AN: What's wild is that Sakura and Tien's interactions are so weird that I've written a full chapter's worth of interactions between them over their various chapters that I've then gone back and erased because it didn't go the way I wanted it to.

The Next Dimension Over

Chapter Eight-nine

He might have been a stand-in, but she couldn't try to say that it wasn't satisfying to fling the old man into his own wall. Through it, in fact. She couldn't be blamed. She'd done her level best to avoid derailing this hunt for dragonballs into revenge. It still wasn't revenge. Just self defense.

It barely took a step to propel herself through the new exit of the sauna and into the grassy area surrounding the little group of buildings. Steam billowed out into the cool air of the day, and twisted violently up into artful curls as she leapt into the air. The old man didn't seem all that perturbed by property damage or having slid in the grass and mud, crouching in expectation, ready to strike when she came in range.

If he thought he could take the full force of her axe kick, well...it saved her the effort of catching him.

Steam exploded outward as her kick slammed downward, the ground buckled in a shower of dirt and rocks, and a firm hand gripped her calf. Not the old man's.

She had just about a moment to recognize that Tenshinhan had interposed himself between she and his teacher - the expression of the old man shifting from surprise to satisfaction - before the ground slammed up into her.

It didn't do nearly as much damage to her as she could do to it, but she might have still been irritated, if this didn't mean she'd get to fight him instead of the old man after all. Today just seemed to be a day that kept on giving.

The damaged ground around her provided opportunity to rip a chunk of it up and fling it at the fool still in a towel. And a handy step for her to use once she kicked herself out of the slight crater on the ground around her. Of course the man had already moved to avoid her projectile, but from above it she could easily spring toward him once more.

Fun as it would have been for him to try to catch her that time, he seemed to sense that was an unwise move, and instead leapt backward, slipping away from her just barely in time. Her fist slammed through the dirt and grass right before his feet, knocking him further backward with the shockwave. Which was just a shame for him, given she didn't slow down at all.

It hadn't been long since they last fought. Was it a day? Two? Time blended together so much it might have been only a few hours or minutes since she'd seen his smug face just...fly away. Escaping everything she had planned for him on a technicality.

He ducked one of her kicks, and she flipped over his shoulder to avoid his counter attack. Wherever the old man had gone, she could barely spare enough attention to care. It wasn't as if she couldn't have fought both of them at the same time, but it seemed the old master preferred his students to fight for him. Which was fine. She much preferred beating his student anyway.

For a few moments, her hands grasped his arms, and his seized hers.

His lips curled up into a snarl that perhaps hinted at the true reason he'd intervened on his master's behalf. "You won't get any technicalities to rescue you this time, woman."

Rescue her?

She scoffed, leveraging their mutual grip to flip herself over him once more, this time planting her feet between his shoulder blades and kicking. There wasn't any ring-out to kick him into, no distance she needed to be wary of, and not a single rule stopping her from ripping his arms right off.

His hands slipped away from her arms before that happened. Sad.

She rolled and skidded along the damp grass herself, sure, but at least she wasn't tumbling like a fool in a filthy towel. "Sounds like some poor last words to me."

Grass and mud clung to a full half of him when he straightened, but he really wasn't more than scratched here and there. He was just as sturdy and difficult damage as last time. But this time...she didn't have any reason to hold back. At all.

There wouldn't be anything left of him to wish back when she was finished.

He charged toward her at the same time she sprinted forward, that same cocky, irritating glint in his eyes as before.

No rules. No onlookers. No reason for either of them to stop until there was nothing left of the other.

Light exploded outward from her chest.

Something so hot it seared through her nerves and left nothing but a sudden impact burst from somewhere through her back, heart, and lungs so suddenly she barely managed to give a bloody gasp before her legs gave out. It lasted only a moment, but the attack - whatever it was - drilled through the ground just as quickly and efficiently as it had her.

Strange.

The man who skidded to a halt in front of her looked even more surprised than she felt.

(*)

"Goku...Goku!"

He didn't jump from the cliff, because he was better than that, obviously. But maybe he should have, because expecting to stop his young student from eating food with anything less than physical force was a fool's dream beyond that of even an old man of his age.

It really was a shame, but by the time he actually managed to grab the boy by the scruff of his neck and pick him up off of the giant fish, Goku had already taken a good few bites of it.

"Eh-eh! Hey! I was eating that-!"

He sighed and shook his head, keeping the distressed boy safely in the air. "What did I tell you about taking other people's food? Just what kind of lifestyle were you keeping up with Sakura for the last three years?!"

...Ah, if only it were so easy a thing to blame Goku's unparalleled gluttony on a poor teacher. If his habits were only learned by a few years traveling with someone, then those habits might have actually had a chance of being changed.

Goku's face scrunched up in confusion and he pointed at the very clearly already fried and ready fish. "But it's just lying there on the ground! I found it! You said I could have it if people just throw it out!"

Never mind.

Best not to think about who taught him those kinds of things.

It was probably that grandfather of his.

Before he could respond to the boy, an unfamiliar voice boomed out from somewhere to his left. "Hey! You two better get away from my food! That's mine!"

Maybe a century really was getting too old to put up with all the predictable things in this life after all. A century or two. Or three. Two demon king uprisings in one lifetime? Really. Something like that being a rerun had to be the surest sign he'd lived too long.

He shook his head slightly and turned toward the voice. He'd intended to keep Goku up off the ground at least until he was certain putting him down wouldn't make things worse, but the kid slipped through his fingers with a surprisingly agile spin.

Food thief or not, his three years of practice showed even in the little things.

And speaking of the proper owner of the food...actually, he didn't look that imposing. A squat man almost as round as he was high walked toward the pair of them across the rocks and dirt. A sword hung at his waist, but despite his unassuming form...he walked with a confidence and solidity that spoke of someone who'd lived in this particularly harsh area of wilderness on his own for long enough to know how to handle himself even without the blade.

More important than any of that, though, was the dragonball hanging on his neck, suspended by a string that...somehow had been drilled through it. People could do that?

Well.

It'd be a real inconvenience if that broke it.

"Which one of you two ate my fish, huh?!"

"I didn't!" Goku huffed, taking a step forward, bristling and offended. "I only had a little, but that's your fault for not marking it!"

"Who the hell would put up signs in a wilderness?! That's stupid!"

"No, you're stupid!"

Ah. Yes. He probably should intervene before the two broke out into a food fight and damaged that dragonball more than it already was. He took a swift step forward and dropped his fist onto the top of Goku's head, giving it a good rap. "That's enough of that."

Job done. Good teacher.

Goku rubbed at his head with an affronted noise and looked up at him like a dog who'd been swatted with a newspaper. If the kid kept hanging out with Sakura, maybe he'd need to have a few words with her about keeping discipline with students. Especially if the dragonball plan didn't pan out.

"Goku, apologize for the misunderstanding. Go on."

The stranger crossed his arms and gave a snort. "Don't need an apology, just don't eat my food. Or I'll eat you. Got it?"

That last part seemed a bit unnecessary to him. Best not to encourage the two to fight, though.

Goku squinted at the boy a moment...and then simply gave a sulking huff. Which was good. They didn't have time to be squabbling and fighting with random men in the wilderness while the Demon King Piccolo was in the midst of his revival and plan to conquer the world. Especially if it broke that already damaged ball.

"Hey!" Goku suddenly brightened up, gaze focusing finally on the dragonball around the other one's neck. "You've got a dragonball!"

"A...what?"

It really wasn't a surprise that some kid in the wilderness didn't know an ancient legend lost to almost everyone in the world. Good. Getting a seventh of a wish-granting device away from someone on the promise of 'saving the world' sounded pretty bad even in his own head. Hell, he wouldn't buy it if a couple of wandering strangers gave him that claim, and he'd lived through a few world-ending situations already.

"A dragonball. That thing on your neck." Goku pointed and took a step toward the man. Who responded by taking an equal step backward. "Give it to us, we need it."

"What? My stone? No!"

He rapped his cane on the ground before Goku could speak any further on it. "We'll trade you that stone for extra food."

(*)

If he weren't in (currently, at least) polite company, he'd punch the smug look right off of that smug woman's face. Woman or not. Actually, especially because of who she was, he'd just...love to punch her.

Wow, did he want to punch her.

He could almost swear that sparkle in her eyes indicated she knew that. He tugged at his hair off and on just to give his hands something to do that wasn't potentially murderous.

Leaving Pu'ar and Oolong behind to guard Krillin's body for their own safety seemed like a real shame just now. He could have held a vote on whether to just throw her off off a mountain instead of dealing with her then and not end up with a hung vote.

"So it's the end of the world, huh?" The violet woman gave a small scoff as she walked next to himself and Launch. Launch who...he couldn't really stay mad at. At least not when she was like this. After all, she wasn't really so much 'sweet and pure' as 'too air-headed to try being as scheming and psychotic as her other side'. It was probably a bit much to expect her to keep the dragonballs and their quest a secret when no one had told her to do that in the first place.

It didn't make him any less irritated at the other woman near him, though. "That's not currently the plan, so I wouldn't put yourself too far out for it."

"Funny, wasn't it basically the end of the world three years ago? When the army was about to conquer it if we got our wish?" She tapped her chin lightly, and offered an amused smirk. "Are you sure it's a world-wide threat, and not just a desperate attempt to overcome your-"

"I'm certain."

She shook her head. "An ancient evil come to purge the world in revenge doesn't seem unbelievable to you?"

Well. Actually it did seem a bit unbelievable, if he thought of it that way. But considering the things he'd seen in the past few years, it wasn't even the weirdest thing. Those would still be the dragonballs. Or maybe the blue haired girl trotting to his other side. He didn't particularly feel like getting into that with this woman, though. He was this close to just risking whatever traps she'd set up and going after the dragonball she'd hid on his own. Knowing she was very much petty enough to drop the damn thing in lava or something else just as inconvenient was all that restrained him. They didn't really have time to drain a mountain or whatever just to undo some irritating nobody's spite trap.

"Well I haven't seen anything," Launch spoke up again, undeterred by his general irritation and displeasure. "But if Master Roshi says that it's true, I'm sure it is!"

"Hm. I don't know who that is." The woman pursed her lips, and then offered an...incredibly unpleasant smirk. "Very well then. I'll have to go with you to ensure that's what you're actually wishing for."

"Excuse me?!"

She scoffed and tilted her head to direct that unpleasant look at him more directly. "You don't expect me to just hand over one of those dragonball things without any strings attached because you told a ridiculous story?"

An unfamiliar, croaking voice spoke from behind him. "No, no. That's not necessary. You can just hand it over to me, instead."