"However, now I can't sense him at all; it's too low."
"Damn. You search for him for years, we travel for three days to find him, we get a mile away, and he's gone! Damn," the redhead muttered again.
"Story of my life," his companion groaned.
"It could be worse."
"How?"
"We could be in the middle of a hive of enemies who want you dead."
"Been there, done that, and I was fourteen then."
"That's very true; I'd forgotten about that. Hey, someone's coming."
"Must be the welcoming committee, and a pretty hostile one at that. We may have to fight."
"You mean 'will' have to fight; we both know you're no diplomat--" she grinned--"and there won't be any 'we' to it. You've been itching for a fight since we left."
"I can't help it! I love a good fight!"
"Especially with that…I dunno, that thing you do."
"Did. I haven't been able to do it since."
"Do what?" a third inquired gruffly. She spun to find a tall, green-skinned being staring intently at her.
"Can I…help you?" she asked slowly, changing to Japanese.
"Un, you can start by answering my question."
"It's just some thing I was able to do when I was younger, no big deal," she shrugged. "Actually, I'm not even entirely sure what it was. Now, can you help me, possibly?"
"That depends on what you want."
"Information. Do you know a man named…ano…ahh…."
"You don't even remember who you're looking for?"
"Oi, give me a break! I haven't seen or heard from the guy since I was seventeen! Besides, it's just the name that, let's say, escapes me; I know exactly who he is…that's it!" she cried, snapping her fingers. "Son Goku! Do you know him?" Sable eyes widened fractionally, and she wracked her brain for another reference. "...Kakarot, then? I thought he didn't use that name anymore, though...Spiky hair, goofy grin?"
"Hm...Pull back your hair," he said suddenly.
"Ah…dōshite?"
"Just do it. On your right."
Frowning in puzzlement, she slowly complied, revealing a long, faint scar running from just behind her ear to her collarbone. "Like what you see?" she scowled.
"Don't flatter yourself, Dana," he smirked.
"How the hell do you know my name from looking at my neck!" she growled, dropping her hair and sinking into a fighting stance.
"Relax, I was told about you. That scar's supposed to be a baka-proof ID tag of sorts, which means your friend here must be Nick."
She blinked in shock, and Nick shook himself out of a similar expression in order to more effectively demand, "Okay, you know us, now who are you?"
"Piccolo," he replied with a smirk. "Now, wake up your girlfriend so I can take her to meet her brother."
"Na--? 'Girlfriend!'" he yelped. "She's not my--"
"You kono yarō!" Dana growled, clenching her fist.
"Get over yourself. Do you want to find Son or not? I'm going there anyway; if you two want to tag along, that's up to you." At that, he launched into the air, leaving the two behind.
"Oh, that--!" She growled again and leapt after him, followed closely by Nick. "Oi!" she yelled. Getting no response, she put on an extra burst of speed and pulled alongside him. "What the hell is your problem!" He smirked at her again, shook his head in amusement, and managed to leave her behind once more; she blinked and dropped back out of surprise. "Damn, he's fast," she muttered in English. Grinning, she added, "Then again, so am I." She took off again, faster than before; as she neared her limits, a white aura flared around her. "Oi, Piccolo, don't make me shoot you our of the air! I promise you I'll do it!"
"Trust her, she will!" came Nick's faint call from somewhere behind her. "She's done it before!"
"If she can't catch me with my weights on, she won't even find me if I take them off!" he shot back.
He's weighted down…and he's still that fast! Dana thought, stunned. I'm gonna have to really work to get to that level…. She frowned, now pouring out her ki to catch up. Her frown deepened when she sensed her quarry turn back, and she wiped sweat from her eyes to keep it from obscuring her vision.
With a sudden yelp, she barely kept from colliding with the orange blur that seemed to materialize out of thin air directly ahead of her. "What in the--matsu, it's you!" she realized as Nick caught up and Piccolo reappeared on the right of the man she faced.
"Is…everything okay?" he asked, looking a bit puzzled. "Oi, Piccolo, who's your friend--"
"He's no friend of mine, trust me!" Dana snapped. "Hell, I was about to shoot him down!"
"Okay, okay!" He raised his hands in a pacifying gesture, then grinned guilelessly. "Enemy, then?" he joked.
She sweatdropped. "How'd you put it, 'baka-proof ID tag?' Never mind…." Turning back to the other, she pulled back her hair as before and added, "I'm assuming you were told about this, too?"
"About what?" he asked, peering a bit closer. "You mean that scar…?"
"Un."
"….Oh, Nē-chan!" he cried in realization, grinning broadly.
"….Ano…a little abrupt, but, un."
"So you must be Nick!"
"Un. How do all you people know us, anyway?"
"Ano, we were told you'd show up today, but I wasn't expecting you so early…."
"I don't have Dana's stamina, so I can go on full sleep or none at all, but not just a little. I'm weird like that."
"What that completely irrelevant statement means," Dana grinned, "is that we flew all night."
"It was relevant; it just didn't, exactly…address the point of relevance. Speaking of not having your stamina, d'you mind if we land? I'm exhausted."
"Well, gentlemen--" she shot Piccolo a look--"shall we finish this on the ground?"
"Sure, Nē-chan," Goku agreed as the four dropped to the ground.
"Why do you call me that when we just met?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Do you want me to stop?"
"Well, I don't mind it; I was just wondering, since maybe we've known each other all of two minutes….I mean, go ahead if you want, but how do you know you can even trust me?"
"Well, you're family!"
"So was Raditz, and he's the reason I've got this scar."
"Besides, we all know how that turned out."
"Un. Even Nick and I heard about that one."
"Well, how'd he give you that scar? He didn't have any weapons…."
"He didn't need any; this came from the side of his foot. He tried to kick me in the head, I dodged funny, so he caught me in the neck instead, and he still managed to get me in the head with his other foot!"
"Itai….So you've only had that for about three years, nē?"
"Isn't that enough? I'm gonna have to deal with it for the rest of my life, too!"
"Iie, that's not what I mean! I just meant it looked older than three years…."
"Saiya-jin healing, I guess…."
"Speaking of three years," Piccolo interjected, "you two might as well know why we were told you were coming."
"That'd be nice," she retorted with a frown.
"Patience isn't your strong suit, I take it. Anyway, in three years, two jinzōningen will attack this planet."
"Jinzōningen? That sounds up the old Red Ribbon Army's alley; they loved their androids."
"Cyborgs, actually, but it is them."
"They're going with cyborgs this time?"
"Nē-chan, how do you know about the Red Ribbon Army?"
"She fought them when she was fourteen," Nick answered.
"Fourteen? You weren't much older than me when I fought them."
"Really? How old were you?"
"Oh, I was about twelve, I guess…."
"And when exactly were you fighting, around the twenty-first Tenkaichi Budokai?"
"Ano, right after it."
"Hm, so that makes me around two years older than you…."
"You didn't know how much older than your own brother you were?" Nick asked incredulously.
"Like I said, I haven't seen him since I was seventeen. What do you expect?"
"When did we meet back then?"
"We didn't actually meet, per se, not face-to-face, but I signed up for the twenty-second Budokai."
"Ohh, you were that girl who fought?"
"Un, I didn't stay, though. Ah, Kami, that was when I met Kid…."
"Who's Kid?"
"You don't wanna know," Nick groaned.
"But he asked, so here goes. Kid is my--well, now she'd be our adoptive imōto. She's annoying beyond the meaning of the word, too bold for her own or anyone else's good, and too spastic to live with."
"And yet you managed for five years."
"To quote you, 'I'm weird like that.' Anyway, Kid, while a devoted sister, is a pest. Are you married?"
"Ano, un; what does that have to do with anything?"
"You'd be safe if she was here. Her greatest hobby is playing matchmaker."
"She spent the five years I mentioned trying to set me up with Dana." He caught the look Goku was giving him and snapped, "What're you grinning at?"
"Y'know how we were told you were coming? Well, the guys who told us were from twenty years in the future, and one of them said you oughta be my brother-in-law."
"NANI! ARE YOU CRAZY!" two voices yelled.
"After all the hell Kid put us through, you'd better not even try it!" Dana growled. "We dealt with that for five years, and it had better not become eight!"
"Relax, Nē-chan, I'm kidding! That's just what he said!"
"I'll kill him. Whoever said it, I'll kill him."
"I'm sure you already did."
"Nani?"
"Well, one of them said that, and the other one was you from the future."
"Well, glad to know I survive the attack, at least…."
"So who exactly was the other guy?"
"Well, he won't be born for about two years…."
"So an eighteen-year-old and I are the planet's last line of defense? Not very comforting…."
"Don't underestimate him; he's half Saiya-jin."
"He's…what?" his sister squeaked.
"Sore de kamaimasen, you're not his okā-san--"
"Good, don't scare me like that!"
"I couldn't have told you if you were…."
"Very funny, Otōto."
"Iie, I'm serious!"
"Actually, he's got a point, Dana; if you knew, you'd avoid everyone who wasn't related to you like the plague."
"You know me too well," she muttered.
"Dana, what do you expect? I've known you since you were, what, eight? When you live near or with someone for twenty years, you tend to learn a few things."
"You live together?"
"It's not what it sounds like," Dana replied, reddening slightly. "I know what it sounds like, and that's not it."
"She has a capsule house, and I've got a separate room."
"Un, but it would make for some awkward situations, nē?"
"Oi! Are you gonna be the type of little brother I have to beat up?"
"Only if you want to."
"Don't tempt me; I don't have much willpower."
"….Wanna spar, then?"
"Oh, you're good. You fight as well as you talk?" she asked, sinking into stance.
"Better; I'm not that good a talker," he replied, doing the same.
"Oh, boy, better back off," Nick muttered to Piccolo, taking a few steps back. He received an icy glare and shouted, "Fine, let 'em beat the living hell outta ya!"
"I've got a little more self-control than that, Nick."
"You have enough self-control not to maim him on accident; I dunno about on purpose."
"Urusai," she muttered with a grin, turning her attention back to Goku. Then, on an unspoken signal between the two, they rushed at each other and vanished into the air.
"….Oh."
"Son always starts his fights in the air. That's why I didn't move."
Shrugging as he adjusted his gi, he responded, "Well, Dana normally goes for a throw, especially if she needs space."
"If she needs room this early in a fight, she won't be much help when those jinzōningen attack."
"Keep in mind she's fighting sleep-deprived against an opponent who's only been awake about half an hour; I'd say she was doing pretty damn well."
"So far, but if she forces Son to transform, the match won't last long."
"Tr-transform? To what?" he asked, curious.
"You'll see."
"Not bad," Goku commented as Dana landed a kick to his head. "Demo," he added as she spun for a follow-up, "not quite good enough, either." He caught the incoming strike.
"What in the--whoa!" She was cut off when the younger yanked her into a rapid spin. When her surroundings started to blur, she bent over double through the centrifugal force, gripped the back of one knee to steady herself, and fired a ki blast directly into his face. He let go in his surprise, and she sailed toward a tree. Turning a neat mid-air flip limited her contact to a tap of her toes against the trunk, and in another instant her shoulder collided with his chest.
"Not good enough, nē?" she mocked as he recoiled.
"Okay, I spoke too soon…."
"What I lack in brute strength, I make up for in speed and smarts."
"If you could've caught yourself anyway, why the ki blast?" he asked, still scrubbing at his face.
"To make you fight me on my terms. That was one of the first things we learned with the Kage Senshi: When at all possible, make the opponent fight your way."
"That's pretty smart."
"Even smarter for someone who doesn't have a lot of stamina."
"Do you, then?"
"I can and have had fights last for hours," she grinned.
"This one won't," she heard Piccolo say.
"Well, should I believe him, Otōto? I'm calling your bluff, or were you holding back less than he'd have me believe?"
"Well, actually…."
"Don't; I can take whatever you can dish out."
"You sure?"
"Un."
"Absolutely positive? It'll make the fight a lot harder."
"I won't benefit from an easy one."
"That's true…."
He's about to cave…."Miru, I hold my self entirely accountable for whatever happens to me. Besides, even if you do put me out of commission, I'll be up and about the next day."
"That's probably true, too…."
"Just do it, Son!"
"Okay, okay…."
"I know I was warned, and I quite literally asked for this, so show me your max while I'm giving you the time!" she grinned.
"All right, Nē-chan; like you said, you asked for it…." He clenched his fists and began powering. His hair stood on end and turned bright gold, and his eyes paled from their normal ebony to a cool teal.
"Sugoi," she marveled, eyes wide. "He's stronger in person than I thought."
"Than you thought?"
"Well, you left a three-day ki trail; that takes one hell of a ki output to linger that long."
"That's it! That's that thing you do!"
"Did."
"Whatever; that's still that thing!"
"You're telling me she was a Super Saiya-jin?" Piccolo asked skeptically.
"If that's what that's called, hai, she was."
"However, I haven't been able to do it since I was fourteen."
"You've been a Super Saiya-jin since you were fourteen? Sugoi!"
"Well, can we stop basking in each other's glory and spar?"
"Oh, sure, gomen!" Siblings leapt at each other, trading blocks and blows. While some got through, Dana was chagrined to realize that most of her strikes were being blocked and increased her pace. "Too fast for ya, Nē-chan?"
"Not hardly!"
"You look tired."
"Things aren't what they seem. I'm glad to be fighting someone I can go all-out against. Do you have any idea how long I've had to pull my punches?"
"Probably a while, nē?"
"'A while?' There's the understatement of my lifetime! I was eighteen the last time I had a fight like this, and that was to the death."
"So did you win?"
"Nani!" She fell back in astonishment, and he threw an uppercut that clipped her in the jaw. "What do you mean, 'did I win!' I'm here, aren't I!"
"Gotta keep your guard up," he teased.
"You mean you--okay, that was a smart move," she ceded, "but do you really need to distract me? You're already faster and way stronger than I am. What do you gain by distracting me on top of that?"
"I learn how to fight a smarter opponent," he grinned.
"If you say so, but like I said, you're no slouch either." She broke away and clasped her hands together, index and middle fingers pointing up. A black ki ball formed above her fingers and she drew her hands behind her head to throw the attack. "KAGENAMI!" She flung her hands forward.
"What in the world was that!" Goku cried, quickly dodging.
"Like it? It's my Kagenami; it draws power off of darkness, so while it's just now sunrise, it still packs quite a punch."
"I can top it," he grinned.
"Oh, really? I'm gonna push my luck and say it's a bluff."
"You said that before."
"And look where it got me: a few cuts, a few bruises, and some sore muscles 'cause I haven't used them in a few days. I've discovered that I can keep up with you easier than I thought."
"I could change that, y'know."
"Prove it."
"You sure?" he asked, his grin turning roguish.
"Un, you're starting to disappoint me. I can keep up with Super Saiya-jin just fine, so let's see this ultimate move of yours."
"Well, it's not my strongest move, but I've had my whole life to work on it."
"Then it'd better be worth my time getting you to use it, hadn't it?"
"We'll see what your time's worth." Cupping his hands to one hip, he began, "Kaaa….Meee….Haaa….Meee…."
"Interesting…." She placed her fists together, pointed her middle and index fingers up, curled her hands into a flame-like shape, then looped them about each other and brought them to her own side, nearly mirroring her brother's stance. "But can 'interesting' win you the fight?"
"HAAA!"
"GENSONAMI!" She quickly released the attack, and the two collided in the middle. Dana was losing ground, so she braced herself and forced another burst of ki into the blast, allowing herself a brief smirk when she felt Goku fall back a bit. However, he almost immediately retaliated with a boost of his own, which knocked her back at least a yard. This isn't good…not a smart move on my part to challenge a stronger opponent to something like this….Well, I've got one solution, she thought, grinning devilishly. If I can pull it off, anyway…. Narrowing her eyes in concentration, she dared to pull one hand away and cursed under her breath when she fell back a few yards more. She thrust her free hand forward and fired a small ki blast underneath the struggle.
She halted her Gensonami in shock when all resistance vanished from the other end. "Huh! Wha--unh!" A foot slammed into her right shoulder from above, spiking her into the ground. "Aah! Itai!" she groaned, sitting up and clutching her collarbone. Glancing up, she noticed a ki blast flying at her, so she hastily deflected it, afterwards jumping back into the air. "Just so ya know, that kick was cheap."
"And she knows cheap," Nick called with a grin.
"Oi!"
"Well? You yourself tell people you fight dirty."
"That's in a serious fight. If it's just a spar I fight clean."
"Sometimes. Then there's the people you don't like."
"I don't like any--oi!"
"Exactly; I'm the only one, I'm beginning to think on the planet, that you do like. You barely even tolerated Takani-sensei…."
"He had a way of condescending me."
You mean shooting down your ego when you got cocky."
"….I have a thing with authority…."
"Your 'thing' has a name; it's anarchy."
"I'm not an anarchist, baka!"
"You just hate any authority that keeps order?" he retorted dryly. "That's anarchy, you twit!"
"Okay, let's split the difference and just say I'm only partially anarchic, all right? I'm busy here!"
"Losing?"
"I'm not doing that bad!"
"You're not doing that good either."
"That's why I want to get back to it."
"Because you're developing masochistic tendencies?"
"Nani! Iie, you hentai! Because it's a challenge to fight someone stronger than me, and it's been ten years since anyone's been stronger than me, or even as strong."
"I know….I swear, I've never seen a woman who loves to fight as much as you…."
"Trust me, Nick, you'll never meet another woman like me."
"I know."
"Now, if I may…." She turned her attention back to the fight, reassuming her stance. "I believe we had a spar to finish?" she inquired of the younger combatant.
"Well, if you wanted to flirt some more, we can take a rain check," he smirked.
"Nani! What do you mean, 'flirt!'"
"Well, that's what it sounded like."
"I/SHE DON'T/DOESN'T FLIRT!" she and Nick shrieked in horrified unison.
"Jeez, the last guy to flirt with her got a broken arm and nose; she's not the type who's gonna flirt with somebody else."
"Okay, okay, I've only known her a little while…."
"That and the fact that we're blood relatives is what saved your life," Dana said with the same arid humor her comrade employed. "The latter more so than the former."
"Never mind the fact that he could kill you."
"Or the fact that I could damn sure beat you; you're on my last nerve, Piccolo."
"Likewise."
"If I aggravate you, you should meet Kid. Wherever the hell she is…."
"Don't get sentimental on me, Dana, or I'll be forced to hit you in the face."
"You wanna fight me while I'm on an adrenaline high from an immediately preceding fight?"
"You're tired from that fight, and even if you weren't, you're still too slow to fight me."
"Care to test that? Besides, I haven't seen the little monster in six years….From the time I was seventeen until I was twenty-two, she made my life hell…and then she vanished."
"You say 'little;' she was taller than you," Nick interjected.
"I say 'little' because she's four years my junior, and acted even younger. Besides, she was only a couple inches above me."
"Sure, when she was thirteen, but in the eleven years since then, I'm sure she's grown."
"…." Images of a seven-foot-tall Kid flashed through her mind, and she shuddered. "Oi, Otōto, mind if I take you up on that rain check? I've suddenly lost my fighting spirit."
"Un, sure," he replied, blinking as he powered down.
"You have gotta teach me that…."
"What, how to transform? It can't really be taught…."
"To control it? Don't forget, I've already transformed; I just can't do it at will yet. Besides, the first time was a haze, so I don't even remember exactly what happened. And anyway, unless these jinzōningen are what I'm used to from the Red Ribbon, we'll need the strongest fighters we can get, and judging from the ki signals I can sense, that's you, someone off to the west, and someone who's ap…proaching…? Who is that?"
"Oh, that's my son Gohan."
"Oh, okay. And who's in the west?"
"That's Vegeta. He's up awfully early…."
"Vegeta…? I…actually vaguely remember that name….Very vaguely, but it's something…."
"I could introduce you if you want."
"From the feel of his ki I'd say he was the same as me about meeting people and not too fond of it."
"He's not that bad."
"All right, but if I was right and he fights, I'm blaming you for having to fight back."
"Dana," Nick said, "since when are you interested in avoiding fights?"
"Since it wouldn't serve any purpose. I don't mind training to build strength and technique, and I don't have a problem with fighting for self-preservation, but I won't fight just to stroke someone's ego."
"Except yours."
"I haven't done that since I was psychotic."
She got the feeling she was being insulted by someone she couldn't see, hear, or sense, and looked around with a touch of paranoia.
"What's wrong, Nē-chan?"
"I get the feeling I should be mad at someone or something, and yet I can't see or sense anything but us…."
An almost-audible "Nani! You should be mad!" echoed in her mind, and she blinked owlishly.
"Ano…that was weird…."
"What was?"
"I, ah…I almost heard something." She blinked again.
"You almost heard something," Piccolo repeated, giving her a look. "Do you realize how that sounds?"
"Un, it sounds like I'm 'almost' crazy," she shot back, "but I'm tellin' ya, I almost heard something! It was like telepathy, but like he was trying to say it out loud too!"
"Now your hallucinations have genders?"
"I'm not--" She cut herself off with another growl, then closed her eyes in concentration. After a few moments, she pointed to a spot to her right. "There! Focus on that spot and you'll see--wah!" She jumped back, clutching at her chest.
"See what?" Goku asked.
"Someone who looks exactly…like…you," she said slowly, blinking twice more.
"Finally!" the apparition sighed in exasperation. "Do you have any idea how long it took you!"
"How long what took me!"
"Hot long it took you to see me! Do you have any clue how long I've been watching you two imbeciles and the brat?"
"'Imbeciles!' I resent that!"
"It takes an imbecile, and a spectacular one at that, to remain as utterly oblivious as you and your would-be mate have to the brat's matchmaking," the look-alike said flatly.
"My would-be what!" she squeaked. "Okay, barring the fact that you could pass for a scarred clone of my brother--"
"'Clone!' Ha! Try his otō-san!"
Translations from Japanese:
Kono yarō - Son of a bitch
Nē-chan - Big sister
Itai - Ow, ouch (literally means "pain," but is used as an exclamation of such)
Tenkaichi Budokai - (loosely translated) Strongest Under the Heavens Tournament
Imōto - Little sister
Sore de kamaimasen - Don't worry about it
Okā-san - Mother
Otōto - Little Brother
Urusai - Shut up
Kage Senshi - Shadow Warrior(s)
Sugoi - (along the lines of "Wow!"/"Cool!", but can be taken as "Weird!" depending on the context)
Hentai - Pervert
Otō-san - Father