Reno's Origins

By: Atomic Kokoro

Storyline

Due to an accident, Reno is told he won't ever be able to walk again. It isn't long, though, before he is told by a boy named Gohan that there is a solution to the problem. Unfortunetly, there is bad news to come with it.

Before You Read

In the last chapter, I wrote " "Can I help you?" he mustered." I almost wrote "mustard" instead of "mustered". Nice, AK.

Anyways, on with the story!

Chapter 4

Backround Check

Reno glanced down to the ground, and then his jaw touched it. He was standing! He could move, walk, run, play. He could do anything he wanted to for the last several weeks. He took a step foreward before collapasing into Gohan's arms.

"Careful," he said. "It's been a while since you've moved your legs."

Reno looked up at him and Gohan felt a pang in his heart at the look in those ocean blue eyes: helplessness, some form of respect, sorrow, and a very odd shape of pain. "Thanks," he muttered with a small smile, the mix of emotion draining away. Gohan smiled back and helped Reno back to his feet.

Everyone else was stunned. After a few steps, he mastered being able to walk again. He laughed and leaned back, throwing his hands in the air. At first, Gohan thought perhaps Reno was just celebrating that he could walk again but he was proven wrong when Reno threw himself foreward and performed a cartwheels, followed by a few flips and finally a mid-air flip. Then, he cheered.

Gohan thought about this for a minute. Perhaps he would need to speak to Reno later, but only after everyone celebrated Reno's recovery.

...

They had scouted the town over and over. And everytime they locked onto the signal, it would lead them to what seemed like someplace random and they would lose the signal. Gohan returned from his last trip and sighed. So, the newest Saiyan was in Metro City. They lived there. It was their home. Or, at least, Gohan concluded.

He wiped his forehead and sat on the steps of the Ministry. Reno was off making up for lost time, practicing his flips and other acts. He hadn't known Reno was such an athletic child. It must've sucked to want to flip and not be able to even stand. He couldn't imagine what his life would be like if he couldn't move. He'd be stuck doing school work all his life and not be able to defend his family in the need ever arised.

He was in such deep though he hand't realized Astro was sitting beside him. "Nice day, huh?" he asked.

Gohan jumped but relaxed a bit. "Oh. Yeah," he said. They both were quiet for a moment before he turned to Astro again. "You wouldn't mind if I asked you a question, would you? About Reno?"

Astro nodded. "Sure, go ahead."

"Well, I was wondering. He can do such amazing acrobatic skills; where did he get his lessons from?"

Astro chuckled. "When I first met Reno, he was dressed as a robot."

"Halloween?"

"No, not Halloween. It was in October though." Astro turned towards the setting sun, being able to watch it go over the horizon. Gohan followed his gaze. "He was found and raised in the Robot Circus."

"Really?" Gohan's eyes went wide with astonishment. "And his parents didn't mind?"

"Well," Astro looked down and shrugged before looking back up again. "The only family Reno's ever had were the Robot performers who found him and raised him." Gohan choked on this fact. Reno didn't know his parents? It almost seemed...too possible. "He never really said anything about what he did when he wasn't performing, but man, when he started reminecing about his performences all over the place, he sounds like an old man talking about World War 2."

Gohan laughed at the thought. He must've loved being in the circus; being taught tips and tricks and all sorts of crazy stuff. "I guess that's where he learned so much about robots, eh?" he guessed.

Astro nodded. "You bet," he laughed. "When he learned he would never walk again, he cried. No, seriously! He just wailed. I felt so bad. Who would want to be on a wheelchair for the rest of his life?" Gohan nodded an agreement. Another moment passed. "What was it you gave him, anyway?"

Gohan smiled. "It's a Senzu Bean," he explained. "Heals any wounds, injuries...paralysis... Great to have especially when you have to fight a battle."

"Huh?"

Gohan froze. It had accidentally slipped out! He didn't mean to say it. He quickly thought of a way to cover it. "You know. Ah, when you're friends get into fights all the time and they get a broken nose or something, you just slip it to them with a smile and they're all better. Looks like they kicked the other person's butt!"

Astro chuckled. Gohan wasn't lying. In fact, it was the truth! He just didn't tell his particular situation. The sun finally set and it wasn't long before Reno came along. "Hey, guys," he greeted with a wave. "How's it been?"

Gohan and Astro stood up and allowed Reno to walk up the stairs to join them. "Great," Gohan said. "We were just talking. How's the practice coming along?"

Reno smiled and quite litterally threw himself into Gohan, wrapping his arms around the startled boys arms. "!" he cheered.

"Okay, okay! You're welcome. Could you let go now?" Reno nodded quickly and let his death grip disipate and a blush replaced it.

"Sorry 'bout that," he said nervously.

Astro was the first to reply. "I thought I only saw Zoran act that way," he laughed. Gohan broke out into chuckles. A minute passed and the boys settled down. "Well, I gotta go. Doctor is expecting me home soon. I'm not supposed to be out after dark."

Reno and Gohan waved goodbye. "I thought you lived with Astro and the Doctor," Gohan said.

"Actually, I live with Miss. Yuko. She has to stay late tonight, so I'm available for a while."

"Sounds good," Gohan said. "Cause I have a few questions I wanna ask you."

...

The two teens settled around a table with mugs of hot chocolate in their hands. They had chosen to go to one of the few Tim Hortens in the U.S. Canadian fast-food resterants like these were the best place to discuss over a hot drink (you haven't lived until you've tried a Large Double-Double and a doughnut (I prefere strawberry, but you can have Boston Cream if you want) from Tim Hortens. They even give you mugs and plates if you say "for here"!) and something to munch on whileso.

"So, what did you want to ask me?" Reno asked, taking a tentitive sip of his hot chocolate.

Gohan bit into a Maple Pecan Danish (yum!) and folded his arms on the table. "That man, in the tube, the day you were crippled...what did he look like?"

"Why do you ask?"

Gohan inhaled, as if preparing to speak a long explaination. "I think he might be the man we're looking for," he replied.

Reno nodded. "Well, in that case...He was a big man. Muscular, at least seven feet tall. From what I heard, he weighed at about two hundred sixty-four pounds. Long black hair. Like yours could be if you grew it." Gohan tried to peice the appearences together to form someone. "He had black eyes, like you and your dad. In fact, you three look incredibly alike. I wouldn't doubt if he was your uncle or something."

Gohan choked on air. "My uncle is dead," he said bluntly.

Reno frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that." But the spoken words made Gohan laugh.

"No, you don't. Trust me. He was an evil coo-coo nutso who killed- ...um, almost killed my dad and myself. And I was only four."

"Okay, I'm happy to hear that?" Gohan nodded with approval. Reno blinked before continuing on. "Anyways, when I saw that man look at me...you know, it was really weird. Like he had never seen a human before. But the second he saw my blood-WHAM! The tube exploded. No one believes me when I say it, but I think the explosion was connected to his emotions. He yelled and the thing exploded. Exploded!"

Gohan nodded. "It's strange, though," Reno continued. "I thought for sure he was gonna kill me. Light me on fire, make me explode, but he just stood over me. Or, at least, I'm sure it was him. Maybe he was thinking too hard or his judgement was clouded when he was enraged or something. I'm not sure.

"I heard he could float, though. I heard he made a large ball of acid light that burned through the whole Ministry and he just floated away. Into the sky and-BAM!-gone. Notta trace. Just...gone." Reno took a second sip of his hot chocolate.

It seemed like Gohan was staring at Reno but he figured he was just staring into space, trying to peice everything together. "I think he's the one we're looking for," he said darkly before leaning back and finishing off his danish.

Reno paused. "Is that good?"

Gohan shook his head. "If he sounds like what he sounds like, he could be dangerous. He could very well destory the whole world."

"WHAT?" Reno screech, drawing attenion from the whole resterant. He blushed and quietly told everyone to go back to their day. "Destory the whole world?" he whispered furiously.

Gohan nodded. "I know one man who could anything he wanted to: anyone, anytime, anywhere, anything. Take him off in single combat and he makes sure your death is bloody, slow, and very, very painful." He noticed the color drain from Reno's face until he, yet again, realized he let too much slip. "Of course, that guy is just from a storybook, you know?" he quickly muttered with a chuckle.

Reno just nodded, his suspitions suddenly rising. What was Gohan hiding? He had Gohan in a corner now; it would be the best time to ask questions. "Why are you looking for this man?" he asked. A typical question with a hopefully typical answer.

Gohan looked up and swollowed. "He is very importent...to us. It's for...security reasons that don't concern you. Why?"

"Oh, no reason," Reno said. "I just thought that this man fell from the sky in a large crator, blew up a holding tube, destoryed have the Ministry, and flew away would be a little more wanted for then just 'security reasons that don't concern me'. You know, I wanna see where this guy is from and I wanna know everything about him. You are not finding this guy without me."

Gohan stared at Reno for a minute. "Why?" he asked like it was a riddle to him.

"Because you're hiding something," Reno said truthfully. "and because he crippled me and almost destroyed the Ministry. Someplace like home to me. If some person came along and made a hole in your roof, you would not be happy right? Right?" Gohan nodded. "And maybe this is just wishful thinking..." Reno paused. "...but I think it has something to do with who I am, and where I'm from."

Gohan set down his hot chocolate. He caught onto the signal again, and this time it was nice and strong. "This does have to do with who you are," he said. "and now I don't think that man is the one we're looking for anymore."

...

Goku yawned for the fiftith time that hour. He had been stuck in that room for the past three hours, forced to watch tv. In the several days he had been there, he had made friends with some of the people there. Miss. Yuko, Astro and his friends, the Doctor, and various other characters who worked at the Ministry.

There was a knock at the door of the room he was currently staying in and he, being the only one in the room, answered it. When he opened the maple brown door and behind it was a young girl about his son's age. Mayorian possibly. She had dark skin-lighter then Ken's, darker then Reno's-and short, dark hair that curled up about her chin. She was dressed in a nice light blue gown and two different earings, one long and the other short, dangling from her ears.

"Hello," she said, a little confused.

"Hi?" Goku simply replied.

They stared at each other for a minute before the girl spoke up. "I'm sorry. I was looking for someone. I guess I have the wrong room."

Goku nodded once and thought for a moment. "Want something to eat?"

...

Krillin arrived a little while after the girl did. When he saw her, he asked for her name. She simply replied her name was Abbie and she was looking for a boy named Reno.

"Hey, I think that's the kid Gohan helped," he mused. "Why don't you stick around for a while? Gohan and the kid-Reno, is it?-will come here soon."

Abbie nodded and took another bite of her sandwhich. She set down the sandwhich and sighed. "Almost makes me wonder what he's doing right now..."

...

On the other side of the city, Reno was yelling and walking at the same time, Gohan desperetly trying to keep up and convince him it wasn't as bad as it sounded.

"Oh, yeah, not so bad," Reno mocked. "I can't believe you can say that like it's nothing! You make it sound like your Percy Jackson-'oh, hey! Guess what? You're a Demi-God!' You know how-argh!" He flipped face first into a trashcan, forgetting to look his direction. He screamed and kicked until he pushed himself out of the can and kicked it. The trashcan went flying down the street.

Gohan placed a hand on Reno's shoulder. "Look on the bright side; you could've been Namekian."

Reno's voice lowered to a hateful growl. "Son Gohan," he hissed slowly through his teeth. "I absolutely hate you."