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Quick Links: Part 3: A Long Road Begins
at Last Part 3 - A Long Road Begins at Last (September 2, 2001 A.D.; 11:34am EST; Canton, Ohio) 3 Days have passed since the events of the "Merger of Intermittent Chaos" began... It was odd to say the least that Goku and Vegeta had decided to move into the house they picked. It was also odd that they were the only ones living there, however their accommodations were Alex's own responsibility, his dad owning the house, and the two Saiya-jin had been renting it out for the time being. They had been somewhat confused to why they, as well as Piccolo, #17 and Buu had been the only ones of their own 'group' to have arrived in this strange situation. Goku tried to sense out a few times for his family, including his wife Chichi, his sons Goten and Gohan, his daughter-in-law Videl, and his granddaughter Pan, but to no avail. It was more as if they had truly crossed between worlds, instead of them merging as one, as Goku himself had figured out. Vegeta was as perplexed as Goku was. He couldn't sense his wife Bulma, his present son Trunks, his son from the future Mirai Trunks, or his young daughter Bra on his end of ki-sensing, just as Goku, and was a bit worried to what might happen to them while they were separated. However, despite this worry, the problem of an enemy attack wasn't a major issue. Majin Buu was the last major problem they had to deal with, and that had been around 10 years ago. Also, Vegeta felt it ironic that only weeks after the 28th Tenkaichi Budokai, that all of this would happen. However, Vegeta was starting to get a bit nervous about all of the recent events. For one, there was the matter of Goku's brother Radditz. Goku and Vegeta were just a bit shaky on the subject of him. Sure he seemed to be more or less good-natured after his trip back from Hell with Nina, and it had been 20 years since he had died, however they had their concerns about him, especially the Saiya-jin prince. While he wasn't too strong yet, he could easily kill a lot of their new 'friends' if he turned on them. That brought his thoughts to another subject. Also, what of these other new people in their lives? They called themselves "The Misfits" or something. For the most part, a group of untrained teenage, human high-school students, with only one exception, that strange winged-girl, and even then, they knew her origins were not the same as the other 7, for no other humans either Saiya-jin had seen since their arrival had any semblance of mutations like wings. Vegeta had a strange nagging feeling about the one called Alex, since he acted in ways a lot like Vegeta in his older days. Also, something told him that he and Goku would have to do something to both improve these people, as well as keep themselves from getting bored to tears without their family and usual friends to train with. There were also no Gravity Chambers or other types of training devices within thousands of miles, apparently. Having Alex living next door helped a bit with understanding a bit about the world around them, but they had only been in this new 'world' or universe for a bit over 3 days now. Also, what about the other part of the bunch? Specifically, Vegeta had referred to Heero, Dwayne, Steve and Paula. These four were in a way wildcards in the whole bunch of new acquaintances. Dwayne and Steve were native to the same version of Earth as Alex's part of the Misfits, except they were apparently much stronger than the common human, at least 9-10 times stronger, by his ki-sensing standards. Still weak compared to him and Goku, but greater than what most humans on the world were expected to reach. Heero was also strange. His powerlevel was higher than the average human, around that of the two previously mentioned wrestlers, although not quite as high. He also seemed to have a slightly shady personality, sometimes appearing to lack some emotion at times, and he tended to get cautious of things too often. The main thing that confused him was that like Nina, he was not from either Alex or Vegeta's versions of Earth[before the merger]. And finally, Paula was to Vegeta, a major question mark. Somehow, she and Goku had met in past times, and even Piccolo had some knowledge of her, although the namekian's knowledge of her had all come from his father's memories and the two had never met personally until 3 days ago. From the vague explanations Goku gave to Vegeta, it seemed he and the blonde-haired, pink-clad girl met in their childhood, a short time after he had met Bulma and while he was on his first dragonball hunt, but not much else was divulged. From the gauge of her powerlevel, she was almost as strong as the winged girl with Alex's part of the group, although for some reason, Vegeta felt there was more to her powers than merely her physical ability. On the other hand, Goku was curious about something else though... We have all of these people running around, acting like children meeting their favorite sports players. Many of the ones at normal human levels of strength seem to basically worship us, and for some reason, that Alex kid reminds me just a little of Vegeta's old self, although it could be just that he's a really big fan of him and mimics him out of admiration. But I've been thinking these past few days... maybe we really are here for a reason, as that voice Dusty spoke of mentioned. Goku was indeed interested by this revelation of Dusty's. However he wondered why this 'voice' only chose to speak with Dusty, Steve and Dwayne, and with no one else among the eighteen of them. He continued to think over his thoughts... It must want us here, and needs our help. Its' words about a higher or cosmic power make me wonder what life is trying to tell us. I should've guessed that evil will never truly end, and I've always felt we need a new generation of protectors, not just for Earth's sake, but the whole universe. You know... that's a great idea! I've been dying to teach new people about our skills and fighting styles for 10 years or more, ever since I wished for Enma Daiou to reincarnate that evil, child-like version of Buu and never got results. I think I need to stop waiting for that, and we should try to train all of these guys, and make them better off for it. I'm sure with all that's happened, and the fact they seem to be aware of our powers, that eventually at least one of them will ask us anyways. Besides, even with all our family and friends training left and right, you can never be truly sure it's enough... Goku walked downstairs and found Vegeta at one of the tables in their new house, watching television, since living with Bulma had gave him a small addiction to it during the Post-Cell/Pre-Buu era, as well as his urge to know what's going on in the world, and eating apparently a type of cereal he had never seen before. "Cookie Crisp" apparently, as it said on the box. Goku smiled at the name and figured correctly it was a chocolate-based cereal. "Hey Vegeta, you got a minute?" Goku asked, but Vegeta put his hand out and held up an index finger at him as if telling him to wait, indicating he was looking at something interesting on TV. Goku decided to take a look himself, staring at it. What he saw made his jaw almost fall to the floor. The TV was on a channel called "Cartoon Network", and on screen was apparently a commercial of sorts, but it was the content that got his and Vegeta's attention. Goku saw scenes of himself, Vegeta, and even Gohan, Goten, Trunks [both present and future versions] and Piccolo flashing around on screen, apparently for a show of sorts called "Dragonball Z". He had even seen some glimpses of their three greatest enemies, Frieza, Cell and Majin Buu, although they were not as common. Goku had began to understand what Vernon had said about them supposedly being from the imagination of that 'Akira Toriyama' guy. This show 'Dragonball Z' must've been the results of his thoughts come to life. When the commercial ended, Vegeta turned to Goku, with a look of shock which then turned to amusement, part of that amusement at Goku's hanging jaw, "Kakarott, you can put your mouth back in place. I know it's strange, but it's nothing to get worked up about now. I think I understand where those brats Alex and Vernon tend to know us from now." "Yes, you see that's kinda what I wanted to talk about Vegeta. These people seem to know us quite well, and they see us as some act of Kami or something, since we seemed to be once nothing but a form of fiction to them. I also got a strange feeling. I think it's time we go back to our old guns." Goku replied, not wanting to beat around the bush to make his idea known. Vegeta forced back a smirk, knowing Goku referred to training, the reason for forcing back the smirk was curiosity. He too wanted more than anything to train with someone again outside of just Goku, family or not, and it seemed training someone from scratch was always an interesting prospect, something he had grown to love while training both the present version of Trunks, and later Bra, "Tell me Kakarott. Exactly why do you want to train these teenage baboons? Are you getting bored so quickly?" he finished by giving him a stare of interest. "Well, you know how I was when I've trained Gohan, and later Goten to their limits of my knowledge, and Pan's not fully grown yet for the full training course. I tend to go into a slight training withdrawal. I know YOU had Trunks, Mirai and even to some extent Bra to keep you from the same problems as me, but now that we're here, we don't have them to train. So I suggest an alternative, Vegeta. Besides, maybe they'll have more true appreciation for the stuff we have to do all the time. Some of them might be fans of ours, but I can't help but feel they take what we do for granted a little bit." Vegeta let his smirk show now, "You know what? You're becoming a bit more of a Saiya-jin every day, Kakarott. Very well... I agree with you: so now all we need to do is call them over and teach them the basics. How do you propose we get them all to gather in a single place?" Goku looked over to the phone that had been in the living room nearby, and knew what to do, "Leave that to me, Vegeta." **** It had taken about 40 minutes, but with a bit of help from Alex, who himself was easily excited at the prospect of some training, Goku and Vegeta had been able to retrieve a large part of their other new acquaintances. Soon, Alex, Clint, Jason, Nina, Dwayne, Dusty, Steve, Dan, Vernon, #17, Piccolo, Mr. Buu, Paula, Heero, Radditz, and Devin had finally gathered up. Piccolo had gone over and joined up with Goku and Vegeta, already knowing what was to come from this. He had also asked Mr. Buu and #17 to come to the sidelines. The first parts of this were not going to be required for them to go through. "So do you really think they're gonna train us all?" asked Jason to Alex. "I talked with them a bit ago, they said they wanted to train us, since they want us to be the next generation of Z fighters or something. Just think about that Jason! Soon we'll be the ones running around, flying the world, blasting enemies to pieces, saving people's lives and being heroes ourselves! We'll finally get to do what most of us only once dreamed." the smaller of the two replied. "Yeah, but remember this Alex, I'll be the bigger hero than you. It'll take a long time for you to catch up with me in your condition." Vernon replied to their conversation by boasting to Alex. "Hah! Vernon, you're just jealous that I'll be the one who benefits best from this. Even if I was hard of movement a year ago, that's not exactly an issue anymore!" Alex replied in annoyance, And I'll prove it too by beating the hell out of you at least once after all of this passes! he thought afterwards to himself. "Just remember Alex, you owe Nina for that, not yourself. Not to offend, but the truth is it's a miracle she was able to heal you." Vernon replied with a half-forlong smile on his face, still a bit of a boast, but he knew that his words were true. If Nina had not ever met Alex, he would still be using a wheelchair to roam around. Alex didn't like to talk about either of the matters, but everyone knew he secretly thanked the winged-girl for healing him, even if he didn't show it. "Dammit Vernon, did you HAVE to say that all out loud in front of Goku and Vegeta?! They might not even train me if they think I can't handle it!" Alex growled. "Sorry man, but it is the truth..." Jason replied, in defense of Vernon, knowing just as well his best friend was just annoyed at people being aware of that embarrassment, "I mean, you are still rehabilitating from that as well. Although I will admit, you have improved a lot in only two months." Alex just grumbled to himself and crossed his arms, imitating Vegeta's version of such a stance almost perfectly, much to their amusement, as well as to the amusement of Vegeta himself, who had indeed caught wind of the conversation. Although this news about Alex was slightly discomforting for him to hear, he was still at least willing to train him if it was necessary or if Alex asked them. One the other hand, Dusty, Dwayne and Steve were very quickly attracted to the idea of training. The three of them recalled the strange voice that had told them to band together and to grow stronger, and when all three of them had heard the news about Goku and Vegeta's training session, they had bolted off to the nearest bus stop and offered $35 to the first driver to appear, just for them to put their foot down and get to Gambrinus Ave quickly, where Alex lived, and were also Goku and Vegeta were staying for the time being. Clint had primarily came to see if they were going to teach flying as well. That was the main reason he had decided to come, but then the others began to mention of the other dreams they had using their powers, and he decided to go further than that. He figured maybe he too was supposed to become strong, and he couldn't help but actually want something good for himself in spite of all the strangeness going on around him. Dusty had claimed ALL of them were supposed to grow and learn about themselves these "hidden truths". However, he didn't dare think he was going to turn out to be anything like a Saiya-jin or some other non-human race. It just didn't make any sense to him. Heero was also interested in the training because he had spoke a few times to Dan over the phone in the last three days. The two of them had pretty much amended ways from their first encounter and became more of actual friends. Dan explained a lot of the concepts of Dragonball that he could remember and made sure to make in big detail the benefits they could gain from training like this. Heero knew that without his mobile suit that perhaps if he was intended to become some kind of vigilante or hero again like Dusty claimed that mysterious voice said, that this training would have to replace his former use of the Wing Zero. Radditz also decided this was the best opportunity to pick up on the ki sensory abilities his brother knew long ago, and that Vegeta had apparently learned how to do after their first fight on Earth. He also wondered if they might have learned some other things that he did not fully know. Having to rely on machines to scan the strength of a person was indeed too much of a crutch, and the same thing that got him into a mess of trouble with his brother and Piccolo when he was still their enemy. He doubted however that either one would accurately be able to help him train the weakness in his tail. That thing still hurt like a mo'fo when pulled on. Dodoria made sure to pull his tail at least once every time they had fought down in Hell, and that was one of the only real reasons the fat pink minion of Frieza could mess him up as badly as he could. Paula had been called by Goku first out of everyone on his intended list. When he told her they were offering to teach everyone the basics of their flight and ki-sensory... well, to her it was really a no-brainer. For one, she had known it was possible to fly using ki energy since she had seen Tenshinhan and Chaozu use the Bukujutsu technique in the past. Secondly, she was a cautious person, and she saw the ability to know when someone was close a good security measure. However she also was told then about ki-masking, and she also wished to learn that. Three strikes in her book, she was going, and it did not take her that long to arrive afterwords. The first part of the entire training regimen was simple enough. The three teachers decided to go into detail about Ki, or spiritual energy, even though a good number of the others already understood that much. After all the boring jabber on that was done, Goku had begun demonstrating to the lot of them of how to tap into their own ki, that it was like a cauldron of power in the soul that you had to connect yourself to. At first, only Heero, Dwayne and Paula had been able to tap into this power within the first 10 minutes of this, the three of them apparently the best disciplined in spiritual manipulation prior to the training. However, as time passed, eventually Devin, Steve, Nina, Vernon, Jason, Alex, Dusty and Dan had finally been able to figure it out, as the small flame of ki energy between their own hands had demonstrated. For the next two hours, they mainly went to work trying to keep hold over the energy for as long as possible, trying to get the weaker Misfits more linked permanently to their latent kis. **** About three hours later, Goku and Vegeta were actually to say the least, impressed by this show of determination of the part of the other Misfits. Even Goku, the most positive of the two Saiya-jin, had believed some of the others would've taken a lot longer to master hold of their energy. Now they believed it was time to go another step forward... "Alright, it's time we taught you then next level. We are going to teach you the art of Bukujutsu, or in your more local tongue, flight with ki energy." Goku explained. Needless to say, even the more drained of the Misfits, including Jason and Dan, easily perked up at the chance to learn how to fly. Clint was also just as eager, as Goku began to explain to the process of using ki to propel a downward thrust to lift the user into the air. It took about 10 minutes before some people started to get the hang of it. Paula had been one of the fast learners, since she had apparently remembered this ability from her ordeal helping Goku fight Piccolo Damiaou, and had helped her speed up the learning process. Nina was also doing better due to her own natural flight abilities, and understood how the downward thrust of ki would lift her into the air. Also, Heero again was a fast learner, now flying around at 30 MPH around the area. However he had been so enraptured with this he had failed to notice that a large tree was nearby, as he smacked right into it, and falling to the ground, dazed and almost unconscious from both the ki drain and the hard impact of his head. Alex had cringed when he saw Heero hit the tree, but not at Heero, but the large crack that had formed in the tree upon his impact. "Dammit Heero! Well, that tree's gonna need clearing soon." he stated to himself, however he wasn't so interested in it, as he himself had just recently began lifting himself off the ground for the first time with his own ki manipulation. Strangely, as opposed to his usual psychology to rush into things and get them done quickly, he decided to take his first steps at flying slowly, as to not screw up and crash like Heero did. After another 4 minutes, Alex was flying loops around the dazed Heero, snickering at him. Heero grumbled at him, and got up, walking [more like slightly limping] back over to most of the others, who had by then had been floating around, trying to keep hold over their latent powers and keep from falling. Dan was one of the unluckier ones, almost crashing 3 different times due to different breaks in his concentration. After a total of another hour, all of the Misfits had finally gotten near-mastery over their movements. However a few of them fell out of the sky after so long, their Ki having ran out. After some rest however, most of the others had regained most of their energy. At the moment, Goku and Vegeta appeared to be talking to Piccolo, #17 and Buu about something. They had not looked back at them in several minutes. Some of the newly recovering Misfits had began to assume their lessons were over for the time being. Vernon was the first to speak up, and decided he would have some fun with his new found abilities, "Hey guys, since we have our energy back now, first one to reach Mellet Mall is a rotten egg!" Jason growled, "Dammit Vernon, you cheater!" and jumped into the air after him. Dwayne and Steve also figured they could race each other to Mellet Mall, equally believing the training was over for now, and both took off into the air with a look of challenge shared between them. Dusty and Dan suddenly jumped up and flew after them, curious to what they were up to. Oddly enough, Clint and Nina had also decided to take flight after Vernon and Jason towards Mellet Mall, however it was easy to notice Nina was moving a lot quicker than Clint or any of the others had so far. Unfortunately for all of them, what they had not known was that Goku and Vegeta had planned to further train them and had been just taking a small breather themselves to discuss their 'strategy' for the sessions. "Wait! Guys, where're you all going?!" Goku called in disbelief at many of the fleeing Misfits. "Dammit! What a bunch of fools! We teach flight to them and they get all giddy with it and run off like the wind!" Vegeta grumbled in reply. "Oh dammit! This is going to be one headache of a group of people to train." Piccolo said to himself almost too low for anyone to hear. "I can understand their happiness though. I'd guess almost any child would want to know how to fly." #17 said, feeling a little sympathy for the others. "Nonetheless, they are being very foolish!" Vegeta growled, "Neither Kakarott or I ever said we were done with the training!" "Well hey, you still have some of us over here." Alex replied, still present, partially because he was right about in his own backyard already, and the other reason because he had heard the two Saiya-jin mentioning they had more to teach, "Not our fault Vernon, Jason and them are all morons and ran off!" Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and #17 noticed that Alex, Devin, Heero, Radditz, and Paula had still remained behind, and had more sense then to run off early on. "Very well, it's nice to see some of you actually decided to stay here. You five will now be taught how to sense ki signatures. Now pay close attention, because it may be a bit more difficult than you think..." Piccolo trailed off. **** After another hour and a half, Alex, Devin, Heero, Radditz and Paula had finally mastered the full art of sensing Ki, and had just completed their basic class on masking ki. Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and #17 were specifically impressed with those five. However Mr. Buu had decided to leave, saying he had learned all of these abilities in the past anyways. "So, now at least we can tell where the others flew off to, and they have no clue." Devin smirked with some form of mischief in his voice. Alex looked at him suspiciously, Alright Devin... what the hell are you up to? That smirk on your face means trouble! Heero yawned, which was understandable considering how much energy he had used up that day. "If you guys don't mind, I'm heading off. It seems we're finally done, and I'm worn out for the moment." he said to them, as he got into the new car he had got a couple of days ago, and drove off, apparently back towards his current home. Devin looked over to the rest of them, "I'll head off as well. Talk to you all later. I got rest to get, and training to do of my own. I'm going to make good use of this." Devin lifted into the air a few feet above the ground, and flew off slowly towards his own home to the west, still having some energy left. Radditz also looked over, and said, "Hey Vegeta, Kakarott, Piccolo. I know you're all still a little worried about me, but now that I understand how to sense and mask ki, I can definitely tell now that there's no point in doing anything dumb. I knew your energy was strong, but it appears even your normal states are quite powerful. You'd pick me off in a heartbeat without even having to use the Super Saiya-jin form. So I'm just gonna say thanks, and I'll go for now." he said, and then lifted up into the air. He began to fly off, when Goku called. "Radditz! Wait a sec." the older brother turned to the younger, and Goku continued, "Do your best to train hard. I'm sure you'll want to become a Super Saiya-jin soon. Just know this: based from my own experiences, you'll need to at least have a powerlevel of between 200,000 and 3,000,000, and a great deal of anger and you need to experience the pain of loss to attain it. Good luck. If you need anything, come to us and we'll give you more help." Radditz nodded, "Thanks Kakarott, and you too Vegeta... and yes... even you, Piccolo." and he continued to float off into the distance, disappearing quickly. Piccolo frowned, "Are you absolutely so sure you can trust him, Son? I don't know if we should take the gamble on him yet. Even if he knows he can't mess with us, he can now find and pick off most of the others if he felt like it just to spite us." Goku sighed, "Look Piccolo, I understand your concerns, but there's something about my brother that has changed. Trust me, I know what he did before. I can never forget how he threatened to take Gohan from me 21 years ago, however I honestly think Hell has changed him for the better." "Well, I hope you're right about this. I'd hate to think what would happen if he became another Frieza on us." Piccolo replied in a still slightly bitter tone, "Sorry, but #17 and I are gonna head out back to Vernon's place. Let's head out, #17!" With that comment, #17 looked at Goku and Vegeta with a "Sorry about him being cranky" look on his face, and he and Piccolo lifted up into the air and flew off at high speeds towards Vernon's house. Goku could tell that Piccolo was still sore about the idea of Radditz being one of them. At least Piccolo hadn't tried to kill him yet. Just give it time Piccolo, you'll see what I'm trying to tell you. There will come a time Radditz will prove himself. The evil in his ki is all but gone at this point. I don't understand how you can't see it yourself. Goku thought to himself. Vegeta rolled his eyes at Goku and Piccolo about that petty argument. He didn't frankly care why Kakarott decided to let Radditz live, but Vegeta knew that if Radditz had gained that much common sense compared to the old days, perhaps his life as a warrior and a Saiya-jin could be salvaged somehow. Paula looked at Goku and spoke up to break him out of his thoughts, "Hey thanks for the training Goku. I was always wanting to figure out how Tenshinhan and Chaozu trained to fly, but I had to leave before I could. Also, you two," She looked to Alex and Vegeta, and gesturing them at Goku, "Make sure you watch Goku well for me when I'm not around. He can be quite the naive one at times, and I'm sure this new world will confuse him even more than before." she said with a smile of mischievousness, as she lifted off into the air and blasted off at high speeds, still having plenty of ki energy due to her higher powerlevel lessening the drain. Goku looked towards her retreating form with a pout on his face, "Hey, no fair! I've gotten better at that! I'm not a country boy anymore!" Vegeta laughed heartily, having found Paula's comment about Goku pretty similar to his own thoughts sometimes, "Hahaha... Oh Kakarott, that was rich! You have got to explain your connections and history with her more later on! Hahaha!" Goku grumbled to himself, embarrassed that despite his age, Paula was still mostly right about her comment towards him, "Yeah, I will... someday." he then turned to Alex, "So, aren't you going to go back home as well?" Alex looked back, "I am, but... I want to make a personal request. I know you have nothing else to do at the moment, and I want to train more as well... and considering you two live right nex..." Vegeta interrupted him mid-sentence knowing what he was asking, but deciding to mess with the younger Misfit a bit, "You want me and Kakarott to train YOU? HAHAHA!! That's a good one!" "I'm serious Vegeta! I mean it! I've always lived for his kind of thing. It's a big dream of mine to learn how to fight like a Saiya-jin. I do admire them, you know. I'm sure you two realize that by now." Alex replied. Goku rubbed his chin, "You know, I'm sure you realize the hardships you'll endure through this. You've probably watched us train before on your little Dragonball Z show, so it's honestly up to you." Alex smirked at Goku's mentioning of DBZ, "So, you finally got to see that, I take it." "It was just a commercial that we got to see so far, brat. But are you sure you're ready to get beat up a lot, and suffer lots of pain and humiliation?" Vegeta said half-jokingly. "YES, Vegeta! I'm not Vernon. I don't just weasel on by to get where I want. I also love pain! I'm a fuckin' masochist for crying out loud!" Alex replied determinedly. "Teh... Very well Alex. You will meet with us tomorrow morning at 5:30am in your time. If you wish to train like a Saiya-jin, you must also learn how to wake up fast like one. At 5:40am you will start your training session. It will not be easy, and we will not accept simpering puppies. If you can last for a full week with us, then you might yet have potential for some things." Vegeta replied sternly. "Fine, yeah yeah, I know the routine Vegeta..." Alex replied. "Now you should probably get rested up within the next couple of hours, since you will have to be getting up very early tomorrow morning." Goku suggested. "Yeah... yeah I'm going. I'll see you two clowns tomorrow." Alex replied in a joking tone, as he walked back into his house. Vegeta gave Goku a small jab to the ribs to get his direct attention, "Hey, did you ever notice he acts quite a bit like a Saiya-jin, Kakarott?" "You know Vegeta, I kinda have now that you mentioned it. Makes me wonder if he IS a Saiya-jin." Goku had began to wondered to himself at Vegeta's declaration. "Impossible. Vegeta-sei was destroyed by Frieza over 40 years ago, as you know, and only you, me and now Radditz are the surviving full bloods. Besides, he lived once in a world or universe where things like Saiya-jin didn't exist. It's not possible he could be one, even IF Vegeta-sei WAS still intact." Vegeta argued with his logic of the past. "I see what you mean." Goku agreed with his ally, as they began to walk back over to their house, "Hey Vegeta, since we still have time before we need to rest, how about I introduce you to this one thing Alex showed me the other day. He let me borrow it for the time being..." Goku trailed off as he and Vegeta closed their door behind them... Part 4 - Training Until Our Heads Fall Off (September 3, 2001 A.D.; 10:34am EST; Canton, Ohio) Ironically enough, Alex would not be the only one who had decided to train more rigorously. After Piccolo and #17 and returned from the training session, Vernon had returned later from his race to Mellet Mall and basically asked the both of them to give him a similar type of training as Goku and Vegeta. However, neither of the three were aware of Goku and Vegeta's decision to train Alex yet, and with that, the two friends/rivals had unknowingly set themselves off into a physical and mental battle for supremacy amongst themselves. Vernon had started his training by lifting large weights, ranging from 350 to 500 lbs, the sizes gradually increases as time passed on, while wearing a smaller form of Piccolo's own training clothes. #17 had pitched in by also giving some minor sparring with Vernon once every 4 hours, while not doing much to give Vernon easy goings, allowed Vernon to grow stronger both from the recovery and from the fighting itself. Piccolo could now sense he was about 15-20 times stronger than when they first met, and easily surpassed Heero's original powerlevel from when Piccolo first encountered him. Although Piccolo thought back to his bet with Dan, and he was finding himself a bit surprised with Vernon's jump in power. Piccolo began to wonder if maybe the "change in the rules" Dusty and then Dan mentioned really had destroyed human power restrictions as he watched on. #17 himself was rather interested at first when it came to Vernon's aspirations to train. He knew Alex had told him he had wanted to train with someone when they were paired up at the hotel in Tokyo. The cyborg actually wondered if Alex had yet decided to ask someone. More than likely, knowing that both Goku and Vegeta lived only one house from him, Alex probably had at least tried to ask the two of them for training. Either way, he was sure something interesting was going to happen within the next few days concerning either Vernon, Alex, or even both of them. He also wondered if anyone else of their friends were thinking about their own training, or if they were just going to stay idle. **** Back at his own house, Dusty, Dan and Heero had been doing additional training with Dwayne and Steve. All five had realized that now with the ability to manipulate ki, that they had might as well go the full distance and become full blown fighters in the way both Vernon and Alex had planned, especially since Dusty, Steve and Dwayne had all heard that mysterious voice, and it's advice would not leave their minds. The five of them were buffed up in heavy training weights that fit around the arms, legs, waist, neck and other places. Dwayne's in particular looked quite bulky to the others. "Hey Rock, man you look like a Golem in those things, you know." Steve replied with a short crack, as he had been lifting weights in excess of 890 lbs, which even by normal standards for him or Dwayne would be hard. Steve did not understand it fully yet, but perhaps unlocking his ki had also made him stronger, or made it more able to be manipulated when lifting the weights. He also seemed to notice this in Dusty, Dan, Heero and Dwayne. Dusty was lifting about 430 lbs. at this point, Dan was lifting around 360 lbs, Heero was lifting about 525 lbs, and Dwayne was about even with Steve, lifting about 890 lbs as well. Steve remembered getting information from Dusty and Dan on what they could lift prior to the ki training, which was more around 200 to 300 lbs. Although Dan and Dusty were not progressing as fast as the two wrestlers and the former-Gundam Pilot, they had a various extra handicap of weights on their body, it was giving them quite a boost. Dusty only had about 260 lbs on him, but with the extra 430 lbs, it was also helping. Dan had been wearing about 225 lbs on him also in addition to his 360 lbs he was lifting. Heero was also wearing about 340 lbs as a handicap. By the end of the day, all five would be almost 10 times their original strength, which was considered impressive. Dwayne recalled now being able to lift 1500 lbs almost too easily, although only without the extra clothing. **** Back at his house, Alex was also being trained to lift weighted plates of theirs, the amount varying from 300 to 500 lbs, and increasing gradually as the day wore on, and Goku had also found some of his old weighted clothing in one of his spare capsules, and gave it to Alex, and told him to run several miles around the house, until he had calculated about 10 miles. Goku had noticed during this that while Alex didn't complain or try to give up, that he didn't seem to run as fast around the house as he had been expecting. "Hey Vegeta, something's strange about his speed. It seems... to be lacking somehow." Goku told his friend. He had been a little concerned for Alex since while that spare batch of weighted clothing was about 400 lbs total, Alex still seemed to lack some level of reaction as well as movement. However Vegeta spoke up, "I believe it has to do with the fact that only months before this, the kid was in worse physical shape than we realized. He was primarily running around in a wheelchair1, despite the fact he could walk, but he still had a hard time getting around, and his legs still have not yet gotten use to the fact. Hopefully it is just a phase." "What? You mean something like cerebral palsy? Man, that's a nasty condition for a human. Bulma told me most if not all people who get it never fully heal." Goku sounded concerned at the sound of Vegeta's reply, "Just how did you learn this?" "The brat's friends Jason and Vernon were talking to him about it within my earshot the other day. His recovery wasn't a natural means, Kakarott, it was magically accelerated, or so they claim. That's why he's doing as well as he is. However, I do believe this training might be enough to rehabilitate him to full potential." Vegeta replied. Goku thought for a second, and then the realization dawned on him, "You knew he was gonna ask us to train him from the beginning, weren't you?" "Yes, I knew how much of a fan he is of us, especially me, but regardless, there was another reason I agreed to lend a hand in this. I feel there's something to this boy that I haven't fully deciphered yet, something of great importance. Also, physical training can serve as a means as a cure, Kakarott. He might be a bit of an clown, but as we both have noticed, he does have the will of a Saiya-jin." Vegeta explained. Alex soon had completed his run, and Goku and Vegeta were a bit impressed with his progress at the session's end. Alex had grown about 15 times in power already, and had been stronger than Dwayne and Steve when they had first sensed them. Goku looked on, thinking over Vegeta's words, Yeah, perhaps you are right about his will, Vegeta. I just hope we don't accidentally get the poor kid killed. I'd hate to think what would happen if someone attacked us so soon with him and his friends as much of greenhorns as they are. **** Near his own trailer, Devin had decided to start his own training, having the same ideas as Alex, Vernon, Dusty, Dan, Heero, Dwayne and Steve had. He had made his way over to a clearing where he had asked Radditz to give him some starting pointers. Radditz, having really nothing else to do, and wanting to also get back into the old habit of training and trying to reach Super Saiya-jin himself, had decided to go and do this. Maybe he'd get Goku and Vegeta to trust him just a bit more if he did. Basically, Radditz had given Devin a spare crafted suit of weighted Saiya-jin armor, that would act somewhat like Piccolo and Goku's methods. It wouldn't be as effective as theirs, but still, it was a boost, weighing around 300 lbs. Radditz had made Devin pull rocks out of the ground, starting with small boulders, and then having him pick up larger rocks, and then making him run around in laps with them on his back. After about 10 hours of this, Devin would grow about 10-15 times stronger than he was before. Also, Radditz had given him bonus training, and had taught him what he called his "Keep Your Eyes on the Birdie" attack, which he had found to his dismay was called "Saturday Crush" by Devin and the many other friends of his. When he asked Devin why so, Devin had taken Radditz to his own trailer, and showed him a video game called "Dragonball Z: Budokai". Radditz was a little shocked to see himself, Vegeta, Goku, Piccolo, and other acquaintances and enemies in this game. He was not as aware of the DBZ franchise as Goku and Vegeta were. Due to this, Devin had to explain to him more about so, and after this, Radditz began to gain a slightly better understanding of the world around him, and then he decided he would head back to his own home with Nina for the moment, having no where else to go at the time. Also, later on that day, Devin also called up Vernon, who was in the midst of training of his own. After a short talk, Devin had figured out of Vernon's training, and due to his own ki sensing, he also knew Alex was now training with Goku and Vegeta. However Devin had decided not to mention of Alex's training just yet. He was a little concerned about their rivalry starting some kind of conflict. However Devin did blab to Vernon of his learning the Saturday Crush, to which Vernon suddenly said he had to go back to his training. Although Vernon was his good friend, Devin couldn't help but smirk, because apparently he had learned a large level blast before Vernon. **** Back at Alex's house, further training had commenced. After a lot of the weights and running around in the day had been accomplished, Vegeta had started showing Alex how to actually fire his ki as energy. Alex had been able to fire short, weak blasts that left scorches on the ground, but nothing that was enough to melt it or make a hole just yet. "Come on, boy! You need to start learning how to charge your ki to make your blasts stronger! You can't use those piddly ki-balls forever!" Vegeta coached sharply. "I know, Mr. Scrooge. I'm trying to, but it's draining my energy so fast!" Alex growled back. Goku pep-talked him, "Come on Alex! You've seen us charge up our attacks on your show, haven't you? Don't you know how to put all your power into one point?" Alex closed his eyes and concentrated. He felt a burning light in his mind surge to the surface after a few moments, as a blue light began to accumulate into his hands, and opened his eyes almost as fast as a snake. He then dashed forward 20 feet, his ki aura at a healthy blue and fired a medium-sized blast into the ground, causing some of it to actually melt inward. Vegeta looked impressed, "Good job, Kakarott, that must've knocked something loose in his head." Alex growled. Although he had succeed with charging his ki, he was still a little drained, "I've got to get this down better. I need to form a larger attack, and I need to get rid of this drain on myself." "Well, don't worry about doing signature attacks yet today, you need to keep to your weight training, and your ki-charging stuff." Goku replied. Alex grumbled back and went back to putting his weighted clothes on and running around, firing slightly charged blasts at the ground in front of him as he ran... **** Dan grumbled as he wiped sweat off of his forehead. He had attended an extended training session with Dusty, Heero, Devin, Radditz, Dwayne and Steve, all over at Dusty's house. Apparently Devin had talked with Dusty the other night about his training, giving him the idea to call Radditz over to help them with their own training. They then discussed about jumping up their training, to Dan's slight dismay. He was lifting 680 lbs weights now, while wearing a 350 lbs handicap with both Dwayne and Steve's weights, as well as wearing weighted armor like Radditz's, adding 300 more lbs to his clothing. While he was lifting that, he was watching Dwayne, Steve and Dusty and Devin facing each other, while Radditz was coaching them from the sidelines. Dwayne had taught Dusty and Radditz the movements of the Rock Bottom that day, while Steve had also learned the Saturday Crush. Devin had also learned how to do the Stone Cold Stunner properly, and now had the means to test it on Steve himself as a part of his training. After slamming him down into the grass properly and with no serious damage to Steve, the latter grumbled, but replied, "You people do learn fast, and I commend you for it." Heero was mostly doing his own training, having upped his handicap to nearly 490 lbs from the 340 he had before. He was also now lifting over 890 lbs as well and he was trying to get his power and strength closer to Dwayne and Steve's, but he noticed that they seemed to be improving at about the same overall rate he was, and he was a little agitated at that. Dan was now struggling to lift the same weights as before, except with Radditz now standing ON TOP of them, adding his own weight plus 300 more lbs to the mix. Radditz was having Dan do this for two reasons: one was to learn to balance others on top of him with accuracy, and other was for Dan to learn to deal with lifting addition weight that may suddenly add on during the normal session, as to teach him to expect the unexpected. After all the session was done, Dan was now 5-10 times stronger than when he started that session. Devin had also strengthened another 5-10 times, as had Dusty, Heero, Dwayne and Steve. Radditz had also slightly strengthened as well, although it was nowhere near the jump of the others. **** Vernon was also training with the ferocity of a tiger, darting around various stationary objects of little value in his own neighborhood and firing small blasts at them, leaving scorch marks on them, while all the way under the watchful eyes of Piccolo and #17. Vernon, unlike Alex, definitely had the advantage of speed and quick movements when he attacked, dodged, and trained in general. Vernon would always pretend to berate on Alex about his leg problem, and tease him about being inferior to himself, and Alex would at times get annoyed with it, which is part of the reason their rivalry existed in the first place, although their rivalry was not solely in the physical manner. Meanwhile, Piccolo and #17 studied him with the ease of someone watching an ant crawl across the concrete. "He's still got a long way to go, #17." Piccolo said to the cyborg, "He might have speed when compared to most of his friends, and he might be learning quick, but he still needs a real fight to test his mettle." "Well, shall we 'test his mettle' as you say?" asked #17, a bit eager to have some fun of his own. "No, not today. Maybe in a couple more days he'll be ready for any level of a fight with one of us. Of course, we'll have to lessen our power drastically before we do so, but we'll give him a couple of days, nonetheless." Piccolo replied, cutting off his friend's plans. "Hey, what's he doing now?" #17 asked with curiosity. He saw Vernon below a large apple tree, aiming what looked like energy coming our of his combined palms, which were outstretched over his head. Piccolo scrutinized it for a moment, before his eyes went wide with shock, "Shit! No way! That's impossible! He shouldn't be able to do that yet! That attack took Gohan 2 full months to perfect, and Vernon looks to have it down perfect already!" "What attack is he trying to do?!" #17 asked in eagerness. "He's doing a Masenko." Piccolo replied, a bit more calmed down. "MA...SENKO... HA!!!!" Vernon growled, firing a large golden ball of energy into the upper branches of the tree, searing them off, and sending other branches flying off in different directions, scattering scorched apples and wood everywhere. When Vernon had finished, the entire upper half of the tree was missing. "Interesting. Maybe he'll be ready faster then we thought..." Piccolo mused to himself as Vernon panted to himself on the ground. #17 smirked contently at Vernon's actions, almost as if he had expected something like this to happen, but Piccolo nor Vernon caught the smirk on his face before he wiped it away. "Well Devin, it seems you're not the only one who can use a super blast now, are you?" Vernon asked to himself with the small hint of a smirk on his face, as he remembered Devin had also called him to boast to him about his Saturday Crush the other night. Content with himself, Vernon decided to walk back to his house and closed the door behind him, calling it a day. Piccolo began to sweat a little to himself. He was quickly beginning to realize that perhaps his bet with Dan was a big mistake... **** The next day, Alex had gone outside after getting a drink of water, only to have an apple fall from the roof and hit him on the head after closing his door. After grumbling to himself and wondering how the apple had suddenly gotten there, he had gone back to his training. He was now determined to fire off a couple of larger blasts, now that he had better control over charging them. Goku asked Vegeta, "So Vegeta, how do you think he's doing now?" "Well I'd say he's still trying, Kakarott. Nothing seems to deter him from getting it right. It's only a matter of time before he..." Vegeta replied, but.. "Haaa!!" Alex had screamed suddenly, interrupting Vegeta's conversation. As Goku and Vegeta turned, their eyes widened slightly as they saw Alex with some energy around his body that was flaring up to a healthy blue. Alex suddenly cupped his hands to the side, in the shape of an open clam. Knowing immediately what Alex was about to try, Goku yelled, "Alex!! Wait! You're not ready to do something like that yet!" Quiet Goku!! I'm going to do this, one way or another!! Alex growled back in his mind as he began to chant, "Ka.... me...." "You idiot brat! If you overdo this and kill yourself, it's your life, not ours!!" Vegeta screamed to him, trying to knock him out of it, but Alex stubbornly continued on. "Ha.... me...." Alex continued, almost ready to launch his test Kamehameha. "Dammit! He's going to do it! He might not be able to go full output! Vegeta, get your sensu beans! I'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid!" Goku ordered to his ally. "No way, Kakarott! If he's going to try this, I might as well watch him!" Vegeta growled back. Despite the foolishness of their student, Vegeta couldn't find it in himself to pull away from watching the events unfolding. "HA!!!!" Alex screamed, shoving his hands outward and firing a medium sized Kamehameha towards a tree in his backyard. The Kamehameha flew forward at nearly 200 MPH, slamming into the tree violently, for about 2 seconds, until Alex abruptly let up on his blast and fell to his knees, gasping with lack of energy. Goku had only looked shortly at the kamehameha Alex had fired, and had gotten his bag of Sensu Beans, given to him by Korin over 5 years ago, and quickly shoved one into Alex's mouth. "Quick, eat this, and swallow it. I can't believe you'd be foolish enough to try a Kamehameha with that much power, and that little experience! Were you trying to get yourself killed?!" Goku scolded him. Alex chomped the sensu bean and then swallowed it, realizing what it would do, and sighed in relief as his energy returned to him, and he felt himself grow a little stronger. He looked back to Goku with a naive-looking smile on his face, "Hahaha! Forgive my persistence, Goku, but I had to know if I was ready yet. You see, it appears Devin's been training a little with Radditz as well. He's already learned the Saturday Crush. Devin and his boasting made me realize that I had to learn how to fire a large scale blast of my own." "Large scale?! You call THAT large scale? That tree is barely singed! You're such a soft-ass, Alex!" Vegeta laughed jokingly at the last part, and Alex had turned to find out Vegeta was right. The tree was only singed by the attack. Alex grumbled, before recognizing the crack that ran down the middle. "Wait a second! Oh my fucking god!! That's the same damn tree Heero crashed into 2 days ago! How can that thing be still standing after that?!" Alex growled, not able to comprehend the tree's durability. "I don't know, but I guess we'll let you have an hour break, since you had the guts to pull off a high-level move for your level of experience. But don't do it again for a while. At least not at that level of power. Mini-Kamehamehas are fine, but don't go overboard." Goku replied, giving him a slap on the back for good luck, but he had forgotten to pull back some of his power, and Alex almost went flying on his face, unable to put up enough ki to absorb the jolly blow to his shoulder. "HEY! Watch the strength there 'Hercules'! I'm not that strong... YET." Alex grumbled, getting up fully upright, and then staggered slightly back into his house. Vegeta shrugged with some amusement as he waited for Alex to come back out to continue at a later time... **** Unbeknownst to Alex, that very same day, Vernon was also trying to pull off some other big ki blasts. He had been able to do a few more Masenkos and later he was even able to pull off a small variation of Piccolo's Kakusanyudokodan or the 'Hellzone Grenade', as he called it in DBZ: Budokai'. The only differences was that Vernon was only able to fire 4 shots instead of almost 20 like Piccolo's. #17 grumbled, remembering Piccolo using that same move on him when they had fought over 17 years ago. "Great, now Piccolo's found another Gohan to train. This is going to be so fun." he said with a slight hint of false sarcasm. "Oh get over it, #17. It's not all the time I can find a student this devoted anymore. Especially after Gohan ran off and got married. At least he and his kid Pan were still doing some training at first when I last checked on them." Piccolo replied, as he also still weighed the stakes of he and Dan's little bet in his head. "Let me ask you Piccolo. Do you ever feel jealous of that Videl girl? I mean, when she came into the picture, Gohan started down a different path, less of a fighter's path. Do you think either of you will ever live to regret that?" #17 asked, with curious intent. Piccolo looked solemn at the question, "That is hard for me to think about now. I'm not sure if it was the best decision he could make, but we'll figure that out some other day. I think Vernon's about to pull another move out of his pocket." Sure enough, Piccolo was right, #17 was now seeing Vernon do the Kamehameha as well. Vernon had decided to target the last of the tree he started on with the Masenko the day before. The Kamehameha ripped into the tree somewhat, but it did not quite destroy the tree fully, before Vernon had to let up on the blast 2-3 seconds later. "Whatever..." Vernon grumbled, not satisfied with the damage caused by his new attack, "That tree should be ashes by now!" "Still, that's not bad for only 3 days of training, Vernon." Piccolo interrupted, "You are progressing fast, perhaps even faster than Alex's own training. I've been keeping contact with Goku and Vegeta, and they said that Alex did his first major blast only 4 hours ago, and it by ironic chance happened to be also a Kamehameha. This says that you seem to have a knack for learning things fast, at least." "Woah, wait a sec. Did you just say ALEX is training with Goku and Vegeta?" Vernon asked in shock. "Yes. I believe he's also mentioned that Devin, Dwayne, Steve, Dusty, Dan, Heero and Radditz have also been doing some smaller training lately. It looks like this generation is going to grow into more fighters. Let's just hope the majority of them... shall I say... stay alive." Piccolo said with a smirk on his face at the end, for a moment not caring so much about his thoughts of human weakness, "But don't worry so much about yourself Vernon. You're progressing fast enough to be better off than most of the others... for now." He then looked over to #17, "If you don't mind #17, I need to take a raincheck. I'll be back in a couple of hours." #17 shrugged, "Whatever you say. Not like I could really stop you." Piccolo then floated up into the air, and flew off slowly to the south, leaving Vernon to think in this thoughts, and #17 to wonder about all that his ally had said about Vernon's progress. Although #17 was still pretty sure he knew more on this matter than Piccolo did, but that was a matter for another day. **** Goku had taken off after Alex's little Kamehameha stunt a few hours back. He realized that Alex was quite headstrong. Perhaps a bit too headstrong in a foolish way. In that case, something might have to be done to help Alex get around that problem. He had mentally contacted Piccolo about 2 hours ago, asking him to come over to a secluded spot in a less populated area of the Canton South District. The two of them had met up half way, and then both landed at their intended destination, where Jason was waiting for them in the fields. "Hey guys! Whassup?" Jason asked, greeting the two of them. From the look of things, Jason had also been somehow training himself a little. He wasn't quite as strong as Alex yet, according to Goku's ki sense, but he would make a good second student, for both him and Piccolo. He might let Vegeta do a bit more of the training with Alex, while Piccolo might decide to let #17 handle more of Vernon's training, while the two of them trained Jason more. Jason revealed he could already fire some energy, but Goku had to teach him how to properly charge his energy, much like Alex did. Goku and Piccolo had also combined their weighted clothing methods, putting Jason in a combination of both types of outfits, weighing somewhere around 700 lbs. In this new getup, Jason was slowly making his way over and across many of the roads and fields in the area, slowly, but surely picking up speed, much to Piccolo's amusement. Dammit! I got the feeling Dan's gonna win this bet! But I'm not gonna try to stop it. If these people really CAN outpower Yamcha's gang in less than 3 months, I'll have something to rub in THEIR faces for once! Piccolo had thought to himself, a little contemplative with this development. **** Back at Nina's house, she had decided since leaving her training ahead of time on the 3rd to relax and take it easy. For some reason, she didn't feel too obligated to train at the moment. Even if she could've sensed her friends' energy signatures, most of them were still barely anywhere close to her own. However, it wasn't that it really mattered. She also occasionally got to see Radditz come in and out from his training sessions with Devin, Dusty, Dan, Heero, Dwayne and Steve. Over the recent couple of days, Radditz and her had all but gotten to learn how to get use to each other. As she had told him on the 30th, he indeed slept and basically lived in her basement, where a TV, a bed and some training equipment were also kept along with him. Radditz had suggested a couple of times for her to try her hand at some of his training, but the problem was that when she actually slipped into his spare battle jacket that he had made Devin use in the past, he was dismayed to find it had no use on her. She was far too strong for it to weigh her down and give her any real training benefit. Neither did any of the extra weights he kept in the basement help her out. However, later that night, Radditz returned to the house from yet another session, and she was waiting for them, with her cat Oscar in tow. Nina owned a small cat with orange and red stripes and blue-green eyes. It was odd since she slightly resembled a bird, and yet owned a cat, however Radditz did not know enough of Earth culture to get the irony. "So, how're Devin and the others doing?" she asked him as he threw his armor down the first flight of stairs to his basement room, where it usually would lay. "If you have time, I'll tell you everything I've picked up on. I came upon an interesting discovery today. I found my old scouter from the past in the utility belt of my armor2." he replied. "What the heck is a 'scouter'?" Nina asked. Oh boy, she probably doesn't know much about powerlevels either by the sound of that. Maybe that's why she hasn't thought about training. Or maybe it's something else. Why not, I might as well explain to her about it. Radditz thought to himself. He pulled out a small, white apparatus from the belt of his armor, which appeared to have a green, transparent lens over it. "This," he began to explain, "is a device originally created by a race that has long since been extinct. They were called the Tsufuru-jin. The device basically reads the 'ki' energy wavelengths of any living creature and is capable of both telling you how far away they are, and more importantly, their intensity, or "powerlevel". The higher a living being's powerlevel, the stronger they and their kis are in theory." "So, that half-assed pair of glasses tells you a person's fighting power?" Nina asked, skeptical. "Well, it can also double as a communication device, but I don't think I can contact anyone I'd want to speak with through it nowadays. But yes, it's a means of detecting the exact strength of a person, at least until it was discovered some fighters on Earth had the ability to mask their ki, and fool with its' readings. That's a small part in how I was killed before. I relied too much on the scouter's readings." Nina now understood a lot of the explanations about how Goku and Piccolo had apparently been able to fool Radditz in their first battle, from the others' words. She had not personally watched a lot of the Dragonball series herself, so a lot of the concepts were still new to her. "Alright, humor me, what's our fighting powers?" Nina asked him. Radditz clicked a small button on the side of the scouter while pointing the green lens directly at her, and the lens began to show numbers of Earth origin, to Nina's surprise. They began to change at a fast rate. However, Radditz suddenly yelped and quickly pressed the button to shut it off again. "So, what's the verdict?" Nina asked. "Um... hehehe.... there was one thing I forgot about up until just now. The scouter can only show a powerlevel up to a certain point depending on the model. Your power was increasing way too fast, and I realized if I didn't deactivate it, it would've been overloaded, and the thing would've exploded, and therefore would've been useless." Radditz said sheepishly. "So you can't gauge my powerlevel? What good is that thing if it explodes after it goes so high?" Nina asked. "Well excuse me 'princess', but back when these were used, few beings in the universe ever exceeded a powerlevel over 100,000! Only two people ever did: our bastard of an employer Frieza, and his most elite mercenary, Captain Ginyu, both of which were much above the 100,000 mark. However, even then, I believe 240,000 was the limit for the best model. "So I have more than 240,000 powerlevel? How good is that then?" Nina asked, not knowing how she compared with most of the others. "Well, since the scouter has obvious limits, this means I can't gauge Kakarott, Vegeta, Piccolo, that #17 guy, or Buu's good side. All of them are well into the millions just in their normal or basic forms alone. All of them are much stronger than you, I can tell because of my ki sense, which I learned as an eventual replacement for the scouter anyways. However, if I remember, I'm around 49,164, Devin is 7,924, Dusty is 8,896, Dan is 8,139, Dwayne is 13,531, Steve is 13,554, and Heero is 11,284. I don't have the numbers for Alex, Vernon or Jason, but I do know they're training to due to my ki sense. "You mentioned Ki sense and then ki masking, when did you learn how to do those things anyways?" Nina asked him suspiciously. "Heh, well it's you and your friends' fault for flying off the other day. Kakarott and the others taught me and a few of the others how to sense and mask our Ki after you all took off. I don't know why you assumed they were done training, but you missed out on two very important things there." Radditz smirked at her. "Oh goodie, looks like I'll have to go back and ask someone about it later." Nina said with a grumble. "You should. Although you are around middle-tier in powerlevel, along with the other girl, both of you might wish to train some if you want to keep up, because it looks like many of your friends have competitive streaks, just like most of our race does in general." Radditz replied. "Paula's around my power too? I didn't actually know that!" Nina replied. "It's not quite as close as you, but it's still the next strongest ki signature under your own. However hers has actually increased a bit in these last few days, but apparently not by all that much. I would take it bit more seriously if I were you two. I mean, I am worried a little about that voice Dusty, Dwayne and Steve claim to have heard about darkness coming after us. Also, you might have overheard Dodoria taunting me about a demon of some kind offering training to various bad guys in Hell. I don't want to have to deal with something like that unprepared, especially when Dodoria was originally able to clobber me pretty well when you arrived during that merger rift." Radditz suggested sternly. "Alright, alright, I get the point. If you're so concerned, why don't you just teach me that stuff right here and now?" Nina asked, slightly irritated. "Well... to be honest, although I've figured out how to do it, I'm brand new to this stuff myself, and I've found it's not as easy to put it into words and teach it yet as it is for me to just do it. In other words, I don't know if I could teach you or anyone else at this moment. Maybe I'll get the hang of it later on. You'll have to talk to my brother, Vegeta or Piccolo about it. They're the ones who taught us that. I doubt Alex, Devin, Paula or Heero will be able to help you any better on it than I would right now." Radditz replied, "Oh, and by the way, your cat... his powerlevel is 2.6." he said and snickered. "What was the point in telling me that?" Nina asked with a raised eyebrow. "Just to lighten my mood a bit. Do I have to have a reason all the time to find humor in things? Your world is very strange as I can see it so far." Radditz told her. "That makes two of us. I'm not exactly a human or from this world either." Nina replied. "Yeah, I had a feeling about your race, but I didn't realize you came from somewhere else. Where are you from, anyways?" he asked. "I'll tell you about it later, but I'm going to go up to my room and think about this, and I think you need to get a shower before you do anything else. You're on the ripe side." Nina said with a snicker. "Dammit woman. just give me a second to get situated! I'd already be in and out if you hadn't pulled me aside about the whole scouter and powerlevel thing." Radditz grumbled. "Fine fine, I'll see you later." Nina said with a raspberry, and departed with Oscar, heading up the attic stairs of her house, where her own bedroom was. Radditz mumbled to himself, "To hell with this, I need to take a shower. She's right." and with that, he walked over into the bathroom and shut the door behind him... **** The next day, Vegeta had discovered from a call with Radditz that the once-dead Saiya-jin had found an intact scouter in the utility belt of his armor. Calling him over, and asking him for the scouter, he used it to check Alex's powerlevel at it's best output. He chuckled low at it. "Well, it seems you've improved about one thousand or so times. You know read out at 10,000 degrees on the mark." Vegeta said, "A remarkable improvement from the 8.4 that you began with." "Feh! I still can't believe I was that weak, I was weaker than any of the others, even Dan and Clint!" Alex grumbled angrily. "Alex, you don't easily recover from cerebral palsy like the kind you had in the past." Goku replied. "What?! How the fuck did you two know about that?!" Alex growled in anger. "Vegeta told me that he overheard Jason and Vernon discussing it with you. They said your healing was magically accelerated by your friend Nina." Goku replied. "Bleh. Figures you'd hear about it because of those dumbasses." Alex grumbled not happy his teachers knew of his physical secrets so well, "So what do we do today?" "For a while, we'll both train you in various older training methods of ours, but later Vegeta will be taking over the training. It's mainly up to him what you do afterwards." Goku replied. Vegeta looked at Goku with an odd glare, and opening a telepathic communiqué, /Kakarott! What are you doing?!/ Goku replied back with his telepathy, /You'll understand soon enough, Vegeta. I won't divulge too much information to you about it now./ After all of that had gone on, Radditz had taken back his scouter and left off for parts unknown. **** Radditz however was later called over to Vernon's place by Piccolo and #17, having learned of the scouter from a call Goku made to him 90 minutes ago. Piccolo wanted apparently to see Vernon's powerlevel after all these days. His reading was surprising. "Interesting. He's already at 10,300, and that's from the 11 he had back when we first met him." Piccolo mused. "Well, that's only a little better than Alex apparently. Vegeta said he was at 10,000 even, so I guess these two really ARE quite the competitive little shits." Radditz replied, a now bit discouraged at the fast development of Alex and Vernon. "Yes, that is interesting. May I borrow this for a while, Radditz?" Piccolo replied, thinking the scouter would allow him to keep better tabs on Vernon to see his progress. "Well, yes, but don't use on anyone with a powerlevel over 240,000, or it'll explode, as almost happened when Nina asked me to scan her the other night. I got lucky to find this scouter, so take care of it Piccolo." Radditz replied, as he flew off again, apparently to head for Dusty's house again. Piccolo smirked, "So, it seems Vernon and Alex are going to keep their path of rivalry for a while. Almost reminds me of a certain two Saiya-jin I've come to know well." Vernon walked up to Piccolo, having noticed the scouter he was holding, "So, I saw you scanning me with that scouter. What was my level?" "10,300, in 3 days. From a mere 11, that's impressive. Also, I know Alex's level now. It's 10,000 even. Radditz was over there earlier as well." Piccolo replied. Vernon smirked inwardly, Yeah Alex... I'm sweet, and you're not. Heh. I must admit though, you're doing a lot better than I expected for your state of recovery. Vernon then went off back to train with #17 a bit, as they had decided to bump up the difficulty of the training a decent amount. Soon Piccolo lifted into the air and flew off back towards the Canton South District, thinking to himself, It's not even been a full week since we met him, and he's already about 1/4 of the way to 45,000! At this rate, he'll be at around 450,000 when 3 months passes, at least if these 'rules' really have changed. I don't know about that though. ********** Goku and Piccolo met again in the clear fields on the Canton South Area, meeting with Jason. Piccolo decided to scan him with the scouter, and got a 7,830 powerlevel reading out of him. "Jason's close to 7,900 on the scouter, so we need to continue training him, at least if you want him to compete with Vernon and Alex, who have around 10,000 each. I think we should try to get him to fire large scale blasts today. Do you think he could get that same boost that you said Alex did?" Piccolo asked. "Perhaps I could push him to, but I'll have to see what I can do with him." Goku replied. He went over to Jason and asked, "Jason, are you any good with large-scale blasts just yet?" "Well, I can do a small Soukidan3 like Yamcha could, and control it, but it's not terribly powerful yet." Jason replied. "Alright, do you think you could shoot a kamehameha yet?" asked Goku, a bit intrigued from that bit of news. "I'll try it if you want. Not sure what'll come from it though." Jason then cupped his hands to the side, and began to furrow his face in concentration, "Ka.... me.... ha...." Goku frowned... he didn't see any energy forming in his hands yet. Perhaps he wasn't ready just yet. "Me....." Jason continued Goku sighed sadly and called over, "Jason, don't worry about it. It can wait a...." Then he suddenly noticed a massive energy build up materialize in Jason's hands out of nowhere! "HA!!!!!" Jason screamed at a volume almost like Dusty's louder screams, and shot a large-sized Kamehameha with plenty of ki on the side at a diagonal angle into the air. Goku's eyes almost bugged out in shock, "Wow! That's bigger than Alex's from a day back! How did you do that so... suddenly?" Jason looked down at Goku, and scratched his head a bit, "Well, you know, I don't actually know too well how I did that." "Whaa...!!!" Goku urked as he sweatdropped at him. "Just kidding. I think it was the fact that this was meant to be a more fake-out kamehameha. I didn't actually put a lot of power into it, despite the size of it." Jason replied, chuckling. "You coulda fooled me, kid. That Kamehameha registered at 18,400 on the Scouter, so it was more than double your own strength, Jason!" Piccolo said to him, getting his second major surprise of the day. "WHAT!? Impossible! I... know didn't put that... much power into... argh..." Jason said, as he suddenly felt light-headed and fell to his knees in fatigue, almost passing out. Goku grumbled, "Damn! You and Alex both... why do you guys suggest of OVERDOING everything so much without any logic!?" Goku growled, almost wanting to bop him on the head for that, and giving him a sensu bean from his pouch, healing Jason to full health, and making him a bit stronger. "Sorry. I really didn't mean to overpower it like that." Jason replied. Piccolo's reading now appeared to be 10,210 on the Scouter, a remarkable improvement from moments ago. He wasn't going to tell Jason that though. These people for one were already getting really strong so fast, and he wasn't about to let Dan find out just how much he was regretting making that bet right now... **** The next day, Piccolo had still been holding onto Radditz's scouter. He had primarily left #17 to training Vernon the other day. So when he returned and scanned Vernon, he had gotten a major surprise. Vernon's powerlevel output now read 17,400, which was a good 7,100 gain in one day. "#17 must've done much with him while I was gone." He mused to himself. "Do you really have no faith in me, Piccolo?" #17 chuckled from above, sparring with Vernon at low power in mid-air. "So, you're pushing him harder and harder I see. Well, just don't let him die up there, will you?" Piccolo asked, trying not to actually sound concerned in his words. "Well of course I won't, but I think we should increase his level of training, don't you think?" #17 replied back. With that, Piccolo and #17 had given Vernon heavier weights on his body, at least 3 times heavier, not to mention weighted gloves and weighted shoes, like Goku and Vegeta's. This would hopefully give Vernon the advantage of attacking faster in battle if he needed by working the mobility of his limbs with greater resistance on them. However Vernon would take a little time to get accustomed to it. Piccolo had finally realized that human or not, these people were definitely going to have potential to be powerful fighters. #17 was even more and more sure the sleeper was going to awaken soon. However he was still keeping the knowledge of what that all meant, to himself. **** Over these last few days, Clint had also been giving himself some training, however unlike many of the others, he was training all by himself. Due to having a lot of experience with concepts on the Dragonball series in general, he was very knowledgeable about the many methods that Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and Radditz had used, understanding about weighted clothing, lifting weights, running around a lot, which he done much of in the last 5 days in Fohl Village where he lived, as well as manipulating energy for blasts, which he joked made good weed-killers, and he had even figured out how to SENSE ki on his own, however masking it was not what he thought it was, and he was struggling with it. He also was not aware of that some of his friends had already learned how to sense and mask their ki as well. He was not too terribly worried about his own physical strength at the moment, and the previous training was mainly to give him more energy to fly, and get himself more into shape again. Sitting around at your computer, and having a bit of a belly tended to make training a bit of a chore, and he wanted to break that habit a bit, but at least the computer had helped him with coming up other ideas. He had started making blueprints for various training items, such as a weighted flail that he would use swing to strengthen his arms, as well as other various items, such as a special bicycle that he would create to enhance his leg strength and a bit of his speed. Devin had also called him about plans for something based off a concept in the show of Dragonball itself. Clint soon found he could jump above the height of his roof at his house, about 15 feet. Of course, he figured Vernon would probably be able to do better, with his past record on track and jumping at school, coupled up with any training of his own that he was capable of sensing. He also knew the majority of the others were also in heavy-enough training. Clint thought back to the whole merger incident. Perhaps he should take this just a bit more seriously? Yes... perhaps he should. With that, he went back into his house as dusk began to break, wondering of what else could be done to improve his situation... **** For Alex, the following day would be important in his training. Vegeta had personally decided it was time to give Alex a type of special sparring match. "Okay, for the first true trial of the training, you must last as long as possible against me, Alex." Vegeta said, as this was one of his training exercises. Alex smirked at the Saiya-jin, "Alright then, paintbrush-head! Come at me!" Vegeta grumbled mentally at Alex's taunt and lunged at Alex. Alex tried to dodge, but was hit quickly by a tap of Vegeta's fist and sent plowing into a tree, knocking it over. Alex was on his back in immense pain, but managed to growl as if nothing had happened, "No... I will not give up! That was nothing, Vegeta..." Ow... SHIT THAT HURT. Alex had thought to himself in contrast to his physical words, as he painfully flipped up. Alex afterimaged quickly and appeared behind Vegeta, and axehandled him over the head, but Vegeta suffered virtually no damage and barely budged from his spot, chuckling to himself. Vegeta had given Alex a freebie and let him attempt an attack to give him an idea of the futility of the situation. He loved having some degree of control when sparring a much weaker opponent. "You fool! Don't try to hit me directly! With the difference in our powerlevels, it's fruitless right now." Vegeta said, giving Alex a very light knee in the stomach, knocking him on his back again. "Argh... Dammit Vegeta! I don't care if you're a higher powerlevel than me!" Alex growled, attempting to flip back up, but Vegeta had quickly reacted before he could complete that action and quick-tripped him in mid-flip, and then kicked Alex lightly in the back as he fell, sending him flying face first into another tree. Ow... that sucked serious balls... Alex thought to himself as he painfully peeled himself out, and got up, looking at Vegeta. Maybe it is impossible to beat him now. But still, there must be someway to at least humiliate him... Alex thought. Vegeta charged again, and Alex barely got himself out of the way of his first swung fist, only to be kicked immediately afterwards once again into yet another tree. Alex laid on the ground, breathing heavily. Alex tried to flip up, but he couldn't even get his back off the ground, as Vegeta had fired a weak, and small blast [by his standards] that slammed into Alex, but was more meant to pin his chest to the ground. Alex faltered after 10 seconds of struggling, out of energy. "You still have a long way to go before you're at our level, but that wasn't terrible." Vegeta said to Alex with a small smirk, "You did last more than 20 seconds." However, that was not good enough for Alex. A deep anger began to well inside of him. He knew Vegeta was an experienced fighter who could easily kill him in a real fight, but that didn't excuse his own weakness. All that training seemed useless. Alex's teeth began to shape as canines, and his hair began to blow around. "20 seconds Vegeta? More like I'M NOT FINISHED YET!!!" Alex growled, gritting his teeth in anger, as his ki aura began to flare up with great intensity. Goku's eyes went wide as he sensed Alex's powerlevel almost multiply by 20 times as his hair began to spike up, his eyes turning turquoise, and his hair turning gold, and the ground around him nearly in a 10-15 foot radius melting away, and Alex had quickly dispersed the ki blast pinning him to the ground, and lunged up and punched Vegeta in his face, knocking him back a few inches, but inflicting no real damage. However Vegeta had ignored Alex's attack and was staring at Alex in disbelief. That hair!! Those eyes!! He can't be!! "IM... IMPOSSIBLE!! You're... you're a Saiya-jin too?!" Vegeta stuttered, realizing now just what it was that might have made him agree to train Alex in the first place. "Wow, and he became a Super Saiya-jin at that!" Goku said from the sidelines, still showing a shocked expression of his own. Alex suddenly got his bearings, went wide eyed. He did feel a lot stronger and a little lighter. "Hey, Goku, go get me a mirror, would ya?" he asked. "Uh, sure." Goku said and went into his house and after a couple minutes, he came back out with a hand mirror, and give it to Alex. Alex took a good look at his reflection, at the gold spiked hair on his head, and his cold-turquoise eyes, and smirked and laughed loudly, "YES!!! I AM!! I AM TRULY A SAIYA-JIN!!! THIS IS SWEET!! I'M PART OF THE STRONGEST RACE ALIVE!!! I'M ALSO A SUPER SAIYA-JIN OF ALL FUCKIN' THINGS!!! OH YES, VERNON, WHO'S YOUR DADDY NOW?!?!" Vegeta was grumbling, proud of Alex, yet feeling bested, as Alex had taken little effort and overall training to transform where as it had taken him years of harsh training to do it. He was also surprised at the fact Alex really WAS a Saiya-jin. There was no way any normal human could do that. But how?! How is it possible for him to be a Saiya-jin?! He must be a half-breed! It's the only way! Still, it doesn't make sense, considering the origins of his 'universe'. Vegeta thought to himself, unable to grasp the logic behind Alex's newly revealed heritage. "Fine, the match is a draw, Alex. You have a new power, so I might as well let you bask in your pride for a while. But don't think you're stronger than me yet by any means. You have a long way to go." Vegeta grumbled. Alex however, in his glee simply ignored him, and preened back into his house, admiring his hair and petting it often. Goku and Vegeta followed after him, and upon seeing him do this through the door windows, merely sweatdropped. A couple of minutes later, he came back over to them, now with a more serious expression on his face, and having powered back down to his normal form from some energy loss, "I'm going to have to consult my parents about this, you two. I'll talk to you later, or something, but I must get to the bottom of all of this." Goku and Vegeta realized Alex needed to also find out somehow how this all happened, and allowed him his personal space. But even Goku was curious if Alex was a half-breed or a full-breed. Somehow though, he believed Alex was a full-breed, much in the way he, Vegeta and Radditz were. He couldn't put a finger on WHY he felt this way, but it was his personal belief.... Inside his house, Alex went over and picked up a phone in his living room, and began to dial numbers... **** Over the last few days, Paula had been training the use of her ki manipulation more than she had been doing any serious physical conditioning or weight-lifting. From what she could sense, she was considered to be a 'middle-tier' ki-user, with Alex in his newly found Super Saiya-jin state being the next highest below her at under 1/3 of her own current strength, and Nina being the next person stronger after herself. Although she had not done much 'real' training, she had not been standing around completely idle. She had constantly used her sensory on the others to fine tune herself to various energy-ranges, even ones like Buu's tremendous energy. She only wondered who could really threaten a guy like that anyways. In other parts of her days, she would practice trying to push her ki level to near zero. She seemed to realize the potential in being able to hide her real power from others. Although she knew some of the others could sense what was considered her maximum ki for the time being, it was limited to about half of the current group, and that none of them seemed to worry themselves about her too much. On top of that, she usually engaged in a THIRD type of training, one that consisted more of use of the mind than the body though. Goku's use of the word "psychic" was quite accurate for her. She had many mental-based abilities, including some moderate telekinesis, well-trained telepathy that could reach out to many people at once if she needed to use it, and even the ability to create various forms of energy with just her thoughts. She had come to learn her original form of mental-formed energy was called "PK" which seemed to be short for "Psychokinesis". She also seemed to notice a distinct difference between Ki energy and PK energy, to the point she greatly believed they were very different from one another, despite the possibilities of the their uses in either daily life or more importantly, combat. Paula was not foreign to the concept of battle. She did not like to fight too often in hand-to-hand, not being very big on violence for no reason and only as a defensive measure, but she had good experience with how to use a frying pan and a skillet as a deadly weapon. To many it seemed she was taking her life post-merger lightly, as Radditz had believed in his talk with Nina a couple of days ago. However that was far from the truth. Paula was also quite concerned when she heard about what Dusty, Dwayne and Steve said about a strange voice speaking to them from the darkness. She had long ago accepted the fact that there was no such thing as true peace forever. Something always came forth eventually to ruin the peace and threaten either the world or some other important thing in the universe. In recent days, she had began calling Nina over the phone, finding out her number after meeting with her at her house the previous day. Nina had indeed talked to her about how Radditz suggested the two of them train if they were serious about helping out. Paula had also believed Radditz was correct, and she told Nina that in a couple of days she wanted to go over a plan for the two of them to train with one another. Both had been made aware one way or another they were the closest suited people in the group to pair up for training. Nina was slightly reluctant at first, but Paula many times managed to make her point known and the winged girl gave in and agreed that when Paula was ready, she could call and they'd discuss their plans. However, for the time being, it was time for her to practice her psychic meditation again, as she always did in the later third of the day for her training. She headed back to her room and sat on the bed for three hours in meditation... **** Vernon was in pain... much pain. Apparently he had done so well in the recent days that #17 had convinced Piccolo to let Vernon spar on slightly more realistic terms. For Vernon, that meant he barely stood much of a chance of winning directly, and that the match had been more about outlasting him as long as possible. Unfortunately, #17 was no slowpoke, even with his powerlevel greatly lowered for the spar, it was very hard for Vernon to dodge him. Vernon suddenly slammed through a tree, and was now flipping sideways with a twisted position. He had to, in order to dodge the 7 different ki blasts that had been aimed at his head, arms, and feet, and one at his stomach. However despite Vernon's fancy dodge, #17 appeared behind him and slammed a foot into his spine, sending Vernon careening forward, and smashing through a nearby fence in his neighborhood. Some of his neighbors were watching, but despite the scene, they had been given heads up by Piccolo about Vernon's training, and that this was only a more "serious spar" as he put it, and that Vernon was in no real danger of dying here. #17 was a little impressed that someone below a 20,000 powerlevel was standing up to him at even a small fraction of his own power, which was approximately 465,000 at this point, according to his own internal ki scanner. "Good going, you're somewhat good at lasting against a superior opponent, but I think we need to take things up a notch!" #17 replied, and started shooting blasts towards Vernon in near rapid fire succession. Vernon knew those blasts could be moving much faster, but this was a spar, not a fight to the death, and #17 was only telling him along the lines of: "You must keep your will and endurance up at all times, even against a superior opponent." Vernon growled, he was appreciative of the teaching, but he was not too keen on getting his butt kicked so easily in order to learn it. He was beginning to lose his cool a little, and started charging up his own Kamehameha, as he darted forward at #17, decided to dodge each of his individual blasts as well as he could. After about 10 seconds of dodging, he appeared in #17's face and unleashed his Kamehameha point-blank. #17 was blasted back in surprise for a couple seconds, but then recovered and jumped THROUGH the kamehameha and end it by slugging Vernon right in the face and sending him flying back like a spinning missile. He went crashing into the fence one more time and stopped, barely twitching from all the damage, and his ki having been exhausted to try to protect him from most of the blow. #17 smirked and walked over to him, as Piccolo watched in silence. Vernon's vision was blurred, and he could barely make out simple colors in his current state. He was barely able to recognize #17 as he stood over Vernon's hurt form. "You did well, Vernon. But perhaps we should up the ante just one more time. Perhaps Piccolo and I should just finish you off now and end it all." #17's voice suddenly echoed into Vernon's head. Vernon's mind reeled in shock, What?! Piccolo raised his eyes at #17... What the hell are you doing, #17!? he thought to himself. "I had high hopes for you. I trained you and all, and yet you fail us in our time of need." #17 continued on, not really intent on doing what he said. He figured, with Vernon down, and dazed as he was, that the cyborg could have a little fun toying with his mind, since he couldn't fight Vernon directly now with how injured he was. Piccolo saw the playful smirk on his face and calmed down. He's only messing with him. I was hoping that was the case, else I'd have to intervene. Vernon on the other hand, was beginning to believe #17's words, No... #17, you lied to me! You betrayed me!! Vernon thought to himself. Had be been able to move his mouth, he would've said it out loud. Not aware of Vernon's angry thoughts, #17 begin to form what appeared to the casual onlooker as a large ball of energy, but in truth, even if it hit Vernon, it would barely damage a tree. Vernon saw the blinding light through his blurred eyes, and began to growl. #17 had not heard the growling at first, due to the shrill whine of his trick ki blast, but he did began to see Vernon's energy flare up to a healthy blue. Piccolo's eyes went wide, "What!? His powerlevel's vastly increasing!" He then began to see a flicker of... "Did I just see his hair flicker GOLD!?" Piccolo shouted. #17 had saw the gold flicker in Vernon's hair, and had seen his eyes turning turquoise. He was no fool to what was happening, ALREADY!? I didn't think it would happen so soon! #17 suddenly powered down the blast as Vernon let out a monstrous scream of rage, "RRRRRAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!" Vernon screamed, his injuries healing a little from the vast increase in power, as his hair faded to gold, and stood up on end. Below him, a crater nearly 15 feet wide was formed, and his energy flowed freely into the air. "IMPOSSIBLE!!" Piccolo screamed, "He's a SUPER SAIYA-JIN!!!" he stated in shock, and now realized that even though Vernon might not be considered human anymore, that he still had to worry about his bet with Dan. Vernon had not heard anything that Piccolo had said, and he looked at #17 with what looked to be bared fangs now among his teeth. Piccolo realized he looked like a Quasi-Oozaru with the teeth. "#17, I think those comments of yours pushed him too much!" Piccolo said to him, and then cringed, as he saw Vernon deck #17 with a large fist, sending #17 flying backwards a couple of feet. #17 actually felt a slight bit of damage from his attack, and yelled, "Woah!! Woah! Vernon, CALM DOWN!! I was joking about all of that!!" DAMMIT! I really messed things up doing that! he then thought to himself. Vernon growled, half enraptured by his newly-found Saiya-jin side, "You.... betrayed... me!!" and he jumped at #17 again, only to be apprehended by Piccolo in mid-air. "No... Vernon... calm down!! He was joking with you!" but Vernon smashed his head against Piccolo's, which while it barely damaged the Namekian, caused him to let up on Vernon in surprise, and he went charging at #17. The cyborg was prepared to defend himself, although he was not in a true sense of danger... yet. However just as Vernon was about reach #17, he felt something smash down on his head, knocking him forward to his knees. It wasn't the same force of strength as either #17 or Piccolo, but it was strong enough to knock sense into him. Vernon's vision returned to a normal hue, and he was still Super Saiya-jin, but he was no longer enraptured with anger. "What... who... what's going on!?" he asked out loud, feeling the strain on his power, and then he realized it... "I... I just went Super Saiya-jin! Thank you #17. All that "you suck" talk must've slapped some kind of anger into my head." "You can thank ME for snapping you to your senses, too." Nina's voice said from just above them, as they looked up to see her floating them with a large concentration of energy charged around her body, the first time she ever truly tapped into her ki energy for fighting purposes. "You were able to knock him back to normal?" #17 asked. "Yes, Vernon's not THAT strong yet. He's around a 300,000 powerlevel, but Nina's a little over 1,000,000 as I can tell." Piccolo replied. "I'm over a million? Radditz told me I was at least 240,000 if not higher." Nina replied. #17 looked at her and scanned her with his internal ki scanner, "You're power is actually closer to 1,370,000 degrees." "Close enough." Piccolo grumbled, hating it when #17 decided to be so technical about it. "Well anyways, I'd stay and chat about this more, but I'm off to find Radditz and Dan. I came over here because I figured you needed to know that I going to see them about a special type of training. I'll be off, and don't be getting in over your head, Vernon." Nina said as she quickly flew off in the direction of Dusty's house. Vernon grinned at himself, "Now I know I can slam Alex down a few notches with this." "Well, at least you're still in the game again. You see Vernon, I wasn't going to bring it up to you yet, but yesterday Vegeta and Goku told me that Alex learned how to go Super Saiya-jin as well. Apparently Vegeta was sparring with him a bit like we were today and it ended up in a similar result." "Aw shit..." Vernon grumbled, "I'm back to being even with 'crutches' again. Oh well. Gives me more competitive flair. The two of us will settle it later, but I want to rest now. I think I've deserved it consider the hell #17 put me through to get it." "Very well, but we train 2 more hours tomorrow, you got that kid?" Piccolo asked. "Fine by me, Piccolo." Vernon said as he sighed to himself and walked into his house to go to bed for a nap. Piccolo sighed to himself, finding himself surprised that Nina was still able to knock Vernon back to normal, even as a Super Saiya-jin. It was then he realized in a way, he had already lost the bet with Dan before he had even made it. He remembered suddenly of Paula's own powerlevel, which had been around 1 million, a little less than Nina. Maybe Dan still wouldn't count that against him though, he thought to himself... **** Dodoria cringed as he was escorted up the long and winding stairway which led to the icy alter. The fat, pink minion and former left-hand man of Frieza's armies was scared stiff on the inside. He was being escorted by many robed demons as he ascended the altar's stairs, almost eight or nine of them. Although he himself was normally very strong when compared to a human being, his powerlevel at best was only around 45,000 to 50,000, and each and every one of the robed demons scaled in nearly 4 times or more his own powerlevel. Struggling against them would've gotten him beaten to a bloody pulp, in addition to what he knew he was in for. When word got out that Radditz had escaped from Hell with Nina's help, Dodoria, as predicted was sought out immediately by the robed demons. Dodoria only knew too well by now who these demons served, and that he was in serious trouble. It was times like this he wished he could die for good, because he was in for a severe punishment no doubt. Dodoria and the escort demons soon reached the top of the icy altar, and at the top was a medium sized throne made of bone and cartilage, which was seating a larger man in a much more elegant-looking long robe, adorned with an ominous hood. Although the shade beneath his hood showed his face to be human in appearance, this creature still held far more power in a pinky finger than Dodoria had in his whole body. The supreme robed being looked over Dodoria. "So, Dodoria Mugoi... former-left hand man of Frieza. You are more than likely curious to my calling you here." He then stopped, looking over and awaiting the scared Dodoria's response. Dodoria kneeled to his knees in front of the robed stranger, a gesture of begging for forgiveness, "I have a bad feeling I know the reason." "Yes, yes... you are of course considered responsible for the loss of Radditz. Our master's plan did not include his escape, and I'm afraid if Radditz cannot pay for it, you must." he robed creature spoke, his eyes glowing a menacing red. Dodoria gulped, but realized there was nothing he could do to escape. The robed man raised a slender finger into view, which began to form a small blood-red cube of energy, which while the size of a small stone could easily destroy a creature of Piccolo's current strength. He pointed it forward, and said, "I guess it matters not, but I will enjoy inflicting pain on someone yet again!" as he fired the shot at the helpless Dodoria at speeds Dodoria could never hope to witness... Only for the attack to be blown aside like a mere gesture inches from the scared-shitless minion's face. "THAT'S ENOUGH." a booming voice echoed from above them. The robed minion looked up and saw a 10-foot tall silhouette descending down to their plateau, along with two others, just as black, but different and smaller shapes. The robed creature's eyes turned to fear, "Lord, I am sorry, but I thought he was to be punished." "EXACTLY WHY IS HE TO BE PUNISHED?" the tallest shadow spoke up in the same monotone booming voice as before. "I was told that you ordered that no one was to be transported from Hell during the first phase!" the robed creature spoke back, "Dodoria was not able to prevent the Saiya-jin Radditz from being taken back to Earth. Now he has allied with his kin, and those other so-called heroes who seem to call themselves 'The Misfits'." The tallest silhouette laughed a booming chuckle which made Dodoria shiver in distaste, "GIVE ME A BREAK, ONE SAIYA-JIN ESCAPING FROM HELL IS HARDLY A CONCERN FOR THE INSURRECTION'S SAKE. BESIDES, I DID NOT ORDER SUCH A THING. SOMEONE HAS LIED TO YOU." "For... forgive me, my lord... I..." "SILENCE YOU FOOL. DODORIA IS NOT TO BE BLAMED FOR SUCH A MINOR INFRACTION, EVEN IF I ACTUALLY CARED TO SEE IT AS SUCH." the tall shadow spoke up, his own slanted red eyes glowing violently. He then looked over the situation and pointed a shadowed hand at the robed man, "FOR YOUR OWN PUNISHMENT, YOU WILL TRAIN DODORIA IN OUR ARTS. I REALIZE HE AND RADDITZ HAVE A... KIND OF HISTORY TOGETHER. ONE THAT MIGHT PROVE TO PROVIDE ME SOME AMUSEMENT BEFORE THE INSURRECTION. RADDITZ IS ON EARTH TRAINING AS WELL, AND I'M SURE HE HAS THOUGHTS OF REVENGE ON HIS MIND. IT'LL MAKE FOR A LITTLE FUN." The robed creature stammered, giving a shaky salute to his master, "Yes, my lord! As you command!" At this, the smallest of the group of three shadows spoke out, down at Dodoria, "Congratulations Dodoria, perhaps you will be given a second chance after all. It's a disappointment you will not work with me again like before, but our great master's arts might actually allow you to surpass the others in our old army, and perhaps you might even get half as strong as I am now." Dodoria, immediately recognizing this creature's voice, smiled evilly, and gave his own salute in return, "That is a great honor! I will be sure to open my own personal can o' kick-ass on that Saiya-jin monkey!" "It shall be at that." the smallest shadow spoke back at Dodoria. "GO YOU FOOLS. TAKE HIM TO HIS TRAINING GROUNDS. NOW! BEFORE I DECIDE TO REMODEL THIS ALTAR WITH YOU ALL STILL ON IT." The largest shadow shouted down at the robed creature on the throne and his minions, flames white in color starting to slowly burn around his form. The robed creature jumped up in fear and quickly gave the order to his demon minions to escort Dodoria to the training grounds in their section of Hell, adding on the order not to harm the former left-hand man of Frieza, or lest they be punished severely by either him or his demonlord. As he was escorted away, Dodoria couldn't help but think luck was on his side. Not only did he not get his ass kicked by the robed demon, but he was also being promoted by the master of the entire demon horde, and boy he planned to give that monkey Radditz, and any of his other friends, a piece of his mind when he got his hands on them... Part 5 - The War of the Pranksters (September 10, 2001 A.D.; 1:36pm; Canton, Ohio) Back at his own house, Clint was working on this computer, trying to come up with more ideas for training devices. He was wondering if perhaps it was possible for him to develop something straight from out of Vegeta and Goku's own world, much akin to the gravity chambers he would see Vegeta use on the show. Another idea was that he was also thinking about experimental time travel. Whatever it was, unfortunately for him, it would soon get interrupted when a figure flew up in front of his window. "Hey Clint what's up?" it asked him. He turned to the figure and said, "Jason, what brings YOU of all people here?" "I want your help, considering you are the big 'genius' and everything, not to mention I don't think Dan would put up with it like you would." Jason replied. "Well, okay. Exactly what do you have in mind?" Clint asked. "I want you to help me play a major trick on Alex at his house. You with me?" Jason asked him. "Is there a particular reason for all of this?" Clint asked back. "Let's just say I'm a little miffed at Alex about a recent development." Jason replied, "To be honest, I also need to get Vernon for a similar reason." Clint sighed, thinking it was referring to Alex and Vernon's new ability to become Super Saiya-jins. Clint smirked, "Yeah, I'm with you." He then slightly hesitated, "I think... depends on what you want me to do. I don't want to have to do something really bad to one of the others and get them on our asses for it." "Don't worry, as far as I'm concerned, only Alex is a target at the moment, unless Vernon happens to be over there with him when we get there. Anyways, here's the plan..." Jason began, whispering into Clint's ear through his window screen... **** At Alex's house, Goku was now trying to teach Alex how to use Piccolo's version of the multi-body technique to split himself into two entities. After his big battle with Vegeta on the 8th, Goku realized that having an equal level partner for Alex to fight with might give him a much better overall benefit in experience and tact, even though getting the tar beat out of him and then resting it off helped his power climb due to being Saiya-jin to some extent. However Alex was not having a lot of luck just yet attempting the multi-body technique, and many of his attempts just earned him lost energy. At least one thing big had been confirmed on Alex's part. After calling his parents on the 8th, they had come home later that night and admitted the truth about Alex's origins, at least as far as they knew. Alex had learned he had crashed into their back fishing pond, inside a spherical pod of sorts. His now foster-dad dug around in the garage nearby, opening up a hidden floor hatch underneath the dirt, and pulling out the pod. Alex called Goku and Vegeta to them, to confirm if what he had discovered was right, and he was. He had crashed to Earth in a small Saiya-jin space pod, big enough to fit up to a child-size Saiya-jin, which more than likely suggested Alex was a full blooded Saiya-jin. However this now confused Alex. He was 16 years old, and only in the last week or so did the merger of the universes actually occur, plus if his memory served him well, the planet Vegeta had been destroyed roughly 40 years ago. Just how could he be a full-blooded Saiya-jin, going by that oddball logic? However Alex had decided to put that aside for the time being, being that neither he, Goku or Vegeta could really come up with anything on that. Also, learning he was Saiya-jin, and then learning from Goku through Piccolo that Vernon had also gone Super Saiya-jin in near feral anger, had made his competitive urges only rise. He was determined to oust Vernon at all costs, and it ran in his mind almost like a mantra of sorts. On the other hand, Goku and Vegeta were nervous about learning Vernon was Saiya-jin as well. The mostly material and video-game based rivalry that had already existed between Alex and Vernon, had now been hyper-charged to massive heights, and was now on a more physical level, and the two older Saiya-jin feared the two younger ones would end up doing a near repeat of the old rivalry that had existed between them for almost 21 years. The two older Saiya-jin had now continued overlooking Alex's training, when suddenly, Piccolo, #17 and Vernon dropped down out of the skies, landing on the lawn nearby. Alex grumbled inside, but smirked outwards at his rival, who rivaled the smirk with his own. Vernon however didn't grumble inwardly, as he was quite eager to see what Alex was made of. "Hello there Alex..." Vernon started, with a crack of a smirk on his face. "Hello... Vernon..." Alex replied, forming a small scowl at Vernon's own expression. "So, you ready to test your mettle with me and get your ass kicked?" Vernon asked, smirking at his friend and rival. "Are you tempting fate with me again, Vernon?" Alex asked, now acting as if he had control of the situation. "Yes, because I've always won at least 9 out of 10 of these little skirmishes between us, and this one won't be different." Vernon replied, not letting Alex's words agitate him. "Those were mostly video-game related skirmishes, and as I recall, we were pretty much even on those! We'll see who's better at fighting, Abercrombie and Bitch!" Alex taunted, throwing an old favorite of his back at his rival/friend. Alex and Vernon began to charge forth, but Piccolo's voice cut them down in mid-flight, "ENOUGH YOU TWO!!" They dropped out of stance, and looked to Piccolo's direction, seeing that he, Goku, Vegeta and #17 were talking, discussion something. They then turned to Vernon and Alex, and Goku replied, "Hey Alex, Vernon... we've all been gathered here, so we can train together, and mix our styles for a couple of days." "Wait... you mean we're actually going to be training together?" Alex asked in shock. "Yes, so you'd better not get too carried away, you two, or we won't be healing you this time around!" Piccolo grumbled back in reply. "Damn." Vernon cursed softly, "And I so wanted to kick his ass here and now." "The day I kick your ass will come soon enough!" Alex replied back, and he jumped at into the fray, causing Vernon to react and do similar, and both of them started sparring. Piccolo, #17, Vegeta and Goku could only look on in wonder at what it would lead to. Vernon started off by dodging Alex's flying kick, and swinging a mean left hook, which Alex blocked, following with a trip to Vernon's left leg, however as Vernon flipped around from the trip, he gracefully spun his right leg in an arc, and slammed Alex in the upper chest with a drop kick, sending him flying at a slightly downward angle, crashing into the ground, and leaving some skid marks. Alex however was only slightly ruffled by this. He flipped up and grumbled, "Now you're gonna get it, you donkey-punching cow!4" "Come get some then, monkey-bitch." Vernon replied calmly with a smirk, and flew down at Alex. However this time Alex was waiting, and flipped onto his back and Vernon began to fly over him, until Alex pushed back up and delivered a double kick that sent flying Vernon skyward. "Takes one to know one!" Alex shouted back as he quickly flew up after Vernon, and attempted to grab him by one of his legs to swing back to Earth, but Vernon zanzokened at the last second, and reappeared to Alex's side, axehandling him in the head, and sending him flying downwards, until he suddenly crashed into a tree. However, instead of breaking the tree, Alex collided with it, and just slid right off, landing on his back hard. Alex, through a daze, looked to the tree, and regained his full consciousness, growling. "Argh, that damn tree again!! Geez! Heero crashed into it. I kamehameha it, and then I crash into it, and it's STILL standing!?" Alex grumbled, but he didn't have time to keep ranting, as Vernon dove at him. Alex growled, "No you don't!! Ka..." Vernon stopped in mid-flight, "Ok then, a beam battle is it. I guess I'll play it YOUR way... Ka..." "me..." "me..." "ha..." "ha..." "me..." "me..." "ha!!!" they both screamed out, both each releasing a healthy-blue, wide Kamehameha at each other. The two energy waves collided half way between then, creating a beam-struggle between the two, which appeared to drag on for several seconds, much to the concern of Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and #17. In the end, both of the Kamehamehas exploded in mid flight 25 to 30 seconds later with no clear victor, and both Alex and Vernon crashed to the ground with no energy left to control, having expanded a bit too much from their trade off, prompting Goku and Piccolo to their aid. "We tried to warn you two idiots not to be stupid... so you two can just rest here until you're healed up." Piccolo said, picking Vernon up and hoisting him over his shoulder, while Goku did the same for Alex, as both of the younger Saiya-jin had passed out from the energy exhaustion. The two placed Alex and Vernon on the two couches in Alex's front room, leaving them to sleep for the time being... Meanwhile, nearby, unnoticed currently by anyone in the area due to their focus on Alex and Vernon's spar, Clint and Jason snuck in close to Alex's house, entering through a rarely used door. Jason appeared to have a vial of a strange blue liquid in his hand, and a gleeful smirk on this face. After Goku and Piccolo left the house, Clint and Jason looked at Alex and Vernon. "Cool, they're out like lights. Man, I have to admit that was a good fight." Jason said. "Yet they could've killed themselves." Clint said with annoyance. "Anyways, let's get this finished before they wake up and we get caught." Jason replied, and quickly placed the vial in Alex's refrigerator. The two then snuck back out of Alex's house, unnoticed still by Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and #17 who were too busy discussing stuff in the background to notice.... **** When Alex and Vernon finally recovered, they had decided to apologize to each other for going overboard. "Sorry about the overload of testosterone there Vernon. I've gotten so much into this fighting thing. I mean, look at us now. We're both Saiya-jin, maybe even full bloods! I guess it would explain our competitive nature, especially with each other." Alex said first. Vernon chuckled, "Yeah, you make a serious point there Alex, and I must admit, you're not half bad in our last spar. I guess we did take it a bit far but... hey... they must have had no hard feelings for us." Vernon was stopped mid speech as he noticed he and Alex had a glass of greenish juice laying on the tables near them. "Sweet! Someone must've made Kool-Aid for us." Alex stated. "That would be me, you dumbass." Devin's voice echoed from the kitchen. "Devin!? What the hell are you doing in my house?" Alex demanded, not big on having people in his house without a heads-up. "I was called over here for a bit of training with the Dusty, Dwayne, Dan, Steve and Radditz for about an hour now. The others have since gone home, but I heard about you two clowns screwing up and overexhausting each other. I made those drinks for you when you woke up." He said, and then left back into the kitchen. "Okay then..." Vernon replied, "Thanks Devin." Alex and Vernon quickly took their drinks and gulped them down quickly. "Nice... lemon kool-aid." Alex mused to himself. Vernon just grunted in reply as he got up, "Ready to try this again, monkey-ass?" he taunted the smaller Saiya-jin teen. "Of course, tard-boy." Alex replied back in a mutual tone, as the two left for parts outside. Back out in the backyard, Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and #17 were still present, but apparently Mr. Buu and Paula had also gathered over in the back yard. The latter two were actually eating and not training, eating being Buu's favorite pastime in the known world, and Paula for who-knows-what reason. "Hey there, what're you two doing here?" asked Vernon. "Vegeta having big picnic! Vegeta good cook!" Buu replied quickly, in the middle of scarfing a hamburger, a western food which had become a favorite among Goku and him. Alex laughed out loud, "AHAHAHA!! Vegeta can COOK?! This I gotta see!" Vegeta scoffed. "Yes, you delinquent brat, I can cook just fine. I especially have to know now, considering Kakarott never learned how. Bulma was at least smart enough in that manner to teach me how to feed myself, since her food wasn't always the perfect dishes for my stomach. And I wouldn't laugh if I were you, because I'm quite sure you can't cook yourself." Vegeta replied, but Alex still chuckled a little. Then he realized he hadn't asked Paula why she had been there, "Why are you here, by the way? Getting reacquainted with Goku, or something?" he asked her, still curious to her part in Goku's past. Paula looked back causally. "Well yes, but... there's another reason I'm here. You'll probably find out soon enough." she replied back, the last part of her reply sounding a bit odd or cryptic to them. Vernon raised an eyebrow, "Hmm, well aren't you a talker." he replied mootly. Paula just shrugged back, and went back to eating her hamburger and macaroni dinner on the table, as Alex and Vernon floated off a short distance. Alex and Vernon set back down on the other side of the house, away from the picnic that was apparently going on. "You ready?" Vernon asked. Alex raised his eyebrow slightly. Something seemed, off about how it came out of Vernon's mouth, but he shrugged it off. "Yeah, I'm ready, let's get it on!" He called back. Vernon then raised HIS eyebrow this time. Somehow, the way it sounded coming out of Alex's mouth made him wonder if something was affecting him. "Alex, is your voice okay?" Vernon asked back. "What?! Why would you ask that?" Alex asked in surprise. Vernon noticed that Alex's reply sounded even more off than normal. "I swear, you're voice sounds like it's slowly changing... getting higher in pitch..." he replied. Alex raised an eyebrow, Vernon was telling HIM that when it was Vernon who's voice was changing? "Me?! Hey, you're the one who's voice is chang... ing..." Alex then finally noticed the changing in his voice, and covered his mouth. Vernon noticed his voice was indeed gaining a higher pitch. "Alex, what the hell is happening... to US?!" Vernon had changed the end of his sentence, realizing his own voice was heightening in pitch well. "Vernon, what the fuck is going on here?!" Alex's voice almost sound like a chipmunk now. "I don't know, but now we sound like a bunch of retarded chipmunks!" Vernon replied in slight anger. "This is gay!! How could our voices be going out on us like this?! This can't possibly be a result of what we did earlier, can it?" Alex now sounded like he had the voice of Theodore from Alvin and the Chipmunks. "What the fuck!?" echoed a third chipmunkish voice from inside the house. Alex and Vernon were barely able to pinpoint the voice as Devin's, even though it sounded much like Simon. Vernon looked on in dismay. "It sounds like it must be happening to all of us! Let's check on the others." After rushing out to the side, they found that Goku and Vegeta were still gathered around the grill at their house, while Buu and Paula still sat at the table finishing their food. "Hey! Guys! Are your voices okay?!" Vernon asked first, now almost sounding like Alvin himself, causing everyone there to stare at them with odd looks. "What happen to Vernon!? Sound like he had tank of helium!" Mr. Buu replied. "Yeah, I guess we did! But I don't remember anything that would cause this!" Alex replied, in his Theodore voice, Vegeta started to bust up laughing, "Brats, what... hahaha... the hell happened... hehehe... to your voices!! Bwahaha!!" Paula sat up, appearing to tilt her ear upwards a little. This got Alex and Vernon's attention, "What? What do you hear Paula?" Alex asked in curiosity. "Exactly what I was expecting. I'll be right back..." she lifted up into the air and flew off eastward. Devin came out and asked, "What the hell is going on here!?" in his Simon-like voice. Mr. Buu, Goku, Piccolo, #17 and Vegeta just stared at them with odd looks. Nearby, in a group of trees, much laughter echoed over the area. "Man, that was sweet Clint! I guess that voice serum we slipped in their drinks worked after all!" Jason said. "Yeah, I just hope we don't get in too much trouble for it. I mean, look at all the trouble we just caused. You told me we were just gonna prank Alex and maybe Vernon, not Devin as well!" Clint replied, a bit amused, but feeling like he did a great wrong at the same time. "Meh don't worry Clint, remember, we can sense their ki thanks to you, but they can't sense us, so we can't be found here. We're perfectly safe!" Jason chuckled. "Oh really there, Jason? Then why did I know you've both been here for the last hour?" Paula's annoyed voice suddenly came from behind them. "Oh crap... Um..." Jason tried to turn around, but... *SMAAASH!!* he was slammed on the head by Paula's patented frying pan [although she barely put any effort into the hit for his sake], and sent flying out of the tree, smacking into the ground hard, leaving him dazed and confused. Clint gulped at the sight, memories of their first meeting returning to him, and then asked, "Paula, do you mind if I just let myself fall out of the tree and crash on the ground instead of you hitting me?" Paula sighed at him, knowing he didn't want to get hit again, but she knew she had to give his due, "No, sorry, but you helped do this, you pay the piper." *SMAAASH!!* Clint went slamming down into the ground. Paula grabbed both Clint and Jason and hauled them up into the air and flew back to Alex's yard. She dumped them in front of Alex, Vernon and Devin. "Alex, Vernon... and Devin too I guess.... here's your culprit and his accomplice..." Paula stated, "Jason here apparently made a "Voice serum" and somehow got it into your drinks, intended to be some kind of joke to play on you two. I think Clint helped him find a side entrance into your house to sneak them both in. It'll wear off though in time, I think." "What!? Jason you fag! How could you do such a thing?!" Alex growled, but Jason was too dazed to respond. So was Clint. "Hey guys if you don't mind, I'm gonna take care of Clint's punishment, seeing as I kinda already gave it to him." Paula replied, as she grabbed Clint by the back of his shirt and lifted up into the air, carrying him through the air back to where she believed he lived... Meanwhile, Jason's fate was now in question. "What do we do with Jason here?" Vernon asked, still in his Alvin voice. Vegeta smirked, "We'll put him through a training session with us. He'll love that, won't he Kakarott?" Goku gave Vegeta a neutral look and said, "I guess It's up to you, Alex and Vernon, but don't be too rough. We need him intact for tomorrow. The whole group is supposed to be going back to their school to let them know that they're okay. Also, I need to go see Paula and make sure she knows to do the same with Clint. I'll take a couple sensus just in case." Goku then took off to the air and blasted off towards Fohl Village to find Paula and Clint, and to heal Clint for his return to school tomorrow, while Vegeta, Vernon, Devin, Alex, #17 and Piccolo went and had their way with training Jason... **** About 2 and a half hours later, Vegeta, Alex, #17, Piccolo, Devin and Vernon had given Jason their training as punishment, leaving him worn out for 30 minutes, but Goku was nice enough to give him a sensu bean to restore his health to full strength, not wanting him to use fatigue as an excuse to miss his return to school the next day. Goku had also managed to find Paula and Clint, and healed up Clint, but Paula and Goku both sternly warned him not to be so mischievous like earlier, or worse consequences would result. Clint just took it all in stride and went into his house, not planning on doing that again for a while, and also preparing to go to sleep after his long day. #17, Piccolo and Jason had left the scene, while Goku and Vegeta had gone back into their house, leaving Alex, Devin and Vernon over at Alex's house. The voice serum had also worn off, as Paula predicted it would, about an hour ago, and they were talking in their normal pitch again. Now they were all lounging around in Alex's kitchen, while Alex himself was in his room surfing the internet. Suddenly, the phone in Alex's room rang. Alex got off of his bed and put the phone on speaker mode. "Whassup?" Alex asked. "Yes, hello? My name is Jerry Doppler from ACME Incorporated. I was wondering if you might be interesting in a rocket-powered guitar." a strange, high and snooty voice replied. "What?! What the hell are you talking about?! This isn't Looney Toons, fag!" Alex growled, and slammed down on the speaker button. Vernon and Devin chuckled at him and the former spoke up, "Sounds like you just got a prankster on the other line, Alex." "Yeah really. ACME? Come on, who's dumb enough to believe that, merger or not?" Alex grumbled to them. Suddenly, the phone rang again. Vernon decided to answer this time, put the phone on speaker and said, "Binder residence?" The voice on the other end this time was a bit different sounding, and much more deep, "Mr. Binder, I have called this place withholding a message for you from the HFIL." "The what?" Vernon was confused. Devin bumped ahead of Vernon, "Yeah right! The HFIL doesn't exist, you retard, it's called HELL, not HFIL!" "Hey, it's not my fault you're so ignorant and..." *CLICK* Devin hit the speaker button off, cutting off the voice's insult. "Oh my god... I think it was the same little fucker from last time. He's good at changing his voice, or something!" Devin growled. "Why does the voice sound a bit... familiar to me... though?" Vernon thought to himself out loud. "You recognize that?" Alex asked. "I said I might... We'll wait around to see if anyone calls again." Vernon replied. **** At the 29th street district of Canton, Nina's house was almost totally vacant. Radditz slumped on the couch in her basement. Ever since he had arrived in Canton, Nina decided to give him a place to live until he could find one of his own. Radditz didn't object, especially after he started get into training Devin, Dusty, Dan, Dwayne and Steve a little, however Nina had recently believed he should personally train Dan, and after a long explanation of her idea from Nina, Radditz had gotten the point of her intentions, and decided to go with it. He had just gotten back from telling most of his other training partners than he and Dan would be pulling back a little from their own training. He had gotten home to find Nina gone, only a note on the table saying, "Radditz, I'm out right now. Small errand involving Clint and the others, and myself going back to their high school to let them know we're okay. - Nina" Radditz had acknowledged it, went down to the basement, and picked up the remote, and was ready to turn the TV on down there, which he had started to get attached to a little, when a nearby phone suddenly rang. He decided to cautiously answer it, "Hello, to whom am I speaking?" "Hello good sir! Do you have long, back-length hair, and singed leg-hairs5? If so, the HFIL has a message for you." a voice, similar to the second one at Alex's house, spoke. "WHAT?! What the hell do they want?! I'm not going back there! Tell that fat pink piece of shit Dodoria and those oni freaks that I was revived fair and square!" Radditz growled. "With all due respect, good si..." *CLICK* the voice was cut off by Radditz slamming down the receiver. He looked over to the remote control, and the TV, and then realized something. "I don't want to watch TV anymore. I'm going out to find Nina..." he said, and left the house, taking off quickly into the air. **** Dusty was mainly lounging around for the time being. Steve and Dwayne had told him that they were on a training break for a few days. Apparently they had gotten a call by cellphone from their manager Vince McMahon of the WWE, telling them of a match that was going to be going down in a few days, and that they might wish to train together for it, considering they were both staged to appear in it. Dusty studied the two wrestlers, practicing not only their moves, but their banter and wrestler's talk. Also, there was the fact Nina had been planning to pair up Dan and Radditz for special training soon, and that had Dusty curious as well. On the other hand, Dusty noticed that outside of the ring, Dwayne and Steve acted more like normal people, instead of their wrestler personas, but they still liked using their personas in public, as to gain more attention. Also, they were planning on a surprise that they wouldn't say anything to Dusty about. All they kept telling him when he asked that was, "You're friends will appreciate it when we do it." Steve looked a bit excited about what they had planned too. However, Dusty's train of thought would be interrupted when his phone rang. He picked it up and asked, "Hello, Dusty speaking." "Dusty, is it? I need to ask, are the famous Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin of WWE fame there? I have a message I'd like to give them." the voice sounded similar to the first voice at Alex's house earlier. Dusty of course had no idea of this and said, "Hold on a second." He put the phone on mute, and looked to the two Wrestlers, "Dwayne, Steve! You guys got a call from WWE, I think!" Dwayne looked confused, as did Steve. Strange, as I know, WWE always calls us by Cellphone, plus how would they know Dusty's number?! Dwayne thought to himself. You know, this sounds suspicious. But I want to know what this is about. Steve thought to himself. "We're coming." Dwayne replied, as he walked up to the garage Dusty was in. "Put it on speaker, would you?" Steve requested in his own half-order tone of voice. Dusty shrugged and did so, and then unmuted it. "Yes? This is... the great one, the people's champion... what do you need from us now?" Dwayne spoke in his wrestler's persona. "Austin 3:16 here as well. I hope there's a damn good reason for you bothering us!" Steve replied afterwards. "Yes... anyways..." the voice continued, "I got some personal mail from Angus Johnson. Fan mail for both of you. He seems to be somewhere near you in Canton, Ohio, and caught word of your arrival here." Steve sighed, and he and Dwayne exchanged looks of mistrust for this person. "Relay it to us." Dwayne requested. "Alright, the message says, and I quote:", then the voice changed to the same one as Radditz heard at his house, "You're a fat jabroni, Rock. And Stone Cold listens to Backstreet Boys and N'Sync!" and then clicked off, leaving dead air. Dusty gave the phone a look of confusion, while Dwayne and Steve were fuming. "I knew it! It wasn't those jabronis at WWE afterall! There's no damn way they'd know your number so fast! Someone just prank called us!" Dwayne replied, a mix of his normal and wresting personas. Steve looked to be in deep thought, "I'll be back. I need to ask some questions about this. I'll see what I can dig up on our prank caller, because I have a feeling it's one of your friends messing with us, Dusty." Dusty was a bit confused, but then replied, "If he's bothering us, you might want to drop by Alex's house, I heard something about them having problems earlier with Jason and some kinda voice serum. Maybe they know something." "I'll go see him. Somehow, I got the feeling we weren't the only ones pranked." Steve replied, as he lifted into the air and flew off to Alex's house. **** Paula had returned to her own house for the time being. It was a kind of two-story apartment. The lower floor was actually relatively clean, and didn't need much renovating, but the upper floor was a mess, and she was only wondering how she'd try to repair all of that. She had moved some stuff in and most of her time had been spent setting the place up. Paula was now sitting in her bedroom meditating on her bed. She had nothing else to do for the moment since coming back from Clint's punishment. She wondered about that kid sometimes. They seemed to have a chaotic relationship for whatever reason. Their first meeting resulted with Clint being bonked unconscious by her on accident, and then she learned of him being in cahoots with Jason's little chipmunk-voice scheme, and had to again bash him as punishment for it. She wondered when the next time she'd have to take action because of his, or his friends little schemes. It was starting to break her concentration, and it showed. Paula grumbled to herself, "Clint, you can be so unpredictable, as can many of our new friends. Life's going to get more and more unpredictable by the moment, and I'm not too fond of that notion..." Suddenly, she was knocked out of her self-monologue by the ringing of her kitchen phone. She went up and walked into the kitchen and picked it up, "Um, hello?" The voice on the other end with somewhat high-pitched, but was similar again to the voices at Alex, Nina and Dusty's houses. The prankster must've been making his or her move again. Of course, Paula wouldn't know this yet. "Hello, my name is James Stoneword. I am a reporter at the Canton Repository." the voice said. "Um, okay. Can I do something for you?" she asked back, noticing the number on her caller ID phone. She knew that after all the attention she got back in her hometown Twoson, it was a necessity to know if someone was authentic. "Well, I noticed you tend to have a strange background, one that seems to scream supernatural to me. Anyways, I wondered if you were interested in a job as a medium." 'Stoneword' replied. Paula's eyes narrowed, What the heck? No one here's really aware of my psychic abilities except Goku and MAYBE Piccolo, and even then, they'd never mention anything unless I wanted them to. "Okay, explain why you think I'd make a good medium?" Paula asked, her tone sounding slightly more annoyed, but the voice didn't seem to catch on. Apparently it didn't matter to the person, because the next line would destroy his credibility as a reporter, "Because your a retard, dur dur!" and she heard the voice slam the phone down quickly. Paula grumbled, "Incompetent. That guy's the stupid one. I hate prank callers! Apparently he doesn't know how to mask himself, because I got his phone number down." she smiled to herself, almost a smirk. The number '(330) 484-5607' was still displayed on the LCD on her phone. She wrote down the number and put it in her handbag. "This guy must know us, or at least know something about us, if he called with such knowledge, and assumption of my powers. I'd better call around to see if anyone else might know something." **** Back at Alex's house, he, Vernon and Devin were preparing to go over to Goku and Vegeta's for a short moment. Alex said something about lending his Playstation2 to Goku a while back, and that they might be able to get in some game time before Devin and Vernon had to head home to rest for their return to school the next morning. However before he could do as much as open the door, the phone in their front room rang. "Oh no. It'd better not be some stupid prank again." Alex grumbled and picked up the phone, "Hello?" "Hey Alex." Paula replied on the other end. "Hey, what's up's this time?" Alex asked. "I need to ask a question. Have you gotten any calls from someone named James Stoneword?" Paula asked back. "Uh, no... why?" Alex asked back in confusion. "Because the guy seems to know something about me that I haven't told any of you, except that it doesn't sound anything like he's a reporter at the Repository." Paula replied, sighing at the memory of the prankster. "This guy was acting like a reporter from the Repository?!" asked Alex. "Yeah, but it was actually some idiot prankster calling me." Paula sighed back. "Speak of the devil... Vernon, Devin and I just got pranked twice about 20-25 minutes ago. First it was some dude from ACME Incorporation, and then the next person said they were representing the HFIL." Alex replied. "I think you might have gotten hit by the same person then. I called some of the others up a few minutes ago, and Dusty told me someone called his house and pranked Dwayne and Steve. He also tells me Steve's on his way over there to ask you a few questions." Paula replied. "I guess that ruins our plans for the night. Stupid prankers. I wonder who this asshole is? It better not be Jason again!" Alex wondered out loud. "Well, if it helps, I DID get his caller ID when he called, but the name was unlisted. I still have the number, and I'll come over there and meet up with you in a bit to give it to you. Let Steve know what I told you on Dusty's end, okay?" Paula replied. "Okay then, see you in a bit." Alex replied, and Paula hung up on his end, and he put the phone down. "What happened, Alex?" Devin asked. "Paula called. Said our prankster got to her as well, as well as Dwayne and Steve. Steve's on his way here to ask us what we might know, and Paula's on her way with the fucker's number. She nailed him with her caller ID. Said he was pretending to be some reporter at the Repository asking her about something of hers. I don't have all the details, and it doesn't matter at the moment." Alex replied. "Well, that sucks. Our night is ruined." Vernon replied mootly. "Same here, Vernon." Alex grumbled. About seconds later, Steve landed in front of Alex's porch and then Radditz landed behind him, them having apparently met on the way, getting their attention. Devin, being closest to the door, let them in quickly. "Dwayne and Dusty sent me here, because we need to know if you've been getting any prank calls, or know something else." Steve said, right to the point. "Well, we were waiting for you. Yes, we did get two prank calls. One from ACME, and one apparently from the HFIL." Devin explained. "Dammit! The same asshole called me acting like he was from Hell!" Radditz growled, "I thought it was real, but it seems we've all been duped by some idiot with a funny bone." "Argh, it had better not be Jason or Clint again! The voice serum was bad enough, and if it is those two clowns, I'll give them something to prank us about!" Devin growled. "Well, Paula's on her way. She apparently also got hit by the prankster. BUT she has their number via caller ID." Alex replied. "I wish that moron had called Dwayne and I on our cells. At least we would've also gotten an ID if that had been." Steve grumbled, "I'm gonna call him down here. I'm sure he'll want to help deliver justice, because now that we might have a phone number, we can pay the asshole a visit and we can introduce Austin 3:16 on his candy ass!" Steve said, and then slapped his hand on his forehead in annoyance, "Damn! I just used one of Rock's dialogues!" Devin and Vernon chuckled a little, and Alex stifled some laughter, as Steve grumbled and dialed up Dwayne's cellphone. Suddenly, a reply from Dwayne: "Steve, what's going on now?" "I think we have a lead on the prankster, and I need you to come down here and help us when we find him." Steve replied. Dwayne smiled on the other end, "I'll be right over there in 10 minutes." he said, and disconnected. After another 5 minutes of idle chatter, Paula landed on the lawn and walked over to the porch. The door being opened, she walked in and said, "Hey, I'm here with the number. I need to know if any of you recognize it. I don't know all of our phone numbers yet." she took out the paper and handed it to Devin, Alex and Vernon. Devin grumbled, "I swear, if Clint or Jason is responsible, I'll..." "It's not Clint then. I know his number, and this one doesn't match it." Paula interrupted. The three boys looked it over, but only Alex's eyes widened in realization and he groaned out loud in anger, "Oh god no! Not HIM! How the hell could HE pull something like that off?! Paula are you sure this is the right number?" Alex grumbled to her. "Yes, I'm quite sure. I was staring at it since he started his dumb little joke, so I know for sure. I take it you know this guy. Is it Jason?" she asked. "No... even Jason... even Vernon and Devin... they can't be as annoying to me most of the time as HE can." Alex replied. "WHAT?! You don't mean that it's..." Devin growled, picking up on Alex's reference. He was cut off by Alex again, "Yes... it is Devin." "DAMMIT!!" Devin growled in anger. Vernon realized who Alex was referring to, "Wow... I didn't think he had it in him myself. I'm impressed, yet still a bit agitated at the same time." Dwayne then landed on the porch and entered, "I miss anything?" "Just that Alex, Devin and Vernon recognized who this damned idiot is. They haven't said it to us yet, but..." Steve replied. Alex turned around and grumbled, "I hate to say this but... we've been pranked by none other than..." **** Only a couple miles away from Alex, Clint, Devin and Vernon's homes, and inside another house, small laughter echoes from inside a small room in the basement. In the basement, the outline of a very portly person is seen in the shadows, laughing really corny laughter, and looking plain out proud of himself. The person is 5 feet and 5 inches, and 14 years old, a Freshmen at Canton South High School, and quite fat, and would make Devin and Dusty look somewhat skinny in comparison. He was holding a phone book in hand, and looking around for various phone numbers, but not just any numbers... No, he was looking for the Misfits' phone numbers, his allies' phone numbers. The kid growled: he and his 'friends' had been in each other's company a couple of short weeks since the beginning of the school year, and despite his fatness and supposed retarded acts, they had "cautiously" accepted him into their crowd. Cautiously being the key word. Many of the other Misfits, especially Alex, but not so much Clint or Dusty, preferred to be as far away from him as possible when he was being stupid. He grumbled to himself again, after he had denied Clint's offer to go to Japan, not caring much about the idea of going, he was annoyed to learn that they had never returned to school after their return over a week ago. He had meandered around over time, learning more or less the truth, and that his friends had met ten other 'friends', and of a 'merger of universes' and that they never told him! That pissed the kid off to no extent. He should've at least introduced him to these other people, but his fellow Misfits had more or less abandoned him, and he also know known of Radditz staying at Nina's, and Dwayne and Steve staying at Dusty's house. How he had gotten Paula's number though, was only something he and he alone knew. Virgil Jones thought to himself, These pranks I started up on them might jog their memory that I'm not gonna just drop off their radar. Rather they care enough to retaliate when they find out, I could care less. Perhaps once I get their attention again, I can remind them that I also helped them get to where they are as well. Virgil could not yet use ki, fly, or even fight the way the others did, but he couldn't give a damn less apparently, and he was about to put that test to the theory, when he heard a loud roar, sounding like a group of jets upstairs. He had looked out the basement window, and saw Alex, Vernon, Devin, Steve, Dwayne, Radditz and Paula landing on his lawn, and knew it was time to face his destiny. Virgil smirked a sadistic, almost masochist grin, and tromped up the stairs. He wasn't going to get his mom at work involved. He would just let them handle his punishment. For some reason, he realized he wasn't really scared of them anymore, not the way he used to be when he first met them. Virgil grabbed the door knob and opened it casually, looking over to Alex, Vernon and Devin, recognizing them almost perfectly from the last time he had seen them. He then saw Radditz, Steve, Dwayne and Paula, and then he smiled, "Well, what can I do for YOU?" he asked. Alex's eye twitched as he tried to sound non-chalant at his 'friend', "We seemed to have a bone to pick with you, Virgil... buddy... pal... friend of ours..." Virgil smirked inwards, but remained stoic on the outside, "Oh really? Exactly what did I do that got you seven so mad at me?" Dwayne spoke up next: "Let me get this straight: You called me and Steve, said I was a fat jabroni, and said Steve listens to Backstreet Boys." Steve then cut in, "And N'Sync apparently. Then, also you called Alex, Devin and Vernon twice, Radditz once, and posed as a reporter and called Paula here. We're not exactly happy about your pranks... Virgil." "Hahahaha!!" Virgil laughed out loud, causing many of them to react with surprise at his sudden outburst, "That's right, I pranked you seven, didn't I? Didn't I?! Heh, finally I got your attention again! It's been so long since you guys came to school." his expression then turned dead serious, "I was getting worried. Everyone was getting worried. There's a reason I pranked you guys the way I did. Not because I did it for kicks, but to get your attention. I see I succeeded, so I guess you want to punish me for it right." Virgil then finished, in almost a taunt, and oddly enough, he seemed to be looking towards Alex as he finished his sentence. Alex growled, and charged in at Virgil, giving him the hardest kick to the side he could without killing him, knocking Virgil to the side, crashing on the ground, and giving him a nasty bruise, "I can't believe you'd do that just for attention, you fat fag!" Devin walked in next and picked up Virgil, taking him outside into his yard. Virgil, bruised and hurt a little, laughed, "Your turn, huh fatty?" he taunted. Devin growled, "Oh shut up, Virgil. You brought this on yourself." he pulled Virgil to his feet, and give a kick directly to the stomach, and then grabbed Virgil's head, like he was going to perform a Stunner on him, but instead flipped Virgil over and slammed him on the ground. He then rolled up his sleeve and did an small imitation of the People's Elbow, hurting Virgil worse, and then walking off, satisfied. Virgil coughed slightly, and Vernon walked over him, but rolled his eyes, "Nah Virgil. I could care less about beating you up. If I really cared, I could punish you much worse in other ways. Besides, Alex is the one I'll beat up another day, not you." Vernon walked off past him, while Alex growled at Vernon, both for his challenge, and lack of punishing Virgil. Radditz walked up over Virgil, and lifted him up into the air, "Man, he's heavier than you, Devin, by a long shot!" he stated, and Devin grumbled at Radditz for the small joke. The older Saiya-jin looked to him and said, "Nothing personal, but I hate prank calls, especially when Hell is involved." and then tossed Virgil up a couple of feet into the air, and jumped back, letting Virgil crash into the ground, making a small indent in the ground in his shape. Virgil was practically unconscious by now, but Dwayne lifted him to his feet, and quickly performed a small Rock Bottom on him, doing a little more damage. Steve then picked him up, and kicked him in the stomach like Devin, but instead actually did the Stunner. Paula sighed at their behavior, but figured she'd let it pass this time, "Alright, enough of this. You guys got your 'revenge', as petty as it was." Devin grumbled, "Virgil, you are lucky we're good at holding out power back. If you wanted to get our attention, you should've done it without trying to prank the hell out of us. We didn't exactly have a good day BEFORE you came into the picture. Oh... forget it, I don't care right now, I need to go home anyways." He then picked up and flew off. Alex sighed to himself, and growled over at Vernon, who had already began flying away from the area, angry at his lack of attention at Virgil. "Vernon, hold up! I got a bone to pick with you!" He then picked up off the ground and flew after Vernon. Radditz grumbled and decided he didn't like having been involved in what he did, suddenly remembering what Piccolo kept telling him, "Yeah, I'm getting out of here too." he then flew off quickly back to his own house. Dwayne and Steve also decided to head back, not wanting to hold any further a grudge against Virgil. They felt they had handled punishing him well enough for now anyways. Both wrestlers turned back and headed to Dusty's neighborhood. Now only Paula was left to deal with Virgil. Using her latent telekinesis, she levitated Virgil off the ground and then helped move him back into his house, and decided to give him what was apparently half of a sensu bean left over from when she healed Clint to heal Virgil a little bit. However he was still slightly bruised and worn out from his beating from the others after she had gotten him to eat it, she then propped him up onto his couch to let him rest. "As much as I should do something to you for your reporter prank, there's no point to it. Be glad I'm a lot nicer than the others, Virgil. I hope you think a little more clearly before you do something like this again." she told him as he passed out to sleep. Paula left his house soon, closing the door behind her, and flew back towards her own house, hoping that the events of tomorrow would be better than today... Part 6 - We Will Never Forget... (September 11, 2001 A.D.; 4:26am; Canton, Ohio) However... the day to come... would change the viewpoint of the Misfits, forever... Clint was still sleeping in his bed, with the lights off, and nighttime still present on the outside. Dawn would break soon enough, and only moments later... *BZZZZZZZZZT* Clint woke up half-groggily and smacked his snore button on his analog alarm clock. He grumbled and snuggled back under the sheets. However, only a couple minutes later the door to his room opened, and his mom walked into room, turning on the light. "Clint, time to get up! Don't want to miss your first day back since your vacation, do you?!" Clint forced his eyes open as much as he could, only to wince at the light in his eyes. "I'm coming... coming mom." Clint said flatly as his mom left the room, closing the door behind him. Clint slowly got out of bed, and began to change into his clothes. He knew he had to use something more normal than simple training clothes, since he wasn't going to train most of the day. After all that had occurred, he had sat on the edge of his bed, looking at his computer and turning on the monitor, always leaving the computer on overnight to give him alerts of stuff that had been going on while he was asleep. He checked his e-mail, which had mainly junk mail, and nothing worth interest. He then checked various websites of his he always went to, not finding anything too terribly interesting as well. "Great... a dull night... probably going to be the same at school. I wonder if I should actually fly to school...? I know mom and dad wouldn't care too much. I just hope I don't fall asleep and crash into a mountain or another house..." Clint said, noting that his parents were for the most part fully aware of the events that happened to him in Japan. They weren't the most impressed at his little trick alongside Jason, but they had also knew the punishment Paula gave him was minor for the level of strength he had now, telling her to make sure he didn't do anything too crazy. In fact, both of his parents were trying to get him to teach THEM how to fly. However he explained that even though he probably could, that most average level humans wouldn't be able to fly very long at a time even if they knew. **** Deciding to actually eat a small bowl of cereal, Clint had gone into his front room, noticing his mother had apparently gone back to bed, trusting him to get out to school on his own. His dad was still asleep as well, and therefore Clint did not usually see him in the early mornings. "I guess it won't matter if I ask them or not this time." Clint mused, and poured himself a bowl of Cookie Crisp, which he consumed in less than 10 minutes. He was also constantly harassed by his dogs, Bonnie and Gunner, mostly the latter one. Bonnie was an impressively 17-year old German Sheppard who was apparently starting to be on her last legs, and Gunner was a 5 year old Labrador Retriever, chocolate colored, and a hyperactive food-a-holic himself. He fed both dogs some food after Gunner almost jumped around enough to shake the house, which would've gotten his parents up, and Gunner yelled at big time. He had only 45-50 minutes before he had to be out at the bus stop, but he then suddenly realized, Duh! I could probably get there in only 5 minutes now. But maybe I should at least fly along the old bus route for some nostalgia. **** At his own house, Alex had given his bus station a call, letting his driver know that he did not need to go and pick him up that morning. He had no qualms with flying to school. He figured that with his new powers that he could easily get there, not to mention freak out some of people the from the school who were annoying him at the same time, if needed. Of course, he was still a bit groggy, and planning to sleep later on during his study hall with his teacher Mr. Danaska. Alex wasn't too terribly keen on going to school anymore [not that he ever really was to begin with though], and would rather train with Goku and Vegeta next door, but the elder Saiya-jin, specifically Goku had told him that training all the time made one a dull boy, in his words, plus he said Vegeta and him were interested in doing other stuff today anyways, and had been planning this 'day off' for a while. Alex grumbled to himself, as if he was actually talking to the two of them, "Why couldn't you two at least come with us to school? It's gonna be so sucky and boring today, it isn't funny." He reluctantly took off into the air, and flew off slowly toward his school. Despite never going there by air, he still had a good idea where to go, and with how fast he could go now compared to before, he could get there in under 5 minutes. He couldn't help but wonder along the way, I wonder what the others are saying about having to go back today? as he vanished off into the horizon... **** Airborne and heading towards Canton South High School came Clint, having flew over his bus, 17, as it had come below into his neighborhood of Fohl Village to pick up the other passengers. He had kept extremely high up so no one on the bus would see him, even if they wouldn't be able to identify him immediately. He had realized how much he truly liked flying as he flew through the early morning sky. It was a different experience seeing everything he normally looked at from a airborne perspective. He was now hovering over areas he knew well enough, and decided to fly off well ahead the bus as it turned on Cleveland Ave. and flew straight towards his destination. Canton South High School was primarily built of red bricks along the outside walls, while on the inside most of it wasn't your common red hue. Various parts of the school were also newer than others, especially the backside of the school, outlaying their track and football field, which Clint mused Vernon would always run around at. He wondered if Vernon was planning to show off to his peers today with his newer physical abilities. He certainly wouldn't have put it past Vernon to do so. He decided to quickly land over by a hidden nook near the baseball field on the eastern side of the school, and walked out, now lugging his long backpack over his shoulder. It was more like a sports bag than an normal backpack, but it suited him well, and he had also put some extra weights in it to fit in some minor training while he lugged it around. He decided to meander along normally for the time being and acting as if he was just coming in by foot, going around the side by the football field, and looking over to his weight room, along the left side of the building in the area he was at. He peered in the window, but he only saw a couple of students, and not Mr. Mike Miller, the weightlifting teacher who was in charge of the room. He decided to go around to the west side of the school, which was where all the buses gathered to drop the kids off for school. It also was more or less where the cafeteria was, which he always stopped inside at first, to get a bite to eat. He took out $7.50 and walked in, getting a curious look from one of the nearby bus-escort teachers, who usually saw him getting off bus #17, except that that bus had not yet stopped by... As Clint was walking inside, a strange black-colored bus was beginning to pull up to the parking lot of the school. The bus apparently had various symbols on the side, one of them being what looked like a bull tattoo, and another being something that said "Austin 3:16". And also the 'WWE' symbol was plastered on the front hood of the bus. Many students, being fans of the WWE, were easily distracted by this, watching the bus stop, and the doors open. Suddenly, dressed to their fullest, yet in the most common outfits you could think of for celebrities, Dwayne and Steve walked off the bus, Dwayne wearing dark sunglasses with an tropical t-shirt, and just happening to be carrying a biography on him called "The Rock Says" on the cover. Steve was wearing an "Austin 3:16" shirt with the skull emblem on the back, and on the front, and also a cap with the "WWE" symbol on it. Behind them also walked out Dusty, also wearing various Rock, Stone Cold and general WWE merchandise, at least what could be worn without getting into a heap of trouble with the school board. Dusty looked both surprised, shocked and ecstatic. That morning he had learned that the surprise they had been talking about was them coming to the school with him, to meet up with the local teenage population at the closest high school, CSHS happening to be the place. The student body stared at the three of them in surprise, as a couple had even noticed Dusty, since he was quite known around the school, especially for his talent of cooking in the school's restaurant, the "Heritage Room". They also knew he was a big wrestling fan, but they had never expected him to actually ride into school on a WWE tour bus. "Whassup, everyone! I've come with a nice surprise that'll make this day a much cooler one! I'm sure many of you know my two friends, but I'll let them introduce themselves if they want." Dusty smirked as he looked back to Steve and Dwayne, who smirked identically to him, and Dwayne had taken out a microphone to begin to speak, when suddenly they were interrupted by Devin and Vernon landing only a few feet away nearby. Many of the students minus Dusty, did a double take seeing them land in front of them so suddenly. "Hey Dusty, why are they here?" Devin was curious at seeing Dwayne and Steve here. "We had this little excursion planned a few days back. We recalled you were going to have to come back here again sometime, so we decided that if in case none of you come back again for a while, that the day you do have here will be less boring than normal." Steve replied, almost sounding a bit like Dusty in the process. Vernon looked indifferent, "Right then. I guess I'll be off to Mr. Summer's class. I'll talk to you later, Devin." "See you then." Devin replied back casually, heading towards the cafeteria, knowing Clint would likely be there chowing down on some egg and cheese hot-pockets, like he normally did. Devin entered and found Clint near the back of the cafeteria, doing almost exactly as he had expected. However as he got closer, he noticed Clint had only gotten two pockets instead of the usual four he got. Sometimes Devin wondered with the amount Clint ate in the morning that if he could be at least a demi-Saiya-jin himself. "Hey, you're not hogging down today." Devin joked at him. Clint was already aware of Devin, and had also caught the commotion with the Dwayne, Steve and Dusty, and decided to ignore Devin's joke. "So, a few stowaways tagged along, eh?" he replied back, looking at the Wrestlers and Dusty, with a large teenage group around them. "Yeah, Austin said it was to make the day more interesting." Devin replied. "Well, Alex might be feeling better then. I don't think he's gonna want to come in today." Clint stated. Devin laughed, "That boy has a superiority complex, Clint. We all know that. He thinks he a pampered little prince sometimes, and thinks he doesn't have to do things normal people have to." "Yeah, he's almost like Vegeta, not to mention he IS a Saiya-jin now, apparently." Clint replied. Devin mentally grumbled. As far as he knew, he had no alien origins, but he noticed Clint didn't either, apparently, so he guessed it wasn't so bad. However if Alex being a Saiya-jin wasn't bad enough, he also knew Vernon was as well now, so that had made him a little jealous of the two. "You know, I wonder if we're Saiya-jin at all?" Devin asked, "Or at the least... not so human." Clint acknowledged him with a nod, but silently wondered the same thing himself, "So I take it you wish you weren't human, so you have more fighting potential, right?" he asked. "Well, look at Vernon and Alex. We know from their transformation to Super Saiya-jin that they have to be Saiya-jin. I haven't seen me, you, Dan, Dusty, Jason or Nina make any transformation." Devin replied back, disappointed. "Devin, don't forget that Nina's not really human either though..." Clint corrected him. Devin winced, forgetting for a moment Nina was in fact not human. Nina had actually come to them by what some believe as a freak act of fate. She had recently told them she was a race of human/bird known as the Fae or Windia-jin. Their race had both two major qualities over humans. One was that they, like real birds, possessed the power of natural flight. Despite having learned Bukujutsu, which Goku and Vegeta called flying with ki, Nina could already fly with her own wings, of which #17 could do a similar ability called Hikou, flight without the use of Ki. The second difference was a major difference in height. Fae people were normally 8 to 14 full inches taller than the average human. Nina herself was a whopping 6 feet and 6 inches, making her even taller than Jason, the tallest of the other 'Original Misfits'. Even now, only Piccolo was taller than her by almost a full foot, while Mr. Buu stood at an even height with her. "Sorry Clint, sometimes I tend to forget about that little detail. Just how DID Nina find us? She's never gotten into full detail on where she comes from. I know she's not from Earth... she said she came from another world of sorts, but... that confuses me... just how did she get to us months before the 'Tokyo Incident'?" Devin asked out loud in thought, referring to the merger in Japan, which he always called by that name. Clint wasn't quite so confused. He had slowly learned things over time, even though didn't know the whole story down to the last detail yet, but he knew now more of the basic idea of what she had gone through than he had back when the merger had occurred, but he wanted to ask her personally before he said something possibly false. He realized that with Goku and Vegeta some things seemed a bit off about them compared to Dragonball Z itself, the show the two were thought to come from, such as Paula and Goku claiming to be friends, an event that never happened in the official manga. "You know, kinda makes me wonder why Goku, Vegeta, Buu, Radditz, Piccolo and #17 didn't decide to come with us as well..." Clint mused out loud. "I guess they wanted a break from the hell of training us. Especially with Alex and Vernon involved. Those two can definitely wear you out with constant exposure. And in Alex's case, it was BEFORE Nina healed him, and now he's even worse, especially with his new training." Devin said, referring to another thing Nina had brought with her. Apparently wherever she came from, she had knowledge of various magical abilities. Nina had specifically revealed it to them when she shrunk Vernon and Alex once and threatened to feed them to her cat. Also, the other major thing she did was healing Alex of a disability known as Cerebral Palsy, that vastly hindered his ability to walk and run. Alex was still trying to fully rehabilitate himself since then, but now that Alex could walk normal, it was even harder to keep an eye on him and keep him out of trouble, at least in their eyes. **** And as if one could speak of the devil himself, Alex had just recently landed outside of the school on the parking lot, not caring if anyone jumped up in surprise. In fact, he welcomed anyone who would react with shock or even admiration. Devin had been very right when he said to Clint that Alex liked to think of himself as better then most others or at least a different level of species from them. He saw Dwayne and Steve with Dusty outside of the cafeteria entrance, and had gone to them, "Dusty, what're they..." Dwayne interrupted him first, "We had this planned for several days, Alex. Let's just say Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock have plans today for this school, Alex." Alex smirked, "Well, maybe this day won't be so bad after all. You three have fun with the local peasantry. I'm going in to see Clint and Devin, and get some food!" he said, now hungry and bolting inside of the school. He was still getting looks at him from time to time, as they had originally known him best for the wheelchair he had used to roll in on. He had been the only student with one, and it made him stand out a lot. Hell, Clint and him remembered meeting that way a long time ago, in Ms. Litterdale's art class, as Clint had been reminded of his late-grandmother who herself had to use a wheelchair due to Parkinson's Disease. As time went on Alex had gotten Clint into Dragonball Z, while Clint also taught him some of the things he knew, and it had also strengthened their bond with their other fellow "Original Misfits". Alex used that name when referring to himself, Clint, Jason, Vernon, Devin, Dan, Dusty, Virgil and even Nina, despite the latter not being from Earth. However it had also been she who had founded the Misfits from the start, giving all of them that name, as to refer to their social differences and digressions from society. Alex believed that the group name now fit them ever better than ever, considering they were now all much stronger, and in his opinion, more advanced than other people, with the possible exception of Virgil, but Alex didn't care much about him at the time, especially after his little prank the day before. Alex had seen Clint and Devin, still sorta blabbing about him and the other originals. Clint gave Devin a slight twitch in his eye that Alex didn't catch. It was his way of telling Devin to look behind him. Devin did just that, seeing Alex walking in, "Well, speak of the devil." Devin grumbled a little, "Here he comes to wreck the day!" he then added in a slight sing-song voice, a personal favorite line of his for Alex. "Nice to see you too, Devin." Alex droned in an only-slightly-annoyed voice, dropping his bookbag on the table where he planned to sit, and going off to get some food. "He looked oddly pleasant, actually." Clint stated. "Yeah, well Dwayne and Steve are by the entrance, so it's impossible for him to have missed them." Devin replied. "I don't think that's why he's acting this way. He can always see and talk to them anytime." Clint replied. Devin shrugged at this. Alex soon came back out with his food, including some orange juice and a couple of the same egg and cheese pockets Clint had been eating. "So, you ready for today?" Clint asked Alex. Alex looked at him and said, "Bleh, it's still gonna be a sucky, boring day regardless of rather Steve and Dwayne are here or not." Devin sighed irritably, "Well, excuse us for being courteous enough to check up on our friends, teachers and classmates, and letting them know personally that we didn't die." Alex snorted, "Devin, why should we care what they think of us? We're much better than they are, especially me." Alex ended with a bit of arrogance in his voice, although that was a little hypocritical of him, as he did indeed care rather people liked him or not most of the time. Clint just rolled his eyes, "Whatever Alex... just don't let that ego of yours go into overdrive. We may be stronger than most anyone else here, but we're still within the span of law." Alex grumbled back, "Bleh! Why should we care about the rules! You know I'm a free spirit, Clint! Maybe the rest of you guys are that way, but I want to exercise my right of power." "That's just fine Alex, but just don't do something you'll regret." Clint added back, "Like seriously injuring or killing someone. I heard you guys went after Virgil for some prank calling he did. Paula told me he was badly banged up, and that both of you overdid it too much." he added, now to both Alex and Devin. Devin sighed, "Well, maybe I DID go overboard. I wasn't trying to put that much power into it, but still, Virgil did all of it just for attention. He wasn't even primarily trying to annoy us. If that was his intention, why didn't he just find some less-annoying way to reveal himself?" "Devin, Virgil's a fat retard. He's fatter than you, and to make it worse, he was once skinny. You've always been at least chubby as far as I've known you. Virgil was actually THIN once, as you might remember. He was even really smart back then. He ran frickin' circles around me in school, especially in math! Now look at him... Clint, I know you don't know much about Virgil, considering you mainly lived in the Canton City District, but Virgil was much different back then than you might have known. Maybe looking at him now and then back then gets me so mad at him. Also, Clint you don't need to worry about me killing someone. I'm not that bad." Alex replied. "Fine..." Clint decided to just end it there, now remembering his own journey to being a Misfit. Clint had remembered that he had lived in the main part of Canton for the majority of his life, up until he had become 14 or 15. It had been in late 1999, around the time of the Columbine Shootings in Littleton, Colorado when he had first come to Canton South, moving there due to the death of his grandfather in December 1998 and inheriting his trailer in Fohl Village. Alex hadn't even arrived there yet, a grade behind him, and Clint had been introduced to Devin and Vernon first, as well as one of the teachers he knew the most, a man known as Mr. Paul Summers, and his assistant, Ms. Patti Stryker. He didn't immediately blend in with Devin and Vernon, but he adapted well to Mr. Summers and Ms. Stryker, and they had even come up with some interesting jokes just for him. He remembered how Ms. Stryker always called him "Clint-meister". However Clint also remembered that he had never crossed paths with any of his fellow Misfits in the past before CSHS, since they had lived in the Canton South district. He especially missed some of his other friends in the Canton City district, but he realized that he was going down a better path at South, despite his moderate dislike for the area he lived in. Now that he could fly, he was beginning to deal with getting around much better than he used to, and was actually getting out better than before. He remembered how active he was physically as a child, back in Canton as well. But he decided to get off those thoughts, as he noticed Dan had come, and was now walking over to them with Dusty, Dwayne and Steve, and all four sat down at the table with Devin, Clint and Alex. "Well, what're you three talking about?" Dusty asked, noticing a bit of a debate or argument going on between the other three. "Mainly about morals with our new powers. Mainly I don't want Alex overdoing it and hurting someone else." Clint replied back. Dusty looked at Alex and smirked, "Indeed, I know how he can be sometimes. Even when he doesn't try he sometimes overdoes it." Alex looked back at him, "Well, at least I can do more here than you all can, except maybe Vernon, but he's gay anyways." Dusty rolled his eyes, "Well, I just hope you remember how close I came to defeating you when we were kids." Alex growled at that remark, as Dusty was referring to a time in their past when they were kids. They had used to be neighbors, and Dusty had in fact once lived in the house that Goku and Vegeta were now occupying. In those days, Dusty was more a bully figure, and had once sat on Alex's head, and dunking it into the fishing pond behind his house, almost drowning him once. They had long since gotten over that event, but Dusty always brought it up when Alex got overly confident at him. Now I have another reason to train more, so I can get him back someday for it! Alex thought to himself in anger. "One day I'll make you eat those words." he said, although not in such a hateful voice, but more a challenging one. "Bring it on, monkey boy. You might have learned some things, but I've got a few little tricks up my sleeve as well, and not to mention Dwayne and Steve have been training me, Dan and Heero." Dusty replied. "Whatever, I could probably perfect their attacks without their help!" Alex growled back, then turning to the two wrestlers in question, "No offense of course, you two. I'm enough of a fan to study your moves thoroughly if I had to." "Well, good luck learning some of our NEW abilities, since we taught Dusty a few of ours, we're developing new moves to make up for it." Steve replied back. "Heh, I'll figure them out too eventually! I can study and learn any attack I see!" Alex boasted proudly. Devin, Clint, Dan and Dusty just rolled their eyes. Steve smirked with amusement and Dwayne chuckled at Alex's declaration. Well then Alex, I wonder if I should use something I learned on you... no, no I won't. You haven't annoyed me just yet, but it's too bad you don't have your wheelchair anymore, else I could just do again what I did last year. Dan thought to himself, referring to a joke he played on Alex the year before in the lunch room, putting a small water balloon in Alex's wheelchair just before Alex could sit in it. It had gotten his pants almost soaked, and Alex had not been happy with Dan for the incident, and Dan still wondered if Alex was going to try to get him back for it now that he had trained. Little did he realize Alex had pretty much forgotten the event, as far as it seemed. **** Meanwhile, Jason had done much similar to the others, and had just flew to school that day. He didn't care if anyone saw him or not, because he was in a hurry to get the day over with. He wasn't planning to come back for a while after the day was over due to his training schedule. He still wasn't all too happy to know that Vernon, and especially Alex were Saiya-jin, and was now hoping fate would smile on him as well soon and reveal some kind of major powerup to him. He quickly entered the northern entrance across from the cafeteria where Clint and the others were, and quickly turned the corner inside and went up the steps. At the top of the first flight of steps Jason walked down the hallway, to his locker, and opened it within a few seconds, putting his essentials into it, and taking out his school supplies, which had slightly began to collect dust. He then closed the locker, and continued down to the end of the corner, where there was a door on the left. He opened the door and walked in. The room was mostly rectangular and large, with many desks at various parts of the room, as well as strange collages on the wall with pictures of various things. Among them, apparently Jason, Vernon, Clint, Virgil and Devin had made a few of them, Devin's being filled with cars and girls, as well as most of the others. Alex's had a combination of games, girls and anime. Clint's appeared to have a combination of computer materials, video games, and the occasional gun or two. There were also two larger desks on the other end of the room from the door. Both had computer monitors and keyboards on them, and at the one to Jason's left sat a woman in her 30s, writing on something important looking, and once in a while grumbling about something, and on his right was Vernon, already sitting down in a seat somewhat close to the door. "Hey Vernon." Jason said first. "Jason." Vernon replied back in a one-word reply he was known for using. He had already forgiven Jason's prank from the night before, not being one to hold a grudge, despite his competitive nature. Jason then turned to the woman at the other desk, "What's up Ms. Stryker?" Patti Stryker looked up from her desk, "Well there Jason! So nice to see you again. I wondered where you and Vernon had gone!" "Sorry... it's a long story, and I'm not sure we're ready to give all of the explanation. Some of it would be hard to believe." Vernon replied. "Hey Vernon, is Devin, Clint, or Alex here as well?" Ms. Stryker asked. "Devin came here with me this morning, and I think I saw Alex go into the cafeteria. Of course, now that he doesn't need his wheelchair, it's not so easy to pick him out." Vernon replied back. "That's true. But have you guys seen your winged friend yet today?" Patti then asked back. "Nina? Not yet, but I'm sure she'll be here. Also, you may not believe this yet, but we got some guest celebrities at school today that arrived with Dusty." Jason replied. "I heard from Mr. Knight about The Rock and Steve Austin already. Mr. Summers also did, and he should be coming in a few minutes." Ms. Stryker replied. "Wait a minute... isn't Virgil supposed to be here?" Jason asked. "Virgil won't likely be coming in." Vernon replied, knowing of the events of the night before, "At least he'll be late, I know that much." Before Ms. Stryker could ask further on that, the door suddenly opened again, and walked in another man, about 5 feet and 10 inches to 6 feet even. He had short orange-red hair, almost to the point of a buzz cut, also with a Mark Mc-quire look to him, a medium-thick mustache, and a slightly portly build. He also had what appeared to be an almost permanent semi-smirk on his face. Vernon and Jason looked at him closely, as the man noticed them and spoke, "Well well well. Look who decided to come back after almost 2 weeks!" "Long time no see, Mr. Summers." Jason replied with a trace of his usual goofiness, also trying to sound innocent at the same time. "Yeah, long story about our absence." Vernon replied back, not really attempting to hide the fact he had been away. Mr. Paul Summers looked at them with that odd smirk on his face, "Well, do tell some time, you two. I'm sure it's more worth it than being in ISS all week." Vernon and Jason cringed inside, knowing "ISS" meant in-school suspension, "We're sorry about the absence. Things lately have been draining us of our time in general." Jason then replied. Just then, the door opened a third time, and Clint walked in, followed by Devin, who was apparently only going in for a few moments to drop off something in the room. "Well, if it isn't Devin and 'Skippy'!" Mr. Summers greeted, calling Clint by the latter name, a name of which he enjoyed using. Ms. Stryker looked up at Clint and smiled, "Heeey Clint-meister, long time no see!" Clint looked to both teachers, "Hey all. Sorry I've been gone a while. The last few days have been hectic." Clint replied, and then looked to Jason and Vernon, as he pulled out a note in his pocket, "You two give him your notes yet?" Vernon raised his eyebrows in remembrance, and Jason blanched a second, and they would've probably smacked their heads had they not been in public, digging into their pockets, and also pulling out notes, and giving them to Mr. Summers. He took all three and read them, with a analytical look on his face. He then smiled briefly back at them again, "All right, I guess that'll work." Clint, Jason and Vernon sighed in relief. Devin looked over to Mr. Summers, "Don't worry, I'll give mine to the auto teacher when I arrive. Alex has his on him for Mr. Miller, and Virgil's out sick I think. I haven't seen him yet today." As if he'll even be able to move that much the way some of us hammered on him last night... Devin then afterthought, unaware of the fact Paula had given Virgil a half-sensu bean after he left that night. "I'll talk to you later then, Devin. Good day in auto class, and make sure if you can, that The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Dusty don't screw around too much. I heard they're planning some big party in the Heritage Room with Mr. Blike today." Mr. Summers replied. "Okay then." Devin replied and walked out. **** Nina was usually one of the later arrivals to Canton South, due to the fact she didn't prefer dealing with all the crowds in the morning and waited until about the time of the first bells in the morning. She had been flying southwards at somewhat high speed, knowing she would need to be there in about 10 minutes. She wondered what everyone else would say about her and the others being gone all this time. Nina's role at CSHS was a wildcard. She wasn't really a student there in any way shape or form. She had more or less been led to the other Original Misfits by fate and visions. She recalled her lone journey through the depths of the what she came to know as "The Path to Infinity" on her own world, learning that within the deep bowels of the path lie other gateways leading to worlds beyond her world's wide range of knowledge. She also remembered how she had been on her soul search, and had been led to the gate to Earth by similar visions while she had journeyed the path, and how the portal leading to Earth closed behind her after going in. She had to fend for herself for a while, eventually getting a house in the 29th street district of North East Canton. She then recalled she had followed a faint signal of sorts to CSHS one day, leading her to Clint, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Devin, Dusty, Dan and Virgil. She had remembered how the entire student body reacted to her. Many of them were freaked out, others were just stunned. Some even thought she was a freak human, not believing that her kind could really exist. Nina grumbled at that, she had once started out a much nicer person in her early 15 to 20 years of life, but her original journey prior to the one leading her to Earth had made her a bit more rough around the edges, to the point she even felt the need to drink liquor once in a while, gaining the habit from a friend of hers from her own world, one that she had met during said first journey. Many times she wondered why she even still went to CSHS. She was more a bystander that kept tabs on her friends than anything else, and once in a while she would assist other teachers, such as Mr. Summers, Ms. Stryker, Mr. Blike, Mr. Danaska and another recent addition for the year, an art teacher named Mr. Christopher Bergert. It was in fact Mr. Bergert that was mostly responsible for the change in Clint's art style, changing him from a very sub-par artist, to allowing him to enter the picture that won them the Toonami Pick-an-Engine contest, winning the trip to Japan, eventually leading up to the entire merger and the chaos presently taking place to this day. Nina sighed with a half-bitter smile on her face. "Here I come to wreck the day..." she said to herself in slight sing-song, using a modified line off of Devin she had picked up off of him. However as she moved closer to CSHS, she saw something in the air up in the distance. It looked to be a figure, flying much like she was, through Bukujutsu. She then zoomed up a little for a closer look. The figure was female in size, wearing pink, and had medium-length blonde hair. That must be Paula up there, but where's she going? It almost seems like she's going to CSHS as well. Nina thought to herself. To Nina, Paula was kinda a kindred spirit. They had begun talking more about the events of the past few days since they got home from Tokyo. Paula was the only girl Nina knew well enough that would talk to her without caring about her appearance, and Nina was hoping to have a few more girls for friends in Canton, many of the other girls in CSHS were afraid of her or were disturbed by her presence. Nina zoomed ahead, and caught up with her, and Paula looked to her side to see her, "Hey Nina, I take it you're heading to Canton South High School?" "Yeah, are you?" Nina replied. "Yeah. Long story. I figure I can at least see what they do, and also watch Clint and the others at the same time." Paula said back. "What? Why Clint? Why're you watching him?" Nina asked in confusion. "Last night when I took him back from his little prank with Jason, I got to meet his parents in person. They told me that Clint told them about most of the events of the merger, and they know he's been doing some amount of training. They believe from my past actions that I can keep him out of trouble, since he's a lot more powerful than they are right now, so I told them I'd see what I could do." Paula explained. Nina winced at that mentally, knowing Clint wasn't likely the one Paula needed to watch over, and that he probably wasn't happy if he knew about that comment from his parents, "Well, it may be little of my business, but I don't think Clint's the one you'd need to watch." "Why?" Paula asked, simply and to the point. "Well, Clint is normally very good natured, and he's not one I know to abuse his powers. I remember that he originally only wanted to train so he could fly almost as often as he wanted a day, and not for the same reasons as the others." "Really?" Paula was perplexed now, "If that is so, and since you know them more than me, who SHOULD I watch the most?" "I'd say without a doubt Alex and Vernon... honestly, and I can't say when you might need to watch one more than the other. Most of the times Alex acts more arrogant and power-hungry, but I know he's not truly out to abuse his power, not from what I've gathered about him. He wants to be a hero like many others, but he can be overzealous about it. Vernon on the other hand is very slow to annoy and anger, but he can be quite arrogant as well when he gets going, and it tends to put them at odds with each other." Nina replied, and then thought of her little shrinking escapade with them, "You know Paula, I've actually had to step into one of their arguments once." "Really? What did you do?" Paula asked in wonder, as she saw Nina give a slight smile in her direction. "Well, you heard of my ability to shrink others, right?" Nina asked, and Paula nodded a curious-looking 'yes' to her in reply, "Well, let's just say I've used it on those two a couple of times. I even threatened to feed them to my cat Oscar, just to get them to shut up. From then, they stopped arguing so much with me around. Trust me, they don't argue like that often, but when they do, it can get messy. Beware of that." "Okay. So then I'm curious... exactly what do you do over at the school anyways? You never explained that, and it sounds like you're with them over there a lot." Paula asked. "Well, mainly I just hang out there, watching the whole original group in general like a big sister to them and such, sometime I also assist some of the teachers, but the school's student body has mixed opinions of me. Some of them are scared of me, others are intrigued by me, and some scorn me and call me a human freak of nature. Obviously they aren't as well versed in the merger as the rest of us are, so I can understand them in that area, but still... their scorn can hurt..." Nina said, becoming more depressed by the moment, "Nina, get a grip on yourself..." she then said to herself almost in a whisper, "Don't want to be going nuts on the liquor like Rinpoo does." "Hm? Who's Rinpoo?" asked Paula, hearing her whisper. "Well... I'll explain that later, but why don't we both stick together today. I think you might actually be a good influence on some of these bratty kids." Nina replied, a bit surprised Paula heard her comment at all, she then piped up as the school came into the distance. "We're here, let's land a bit conspicuously." Nina advised to Paula, and she nodded in return, as both landed on the baseball field near where Clint had landed earlier, and approached the school from the football field entrance, heading in from the doors near the weight room. **** After walking around for about 20 minutes, Steve, Dusty and Dwayne finally stopped at the Heritage Room, the restaurant that Dusty worked at. Dan unfortunately had to go off to wielding class on the other side of the track near the school, so he had already left. Dusty pointed the two wrestlers over to the front entrance, and then went to walk back into the white-tiled kitchen behind the dining room. He found a few of his fellow chefs, along with his teacher, and head of the Heritage Room, Mr. Thomas Blike. Mr. Blike was a good acquaintance with both Dusty and Clint. Dusty worked in the Heritage Room for the majority of his days at school, and had been doing so ever since his junior year in 1999. Being a Senior had it's advantages, thought Dusty to himself at times, and today was especially one of those times, as Mr. Blike and his classmates had been called in advance about the special morning party for the workers that Dwayne and Steve had planned. The two wrestlers were setting up some of their things at the tables outside, and the dishes were specially set up for the visitors. Mr. Blike was also more aware of Dusty's latest undertakings and training with his new friends than many of the other teachers, as Dusty would occasionally keep in touch with his head chef. "Dusty, welcome. I'm glad to see you made it today. How's that training been going?" Mr. Blike asked. The unique thing about Mr. Blike to the Misfits was the fact that they had never seen him get remotely angry at anything as far as they knew. He wasn't always perfectly cheerful, but he was apparently very good at remaining calm under pressure. "It's been pretty good, actually Mr. Blike. I've gotten a lot, lot better at things since I returned from Japan. And by the way, Dwayne and Steve are setting things up out in the front." Dusty replied, referring to the wrestlers by their real names even in front of others, as he had gotten to know the two far more personally than the other students so far. Dusty then looked around, noticing a small girl with medium-short black hair working on frosting donuts near the office in the room. "Hey Viola, been a while!" Dusty spoke up. Viola looked at him, and smirked, "So you finally hauled your ass back to work, eh? I heard you've been hanging out with celebrities and what not." Apparently Mr. Blike was more lenient than most knew, as he didn't berate his students or mark them about swearing as long as it was minor. "Yeah, long story Vi. Let's just say I've changed a little in the last week. You need help with transporting those?" Dusty replied. "Hold yer horses, Dusty. Let me frost the damn things first." Viola replied, causing a loud chuckle out of Dusty. **** Dwayne and Steve in the meanwhile were still continuing to set up a few more things, including their own TV that they had taken in with them from the bus. As they were setting the TV up near the front entrance, they saw Nina and Paula walking past from the left side. The two girls noticed the wrestlers, and looked at them in slight surprise, "Hey, what're you two doing here?" Paula asked. "It's a surprise Steve and I set up for the school today. We figure since it's likely the others won't be here often due to their new training schedules, that they might want to have a more interesting day now to keep their minds off of it a little." Dwayne answered. "Besides, we've never done a high-school tour in our history." Steve finished. "Is Dusty back in the kitchen?" Nina asked. "Yes, but he's talking to Mr. Blike and the others, so he can't talk right now, and I think you two might want to get somewhere before the bell rings in 5 minutes." another student had said walking into the room. He was about Dusty's right, similar hairstyle, except slightly longer, and wearing glasses a bit like Dan's. "Alright then Ryan. Tell him we stopped by. If he needs us, we'll be down in Mr. Herris's room." Nina replied, revealing the student's name. "Okay Nina. I'll try to remind him." Ryan replied, and walked back into the kitchen, and then Paula and Nina proceeded further down the hall, around the corner, past the kitchen entrance of Mr. Blike's kitchen, and then around another corner down a long hallway, leading back to the area near the field entrance, and Mr. Miller's weight room. Just to the left of the weight room entrance was the door to Mr. Dennis Herris's piano-keyboarding class. This is was one of the places Nina would normally stop by. She normally played on the piano with the other students, and Mr. Herris was quite friendly to her. He had even been told a few thing about Nina's own past and of the world she was born on. Mr. Herris was surprised at first, but he worked well with it. Also, Nina could also keep a small bit of tabs on Alex, who went to weight class just one door down from her. She looked in and already noticed Alex's trapper-keeper laying on the table in the weight room lobby as she came to the doors, so she knew he was probably changing for class now. However as she and Paula entered the piano room, they had not been fully aware that one blond-haired boy with a pointy buzz-cut had been watching them from a distance. He looked a bit perplexed at them, "Hmm... seems the winged freak-bitch has found a friend to mope with. Whatever..." he said as he walked in towards the weight room. **** Nearby, Alex had finally finished changing into his weight room clothes. He grumbled at the fact that now he could walk normally that he had to change like everyone else. He liked being free from that annoying problem with his legs, but he knew that he had sacrificed a few social advantages, like being able to skip in line at various places like amusement parts or carnivals, or not having to change in the weight room, to name two. Oddly enough, he was one of the first ones in class this time, and he was normally used to being late. It must have been the drills given to him by Goku and Vegeta that had given him this sense of being on time and somewhat punctual. He walked outside the room and looked at the equipment around the room. He gave a half happy, half bitter sigh. I don't know rather to be happy or mad that I'm too strong for this stuff anymore. On one hand, I can easily impress the others, and scare some of the more annoying 'tards in here, but on the other hand, there's no challenge anymore. Alex however would not be able to think anymore as a voice cut through those thoughts like a hot knife through butter, "Well if isn't 'Crutchy McLegs'!" Alex's eyes widened for a moment, and then narrowed, with now a barely contained anger. He twitched slightly, and turned his head back, seeing the same Blond-haired boy that had been watching Nina and Paula a minute ago. Alex growled, GOD DAMMIT!! I forgot about that fucking asshole Jackson6! "What the hell do you want, 'Jackass'?!" Alex growled with clenched teeth, his thoughts revealing the name of the antagonist who mocked him, and his verbal comment revealing one of his insults for said person. Jackson smirked inwardly and outwardly, "So you finally came back to face your trials like a good little freak-lover, eh? I guess you didn't run away after all." "Shut up Jackson. Don't you have anything else to do but piss people off?" Alex said with less anger, but still a deep annoyance. "Hmph... don't YOU have anything else to do but run away and hang around your winged-freak of a friend?" Jackson asked back at him in mocking at Alex's words, referring to Nina. "You're just mad because not everyone agrees with you about her, you retard!" Alex growled. Jackson's face turned to a slight frown, "Hmm... really? Well, I guess it makes sense coming from you. You envy her the most out of your stupid 'Misfits', seeing as she healed you of that disability... the one that by all right should've forever stayed with you!" he finished by raising his tone at Alex a little, the subject of Alex's recovery apparently a subject of his anger. Alex and Jackson almost looked like they were going to jump at each other's throats. Jackson McCarakins was considered to be the ultimate jackass of the school in the eyes of all the Misfits, hence their nickname for him. He didn't like Alex much for his disability long back, and taunted him left and right about it. He was also apparently a big supremacist, and picked on pretty much all of the other Misfits, and Nina had become one of his biggest targets after her arrival at CSHS. Jackson hated her with an undying passion for reasons apparently unknown, and would never pass an opportunity to taunt her and make her feel bad about who she was. He was also a major reason various students at CSHS saw Nina as a freak with few or no rights, because despite his jerkishness, he had a kind of youthful charisma and got along with a decent-sized chunk of the younger population. The only Misfits he had any remote like for or lack of hatred towards were Virgil, Dusty and Dan, because they appeared to barely hang around Nina during school hours. However if Jackson had known Dusty's big secret crush, he would hate Dusty almost more than even Nina. However, luckily for them, probably Jackson more than Alex, Mr. Mike Miller, the weight room teacher, had come in close. He had not heard the two arguing about their last comments, but they did hear him coming, and Jackson slowly walked past Alex to the locker room, where Alex had only come out of moments prior. "We'll settle this later, McCripples." Jackson whispered in his ear as he passed. Alex almost wanted to powerup to Super Saiya-jin and choke the bastard to death right then and there, but then Clint's earlier words settled in. just don't do something you'll regret... he could swear he heard Clint's own voice repeating the words in his mind, over and over. "Yeah... you're right Clint... I'll take care of Jackson some other time... sometime NOT on the premises..." Alex whispered to himself, as Mr. Miller walked around the corner. The weight room teacher looked to be about in his late 40s, but he was very well fit for a human. Alex assumed his powerlevel would be about 18-22 on a scouter, as he sensed him. Jackson was sensed to be close to 11, equal with Vernon, Devin and Dusty's original powerlevels prior to the training they had gone through. Mr. Miller looked over to Alex and looked a bit happy, "Well Alex, welcome back. I hope you've been alright these last few days! Are Clint, Vernon and Devin here today too?" "Yes, all three of them are here, so Clint'll be down here next period, and Devin should be there by 6th period, or so. Vernon will be by at 4th if I remember right." Alex said, now almost fully over his little insult trading with Jackson. However Mr. Miller had been aware at times the two had conflicted a lot, and noticed that Alex looked a bit distraught, "You okay Alex? You look like you just got done yelling at someone." Mr. Miller asked. Alex sighed in depression, and Mr. Miller had realized that it WAS Jackson again. He walked over to Alex and whispered, "You can't let that kid bother you so much, Alex. I know McCarakins can be a real jerk sometimes, but I know you well. You keep plugging away. You all do..." "I'm sorry, Mr. Miller, it's just that he keeps insulting Nina, even though she can't help be the way she is, and he hates the fact more so that she healed me, and hates her more for destroying some of his credibility. I've got a feeling that if I don't pop on him soon, Nina just might." Alex said, ending with a thought of worry, a feeling he didn't like to show to most people he didn't know well. "Don't worry Alex, let's see if you've improved over the last few days." Mr. Miller slapped him on the back, pep-talking him, and Alex smirked... and beamed inwardly, for the moment forgetting about Jackson's insults. "Yes, I'll be sure to do test myself... I'm going to probably love it in here today." Alex replied, making Mr. Miller a bit curious to what he meant... **** Back in Mr. Summers' room, Clint, Vernon, Jason, and a few other of Mr. Summer's students where primarily getting ready for their English assignment. Mr. Summers was still a bit curious about why they would have been out for so long. The notes he had gotten from the three Misfits had been genuine, all written by their parents, but something was off about the way they acted towards each other now. He didn't remember Clint being quite so talkative with Jason or Vernon during class. Clint was usually the first to complete his assignments, and would lay his head on the desk afterwards and sleep the rest of the period until one of the others would get done. There was also the fact that they all seemed to have been off the same days since the vacation to Japan. Jason and Vernon soon completed their assignment, and the three were now talking in a close area of desks in the back part of the room, closer to Ms. Stryker's desk than his own. He also noticed Clint was again petting Slider. Slider was the class's pet guinea pig, and Clint had a fondness to him from the first times he was ever in the class since he arrived in late April of 1999. "So, I wonder what Stone Cold and The Rock are cookin' in Mr. Blike's class?" Vernon said, not even realizing the partial line of Dwayne's that he just uttered. "Actually, a better question: has Viola killed Dusty yet?" Jason said with a silly chuckle, referring to a friendship between the louder Misfit and the small girl worker in Mr. Blike's room. Apparently the two had known each other for quite some time, and Viola always hung around Dusty like a good friend, even pretending once to be his girlfriend just to freak a few people out. Jason remembered how Dusty was a bit embarrassed and threatened to deck Jason a good one if he made fun of him publicly about it. Clint thought to himself, feeling uneasy by something in the air, Something... something is odd here. It almost feels too normal again, like before the trip to Japan and the 'merger'. He then spoke up, if only to try to quell the off feelings he had, "I wonder what Nina's doing right now, none of us here saw her yet today." "I got a feeling she's in Mr. Herris's class." Ms. Stryker piped in from nearby, "I actually saw her a few minutes before class. She was being accompanied by another girl. I'd never seen HER before though. She seemed a bit... mysterious to me. Would any of you happen to know a blonde-haired girl with shoulder length hair, a hair ribbon, and a light pink dress?" Clint, Vernon and Jason did indeed realize who she referred to, the former and latter of the three with a wince of pain in their minds, "I think we know her, Ms. Stryker. She's another of our new friends." Vernon replied. "I see... well, just between you three, and me and Mr. Summers, I think Jackson's being mean to Nina again. I saw him watching those two, and he seemed to be later arguing, apparently with Alex in the weight room. About what I don't know, but I know that little rat picks on Nina too much." Ms. Stryker then replied, quite irritated with Jackson, and apparently quite aware of his jerk-like mannerisms. Clint, Vernon and Jason growled inwardly at the mention of Jackson's name. That kid hated them for apparently no reason. He especially seemed to hate Vernon the most out of the three present Misfits, apparently having to do with Vernon's athletic ability on track and some of Vernon's own brand of charisma which rivaled with Jackson's own. Mr. Summers, unbeknownst to the three, had caught their strange looks while Ms. Stryker had been talking to them, and began to think to himself about the activities of those three. He knew Devin and Alex were also involved in whatever they had been up to somehow, and he also knew Dusty and Dan had been away during all those days as well. He was also a bit curious to Virgil's absence that day. Virgil had been present at school the prior day, and he was suddenly gone today, while the others had been back. **** Alex mused to himself. He had started off lifting like normal, and not raising his powerlevel much above the 8.4 he had started out with. However even then, he was lifting better than he normally was. Most of the students in the class had not yet noticed. However, two particular students had noticed a slight change in him. These two were known Thomas and Timothy Steigerwald. Both were identical twins, and most of the Misfits had a good amount of difficulty telling who one or the other was. Also, Devin and Alex weren't the most fond of them. Clint was more or less indifferent to them, having them in his weight class the year before, but never really getting genuinely bothered by them. However now, they were curious about Alex as they watched this go on. "Hey Alex!" Tim shouted over to him, causing Alex to groan. Oh great, what do those two 'tards want? "I'm a bit busy here, Tom." Alex said, trying to mask his annoyance by pretending to struggle with the bench press he was doing. "Alex, I'm over here. Tim's the one who asked you a question." Tom replied from the other side of the room. "Yes... TIM, what do you want?" Alex said, trying not to clench his teeth in annoyance. "I noticed you've gotten better at that in recent times, but can you lift more? For some reason, it seems like you're trying to cover something up." Tim asked. Alex smirked mentally, Why not!? Maybe it'll shut them up! "Okay Tim... Tom... I'll see what I can do about that. That been said, could you guys load me another 350 pounds on both sides?" Alex asked almost innocently, getting all the other students, including Mr. Miller's attention. Alex's glee was slightly cut down when he noticed that bastard Jackson wasn't present, and probably outside on the track, knowing that Jackson was trying to become Vernon's superior in that. He supposed the current audience would have to do. "You sure, Alex?" Tom asked, a bit taken back at Alex' request, but inside, he was curious, as he started helping his twin brother load another 700 some pounds onto Alex's bar. "Yeah, quite sure. I've done some training in the last week, and I guess now's a better time than ever to test it." Alex replied, also noting the 350 pound weighted clothing he was wearing, hidden underneath his normal clothes, was also going to make this possibly even more priceless. "I'll see how many repetitions I can do here... count for me, will ya guys?" Alex asked with a devious smile. Alex suddenly started lifting the 750 lbs of weight at a somewhat fast pace, his weighted clothing making it a tad difficult to move his arms completely, but other than that, he was doing a great job, now doing 20 repetitions in under 8 seconds. Tom and Tim were awestruck, Mr. Miller was impressed, and the other students were shocked to fear, as Alex just kept going and going, until he had done a good 64 or 65 repetitions, stopping at that much only because he was tried of waiting for Jackson to come in and see him doing them. Unfortunately, his antagonist had never arrived during his show-off time, and that had gotten under his skin a bit. However he had accomplished one goal, to awe the people around him with his new strength. Alex smirked more than he had ever in his life at that time, proud of himself, and the clapping he got from Tim and Tom, as well as Mr. Miller's. He was surprised the Steigerwalds were actually clapping sincerely for him. Apparently... they might not have been so bad... Yeah... R...E...S...P...E...C...K... Respect! Alex thought to himself, not totally sure why he had mentally misspelled the word 'respect'. However as he lifted up, he felt a decent soreness in his arms. Apparently he wasn't quite so perfect on those last 11 or 12 repetitions, and his muscles were a bit overworked, but it had been worth it to put that shock on their faces. Alex then decided to perform the coupe le grass, and grabbed onto some of the weights in his clothing, and removed them in front of his classmates, the weights hitting the floor with heavy bumps and clangs, until all 350lbs of the weights had fallen out. That just made the scene even more priceless. Mr. Miller stared at the dumped weights with a mix of awe and even suspicion. He told himself that he was going to make sure he found out what had changed Alex's ability in the last week. He also wondered if Clint, who was going to be in his next class in about 10-20 minutes, would be able to make the same improvement. He had not missed the fact both of them were gone for the exact same days and that they were friends, and that made him wonder all the more about it. **** Mr. Herris had noticed the change in Nina pretty fast. After arriving to his class, as he had been normally one of the last to arrive, he noticed Nina and Paula sitting at nearby pianos, already working at them. Nina was already well experienced with the piano, and she was playing a nice melody of hers from her own world. Paula on the other hand was more or less a beginner, and having to use a copy of one of the music books in the class. Mr. Herris also noticed Paula was different as well, and wondered where she might have come from herself. Nina had also seemed to lighten her mood a good deal in the last 30 minutes, as Paula had been trying to make her feel better about some of the problems in her life, and Nina was happy that someone else cared more. It was nothing personal against the other students, or even some of her fellow Misfits, but many of them never tried to make themselves too well acquainted to Nina. Except possibly Dusty. Nina had an odd feeling about him, but she wasn't too sure just yet of what it was about Dusty. "So, who is your new friend anyways, Nina?" Mr. Herris decided to ask. Paula looked up in response, and decided she would do the honors, "I'm Paula. I'm a new friend of Nina's. We met not too long back, a few days ago, actually. I'm here to help Nina out with watching some of our friends here at the school." "So, you're friends with Alex and Clint too?" Mr. Herris asked, knowing both of them, as both had talked to him a couple of times in the past. Paula got up, and walked over to him, and then whispered to him, "Yes, in fact, I'm kinda here to watch Clint. His parents want me to take care of him for the time being. I'm also here to help Nina watch the other Misfits here." Mr. Herris was also aware of the Misfits group from the past as well, as he had gotten the chance to meet Dusty in the Heritage Room once, he had met Vernon and Devin outside school once or twice, and he had also known even Virgil, who by ironic coincidence was also in his class in a later school period. Mr. Herris looked at her, and whispered back to her, "I see. Well, all I ask is that you do me the favor of keeping watch over those guys. They're a good bunch, but they tend to get reckless. Also, please watch over Virgil as well. I know he's a bit hard for some of you to deal with... but I think he's got the potential to change..." Paula took his words into consideration, noticing something was... how she felt to be prophetic in his words. "Alright... I will..." she replied back, and walked back to her piano silently from that point on. She wouldn't play her song as well for the rest of the 15 minutes she was there... **** The bell for the next period was about to ring, and Alex was finishing changing back into his normal clothes, much quicker before Jackson could get in there and annoy him. However, apparently he wasn't so fortunate, and Jackson had decided to walk into the room to change himself. He looked at Alex and smirked at him again, "So, freak-lover, how well did your weak-ass do today? 35 pounds? 40 pounds, perhaps?" he was a bit snide in his remark. Alex growled, "For your information, tard-boy. I was sweet in class today, but unfortunately, you were so obsessed with the track that you didn't get to see me. What, are you in love with that thing, or do you REALLY think you can beat Vernon?! He's improved a lot in the last few days. You don't have a prayer against him anymore, you never did before, and you never will!" Jackson scowled, insulted to some degree, "Oh really?! What exactly makes you think I can believe a word you say, you crippled warhorse? You know next to nothing about real life, little boy, and perhaps you should be put on a large boat, sent out to sea, and sunken to the bottom, along with your wretched freak-girl and your other 'Misfits'!" he began to lose his temper with each word. Alex almost wanted to erupt, but he just looked at him with a neutral, but poisonous expression on his face, "Jackson, it doesn't matter. You can banter with me until your face turns blue. God has spoken. I am BETTER THAN YOU." he said, as he began to walk out of the room. "YOU ARE WRONG." Jackson growled, now about to the last of his patience with Alex, "You... you are gum on the bottom of a cat's foot! You aren't even worthy of being HUMAN. Your destiny on this planet was to be a weakling, and if it wasn't for that winged whore, you'd have learned your place by now! Why do you think I hate her so much?! I don't just hate her because she's too tall to be normal, nor just because she has those stupid wings... and not just because she's like some fuckin' half-bird, half human mutant, but it's also because worst of all, she healed YOUR WORTHLESS ASS! SHE WASTED HER TIME WITH YOU! She doesn't deserve to have useless friends like you, nor do you even more so than SHE!" Alex looked to him with a glare of murder in his eyes, but surprisingly, he did not attack Jackson, but his hair began to stand up, as if a gust of wind had came into the room, and his hair flickered from black to gold several times, and his eyes from coal black to turquoise. Jackson was a bit taken back by this, but he regained his composure, trying to act as if the flicker of gold had been just a trick of the light, "Are you going to try to fight me, freak-lover?! I'll enjoy removing you from this Earth if you dare!" Jackson growled back, in truth a bit scared behind his mask of anger. Alex simply replied, "You know what... let me explain something in detail to you, so turn your brain all the way on, you queer little donkey-fucker. You are right about one thing. I am NOT human. I am BETTER than a human, I am above you and your petty strength and words. Secondly, you need to have the amount of proper intelligence to make such big assumptions about one's destiny. And three, you had better fuck off with Nina, before SHE decides to do what I've lately been hoping to Hell and back to do to you for nearly 8 goddamn years. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" Jackson just looked at him with a surprised look of pure malice in his eyes, "How dare you..." "SHUT THE HELL UP JACKSON." Tom growled and interrupted from further behind him, "Alex IS stronger than you, by a landslide now. He was able to lift 750 lbs, and while WEARING 350 more pounds of weighted CLOTHING, almost 70 times in under 2 minutes. I don't see you even scratching the surface of that, Jackson." Jackson looked back at Tom in shock, ignoring the weight comment mentioned by him, and also mistaking his identity, "Tim... You know that's impossible for him! Besides... how can you be on HIS side?!" "That's Tom you're talking to. And for the record we BOTH are." Tim replied, only sounding slightly more calm than his twin brother, "I'm surprised you don't hate us even more than him. That 'winged whore' as you call her, never did ANYTHING wrong to you, and neither did the other 'Misfits'. I wouldn't miss it for the world if they actually wanted to beat the living shit outta you for your nazi-like, supremacist comments. Your blatant racism in general is bringing down this school and this community's quality, and you need to come to terms with it and just SHUT UP about it before too long." Jackson was just in utter shock, and an near indescribable anger for all three of them now, and most of the students in the room, who appeared to be supporting Tim, Tom and Alex. "You're all fools... you're all wrong. You have no idea what the Misfits can do to this place. I'll prove it to you." Jackson said in reply, deathly calm, as he watched Alex, Tim, Tom and the other students leaving the room... Outside the room, Alex and the Steigerwald twins sighed in relief, both at the fact Mr. Miller had surprisingly NOT heard the commotion of the last argument, and more importantly, that they were out of the presence of Jackson. The three of them were a little spooked at the kid, despite the fact most of his words were empty lies. Alex was also shocked that Tim and Tom directly defended him in there. Of course, the two twins had never liked Jackson all that much either, so Alex had realized that they really weren't as bad or annoying as he had once thought. "Thanks for the help you two. I'm surprised you did all that for me..." Alex said, a bit embarrassed. "Don't sweat it Alex. Trust me and Tim when we say that kid needs to be checked into a mental institution. We'll talk to you later." Tom said, as he and his brother took their books and stuff and left the room. Alex saw Mr. Miller entering the room from outside as this happened. He looked over at Alex, "Alex, I'm impressed. You've changed a good deal in the last few days. Whatever you're doing, keep it going, and keep to your guns. Sorry I can't talk more, but I gotta check on something in my office." Mr. Miller looked a bit in a hurry, and Alex was left to walk towards the exit of the room, as he saw a couple other students walking in. As he began to leave, he heard a conversation forming in the background of the weight room. A student had asked, "Mr. Miller, how's it going man?" He then heard Mr. Miller say, "Checking something on TV for a moment. Something about a plane crashing." The student then asked, "Where?" "Somewhere in New York..." Mr. Miller's voice trailed off, as Alex left the room. A simple plane crash wasn't a big deal of news to Alex, despite the bad news of such. Those happened pretty often, although Alex admitted morbidly that it happened probably a bit too often these days. However at the moment he was more concerned with getting to his study hall with Mr. Danaska before Jackson got out of the weight room, and tried to confront him somewhere in the halls. He knew with now much he riled the kid up back there that Jackson might have been crazy enough to try to pick a fight with one of them. On the way, he saw Clint carrying his stuff and heading towards that direction. "Hey Clint, I'm warning you now, Jackson's PISSED beyond words. I really got under his skin with my new strength, not to mention Tim and Tom Steigerwald helped defend my reputation from him. I know you could take him too from your power now, but he might try to pick a fight with you if you run into him just because of your association with me." Alex warned. "Okay then, I'll watch for him. Thanks for the heads up, Alex." Clint replied, as he walked down the hallway. Alex shrugged and went off towards the lunchroom, where his study hall was, planning to take a big nap to relax after the stress of Jackson's tirades with him... **** Clint continued walking down the hallway, now his day made a little more interesting with the warning from Alex about Jackson. Clint could honestly admit that he hated Jackson with a passion, and he hated few people in his life. Jackson was a spoiled brat, apparently very rich, although he didn't wear very classy clothes. His parents had died mysteriously when he was very young, too young to really remember them, and his adopted foster parents were known for acts of bigotism and racism. Their hate had passed down to Jackson, and apparently got amplified along the way in his school life. Clint, nor any of the other Misfits, ever understood why Jackson hated them, and especially Nina, due to the fact she was the main target of oppression in the school. Even Virgil, who was picked on a lot by the student body in general, was never bothered in half the ways Nina was, and Jackson in fact didn't see Virgil officially as a Misfit and actually had been known to defend the fatter Misfit from the harassment of the other students, if only to promote his hate towards Nina. Clint mentally growled to himself as he saw a somewhat pissed-off looking Jackson turn the corner. However apparently he had seen Clint, and decided to turn the other direction, instead of walking towards him. However before he did walk off, he mouthed one phrase at Clint, but not in voice, only in movement of mouth: "Stay out my way, freak lover." Clint grumbled at him as he left around the corner. He then decided he would mouth his own choice set of words back, and moved down to the corner at a faster speed, but when he turned the corner, he saw no sign of Jackson. Apparently he turned to go into the gym nearby, and didn't wish to bother any further with him. Clint shook his head in frustration and grumbled to himself, walked over into the weight class, and quickly going into the dressing room, and changing into his weighted training clothes, which he was planning to use. He then walked out, and saw no sign of Mr. Miller, and the faint sound of the TV, but he wasn't paying attention to it right away. He went and picked up the 100 pound barbells on the back of the room and started doing curls with them for a few minutes. He didn't even care about keeping his power secret, working at his own pace. He would've been curling more weight per arm if there had been higher units of barbells on the rack nearby. A few students came in from his own class, and looked a bit surprised when they saw Clint easily curling both 100 lbs weights in his hand, and the slight lack of weight on his stomach that other students had been accustomed to. "Woah, he changed a little over the last week..." a random student had stated. Clint pretended to not have heard that, and only rolled his eyes at that comment, but the next comment got his attention. "Hey Clint! Long time no see!" it was Mr. Miller's voice. Clint looked up to his favored weight room teacher, "What's up Mr. Miller?" "I see Alex isn't the only one that's apparently improved in your absence." Mr. Miller replied. Clint sweatdropped, realizing he was holding a lot more than he normally did, which used to be around 40-55 lbs per arm. "Yeah, it's a long story Mr. Miller. I'll probably tell you at a more appropriate time." "Well, I guess I'll leave you to do your thing, I'm gonna back and check on the news." Mr. Miller asked. "Why?" Clint asked, now curious at the tone of the teacher's voice. "A few minutes ago, there was an airplane crash," he noticed Clint's face take on a slightly grim look as he sighed, "But it's a bit worse than normal." THAT got Clint's attention even more than before, "How so?" "You know the World Trade Center in upper Manhattan?" Mr. Miller asked, and Clint nodded a yes, wondering what happened. "The plane apparently crashed into an upper story of the north tower. There was a huge explosion, and lots of smoke." he finished. "What?" Clint's eyes widened at this, even though he had no idea yet why he felt such a level of dread, and he quickly rushed off into Mr. Miller's office, looking at the TV quickly, and sitting down in a spare chair nearby. He had began to see what was apparently eye-witness footage of a plane crashing in to the North tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, New York. The World Trade Center were a set of buildings, including two tall skyscrapers. They were also a major center of trade economy in America, and for them to be in this situation, it wasn't good. Mr. Miller entered the office, and realized by the forlong, though assessing look in Clint's eyes that he was more or less glued to the TV. "Um Clint, I... I know it's bad, but we do need to go on with class too." Mr. Miller tried to assure him, but when he looked closer, he noticed Clint's eyes were fixated on a certain part of the screen. Clint had a bad feeling, "What's going on here..." he said to himself, and only Mr. Miller heard him. "Could you let me watch a couple more minutes? I want to make sure this was an accident first." Clint then said, now listening to some of the news bulletins about the crash. Mr. Miller was taken back from his words. "What do you mean?" Mr. Miller asked. "I've got a BAD feeling about how this happened. I don't think this was an accident..." Clint said sadly. "I'm sure it's not as bad it seems..." Mr. Miller said, until the news suddenly gave word of another news alert. Clint and Mr. Miller stared at the screen, their eyes showing extreme amounts of disbelief at the scene now playing out in front of them. "Oh god no..." Clint whispered in fright, as he and Mr. Miller were again viewing the World Trade Center, now from another angle, except now a SECOND plane had flown in low, and crashed into the near uppermost section of the SOUTHERN tower of the WTC, creating a massive explosion. Mr. Miller's eyes were fighting back tears now. Clint's eyes narrowed in a bitter depression and sadness, "Mr. Miller... this was NOT an accident... It can't be... I mean... TWO planes hitting near the same location?" he said to himself and Mr. Miller, as the reporters' voices were recording the horrible tragedy. Other students came into the office asking Mr. Miller what they were planning for the day. However, after hearing about the second plane, they were almost just as glued to the TV as Clint and Mr. Miller now. Needless to say, Clint didn't feel like lifting weights anymore, taking a quick glance at the digital clock on the office wall, saying '9:04am'... **** Vernon and Jason were still in Mr. Summers' class, now in Math with him. Clint had History class a couple of periods later, but Vernon and Jason had two classes in a row with Mr. Summers. They were bored to near tears with it. Man, I wish we didn't have to do this crap... Vernon thought somewhat bitterly, I wish SOMETHING would happen out there. However, Vernon would soon get his wish in spades, as Ms. Stryker quickly opened the door from the outside, apparently going down to the guidance office to get some documents, and then rushing back in. "Hey! Paul, we need to turn the news on, NOW." Patti replied, in a very grief-stricken, serious voice. Mr. Summers, Vernon and Jason looked at her with a risky interest at her request, and Mr. Summers pulled out the TV remote turned it on, to channel 5, which was also giving news stories on the crashed Airplanes at the World Trade Center. The reporters were jabbering on about both crashes, slowly but repeatedly. Vernon and Jason grew a bit sick to their stomachs at the scene of both planes crashing. "This is horrible." Ms. Stryker said in the middle of one of the reports on the crashes, "I can't believe something like this would happen over there. All those lives cut short..." Vernon and Jason gulped meekly, and also horrified at what was happening. Shit! Me and my big fucking mouth. Vernon thought bitterly, as he and Jason were thinking to themselves on the horror of all those lives lost. Those planes probably each had dozens of people, and not to mention those towers. If they were to collapse... thousands will die. Jason thought bitterly to himself, And there's no way to get there in time! Even if Mr. Summers would let us leave with no qualms, we'd never be able to get everyone gathered up in time...7 Jason fought back some tears of grief, and pounded down on his desk in anguish, leaving a tiny crack, "Darn it all!" he growled. "Jason, calm down... there's nothing any of us can do..." Vernon said, also just as mad as Jason, and whispered to him, "Even though we can fly, we're too far away, and not fast enough to get there to make a difference." "I know, but it sucks, Vernon... it sucks... so much." Jason growled back a whisper, holding back tears, even though in all honestly he didn't want to... Vernon looked down forlongly, "I know Jason..." he then looked at the screen once again... I know... **** Devin was in his auto-tech class, which was over on the other side of the football field and track, and was located inside the Canton South Bus Station as well. Devin was a big car guru, and was fascinated by them. He was also a big fan of speed racing movies, and the Grand Theft Auto games. Anything involving driving cars at high speeds was of great interest to him. He had applied for auto-tech to understand more thoroughly about how to repair and make car engines and doing other jobs for random individuals. His class was ran by Mr. Russell Angel and Mr. Kenneth Williams, the former being the main teacher, and the latter normally out of room and handling the senior class matters. Devin himself was working on a large engine model that had been given to him and his classmates. It was imperative that this engine be completed as soon as possible, as someone else was coming in apparently to pick it up. A stray student had ran by the classrooms and entered Devin's class, huffing and puffing like he had been running a good distance. "Mr. Angel, you guys seen the news?!" he asked. Devin was a little preoccupied at first and ignored him. "Why? What's happening?" asked Mr. Angel. The student panted a bit more, and said "The Twin Towers in New York... The World Trade Center..." Devin then perked up at that news, as the student continued, "Two planes crashed into them only in the last 30 minutes! One crashed at about 8:50, and the other around 9:05! People are speculating that it was possibly a terrorist attack!" the student replied in exhaustion and depression. WHAT?! Devin was definitely no longer focused on the engine he was fixing. "Any other information known on this?" Devin asked the student, as Mr. Angel quickly turned on the News after hearing this. "Yes, I think they JUST closed all the tunnels and bridges leading into Manhattan!" the student replied. Mr. Angel started to watch the news with an incredulous look of shock on his face, as he heard reports just coming in about recent discoveries. After a couple minutes of hearing this report, he called out to his more distant students, including Devin, still trying to work a little on the engine in the room without accidentally breaking it from the anger he felt at the recent news. "Class... there's been more news on this disaster. We just got reports that FOUR planes apparently lifted off today, bound for different locations, have gone missing and stopped transmitting to the ground. Two Boeing 757s, and two Boeing 767s. One, American Airlines Flight 11, apparently carrying 81 passengers, and 11 crew members, was possibly the first plane to crash into the north tower." Devin's anger began to boil at this, but he remained calm on the outside as Mr. Angel continued, "Another that we think just crashed into the south tower only 20 minutes ago was American Airlines Flight 175, and carrying 56 passengers, and 9 crew members." This is terrible! Whoever the fuck did this... I swear if I ever... if I ever find the people who did or planned this, I'll rip them to pieces! Devin growled to himself. But Mr. Angel's news wasn't yet over, "That leaves two planes, apparently United Airlines Flight 93, with 43 passengers and 7 crew members, and American Airlines Flight 77, with 58 passengers, and 6 crew members." "That's still over 100 people missing!" one student said in disbelief, "What, are these sickos planning to crash THEM as well?!" "Calm down..." Mr. Angel reprimanded the student, "I know this is a horrible attack on life, and it's hard to believe, but I don't think these people are done terrorizing us yet." "I bet it's those damn Arabs!" another student, Jimmy Broad, one of the class hotheads, had piped in. "Look, I hate this as much as you Jimmy, but we can't blame ALL the Arabs for this, even IF they did it!" Devin growled. "Shut up Devin!" Jimmy growled back, "Those damn monsters don't deserve the lives they got! Them and their twisted beliefs in suicide for God!" "Jimmy, ENOUGH." Mr. Angel grumbled at him, "We will not go around blindly accusing people until the facts are straight. You understand?" Jimmy nodded with a grumble. "Now, I hate to do this in such a situation, but I can't stop class just yet. We have to get this engine model finished if possible. But I will continue to update you with the news." Mr. Angel continued. Devin grumbled to himself, realizing that there was little he could do, If there was only a way I could've helped more... **** In his study hall, Alex had done much to what he had planned, taking out his CD player and laying his head down on the table he sat at, sleeping away. He always did this in the study hall. He never had anything to do at this point during a school day, having no written work in Weightlifting to worry about, and now more than ever he was bored to sleep. He at least had something to do last period that could make him feel better, and telling off Jackson had relieved most of his pent up stress, so now he was just relaxing while listening to a WWE Themes CD, specifically Stone Cold Steve Austin's theme, "Glass Shatters" by Disturbed. He was sleeping content for about 25 minutes, until he got a jolt to his shoulder. Alex looked up groggily, wondering what or who was bothering him. Alex's eyes narrowed in annoyance. It was just John Bruener, aka "The Hump", as Alex and others like Dusty called him, due to the reasonable sized hump on his back. "Humpy, leave me alone!" Alex grumbled with a sleepy-sounding annoyance. "Alex, I hate to bother you, but you might want to take a look at the TV. Some major shit has just happened in the last 30 minutes." John said to him, not caring about formality with his words right now. Alex grumbled again, and looked over to the TV, and saw footage of the Twin Towers on fire. "What the..." Alex's eyes focused a little more, and noticing the TV was showing clips of the second plane's crash into the south tower. As his mind registered this, he bolted up, "What the fuck... Hump, what happened?!" "Here's what they've said so far: It started with a plane crashing into the north tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan at around 8:50am. At first, everyone thought it was just a very unfortunate accident." John started. Alex realized this was probably the plane crash one of the students to Clint's period of Weightlifting class had been talking to Mr. Miller about as he had left the room. John continued, "However, 15 minutes later, a SECOND plane crashed into the south tower, and did similar damage to it. The towers in those areas are still suffering heavy fire and structural damage, and we've learned that the planes might have been HIJACKED. One plane had about 90 people on it, the other about 65 people on it. Terrorism is highly suspected, and I'm not one to disagree. And worse... there are TWO other planes still missing. Apparently they're planned on crashing into places as well. Perhaps they'll come to the towers to finish the job..." Alex looked to take all of this news in almost casually, still acting tired on the outside, but inside... Alex's mind was definitely awake, and boiling red with an indescribable anger. Fuck. Just.... fuck... fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!!! How dare these fucking bastards attack our country like this!!! I'LL KILL THE MOTHERFUCKERS RESPONSIBLE!! I SWEAR TO GOD!!! Alex's anger was barely controlled to being kept on only a mental level, and surprisingly, he was able to keep so calm on the outside, "This is not good..." he said, barely keeping calm through clenched teeth, and he decided to move over to a table closer to the wall-mounted TV on the back wall of the lunchroom, and was now keeping a heavy watch on the screen, and listening to the news, and the speculations by the reporters. It's probably those fucking Arab extremists! This kinda of barbarism is up their alley! Alex growled mentally, as he dreadfully kept a silent vigil on the news. **** In the Heritage Room, Dwayne, Steve, Dusty, Viola, Ryan, Mr. Blike and their other acquaintances were in the midst of a party, with special edition Wrestlemania footage playing on the TV for all the viewers. A couple of other less responsible students had managed to weasel into the party, and were keeping quiet on one side of the room as to avoid attention or getting kicked out, but for the most part Dwayne and Steve were also talking about some of their lesser known matches in the past, and some before they had even joined WWE. Dwayne was even talking about his old names: Flex Kavana and Rocky Maivia. He was also thinking a bit about his wife, Dany Garcia, and his newly born daughter, Simone Alexandra. When he had mysteriously vanished from the training ring in Las Vegas with Steve on August 29th, he had been worried about his 15-day old daughter and his wife, but he had been able to get back in contact with them after a day or two. His family was happy to know both he and Steve were alright, but they were a bit taken back at first when Dwayne told them he would remain in Canton for a while. He had asked, if it was possible to find a way for them to meet later on in Canton for a while. The match at Gund Arena coming up was a perfect time, and Dwayne was looking forward to that day. Unfortunately for him and Steve, their party was about to receive a low blow, when one of the teacher-assistants from the Vice-Principal's office nearby rushed in. "Mr. Blike! Have you heard the news?!" she asked to them. "No, I'm afraid we've been watching The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin's older matches on TV for the last 40 minutes. What's going on?" Mr. Blike asked. "There's been a horrible attack on the World Trade Center! At least that's what's being speculated!" the assistant replied. "What!? What exactly happened?!" Dusty jumped up in surprise. "Two planes crashed into each of the towers in the last 50 minutes. One was at around 8:50am, and the other around 9:05am. There's also reports that two other planes are missing. The president also has given a speech on this development. The government suspects the planes have been hijacked by terrorists." the assistant replied back all in one big breath. Dwayne and Steve looked at each other with grim expressions, both having been visitors to the World Trade Center in years past. "Those towers... if they were to fall..." Dwayne started. "Dammit... Rock don't say it! People are already dead, and more are likely to die!" Steve stopped him. Mr. Blike had a forlong expression on his face, "This... this is terrible." He stopped the tape they were watching, and tuned into the news. The reporters on the news quickly filled the entire Heritage Room in on the situation. They even saw the footage of the crashes into the two towers. "I don't believe this!!" Viola screamed, looking for all the world that she was going to let out banshee's wail throughout the room. Ryan scowled at then news, "Anyone have an idea WHO might be sick enough to plan this?" Mr. Blike decided to reply, "The way this was done, the evidence likely points to one of those Islamic Extremist groups in the middle east. Which one might have actually done it, that would be hard to figure out. I'm sure whoever these people are, they're going for maximum effectiveness." He then studied a little closer on the recordings of the crashes of WHERE on the towers they crashed on to. Mr. Blike's face slightly paled, as he realized what the terrorists were likely aiming for, "Wait... it looks like they're aiming at the tower supports. Those jets have massive fuel tanks, and they would contain enough gas to burn for several hours. The smoke and flames appear to be on the corner of the towers." "What would that mean, Thomas?" asked Steve, not bothering to be formal in this situation. "It means there's a definite chance the tops of the towers will collapse. Whoever would still be in that part of the towers would likely fall to their deaths... Many people at least up to 20 floors below those areas would probably be crushed to death by the weight of the those sections falling on them." Mr. Blike explained, "In fact, I have a bad feeling it would result in potentially a domino effect. It's possible both of the entire towers could completely fall in the worst-case scenario." "Oh god no..." another as-of-yet-unnamed Heritage Room chef said out loud. Needless to say, the events of the last 50 minutes changed the mood of the restaurant in seconds. No one wanted to party anymore... **** Around 9 minutes ago, Paula and Nina had arrived in another classroom in the school when the bell had rang at 9:36. The class was where the art students worked, and was ran by two teachers, Ms. Linda Litterdale, and her assistant and to-be-heir to the class leadership, Mr. Christopher Bergert. Nina had known the two teachers somewhat well, and Mr. Bergert was another close friend of her and the other Misfits. After introducing Paula to the two teachers, they also asked them if they had heard the news so far on the plane crashes. They had confirmed that they knew about both planes, and the other two missing planes, and that more attacks might be coming. As for Paula and Nina, they were appalled, pissed and depressed all at the same time. Nina personally took the attacks bad, as she began recalling some of the events on her own homeworld. While her old enemies might not have attacked places in exactly the same way, many casualties were suffered... her friends had lost other friends of theirs, close family had been changed, and she had even lost her younger sister in the events, but it wasn't to the bad guys themselves. Nonetheless, she blamed herself for losing her little sister. Luckily for a certain jackass known as Jackson, neither of them had bumped into each other in the last 50 minutes. Paula on the other hand didn't have much personal tragedy in her life. Her problems were more from within than around her, with the exception of the media, and 'the war against "him"' as she thought of it. She was still appalled regardless, not liking to see people die. She never liked to take lives, and hated such factions like cults of murderous fanatics, and other extremist groups. She had heard the rumors from other students of the middle-eastern Islamic groups being involved, due to the methods the attacks had used so far. However their woes would only get worse a few moments later. Another news alert suddenly popped up on the art room TV. The report gave mentioning that a THIRD plane had crashed, however it was not at the World Trade Center like the last two planes, but it crashed in a location that made Nina's heart almost stop. A Boeing 757 had crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C., the capitol city of the entire United States. When Nina heard that particular news, she came to a grim realization. "This is definitely... a terror attack." Paula was not so aware of the importance of the Pentagon just yet, but she knew it had to be a big target if someone would crash a plane into it. All Paula knew was that she was beginning to get angry, very angry. "How could people do something... so EVIL?!" she growled in anger, almost enough to start clenching her fists. Mr. Bergert looked to the TV in depression and sadness, "Another 40 or more people... just gone, and possibly even more." "Today has not been a good day." Ms. Litterdale replied. "It's gonna likely get worse." Nina said, still staring ahead at the screen. "What do you mean by that?" Paula was now interested in this development. "They attacked the Pentagon, and beforehand, the World Trade Center. This shows a high possibility that the people doing this to us are trying for maximum damage. Paula, I know you're not so aware of these places, but the World Trade Center is a central trading and economic hub here in America, and the Pentagon is considered the military heart of the country. Also, this makes me realize that there's a 90% or more possibility that I know the next possible target." Mr. Bergert paled in realization, "Oh no... Nina you're not saying..." "The White House is likely the next target of these madmen." Nina continued, and then turned to Paula, "Paula, the White House is the home of President George W. Bush. And while we might know he's actually in down south and not in the White House, the terrorists or whoever probably DON'T know this, and other people, including possibly his family might be still in there. Also, the White House is one of the most famous and historical monuments in America. If they blew it up, the country's morale would go to Hell and back, and as we know, one other plane still remains in the air as of now. I'm sure you could put the pieces together. The worst part is there's probably no way we can do anything to stop it, with how coordinated and well-planned these strikes have been so far." Paula paled in shock, "Oh god..." she only eeped out meekly at the news. She closed her eyes, chanting a mental prayer for those who had died, had their lives permanently changed by loss of friends, and those who would likely be future victims... **** Back at Nina's house, Radditz had decided to sleep in and stay home in the basement room he had. He had been told of all the plans for most of the original Misfits to go back to their school to check in with their teachers and peers. He figured the day would be slow and ponderous without them available to train with, so he had decided to sleep an extended amount of time. Radditz was not generally either a light or deep sleeper, unlike his brother Kakarott, who slept deep, and Vegeta, who was more of a light sleeper, and was more to the middle. Even so, Radditz did have his fair share of dreams and nightmares. Most of his recent dreams had been nonsensical like most human dreams were. However the previous night, he had a vicious nightmare about him and Dodoria which he had quickly tried to knock out of his head. He had not told anyone else about it, because he had not wanted to worry the others. Vegeta had known the subject of this nightmare, as he had been there to an extent when it happened, but Vegeta in those days was a more cold, emotionless warrior who merely wished to be the strongest in the universe, and did not particularly seem to care about it too much back then. Although that had been a rough nightmare, it was nothing compared to what he was about to witness. Radditz found himself bombarded with images that flashed like fire across a grassland. Images of people he knew, such as Kakarott, Vegeta, Nina, many of the Misfits, but the most common where of Dan, and apparently a woman he had never seen before to this day. He also could've sworn he heard a faint, distorted voice speak to him. /~Save them...~/ More images flashed before his eyes. Four different airliners, which he didn't realize yet were actually images of the four hijacked airplanes involved in the current tragedies in his physical reality. More images, a pair of tall skyscrapers, nearly 110 stories high each. Some of the images included ones where the buildings had giant smoking holes in their upper floors. Some where shown of one crumbling inward on itself. More of the other one crumbling in on itself. Images of the smoked up metropolis around them after their collapse. These towers appeared to possibly be the World Trade Center buildings. Then even more images, various individuals, some of good nature, many of malicious nature. Some were screaming in terror, others were huddling in the back of what appeared to be a plane. More were shown in a position of control, carrying small knife-like objects. Others appeared to even be gathered around a school building. It was quite likely these were images of victims and terrorists of the ongoing attacks, possibly even of future attacks. /~Save them...~/ More images. These showed four specific people in different forms at different times. One was an elderly man, almost like someone's grandfather. Another was a middle-aged woman, appearing occasionally with a younger boy, younger than the youngest of the Original Misfits, even Virgil, maybe around 9 or 10 years old. Some images where of JUST the boy, or JUST the mother. Then another set of images flashed of a middle-aged man, also some mixed where he was with the middle-aged woman and the young boy, suggesting a fatherly link he shared with them. Some of them even showed the elderly man. It appeared the images were telling a tale of a single family. Some of those images flashed to the four family members, now in a state in peril. Tied up by firm rope in a mysterious house which was not their own, surrounded by crates of a mysterious material. More images, including one of one of the men he had seen in a flash of images of the victims and attackers of the ongoing tragedy, looking over them with an intent of control and malice. Radditz was perplexed at all of the images he saw. /~Save them...~/ Save them...? Save them from what?! he thought to himself in frustration. The dream was being difficult. All the images were still hard to understand to their entirity. More images. The new and mysterious young woman who he had seen alongside Dan in his flashes of his friends. Except many of these images showed her with the other four members of that one family. The images seemed to indicate SHE was part of that family. However none of them showed her tied up or in peril alongside them like in the recent pictures he'd seen. However he did see her in her own spot of trouble, and images of her at the school his friends and allies attended. He then saw images of his friends again, most of them in the backdrop of their school. Images of them freaked out over something. Images of the woman freaked out over something as well. Images of a giant explosion, somewhere... somewhere unknown. Images of a distant figure wreathed in gold, falling to the Earth like a comet. /~Save them...~/ droned a distant voice. Dammit! Who am I supposed to save?! Radditz complained to himself. /~You are all in dangerous peril, Radditz...~/ it spoke back to him. /What? Who in the hell are you?!/ Radditz replied, realizing the voice could hear him now. /~I think you already know...~/ it spoke back to him again. /No I don't! Quit playing games with me, dammit!/ Radditz screamed back. /~Think back to Dusty, to Dwayne, and to Steve...~/ /Huh?! I don't get it... Wait a second!! You?! Are you that 'voice' that spoke to them during this whole "merger"?!/ /~Yes, I believe that is what they called me. The "voice".~/ /So all this you're talking about. Greater threats, cosmic intervention... these images... they're true aren't they?!/ /~Radditz, not all of what you've seen has happened yet. But some of it is actually happening as we speak here. There is not much time. You must act now! You must SAVE THEM. More importantly, you must SAVE HER.~/ /You don't mean that woman I've seen with Dan, do you?!/ /~Of course. She is vital to your success as a team. She will someday become one of your most powerful. But she is in danger. She is in danger of forfeiting her life due to a hard choice. A dark power is trying to play its hand as we speak! It must be blunted, or all your friends will soon die, and you will go with them!~/ /I... how can I tell if you're honest about all of this?! How can I be sure YOU'RE not the dark power you claim is at work? How can I just believe what Dusty, Dwayne and Steve have heard from you isn't some clever trick?!/ /~Your distrusting nature is understandable. You lost the love of your life ages ago. You wished to die with her, but were denied your chance. You and he you believe responsible for her death hated each other even in death. However understand this Radditz. Your father wished for you to live a happy life after his death. He wished you and your brother Kakarott to live together and to learn the wonders of the universe from each other. You can still fulfill his dream, and the last wishes of your passed mother.~/ /How... how in the hell can you have known of my mother's last wish?! Who are you?! You have to tell me something about you!/ /~I am lost beyond time, beyond reason of logic. To explain what or who I really am right now... I would drive any one of you completely insane. I am sorry, but there's good reason to keep my identity as little known as possible. But you must understand. Time is of the essence.~/ /I... I still can't say I fully trust you, but I can sense at the same time, there is a truth to your current words. I feel tragedy brewing around my physical form, even as we speak now. Maybe you're right, maybe you're on our side, at least maybe for right now, but don't think for a moment I'm just going to trust you like that./ /~I understand completely. I will admit this much to you about myself. I was not always such a good person, much like you were. I seek to redeem my mistakes, my dark deeds of the past. However to do so will take far more work that I alone can manage.~/ /So we're nothing but your 'pawns'? Or is it something else?/ Radditz asked in both a mix of curiosity and anger. /~You are not pawns to anyone, young Saiya-jin. You and your friends will make your own paths, your own destinies. Fate is not completely pre-determined. Sometimes you might be led by others to think such is true. It is likely their own lack of understanding, or just them trying to play around and mess with you. It's as I told Dusty, Dwayne and Steve, you have a long LONG life to live. All of you do. You are not alone, and you will meet others soon who will be in the same situation, in the same boat, as you and your friends.~/ /I see.../ /~Now, make your stand Radditz, show Dodoria, show Hell, show all of your past naysayers and your friends what you can do. Save them, and save yourself. Your life will improve drastically in all good time.~/ Suddenly, a large boom of thunder erupted through Radditz's mind... "GAH!!" Radditz bolted up from off the couch he was laying on. The dream was frighteningly vivid in his mind. The sound of the voice, the urgency of his words, the vividness of the images he saw. YOU ARE NOT ALONE... Sweat was pouring down his forehead, and he almost felt as if he had been suffering previously from what humans called a "fever". He felt his forehead. He was slightly warmer than normal, but he felt his composure returning to him quickly. He looked over and noticed the TV, turned off, not too far away from him. He remembered what the voice said about "things happening as we speak". He grabbed the remote on a nearby coffee table and flipped on the TV. Radditz quickly learned of the events concerning both the World Trade Center towers, which he had recognized from the flash of images in his dream. He even recalled the large holes the two planes had punctured in the towers, smoking like a firebomb out of control. He then heard information about the crash of the third plane into the Pentagon building in Washington D.C. He had also recalled some vague images of people in terror fleeing the damaged government building. After soaking up information on these events and the theories surrounding their creation for a couple of minutes, Radditz rushed upstairs and grabbed the phone off the wall in Nina's kitchen. He dialed the string of numbers which he thought belonged to the house Goku and Vegeta were staying in. Surely he had to warn his brother and prince of what was going on. However, he heard the sound of the phone ringing much longer than 30 seconds, with no answer. In desperation, Radditz hung up the phone and almost panicked. That one woman, her family... where were they now?! Where they alive? Dead? Where they already in danger? Could he even do anything about it? Radditz thought over the images in his dream and calmed himself down. From picking through the images of the family in peril, he began to recall details of both the outside and the inside of the house they were tied up in within the images. He didn't recognize the house immediately, but he then began to see more details about the surrounding areas flashing quickly in his mind. To the point he began to pick out that the house was south of him, not too far away from where either Clint, Alex or Devin lived. It wasn't actually anywhere in their neighborhoods, but he did know of the general area. During some of the earlier training days he spent with Devin, Dwayne, Steve, Heero, Dusty and Dan, they had filled him in on various parts of the county and the city of Canton. It wasn't all the information he could use, but it was enough to give him a lead of where to go. He quickly dressed into his patented Saiya-jin jumpsuit and battle jacket, and left his and Nina's house, taking off quickly into the air like a rocket. Kakarott, Vegeta and the others were just going to have to wait for now. He had important business to take care of... **** Vernon had left Mr. Summers room, and was now in Mr. Jim Eckinger's computer tech class in the southern part of the school on the second floor. Of course, little work was being done with the news of the attacks floating all over the school, as most people where glued to any television sets they had in their rooms. Vernon had also gotten the bulletin of the Pentagon's problems. Jason's probably going catatonic over in his study hall. Man... this has been a BAD day for America. Vernon was still trying to do some work, or at least surf the internet at the time, to keep his mind off the events, but it wasn't doing a great job, most of the sites he ended up at only talking about the ongoing attacks, even the ones that he would think wouldn't be too immersed into the subject. There was just no avoiding the cold hard facts of this day so far. Vernon soon gave up surfing and looked back to the TV. Now a bulletin was being stated about the U.S. Capitol Building and the West Wing of the White House being evacuated. Must be making sure the President's family, and all the high-class and political big-wigs are okay first... figures. Vernon thought to himself, with a hint of contempt. Vernon was not exactly the most fond of the current president or his administration. He couldn't understand why though. Not a large amount had really occurred with the current term of government yet. A couple more minutes had passed quickly, with more news that the FAA, or the Federal Aviation Administration had banned all other aircraft takeoffs in the entire country. That's not gonna be of too much help now, people... Vernon grumbled to himself with more contempt. Another student looked back to Mr. Eckinger, "Mr. Eckinger? Do you have any idea what these people might try next?" Mr. Eckinger looked over to the class and spoke, "Considering the evacuation of many key areas in Washington D.C., it's a good chance the White House or the Capitol Building are high end targets. These terrorists are aiming to cripple our economy and our military stance with this. They probably still think the president is in The White House, so that doesn't help matters for them, but blowing up the White House would put the country's moral through the wringer." Vernon growled inwardly, These people have gone too far! I swear if I find these asshats, that I'm gonna make their deaths excruciating! **** Piccolo had not been present at Vernon's house when the news first came. Piccolo had been out on other smaller errands around the neighborhood, so when he finally arrived back at Vernon's house, he was surprised to find #17 was NOT outside for once. He looked around the house for a couple of moments, until deciding to go inside. In Vernon's living room, he saw #17 sitting on a chair watching the news, an angry frown on his face. Piccolo was a bit surprised. Usually #17 was a more cheerful, yet mischievous individual. Piccolo was about to ask #17 what was wrong, when he turned to Piccolo and spoke first. "You're back... Good, you need to see this, now." Piccolo was a bit taken back by the tone of #17's voice. It wasn't actually a commanding voice despite the type of words said, but more of a grim voice. Piccolo focused in on the news on the TV, which at that moment had been playing back footage of the first two planes crashing into the World Trade Center, and then afterwards, footage of the Pentagon just after it had been hit by the third plane. Piccolo's face was a mix of anger, shock and confusion, although for some reason, the Namekian didn't know what he was feeling this way towards yet, "What... the hell?! #17, what's all of this about?!" "All of this is several hundreds of miles east of us, over in New York City, and in Washington D.C. It started at around 8:50am, when a plane crashed into one of the towers of a major area known as the World Trade Center. 15 minutes later, a second plane hit the other tower, and then about 40 minutes after, the Pentagon in Washington D.C. was nailed by a third plane. The news speculates terrorist activity." "No shit." Piccolo grumbled at the last part, "Any word on who the hell the idiots who caused this are?!" "Some people think some 'Islamic Extremists', or whatever, might have planned this. The reports seem to link the attacks to the style of other types of attacks. Suicide bombings, car bombings, ambush attacks on civilians, or whatever." #17 replied. "Dammit..." Piccolo grumbled to himself, causing him to scan into the deepest of his memories, memories of a father-figure long dead, one who was substantially much more evil then Piccolo himself ever had been. Damiaou... my 'father, even HE wouldn't do something like this without some kind of warning! Of course most of the time there was no way to escape him, but these bastards... they just came out of the blue and attacked these places. I know on our world we dealt with things that made these attacks look childish or even non-existent by comparison, but no human or other creatures so weak should ever be allowed to gain the ability to cause this type of destruction. "Piccolo... what should we do about this?" #17 asked him now, cutting off any future thoughts from the Namekian. Piccolo looked to the cyborg for a moment, and then to himself. He thought for a minute, although to him, it felt like more of an eternity. He then looked back to #17. "We'll wait for now. The others are likely finding out about this, but most of them are at their school, and we don't have the school's phone number right now." Just at around that moment, another bulletin came up. This time it was about an emergency operator in Pennsylvania that had gotten a call from United Flight 93, from a desperate sounding passenger, stating the plane had been hijacked by Arabian, American, and Islamic men carrying sharpened box-cutters, and threatening that a bomb had been on the plane as well. After hearing that, Piccolo about blanched, "I can't believe these weakling terrorists could ever cause this much damage! Why don't the passengers just attack them?!" "Think about human nature Piccolo. I was human once, I believe." #17 stated. Piccolo groaned. #17 was right, most human nature was to survive, to keep themselves from death, or to even buy themselves more time to live in the inevitable situations which knew they would die, which meant even cowardice was considered a means to survival. That was why Piccolo didn't get along too well with most normal humans, leading to his earlier bet with Dan in Tokyo, and it was a prime reason Piccolo Damiaou and his mutated brethren had hated humans. "We may have to reach the others if this gets worse." Piccolo then stated to himself, but still not completely ready to act. **** Goku and Vegeta had slept in all morning. They felt they deserved at least some extra sleep for all the time they had to spend training Alex, and babysitting him and sometimes Vernon. It was because of this, that Goku had just woken up a couple of minutes ago. Fortunately, he wasn't very groggy, but he wasn't used to sleeping in either, so that might have helped matters for him. Vegeta was not quite as awake yet, and freshening up in the bathroom at the time. Goku walked downstairs, and into the kitchen. He turned on the TV, and turned around to get out some fish in the freezer to cook for himself, when he suddenly heard, "Oh my god... the south tower... it's breaking apart!!" Goku immediately turned to the source of the voice, the TV, and saw a horrific sight. On live TV, news reporters were catching footage of the South Tower of the World Trade Center beginning to break apart at the top, and falling inwards. It didn't stop there, the collective amount of collapsing debris continued to crush down on the more solid parts of the tower, breaking them to pieces, and causing a terrifying domino effect. Only 6 seconds later he had witnessed the entire Southern Tower fall to the ground below. The tower would forever cease to exist as what it once was... Goku could swear in his grief that he had seen some people falling out of the tower as it fell. He nearly threw up from the sight, and screamed, "VEGETA! WE'VE GOT A SERIOUS PROBLEM!" Upstairs, Vegeta grumbled slightly at his reflection in the mirror at the high volume of Goku's voice. What the hell could Kakarott mean by that?! Vegeta had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and quickly finished up his work in the bathroom, and walked downstairs. Hoping Goku's distressed yell wasn't connected to the appearance of some super-powered new enemy, he walked into the kitchen, hearing something on the TV about the White House now being fully evacuated. THAT did not sound good. He and Goku remembered Alex and Vernon telling them about some of America, including Washington D.C. and the White House and Pentagon. "Kakarott, what the hell happened?!" Vegeta asked with a slightly-forced calmness in his voice. Goku looked like he was fighting back tears. "This is horrible! All those people... hundreds of people, just gone!" "What?! Kakarott, who's attacking what?!" Vegeta asked a bit impatiently. "Vegeta hold on, I don't have all the news. All I know so far is that a large, 80+ story tower filled with people just collapsed about a minute ago." Goku replied. Vegeta gained a bit of aggravation of his face, "Kakarott, accidents happen all the time! You can't grieve like that for a freak accident!" "IT WAS NO ACCIDENT, VEGETA!" Goku screamed back, barely keeping from transforming to Super Saiya-jin in anger, "Before the tower collapsed, it was giving off smoke in the upper stories, and it looked like something was burning. The news said a plane crashed into the tower!" That made Vegeta change his attitude slightly, "What?! You've got to be kidding me!" "Afraid not... Look, we need to keep in tune to the news to learn all of it." Goku replied. Over the next couple of minutes, Vegeta and Goku were quickly given all the news so far, including the south tower's collapse. Vegeta was now fuming, and smashed his fist over the table, breaking it in half. "DAMMIT!! How can anyone be such a bunch of cowards!! These foreign terrorists have no honor, Kakarott! They would give up their lives for something so trivial!?" Goku winced as he looked at the broken table, and then to Vegeta. "I take it these attacks hit a personal nerve with you, Vegeta." he replied. "Kakarott, humans are by no means the only races that stoop to such low-life attacks. Under Frieza's Planet Trade, and before Vegeta-sei had been destroyed, Frieza's henchmen, AND the inhabitants of various planets we conquerored used similar strategies on either us, or each other! However these people are worse than most of them for one reason... because they don't even have the power to fly on their own and shoot ki! No mere weakling deserves to be given the weapons of a god when he has little or no understanding of them!" Vegeta replied in grim anger. However they would get more news. Another bulletin was now coming out, about a massive part of the attacked portion of the Pentagon also collapsing. Goku and Vegeta's anger at these events only got worse from it. Vegeta temporarily burst into Super Saiya-jin, and then back out. "Calm down Vegeta, us getting mad over here is not going to help." Goku said in a stern, rarely used voice. Vegeta growled, "Then why don't we just teleport to New York City and help these people by using your Shunkan Idou?!" "I truly wish I could, but nobody that I know is over there. I've never seen most of this new world, aside from a bit of Japan and parts of Canton. There's too many low ki signatures in the disaster areas and around, so teleporting there would only make us end up in some random place, likely nowhere close enough to help. And also most importantly, it seems most of the damage has already been done..." Goku said sadly. Suddenly yet ANOTHER bulletin popped up on the news. The news was partially relieving to Goku, but there had still been a minor loss of life. The flight on which the last group of highjackers were taking over had been crashed into a wooded, but clear of life area in Pennsylvania. He knew people had just died, but he also knew it could've been much MUCH worse. "Kakarott, we need to act on this somehow, and you know it!" Vegeta interrupted his thoughts, "For all we know, this could be just the beginning of something worse to come!" "I know, I know! We should gather the others. No doubt some of them have heard by now what's going on!" Goku replied. However, speaking of which, the phone in their front room suddenly rang. Goku, being the lighter mooded of the two saiya-jin, went and picked it up, "Hello?" "Son, it's Piccolo." the namekian's voice quickly spoke over the receiver. From the tone in Piccolo's voice, and the use of his surname, Goku knew he had probably already heard the news. "I know... the news... it's a horrible day for the people of this country.8" Goku said. "Good, you've already heard. What's Vegeta saying about it?" Piccolo asked. Goku turned back to the kitchen, and heard Vegeta grumbling unintelligibly to himself. "Not good. He's relating these attacks to his own past, but he says these people are worse because 'weaklings don't deserve to wield a god's weapons'." Goku replied. Piccolo allowed himself a tiny and grim smirk at that. At least Vegeta and him could agree on something once in a blue moon. Piccolo himself was shocked at the collapsing of the towers, and #17 looked on the verge of exploding after the Pentagon's one part collapsed, but calmed down after he learned the last plane didn't hit a populated area. "Goku, we have to meet up, and gather the others." Piccolo said simply. "I know, I agree." Goku replied, "I'll call Heero, Buu and Radditz, they need to know about this as well. I don't think Buu will understand it too much, and I have no clue how Radditz will take it, but I'm sure Heero's gonna probably be pissed." "You do that, Son." Piccolo said. "Talk later." Goku replied, and then he and Piccolo hung up, cutting the connection. Goku then picked up the phone, and sighed. He had to call over at Nina's first to make sure Radditz was there. If not, he would have to try to telepathically contact him. He knew he'd have to do the latter with Buu, and he had no clue how to normally get in contact with Heero, so the latter would have to be done in his case as well... **** In his auto-tech class, Devin and his class had been given constant updates by Mr. Angel's TV. Devin sighed in relief when he saw the final plane had not crashed down in any populated areas, but he still loathed the terrorists because they had taken hundreds, maybe thousands of lives now. Devin could swear he almost had a heart attack when he saw the South tower collapsing. This is a nightmare! Devin thought to himself bitterly. Now the majority of the auto-tech class had no will to go on and finish the engine. Devin looked around, noticing most of the class, even Jimmy were silent and brooding over the final events of the tragic attacks. He suddenly had a tragic revelation. This happened all on September 11th... 9-11... what an awful timing for these bastards! He was wondering how Dan, who was only a few rooms away in the Welding room, was taking the news. No doubt Dan would want to tear these people a new one. He was quite patriotic in nature, and was even considering joining the military at one point in his life. Devin didn't know if these attacks were making Dan consider that decision even more. It didn't matter to him though, as Dan was now much stronger than any other normal human with his training in the last few days. Devin realized that these attacks were an awful reminder to why heroes like the Z-warriors, and possibly even himself and the other Misfits existed, and he knew that he was going need to up his training. He was determined to stop any other attacks like this, rather by extremists, or some other future supervillain, from happening again... **** Meanwhile, Heero had been awake for the past 30 minutes. He had been living not too terribly far away from Dan's home, near the highway at Waynesburg Drive. Over the time he had gotten acquainted with Dan and his family in the recent days. Dan's younger brother for instance reminded him of many children from his own past, and then he thought over his own battles with the OZ foundation and their atrocities and their misgivings. Although Heero did own a TV, he had not been watching it too often since his arrival to Canton. He only occasionally turned it on because he was either too busy training with his friends and allies to care, or he was spending time resting up from said training sessions. The other part of it was that he dreaded to know what kind of news an Earth from an earlier era than his own might be suffering from. Heero's Earth was many decades ahead of the Earth most of the others thought of and lived on, and Heero felt that it could be similar to watching the planet's death sentence in a sense. However, for some reason, today was a day that bothered him to no end. He had slept in much as Radditz did due to the change in schedule created by many of his friends revisiting their high school, and therefore he too had decided to take some extra rest. However he had woke up at around 9:30am, earlier than Radditz had, and flipped on the TV only a few minutes after. When the news of the first two planes which hit the World Trade Center's tallest tower hit, Heero was not the least bit surprised of speculation of terrorism. He knew all too well the minds of most suicide bombers, regardless of the "bomb" said bomber used, be it a small bomb-vest, or a giant, gas-powered vehicle. All those people believed in was glory and honor for a cause. Glory and honor that was nothing but a damn waste, he generally thought to himself. He himself had almost done a similar tactic in one of his more grim battles as a Gundam pilot, and he had been shaken traumatically by such experiences that he vowed he never would do it again. Not that he could via a Gundam anymore. The Wing Zero was destroyed long ago, and was one of the main reasons Heero had so quickly decided on physical training like his friends were doing. He had to clean up any new problems in life with his own two hands, not the two or more hands of a giant robot. Heero admitted he could not feel any personal admiration for the original Misfits' home country of the United States of America, at least not just yet. He had not been present in the new universe long enough yet to get a good assessment. And even then he knew one city out of millions in the country was not a average for the whole of said country. He had to do more research, and more exploration of the USA first. Regardless of this, he was not happy when he saw the attack of the third plane crashing into the Pentagon Building in Washington D.C. Heero knew from the discussions of his friends and allies of Washington D.C. and how it was the country's capitol city, and that the Pentagon was the military heart of the country. Having been in military nearly his entire life, he sent a silent prayer to the hundreds of people he knew had died in that attack, from the people on the plane, to the people in the Pentagon. Hell, he even to some people's controversy, sent a few prayers to the hijackers, hoping they would find forgiveness from whatever higher power above they foolishly believed would see their acts as good in their name. By no means did this mean Heero supported these hijackers, their attacks, or their martyrdom. He was dead against it. He hated the people who planned these attacks, the people who executed them, and even to some extent was disgusted by the more cowardly people who did not try to stop the men who pulled off these attacks, but that didn't mean he couldn't pray for them to be forgiven. War was an ugly, cold hard fact in the world, regardless of whether the war was official and fought on a full-blown battlefield, or if it were unofficially staked, like in the form of these kinds of attacks and other terror tactics. Heero did know one thing though. He was full-bore determined that he would do what he could next time, to try to stop something like this from ever happening again, even if he had to personally destroy those who would be responsible for future attacks. He even vowed to himself that his current friends and allies were not exempt from that list. If one of them ever betrayed life, betrayed him, betrayed the others and started committing these wrongs, he would END them as quickly as possible... Suddenly Heero heard the phone in his living room ring. Sighing to himself grimly, he walked over to the phone. Wondering if it might have possibly been one of his friends or allies calling to inform him about the attacks or something else, he picked up the phone and spoke. "Heero Yuy speaking." "Heero, good to know you're awake already!" Goku's voice chirped through. Well, "chirped" wasn't such a good explanation. Heero knew Goku was a generally cheerful and positive person, but he could tell the big-hearted Saiya-jin had probably seen or heard some of the news from the subdued tone of his voice. "Let me guess Goku, you've seen the recent news about those towers in New York City, and that military building in Washington." Heero replied. "Yes. Good to know you're on the ball. How're you handling it so far anyways?" Goku replied, ending with a question that made Heero give a slight sigh. "I'm more or less angry... sad... confused... or any other word that relates to those three. I might not sound too much like it right now though, but my feelings aren't so easily shown through direct emotion as you might have figured out in the past few days. But I know this country, and this planet probably suffers wrongs like this all the time." he replied. "I thought about something after talking to Vegeta and Piccolo. I wanted to know... do you think normal people deserve to... well, wield weapons like these like they're gods?" Goku asked. It was actually a question the younger Saiya-jin figured Heero might have the best answer to, from knowing his own experiences as a pilot of a war machine. "Hell no, Goku. These people don't even deserve to wear simplistic bomb-vests, let along toting around giant vehicles to crash into structures. Believe me when I tell you I'm very familiar with these tactics of fighting. Hell, I even tried a tactic like those guys did to those buildings. Except in my situation, I was expecting to die and was planning to crash my mobile-suit into someone else's to take us both out. It would be a close enough analogy." Heero replied. "I see. At least you're not foaming at the mouth like Vegeta almost did, or contemplating the forsaking of the entire human race like Piccolo has been. At least, not yet." Goku replied. "Humans are stupid, Goku. Myself included. Sure, we show intelligence when we want to, but when our emotions are overwhelmed, when they're pushed too far, some humans just lose their sense of logic and go into an apeshit mode of self-destruction as they try to take out anyone else around them. Humans are such a complicated species, but at the same time they're so simple too." Heero replied. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. Maybe you've made your mistakes in the past Heero, but so have all of us at some point. I too did something stupid once that resulted in my own death, and almost the destruction of my son, my friends, and the entire planet. Vegeta has also done a few not-so-intelligent things of his own in the past." Goku replied, as both heard Vegeta grumble in the background at Goku, but not generally taking TOO much offense to his comments, knowing what his friend meant by that, "Piccolo has even made mistakes of his own when he's one of the wisest among us. But you can always find a means to redeem yourself somehow. Sometimes you just gotta look hard for it." "Thanks Goku. I suppose you make a lot of sense. You've been on the battlefield probably longer than I have. Still, you don't yet understand so much about military-style combat. Most of your fighting is hand-to-hand, one-on-one fighting with your enemies with martial arts and other similar types of styles. We... we all had to fight as colonies, as corporations, as cells of rebels, terrorists and other undesirable types. Military warfare is something I need to teach you guys more about in the future." Heero replied. "Well, we can talk about it later I suppose. The reason I called you is that we're trying to gather you, Radditz and Buu up so we can head over to Canton South High School, you know, where the others are at the moment. We need to talk to them as well. No doubt they have to know about this by now and are freaking out. We don't have their school's number, so going there is the best alternative." Goku replied. "You sound a bit spooked, actually." Heero stated, detecting some external concern in Goku's voice. "Well, I actually tried to call Radditz before I got ahold of you. Nina told me their phone can be heard from the basement, and Vegeta tells me he's a moderate sleeper and that the phone should wake him up if he's home. We've dialed him 5 times now, and no answer. I decided to sense out for him, and I CAN sense him at least, but he's not where he normally is. I wonder what he's doing. He's heading somewhere strange from what I can make out." Goku replied. "Well, let's worry about first things first. I'll head over and rendezvous with you guys. Dan's told me where to find their school, so I might be able to get there on my own. I'll see you there or on the way." Heero replied. "Alright, See you there, and be careful. I have a feeling things haven't completely calmed down just yet. I don't know why, but my gut is still telling me something's still amiss in the air." Goku replied. "If something happens to me, it happens to me. We just gotta deal with what comes, Goku. See you in a bit." Heero said with a grim humor, and put down the phone. Heero quickly stepped out of his home and ignited his ki energies, and lifted off into the air like a missile, turning straight north and flying off into the distance... **** At the front side of the school, the traffic on Faircrest Ave. E was still bustling despite the news of the attacks, although some people were still being cautious. However people were still devoted to their duties. One such person was Teresa Hamilton, a UPS Delivery driver. She was 5 feet and 9 inches, and adorned with light-brown wavy hair that went down just past the shoulders, with amber eyes, although one wouldn't have been able to tell right away from the sunglasses she was currently wearing. She also had a beautiful figure, which many woman would die for, and boys were attracted to like flies, as she wore a somewhat tight-looking variation of the standard delivery uniform. She sighed to herself, not happy with the news going around, "Well, I better go deliver this thing, despite all this stuff happening around here." she then looked just a bit disturbed, as she looked at the large box. It was filled with various supplies that were apparently meant for one of the classes at the school. She picked up the box, which by the size made one wonder of her strength, as it looked like it'd be somewhat hard for a woman of her size to lift it. She walked up the front doors of the school, and knocked on the door, until it was opened. She looked at the student at the door, another girl named Stacey Brownfield, who nodded at her. "Good day, ma'am, I need to find your principal's office." Teresa asked her. Stacey looked over a little behind her, and pointed around a corner, "It's not far from here, and right around the corner." "Thanks." Teresa replied, and made her way down the hall. At that point, she saw Clint walking down the steps, the same ones Vernon and Jason had ascended in the beginning of the day to meet Mr. Summers, but then turned into another room after getting off the steps. She didn't know him, but she noted a somewhat grim resolve on his face, as she turned into the main office... **** About three-quarters of a mile to the North-Northwest of the houses of Alex, Goku and Vegeta sits a strange residence, looking out of place in comparison with the rest of the houses and buildings around it. It is shaped in a fashion somewhat resembling a living worm, with bubble-like windows over each opening, and curved horns along the outside of the main door. None of the others had seen this house yet, but it seemed to be an okay location to them nonetheless. This was because this was the newly-constructed residence of Mr. Buu, who decided to park himself about a quarter of a mile south of Devin's neighborhood, putting himself between Devin and Alex in terms of position. Though the house was simplistic both on the inside and outside, it was really the bare necessity of what Buu required to live. He didn't have much need for TV, and any other form of electronics. He would just meditate when at home and by himself, or eat food he'd spawn with his magic abilities, or fly around happily without a care in the world, sometimes even keeping an eye on Devin's neighborhood nearby. Though he did these things, he did try to keep his newly discovered ki sensory adjusted to keep tabs on all of his friends. He could sense more than half of them were all gathered east of him, while Goku and Vegeta had been only beginning to move away from what he considered their "usual spot". He could also sense Heero moving a bit away from his "usual spot" as well, and wondered what could be going on. Without a TV, Mr. Buu was completely unaware yet of the tragedies of the day and could only guess what was actually going on. However that was about to end, as he sensed Goku and Vegeta, as well as Piccolo and #17 all coming in very close to him. He wondered if he was in trouble for something, or if they needed his help. "Buu, are you awake?!" Vegeta hollered from outside. Mr. Buu walked outside of his home and looked up into the air, seeing Goku and Vegeta had already arrived, and that Piccolo and #17 were becoming visible in the distance from the East. He floated up to them as Piccolo and #17 closed in. "What going on? Guys okay?" he asked. "Well, physically, we're just fine," Goku started, "But there's been some bad stuff happening today, Buu." "Basically, evil is afoot again." Piccolo cut in for him, "There's a group of wackjob humans called 'terrorists' running around and causing trouble in various parts of the world. It's at enough of a scale that the media of this world is making a huge deal out of it." "What's a terrorist?" Buu asked, having no actual idea of the word or it's meaning. Vegeta sighed irritably, but replied nonetheless, "Well Buu, a terrorist is a type of person who kills, who destroys things, who ruins the lives of others just to scare them, and just because they can do it." "That mean they evil, right?" Buu asked. "Yes Buu, they're almost always evil people. In fact, Babidi... you remember what he made you do to some of the cities on our own Earth. You know, when he had you turn them into candy and eat them, to try to flush out Piccolo, Goten and Trunks?" Goku asked. "Uh-huh, Buu remember very vividly. Hate Babidi still for that." Buu replied, not happy to remember that set of images in his head, or of his creator's bratty son. "That's one way you can see terrorism being employed." Piccolo cut in, "It's to intimidate people into submission, and to control them. It's definitely not a tactic most 'good guys' would use against their enemies due to their moral compass." "So what we gonna do then?" Buu asked. "We need to go to the school Alex, Jason, Vernon, Devin, Dan, Dusty, Clint and Nina attend, since they're over there to check in for a day with their teachers and peers. We need to go and gather them up to discuss a plan of action. Although the attacks of today are already said and done, I bet this isn't over by a long shot. We need to be prepared for more attacks from these guys." Goku explained. "Buu understand. Let's go stop bad guys!" Buu chirped, almost sounding as if he was going to have fun if he were to find an enemy right then and now. Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and #17 looked over at him with some discomfort at his enthusiasm. This might have been a bit too easy to get done, but they figured it would work out for the better as they followed their newly acquired friend towards Canton South High School to find and meet up with their friends. And yet, Goku STILL had that squirmy feeling in his gut, the same one he had warned Heero about a few minutes ago over the phone. He didn't know what was about to happen, but he had a feeling, the danger of the day just wasn't quite over yet... **** Clint was now sitting in the Guidance Office of the school. Apparently he had made an appointment with two of the more well known guidance counselors, Mr. Doug Nagle and Ms. Mary Lynn Offredo. These two were very good friends with Clint, especially Mr. Nagle, who was like an uncle to him. After a minute or two, the secretaries gave Clint access to the two offices on the east side of the room, which were Mr. Nagle and Ms. Offredo's rooms. He looked into the offices, noticing both counselors were in Ms. Offredo's bigger room. Ms. Offredo herself sat in a chair near the back of the room, next to both a computer and a radio, while Mr. Nagle was sitting in a chair near the door, next to another free chair. "Clint-man. Nice to see you." Mr. Nagle said to him as he entered, in a slightly deflated voice. Mr. Nagle was normally a cheerful man, much like Mr. Blike, and never raised his voice at anyone as far as he knew, or got mad, but even he was depressed at the events of the attacks. Ms. Offredo had a grim expression, but was trying to hide it in front of Clint, not wanting him to feel too much worse. They were a little concerned when he had called their offices during his weight class with Mr. Miller. When Clint had called, he said he had something about revealing what they were doing in the last week, and of their absence. "Hey Mr. Nagle and Ms. Offredo. I'm sorry to be so urgent here..." Clint said in a bit of a moping voice. Ms. Offredo looked at him, "You look like you have a heavy weight on your back, Clint." "Well, it doesn't help that my clothes and other materials have been weighted in the last few days, but that's only part of what this is about." Clint half-joked, "I need to let you all know what we were really doing in the last 6 days, since our return from Japan." Clint replied. Mr. Nagle decided he would close the door to keep the conversation private. "What is this about, Clintster?" asked Mr. Nagle. "I know it's gonna be hard to believe at first... but bear with me please." Clint said as he lifted himself off the ground a few inches. Both guidance counselors were surprised. "Clint, how're you..?" Ms. Offredo asked, but stopped in surprise. Clint had also formed a small ball of ki in his hands for a moment, and let it flicker away, landing back on the floor. "Now that I got your attention, it might make it easier for you to believe what I'm about to say..." Clint said, but suddenly the radio broke into the room, with a bulletin that the NORTH tower of the World Trade Center, the larger of the two towers, had just collapsed into nothingness, and that hundreds more were likely dead. Ms. Offredo and Mr. Nagle were even more depressed, and Clint growled mentally. "I know this is horrible, and this is why I feel I needed to tell you all this... If you guys could just listen closely, I'll explain everything..." he trailed off, and began to explain to them the events of the past six days. **** In Mr. Bergert's class, Paula and Nina were still present, and they had received the final news about the collapsing of the North Tower. Nina was immensely relieved when the fourth plane had crashed in a non-populated area, especially after hearing the news that the passengers of the plane had overcome their hijackers, but were unable to land the plane safely. From the reports, none of them had survived the crash so far. Nina looked down, So much death, and so much destruction... thousands have died, just like Evans' stupid religion... Nina had thought, thinking about her own archenemy, St. Evans, who had forged his own religion on her world. Apparently those who had prayed to 'God', as he called himself, would give more energy to the evil demon, preparing him for a strike on her world... A strike that Nina and her other friends had stopped, but at the price of others. Her sister was gone, her close friends had lost some of many of their own friends. And even she had supposedly 'died', at least so she thought. Her friend, Ryu, leader of her friends, had assured her that she had not died, but Nina wasn't so certain. She thought about Ryu on her world, and how he was doing without her there to help him. Don't kill yourself Nina. Rinpoo's gonna make sure he's okay. she reassured herself. She was feeling a bit better, now that the damage had finally all been done and said. She wasn't happy to know the totals with the recent attacks, but knowing it was over was better than not knowing... **** Nearby, moments later Teresa trembled as she walked down the track towards the back of the school. She was not happy anymore, and had taken off her sunglasses a little bit ago. She had put them on to help put on that act of calmness in front of Stacey and inside the school for a reason. She was even beginning to cry a little. She trudged on towards her destination with great sadness. I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... she thought to herself in grief. She had not truly come to Canton South for a good reason. She hadn't even wanted to come here. Damn those bastards! she howled mentally to herself, How could they have such little resolve for life?! She looked towards the Bus Garage, where Devin's auto-tech, and Dan's wielding classes were still taking place for a final period. She looked down, He's just a Junior in high school! What's so threatening about him that they'd need to do this?! She walked in closer to the garage, and asked around for where the wielding room of the garage was, and she was pointed in that direction. She sniffed to herself. I wish there was another way. I don't want to kill this kid! But what else can I do!? Teresa growled mentally to herself. She had no choice in the matter. It was either him, or they would kill most of her family. They had chosen her for the job because she was both very strong and agile in a bad situation, yet beautiful and innocent enough to not appear a threat to anyone, but yet easy to threaten her with the lives of others. Teresa was just a pawn in their game, she thought. She knocked on the door to the wielding room with slightly shaking hands. One of the hands was gripping a strange electrical device hidden inside her uniform, that would be used like a super-charged tazer, administering a massive 2.4 amp charge through the victim's body. Less than .01 amps were believed to be fatal to a human being, and this object would no doubt cause a quick death. She had the choice of killing him their way, or her way. She knew her way would be the more humane manner, and ensure no one else would die, so she took the less horrific path. The door opened, and she walked in... **** Back in Mr. Bergert's class, moments later. Paula was still contemplating the events of the day in her head. She had also felt some of the echoes of Nina's thoughts. Paula had the ability to read the thoughts of others around her with her psychic talents, but the power was somewhat uncontrollable, allowing her to read these thoughts without others knowing for the most part, as she didn't normally even try to probe one's mind, thus it was more like a form of empathy. However, hearing Nina's thoughts about the attacks being over made her nervous. Why do I have such a dreading feeling here... The planes are all down, the damage should be over... the deaths should be calming down... but yet it still doesn't feel right... she said to herself. Suddenly, she began to get a bit dizzy, that Nina saw her looking very distant. Paula didn't fall over, but she began to see something that shook her mind to the core. She had saw a brown-haired woman, walking into a room, and delivering a package to the wielding class Dan was in. She then walked up to Dan, and asked him to come outside with him, and after leaving the garage and talking to him for a couple seconds, she suddenly pulled out a strange apparatus, and attached it to Dan. Paula saw Dan convulse in shock and agony several times, and a grim expression on the other girl's face. After this happened, Dan collapsed to the ground, and looked to be dead where he lay, smoke rising from his body violently. Paula suddenly snapped back to reality like a snap of a crocodile's teeth. Nina looked at her worriedly, "Paula, what..." But she couldn't finish, as Paula bolted quickly towards the back of the room, opening a door to the garage of the art room. Nina ran after her quickly. "Paula, what're you doing?!" Nina screamed at her, getting Mr. Bergert and Ms. Litterdale's attention. Paula didn't respond, and zoomed out of the open garage door, and down the track with very high speeds. Nina looked at her with a grim expression. Paula, what happened to you?! What's going on? **** Teresa had just delivered the package of all the wielding parts to the wielding teacher. She then finally saw Dan at the front of the class. She growled mentally at herself, Why can't there be another way to do this?! She grimly walked up to Dan and patted him on the back. Dan looked over to her, with a depressed expression on his face. He had no doubt heard about the attacks, and wasn't happy. "Oh, hello." he replied. "Hey, you're Dan Laubacher, right?" Teresa asked simply. "Yeah, that's me." he replied. "May... may I see you outside for a moment?" Teresa asked. "Sure... yeah whatever. Maybe I'll feel better about this if I get some air." Dan replied, putting down his tools and asking his teacher for a moment with Teresa, which he gave. The two walked out of the wielding class, and near the garage. Dan looked to her, and asked, "Now exactly what did you want to ask me?" Teresa gulped grimly, knowing that if she didn't do this, the operative watching her would likely react, shooting her and/or Dan dead, or possibly even radio the others that had her family hostage and surrounded by high-grade explosives. She reached into her pocket, and began to grip her tazer. She had begun to pull it out, and zap Dan with it, and regrettably end his life. Luckily for her, she wouldn't get the chance. Unluckily for her though at the same time, she had been stopped by suddenly being punched out of her action by a strong blow, and sent flying back towards the plant life on the other side of the road, and sending her tazer flying away from her into the open, clattering nearby on the road. Dan looked in shock at the scene, as he saw Paula lunge in and slug Teresa away from him. "PAULA?! What're you doing?!" Paula ignored him and looked at Teresa with extreme and barely contained anger. "How dare you!?" she screamed at the other girl. Teresa cowered in fear, realizing this other girl had been the one who punched her away. She began to stammer, "P-Please! It's not what you think!" Paula didn't believe her and growled, "Oh really? Then why were you about to kill Dan?!" Teresa looked shocked, She knew what I was going to do?! Thank goodness some people are still vigilant around here... "You got it wrong! I DON'T WANT to kill him. I honestly don't!" she replied in a begging voice. Paula still didn't believe her yet, "Then WHY?! Why did you try to kill him anyways?! You sure looked like you were going to electrocute him with that thing!" "YOU FOOL! I WAS FORCED INTO IT!" Teresa screamed in back in rage and anger. Paula's rage suddenly began to deflate, remembering Teresa's grim expression in the vision of her shocking Dan. Paula only THEN realized, "Oh my god... I almost..." However her words where interrupted when a loud, deafening bang echoed in the area. Paula was suddenly caught off guard as something slammed into the side of her head. Paula had her powerlevel lowered somewhat when she attacked Teresa, not planning to kill her or inflict any serious damage to her at the time as to get answers, so she had been knocked to the ground and hit her head on the pavement somewhat hard. She wasn't dead or unconscious, but she was too dazed and her head was hurting too much to move. Dan went pale at the sound, "That was a gunshot!" Teresa looked grimly at Paula's crumbled form, thinking her incorrectly as dead, "I'm so sorry Dan! The people who made me do this!! They did that too!" "Yes, and trust me, if you don't kill the boy now, it's gonna get worse for your family, you infidel girl!" said another voice in the distance, sounding somewhat Arabic but with an American dialect. Teresa growled in anger and fear, looking to a man walking over towards the area in the distance, as several people began to rush out of their rooms. The man was 6 feet 2 inches, and had an Arabic face and figure, and a scar down his cheek, and a rugged look to him. He was carrying a small rifle in his hand, a one shot, by the look of it. He threw the rifle to the ground, clattering uselessly, and pulled out a radio on his belt, and looked to her, "Do it now!! Kill priority target one!! Your family dies if you don't!!" the man screamed. "Why don't you kill me yourself, you damned coward!!" Dan growled and ran towards the man. However, despite not having another rifle, he pulled out another object off of his back, a strange tuba-looking apparatus, and suddenly pressed a button on the side, sending an electric looking blast at Dan, moving at much higher-than-expected speeds. Dan's eyes went wide in surprise as he got hit. However instead of being jolted to high heaven, the electric flooded out and surrounded him in a stasis field, pinning him to the ground, rendering him unable to move. "You will die!" the man growled back at Dan, "You will never become a threat to my leaders! Never will come the day you join your people's military against us!" What the hell?! How did this guy know I was thinking about joining the army? Dan thought to himself angrily as he struggled to break out, but the stasis field around him wouldn't give way. Devin suddenly rushed out from his Auto-Tech class nearby from all the sounds, and saw the scene before him, with Paula lying on her side in the street, too dazed and hurt to get up, another girl sprawled on the ground nearby on her butt, and Dan, apparently paralyzed in a restraining field. He looked to the tuba-wielding man. "Who the fuck are you?!" Devin growled, "Did you do this to my friends?!" "Shut up and back off or you'll get the same treatment, infidel American pig!" the man shouted. "How about this... how about YOU'LL get my fist in your face!" Devin growled and darted at the man. However the man quickly shot another electrical blast. Devin saw it and dodged it, but he had not seen the second electrical blast that had split from the first pulse, that had been meant to catch him from the side, and took the hit, now being incased by the paralyzing field, and pinned to the ground. "You are weak, you fat American fool!" the man growled, and looked to Teresa again, "Kill BOTH of them, and do it quickly! Or your family dies!" Teresa gulped, fighting back tears, and pulled out another weapon, a small handgun with 6 bullets inside, and pointed at Dan and Devin shakingly. She closed her eyes as she put her hand on the trigger. However she would again luck out. She saw the Arabic man suddenly double over in pain, clutching his chest, as blur of blue energy lanced forward out of nowhere and tore through the man's chest and out his back, not quite enough to kill him instantly, but enough to mortally wound him. His tuba-like weapon fell out of his hands, and to the ground, shattering it, and the stasis fields around Devin and Dan grew weaker and then dispersed. The man himself fell backwards in the middle of the cleared out road, blood oozing from his upper chest, and he began to breath heavily, his blood pooling around him fast. Devin, Dan, Teresa, Paula and the other on looking students watched as Nina came onto the scene in a blur of yellow, purple and blue, having been responsible for shooting the blast that had fatally wounded the terrorist. She looked at him with a horrifically calm face, and grabbed him by his collar, lifting him to his feet, her eyes literally burning with flames at him, a byproduct of her magical energies channeled through her anger, "YOU... YOU SERVE THEM DON'T YOU?!" she screamed. The shocked and dying man, looking at her with surprise, suddenly formed a sinister, crazy look in his eyes, and a smirk of evil on the rest of his face. "YES. You are smart!! I am of the same breed who attacked the towers, the pentagon, and those fools on the other plane!! Our kind is everywhere! You killing me makes little difference in the long run, you freakish bitch! Our hidden operative was quite accurate with her information!" "Well you picked the WRONG people to mess with, you sick bastard! It's too bad you picked a place with 'Misfits' around it." Nina growled, "Who is your leader, scumbag?" "Hahaha!!" the man growled, "I am a proud follower of Allah and Al-queda, the holy warriors of the east. You American Infidels needed a wake up call. Oh yes you did..." he began to cough slightly, his wound sapping his energy fast. He knew he would die, and he did not seem to care one bit. "Al-queda will fall then. You are an idiot to give information to anyone!" Nina growled. The man's smirk only looked more crazier now. "Who said any of you would live to do anything!?" he said to her, much to her surprise. He then reached out into his pocket, pulling out a strange two button detonator, and he mouthed one final phrase to her, "Allah... Akbar..." , the Arabic phase for "God is Great", and then hit both buttons at once. Suddenly, Nina felt herself being blasted away from where she was, as the man exploded into a large plume of flames. Apparently a bomb had been attached to him. Luckily, Nina was the only person who had been hit, and she slammed into the pavement behind her, not too scorched around the edges and more hurt from the fall than anything else since she hadn't bothered to hold back any of her power from before. She got back up, rubbing her head in pain. Paula finally got back to her senses completely to see the explosion throw Nina to the ground nearby, and she rushed to Nina. "You okay?!" she asked. "That bastard had a bomb attached to him." Nina stated, "He must've been trying to take someone out." "Yeah, Dan I think." Paula replied, then looking to the trembling, and crying Teresa. Paula looked at her apologetically, and walked up to her, holding out her hand. Teresa realized that Paula wasn't mad at her anymore, and took it, got lifted to her feet. "I'm sorry..." Paula said to her, "Who are you anyways?" "I'm Teresa Hamilton. I'm a UPS delivery driver from the main district of Canton City, but those terrorist bastards found a way to force me to try to act out their little game against your friend, by threatening to kill my family if I didn't." Teresa reacted, and then looked down in sadness, "It's possible they might be dead already." At that point, Clint, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Dusty, Dwayne and Steve had all flown in to the scene of the attack, and a few bystanders were following on foot from behind, noticing all the calamity. "What in the holy fuck just happened?!" Alex asked in shock at the scene. Nina looked over to him, and mouthed only one phrase, "Al-queda did this." At the sound of that comment, all of the people around Nina had mixed expressions, some were enraged, others were shocked, others looked extremely grim. Alex was pissed, Vernon was also pissed, while Jason looked like a volcano about to erupt, Devin was pretty much the same, Dusty was also not looking too happy, Dan looked extremely grim, Dwayne was about to scream feral rage, Steve stomped his foot and cursed loudly, and so on. To say the least, NO ONE was happy to hear that. "What were THEY doing here?!" asked Vernon, clenching a fist. Paula decided to speak up, "Teresa here..." she looked to Teresa, who looked back at the others grimly, "Was apparently being forced to come here, and she was given orders by them to kill Dan. We don't know WHY they were after him specifically, but I had a vision of her shocking him to death with a high-powered taser, and was able stop her in time. However one of their operatives was nearby, apparently led here by some other hidden operative we haven't found yet, to make sure Teresa succeeded. I was shot to the ground, and unable to move, Dan and Devin tried to attack this guy, but he had something that apparently restrained them in some field of sorts, lying in pieces over there." Paula then pointed to the remains of the man's tuba-like gun and continued, "Then Nina shot him through the chest with a fatal blast. She found out about Al-queda from him, and then he self-destructed, expecting for it to kill her." "The news gets worse." Nina replied, "Al-queda is responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania today." Needless to say, none of the other Misfits wanted to hear that. "THOSE... THOSE FUCKING FAGGOT BASTARDS!!!" Alex screamed in rage, "I KNEW IT... I FUCKING KNEW IT!!" "Alex, CALM DOWN. You screaming about this is only going to make it worse!" Goku's voice suddenly echoed in from nearby. The other Misfits turned and looked up to see Goku, Vegeta, Heero, Piccolo, Mr. Buu and #17 landing on the ground near them. Needless to say, many of the anime fans at the school recognized them, but many thought at first it was just a sick ploy or people in costumes. The Misfits in question ignored their stares as their friends and allies rushed over to them. "Why are you six here?!" asked Jason. "We needed to all meet up and talk, immediately." Goku said in a very serious voice. He had missed the main commotion of what had just happened a couple of minutes ago, but he could tell a battle had just taken place from the sight of the scorched ground, and the broken tuba-like gun. His gut feeling had been right all along. However, their idea for a meeting would be interrupted when Piccolo's ears stirred. "What the? Why do I hear beeping?!" he asked out loud. "What are you talking about, Piccolo?" asked Goku. "I hear something steadily beeping." he said, following his ears, and walking around, trying to locate the source of the noise. He then stopped when he got near Teresa, and his eyes widened, "Those bastards!" Teresa realized somehow what was going on, feeling on her stomach, and feeling a very slight vibration. "GOD NO!! That guy was able to arm the bomb strapped to me before he killed himself!!" Teresa howled in both anger and fear. "WHAT?!" the others looked to her. "That guy said to me that I was to also wear this..." she said, struggling to rip the bomb off from under her shirt, attached to her stomach, "and that if all else failed, it would do the job they intended!" She then ripped the bomb free and stared at it grimly, "He told me it was some kind of an experimental bomb, that it would be a form of backup plan, in case I failed, and in case they additionally failed. They said something about how the bomb has enough energy to hit anything in an 12 mile radius, or so they said." "WHAT?!?!?!" Clint went pale in the face, "ALL of Canton, and most of Stark, Tuscarawas, Wayne, Carroll and Medina County will be gone if that thing explodes!!! How much time is left on it?!" Teresa fumbled with the bomb until she saw a timer, an digital timer. She went pale, "Less... than 20 seconds!!" "SHIT!!!" Clint screamed and made a beeline and grabbing the bomb out of her hands. "There's nothing you can do to stop it! I'm sorry..." Teresa looked pale and sad, as she slumped to the ground in defeat. No, I've got to get this thing out of here, NOW. Clint thought to himself, and looked up. Without saying a word, he quickly flared up his energy and shot straight up into the air like a rocket shuttle. "CLINT!!! COME BACK!!!!" Goku screamed at him as he saw Clint fade out of his view. Clint hadn't heard a word of what Goku had said. He was too focused on getting that bomb out of the atmosphere. With only 16 seconds left, he realized that the bomb likely possessed enough power to kill anyone with less than a 1,000,000 powerlevel if at point blank range. If the bomb went off anywhere close to his friends, only Goku, Piccolo, #17, Buu, Vegeta, Nina and Paula would still be alive out of everyone in an 8-mile radius, and the latter two could be badly injured as well. 0:15.... Clint shot up more towards the sky, trying to accelerate as fast as possible, trying to both get the bomb, and then himself safely away from each other, while saving his friends at the same time. 0:14... I'm not moving fast enough!! I'll never be able to get away once I get far enough!! 0:13... Clint growled, getting ready to accept his fate, knowing that at least he could get the bomb safely away from the others in time. 0:12... Clint began to think back on his 17 year life in Canton, and all of his friends from the past, including Alex, Devin, Jason, Vernon, Dan, Dusty, and even Nina and the other newer Misfits. Stay alive for me you guys! I'll make you proud! he thought grimly. 0:11... Clint suddenly felt his energy expanding slowly, and his speed picking up. 0:10... Clint's power continued to pick up, only a couple miles from his destination. 0:09... Clint's power now surged with grim determination, and his speed further increased. 0:08... Gotta hurry!! 0:07... Clint's power STILL continued to climb, and he picked up even more speed. 0:06... Clint suddenly reached as much speed and strength as he could muster, as the atmosphere began to slightly thin out. 0:05... "Finally. I'll always remember you guys! You Al-queda bastards can kiss my ass!!!" Clint then suddenly tossed the bomb at an upward angle with as much strength as he could possibly muster. 0:04... The bomb was soon well out of range of doing any damage to anyone below or even to the atmosphere of the planet. 0:03... Clint realized then, I might still be able to get back alive if I MOVE!! and quickly he turned direction and sped back downward. 0:02... Clint was still moving at a speed and power that he felt was well beyond his usual limits. He felt almost 20 times stronger. Maybe his adrenaline had picked up so much in those last 10 seconds. 0:01... Clint closed his eyes, knowing that even if he wasn't going to get hit, that he could still be blinded from the explosion. 0:00... "GANGWAY BELOW!!" he screamed as... *BOOOOOOOM!!!!* The bomb's massive energy erupted in a deafening, blinding, massive explosion. Luckily, the bomb was basically out of the Earth's atmosphere. Unfortunately, Clint, despite only getting hit by the shockwave, had lost control over his energy, and went plummeting to the ground even faster than he was expecting. SHIT!!! I'M GONNA CRATER!! he thought to himself grimly, as the uppermost view of Ohio zoomed into view, quickly replaced by a more detailed view of Stark County from above. Then moments later he saw the school coming in at him fast. He realized that he was going to burrow into the near middle of the football field. Well... I guess this is it!! Clint thought as he crashed violently into the school football field. Just before impact, his awareness mercifully gave out, and he saw no more... **** Alex had saw Clint crashing into the field, and flew over to him quickly. The others followed him quickly. "Clint, damn you!! Why did you have to go and do that?! You could be dead for all we know!" Alex growled in anger. "He's not dead, just unconscious, brat." Vegeta's voice came in, "And at least he did his job. We're all still alive." "How can you tell he's still alive?!" Alex asked. "You can sense ki, right? He still has a ki signature, it's just not terribly strong at the moment." Vegeta grumbled back to him as if it were common knowledge. Goku quickly dug Clint out from the crater, but his eyes went wide in shock when he saw Clint. "Oh man! This is impossible!!" he said out loud, enough that the others heard him. "What happened, Kakarott!?" Vegeta asked, landing close to the crater, but when he looked down at Clint, he answered his own question. Vegeta went agape at the sight. Alex landed nearby and asked, "What?! Is he...?" "No... he's something else..." Vegeta stammered. Alex looked down and gasped, "How the fuck is that possible?!" The reason all three of them were so shocked was that laying in the crater, Clint was different now. His hair was no longer dark brown, but a golden-yellow color, although with a slight shade of green in it as well, and standing up on end. His eyes were still closed, and his energy was still weakened, but despite that he was still surging with much more power than he had over 5 minutes ago. He had also transformed into a Super Saiya-jin... But wait! That wasn't possible, was it?! Clint for the most part was very sure he was human, and had no clue that he was of any other race. Goku also seemed to agree with this, noticing that while he had transformed to that state, Clint's ki definitely did not feel Saiya-jin, but it wasn't quite a fully human ki, but the majority of it still was. "This can't be possible! Vegeta, he's not even a Saiya-jin, so how could he transform?!" Alex asked in shock. "You're asking me?!" Vegeta said back in surprise, "This is new to me as well!" The other Misfits had gathered up, and Vernon and Jason were shocked. "Woah! He must've put out a lot of power getting that bomb out of the way!" Jason said. "Yeah, but he transformed as well! Is he a Saiya-jin?" Vernon asked. "No... he is not." Vegeta said, much to their shock, "At least it's very unlikely!" "Then HOW?!" Jason asked. Vegeta shook his head in confusion, for once having no answer to give them. Suddenly, Clint's eyes snapped open. He realized that he was in a good deal of pain, but he was still able to pull himself to his feet with not too much trouble. "Owww.... that sucked! Well... agh... I must be alive, I can still feel pain, and you guys are all here. I know that damn bomb didn't hit anything, except me with its' aftershock." he said to everyone, and himself. "Clint, are you okay, man?" asked Dusty to him from nearby, "You look like you got the wind knocked out of you, and you also apparently have changed." "Dusty, what're you talking about?" asked Clint. Goku pulled out a mirror, ironically the same one Alex had looked at when he had gone Super Saiya-jin himself, "Here. Take a look for yourself." Clint took the mirror, and went agape at his reflection, but then got calm again, "THAT must explain the burst of power I received when I was flying the bomb away. I didn't even pay much attention with the direness of what was going on." "Yeah, but you're not even a Saiya-jin! At least that's what Goku and Vegeta are saying!" Devin replied, his eyes showing a slight tinge of jealousy at his friend. "I know that, Devin. I don't know what happened. I know I've seen Alex and Vernon transform once yesterday while Jason and I were hiding from you guys, but I didn't give much thought to it at the time. Something is different about me, more than I realized. I now know... I must train more, and both get stronger and harness this power better." he said, but then felt his stomach rumbling, "Oh crap... I'm hungry. That must've burned a lot from my energy." Most of his friends sweatdropped, and some of them smacked themselves on the forehead in agitation. **** He growled in annoyance. The burly, 6 foot and 3 inch man wasn't happy to have not received a report back from his ally at Canton South High School. He had not been outside of his residence, so he had no clue that his ally's final plan had failed, and that their target was still alive. He looked back to the captives in the room: Teresa's family: her mother, father, little brother and even her grandfather, all bound and gagged, and surrounded by cases of dynamite, in case they were to be killed for whatever reason. "What is taking him so long?! Our other operative told us Dan Laubacher would be easy prey!" he growled in an American accent, "He should've radioed me by now!" He growled, and pulled out his cell phone, and went to dial his ally's number. All he got was "The number you have dialed, has been disconnected." The man scowled, "Gray Prophet has failed us... they've all failed us! Dan Laubacher's still alive! I must alert our leaders!" However at that moment, his heart chilled when he heard a menacing chuckle behind him, "Oh, you won't need to do that. Your friend failed, and Dan is still alive..." the man turned around suddenly, only to see a tell man with long, black, spiky hair, wearing a dark black armor, standing less than a couple of inches from him, and staring him right in the face. "DIE, INTERLOPER!" The man screamed as he went to pull out his detonator to blow himself, Teresa's family and hopefully Radditz, to atoms... but all he saw before he drew his last breath was Radditz gutting him through the stomach with his fist. "GU...UARK... No... w...why... Allah?" he croaked in mortal pain before his life dimmed away forever. The captive relatives of Teresa's looked on in fear, as the other man slid off of Radditz's now blood-soaked fist, now adorning the floor of the room, a small pool of blood forming around his body. Radditz then looked to the tied up family members, and gave a less menacing smile, "Hey... Don't worry... it's truly over. Your oldest daughter should still be alive, and so should be everyone else, including you. These guys are finished." These are definitely that family from my dream. So it seems that voice really wasn't lying about that woman and her family being in trouble. I got here just in time it seems. he thought to himself. They looked at him with more relieved expressions. Radditz grumbled as he cleaned the Al-queda member's blood from his hands, "I hate terrorists... I hate them so much!" he grumbled, and then he went to untie Teresa's family... **** Meanwhile, near the auto-center, police and other authorities are examining the charred remains of the fallen first terrorist, only known to us now as "Gray Prophet". Some of them are a bit sickened by his appearance. Other were sickened by the revelation of the fact that this man was part of the very people who helped in attacking the centers of their country's economy and their military might. "You know, at least in some twisted way, this is a small victory in the faces of those bastards." one police officer had said, "I don't know why they tried to kill that Laubacher kid specifically, when all of their other targets had been major buildings and structures of power." "I'm just glad this bastard's dead. The more of those Al-queda assholes are gone, the better I feel." another officer handling the terrorist's corpse replied. Soon, the remains, which had about fully turned to ashes, had been placed into a body bag, and the bag was now being carted off to the nearest morgue in Canton. The two police officers however looked around, witnessing the charred sidewalk and streets nearby, the places hit by the bomb attached to the man. Luckily it had done no structural damage to any nearby buildings either. "The strangest thing about all of this though, is the woman who basically killed him. Everyone said she was about six and a half feet tall, and had two giant-ass purple wings on her back. Some kind of 'freak of nature' or something. She also seemed to be friends with this Dan Laubacher kid, and a couple of others that were at the scene." the first police officer said. "Yeah, and then there's that UPS driver he hoodwinked into doing this to cover his ass. Poor girl. I hope her family's okay." the second officer replied. "Do you think we should try to interview these guys?" the first officer said. "Not yet Seymour. For some reason I have this feeling that we should let them recuperate for now. Maybe in a few days they'll be ready to answer some questions about this. They all just went through almost being blown to Hell!" the second officer said, revealing the first name of the first officer. "No kidding, experimental bombs with 12 mile radii, kids who can fly, for god sakes, it's like something out of science fiction. Somehow I wonder if they'd even give us a clear answer to this Murphy." 'Seymour' replied, identifying his partner's name. "Well, I'd hope they would. Some of the crap we saw today is proof that we might not be hallucinating about the skies being all distorted a couple of weeks ago." 'Murphy' replied. "Yeah, there's been a lot of strange shit going on all over the world in the last few days. There's that strange-ass tower of nigh-endless height recently found in Australia for instance." Seymour replied. "Not to mention the atmosphere of the planet seems slightly more... balanced than it used to be." Murphy said, also continuing on from his partner's thoughts. "I'm sorry officer, can I ask you for a minute of your time?" an old voice sounded behind Seymour. The two officers turned around, to see a small elderly lady, about 60 years old, brownish-grey hair, and a pair of bifocals on her face. "Not a problem ma'am." said Seymour, "What's wrong?" "I heard about the attack, and I was wondering if that boy Daniel was alright?" asked the lady. "Daniel? Oh yes, Dan Laubacher... he was the terrorist's intended target. Yes ma'am, he's alive and in good health. He's inside the school right now as we speak." Murphy replied, "Might I ask who you are?" "I'm a friend of Daniel's Aunt Jennifer. She was so held up in work she couldn't stop by, and asked me to check up on him. She heard reports about an explosion here." the elderly lady replied. "Well, it's all resolved now. There's no deaths or serious injuries. Your friend's nephew is perfectly safe." Murphy replied. "Excellent news. Jenny will be most overjoyed! Thank you for the information officers." the elderly lady replied, and walked away from the two officers. "Well, it's good to tell some people that at least their children are safe, in the wake of today's disaster. Wait a minute, we never got her name, did we?" Seymour asked. They turned to call to her, but she had vanished, as if she were better of foot than they had originally assumed for her age. "Oh well, let's get back to the station. This information will be important to get to D.C. We have the evidence to connect these events to Al-queda for sure with the information we got here." Murphy replied. The two officers walked back to their cruiser, and after getting in, revved up the engine, and drove off to Cleveland Ave, and then turned right, heading back to the city limits of Canton. In the shadows, the shape of a dog loomed behind the trees, watching all of the events play out from a distance, its' strangely orange eyes gleaming menacingly. This news shall be most useful to me... it thought to itself, revealing this was no normal man's best friend. The shadowy dog picked up off the ground and shot off into the distance like a rocket, disappearing from the sight of any observers quickly... **** After helping Clint to get on his feet, Goku had given him a sensu bean, and proceeded to scold him a little like he had Jason and Alex days ago, for overexerting himself in that last crisis. Clint apologized, finally able to revert to his normal state after healing, but he still wanted to eat something. After about 30 minutes, they had found out that the Mayor of New York City, Rudolph Giuliani, had ordered lower Manhattan evacuated. Some firemen and other rescue workers had apparently died, and other news on damage done to the other nearby towers by the debris of the main towers. It was still a grim day, despite averting the disaster in their own area. After hearing that, they found Radditz coming back to them, carrying Teresa's mother, father, grandfather and little brother on his shoulders and back. Teresa and her family reunited cheerfully, at least happy something good had turned out that day. After that, the school quickly went to help the Misfits out, and let them into the nurses office. After all of them had fully recovered, or had checked out fine, Mr. Knight, the principal of the school, and a friend of Clint and the Misfits, offered them a personal period of time in the lunchroom on their own and a free lunch of sorts, so they could discuss the events without empty stomachs. They told him that they were going to discuss things, and come back to him with another important decision. This led to the current time, now the entire group of Misfits, including Teresa, who was allowed to be with them, believing she owed Radditz a little for making sure her family was alive. Virgil had also managed to get to school in the last couple of hours and heard all the news, and demanded he'd be there to give his two cents. "We definitely have been shown a definition of true evil today..." Nina said to her friends, starting it off, "These people have taken thousands of lives in New York City and Washington D.C., and they tried to kill all of us, they tried to kill one of our own... they tried to kill Dan...9" "Yeah, that bothers me greatly, why did they target Dan?" Steve asked in utter confusion. "Well, the man never said why, but it chills me that these people would specifically target an innocent kid." Teresa grumbled in reply. "Well I suppose you can say Dan's not exactly innocent, but fact is none of us really are... most of us belong to a group known as the 'Misfits'. We are either loved or hated here at this school, but we recently underwent an important change in our lives, one that changed the way we think about the world around us." Clint replied, and then looked around to the others, "And now, these people have again changed the way we think. We trained a little before this, but even then we weren't expecting anything like this to happen to us anytime soon, especially not so close to home." Alex piped in, "Yeah, I think it's safe to say that after this, I'm definitely going to train myself more and more, so Al-queda doesn't try this shit again with us." Vernon replied, "Same here Alex. I didn't even get a chance to do anything this time." Jason growled, "I can't believe they tried to kill Dan, and take all of Canton and northeast Ohio with him!" Dan growled, "Trying to kill me is one thing, but forcing another like Teresa to do it is horrible, and I could never call it an act of any god!" "Yeah, I can agree, that if 'Allah' REALLY thinks killing others is the answer than he's no better than St. Evans!10" Nina growled. "Who's that?" Paula asked, having vaguely recalled overhearing Nina's thoughts of her arch-nemesis. "Well, suffice to say, he was the greatest evil on my world during the last 200 to 500 years. He even forged his own personal religion, one that had over a few centuries had grown to an organized religion. Whenever one prayed to him, his dark power grew stronger. We recently destroyed him, but many people, even some we knew personally, died by his hand, or by the hand of his followers. Evans and Al-queda seem similar, as these people seem to worship this 'Allah' god, much like people worshipped Evans." Nina replied. "Well, it's safe to say you're not clueless to this stuff." Dwayne replied, "I just hope my family is okay among all of this crap going on." "Obviously, even my father, Piccolo Damiaou would never do something like this without some warning or without gloating about it first." Piccolo spoke in. Paula looked at him with a bit of a grim frown, the name of Damiaou striking a nerve in her. Piccolo knew this, and regretted having to bring it up, but he felt it was a necessary evil. "You're right though Piccolo. Only Frieza ever did anything possibly equal or worse in nature as far a cruelty and terrorizing people. Even Cell wasn't as bad as he was." Goku replied grimly, and Vegeta growled at the mention of Frieza's tainted name, "And even then, Frieza did it for himself and his interest, not because some crazy figment of his imagination told him to!" "Yes Kakarott, this 'Allah' has to be some hoax these people are using to convince themselves they're being right in their actions, and to convince other non-extremists to try to become like them." Vegeta said with a scowl on his face. "I don't know Vegeta. Religion as a whole has been a major part of human culture for as long as they can remember. Blind, reckless faith can be devoted to either a group, a single person, or just a cause or concept in general. Though you're all probably right that 'Allah' is just a name these guys want to hide behind to explain their radical actions." Heero mused on. Vegeta just grumbled in reply, wondering if Heero's point might have stood truer than he wanted to think. However, at that point, fate wasn't quite finished with the Misfits. One more problem was going to present itself, a problem Alex might have wanted to solve earlier. Jackson had suddenly walked in from the entrance of the lunchroom near the office, despite the fact he was not supposed to be there, and he looked pissed as hell at all of them. He scowled and walked up to them quickly. Nina sighed in annoyance, but decided to keep her mouth shut for the moment. "GO AWAY, JACKSON. You are not in this conversation." Alex however did not keep quiet and growled, watching him approach. "Oh just shut the hell up, ExplodyMcCripples." Jackson growled, not caring, "Thanks to you and your stupid freak-loving friends, this entire place was almost annihilated!" he then growled at Dan, apparently knowing now how Dan was connected to Nina, and continued, "I'm surprised the school's even letting you idiots and mutants stay here after what you caused!" he then looked at Teresa, "And... and you! You're just a spineless wimp!" Teresa growled in astonishment, "What the...?! How dare you, you stupid little bastard!" "No, how dare YOU!" Jackson immediately growled back, "If YOU hadn't let those Isalmic dirtbags force you into this, none of this shit would've happened!" "And what was I supposed to do, just heartlessly let my family get blown to Hell and back by them by refusing flat out?! I might not have done the best thing, but I still have a heart, unlike you seem to." Teresa growled, happy her own family wasn't there with her to hear his comments. "WHO THE FUCK CARES?! THREE OR FOUR, MAYBE FIVE PEOPLE DIE?! BIG FUCKING DEAL! BETTER THAN MILLIONS DYING DUE TO THE BOMB YOU HAD!!" Jackson retaliated with a burning rage, "BESIDES, YOUR FAMILY WERE PROBABLY WORTHLESS PIGS ANYWAYS, AS ARE YOU!" Radditz looked at Jackson with a glare of rage, but kept his natural desire to blast this upstart under control, Obviously you're not aware of how important Teresa and her family are to our world's survival! On the other hand, Teresa was about to bellow at him and throw herself at him to choke his life out, but Paula looked at her with a stare that said "don't bother, he's not worth it". Teresa shook with anger and sat back down. However Paula wasn't finished and growled over at Jackson, "That is enough, you racist, pig-headed fool! How many 'worthless pigs' do you think were inside those towers!? Those planes?! The Pentagon?! The world does NOT revolve around just you and your immature friends, little boy. You need to grow up and get over yourself." Jackson was taken back, and seething in anger, "Shut up you! You have no right to speak, you freak's-best-friend! Anyone who is personally friends with her automatically lose all right to their opinion in this place!!" "Whatever. This 'freak' saved our lives, saved YOUR life, and the lives of your lacky friends. She killed the guy behind all of it, and then Clint saved the entire county from going atomic, saved you and your flunkies again. Yes, these 'freaks' and 'freak-lovers' saved the lives of you and your spineless yesmen, and you just don't like to accept the fact you and your friends just had your entire foundation shot down so violently today." Steve growled at him turning around in anger. Jackson was about to growl back, but then his eyes almost turned red when he recognized Steve. "W... WHAT?!?! YOU.... HOW THE BLOODY FUCK CAN SOMEONE LIKE YOU HANG AROUND WITH THESE FREAKS, AUSTIN?! YOU LISTEN TO ME!! EVER SINCE THE WINGED WHORE ARRIVED HERE, SHE'S BEEN A CURSE TO US ALL!! OF COURSE, CONSIDERING YOU'VE BETRAYED MY IMAGE OF YOU, YOU'RE NOW AN OFFICIAL FREAK IN MY EYES, STONE COLD. CONGRADU-FUCKING-LATIONS!!" Jackson screamed ferally. Vegeta looked at him with a seething rage with the loudest voice he could muster, "THAT IS ENOUGH, YOU STUPID BRAT! YOU DARE YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO PASS JUDGMENT ON US!? YOU'RE THE WEAKLING IN THIS ROOM! YOU'D PROBABLY GO ALONG WELL WORKING WITH THOSE FUCKING TERRORISTS THAT JUST ATTACKED US!" Goku and Heero in particular stared at Vegeta with a slight show of shock, but did not comment at him for the moment. However Jackson just stared at Vegeta in shock, starting to get a bit nervous at his voice, but he still was too pissed to care, "Perhaps... perhaps I would fit in well with them... perhaps I could stop giving a fuck that they attacked us. Maybe... maybe I'll just JOIN them to spite you! If it'll make that freak want to kill herself, I'd GLADLY DO IT. Those people in the towers... yes, some of their deaths are tragic, but you want my HONEST opinion?! Most of them are destined to FAIL. FAIL, like all of you retched fucktards who think you mean something in life. Those people who fail deserve to DIE. THOSE TYPES OF PEOPLE IN THOSE TOWERS DESERVED TO DIE!!" THAT was the last straw. Jackson suddenly felt the wind knocked out of him by a fist to his stomach, doubling him over. He coughed out some blood, as Nina grabbed him by the throat, and slammed his head against the wall with enough force to almost knock him out. Nina's eyes were literally blazing red, and she was beginning to charge her ki to massive levels. Nina! Crap! Paula replied to her actions, realizing her powerlevel had surged almost to around 350 million degrees, a level stronger than even Goku and Vegeta in their basic Super Saiya-jin levels. In fact, she had just noticed something most of the others had not: some of the bottom-most feathers on her wings looked to be slightly lighter than their usual dark-purple color. Nina continued, making sure not to fully choke Jackson, but enough to put a point through his head, "I'VE HAD IT WITH YOUR SHIT! IT'S ONE THING TO HATE ME, BUT WHAT THE HELL DID THE OTHERS EVER DO TO YOU?!" Jackson was unable to reply, barely able to breath, while Nina continued, "NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. DO YOU REALLY HATE ME THAT MUCH?! DO YOU REALLY HATE ME THAT MUCH?!" Jackson, despite his condition, tried to shake an obstinate yes at her11. Nina growled with her teeth bared, almost to the point of fangs present, an image which chilled many of her friends to the core, and even people like Piccolo looked unnerved at her as she continued screaming at him, "WELL, PERHAPS IF I KILLED YOU YOU'D HATE ME EVEN MORE!? WOULD YOU?! MAYBE I SHOULD DO THAT! IT SOUNDS VERY APPEALING TO ME RIGHT NOW!" Nina growled with her rage at it's peak, and she almost could've noticed a strange twitch in Jackson's eyes, but she ignored it in her uncorked rage, "YOU DON'T KNOW A DAMN THING I'VE GONE THROUGH! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME, YOU DON'T KNOW MY HISTORY, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THE HELL I'VE GONE THROUGH! IF YOU HAD TO UNDERGO THE SHIT I DID BEFORE I CAME TO THIS WORLD, YOU WOULD PROBABLY HAVE BEEN DEAD BEFORE YOU WERE EVEN FIVE YEARS OLD, FLAT OUT DEAD!! MAYBE YOU SHOULD ACTUALLY FIND A REAL REASON TO HATE SOMEONE, AND NOT THEIR FRICKIN' LOOKS!!" Nina said, on the verge of blasting his head right off his shoulders. The other Misfits were just continuing to stare at her in shock, except for Alex, whose expression was a slightly satisfying one. "You know, I tried to warn you Jackson, you stupid 'tard." Alex said a-matter-of-factly, "But you just wouldn't listen to my warning back in the weight room..." "NINA, ENOUGH." Paula roared at her, now standing alert on her feet, and aiming what looked to be a bluish blast of psychic energy, although it appeared strange to most of the others in the room compared to a ki attack, priming it in the case she'd need to use it to calm down her friend, "I know you hate that kid for all of his bullcrap, and I know he needs to be put in a mental institution, but he's just a harmless bully who has to use words! He's not a terrorist, not physically. Maybe he tries mind games, but you're BETTER than that. If you kill him, who knows what could happen to you. I do know one thing: he'll have won, because you let his words turn you into a murderer." Nina looked back and forth between Paula, and Jackson's struggling form. Nina's anger drained away, and her powerlevel returned to it's normal level, much to the majority of the group's relief, and she dropped Jackson to the ground, who was breathing heavily. Paula sighed with relief, as she also noticed the bottom feathers of her wings return to their usual dark-purple color. "You... you aren't even a grease spot on the floor of this room to me. As if I would really want to waste my energy on on killing you. Just get the hell out of here!" Nina growled, and then looked to the others, as Jackson bedraggledly got to his feet and staggered towards the exit of the lunch room. Before he left the room, he uttered one final sentence, aimed directly at Nina, "All you've... done is prove to me... that you're the murderer your friend... claims you're not! You just stay the... fucking hell away from me, you hear me?!" and he was gone, not content to bother them again for a long while. Nina was actually shocked out of the remnants of her anger by Jackson's comment. What did he mean that she was a murderer? She never killed someone who hadn't already taken life or done the world extreme wrong. Did Jackson think he knew something the rest of them didn't? "Oh ignore that dickhead, Nina." Alex said, in a shocking tone of comfort, which his friends did not usually know him for, diverting Nina's attention back to him and the rest of her friends, "All he's trying to do is get in one last shot. You're not a murderer. You saved Dan, Devin and Teresa's lives. That's exactly the opposite of what murderers do." "Yeah. You're right Alex. It's just embers of hate. I just wish his hate would truly burn out forever." Nina said to herself, turning back around and gazing at the limping form of Jackson as he staggered away from the lunchroom and out of their sight... **** After another 30 minutes of talking, the Misfits and Teresa and her family had made their way to Mr. Knight's office, letting him know about both Jackson's actions against them in the lunch room, and that they had made a major decision. Mr. Knight assured them that Jackson was going to likely be suspended, possibly even expelled for the next 3 or 4 months. He also asked what they had come up with for their decision. Clint decided that he would tell him, knowing him the best out of all the Misfits. The two sat down his Mr. Knight's office. "Mr. Knight, in light of the recent events, I and the other Misfits... we've decided that we're going to stray away from here for a while. Mind you we're not dropping out or anything... we don't want that... it's just... in the last hours, the events of this day have changed us so much, and the entire county was put in danger. We have to stick to our guns back at home. We have to train and train, and prepare for the possibility someday that more attacks, equal to or worse than this, could happen. You know from us that we had started this before we came back today, but the attacks have changed our perspective on things. We will try to stop by once in a while. Tell Mr. Summers, Mr. Bergert, Mr. Miller, Mr. Blike, Ms. Stryker, Mr. Williams, Mr. Danaska, Mr. Angel and our other teachers, that we're really sorry about this. Please just don't tell them all the details. I don't want them getting hurt because they got worried about us and having one of them get injured or worse by our training results. Mr. Nagle and Ms. Offredo do know about this, but I've only told them so much before the recent events here happened. If you need, you can tell them about this. They've agreed to keep knowledge of all this between them, you and us for now." Clint explained. Mr. Knight looked at him with a grim expression, "Well Clint, If you feel this is the best way... then I wish you all good luck... just promise me... to take care of one another. Don't let each other down over the time, and visit us occasionally, okay Clint?" Clint smiled, a bit genuine, "We'll do that Mr. Knight..." he got up, and began to walk out of the room, and turned back to him, "We will... take care Mr. Knight... take care of everyone here... please." Mr. Knight nodded, "I will. Good luck, and Godspeed." Clint grimly turned back and left the room, with much depression... He hoped it would not be the final time he would ever see Mr. Knight... **** Clint walked out of the office, and looked to all of his fellow Misfits, "I've told him. He said he wishes us much luck, tells us to watch each other... and to come back alive." Everyone looked at him and then each other solemnly, even Teresa and her family were determined. She had possibly thought about some training with Radditz as thanks for helping her family. She wasn't planning to be a full-pledged Misfit, but she wanted to make some kind of difference. Maybe she could spread the help to the rest of the city. Radditz had not yet told the other the full details of his dream about the voice that he heard or it's warnings about Dan and Teresa's future yet. He figured he would break them in bit by bit on it in time. The tension had built so much that even Virgil was now opting to train, now feeling personally involved after the attacks, and wanting to try to connect better with his 'friends' after his mistake with the prank calls a day before. Alex had a grim resolve to train as much as he could to keep the attackers at bay, hoping for the day he would find and destroy the leaders of Al-Queda. He felt he owed them big time for messing with both his country and even more so, his friends. Nina and Paula had agreed that they would start training each other as soon as possible, and in general for the first time since either of their last major conflicts in the past, and would train each other in various ways. Dan and Teresa agreed to be training partners together with Radditz, who quickly accepted their proposal. Vernon was sticking to his guns with Piccolo and #17, but he was considering training with Goku and Vegeta as well to expand his limits. Jason was now determined to see if he might have the Saiya-jin blood in him much as Alex and Vernon. Dwayne was definitely planning to ask his family if they could move to Canton, as he was definitely not planning on leaving his friends now after this day. Steve had a similar resolve, now realizing that wresting was all in good fun, but he felt he was now officially as one would call, a heroic soul. Goku and Vegeta would continue to guide their friends to higher plateaus, and in the process they would likely reach more of their own and ascend past those. Piccolo was thinking about revealing the nature of Jason's training to the others. #17 was also having his own thoughts about Jason, alluding to something Vernon had also apparently been curious about since the attacks began. Clint vowed to gain understanding of his new ability to turn Super Saiya-jin. Dusty would train more with Dwayne, Steve, and anyone else who would train him. Devin vowed to get in more training, and develop some unique moves of his own, and other methods to help out. Regardless of whether he had a transformation or not, today told him he had to keep him with his friends as much as possible to do his part. Heero was also with the same resolve as Alex and Steve, and would continue training with Dusty, Dwayne and Steve. As he had vowed before, he was going to do what he could to stop another attack like this from ever happening, even if one of his friends turned rouge and tried to do it themselves. Buu would continue to train as much as possible as well, despite having not much knowledge personally about the events. Only the bad memories of Babidi's persistent power mongering stayed with him. The morale of the Misfits had changed from a cheery one to a more serious one, but they would try to keep in good spirits. As they all looked to the heavens for answers, lifting off into the air, and all flying off back towards Goku and Vegeta's house, Teresa and her family in tow, and Devin and Dusty reluctantly carrying the as-of-now flightless Virgil with them. They had to keep in good spirits... if not, it would likely be the end of them all... Part 7: Pissing The Depression Away (September 11, 2001 A.D.; 1:23pm; Canton, Ohio) After their departure from Canton South High School, the Misfits and their current allies had dropped off Teresa's family at their house. Teresa also decided to change out of her UPS uniform quickly and into a more casual set of clothes, composed of a bright-yellow tanktop with light blue jean-shorts and a white pair of sneakers. After she finished up, they all flew over to Alex's house and stopped there for a short time. With the looming disaster of the day over their heads, depression was not uncommon amongst them. But they decided that they should go over a few more things before they would finally commit to what they would call their new training regimen. On the way back, Radditz had been asked by Teresa about some training, and Radditz, realizing she and Dan were in the same boat for the moment due to their little meeting back as CSHS, decided he would train Dan and her both in some of the things he knew. He warned them that while the training methods of the recent days were fresh in his head, that there would be much more for him to learn, and he suggested that he was probably not the best trainer for them, but Teresa felt he was the best choice, since he had found and rescued her family from Al-queda's operatives. There was also the matter of what the voice in his dream foretold of Teresa's supposed future role as a Misfit as well which had convinced him. Clint had decided he was probably going to join up with Devin and Dusty's little gang and train more of his powers. He needed to get a hold on where the hell he had learned to go Super Saiya-jin from. He also needed to ask his parents about this development, as Alex and even Vernon had. Vernon had asked his mother and father about his Saiya-jin roots back on the 9th. His parents were totally confused about his comments, and said they didn't know anything about him crashing to Earth. Although Vernon could swear when he looked at his mother, she almost looked like she was hiding something from him. However he realized that his parents may in fact really have had no clue to the origin of his powers. Regardless, he realized that either way he was gonna have to up the training session. Knowing he could go SSJ, he realized it was possible he could become a Super Saiya-jin 2 as well, and that would give him quite a boost in the fight against his enemies, mere terrorists or villains alike. Alex had similar thoughts on his mind about wanting to become a Super Saiya-jin 2, and he had also thought further beyond, also imagining himself as a long-haired Super Saiya-jin 3, or a fur-covered Super Saiya-jin 4. In fact, that last thought made him wonder about something. It sounded from the look of things that most of the characters had come from a time during the ten years between the end of Z and GT. He wondered if Goku and Vegeta might have even known a level such as SSJ4 even existed, and if they could actually do it12. "Goku! Vegeta! I need to know something!" Alex called over to them. "Huh? What do you want to know?" asked Goku. "What are your strongest Super Saiya-jin levels as of now?" Alex asked back. "Me? I can go Super Saiya-jin 3. Vegeta, he can only reach Super Saiya-jin 2, unless he's hiding his power from me..." Goku replied. Vegeta grumbled, "No Kakarott, I still haven't found a way to go 3 like you have yet! It's been getting under my skin for several years." Alex thought to himself, Hmm... so they don't know about SSJ4! Sweet! Maybe that knowledge will give me the way to one day surpass them! If I can do it before them, not even Goku would be able to defeat me in a fight! I'd be able to prove my worth and outdo Vernon and Clint! As for Devin, Dusty, Dan, Steve and Dwayne, they had talked it over with Clint and Heero, and they had eventually agreed to add those two to their training roster, and they even at Dusty's suggestion had decided to add Virgil to their sessions. Perhaps they could teach him a few things, or even teach him a couple of wrestling moves, Dusty had wondered to himself. However Dusty had also been terribly shaken inside. Not just from the events of the attacks on New York, D.C, and CSHS, but also from Nina's enraged outburst at Jackson less than 2 hours ago. He still maintained his crush for the winged girl, but he definitely realized that she was not one to piss off, lest he end up plastered on the wall like Jackson had. He had asked Piccolo about what her powerlevel was, and Piccolo grumbled to him, saying "At the peak of her rage, she would've been able to waste me like I was a fly even if it had been me and not that jackass." Dusty knew that was WAY more than his powerlevel, even if it wasn't an exact number yet, and Piccolo had flown up to Dan and started discussing over that little bet they had made. "Well Piccolo, it looks like you're gonna be teaching me and Dusty your Makankosappou beam and some of your other tricks soon." Dan stated in a serious voice, "Because there is no way I'm gonna let what almost happened today go unanswered." "I know, I know! Shut up and stop rubbing it in my face!" Piccolo growled, not because of the bet, but because he was tired of being reminded of today's tragedy, and the fact all his 'friends' were almost vaporized by a powerful bomb. On the thought of such, he suddenly thought about Clint's change to what appeared to be a Super Saiya-jin himself. In Kami's name Clint, what the hell are you?! You are not a Saiya-jin, but I sense your body is fully human, and that makes no sense at all! he thought to himself. Nina and Paula were along the others near each other. Both had also vowed they were going to get stronger now, and stop almost-lounging around like they had for the past week. They had realized, even if they were going to probably be perceived as the weaker ones by the others in the future, that they should try their best to prove their friends wrong. The two girls had agreed that they were going to train each other. However the problem was, they were wondering how to do so without too many interruptions from their friends. Although that probably didn't seem too much of a problem, they knew the others wouldn't train 24/7, even in the midst of their new regimen. Nina however had a good deal of knowledge of Canton, and even southern Akron due to her many months of being a Misfit, and also largely because she could already fly before anyone else. She had a few ideas for some possible far away training spots for her and Paula to use. However both agreed that they were going to part ways for a short while before Nina would call Paula to start their first session the next day. "Hey, I'm going to head off home. Good luck with whatever training you're going to do today guys." Nina said, "Radditz, I'll be in and out if you decide to come back to the house." "Very well, I'll probably get started on Teresa's catch up training. She needs to be taught the ki usage and flight, and all that good stuff." the older brother of Goku replied back. Paula also lifted up into the air. She realized from talking to Nina that she needed to learn more about Canton's geography, and all that stuff, "I'm going as well. I need to check around this city, and get more of a feel for it. Talk later Goku, Piccolo, and all the rest of you." she said, and fly off at a high speed. **** After a while, Dusty, Devin, Clint, Heero, Steve and Dwayne had flared up their ki and flew off to Dusty's house, with Dusty and Devin again carrying Virgil along with them, to begin training him to catch up. They figured maybe Clint could help in teaching the youngest of the Misfits how to use his powers, considering at least Devin knew how to also sense and mask Ki, and all the others could explain to him how to find and use his ki. However Devin was still a good deal annoyed at Virgil from the night before and his little phone pranks, and he decided he would teach Virgil sensory and masking some other time. He was also a little sore at the rest of his training group that they had neglected to stay around to train Ki sense and Ki masking, so he figured he'd teach them all on a better day when he wasn't so pissed at the idiots in the world. As they reached Dusty's house, they had all landed there, but they quickly realized a problem at hand: Virgil was much bigger around than Dan was, and his presence would leave little room to spare, especially with Devin not being the thinnest person himself. They sweatdropped at each other, even Virgil, and realized something. "You know, we need a bigger and better place to train." Dwayne spoke up. "Yeah, I know what you mean now." Dusty replied with some embarrassment. "Any good ideas? The rest of you know this city better than the rest of us." Steve added. "Hmmm..." Clint thought to himself, "I used to live further north in Canton. I might know a place or two for us to train, if they'll let us." "Lead the way Clint." Devin replied, realizing this was all true. They desperately needed a good training location if they would prepare to fight back against Al-queda and any other serious threats down the road. As they continued looking around, Devin suddenly perked up, "Guys, hold up! I just got an idea for a training ground. I know of a very large vacant lot near my own house." Heero and Virgil looked on, as did Clint, Dusty, Dwayne and Steve. "Well then by all means lead the way." Heero said, eager to get started. They all turned back southwards with Virgil in tow, and flew off towards Inner Drive, the area where Devin lived, and where this lot was said to be. **** Back at Alex's house, Goku and Piccolo had began a mental conversation... /Goku... With all this shit going on, I think it's time we told Vegeta, Alex, Vernon and #17 about our little secret./ Piccolo started. /Jason, right?/ Goku asked back for confirmation. /Yes./ Piccolo replied. "Hey, Vegeta, Alex, #17, Piccolo, Jason over here. We need to talk to you five." Goku spoke out loud to his comrades. "What's going on, Kakarott?" asked Vegeta, having a feeling he wasn't going to like the news. After the seven were all gathered, Piccolo started up, "We have to tell you something: Earlier this week, Goku and I found another person to train. That would be Jason. He's not as strong as either Alex or Vernon yet, but he's close behind them." "What?! Jason's training like us too?" asked Alex, having not used his ki sensing abilities much outside of the range of his neighborhood during his first days of training. Vegeta looked at Goku and grumbled, "Is this what you were telling me when you said 'I'll tell you another time'?" "Yeah, that's why I was heading off after training sessions." Goku admitted. "Piccolo, why train him?" asked #17 with a curious look, "We've already both got Vernon to worry about!" Vernon merely looked on and spoke, "I guess that explains Jason's strength. I had a feeling he'd been training when I saw him almost break the desk in Mr. Summers' room in half." "You knew?!" Jason replied. "Well, I was gonna eventually ask you about it, but then all the attacks occurred and took my attention elsewhere." Vernon replied. "Kakarott, Namek, why are you telling us this now?!" asked Vegeta grumpily. "Because I think we should all just merge our students and training methods together, like we had planned to do yesterday. Except this time add Jason in on it." Goku replied. "Can he even go Super Saiya-jin?" asked #17. "No, at least not yet he can." Goku admitted, "We have no confirmation he's a Saiya-jin yet." But #17 interrupted him, "Forget it, he'll probably do so soon enough." "What?! Why?" asked Alex, surprised at how casual the cyborg had just said that. "Remember when I told you at the hotel in Japan "you never know"?" #17 asked. "Wait! Of course, you're an android! You can probably see Saiya-jin DNA with your scanners!" Alex realized, feeling a bit stupid. "I'm a CYBORG, not an android," #17 said, expressing irritation of the mistaken use of his classification, "and yes, I can see your DNA structures somewhat. I see Saiya-jin DNA in you, Vernon, and even Jason." #17 replied. "Wait, you knew Vernon, Jason and Alex were Saiya-jin the entire time and you never told us before?!" Piccolo growled at him. "I wanted you to find out yourself." #17 smirked back13. Piccolo grumbled indignantly at his comrade, "Whatever. Look, at least we know Jason is Saiya-jin now. Now I think we need him to transform to Super Saiya-jin." "I'm sure you and the cyborg can handle that part, much like you did with Vernon. Kakarott, you and I on the other hand, need to take care of what we were intending to do from the start." Vegeta replied. Goku thought for a moment, and suddenly realized, "Yeah, like Paula, we also don't know too well about this city. We also need to go around and get a feel for this place. Piccolo, #17, can you two handle these three while we're out?" asked Goku, referring to Alex, Jason and Vernon. "Feh. Fine, but you two owe us." Piccolo replied with a bit of annoyance. "Sure thing." Goku replied, as he and Vegeta rose up into the air, and flew off to the north. **** At the corner of Faircrest Street SW, and Dueber Avenue SW, a lone house rests. This house was one and a half miles away from Canton South High School. Inside the house, only one resident resides here. That resident had big plans for today, plans of a grand scale, one among which had included the strange attack on Dan's life at the hands of an Al-queda operative. That resident was the partner of that man, and the house had been barred off, sealed from intrusion from others. They had wanted to make sure no one could discover of what was about to transpire that day. That resident was now dead where he lay, a hole the size of a large fist having penetrated into his chest, and through his back. His blood had long since oozed onto the floor, drying on the linoleum below him. Not too far from his body where eight box-like objects, each marked with 'CAUTION' on the sides. Nearby where a group of four chairs, and the shredded remains of four ropes, made to hold hostages. All of this had been left here haphazardly, as if the man's killer had decided to just leave and run with whoever was the hostages. That man's killer had been the Saiya-jin Radditz, who had managed to find the residence earlier that day after sensing a strange activity from the area around, and from the prophetic images of his strange dream earlier that morning. While the first operative had been wrecking havoc at CSHS, Radditz had attacked and killed the other operative, leaving him to bleed to death on the floor slowly from his wound, a testament of suffering he felt had been fitting for the operative. The Saiya-jin had simply taken the parents, brother and grandfather of one Teresa Hamilton and flown them over to CSHS after getting a telepathic all-clear from his younger brother Kakarott, or Son Goku as most of his friends called him. However, he had done little to cover up what had transpired in getting Teresa's family back to safety, outside of closing the door behind him as he left. However, even those who seek to redeem themselves will make mistakes... The backdoor to the house soon opened. In the doorway was a brown-haired boy, appearing to be around 17 or 18 years of age. He stood at six feet and two inches, and his orange eyes glared inside of the house with a dark intent as he casually stepped inside, as if he lived in the place, closing the doors behind him. It did not take long to find the upstairs bedroom, the room where the operative in charge of this house had set up shop. The boy stared grimly at the body of the operative, and the boxes of strange materials near his corpse. He walked over and looked at the operative. However sorrow did not register on his face, but a look of sarcastic pity. "Tsk, tsk, tsk... it seems you have failed me, my Islamic friend." the boy's voice replied, refined and smooth as the edge of a sword, but at the same time with a touch of malice. "Dan Laubacher is still alive. And so are his friends. Of course, you weren't clued in to specifically target the rest of THEM. That would've made you and your friends suspicious if I had told you there had been more than 3 or more targets to specifically kill." he continued to speak to the corpse, as if the man had still been alive, "But still, I had figured you would've just decided to blow the school up out of principle, not stick so specifically to orders and try to kill JUST him." "It seems I was wrong about you. You are by no means ready to wield the power you all so claim you deserve to have by birthright. Once a religious nutsack, always a religious nutsack. That's the problem with blind fanaticism, it never works when you actually NEED it to." the boy continued to speak. At that moment, the boy's features began to change, and morph. His appearance melted into a smaller, older looking form. A woman of 59 years of age, with a pair of bifocals and brownish-gray hair now stood in the boy's place. The eyes of the woman matched the same tint of orange as her previous form. The now-elderly-woman spoke again, her voice now sounding the same as the one who had spoke to the officers Seymour and Murphy earlier, "It seems that I made the mistake to trust you to handle this for me. I guess the saying really IS true: If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself." She put her hand on her cheek, stroking it gently, as she appeared to be in thought. She smirked down at the operative's corpse. "You people had your chance to be in the spotlight, and you blew it. So what if you blew up all those other places? They don't mean jack-shit to someone like me." she continued to talk, "However, your failure is actually somewhat welcome. It has allowed me to understand what I could not discern in front of my face for several days: Dan Laubacher... he is not the threat to us we originally thought he was, he is the OPPOSITE, he is the key to the plans I have had for so long. How could I not have seen his potential before? The power that sleeps within him is unique, special... I was an idiot to try to have him killed. In a sense, you sorta have done something right..." "However that will not save you, or your Islamic lackeys from their ultimate fate. As I said, your time to shine passed you. Your time of shame and desecration shall come soon. You still failed to do as I asked you, even if it ended up being for the better, and for that I cannot forgive." the lady continued as she bent down to the corpse of the operative, and grabbed something off from around his' waist. A com-radio device. The same device the man had attempted to use to contact his slain partner before Radditz had killed him. The long-haired Saiya-jin had never bothered to try to destroy it. "Hehehehe... Radditz you old fool! You really should've obliterated the body! If only you had know ahead of time the consequences of leaving his body and the radio intact, I know you would've made the right choice." she laughed to herself. She stared intently upon the operative's corpse. Moments later, her form began to melt away into the shape of the man. Burly-figure, short black hair, 6 feet and 3 inches tall. Her appearance now looked exactly identical to the fallen operative, minus his fatal wounds. In his new form, the shapeshifter clicked the radio and spoke into it, in a Arabic language and an identical voice to the man on the floor, "الثعبان الحمراء! الثعبان الحمراء! تأتي في الثعبان الأحمر! وهذا هو الدومينو الأزرق! الطالبة الثعبان الأحمر!" ("Red Serpent! Red Serpent! Come in Red Serpent! This is Blue Domino! Requesting Red Serpent!") The radio crackled for a couple of seconds, until a different, lighter voice replied in Arabic, "هذا هو الثعبان الأحمر. وقد تم ذلك؟" ("This is Red Serpent. Has it been done?") The voice asked, likely referring to the attempt on Dan's life. The shapeshifter smirked to himself for a second, and spoke back with a lie, "نعم. وقال انه لم يعد مشكلة بالنسبة لك." ("Yes. He will no longer be a problem for you.") "ممتاز. الله هو فخور بكم في هذا اليوم المقدس للفوز. وكانت هناك أي خسائر أخرى؟" ("Excellent. Allah is proud of you on this holy day of victory. Were there any other causalities?") the voice on the other end replied. "نعم. وقتل رمادي النبي في الأحداث التي وقعت من قبل الشرطة بعد ان يتم عمل، وكان ذلك على الفتاة التي استخدمها لتغطية تحركاته. انها قطعت علينا ونحن ليس لديها خيار سوى قتلها وعائلتها لمنع انتشار المعلومات. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، تم نزع القنبلة التجريبية قبل أن يتم ذلك من أي وقت مضى أن توضع موضع الاستخدام." ("Yes. Gray Prophet was killed in the events by police after the deed was done, and so was the girl he used to cover his tracks. She snapped on us and we had no choice but to kill her and her family to prevent a spread of information. Additionally, the experimental bomb was disarmed before it could be ever be put into use.") the shapeshifter replied, further adding onto the lie and referring to Teresa and her family. "هذا هو الواقع المؤسف. وتألق الله على روح النبي رمادي وسيذكر كبطل والرفيق. أما بالنسبة للفتاة، ولقد كان من الجميل أن كان لها وظائف أخرى، ولكن رقائق تقع فيها يفعلون. أما بالنسبة للقنبلة، فإنه ليس مصدر قلق كبير. وكان الهدف ليس لتفجير المنطقة بأكملها، فقط لقتل الصبي، لذلك كنت قد نجحت مع ذلك. أهنئكم على العمل بصورة جيدة. ومحاربينا نكون فخورين بكم ونصركم. صغيرة مثل على ما يبدو مقارنة مع غيرها من الهجمات ضد الكفار، كان من المهم مع ذلك لنشر الخوف في صفوفهم ... هذا الفرد حتى، الناس بشكل عشوائي ليست آمنة من قبلنا." ("That is indeed unfortunate. Allah will shine upon Gray Prophet's soul and he will be remembered as a hero and comrade. As for the girl, it would've been nice to have had her for other jobs, but the chips fall where they do. As for the bomb, it is not a big concern. The objective was not to blow up the entire area, just to kill the boy, so you have succeeded nonetheless. I congratulate you on a job well done. Our warriors will be proud of you and your victory. As small as it seemed compared to the other attacks against the infidels, it was nonetheless important for spreading fear amongst them... that even individual, random people are not safe from us.") the voice replied back. "الله تألق على روح رمادي النبي. الآن، أنا بحاجة لمعرفة ما إذا كنت في حاجة للبقاء هنا أم لا في الوقت الحاضر." ("Allah shine upon Gray Prophet's soul. Now, I require to know if I need to remain here or not for the time being.") the shapeshifter asked. "في الوقت الراهن ليس هناك مهام أخرى للكم على وجه التحديد. لقد حققنا نصرا كبيرا اليوم كما ذكرت من قبل. تأخذ بعض الوقت، الأزرق دومينو. تفعل كل ما تحتاج إليه. نحن سوف نبقى على اتصال معكم في وقت لاحق. هل هناك أي أسئلة أخرى بالنسبة لي قبل أن تغادر؟" ("For now there are no other assignments for you specifically. We have achieved a great victory today as said before. Take some time off, Blue Domino. Do as you need. We will keep in touch with you at a later time. Are there any other questions for me before we depart?") the voice replied once more. ""أنا واحد، ويبدو مع هذه الهجمات، فمن الواضح هؤلاء الكفار الغربي سترد على الأرجح إلى هذا كعمل من أعمال الحرب، ومهاجمة أوطاننا الخاصة. هل أنت والآخرين على استعداد للتحرك متجر حتى الآن؟" ("I do have one. It seems with these attacks, it is obvious these western infidels will likely respond to this as an act of war and attack our own homelands. Are you and the others prepared to move shop yet?") the shapeshifter asked. "نعم، لقد تم التركيز على جهود حركة هنا. ونحن سوف تتحرك الى الجنوب من كابول في وقت قريب. شبكات كهف عديدة في هذا المجال هي بقعة الاختباء الكمال من أي هجمات انتقامية ونحن ملزمون في الحصول عليها." ("Yes, we have been focusing on the movement efforts here. We will be moving south of Kabul soon. The many cave networks in that area are a perfect hiding spot from any retaliatory attacks we are bound to receive.") the voice answered back. "جيد. هذا هو كل شيء في الوقت الراهن. أزرق دومينو خارج." ("Good. That is all for now. Blue Domino out.") the shapeshifter replied. "أحمر الثعبان خارج." ("Red Serpent out.") the voice replied one last time and was not heard again afterwards. The shapeshifter clicked off the radio, and looked to the corpse of the real operative, still in his form and appearance. "It seems you will yet still be useful to me." the shapeshifter replied, "For with your help, I shall eventually spread chaos and misinformation throughout the whole of Al-queda. You and your pathetic 'jihad' will be stomped out, and all others like you will tremble at our power. Radditz really should've destroyed your body. But he has changed the course of your entire history with his laziness!" The shapeshifter pulled a strange case out of his pocket, and opened it up. Inside was a strange looking object that looked like a pill, with a push-button on the top. He pressed the button and then threw the pill-like object to the ground, and it erupted into a cloud of smoke. The smoke cleared, revealing what looked like a chamber for holding a person inside of it. To be more specific, it was a corpse-preservation chamber. The shapeshifter grabbed the corpse of the fallen operative and placed it inside of the chamber, taking note of the frozen look of agony on his face in his final moments. He snickered manically, as he closed the lid on the chamber, and then reached down to press a push-button on the side, causing the chamber to transform back into the form of a pill in a cloud of smoke. He grabbed the pill-like object and placed it into its' original casing again. He then began to pick up the boxes of what were now revealed to be dynamite and other explosives, no doubt meant to be used for future plans of the terrorist cell, and took out a second pill-like object, turning it into a freezer-like storage unit. He placed all eight of the boxes into the bigger box and then transformed it back into a pill form, and put it back into the same casing, and closed it up, putting it back into his pocket. He walked up to the window of the house, still in the form of the operative, and he looked outside, surveying the backyard, and the areas beyond. "Those pesky 'Misfits' will likely be around long enough to bear witness to Al-queda's eventual collapse... but make no mistake, I have the same fate in store for them as well when all of this is over. My employer will be quite overjoyed when these events have finally come to pass. Dan Laubacher, stay alive. You will be quite useful down the road in the future, but you are not yet ready. Maybe soon enough..." he said to himself. He walked back down the stairs, and then he walked over to the backdoor, the same way he had come in. As he opened the door, his form again began to change, but this time, he did not turn into a elderly woman or a young boy, but a totally different appearance: a shadowy, dog-like being now stood in his place, the same that had been watching the officers Murphy and Seymour ponder the events of the attack at CSHS, and he quickly bolted out the door at speeds not attainable by the average canine, well over 100 MPH and dashed off into the woods behind the house, disappearing within. Disappeared, but certainly not gone... However... what even HE did not know was that the entire self-monologue, the entire message sent between him and "Red Serpent", and the removal of the operative's corpse and his explosives, had been seen by one OTHER pair of eyes, a small pair of eyes. Inside the upstairs bedroom, a tiny fly had been perched onto a nearby dresser, completely ignored and overlooked by the shapeshifter. Less than 30 seconds after he left the bedroom, before he had even completely disappeared into the forest, the fly rose to the air, with a buzz that was not by any means normal. It sounded almost like it was a mechanical buzzing. The fly soon gained attitude and speed, and sped forth, breaking a tiny hole in one of the glass panes of the bedroom's windows, and disappeared into the sky, it's destination known by no one... **** As for Teresa, Dan and Radditz, they had also recently flown off to find a ground for training. They traveled a little to the southeast, near a group of large patches of wheat fields along a crossroads along the streets of Sherman Church Ave. SW & Faircrest St. SW. It was just over one mile from the house where Radditz had found and saved Teresa's parents and killed off Blue Domino, although he did not immediately realize it at the time. However he figured some landmass could suffer a little for teaching Teresa how to use ki and improving on Dan's abilities. After they brought her to the field. Dan went to sit down, when Radditz replied, "Wait a second Dan. You're gonna need to do some of this too." "What? Why? I've been through all of this." Dan replied, curious to Radditz's command. "Actually, not the Ki-Sensing and Ki-Masking. You guys all ran off after you learned how to fly. You missed a few things." Radditz explained. Dan sweatdropped with embarrassment, "Oh shit, sorry about that. I guess I was really trying to beat Piccolo so bad I forgot to consider that the other day." "Wait, what? Exactly what're you talking about?" Radditz asked, curious about that comment. "Well you see, Piccolo and I made a bet back in Japan. Basically it was that if we humans could surpass a 45,000 powerlevel in 3 months or less that Piccolo would teach me and Dusty how to do his Makankosappou attack and other moves of his, and he would quit giving the human race a hard time as far as being possible fighters was concerned." Dan replied. Radditz smirked, pulling our his scouter, and putting it over his ear, "Well then, I guess I should scan you both, and me too." he hit the button on the scouter and pointed it over Dan first. "Hmmm... Dan, your powerlevel is 14,948." he then pointed it at Teresa, "Teresa's powerlevel is 14.5 right now, which is actually much higher starting off than you and all of your friends. A bit odd I suppose, but it doesn't bother me in the slightest." he then took off the scouter and tossed it to Teresa, who caught it and looked at it funny, then put it on her ear. "So, how do I scan you anyways?" she asked. "Use the button on the side." Radditz replied. Teresa hit the button and the scouter looked over, and she saw a climbing number, which them stopped at around 63,000, "It says yours is 63,119." she said, giving the exact amount. Radditz laughed loudly, "Damn, that's more than DOUBLE what I started all this out with! Dodoria would struggle to keep up with me now, and that's only a little over a week of training!" He then thought to himself, a little jealous of Vernon and Alex, who he knew now were Super Saiya-jins. Even Clint appeared to have transformed similar. He then realized, "No, it's not enough though." he said, making Dan look at him. "What you mean?" Dan asked. "I need to ascend myself! Two weak brats with less than a week of training managed to attain Super Saiya-jin before I did!" Radditz scowled. "You mean Alex and Vernon..." Dan realized. "Yes. I need to become a Super Saiya-jin soon! Before I get surpassed by brats who only had single and double-digit powerlevels a week ago!" Teresa tossed the scouter back to the tall saiya-jin, who put it in his pocket. He then looked to her, "Alright, let's get this over with. It's now or never." Radditz started off by explaining the full concept of ki energy. Teresa had taken to this in earnest, as Radditz had explained it was the explanation for their ability to fly(sans Nina, who could also use her wings) and shoot energy. Also for sensing others' energies. He then told Teresa to sit down and close her eyes to concentrate, telling her to feel deep down into her soul to bring forth the cauldron of ki. It wasn't easy for her at first, as she did not have all too big of a feel for the supernatural prior to today, and it took her about 45 minutes to finally get it right. After that, Radditz had her try as long as possible to hold onto it, until she could hold it all the time. Soon, though much quicker than expected at around 15 minutes, she had gotten the hang of that, and Radditz explained that flight consisted of using your ki as a cushion, or to push you around in the air. Teresa slowly began to learn how to expel her ki properly, and was now flying around like a bird, the wind whipping in her hair. She had actually began to realize this had been worth it, especially if she could use it for something good. Radditz then had her land, and commanded Dan over alongside her. "Your turn to listen in now too, skippy." Radditz joked to Dan, who mumbled with mock annoyance as he came over to them. Radditz began to explain to them what Goku had told him before about sensing ki. Dan was picking it up a lot faster due to his ki experience, but Teresa was having problems scanning out for lesser kis, and could only for a while sense Dan or Radditz's ki. After some encouragement from Dan and some explanation, she finally got the hang of it. Radditz then began to explain to the two of them how to mask and hide their ki from others, and demonstrated it in front of Dan and Teresa to give them a mental aid. Oddly enough, Teresa got this down almost immediately, while Dan had taken another 10 minutes to figure it out. After it was over, Radditz gave both congratulations. "There, now you know the basics, Teresa, and Dan you now know too. Feeling dumb for running off now?" he asked jokingly. Dan grumbled and flipped Radditz the bird in mock annoyance, causing him to chuckle, "Oh pipe down! You couldn't beat me yet. I wouldn't prompt me into battle." he taunted, "But I guess it's time to get Teresa caught up. Dan, you go and do some warm-ups, or something." Radditz replied, and Dan flew off further in the field, beginning to do a kata involving using the zanzoken and firing small ki blasts. Meanwhile, Radditz had given Teresa a similar type of weighted armor, gloves and shoes as the kind that he had given Devin on their first day of training. Although it had fit her decent, it wasn't a female-build armor, making it look odd on her. Radditz had basically made her do the same things she had made Devin do, including running laps with the armor on, as well as making her pull boulders and large rocks out of other parts of the ground on the other side of a road. Another thing he had made her do that he didn't make Devin do was dig up trenches in the dirt with her bare hands, a training method he had been told to by Goku to try out. He also made her dig the ground with both the rock and while wearing the armor at the same time. At the end of the session, she was sweaty and exhausted, but Radditz pressured her to keep going, and to try to shoot some ki from her hands. He demonstrated to her by firing a minor blast at the ground close to where she had been digging, putting a minor crater in the soil. Teresa had tried several times, but she was having a hard time even getting the energy out to shoot a single blast, until she finally managed to control her exhaustion enough to finally concentrate enough ki together to fire off a small blast that only darkened the soil. She tried a second time, but she feel to her knees, panting heavily in total exhaustion. Dan gasped at this and ran over to her, "Teresa, are you okay?" "Just catching my breath, Dan. I'm guessing first days are always a bit rough for you guys." she said, still panting heavily. Radditz grumbled to himself, "I should've known. She wasn't ready for all of that yet. I tried to go too fast. Damn these Al-queda bastards for making me so mad!" he walked over, and gathered Teresa's near-unconscious form in his arms. "Hey, hold on, lemme handle my own problems." Teresa panted back, a bit taken back to being handled almost like luggage. "Don't worry, this is our responsibility. Just rest for now. We'll get you something to help you recover in a little bit." Dan replied. "Fine. I'll close my eyes and just slip out for a bit. 'Night." she replied and closed her eyes, falling asleep with slightly labored breaths. "Let's bring her back to Goku. I think a sensu will help her heal up faster." Dan suggested to Radditz. "Well yeah, probably. But we can't expect they have an unlimited amount Dan. There's gotta be a limit to how many beans we can use." Radditz said, until he suddenly felt a mental smack upside his head. Wait a minute!! I am such an idiot!! DUH!! STUPID STUPID STUPID!! He thought, and quickly set Teresa back down, laying her on her back to rest. "Hey wait, what're you doing?!" Dan demanded at this. "Dan, I need to ask a favor from you." Radditz replied with the tone of an idea on his voice. "W.. what?" Dan replied, taken back from this. "I need you to attack me a few times. Enough to put me in bad enough-looking shape that they'll give me a bean too. I know Kakarott and Vegeta don't fully trust me yet. I don't think they'll just give me a second bean without a serious enough reason." Radditz replied. "Are you crazy?! I can barely hurt you at all!" Dan grumbled. "Look, I'll lower my powerlevel significantly or something like that! Listen, I don't want to totally spoil my surprise yet. It might not even work, and if it doesn't, there's no point in getting your hopes up about it." Radditz explained. Dan quickly weighed the decision in his head, "Fine, but I want you to fight back. I don't feel right about attacking someone who doesn't fight back." "Fine with me, just let me lower my powerlevel to 16,000. You'll last longer when I fight back. At worst, at least one of us will also require a sensu bean in some way." Radditz replied, lowering his powerlevel to about 25% of his current amount, and then shedding his armor and his Saiya-jin utility belt, not wanting the armor to crack up and/or get destroyed, and the same with his scouter and belt. The two crouched down into a ready stance and jumped at each other. Dan and Radditz began a punch trading fest, with a flurry of blows, most being blocked by both fighters, although once in a while, Radditz would connect with Dan, and visa versa. Dan soon broke off and darted to the side, and zanzokened left, and aimed his copy of Radditz's own Saturday Crush, and fired it at Radditz from his backside. Radditz, in a real fight, would've dodged to the side, but knew he needed to look convincing to Goku and Vegeta and let the blast hit him in the arm, hitting with the force of a hammer. Not really too painful, but it had left a bruised, red mark on his damaged arm. Radditz decided to retaliate with what Devin called the "Double Sunday", a double-armed blast which was shot at Dan quickly, and followed him semi-seeking. Dan dodged aside quickly, although the Double Sunday made a sudden turn and smashed into his side, with a similar force to Dan's own Saturday Crush, and knocked him to the side. The damage wasn't too great either, but it would help make him look convincing. Radditz suddenly appeared in front of Dan and swung his leg and kicked him across the dirt, causing him to skid along the ground roughly, until Dan flipped back up and shot a minor Kamehameha which smacked Radditz's right in the face, knocking him back about 2 to 3 feet. His face was slightly bloodied, and it felt good to actually get hit a little, knowing healing from it would make him a little stronger later on. Dan suddenly jumped back, and growled, and Radditz was looking at him with a strange expression on his face, as Dan began to charge a strange looking wave motion of energy into his arms. And then he looked down at Radditz, and cupped his hands out in the front. "What the hell?!" Radditz shouted, as Dan screamed, "FINAL FLASH!!!" and shot Vegeta's special trademark ki blast right at Radditz. "Shit! That's one of Vegeta's attacks!! Dammit!" he growled, realizing he did not want to get hit completely by the wave, lest it damage him a little TOO much. He dodged upwards, but he underestimated the speed of the Final Flash as it smashed right into his lower legs, causing Radditz to start spinning vertically in mid-air as he flew up. His legs were also badly hit by the shot, although not totally taken out. Radditz righted himself one more time, just in time for Dan to appear behind him and axehandled him over the head. Radditz quickly powered back up to 50% and managed to correct his landing and managed to land safely, and then zanzokening behind Dan with a final kick to his back that sent Dan plowing forward into the air, and causing him to slowly fall to the ground across the road. Luckily, Dan had not taken as much damaged as he had expected, and was also able to correct himself before hitting the ground. He then looked to Radditz, realizing it was probably time to stop. Radditz grumbled, "Dammit! How'd you learn Vegeta's Final Flash?!" "I guess it came to me after watching the show a few times, and all of this anger at Al-queda and what they did." Dan explained, and then looked down, "And also I guess I was a bit pissed at you. I'm sorry, it's just I don't see why you couldn't have just taken Teresa back before we did this." "You're worried about her, aren't you?" Radditz asked, "After she almost lost consciousness." "Yes. I mean I can't hate her even if she was forced to kill me. Her family was on the line, and I know I'd be in a similar predicament if my family were threatened. I know some people think I should be a bit mad at her, but I can't be. I feel sorry for her. I pity her... and I don't know why." Dan replied. "Well that's fair enough. I guess I got a little overboard with my idea. I guess we need to go back to Kakarott and Vegeta now." Radditz replied, and cradled Teresa in his arms again, and he and Dan quickly flew off towards Alex's house, not really thinking to sense out for the two people they were looking for, assuming they'd still be at Alex's place. **** But when they finally got back, they found not Goku or Vegeta, but Piccolo and #17 training Vernon, Alex and Jason. In fact, the three others had just arrived in time to witness something important. They looked on and realized that Piccolo, #17, Vernon, and even Alex, although grumbling a little, looked to be on the sidelines, watching Jason standing in the middle of the yard, looking down at the ground, and Radditz could swear he felt a great anger welling up in Jason. Jason was thinking over the events of earlier that day: the planes that hit the World Trade Center... The plane that hit the Pentagon... The plane in Pennsylvania... The collapse of the outer east walls of the Pentagon... The collapse of the North and South Towers, and then, the attack on Dan and also Teresa's family... Then finally, the bomb that almost wiped out several counties, and how CLINT of all people had managed to save them by getting the bomb out of the atmosphere... Jason's growls of anger and the tears in his eyes overwhelmed him, and he let out a terrifying scream that Dan realized would dwarf any volume Dusty had ever used to this point, "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!" Jason's hair began to stand up and flicker gold, as his energy flared out around him, causing a shockwave that threw a nearby car on its' back, and then his pupils faded out, and reappeared turquoise and his hair finally became a solid gold. Jason gasped for air a few times, still managing to hold his first Super Saiya-jin transformation. However, it was not over just yet. Jason had not fully let his rage out, and then screamed again, his arm, chest and leg muscles bulking up immensely. #17 growled, "Dammit!! What the hell's he doing?!" By the time Jason had finally finished screaming, his muscle mass had made him appear a full 9 inches taller, and he looked to be nearly Piccolo's height. He slowly let up on his anger, and his muscle mass slowly shrunk down a little, to a point he only looked 6 inches taller. "Dammit! Now I understand! He's doing what Vegeta and Mirai Trunks originally did when Cell attained his Perfect state!" Piccolo replied, "Wait a minute! Shit!! He almost destroyed himself in his own rage! When he peaked, he went well beyond the level of muscle expansion Trunks did!14" "Wait!! You mean the so called 'Super Saiya-jin, 3rd grade'?!" Vernon asked, having recognized this form. "What's all that mean?" Alex asked, a little forgetful to what they were blabbing about. "Alex, Jason basically just went similar to Super Saiya-jin 2, except not quite as strong, and nowhere near as fast. In fact, his speed is probably heavily reduced." Piccolo explained. Jason breathed heavily a little more, and his muscle mass shrunk down another 3 inches, now only in 'Super Saiya-jin, 2nd grade', "Yeah Alex, you might as well say I was an '3rd class Ultra Super-Saiyan', one level beyond Future Trunks." Jason explained, now letting out the last of his blinding rage, reverting to a normal SSJ level. "Woah! Jason might prove to actually be a serious rival to us just yet." Vernon thought out loud, actually a little interested in this prospect. "Hah, yeah right! He's slower in that form though! I bet I could've taken him, or at least have outlasted him!" Alex boasted a little, actually feeling relieved he never went into any of those outdated Super Saiya-jin classes. He was already somewhat slow of speed, and USSJ levels would only making it significantly harder to train, not to mention the strain it must've had on both the body and the energy reserves of the person. "Ahem. Not to interrupt your celebration," Radditz cut in, getting their attention as he sat Teresa down on a nearby table-bench, and making Jason suddenly almost lose hold of SSJ, "But where's Kakarott and Vegeta. I'm afraid all three of us need some of those sensu beans again." Piccolo grumbled, and reached into the cloth material on his cape-like plate, and pulled out a similar pouch to the one Goku was holding, "Goku and Vegeta are running around, scanning the nearby city to learn more about it. They left #17 and I here to train these guys. But you're lucky, I happen to also have a few left over Sensus of my own. Although the girl only looks worn out. Here's two beans." Piccolo threw them over to Dan and Radditz, "I don't have as many left over as Goku and Vegeta do, and besides, a half bean will work fine on her. Have her split it up and use each half in different sessions if you need. Don't waste it Radditz." "Thanks, Piccolo." Radditz replied. He broke one of the beans in half and gave it to Teresa, causing her to get to her senses, but she was still a bit worn from the training session. "Thanks. Sorry I crapped out on you guys earlier." she apologized to them. "Don't sweat it. It's not the easiest thing to get around your first few days." Dan explained, and Radditz just chuckled. The three of them lifted up and began to fly off into the air. "We'll see you all later. Tell Kakarott and Vegeta to be vigilant if I don't see him for a while!" Radditz called down to them. Piccolo harrumphed at him, but acknowledged this, as the trio flew off, now trying to find Teresa's home so they could locate her quickly. #17 hid a smirk under his calm face, Radditz didn't seem all that banged up, and Dan doesn't look quite so bad either. Why did they want three beans? He then widened his eyes, Wait a second! I think I get it now! Yes... something Piccolo and his gang probably should've thought about long back. But, I got the feeling they too probably tried it and failed. I should confront him about it later. #17 then turned back to his comrades, and prepared to put the 3 younger saiya-jin through more lessons... **** Meanwhile, Goku and Vegeta had finished scanning over northern Canton. They had found various places of interest, even some that Alex and his gang had mentioned to them before. They had even flown north enough to find the Akron-Canton Airport, where the plane from Los Angeles heading home had dropped them off. Flying a little back south, they had reentered the Belden Village area. They realized they were hungry now, not having really got the chance to eat due to the events of the day. After some scouring of the area, and picking up a little food from the nearby Burger King to sedate their appetites, they started heading back south to head back to more familiar territory. However Vegeta's mind was in a daze, This is insane! Jason... his powerlevel skyrocketed, at least compared to Alex and Vernon. It had to have been almost quadruple of Alex's powerlevel as a Super Saiya-jin a couple of days ago! Dammit! This is getting overwhelming. These young brats must be determined as hell to get strong enough to avenge the people who died today. Dammit! I wish I knew where to find these bastard terrorists. Their terror is nothing to what I'll show them when I get my hands around their necks! Vegeta thought in bitter rage. Although he knew the attacks were little damage-wise compared to even some of the lesser damage he did when sparring with Goku, he knew the terrorists had not deserved to control fate so easily, and definitely not to kill so many. Those fucking shitheads! Al-queda!! Enjoy your petty victory today, for when we find you, you'll wish you never even thought of all of this!! he then sighed to himself, "Kakarott, let find us a bar or something. I need a drink. BADLY." Goku looked to Vegeta, a bit worried, but he knew from Bulma's own experiences that Vegeta was an almost completely different person when he managed to get drunk, as opposed to his normally sub-grumpy personality. Although it was a rarity, he had the feeling from the anger radiating off his friend's body that Vegeta might very well decide to drink himself stupid. After a few more minutes, they had found a bar southwest of Clint's home area of Fohl Village, three miles south-southwest of Radditz's new training spot, on Sherman Church Ave. SW. The place was known as the Red Dog Saloon. As the two entered. Vegeta looked around. A decent number of people were in the bar, and many of them had also apparently drank themselves to drunkenness, and anyone else had an air of depression around them, some also looked more obvious than others. These guys're probably feeling the same way about today. Goku noted, as Vegeta immediately walked up to the counter, and pulled out some money. "5 shots of Vodka, on the rocks!" he grumbled. The bartender realized that he was probably here for the same reason as many of the others, and said, "No, don't worry about money today. The news is too depressing. Today has been a tragedy." "Yes I know that! Just get me my vodka, now!" Vegeta growled, not really knowing how long he could stay patient. However that outburst had gotten another person's attention... "Wait a minute! Vegeta, are you here too?!" Nina's voice had called from the back of the saloon. Goku looked over towards her voice, and saw their purple/black-winged friend sitting alone at a table, with a medium-sized glass of liquor in front of her. "Hey Nina, what're you doing here?" he asked. "I'm drinking the night away, what does it look like?" Nina growled back, just a bit annoyed at his question, as if her appearance there should've made it obvious, and then she looked over to Vegeta, who had already shot all of the five glasses of vodka he had ordered, and her irritation became replaced by awe and concern, "Woah, Vegeta can definitely pack it. Vodka usually gets someone drunk in two or three shots." Nina was amazed. "Bartender, gimme more!" he said, slapping his hand on the table as to indicate his point. "Wow, is he trying to get drunk?!" Nina was awestruck. "Trust me, Vegeta's a totally different person when he's drunk.15" Goku replied, although a bit worried for his friend's grumpy reputation, as the bar tender put down five more shots. Vegeta quickly gulped down all five shots of vodka in less than 4 seconds, and he hiccupped slightly, but he was still a little bit conscious of what was going on. "Another 5 on the rocks!" he shouted, although his voice seemed, a little subdued this time, Nina noted, watching in amazement as Vegeta gulped down another 5 shots of vodka. After doing this, she and Goku watched Vegeta suddenly go still, although he was still breathing. Nina was worried all that vodka had completely shut down his brain, but Goku merely looked on blankly, a look of anticipation on his face. Vegeta suddenly gave a chuckle, and then another chuckle. After 5 more seconds, he began to actually burst out in a hearty and continuous laugh, a complete 180 of his normal personality, as the red took over his cheeks completely. Vegeta even hiccupped again. "Here he comes." Goku said, apparently having seen this once before for himself. "Bartender! Heeey baarrtender! Get myy friends Goku and Nina here 5 shots, and geeett me another 5 shoots..." he droned and slurred on, in a rarely happy sounding voice which chilled Nina a little bit, having known Vegeta to always be semi-grumpy or sarcastic. Goku and Nina looked at him, the latter with more concern than the former. "Vegeta, you sure about this?" asked Goku. The last time this happened, Vegeta had challenged Goku to a drinking constant. However, as if he were the seventh or eighth wonder of the world, Goku had taken over 50 shots of Vodka, and although he had to go to the bathroom a lot that night, had barely even felt the slightest bit frazzled, which had angered Vegeta greatly the next morning when he got over the resulting hangover. It was almost as if Goku's body were so powerful that alcohol had no effect on him at all16. Vegeta however at the time was too wasted to care, "Come on Goooku. I, Vegeeta, the Prince of all Saiyaaa-jins, *hic*, challenge you two to a drink off!" Vegeta chuckled. Apparently he only called Goku by his Earth name when he was drunk or not conscious of what he was doing. Goku also noticed he was getting stares at him and Vegeta by some of the other people. Nina shrugged a little. "I guess I can take a shot or two, but I'm not competing in your little contest." "Verrry well! Barteeender, get Goku here 15 shots of vooddka to start him off." Vegeta slurred. The bartender perked up, realizing that despite the horror of the day, Goku and Vegeta's drink off would be good entertainment to get everyone else's minds off the problems of the day, at least for a little while. Goku sat down, knowing that he was probably going to outdrink Vegeta again. He didn't mind challenges with his friend/rival, but he didn't like the idea of having to go to the bathroom several times in less than 3 hours because of these little contests. This had to be the third time he had seen Vegeta drunk. He knew Yamcha and Vegeta had once challenged each other at one point sometime during the 3 years of training for the Red Ribbon's androids and cyborgs, and Vegeta had easily won out, although getting very drunk in the process. Soon, he had received his 15 shots of Vodka. He quickly drank all 15 of them down, in less time than Nina had even cared to try to drink one of the two she had ordered. Vegeta chuckled, "Goooood... get us each anooother fifteeen shots!" Vegeta bellowed in a drunken glee. The bartended chuckled slightly, and the other occupants had scooted in closer, as the bartender had soon rigged up all 30 shot glasses and split them between the competing Saiya-jin. Both clocked in at around 40 seconds to drink all fifteen glasses each. As he predicted, Goku wasn't even noticing any effects of the vodka yet, and Vegeta had almost turned fully red in the face, although he had not appeared to grew too much more drunk than he already was. Nina on the other hand had finished the first shot of hers, and was contemplating on rather or not to drink the last. She decided for the sake of the night to do so just this once, maybe it would help her in the off-chance she and Rinpoo got into a drink off someday back on their own homeworld. Vegeta laughed loudly, "Hhaahhaahhaahh!! Yoooooou reaaaady fooor moooore... Goookuuu?" Vegeta slurred, "Gooood... 20 mooore shooots!" Holy damn! Nina said to herself, still miraculously able to keep from totally losing herself to the vodka SHE was drinking, but even more at Vegeta's declaration. The bartender filled up 40 more glasses, but was thinking to himself Holy shit! These two have taken in over 50 shots total! I should've charged them after all! Goku had actually managed to pick up this thought with his moderate telepathy, "Sorry about that. Here." he pulled out around 300 dollars and gave it to the bartender. The bartender wordlessly took the money, and gladly put the 40 glasses down for Goku and Vegeta to drink from. However as the two began to gulp it down, Vegeta suddenly stopped on his 16th of his 20 glasses, and he grew wobbly and fell over on his butt, causing some of the people in the bar to laugh their heads off. Nina looked at him in amazement, "That was 46 glasses of vodka, and only now he falls on his ass?" Vegeta however, calmly picked himself up, and gulped down the remaining four, equaling to 50 shots so far. Goku looked at him in amazement having finished now his 50th shot of vodka as well, still not feeling any real effects, "Vegeta, please. Enough of this! I know you need to piss this night off, but think of the hangover you're gonna get!" Vegeta laughed back, "Aaaaawwww come oon... I caaaan beat yooouu stilll! 25 more glaaaasses eaach!" Goku looked at the bewildered bartender, and pulled out another 200 dollars, and gave it to him, "I'm very sorry about this. This is actually farther than he got last time." The bartender looked at both of them with his eyes wide, "What the? You're not drunk yet?! How the hell is that possible?!" he asked. "I don't know why myself. The last time we both did this, I remained completely sober even after 50 drinks. He gave up after 43 drinks though. Looks like he's really out to drink this off though." Goku sheepishly replied. "Fine, but this is the last time, you hear me! At first I thought this would make good entertainment, but I also don't want to be held responsible for you two and your stupidity!" the bartender grumbled, pouring 50 more glasses, the last 50. Nina nodded, having stopped her own drinking completely to keep her eyes on them, "Yeah really. I understand competitive flair, but you Saiya-jin are truly WAY too competitive with about anything." she growled at them, as the final 50 drinks had been placed on the table. Vegeta and Goku quickly grabbed them one by one and gulped down the vodka. Surprisingly, Vegeta had lasted until he went to shoot his final glass, where he suddenly went slack for a moment. Nina had noticed the look in his eyes. It almost looked like he had fallen unconscious right where he sat. Suddenly, Vegeta's head fell down and slammed into the table with a smash, leaving a crack on the table. Goku on the other hand had finished up his 75th and final drink. "Wow... he actually got 74 shots down this time. I just hope I don't feel too much from this. EEP!! I'll be right back!!" Goku suddenly realized he had to go to be bathroom BADLY, and ran off at near light-speed to the nearly bathroom. Nina looked over at Vegeta, who was now snoring loudly on the table, his eyes closed, and a little trail of drool coming out of his mouth, "Christ. I should be glad neither Alex, Jason, Clint, Dusty, Dan, Devin and Vernon try to do this. Good god... Vegeta's gonna probably be a laughing stock here, or some kind of local hero. Wait no, Goku'll probably get that title for NOT GETTING DRUNK EVEN AFTER 75 SHOTS OF VODKA!" she then finished in a loud, almost Dusty-level volume back towards the bathroom where she knew Goku was. Goku called out, "Hey, it's not my idea of fun either!" from behind the wall. Nina sighed to herself and put her hand up to her forehead with discomfort, almost as if she wondered if she were the only sane person in the room. The bartender could say he felt for her plight, even if he didn't say it out loud... **** After Goku had managed to get as much out of him as possible, he realized Vegeta was in a big jam. He would have to carry the prince back home, and break the news to him that he had lost to Goku by one glass. Although Goku probably could've gone farther than that if Vegeta had managed to make another order, that wasn't the issue. Also, Nina was a little frazzled from her liquor and 2 shots of vodka, and was having some trouble flying around alongside Goku. "Nina, why don't you stay at our place for a little and sober up. I don't want you crashing and getting killed. It's just as bad to fly drunk as to drive drunk." Goku suggested to her. Nina rubbed her head, having a bit of a headache, "I know. Radditz can get along fine without me there. Damn... Paula's gonna probably be pissed at me for this. I promised her I was going to start training with her tomorrow." she said. "Really? Well good luck to you two. Tell Paula to train hard. I remember she was very useful as a fighter when we were younger." Goku stated. "Goku, do me a favor... don't tell anyone else about our training for a little while. We don't want the others to bother us too much for now. We need to think over this training a little bit." she replied. "Um, alright. Just don't get yourselves killed." Goku replied, as they soon landed in Alex's neck of the woods. Noticing no one was outside at the moment, the three of them snuck into Goku and Vegeta's rented house. Once inside, they were greeted to an annoyed-looking Piccolo, looking at the two saiya-jins and windia-jin almost like a father-figure catching their son or daughter sneaking in late. "And just where in the blue hell where you two?!" asked Piccolo with a low anger, the comment directed at Goku and the unconscious Vegeta. "Sorry Piccolo. We were looking around, and Vegeta suddenly asked me to find a bar, so we came upon a place south of here, and well..." Goku started. "NOT AGAIN." Piccolo interrupted with a growl, realizing that Vegeta was slung over Goku's shoulder because he was drunk, "Wait. Why's Nina with you?" "I was there before they were. I was just getting a little liquor to drink all of the events of today off, when I heard Vegeta ordering vodka." Nina replied. "How much did those idiots drink this time?!" Piccolo asked her. "About 75 shots each. Vegeta passed out on his 74th or 75th glass. Goku took all the shots down like it was nothing." Nina replied. "Dammit! Again?! Goku, how the hell can you withstand all that alcohol?!" Piccolo asked, apparently he had been familiar with the two Saiya-jins' last drink-off. Goku scratched his head, and then he jumped up, "EEP!! NOT AGAIN!!" he said, and threw Vegeta to Piccolo quickly as he dashed up the stairs to the bathroom, and slammed the door behind him. "Dammit! I hate it when those two do this!" Piccolo said, and threw Vegeta to Nina, who barely caught him, "At least you had the smarts to not join them." Piccolo said to her, "By the way, Jason managed to become a Super Saiya-jin as well today. I thought you might like to know." "Did he go feral like Vernon did with #17?" Nina asked, slightly surprised to hear that information. "Not exactly, but I know he was much more angry when he did transform, because he hit Super Saiya-jin, 4th grade today." Piccolo explained. "4th grade? Wait... isn't that where they buff up their muscles to absurd size and slow down?" Nina said, now remembering a few times her friends spoke of Mirai Trunks and his battle against Perfect Cell. "Yes. I dare say he was stronger than what he'd probably be as a normal Super Saiya-jin 2 at the time, but his speed would've been next to nothing. I'm surprised his body didn't start to fail on him." Piccolo replied. Nina went over and walked upstairs, and opened the door to Vegeta's room, which she recognized due to some of the stuff he had up on the wall, mostly DBZ merchandise of himself, a few pictures of Bulma as well. She placed Vegeta in the bed, and covered him with the sheets. "Goku, Vegeta's in his bed now! You might want to use a sensu on him when he wakes up!" she suggested. "Alright then." Goku called back. As she walked down the stairs. Piccolo looked at her, "Speaking of sensu beans, Radditz got a little hammered up today. He and Dan must've been sparring after they taught that Teresa girl how to use her ki. She's a lot stronger than she started off, but I don't have Radditz's scouter anymore. He'd be the only one to give an exact number. He's probably back at your place now though." Piccolo mentioned. Nina looked back to him, "Alright, I'll see if I can't find out more from him later, but I need to sleep this night off. I'm a lot better now that I've landed for a bit." "Later." Piccolo said, and he watched as Nina flew off, heading northeast, in the direction of her home, as he heard Goku groan from the bathroom upstairs. "Son17, I'll talk to you later tomorrow! You owe me and #17 some off time, remember?!" Piccolo said. "I know, I know!" Goku said, a bit impatiently, "Talk tomorrow, okay?" "Later Goku." Piccolo said, taking to the air after leaving Goku's house, and
flying off into the distance, heading back to #17 and Vernon at Vernon's
house... (September 12, 2001 A.D.; 6:03am; Canton, Ohio) Early the next morning, Vegeta finally managed to wake up from his ordeal the other night. When he did, he realized his head felt like it was in a vice, and he also still had vodka on his breath. He growled, "Dammit. I must've gotten drunk again! Why did I have to be so stupid?!" he said to himself, and he slowly began to remember the events of his drink off with Goku, "I challenged that idiot to another drinking contest, didn't I?" he then realized that Nina had probably also seen all the events that commenced. Also, he looked painfully to his dresser, and he saw that he had a sensu bean lying on the table. Probably Goku's way of telling him there was no time to let the hangover wear off on its' own, which Vegeta couldn't help but agree with. He knew that he and Goku had to train Vernon, Jason and Alex today, because Piccolo and #17 had already made it clear to the elder two saiya-jin that they were going to run around and explore Canton today. He took the sensu off the table and ate it, and quickly recovered his senses. He felt a bit stronger as well. He then began to wonder, "I wonder if Kakarott's in the same shape as me? Probably not. Last time we did that, he wasn't even the slightest affected after 50 shots." He left his room, and sighed, and walked up to the bathroom door, and went in, soon cleaning up and taking a short shower. By the time he got out, he realized the clock had read around 6:10am. "Damn! I slept in way too much!" he growled, and quickly dashed down the stairs and left the house, jumping up and landing behind the house, where he found Goku, Piccolo, Mr. Buu and #17 were gathered up. Alex, and Vernon and Jason were also in the back yard. All three of them were currently trying their damndest to keep hold on their SSJ levels as long as they could at once, knowing that like he and Goku long back, it was difficult to handle holding the transformation for the first few days and uses or so. Piccolo and #17 immediately noticed Vegeta's arrival, pointing it out to Goku as well. Vegeta moved over to them, as Piccolo smirked, "Well, it looks like the drunken fool finally woke up." "What the hell!? How did you find out, Namek?!" Vegeta growled, and then looked to Kakarott, "You moron! You told him didn't you!? You idiots better not have told THEM." he sternly growled, referring to Alex, Vernon and Jason as "THEM", who were in the distance and not really able to focus on the conversation. "Calm down Vegeta, they don't know anything at all, although Nina does know, and I can't guarantee she won't say something to them." Piccolo replied. "She'd better not. I hate it when that happens to me. By the way, who won last night?" Vegeta asked, looking over to Goku. "Well, you passed out before you could drink your final glass, so I won." Goku said to him in a truthful manner. "Dammit." Vegeta grumbled softly, "I probably made a fool of myself too." "Anyways, it's about time you woke up." #17 announced, "We're only still here because we feel you needed to be up before we left. Buu's not the best substitute for you, as you know well." "What the hell is he doing here anyways?" asked Vegeta. "He wants to train with us. I guess since he lives close to here, and since Devin's group isn't really too strong yet, he came here to train with me and you." Goku explained. "Fine, I could use a good spar for once! Maybe it'll get me over all the shit going on in the last couple of days." Vegeta mused. "Well, since you three are all awake and acquainted again, it's time #17 and I got to our task of looking around this place. Later." Piccolo replied, as he and #17 immediately floated upwards, and took off towards the northwest, to begin their exploration of Canton and southern Akron. After that, Goku and Vegeta called Mr. Buu over and talked to him about a spar session of their own. Buu was more than happy to accept, and he told them of a place he wanted to go to try some things out. They called over to Alex, Jason and Vernon. "Do you three want to watch us spar for once?" Goku asked them. The three younger Misfits looked to them. "Well, I want to train this hold on SSJ." Alex replied, "Why don't you guys just go on without us?" "Because you're still getting some lessons today. Besides, we're not going to be able to all fight here, because there's way too much risk to the property than just a stray crater or two." Vegeta explained. Vernon shrugged, "If we keep trying to hold SSJ, we'll come along anyways. It's not often we can see you two spar with each other in person." "It's me and Vegeta vs. Buu, not each other." Goku corrected. "Well, I guess it wouldn't kill us." Jason said, although he looked to be trying hard to hold his SSJ, without going to 2nd grade, as the slight bulking in his muscle mass was showing. "Jason, you've got to focus your energy more efficiently. There's a reason I and my future son had troubles with the higher grades in the first place. We weren't directing our anger properly. You're also relying too much on being mad to keep the level. You must learn to reduce the requirement of anger for a transformation." Vegeta explained sternly as he watched Jason. Jason growled, trying to do just that, but when he did, his hair flicked back to brown for a moment, and then to gold, and back a couple of times, until Jason growled to keep at SSJ, "Easier said than done, Vegeta!" he growled angrily. "I know it's annoying. Trust me I hated myself when I found out just how outmatched those levels are." Vegeta tried to calm him down. After a few more words exchanged, the seven Misfits picked up to the air and flew off and followed Mr. Buu to the place he had picked out. **** The first full day of Devin, Dusty, Clint, Heero, Virgil, Dwayne and Steve's new training at Devin's vacant lot would start off a bit on the slow side. Part of the reason was because Virgil desperately needed to be taught the basics of Ki, much as all the others had in the past. Devin was also tired of having to carry Virgil back and forth to his house alongside Dusty, and teaching him to fly was top priority in Devin's mind. Devin decided he would at least be nice enough to give Virgil the pointers for him, while the other five would do their own training for a while. He had Virgil move over to a more open section of the lot and had him sit down and attempt to meditate. Devin found Virgil to be having a problem getting into the right position, but Virgil soon was ready. Devin explained to Virgil that ki was the cauldron of the soul, and all the same jazz that Radditz had told Teresa the day before. Virgil took roughly 35 minutes to get it down right, and to finally grasp his ki completely. It took him another 45 minutes or so for him to get a firm enough hold to keep his ki at the surface. Devin sighed at the wasted time, but at least it could only improve from here, he figured. "Oh well, at least he finally got the hang it. I wonder just how long it'll take 'Dipshit' to learn how to fly." he said to himself, as he called Virgil over to start explaining how to fly. After hearing it, Virgil had a good idea of what to do, and tried to go and expel some ki downwards, although it found it hard. However instead of expelling ki... *BBBZZT!* he had farted instead. Devin jumped back, having heard this and was cautious of some kind of killer gas coming through, but surprisingly, he didn't smell anything. "Virgil, you're not trying to take a shit, you 'tard!" Devin growled, hating the crouched position most characters on the show got into when they 'powered-up', more resembling a person with constipation than someone charging their energy. Virgil growled and flipped him the bird for a second, "I'm trying god dammit!" Devin sighed to himself, "Whatever, just remember, expel your ki downwards... nevermind..." he stopped, noticing Virgil was now lifting into the air, and starting to slowly move himself around up and down, and then started moving around diagonally, and then he had mastered slow movement within a couple of minutes, and began to speed up his movement. "Good Virgil, good. Just keep plugging at it, and maybe, just maybe you can actually starting working off that fat!" Devin joked at him with a smirk. Virgil growled, "Shut up, you goony 'tard!" but as he said that he suddenly lost altitude and fell straight to the ground, actually causing a small tremor when he landed. Devin floated up to avoid the shaking ground. "Look, you just need to keep practicing. I need to join the others over there and get in some actual training. When you get the hang of it, grab some heavy objects and start carrying them around as you fly!" Devin called, wanting to get to his own training. Meanwhile, Clint had focused again to power up to his Super Saiya-jin level, but he was finding it hard to understand why he could even do it. He had talked to his parents the other night about what had happened at Canton South. His parents had understood his anger at Al-queda, and they too had their own grief over the events. However according to them, Clint was not adopted, nor was be believed to have any kind of foreign DNA in him that they knew of. He had managed to transform again back at his house, but he then recognized something he had not seen the first time he did it. Instead of a pure-gold color to his hair, he could swear there was a slight twinge of light green to his hair. He thought over it a little, until Dusty had called him over to do some of their weight training. He soon found himself wearing 650 lbs of weighted clothing, lifting around 1,000 lbs in weights that Dwayne and Steve had ordered the night before. There had been a total of 6,400 lbs in weights lying around for the group to use for lifting, and they had a few weighted outfits to use as well. Clint had noticed that Devin had grabbed an extra-large sized weighted shirt and threw it to Virgil, telling him to slip into it for the first true part of his training, which he was going to take a bit from Radditz and how he had been trained himself, by making Virgil run laps around the lot with the clothing on, and then if he could, get Virgil to uproot boulders and larger rocks to carry around on his laps. Clint then went back to his lifting, wondering more on how he was going to master his new powers. Heero was also training in a similar way to Virgil, except he was wearing a 3rd-level training shirt, unlike Virgil's 1st-level shirt, and he was also running around, holding up Steve on his shoulders as he ran, as Steve himself was lifting small to medium weights, trying to make himself and Heero both stronger at the same time. He also noticed Dwayne had gotten up and sat on Dusty's shoulders, having him do the same thing, and Dusty was in also a '3rd-level' training shirt. They now noticed Clint attempting to do back flips and front flips while wearing his weighted clothing, but often he would fall over too soon and land on his back or on his stomach, peeling himself up sorely to try again. "Man, this would be so much easier if we had a gravity chamber or two with us." he said to himself. He wasn't the most impressed with weighted methods anymore after a few days. Weighted clothing wasn't good enough at equal distribution over the body in the most serious training situations. He also knew on Dragonball Z that Goku had used 10x the Earth's gravity to jump from 416 to 8,000 powerlevel in less than 4 months, and then up to 100x in less than 2 months to reach a powerlevel of around 100,000. The point was that they needed a technical genius get them some gravity chambers ready eventually, lest their training would probably start to slow a little at a specific point. **** Piccolo and #17 were flying around the city of Canton, taking note of places of interest, such as potential training locations for large groups, places of social interest(mainly #17's idea, not Piccolo's), and of course, places that could be considered high end targets to people like terrorists, much in the same vein as Al-queda were. Two places of interest were Canton's city hall and another was the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the landmark capital of football in the world, as they would discover it. At #17's request, they had gone to the Hall of Fame to learn more on the sport of football. This had actually slightly interested the cyborg, and he looked to Piccolo, "This is quite a rough-contact sport, and in ways, it reminds me of a fun training session." "#17, we're not using it as a training method on the others." Piccolo scowled, not exactly interested in this. "Maybe not, but you must have some kind of fun hobby." #17 suggested. Piccolo bared his fangs and smirked, "Sure, I've got a hobby. It's called scaring the shit out of weak humans!" he ended it with a growl. "Surely you jest." #17 challenged, and then his eyes perked up, "Piccolo, I want to show you something. We just have to find the right place first." Piccolo sighed, "Feh. Whatever, if you want to, it'll give us more a look at Canton anyways, but I don't think you're going to get me interested in whatever your talking about." "Aw come on, don't knock it until you've tried it." the cyborg replied in a taunting voice as he lifted up into the air and flew over to a nearby phone booth, and grabbed a phone book, looking through the yellow-pages for a few seconds. He then closed the book, "I know where we can go now." he said, as he lifted up and flew away. Piccolo grumbled incoherently, and picked up and flew after his annoying and fun-loving ally. After about 5 minutes of flying, #17 suddenly landed down on the ground, in the middle of a busy intersection in the Northeast section of Canton. Piccolo landed nearby. "So what the hell are we here for anyways?" Piccolo asked. #17 pointed up above him, to a sign that read "Carlson's Motor Lot. Special Sale Today!" Piccolo growled with some confusion, "A motor lot?" "Follow me." #17 simply said and walked inside of the lot ahead of them. Piccolo cautiously followed, as he examined some vehicles, such as cars, trucks, motorcycles and even a few tractors from time to time. #17 walked up to a tall man near the back of the lot, who they soon found out was Leon Carlson, the owner. "Well there, what can I..." then he saw Piccolo, in a semi-grumble mode, and looked a bit surprised, but then talked more, "Uh, What I can I do for you?" #17 replied casually, "I'm looking for a high-end motorcycle or two with good mileage." Leon looked at them, "Well, I'm sure I can find you something worth your time." he replied as he led them over a little towards the eastern-center of the lot, where he had pointed to a pair of Harley Davidson motorcycles, which #17 looked at as if he were a little child at Christmas. He had read up on the motorcycles and cars of the merged world, at least what he knew would probably be sold around Canton, so he had already had a good idea that this was right up his alley. Now getting Piccolo to try it... that was a different story. "Hey Piccolo. I want you to try one of these out!" he called over, as to make sure everyone else around knew he was speaking to the Namekian, which Piccolo found just a wee bit annoying. Piccolo then looked over at the motorcycle with a strange expression one might have when looking at a dead cockroach. "Are you insane!?" he growled. "Whatsa matter Piccolo? You scared of a little automated bike?" #17 taunted him, hoping to use the advantage of being in public to coax Piccolo into trying it to keep his dignity. Piccolo growled, realizing this immediately, "You damn idiot! Vehicles and I do not mix!" "Oh come on, I know you can drive, considering Goku told me about the time you two took a driving test and got into a race with each other." #17 smirked. Piccolo's jaw dropped about 9 inches at this statement, "That imbecile! He didn't?! For your information, Chichi forced both of us into it! She thought we needed a small taste of normal life when we ended up doing that!" he then tried to explain his actions, but he was hoping that #17 hadn't know of the goofy getup and hat he had to wear that day more than #17 being aware of the driving part itself. "Oh come on! Goku told me that it wasn't "that bad"." #17 said. Piccolo grumbled at him, wanting to smash Goku's head into the ground now that he knew the lesser-intelligent Saiya-jin told #17 about their driving test incident. However Piccolo realized that a motorcycle was smaller than a car, and it wasn't like the others would know if he did try it once. Everyone else, even Vegeta, had at one point or another joked about how Piccolo was always dead serious all the time and didn't like to have fun. "Grrr... FINE! I'll try the stupid motorcycle! But if any one of the others see us and laughs, I'm going to give you a good ass-kicking later on!" Piccolo threatened, but giving in to his temptation. #17 smirked, "I look forward to seeing you try." he said, as Piccolo begrudgingly walked up near the bike. #17 asked Leon about the price of the motorcycles. He said it was a special sale at $750 dollars for each of them. He pulled out the required money, but Piccolo noticed this. "#17, exactly where are you getting money?" he asked, with a raised eyebrow. #17 replied, "I'll give you the full details later." he then handed Leon the money, and he boarded his own motorcycle, and Piccolo reluctantly boarded his own cycle. After being given their ignition keys, #17 and then Piccolo turned on their motorcycles and revved them up for their test drive. Soon, #17 drove his way out of the lot and onto the road. Piccolo grumbled, and accelerated after him, and wondered what exactly #17 was trying to get him to do. The two would drive off and head back westward, heading down streets until they'd make a turn on Tuscarawas Ave. and drove westward down the wider road. **** Earlier that day, Nina had soon woke up, only to find that Radditz had already left the house, probably to go train Dan and Teresa. She had more or less recovered from the minor hangover from the other night. Wondering just how Vegeta was taking things by now, she figured he was none to happy to lose to Goku apparently for a second time. However she was more concerned with her and Paula's to-be training. She went over and picked up the phone in her kitchen, and she dialed the number to her friend's line. After the phone beeped about 2 times, it clicked, "Hello?" Paula's voice replied. "Paula it's me." Nina spoke. "Ah, I was wondering when you'd call. You seemed to have slept in later than you had planned to." Paula said, sounding a little bored, yet slightly... distracted at the same time. "Yeah... long story about that... but I'll get to that later... What're you doing over there?" Nina was curious enough to ask. "Just practicing my 'other' powers for our training session. I'm levitating the phone to my ear right now in fact." Paula replied back. "Your practicing ki levitation huh?" Nina asked. "Actually no... not ki at all, although I suppose I outta try that too sometime." Paula replied back, having Nina a little curious to what she was using to hold up the phone, "Hey, I'll be over there soon. Don't go far!" she then said. "Okay, I'll talk to you later." Nina said, as she heard Paula hang up the phone on her end. Nina left her kitchen and had walked into her front room, a but crowded, but at least Radditz was using her basement instead of the main part of her home. She had been keeping a few heirlooms from her own times in Canton in other rooms on the ground floor of her house. She was also keeping a few of her own personal belongings in the attic upstairs. Her cat Oscar was also upstairs with those belongings, sleeping the day away lazily. She heard a knock on the door though soon, and she walked up to the door, and saw Paula through the peephole. Damn! That was only about 10 seconds! she thought to herself, as she opened the door to see the pink-clad girl looking up at her, "Well, you're here fast. I didn't realize you meant THAT soon." she said. Paula laughed with a tone of slight embarrassment, "I didn't really tell you, did I?" she replied. "About what?" Nina asked. "My physical speed. I didn't use it too much in the last few days since I didn't really feel I needed to use it, but ever since I could remember, I seem to be extremely fast moving when I need to. I've always been that way, and Goku could even vouch for me, or even Muten Roshi, that goofy old pervert." she then grumbled slightly, rolling her eyes at the thought of the old martial arts master. "So I take it you want to get this started soon as well." Nina realized, and she walked outside, and shut the door behind her. "Yes. You told me you knew of a few far and away training spots. So I guess you can lead the way." Paula replied as if it wasn't a big deal. Nina replied, "Yeah, it's up way north and a bit east though. Don't mind me though. I'm just a bit tired still, and as I said, I'll tell you about it in a little bit. I do think I can get us started off fast. I'll explain when we get to our designated spot." The two women then flew up into the air, and Nina flew up and northeast, towards the spot where she was intending to go, Paula following from behind, probably slower than normal, Nina thought to herself. Ironically, the place were Nina and Paula would stop at had only been looked at by Piccolo and #17 in their fly-over of Canton only 10 minutes before. It was a large forested area with a clearing here or there. It was located north of the Belden Village area, about half way from Belden Village to the Akron-Canton airport. It was also south of a candy factory known as Harry London's Chocolates. Nina realized if Mr. Buu had ever found this place that he'd be visiting it often, and chuckled to herself. "What's so funny?" asked Paula. "I just thought of Buu's appetite for sweets. There's a candy factory a little north of this place where mostly chocolates are made. Buu would be going on a chowing rampage if he had found this place back when we all got back from California." Nina explained. "I've noticed there's a good deal of large trees and obstacles here." Paula said, looking around and changing the subject. "Yes, unlike what the others seem to be doing, we're going to go for something a little different. I believing having obstacles to dodge around or jump over will help us get faster. You see Paula, you kinda have a good idea with being fast. I think I can also catch up a little by training here. Also, as for what I said when I have another method, well, here... I'll let you experience it for yourself." she said, raising her hands out and shooting a black wave at Paula, which then formed into a strange aura around her. Paula grunted, feeling like her body weight had doubled, and had about fallen to her knees. She struggled to get back fully upright, "Nina, what the heck was that?" "I overheard something from Goku and Vegeta the other night, about how they use high gravity to quickly train themselves. I realized a time ago that I can alter the field of gravity around individual people, and even myself, so I think that can help us." Nina explained, so Paula wouldn't think to attack for the wrong reason. Paula blinked, and sweatdropped, laughing nervously as she had managed to get to her feet, "Ah... I see. It's like a better version of Goku's weighted clothing." "Well, don't get too giddy. We'll be wearing that stuff too at times. We won't start off that way, though." Nina said, now grabbing one of her own arms with another, and emitting a black field of energy around herself. Nina almost doubled over from the now double-weight of her body, "By the way, this is 2.5 times normal Earth gravity." Paula nodded and asked, "Alright, so now what? We run around? Or what?" "Well yes we'll run around the area some, but we need to also try to do lots of laps around that clearing over there," Nina had gotten to standing upright, and had pointed to a track-like clearing about 200 yards around, "But we also need to fire off our ki better, and we also need to lift rocks, and other weights. At least to start off. We're probably actually start to do sparring another day. Now we're just gonna break our new 2.5x gravity in." The two women both understood what was to be done, and soon set off to the track-field to start doing laps. They were going to try for 125 laps in less than 4 hours to start off. **** Mr. Buu, Goku, Vegeta, Alex, Jason and Vernon had all finally arrived at the spot Buu had found for their spar. It was an odd place on the western side of the city, between the cities of Canton and Massillon to the west. It was in a way an abandoned stadium-like spot. Buu had chose the spot due to the massive area, and the walls made it hard for any outsiders to interrupt their match. Buu had been looking forward to a spar, as he hadn't had a real fight in some time. He looked at Goku and Vegeta and said, "Buu gonna fight at full power! Goku, Vegeta, need to transform!" Alex, Jason and Vernon, sitting in some dug-out like stands nearby, had gone back to their training to hold SSJ as long as possible, while they were also going to try to keep an eye on the three sparring warriors. Goku stared over at Buu and gave a slight shout as his hair flashed golden, and grew down to knee height, indicating he was now Super Saiya-jin 3. And Vegeta screamed out, his hair flashing gold, and spiking up more wide to the sides, indicating he was a Super Saiya-jin 2. Alex's ki sense picked this up, and he was overwhelmed, "Holy shit, that is sweet!" he cried out, definitely now going to aspire to reach that level and beyond. He knew doing so would make him the strongest Misfit, at least in his mind. Jason and Vernon did not know how to sense ki, but the air flowing off of Goku, Vegeta and Mr. Buu's bodies till felt like a hurricane against their skin. If they had been normal human strength at this time, they'd have not been able to withstand it and watch as the three figures suddenly vanished from sight. Alex, Vernon and Jason's eyes widened. "Shit, they're moving so fast we can't even pick their energies up!" Alex growled, not liking to be totally unaware of what was to come. Now Vernon had also began to realize some extent of what Piccolo and #17 could do if he had fought them at their full strength, as he saw a trench dug up by a stray blast near their location. Goku charged in fast at Mr. Buu and delivered a kick to his back. Buu flew forward, but he barely registered damage, as Vegeta had formed a high-strength Final Flash which was shot directly into Buu. The blast tore through part of Buu's stomach, leaving a small hole in the side. Buu however calmly regenerated his injury, and then cupped his hands to the side, and fired off a medium-strength Kamehameha which flew straight at the Saiya-jin prince and smacked into his chest, and knocked him back and slightly downwards, carrying him along the blast. Vegeta eventually broke out of the shot's path after a while, and he saw Goku axehandle the Majin over the head, and sent him spinning in a cannonball towards the ground. Mr. Buu however managed to turn his decent into a forward roll into midair, and quickly zanzokened above Goku and Vegeta and quickly charged a Galic Gun to shoot down at Goku. Goku prepared a Kamehameha and managed to fire his off a half-second before Buu shot his Galic Gun. The two blasts collided. For a while, the blasts held about even, but soon Goku's blast began to win out. Vegeta then cupped his hands in front of him, forming a second Final Flash which merged with Goku's blast and help boost it over towards Buu. However Buu soon realized he was going to lose the beam war and zanzokened out of the way of the impending double shot. He reappeared from above Goku and smashed into him, bottom first, plowing both of them down through the air, soon cutting a large hole into the ground, as both made impact. Vegeta looked down with a small drop of sweat on his forehead, while Vernon, Alex and Jason looked on in shock. "Did he just do a body press?!" asked Jason, and he began to wonder about something of his own in his head. He had been developing a physical move in similar structure to a body press except the hit was meant to be more horizontal, and the attack also was done with the moderate intention of grossing out his enemy. Soon, Goku managed to powerup and throw Buu off of him, and jumped out of the hole in the ground. Vegeta quickly flew down at Buu, but Buu turned quickly and swung his leg into Vegeta's head, sending the Saiya-jin prince rocketing upward about 30 feet. Vegeta recovered and flew back down and shot a twin-handed blast, which looked as if he were to hit Buu from the front, but as Buu prepared to block it, Vegeta aimed it behind Buu and the double blast hit him in the back, burning a small indent in the Majin's body. "Sneaky sneaky!" Buu replied, as he landed on the ground, regenerating the damage to his back almost as casually as one flicking a flea off their arm, "Me done! We train kids now!" he said. Alex growled, taking some offense to that comment, "Hey you fatso, I'm no 'kid'!" Vernon chuckled, "Hah, you let everything rile you up, don't you?" "Shut up Vernon!" Alex growled back. "Dur dur..." Vernon taunted. "QUIET!" Jason growled at the other two, "I'm trying to concentrate." "Whatever Jason." Alex grumbled, although Vernon did calm down. He didn't want to lose Jason as a competitor. It wouldn't so interesting if he dropped out of their race to power. Goku and Vegeta powered down to base level18, back to a point where Alex could vaguely get a normal comparison of his power to theirs. Dammit! I NEED to transform more! I'll never surpass them at this rate. Alex thought to himself. The three elder Misfits had decided they would start training their students again. Buu had even decided he might pitch in a little to the training. **** As the two rode around Canton in their new motorcycles, #17 and Piccolo had basically been about neck and neck. #17 had called back to Piccolo a short time after the two had taken off, and called him slow, so Piccolo had decided to speed up and compete with the cyborg. "Don't bother! I'll beat you at your own game!" Piccolo growled over at him. "Aw come on Piccolo! At least smile and show that you're having fun! You're gloom and doom face doesn't look right when you're enjoying something!" #17 replied back with a taunt. Piccolo smirked, "Fine, you wanna play it that way, I want to challenge you then!" "You got my attention!" #17 called back, as he followed Piccolo down a few roads, as they closed in close to the city of Massillon. Piccolo soon stopped his motorcycle and #17 stopped soon after and looked over at him in confusion. He then watched as Piccolo AND his motorcycle floated up into the air, until to the point he was at roof level with a nearby building. He set the motorcycle on the top. "I see your little game." #17 mused, and similarly levitated himself and his bike onto the roof, and landed near Piccolo. "So what, we're gonna jump from building to building?" he asked the Namek. "No. We're going to see who can go the furthest through the air only on a forward thrust of Ki alone. No vertical flight." Piccolo explained. #17 understood this, "Roger wilco." as he revved up his bike, "Better hurry Piccolo. I'm a real speed demon in the air!" he cheered on as Piccolo revved up his own bike and both shot off into the air. Using a ramp-like structure on the edge of the roof to give them their own upward thrust as they flew off. As they flew over the area, #17 realized Piccolo seemed to actually be enjoying himself. Although he wondered if it might have only been because he wanted to show the cyborg up so much. That fool thinks just because he's stronger than me now that he's better than me at everything. I'll show his pompous ass! he then formed a smirk, and sped up his forward thrust. Piccolo saw this and grumbled, turning up the juice as well. Both flew flying at a steady attitude, only slightly lessening every few feet. Most human motorists would see this as something only an act of God would allow, but the two aerial competitors knew much better than they did. As they flew forward, they began to see a strange looking stadium come into view. It was only then #17 and Piccolo then realized something. Shit! Goku, Vegeta and Buu are at that stadium! Wait... so are Alex, Vernon and Jason. Piccolo thought to himself. #17 had been thinking the same thing, but then he smirked, as he turned his cycle to aim towards the stadium. Piccolo saw this and copied after him, an angry look on his face though, and both began to slowly increase in decent as they approached the stadium. Soon, they let down on the energy boost and let themselves fall conveniently low enough that they would fall inside of the walls of the stadium. #17 snickered as he saw Goku, Vegeta and Buu spot him and Piccolo flying in. Alex, Jason and Vernon had not yet noticed. However, soon Alex turned his head and sensed Piccolo, and looked up just in time to see #17 only a few feet from landing on him. In an impressive feat of reaction, even for him, Alex had managed to just barely roll out of the way of the motorcycle and its' occupant as it finally hit the ground and left a few sparks behind as it zoomed ahead. Piccolo landed at roughly the same time, a few inches behind Jason and Vernon, and luckily found an open spot between the two and zoomed past them fast, causing them to spin around several times in place at high speed, almost like they were in a cartoon. As the two zoomed past the bewildered younger teenage saiya-jin, they came in closer to Vegeta, Goku and Buu. "That look fun! Buu wanna try that!" Buu cheered as he watched the Namekian and cyborg zoom in close. "Namek, Cyborg! What the hell are you two doing?!" Vegeta on the other hand was quite annoyed. "COMPETITION." both said flatly as they zoomed past him. Vegeta raised his eyebrow a little. Goku chuckled, "Well, that brought back memories." "You're not talking about your cursed driving test ordeal you two clowns had to take, are you?!" Vegeta grumbled at him. "Yep." Goku laughed, as he saw #17 and Piccolo lift up into the air, still on their motorcycles as they flew off out of the stadium, and then flying out of their range of sight, although not necessarily ki sense. After that little ordeal, Piccolo grumbled at his cyborg ally, "Cute trick, but that's enough for today." and then he said, "We outta get these bikes back home in one piece. We gave them quite a bumpy landing." "Fine, ruin my fun." #17 joked, but he too knew he didn't want to wreck his new toy so fast, so he decided to go along with Piccolo, "You still think we should look around?" "No. We need to get back to thinking about training with the others. I know Vegeta's not gonna be impressed by what we did, but it serves him right for getting drunk off his ass the other night." "Yeah, I wish I had been there to see that. I outta ask for the whole explanation out of Nina sometime." #17 laughed, "I still don't know too much from the first time he and Goku pulled that little drink-off stunt." The two zoomed off towards Vernon's house, but then they realized, "Maybe we should find a different place to land these." #17 suggested. Piccolo shrugged. He was a little concerned Vernon, Alex, Jason, or someone else in their little gang might try to make off with his cycle, and although he didn't want to admit it to anyone, he was starting to actually like his motorcycle. The two zoomed off southwards into the distance to find their makeshift cycle place... **** Back on their own training field, Radditz, Dan and Teresa had continued their training. Now Teresa had been given some of Goku's type of training weights in addition to the spare armor plate Radditz had made her wear the day before. She wasn't getting nearly as worn out so fast. She realized this when she had compared her now 1,541 powerlevel to the 14.5 she started with the day before. It was more than a 100 times increase from the day before. Radditz was a little impressed, and he realized Goku more than likely knew more about the training methods than he did. He might have been many times stronger than the mere 1,200 something he had when he first died on Earth before, but he still had much to learn from his little brother and prince. It also made him think back to the previous day, and his strange dream of images and premonitions which had revealed Teresa's existence to him. He was slowly wondering if that voice that spoke to him, the one who claimed to be the same voice that Dusty, Dwayne and Steve had heard, was actually trustworthy after all. Radditz knew Nina and Paula had come into the team pretty strong, but even then he had his doubts at first the two women might be completely warrior material. Now he was quickly changing that opinion of them, especially at Teresa's own growth in power. And the screwed up thing was that Teresa hadn't even trained an entire day for her power, unlike Devin and most of the others who had reached their first-day-training powerlevels. It was then he thought about something he overheard Goku and Vegeta mention about using high gravity to train. Radditz knew most Saiya-jin where raised in an environment which was 5 to 10 times Earth's normal gravity. He also knew from Vegeta that his wife Bulma, and her own father had the genius to build artificial gravity chambers. He needed to find a way to incorporate this into his training schedule somehow. Another thing had been on his mind though too. He was wondering about his little plan about the sensu bean he had gotten from Piccolo the other night. His actual idea was that he wanted to try to grow a full-blown sensu plant, which would hopefully net them more beans in the long run. He had learned the other night from Goku on the phone that an old teacher of his named Korin had been the grower of the beans. Radditz ended up admitting his little plan to his younger brother, who returned a promised to keep it a secret, but he warned that he wasn't sure if his brother's plan would succeed. Korin didn't usually grow very many beans in a long period of time. Sometimes the crop was excellent, like the first time Goku had ever met Korin, where he literally had over 100 sensu available, before Yajirobe had eaten half or more of them that day19. But then there were times where he could only get as many as 3 in a period of 6 months or more. Radditz realized this might not be so easy as he had thought. After the session was done for the day, Radditz had scanned Teresa and Dan with his scouter. Dan was now around 19,043, and Teresa was around 8,501. He himself had grown to around 65,536 at the end of the day. He smirked, wondering what that fat bastard Dodoria would say now to his new power. He was already double of what he had when he healed from his return to the living plane. He then wondered to himself, So then just why WAS I revived? I was sent to Hell for a reason. I wasn't supposed to come back, and I know it wasn't the Dragonballs. Could it be possible that 'voice', that person, did something during this whole merging of universes that cancelled my death? Radditz had learned over his time dead that most sets of Dragonballs could only grant each wish once, and that people dead over a year were usually not able to be resurrected, so that was why he suspected there was a divine motive, something much like how Steve and Dwayne had explained it, some kind of voice had spoken to them before they had been all sent to meet with him and the others. He still wondered if that same entity was indeed responsible for his resurrection. He looked over to Dan and Teresa, again thinking back to the images in his dream. The dream and the voice had made it clear that Teresa had a significant role to the play in his and his friends' futures. However he then remembered more vividly that Dan was often seen in a lot of this images with her. It was almost as if they were destined to become friends, unified together out of a mutual respect for each other. He remembered what Dan said to him the previous day about how he couldn't resent her for trying to kill him because of the threats held over her family by the Al-queda operatives. Maybe that was part of it... Teresa looked over to Radditz, and had noticed the odd expression on his face, "You okay Radditz?" "Wha... oh yeah... just thinking about something in the back of my mind." he replied. "That idea of yours?" Dan asked, still not aware of the sensu plant idea, but only that it was some kind of idea in his friend's head. "Not as much that, but more of why I came back, and my destiny... and even ours as a whole." Radditz then admitted. "Well, maybe fate wanted to give you a second chance. Sometimes it's best not to think too much on stuff you don't understand too well. Sometimes you get a headache if you think about it too much." Dan replied. Radditz grumbled, "Yeah yeah, kid. I know. I guess that's a wrap for the day. Dan, you go head on home, or train on your own. Whatever you wish. I need to talk to Teresa alone, if you don't mind... Don't worry... I won't hold her up for too long." Teresa was a bit surprised at his comment, and Dan was as well, but he sighed to himself, "Alright Radditz." he then looked to his new friend, "Teresa, I'll be at home when you're finished here. If you want to come by and meet my family later, you know where to find me, okay?" "Alright. See you in a bit, Dan." she replied. Dan lifted up into the air and flew off southeast-wards, and was out of their sight within 10 seconds. Teresa looked back over to Radditz. "So, what is it you needed to tell me?" she asked the long haired Saiya-jin. "Teresa, I can't hold back my feelings on this much longer. I need to tell someone about it before I go nuts. However, you're actually the best person I could tell about this, since a lot of this actually has to do with you, and even somewhat to do with Dan." Radditz replied. "Huh, what about me and Dan?" Teresa replied back in curiosity. "Well, you see... yesterday, before I... before I found and rescued your family... hell, before I even knew you existed... I had a very troubling and vivid dream... it was filled with images of yesterday's horrible events, it was also filled with images of victims, terrorist operatives, and other specific people..." Radditz started, as he noticed Teresa silently watching him, "But more importantly, it showed images of your father, your brother, your mother, your grandfather, and even YOU. And not just a 'few' images, but many. Some of the images were of you all in the past, showing your connections to each other as a family. Some where showing your family tied up in that house... and in danger from that one operative. I also saw images of you at the school yesterday, and of that strange bomb exploding." "Wait, you saw all of this in a dream?" Teresa asked, keeping surprisingly calm at his words. "Not just saw... you see there's more to the dream than just the images I mentioned. You see... when the merger of universes happened, about two weeks ago... Dan's friend Dusty... and Dwayne and Steve... Well, Dusty was transported to Las Vegas, where Dwayne and Steve were training with each other for a later wrestling match of theirs. After the three met up, some strange, ominous voice apparently revealed itself to them. It explained to them that the world was changing, the universe was changing, that certain 'rules' would change or no longer apply." Radditz replied, "And before you ask me what that has to do with my dream... well... I think that voice chose to speak to ME through that dream. It told me that I had to "SAVE THEM", and "SAVE HER". I came to realize, that the voice was telling me I had to save your family, and save you." "What?! You saved my family because this voice in your dream said so?!" Teresa exclaimed is disbelief. "Not only that. The voice told me something about you. He said that you were about to give up your life to make a tough choice. I assume it meant that you were likely going to end up dying in the act of killing Dan if you had gone through with it, but we'll never know, and I'm glad we'll never know." Radditz replied. "Why is this 'voice' you reference so interested in me and my family? Did it tell you?" Teresa asked, captivated by what she heard. "This voice is one of those ominous types, one that speaks partially in proverbs and riddles. However it did straightly tell me you were destined to become one of us, and to save the world, and possibly so much more. It even said that you'd one day become one of the strongest of us all." Radditz replied. "Really...? Are you sure this voice... is legitimate? I mean... I don't see what's so... so special about me. I'm just a delivery girl from little Canton-City. I can't be THAT important to the fate of the whole world, can I?" Teresa replied, with some doubt in her voice. "Well, if you're asking if I trust the voice full out and without reservation, then I do not. I'm not fully convinced the voice isn't one of the "dark forces" Dusty, Dwayne and Steve claim it was telling them about during the whole merger, or some other force trying to mess with fate. It did tell me though that only we decide our own fates, and that it is not pre-determined. It also did tell the truth about the entire disaster of yesterday, and of the bad situations you and your family were going through. I suppose while I don't fully trust this entity due to my own past experiences, I do think it's on our side, at least for now." Radditz replied. Teresa looked disturbed by some of the words she had listened to, and was in thought about it, "I admit... ever since what happened yesterday... I wanted to be more capable to help people, the same way I couldn't help my family yesterday, the same way I'm sure Al-queda or other similar groups of people have before and will certainly still try to manipulate innocent people through blackmail or threats. I don't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else if I can help it. That's why I asked if you could train me. You saved my family, and I figured you would be a good person to turn to." "Well, you might have noticed I didn't object even for a second to taking you in. That was because I already knew you were supposed to have some type of hidden potential. I also felt I wanted Dan to be with us because I also seem to be told through these images that you two have a connection to one-another. You should understand, he doesn't hate or despise you in the slightest even after what could have happened yesterday. He sympathizes with you. He has a little brother and parents of his own, and he told me after you fell asleep here yesterday that he would've been pressured into doing the same thing if Al-queda had threatened them to make him go after you." "Well that's nice to know, but why do you so easily believe I have hidden potential anyways? You said yourself you don't fully trust that voice or entity from your dream." Teresa replied. "I've only been with you for a little more than a full day, Teresa. I can't quickly jump to conclusions from such a short span of time about you. I've made that mistake way too many times in my past life. You heard I was brought back to life and that I was sentenced to eternity in Hell before I came back, right?" Radditz replied. "Yeah, Dan told me. You weren't always a good person." Teresa replied to confirm what he was saying. "That mistake is how I died before in the first place. My brother Kakarott, or Goku as you know him better as... when I first met up with him after his separation from me. My time with my former employer Frieza had left me so embittered and dark for various reasons that I detested my brother's decision to not be like the rest of our kind. He seemed weak and unrefined. He had not completed the mission he had been given to purge our version of Earth for us when I found him. Even as his older brother, I looked down upon him as trash, and underestimated him and his young son severely. That mistake cost me not just my pride, but my life." Radditz explained. Teresa merely looked on with an expression of sorrow as Radditz told her his story. "I vowed I'd never make that mistake again when I was resurrected. I wanted a chance to make it up to them someday, and when I was mysteriously resurrected during the merger of universes, I welcomed it. I promised to do what I could to help them train our other friends and allies like Alex, Dan, Clint and all of them. They're young and still getting off their feet, just like you are. However you must understand. I was with some of them on their first days of real training. Devin for instance. I trained with him a full day. His powerlevel grew close to 90 to 100 times it's starting amount from when I first knew him. It was an impressive jump even for a Earth human in one day. You on the other hand Teresa. You grew over 110 times stronger than your starting level of power in less than a FOURTH of a day. If I had trained you the entire day from start to finish like I had with Devin, who knows how much stronger you could've become." Radditz replied. "That's nice of you to say... but even so, I'm still newer to this than they are. I need more than just raw potential and power to accomplish any of this." Teresa stated, knowing well fighting wasn't just about brute strength and talent alone. "Believe me, you're not anywhere near ready for a real fight yet. However as I said, one day isn't going to tell us just how much you're capable of just yet. There's a lot of road forged ahead of you to travel. Who knows what'll become of you in a month's time. Maybe you'll be the one to prove Piccolo wrong as Dan believes any human on this planet could if they trained enough." Radditz replied. "Really, he thinks that?" Teresa asked with a mix of interest and skepticism. "Yes. You see, Dan and Piccolo made a bet regarding the full fighting potential of the human race. As you have probably guessed, Piccolo is not human, and despite my appearance for the most part, nor am I. I am a Saiya-jin, and our kind might be bore to fight with the best of the universe, but that doesn't mean we should've been so disdainful of other races. We're not humans, but we're similar enough. Some of us can have children with humans, as my brother and Vegeta have done. You haven't met their children yet, but it will only be likely a matter of time before you meet at least one of them." Radditz explained. "Alright. I suppose if you think I can do it, I'll try my best to do what I must. I can't guarantee you I'll actually decide to become one of you 'Misfits' when this is over, I'll be honest with you about that. It's not that I don't like you guys. You did me a great favor, but you must understand... humans are peculiar creatures. Some might want to be heroes at the drop of a hat. Others just want to help people because it's the right thing. That doesn't mean they're the same thing though. Heroes generally aren't all pure-hearted beings who don't seek attention for what they do. Heroes can be one or the other. They might do things to help the world, but others expect something in return. I know I can't see myself as one of those kinds who want something in return. I just want to do the right thing. But becoming one of you might or might not be the key to that goal. Do you understand what I'm trying to say, Radditz?" Teresa replied with her own explanation. "Yes, I can understand. I know Alex, Jason and Vernon are likely bunched in with the group that craves attention, while people like Nina, my brother and others are in it to help people with no expectation of repayment. I suppose our group is a mixed bag. It's up to you. I just hope you don't let your decisions get altered by one of us doing something stupid. Not all of us agree with each others' actions all the time. One person's actions don't represent the actions of the whole team necessarily." Radditz replied. "Alright. If that's out of the way though. I would like to get over to Dan's place and meet his family. He's probably wondering what we were talking about and getting worried about me." Teresa replied. "Can you do me a favor and not tell Dan about what I told you about the dream just yet? I think it would be best if I told him myself in person later." Radditz asked. "Well alright. Just don't wait too long, or I'll have to tell him something." she replied back. "Thank you. See you two tomorrow, alright. I need to get home myself. I have some other things I need to think over as well." Radditz replied. Teresa watched as Radditz lifted up into the air and turned northwards, soon blasting off into the distance. She then took after his example, rising into the air and igniting her energy around her, enjoying the feel of flight again, and turned Southeast-ward, flying towards Dan's house to see him and meet his family... **** Radditz soon had flown back northeast, landing over at the place he and Nina were at. He noticed she was out at the moment, and headed in, and looked around the ground floor a slight bit. Radditz might have shared a section of the place with her, but he never really understood a large amount about the winged girl. Yes, there was that conversation he had with her a few days ago, where he suggested she and Paula pair up together to train, and that he was aware she was not a native to Earth, but there was still so much about her he didn't know about, and it sometimes made him entertain certain possibilites to her background. He tapped into his new found sense, and searched out for her, and found her energy was close to... apparently Paula's. Both had a sense that they were strained on by something, and their powerlevels felt slightly lower than normal. "Maybe they're finally training each as I suggested, and I didn't really think to ask her about it." he said to himself. Then his thoughts shifted elsewhere. He wondered, "If Vegeta's mate... that Bulma woman, isn't here to support us, we're going to probably need to get money soon. I know Paula has some, but she probably can't hold us up forever." he thought. He had learned from his experiences in the last week that businesses and jobs were a necessity to normal people to live, but he felt that such a thing wasn't thinkable for a Saiya-jin to do. Saiya-jin were fighters and able to usually survive in harsh extremes, but they weren't wealthy businesspeople. But he knew that with the lot of the others training, maybe he should try to find a part-time job, as Nina sometimes would call them. He soon heard the door open, and he saw Nina walk in, to his slight surprise, not having picked up her energy while in his thoughts. "Well, you're back a little early." he started, making her look to him. "So are you." she replied as-a-matter-of-factly. "I know. I got a lot on my mind. What about you? I felt your powerlevel being strained, and... WOAH! It's a lot higher than earlier!" he realized as he sensed her again. "You sure about that?" Nina tried to cover it up. "You really are training with Paula, aren't you?" he asked with a slight smirk on his face. Nina sighed, figuring with Radditz around, he'd find out sooner or later, "Yes. Paula and I are training each other. I don't think it's anything too serious though. I'm not entirely sure how well we'll be able to keep up with you guys yet." "Well as I said before, I hope you all train the best you can. Maybe you can find a away to bring out that rage you used on that asshole back the school you went to." Radditz said, mentioning to her of Jackson. Nina growled, "Oh dammit... you just had to make me think about him. That little roach ticks me off so much! It's not just because he rats out on me, but because of his hate to Alex and the others, but especially towards Alex." "I did notice he seems to have some particularly bad blood with Alex from the other day. What is that all about?" Radditz asked, now unable to keep his curiosity hidden. "Well you see, Alex and Jackson... they used to be good friends, almost to the point of best friends when they were in Kindergarten to 4th grade. However, after a while, Alex's Cerebral Palsy, which he no longer has now, became bad enough he started having to ride around in a wheelchair. When Jackson saw him like that, he turned around and stabbed him in the back, so to speak. From then on, he hated Alex, and Alex grew to dislike, and then totally hate him as High School came in." Nina replied. "Alright, that explains that a little better, but then why is he so mad at you?" Radditz asked. "Well, here's where I came into the picture. For one, look good at me Radditz. My wings are impossible to hide from anyone, and they stick out like sore thumbs. People thought I was a mutant, or some freak of nature. Most of the younger, more immature population at the school started hating on me, but it wasn't until Jackson started to taunt me about my wings, and even my height, that it became a fashion statement to harass me about it." Nina explained. "I see now. I guess that guy's really bad news. I noticed he seemed to know about Austin, er Steve. But he started hating on him after he saw Steve with us." Radditz commented, wondering how Jackson would react if he had gotten a glimpse of his tail in the open. He'd probably be called a freak for it as well, even if he could lay Jackson flat in one flick of the finger. However he remembered that even after Nina had come close to killing him, he was still brave enough to utter that last comment to Nina about being a murderer before he left. "Wait, there's more. I don't know if you heard it from anyone else, but I was the one who healed Alex of his Cerebral Palsy. It was only about 2 and a half months ago, but after that, Alex slowly regained his bearings again, and that's why he's even able to train now. He never admitted it to anyone else aside from any of us, but he did personally thank me in private over the phone one night. However, Jackson has this thing where he believes once you're a freak or a weakling, you'll always be that way to the end of your life. When I cured Alex, I destroyed part of his credibility, since he also hated on Alex in front of his friends, even though more of them liked Alex than me. His hate towards me skyrocketed, and his hate and disdain for Alex rose as well. He was bad enough before I healed Alex, but now he doesn't think half the time before insulting me. He's even done it in front of the teachers a few times out of reaction." Nina cut in and explained more to Radditz. "Well, either way, your powerlevel was impressive. I could sense it was higher than Piccolo's. I even heard him tell Dusty that he would've been an ant to you if he had been in Jackson's shoes instead." Radditz replied. "Yeah, you know... that's another thing that's been on my mind: Dusty. I mean... he's a good friend, he tends to keep his wits about him, and he's an excellent cook, having that I've had many of his own dishes from the school restaurant, and his friends are actually nice enough to me in the Heritage Room, although Viola seems to act slightly jealous when I'm around, it's usually more for fun." Nina continued, almost as if she was ignoring Radditz's comment about her anger surge. "What is it about him that's on your mind then?" Radditz asked her. "It's almost as if he has a special place for me somewhere. He's never the least bit cautious to fight back verbally against Jackson, because he knows Jackson's friends admire Dusty too much due to his reputation and cooking skills, and they would side with Dusty before him. I've noticed a lot of his anger at Jackson seems more or less having to do with Jackson's hate towards me." Nina explained. "You ever think he might actually like you?" Radditz had suggested, making a shot in the dark. "I'm not very sure, but I somehow doubt it. I mean, if he does, it seems he can hide it well from me. I don't think anyone else would know either if he did." Nina looked down, and said almost to herself. "Well, I hate to cut you short. But I must get some lone time to think over my next move. I need to find a job, I believe. I don't think we can just expect to go stealing shit from people around here and expect to be treated like heroes. We need money, and I don't think Paula, Dwayne or Steve can keep us afloat there forever." Radditz then cut in, remembering of what Teresa had said to him about stuff like that. "Alright, but you're a Saiya-jin, right? I know your kind eats much more than a human can." Nina spoke up. "Yeah, although Kakarott is a golden-sheep in that area. He can eat 5 times more than any Saiya-jin I know can, even myself, and I can eat a lot myself when hungry." Radditz replied. "Try to get a part-time job at a fast-food place, or at a restaurant. Usually employees will also get the bonus of some degree of free food. It might be enough to keep you going at the job, but I warn you, there are a lot of idiot people you'll run into, customers and employees alike." Nina advised. "Alright, I think I'll start there." the tall Saiya-jin replied, as he walked back into the kitchen, and then through the door leading to the basement. Nina sighed, thinking about her training with Paula. She was a good student, and while she was a little agitated about gravity training at first[like about anyone not used to doing it], she soon got the hang of it, and was able to adapt almost fully to it. Nina herself had also become a quick study at it, and realized that they were going to have to bump it up to 5x or higher very soon. She did wondered a little about that burst of power she gave off when she almost strangled Jackson to death, and then the comment Radditz had given about her going up a good amount in less than a full day. It was too bad she knew his scouter couldn't read a powerlevel as high as hers'. She knew his scouter could only go to 240,000 before it exploded, or just stopped scanning the person. She was well above that even BEFORE the merger had occurred. She figured she'd think more on it another time. She had just gotten home, and her talk with Radditz about her, Alex and Jackson's chaotic relationship had distracted her from going to her room to sleep. She opened the door to her room and walked in, closing it behind her... Part 9: Weighted Clothing and Chicken McNuggets?! (September 13, 2001 A.D.; 1:00am; Canton, Ohio) In the wee hours of that night, in the region of Fohl Village, anyone flying over would have seen a bright yellow light pulsing from the southern end of the park. At the source of the large source of light was one figure, standing in the middle of a long and vacant field, the tall weeds around him being blown all around, struggling not to be uprooted by the energy given off. Clint looked around into the night, using the calmness to train his Super Saiya-jin power. He realized that he needed to hold it in long enough that he could use it normally. He had remembered on the Dragonball Z show something about how both Goku and Gohan had managed to train their SSJ level to a point where it was much like turning it into their base, and had little to no drain on their powers, or 'Full Power Super Saiya-jin' as many internet fans called it. However 'Full power' didn't sound right to Clint, and he called it 'Energy Controlled' as the name made more sense. Clint had managed to get control at last on triggering the transformation fully at will, but he knew until he reached energy controlled level that he would probably never get to SSJ2. He also realized that was probably the same problem Alex, Vernon and Jason were experiencing. He wasn't sure if those three had gotten far enough long to start trying to go for ECSSJ. He had heard from Alex joking over the phone earlier that night about how Jason seemed to go "USSJ" very often, and Clint could only chuckle, trying to imagine Jason looking so tall, and over-bulked to the point of being stationary. He soon powered down, having been SSJ now for over around 2 full hours at once. He was tired enough for now to go back to sleep. Besides, some people hated all the light in their windows, even if his own parents couldn't see it with their own bedroom fashioned to keep light out of it. He sighed to himself, wondering about his next day's training with Devin and the others, and walked onto the porch on his house, and then back inside of the house itself. **** Later that morning, Alex had woke up at 5:10am, a little earlier than usual. He had gotten out of bed, cleaned up and ate at a record time of only 5 minutes total, and had been waiting out in his backyard, transforming to Super Saiya-jin at a low strength. He was starting to slightly get the hang of controlling his transformations at will. He also mused as he knew Vernon had been getting closer to getting that far. Jason on the other hand, was still having problems not bulking up to 2nd grade or higher, but he wasn't so reliant on anger now to keep at SSJ. Alex tensed slightly as he picked up Jason, and then Vernon's kis coming in towards him. He still easily felt Goku and Vegeta's high energies inside of the house they had rented out next door, and then he sensed Buu's odd powerlevel coming in from the north-northwest. He then felt out and sensed Dusty and Heero's powerlevels side by side not to terribly far away from Buu's. He had found out they were using the vacant lot near Devin's own house to train. Not that it concerned him too much. Their powerlevels were better then before, but his was still higher for now, and that was fine with him. Additionally he had a transformation which all of them, except Clint, lacked. Alex grumbled to himself at that last notion. "How the hell can Clint be an SSJ anyways? According to everything we got on him, he's fully human, but that might just be some cover up by #17, or something." He then grumbled, as he knew the android... no cyborg, he corrected himself, for having a knack for leading people astray, especially after almost getting landed on by his motorcycle the day before. "Why the hell where he and Piccolo on motorcycles anyways?" he asked himself, confused still at all of that from back then. However he was stopped as he saw Mr. Buu, Jason and Vernon land nearby. He noticed Vernon was already transformed as well, and so was Jason. Jason still looked slightly strained though, but today he didn't look as if his anger would pump him up like a balloon. Alex smirked, You know, I might be seeing this all wrong. Maybe competition is exactly what I need to get better. Trying to get ahead of Goku will be hard enough, so I might as well start off with what I can still chew off. he then grumbled, as he would've never said that out loud to any of the others. He hated to admit when someone else was better than he was, even if it were usually at something trivial like a video game or something, especially when the person in question was much noticeably better like Goku or Vegeta. Alex was also an avid game player, and was heavily into fighting games, and even DBZ: Budokai. He was also hearing about plans for a second game in the series to come out in mid-November this year. But he remembered as he and Vernon were always facing each other in the Tekken series. He wondered if his gaming skills had lessened with his training in real life. Although Alex would've preferred truly having power as opposed to just having it in a video game too. Soon, he turned to the rented house nearby, as Goku and Vegeta stepped out, to meet over with the other four. "Vegeta and I talked last night over it, and we also consulted Buu on it, and we've decided we're going to move to the arena near Massillon for now. It's a lot more open, and you three seem to be handling it fine." Goku told them, and then he looked over to Jason, "Hey, it looks like you finally got the hang of it Jason." Jason sweatdropped, not liking to be reminded of the hard time he had been having holding SSJ. "Hey Goku, is there anyway to give us a powerlevel comparison?" Vernon asked, curious. "Not down to the number, even if I had Radditz's scouter, you're all strong enough to cause it to explode." Goku said. "Feh, big deal. Vernon, your powerlevel is the highest, Alex's is in the middle, and Jason's is a bit below his. The gap isn't really that large, but enough for me to notice." Vegeta cut in. Alex sighed, and Jason frowned at this, while Vernon barely hid a smirk. "Let's get moving!" Buu declared out happily, as he lifted up into the air eagerly, and the other five lifted up, and all six shot off northwestward to reach the abandoned stadium. **** Back at the vacant lot, Dusty and Heero had gotten some additional time in for about an hour. Heero needed some extra training, and he knew it. Dusty had decided to also teach him the Stone Cold Stunner in the meanwhile, despite Heero's protests. He said it was stupid to use such outdated moves in a battle. Dusty just laughed loudly at him, explaining the moves aren't all just to train against enemy attack. Heero had soon learned Dusty and at one time, even Dan had been big on joining the WWE and the WCW when they had been younger. Dan had outgrown it, but it still stuck somewhat with Dusty. Heero had been upgraded to level 4 training clothing. Soon enough though, Dwayne and Steve arrived, soon followed by Devin. "You two are early." Devin commented. "Yeah really, what're you doing here so soon Dusty? According to your mom, you left at around 5:15." Steve asked him sternly. "Well sorry guys, but I talked to Heero about how he wanted some extra training, and he himself was interested, so we met up here a little early. It's not a crime, is it?" Dusty grumbled. Dwayne sighed, "If you see it that way, I guess it's no big deal. I see you tried to teach him the Stunner too." "How did you..." Dusty spoke. "Dusty, your interests in wrestling have always shown you to try to teach people a move or two in sessions. It's not a big surprise to us. Has he mastered the Stunner yet?" Steve replied simply. "Well, he can do it just fine, but he's embarrassed about using 'outdated' moves in a real fight." Dusty replied. Steve chuckled heartily, "Heero, you've got a lot to learn about just how 'useless' our moves really are. I've noticed a lot of the other groups of Misfits have been focusing around using their ki, almost too much. A good few punches and kicks are also necessary to understand, and even some more advanced physical and grappling moves. Do you realize how easily I could break an equal-strength opponents' neck if I did the Stunner on them from mid-air?" "That thought didn't really cross my mind." Heero grumbled. "Yeah, and trust me. My people's elbow can hurt from high up if it lands solid." Dwayne said to him. "Maybe they're not too devastating in the ring since the sport's on more human terms, but in a real battle, those wrestling moves can easily turn the tables, if used correctly." Devin even admitted to them. Soon, Clint and Virgil had arrived at last. "Hey, you two goofs are late!" Dusty called over as he spotted them, making the others turn to Clint and Virgil as well. "Sorry, I did some overnight training and had a hard time getting up properly." Clint replied. "What were you doing, you doofus?" Devin asked him. "Just trying to figure out how to reach Energy-Controlled Super Saiya-jin, and kept powered up for about 2 hours straight." "Damn!" Devin grumbled, feeling quite a bit jealous, "You don't understand just how much I wish I could do what you could Clint." "I bet. Especially with Alex, Jason and Vernon also able to do it." Clint replied, making Devin grumble at the mention of Jason and Alex. Vernon was his best friend basically, so it wasn't a problem there, but Alex's arrogance, and Jason's tendency to be random as hell got under Devin's skin at times. "Anyways, why the hell's Virgil late?" asked Steve. "He bumped into me on my way there. I was talking to him a little bit. I was also making sure he knows he's gonna have to train harder today." "Hah, I'm surprised he still came then, at that rate!" Devin said, half-taunting at Virgil. "Oh shut up. I can take whatever you can, and more!" Virgil grumbled back. "Is that a fact?" Devin challenged, "Then you won't mind if you undergo a special regimen I found out from Goku." "Shoot. I'll do anything to get stronger." Virgil said back mootly. Devin pulled some level 2 weighted clothing out of a briefcase he had brought with him, and tossed them over to Virgil, who caught them with a bit of difficulty. "You need to put that on at the least first." he told the fatter Misfit. Virgil found a small changing area they had set up near the lot the day before, and went back into privacy and got into the training clothes. Virgil trudged out of the room, having a bit of difficulty walking over to them. "Now... what?" he asked with some labored breathing from the weight on his body. Devin then got out some level 3 training clothes, and went back to the dressing area and slipped into them, and walked back out, only looking to be slightly hindered by even those. "I want you to chase me on foot, and try as hard as you can to catch me!" he said. Virgil sweatdropped, but he sighed, "Fine! Ready or not, here I come!" he ran to accelerate at Devin, but he had tried to start off a bit too fast, and ended up tripping over and crashing into the ground, creating a tiny tremor. "Woah! Damn Virgil, you really do shake the ground when you fall!" Dusty commented, not really as an insult, but as a realization. Virgil grumbled, pulling himself slowly to his feet, and growled feral as he started to chase after Devin, who only looked to be mildly trying to run away from Virgil. In the meanwhile, Clint looked over to Dusty, Heero, Dwayne and Steve, "So what should we start with? More weight training?" Steve looked over, "Well, actually, I think the lot of us should start learn to use ki more ourselves. I might have said physical moves help, but none of us have too many ki abilities yet." he then looked directly at Clint, "Can you do any real blasts yet?" "I have been able to do a Kamehameha, and then even control a Soukidan like the kind Jason and Yamcha use. I'm also trying to form another move that I know as the 'great equalizer'." Clint explained. "Why don't we just start off and try to charge our ki a little bit to shoot larger blasts, and then we'll try to shoot signature moves." Heero suggested, a bit impatient to start off. "Yeah, that seemed to be how Alex and Vernon did it during their earlier training." Clint agreed, as he looked over the ground near him, and quickly shot a stream of 10 small ki shots into the ground in front of him, leaving a small crater in the ground. "Let's not wreck the place up too much man." Dusty said, "Remember, we're not in any kind of place where training is barely felt by the natives." Clint frowned, "I know that Dusty, It's kinda depressing we have to worry so much about it." "Yeah, but I think it gives us more motive to keep control of our ki." Dusty said back, having been truthful about that. It was true that many of the Misfits didn't currently have the luxury of massive and uninhabited areas to go crazy with their training, despite the vast size of the lot. Dusty was wondering how long it'd be before that would really began to limit their growth of power. Dusty then decided he'd lead off for the others, and charged a short amount of ki by forcing it into his hand, and shot a medium-sized, but weak blast that left a scorch mark on the ground. He then charged his energy and quickly fired three more shots at the same place. Now the ground looked slightly melted in. Dwayne also had taken Dusty's example, pelting the ground with minor ki blasts, about 5 or 6, because of how much he was struggling to do so. He had left a small melt in the ground in front of him as well. Heero, on the other hand, had cupped his hands to the side, and looked like he just wanted to skip onto a Kamehameha. "Heero, you sure it's wise to start off so high?" Steve looked over to him, as he had nonchalantly shot a few small blasts at a few stationary pieces of trash on the side of the road to train himself. "Don't bother me right now, I need to make sure I can do this!" Heero snapped back, "Ka... me... ha... me... ha!!" he finished and propelled his hands upward shooting a medium-sized Kamehameha wave into the atmosphere. Virgil and Devin had also witnessed this and Virgil had fallen over a second time trying to stop on a dime, and caused a another small tremor. Heero so let up on his wave, looking a moderate deal worn out, but nothing severe. He smiled, "Good, at least I know I can do it now." Soon, Devin picked up running from Virgil again. Quite a few times he would slightly taunt the weaker of the two by slowing down a little, just enough to let Virgil think he was wearing down, and then would pick up speed as Virgil attempted to lunge at him. A lot of times, Virgil had to peel himself off the ground, grumbling and wanting to scream obscenities at Devin, but he knew this was training, and Devin was just probably trying to get him to get a few hard knocks for experiences' sake. He swore though he would catch him, even if Devin was the stronger one at the time. Virgil wondered about trying to trick him, but he figured: He's too easy to trick anyways, I'll just play along for now, I guess. However, after about another 40 minutes of running around, Virgil had realized he was close to being exhausted, and that Devin wasn't so easy to trick as he thought. "Devin, I need a break!" he wheezed. Devin shrugged, "I guess I can go train with them for about 10 minutes, but don't get too comfortable Virgil." Clint had decided to move in a little bit away from the others to practice his ki usage more. It was then he noticed Virgil sitting on the ground, panting a lot. "Virgil, you okay?" Clint asked. "Damn, this is hard!" Virgil grumbled, "How do you people adapt so fast?!" "Well, I think it's a matter of gritting your teeth and dealing with it." Clint replied, and then he began to think about the other night, "Virgil, exactly why did you prank the others anyways? I wasn't around when it happened, but they said something about getting their attention." Virgil looked over, "You guys left when you won the Talon ST contest. I knew you all went over to Japan, but I figured you'd be gone only a few days. It was on the 5th I realized you guys had been home for a few days, and when you still hadn't shown up on the 8th, I got worried. I decided I'd get a hold of some of you in a way to annoy them. You guys had been annoying me by not checking in..." "So you annoyed those guys back, I get it now... sorta." Clint replied, "But why choose to train with us? I thought you weren't a big fan of Devin, Alex, Jason and Vernon." "The training is solely because of the 11th, and those fucking terrorists Clint. I wouldn't be training at all if they hadn't done this. I was never the biggest fan of things like Dragonball, but now that I realize this merger has done something to our world, I guess now it's good to utilize it to my best need." Virgil replied, his words actually sounding smarter than most of them were used to him sounding. After a few more minutes, Devin finished up his minor training with Dwayne, Heero, Dusty and Steve, noticing Heero had done a second, weaker Kamehameha wave up into the air, and Dusty had now done one of his own, much to his surprise. He walked over back to Virgil and Clint. "Clint, Virgil's got to get back to his guns. Go off and train or something." Devin said. Clint rolled his eyes a little, "Whatever. Hey, you want to spar later?" he then asked. "Why? Unless you're going to stay at base, there's no point. You'd kick my ass." Devin replied. "Yeah, of course at base. Besides, I need to get my base stronger too anyways." Clint said. "How about in an hour or two then." Devin replied. With that, Devin coached Virgil to his feet, and the two larger Misfits went back to the running/chasing exercise, and Virgil was amusingly still trying to lunge at Devin once in a while... **** Back in the fields south of Harry London's, Nina and Paula had arrived at their designated training spot for their second day. After a short talk about the day's training methods, Nina mentioned how she'd probably increase the gravity to around 4x of Earth's. Now both had been standing stiffly, trying to adjust their balance to begin their training. They were going to probably try to run laps again, about 125 once again. However this time, they were planning to take some breaks from the running. Paula had discussed that morning over the phone about using rocks and other small throwing objects in order to dodge better. Nina had been interested, stating it might help increase their speed. She however also wanted the two of them to try to fire off some normal ki, as neither girl had really yet tried to do so yet. Paula had smacked herself mentally, realizing she was right. Goku well knew how to shoot ki, and everyone else had been able to do the same pretty much, therefore they felt left behind a little. It was suddenly that Paula had realized: Nina didn't know how to sense or mask her ki. She knew that it was Nina's fault for flying off the other day, but she also knew that teaching her about it would probably be a good idea. "Nina, Wait a minute! Before we do anything else, did you ever learn how to mask and sense ki energies?" she asked. Nina looked around suddenly, and smacked her head. "Aw crap! I forgot to ask one of you about that, despite Radditz's advice. So you think you can help me with it?" The other girl smiled back, "Yeah, let's get you going first before we start the main training. Basically, for masking your energy, just try your hardest to shove your energy into a confined space, like trying to compress it." Paula replied, explaining in her best words the way one could mask and hide their ki energy. Nina nodded, and soon shoved her ki down about 50%, as Paula was letting her know from her own ability to sense. "How was that?" Nina asked. "You cut your energy level in half at least. You can probably get better with it though." Paula recommended, but she figured Nina would get that down without her help, and went on explaining about sensing out ki like they were flames in the air. Nina had a bit of difficulty understanding in those words, but Paula then explained more to the extent of feeling vibrations was a good stepping stone. Soon enough, Nina had finally been able to sense Paula's own ki, and then soon managed to sense the farther off kis of Clint, Dwayne, Dusty, Virgil, Devin, Steve, and then Mr. Buu, Goku, Vegeta, Alex, #17, Piccolo and Jason's kis in another area, and then he sensed Radditz, Dan, and apparently Teresa's kis in one area. Comparing her own powerlevel with her ally nearby, Nina realized she was only about 10-20% stronger than Paula at the moment, and realized they might end up making better partners than she thought. She then altered their gravity auras to be much like 4x gravity, and ran over to the track to run laps. **** Radditz had woke up earlier, and checked the backyard behind his and Nina's house. That was where he had planted the sensu bean Piccolo had given him on the 11th. He looked on, but noticed no real progress just yet. He sulked to himself, realizing he needed to get to the fields south of Alex's house to continue training Teresa and Dan. He was going to try to get her firing off larger shots, and maybe even train Dan to fire some more high-scale attacks. Dan could do his own Saturday Crush, and also a Final Flash as well. Vegeta had growled a little upon Radditz telling him and Goku about that the night before, but then the prince shrugged it off, saying to his older comrade that he could always learn a new attack if he needed. Radditz had then figured out that he too needed to create some kind of new attack of his own. Aside from the Saturday Crush and Double Sunday, he didn't really have much else in the neighborhood of signature blasts. He had been thinking about one specific move that he had starting thinking of back on the 11th, and only made more willing to know after the attacks of that day. He was curious on how to get mastery of it down. Also, he couldn't forget about Nina's suggestion to find a fast-food job. He had already called around, and had to go in and check a couple of places out, so he was going to have to make this session quick. He soon had finally met up with Dan and Teresa. Apparently Dan had the shattering foresight to start showing Teresa how to shoot larger energy shots. He had witnessed Teresa doing a specific kind of blast, where she had cranked her arm backwards, almost like a pitcher, and had formed a medium-sized ball in her hand. Dan was apparently standing back, just as curious as Radditz. She then shouted out and tossed the ball much like a line-drive, sending the blast shooting out at over 100 MPH. However it wasn't that on it's own that was so important, as the fact she managed to make the shot turn around and fly back toward her. "What the hell?" asked Radditz, as she saw Teresa direct her own blast back at herself. She then held out her hands and caught the blast in them, trying to push the ball away. "What kinda bizarre training is that?" Dan asked. Teresa continued pressing up on her own attack, then forming a second ball in her hands that pushed the first ball back in the other direction, and then shot off forward as well. The two balls were now flying around 110 MPH, as she fired a third shot towards their location. "Wait a minute! I think Kakarott told me about something like this before!" Radditz called out, recalling a time when Goku had used the method of shooting controlled blasts around the area, trying to withstand his own hits at a lower powerlevel, or dodge the shots as they whizzed around. Teresa looked with an intense glare at the three moving shots she had fired. I've gotta time these just right. If this works, perhaps it might prove to myself of this 'potential' Radditz was telling me about last night. as she screamed, "MERGE!!" Radditz, Dan and Teresa watched in awe as the three blasts slowly began to merge together, and the combined energy began to expand forward, almost as if it were forming into a recognizable figure. In fact, Radditz's eyes almost bugged as the form actually because to resemble Teresa's own build. Dan looked on as the energy soon began to transform into what now looked like an energy clone of Teresa's own body. Teresa looked on at this, "Now or never. MOBILIZE!!" she then screamed. Dan watched as the attack began to look solid, now much looking like Teresa itself. However to their surprise, the attack's "eyes" opened, and it jumped forward at Teresa, who jumped forward to meet what was now considered to be her 'ki clone' in mid-air. Both Teresas began to trade punches, and a kick or two occasionally. Teresa even felt a normal level of pain whenever her energy clone connected, and the clone, seemed to also feel a kind of damage when she hit it. "What the hell did she just... did she create a living ki spirit!?" Radditz gaped, as he watched the two Teresas jump up into the air, and the ki clone shot a blast of its' own at the real one, as she shot one back, and then teleported and elbowed the clone in the back. Marvelous! See, I told you one day of training was just the tip of the icing on the cake! Radditz thought to himself with an odd analogy. The clone recovered and zanzokened below Teresa and punched her in the stomach, sending the real Teresa flying upwards. Radditz had decided to see if his scouter could pick up something on this, and pointed it at the two fighting Teresas. Both had registered in at around 8,020 to 8,220 degrees, depending on who was currently attacking or defending. "That's... man, can Kakarott even do anything remotely like that?! Both she and her energy clone are both at roughly the same powerlevel as she'd have alone at the end of yesterday's session! Where'd she come up with that?!" Dan continued to watch the two Teresas in utter amazement, having realized she had done something probably most of his own friends had not even tried to think about at the time. He looked over to Radditz, to see his expression, noticing he was just as bugged out as he was at this, even though he almost noticed the pride Radditz felt for this moment slip through his expression. However, he soon saw Radditz narrow his eyes, and turn about 120 degrees to the south. Dan watched in wonder as he began to see a ki flare surge around the tall Saiya-jin. At first, the aura looked to be a bluish color. However soon, be noticed that the aura had began to change a little to an orangish hue. Radditz himself had placed his hands on his forehead, or more specifically, 3 of his fingers to his forehead. It had almost looked like he was going to attempt to shoot Piccolo's Makankosappou at something. However, at the last moment, he saw the ki aura change in a strange way towards the top. It was now appearing as if it were really burning like a flame. Dan noted that normal ki did not actually have any kind of heat or burning property on its' own. Ki was a concussive force when used offensively, which also explained its' explosive properties when it impacted with hard enough surfaces or much stronger fighters, and any burns on the body were usually friction burns from trying to hold a blast back with your hands, or from blocking the blast. Also, contrary to what most believed, when a ki wave disintegrated an enemy, it wasn't because the enemy was burned and roasted alive, but it was because the ki force was so strong it was literally tearing the victim's body apart and into thin air. In the show, the effect made it look like fatal ki waves literally burned the enemy away. Radditz soon grunted to himself, noticing a flare of fire around his three fingers on his forehead. "It's time..." he said to him, and pointed out the trio of fingers at the field ahead of him, "ATOMIC RAY!!!" Dan, and even Teresa and her energy-made clone stopped and turned at his voice, watching as Radditz shot out an orange-looking ki laser of medium width at the field about 200 feet away. Except they noticed there had been a kind of literal fire around the laser. The blast slammed into the ground, erupting into both a large explosion, and also leaving flames behind that literally began to eat on the nearby wheat in the field around the blast crater. Radditz smirked at this blast, now realized he had finally managed to fire a successful Atomic Ray attack. He knew that the attack now wasn't just composed of ki, but he could swear something else had felt a little off about it. That wasn't all ki I just used. But what else could it be? I'm coming up short on what it is! he thought to himself. He then swept his hands out in a wave, creating a large gust of air to extinguish the fire he created. "I hope they don't mind all of this." Radditz said to himself, referring to the people of Canton who had people living out somewhat close to these fields. Teresa had soon called her energy clone over, and Dan and Radditz watched as both clipped each other on the shoulder as if like a kind of link, causing the clone to revert to a normal looking ki ball, which Teresa then appeared to reabsorb into her own body. Her powerlevel returned to it's original level, and in fact even slightly above it. "What the hell was that?" Radditz asked her, "You created some kind of training partner from energy. I've heard of body duplication attacks before, like what I heard Piccolo can do, but not living ki." "I did some research on you, and I figured out something from watching an episode of that Dragonball you seem to have come from." Teresa replied, "One of the characters apparently had the ability to breath out living ki vapors that turned into wispy ghosts." "Wait... you're talking about the Kamikaze Ghost Attack, aren't you?" Dan realized what she had meant, "That's something I've only seen a fused being do before." "Well I figured if they could do it, that others could do it. I had to fire several shots though in order to get enough energy expelled to form the clone properly. But once done, it seems to work." she looked over at a little of the damage she and her clone had caused. Dan then looked to Radditz, "And how about you? What was that fiery blast all about? As I recall, Ki never burns directly or gives off fire." Radditz chuckled, "I think I realize that now, I guess that fire came from something else, but I have no idea what it was myself. I just knew something felt off about the Atomic Ray." he then looked to both of them, "I think we should get back down to training. Teresa, you think you can teach us that little spirit cloning blast somehow?" Teresa sighed, "I could try, but It's hard enough to explain to you. You might not be able to learn it, nor Dan." "Whatever can be done of this, let's get on with this session." Dan spoke up to his training teacher. "Prepare yourselves, because I think it's time you two learned how to fire more higher-end blasts. It's too bad you two aren't Saiya-jins, or else you'd probably be able to give Alex's group a run for their money soon. They're currently on training to hold SSJ for a long period of time." he explained, flashing Teresa a look that suggested he was saying it to prevent Dan from catching on to the subject of their talk from the previous night. She merely gave him a very light nod. After that, the two Misfits and possible Misfit-in-training proceeded back to the fields to start training again. **** At the abandoned stadium in Northwest Canton, Alex and Jason were somewhat working together and tandem against Vernon. All three of them were at Super Saiya-jin level, darting around each other, trying to get more of a true feel for how to fight in the transformed state. This was something Goku, Piccolo, #17 and Vegeta had been eager to get the three of them to do for a while. Now they could keep their SSJ for a long enough period at a time to start training for real. Additionally, they also were wearing level 4 weighted clothing, making them a bit slow of foot as they all sparred. Alex jumped up at Vernon, firing two blasts up at him as he flew upwards. Vernon had to worry about dodging both him, and also Jason coming in at him from above, also shooting a small Soukidan. Vernon zanzokened and let both Alex and Jason's blasts hit and cancel each other out, and he reappeared above Jason, and swung his leg into Jason's back, knocking him towards the ground, while he quickly darted in and tried to punch Alex in the stomach. Luckily Alex had experienced this enough and dodged to his side, and managed to axehandle him downwards as well. Vernon landed quickly, and looked to Jason, "Let's both get him!" he called. Jason and Vernon dodged at different angles, and Alex had soon dodged Jason's swinging kick from the side, and he barely managed to see Vernon appear above him, and ducked fast enough, causing Vernon to hit Jason on the head a second time. "Come on, you two are slow!" Alex taunted from above, although a sight bit arrogantly. "Hah, we're only toying with you, Alex!" Jason said, as he jumped up quickly, faster than Alex could track, and quickly smashed into him, butt first, plowing both of them through the air, and then causing them to crash into the ground, leaving an indent with both crashed. Jason jumped back off of him, and Vernon dashed over and grabbed Alex, and threw him high up into the air, where he cupped his hands and fired a kamehameha up which smashed into him. Alex growled, struggling to recover from Jason's strange attack, in order to pull himself from being carried further upwards by the Kamehameha, before he smashed into a wall or another solid object. Screaming out, he formed a ki flare around his body which shoved Vernon's blast away from him long enough to break free. He soon reappeared behind Jason, and shot his own Kamehameha and hit Jason square in the back and sent him plowing into a set of seats and exploded. Jason emerged slightly scorched, but Vernon didn't let that bother him, as he jumped up into the air and aimed down at Alex, with one arm outstretched into a flat palm. Vegeta growled at him, "Great, now he's trying to do my Big Bang Attack!" Vernon's shot fired down true, but Alex managed to smack it aside, and Jason had to put up his arms and enter a defensive stance to block the Big Bang. Piccolo looked over to Vegeta, "Don't be so angry, he learned how to do a Masenko in less than 2 days. I'm surprised he didn't try a Big Bang Attack before this." Piccolo stated. "Come Piccolo, why don't we both spar a little. It's always us training them, or some other stupid thing. Let's actually get ourselves stronger for once." #17 was getting impatient. Piccolo looked to him ands smirked, "Heh. It's been a while since I actually shed these annoying weights." Piccolo said as he took off his weighted clothing, and tossed it to the ground nearby. The Namekian and cyborg flew up and out of the stadium and landed outside the walls. Piccolo quickly charged up his ki as #17 let loose roughly 20 blasts in rapid succession at the Namekian. Piccolo formed all of his energy into a barrier which absorbed each blast as quickly as it came. Piccolo suddenly vanished and reappeared behind #17 and swung a large kick to his legs, tripping the cyborg and forcing him to flip backwards a few times to prevent from falling on his face. #17 grumbled, "All right, time to turn up the heat!" he growled, charging his energy and flying forward at Piccolo. Piccolo prepared to shoot a large blast to intercept #17, but he swerved around the incoming shot, and then turned to Piccolo's side and kicked him there, sending him hurtling back about 10 feet. Piccolo smirked, "So that's how you want to play it." He said, putting two fingers to his forehead, indicating he was charging his Makankosappou beam. #17 jumped back quickly as Piccolo released the corkscrew-like beam at him, however Piccolo began to guide the shot upward at his partner. #17 quickly began to dodge around, a few times just barely avoiding getting hammered by the beam. After about 20 seconds of messing around, #17 ignited his specialty ki barrier, and the Makankosappou impacted and dissipated on the barrier. Piccolo let up, as #17 lowered to the ground, "Just remember #17, just is only for kicks. I'd probably already have killed you by now if we had still be enemies. #17 grumbled to himself, but tried to keep his cool, "Don't be so sure you'd win perfectly. Even now I still have more natural speed than you have. You're tall and strong, but I'm slim and quick." "But I also have the skill too in order to win." Piccolo replied. "Sure, whatever you say there, Piccolo. Let's go back and check on the munchkins for a second." he said, sensing out to find Alex, Jason and Vernon were still going at it, and now he sensed Goku, Vegeta and Buu's powerlevels had elevated. Piccolo had sensed all of this too. "Looks like Goku, Vegeta and Buu are getting just as restless as we are." Piccolo said, as they flew back up and re-entered the stadium from above. **** By some freak act of luck, Virgil had finally managed to catch Devin after about 3 or four hours of running around. Now Devin had decided to up the ante a lot. He had thrown Virgil over a level 3 set of training clothes, and then after Virgil had gotten into that getup, he then opened up the briefcase he had brought with him, and pulled out a large, mallet sized hammer, a special hammer were the handle was light, but durable enough to hold up the main weight, which was extremely heavy. He held it up, even him having a short amount of trouble, and tossed it over near Virgil. "Virgil, now you need to chase me wearing those weights, and you need to hit me with that hammer now. It won't be as easy as you might think though. The weight is super heavy!" Devin explained, as Virgil struggled to just lift the end of the hammer off the ground. Virgil finally managed to pull the weight up off the ground, "So I have to hit you with this? You know this'll really hurt if I manage to hit you." Virgil stated. "Which is exactly why I'm going to try to dodge you as much as I can." Devin replied, knowing Virgil was right. If he swung that into one of them just right, it could do a good deal of damage even to Steve or Dwayne. Clint ran over and landed nearby, "Hey, Devin. It's time we did this. You ready?" he asked Devin, reminding them of this spar. Devin then had an idea, "You know, I think we'll make this a little interactive. I'll still spar you Clint, but Virgil will also be in on this, trying to hit either of us with the hammer while we spar with each other." "That seems quite interesting." Clint replied, dropping into a stance, as Devin did the same. "Virgil, smash the hammer on the ground to lead us off." Clint suggested. Virgil gave the best heave he could, and slammed a large dent into the ground, shaking it with a small tremor, and watched as Devin and Clint ran at each other as he tried to pick the hammer of the ground. Devin quickly dodged to the side before Clint could get near, and shot a short volley of ki shots at Clint. Clint smacked two away, blocked 2 more, and dodged the last three as he formed a Soukidan and tossed it at Devin. Devin knew he would probably try to fake him out with it. He stood his ground, and he predicted correctly as Clint suddenly made the ball fly upwards, and then around from behind. Devin jumped forward at Clint, and swung his leg, barely clipping Clint's ankle as the other Misfit jumped to dodge. However, Devin had wisely managed to trick Clint into aiming the ball in an upward angle. Clint growled as he suddenly got smacked in the side by his own attack and almost knocked out of the air. However Devin capitalized and jump kicked him back to the road, but Clint had managed to correct his landing to avoid serious damage. Clint suddenly dodged to the side as Virgil attempted to swing his hammer down on him. Knowing Virgil couldn't be directly attacked in this spar, he figured maybe he could use the outside Misfit against Devin. At least he's not rushing into this too much. he thought sternly, as he darted aside a few more inches to discourage Virgil from making a swing with the large hammer he had, and wasting more of his energy and effort. Clint looked over at Devin and bent down and placed his fists onto the ground, and then jumped forward in a fast charge at Devin. Devin prepared to dodge, but Clint suddenly jumped up, flipping around fast as he gained altitude. He cupped his hands to the side as he flipped, hoping Devin wouldn't expect it, and flipped back to try to hit him from behind. Devin saw Clint's incoming charge and jumped to the side, but Clint smirked, as he shot a medium Kamehameha from his hands while still spinning in the air. Devin was totally caught off guard as the blast slammed into his left thigh and caused him to flip over and land on his face. He saw Virgil moving in at Devin, but Devin saw the larger Misfit heading his way, and used a surge of ki to propel himself back before Virgil made a missed swing into the ground where he had been laying. However Clint had already appeared behind him, and gave him a good kick in the back, sending him flying forward, but Devin turned it into a front flip by catching the ground with his hands and shot a large ki shot that Clint had not been expecting. He dodged mostly, but the shot still grazed his cheek, spinning him a few degrees, long enough for Devin to fire three more blasts that hit their mark against Clint's back, left shoulder and the back of his head. Clint was sent flying up into the air, as Virgil finally picked his hammer back out of the ground, and went in to hit Devin. Devin ducked aside and flipped out of Virgil's path, but Virgil did not take a full swing and had recovered quicker than expected, now back on Devin's tail. Clint noticed this and raised his hands into the air, and formed a large-strength Soukidan while Virgil had been distracting Devin. "Hey hotshot! Dodge this one!!" he called down as he threw the Soukidan at high speeds. Devin saw it and barely managed to pull a complicated dodging maneuver that allowed him to dodge both the Soukidan and then Virgil's next attempted swing. However he had only fully cleared Virgil, and the high-speed Soukidan of Clint's was still heading his way, having made a turn back towards him. Devin managed to dodge its' second pass by the skin of his teeth, but he had not seen the second, weaker Soukidan Clint had just tossed, which smacked him on the chin, and sent him off his intended course. He was left vulnerable to the second, stronger blast that had turned back towards him. Devin growled, not wanting to be defeated so easily, and shouted loudly as he felt a temporary boost of strength that both allowed him to dodge backwards and then axehandle the other wise battle-ending Soukidan into the ground like spiking a volleyball. Clint had noticed a short black aura that had formed around Devin when he did this, and realized he must've had a boost of desperation. He probably can't pull another move like that again, and prepared to attack, but he stopped, as Virgil had managed to get in behind, and took another swung at Devin, which he managed to dodge. However he could tell whatever burst of strength Devin had done had weakened him. He saw Devin had dodged back from Virgil, but Devin had forgotten Clint was right in his new path. Clint took advantage of this, and axehandled Devin one more time, sending him to the ground, a little roughed up looking. Devin grumbled, as he slowly pulled himself up. "Shit! Well, I'm done for now Clint. I don't know what happened, but I did some miracle shot, and then it wore the fuck outta me." he said. Clint called Virgil to try to swing at him instead of Devin, as he called to Devin, "Well, that wasn't too bad. At least you deflected a high-level Soukidan, even if only once." Clint had then dodged away as Virgil had missed his next swing. "Virgil, you can't just come at us without a plan that way. You're using the same level clothing as us, and that heavy mallet only makes a frontal assault harder." Clint said, "You saw how Devin and I had to keep dodging around and trying to fake each other out." "I know, I know Clint! But I'm not exactly fast enough that any plan's really gonna work at this point. I'm just trying to get a lucky hit." Virgil grumbled angrily. "Well luck is random, not constant." Devin said, as he had managed to get to his feet, "You're not going to get much more better at this rate." Clint looked to Devin, "What're you doing?" Devin looked back, and pulled out a half sensu bean he had gotten from Goku, and chomped it down. "Oh, nevermind." Clint replied. Devin had healed enough now that he could continue training, but he decided lifting weights would do well for now. Clint could train Virgil for a while. It was what he got for winning the battle, Devin smirked to himself. **** Paula wiped the sweat off of her forehead. She had completed the 125 laps needed for the day with her 4x Gravity. Nina had decided when she finished that she was probably going to go to 7x gravity the next day, and perhaps even bring in some weighted clothing. Paula had been told she should go and get weights of her own if she could find them. Paula had then thought about something. She had realized all of the other groups training had weighted clothing, but they didn't have the gravity training. She wondered if there was a way Nina could use her powers to accelerate their training as well. However she also had a nagging feeling it wouldn't work out for whatever reason. Regardless of such thoughts, when Nina had finished up her laps about 30 minutes later, Paula had asked, "Hey Nina, you can do this gravity thing on anyone, right?" Nina panted heavily, but still allowing the 4x gravity to affect her, so she wouldn't totally wimp out, she then caught her breath and replied, "Yeah, I can do it to a set number of people at once. I think as many as 3 or 4. However my range is somewhat limited. At best it would be about three-fourths of a mile. Also, while I don't have to concentrate endlessly to keep the auras present, I think only I can remove the auras myself." "Would you be able to do it to any of the others if you wanted to?" Paula asked. "Well, yes. I think I could even use it on Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo or Buu. But I don't think what I know how to do right now would really affect them. I found out from Radditz that Goku and Vegeta have experience in 400 times or more gravity, definitely way better than any of us." "Still, that leaves like Clint, Alex and the rest of those guys." Paula said. Nina looked down, "I'm not sure if they deserve it yet." she said, sounding a slight bit irritated. "Huh? Why? They're training hard too, aren't they?" Paula asked back, a little taken back by Nina's reply. "Paula, I'll be honest with you. As far as I've known many of those guys. Few of them have truly made any real efforts at doing anything for keeps. The only person I can truly credit is Dusty and his determination to be a cook, but the rest of them... I don't think they're either ready to handle it yet, or that they honestly deserve it yet. Besides, I've already told too many people about our training. I accidentally blurted it out to Goku the other night when we were returning from the Red Dog, and I ended up admitting it to Radditz, as I realized with him around, there was little chance of keeping it from him for long. Both of them agreed not to tell the others, but I want to keep our training as private as possible from the others." Paula was confused about Nina's intentions, "Yes really, that also makes me curious... why do you want to keep this all so secretive anyways?" Nina sat down next to her and then frowned sadly, "Paula, it's no surprise we're both female. All the others are male except for Teresa, and I've noticed in both my world and this one that a lot of men have much pride, and many have an illusion women aren't good at taking care of themselves. Alex even admitted to me one time he didn't want to ever fight a woman. I know he feels like it's a code of honor, because he told me it was how he was raised, but I see it as a kind of insult in general." Paula looked at her, beginning to understand just a little as Nina continued talking, "I don't totally blame Alex or the rest of them for it, but I've seen the things on Dragonball, the show I mean. If the show is any indication of Goku and his gang's real past, then only one female ever truly fought for any coherent amount of time, and that would be #17's sister #18, and even then she was pushed further into the background after a short time. It's 99% male vs. male on that show, and that mindset will probably grow on Alex's gang the more and more they train." "You're worried if they find out, they'll try to stop us either out of pride or worry of our safety." Paula cut in. "Yes, that's exactly why. But that's not the only reason I don't think I'm ready to give them the gravity training." Nina replied. "What was the other reason?" Paula then asked. "Remember when I went berserk on Jackson on the 11th?" Nina asked Paula, and she nodded. Nina continued, "Well, if you recall, I was bellowing my head off at him because he had no clue of the hell had I had to go through. You see, I've had to basically take care of myself since I was born. My parents weren't evil mean people or anything like that, in fact, they were very good, loving people, but it was because of a bad omen concerning the color of my wings. It was said one who was born with the black wings would bring ruin to the kingdom of Windia, where I was born. When I was born, people were going nuts. My own parents had to make a decision to either kill me then, or only pretend to kill me in the eyes of the public and send me into exile to take care of myself." "They sent you away for you to try to survive, didn't they?" Paula then realized, sadness forming in her own heart for her friend. "Yes, but I had many hardships, and I had my own terrible battles. I fear some even made a few of the villains from Goku's past possibly seem weak in will by comparison. Remember St. Evans? He was horribly powerful. I even think I was actually killed for a short time during the fight with him. However my memory is fuzzy, and my other friends who fought Evans alongside me said I never died." Nina continued. "Wait, is this 'Rinpoo' person one of your friends?" Paula cut in, remembering hearing Nina whisper that name before. "Yes. Rinpoo is of another unique race known as the Furen, and while with the right clothing she could fit in better with the student body than I could and doesn't have the telltale wings, she has other qualities that would make Jackson target her similarly. The main difference between the two of us is our personalities. That rage I had at Jackson the other day was the first time I ever really retaliated against him in a serious manner. If it had been Rinpoo and not me, Jackson may well have been already killed or at least hospitalized 3 or 4 times. She does not take such antagonistic crap from people often, and she angers easily, especially when people get on her case about being a freak. She's also a lot faster and stronger than me physically. You see, most of the others don't really know it yet, but I wield what people on this planet would call magic. Although it's called the same on my world, this world had never truly believed in it prior to the merger. I'm sure many of them still don't even now, but I know I can use it. Me shrinking Alex and Vernon a few times, like I mentioned, and even these gravity auras, they're all examples of magic." Nina explained. "I understand. I have something of my own that's kinda like that." Paula replied, a look of understanding on her face. Nina looked at her with widened eyes, but then she looked at her normal, "I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. You seem to have much experience of your own like me. I saw it in your eyes in our hotel room at in Tokyo. You seemed a bit bothered by something, and it looked as if you'd gone through your own ordeals." Paula looked down in slight discomfort, "You're right. I've had to fight my own share of nasty enemies. Not just Piccolo's father, as I might have said before, but someone far far far worse." Nina looked interested now, "Surely it couldn't have been as bad as Evans was." she challenged back. "I'm pretty confident this guy was the highest definition of evil incarnate. Maybe his power didn't get the chance to reach out and destroy too much as far as I personally knew of, but had he gotten that chance to complete his mission, the Earth as I knew it, and probably even the entire universe would've been totally obliterated beyond recovery." Paula replied. "What was his name?" Nina asked her, out of curiosity. "His name was Giygas20, and he was basically, as one of our..." Paula then stopped and saw Nina laughing, "What's so funny?!" she grumbled. "Giygas? That sounds so goofy for an ultimate evil's name. Hehehe..." Nina chuckled. "Goofy sounding or not, his power was none but serious. The guy was virtually indestructible, and not in a "ungodly-defense" way, but in the fact that no attack we made could contact and even hit him. You could say he evolved beyond anything thought possible by science. No form of physical, mental, or spiritual attack could even tickle him." Paula explained, not impressed with Nina taking her explanation so lightly. "If he's that unkillable, how did you survive him?" Nina asked. "He wasn't unkillable, just nigh-unkillable. No conventional method could even harm him. If it did look like you hit him, he only did it to mess with your head. He had also even destroyed his own mind before we reached him. It was like being locked inside 60,000 or more insane asylums. No, his death, if you even want to call it that, came because of divine intervention. Me and my three friends alone couldn't do a thing to beat Giygas. We had to bring the collective prayers and positive energy of the planet together to 'harm' him. Being a being of pure evil, no real 'attack' could harm him, so a kind of kindness was what finally killed him. I know it sounds like a rather wimpy way for someone like him to die, but we can't even be sure he's completely dead. He's basically become the definition of evil itself.21" Paula replied. "Basically one of those 'as long as evil exists, I will always exist' kinda guys?" Nina cut in. "Exactly. For all I know, I might have to meet him again some time in my life, or it might be thousands of years after I die before he becomes such a threat again. I might not have done too much physical training in my life, aside from what I did with Goku as a kid, but my PK powers have grown stronger since after that great battle." Paula said to her. "PK?" Nina asked in confusion. "Some in my world also call it 'PSI', or some other goofy sounding name. It's a short name for Psychokenesis, but basically think of normal telepathy, telekinesis and all that psychic stuff, and then think of using that same power to literally create and destroy, to form psychic energy, and to manipulate it. It's nothing like Ki is, having now gotten an understanding of Ki from Goku's gang." Paula explained. "Wow, you and I really are kindred spirits." Nina looked on, shocked that Paula had spilled all of this out to her. Paula looked back, ready to ask her a hard question, "Tell me something else then. Is the real reason you don't want to help train the others yet because you think they've not yet proven themselves ready, like we might have?" she then asked, looking at Nina for an honest answer. "Yes, that is another reason. But the other reason is because I believe they will get it once they've proven to themselves they can do it. You notice how you and I never really got too much real fight training from Goku or any of the Z-senshi with us? The only thing we learned from him was how to control our ki, but even then, I ran off before I learned how to mask it or sense it, which you ended up teaching to me for him. You see, I think they have to earn most of this stuff on their own, and so do we. Sure we could just train with Goku's gang. We're the next strongest right now under Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, #17 and Buu, but then it wouldn't feel like we made as much of an effort, because at least Goku and maybe Buu would probably baby us too much. I guess I also want to know how well we can stand up to this stuff without their input." Nina explained. "I can see that, but I personally don't think there's a problem with helping them myself." Paula replied. "Well, if you can learn how to alter the gravity sometime, you can use it on them if you want to train them, but until I feel they're truly ready, I say we let them handle their own training. If we came in, their pride might also take it as us trying to 'baby' them, and most men I've met don't like having to have a woman take care of them in that way." Nina replied, a hint of finality in her tone of voice. "Fine, I guess I can understand it that way." Paula sighed in disappointment. "Now, let's get off that subject. I think we're both ready to train a bit more. I think we should also go home with the gravity on us like this too, and try to do our normal stuff with it on." Nina then replied. "I thought you said you could only do it within three-fourths of a mile?" Paula was confused. "I'm talking about the actual process of either creating or dispelling the fields. The fields themselves will last until I dispel it, or until someone else with similar magic or something along that line goes to remove it." Nina said, a bit embarrassed she didn't say that beforehand. Both women soon took to the nearby trees, and picked up some rocks, to throw at each other for dodging practice. **** Later that night, Radditz had finally returned home from his session with Dan and Teresa, and also from a search through a nearby fast-food restaurant. He had been able to form and fire off his Atomic Ray two more times during that earlier training session, but for some reason after two successful uses that he could no longer create the fiery property of the blast, making any other attempts failures. Maybe he just needed to rest before he tried it again. He also realized that the job location, a McDonalds restaurant he had examined along highway 77, would make a decent place to start off. A couple of people already working there had actually recognized him from the show, while others appeared as if they were from CSHS, and they had said that if he were allowed to work with them that he might be a good helper in cooking. The manager had also realized of his strength after he had demonstrated it by picking up and moving a refrigerator to a new location, a task that would've worn out several other workers. The manager had told him that he would best be needed during the later hours, a shift of around 4pm to 10pm. Radditz accepted this proposal, even though he realized it would cut down on his training with Teresa and Dan. He would have to call those two and tell them the news. First he would call up his brother and Vegeta to tell them the news. He picked up the phone and dialed the number to their house. The phone clicked and Radditz heard Vegeta speak up, "Yes?" "Vegeta, it's me." Radditz spoke back "Ah, Radditz. What's prompts this little call?" Vegeta asked. "I wanted to let you and Kakarott know that I've found a part-time job." Radditz broke the news. "What? You mean as in like a 'human'-type job?" Vegeta said, a bit surprised, although Radditz noticed a lack of anger in his voice. "Yeah, afraid so, but it's because I don't know how long these guys' money will last. I mean, you told us your mate, Bulma was it?" Radditz asked. "Yes, go on..." Vegeta cut in. "Anyways, you told me that she was a source of the money to build a lot of the things you train with and all. We don't have her support now though, you know." Radditz continued. "I get it, I get it." Vegeta grumbled, "You want to actually do something to support our little sessions with these younger clowns. I commend your efforts, but I don't think a part time job will simply cut it Radditz." "I know, but I can't just totally throw Teresa or Dan out of the loop either. Those two, especially Teresa, seem to depend on me to teach them." Radditz replied. He then heard a sigh from Vegeta, "If it comes down to no other choice, I suppose Kakarott, the Namek, Buu, the Cyborg and I could take them in, or they could just go back to Dusty's group. Whichever they want. Just be sure you know what you're doing Radditz." Radditz spoke back, "I'll... think about it. Could you tell Kakarott this news? I'm sure he'll want to know. I know he'll probably stop by and interrupt me several times to see me and eat, but..." "Wait, exactly where is this job at?" Vegeta interrupted, suddenly interested. "It's at a McDonalds along highway 77, and Faircrest Ave. It's also merged with a gas station called Marathon. They hired me after I took a look around and moved one of their refrigerators for them. I think my strength got the manager's attention. Also, it seems a few of the students from our little friends' school also work there and recognized me both from the other day and that odd Dragonball Z show about us." Radditz replied. Vegeta grumbled, again that show was mentioned to him. It was only then he realized something, "Well, it seems to be actually close to where we all are, especially your training spot." "Yeah, that was one reason I picked it." Radditz said. "Alright, I'll give your clown brother your message. Talk to you later Radditz." Vegeta said before Radditz heard the click that ended the phone call. Radditz sighed to himself, also noticed Nina wasn't home just yet, and figured she was just training late, he decided to back down to the basement to rest his thoughts off. He had a lot to do the next day... **** Meanwhile, on Rosewood Place NW, lies a white-painted two floor house, sporting an abnormal number of windows, eight on the front side's bottom floor, three on the front side's top floor. A fair number of curtains obscured these windows from prying eyes. It was a necessity with the fact both young children and an elderly man of around 63 were living there. The house was in fact the house of the Hamilton family, Teresa's kin. Inside, Teresa herself was resting in her room on the second floor, her thoughts still on the unique ability she had developed earlier that day involving her 'ki duplicate'. She was also contemplating what she had been taught earlier by Radditz and Dan about creating larger scale ki blasts. However even in spite of this, she had wondered if something had been on Radditz's mind that day. He had seemed more spaced out than the days previous, as if other things were giving him pause. Could he be thinking about that dream he told me about? Did he have some other experience he doesn't want to tell us? And why hasn't he told Dan about the first dream yet? Wouldn't he want to get it off his chest sooner than later? She thought to herself. It was about 9:00pm at this time. Her brother would be off to bed by now, and her parents wouldn't be too far behind him. Being out of school meant she didn't have a preset bedtime, and due to her situtation, she had called in at UPS to explain her unique circumstances, with some help from her father, who had some ties to the corporation and was able to help pull some strings so she could keep the possibility of her job for a while. However that had been another possible sticking point about becoming a Misfit full time, she realized. She wasn't sure she was ready to possibly sacrifice the income she was bringing to her family from her UPS job. Granted, both her parents had their sources of income, and her grandfather was in early retirement, so he had a pension of his own. This had her family relatively okay in terms of financial security for now. But then again, Teresa was worried sick about them, considering what had also happened to all of them back on the 10th, when "Blue Domino" and "Grey Prophet" had broken into their house and taken her family hostage, using them to force her to go after Dan the next day. Since that day, a fair chunk of change had been put into a security system in order to minimize the chance of such a situation ever happening again. Although she also came to understand that such a security system was only useful against normal human-level threats. Should a being with her new power or beyond try to break in... well... they wouldn't even NEED to break into the house if their intent was to kill them, they could just atomize the house. Guns and bombs, they had their use in fear and intimidation, but ki blasts could outright annihilate what was in their way, a much more effective measure for getting a job done... It was then Teresa realized she needed to get some things off her chest. She eyed the phone on her desk a few feet away. Picking it up, she dialed a specific number, the number for Nina's house on the other side of the town. For about 10 seconds, the phone rang, until she heard it pick up. "Hello?" Nina's voice chirped across the line. "Nina? That you?" she asked. "Teresa? What do you need at this hour? Is this involving Radditz, or do you need to speak to me?" Nina replied. "Er..." Teresa mumbled. To be honest, she didn't know WHO was going to answer the phone. Based on her ki sensory earlier, Nina had been out north of her home, gathered with Paula. From what she could make out, it was likely the two other females of the group had been training, possibly far from the prying eyes of the others. Though she had intended to call to speak to Radditz, Teresa came to realize she hadn't really had a lot of time to make idle talk with anyone other than Radditz or Dan, besides the small conversation she had with the others on the 11th. "To be honest, now that I think of it... I think it'd be best if I could chat with both of you about this one..." she finally replied. "Hmm... you sound a bit... distracted by something... Radditz is downstairs in the basement, resting from his training session. I don't know if he's awake at the moment or not. You see... oh wait... I'm not sure if he's told you yet about it." Nina responded. "Told me about what?" Teresa asked, now suddenly suspicious about Nina's response. She heard a sigh from Nina on the other line, but then, "Well... I don't know if I should tell you this or not, but Radditz has been considering finding a part-time job in Canton, or nearby." "Wait... really?" Teresa said with a bit of surprise, but not necessarily disappointment or anger, "You know... now that you mention that, I think I need to speak to him even more than before." "Well like I said, he's in... oh wait a second..." Nina was responding and then suddenly changed her response, as if something were happening over at her place. She then suddenly heard what she faintly picked up to be Radditz's voice in the distant background. Nina was discussing something with him away from the receiver. Nina suddenly called back to her, "Hold that thought, apparently he's having trouble staying asleep right now. He says he needs to talk to you anyways about something, and I think the part-time job's gonna be part of the discussion. I'm gonna put us on speaker phone here. Give me a moment." Teresa heard a couple of clicks, and then stale air in the background. "Teresa, you can hear me, right?" Radditz's voice came into her ears, clearer than earlier, but slightly fuzzy sounding, an artifact of the speaker phone's reception. "Clearly enough." she responded. "Good. I heard you called to get ahold of me. Since we're talking now, speak your peace." Radditz replied. "First off, a part time job? Not that I disagree with your idea, but why all of a sudden?" Teresa asked back. "Support for our training efforts, simply put. We need some extra money for stuff we'll need in the future. That wouldn't be such an issue if it weren't for the fact Vegeta's mate... Bulma I think her name is... isn't here to support us financially. She's the heir to a very rich and famous company in our version of the world, not to mention a sort of mechanical genius, so Vegeta never had issues with funding for his training devices. Unfortunately she didn't get taken with him during the events of the merger." Radditz explained. Teresa winced, "Ouch... yeah... I get where you're coming from now. And with most of the rest of us training non-stop every day, none of us have a chance to get work of our own for cash. Well... most of us." "Wait, what do you mean by that?" Radditz suddenly asked. "Radditz, if you haven't somehow forgotten, I too have, well... sorta still have... a job with a delivery service known as UPS. It's a country wide business with hired hands all over the country, even the whole planet. My job is what I used as a cover to go to Canton South High on the 11th when those Al-Queda scumbags held my family hostage." Teresa replied. She heard Radditz sigh, slightly bitter, "Damn... I forgot all about that fact. Your training's been keeping you off the job, hasn't it?" "I'm afraid so. I still have my job, thanks to my father, who's got ties with UPS, but even his influence... I don't know how long he can keep the job in queue for me if I continue on my current path. See, that's one of the other unspoken reasons I'm not sure what direction I'll go as far as joining the Misfits or not. I obviously had this job to keep my family well secure. Granted, both Mom and Dad have fairly good paying jobs, and my Grandpa has a pension for his retirement to help him and the rest of us out, but... extra money can never be too loose around here." Teresa explained, "It doesn't help though that after the kidnapping incident, we agreed on buying our house a security system. I understand it can't protect against anything above the level of a regular person, but with how few people in our world probably know how to use Ki right now, the investment felt proper at the time." "No no, I... I think I understand your concern. Your family... their love... it gives you the desire to protect them, to protect others. Teresa, you've already learned a lesson it's still taking me time to learn: how to use the desire for your loved ones to fuel your strength, and your devotion to the cause." Radditz admitted. "So Teresa, speaking of the family, how are they doing since the rescue? They're okay, aren't they?" Nina then asked on her side of the line. "Fairly well enough. My brother Adam's back in school. His youth has apparently made him more resilient to the trauma on the 11th than I expected. Mom and Dad are also doing okay. I have to admit, Mom is worried sick about my intention to train like this. She's not sure if it's safe for me to be out there trying to defend the planet from people like Al-Queda or worse. Dad on the other hand, has been pretty damn supportive of my decision so far, since as I mentioned, he's willing to put in words for me at UPS to keep my job position locked in. Grandpa is also doing okay, although he was a bit more roughed up during the kidnapping than the others. His old age left him a bit more vulnerable to some bruises and cuts. Nothing he had to get treated for thankfully." Teresa replied. "Glad to know they're okay." Radditz responded. "Radditz, about your job search, have you got any idea what kind of route you wish to go for this?" Teresa asked him. "I suggested a restaurant job, as his kind, the Saiya-jin, are very heavy eaters. He'll get a couple of free meals a day there while he works, and such." Nina cut in. "Yes Nina. Actually I already have landed a job. Do you know of route 77 on the highway? There's a road known as Faircrest Ave SW, and there's a McDonalds there. It's also combined with a gas-station known as Marathon. Obviously I'm working at the McDonalds, but yeah my first day is actually going to be later tomorrow, starting at 4pm through 10pm." Radditz explained. "I see... Okay then, question now is, what do you suggest Dan and I need to do when you have to leave for the job? Obviously the two of us will have to go elsewhere since we don't generally stop training until it gets a bit after dark." Teresa asked. "Well I'll have to leave that decision for you and Dan to talk about." Radditz responded, "But for all it's worth, I'm sorry about how this is going to cut into my time training you two. I'm not sure how you or Dan will feel about it, but until we at least find out Bulma's whereabouts, this is the only thing I can really think of to help us out." "Well, I'm not sure how we'll deal with it at first, but things have to happen for us to get anywhere." Teresa responded, then suddenly one other thought had come to mind, "Radditz, there is one other thing. Have you talked to Dan yet, about 'that'?" Radditz sighed over the line, "If you mean what we talked about the other day between the two of us, no I haven't found the proper time to tell him about it yet..." Teresa was about to reply, then she heard Radditz speak in a whisper, "In fact I haven't told anyone else yet about it either to be honest. I'm having a hard time figuring out a good time to talk about it with them." "Alright. I was getting antsy about that. I just hope time makes itself available soon. He deserves to be told this you know." Teresa whispered back. "Yeah, I know... I know... I'm trying to get on the right wavelength here for it. Trust me... it'll have to come out eventually." Radditz responded. "What'll have to come out eventually?" Nina asked. "You haven't even told HER yet?" Teresa asked. "I... no... dammit... I haven't yet. You're right... I should've told her as soon as I could've after our own talk on it." Radditz replied, looking at Nina with a somewhat apologetic look. Nina sighed back at him, wondering just what he had to say. "Well... I know you need some sleep for tomorrow, I'll let you go if you want. Besides... I have a feeling Nina might decide to grill you for more information now that she knows something's going on." Teresa joked a little. "Yeah, yeah... you know I blame you for that, right?" Radditz joked back. "Wouldn't have it any other way. Good night Radditz, and if I don't remember to say it tomorrow, good luck on your first day." Teresa finished. "Later..." Radditz finished, and both hung up the phone for the night. Teresa sighed to herself. Although she didn't generally go to bed for another 30 to 50 minutes, she decided that she might as well get prepared for the next day, as her schedule would be changed due to the circumstances of Radditz's job. Sitting up from her seat, she walked over, and snuggled into her bed, firmly between her mattress and blanket, and sighed, slowly letting sleep claim her for the night... **** As Radditz hung up the phone, he looked up to see Nina staring at him, in wait for an explanation of what Radditz had been discussing with Teresa about 'that'. She was trying to not show it so overtly, but hearing him whisper about this Teresa, she had the feeling it was an important matter of discussion. "Nina, what I'm about to tell you, I need you to promise you won't tell anyone else just yet about this. There's a reason I've been reluctant to talk about to anyone else." he started. "Well then first off, can you at least explain why Teresa, the newest member of our group, was the first one to be told whatever this 'juicy' tidbit was?" Nina asked back, trying not to sound too off-put by Radditz's secret keeping. "Simply put, Teresa herself was the central subject of this... this occurrence I experienced." Radditz explained, "So of all people, of course she deserved to be the first one to know." "Okay... for the sake of this discussion, I'll keep the subject closed from the others... for now. Unless this is something truly serious and in immediate need of revealing to the others." Nina replied. "Well the main reason I didn't tell the rest of you yet is because I've been trying to mull over how to explain it to Dan. He's also partially the subject of this occurrence, though his role is much more minor than that of Teresa's. I didn't want him hearing it from someone else first. Teresa promised to let me tell him myself when we discussed this." Radditz sighed. "Well, I'm all ears. You don't need to be keeping secrets from me, okay?" Nina spoke, softening her tone to tell Radditz that he could continue. Radditz gave a deep sigh, and inhaled some breath before he started: "Do you remember how on the 11th, that I came to you guys later than you were planning? Do you remember how I had all of Teresa's family with me in tow when I arrived?" "Yeah... you told me you found out where they were being held hostage, along with a second Al-Qaeda member in league with the one who attacked us at the High School." Nina answered. "There's one very specific reason I learned about Teresa and her family in the first place. You see, earlier that morning... I was sleeping in since some of the others were checking in at the high school alongside you and Paula. While I was sleeping, I had this... this disturbing... realistic dream filling with all these images..." Radditz started. Nina looked at him with anticipation of where this was going to go. Radditz continued, "Many of these images, to put it bluntly were of the attacks on the World Trade Center buildings, that Pentagon building, and even the plane that was stopped from hitting it's target. But littered within those brutal images, there were images of Teresa's family. Her mother, then her brother, than her father and grandfather. All of them accumulated into images showing them tied up in that operative's house. Then I saw images of Teresa herself, some of her past, some of her while she was being used by Al-Qaeda to try to take out Dan, and then images of other terrible events, like that powerful bomb Clint managed to save the region from with that odd version of the Super Saiya-jin form. I saw it exploding, and I saw a image of Clint's falling form descending to Earth ahead of the explosion." Nina, having heard so much that had her attention felt a need to cut in, "Wait, wait a minute? You had visions of the future and of the present events going on around you in your dream? Is that what you're saying?" Radditz grumbled, "Yes I did, in fact. However I wasn't finished with my story." Nina cleared her throat and went silent, to let him continue. "As I was saying though. Those visions and images weren't my only company. I heard this strange, distorted voice... it kept telling me to "save them" and "save her". I had to hear this message about half a dozen times before I called out to try and silence the voices. Then, the voices, no the single voice... it acknowledged my presence and answered me. Asking for more information... I got a big surprise... Nina, do you remember what Dusty, Dwayne and Steve were mumbling on about when they talked about a strange voice that spoke to them during the initial phases of the merger?" "Yeah, I do recall their stories about it. So wait a second... are you trying to tell me you encountered the same voice, the same... being they did?" Nina answered. "As far as I can tell, it did confirm such for me. Naturally, I'm not a very trusting sort... not when it comes to formless voices speaking to me within my own nightmares... I didn't trust the voice at first. However the voice seemed to be aware of this... but... in explaining a bit more about it's intentions, it revealed some things about my life to me I've yet to muster the will to tell the rest of you guys. Vegeta's the only one aware of in any way of one of these events, and I'm not even sure he remembers anymore because of his more self-absorbed nature in the past ages." Radditz lamented. "Okay, you've got my attention... so this voice... as much as you didn't trust it off hand, I have to guess it was trying to get you to save Teresa and her family for some kind of cryptic reason, right?" Nina replied. "Yes, the voice told us that Teresa would be an essential addition to the Misfits, that someday she would grow to be one of the strongest members of our entire team. Now, I've been manipulated and betrayed in the past, so I didn't know what to make of this. The being told me it understood this, as it too had not always been a good being, but that it's attempts to speak to us might be some attempt to redeem itself for it's own past. When I questioned us being pawns to this being, it told us that only we can make our own destinies, that fate wasn't truly predetermined." Radditz sighed, remembering closely that conversation. He continued explaining, "Although I still even now don't trust this... this faceless being... I've come to realize lately that all he's said has either been true or has been as honest as all possible. Teresa was indeed in trouble, and her family indeed did have to be rescued from the Al-Qaeda operative. It was when I awoke, I tried to called Kakarott and Vegeta, but as I learned discovered, they were not yet awake to hear the phone ringing, so I took matters into my own hands and went out to find Teresa's family. Luckily, thanks to the ability I learned of how to sense energy, I indeed did manage to find them and kill the operative holding them captive." "Alright... I suppose that does explain a few things... but... what does this have to do with your reluctance to tell Dan immediately?" Nina asked. "When I saw some images of Teresa, I saw her in a fair number were Dan was with her, like he had decided to become her friend and confident, even in spite of her being sent to kill him. In fact, I remember Dan even told me later that day that he could never being himself to hate Teresa for what she did, having had her family at the back of her mind. Dan has a family similar to her own, and he told me he probably would've been hooked into the same situation had his family been threatened." Radditz answered. "So you're trying to figure out how best to speak to him about this issue so he doesn't think you've gone bats?" Nina answered. "I guess... I guess that's a pretty accurate explanation of what this is about..." Radditz mused. "Is there any other information about this to get off your chest?" Nina asked back. "Unless I have another weird dream like that, no." Radditz finalized. "Alright then. I appreciate the fact you decided to tell me something about this, but I agree with Teresa, when you have the time, you need to tell him. He does deserve to know this. It might answer some questions he has about your intentions to train her in the first place, for one." Nina responded. "You know, that's a fair enough point. However... as you said earlier, I should be trying to sleep right now for tomorrow. I'm gonna need all my faculties intact for the job tomorrow." Radditz said, getting him from his seat. Nina watched him walk over to the basement door, "Good night Radditz, sleep well. No nightmares or premonitions tonight, you hear me?" she joked. "Dully noted, Nina." he replied, as he stepped down into the basement to head to bed... **** A loud scream was heard into the night, a scream that only very few would ever perceive to be at all familiar to them. The scream was emitting from a neighborhood only slightly west of Canton South High School itself. The scream's source was from one figure in his backyard, with a intense, flaring aura of golden ki, indicating the person was probably a Super Saiya-jin. The person was growling, although not as much with unfocused rage as he was with a clear mind for havoc. He kept thinking to the events on what now many people were calling "9-11", the nickname for the terrorist attacks in Manhattan and Washington D.C. He was using this anger and carefully channeling it through his body, as to not accidentally bulk himself up and mess up the process. He focused on the attack against Dan at the school through his mind, thinking of how so many could've died, and how he had been basically powerless to stop the rest of the day's destruction. He had been wanting to just break away from the school and blow away anyone who was with Al-Qaeda that day. But now he was finally going to get the opportunity to channel his anger right. "DAAAMMMNNN THEEEEMMM!!!" he had growled out with the volume of an airliner as his hair had gone from looking it was standing up somewhat on end to standing up almost perfectly vertical, and a surge of electricity began to form around the figure's body, crackling in bolts around his body. His muscles had tensed up and looked tightened, but they had NOT bulked up like he remembered before. The figure smiled, almost in a peaceful way, and then his smile turned to a frown, "AT LAST I HAVE DONE IT. IT WILL SOON BE TIME FOR REVENGE ON THOSE ASSHOLES." As he calmed down, the ki flare became more controlled, almost a perfect representation of a flame. Jason Scott Changet looked up at the stars. He had finally attained Super Saiya-jin 2. He didn't even care right then and there he had done it before Alex or Vernon, because his campaign was not for his own self gain right now. It was to avenge the 3,000 and probably more lives that had been lost on '9-11'. After holding SSJ2 for roughly 10 full minutes, Jason powered down, but not fully to base, but back to normal SSJ. He had decided he was going to sleep over this night as a normal Super Saiya-jin. He figured Alex and Vernon were probably going to think on doing this soon, if they hadn't done so already, but he didn't care, as he walked back into his house, the calmness radiating off of him a creepy, eerie contrast to his mood only 10 to 15 minutes ago... **** The next morning, Goku and Vegeta had met back up with Piccolo, #17, Mr. Buu, Alex, Jason and Vernon in front of their house. They were ready for another day of some training. Although at Goku's discretion, they decided that they would take a break off to go visit Radditz later on at McDonalds and cut their training a couple of hours short. Goku had been rather interested to hear from Vegeta about the fact that Radditz had decided to even get a job, but at least he had gotten one somewhat close to all of them over at highway 77. It was less than a mile away from Alex's house and their own. However now he was focused on a new objective. He was now curious to try to get another gauge on Alex, Jason and Vernon's powerlevels. "Hey you three, before we go over to the stadium to spar again, I'd like you all to power up to your best. I want to see how much you all changed from the last time." Alex, Jason and Vernon had no objections, and all three immediately released their power and transformed into the Super Saiya-jin level. However, despite his new found powers, Jason wanted to try to keep from having to use Super Saiya-jin 2 in front of them. He knew Alex would probably get extremely jealous. Vernon would probably be a bit annoyed at first, but he would probably shrug it off and use it as motivation to reach the level himself. However while Goku had scanned Alex, Vernon and Jason's powerlevels, he sensed something off about Jason's. Not being able to either sense or mask his own ki, Jason wasn't able to tell that his ki was fluctuating slightly, not really peaking at any point, making Goku suspicious. "Hey Jason, something feels off about your powerlevel. It's not staying in any solid place. It keeps rising and lowering slightly back and forth. Are you trying to hold something back?" Goku then put on a rarely used serious face at Jason. Jason gulped mentally, Shit! He probably knows! I'm sure of it! He probably sensed me ascend last night! Goku however had picked up just enough of that thought with his limited telepathic abilities, and his eyes went wide and he did a double take, HE ASCENDED?! Now that I think of it, I did sense a strange powerup around midnight last night! Vegeta saw Goku's expression, "Kakarott, what happened?!" "It's Jason's powerlevel. He's holding back on us." Goku cleanly admitted, causing Vernon and Alex to turn their heads to him as Jason sweated bullets. It was then when Alex had realized it. "NO. No no no no! No! You didn't! You reached it first?! No! How could you have done it so fast?! You were struggling the last couple of days just to hold your normal SSJ!" he screamed. Vernon's eyes widened as he also realized the implications, as Jason gave in, and closed his eyes, igniting the rest of the power he had been holding back, and transforming to Super Saiya-jin 2 for the second time in his life. "HE'S A SUPER SAIYA-JIN 2?!" Vegeta had also almost lost his jaw on the ground, "HOW DID HE GET THERE SO FAST?!" Piccolo and #17 had also almost done a double-take at this declaration. "Jason, how the hell did you manage it?!" Piccolo asked, honestly wanting to know. "It was my anger at Al-Qaeda. They destroyed thousands of lives as we all know already, but it was when I finally started to reflect on what they almost did to us, and how helpless I was to stop any of it. That and I was trying to do what Goku and Gohan did before the Cell Games when I transformed." Jason explained. "You were trying to use Super Saiya-jin as a base?" Goku asked, "I understand a little bit better now. Did it work at all other than your transformation?" "I did managed to sleep the whole night transformed, so I guess I'm finally getting my anger in control properly." Jason admitted. Alex gaped at him, "Well, I guess I have to throw my hat off, if I had one, to you. But don't think I'll let this go unanswered. I will also go Super Saiya-jin 2 too!" Vernon smirked, "Same here you two. I'm not about to let you or Jason leave me in the dust." "You won't make it the way I did with attitudes like that." Jason said sternly, making his two friends look at him blankly, "I transformed because of Al-Qaeda only, not because of competition with you. Think of how Vegeta couldn't get Super Saiya-jin for some time because he was so concerned with surpassing Goku. Once he finally stopped caring and got angry with himself, he finally transformed." Vegeta sulked at that comment, since Jason's words were completely true. Vegeta remembered how stupid he had felt once he had finally transformed for the first time that it was because he couldn't admit anger at himself instead of another, "Jason's completely correct you two. You're not going to just reach Super Saiya-jin 2 on will of competition alone. Gohan took severe anger to finally transform when he fought Cell, and Al-Qaeda while not on the same level in my own opinion, was probably like Jason's version of the Cell ordeal." Alex thought deeply to himself, "I think I understand now. I think now that I know, maybe I can actually bring forth the proper anger. Goku, Vegeta? Do you think you could give Vernon and I some time today to try to ascend?" Vegeta sighed to himself, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to have three young Super Saiya-jin 2s around aside from myself," But it was then something important suddenly registered in Vegeta's brain, "Wait just a second! Just how can it be possible for Jason to reach Super Saiya-jin 2 at his low base powerlevel anyways? None of you are over 30,000 at base last I checked. Kakarott was somewhere between 300,000 and 3,000,000 when he first did it!" "Maybe that's another example of what Dusty, Dwayne and Steve were saying when they mentioned of rules changing. Maybe reaching Super Saiya-jin doesn't have all of the original requirements anymore, or maybe its something else." #17 said out loud, although it was more directed at himself. "Alright then. Anyways, I think it's time we all headed off to the stadium. I wasn't going to mention this before hand, but I guess most of our normal training will be called off today. We're going to stop early today anyways. We'll give Alex and Vernon a chance to ascend. Maybe you people really will prove to be our prize students soon." Goku said, and smiled at the three of them, although Jason could swear Goku was smiling specifically at him. Jason had done what many would have considered to never to be thinkable by transforming to a Super Saiya-jin 2 with such a low powerlevel. The eight Misfits took to the air and flew off to reach the stadium, as they were eager to see Alex and Vernon ascend. Somehow Vegeta had a gut feeling they too would not be too far behind Jason. **** At Devin's vacant lot, Devin and Clint had both sensed Jason's powering up as well. "Holy shit!" Clint cried out, "Jason's powerlevel just skyrocketed!" Devin looked over at him, "How the hell did you notice that?!" Devin had recalled Clint had never taken time to learn how to sense ki. "Oh, I sensed his ki. It's not that hard considering how close he was to us earlier." "Wait, you CAN sense ki?! I could've sworn you flew off in a giddy mess back when we were all supposed to be taught how to do that." Devin said. Clint sweatdropped, "Yeah, I realized I messed up back there, but I figured out how to sense ki by myself, and I'm even in the process of slowly learning how to mask it." "What the h... dammit! I thought I'd still have some advantage over you by now!" Devin grumbled. "Well, you can mask your ki, right?" Clint asked. Devin realized, "Yeah, I guess that's true. But still, Damn. Jason must've over pumped his body again." "No... I don't think Jason messed up this time." Clint explained, "His ki actually felt calm, albeit a little nervous at the time. I also sensed something odd last night too, it might have been Jason, but I can't be too sure." "Wait wait wait! You're telling me Jason might have..." "Ascended.." Clint finished Devin's sentence, "Yes, I think he hit Super Saiya-jin 2. And that means I must try to do the same eventually." he then said to himself. "God dammit! I wish I could transform too you know!" Devin grumbled. "Yes, this is only the fifth time we've discussed this Devin." Clint said a bit sarcastically. "I mean it! You're the only one of us here who can transform. I'm surprised you agreed to train with US instead of them!" Devin growled back. "Because I still have the feeling that I'm not really a Saiya-jin Devin, and the fact is that you guys are closer to my own level at base anyways." Clint explained. Then the two of them looked over as Virgil soon arrived. "Hup to fatty! Your training must continue if you ever want to kick those Al-Qaeda bastards' asses!" Devin called up with a smirk to get Virgil riled up. Virgil landed and flipped Devin the bird, "Yeah yeah, just gimme the weights and the hammer." "Eagar to poop yourself out again, huh?" Devin taunted. "I'll hit you with that thing soon enough Devin. And trust me, it's not going to be pretty!" Virgil growled, as Devin handed him his level 3 training clothes and his mallet. Virgil went back and changed, and then came out, appearing to hold the hammer a bit better today than before. "At least he's improving at all." Clint stated to himself, as he saw Devin slip into his level 3 training clothes, and started to run around the lot, with the hammer wielding Virgil on his tail. Meanwhile, Dwayne was now running around, wearing a new level 4 set of training clothes, having felt he had outgrown the level 3 set. Level 1 training clothes were usually somewhere between 200 to 450 lbs total. Level 2 clothing was usually around 450 to 850 lbs. Level 3 clothing, like most of the others had been using prior to this point, weighed around 850 to 1300 lbs. Dwayne's level 4 clothing was around 1600 to 1750 lbs, closing in on a total of one ton of weight distribution22. Steve had also gone with his partner's idea, not wanting to let his wrestling partner and good friend leave him in the dust. Both of them were also taking the time to run laps, and shoot of medium-level blasts every once in a awhile. Sometimes the two would also shoot a blast towards each other at the same time. Usually both blasts negated each other about evenly as they met half way. "Rock! How will do you think we're doing, compared to Alex, Vernon and Jason's little gang?" Steve asked as he ran around the perimeter of the lot, not having thought too much about those three in a few days. Dwayne also thought to himself as he ran, "I don't think they've thought about level 5 or higher yet, but I do think they complained once or twice about that gravity training Goku and Vegeta supposedly use to make themselves stronger on their show." "Yeah, kinda sucks we don't got that ourselves. You know just much faster we could all probably train if we had those gravity rooms?" Steve replied. "Well, the ones on the show are only so big, nowhere the size of this lot. I think we could fit like 25 to 30 of them in this place. But each could only hold two, or at best 3 people, and that would limit our contact with each other." Dwayne had thought out loud. Steve furrowed his eyebrows, realizing that keeping contact with one another during the training was a major factor in strength growth. Steve and Dwayne suddenly motioned at each other with their facial expressions, and both stopped briefly, each letting out a medium-large ki ball towards the other, and then started running again. The two ki balls collided half way, and as before, they struggled for a few seconds before both simply exploded as their energies simultaneously petered out. Nearby, Dusty and Heero were now actually sparring with one another, Dusty wearing level 3 training clothes, and Heero wearing level 4 clothes. Dusty had a somewhat lower powerlevel than Heero, and the former Gundam Pilot showed a natural speed that had been superior to Dusty's, and that his own battle experience netted him some fancy dodging and attacking abilities, which constantly gave Dusty a challenge, much to his interest. After barely dodging one of Heero's kicks, Dusty swung his fist in an uppercut, but missed Heero directly, leaving him open to get kicked in the side and he had to roll into a side flip to minimize the damage of the kick, and shot a small Kamehameha at Heero, hoping to make him dodge, and it had apparently worked, and Dusty zanzokened behind Heero and managed to connect with a frontal kick to his upper-left shoulder, sending the Gundam pilot spinning forward, but Heero had surprisingly timed a spin right and fired off a fast blast that slammed Dusty in the forehead, knocking him out of the air, but not bad enough that Dusty crashed. Heero also corrected himself, and stared at Dusty, "You know, I wonder how Dan's own training is going. He's probably gotten stronger than both of us by now." Dusty knew Heero had learned how to sense ki, and that he himself could not yet. He had been trying to get Devin to teach him, but Devin told him that he could wait for some time, or defeat him in a spar before Devin would teach him masking and sensing himself. Although he noticed from Clint and Devin's conversation earlier that Clint learned how to sense ki on this own. Maybe he could help Dusty learn it, or at least point him in the right direction. Dusty then soon thought to the subject of Heero's comment: Dan. Dusty had been able to talk to Dan a few times since the 11th. Dan had gotten better, but he also mentioned that Radditz had called him the other night about his new part-time job at McDonalds. In fact, Dusty was planning to try to call off training a bit earlier so they could meet with Radditz there. He then thought to himself about trying to ask Dan, Teresa and Radditz to merge their training groups together. It would make the matter a bit less annoying to keep track of everyone. Dusty had even earlier thought of merging back with Alex's group, but he was worried he or one of the others could accidentally become the victim of a misplaced blast from one of the Z-senshi themselves. He had also learned of Jason's ascension to Super Saiya-jin 2, and was a little worried about that as well. "Speaking of Dan, I want you to help me convince the others to stop training a little early." Dusty finally spoke up to Heero. The Gundam pilot looked at him odd, "Why?" "Because I got a surprise for us. Dan's told me that Radditz found a job at the McDonalds on Faircrest Ave near I-77. I need to talk to him later anyways." Dusty told him. "I'll see what I can do, I guess." Heero thought to himself, looking over in the direction of where Radditz's training area was, wondering to him. For some reason though, he felt almost as if something new were on the horizon, but he couldn't put his finger on it... **** At the forested area near Harry London Candies, Nina and Paula had once again picked up their training. As Nina had promised, but women had returned to their homes with 4x gravity still in effect. Both had found it a bit hard to do normal, everyday stuff while getting ready to rest up. Paula specifically found it a bit hard to train her mental powers with the gravity affecting her in such a way. However, Nina had decided she would increase the gravity to 7x of Earth's normal gravity. Both of the two of them had started off with dodging practice, throwing larger rocks at each other to train their reaction. Nina found that it was getting a bit more difficult to move around as she increased the gravity in greater increments. She had done it this way so the two would gravity adapt to larger and larger amounts of increase in the environment. Nina had told Paula that they never knew if a potential enemy might be able to screw around with gravity like she could. Paula had replied then that was yet another reason she felt they should give gravity training to their other friends. However Nina didn't want to explain to her a second time that she still didn't think the others were quite ready, although she had mused, that Jason had taken a substantial jump in powerlevel. Paula had sensed Jason's powerlevel as well. It was almost even with her own the day before at its' peak. She was beginning to understand just a little more of Nina's feelings on the matter. Already had one of her friends come close to catching up to both of them at his peak, and the fact the two women weren't Saiya-jin made them realize that their friends' attitude was apparently really going to be an "every one for themself" kinda deal. Nina had even sensed Radditz's powerlevel take a large jump earlier, and had a feeling he may have well finally managed to transform himself to a Super Saiya-jin level. Now Nina's mind turned to the matter at hand. Paula had wanted that the two of them spar hand to hand for once. Nina agreed it was time to actually try to see their own fighting skills. Nina was not large on hand-to-hand, and usually attacked her enemy with a ring on her finger that could shoot energy at them. While it could make a good surprise attack in a desperate situation, Nina knew she had to actually learn to kick and punch hard. She had a feeling Paula had the same problem, or similar, remembering of her using a frying pan a couple of times. Paula had told her she would not use the steel weapon in this fight, and both stood and stared towards each other, not even bothering to duck into fighting stances. The two of them however were having a hard time trying to make the first move, each girl thinking the other wanted her opponent to make the first move to retaliate. Both knew charging in like a bull would not usually work in a serious farce. Nina jumped to her side, and charged at Paula from her left, and swung a kick which Paula managed to block as she jumped back. Paula then swung her fist quickly and managed to hit Nina in the shoulder, causing her to spin around a small amount, leaving Paula time to jump up and kick her in the back with a double-foot kick, sending Nina flying to the side. Nina barely managed to correct her landing, the 7x gravity almost messing up her concentration at that time. Paula quickly took to the offensive, and Nina found herself viciously trying to counter or block a barrage of fists from the smaller girl that she had been able to quickly execute. Damn! She's not kidding about being fast! Nina thought quickly. Paula suddenly kicked her foot out and tripped one of Nina's legs, sending the winged girl into the air, but Nina quickly kicked Paula in the chest before the smaller girl could follow up on the trip. Paula went flying backwards and barely managed to stop from colliding with a tree. Paula recovered and dashed at Nina, as she dashed towards her, and both swung a fist at each other, while their other hand ended each catching their opponent's attacking fist. Both of them grappled and struggled to gain an advantage. Although Nina's powerlevel was higher than Paula's by about 200,000 degrees, Paula was a little better at hand-to-hand, keeping the two of them relatively even. However Nina realized that while Paula's arms were both occupied, she had two additional limbs, and start to swing her black wings out, slapping Paula on the head several times and beginning to whittle her down a little. Paula grumbled, Dang, her wings are heavier than I thought! Wait a second! I think I have an idea! Paula then jumped up, although still grappling her arms with Nina's own, and gave Nina a vicious headbutt to the face. Nina cried out in pain and released her grip, but she managed to swing her wings to throw a massive wind gust which caught Paula off guard and threw her back, and this time she wasn't able to stop from smashing against a nearby tree. Nina on the other hand had not been able to correct her fall either, but her landing on her back was a lot less rough than Paula's stop. Although she realized her nose was slightly bleeding. She was impressed her friend had the quick thinking to pull off that stunt. She probably realized my bone structure is more hollow than hers. Nina was no fool to the fact that being air-based and slightly bird like that her bones were not quite as dense as a normal human's. However she noticed Paula was having a bit of trouble peeling herself from the tree she smashed into. "You win, this time." Paula said, as she pulled free and limped slightly a couple of steps towards her friend, not exactly thrilled with the prospect of colliding with the tree again so soon. She was surprised she hadn't knocked the thing over when she hit it. Nina grumbled, "Well you did hurt me pretty bad too." Nina replied, "Where'd you get the idea to headbutt me anyways?" "Another friend of mine I know is a martial artist of sorts. He uses an assortment of fighting moves, and I've seen him use that move before on a few of his enemies.23" Paula explained, "I guess mine worked too, but it wasn't enough. You're still moving better than I am right now." "You want to just resume normal training procedure for now?" Nina asked. "Yeah, better than you kicking my butt for now." Paula grumbled. "You kicked mine too you know. You're not exactly weak." Nina grumbled rubbing her nose, which had stopped bleeding. Paula shrugged, as she walked over to the field track the two normally used. They were planning on running 150 laps today, but Paula wasn't sure if her injuries would allow that to play out exactly that way. Nina had also flown over to the track, and started to run as well, thinking the same about her own injuries. **** Radditz stood silent on the fields at where he trained. He had talked with Teresa and Dan a little more about his job at McDonalds, and how their training would be cut off a few hours. He had also suggested today that Dan and Teresa train with each other and try to see how long they'd last against each other. Radditz had then gone over to a field roughly another mile south, but just close enough he could still keep some tabs on Dan and Teresa if need be. He was stilling trying to mull over how to tell Dan the news about the strange dream of visions he had on the 11th. He considered telling Dan earlier in the day, but he had noticed Dan's demeanor had appeared to sour some, and not surprisingly, it was after his announcement about his new part-time job. No doubt he probably believed Dan was second guessing Radditz's intention to train both him and Teresa and felt a little off-put. Teresa had taken the news a lot more in stride and did try to make Dan not feel so downput by Radditz's new job getting in the way, but it didn't seem to be going all that far. However that wasn't even his biggest worry right now... He grumbled to himself about his plan for the sensu plant. He had checked the place where he planted the bean, and he had still not yet seen even a sliver of results. However, it was not even that which had gotten truly under his skin and on his mind. He had sensed out and felt Jason's powerlevel skyrocket, well above anything he himself could do. He already knew Jason had the ability to go Super Saiya-jin, but now he realized Jason must've found the way to reach the Super Saiya-jin 2 level Vegeta currently maxed out at. Radditz had realized he needed to figure out the transformation before he was left way behind in the dust. He had remembered Goku tell him about the pain of loss, and how you needed to be above a 200,000 powerlevel, but Radditz soon realized the powerlevel requirement was hogwash, and decided that if Jason, Alex, Vernon, and even Clint could do it, he damn well would be able to do it. Radditz closed his eyes, and thought back to his own past. He remembered that cruel asshole Frieza, and his left-hand man Dodoria, and his right-hand man Zarbon. He also remembered of Kwei, and then the Ginyu force, Gurudo, Jeice, Baata, Rikoom and Captain Ginyu himself. He snarled at the thought of those bastards and how they'd all walk all over him, Nappa and Vegeta when they had been younger and weaker, but Dodoria... the fat pink tub of lard was a very special case for Radditz. He would always taunt Radditz left and right, whether if in the presence of Vegeta and/or Nappa or not. Dodoria had also given him countless beatings during his service with Frieza, and usually Radditz spent more time healing than fighting when it came to the fat tub of lard. However Dodoria's beatings were only a minor deal compared to the fact that Dodoria had killed another Saiya-jin, whose' name he dare not speak of even within his mind at the time, a female that Radditz had been on the verge of mating with back when Planet Vegeta was still around. Dodoria had killed her right in front of his eyes, and he had been effortlessly thrown to the side when he tried to retaliate, and Frieza had even personally choked Radditz into near death with the iron-grip of his tail, saying that he would not allow him, Nappa or Vegeta, or any other Saiya-jin serving him to mate with any female working for him, Saiya-jin or not. Frieza thought of killing Radditz that day as well, but it was Dodoria who believed letting the long haired Saiya-jin live would serve to humble his pride for the rest of his life. That had been a part of the reason he was reluctant at first to accept Nina's help when she had assisted him in Hell. He had finally felt it... that deep anger and loss surging straight from the soul. His body slightly tensed up as he began to grit his teeth and flare his ki aura to a healthy dark blue, and then it began to change over to gold, as Radditz's pupils faded from his eyes. His long hair flicked gold two or three times, reverted to black for a few more seconds, and then Radditz's pupils reappeared, now turquoise, as he screamed out, "DOOOODOOOORRRIIIIIIAAAA!!!" His aura suddenly uncompressed and flew outwards, as his hair changed fully over to gold. The shockwave from his aura surged out well over a full mile, so much that Dan and Teresa immediately sensed his powerup, and then had been knocked out of their spar, as they felt his energy. "I think he just went Super Saiya-jin!" Dan commented. "You mean where the hair stands up and turns gold?" Teresa asked for confirmation. Dan was too fixated to reply verbally now, and shook his head in a yes-like motion. Meanwhile, Radditz was still growling, and he began to look to a far off shape, an extremely large tree. However in his anger, Dodoria was the only thing on his mind, with Frieza up on the list a close second. He positioned his hands in front of him, almost in that of a rectangular shape, and began to charge a healthy golden-orange shot in a box-like shape. Some looking at the residue coming off of the blast in between his hands might have mistaken the shape to resemble a kind of food tin someone would put into an oven. "MONDAY HATRED!!!" he screamed and shot the rectangular blast straight at the giant tree. The tree would no longer be the same. While it had not been totally destroyed, the blast had ripped a rectangular shaped hole through the trunk, and the blast had additionally ripped through several more trees, and continued forward, until finally landed inside of a nearby pond and erupted into a massive explosion. Radditz's rage finally subsided, although he was able to hold onto his SSJ level. "I did it. Yes! YES YES YES!! I finally became a Super Saiya-jin! I wonder what the hell all the others will say to this! I'm very sure they sensed my powerup. I'll have to see later if any of them will bother to ask." his face then looked more relaxed, and he looked downwards. He smirked and then he screamed down, as if he were speaking to someone underneath the surface, "Hey Dodoria!! I hope you're having fun down there rotting in Hell! Because I guarantee you if we ever meet again, I'll make you wish that you could die again!!" He then sensed Dan and Teresa flying over in, probably to check on him. He knew if no one else, at least those two would've sensed him. Dan saw Radditz, and he gaped in surprise, "I guess I was right! You transformed!" "How'd you managed to gather the right anger?" Teresa asked, slightly more understanding to how anger could allow one to transform. "An old enemy named Dodoria. I hated his guts. He was responsible for more of my own personal grief than even Frieza himself was, far far too much more." Radditz sighed, as he explained. "Wait, is that why you were mad at Nina for helping you when you two met?" Dan asked. "Yes... Dodoria, even in death, was still stronger than me by a good enough amount. I never managed to close that gap. In fact, Dodoria had been beating the shit out of me when Nina had helped me out." Radditz said, but it was then he realized, "And I owe her much... if it was not for her, I'd have never had the chance to try anew. I'd have... I'd have never had the chance to finally attain this power." he said sadly. He then looked over to Dan and Teresa, "I'm sorry. You two must train yourselves for now. I'm done for today. I need to meet up with Kakarott, Vegeta and their gang soon. Now that I can actually transform, I need training to utilize it better. Go join up with Devin's group, or keep training each other for the rest of the day. I must think this over, and I must soon get ready for my first day at McDonalds." "Radditz, wait a minute!" Dan tried to shout, but Radditz had quickly taken to the air and flew off towards McDonalds in the distance, but then he made a turn and flew back north, towards where he was staying. Teresa looked on, a little saddened, "Radditz, you'll be alright... I hope." Teresa sighed while Dan just looked on, as if he had been sucker-punched, almost. "Please tell me he's not going to abandon our training." Dan said, almost sounding like a growl out of his mouth. "Dan don't. He's just disturbed by the latest events, and he's been given a new path with his transformation!" Teresa quelled him. Dan still had the seed of doubt planted in his mind, and narrowed his eyes, "I know that, but he can't just abandon us either. He can't abandon you after he promised to train you! The same with me!" he growled, and he looked over, sensing out Devin, Clint, Virgil, Dusty, Dwayne, Heero and Steve. "I guess we can join up with Devin's gang for now. Maybe they'll welcome some new company." Dan then said calmly. Teresa sighed, and nodded in agreement. The two took up to the air and flew off over towards Devin's gang of trainees. Maybe they'd provide a good challenge. However, neither of the two would've noticed from the trees that a strange figure had been watching the entire ordeal of the last 30 minutes, eyeing them silently, and even having the ability to evade ki sense. A pair of glowing orange eyes emerged from the figure's head, and out stepped what appeared to be a Chihuahua. However this little dog was no man's best friend. Yes Dan... Radditz has ditched you. I will soon prove it to you, and soon, you will belong to ME. The little dog then ducked back into the forest, and darted around a few trees with the speed greater than a cheetah. After it cleared that set of trees, the creature was no longer a dog, but now it resembled a large buck, still with the orange eyes, as it darted off into the distance... **** At the abandoned arena outside of Massillon, Goku, Vegeta, #17, Buu and Piccolo had decided about 50 or so minutes back they would go into an all out 1-on-1-on-1-on-1-on-1 melee and fight each other to the point of exhaustion. Since Vernon and Alex were a ways outside of the stadium attempting to gather the proper requirements, and Jason had been off nearby, trying to master hold on Super Saiya-jin 2 for longer than 10 minutes. This had meant the five had full freedom to do as they needed with no one to worry about hitting with a stray beam or blast. When the fight had started, Goku, having Super Saiya-jin 3 backing him up, appeared to have the advantage from the start of the battle, and went for Mr. Buu first, but Vegeta had temporarily formed an alliance with the large Majin, and both together were actually able to muck up Goku's concentration to some extent. Meanwhile, #17 and Piccolo had been sparring with each other again, having no interruptions from the other three nearby for the moment. However after #17 had been kicked up and smashed into Goku from behind costing him a precious chance to take out Buu for the time being, he soon teamed up with the cyborg in a strange twist of fate. Piccolo had then joined up with Vegeta and Buu and attacking #17 and Goku. Although outnumbered, Goku alone was still giving the other team of three no room for error. #17 being a sort of wildcard due to being hard to sense made it interesting, because he would normally either try to harass Piccolo as he tried to aim a shot at Goku, or sometimes the cyborg would even shoot Vegeta from behind with various attacks, while they didn't really hurt the Saiya-jin prince too much, usually caused him to mess up one of his attacks. Vegeta soon had gone after #17, nailing him with a fast punch, sending him flying to the ground, and taking a lot out of the cyborg, but it gave Goku time to appear above Vegeta and hit him in the back, knocking him downwards a good ways, but allowing Piccolo and Buu to fire a double Makankosappou, which managed to combine and push Goku out of the air and cause him to land in the stands. Goku flipped up quickly and had prepared to fire up when he suddenly felt something new pop up on his ki sense. "WAIT! HALT THE SPAR! I'm getting something new!" he called up. Vegeta, #17, and even Piccolo and Buu had stopped momentarily, as Goku felt for the ki more extensively. "It's Radditz! He's just transformed too!" "What, him too?!" Vegeta cried, "Dammit! Jason's already Super Saiya-jin 2, and now Radditz finally achieved Super Saiya-jin!" "Alright... it's definitely official. We need to go visit him up at his job soon enough." Piccolo stated. He had been worried this day would come for some time, and the Namekian still had some degree of distrust to Goku's older brother. "Trust me Piccolo, I haven't forgotten." Goku replied, "But come now, do you still think he's so untrustworthy?" "Look... I don't know if it's just me, but Radditz is acting a little... as if he's trying to hide something from us." Piccolo truthfully replied, "I admit, maybe I'm wrong about him turning on us, but I still can't help but think he isn't telling us something." Goku sighed mentally, realizing Piccolo had probably been referring to the fact that one of the sensu beans he had given Radditz on the 11th were being used as an attempt to grow a full blown sensu plant. Goku knew if the plan worked that it could be a boon to all of the rest of them. However he was wondered if he should put Piccolo's mind at ease and explain the plan to him. However he remembered that Radditz hadn't wanted to tell the others because he was afraid he would fail to grow the plant. "Don't worry yourself too much about it Piccolo. He didn't tell you guys for a reason." he spoke. "Tell us what for what reason?!" Vegeta growled. Goku sighed. He realized the might as well tell those four at least, if not anyone else. "Guys, Radditz is..." Goku was cut off as a piercing scream had shredded through the air. It had came from outside the stadium. The five Z-senshi all felt Alex's powerlevel expand a great amount, almost quadrupling. "Woah! Alex must've done it too!" Vegeta said, recognizing that Alex had probably now finally reached Super Saiya-jin 2. The five warriors jumped into the air and flew over the stadium and right over to Alex. When they landed, they had gotten a glimpse at Alex. He had looked to be wearing an extremely grim expression on his now hardened face. His hair was in fact standing up almost completely upright, and his aura flaring nearly 20 feet into the air with electricity around his aura. Jason soon landed and also witnessed this, "So he finally made it." "Yes Jason. You were right." Alex said, his voice still serious as could be, "All that anger at the shit Al-Qaeda did, I was finally able to properly channel it right. I finally ascended as well." Goku looked at him impressed, "Good, you did it Alex. Now all we need for is for Vernon to finally do it." Alex looked over to his west, "He's over there still trying at it as we speak. I think he's going to pop soon enough too." "Then I don't want to be there to miss it." #17 said, wanting to make sure Vernon wouldn't decide to go feral again like the first time he had ever gone SSJ. The seven of them moved over to were Vernon was. They saw him with his head lowered, and they had already saw his ki flare a steady and calm recourse, contrast to the snarl on his face. Vegeta watched it with grim interest, "These people... their will to learn is amazing..." he said, almost in a whisper to himself. Vernon's eyes opened, as electricity began to adorn his aura. Instead of releasing his power immediately, he jumped up into the air and screamed feral anger. His hair began to stand up fuller into the air, and the electricity began to crackle around him at a massive intensity. And Vegeta soon spoke up, "He did it. He's also a Super Saiya-jin 2." However, Vernon was not done quite yet. For some strange reason, he began to feel the electricity course through his body, almost as if it were truly one with him instead of being just energy. He landed to the ground with a swift motion, and yelled, "CLEAR THE WAY! ALL OF YOU!" in a voice that was quite unlike his normal demeanor. He sounded like he was about to expel a great burden from himself. They did not understand just why they complied so easily with his order, but even Goku and Vegeta dodged out what they believed was about to become the path of a devastating attack, as Vernon outstretched his arms, and positioned his hands in a pose that would make him appear as if he were clasping a round and circular object in front of his chest. What would happen next would be considered unprecedented in Goku, Vegeta, #17 and Piccolo's careers as fighters. They saw Vernon's body begin to emit now a bluish-looking electricity, in addition to the yellow-orange electricity that was in a normal Super Saiya-jin 2's aura. The blue electric looked to wrap around his legs, his arms, his stomach, and surged erratically. "Damn, he must be really pouring on juice for that attack!" Jason growled, as he felt the energy began to slam into him with great force. Alex also felt this great force, and so did #17, Piccolo, Vegeta, and even Goku, still in Super Saiya-jin 3 form, had felt a considerable amount of force from the attack, but Piccolo, Goku and Vegeta's eyes were widened. I feel the energy hitting me in a physical way! But I don't sense any extra ki being placed into his attack! Goku thought in shock, and Vegeta and Piccolo had been thinking similar. Buu however looked to be almost totally unaffected by the energy coming off of Vernon, and his the look on his face looked to be that of realization. YES! It is! He's doing it! These people might really someday be more powerful than I ever imagined! Buu's thoughts were contrastively serious to his normal speech. Vernon's body appeared to strain slightly as a strange, purplish-blue sphere of energy began to appear below the center of where his hands would meet, and now it looked like he was almost controlling the power of all electricity through his hands, as the sphere began to sparkle and crackle off a large amount of electrical energy. Buu could swear he heard the sphere give a vicious whine through the air. Buu's eyes widened, but not in shock, but in realization as he called, "Do it Vernon!" Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, #17, Jason and Alex looked to Buu in surprise as Vernon's following scream came in at a loud volume, but the tone did not sound like an enraged teenager, but almost calm, "WILLY WISP." With those words, Vernon tossed the ball towards the path made when everyone had dodged aside. The ball sheered through the side of a tree in its' path, and then lowered in altitude as it hit the ground, but unlike most ki blasts which exploded on impact, the ball exploded different, and erupted into a pulsing field of electrical energy, which then formed into a kind of controlled upward spiral into the air. The others sensed on. "Kakarott, what is that attack?! I don't sense any energy from it at all!" Vegeta said, actually sounding freaked out, as they witnessed the attack finally fade out as the last of the electrical energy dissipated into the air. When they all looked back to Vernon, he looked to be back to original, half-laid back self. He was much calmer than he had been for the last 5 minutes, and his hair still stood up almost completely vertical. That's... that's what's going to happen to those Al-Qaeda asshats when I finally get the chance to go after them. Vernon thought calmly to himself. Buu looked at Vernon and smiled, "Vernon did good! Vernon did very good! Buu commends you for that effort!" "Buu, what's the big deal anyways? Why did you tell him to 'do it', whatever that meant?" asked Goku. "Yeah Vernon, I didn't sense any energy in that blast you fired!" Piccolo cut in. "You guys probably couldn't sense that because it wasn't ki energy." Vernon commented with a strange smile on his face. "WHAT!?" Alex asked in shock. Buu smirked, "Vernon know magic! YES HE DOES! YEAH!" Buu cheered, seeing Piccolo, Alex, Jason, Goku and Vegeta's mouths all falling a varying amount of inches. "THAT WAS MAGIC?!" Piccolo shouted out. Alex was also surprised, "Wow, the rules must've really changed, if that was really magic, and... wait! HOLY SHIT! I think know that move you just used now! The Willy Wisp... it's an electrical magic bolt out of a game I play!" "Yeah, I think it's a Super Mario RPG attack that some enemies use24. I don't know why I suddenly began to use it, but after I transformed to Super Saiya-jin 2, I felt like I had come into tune with the electrical energy flowing through me, and I just had to see if I could do something with it, so I decided to do the Willy Wisp." Vernon smirked. "Okay so we know that what you did is magic, but why is it that big of a deal?" #17 asked, not understanding the big deal. "Magic and Ki are two completely different things, #17. I've had my own run-ins with magical abilities, and Buu himself was created by Magic, if you hadn't known." Piccolo explained, "Babidi's energy barrier and Dabura's stone spit are both magical attacks, and I believe the flames he used while fighting Gohan were a kind of magic and ki combination. I found that despite how pathetically weak Babidi by himself was against me that I wasn't able to pierce his magic barrier for a while. I too have learned some magic adaptation from my encounter with him, but I've never bothered to try creating an attack from it." "Piccolo understand." Buu replied, "Buu can sense magic energies, and ki energies! Radditz and Nina at least have gift too!" "I kinda had a feeling Nina's little Hokaku attack and a few of the other strange energy attacks she used had to do with magic, but when the hell did Radditz use magic?!" Vernon then asked. "Buu sense him firing it off a few times yesterday. Was weak, but was still present. It mixed with Radditz's ki!" Buu spoke up, apparently revealing Radditz's new Atomic Ray attack had a form of magic in it too. "Dammit! This is insane! Do you realize what this could mean?!" Vegeta cut into the conversation, "Most of us barely have any real control over magic. Those three have a major advantage over us if they should think to use their magic on us! Our Ki is of no defense against Magic! They both operate of different forms of energy that would simply pass through each other if someone tried to use ki vs. magic in a beam struggle!" "You basically mean Magic and Ki have different 'powerlevels'?" Alex asked. "Yes. It wouldn't matter that Kakarott is a Super Saiya-jin 3 if his opponents magic-powerlevel was much higher than his own. They'd still be able to waste him if they got the time to fire off and hit with a strong enough magic blast." Vegeta replied, still grumbling. "So how do we distinguish the different types of powerlevels?" Vernon asked. "Personally, I think normal powerlevel would be best called "battlepowerlevel", and magic powerlevel be called, well... "magicpowerlevel". It's too bad Radditz's scouter would probably have no way of detecting magicpowerlevel." Goku had suggested and mused on this development. "Hmmm... you know what, I think... I think you all deserve a slight break." Piccolo smirked at the three younger Saiya-jin, "I think if you all train a bit too much that you're going to lose what remains of your teenage lives." "Come on Piccolo, we need to get stronger still! I wanna be an SSJ3!" Alex whined. Goku looked at Alex with a strange expression, not necessary a jealous or stern expression, but one that indicated that he believed something was up, "Alex, it will probably be extraordinarily hard for any more transformations from here on out. Super Saiya-jin 3 is something I was only able to get after intense training in the afterlife. As you know from your show, although I admit it did exaggerate it a little, a year in the afterlife of training is like around 60 in normal terms. It took me at least 5 years while I was dead to learn how to control Super Saiya-jin 3, and even then, I still can't hold the state longer than 50 minutes at a time." "I thought it was only like 10 minutes?" asked Vernon with some confusion. "It used to be, but 10 years is a lot of time to learn to lessen the drain of energy a little, but it can still be a killer if you over do it." Goku explained, "But still, for me, it was like 300 normal years in time to finally ascend to Super Saiya-jin 3, and that's extreme, even compared to Muten Roshi taking 50 years just to perfect his own Kamehameha attack." "Yeah, but you yourself have bested the odds others presented to you, so why not us?" asked Jason, making Goku realize the validity of this statement. He had only taken less than 1 year to make a reasonable strength Kamehameha after he saw Roshi do it at Frypan Mountain, and he had learned to do even the weakest of Kamehamehas within less than 5 minutes of seeing Roshi do his first one. It was then Goku realized something, The further the generations progress, the easier it seems for them to get the things it took us a long struggle to learn. I mean, Vegeta, Gohan, Mirai Trunks and I had to struggle to learn the Super Saiya-jin level, and Goten and the present version of Trunks learned how to do it at age 8 of all things. When I was only 13, I started off with a powerlevel of roughly 25, where as Goten and Trunks were well above the tens of millions at base by the same time in their lives. Just maybe these people will leave THEM in the dust. He then spoke up, his expression softening into a half-smirk, "Well you never know actually, you might just be right Jason." but then he chuckled, as everyone else heard a reasonably loud roar emit from Goku, but not his mouth. Vegeta sweatdropped, "You're hungry... it figures Kakarott." he said in a low voice, but he then realized he too was falling into hunger. Piccolo of course did not care so much since Namekians did not need to eat, and #17 did not HAVE to eat, but he was planning on visiting Radditz at his new job later anyways, so he didn't care. Of course, Buu would never turn down food, being just as hungry as Goku could be. Also, Vernon, Alex and Jason were also pretty hungry as well, especially Jason and Alex, who could eat roughly as much as Vegeta or Radditz at their hungriest. "Yeah, why don't we just head back to our place for a bit, get an appetizer for now, and then go over and meet up with Radditz at his new job." Vegeta then suggested, causing all the others to nod in agreement, as they lifted up into the air, and took charge in the air, flying back southward, their main tasks for the day finally fulfilled. **** Back at their training field and forest, Paula and Nina had not missed Vernon and Alex's transformations to Super Saiya-jin 2 on their ki radars. However Nina had sensed something additionally that Paula had not. Nina, like Buu, also had the ability to sense magical energies much in the same way as Buu had. Paula had asked her why she looked so bugged out, and Nina had explained to her about Vernon's Willy Wisp magic attack, and how she could sense the aura of magic, and that Magic and Ki appeared to have a separate breed of energies from one another. It was then Paula had gotten extremely curious, about her old theory about PK and it's relationship with Ki and now Magic. She had asked that she and Nina go back to the open field so they could test something. Nina was a bit perplexed and followed her smaller ally to the field. "Paula, exactly what do you want me, er us, to do, anyways?" Nina asked when they had arrived. Paula looked over to her, "You told me Magic and Ki are different from another. Now I need to find out something of my own. I need to know where my PK powers fall into the picture." Nina's eyes furrowed in realization, "Of course, how could I forget? You mean you're actually going to show me one of your powers now?" "First off, I'm going to create a minor PK attack and shoot it at the ground. I want you to try to see if you can sense it, and if you can, I want to know if it feels similar to magic or not." Paula replied as she turned and looked to the ground. She raised a hand and fashioned into pointing her index finger into the air. As she did, Nina gaped as she saw a large ball of fire appear on the end of Paula's finger, appearing to do no harm to its' wielder whatsoever. Paula then pointed her finger at the ground, and Nina was caught off guard as she saw a large fireball streak from Paula's finger and smash into the ground a few feet away at high speeds. "Paula, I didn't sense that at all!" Nina told her quickly. Paula narrowed her eyes and turned back to Nina, "Now, can you wield fire magic of your own? I want to try to sense for it." Nina nodded, and turned around, raising her left hand in the air, cupped upside down, as she began to form a ball of fire in her palm. Paula noticed she could just barely sense the energy, but it did not feel like the PK attacks she could use, but like something that was neither Ki or PK energy. "SPARK." Nina shouted as she threw the fireball into the ground ahead of her, making a small explosion, and looking in some ways much like Paula's fiery PK attack. "I did sense that, but it was only barely. It doesn't feel the same as normal Ki energy. Now I want to do a real test." Paula figured it was now or never, "I'm going to charge one of my ki blasts and hurl it your way. I want you to charge a decent strength magic attack and fire it straight at me." "You want to see if the energies will interact in any way?" Nina had realized what her friend had been going for. Paula replied by ducking down slightly as she formed a Soukidan in her hand, not the most powerful, but strength wasn't the point, it was the principle of it being ki that mattered. "NOW!" she screamed as she pitched the Soukidan at Nina, and then dodged aside as to avoid anything that might come her way. Nina focused her eyes on the Soukidan and fired off a large electrical bolt which flew dead straight at the Soukidan, and then jumped to the side herself. However both women watched in amazement as both attacks passed right through one another, as if they had completely ignored each other. Both women watch the other's attack impact with the ground behind them, Paula's creating a small explosion, and Nina's dispersing with a small area of electrical energies. "Now you fire a large ki blast, and I'll fire a PK attack of my own at it!" Paula quickly called, already knowing what to shoot. Nina quickly charged a small Kamehameha wave and shot just enough of one that it looked like a wispy trail as it flew towards Paula. Paula thrust her hands outwards towards the blast, in what looked like a sideway Kamehameha hand cup, but it was not a kamehameha, but a moderate sized blue ball of icy energy with wind flowing around it, that was flung at Nina's blast. Both women dodged aside as they again witnessed both attacks ignore each other and pass through as they had never been there. "ALRIGHT. Nina we both launch fire attacks of PK and Magic at each other! NOW!" Paula screamed over quickly and had already shot another burst of her psychic fire blast ahead at Nina. Nina almost hesitated, but launched a stronger spell called Flame at the fire blast. However both women underestimated the speed of the other's attack, and they watched in amazement as the two fireballs went right through one another without interaction, but they had been so fixated they had forgotten to dodge, this Nina had gotten hit by Paula's fireball and fell on her back, and Paula had been hit with Nina's flame ball, also being knocked backwards. Both had been slightly engulfed by fire, having to stop, drop and roll, much like being in a cheesy safety video to subdue the flaming effects of each other's attacks. After they finally recovered, they both got to their feet. "Okay, okay enough!" Nina growled over at Paula, "We get the point now: Ki, Magic and PK are three completely different types of energy, they don't interact and they each seem to have their own powerlevels separate from one another!25" Paula grumbled to herself, and a sweatdrop was on her head as she scratched her head in embarrassment, "Yeah sorry. I got a bit carried away in the moment. I haven't really trained with another person like this in quite some time. I guess you're presence is growing on me!" Nina sweatdropped at her, "Riiight, my presence should make you less jumpy than more." she then laughed. Paula blushed, "True. Anyways, now what?" "We're done for now. I want to remove the gravity aura for now. I'm a bit too tired from our spar and getting burned by your blast to keep going on. And it might help to finally remove it after having it on for nearly 40 hours at a time." Nina said, as she soon chanted out at Paula, and she had felt significantly lighter as the gravity dissipated from around her. Nina soon did the same thing to herself. Paula suddenly bent down, and lunged upwards into the air without warning. Much to Nina's surprise she had jumped without ki assistance to a height where she couldn't not see the smaller girl anymore. Knowing she had nothing to lose, she also ducked down and lunged up, surprised to find that she was rocketing upwards at extremely high speed. She quickly saw Paula still lifting upwards, but noticed she had gradually caught up with her, and then even surpassed her height. "Woah! This has to be nearly three-fourths of a mile we've jumped!" Paula was in shock at how light she felt at that moment, but then she realized she and Nina were finally descending at high speeds. The two women where just able to ignite their ki quick enough to cushion their otherwise nasty fall. Both women straightened themselves out. "So, what do we do with the rest of today?" Paula asked. "Why don't you come with me to the McDonalds on Faircrest Avenue. Radditz is gonna start working there today, and I got the feeling some of the others will probably be going to visit, since Radditz mentioned Goku's gang had planned to stop by." Nina replied. "Hmm, I take it you want us to lower our energy a little when we see the others, don't you?" Paula asked her friend. "Yes. I'm still not sure if I can really tell them yet that were doing anything serious. Of course, they might still assume we're doing some training. I just don't want to get Alex, Jason, Vernon the rest of my friends to try to baby us out of it if they do find out by giving off too strong of an energy." Nina explained. "Alright, I guess we should get going." Paula said, as she began to lift herself into the air. Nina followed suit, and the two women soon shot off southwards, soon splitting off as Nina had reached her house, and Paula continued to her house to rest a little before the two would regroup to go to McDonalds. **** Meanwhile, back at Devin's vacant lot, Dan and Teresa had arrived earlier, telling the group there about Radditz's Super Saiya-jin transformation. Clint and Devin had felt Radditz become a Super Saiya-jin not long before they had arrived, and then soon they had felt both Alex and Vernon's powerlevels rising drastically. "Dammit! I still can't believe those three clowns managed to turn Super Saiya-jin 2 in less than two weeks!" Devin growled. He was now feeling generally pissed about the developments, "I really wish we had a gravity chamber or two to use!" Clint could swear in Devin's annoyance, that faint black aura from the day before had reappeared around him and flickered in a couple of times before it had vanished again. Clint didn't think it was a transformation due to the fact that he didn't really see anything else about Devin change, and any powerups he got quickly diminished after the flashes occurred. "Devin, calm down. We should probably take a break soon and head to the McDonalds for some food." Clint suggested, having been quite hungry himself, not to mention McDonalds had been one of his favorite fast food places. Devin sighed, "If you say so Clint, if you say so." They had called over and gotten the attention of Dwayne, Virgil, Steve, Heero, Dan, Dusty and Teresa, and called them over to prepare to head off towards McDonalds. Dan grumbled just a slight bit when he heard that, but maybe he could talk more to Radditz when he arrived there. It had also turned out Steve had gotten a call on his cell phone by Vegeta, telling them his own little gang were heading to the same McDonalds. It had been a chance for the entire group to remerge and get some quality time. The nine of them discarded their weights and put them back in the make-shift dressing room, and they also had put Virgil's mallet away in the storage garage near Devin's house, and they all blasted off on their way to McDonalds, intending to eat the day away. **** Devin's gang would soon arrive at the McDonalds/Marathon station along Faircrest Avenue, where they would already find Nina and Paula sitting at a table, eating a few McChicken Sandwiches, and they had not yet caught site of Radditz, or of Alex's little gang just yet. The seven of them found a table close to Nina and Paula, across from the two women. "So, long time no see." Nina commented, "You goofs behaving well?" "Ha ha... Yes, we're doing just fine. Thanks for asking anyways." Devin grumbled. Nina had seen Dan and Teresa, "I was wondering where you two had gone. I figured you'd all be here first to see Radditz off on his first day." Dan frowned, "No, he told us to join up with Devin's group for the rest of the day. He managed to become a Super Saiya-jin earlier. I guess the stress is getting to him. He's thinking about breaking off our own training with us to join with Goku's group so he can get better training as an SSJ." "Dan, you okay?" Paula asked. "I guess I feel a little worried Radditz is gonna ditch Teresa and I for Goku's group. I guess I feel a little sore about it. Also, I'm sure a lot of you must feel jealous, not being able to transform yourself." Devin frowned, "Don't even remind me about that." "Sorry, must've hit a nerve." Dan sighed. "You could say that again." Devin replied. "Hey where exactly is Mr. Long Hair anyways?" asked Dusty to Paula. "He's back there, but he's not really a cashier most of the time. He seems to be doing grunt work like moving things. Nina mentioned to me that's what he said about the job." she replied back. "I see. I also noticed Neil's here." Devin replied, referring to a former-student from Canton South known as Neil Lorenzo. Neil was actually one of the nicer students who had known the Misfits, and also had ill-feelings towards Jackson and his little yesmen. He also had the tendency to stop by at the school once a week to check up on his old friends. Devin then took his group to the counter, and Neil noticed him, "Hey Devin, you guys have been missed back at South. With Jackass suspended, his little butt-kissing buddies are too afraid to badmouth you guys for helping to save the school and county from those terrorist bastards." "I can imagine. So he's out of there right now huh?" Dusty replied back. "Yeah, thank God. Anyways, what do you all want? I noticed your lady friends are in the back, you all meeting up here or something?" Neil asked. "Actually, kinda, that and Radditz is one of us, as you might have figured out." Clint explained, "As for me, two 20 piece McNuggets, a Large Fry, and a Large Strawberry milkshake for me." he then gave his order. Neil put it all down. Dwayne was next, ordering 3 steak sandwiches and a medium fry. Steve had gotten an extra-large Sprite, a medium fry, and 3 large cheeseburgers. Dusty had gotten 2 BLTs, along with a 10 piece McNugget and a medium fry and a medium banana milkshake. Dan had only gotten a large salad and a 6 piece McNugget. Teresa had gotten 2 cheeseburgers, two medium fries, and a medium chocolate milkshake. Heero had been very hungry, ordering 4 McChicken Sandwiches and a large coke in order to wash them down. Devin had ordered a cheeseburger, a McChicken Sandwich, and a 20 piece McNugget. Finally, Virgil had ordered 2 large fries and a large Pepsi. As this had been going on, Goku, Vegeta, #17, Buu and Piccolo had all arrived, with Jason, Alex and Vernon landing behind them at base level. They were surprised to find Paula and Nina at the back table as well, but they had been expecting they'd probably meet up with Devin's group. They had also noticed Dan and Teresa with them. The other nine had just received their food, even Virgil, as the eight of them entered. "Hey you guys, we're here!" Goku called to them cheerfully. Devin and his group perked up, and Paula and Nina looked over to them. "So you're all here then. Once Radditz comes out, that outta be our entire gang now!" Nina called back. Neil had soon greeted Goku's gang, as Goku himself was more than happy to be the first to make an order, to everyone's expectation. Neil had sweatdropped after he heard Goku order 4 apple pies, 4 hamburgers, 4 BLTs, 4 McChicken Sandwiches, 4 Extra-large fries, 8 Fish Fillet Sandwiches and 4 twenty piece McNuggets. As Neil called out the obscenely large order to the back, everyone else heard "Ah dammit he's here isn't he?" sound from the back, sounding to be Radditz's voice. Then a door in the back opened, and Radditz walked out, but he was not decked out in his normal attire of Saiya-jin armor or the black undersuit, but he was wearing his own version of the standard McDonalds uniform, along with the goofy looking cap trying to stand in one of the large tufts of his hair. He walked over and saw Goku, Vegeta, #17, Buu and Piccolo, and then saw Alex, Jason, Vernon, and then Dan, Dusty, Steve, Dwayne, Heero, Teresa, Clint, Devin and Virgil. He already knew Paula and Nina had been there, them having gotten to the restaurant just as he was coming in. "You want me to handle making these guys' orders? I know my brother can eat more than enough to fill 4 cows, and Buu is about the same." Radditz asked. Neil nodded, "That'd... be appreciated." Radditz mock saluted to Neil and zoomed back, with Goku's order now in hand, as Buu was next to order. He had looked wanted 11 fish sandwiches, and 10 McChicken Sandwiches, along with 3 extra-large coca-colas. Neil had given that order to Radditz as well, who grumbled slightly at Buu, bit did his duty anyways. "I'll just have 3 of the largest quantity of those chicken nugget things." Vegeta said mootly, and Neil had given that slightly more normal order to one of the other workers. Piccolo had simply asked about where a fresh water dispenser was. Neil pointed over to a machine near the drink-filler that dispense cold ice that he could melt into water. Piccolo shrugged and had gotten a large glass and filled it with enough ice water to fill to the top, and promptly sat over with his other comrades who were already eating. #17 had only gotten a strawberry milkshake, and a small salad, again not having to really eat. Neil had felt that to be probably the most normal order so far, not counting Piccolo since water was free anyways. Alex had ordered four Fish Fillet sandwiches, and then a large fry along with some water like Piccolo, much odd to his friends. Jason had order two twenty piece McNuggets as well, along with a large and a medium fry. He also decided to take after Alex and get some ice water though. Vernon finished up by ordering a couple of extra-spicy McChicken sandwiches with a large Root Beer to top it off. They got their orders done, and Neil had calculated the sum total among all 18 of the others to be around $298.43, which Vernon had decided to pay for out of his own pocket, before either Paula, Dwayne or Steve could volunteer their own money. Now the entire group of Misfits, sans Radditz had basically gathered into one place. "So guys, what's up anyways? Training treating fatty over here well?" Alex asked, referring to Virgil, much to Devin's relief. He really didn't know if he'd be able to withstand it if Alex started messing around with him at the time. Virgil grumbled, "Alex, don't even talk, I've gotten excellent at level 3 training clothes." Alex chuckled, "Really there, Virgil? You're actually able to move in those? If it's true, then I'd be more than the least bit shocked." "It's true Alex, we've been there. Devin's got him doing a method he said Goku told him." Clint piped in. Goku looked to them, "Is it that hammer swinging training that I mentioned?" "Yeah, the same thing you apparently used on Gregory on King Kai's planet.26" Devin confirmed. As the bunch discussed over matters at hand, they had mentioned to each other of their major achievements, with the exception of Paula and Nina, although Paula had really wanted to say it. Nina just wasn't ready yet to tell them. Although Alex had pointed out the two of them felt a little bit stronger, the two had also lowered their powerlevels a little, just enough that it seemed they were about 150,000 degrees stronger than they had started out on the 11th. The two mentioned it was more of exercise-type training than serious fighting. Although Goku had known better, he didn't say anything about it, knowing Nina had wanted him to keep their secret. "So Vernon can use magic now?" Dusty had asked upon learning of Vernon's Willy Wisp attack. "Yeah, it's rather cool thing too. Magic and Ki seem to be two different things, so they seem to have their own separate 'powerlevels'." Vernon explained. Nina replied, "Yes, I did sense that too. Now you have a bit of an understanding of how I can shrink you when you screw around too much." Nina said in a joking tone, knowing Vernon wasn't big on the 'being shrunk' part. "So, how is Heero handling all the training anyways?" asked Dan, not having been around the Gundam pilot much since the 11th. "Heero's already at level 4 training clothes, and he actually matched up well against Dusty in an earlier spar. He must have prior hand-to-hand battle experience or something." Virgil mentioned. There was a little bit more talk among the group of friends. Sadly Radditz could not really join them during any of it, and Dan was a little miffed about it. Although he was trying to tell himself it was nothing serious. It was just complications of being both a future-superhero and a fast-food worker. Teresa had sensed a little of his misgivings, but she didn't decide she wanted to talk about it with him, especially not in front of the others, however she too then decided she wanted to mention something to them, not sure yet if they considered her really to be one of them. "Hey Dan, I noticed you never mentioned of my clone ability to them." she spoke up. Dan looked up, as if he were slightly shaken from a thought, as the others looked at Teresa a little. "Clone ability? You mean she learned a multi-form like the Shishin No Ken?27" asked Piccolo, referring to one of Tenshinhan's signature techniques. "No no no... this is much different." Dan said, "She appears to do it by firing a set number of blasts around for a while, and then she merges them all to form an energy clone of herself that she can actually interact with and spar with. She first did it yesterday, and it looked really useful. It seemed to be more than just something like a Kamikaze Ghost. The spirit doesn't explode on contact with someone, and it can actually shoot it's own blasts and stuff." Dan blabbed to them. Goku actually looked intrigued. "If something like that is true, then you should try to show us someday. Maybe it'll make a kind of alternative to the normal Shishin No Ken. Unless the power is split up between you and your clone." "No, my powerlevel only seems to lessen slightly, around 5 to 10% according to the last three scans Radditz did on me with his scouter thing while I was using it." Teresa said. Vegeta looked a bit interested, and actually spoke up, "You see now, it seems everyone is learning stuff fast. This new generation is reminding me of Trunks's generation." "Well Radditz appeared to learn two new attacks of his own in addition to his transformation." Dan mentioned. "Buu sensed he did a semi-magic attack!" Buu then cut in. Dan, and Teresa, as well as Clint, Steve, Devin, Dwayne, Heero and Virgil were also a bit shocked. "I bet it must be his Atomic Ray. He told me something about how a small part of it feels like it's not made of ki energy." Teresa spoke up. Paula decided that even if she couldn't tell them about the full brunt of her own training that she might as well break one other bit of news. "Speaking of Magic, Ki and all that stuff. I need to add more to the information pool. There's apparently a THIRD type of energy variant that ignores both Magic and Ki attacks. It's a kind of power I wield known as PK." Paula had then slowly explained to them the process of how PK was a mental based energy, and Goku and Vegeta, and even Buu had some expressions of shock on their faces. However this time Piccolo smirked at the other former-enemy of his late-father, "So it is true. The Psychokinetic power does have it's own wavelengths of energy. You see Paula, I think Frieza possessed a lesser degree of your PK abilities. He couldn't form energy with it or shoot blasts, but he had so much psychic ability that I actually saw him lift an entire mountain with his powers before with no visible strain on himself." Paula's eyes went wide, "What?! Really? Wow... he could've been truly one bad dude if he had known how to use true PK abilities or had been smart enough to consider them more useful." Vegeta growled at the mention of Frieza, and wasn't one for hearing 'what-if' situations concerning his former-master's power, "Alright enough about that bastard. I don't think we need to bring back voodoo on us by talking about him." "Aw come on Vegeta, he's dead!" Alex said to him with a cheer, "It's not like he could come back from the dead, and even if he did, even I, Jason, Vernon could hold him off decently, and the rest of you could probably slaughter him now. It's not like villains can get stronger when their dead. They're like wispy white clouds down in Hell." "Alex, did your brain snap? Don't you remember Nina was sent TO Hell when the merger happened? She saw both Radditz AND Dodoria's physical forms battling each other. As long as anyone keeps their body, they can get stronger, even in Hell." Clint mumbled at Alex, annoyed he would forget that, but then his expression softened, "Although I do agree with you on Frieza. Even if he had trained all 20 plus of those years he was dead, it's not like he could ever get stronger than Cell, in my opinion. He's probably still weaker than what Perfect Cell was when he died." Alex smacked his forehead, "Sorry Clint, kinda forgot some things on the show don't seem to have really happened in this case." he then cast an odd look back and forward between both Goku, Paula and Piccolo, still confused to how the hell Paula could know the other two in her childhood. She was not a character on the show, at least not the version he had seen and reviewed. After a short more amount of talking, the 17 job-free Misfits, and Teresa as well, who had been assured by Goku that she could probably join the group if she needed to, had all finished eat their food, and they had all said their goodbyes to each other, and also told Radditz and Neil they had been leaving. All of them except for Nina had left and headed back to their homes. Nina had decided she was just going to stay a little longer. Something felt out of place to her, as if she had a strange sense of deja vu or something. She got to talk to Radditz one more time and told him they'd talk at home that night. Radditz nodded, and shooed her away after that, not wanting to get fired for talking to his friends too much on shift. Nina soon departed and flew back towards her own home, as sunset was starting to make itself known... Part 10: Weak of Will, Strong of Mind (September 15, 2001 A.D.; 1:12am; Canton, Ohio) Around 6.5 miles to the east of Clint's house, on Waynesburg drive was a medium sized house which was one of few that decorated the nearby landscape. Much like Fohl Village was in the middle of the boonies, so was this place. However what most did not know was that this was the house of Dan Laubacher, one of the Misfits who was training himself in order to become a protector of the good and peaceful. He was also on a hell-bent mission for revenge, on the terrorist organization known as Al-Qaeda, of which one of their own operatives admitted to his face that they had been responsible for the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, and also the Pentagon in Washington D.C. In addition, Dan himself had been mysteriously picked as a priority one target, and they had even used someone Dan now called a friend to try to get to him without being discovered. She was a young woman by the name of Teresa Hamilton, and her family had been held at TNT-point by a pair of the Al-Qaeda fanatics. However before the first of the terrorists had died, Dan and others present during that particular attack had been told a 'secret operative' had given them information stating Dan would one day directly threaten the leaders of Al-Qaeda, regardless of the horrible attacks or not. Dan and the other Misfits had never actually found this 'secret operative', and it had him worried greatly. What if they decided to try at him, or even Teresa again? It was true she was now training alongside him and Radditz, but the rest of her family was just as vulnerable as before, and Dan's own family were not ki-shooting, flying superheroes now. Either of their families could be put at risk. It was because of this reason, and reasons prior that Dan had built himself a special garage, roughly 20 feet wide, which would serve as a kind of workplace. He had not gotten to break the place in too much, but he had gotten one object to examine, one that had been in fact from the attack on him: a strange, tuba-looking gun that the first Al-Qaeda operative had used to both paralyze him and then Devin in a strange electromagnetic field that prevented most movement. If it had not been for Nina's quick intervention, Teresa would've been forced to shoot both him and Devin dead, and then if it had not been for Clint and his 'miraculous' Super Saiya-jin transformation, all of Canton and most of Akron and several other nearby towns would've been blown to Hell by a final bomb that had been rigged with enough power to critically wound someone as strong as Frieza in his first form at point blank range. Dan had looked over the weapon a few times, but between the many training sessions with Radditz and Teresa, he found he had little time to put his makeshift garage of fancy stuff to use. However that might soon in fact change, as Dan discovered that his teacher had both been able to recently attain Super Saiya-jin himself, and wanted to do some control training with Goku and Vegeta. Secondly, Radditz had now also just the day before started a part-time job at the McDonalds on Faircrest Ave. That had been making Dan curious about Radditz. Also, the earlier day the taller Saiya-jin had neglected to get Teresa immediate attention because of an idea of his that he didn't even want to tell Dan, making the two of them spar each other enough to look like they had been roughed up. Dan had wondered deep down if Radditz had really become one of them, or if Piccolo had been right all along on his original suspicion that Radditz was merely using them to get stronger. It was all of this on his mind that had kept Dan from sleeping that night. In fact, he had opted to going to his new personal garage to check up and see if he could make progress on possibly reverse-engineering that tuba-like gun, or remaking it as a weapon of their own. However, he was still having trouble understanding just what to make of it. It didn't help the weapon itself had been wrecked up, being dropped on the hard street by the original user when he had been fatally wounded by Nina's angry vengeance. Dan had wiped some sweat off of his head and taken off his special tinted goggles. He walked outside of the garage and looked up and down the road, as if contemplating just what he should do. He however had not immediately noticed a small creature walking up to him. That is, until he heard a soft "Meow" at his foot. Dan looked down and saw a small cat snuggling up against his leg, purring low, and meowing at him. The cat looked up at him, and meowed lightly. Dan looked over the cat more closely, the light from his garage revealing some of its' features. It had been a black cat with a few stripes of gray, and it looked rather well groomed, with a pair of strange yellow-orange eyes that glowed in the light. Dan, not having much else to do, bent down and picked the cat off the ground and held it against him, "What's a little guy like you doing out here?" he asked it. The cat merely meowed at a high pitch. Realizing the feline wanted to be pet, Dan decided to do exactly just that. He pet the cat for about 10 seconds, all the while wondering why it was here of all places, since cats' didn't usually hang out in his neck of the woods. However, Dan's vision suddenly brightened as if he had been caught in a Taiyoken attack. Dan suddenly blanked out, although he thought he had heard a faint meow as his vision had gone white. **** Dan soon came to his senses. However to his surprise, he had found he was still standing along the road near his garage, and he still had his arms holding up the cat, or at least he had thought so, until he noticed there was no longer any cat in his arms. In fact, it was as if it had jumped out of his arms while he blacked out. Dan shook his head, wondering if for a moment he had some sense of deja vu or something. He sighed to himself and walked back into his garage. However when he went to look at the tuba-like weapon again, he noticed something different near it. A small looking pill-like object with what appeared to be a push button on one end was laying right next to the gun. "Where'd this come from?" Dan asked to himself, "It looks like one of the capsules on Dragonball." He grabbed the capsule, and hit the button, and threw the capsule on the ground. The capsule erupted into smoke, and unveiled... several more capsules. "More of them?!" Dan said in bewilderment. He bent down and grabbed all of the new capsules and set them down on the table, however a green capsule in the set caught his interest. "Go ahead Dan. Take a peek." said a new voice that made Dan jump nearly to the roof of his garage. The capsule fell to the floor and the button pressed against the hard ground. The capsule erupted into more smoke, but now in it's place was an object that made Dan's heart chill to the bone. "It's... it's another one of those guns!" he stammered, looking at a fully functional version of the same tuba-like gun that had been used by the first Al-Qaeda operative, the same gun used on him. "Yes, I'm sure you remember quite well of those guns." echoed that voice again. "Who's... who's there?!" Dan called out, not sensing any new energy signatures, or any of those of his own friends. "Don't bother yelling out loud. I'm not near you, I'm IN you." the voice replied, concealing a chuckle. "IN me?! What're you talking about?" Dan asked. Suddenly, he felt his leg move, but it was not totally at his own command. Then his other leg began to move, until Dan noticed he was walking over to a nearby mirror without trying. "Take a look at yourself, Einstein." the voice said to him, as Dan looked into the reflection. He looked pretty much normal, at least until he suddenly saw his eyes go from green to orange, and saw his mouth move, as the voice spoke with his own mouth, "Hiya Dan! Nice to meet you!" Dan regained full control of himself and jumped back in horror, his eyes reverting to green, "Shit! What the hell!?" "Hello there Dan!" the voice spoke out loud again, now sounding to be from within Dan's own mind, "Nice to finally get the chance to get acquainted with you." Dan was horrified at this. Something was running around in his head, and it did not seem to be a good sign. "What are you?! What're you doing inside of me!?" Dan asked in anger. "Oh don't be that way Dan. I'm here to help you actually." the voice replied. "Help me? With what?" Dan asked. "Are you so dense?! I'm talking about those fools Heero and Radditz of course!" "Why would I need help with them? They're on the same team as me." Dan replied, not understanding what this foreign presence was trying to say. "Oh... not anymore... I should also say I'm also here to help you in dealing with the other 'Misfits', as you call yourselves. You see Dan, I've grown to like you since we met on the plane back to Canton. Even though I did try to have you killed in the past, I realize how much of a mistake it would've been if those Islamic goons had succeeded in getting rid of you. You're of much better use to me alive than dead." "Wait, we've met before?!" Dan asked, not initially noticing the mention of the Islamic group of terrorist that almost had him killed. "Well, you don't know me personally, but I know of you. Back then, I just looked like a normal boy around your age, nothing really sticking out at all." Dan had however finally absorbed the last words of the voice's other statement, "Wait!! YOU sent Al-Qaeda after me!?" "Yes Dan. Back then, I realized you had ambitions for joining the military. I knew with your training from your friends that if you had joined your country's army in a future campaign against Al-Qaeda, that you'd be the strongest soldier, and you would even destroy their own leaders. With that knowledge, I tipped Al-Qaeda in about you, and they sent in that girl Teresa to kill you, hoping to cover their own tracks, but things didn't go quite as planned, however I'm actually glad they didn't now that I've gotten to know you better." As Dan listened to this, he realized, "So you're the one who gave him this gun, aren't you?" he referred to the tuba-like guns, both the broken one on his table, and the new one laying on the floor. "Yes Dan, and it's not a tuba as you probably can figure out, it's actually called a "Concussion Pulse Gun"28. Something that worked well in restraining powerful enemies with electromagnetic bolts. That's why you and your other friend were unable to move when that operative shot you." the voice explained. "So then why me?! Why try to kill me and then change your mind?! Hell, who are you anyways?!" Dan demanded with so many questions he wanted answered. "If you need my name... you may call me Oyatsu29. As for why I changed my mind about you: let's just say you have special powers within that make your friends look like a bunch of... well as you like to say, retards. Also, your misgivings for Radditz and Heero have also left you vulnerable to my possession. Let's just say you shouldn't go petting creatures you don't know anything about." the voice replied. Dan then growled with disbelief, "So... that cat..." The Voice cut in, "Was ME. YES DAN. The little kitty was ME! I can change my shape and form as I please! I told you, I was much similar looking to a boy of your age on the plane. Then I took the form of an elderly woman when I tipped Al-Qaeda about you, and then I recently was also a few animals, including the cat you pet. Your blacking out a little bit ago...? that was me seeping into you." Dan took all of this as calm as he could without going into a state of rage, "So exactly what do you want with the others?" "The others. I want them out of the way, rather dead or alive. My master told me a long time ago to await a sign of supernatural proportions, a day when several realities would become one. On that day, I was to destroy the ones who would rise up from the aftermath, and you and your other friends the Misfits are among them. Oyatsu replied. Wait, he must be one of the dark forces Dusty kept saying was coming. Dan thought to himself. Oyatsu's voice picked up, "So Dusty somehow knows of us I see." "What?!" Dan cut in. "Don't bother trying to hide your thoughts. I can see them as well. Heheh." Oyatsu chuckled. "No matter. Just how do you expect to defeat all of my friends anyways?! If you think I can defeat them all, you're sadly mistaken!" Dan replied. "Hahaha... I'm quite aware of their origins and their powers Dan. Maybe on your OWN you might not be able to defeat them but with my help, taking down your friends, most of them anyways, will be a piece of cake! Oyatsu replied. Now Dan chuckled grimly, "So then explain to me how I'm going to be able to take down a Super Saiya-jin 3, four Super Saiya-jin 2s, and two normal Super Saiya-jins, in addition to the others?" "Simple, for one, there's not going to be any Super Saiya-jins, not Super Saiya-jin 1, not Super Saiya-jin 2, not Super Saiya-jin 3, nor anything else that might come after 3! Why you ask?! Well, let's step outside and over to the nearby field, and I'll demonstrate." Oyatsu replied, as Dan noticed his body picking up into the air uncontrollably under Oyatsu's control, and moving over to the field nearby on the other side of the road. He then sat down, and then he noticed his body kneeling into a meditative stance. "Ah yes, I just remembered also about your little bet with Piccolo. Such a pest he is, thinking you and all humankind are such weaklings." Oyatsu chuckled to Dan, "With my help, you could personally show him just how strong you really are!", but he then looked to the sky, and Dan could only wonder what was about to happen. "What is this?" he asked. "Sing along with me Dan! You're about to play a big role in the change of the future!" Dan tried to fight the urge to do this, however soon both Dan and Oyatsu's voices began to sing in unison, "Heptae... capnae... ramtae... keltac... delruma... charnuu... reacay... durta... daru... ca... DURTY DURT DUR! I CURSE UPON ALL WITHIN FOUR DOZEN MILES... I CURSE UPON THEE ALL THAT THERE IS NO NEED FOR SUPER SAIYA-JINS!!" Dan's mouth then stopped, as he suddenly began to glow an immense white color, and then a large pillar of white energy shot up from his body and straight into the air. Soon, the pillar erupted outwards, bathing Dan's entire neighborhood, and beyond, in a bright white light that made night into day, at least according to him. "What... what the hell did I just do?!" asked Dan. "WE just placed a special curse upon all of your friends that will remove their ability to transform to Super Saiya-jins as long as the words 'DURTY DURT DUR30' are uttered by anyone within earshot of the affected. No matter how powerful, no matter how many levels they can go, if they can transform before, they can't do so for several hours after they hear those words. Basically if your friends try to transform, I or you can just utter it to revert them back to base form!" "Damn... that is a devious power. But wouldn't this light make it so obvious that something's up?!" Dan growled. "The light is something only we can see, not them. It's an additional advantage for us within the area of the curse's affect. It both allows us to know where we can use the curse, and also to give us good vision at night." "Alright, I admit it, it'd be good against Alex, Vernon, Clint, Jason and Radditz. But still, even without their Super Saiya-jin levels, Goku and Vegeta would kick your... I mean, our asses before we could do anything, not to mention how strong Piccolo, #17 and Buu are without a transformation." Dan replied. "You think that's all I had set up for your pathetic friends, Dan? For shame. Go over back to your garage, and look inside the two yellow-coded capsules. You'll soon understand." Oyatsu explained, as Dan's body lifted up again and floated over back to his garage. Dan willingly grabbed the pair of yellow-coated capsules with curiosity, and unsealed them. The first capsule appeared to have two dozen tiny looking glasses lined up in a row, all with corks in them. The second one revealed a strange looking gun that Dan had never seen before. It looked relatively like a prototype, except that in the shaft near the front of the gun was a glowing green crystal that pulsed from dark to bright endlessly. "And exactly how are these going to help you defeat my friends anyways?" Dan asked, not getting the picture. "Figures... only your friend Clint would probably know what that gun there really is, but anyways that weapon is a SHRINKING BLASTER31, as in a "oops, did I turn you into ants?" type of Shrinking Blaster. I noticed something from your winged friend named Nina. She has a special power that she's used on your two friends Alex and Vernon in the past, shrinking them to the size of mice. In this state, their powerlevels appear to be cut down by roughly 90%, making them extremely weakened. I was given blueprints by agents of my master, and created a much more potent version of her shrinking attack, in the form of a weapon. This little beaut will be able to shrink anyone it affects down to the size of ANTS, making them more than a thousand times weaker rather than only 10 times weaker. In other words, not even an ant-sized Goku or Vegeta would stand a chance against you Dan! Hell, I don't think an ant sized BUU could take you down!" Oyatsu laughed wickedly as he explained this. Dan narrowed his eyes, looking at the glasses in front of him, "So then the little glasses... they're for containing..." "Your shrunken friends, and the corks will keep them from being able to hold enough air to do much more than maybe watch in helplessness. It won't quite KILL them alone, but my master won't care if they're dead or alive as long as they're at least neutralized and kept from interrupting his plans." Oyatsu explained, finishing Dan's remark. "There's just one problem with all of this. Buu's much stronger than you realize, and Piccolo's nearly 33% stronger without his weighted clothing." Dan said, still not thinking Oyatsu's plan would fully work out. "Yes... I now realize that. Buu's a little more of a tough case than any of the others. His strange magic structure might make the shrinking blaster useless on him entirely, however I got one other power that should stop EVEN him at FULL power. Oyatsu explained, as he used Dan's ki abilities to pick up one of the tiny glasses and levitate it over outside and into a nearby street, "I think I should give you a demonstration." Using Dan as his eyes, he moved Dan's head from side to side, and then narrowed them on a small rabbit around 40 feet away. He floated Dan's body over close to the dormant, and now uncorked glass. Dan watched in horror as Oyatsu forced him to out stretch both of his hands forward at the rabbit. "MAFUBA!!!" screamed their combined voices, as Dan witnessed a green and vaporous energy snake out and hit the innocent rabbit, and watched as the rabbit began to distort and swirl around within the green field of energy several times, slowly getting smaller and smaller, until the vapors finally turned into an energy beam, which Dan forced down into the small glass at his feet. He then noticed Oyatsu making him cork the bottle, which now contained the helpless rabbit inside of it, tiny as a large fly. Dan had realized of the move Oyatsu just made him use, "That's... that looked like that 'Evil Containment Wave' used in the early Dragonball series!" he gasped, feeling a slight bit drained, but unlike what he had heard about the Mafuba, he did not feel like he was about to die. It must've been because he was so strong he could survive using it. "It's actually called the 'Mafuba', you simple-minded fool." Oyatsu chuckled back. "But how would you know an ability like that?!" Dan asked with genuine shock. "I guess it's only fitting I tell you a little more about myself. It'll help explain how I know the Mafuba." Oyatsu started, "You see, I know far more about Goku, Vegeta, #17 and Piccolo than you realize. I'm actually from THEIR part of the now-merged universe." "You're from the Dragonball universe?! I've never seen you before though!" Dan exclaimed. "Well DUH, genius. I'm not on that poor excuse for a 'retelling' that your TV shows every few days, I'm someone NONE of those guys have any idea about! However I know a few of their own friends, or at least I used to." Oyatsu grumbled back, "Do you remember of a pair known as Oolong and Puar, Dan?" "Wait, vaguely I remember them. They didn't get much screen time, and all that, especially after Radditz first appeared on the show. One was a pig, and the other I think was a floating cat-thingy." Dan recalled. "Sigh... close enough. Puar and Oolong went to the same shapeshifting academy as I did. I used to know both. However Oolong was an idiot. He got kicked out for stealing a girl teacher's panties, and he never mastered his shapeshifting powers. Puar on the other hand... she32 had potential, but she stopped too soon. Whereas I went beyond their level of knowledge, and even more. I was witness to many a battle on their world, even got to know Goku, Vegeta, #17 and Piccolo well enough, and it was through witnessing the Piccolo Damiaou ordeal and the 23rd Budokai that I learned how to use the Mafuba. I know Goku, Vegeta and Piccolo almost as good as they know themselves, and I know their deepest fears and weaknesses!" "And Buu and #17?" asked Dan. "Buu's going to be the ultimate example of the Mafuba's true potential. Screw Piccolo's so called 'counter-Mafuba'! He might be able to counter it, but he's the only one who could. Buu has no way of doing so! As for #17, he might be unique, but he is still human to an extent. The shrinking blaster will do fine for dealing with him." "Still, that doesn't explain why use ME to do all of your dirty work!" Dan asked indignantly. "Because, first off, they won't initially expect one of their own to turn on them, least of all you. Remember, Piccolo and them are more concerned that RADDITZ will turn on them, than someone like you." Dan then sulked in realization, as Oyatsu continued speaking, "Secondly, you're currently vulnerable to being possessed by me, even if it's not 100%. Third, as I said, you have powers of your own you don't yet realize. In fact, it's time I revealed one of them to you! Dan suddenly felt his power boiling up from within, and he looked into the mirror as he saw a flare of golden energy surrounding him, along with a faint pulse of yellow in his nearly shaved hair. "No way! That can't be right!" Dan said in horror, as he watched his ki aura become a solid gold, and then his hair fully transform to gold, standing up like needles, and his eyes turquoise. "Alright, this is getting ridiculous! I have to be seeing things!" Dan growled. "That is not an illusion Dan. You see, you too have SOME amount of Saiya-jin blood. I'll admit, there's not much, nothing close to even that of a half-breed, but it includes the Super Saiya-jin gene that all Saiya-jin possess. Therefore... well you can see it with your own two eyes!" Dan heard the shapeshifter speak, as he gaped at his new power in awe, "Additionally, you're a little more powerful still than you would be without my presence. You could say I'm forcing some of your hidden power to the surface33. Not all of it, as even I don't have that kind of mastery, but with all of this, it should be more than enough to take out those putrid Saiya-jin, and the rest of the weakling Misfits you call 'friends'!" "Wait! If I can become a Super Saiya-jin, that means that curse of yours never worked!" Dan said with a smirk. "Actually I said anyone who ALREADY could transform will be unable to transform when the curse is affecting them. However you're unaffected since I forced your first transformation out AFTER I invoked the curse. I did that intentionally in order to prevent your friends from using it against us. You see Dan, I realllly don't like to lose... so sorry for any trouble you're about to endure, but frankly I don't give a damn anymore!" Oyatsu cackled, erasing the smirk on Dan's face. Dan suddenly felt a surge of pain in his head, both physically and mentally. "Now Dan! It's time I try exercising my FULL powers on you! Nighty night trooper! Oyatsu said, as Dan's mind blanked out and was pushed to the dormant position. Oyatsu smiled as he now realized he had full possession of Dan's body. "Yes!! YES!! Soon master! Soon I will rid you of these troublesome gnats!" he chuckled, although now his voice sounded just like Dan's own, as the dormant laughter faded into the night... **** Radditz had been practicing early on his training grounds that morning, wanting to get in his extra training ahead of time due to the limited hours provided by the fact he now had his job at McDonalds. Radditz had quickly learned that Neil had more knowledge on him than he had realized. Apparently he had watched the 'Dragonball' series as avidly as Alex and Devin had, and after some explanations, Neil had learned that Radditz had been planting a sensu plant, and also explained of the growth in Alex, Devin and the other CSHS Misfits' strength over the recent two weeks. Radditz had even tried to offer Neil training, but Neil explained that his schedule was a lot more packed than theirs, and he was unable to take up training for now. As Radditz continued a special lonely kata of his, he was not totally aware that he had company approaching from the eastern direction, until he had seen the figure of Dan flying in at a leisurely pace towards him. Dan's up at this hour? He's usually one of the late trainers. Maybe he's trying to make up for lost time by getting here earlier. Dan landed softly a few yards from Radditz, as the taller Saiya-jin looked over at Dan. However although he did not realize it, he was not looking at Dan, but Oyatsu, who was still in possession of Dan's body. Also, he appeared to be wearing a new outfit, a type of shiny and reflective black overcoat which while dazzling to the eyes, didn't look much like something one would normally train in. Oyatsu was also sporting a very dark shade of sunglasses. "Welcome. Odd outfit there Dan." Radditz greeted. Oyatsu chuckled, his voice still perfectly mimicking Dan's, "Hey there, what're you doing here so early?" "My job doesn't exactly give me as much time to train the way I'm used to, so I'm getting up earlier." Radditz explained, almost wondering if he should've bothered telling Dan. Shouldn't he have figured this out himself? Radditz thought to himself afterwards. Oyatsu smiled at Radditz, "Good, perfect. I need a good early morning spar." "Dan, what're you doing here so early anyways?" Radditz asked him. "Exactly as I said Radditz, I need a good wake up exercise, and Teresa's not ready to fight me at full power, so I figured since you're here..." Oyatsu replied, still mostly acting much as Dan would, "Why don't you take out your scouter and scan me a moment?" Radditz looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "Well, if you say so." Perfect. Once he starts taking my powerlevel, I'll powerup and cause it to explode! In case I don't succeed today, at least that long-haired asshole won't have a scouter anymore to gauge them with! Oyatsu thought to himself. Radditz put the scouter on his eye and clicked the button. His eyes widened slightly. "38,250?? That's a very large jump from yesterday!" Radditz exclaimed, "Dan, what kinda training did Dusty's group give you two?!" "It wasn't Dusty's training that did this Radditz, trust me, Dusty's training wouldn't allow me to do THIS." he exclaimed, as he suddenly transformed to Super Saiya-jin in front of Radditz's eyes. Radditz's eyes bugged out, both at Dan's change, and at the reading on the scouter, which had already climbed over 320,000. However as to Oyatsu's expectations, Dan's powerup caused Radditz's scouter to top out at 352,000 before the scouter beeped loudly and franticly and exploded, destroying the piece of scanning technology. "Dan what the hell are you doing?! You just broke my scouter! Wait a minute! This thing blew up at 352,000 and not 240,000 like I thought! Holy shit! What kinda scouter was this thing?!" he then remembered what had caused it the happen in the first place, "And how did you managed to become... become a Super Saiya-jin?! God damn it, you're a Saiya-jin too?!" "Yes, apparently only a tiny bit, but enough to possess the transformation gene." Oyatsu explained, a small hint of a smirk on his face, "Oh and sorry about the scouter, I didn't think my powerup would actually destroy that thing. I must've gotten stronger than I thought." he then said, as if it were a mistake. "Well, I guess it's not a huge deal... but why the hell did it go all the way to 352,000 before it exploded?34" Radditz replied. Oyatsu then replied as-if, "Because apparently you've forgotten the real limits of a red scouter. They've always climbed to 352,000 before they explode. Too bad you didn't have an Overclocked scouter, or that wouldn't have happened." "I guess not but... WAIT! Just how in the blue hell did you know about the Overclocked scouters?! Those were only starting to be developed long back when Vegeta, Nappa and I finally tried to challenge Frieza's power, and even then, only a Green Overclocked Scouter had been developed before Kakarott defeated Frieza and sent the Planet Trade into ruin!" Radditz then bellowed in disbelief. Oyatsu reached into his pocket, as he discarded his sunglasses, and he pulled out another scouter, this one with a blue lens, and the ear piece of the scouter had a strange insignia on the side that had never been seen on a scouter on the show before, and the normally white shell seemed painted with blue stripes matching in color to the lens. Radditz's eyes about bugged out, "That's it... that's an overclocked scouter! A blue one much like Nappa's rare one35! That old one of his could've probably have seen Frieza's true powerlevel at his 100% state back in those days! But how the hell did you get one of those?!" Oyatsu didn't really reply directly at him, but it still made Radditz's blood chill slightly, "459,000... about what I had expected from the transformation", and he then pointed it at Radditz, "81,600 for you as you are now." Radditz narrowed an eye slightly at Dan, as he wondered, His ki feels slightly diluted, as if something has intoxicated him or something. I'd better watch out. Oyatsu however spoke up again, "Radditz, let's test this little thing. Try going Super Saiya-jin yourself. I wanna see what it'll say!" Radditz sighed, and quickly transformed, releasing all of the extra power loose. "1,060,800 degrees. Impressive Radditz." Oyatsu whistled, realizing what he was about to was very much the right decision. Radditz smirked, temporarily forgetting his worry in awe of his powerlevel, "Over a million huh? I guess those scouters really are improved." Oyatsu's smirk turned to a neutral expression, It's time to see if this curse is truly as effective as it should be! He then smiled, "Well you know what they say." he spoke up. Radditz looked at him, totally lost to what he was cluing at, "Uh well, what do they say?" "Durty Durt Dur!" Oyatsu called over, making sure it was loud enough for Radditz to hear. "Durty Durt Dur?" Radditz replied in confusion, and Oyatsu smirked, realizing now there was no way he hadn't heard it. Even if someone said it to themselves within the curse's area-of-effect, it would invoke the curse on that person. Radditz suddenly felt a strange sensation, as he began to see his ki aura flicker quickly from orangish-yellow back to blue. His hair reverted from gold to black in an eyebeat, as did his eyes back to black from turquoise. A strange sputtering sound, much like a fart emitted from his ki aura as Radditz suddenly found himself reverted to base form. "What the hell!?" Radditz grumbled, as he attempted to transform back to Super Saiya-jin, but his ki aura only flashed to a healthy-blue with sputtering fart-like noises accompanying it. "Dan, do you know what the hell just happened?!" Radditz asked, noticing that Dan was still transformed, much to Oyatsu's delight. YES. YES YES YES YES YES!! IT WORKS PERFECTLY!! he thought to himself, as he flashed a horribly evil smirk at Radditz. Radditz, chilled to the bone, looked at Dan nervously, as he recognized something slightly more sinister to his ki. "Dan, are you alright?!" Radditz asked. However he was not answered by a comment, but by a violent blow to his stomach, sending him flying back several yards and smashing through a nearby tree and uprooting it. Radditz collided with the ground painfully, badly knocked for a loop. Oyatsu quickly dashed over and stood above Radditz, "Yes Radditz!! I must say I am extremely well! My curse worked! You can't become a Super Saiya-jin now for 12 hours!" "Dan, what the hell are you doing?!" Radditz coughed, hacking a small amount of blood from his mouth. Oyatsu reached down and grabbed Radditz by his hair and pulled his face to level with his own, "Sorry if I hurt you a bit too much Radditz, it's just you've not exactly gotten on my good side today." he spoke with a sinister grin, "And yes, my ki has changed much as you believed. Call it sinister if you wish, but you're the one who's been hiding too much from us!" "How did you know I noticed the change?!" Radditz spoke with widened eyes. "I can read some of your thoughts now when you're within a distance of me. As for the scouter, if you must really know... it was a gift, one of MANY gifts from my new friend!" Oyatsu said. Believing he had hurt Radditz enough, he had lowered his powerlevel to only 20% in the case someone else might head over his way, in order to partially conceal it. However Radditz had noticed this and suddenly unleashed a powerful Double Sunday in his face at point blank rage. Oyatsu was smacked back about 20 feet from the large pushback of the blast. Although he had not felt much more than a small stone's throw from the blast, his sunglasses had been blasted off of him, and he had failed to notice a capsule had been knocked out of his overcoat. Oyatsu smirked, "So you're gonna be rough today, eh Radditz? Fine by me!" he said, as he made Dan's green eyes suddenly shift to a terrifying orange which made Radditz briefly lose his composure. Oyatsu quickly dashed in and kicked Radditz in his stomach, cracking the front of his armor, although not enough to totally destroy it, and sent Radditz hurtling over 50 yards away, where his body tore into the ground, and left a small trench dug up. Radditz had barely been able to keep conscious from that kick alone. How... how the hell... did he make... my Super Saiya-jin powers vanish?! What's making... him do this?! Oyatsu smirked, his eyes Dan's usual green again, "The curse I mentioned... it removes anyone's ability to transform to any level of Super Saiya-jin at the mention of the words 'Durty Durt Dur'." "Then how... the hell are you... still transformed?" asked Radditz. "Because hot-shot... I must make a confession, I am Dan... well, somewhat Dan... but the Dan you know is not currently available to speak with. Let's just say I've kicked his consciousness off the top of the hill for now! I found out about Dan's Saiya-jin gene, and managed to unearth his transformation AFTER the fact that we invoked the curse, which makes us IMMUNE!" Oyatsu replied, as he pulled out the Shrinker Blaster from the capsule in the left side of his overcoat, "Sorry Radditz, no hard feelings, but since you were on Dan's mind, I realized I should get rid of you and that pesky scouter of yours first!" and he pulled the trigger, covering Radditz in a green, laser-like beam that caused him to quickly diminish in size, down until he was only the size of an ant. Oyatsu looked at him through the overclocked blue scouter on his eye, "Powerlevel 72.4. For a gnat, that's super-strong, but against me, that's nothing!" Oyatsu cackled, as he focused his newly found mental powers from Dan to grip Radditz and lift him into the air. Too injured to attempt a struggle, Radditz soon found himself falling into a tiny jar which was quickly corked from above. Oyatsu stuck the tiny bottle in his overcoat and laughed, "There we go! One down, seventeen more idiots to go!" he sang to himself, as he wondered who to make a move at next. His gut instinct told him that he should probably go after someone strong next, as he had the feeling there was going to be SOMEONE coming towards him to see what the hell was going on. He realized that maybe he should move to a nearby field and wait for the next foolish Misfit to come his way... **** Back up at Alex's house, Alex had earlier gone back outside to prepare for Goku and Vegeta, as well as Vernon and Jason's arrival. However while he did see Goku and Vegeta come out, he had noticed Jason and Vernon were late. Goku walked over to Alex, "Hey Alex, we're going to head off on free-lance training today. You are free to do what you want. I think you three deserve at least a small break from having us coddle you all the time for your achievements." Alex grumbled, "If you say so Goku. Is that why Vernon and Jason aren't here?" "Yes brat, we called them in early today to let them know they didn't need to come here. You live next door, so we decided to tell you here in person. Now go off and do whatever you need. We're not going to be here today." Vegeta replied, and Alex sulked as he saw Goku and Vegeta fly off into the distance. Although he could tell... Little bastards are probably heading to the abandoned arena to train each other. Figures. Alex decided he would just rest off the day, and do some low-level training, such as running around his house in laps, in order to compare himself now to what he could've done back during the week of the 3rd. As he ran around, he realized just how bored he was that day. "This sucks! I wonder where Jason and Vernon went off to? We should go and train each other if Goku and Vegeta are gonna pull that shit on us!" Alex growled. However his senses soon picked up something, someone was coming his way, and the powerlevel was a lot stronger than his Super Saiya-jin 2 powerlevel, but it wasn't Piccolo, Buu, #17, or even Goku or Vegeta returning to see him. He then raised his eyebrows, "Nevermind... now I remember. That's Paula's ki. Why's she coming here though? I thought she was doing some kind of thing of her own or something." Sure enough, Alex soon was able to make out Paula's flying figure incoming towards him at a moderate speed, at least to him. She then stopped near his yard and landed over at Goku and Vegeta's house. Alex looked over to her, "They're not home right now Paula!" Paula looked over to Alex a bit startled, "Figures I'd miss them, but why're you still here?" "Goku and Vegeta are having us all train free-lance today. I think those two just wanna train with each other without us in the way though." Alex replied, a bit annoyed at the two Saiya-jin in question. "Then why aren't Vernon and Jason here?" Paula replied. Alex sighed, "Good question. Both of them must be training each other away from me to keep me from getting stronger." he then ended with a jealous growl. Paula sensed out with her own ki detection, "No... Vernon's over by Canton South High, and Jason's back at his own home, or wherever he is when he's idle." Alex sensed out as well, and found she was right, and he sweatdropped, "Oh... they must be sitting today out, bunch of lazy-asses." He then looked to her, "So exactly why are you here though?" Paula looked over to him, "Nina's not at her house, and she seems far off from here, not at the place we usually meet." Paula replied truthfully, although not to the point she was totally blunt about her own training. She didn't want Nina to get mad at her, but she didn't want to lie either, "I was actually wanting to see Goku before he ran off, but I guess I didn't get here soon enough." However she suddenly perked up as she looked to Alex, "Hey Alex, you wanna spar with me? I'll lower my power to your peak if you want to to keep it fair." On the outside Alex's expression didn't change, but inside, he grew slightly worried. He felt too odd about fighting girls for some reason. It wasn't out of sexism or any of that, as he had many favorite women fighters in video games, but because it just didn't feel right to him, from all the lessons of chivalry his parents taught him. He was about to just truthfully decline her offer, when Paula looked southward with a strange gaze, and spoke up, "Wait! Hold that thought. Something feels off down about 1/4 of a mile from here! I think it's at Dan, Radditz and Teresa's training spot. Radditz's ki... it just vanished, and Dan's has spiked a good deal. It's higher than yours as a normal Super Saiya-jin even!" Alex suddenly perked up, "Really? Dan's ki? How is that possible? And you say Radditz's ki vanished?" "Well, it spiked as well, to about half of your Super Saiya-jin 2 level, but then it suddenly dropped to normal, and then his ki felt like it shrank down to nothing." Paula explained. Alex looked over south, and he realized, "Dammit! You're right, I don't sense him at all, and I actually feel something slightly off about Dan's own ki." Alex replied. Paula looked back a bit, "Yeah, I was about to say that. At least you're not slacking off with ki sense." "Well of course not!" Alex boasted pridefully, "But you think we should check it out?" Paula sweatdropped and nearly facefaulted at the rather dumb-sounding question Alex asked, but she shrugged it off, "Yeah, I think we should." Alex quickly lifted to the air and shot off southward in a ball of ki. Paula jumped to the air and sped off in the same direction, right behind Alex. **** Oyatsu's ki sense suddenly snapped to life, as he looked northward. As he attuned his senses, he soon discerned the signatures. Aha! I sense a weak ki and a medium level one! I think one of them's Alex... and yes! The other one is that girl named Paula. They're both heading right for here! He then tapped the button on his scouter and pointed it in the direction he was sensing Paula and Alex from. One of the numbers read out to be 28,075, which Oyatsu was assuming to be Alex in his base level, and the second number read out at 2,060,000, which he figured was Paula's. Oyatsu grumbled, Paula's gonna be priority one in this situation. She could kick my ass even in Super Saiya-jin form as she is now, but if I can get her with the shrinking blaster, she should be easy prey. Alex I don't need to worry about so much as long as I can affect him with the curse before he can attack me. They might or might not be suspicious, but I should still have the benefit of the doubt behind me right now. he thought in his head. Within about 15 to 20 more seconds, Alex and then Paula had become visible to Oyatsu's eyes, as they spotted Dan standing in the field, looking calm as a rock. The two weary Misfits landed about 20 yards away from him, and looked over. "Dan! You okay?!" Alex called over, "We sensed Radditz's ki vanish, and yours spiked! Did someone attack you?" Although Alex was not aware of the true nature of Oyatsu, he was not telling a complete truth. He knew already that there had been no other kis near either Dan or Radditz. Oyatsu had vaugely felt these thoughts from Alex though, and then had a devious idea play into his head, as he looked over at them, "Yes I was attacked! In fact, it was Radditz who attacked me! It turns out Piccolo was right after all." He noticed Alex and Paula walk in another 10 yards towards him. Although he knew he could make a move on them now, he was weary of Paula due to the fact her higher powerlevel allowed her to dodge from a much closer range than Alex could. He wanted her almost within arms distance before attempting to shrink her. "Where is Radditz anyways?!" Paula called over, not totally convinced, although she did remember Piccolo grumbling about Radditz's true allegiance a couple of times before, so she couldn't totally rule it out. "I'm... sorry, I had to kill him. He transformed to Super Saiya-jin, and I had to transform in a desperate attempt to hold him off." Oyatsu explained. Alex walked over another 4 yards and growled, "Dammit, so that's why your power spiked, and it must also explain the difference in your ki as well." Alex replied, having known that Radditz wasn't the most truthworthy soul according to the show, and misguessed the malignance in Dan's ki to be that of the anger caused by using early Super Saiya-jin transformations. Paula however was still weary of Dan's claim, "Then where is his body Dan? I don't see him anywhere." she replied, looking around. Oyatsu almost decided to pull his shrinking blaster on her right then and there, but he knew the sound it made warming up would ruin his surprise attack. He thought over quickly and replied, "Uh, his body vanished! I think Emna-Daiou decided to make sure his body and soul were sent back to Hell!" Alex walked in closer, almost right up to just out of arms reach of Dan, and Paula moved in a little closer now too, although she didn't come more than another 2 yards closer. Come on you little bitch, get closer! You're too far away! Oyatsu growled mentally. However he was not prepared for the fact he had just ruined his surprise attack. Paula's own stray telepathic powers were close enough that she heard his last thoughts loud and clear, and she had also been able to tell it was NOT Dan's thoughts she had heard. Crap! What's going on? she thought to herself in alarm, That's NOT Dan's mind! She then heard a mental voice in her head /You idiots! Don't get any closer to him!/ it had said. Paula realized this was actually Radditz's own voice, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly where he was speaking from. Paula's expression stiffened, and she growled mentally, as she suddenly zanzokened at Dan. Oyatsu had not been able to pick up on her realization until it had been too late to react. His eyes' nearly popped from his head as he felt Paula deal him an incredible blow to the chest which sent him careening over 100 yards away, until Oyatsu's body smashed into a nearby tree, and smashing it over. Alex suddenly saw Paula reappear in a punching position where Dan had been standing and went agape in shock, "Paula what the hell did you do that for?!" "That's not the Dan we all know, Alex. This guy is different." she spoke up with a fierce voice Alex had never heard her use until now, looking over to Oyatsu's crumbled body near the collapsed tree. "Whaddya mean not the Dan we know?!" Alex demanded. "He's lying to us! Radditz never attacked him. Dan, or someone ACTING like Dan, apparently attacked him INSTEAD, as I had been suspecting." Paula replied, as she looked over at Oyatsu and zanzokened in close to him, "Who are you? What've you done with Dan?!" Oyatsu went agape, "How the hell did you know?!" and then he had only then realized it, "SHIT! You can read minds too, you nosy bitch!" "Bingo." Paula flatly replied, "Now out with it." she growled, as Alex had flown in close behind her. "Hahahaha... Durty Durt Dur to you, suckers!" Oyatsu called off, as he unexpectedly jumped up and belted the unprepared Alex in the face, sending him flying about 30 yards away, causing him to dig into the ground and leave a trench. Alex growled in pain, and flipped up, "YOU FUCKING FAG! WHOEVER YOU ARE, I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!" as he attempted to transform to Super Saiya-jin 2, however as Alex attempted to concentrate, all he got aside from a slight powerup was a sputtering fart noise emitting from his aura. "What the fuck?! I'm not transforming! What the fuck?!" Alex growled in rage. "No Super Saiya-jin, 1 or 2, for you little man!" Oyatsu growled and raspberried him. Paula was astounded, "This is your work, isn't it?!" she growled at Oyatsu. "Hahaha!! The curse works even on those who aren't already in a transformed state when they get afflicted!" Oyatsu replied back. Alex growled over at Oyatsu, his anger at not being able to transform and because of this so called 'curse' apparent on his face. "Fuck it! I don't need Super Saiya-jin to kick your ass anyways!" he growled. Paula looked over at Alex desperately, "Alex, STOP!" But Alex had already jumped up and charged at Oyatsu, his feral rage overcoming every rational attempt to make him back off. Oyatsu cackled, "Hah! You're making me take you down in the wrong order, but oh well!" as he quickly unsheathed the shrinking blaster and shot at Alex, hitting him square on in the middle of his blind charge, causing Alex to quickly shrink down to the size of an ant. Paula gasped in horror as she realized, Alex's powerlevel's dropping severely! That's why Radditz's strength dropped so fast! He must've got shrunken just like Alex is! I gotta keep that thing from shooting me! she thought as she zanzokened and kicked Oyatsu straight in his back, causing him to fly forward, and drop the shrinking blaster in mid fall. Paula growled and darted in with a second kick to the stomach which sent Oyatsu straight up into the air. However, Oyatsu, despite his pain, was still able to keep some of his composure, and he realized Paula was moving far quicker than he realized. He knew a direct assault with the blaster would be useless, until had suddenly had an ingenious idea. Letting himself fly further upwards, he pretended that he was still not in control of his ascent, as Paula followed him upwards. He suddenly pulled his sunglasses back out of the overcoat, having picked them back up earlier, and put them on. Paula had not seen in close enough to realize this, else she may have been able to realize what Oyatsu's plan had been as she flew in closer. Oyatsu saw her fast approaching, and fanned his hands over his eyes, "Try to block this you bitch!!! TAIYOKEN!!!!36" Paula squinted, and then screamed out in pain as she suddenly saw a blinding flash overcome her vision. She still sensed Oyatsu, but the pain in her eyes was keeping her from making too many sudden movements. Darn him! I can't believe he knew how to do that! she mentally screamed, remembering the Taiyoken was first used by Tenshinhan during the 22nd Budokai. Oyatsu dashed back to the ground and quickly grabbed the Shrinker Blaster. And he flew up at Paula. Not realizing he had so quickly recovered the gun, she was helpless to dodge the laser of shrinking energy, not being made from any kind of sensable energy, and she growled as she realized she had been hit, and quickly flew in a random direction as she had shrunk down to the size on an ant. She had managed to regain her vision, but she knew there wasn't much she could do. Her powerlevel was extremely weak now, even against Oyatsu. Although she might have been in a rut, she wasn't going to go down without a fight. She jumped up and appeared right in Oyatsu's face, firing off a large artic blast of PK Freeze in his face. However the 'large' blast was also affected by her new size and was now barely more than a small gust of air that could emit from a person's nostrils. Oyatsu chuckled and quickly swung his hand and smacked Paula's tiny form to the ground, rendering her unconscious before she even hit the ground, "That tickles!" Reactivating his new scouter, Oyatsu had sensed Alex and then Paula's new powerlevels. "24.9 and 1,828.8... again, for ants, that's probably strong and then even godly, but even Paula's new powerlevel wouldn't tickle me in base!" he laughed, as he soon used his own telekinetic powers to grab tightly onto the shrunken Paula and Alex, the latter of which was still conscious, and cursing obscenities at the speed of a waterfall to Oyatsu's amusement as he pulled out another glass and uncorked it. "Might as well put these two fools in there together. It'll save me some bottles! Hahahah!" Oyatsu then placed both of his defeated adversaries in the bottle, and then sheathed the bottle and the shrink ray back into his overcoat, along with his sunglasses. He laughed to himself. "Yes! That's three down, 15 more to go!" He then decided to look around, and think over his strategy. "Of course, this has to make the rest of those Misfits very cautious. I doubt they're going to just let me have any benefit of the doubt now. Oh well. It might make good use to go after some of them before they can react!" As he sensed around, he felt the closest group of kis happened to be gathering near the vacant lot across from Devin's house. "Ah, that fat bastard Devin and his little gang!" He then pointed his scouter in their location. He got about six or seven ki readings. One was around 19,400, another was 19,260, a third was 15,605, a fourth around 24,100, a fifth was around 18,970, a sixth was 25,300, and a seventh was 25,325. "Hahaha! A cluster of weaklings! Even the one of them that could transform is unable to! At least, he will once the curse is invoked on him as well! Bwahaha! Time to net me seven more suckers!" Oyatsu cackled as he picked up to the air and flew off at high speed, unaware that a capsule of his was still lying in the field, unaccounted for... **** Meanwhile, about a mile or two south of Devin's vacant lot, Heero was grumbling as he ran around the immediate area, now decked out in level 5 training clothes, with Virgil on his tail, now wearing level 4 training clothing of his own, and wielding the large specially-weighted mallet that Devin gave him the other day. Heero was mad at Devin for making him take over Virgil's training for the day. Devin had claimed he wanted to try to get in some more training with Clint and the others, and that he needed a break from the annoyance that Virgil caused him. It was only now that Heero was beginning to realize just why Devin had some misgivings towards Virgil. Although Heero had not been prank-called on the 10th like Devin, Virgil had his own ways of getting to Heero. He had the tendency to swing the mallet to the ground way too often, and the tremors and the loud booms were giving the former-Gundam pilot a serious headache. The worst part about it was that Heero, like Devin, was not allowed to actually retaliate at Virgil, and only dodge his attempts for this exercise. Heero tried a couple times while waiting on Virgil to recover to concentrate some ki into doing a Kamehameha or a Soukidan like Clint or Jason's, but Virgil was recovering faster than Heero could focus for a good shot. Virgil was getting better at his movement, to say the least, and much to Alex's great surprise, he had actually lost 4 pounds in the last couple of days, although Alex commented to him at McDonalds the day before that his appetite was going to quickly negate that, which caused Virgil to call him a trashcan, which had made little sense to any of the others. Devin had even ratted on Virgil about how he had no sensibility when it came to trying to attack a much stronger or faster opponent, which had gotten him compared to Alex, who had growled venomously at Devin for that comment. Heero was thinking about turning back and dumping Virgil back on Devin's hands for the remainder of the day, but he suddenly felt a strong energy, at least stronger compared to himself and Virgil, coming in his direction from the south. His eyes then narrowed, "Dan's ki. He must be coming to the others for more training or something. I don't sense Radditz down at the field they usually both go, but where's Teresa? She was with Dan when they arrived yesterday." He then realized something, "Wait, why is his energy so large compared to last night?!" He looked over to Virgil, and called, "Virgil, just run around for a bit. I need to take care of something!" Virgil shrugged to himself, "Whatever then." as he started to smash the mallet into stationary objects of no interest. Heero flew up into the air and flew off towards Dan's ki energy. Soon he managed to get a glimpse of Dan, and noticed his aura was gold, much like Alex, Jason, Vernon, Goku and Vegeta's were when they were 'Super Saiya-jins' or whatever. "Is he one of those Saiya-jin too?!" Heero said to himself, as he shot off to intercept Dan. However as he got close, Oyatsu suddenly saw him and flew towards him. BINGO! Heero's coming right at me! He's a sitting duck! Heero had little time react as Oyatsu decided to skip deception this time and quickly axehandled Heero from behind and sent him plowing down into the ground. Heero smashed into the ground and flipped over painfully. Although he was still conscious, his body and bones were almost broken up from Oyatsu's attack. The shapeshifter quickly pulled out the Shrinking Blaster and shot Heero, causing him to shrink down to the size of an ant. "Powerlevel 23.5 and dropping slightly. No contest!" he cackled and levitated Heero into the air with telekenesis, but he had not been paying complete attention... *SMAAASH!!!* Oyatsu's concentration was lost as he felt a slight force hit him right in the head. He looked up, noticing a dented in mallet had rested itself on his head, and Virgil had been floating above him, trying to smash the shapeshifter unconscious while he was focusing on Heero. "Bad Virgil, BAD!" he chuckled at the fatter Misfit. Virgil growled, but Oyatsu zanzokened behind Virgil and smashed him across the head before he could make any physical reaction, sending him flying to the ground as he had Heero. Virgil had lost consciousness after cratering, and Oyatsu quickly shrunk him down as well, not even bothering to take his powerlevel. "How ironic two more of them happened to be separate from the other five." Oyatsu concentrated and telekinetically lifted both the ant-sized Virgil and Heero, and pulled out another empty, uncorked bottle, and placed the two inside of it. Corking the bottle, he quickly hid it out of sight as well. "Five down, thirteen more losers to go." he chuckled, and flew off closer north, to continue his evil mission. **** Meanwhile, at the vacant lot near Devin's house, both Clint and Devin had not been slouching. Devin had been keeping tabs on all of the energy changes in Dan, Alex, Radditz, Paula, Heero and even Virgil. The evidence he had been getting was suggesting that Dan was attacking or subduing the others for some unknown reason. He had asked Clint to powerup to his Super Saiya-jin level, while he made a quick beeline into his house and picked up a phone, and called Vernon's house, sensing he was still there. As he had hoped, Vernon's voice picked up, "Hello?" "Vernon, it's me. Listen, we've got what might be a big problem heading in our direction." Devin replied. "What's wrong Devin?" Vernon asked back over the phone. "I think Dan is attacking us one or two at a time. Radditz first appeared to vanish from my ki sense, and a few minutes later so did both Alex and Paula, and then just a couple of minutes ago Heero and then Virgil vanished." Devin explained. "You say you think it's Dan? Why?" Vernon asked. "For one, his energy has spiked intensely. Stronger than Clint's while he's in his Super Saiya-jin level, and two, his ki feels just a little bit tainted. I think you and Jason's help will be much appreciated. I think he's still at his place, so go grab him on the way down here if you could." Devin replied. Vernon nodded, "Alright then Devin. I'd better transform to SSJ2 on the way down here and have Jason do similar. If Dan is going after us, try not to attack him directly if he confronts you. I don't think you guys would be able to take him unless you were all still grouped and had had Heero and Virgil with you." "Well we'll have little choice if he decides to go after us, which I'm sure he will. Just hurry Vernon, because I got a bad feeling about this." "See you in a bit." Vernon replied, and quickly slammed the receiver. Devin sighed, and sensed out. Dan was just about to the lot, and he had no idea what to expect, so he quickly rushed back out and regrouped with Clint, who had also rounded up Dwayne, Steve and Dusty nearby. Dusty was astonished to hear that Dan might be attacking the others, and Dwayne and Steve put their guards up. Devin called out, "I've called Vernon. He and Jason will be heading here to back us up. Let's just try to keep Dan held off until he does. If I remember, he can't sense powerlevels yet, so he shouldn't notice them coming." Clint nodded, now transformed at his Super Saiya-jin like level. Oyatsu was now coming within visual range of the vacant lot. He had furrowed his eyes, having sensed that Clint's powerlevel had risen a large amount. He aimed his scouter in the direction of Clint's energy, getting around 348,240 for his new powerlevel. He then realized, Damn. I forgot, Devin can sense ki, and I think Clint can too! One or even both of those two bastards must've been closely monitoring my actions. That means I'll have to immediately invoke the curse. Although Clint's powerlevel even now is less than mine, he's close enough that he could pull something, and I'd rather not take a risk, especially since I lost about 100,000 degrees of my powerlevel from my injuries from Paula. It was then however that his scouter chimed erratically. SHIT! Two other powerlevels coming from the northeast! 1,480,469 and 1,442,708! He sensed in the direction of the two powerlevels. Shit! Damn that Devin! He must of called out for Jason and Vernon ahead of me! They're on a quick beeline here! I'll need to be fast, else I'll have to invoke the curse twice in one battle, and I'm still not fully healed from Paula's attack on me earlier. I should've tried to find a sensu bean first! Soon, he spotted the five targets he had originally came to find, and he quickly landed to the field below, standing now right in front of the five he had come to take. "Dan, what're you doing here?" asked Dusty, wisely deciding to ask him questions to stall him. Oyatsu grumbled, realizing at this point Dan's consciousness was starting to struggle. It probably realized Dusty was one of the next targets and was trying to win back some control to warn him. Oyatsu smirked, "You guys wouldn't mind a nice and relaxing spar, now would you?" Devin grumbled, not in the mood to totally play games, "Out with it Dan. Why is it everyone you're running into suddenly 'disappears'?" "Hmmm... Well for Radditz, he attacked me. Turns out Piccolo's little suspicions were right from the beginning. I was forced to deal with him because he attacked me at the field." he lied intentionally, just to get Devin annoyed, which had worked. "Cut the shit Dan! I know better! You went to him, and YOU attacked him! Where is he, and what did you do with Alex, Paula, Heero and Virgil?!" Devin growled. "They're right here." Oyatsu smirked, patting his overcoat, "As will all five of you soon enough!" he then quickly pulled out the Shrinker Blaster and shot a green laser at Dwayne, but Steve shoved him out of the way, thinking it was something like the tuba-gun at Canton South. Dwayne watched in shock as Steve was quickly shrunk down to the size of an ant. Dusty, Clint and Devin also looked on in shock. Then Clint's eyes bore a look of realization, SHIT! I recognize the design of that gun! That's why he's been taking us down so easily! He must've taken lessons from Nina that shrinking someone weakens their powerlevel vastly! He suddenly spoke in a low, hushed voice to the others, "Devin, Dusty, Dwayne, I need your help. I think I can stop him, but I need you to distract him for me, and try to protect Steve! Dan could kill him easily in his current state!" Oyatsu grumbled, not hearing every word, but still assuming a plan was being formed, "Making a plan? I hope you're ready to be disappointed, and Durty Durt Dur to you!" Devin, Dwayne and Dusty gaped on in shock as Clint's powerlevel had quickly dropped by over sixty percent. His hair had darkened several shades, and his aura was now a strange dark teal color, with fart noises coming out of his aura. "What the hell?!" Clint explained, realizing he couldn't fully powerup to Super Saiya-jin now. "Idiot! You can't transform for 12 hours now!" Oyatsu cackled, and quickly jumped at Clint and slugged him back into a nearby ditch, causing Clint to tumble backwards for a few seconds. However the effects of Oyatsu's curse had not fully reduced Clint's powerlevel, as it was still reading at roughly 82,250 according to his scouter, "What in the blue hell?! His powerlevel's still over 62,000 degrees above what it should be!" Devin then realized something from hearing this comment, and had managed to see the scouter on Dan's eye, "Where the hell did you get that scouter?! That's not the one Radditz had!" "A gift of mine from a friend!" he said, and charged forward at Devin. However Devin jumped back and Dusty and Dwayne simultaneously kicked Oyatsu in the chest as he flew back, but they only knocked him back 2 inches, and he quickly smashed Dwayne across the face, and then zanzokened behind him, and smashed him in the back, causing him to embed into the ground. Oyatsu pulled the Shrinking blaster out again, and shot at Dwayne's near unconscious body, causing the other wrestler to shrink down to the size of an ant. Steve, still shrunken, growled in anger and charged in at Oyatsu, but his blows were barely even noticed by his enemy. Oyatsu chuckled and quickly swatted Steve out of the air, knocking him for a serious loop. However Devin had taken time to charge a new technique, and pointed out a glowing finger, "DODOMPA!!37" and shot a large, but thin beam of ki from a fingertip which smashed into Oyatsu, however the attack was finding little purchase, and at best leaving a small friction burn on Oyatsu's face. He turned to Devin, "Such pathetic attacks! You expect that to actually harm me?!" and he jumped at Devin, who only barely managed to dodge an incoming kick. However before he could turn to make a second attack, Clint's voice shouted out, "THEN BLOCK THIS PUNK!!" as Oyatsu saw him hovering a flat, circular plane of ki energy above an outstretched hand, and then Clint hurled it forward at Oyatsu. Dodge it, Dan! he thought to himself. Oyatsu cackled, "You think some stupid disc is going to harm me?!" However Oyatsu suddenly heard Dan's mental voice shout out DODGE IT YOU IDIOT! IF IT HITS YOU, WE'RE BOTH DEAD! And Oyatsu suddenly realized with fear what the attack actually was. "Shit!" as he jumped up and just barely cleared the Kienzan38 about to slice him in half. However the lower end of his overcoat had not fully evaded the disc, and an uneven part of it had fallen to the ground. Clint growled, Finally he got his head out of his ass! Now if I can just keep him distracted with these, we can hold him off until Vernon and Jason arrive! He then raised his hand again, forming a second Kienzan. "Devin, Dusty, get Steve and Dwayne and get back!" Clint called to them as he tossed the second disc up at Oyatsu. "Shit! I hate this attack! I don't think our powerlevels are different enough for me to survive a direct hit!" the shapeshifter growled as he narrowly evaded the first Kienzan, and then had to strafe right to avoid the second. However Clint regained control and made the Kienzans alter course. Oyatsu growled, Dammit! He's really trying to kill me! He then realized he had to reveal himself in order to cause them to let up on their attacks, "Are you so certain you want to kill your friend, you idiot! He's not exactly himself!" Devin growled, "So you're not really Dan?!" "Make no mistake, this is Dan, but only his body is aware, not his mind!" Oyatsu replied. "You've possessed him?!" Dusty called up, a look of anger melting in on his face. "Yes Dusty! I have possessed your best friend!" he then realized he could do something with this, "Are you just going to stand back while I do as I please with him, potentially even getting him killed on your other friends' cutting discs?!" Dusty growled, "Clint, stop your attack! You heard him! He's got control of Dan!" Clint growled, "I know that, but I'm not trying to kill him!" however he covered his mouth at the last second, realizing he had just blown his own plan. "AHA! Now I get it! You keep me busy enough with your otherwise fatal cutting discs, and buy yourself time for Vernon and Jason to arrive! Well sorry, you just blew it!" Oyatsu growled. Devin was taken off guard, "Wait you knew they were coming?! How?! Scouters can't pick up powerlevels as high as theirs without exploding!" Oyatsu chuckled, "THIS scouter can, but even if I hadn't had it, I could've also sensed them coming Devin! You thought Dan still couldn't sense ki, didn't you? Wrong! Radditz taught Dan how to sense AND mask his ki on the 11th!" "JUST SHUT UP!" Dusty growled, plowing upward into the air at Oyatsu. "IDIOT! You just made the same fatal mistake as Alex!" Oyatsu shouted as he dashed down at Dusty and smashed into him, fist to face. Dusty went plummeting backwards to the ground below, causing a large enough tremor to shake the area. Clint tried to redirect his two Kienzans forward at Oyatsu, but he quickly dodged both and shot a Double Sunday, both blasts colliding with the flat sides of the Kienzans, where their weak points lie, and shredding the cutting ki discs apart. Clint growled and started shooting several more Kienzans in rapid succession, but Oyatsu cackled as he shot down each one. "Losing your composure? Hahah! It's fruitless, you idiots! Even if Jason and Vernon were here, they would be of little more use to you than now!" Devin growled, "They'd floor your ass to the ground and you know it! You sensed their ki!" "Maybe NOW they could, but all I have to do is say one phrase within their earshot, and they lose their ability to transform for 12 hours, just like Clint did!" Oyatsu chuckled, "I placed a curse around a 40 mile area. Anyone within the curse's range will lose their ability to become Super Saiya-jins of any kind for 12 hours whenever the words 'Durty Durt Dur' are uttered within their earshot!" Devin looked up in shock, "Shit! No way!" However Oyatsu had been so focused on his boasting that he had failed to notice a silent Kienzan flying straight at him. He only picked it up as it was within inches of him, and dodged as fast as he could. However the Kienzan had managed to slice a small cut into the side of his leg, and also his overcoat now had a large tear in the side. Oyatsu's eyes darkened in rage as he turned to Clint, "You bastard! You actually hurt me!" "That WAS the idea, you son of a bitch!" Clint called back, throwing another Kienzan. Oyatsu growled, and quickly blasted the second kienzan out of the air, however he had realized the first kienzan had never dispersed, and was only lucky that he turned in time to duck it and prevent being beheaded. Clint jumped back while he was distracted, however his leg soon landed on something rigid. He looked down to see something flat lying on the ground. His eyes narrowed at the object, Of course! His gun! I might be able to end this now if I can get him to shoot at me! He then formed another Kienzan and shot it in low at Oyatsu, followed by a second Kienzan aimed at his head. Oyatsu heard the twin Kienzans coming at him and growled, "Why don't you just give it up?! You can't hit me with a accurate enough shot!" Clint smirked, "Why don't you make me give up? You're losing your cool!" Oyatsu growled, "I'll make you give up, so badly you'll want me to end your pain! I hope you like being a bug!!" he then pulled out his shrinking blaster. Devin growled, "Clint watch out!" However Clint smirked, "Try it!" "Fine!" Oyatsu shot the blaster at Clint. However Clint reacted and suddenly used his ki to pull up the flat object near him on the ground, an abandoned section of a mirror. Devin looked on in confusion, and Oyatsu's eyes widened in shock as the shrinking ray reflected off the mirror in front of Clint. Clint lowered the mirror to watch the beam snake back at Oyatsu. However Oyatsu's shocked expression suddenly turned to an evil and calculating grin, "PSYCHE!" as the beam suddenly bounced off of his shiny overcoat, and split off into two directions, one beam heading back at Clint, another at Devin. Devin had managed to jump aside in time, but Clint had been horribly taken by surprise by the nasty change in his luck and was hit by the other beam, shrinking down to the size of an ant. "SHIT! His coat's made of some reflective material!" he squeaked, as he tried to fly over towards a safer place. However Oyatsu quickly reacted and appeared above him, swatting him to unconsciousness. He then shot the blaster towards Dusty's fallen form, causing him to shrink the same. He attempted then to shoot at Devin, hoping his shock from the results of Clint's failed plan would keep him rooted in place. However Devin swiftly dodged, and his aura flared up to an intense black, much similar to the anger flashes he had been experiencing in the past couple of days. He clenched his right fist, and slowly, what looked to be a sword made of ki flared in his hand. Oyatsu looked at him through the scouter on his eye, "532,500?! That's higher than Clint when transformed! Shit! Shit shit! He's transforming, isn't he?!" "CHEW ON THIS YOU BODY-STEALING ASSHOLE!!! CRESCENT SLASHER!!" Devin screamed, as he swung the sword of ki with intense energy, flinging a powerful wave of energy straight at Oyatsu. "SHIT! 801,600 degrees!! I gotta dodge... AAARGGH!!" Oyatsu had not been able to dodge despite his efforts, as the wave smashed into him, erupting into a dark-blue pillar of energy. Oyatsu was sent flying backwards, and smashing into a tree way down on the edge of the field. However, while he was knocked for a loop, he did not plow through the tree and merely slumped to the ground. Devin gasped in pain, the attack he threw having drained him to near-death, and lost hold over his mysterious powerup, and fell to his knees, able to do little more than breathe. "Dammit... that was... unreal! What did I just... do to him?! Wait! Vernon and Jason are here!" he gasped, as he turned his attention northeast-ward, seeing Vernon and Jason, both transformed as Super Saiya-jin 2s, fly in close. "Down here!! I'm over here!" he called up, and the new arrivals shortly decided to land in close. The two ran over to Devin. "Are you okay?!" asked Vernon. "I don't know what happened, but I think I got him. He's over there slumped against that tree. He got the others good. He's got some kinda... shrinking gun and..." however Devin's attempt to explain was interrupted by the shrill whine of a large blast heading right at him, fired from the still conscious Oyatsu's left hand. Vernon realized he had no time to deflect the shot and save Devin at the same time, so he improvised and shoved his friend out of its' path. However only Jason was able to see that behind the ki blast was a shrinking laser. Vernon had barely been able to deflect the ki blast when he was hit by the shrinking ray, and shrunken down to an ant-sized morsel. Jason gasped in horror, and noticed that Devin was now totally unconscious, not having enough stamina to stand after being shoved out of the way. Oyatsu painfully jumped up, and growled, scanning his own hand with the scouter on his face, "Damn that Devin! He cut down my powerlevel another 75,000 degrees with that little desperation attack. Now he's definitely becoming an ant!" he growled as he shot Devin's unconscious body with a follow up laser from the shrinking ray, causing him to shrink down quickly. Jason growled, "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH DAN!" Oyatsu looked over to Jason, "Ah, the last one standing is you Jason. I don't count Vernon, with how weakened he is now being so small." Vernon had growled at that, realizing his situation was much worse than when he had been shrunken by Nina on the plane to Japan, or when he argued too much with Alex. He knew even with his Super Saiya-jin powers intact that he wasn't going to dare make a move on Oyatsu. It was times like this he wished he had a way to contact one of the higher-tier Misfits like Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, #17 or even Buu. Jason looked over to him with a calculating glare, "You're not really Dan, are you?" "You're half right, Jason. This is Dan's body, but I'm not Dan's MIND. I'm someone completely different. Dan's body makes a good vessel for takeover." the shapeshifter admitted. "Yeah right, your powerlevel is much weaker. Wait a second! You're a Super Saiya-jin too?!" Jason had suddenly realized, also making Vernon look on in surprise. "Yes, Dan's not even a half-breed, but he has the transformation gene, not to mention my presence is allowing him to hold it longer than he probably normally could. He has no control at all right now, so you can't really blame him, nor do I think you could really kill him." Oyatsu smirked, "And with that, I spit Durty Durt Dur in your face!" "Durty Durt Dur? That's MY line you... what the hell?!" Jason was cut off as he realized his powerlevel was dropping fast. Vernon had also heard both mentions of the dreaded phrase, and had began to weaken even more than before. Within less than 2 seconds, both Vernon and Jason were back in base form, their aura giving off fart-like noises as both tried to transform again and failed. "What the fuck is this?!" Vernon growled, obviously not happy and losing his calm composure. "Now now boys, there's no need for Super Saiya-jins! Because with this handy curse, not even GOKU could maintain it once it plays into affect!" Oyatsu cackled. With little effort, even for his moderately-damaged body, he zanzokened and smashed Jason to the ground with a single blow, dazed and nearly unconscious, and then quickly swatted the ant-sized Vernon to unconsciousness. He then aimed his shrinking blaster at Jason and quickly shot him, shrinking him down to ant-size. He chuckled to himself, "Aside from Clint and Devin's little parlor tricks, that wasn't too hard. However... now I'll be playing in the big leagues soon. There's no way in hell Goku, Vegeta, #17, Piccolo or Buu DIDN'T sense all of that. They'll know by now I'm not to be scoffed with." he then found Steve and Dwayne's shrunken forms, and pulled out a bottle, and placed both wrestlers inside of it and corked it shut. He then did similar to Clint, Dusty and Devin, putting them in a second bottle. Then finally he placed Vernon and Jason inside of a third bottle. Now he had taken out another seven of his targets, which basically rounded off all of the 'newbie' Misfits, and even one of the more experienced ones. "That's twelve down, another 6 or so to go, and the hardest of the lot!" Oyatsu grumbled, however he then tensed up, "Wait a second! What is this? I feel something strange inside of Dan, like something struggling to make it to the surface... no it's not his conscious mind, it's something else." He soon gave into to the urge, and called out a strange phrase, "SCULPTOR CURTAIN!!" What happened next was one of the most odd experiences Oyatsu would know. He suddenly felt like his body was becoming lighter, almost lighter than it was before he began the attack on Radditz. He also began to notice a lot of the burns, cuts and bruises and other injuries on his body began to fade away. Although there were still a few signs of damage left on his body, it was as if he had healed a decent amount. He also felt stronger than usual. He keyed his scouter and looked at a hand again. The reading was now around 510,000 instead of 459,000 as he had before. "That... healed me a little! OH YES! Now I'm gonna bring the pain on those asswipes! Screw their sensu beans, I don't need them with this!" He then noticed something odd with his ki sense. Although Goku, Vegeta, #17, Piccolo and Buu had all appeared to be gathering towards each other, some of them suddenly appeared to break off into separate pairs, Piccolo and #17 in one pair, and Goku and Vegeta in a second, leaving Buu on his own. It appeared to have happened at about the same time he had started to heal. "What the hell are they doing? It looked like they were all gonna come at me at once, but now they split up and broke off in several directions again. Something's odd about all of this." Oyatsu decided if they weren't coming to him that he'd sit down and rest a little more to try to relieve the remaining aches of pain in Dan's body. He also knew that Piccolo, #17 and especially Buu were going to be the hardest to trick. Although he did notice that Piccolo and #17 were apparently heading in his direction, they were not moving as fast as they probably should. It was then he realized something as he sensed out, he couldn't sense his own powerlevel at all. Although the SCOUTER had done fine enough in giving him a reading, it was as if he had vanished off the ki radar. He then noticed something else shocking as he looked at the fallen mirror Clint had tried to trick him with. He didn't see his reflection at all, although he could still see Dan's body through his own eyes. His eyes narrowed as he realized what had happened with that strange ability, "The 'Curtain' part, it must hide my ki and my physical appearance! I don't know what this power is, but it's just gave me a brand new respect for Dan's powers. I must've truly chose right! Those assholes can't find me right now! I'll just lay low and wait for them to get close. With this, I might be able to take all of them without a fight!" Oyatsu cackled, as he sat down again, and rested his mind for the coming conflict... **** Roughly one full hour had passed before Oyatsu realized that both #17 and Piccolo were coming in close to him at last. For the last 30 minutes, they had been hovering around the nearby neighborhoods, as if lost, or looking for something. Oyatsu had realized also by now that his cloak had worn off, now able to see his reflection in the laying mirror, as well as sense his own powerlevel. He quickly heard the roaring sound of Piccolo and #17 flying in close, and spotted the two of them coming from a little to his south. The Namekian and cyborg had apparently spotted Dan, but instead of firing down and attacking him, they decided to land about 50 yards away from him. Piccolo had wondered just what had been going on with the disappearances of all the others. All he knew for sure was that Dan was apparently at the center of the chaos, and according to #17 and his own ki senses, that his powerlevel was over 20 times its usual stage. He then realized that Dan had transformed to Super Saiya-jin as well, which had explained the aura around him. #17 on the other hand, had been restless, apparently it was not just because of Dan's apparent attacks, but something else had him jumpy. He had also realized Dan's powerlevel was much higher than the others, and he also detected a strange apparatus on his person, but nothing else. "Piccolo, stay on your toes. He's concealing something under his coat, I think a kind of weapon." Piccolo scoffed, "If it's a gun, then his gesture's useless. I can't remember the last time any of us were ever harmed by any kind of cannon or conventional firearm." #17 smirked, realizing Piccolo made a lot of sense, "Perhaps your right. Hopefully we can get all the answers out of him. Should we just kick his ass now or not?" "No, I wanna see if this is even Dan we're dealing with anymore." Piccolo replied, making #17 blink at him in confusion. Meanwhile, Oyatsu had taken use of their conversation to gauge their powerlevels with his scouter. He grumbled at he looked at Piccolo's reading, a "94,617,600>>". From his experience with overclocked scouters, that indicated that the scouter had hit the peak of what it could scan for one person. Unlike the normal scouters, overclocked scouters didn't explode when reading a powerlevel exceeding what it could see, but merely added ">"s depending on how much higher the powerlevel might've gone. #17's powerlevel on the other hand was erratically going back and forth from "90,500,000" to "94,617,600>". Bleh! Damn #17 and his mechanical implants, they're messing up the scouter somewhat. He almost thought about reaching into his overcoat for a Navy Blue Scouter model, but then figured that he'd not actually need it for now. He decided that perhaps a little bit of collective banter could fluster one of them, leave them open to an attack. He had already had a different capsule clenched in his hand, the green-coded one he had shown Dan the other night. "Hello Piccolo and #17, nice day for a meeting!" he acted almost as if he had known nothing of the recent hours. Piccolo frowned at him, "Dan, just what the hell are you up to? It's seems that all of our students are just disappearing after you meet with them. Are you trying to turn on us?!" "Why Piccolo, you wound me. I'll have you know that Radditz was taken care of because you were right about him." Oyatsu quickly thought to try to use Piccolo's own accusations at Radditz against him. Piccolo's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean?" "Come on now, I'm not stupid. You told us quite a few times that you never trusted Radditz fully. I mean, don't you even want to know WHY he asked both of you for so many sensu beans the other day?" Oyatsu said. Although Piccolo was cautious, the seed of doubt had planted itself in both his and #17's minds. "I know what you're talking about. Radditz never took the bean that day, did he?" #17 replied, making Piccolo look to him. "What?! What're you talking about, #17?!" the Namekian growled at him. "I was keeping tabs on his powerlevel after he left that day. It never really spiked, which usually happens to Saiya-jin when they eat sensu beans in a wounded condition." the cyborg responded with a neutral note. Piccolo growled, "Then... it's true... he HAS been hiding something from us!" "No, you don't understand Piccolo, I could see in his eyes what he was thinking... I think he was intending to grow a sensu PLANT, so we would have more beans!" #17 replied back. Oyatsu's eyes widened, WHAT?! Damn... that would make a lot of sense if that's true! And that means I have to go and destroy this plant before it can grow! Piccolo's eyes furrowed, "Grrr... that moron! We've tried that in the past, and none of us have ever gotten it to work without Korin's help!" He then looked to himself, "But still... if that was what he was hiding..." he turned to Oyatsu, "You're still lying to us Dan! Even if Radditz DID turn on us, it would NOT explain why the others would do the exact same thing!" "Hehehe... I didn't say I was totally innocent Piccolo. Radditz got what he deserved, but so did the others, and you two are about to join them!!" Oyatsu screamed as he uncompressed the capsule in his hand and formed the Concussion Pulse Gun, and shot 5 quick blasts of electromagnetic energy in the direction of his enemies. Piccolo and #17 growled and jumped before the blasts could reach them, however unexpectedly, three of the shots had suddenly lifted into air, flying right at #17. "#17 LOOK OUT!" Piccolo warned, and #17 managed to dodge the first shot, but the other two suddenly swerved up again, as if they had become heat-seeking, and smacked into him. #17 screamed in agony as the two shots filled out over his body and paralyzed him. The shot he had dodged had curved back and smacked into him too, inflicting worse pain. #17 fell out of the air, his composure totally destroyed with so much electromagnetic energy surging his body. Piccolo looked on in shock and turned to Dan, "Dan, what the... SHIT!!" Piccolo had little time to even talk, as Oyatsu had taken advantage of #17 being a distraction to form Kienzans of his own that he had learned from the battle with Clint and toss them up at Piccolo. He managed to dodge the first one with only a shredded cape, but the second and third ones would not miss. The second was now vertical to the air and sliced across one of Piccolo's shoulders, completely severing his right arm off, and the shock of the attack froze him enough that the third Kienzan lopped off his left arm from the elbow down. "AAARRRGHH!!! DAMN YOU DAN!! When I get my hands on..." however Oyatsu was not going to give Piccolo much chance to do more, darting up in front of Piccolo and releasing a bright Taiyoken right in the namekian's face, causing him to lose control of both his vision, and also with the loss of two of his limbs, he had little ability to keep his ki under control and began to fall to the ground. However Oyatsu quickly pulled the Shrinking Blaster and shot the Namekian quickly, and even the powerful and seasoned Z-warrior was no match for the ray, shrinking down literally to the size of an ant. Knowing the threat of Piccolo able to grow his size, he quickly swiped the shrunken Piccolo from the air with his free hand and put a hard squeeze on his body, causing many of his bones to break, and leaving him on the brink of unconsciousness. He unsheathed a clean bottle from his pocket and threw the battered, shrunken Namekian inside. He then turned to #17, both now blinded, and additionally paralyzed in a state of extreme electric agony. Oyatsu laughed menacingly, "Poor poor widdle #17, turns out being a cyborg isn't always so great! You might have unlimited stamina, but your body attracts and conducts electricity far better than the normal human body, and that's why you couldn't evade my pulse blaster! By the way, just so you know, that was the same gun that Al-Qaeda operative used to try and kill Devin and Dan four days ago!" #17 growled, now realizing what Piccolo meant by 'if this is Dan anymore', "So... you're not Dan at all?!" "No... I am called Oyatsu. I am an entity that recently came into possession of your friend's body. Funny how such a weak fighter like him could so easily overcome two 'veterans' like you with a little bit of thinking!" Oyatsu replied, and shot #17 with the shrinking blaster. #17 growled as he was reduced to little more than an ant-sized morsel. With his now-shrinking size, the energy field surrounding him intensified its' power over him, and he could only utter, "Damn... you... but you... won't last long... she..." and then he passed out, and the electrical field dispersed around him, allowing Oyatsu to pluck #17 up off the ground and place him in a different jar. "Oh well, I got plenty of jars to spare, but I can't risk Piccolo breaking out, he would've been much harder to beat again than #17 was." Now he realized that only four remained: Goku, Vegeta, Nina and Mr. Buu. He knew there was no way Goku and Vegeta at least weren't on his way to him now. Buu was probably not going to be too far behind, but he then realized something odd. "Why the hell can't I sense Nina? She should be around here somewhere, but it's like she has her powerlevel down so low I can't sense it!" And then he remembered, "Shit, Radditz's sensu plant! I'll need to remember to drop by his and Nina's house and destroy it later. However I won't make it there at this point unless I drop Goku, Vegeta and Buu from the picture." he then thought to himself, "Maybe I can buy some time with that ability of Dan's." He was about to scream out the words of Dan's healing/masking power, when he saw something incoming at his location fast. SHIT! SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!! They're already transformed!! Those bastards transformed already!! They could easily drop me without revealing their position to me! He took in a deep breath, although Goku and Vegeta's powerlevels were colossal to what Oyatsu had remembered, he realized something, "Of course, they'll probably want to talk to me too, find out just what's going on. No doubt they'll probably want to try to keep from killing Dan. I'll use that to my advantage. I just hope at base level they don't prove to be much worse than #17 or Piccolo are." he mused to himself, as Goku and Vegeta's figures became visible in the air. **** Goku and Vegeta had spotted Dan from their sky-high vantage point. Both were staring at him with looks of anger, mixed with confusion. Vegeta had been wanting to blast Dan first and then ask him questions later, but Goku was curious. He already knew that Dan himself was not controlling his actions, but another from within was controlling him. He had told Vegeta, and the prince growled about it, but told Goku to keep on extremely high guard. Both knew that if Dan had managed to take down #17 and Piccolo, that he would be a serious problem, weak powerlevel or not, and that was why both had transformed to the highest states possible. The two high-tier Misfits floated in a few yards closer, cautiously watching Oyatsu from below, waiting for him to make a move. However when about 40 seconds passed with nothing but building tension, Vegeta and Goku cautiously decided to lower their altitude about 30 feet, to the point were they weren't too far off the ground, but able to make a quick movement if Dan pulled something. Goku decided he would start off and called over, "Dan! What are you doing? This is crazy!" Oyatsu didn't immediately respond. He looked almost as if he were in a trance. Goku and Vegeta blinked at that. Vegeta growled, "Dammit Dan, speak up! We want to know what're you're trying to pull over our eyes!" Oyatsu still appeared somewhat to be in a trance, but then his eyes suddenly flickered from turquoise to orange, and he looked over to the two Saiya-jin. He breathed in deep one time, and then spoke up, however instead of Dan's voice, Oyatsu's own voice thundered out of Dan's mouth, "Son Goku, Vegeta, long time, no meet." Goku and Vegeta's eyes raised in surprise. Goku responded, "So, it's Dan's body, but not Dan's mind." "How observant of you, goofball." Oyatsu replied dryly. "What the hell do you want?! Why are you attacking us?" Vegeta asked. Oyatsu responded, "I'm very sorry. It's not anything really all that personal, Vegeta. However certain people I work for long for you and your Misfits out of the way, and I have been sent to do the job. Dan's conscience was locked in a struggle, due to his misgivings to Radditz and even Heero. Because of this, I was able to possess him and use him to my own means. You wouldn't believe the kind of potential he holds!" Goku was curious, "Who are you anyways? You almost seem in a way like I should know you." "I guess that familiarity shouldn't be a serious surprise. I used to know two of your own friends Goku, and I also am quite aware of you and Vegeta's own little antics. I even know a lot about #17 and Piccolo as well." Oyatsu replied. "That doesn't tell us who you are! Out with it, you brat!" Vegeta growled impatiently. "Geez you are impatient Vegeta." Oyatsu grumbled, "Do you two happen to remember Oolong and Puar?" "Of course we do, why do you ask?" Goku was confused. Meanwhile, Vegeta was curious to why the little pig and the cat-creature had an relevance in all of this. "Because I know them from the same academy they went to when they were young." Oyatsu explained, "I am called Oyatsu. I am a shapeshifter in my natural state, much akin to those two, except while those two stopped learning, I kept training my skills more and more. I also learned other abilities, one of which allowing me to possess the body of someone who is struggling with their conscience, much like Dan." Goku looked in in worry, "I see. Do you realize how much trouble you're in Oyatsu? Dan is our friend, and you're not allowed to have him, or any of the others! I don't care who you serve or why!" he then put himself into a fighting stance. Vegeta growled as he got into a similar stance, "Really, are you such a coward that you have to hijack other people to do your dirty work?!" "Not a coward Vegeta, a wise and cunning strategist would fit my personality better. But... allow me put it to you clowns in a pop quiz: You've found your enemy, but he has possessed the body of one of those who you have been looking out for, like say a son, or a friend. You know you could kick his ass with ease, but the problem is that any attack you do runs a near 100% chance of killing the person you're trying to save! What the hell do you do? WHAT THE HELL DO YOU DO?! ANSWER ME YOU PUNKS!" Oyatsu growled into an insane rage, causing Goku and Vegeta to actually back away a couple of inches at his outburst. Seeing that he had made his point well enough, Oyatsu continued, "Well I know what you'll do! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!" he growled as he made a sudden beeline straight at the two Saiya-jin. Vegeta poised himself to counter-attack, but realized, "Damn me and my exposure to Kakarott's softness!" and jumped back, as did Goku, even at Super Saiya-jin 3, as Oyatsu suddenly jumped straight up into the air before coming too close to either Saiya-jin. He cackled rather loud, "BWAHAHAHA!! YOU ARE POWERLESS!! YOUR SOFTNESS FOR OTHERS IS YOUR DOWNFALL!!" Oyatsu growled, "AND NOW YOU'RE GOING TO SUFFER HORRIBLY FOR IT! DURTY DURT DUR!! DURTY DURT DUR!! DURTY DURT DUR!! FALL TO YOUR KNEES!!" Goku and Vegeta suddenly went agape as they both began to notice each other powering down. Vegeta witnessed in horror as Goku's long hair slowly vanished back into his default base look, and Goku was equally as shocked to see Vegeta's hair return to a black color. Both Saiya-jin immediately attempted to power back up, even if only to normal Super Saiya-jin level, but the fart-like sounds from their aura were a shocking sign that the curse had done it's job well, even on the mightiest two of the Z-warriors. "SHIT!! What is this?! Why the hell can't I transform?!" Vegeta growled. Goku was just as shocked, "I can't transform either!" Oyatsu wasted no time capitalizing on the two Saiya-jin's shock, and he aimed his shrinking blaster at Vegeta. The smaller Saiya-jin went agape as he only looked up just as he was hit, and Goku watched in a mystified horror as his friend and fellow Saiya-jin began to shrink down until he was the size of an ant. Oyatsu quickly scanned both with his scouter, "Only 84,000,000!? Your base powerlevel badly disappoints me Goku! Vegeta's at around 74,041, merely child's play to me!" Goku looked up to notice the blue scouter on his face, "Where did you get that scouter? It's not like the one Radditz had been using!" "This scouter is a gift to me among many from those who hired me to take you out, and speaking of your brother's scouter, it's history! I broke it when I first took him down!" Oyatsu cackled. Goku growled at him, "Damn you! What have you done to my brother and the others?!" "The same thing I'm about to do with you and Vegeta. You noticed I can shrink people, but their weakened powerlevel makes them easy to capture! I've been ordered to take you all alive if possible, but an accidental kill here and there wouldn't really hurt either if it came to it!" Oyatsu cackled. Goku thought to himself, as Vegeta growled, "Bastard! Shrunken or not, I'm a lot stronger than the others!" and he flew up towards Oyatsu. "Vegeta stop!!" Goku cried up, but Vegeta ignored him. Oyatsu charged his ki and fired a moderate sized energy ball that intercepted the shrunken Saiya-jin prince with ease, and forcing him to the ground, where it exploded, leaving a charred Vegeta gasping for air on the scorched ground. Vegeta made a second attempt to jump at Oyatsu, and fired off a Big Bang attack, but Oyatsu screamed a Kiai which absorbed the vastly weakened blast. He then swiped out and smacked Vegeta out of the air, causing him to smash to the ground, and knocked him out cold. He then formed two Kienzans, one in each hand, and called at Goku, "Hey catch this, hot shot!!" and tossed both his way. Goku growled, and screamed out his own Kiai and dispersed the Kienzans, and made a dash at Oyatsu. Oyatsu raised his arms to defend himself, but Goku zanzokened above him at the last minute and swung a light kick into the shapeshifter's back, causing him to fly forward. Oyatsu growled and flipped back up painfully, but Goku quickly attacked him a second time from the side and this time he was sent flying through a nearby tree and ripping it apart. Oyatsu lay on his back in the field, badly wounded. Damn! Damn damn damn!! FUCKING BASTARD!! I OUTTA KILL YOU!! he screamed out mentally, not able to say it out loud with how wounded his body was. It was then he realized, Of course!! He doesn't know about the curtain! I can still beat him!! Goku stood on the ground nearby, wondering if Oyatsu was going to make another attempt at getting up. When about 20 seconds had passed without doing so, he sighed with relief, "Finally, he's down, but how am I gonna get this guy out of Dan without killing him?" "Sculptor Curtain..." Oyatsu whispered, as he already began to feel his body lighten up. He then called to Goku, "ACTUALLY, YOU'RE NOT! TA-TA, SUCKER!!" Goku growled as he saw Oyatsu rise to his feet slowly, but as he did, Goku could swear he faded out of visibility. Goku tensed up, looking around for him with his ki sense, "Damn him! He teleported away!" Oyatsu snickered, Idiot! He thinks I ran! Now to shrink his ass! he jumped up over Goku and landed behind him, and pulled out the Concussion Pulse Gun and the Shrinker Blaster, and fired a shot from each, which quickly combined into a single blast. Goku turned his head, to find the large shot careening at him. However before he could jump he was shoved from behind by Oyatsu's quick reflexes, and was unable to dodge as he was hit by the blasts, and was both shrinking down to the size of an ant and then being restrained by the electrical pulses. "What the hell?! How did he..." "IDIOT. You just thought I ran away, didn't you?!" Oyatsu's voice echoed around him. Goku tried to look around, not able to see Oyatsu anywhere, or even sense him with his ki. "Why the hell can't I see or sense you?!" "Ah, this time Dan IS responsible. Apparently he was beginning to gain some understanding of a new power of his. One that both heals and disguises his position, making him invisible to sight and ki sense apparently! Remember when you probably thought I vanished after I defeated Devin's gang? Well that was why!" Oyatsu replied in a fit a maddened glee, making Goku shudder. Oyatsu focused his ki sense, lifting both Goku and Vegeta off the ground, unable to do little as he placed both inside another unoccupied bottle in his overcoat. However he realized as he had done this that he was becoming visible again for some reason. "What the? Why is my cloak fading so quickly?" he asked in anger, and then realized, "Now I think I get it. As long as I don't try to use Ki or something along that line, I'll remain invisible. Using my ki for anything more than movement must distort the cloak and destroy it. Damn! That limits the use of this power! Maybe Dan's powers are still too underdeveloped for a serious battle." he mused, but he was impressed at his work, now he had about everyone else out of Dan's friends, except for Nina and Mr. Buu in his clutches, helpless to do more than squirm. He knew now the worst was yet to come, Buu would not let this go unpunished, and Nina... he had no clue where the hell she had gone off to, but he figured if he could defeat Paula with moderate ease, he could defeat Nina too. He then remembered of the sensu plant Radditz had been revealed to be probably trying to grow. "I think it's time to pay Nina and Radditz's place a little visit. I can't allow this sensu plant to be used by them, if it even grows!" he growled, as he activated a second use of Sculptor Curtain, in order to hide from Buu, just in case the Majin would attempt to intercept him along the way. He cackled madly as he took to the air and flew off in the direction of Nina's house. **** As Oyatsu flew in the direction of Nina's house, he had found himself entering the eastern end of Canton when he suddenly felt Buu's huge ki moving around close to him. "What the hell?! Buu! He's nearby! Maybe I should take care of him now!" Oyatsu chuckled, and flew off towards where he had sensed Buu's ki. As he flew in, he realized he had reached the McKinley High School, close to the Pro Football Hall of Fame where Piccolo and #17 had gone to only days ago. He had flown around curiously, wondering why exactly Buu was still hovering around up here, and not exactly looking for him. He soon spotted Buu standing near the middle of the school's own football field, looking out northwards, almost as if he were looking for something. There were currently no students gathered nearby, apparently most of them were inside the school for whatever reason. Oyatsu realized that this was fine with him, as the less witnesses to his battles, the better. Oyatsu looked at Mr. Buu, "What the hell's he doing? He's easy prey for me with his guard down like that! Oh well, might as well take advantage of this! I guess he won't be tough after all." as he landed only a few yards away from Buu, still cloaked with roughly another 10 to 15 minutes left before it automatically faded. He knew from experience using the guns he had would not reveal his position, although Buu might have some time to dodge the shots if he was too far away. He edged in closer, noticing Buu was still staring northwest-wards, as if he were waiting on something. Heh, Buu you fool, it was nice knowing you!! he thought to himself as he quickly shot the shrinking blaster at Buu. However as the laser was within 2 feet of Buu, his eyes opened, and a large hole opened in his large body, manipulated by his putty-like features, and the shrinking shot sailed harmlessly through without having any affect on Buu. Oyatsu cursed mentally SHIT! HE SAW IT! I forgot he could manipulate his body that way! Buu scowled and quickly fired a small blast towards the location of Oyatsu's blast. Although it was a weak shot, it was moving far too fast for the shapeshifter to fully dodge, and he was hit, and sent flying back about 2 or 3 yards before he broke free. However the blast had done more than knock the wind out of him, the hit had also distorted the cloak provided to him, causing it to fade out and reveal himself to Buu. Buu turned to Oyatsu, with a face of concern, "Dan, what you doing?" Oyatsu growled, recovering from the small blast, "What does it look like, you pink piece of shit? I'm here to take you out!" "Dan not being nice!" Buu grumbled as he stared at Oyatsu. "Hah, you wanna chide me about not being nice?! I'm not the one who was responsible for destroying a fucking planet, or more!" Oyatsu growled back, and it looked as if anger were slowly taking him over, and it looked apparent he did not like Buu one bit. "What Dan talking about? Buu no destroy planets!" Buu replied. "You lying bastard! It was because you couldn't control your anger that the Earth was destroyed! Imagine how someone still alive felt! You killed nearly everyone on Earth before hand, because you thought it was some twisted game!" Oyatsu fumed. "That not Buu, that was evil Buu!" Buu growled in defense. "DON'T GIVE ME THAT!" Oyatsu screamed in rage, "YOU WERE THE REASON 'EVIL BUU' CAME TO BE! YOU COULDN'T JUST HOLD IT BACK, COULD YOU?! YOU HAD TO EXPEL YOUR EVIL SIDE, AND BECAUSE YOU WERE SO FUCKING WEAK, YOU GOT ABSORBED, AND HELPED HIM EVOLVE! YOU ARE THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THE EARTH! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOUR GUTS! I REALLY REALLY WISH YOU'D KEEL OVER AND DIE!" "You... you not Dan." Buu growled, his anger bubbling as he came to realize this was not Dan talking to him, but someone else, "What you do to Dan! What you do to friends?!" "Nothing in comparison to the torture I have reserved especially for you!" Oyatsu growled, almost falling into a fit of insane rage again, "You being free is an abomination to this universe!! It's time you got what you deserve! My masters will deal with you later." Buu growled, and Oyatsu could see a few streams of steam rush from the pores in his arms and head. "YOU... SIT DOWN." Buu growled and smashed the ground with a sudden blow, which caught Oyatsu off guard and forced him to jump off the ground to avoid falling down from the incoming shockwave. Buu raised his hand and shot a series of three ki blasts in a triangular pattern at the retreating shapeshifter. Although not killer by any means, Oyatsu wasn't exactly in a position to simply dodge, and was hit by all three before he could think. He managed however to keep his composure and stay in the air. Buu zanzokened out of his sight, and Oyatsu suddenly felt a fist hammer him in the face. He flew down and smashed into the ground below, and Buu descended right behind him, and before Oyatsu could flip up, Buu landed right on top of his chest, although not a fatal hit, it was more than enough to knock the wind out of the shapeshifting villain. Buu growled at Oyatsu, "ENOUGH OF THIS! BUU PISSED! GET OUT OF DAN! GET OUT OF HIM!! YOU NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" "Why don't you just kill me then, fatass!" Oyatsu coughed. "Buu will not kill Dan! Buu will stay here until you leave Dan's body!" Oyatsu growled and flipped him the bird, but Buu grumbled at him and ignored the gesture. Oyatsu tried to struggle free, but Buu's weight held his lower body pinned to the ground like a vice. Damn that fucking piece of chewing gum!! I'LL KILL HIM!! WAIT!! Of course!! Duh! Oyatsu looked up at Buu, and appeared to look as if the anger had drained out of his face, I gotta time this just right, or I'm screwed! "I... I'm sorry... I lost it..." he acted as if he were to apologize, although he was mentally cringing that he would have to do such an act. Buu's glare softened, "Who you? Why you so mad at Buu? Buu's evil side blew up Earth! But Earth was restored! Why hold grudge?" Oyatsu grumbled softly, "You think just because your precious 'Dragonballs' can bring stuff back that it's fine to just ignore facts? The dragon can only grant each wish ONCE. You can't just act so nonchalant about something like blowing up a planet!" Buu sighed, He does make a point there. "But why hate good Buu? Buu can't help his power wasn't enough to beat evil Buu!" "I hate you because if you hadn't blown your top for whatever reason, that peace would've come, and the Earth and its' people, they wouldn't have to suffer so much! You might not of known, but your evil self killed nearly everyone else left alive, and then he went insane and blew Earth to atoms!" Oyatsu grumbled, now beginning to focus a great deal of hidden energy into his still concealed hands. Buu sighed, "Buu sorry okay?! Buu was created like that! Blame Bibidi and Babidi! They made Buu to kill, to hurt, to destroy!" "I realize that now..." Oyatsu replied, "But even then... I CAN NEVER FORGIVE YOU!!" he then outstretched his hands right at Buu's face, "MAFUBA!!!" The green blast of incarcerating energy flew out of Oyatsu's hands... Being right on top of him and at point blank range, Buu had no room to dodge, and was hit immediately. Oyatsu screamed bloody murder as Buu began to scream in horror, as even his great power was unable to prevent the Mafuba from affecting him. Buu swirled around within the green vortex of energy as Oyatsu screamed like a banshee on steroids, Buu slowly shrunk down in the vortex until he was none but the size of a rat, and Oyatsu managed to fling out a capsule which had formed into a small bottle with a strange kana on the side. Buu shrieked in horror, unable to break free of the powerful containment wave. "NOW GO TO HELL YOU BASTARD!!!" Oyatsu screamed as he directed Buu down all the way into the bottle, and after Buu had vanished within, he quickly corked the bottle, and reinforced it by shrinking it down and stuffing IT inside of a normal bottle like the ones he had used to hold the other Misfits. Oyatsu gasped hard, and breathed heavily, as he came to the realization that he had done it. "YES!!! YES!!! I DID IT!! WHO'S THE MAN NOW, BUU?!?! HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR NEW HOME?! I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT, BECAUSE IT'S ALL YOU'RE GOING TO KNOW FOR THE REST OF YOUR FUCKING ETERNAL LIFE!!" he screamed at the bottle in a disbelieving victory. He then slumped to the ground, gasping for air... "I did it! I finally did it! I can't believe it... but Dan... he actually had the right stuff, I finally got Buu, and with only Nina left to deal with, I've basically all but succeeded!" Getting slowly to his feet, he felt around, trying to sense out for Nina's ki. However much to his surprise, he could actually get a lock on her location this time. However Oyatsu realized something, "So, that must've been what Buu was doing here! He was going to pair up with Nina to face me!" he spoke, as he saw Nina now on the horizon. The winged girl's size and large wings made it hard for him to not see her approaching. However she did not appear to be much too happy as she flew in closer to the football field. Nina looked down and called, "Alright, whoever you are, enough is enough! It's time I put an end to this, once and for all!" she then landed out of the sky and to the ground about 10 feet from Oyatsu. Seeing that his eyes had still been orange, she growled, "So it's true. You're the one who tipped off Al-Qaeda to us." Oyatsu cackled, his spirits uplifted from his battle with Buu, "Why yes, I was the one who originally sent them after Dan. However I realized how much of a mistake I almost made. Dan turned out to be far better alive than dead! I've now captured all of your friends, with the sole exception of yourself, but if you honestly think you can beat me, let's see you try!" Nina smirked, "Very well." and she aimed her hands at him and fired a snaking black energy wave. Oyatsu jumped backward to dodge it, not wanting to know what could happen to him if it hit, but Nina quickly zanzokened behind him and gave him a vicious knee to the back, and sent the shapeshifter plowing forward, and landing on his face. Oyatsu flipped up and growled, "Cheapshot bitch!" "Takes one to know one." Nina replied nonchalantly, and fired off a blast of her Fireball spell. Not knowing what to expect, Oyatsu dodged aside, however Nina had come in close again. "Dammit!" he growled as he barely managed to dodge her punch, and realized his body was a little harder of reaction than earlier, due to using a lot of energy to use his Mafuba attack on Buu. I need to catch her off guard! Wait, just maybe that'll work! He then growled, "Not bad, but can you handle this?" he asked, pulling out the Concussion Pulse Gun at aiming it at Nina. She gasped in horror as she quickly put two and two together, "What the hell?! It was you! You're also the one who gave that Al-Qaeda operative his stun-cannon!" "Yes, and don't think I can't take you down with it. It worked very well on #17, someone with a powerlevel more than 40 times stronger than you!" Nina growled, realizing she was in trouble if she got hit by the blasts, since she might end up attracting them at her. Oyatsu shot two blasts Nina's way. She managed to quickly dart past them, avoiding them. She tried to rush in close at Oyatsu to disable the gun, but she saw him unleash a torrent of shots her way out of reaction, which made it far too risky to get too close. Dammit! As long as he has that gun, I'll have to hit him from range. She jumped back and unleashed a volley of ki blasts in an attempt to hit the gun, but Oyatsu jumped back, and called out "Sculptor Curtain!" and again began to heal some of his injuries and fatigue and vanish from both Nina's sight and her ki sense. "Damn! What the hell did he just... woah!" she couldn't even finish her sentence as four pulse blasts suddenly shot at her out of thin air. She managed to dodge them all, but now she was finding it hard to even concentrate since blasts appeared to shot from several different points in front of her. She growled, Where are they?! as she continued to dodge a volley of pulse cannon shots. However, Nina's luck was quickly running out, as she suddenly took a hit from behind by a moderately strong force, and got sent flying forward and hit the ground hard. She barely managed to roll under 3 other pulse shots sent in her direction, but she growled as she realized one of her ankles had been twisted in the fall. As she tried dodging a few more pulse shots, she took another hit from a blunt force from her side, and was finally knocked forward right into the path of one of the pulse blasts. The energy hit her and quickly covered her from head to toe, pinning her to the ground. Nina tried desperately to fight the energy, but it wasn't budging, even for her. Oyatsu cackled, still invisible to her eyes, and her ki sense, but Nina, despite being pinned down, had finally managed to sense him, but not through ki, but through apparently his magicpowerlevel. Oyatsu however did not seem to be quite so aware of this, and cackled, "So now do you see how fruitless this is?! It's over Nina, now your team is totally down for the count. Dan will make a great vessel for my new plans!" Nina grumbled, "You know what sucks about you? You talk too much!" as she raised her hand and shot a large blast of energy from the ring on her finger. Oyatsu, not expecting her to know where to aim was smacked hard by the magic-like blast and knocked to the ground, his cloak fading, and the concussion blaster falling to the ground, but still intact. "Argh!! Lucky shot you bitch, but that alone won't stop me!" he replied as he saw the energy field still strong as ever around Nina. He got to his feet and pulled out the Shrinking Blaster and pointed it at her, "Once I shoot you with this, not even that hidden attack of yours will do much more than tickle me! Say hi to your friends for me, I'll be sure to stick you in with one..." however Oyatsu would not be able to finish his sentence or even get the chance to fire his shrinker, as he suddenly witnessed a large ki blast tearing right through what was once his shrinking blaster, turning it into a slagged mess, and then a second blast suddenly flew past his face and tore through what had been the concussion pulse blaster. Both weapons had exploded into pieces, and Oyatsu turned his head in rage to the source of the shots. "WHO DARES?!" he growled, however he turned to find a THIRD blast heading straight at his face. The shot smashed into him, tearing through the earpiece on his scouter, causing the assembly to explode, destroying the piece of scanning equipment. Oyatsu then gasped in a horrified shock, as he saw one person staring at him with a rage he had not been expecting. His eyes now bore a insane look to him, "I should've remembered to get you first! You fucking bitch, you broke my scouter, and two of my best toys!!" Oyatsu growled over at Teresa as the other girl had her hand outstretched, prepared to fire more blasts at the shapeshifter. "I'll say this only once, GET THE HELL OUT OF DAN'S BODY, NOW." she growled, barely holding in rage. "Hahahaha!! You have some damn nerve, bitch! Dan is MINE, MINE MINE MINE! And you... you are going to be DEAD DEAD DEAD!! I do NOT need to leave YOU alive in any way shape or form! You just signed your death warrant by coming here!!" Oyatsu bellowed, as he charged in faster than Teresa could act, and gave her a hard blow to the stomach, sending her flying back over 60 yards, and smashing through the stands around the football field. However Oyatsu had quickly appeared in her path of movement, and swung a vicious blow to her back, sending her slamming into the ground face first, and she could only twitch after the landing. Oyatsu smirked insanely, "Now you find out how it feels, to suffer true fear, girl! If you thought Al-Qaeda was horrifying, I'll show you a level of terror they could never hope to accomplish, and then your family will suffer for your insolence as well!!" as he jumped up and landed his foot in Teresa's back, and stomped down on her several times, hearing the satisfying crack of her bones beginning to break as he stamped down on her repeatedly. Nina, still trapped in the energy field from the pulse gun, attempted to fire several magic-blasts from her ring at Oyatsu, but the shapeshifter laughed in glee, knowing Nina couldn't close the gap to hit him more accurately, and merely dodged his head aside to avoid any that did come near him. He even managed to smack a blast aside that hit Teresa's fallen form in the arm, and hurting her worse. "Do your worst Nina! Your aim sucks from range! That popgun does little to save your friend!" He then turned over to the fallen Teresa and grabbed her and threw her over on her back. She had looked in horrible shape from Oyatsu's attacks, and she was barely able to keep her eyes open. "I'm sorry I can't talk longer, but have fun dying!" he growled. Nina screamed in horror as she witnessed him plow his fist all the way through Teresa's chest, and out her back, making a massive dent in the ground beneath her. However Oyatsu did not see Teresa squirm defiantly in her final moments, nor did he even see any blood around the large hole in her stomach. Her insides made it look like she was composed of jello, and Oyatsu could swear her skin was turning blue. Then 'Teresa' smirked in a taunting manner, "PSYCHE!" as she appeared to turn into a blue energy that wrapped tightly around Oyatsu. The shapeshifter had no time to react as the energy wrap exploded and created a massive shockwave, which washed over the area and collided with Nina on the way past. Nina gasped in shock, "Wait a minute! That was just one of her energy duplicates! I should've known! Damn her for scaring me to death like that!" As the dust cleared, Oyatsu realized he had been horribly tricked. While he was not as injured as he thought, he had not been able to put up a perfect defense, and he was badly charred, and his overcoat looked as if it was going to soon crumble to ashes. "Damn... her... I should've fucking known. Her energy clones!" he growled. "Hey bastard, over here!" Teresa's voice called from behind him, as he turned to see Teresa standing near the restrained Nina. He growled, "Damn you! Don't think you can avoid the inevitable! Your energy clones might be a good trick, but you aren't exactly strong in your own right yet! Also, your clones appear to give off erratic readings on the scouter! I just need to look at the powerlevels to know which is really you!" Teresa smirked, as if knowing something he hadn't, "Then try to find the real me, you asshole." Oyatsu growled, as he began to reach into his overcoat, "Such insolence, you little bitch, I'll show you... WHAT?!" he suddenly realized the capsule he was trying to find was missing. He growled frantically, trying to find the capsule with his scouters in them, but he couldn't find the right one. "WHERE IS IT?!" he growled frantically. "You looking for a capsule full of decked-out scanner thingies?!" Teresa called in a sing-song voice, pulling out a blue-coded capsule in her pocket, one that made Oyatsu's eyes go red with fury. "WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU FIND THAT CAPSULE?!" he growled in rage. Teresa laughed with a barely contained glee, "You shouldn't have been so careless when you fought Radditz! Remember when he caught you by surprise? You dropped a capsule out of your coat. Turns out it was filled with these sweet scouters. I had to count nearly 280 of them, all different colors of course." Oyatsu growled as his energy flared up in a very uncontained rage, "DAMN THAT RADDITZ! GIVE ME BACK THAT CAPSULE YOU WENCH, OR YOUR REAL DEATH WILL BE FIFTY TIMES MORE BRUTAL THAN WHAT I GAVE YOUR ENERGY CLONE!" Teresa replied by pulling her eyelid down and raspberrying the shapeshifter. He snarled at her, "I'M WARNING YOU! DON'T FUCK WITH ME, OR YOU'LL SUFFER A FATE WORSE THAN HELL!" he snarled, as electrical energy began to crackle around his already erratic aura. Nina's eyes went wide, "Dammit! Teresa, he looks like he's going to Super Saiya-jin 2!! He'll easily kill you! Give him the capsule before he mutilates you!" Teresa snarled at Nina, "I am not a coward, and I will not let this asshole control Dan without any say in the matter!" "Bold words, girl, but you're nothing even to Dan before I possessed him, what makes you think you even stand a chance against me NOW?!" Oyatsu snarled, and prepared to charge at her, but suddenly he stopped as if he had been paralyzed. He tried to move, but he could barely move a muscle, as his own fist came rocketing into his face, and knocking him back for a wild loop. He landed on his back, and tried to struggle to his feet, but he only ended up punching himself a second time. Teresa and Nina looked on in shock. "What the hell is wrong with him?!" asked Nina. Teresa looked on, a hint of a smile on her face, Dan... you're finally trying to break out, aren't you? Oyatsu continued struggling to even move most of his body, but he kept beating himself up instead. Suddenly, he screamed a horrible screech, but this time, Dan's real voice was heard, and not Oyatsu, "YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER YOU BASTARD!! YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!!" Oyatsu snarled, and slugged himself in the face, "I SEE NOW! YOU HAVE "FEELINGS" FOR HER, DON'T YOU!? YOU COULDN'T BREAK OUT WHILE I WAS ATTACKING DUSTY, AND YET YOU'RE GIVING ME PROBLEMS ONLY WHEN I'M THREATENING HER LIFE! GO ON THEN! FIGHT ME DAN! FIGHT ME AND LOSE LIKE THE WEAK FOOL YOU ARE!!" He then snapped to life, and stood to his feet, although once in a while, Oyatsu would lose control and Dan would make him punch himself. Oyatsu snarled, "ENOUGH OF THIS!! I'VE HAD IT WITH ALL OF YOU!!" He then bent forward and put his arms to his chest in a cross-stance, and then screamed bloody murder as he released a massive shockwave which instantly slammed into Teresa and Nina, and sent then rocketing back over 200 yards. Oyatsu felt as if his entire essence would erupt into a fiery hell, as Dan's hair began to grow in length, growing all the way down his back, and to his hips, and his eyebrows began to fade away, and his orange pupils turning red and dilated. His electrical pulses began to intensify, yet looking to be more controlled in appearance, and his muscles tensed up tight. The dust cleared, as Teresa and Nina, now freed of the pulse cannon's energy field, gaped on in horror. "His powerlevel's expanded immensely, almost more than fifteen or sixteen times!! Shit!" Nina growled, "Please... please please don't tell me he just..." "OH MY GOD, WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?!" Teresa yelled in a mix of rage and fear. Nina finally managed to see Oyatsu, and she cursed, "Damn our luck, Vegeta, Alex, Jason, Vernon, Radditz and Clint are NOT going to be happy about this if we all survive." Oyatsu had finally realized of his change, and his expression was now more insane-looking than ever before. "UNBELIEVABLE!! I HAVE DONE IN LESS THAN A DAY, WHAT THAT CLOWN GOKU TOOK TEN YEARS TO DO!! THIS IS GREAT! I FEEL EXCELLENT!! I'M A SUPER SAIYA-JIN 3!!" he then looked over, chuckling at Teresa and Nina, and he realized that with his newfound powerups that he actually far surpassed Nina without having to shrink her down. "WHAT A TWIST OF FATE, WOULDN'T YOU LADIES SAY? I LOSE MY SHRINKING CANNON, WHAT I THOUGHT WOULD BE THE ONLY WAY TO DEFEAT NINA, BUT IRONICALLY, WITH TERESA AND DAN'S INTERFERENCE, I MANAGE TO SURPASS HER IN RAW POWER ANYWAYS! DOESN'T FATE FIND THE SWEETEST WAYS OF KICKING ONE IN THE ASS?!" Oyatsu cackled, and he knew he was through playing games, "NOW... PLAYTIME'S OVER!! I'M GOING TO DESTROY THIS ENTIRE AREA, AND YOU TWO ALONG WITH IT! HAVE FUN IN HELL, BECAUSE I'LL MAKE SURE YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HEAVEN!!" Oyatsu jumped up into the air with quick speed, and cupped his hands to the side, building energy for a massive Kamehameha, which while aimed down at Nina and Teresa's location, would more than likely have enough power packed in it to hit like a powerful atom bomb. Teresa and Nina looked up with a horrified expression. "We're all screwed, aren't we?" asked Teresa. "Uh yeah, we're very screwed." Nina replied, until she perked up mysteriously, "Or maybe not!" Oyatsu cackled insanely, "YES, MY PRETTY, CHARGE UP, CHARGE UP TO FULL POWER!!" he looked down with monstrous intent upon the helpless remaining Misfits on the ground, "THEY'RE SO PETRIFIED THEY WON'T EVEN TRY TO GET OUT OF THE WAY!!" He then aimed his hands at them, "NOW PREPARE FOR YOUR END!!! HA!!!!" he screamed and shot the massive blast down towards Nina and Teresa. Or at least that had been the plan... Until a larger blast flew in from the west and intercepted Oyatsu's otherwise killer blast less than 10 feet into its' flight, and then directed both up into the upper atmosphere, where both blasts had exploded violently. However Oyatsu had no time to even witness this, as he had been slammed in the stomach with a walloping blow. His eyes nearly popped out, and his jaw hanging agape as he struggled to breath. He then was dealt a horrific kick to his back, sending him plummeting to the ground, and creating a massive crater. Despite these blows, he was able to slowly get to his feet, and look in the direction of his attacker, however Nina and Teresa had still been rooted to the ground 200 yards away, so it had been neither of them. As his eyes lay on his attacker, he did a double take at the appearance of this new person. She was a woman standing nearly 5 feet 7 inches, with a slim build, blonde hair with shoulder length, however parted in an odd way in which the left side looked to cover her left ear, and the right side appearing to be slung over behind her right ear. Her slanted blue eyes bore into Oyatsu like a lion, as he finally registered his attacker's identity. However, that was the last thing he would be able to think of, as he growled, "Sh... shit... I didn't... expect... a twentieth one..." as he collapsed to the ground, and his power dropping sharply, as his Super Saiya-jin forms slowly dispersed, until he was back in base. A black, vaporous mist began to rise from Dan's body, as orange eyes appeared in the mist, looking to gaze bloody murder at his fatal assailant. The vapors began to form along the ground nearby, until it revealed the same black cat with gray stripes that he had been when Dan pet him the night before. He looked up at Juuhachigou, or simply '#18' as many of her allies called her, and cursed, "How?! How did you find this place so fast?!" #18 smirked at him, "You can thank my brother for that, you lunatic. Although I was already on the verge of finding this place, it was because of him and Nina that I was able to find you so fast. It was smart to use one of their own for your game, but I'm afraid the game is over. As you were boasting your grand plan to my brother, his internal transmitter was sending your conversation to me, therefore I had become aware you were causing trouble. You lose, good day sir." Oyatsu almost looked as if he were going to personally fly up to try to strange the newcomer, but then his expression stiffened, as he began to let the rage in his voice deflate slowly "Maybe... maybe you're right, today. But if you really think I'm down for the count, you're quite wrong." he growled, and put a paw to his forehead, "Mark my words, cyborg bitch, you and your friends will live to regret this. I might not be back right away, I could be gone for many years before I see you all again, but this isn't over." #18 growled, "Enough crazy talk! Die you fiend!" she growled, igniting a Kienzan and shooting it down at Oyatsu. However before the razor disc of ki could come even halfway between her and hitting the cat, he vanished into thin air, and #18's eyes went wide, "What the?! Shit! That was East Kaioshin's Kai Kai technique! How did he gain that technique!? Damn... he's gone... I don't sense him at all anymore. Hell, I couldn't sense him in his natural form before... so I guess we're back to square one." She then lowered down to Dan's nearly-dead form. He looked badly banged up, despite the feats Oyatsu had made his body endure over the last few hours. Nina and Teresa had finally been able to reach them, realizing Oyatsu had gotten away. "How is he?" Nina asked. #18 scanned his body with her internal scanner, "Not good, he's got many broken bones. I'm sure nothing short of a sensu's gonna help him, but I know he was capturing the other friends of yours. Where did he put them?" "They're in his coat pocket, stashed away in bottles. I think Buu's additionally in some kind of extra jar made to seal away demons. He actually managed to get Buu with that Mafuba pretty good." Nina explained. As they searched Dan's body, they managed to procure several more capsules, and much to their luck, they had found a second shrinker blaster, and a third concussion pulse gun in a couple of the left over capsules. They soon found the bottles, and found their friends inside of them, many of them barely conscious or out of it due to the thinness of the air within. "Hang on guys, you'll be out in a few seconds!" Teresa said, as the three women quickly uncorked the many bottles, and releasing their shrunken and mostly injured friends into the open. Teresa had managed to finally uncork the tiny jar Buu had been locked away in, and the pink fat Majin had managed to finally break free of his prison. He looked a bit confused at first, but he cheered up at the sight of #18. "Cyborg girl make it! You well?" he asked. #18 sighed, "Yeah, it's over, but the guy who possessed your friend got away, and we can't sense him." Buu aimed his forelock at Dan and healed him quickly with it. Dan grumbled as he finally awoke, and when he discovered Oyatsu's presence clear of him, he actually jumped up and cheered, "Oh my god! He's finally gone! Thank you guys! I appreciate all you've done, even if it put my body through hell and back." "Don't... sweat it Dan, but it was #18 here who saved all our asses, not us." Teresa replied. Dan looked to #18, who just simply looked back, "Um, thanks then #18. Sorry about all the shit I did. That guy definitely stuck it to us all. Where is he, anyways?" #18 sighed, "He knew Kai Kai, or instant translocation. The same thing the East Kaioshin can do. He could be ANYWHERE, and the worst part is that I couldn't sense his energy at all when he was here, except while he was inside of you, so I can't find him now. We're gonna have to keep on our toes, because he might pull this shit again, and I don't feel like having to save your ass a second time." she then ended grumpily, as she had learned by scanning the shrinker that there was a reverse setting that would undo the effects. She quickly placed all of the shrunken Misfits in one gathered area, and shot the large red-colored enlarging laser over them. Soon, Radditz, Alex, Paula, Heero, Virgil, Steve, Dwayne, Dusty, Clint, Devin, Piccolo, #17, Goku and Vegeta had all grown back to full size. Although most of them were still either unconscious or out of it, Buu went to work and quickly healed all of them as fast as he could. Soon they all awakened, and Piccolo's arms had even been regenerated without a temporarily loss of powerlevel due to Buu's methods. **** After getting to their senses, the other Misfits had asked about the entire situation. Many of them had first thought Dan really had been the culprit, but Goku, Vegeta, #18, Nina, Buu and Teresa vouched for him, but then #18 had to give them the bad news that Oyatsu had gotten away, and that she had not been able to sense him at all even before he did. Goku was shocked to find out that Oyatsu knew the East Kaioshin's Kai Kai. However the biggest shit hit the fan when Nina, Teresa and #18 had to reveal that Dan had not only been pushed to become a Super Saiya-jin, but that he had also reached 2 and then 3. Although Dan did attempt to transform back to 3 again, he was barely able to keep hold over 2 without almost passing out. He realized that without Oyatsu, he didn't have as much power as he did with little holding him back at the moment39. Alex, Jason, Vernon and Vegeta were very mad to find out that three eyewitnesses were saying that Dan had managed to become a Super Saiya-jin 3 where they had not been able to yet, while Goku's expression appeared mostly neutral, possibly even a little disconcerted. Vegeta however appeared to be the most angered and jealous, having tried for 10 years without success to attain the form. Alex was a close second, and Jason wasn't happy either. Vernon was neutral, realizing Dan might still prove to be quite powerful after all. Piccolo had also been shocked to learn of Dan's Saiya-jin DNA, but Dan hastily still reminded him their bet was still on, and Piccolo grumbled at him about it. Clint was just taking it all in stride, while Radditz was actually quite impressed, although he was disappointed Dan could not hold SSJ2 for too long, but with more training, he felt Dan might be able to overcome that without having to be possessed. Basically, Dan was pardoned for his 'questionable' actions, however Radditz was then in for some heat when Piccolo and #17 had told the others he had been trying to plant a Sensu plant. Radditz explained he would've told them, except that he didn't think the plant was actually growing well. Although Piccolo didn't yell at him, he did mentioned that Korin seemed to be the only one who could properly make sensu beans. Soon, the rest of the team got time to induct #18 into the Misfits. #18 didn't really show any emotion to the declaration, but she spoke over to her brother, "Well #17, I finally got here, so now what do I do? Just hang around you guys, or do I train someone too?" #17 looked over in amusement, "Maybe I could take you to Carlson's Lot and get you a motorcycle. Piccolo and I could use some competition." Piccolo scowled at #17's comment, but didn't speak on it. #18 decided, "No thank you, I don't care so much about driving as you two do. I think I'm going to train someone as well, or just hang around in close to #17. Where are you living anyways?" she then asked. "Piccolo and I are staying over with Vernon, since we're his original trainers. I'm not sure if you'd be able to get in or not. We'll have to ask." #17 replied. "Nevermind then, I think I'll make due on my own place." #18 chuckled at him. After that, a small more amount of jabber went up among the 20 Misfits, until Dan had decided to look through all the stuff in the overcoat Oyatsu had brought with him. "Maybe this stuff will actually give us more information on who he really is." he suggested. However Teresa suddenly called their attention, "Radditz, you lost your old scouter, right?" "Yeah, how can I forget?" he said, looking at Dan with a small glare, who cowered slightly. "Well, I think the trade off was well worth it, take a look at these capsules." she cheered as she threw two blue-colored capsules onto the ground. In their place appeared to be large briefcases. However when they opened them, inside were rows of scouters. Each briefcase had 14 rows of ten scouters, each different colors, including Green, Pink, Red, Yellow, Cyan, Blue, Navy Blue, Purple, Orange, Dark-Silver, Light-Silver, White, and then finally clear-lenses on the bottom. Another suitcase was basically identical in contents, except the scouters all had stripes of different colors on their shells, and a strange insignia painted over the shells. The only difference were that there had only been nine of the blue-lensed ones. Teresa sweatdropped, realizing the missing scouter in this briefcase had probably been the one her energy clone had destroyed earlier. Vegeta and Radditz had expressed looks on their faces that reminded one of a boy opening a large Christmas gift. Vegeta gaped at the many 'overclocked' scouters in the second briefcase, "This... this has to be some dream!" "So, what's the big deal about these 'overclocked' scouters anyways?" asked Paula quizzically. Vegeta looked at her, "They're only what you would call 'the Holy Grail' of scouters! And yes, I know scouters are not of best use anymore on those who can lower their powerlevels, but these scouters are unique in the fact that they cannot be overloaded to the point of exploding like the old models. Also, the reason they're really called 'overclocked' is that they can scan powerlevels higher than the 'normal' version of the same colored scouter. Also, there appear to be lens-shades of scouters that I've never seen before.40" Dan then realized, "I remember Oyatsu using the blue one from earlier on Piccolo and #17, their readings actually climbed to nearly 95 million on those!" "WHAT?! Are you serious?!" Radditz jumped up in shock. Vegeta reached over and grabbed the next color-code down, a Navy Blue scouter, and put it on his ear. He then looked over and pressed the button on the side, and his eyes went agape when he saw Buu's powerlevel. "These scouters... are unbelievable, I can actually see Buu's true powerlevel. It's around 623 million degrees!" Vegeta yelled in shock. "Really?! Wow, that is unbelievable... these might actually still serve a purpose after all in training sessions! There's also so many of them I'm sure we can actually give one to each of us of some kind." Goku had replied, and then suggested. However, Dan was still rooting through some of the other capsules, until he found what looked like a slightly mangled capsule in a lower pocket. "Hmmm... what the hell does this one have in it?" he wondered as he pressed the button and threw it to the field. As it uncompressed, it revealed a sight that made Goku and Vegeta's mouths fall almost to the ground, but Goku's far more. "No... no way! There's just no way that can be!" Goku stammered, for all the world looking like a fish out of water. "What? What is it Goku?" Piccolo asked, a little amused at this. "It's... it's the spaceship Dr. Briefs made for me to go to Namek over 20 years ago!41" "The same one that was destroyed when Frieza destroyed Old Namek?!" Alex had then realized as well that it did look familiar, yet really banged up. "Yes Alex, the very same one." Goku replied. It was then that Devin looked at the ship with a strange glee, "Then... that means it has..." "A GRAVITY CHAMBER!" Dusty finished as he ran up to the banged up ship, followed by Clint, Vernon, Alex and Dan. "Guys wait! Nothing in there probably works anymore!" Goku warned them, although he noticed the vertical rotating door open up, although slowly, enough to allow the five Misfits inside, where they saw the vertical pillar-like machine which could control a field of gravity on the upper level of the ship. Dan ran over to the controls, and attempted to dial in the buttons to turn it on, but to his dismay, he got nothing but dead air. Goku and Vegeta had followed them from behind. "I told you, this ship is 20 years old, not to mention it should be space dust. I'm surprised the door still opened." Goku replied, "I mean, how the hell could Oyatsu have gotten my old ship when everyone except me and Frieza had been wished off of Namek before it exploded?" "Didn't #18 say Oyatsu knew Kaioshin's Kai Kai? I mean, if I remember, that's the teleportation that doesn't require a ki signature for a destination. He might have somehow teleported there after Porguna's wish was made, and compressed the ship and ran off with it." Nina had suggested. "Who knows really." Vegeta piped in, "But it's too bad Bulma's not here. I'm sure she'd fix this thing up in a hurry." "Yeah, we need gravity machines in general around here. Our training is slowing down." Devin remarked. Paula had felt guilty at that remark, knowing Nina could easily help them, but Nina would probably go into a long explanation about them not being ready again. "Hmmm... maybe I could find a way to fix it. I have a garage at my place where I was looking over the original Concussion Pulse Gun when I got possessed by Oyatsu, maybe he left something there that can help me fix it, or maybe there's something else in one of these capsules." Dan replied, as he shooed his friends out of the ship, and hit the compression button, reverting the ship to capsule form. Goku just looked at him, "Well, if anyone CAN fix it, they'll have themselves a gravity machine that can go up to 100 times. I'm not going to hog it for myself, and Vegeta, Piccolo, #17, #18 and Buu probably don't need it either, so you guys can fight over it." "Well, I say... training can probably just be called off completely today... too much shit going on, and not to mention, none of us can transform anyways, except Dan, due to Oyatsu's curse." Clint mentioned. At that remark, the others looked to Dan. "Dan, speaking of the curse, do you have any idea when it'll fade away?" asked Goku. Dan sighed, "The entire curse as a whole will fade away in time, but it will probably be about a week to 10 days at least. Also, the direct effects of the curse last 12 hours at a time, so don't say anything stupid like that for at least 10 or more days, okay?" "12 hours? I guess I could take a break, for today. Tomorrow though, we should probably pick up our efforts. Oyatsu's taught us that we're still not ready for what lies ahead. It seems Dwayne, Steve and Dusty's mention of dark threats was not a lie." Goku replied. After more talking over the matters of their harsh day and near brush with total defeat, they broke off from each other for a short while. Dan and Teresa flew back towards Dan's own house, taking some of the capsules Oyatsu had left behind with him. Radditz and Nina decided to head back to their place to rest off the day and to make sure the former would be able to get to work alright. #17, Piccolo and Vernon all headed back to Vernon's house, while Goku and Vegeta had taken the scouters procured from Oyatsu and flew back with Alex to their own neighborhood. Devin headed back to his own house as well, as did Clint to his place, and Jason to his place. #18 flew off towards the center of Canton, stating she was looking around for a mall or another shopping area, while Paula split off to her house, and also Dwayne, Steve and Dusty heading back to Dusty's neighborhood. Heero also decided he was going to follow after Dan and Teresa and talk with them, apparently wanting to get their past conflicts out of the way. Buu headed back to the wilderness near Devin's lot to meditate. Although they have won this battle by the skin of their teeth, and even gained a new ally in the process, Dan's possession would only be the first of many potential threats the Misfits are going to be facing down the road. Many strive for new goals, and to figure out why they are struggling in other affairs, while others still meander around on their own business of training, but the looming threat of Al-Qaeda and even a potential return of Oyatsu hangs over them like the storm clouds which do not like to dissipate in the middle of a summer heat... And that was just the BEGINNING of the possibilities that awaited them.... Footnotes: (BLEH, huge section this time! >_<) Part 3: None Part 4: 3 1 Although I'm sure he'll complain about me putting this here, I wanna fairly inform people that before the time of Misfits, Alex used to have a form of cerebral palsy, which limited his standing ability during certain phases in his life. In the series, Nina healed him of this some time after they met, although Alex is still trying to get fully used to the change in early Series 1. He is going to overcome it, but it makes him slower for a while then many expect of him. 2 To understand why Radditz has a scouter, I must explain that in the Misfits series, I handle the after realm differently from how Toriyama did it. All people who die have a spiritual body, instead of just looking like clouds. They can still train themselves when dead, if they really wish to, this is also why Nina saw both Radditz and Dodoria as they really were when she got sent to Hell by the portal. As for the scouter itself, any kind of articles or objects the person was wearing when they die also get copied over. With all the different people who died in the past, some scouters ended up being taken with them, and Radditz managed to get his hands on one of them before he got sent back. 3 Soukidan = "Spinning Energy Bullet", or "Spirit Bomb", the REAL Spirit Bomb. The one Goku uses is misnamed in the dub, and is actually called "Genki Dama" or "Energy Ball". The Soukidan is the controllable ki ball that Yamcha used at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai against Kami in the body of Shen. :P Part 5: 2 4 Yes, Alex has really said this in real life. I got it recorded somewhere if anyone really wants proof. :P 5 This is a Ocean dub-related joke. In the Ocean dub versions, there is a part in one of the first episodes of Z when Piccolo first meets Radditz. He fires a colossal blast at Radditz, but it does no damage. Radditz jokes something along the lines of "Goodness! You've managed to singe some of my leg hairs." :P Part 6: 6 6 Jackson = aka "Jackass", aka that antagonist I told you about in Saga 1's footnotes. P.S. He is NOT a real person, at least not one I really know. He's my property, goofballs. :P 7 IMPORTANT: The reason our heroes don't end up able to do much to help the people of 9/11 is because of several reasons, logical and story related. Many fanfictions I've seen with 9/11 make too many attempts to negate the entire tragedy, which ends up being an insult to the events. I can understand the heroes could save a few stray people here and there, but the majority of the damage and loss of life occurs too fast for them to really prevent everything. Besides, it's not like most of them can just know when and where the planes will strike, do they? :P 8 IMPORTANT: I know, I know... 9/11 probably wouldn't seem like something extremely serious to the Z-senshi, at least not in comparison to the horrors and villains they've faced, but you still need to remember that Goku for one does not put up with people who kill innocents, terrorists or intergalactic tyrants alike. Piccolo and Vegeta are probably more pissed at the fact that such 'weaklings' possess the power to inflict such a large amount of damage. #17 is closely in touch with his human roots in Misfits, so he of course takes the attacks in a slightly more personal manner. 9 IMPORTANT: Al-queda obviously never really attacked Dan in real life, and the extra attack is meant to add to the "Alternate Universe" aspect in Misfits, and to give them a true motivation to get better, as so they decided to prevent stuff like this from happening ever again. 10 St. Evans = A more "God"-sounding name for "DeathEvan". The final boss of Breath of Fire 2, the same game Nina is from, for you uneducated new-school gaming goofs. :P He is the 'son' of of the self-proclaimed goddess Myria, who appeared in the 1st and 3rd games in the same series, and probably more. 11 I know it seems like pretty much no one would be THAT angry and enraged at those who are so different, but Jackson actually has good reason to hate Nina as much as he does, or at least he thinks he does. One day you will all learn exactly where his true hatred at her comes from. Her appearance isn't quite as much the sole reason for his hate, as our encounters with him might lead you to think. Part 7: 6 12 Remember, in due terms of DB's own time it is only 2 or 3 months after the 28th Tenkaichi Budokai, so technically by Misfits' standards, GT would not have happened for another 10 years. However, more than likely, if anything from GT other than SSJ4 ever makes it into Misfits, it will be vastly different from the original version of GT. Example: There are NO Black Star Dragonballs, and the Earth Dragonballs do not use negative energy in the same purpose as the way Misfits will do it. You'll begin to understand the Misfits method of dispersing negative energy from Dragonballs soon enough. Also, due to all of this, Goku and Vegeta are not even aware of Super Saiya-jin 4, although Alex and his gang are due to the show. The Z-gang has not yet gotten any real glimpse of GT, although it will only be a matter of time. 13 Remember, #17 has the tendency to be very mischievous, even around his fellow Z-Warriors. Now you understand why he said what he said to Alex at the hotel in Tokyo. :P 14 What Piccolo means is that Jason went one 'level' beyond what Mirai Trunks did versus Cell. If you don't totally understand what the hell just happened, you can say Jason went "USSJ3", or "Super Saiya-jin 4th Grade". Basically, it's along the lines what Vegeta and Trunks used against Cell in 2nd and perfect forms, but there ended up being too many weaknesses, especially when Trunks went to "USSJ2" or "Super Saiya-jin 3rd Grade", the great bulking in muscle causing Trunks to slow down too much. :P 15 The idea to have Vegeta change his personality when wasted comes from another fanfiction I read on Fanfiction.net. Also, we need some humor in the midst of all this serious crap, dammit! :P 16 This idea with Goku being 'immune' to alcohol comes from a fanart I have, it has Goku, Radditz and Bardock in a drink-off, and Goku has packed down several glasses of alcohol and isn't yet affected. XD 17 'Son' = Goku's surname, for the dubbies who don't know. In the Japanese version, Piccolo tends to call Goku by this in serious situations. Part 8: 2 18 "Base" or "Base level" = term used with characters who can transform. When the character has not transformed in any way at the current point, they are at their "base" level. 19 If you saw the Piccolo Saga in Dragonball, you'll remember when Yajirobe took Goku to Korin Tower, Korin had literally hundreds of sensu beans, but after Z started, he could only spare as much as maybe 3-4 per saga, maybe 8 at best. It makes little sense to me, although I will try to get into how that happened, and Radditz realizes without knowing where Korin tower is on the newly merged Earth yet, they might need an alternative source of sensus. Part 9: 8 20 Giygas = Paula's own 'true' arch-enemy, from the RPG Earthbound, for those of you that didn't know where she came from before now. :P 21 For those who've never played EB, or at least never met Giygas, *spoiler* He destroyed his own mind and body in fits of insane evil before Paula and her friends even confronted him. When his true form was released, nothing could harm or destroy him except positive faith(aka the hopes of the friends and other good-natured people of Earth). There's a lot more explanations to his "nigh-unkillable" status Paula tells Nina about all around the internet. Basically, it's like being trapped in thousands of insane asylums, and (at least storywise) it is impossible to comprehend his attacks, therefore there is supposed to be little means to block them(although the game mechanics are odd in this manner, since you can give characters items that protect from the affects of his attacks ahead of time) *end spoiler* :P 22 Since most of the characters don't have the ability to use gravity training for a while, the best alternative is different levels of weighted clothing. I decided to class them by weight-ranges. And yes, the levels will be higher levels in later parts. I guarantee it. :P 23 Paula is referring to Poo, the martial-arts prince that is the fourth and last party member in Earthbound. :P 24 Yeah, THAT Willy Wisp. To be honest, now that I realize it, the original version actually burrows underground and then emerges above the target in a vertical column of electricity, but who says things can't be a bit different once in a while? :P 25 VERY IMPORTANT: In Misfits, I have established already there are three mystical forms of power: Ki, the usual energy used in the Dragonball Series. Magic, the arcane force used in many different games. And then PK/PSI, which is a mind-based power, which is established in EarthBound. Also, there is at least one more form of power to be discussed, but there will be some time before it is revealed by name. All four types ignore each other on their own when used in attacks, and each of their own powerlevels. Example: As of now, in a battle between Nina and Goku for instance, Goku would easily wipe Nina on the floor using Ki and physical attacks, but Nina would just as easily do the same to Goku via Magic. It depends on who manages to do what first. And no, scouters cannot yet sense the other 3 types of powerlevels. :P 26 Yes, I know Gregory and the mallet training is a "filler" scene in the anime, but I think it was a cool concept, even for filler, and besides, the show is what gave Devin the idea anyways. :P 27 Shishin no Ken = "Fist of Four Bodies". Tien/Tenshinhan's "12 Eyes" ability, where he splits into four, also dividing his powerlevels among his duplicates. Part 10: 14 28 Concussion Pulse Gun = This was heavily inspired by Vile[or Vava]'s shoulder-mounted Stun Cannon from the Megaman X series. The same one he uses to defeat/restrain X twice in the first game. 29 Oyatsu = "Afternoon Tea". He/She/It is named along the same line of name puns Akira Toriyama used for Puar and Oolong, and ironically, also Yamcha. They are all named after teas. XD 30 Durty Durt Dur = A 'taunt' of sorts coined by Jason and Alex in their first year at Canton South. It basically is meant to poke fun at retarded people. 31 Shrinking Blaster = Inspired by the Shrinker in Duke Nukem 3D. That's the reason Clint can recognize the gun and it's function(he's played DN3D). It's also part of the reason he tried to reflect the shot off of a mirror. The "Expander" concept is slightly behind the use of the Reverse setting used by #18 to grow everyone back. 32 Note: Depending on the version, Puar is depicted either as a male or a female. The original suggests Puar is a boy, while the English dubs refer to Puar as a she. However truth is we can't really tell if either Oolong or Puar are really male or female due to their ability to shapeshift, so in Misfits, Oolong is male, and Puar is female. 33 Oyatsu can somewhat unlock the hidden powers within those he takes over or possesses, somewhat like Saichourou could unlock Gohan and Kuririn's hidden powers in the Namek saga. However it is probably better compared to Vegeta's "Majin" powerup, because usually the Majin powerup binds you in a mental and spiritual way to the person who gave it to you. 34 If you haven't paid attention to the animated version of Dragonball, Radditz originally used a Green-shaded scouter, which is believed to read up to 22,000 powerlevel, before exploding. Vegeta, Dodoria, and later Frieza each wore a kind of Red scouter, which had a much higher threshold of somewhere between 200,000 and 400,000. When Frieza tried to use it on Vegeta at the beginning of their battle, it exploded, so I estimated around 352,000 degrees. This is also a bit of why Radditz didn't know why his scanned higher before it exploded. 35 Also, if you didn't know, Nappa appeared to possess a special one-of-a-kind scouter with a blue lens during the Saiya-jin Saga. Although in rage he breaks it at one point, I believe due to the fact it's the only one we ever see that it was probably much better than the Red scouters. In Misfits, this is why Radditz states this about a blue scouter. 36 Taiyoken = "Fist of the Sun" a.k.a. "Solar Flare" 37 Dodompa = "Dodon Ray" from the early Dragonball series. It's the attack Tao Pai Pai used to basically defeat Goku in their first meeting. Tenshinhan and Chaozu wield it as well. 38 Kienzan = "Energy Circle Slicer" a.k.a. "Destructo Disc" for the dubbies who still don't know by now. One of the deadliest ki attacks if aimed properly, able to kill off much stronger targets, or things that cut easily. 39 Obviously, you outta realize that Oyatsu was giving Dan excess energy well past what he is used to using. If you really though Dan was going to just be able to hold Super Saiya-jin 3, or even hold 2 for any real amount of time without him at this point, you're crazy. :P 40 Overclocked Scouters are much more advanced than the original versions, and now our heroes will have a bunch of them to use, as well as normal scouters. I know I know, scouters began to lose their use in the Frieza Saga, but there's more to these scouters than merely reading numbers too. You'll see what I mean later. :P 41 Yes yes, I know the entire situation sounds crazy. Trust me, I will eventually reveal the info on how the ship survived Namek's destruction. Idea wise, Devin actually suggested this to me, because of the gravity chamber inside of it. :P Quick Links: Part 3: A Long Road Begins
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