DBZR ½

Chapter 1: Saiyajins in Nerima?

In Nerima...

With his hands stuffed into his pockets, Ranma idly walks down the street, pondering the strange lights he saw earlier during his training routine. Then, a loud piercing battle cry is heard, forcing its way into his thoughts and capturing his attention. Spinning around, he sees a young man wearing a yellow and black striped headband, with a sleeveless yellow shirt on charging him.

"RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!" Ryoga, an eternally Lost Boy, leaps to attack his rival, bamboo umbrella in hand.

"Aw, man! Why now?" Ranma groans and dodges the other boy's thrust, then kicks the umbrella from Ryoga's hands.

"Shut up and fight! BAKUSAI TENKETSU!" Ryoga pokes the ground at Ranma's feet and it explodes violently, showering the other with shards of tarmac. Ranma grinds his teeth at the pain and decides to change tactics. Ryoga follows up with a vicious punch that Ranma parries and grabs. He applies leverage and the Lost Boy goes flying past him and through a brick wall. Ranma jumps up and yells "MOKO TAKABISHA!" just as Ryoga yells "SHI SHI HOUKODAN!" The green and blue energy blasts cancel each other out, but the fight is far from done. A bunch of headbands come whistling through the hole in the wall, and Ranma just barely slips out of their path. Then Ryoga comes barreling out in the headbands' wake just in time to catch Ranma by surprise. He connects with several powerful punches, knocking the pig- tailed martial artist back. Ranma recovers fast, and as his long-time rival charges, he spins in a perfect reverse roundhouse kick. Ryoga blocks with crossed wrists, but the kick is strong enough to stop his charge. Ranma screams "KACHÜ TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" and throws several hundred punches at a high rate of speed at the Lost Boy. He reels under the onslaught, and Ranma closes again. At close range, they again begin trading blows, back and forth, neither letting up. Major collateral damage ensues, normal civilians walk on unworried, and the birds continue to chirp. It is yet another normal day in Nermia…so far.

Trunks and Goten land on a rooftop at the outskirts of Tokyo. Leaping down into an alley, they walk out onto the street and start looking around. Goten remarks "Hey, I think that two of the energy signatures I feel are close by."

"Yeah. Come on lets check it out." Trunks starts up the street, with Goten following.

A few people pass by, giving the two boys funny looks. Goten's spiky hair, red and blue fighting martial arts outfit, and power pole staff draws several stares, and while Trunks' black jumpsuit and blue jacket look pretty normal, his lavender hair and the sword strapped to his back defiantly isn't, especially not with a ten-year old child. No one messes with them though. After all, this is Nerima; the people around here are used to seeing odd things, and these two don't actually look that out of place. However, Ukyou Kuonji, an okonomiyaki chef and one of Ranma's many fiancées, knows a lost person from a lost person… or people as the case may be.

"Hey! You two look lost. Can I help you?" Goten and Trunks whirl when a feminine voice suddenly speaks up from behind them. A girl, probably sixteen, with long straight brown hair, is poking her head out from the door of a restaurant. "Whoa… what's with the weapons? The blue-haired kid has a sword, and that looks like a bo staff on the back of the other boy. Those things don't look like they're for show…rather dangerous for kids to be playing with. I wonder what they are going to do with them?" she thinks to herself, appraising the kids.

"Uh…. yeah, we are kind of lost. Is this…Tokyo?" Trunks asks nervously. He senses that this girl has a fairly high power level, for a human that is, and turns to Goten. "Hey Goten," he whispers to his friend, "this girl, she's one of the energy signatures that we picked up before. Think we should introduce ourselves?"

"Hmm…ok, let's find out what we can. This place REALLY doesn't look like the Tokyo I visited once."

"Yes it is. Where are you trying to go?" Ukyou asks. She notices them whispering to each other, but couldn't make out what they said. She dismissed it as they turned their attention back to her.

"Um… we're not really sure…" Trunks replied, visibly wincing at the weakness of the statement. Goten just looks at her, curious.

Ukyou laughs, then smiles warmly at them. "You're not from around here are you?"

"Ah, no, definitely not." Trunks chuckles. Goten breaks into a smile and a laugh as well. Ukyou feels a little better, now that these kids aren't so serious.

"My name is Ukyou. I run this okonomiyaki restaurant. What are your names?" She got closer to them, noticing that they looked rather strong for children. "Wow, these kids look like miniature muscle men. Where did they come from?"

"Mine is Trunks, and this here is Goten." Goten interrupts with an enthusiastic, "HI!"

Trunks glares at Goten, then continues, "Uh… we, um… we're kind of, uh, on our own…"

"Oh, that's too bad…" Ukyou starts to feel a little sorry for these two. "Hey, you want to come inside? We could chat for a while, and maybe figure something out…" her voice trails off as she realizes that they aren't listening.

"Do ya feel that Goten? That feels like a battle!" Trunks senses perk up.

"Yea I feel it! We should check it out…" The two start to head in the direction of the fight.

Suddenly, a loud boom batters everyone's eardrums; it's followed by the sound of concrete crumbling, and a few loud crashes. "What the heck was that?!" Both Goten and Trunks jump back in front of Ukyo, and snap into defensive stances as they try to locate the source of the noise. Ukyou groans outwardly, but inside, she's gaping at how fast the boys reacted to the sound, and how far they jumped backwards.

"Wow, their reflexes are as fast as Ranma's, and they're lot younger too! That must have been at least ten feet!

"Don't worry about it. Ranma and Ryoga must be going at it again. I swear, those two just don't know when to quit!" Ukyou is shaking her head in resignation. Trunks and Goten look at each other, then at Ukyou, puzzled.

"You mean this kind of thing happens a lot?" Goten asks in bewilderment. "Man, what is this place?" Even Vegeta, Trunks father, and his father, Goku, knew better than to fight in the middle of a city.

Ukyo nods, "All the time. I just hope Akane shows up soon. She's the only one that can stop those two once they get started." She turns to head into the resturant, then notices the two kids still looking at them, only partially relaxed from their stances.

"Why only her? Is she stronger than both of them…" Trunks can't finish because Ukyou suddenly bursts out laughing.

"Oh that's a good one! Akane, stronger than Ryoga and Ranma! Ha! No, it's that both of them are vying for her affections. All she has to do is start scolding them, and they both drop the fight and try their best to look innocent!" Ukyou laughs a bit more, until another boom and several more loud crashes sound, much closer than before. She looks in the direction, now worried. "Oh boy, this time it's getting out of hand. And worse, they're headed this way!"

Goten looks serious as he looks the area over. "What should we do? There's too many people around here to move in time!"

"Get under cover. Come on, I know a good place…" Ukyo starts to say, until she is interrupted by a loud shout.

"RANMA! GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!" All three wince at the yell.

Concrete, wood, and other debris fill the air with a cacophony of sound as the battle moves onto the road that the three are on.

"ARE YOU NUTS RYOGA?! YOU KEEP THIS UP AND YOU'RE GONNA HURT SOMEONE!" Ukyou is looking very worried now. To their surprise, she grabs Trunks and Goten and starts running.

"SHUT UP! I'VE SEEN HELL BECAUSE OF YOU! NOW DIE! PERFECT SHI SHI HOUKODAN!" A huge green blast rockets through a building and streaks down the street, right toward Ukyou, Goten and Trunks. Ukyou is terrified, and she fears that the rivalry between Ranma and Ryoga is about to get her killed.

"AAAIIIIEE—!" Her scream is cut off as Ryoga's energy blast explodes with a deafening roar. The roar dies down, and several seconds pass in which there is no sound heard except the sound of falling rubble. Then…

"YOU IDIOT! THAT WAS UKYOU! SHE COULD BE DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!" In a panic, Ranma comes running through the remains of the building Ryoga blasted. "Ukyou! UKYOU!" He starts running down the street, disappearing into the smoke. "UKY—" WHAT THE?!

Ryoga appears by the building he blew down just as Ranma's yell cuts off abruptly. "Oh god...what have I done? How could I have been that stupid! I should have known that Ranma would dodge that blast rather than take it! Now I've killed a person, Ukyou at that! Someone who never deserved to die!"

Ukyou slowly opens her eyes, not knowing what to expect. But whatever she was expecting, what she sees before her definitely isn't! Goten is standing directly in front of her with arms crossed. He has a grim look on his face, and his energy was through the roof. She could feel it around the young man, and it was more than she had ever felt before. To Ukyou's left and right, scorched earth marks the power of Ryoga's blast. But the space Ukyou is crouched in, right behind Goten, is clear. Beyond him is Trunks, impossibly floating in mid-air, his arm outstretched, palm facing outward. She could feel Trunks energy as well, as strong as Gotens'. "Whoa…what happened? Somehow, Trunks stopped one of Ryoga's most powerful blasts, and Goten protected me from the backlash. Who are they!? Are these two even human?! They look like kids, but Trunks doesn't seem any worse for wear after stopping that blast! How is that possible?!"

"YOU IDIOT! THAT WAS UKYOU! SHE COULD BE DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!" Ranma's voice echoes about. "Ukyou! UKYOU!" His footsteps can be heard as he runs down the street. The smoke begins to clear… ""UKY—"

TBC...