently as the teacher spoke.
~*~*~
Usagi teleported directly home after her little run-in with the little blue man. She found herself in the family room first, where she found no one, but she could hear her mother moving about in the back of the house. "Mom?" She ran straight down the hall to find herself in the living room where her mother seemed to be cleaning up after the other two occupants of the house. "Mom!"
Chi-Chi looked up from what she was doing with a frown. She didn't even have to look twice before she noticed her daughter's torn school uniform. "Son Usagi! What is wrong with you!?"
Usagi sighed. She should have known that was going to happen, but she couldn't quite blame the woman. She had, after all, given her mother reason before to yell at her like that. She looked down at her clothing with a grin, but quickly turned back up to her mother. "I got in a fight."
Chi-Chi frowned harder as she walked to her daughter and grabbed her by the arm. "Young lady! What did you father distinctly tell you the other morning before you went to school?!"
Usagi groaned as she threw her head back. "It wasn't my fault, mom."
Chi-Chi dropped her daughter's arm and leaned against the sofa. "I'm waiting for an explanation."
Usagi took a deep breath. "Ok, well, you see, I got to school, and I was going to class when this voice told me to go to the park by Bulma's because it had the Dragon Balls." She paused when she noticed her mother's mood dropping even more. She didn't seem to buy it. "Well, I didn't believe it had the Dragon Balls, but then he explained to me what it looked like, so I did what anyone else would have done and went to check it out. When I got there, there was this little blue guy and he wanted to fight me if I didn't give him what he wanted." She decided to kind of bounce over the detail about her broach. "He didn't even tell me what it was before was behind me and grabbing my tail flipping me back and fourth on the concrete. I whopped him a good one and then he raised his power level, which was higher than mine could ever get."
"That's funny, I didn't feel anything." Chi-Chi growled, as she crossed her arms. "Are you lying to me? I told you I don't like that..."
Usagi sighed. "I'm not lying this time, I promise. I wouldn't lie about something like this, you know me. You're talking to the person who ratted herself out when she got into a fight with Haruka and Michiru. Please mom, give me some credit."
Chi-Chi couldn't argue with that. It was true. Usagi usually wouldn't lie about something this big. "Go on."
Usagi smiled. For once, her mother had gone down without a fight. "Anyway, he yelled at me some more and said he would use the Dragon Balls if he had to just to get what he wanted. So, after that he left. Looks like Daddy and the rest of us are gonna have to fight after all, mom."
That was all Chi-Chi had to hear come out of her daughter's mouth. After years of hearing out of her husband for so many years, and then having so much peace where her husband stayed with her all the way through, it was just too much. She closed her eyes and dropped back onto the sofa.
Reacting to her mother, Usagi found herself jumping over the back of the sofa and sitting by her mother's face. "Mom! Mom! Are you ok? Mom!" She said as she slapped her mother's face around a bit. "Wake up Mom!" Usagi sighed as she stood up, but continued to look down at her mother. "Great. Now she's fainted again." She grinned to herself as she went to change into another School Uniform. "Next stop, dad."
~*~*~
~~Open Sparring Field~~
Goku was out for his daily spar with Gohan and Goten, which had just been recently reinstated by the group of three about a year ago. He stared at directly at his sons, who had just arrived. "Ok, let's get this started." The two younger Saiyans nodded to show that they were ready. Goku grinned. "Let's have some hardcore fighting today, boys."
Goten smirked. He loved it when they could fight rough. "Super Saiyan?"
Goku nodded. "Of course. No holding back."
Gohan nodded. "Right." He glanced over to his brother, and then back to his father. It had been a while since they fought in a higher form than usual. "Let's go."
The three confirmed their positions and began their power-ups. In a flash of golden light, the trio powered up to the first level of Super Saiyan, their hair gold like the sun. Each of them lowered themselves down into their own fighting position, Goten's being the most laid back.
Goku, as usual, made the first move with an advancement toward his youngest son. He tightened his fist and brought it up Goten's face, only to find interference from an unknown source. But, he still made contact with something, just the wrong something. After hitting, he knew exactly what and who it was he actually hit. "Holy...!" He yelled out, stopping himself short before he did any damage. Yes, it was Usagi. She teleported directly to his power level at exactly the wrong time.
Usagi went flying into her brother, and by the force of their father's punch, they were both thrown backwards with Goten to break Usagi's fall. "Owe!" She looked up at her father who had that 'aww Shit' look on his face. She rubbed her cheek, where she had been hit. Just yet another bruise her body would hold after a day of beatings. "Daddy, what was that for?!" She rolled over off of Goten, only to notice that her uniform was now dirty yet again.
Goku ran to his daughter, Gohan not far behind, and picked her up to set her on her feet. He quickly began brushing her off in hopes to make amends with her before she got angry. "Usagi, I'm SO sorry."
Usagi looked up at her father, who was still Super Saiyan. "That hurt..." She whined.
Gohan chuckled. "That was interesting."
Usagi frowned at her eldest brother. "Ohhh! You're terrible!" She watched as her father helped pull Goten to his feet. "At least Goten was there to break my fall. That would have really hurt!"
Goten bent over as he rubbed his back, which had just been thrown across a large field where there were rocks just under the soil. "Yeah...right. That's easy for you to say, you weren't the one who had to endure something like that."
Goku ignored his son's comment and looked down to his daughter's cheek with concern. He had hit her pretty hard, what with him being at the power of Super Saiyan and all. She hadn't been powered up at all, nor had she expected that. He grabbed the side of her face which he had not hit and turned her head to the side so he could see what had been hit. It was already beginning to shine. "Oh yeah, that's gonna bruise nicely. Chi-Chi's gonna have a cow."
Usagi groaned. "Oh great, another bruise."
Gohan frowned. " 'Another' bruise?"
Goku let go of his daughter and powered down. There was no sense on wasting power if it wasn't going to be used. He and the boys would just have to continue their little spar later. "Usagi, if you don't mind me asking, why exactly did you come here? Don't you have school?"
Usagi nodded to both her brother and father. "Yes, and I was on my way to school when everything started."
Goten shared a worried look with his brother, and then father. "Uh-oh. Do we dare ask what happened."
Usagi; "To make a long story very short, there was this guy, he wasn't much taller than me and he was BLUE. He has the Dragon Balls, even though I don't know how because didn't you say they turn to stone for a year?" She questioned her father. All she received was a quick nod. "Anyway, so he's way faster than me and he grabs my tail and bashes me around for a few seconds until I hit him with my own attack. You must not of felt it OTHERWISE you would have come to help me, RIGHT?" She glared around the faces of her family.
Gohan frowned. What was she trying to get at? "Of course we would have, silly girl. We didn't feel anything out of the ordinary."
Goku looked troubled. "He had the Dragon Balls? Did he say how?"
Usagi turned up to her father and shrugged. "I don't know, but he showed me one and it was the real thing, so I believed him."
Goku groaned. When would the attacks on earth end? This was getting ridiculous. "Ok look, here's what we're going to do. If he contacts you again..." He paused to look at his younger Son, "Any of us, raise your power level as high as you can get it." He glanced back to Gohan. "Just like when the Androids came, remember?"
Gohan nodded. "How could I not?"
Goku; "Ok." He turned back to his daughter. "It's a known sign throughout the group to come directly there to help."
Usagi frowned as she remembered back to her run in. It hadn't been that easy. This guy was much faster than she was. Of course, she should have raised her power level anyway to get someone there to help. But she hadn't because she thought it would be pointless since he was contained and because he was stronger than her. But next time she would. "You mean you aren't going to do anything about it?"
Goku shook his head. "Nope."
"Why not? Don't you wanna go search for him and pound him into the ground, take back the Dragon Balls and then send him on his way?"
Goku, again, shook his head no. "Let him come to us, then, if he's really serious about this, we'll fight him, but only on OUR turf. Never let the enemy take you to his turf otherwise you'll be in big trouble. He'll have the upper hand."
Usagi looked down to the ground. That was something she hadn't thought of. Maybe going to the park hadn't been such a good idea after all. But she needed to find out if that thing had the Dragon Balls or not. "What are you going to do about the Dragon Balls, daddy?"
"Well, I personally don't believe he's got them..."
Usagi frowned. "But I saw them with my own eyes!"
Goku put his hands out to calm his daughter. "Hold on, hold on. I'm not saying you're lying, BUT... I just don't believe that they've turned from stone in only eight short months. They've always taken a year I don't see why now would be any different."
"But..." She rebutted.
But Goku still quieted her down. "I'll go talk to Dende later today and find out what's up. We'll figure this out, ok?"
Usagi sighed as she looked down to the ground. She didn't like this situation one bit at all. And not being able to tell them the entire story because it might reveal who she is was even worse. But she couldn't divulge her secrets, it was against her code as a Senshi. "Yes, daddy."
Seeing that his daughter was having a hard time with his decision, Goku wrapped his hand around her chin and brought her face up to face his. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. Everything will work out fine, you'll see."
Usagi smiled. She couldn't refuse words like that. It was true, her father did always seem to know what he was doing when it came to fighting tactics. "You've never lost a fight yet, so I believe you."
Goku smiled. "Good. Now, just don't tell your mother about this until we know more. I don't want her flying off the handle if we aren't really going to fight."
Usagi grinned. "Too late. She's laying on the couch now. She fainted when I said we might have to go fight."
Gohan smirked. That brought back so many memories of his childhood. Actually, that was usually how it went. They would tell Chi-Chi they had to go fight and she would faint. He patted his father on the shoulder with a chuckle. "I'm glad I'm not in your shoes right now."
Goku groaned. "You just have to tell your mother everything, don't you?" He said with a grin.
Usagi nodded with a grin of her own. "Well, she was the only one home. I had to tell her."
Goku smiled. "Well, ok, so, I'll talk to Dende, and then figure out some way to calm your mother down, meanwhile, you need to get to school. If I keep you out any longer that's two things I'm going to have to listen to."
Usagi; "Ok." She chirped. She had no problem with that. She had already told two of the three groups. Now she would have to tell the real story to her friends and talk to Luna and Artimas about what to do. Maybe she could talk them into letting her tell her parents about her identity. But what were the chances of that happening. It was strictly forbidden to let anyone know their identities.
Usagi left soon after that, leaving only the men to themselves. But, after hearing what Usagi had just told them. Goku glanced over his shoulder to his sons. "This troubles me. Why didn't we feel it?"
Goten shrugged as he rubbed his back. "It was probably just here and gone before we could even detect it. But poor Usagi, she's had it rough today."
Goku scratched his head with a goofy grin on his face. "Yeah, I feel horrible."
Gohan; "She's been through worse. And I'm guessing being tossed into concrete by her tail was probably worse than being hit."
Goku nodded. "I guess. But now we should be thinking more about this new guy rather than sparring for fun. It looks like things are getting back to normal around here. Time to fight us a new disturbance!"
Goten; "This outta be good. I wonder what he looks like... short and blue..."
Goku; "You guys tell the others to be on the lookout. I want to talk to Dende a little about the Dragon Balls, see if he knows anything." He paused and grinned. Inside he was truly liking this. It had been years since he had actually had an opponent he could actually fight without ease. The last one had been Chibi Cell, who came from the past, but he was too easy. He has been at the same power level that the original Cell had been at when he came all those years ago. Then there was Beryl, but she was the Senshis' game. This time, Goku would take the first swing.
~*~*~
From her father's sparring field, Usagi teleported directly to the hallway outside her classroom door. She peered into the window, where she could see the kids socializing and whatnot. 'First period is already over... That must mean we have at least five minutes before the next class.' She thought to herself. She looked at the closest desk to the window, and there was Tatsuo, sitting quietly by himself. She was all of a sudden reminded of the news broadcast that her mother had pointed out to her the night before. The resemblance between the boy found dead and Tatsuo was uncanny. Taking a deep breath, Usagi pushed down on the door handle and made her way inside. She was sure to hear it from her friends for being so late.
Tatsuo's head cocked to the door as he heard it squeak open. His eyes immediately widened as he set his eyes on the bruise that was already beginning to take form on her cheek. "Usagi ... your cheek!" He exclaimed for the whole class to hear. He abruptly stood up, his seat flying out from beneath. "You've been beaten!" He yelled again, this time, the entire class turned to the direction of the now blushing Saiyan.
Usagi hated it when attention was brought to her. Despite her outgoing behavior when she was around her friends, she was still shy around big groups of people she didn't know well. "No I haven't." All but four of the other class members turned away and went back to their conversations. They all knew that Usagi was the fighting type from the Junior Tournament. They figured that she had just gotten hurt while sparring. No big deal.
Tatsuo frowned as he made his way to the girl with the tail. "Did you get into a fight with your father last night?" He smiled impishly. "Did your father hit you?"
Usagi frowned at the boy. She knew she wasn't meant to be talking to him, but a comment like that, after the questions he had asked the day before, were just uncalled for. "Shut up, Tatsuo. My dad would never hit me..." She paused. She knew exactly who had hit her, but it hadn't been on purpose. "Well, not to actually hurt me because of something I did..."
Her friends walked up from behind Tatsuo. A group of gasps arose from them. Rei pushed past Tatsuo and grabbed Usagi by the face and looked at the shiner. "Usagi! Your dad did THIS to you? Is this why you're so late? What happened at home last night?!"
Makoto equally grabbed Usagi and pulled her away from Rei. "Your dad must have been really mad at you to do something like this to you..."
Usagi growled softly as she pulled away from her brunette friend. "Please, you guys. Stop it. My dad would never hit me on purpose. It was my fault anyway."
Tatsuo smirked. This was his chance to move in. "Parents only try to make their children think it was their fault, but really, the parents had no right to touch them in the first place."
Usagi pushed Tatsuo back with a forceful punch. "What's wrong with you? Why do you want me and my parents to fight? Nothing happened, ok? I teleported right into a fight without knowing it was taking place. It WAS my fault, end of story!"
Minako frowned back at Tatsuo. That HAD been uncalled for, but, he didn't seem to care. He only laughed it off. "Shut up, freak. It's not the first time something like that's happened. We've all done it some time or another."
Usagi nodded. "Yeah. Why don't you just leave us alone?"
Tatsuo frowned. "That isn't anyway to treat a friend."
Makoto smiled at the boy. Finally, Usagi was beginning to realize just how strange she was. "Neither was what you're doing."
Tatsuo looked pitifully at the ground. "Fine I don't really care, but I want to know one thing... ," He looked back up at the girls, "When is the next full moon?"
Usagi froze at hearing that. Too many strange occurrences had already taken place. Why did he need to know that? What relevancy was this to anything that just happened? With a hateful sneer, Usagi decided to answer, but not to his liking. "Figure it out yourself."
"Fine!" Tatsuo growled as he picked his seat up and placed it in front of his desk. "Don't look at me the next time your father hits you though. I won't be there to help."
Usagi slammed her hands on his desk with a rage unknown even to herself and lowered her head to let her eyes stare directly into her his. "There WON'T be a NEXT time!" She yelled. The entire class stopped their conversations and turned their heads back to the heated discussion of Usagi and Tatsuo.
Tatsuo just shrugged as he comfortably sat back in his chair and put his arms behind his head. "I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you..."
Seeing that her friend was building up for a huge let out of steam, Makoto grabbed Usagi by the arm and pulled her aside where she could do no harm to anyone. "Usagi... calm down, girl."
Minako placed her hand on Usagi's shoulder. "Yeah, we know Tatsuo offended you, but this is nuts. I've NEVER seen you like this... well, there was the time in kindergarten when you almost beat that kid up for calling you Monkey Girl, but this is way different..."
Usagi groaned as she dropped her head. She had to admit, she had let herself go too much this time. She knew better than that. She had been taught better than that, But Tatsuo was being very suspicious. He had dipped into a part of her life that should never be touched by anyone that had any common sense, her family. That was the only thing that she could really get upset over. "I'm sorry, I don't know what..."
Ami patted Usagi on the back. "It's ok, we understand, right girls?"
Rei nodded. "Of course we do."
Usagi looked up with a smile. She was happy to have friends who could put up with her. "Thanks you guys, but, there's more to this than you think..." She looked over Makoto to make sure Tatsuo was looking. "When we're alone I'll tell you guys why I was so late."
Rei smirked. "Speaking of that... you had better have a good reason for being so late today."
Usagi; "Oh I do, believe me, I do."
Tatsuo slowly turned his head to the side and watched the girls. He particularly watched the broach which was again placed on the center of her bow. His eyes flashed blue as he turned his head back to the board.
~*~*~
~~Kami's Lookout~~
Goku went almost directly to Kami's lookout after the three men dispersed from the sparring field. But first, he had stopped off at his home to check on Chi-Chi. He found her exactly where Usagi had said she left her, lying on the sofa. She was still pretty out of it, not even his voice could wake her up. He wondered if that's how she had been whenever he was out fighting. He hoped not. He would hate to have been putting her through so much distress over the years, but he only fought to protect his family.
After checking on Chi-Chi, he flew himself out to Kami's Lookout, where he hoped he would get some answers. As he had told his daughter, he found it quite hard to believe that the Dragon Balls had been revived so early. It had never happened before, and he saw no reason why it would happen now. But nonetheless, to appease his daughter's nerves, as well as his own, he would talk to Dende and find out the current situation.
He found Mr. Popo in his usual spot tending the gardens. "Popo!"
Mr. Popo picked his head up and almost immediately became nervous. Why was Goku there? Goku never came unless something was up, what was up? Did he know something? Did he have confrontation with the Dragon Ball thief? He put down his gardening tools and nervously stood up. "Ah... Goku. What brings you here on such a fine day?"
Goku eased his composure and approached his long time friend. "Well, I was just wondering if Dende was around." Of course he knew the little green guy was around, he was really wondering if he was available. Mr. Popo nervously looked from side to side, not saying anything. Goku too looked around as if searching for something out of the ordinary for Mr. Popo. "What are we looking for?"
Mr. Popo stopped immediately and froze. "Dende? He's not around."
Goku chuckled. "I can see that. Is he available?"
Mr. Popo shifted back a ways. "I suppose..."
Goku's chuckle soon became an expression of concern. "You seem to be stressed about something, Popo."
Mr. Popo once again froze in place. What could he say? Goku could see through any lie and it was obvious he knew something. otherwise he wouldn't be there anymore. He couldn't tell Goku about the Black Star Dragon Balls. Piccolo had always told him not to say anything, and had even said it earlier that morning. He wondered if Piccolo was still there. If Goku found Piccolo and Dende together he would really start to wonder. Piccolo never came up here anymore now that he had a place of his own. "I'll find Dende for you."
Goku smiled, though he COULD see that Mr. Popo seemed nervous about something. "Great!"
Mr. Popo began walking toward the palace, only to hear footsteps from behind. He paused and turned around. "Yes?"
Goku looked down. "We're going to find Dende, right?"
Mr. Popo eased himself back. "You can stay out here."
Goku slightly frowned. "I've never had to before..."
"I know, just do it this once though..." With that, he turned himself around and began making his way toward the Palace, this time, with no extra footsteps behind his own.
Goku put on a goofy grin. "What a strange little man he's become."
(ok, so I'm done for tonight. I must apologize for not bringing this out last night. Sorry... Well, I hoped you liked it, yes, I'm still setting things up, but I'm SLOWLY easing out of that phase. )
After being deserted in the park, Usagi had no idea what to do. No one else had come to see what was going on, not that there was a chance for them to. It had all happened so fast that it probably didn't even register in the minds of her friends and family. They weren't always just looking for disturbances, if they were going to feel it, it would have to last longer than what had just happened.
Sighing to herself, Usagi shot a glance around the park. Nothing seemed to be any different. No one seemed to have even noticed what had happened. Not that there was really anyone around. There were mostly just business men and women passing by on their way to work, too busy to notice anything but themselves.
She was lucky for that. The world didn't need to know of yet another upstir of trouble. There had been too many of those in history, even though two of them had been erased from their memories. Another enemy would only mean more deaths, something they didn't even have the Dragon Balls for. That little blue guy did. As she thought more, she came to realize that anyone who died now would never be revived if the Dragon Balls were used anytime after for something other than bring them back to live. The Dragon Balls would be stone for another year, but they can only bring those back who died within a year. She remembered that from all the stories she had heard from her family.
That's when she realized what she would have to do. She would have to return right home to inform everyone of what had just happened. Although, she would have to keep out the little bit about the guy wanting to trade the Dragon Balls for her broach. Then they would know for sure that there was something more to it than she was really telling. But as she thought more, she remembered that, as soon as she turned into Sailor Moon, the little guy went nuts saying that it was the power that he had felt before. What was that supposed to mean, she wondered.
She took another look down at the fine scratch on her arm. Why had the little thing done that? What was the purpose? He ran from the battlefield, leaving her with bruises and one little scratch, not to mention her torn School Uniform. Not even three days into the school year and she had already gotten one of her uniforms ruined. Why was this reminding her of her first day of her school career?
Usagi picked herself up and prepared to teleport home. She would have to go there and tell her father of what just happened, as well as pick up some new cloths. It was certain that her mother would send her back to school, not that she had any quarrel with it. She needed to speak to her friends about the news broadcast of Tatsuo's body, as well as what just happened with the broach and how her Senshi powers would not work against this creature. They seemed only to bounce back.
~*~*~
Meanwhile...
It was already twenty minutes into the school day when Tatsuo walked into class. The girls had wondered where he was, but their minds were mostly on Usagi. When she hadn't showed up at the beginning on time, they had figured that she was just falling back into her slump of getting to school late, but when she hadn't shown up ten minutes into class, that was when each one of them began to worry that something had happened. But to make matters worse, they felt a quick surge of Sailor Moon enter world. For what reason they didn't know, but it couldn't have been good. It was gone almost as soon as it appeared, which worried them more. What had happened to her? Had she fallen at the hands of evil? Had she destroyed it that quickly? These were all questions that flew through the minds of her friends, who were currently not in a position to run out to help her.
What worried them even more was the fact that they couldn't exactly feel what she was fighting. They hadn't felt a thing, only Sailor Moon, who's power always shone bright whenever it emerged from Usagi's soul. Each one of them shared a constant look of concern with one another, while Tatsuo sat facing straight forward listening intently as the teacher spoke.
~*~*~
Usagi teleported directly home after her little run-in with the little blue man. She found herself in the family room first, where she found no one, but she could hear her mother moving about in the back of the house. "Mom?" She ran straight down the hall to find herself in the living room where her mother seemed to be cleaning up after the other two occupants of the house. "Mom!"
Chi-Chi looked up from what she was doing with a frown. She didn't even have to look twice before she noticed her daughter's torn school uniform. "Son Usagi! What is wrong with you!?"
Usagi sighed. She should have known that was going to happen, but she couldn't quite blame the woman. She had, after all, given her mother reason before to yell at her like that. She looked down at her clothing with a grin, but quickly turned back up to her mother. "I got in a fight."
Chi-Chi frowned harder as she walked to her daughter and grabbed her by the arm. "Young lady! What did you father distinctly tell you the other morning before you went to school?!"
Usagi groaned as she threw her head back. "It wasn't my fault, mom."
Chi-Chi dropped her daughter's arm and leaned against the sofa. "I'm waiting for an explanation."
Usagi took a deep breath. "Ok, well, you see, I got to school, and I was going to class when this voice told me to go to the park by Bulma's because it had the Dragon Balls." She paused when she noticed her mother's mood dropping even more. She didn't seem to buy it. "Well, I didn't believe it had the Dragon Balls, but then he explained to me what it looked like, so I did what anyone else would have done and went to check it out. When I got there, there was this little blue guy and he wanted to fight me if I didn't give him what he wanted." She decided to kind of bounce over the detail about her broach. "He didn't even tell me what it was before was behind me and grabbing my tail flipping me back and fourth on the concrete. I whopped him a good one and then he raised his power level, which was higher than mine could ever get."
"That's funny, I didn't feel anything." Chi-Chi growled, as she crossed her arms. "Are you lying to me? I told you I don't like that..."
Usagi sighed. "I'm not lying this time, I promise. I wouldn't lie about something like this, you know me. You're talking to the person who ratted herself out when she got into a fight with Haruka and Michiru. Please mom, give me some credit."
Chi-Chi couldn't argue with that. It was true. Usagi usually wouldn't lie about something this big. "Go on."
Usagi smiled. For once, her mother had gone down without a fight. "Anyway, he yelled at me some more and said he would use the Dragon Balls if he had to just to get what he wanted. So, after that he left. Looks like Daddy and the rest of us are gonna have to fight after all, mom."
That was all Chi-Chi had to hear come out of her daughter's mouth. After years of hearing out of her husband for so many years, and then having so much peace where her husband stayed with her all the way through, it was just too much. She closed her eyes and dropped back onto the sofa.
Reacting to her mother, Usagi found herself jumping over the back of the sofa and sitting by her mother's face. "Mom! Mom! Are you ok? Mom!" She said as she slapped her mother's face around a bit. "Wake up Mom!" Usagi sighed as she stood up, but continued to look down at her mother. "Great. Now she's fainted again." She grinned to herself as she went to change into another School Uniform. "Next stop, dad."
~*~*~
~~Open Sparring Field~~
Goku was out for his daily spar with Gohan and Goten, which had just been recently reinstated by the group of three about a year ago. He stared at directly at his sons, who had just arrived. "Ok, let's get this started." The two younger Saiyans nodded to show that they were ready. Goku grinned. "Let's have some hardcore fighting today, boys."
Goten smirked. He loved it when they could fight rough. "Super Saiyan?"
Goku nodded. "Of course. No holding back."
Gohan nodded. "Right." He glanced over to his brother, and then back to his father. It had been a while since they fought in a higher form than usual. "Let's go."
The three confirmed their positions and began their power-ups. In a flash of golden light, the trio powered up to the first level of Super Saiyan, their hair gold like the sun. Each of them lowered themselves down into their own fighting position, Goten's being the most laid back.
Goku, as usual, made the first move with an advancement toward his youngest son. He tightened his fist and brought it up Goten's face, only to find interference from an unknown source. But, he still made contact with something, just the wrong something. After hitting, he knew exactly what and who it was he actually hit. "Holy...!" He yelled out, stopping himself short before he did any damage. Yes, it was Usagi. She teleported directly to his power level at exactly the wrong time.
Usagi went flying into her brother, and by the force of their father's punch, they were both thrown backwards with Goten to break Usagi's fall. "Owe!" She looked up at her father who had that 'aww Shit' look on his face. She rubbed her cheek, where she had been hit. Just yet another bruise her body would hold after a day of beatings. "Daddy, what was that for?!" She rolled over off of Goten, only to notice that her uniform was now dirty yet again.
Goku ran to his daughter, Gohan not far behind, and picked her up to set her on her feet. He quickly began brushing her off in hopes to make amends with her before she got angry. "Usagi, I'm SO sorry."
Usagi looked up at her father, who was still Super Saiyan. "That hurt..." She whined.
Gohan chuckled. "That was interesting."
Usagi frowned at her eldest brother. "Ohhh! You're terrible!" She watched as her father helped pull Goten to his feet. "At least Goten was there to break my fall. That would have really hurt!"
Goten bent over as he rubbed his back, which had just been thrown across a large field where there were rocks just under the soil. "Yeah...right. That's easy for you to say, you weren't the one who had to endure something like that."
Goku ignored his son's comment and looked down to his daughter's cheek with concern. He had hit her pretty hard, what with him being at the power of Super Saiyan and all. She hadn't been powered up at all, nor had she expected that. He grabbed the side of her face which he had not hit and turned her head to the side so he could see what had been hit. It was already beginning to shine. "Oh yeah, that's gonna bruise nicely. Chi-Chi's gonna have a cow."
Usagi groaned. "Oh great, another bruise."
Gohan frowned. " 'Another' bruise?"
Goku let go of his daughter and powered down. There was no sense on wasting power if it wasn't going to be used. He and the boys would just have to continue their little spar later. "Usagi, if you don't mind me asking, why exactly did you come here? Don't you have school?"
Usagi nodded to both her brother and father. "Yes, and I was on my way to school when everything started."
Goten shared a worried look with his brother, and then father. "Uh-oh. Do we dare ask what happened."
Usagi; "To make a long story very short, there was this guy, he wasn't much taller than me and he was BLUE. He has the Dragon Balls, even though I don't know how because didn't you say they turn to stone for a year?" She questioned her father. All she received was a quick nod. "Anyway, so he's way faster than me and he grabs my tail and bashes me around for a few seconds until I hit him with my own attack. You must not of felt it OTHERWISE you would have come to help me, RIGHT?" She glared around the faces of her family.
Gohan frowned. What was she trying to get at? "Of course we would have, silly girl. We didn't feel anything out of the ordinary."
Goku looked troubled. "He had the Dragon Balls? Did he say how?"
Usagi turned up to her father and shrugged. "I don't know, but he showed me one and it was the real thing, so I believed him."
Goku groaned. When would the attacks on earth end? This was getting ridiculous. "Ok look, here's what we're going to do. If he contacts you again..." He paused to look at his younger Son, "Any of us, raise your power level as high as you can get it." He glanced back to Gohan. "Just like when the Androids came, remember?"
Gohan nodded. "How could I not?"
Goku; "Ok." He turned back to his daughter. "It's a known sign throughout the group to come directly there to help."
Usagi frowned as she remembered back to her run in. It hadn't been that easy. This guy was much faster than she was. Of course, she should have raised her power level anyway to get someone there to help. But she hadn't because she thought it would be pointless since he was contained and because he was stronger than her. But next time she would. "You mean you aren't going to do anything about it?"
Goku shook his head. "Nope."
"Why not? Don't you wanna go search for him and pound him into the ground, take back the Dragon Balls and then send him on his way?"
Goku, again, shook his head no. "Let him come to us, then, if he's really serious about this, we'll fight him, but only on OUR turf. Never let the enemy take you to his turf otherwise you'll be in big trouble. He'll have the upper hand."
Usagi looked down to the ground. That was something she hadn't thought of. Maybe going to the park hadn't been such a good idea after all. But she needed to find out if that thing had the Dragon Balls or not. "What are you going to do about the Dragon Balls, daddy?"
"Well, I personally don't believe he's got them..."
Usagi frowned. "But I saw them with my own eyes!"
Goku put his hands out to calm his daughter. "Hold on, hold on. I'm not saying you're lying, BUT... I just don't believe that they've turned from stone in only eight short months. They've always taken a year I don't see why now would be any different."
"But..." She rebutted.
But Goku still quieted her down. "I'll go talk to Dende later today and find out what's up. We'll figure this out, ok?"
Usagi sighed as she looked down to the ground. She didn't like this situation one bit at all. And not being able to tell them the entire story because it might reveal who she is was even worse. But she couldn't divulge her secrets, it was against her code as a Senshi. "Yes, daddy."
Seeing that his daughter was having a hard time with his decision, Goku wrapped his hand around her chin and brought her face up to face his. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. Everything will work out fine, you'll see."
Usagi smiled. She couldn't refuse words like that. It was true, her father did always seem to know what he was doing when it came to fighting tactics. "You've never lost a fight yet, so I believe you."
Goku smiled. "Good. Now, just don't tell your mother about this until we know more. I don't want her flying off the handle if we aren't really going to fight."
Usagi grinned. "Too late. She's laying on the couch now. She fainted when I said we might have to go fight."
Gohan smirked. That brought back so many memories of his childhood. Actually, that was usually how it went. They would tell Chi-Chi they had to go fight and she would faint. He patted his father on the shoulder with a chuckle. "I'm glad I'm not in your shoes right now."
Goku groaned. "You just have to tell your mother everything, don't you?" He said with a grin.
Usagi nodded with a grin of her own. "Well, she was the only one home. I had to tell her."
Goku smiled. "Well, ok, so, I'll talk to Dende, and then figure out some way to calm your mother down, meanwhile, you need to get to school. If I keep you out any longer that's two things I'm going to have to listen to."
Usagi; "Ok." She chirped. She had no problem with that. She had already told two of the three groups. Now she would have to tell the real story to her friends and talk to Luna and Artimas about what to do. Maybe she could talk them into letting her tell her parents about her identity. But what were the chances of that happening. It was strictly forbidden to let anyone know their identities.
Usagi left soon after that, leaving only the men to themselves. But, after hearing what Usagi had just told them. Goku glanced over his shoulder to his sons. "This troubles me. Why didn't we feel it?"
Goten shrugged as he rubbed his back. "It was probably just here and gone before we could even detect it. But poor Usagi, she's had it rough today."
Goku scratched his head with a goofy grin on his face. "Yeah, I feel horrible."
Gohan; "She's been through worse. And I'm guessing being tossed into concrete by her tail was probably worse than being hit."
Goku nodded. "I guess. But now we should be thinking more about this new guy rather than sparring for fun. It looks like things are getting back to normal around here. Time to fight us a new disturbance!"
Goten; "This outta be good. I wonder what he looks like... short and blue..."
Goku; "You guys tell the others to be on the lookout. I want to talk to Dende a little about the Dragon Balls, see if he knows anything." He paused and grinned. Inside he was truly liking this. It had been years since he had actually had an opponent he could actually fight without ease. The last one had been Chibi Cell, who came from the past, but he was too easy. He has been at the same power level that the original Cell had been at when he came all those years ago. Then there was Beryl, but she was the Senshis' game. This time, Goku would take the first swing.
~*~*~
From her father's sparring field, Usagi teleported directly to the hallway outside her classroom door. She peered into the window, where she could see the kids socializing and whatnot. 'First period is already over... That must mean we have at least five minutes before the next class.' She thought to herself. She looked at the closest desk to the window, and there was Tatsuo, sitting quietly by himself. She was all of a sudden reminded of the news broadcast that her mother had pointed out to her the night before. The resemblance between the boy found dead and Tatsuo was uncanny. Taking a deep breath, Usagi pushed down on the door handle and made her way inside. She was sure to hear it from her friends for being so late.
Tatsuo's head cocked to the door as he heard it squeak open. His eyes immediately widened as he set his eyes on the bruise that was already beginning to take form on her cheek. "Usagi ... your cheek!" He exclaimed for the whole class to hear. He abruptly stood up, his seat flying out from beneath. "You've been beaten!" He yelled again, this time, the entire class turned to the direction of the now blushing Saiyan.
Usagi hated it when attention was brought to her. Despite her outgoing behavior when she was around her friends, she was still shy around big groups of people she didn't know well. "No I haven't." All but four of the other class members turned away and went back to their conversations. They all knew that Usagi was the fighting type from the Junior Tournament. They figured that she had just gotten hurt while sparring. No big deal.
Tatsuo frowned as he made his way to the girl with the tail. "Did you get into a fight with your father last night?" He smiled impishly. "Did your father hit you?"
Usagi frowned at the boy. She knew she wasn't meant to be talking to him, but a comment like that, after the questions he had asked the day before, were just uncalled for. "Shut up, Tatsuo. My dad would never hit me..." She paused. She knew exactly who had hit her, but it hadn't been on purpose. "Well, not to actually hurt me because of something I did..."
Her friends walked up from behind Tatsuo. A group of gasps arose from them. Rei pushed past Tatsuo and grabbed Usagi by the face and looked at the shiner. "Usagi! Your dad did THIS to you? Is this why you're so late? What happened at home last night?!"
Makoto equally grabbed Usagi and pulled her away from Rei. "Your dad must have been really mad at you to do something like this to you..."
Usagi growled softly as she pulled away from her brunette friend. "Please, you guys. Stop it. My dad would never hit me on purpose. It was my fault anyway."
Tatsuo smirked. This was his chance to move in. "Parents only try to make their children think it was their fault, but really, the parents had no right to touch them in the first place."
Usagi pushed Tatsuo back with a forceful punch. "What's wrong with you? Why do you want me and my parents to fight? Nothing happened, ok? I teleported right into a fight without knowing it was taking place. It WAS my fault, end of story!"
Minako frowned back at Tatsuo. That HAD been uncalled for, but, he didn't seem to care. He only laughed it off. "Shut up, freak. It's not the first time something like that's happened. We've all done it some time or another."
Usagi nodded. "Yeah. Why don't you just leave us alone?"
Tatsuo frowned. "That isn't anyway to treat a friend."
Makoto smiled at the boy. Finally, Usagi was beginning to realize just how strange she was. "Neither was what you're doing."
Tatsuo looked pitifully at the ground. "Fine I don't really care, but I want to know one thing... ," He looked back up at the girls, "When is the next full moon?"
Usagi froze at hearing that. Too many strange occurrences had already taken place. Why did he need to know that? What relevancy was this to anything that just happened? With a hateful sneer, Usagi decided to answer, but not to his liking. "Figure it out yourself."
"Fine!" Tatsuo growled as he picked his seat up and placed it in front of his desk. "Don't look at me the next time your father hits you though. I won't be there to help."
Usagi slammed her hands on his desk with a rage unknown even to herself and lowered her head to let her eyes stare directly into her his. "There WON'T be a NEXT time!" She yelled. The entire class stopped their conversations and turned their heads back to the heated discussion of Usagi and Tatsuo.
Tatsuo just shrugged as he comfortably sat back in his chair and put his arms behind his head. "I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you..."
Seeing that her friend was building up for a huge let out of steam, Makoto grabbed Usagi by the arm and pulled her aside where she could do no harm to anyone. "Usagi... calm down, girl."
Minako placed her hand on Usagi's shoulder. "Yeah, we know Tatsuo offended you, but this is nuts. I've NEVER seen you like this... well, there was the time in kindergarten when you almost beat that kid up for calling you Monkey Girl, but this is way different..."
Usagi groaned as she dropped her head. She had to admit, she had let herself go too much this time. She knew better than that. She had been taught better than that, But Tatsuo was being very suspicious. He had dipped into a part of her life that should never be touched by anyone that had any common sense, her family. That was the only thing that she could really get upset over. "I'm sorry, I don't know what..."
Ami patted Usagi on the back. "It's ok, we understand, right girls?"
Rei nodded. "Of course we do."
Usagi looked up with a smile. She was happy to have friends who could put up with her. "Thanks you guys, but, there's more to this than you think..." She looked over Makoto to make sure Tatsuo was looking. "When we're alone I'll tell you guys why I was so late."
Rei smirked. "Speaking of that... you had better have a good reason for being so late today."
Usagi; "Oh I do, believe me, I do."
Tatsuo slowly turned his head to the side and watched the girls. He particularly watched the broach which was again placed on the center of her bow. His eyes flashed blue as he turned his head back to the board.
~*~*~
~~Kami's Lookout~~
Goku went almost directly to Kami's lookout after the three men dispersed from the sparring field. But first, he had stopped off at his home to check on Chi-Chi. He found her exactly where Usagi had said she left her, lying on the sofa. She was still pretty out of it, not even his voice could wake her up. He wondered if that's how she had been whenever he was out fighting. He hoped not. He would hate to have been putting her through so much distress over the years, but he only fought to protect his family.
After checking on Chi-Chi, he flew himself out to Kami's Lookout, where he hoped he would get some answers. As he had told his daughter, he found it quite hard to believe that the Dragon Balls had been revived so early. It had never happened before, and he saw no reason why it would happen now. But nonetheless, to appease his daughter's nerves, as well as his own, he would talk to Dende and find out the current situation.
He found Mr. Popo in his usual spot tending the gardens. "Popo!"
Mr. Popo picked his head up and almost immediately became nervous. Why was Goku there? Goku never came unless something was up, what was up? Did he know something? Did he have confrontation with the Dragon Ball thief? He put down his gardening tools and nervously stood up. "Ah... Goku. What brings you here on such a fine day?"
Goku eased his composure and approached his long time friend. "Well, I was just wondering if Dende was around." Of course he knew the little green guy was around, he was really wondering if he was available. Mr. Popo nervously looked from side to side, not saying anything. Goku too looked around as if searching for something out of the ordinary for Mr. Popo. "What are we looking for?"
Mr. Popo stopped immediately and froze. "Dende? He's not around."
Goku chuckled. "I can see that. Is he available?"
Mr. Popo shifted back a ways. "I suppose..."
Goku's chuckle soon became an expression of concern. "You seem to be stressed about something, Popo."
Mr. Popo once again froze in place. What could he say? Goku could see through any lie and it was obvious he knew something. otherwise he wouldn't be there anymore. He couldn't tell Goku about the Black Star Dragon Balls. Piccolo had always told him not to say anything, and had even said it earlier that morning. He wondered if Piccolo was still there. If Goku found Piccolo and Dende together he would really start to wonder. Piccolo never came up here anymore now that he had a place of his own. "I'll find Dende for you."
Goku smiled, though he COULD see that Mr. Popo seemed nervous about something. "Great!"
Mr. Popo began walking toward the palace, only to hear footsteps from behind. He paused and turned around. "Yes?"
Goku looked down. "We're going to find Dende, right?"
Mr. Popo eased himself back. "You can stay out here."
Goku slightly frowned. "I've never had to before..."
"I know, just do it this once though..." With that, he turned himself around and began making his way toward the Palace, this time, with no extra footsteps behind his own.
Goku put on a goofy grin. "What a strange little man he's become."
(ok, so I'm done for tonight. I must apologize for not bringing this out last night. Sorry... Well, I hoped you liked it, yes, I'm still setting things up, but I'm SLOWLY easing out of that phase. )