Jan-ken PUNCH!

By Reid M. Haynes

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball/Dr. Slump and all characters within are the properties of Akira Toriyama, TOEI ANIMATION, and various other companies. I am using them without permission, and I am making no money off of them.

Legend:
( ) Denotes thoughts.
{ } Denotes sound effects.

Note: This chapter features a brief song fic section, set to the opening for Dr. Slump, "Wai-Wai World." If you are not familiar with the tune, you can download it from www.angelfire.com/anime3/gokuarale/janken.html. Trust me, you have to hear the absurdity of this song to truly "enjoy" this chapter.

Tale 5: Go, Go, Goku! Arale-chan Too! Part 1

*****

Let's see, where did we leave off? Okay, Goku and Arale entered the city, messed around there for a while, then bumbled into a bar thinking it was an optometrist's office. After that, Goku was bullied by three drunk men, Arale miraculously found the glasses she was looking for, and she and the drunkards got into a huge brawl set to an anime theme song. Then there was Bulma, the red button, Senbei's abduction…

"Come with us. You're under arrest."

…and I believe this was our stopping point. Oh yes.

The tiny troop, Goku and Arale, continued to stare unhesitantly; rather, blankly, at their newly acquired foes, the RR six. With faces nearly as bland as their quarry, this half-dozen set of soldiers dutifully kept their rifles trained on the duo, nozzles not moving an inch off target. Their arms, adorned with the famous Red Ribbon bandanna, were stiff, anticipating a recoil should the two try to move. And their eyes, cold with resolve, were tiny slivers, making sure that the two didn't ever think of moving.

They stood at a standstill for several moments, staring the other down with intensity that could ignite dry wood.

Then Goku sighed. This wasn't going anywhere.

"Um…" he said, raising a limp finger. "Are we just gonna keep lookin' at each other all day?"

The RR troopers looked startled by this accusation, having forgotten what to do after the intimidating stare procedure. But upon consulting the manual, they quickly regained their composure . "Ahem," the leading soldier, whom we'll call RR1, brushed a stray drop of stress-sweat from his sideburns. "We've been ordered by the Commander to take you into our custody, due to a negligence of established rule."

"What are you talkin' about?" Goku snapped "We ain't done nuthin' wrong!"

"We have here recorded a failure to observe our order at approximately 0900 hours, under the King's Castle at our former outpost," spoke RR2, reading off of a baize clipboard. "At that time, you broke into an army base, ransacked it, and pilfered our most prized piece of technology, which clearly violates Law 001: 'Don't take our stuff.'"

"The little press-button?" Arale asked, blinking curiously. "But it didn't do anything."

"So you pressed the button!" the one called RR3 cried, folding his arms in distaste.

"That goes in direct violation of Law 735: 'Don't press our buttons.'" RR2 raised an eyebrow. "You're building up quite a racket here." he commented, lowering his clipboard for the moment. "I wonder how many more I can tally up?"

"But it didn't do anything!" the girl repeated, waving her arms in protest.

"Irrelevant." RR1 shook his head, keeping his gun focused on them. "A law is a law, and a Red Ribbon law is that plus much more."

Upon hearing the army's name, Goku was about to comment on this, when a high pitched wail shook his out of his current thought. He looked towards the door, and heard the sounds of struggle coming from the west wing of the "mansion." One of the soldiers, RR4, turned as well, and a slow smile coated his lips. "Looks like we've found our third lawbreaker," he commented, moving his rifle away from Arale. A sweatdrop coasted Goku's temple.

"Get offa me, you perverts!" a familiar sounding voice shrieked from outside. The group of people, including the soldiers, turned to the door to catch Bulma, courtesy of two more RR troops, screaming and squirming over to the den. After a little more struggle, the RRs succeeded in throwing her down on the couch, pulling up their guns as soon as they could. "Who do you think you are!?" she snarled, giving them a stare of burning coals. "This is no way to treat a girl, especially one as beautiful as myself!"

"Maybe they don't think you're very pretty," Goku reasoned, glancing back to her from his place on the couch. "It's prob'ly because of 'dose lumps on your chest."

"SHUT UP!!!" Bulma screamed, fleckles of spit splattering against his cheeks.

"Ooh!" Arale cringed away from some if the stray saliva. "That's wet!" she complained, wiping it off her face.

"Heh heh, where you're going, beauty won't be much of a factor," RR5 sniped with a vicious grin. "Trust me, they won't care much of your appearance in the Red Ribbon Penitentiary." He snickered is a satisfied sort of way.

"Why you…!" the older girl growled, staring at him balefully. "Who made you the boss of me?!"

"The mayor did," RR6, the only women out of the group, suddenly spoke up.

"Huh?" Bulma's eyebrows raised in curiosity.

The female soldier relaxed her posture, preparing to give her speech. "As of 4:30 today, we have complete authority over the Western Capital," she said easily. "This includes as well all other communities within this district." As the woman continued, Bulma's jaw lowered more and more, until it almost grazed her neck. "When we occupied this city, the mayor was only too kind as to hand over the keys. Naturally, we did have to persuade him to our ways, but he got the point soon enough." RR6 ended the statement with a small chuckle, flashing her eerily white teeth.

Goku looked away and down at his hands. "Rats," he cursed, clenching them into fists. "And I thought I took care of you Red Ribbon guys months ago!"

"Ha ha," RR8 snickered, readjusting the grip on his gun. "Trust us, we're still very much an active organization. Thanks to our new leader's ingenuity, the Red Ribbon Army's back on his feet and, if things go according to plan, soon to be more powerful than ever." His smile shrunk to a half-smirk. "To think that the first use of our new technology is to capture our nemesis, the invincible Son Goku." The man turned to the girl beside the boy, and increased the intensity of his glare three notches. "And to think all of our new technology came from your very own creator, the ingenious Dr. Slump."

"Huh?!" Arale jolted upwards out of her seat at the mention of her father's name. "Hey, what have you done to th' doc?!" she demanded harshly, thrusting her finger out at them.

"Enough!" RR1 shouted. "This all ends now!"

At that statement, the six-turned-eight Red Ribbon privates ceased the small talk and moved closer to the captives, retraining their rifles to the space between their eyes. Each standing in single file, they kept their guns on the nearest target, leaving two on Arale and three on Goku and Bulma.

"Now now, let's not be hasty," Bulma said with a nervous laugh. "After all, I'm the daughter of the president of Capsule Corp, and I can pay you guys a lot of money for…"

"Can it, missy," RR3 interrupted, sending her back in a cowering frenzy. "We enjoy this too much." Amidst the fear and chaos settling inside the white walls, the soldiers continued to move towards the small group, three of them pulling out their handcuffs and binds. Those three headed towards Goku, Arale, and Bulma, while the others watched for any rebellious attempts. RR3 retained a stoic expression, then smiled as an idea came to him. "Oh, and in case any one of you is thinking of being a hero, forget it," The soldier patted the barrel of his gun, a certain price within his touch. "These carbines are special issue, new weaponry straight from Red Ribbon's development lab. I've seen this baby pierce through ten inches of tempered steel. I'm sure it's more than capable of drilling through any of you. And that includes you," He grinned an evil grin. "Son Goku."

At the mention of his name, Goku sunk back in his seat, looking a bit worried. (I think…he's serious,) he thought to himself, giving off a small bead of sweat.

"Men, let's take 'em in," RR1 announced, and RRs 3-5 moved toward the trio.

Goku accepted his fate with calm stoicism. Bulma continued to whine and cry into a little ball. And Arale…

"Wait, wait!" the four-eyed lass suddenly shrieked, her eyes lighting up with an immediate shine. "I haven't singed my song yet!"

"Wha…" All of the soldiers jerked back at the girl's odd request. Each of the three who were shackling out hero and heroines…er, heroine and coward, stopped their progress to gape at this. "What are you talking about?" RR6 asked, lowering her gun for a moment.

Before she got her question answered. Arale had jumped up off the couch, moving right through the guards and to a large machine near the TV. "Gotta sing my song. Gotta sing my song…" It was Bulma's ridiculously expensive stereo system, complete with oversized woofers and a glossy, black finish. More importantly, it was CD compatible, capable of playing the music that the girl retrieved from her pocket. A very important CD, one vital to the nature of this story.

The Dr. Slump OST, Volume 1.

Removing the disc from it's jewel case, Arale fit her finger into the center hole, her other hand pushed onto the stereo's eject button. Carefully, but swiftly, she placed the soundtrack into the slot and pressed it back into the unit, activating the system's display.

With a cheery smile on her face, she triggered the search, moving over to Track 3. "My song! ^o^" Once arrived, she pushed on the play button, prompting the laser within to activate.

It scanned the surface of the shard for the desired information.

About a second passed. Arale stared at the stereo eagerly.

And then, a series of odd sound emerged from the speakers.

{BEEBEEBEEBEE BOO, BA-BA-BA BOOO…!}

After the synth-tom solo, a complicated series of blaring brass ascended the musical scale, underscored by symphony strings that lowered step by step. The entire group of soldiers ceased doing the capturing thing and put all their efforts into watching the girl, who was pulling out a karaoke microphone. Goku and Bulma turned to look as well, confused to why the girl had completely changed the situation around from tension to…something else.

As the last set of toms beat to the first verse, Arale turned the cap on her head backwards. Then, with a smile on her face, she began to sing her favorite tune.

Arale: "Kitta zo Kita zo Arale-Chan,
Kiin-kin-kin-kin-kin-kiin, Teke-teke-tet-ten-ten,"

The eight men observed as the impish girl, seemingly unaware of any sort of danger, bounced to the cheery little tune she sang. She waved her microphone about as she skipped merrily through the Capsule Corp den, going in circles around the guards and gesturing to Goku and Bulma, as if she wanted the two to sing along.

Arale: "Pip-pi-pi-pi-pup-pep-poo, Gatchan mo,
Yume no bakudan uchiagero…!"

But none of the RRs felt like singing right now. In fact, their vocal cords were frozen shut by their astonishment. Perhaps the entrancing tune of Arale had rendered them in silent away. Or perhaps they were scared stiff by the fact that such a ridiculous song actually existed in the world they thought they controlled.

Arale: "O-hi-sama nikka-nika,
Buta-san hoo-ho-kek-kyo,"

The song continued on, and one of the soldiers finally broke down. "I can't TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!" RR5 hollered, covering his ears with his mitts.

A flash of instinct twinkled in Goku's eye, causing him to jerk up out of his trance. His hands balled into fists.

(NOW!!!)

Arale: "Minna atsumare, Pengin-Mura ni,
Donna koto ga okiru ka na,
Sore yuke Is-shi-shi-shi O-tanoshimi!"

{sssSS-DOMP!} Goku threw out a thundering punch that drove into RR1's stomach, knocking the straining man into the wall. With gusto, he quickly rushed the rest of the guards, taking his opportunity for all it was worth. (BRAK!}{BRAK!}{BRAK!} His feet flew in a vicious combination of kicks, knocking heads back and forth along the line of soldiers. {FFP!}{FFP!} Reaching the last of them, he threw two more punches at RR5 and RR6, and (KOM!} double fisted 7 right on the noggin, sending him out for the count.

Arale: "Minna atsumare, Pengin-Mura ni,
Donna koto ga okiru ka na,
Sore yuke Is-shi-shi-shi O-tanoshimi!"

Although the guards were falling quickly, none of them made any effort to defend themselves. Each of them had already discovered that if they were to raise their rifles, they would have to take their hands off their ears, rendering them helpless to the terror that was "Wai-Wai World." So they opted instead to leave themselves open to the little chimp's onslaught, taking each blow as delivered. Hard.

At the end of the chorus, RRs 1-7 had been dealt their deathblows, and only the eighth was left standing. An oversight that Goku was to rectify, pulling the Nyoibo out from the sheath. He extended the staff to an appropriate length, turning to the last soldier and aiming for the head. He moved the weapon back a bit. Then {CRACK!} he decked the guard with a half-moon slice, knocking him up to Dreamland's gate.

The last thing the man saw was the image of Arale, dancing to the remainder of the song. Then, with a weak mutter of "Bye-cha," he fell unconscious, glad that his torment was finally through.

With a stylish (read: unnecessary) brandish, Goku twirled his staff back into his sheath, letting his hand fall once he heard its trademark {CHINK!} He walked up to Arale, giving her a grateful grin. "Thanks a lot!" he said. "With that distraction, I managed to get 'em!"

"Yeah," she answered, and a curious look appeared in her eyes. "But didn'ja like my song?" she asked, blinking at him innocently.

"Sure," he answered matter-of-factly, then motioned to the couch behind him. "But I don't think Bulma did very much," he commented. The girl and boy looked over to the area, and found the teenager sprawled over the cushions, an unattractive glob of drool streaming from her lips. "Eehh…"

Arale stared at her for a little while, then turned back to the boy. "So whadda we do, now that th' bad dudes have gone sleepy-bye?"

Goku looked left and right, trying to find inspiration in the medium-sized room. "Well, I'm not sure, but usually when I beat up a buncha guys, about a hundred more come t' get me." His mind only partially registered the "Hoyo!" from his friend as he continued to search the room. "We should probably go somewhere else."

"Like where?" She moved to Goku's side, stepping on a few of the benumbed RRs along the way. Arale looked at him for an answer, grilling with her big blue eyes.

Not quite sure what to do next, he turned left and wandered over to the edge of the room. Taking a look out the window, he peered down at the land below Capsule Corp, the city outside.

The window…

"That's it!" Goku said, raising his finger in the air.

*****

Midnight in the Western Capital. A mysterious time in which, even though the sun had ducked beyond the horizon, the life of the town was as frantic as ever. Buses and cars still ferried their passengers across the reflector-filled road, and the monorail tore down the track as fast as they ever did. A few people walked on the aerial sidewalks over the building; not as much as usual, due to inner-city crime. And yet, this only seemed to make the town even busier, like some sort of eternal factory that never released its workers.

Across the cityscape, each of the skyscrapers shone with artificial light of every color, turning them into high-tech, steel monoliths. Billboards and buildings filled every expanse of territory, roads cut through the structure like metal-piercing lasers, neon signs and subway lines shone down below and, finally, blue and white searchlights knit a scorched trench through the early-morning fog, turning the entire land into some sort of technical oasis that could intimidate Kami himself.

For awhile, all that could be heard was the everyday chatter of urban living.

Then {CLASH!!!} out of the top window of the Capsule Corp building, a shower of broken glass twinkled down through the hazy night, as two figures leaped through the unprotected hole. Following through with their jump, the mysterious little creatures rolled into identical somersaults, side by side, as if they rehearsed it. The synchronized routine continued predictably, right up to the point where they reached the nearby road, both landing in perfect dismounts. And from there, they burst ahead, their feet beating up a torrent of dirt behind their bodies that sped toward the rest of Western Capital, away from the trouble from whence they came.

Goku and Arale moved down the street in their respective ways: Goku strong-arming it, and Arale in airplane mode. (Kiiiii…) Each moved at Bullet's Envy, tearing the turf at about 80 kph. Their eyes aimed straight ahead, yet somehow they sensed the others presence, for they kept relatively close. But each were ready to break apart at a moment's whim, knowing the danger of remaining too near during combat situations.

Behind them, a cold rumbling could be heard trying to catch up to them. Maybe it was a friendly patrol, trying to figure out what two kids were doing running the streets at this time of night. Maybe it was an enemy, a new technical terror that would rip them at first chance. Or maybe it was the beating of their own hearts, too timid to catch up with their incredible speeds.

"You IDIOT!!!" Bulma hollered at Goku, leaning off the side of her mo-ped. "What the hell have you gotten us into now?! You've got the entire Red Ribbon Army on my tail AGAIN!!! When I get my hands on you…"

"Nuthin' we can to do about it now," Goku called back, not bothering to look back as he ran. "We gotta get goin'!"

"That's what I AM doing, you freak!" she snapped back, steam coming from her ears.

Arale broke away from her glide for the moment to look to Bulma, though she continued running as normal. "Don't be a meanie, lady," she said, giving her what she hoped was an encouraging grin. "Let's enjoy the ride! Wheeee!!!"

"I'll enjoy it like a kick to the face!" Bulma ignored the younger girl's optimism, turning back to watch the road ahead. When a small speck of light hit her eye. "What the…" She glanced briefly at the rear-view mirror, trying to see what had changed behind at Capsule Corp.

And right above the "Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear" notice, a unspeakable horror greeted her blue stained irises. "Oh Kami…"

Though we'll try to speak it anyway.

From behind the shine of the capital's biggest building, there emerged the combined might of seven Red Ribbon modified airplanes, as well as five military helicopters, sorting missiles, machine guns, and other nasty surprises. And that wasn't all. Ten tanks rumbled out of Capsule Corp, knocking down the gate as if it were a doggy door. The fastest of the terrors, in the end, were none other than the smallest; the motorcyclists moved at a pace fast enough to bypass both the ground and aerial troops.

Fast enough to catch up to our hero and heroines.

"Oh man, they're right there!" Bulma cried, looking behind her goggle-eyed. "Goku, what do we do?!"

"Hmm…" The boy put a hand to his chin, a rather impressive feet considering how fast he was moving. "Those guys DO look they're catchin' up fast…"

"Gokuuu!!!" she whined, seeing the bikers inch closer and closer.

"Don't rush me," Goku growled stubbornly, actually folding his arms mid-dash. Forced to wait, Bulma managed several more gallons of sweat, obscuring the windshield of the mo-ped. Of course Arale wasn't disturbed at all, and waited cheerfully for the martial-artist to continue.

{KSPAM!} Suddenly a spray of sparks erupted from a dent in the mo-ped, courtesy of a bullet from one of the RRs pistols. Bulma looked at this, her face ashen, then hollered as loud as she could. "They're shooting at me!" she screamed with a red snake tongue. "They're SHOOTING at ME!" She looked towards the sky, raising her hands in the air. "Someone HEEELP!!!" and then she swerved crazily about on her bike, having forgotten she was still driving when she decided to freak out.

"Alright, got it!" Goku snapped his fingers, turning to the others with new inspiration. "Bulma, you lay low and take the back roads. Get out of the city as soon as possible." He turned to the purple-haired girl. "Me and Arale will distract those guys while you're runnin' scared, and hold 'em off. We meet up outside the town about and oar…owwwaaa…Bulma, what's that thing?"

"Hour," she supplied, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, thought it was somethin' like that," he nodded, looking back ahead. "Anyway, that's th' deal. Everything cool?"

"Yessy yes yes!" Arale nodded, grinning.

"Yeah, yeah…" Bulma moaned, somewhat less enthusiastically. "Better than getting shot at..."

"Alright then," Goku said, narrowing his eyes at the speeding road. And a small grin touched his lips.

The group continued to the highway exit, with one branch leading down to the suburbs, and the other moving further into the city. Behind them, the RR bikers were gaining ground, approaching within 50 meters of their targets. Just as they flicked their headlights on, Bulma leaned towards the rightmost end of the fork, sparing no time getting as far away from them as possible. Which was all right with Goku and Arale, who now had full reign of the road to plot their attacks, without having to worry about Bulma accidentally getting in the way.

Arale looked behind her and squinted her eyes. "They're movin' real fast, Goku-kun," she warned with a trace of worry in her tone. Then, that trace vanished, vanished an instant after it appeared. "This is gonna be FUN!"

"Can't talk anymore, 'Rale-chan," Goku rushed, gritting his teeth in preparation. "'Cause here they come!"

*****

Goku: "Part 2 will be comin' soon."

Arale: "Don't go bye-cha!"





Back to Home