Dragon Ball R 1/2
Part 1

By Donny Cheng

Vejita slowly walked towards the regeneration tank made for him by Bulma's father. He grimaced as he the sharp ache in his side suddenly exploded as he took another step. His pride made him refuse to let out a single word and also help from his family. Wincing slightly, he pulled himself into the tank and slowly sank down to the bottom. A sigh escaped from his mouth as the warm fluid warmed his and healed his battered and bruised battle.

He would have grinned if his face didn't hurt so much. Kakaroto had given him a very good fight today. The best in years. He would never admit it to anyone, but he was glad the fool was back from training that Buu. Unlike the others, he thought of Uubu only as the reincarnation of that monster they fought so long ago. He had been disappointed in knowing that the true Buu was no longer in the boy.

Vejita turned at looked at the calendar that hung on a wall of the room. In a week he would turn sixty-four. Sixty-six if he counted the two years he spent in the Room of Spirit and Time. His nosy wife and her DNA tests told him that much. She wanted to know the day he had been born in terms of earth years so that she could help celebrate it with him. Her hope filled eyes put any thought of denying her his blood sample. His wife was one manipulative bit...

An unexpected catch in his throat stopped him from finishing that thought. He would miss her when he was gone. Not that he would ever die at the rate life was going. Sixty-four. The average age of a Saiyajin on Vejitasei had been forty to fifty. It was the goal of every man to die in battle. Preferably by one's own son.

It was not that he was suicidal, rather that he too yearned for the honor of death by combat like his father before him and his previous ancestors. An average human's peak performance level usually lasted from the late teens to the late thirties. His race stretched that twenty-year time span to about sixty years or more. The oldest living Saiyajin he recalled was an old general of his father's that lived to be around eighty years of age. At that time, the man had almost started to feel the effects of old age before his son challenged him in combat and killed him. It had been one of the most memorable and beautiful events in Vejita's life.

The memories brought him back this his present problem. With Kakaroto's influence, Uubu would not be the one he could turn to in hopes of going out in a final blaze of glory. His son was an even worse choice. The boy had no sense of tradition at all. What was worse was that Vejita doubted that his son would take up his name when he died. A list of names passed through his mind as it always did when he was alone. Kakaroto wouldn't even kill him when he threatened to kill everybody on the planet, the fool. Piccolo had mellowed out too much and would never kill him no matter how big he talked. Kuririn and the other earthlings were a joke. The wife, #18, however might have been a good choice a little earlier. Motherhood softened her somewhat. Damned female hormones.

Vejita frowned. It looked like he would have to find someone himself. He really had counted on Uubu to retain at least some of his evil tendencies. Now might be too late. He didn't want to leave the mortal plane when his body started to slip. To do what he wanted, he needed a suitable student. Preferably one already trained, yet still young enough to learn from him. If there were none on earth, he could always get Bulma to make a ship for him to travel to other worlds to find his man.

Soun looked over Genma's shoulder as he read what was written on the letter his old friend had received this morning. He then looked into Genma's teary eyed face. He felt his own tears rushing forth as the looked at the paper again. Then, simultaneously, the both of them yelled, "Ranma, get over here!"

"What is it?" Ranma grumbled out as he walked in from the yard where he had been practicing. With school over and summer vacation starting Ranma was finding it harder and harder to keep his days occupied. Before school, his father and him usually spent the day travelling. Now he didn't even have that to fall back on. He ended up training more than usual to fill the gap.

Genma spoke first, seeing has how Soun was occupied with crying. "You've been accepted! When you were born, we signed you up for study with the most renowned and powerful martial artist in the world. Mr. Satan!"

"That fake!?" Ranma had seen footages of Satan fighting. It was his opinion that he while Satan was probably one of the best wrestlers in the world, that was hardly enough to save the world. He even went so far to believe he could quite easily beat Satan. The so-called savior of the world was not bad on strength or wrestling ability, but Ranma was simply better.

Soun and Genma both bopped Ranma on the head. Soun was shocked at the blasphemy coming out from Ranma's tongue. "He's the savior of the world. I wish I had my own son for which I could send instead."

Genma was also angry. "If you weren't the only heir to the School of Anything Goes, I would go myself. The waiting list to be a student at his personal dojo in Satan City is years long. You should be honored that your name has finally come up. Most of the people there are years older than you. Many spend many more years simply to master even a tenth of Satan's skill."

An idea suddenly came to Ranma. "Years? You mean that I don't have to go to school or anything until I'm finished?"

Soun and Genma immediately caught on to what Ranma implied. Genma and his old friend glanced at each other worriedly. "Completing a course at the Mr. Satan's dojo would be worth more than any degree he could get in a school. And besides Mr. Satan's a traditionalist. All the students there except for his daughter are male. The last I heard his daughter was already married. Ranma would be safe from his other suitors also while he was away."

Soun nodded. Of all of Nerima, only one sensei had come from the dojo in Satan City. That man's dojo was packed with students wanting to learn from him even though he had not spent a single day in school in his life. Mr. Satan held vast amounts of influence among the general populace of the world. "You're right. Some time away might also be nice for them. Maybe the lack of female companionship while he is over there would knock some sense into the boy."

Ranma didn't even need to hear their affirmation. He smiled as he agreed to go to Satan City. He had just been given maybe an extra few years of putting off the engagements. That coupled with the separation factor, there was no way any of his suitors would want to wait for him. Except maybe one, Ranma hoped. It was a gamble, but he saw no other choice. Any other decision could potentially create quite a few suicidal girls on his hands. Having them leave him amicably would be a dream come true. That and he would no longer have to go to school anymore even if it meant putting up with Satan. He just wished that she would wait for him.

"WHAT!?"

News of Ranma's departure wasn't taken very well by certain factions in Nerima.

"YES!"

On the other hand, there was a decidedly celebratory air among other parts of Nerima.

Nabiki smirked at Ranma's shocked face. He was staring at the four girls who all stood there in front of him. What was shocking was that none of them were angry at him for leaving. Ranma should know by now that if he paid her enough, she could handle nearly any situation. In this case it only took a few words.

"Airen, have happy trip," Shampoo gushed at her husband. She looked around her at the other girls. Mercenary girl was right. What better way to get rid of the other pesky girls than with time? She didn't hold much faith in any of them able wait for Ranma like she could. After all, in the eyes of Joketsuzoku, they were already married.

"Ranchan, bring me back a souvenir," Ukyo said next. Nabiki-chan was right. She smiled sadly at the other girls. She felt sorry that they all wasted so much time as they would eventually lose Ranma to her. She doubted any of them had the resolve that she had. After all, she waited ten years for Ranma.

"Ranma-sama, I await your glorious return," Kodachi stated formally as she bowed low. Tendo Nabiki was right. Those lowly peasants beside her were not of the stock she was made of. They would lose their resolve quite easily. Unlike her, born and raised to be the perfect wife to her chosen mate.

"Um, I'll be seeing you Ranma," Akane said softly. Though she was sad that Ranma was going to be gone for a few years, she could not help but be happy for him. Her sister was right. Ranma would never had made a decision at the rate things were going. It was better if the decision was made for him. When everyone had finally given up, she would be the only one left. She supposed she could take pity on the jerk and marry him when he came back.

Ranma did not like the sight of four confident smiles lighting up on four girls at once. It filled him with a sense of dread. He turned away from them and nodded once to his pop and Mr. Tendo. To his mother he gave a hug.

Nodoka could not be happier than this moment. Imagine that. Her son, a pupil of the greatest man on earth. However, she didn't like the idea of Ranma spending years with a bunch of overgrown men. She hoped that Ranma would find a few girls to look over his 'manly' needs while he stayed in Satan City.

Soun and Genma were pounding on each other's backs. Their dream of a joint school just got the needed push it needed. They each vividly recalled Mr. Satan's voice asking them to raise their arms to save the world. They would never forget that moment. Their decision to sign Ranma up at the dojo was not a mistake.

Ranma could here the imaginary snickers of passerbys as he stood there on the street gawking like some country bumpkin. But he couldn't help it. The building or rather several buildings were just so huge. It looked more like some university than a dojo. He finally managed to tear his eyes off of what he assumed was the campus of this school. He walked towards the administrative building to get signed up. All of a sudden, he began having doubts about whether or not he may have been wrong about Satan's skill. Even if he was wrong, there was bound to be a fighter of some caliber in a school this big.

"That's it? So, I'm registered now? Don't I have to see the master of the dojo or anything?" Ranma didn't know if he liked the idea of being able to join without the instructor's approval. They would accept just anyone?

"Mr. Satan is a very busy man. He only teaches those that are worthy. Most new people learn from his various students before advancing. They will gauge you on your skill and you will advance accordingly," the receptionist replied. She looked over the teenaged boy in front of her condescendingly. His parents must have signed him up when he was still a baby. Most of the people here had trained for years before they came to Mr. Satan. This pup had no chance of seeing Mr. Satan for at least a dozen years.

Ranma thought that over. That didn't sound so bad. Maybe he could learn a thing or two in this oversized dojo. "So, what do I do now?"

"Classes start at eight in the morning till six in the evening. You get one hour for lunch and one hour for rest after that. In the evenings after you have showered, dinner will begin. This schedule may change slightly depending on your instructor. It's rest time right now and most of the students will be at the arena competing. Feel free to join them."

Arena. Now that was a word that held his interest.

Pan sighed as she knocked another of her grand father's 'top' students out of the arena. It wasn't that they were bad. In fact everyone that had fought her today would have been among the top fifty in the world. It was just that none of them were good enough. She desperately needed some training. She wanted to prove to her other grand father, now that he was back from training Uubu, that she hadn't slacked off.

Her friends and family were of no help. Trunks and Goten claimed that she would get hurt if they sparred with her. The jerks. It looked like she may have to beg Uncle Vejita to spar with her. She had heard that he was using the facilities to train. He had most likely destroyed his own training room by underestimating his power again. She winced at the thought of it. Uncle Vejita did not go easy on a person, even a little girl. In the meantime, she could get some more practice in to warm her up for the challenge. "Why don't you all attack me now, instead of one at a time?"

Ranma weaved his way through the throng of people to get a closer look at the action in front of the arena. He was surprised to find someone as younger than him in this place. So far it seemed that most of the students were in their thirties. He got through just in time to see twenty obviously very skilled fighters rushing the girl that looked to be no more than fourteen. He felt a slight chill crawl up his back as he watched the girl proceed to decimate them. These were not untrained teenaged boys, yet she defeated them with the same ease Akane had with her foes back at Furinken.

Pan dispatched the last man and turned her head to scan the crowd. Someone was watching her. A human with a power abnormally higher than the students around her. Her eyes landed upon a boy who stood there looking back at her equally curious. She was slightly surprised to see how young he was. He was easily the youngest person besides herself in the school. His parents must have signed him up the moment he was born.

She ran through a list of names in her head. She couldn't remember any of her grand father Goku's human friends taking up any students. That meant he must have reached this level the same way Goku had. Fighting. She couldn't guess the number of battles he must have fought to get this far at a young age.

She smiled excitedly and hopped down off the arena to greet him. "Hi! I'm Son Pan and senior student here. Are you a new student? I haven't seen you here before."

Ranma was slightly put off by how the girl picked him out of a crowd of hundreds. Her size was also disconcerting. She could not be an inch taller than his female form. "Uh, yeah. I'm Saotome Ranma. I just got here today."

Pan nodded. "A few students graduated a week ago so there should be a few new openings. Anyway, you want to be friends here while you stay at the school? The next youngest person here is about twenty so I haven't had many people my age to talk with. It could get boring since you'll probably be here for a few years."

Ranma did not miss the similarities of when he first arrived at Mr. Tendo's dojo. Only this time he was not a girl. He found himself smiling as the girl's enthusiasm was very infectious. "Sure, if you don't think I'm too much of an old fogey."

"Cool. So you want to have a friendly spar before afternoon classes start?"

"I don't fight girls..," Ranma said and immediately regretted it. Even though he had noted the eerie similarities to his past, his mouth acted as if it had a mind of its own.

Pan's good mood dropped and was quickly replaced with annoyance. She thought she had finally found someone that she could have fun fighting with. He was just like Trunks and Goten. She could feel her blood begin to boil and her ki with it. "What!?"

"...that I like. I can't fight a friend," Ranma lied. His danger sense picked up the little girl's incredible battle aura. Hers dwarfed those of the other girls in his life and his own for that matter. For the first time in a long while, Ranma felt he was in over his head. He wanted to fight her.

"Oh," Pan replied lamely. She had to remind herself not everyone was born with Saiyajin blood and felt fighting was a natural past time.

Ranma was not very happy either. There must be someway for him to fight her. Never before had he witnessed such an aura. Neither Saffron nor Herb held the power this girl did. Her very existence seemed to challenge him. "I got it! I have a cousin just as good as I am. If you can beat her, you can beat me. She's just outside of the school. I'll go and get her while you wait here."

Vejita stopped and stood still. The automated attack drones he had brought with him from Capsule Corp., however, did not. He grunted as lasers came shooting at him. He waved off the inconveniences with a wave of his hand from which several balls of ki shot forth. He didn't even have to look to know that the robots were destroyed.

He turned his attention back to what had made him stop in the first place. There was someone, a man most likely, within Satan's school who had quite a high level of ki for a human. Not so high as Pan's ki, who was also in the vicinity. Also not as high as any of Kakaroto's human friends. In fact, he would even have sensed it if there wasn't so many 'top' level human fighters in one area. This man stood out like a wolf among sheep.

If there were others of this kind on the planet, he may not have to go very far to find a suitable student that would fit his needs. This man may know of others that he could use.

"Hi! I'm Ranma's cousin, Ranko. Pleased to meet you. I heard that there's a fight going on. Mind if I join in?"

Pan stared at the girl standing before her. The ki. It was unmistakable. This girl was really Ranma. She looked around and noted that he was nowhere in sight. Also if this girl was not Ranma, his ki signature should still be at least in the area. Was this some sort of transformation like Super Saiyajin? Pan felt very weird as she asked Ranko a seemingly stupid question. "Ranko? Ranma? Weren't you a guy before? Are you really a girl?"

"I'm a guy," Ranma's knee jerk reply escaped from her lips before he could think. "How did you know?"

"I can sense ki, can't you? Everyone has a ki signature that is unique like a fingerprint." Pan walked up to the girl and pressed a finger forward. The breasts were real, she thought enviously. She looked down and herself and blushed. It had taken her a little longer than most to develop in that area.

"I guess I can, but only if it's strong enough. But I can't pinpoint it or anything that fancy. Just a feeling." Ranma watched younger girl's face closely. Her experience with women had taught her that she would get hit when she did stupid things. "So you're not angry are you?"

Pan could see Ranma visibly trying hard not to flinch. Ranma really expected her to attack. "That you lied? No, why would I get angry with that. Most boys wouldn't like the fact that their transformation makes them look like a girl. So does this transformation make you stronger? You ki level looks to be the same only slightly different. Probably because your gender is different."

For one of the few times today, Ranma managed to hold her mouth for a moment. "Um, It makes me faster," Ranma truthfully answered finally.

"Great! So you want to get that friendly spar on the way?" Pan grinned.

Ranma grinned back in answer.

Vejita grinned. The people who had witnessed this grin and survived after seeing it numbered less than a dozen. That girl's ki was very remarkable. From what he gathered as the two girls talked, he knew that this girl was in reality a boy. That would explain the strong trace of male ki surrounding Ranma. He estimated the age of the girl/boy to be around sixteen years of age and her actual level of ki to be just short of Kakaroto and Piccolo when Raditz had came to earth. Very surprising for one so young.

Very strong base in pure skill, he noted as Ranma weaved out of Pan's attacks. While very strong and fast, Pan lacked the martial arts skill of Ranma. However, Pan had been trained by Kakaroto so she could not be taken lightly. If Pan didn't go all out, this would be an interesting fight.

Pan frowned as Ranma dodged again. She double-checked Ranma's ki level and again noted that her own level of ki was still higher than her elusive opponent. Yet, she still couldn't land a blow. It seemed that greater speed and strength was not yet enough to overcome the obvious difference in pure martial arts skill. With that thought in mind, Pan held out her arms and yelled, "Kiiahh!"

Ranma found herself nearly pushed back from the force of Pan's aura. Only one time had she ever seen an aura powerful enough to do that to her. However, she sensed that, unlike Happosai, Pan was still holding back reserve energy. Just how much ki did this little girl have? Ranma quickly went over her options as Pan continued to power up. She still hadn't been able to grasp even a tenth of what Pan was capable of. So far, the other girl was content to just use the advantage of greater conditioning. Pan suddenly stopped glowing, before Ranma could come to any plan of action.

Pan grinned as she rushed to the attack. Still not up to her full potential level of ki but miles ahead of her opponent in terms of raw power.

Ranma's eyes widened as Pan suddenly disappeared. No, not disappeared. The other girl moved faster than Ranma's senses could detect. A slight rise in 'kill' ki gave enough warning for her body to instinctively raise her arms. The blow that came next could have been described only as a punch thrown by Ryoga. A dozen Ryogas to be exact. She felt a trail of blood form at the edge of her lips as her body involuntarily spasmed and coughed up some of the red substance.

Pan stopped midway into her attack as she saw Ranma reel from her punch. Oops. She had powered up much too high for Ranma. She frowned as she tried to think of another way to handle this situation. If her ki was not high enough, she risked losing because of Ranma's better skill in the art. If she raised it too high, not only would she be much too fast for Ranma to handle, she also risked hurting him badly. There was no way around it. She would have to employ low level ki blasts.

Ranma looked up sharply as she felt Pan's ki drop back to the original level. She was pleased to note that her ki awareness ability improved as she continued to use it. What was that girl up to? Even though Pan was still faster than her at that level, her martial arts skill gave her an edge in evading.

Pan smiled at Ranma's confused look. She held out her arms and felt the build up of ki forming in both of her hands. In a matter of moments, two balls of ki floated above her hands. Let's see Ranma dodge this.

Ranma didn't have much time to react as the two glowing balls sped towards him. She quickly danced out of the way, but was shocked to find them unerringly follow her change in direction. In the next second, they impacted. Ranma blinked. That didn't hurt much. In fact, she had taken much worse from Ryoga. Pan's ki blast should be much stronger. It must have been a diversion!

Pan saw Ranma's eyes finally light up in understanding, but by then, it was too late. Unlike the last time, Ranma would not be able block.

Ranma's mind worked fast as she noted from Pan's stance that the attack was totally defenseless to retaliation. This brought back the hard lesson she often learned and often forgot. Mindless attacks had their weaknesses. Grabbing a page from Happosai's book of tricks, she reached out tapped Pan's outstretched fist on the wrist.

Pan suddenly found herself hurtling through the air as Ranma deflected her punch wide. Very wide. She was surprised at the absolute change in direction Ranma had accomplished with such a weak protective measure. With the ground rushing to meet her, Pan flared up her ki and flew, managing to miss the ground by a near margin.

High ki levels, ki blasts, and now flying? Ranma was beginning to wonder how in the hell she had managed to miss fighting any of the skilled fighters that must have trained this girl while she was growing up. This girl made Herb look like a weakling. All that she needed now was for Pan to start throwing ki blasts from where she couldn't reach the girl. Damn, she thought as a rain of ki blasts chose at that moment to fall.

Vejita deliberately started to raise his ki level ever so slowly. He smiled inwardly as he saw Ranma's gaze turn to his direction before quickly looking back at Pan. Satan's students gave him wide berth as he started to glow. Many of them had seen him beat up on Pan a few times and that was enough for them to know he was not to be messed with. Slowly, he started to expand his ki in all directions. If one paid any attention to him, one would have noticed that he was giving an exaggerated step by step way of how one with enough ki could go about learning how to fly. That is if one noticed.

Ranma noticed.

Ranma put the fearsome image of the man staring right into her soul into the back of her mind. That man was power itself it seemed. Concentrating on the task at hand, she copied the man's actions.

Pan stared in shock as Ranma started to levitate. Albeit very wobbly, but levitate nonetheless. If she didn't know for a fact that her mother also learned how to fly in one day, she would have thought this girl couldn't have been human. She saw Ranma's head turned upward at her with a grin.

With a burst of ki, Ranma flung herself at Pan. She had immediately figured out how ki-draining, flying would be for someone with her lower level of power. She calculated that she had only a few minutes of flight before it would totally drain her, so she opted to make the most of it. Fortunately, the Anything Goes School specialized in mid-air combat.

Pan found herself falling back towards the ground as Ranma's body tackled her. She closed her eyes and braced for impact.

Ranma tried to disengage herself from Pan before they could reach the ground but had sorely overestimated her ability to learn the intricacies of flying in a few minutes. As a result, she landed quite awkwardly with her face on Pan's soft chest.

Pan opened her eyes and her anger wasted no time in flaring up. Ranma had even admitted to being in reality a boy. "You pervert!"

Ranma scrambled off of Pan and saw her chance at winning. Ignoring the impulse to apologize, she fed fuel to the fire. "Hey, I didn't do anything! Not like there was much to do anyway. Not exactly filled out like me, you know."

There were few things that angered Pan, being a naturally outgoing girl. However, the flatness of her chest happened to be one of those things. It was not her fault that she developed later than most. "Die!"

Pan groaned as she picked herself up. The ground felt very uneven. Looking down she quickly found out why. An unconscious Ranma was underneath her. She tried to recall what exactly happened. Ranma yelling something and raising a fist. The world spinning around and around making her dizzy. Ranma jumping into the tornado and holding her. And then nothing. Ranma had saved her. "Quick, get me a wash cloth!"

Her grandfather's students immediately fell over themselves rushing to fulfill her command. Pan grabbed the first offering that was at hand and barely noticed the hotness of the cloth. She dabbed lightly at the girl's forehead. As Ranma still did not wake up, Pan took some more water from a kettle nearby. Her hasty actions caused the kettle to overturn directly onto Ranma.

The gods were laughing that day. Well actually, Dende, Namek God of the Heavens was the only one that was watching. But he was laughing.

Vejita walked up to the boy still lying on the ground unmoving. Transformation. He hadn't been aware that humans could transform before meeting this young man/woman. Perhaps this bore looking into. "He had wasted too much ki beforehand, so couldn't protect himself against the crash very well. A dunk in the regeneration tank in Capsule Corp. may be in order.

Pan felt the presence of Vejita and noticed his interest in Ranma. She watched as he picked the boy up and then started to fly away with him, following them quickly. The crash must have damaged something in her mind. For a minute there, she had thought she had seen concern in Vejita's eyes. For a human no less. Impossible.