Crossed Fates

   They walked into a soundproof room, the most secure room in the castle. Piccolo felt uneasy, though he looked as arrogant as always. The room was sealed more than it looked; Piccolo couldn't sense any ki, but that of the king's and queen's, not even Kami's.
 The queen sat down, while the men both stood stiffly.
  "Tell me, what's with the security?" Piccolo asked, though it sounded more like a demand.
 "We can't let anyone know what we are doing." the king said, "You see, we sent our daughter into the past, she needs to get something for us. From what you told us, it seems Gohan followed her."
 "How far into the past and where?"
 "Tokyo, 1996."
 "Sorry, but I don't think he'll be able to get back." The queen said, feeling sympathy for the green monster.
 The door was slammed behind Piccolo so hard it nearly went off the hinges. He was already flying out of the castle and toward Kami's lookout. The sonic boom he created as he exited the castle made several cracks on the walls.
 /Gohan, I'm coming!/

   Gohan cursed his luck, something he was doing more often. Renee still hadn't taken him home. No matter how much he begged, or pleaded, she would always answer, "No." Then leave the subject closed. He had spent two nights at Darian's already, if he didn't get back soon, he'd be living on the streets.
 Not that it would be any harder than living out in the wilderness, but he wouldn't have the reassurance that Piccolo was there to save him if things got to dangerous.
 /Maybe I should ask Darian what to do./ he thought for a moment, then rejected the idea. After all, that could cause time paradox or whatever, and then everything would be screwed up.
 /No, the only thing I can do right now is try to convince Renee./
 He flipped off the TV, and hopped off the couch. Darian wasn't home, but he trusted Gohan could keep himself out of harms way. Gohan got out of the outfit Serena had bought him. It was a white T-shirt and blue shorts, normal clothes. He then put back on his purple gi. These fit much better.
 He walked out the door then jumped down the fire escape, landing so softly only a few more cracks appeared. Where did they say they were going? The shrine, of course. He'd been there yesterday to meet Serena's other friends. Renee and Serena were going today to--to what? Was it to eat lunch, or were they studying?
 Now that he thought about it, they just said they were going there. Well, he would find out when he got there. He hopped on top of a bus, still not used to waiting at the stop. This was much faster anyway, and you didn't have to pay bus fare.
 Gohan laid back and watched the clouds as the buses anceint motor chugged him slowly to his distination.
 /I wonder what Piccolo is doing right now?/ he thought, /Well, not now, now. Now in the future now, or future then, or whatever./ Gohan stopped confusing himself with time babble.

   He could see the shrine ahead, so he jumped onto a nearby roof and hopped the rest of the way. He hadn't even broken into a sweat when he landed at the entrance. Gohan relaxed himself as much as possible, not wanting to tarnish such a holy place by accident like he did the sidewalk.
 Inside, he could hear female laughter. A musical sound, though it was extremely loud. Gohan was walking into the back room when a wizened, very short, old man stopped him.
 "Ah, so are you here for the martial arts lesson?" he asked.
 "No, I'm, uh, a friend of Renee's. Martial arts lesson?" Maybe he could fit some training into the time he was here.
 "Yeah, they're every Wednesday afternoon. Oh well, go on ahead."
 Gohan bowed as formally as he could then followed the sound of occasional laughter. Soon, he came upon the girls. It appeared they were having lunch. . .and studying. Serena, of course, doing more of the former than the latter. How she stayed so thin still amazed him. Then again, his dad ate at least a dozen times more and he was only 1% body fat.
 "Hey," Gohan said. He decided that hey was one of the best words when it came to social protocol, something he was new at. It was entirely dependent on the situation and the empathy of the speaker. It could be a statement of protest, surprise, or in this case, agreeting.
 "Hey, Gohan." Renee said back, "How'd you get here?"
 "Uh, I rode the bus."
 "Y'know, Serena," a tall brunette dyed pink named Leta said, "Renee's friend is cute. Are you hungry little guy? I got cookies and cake."
 Saijyen instinct over rid social protocol and Gohan, with only a single "Yes.", he started to dig in beside Serena. The snacks were great, but they were gone much too soon. As Gohan licked his fingers, he noticed that Renee was missing. He was thinking of an excuse when Serena's friend Amy thought of one for him.
 "Hey, Gohan. I'm sorry, but we have to study now." She said, talking to him like he was a four year old. Of course, he was a five-year old, but he knew his IQ rivaled even hers.
 However, he didn't complain this time. It wasn't because it served his own means really, but he was to shy to talk back to her.
 "OK, I'll go play with Renee." He said, then left.
 "Hey, Amy," Serena said, "I think Gohan has a crush on you."
 "Serena!"
 "You saw the way he blushed." She said smiling. The others broke into laughter.

   Gohan waked outside, already thinking of places where Renee might be, when he heard her voice.
 "Ugh!" It sounded like she fell down. Gohan rushed towards her, but stopped before she could see him. He decided to see what she was doing first.
 Renee raised her talisman/pen above her head and shouted, "Luna Time Pen activate!" The energy vortex opened up before her and started to suck her in.
 She started to slowly rise above the ground. A look of success was all over her face, when the vortex closed up and she fell again.
 Gohan couldn't believe this! The princess was already trying to get back home, and she wasn't even going to take him along. What's more, she couldn't even use her talisman correctly. Gohan's anger flared.
 He jumped out of hiding, then ran up towards her. His pupils had disappeared.
 "So! You didn't not want to take me home," Even though his voice had a small echo to it, Gohan still realized in the back of his mind he'd used a double negative.
 "Were you spying on me? How dare you!" Renee, not scared in the least, was angry herself. From somewhere, a dark crescent moon appeared on her forehead.
 "Do you realize how important it is for me to get back to my time!" Gohan had once, because his mother made him, read a book on time and possible ways to traverse it.
 He'd come up with the theory that a time machine could only make a one jump at a time. After that, the time-stream moved on as normal, then they jumped back into the normal time. Basically, each day spent here was equal to a day wasted in his time.
 "Shut up! My mission is way more important! I just- I just don't want to do it! I want my mom."
 Tears were streaming down her eyes. Energy, strange pink energy streaked with black, was building up around her body. Her energy peaked and sent out a huge gush into the sky, the rest drove into Gohan.
 He had powered up to though, so his aura held it back, barely. He let out a primal scream that strengthened his aura another notch. He wasn't going to back down.

   Back in the shrine, Serena and the others heard the confrontation.
 "It sounds like an earthquake!" Ray said, covering her ears.
 "C'mon, it's probably another monster after Renee!" Lena said, already running out the door.
 The others were close behind. When they found them, they were shocked. Beside the shrine entrance, next to the wishing tree, Renee and Gohan were locked in a battle of raw power.
 Renee had her tiny fists clenched as she yelled, her aura pounding energy against his. There was so much energy in the air that the leaves and wishes on the tree were completely burned.
 "Do something somebody!" Serena said, yelling over the deafening sound of the battle.
 She looked at the others, none them had any idea of what to do, they'd never had something like this happen. Serena was about to charge forward, when the energy just receded into nothing.
 The combatants sat opposite of each other, both breathing heavy. The girls ran forward into the dead battlefield.
 Gohan saw them running forward, but rose haphazardly to his feet, not wanting their help. "I-I'm fine." He said, his voice quavering. He looked at Renee, she was still crying, thought now in Serena's arms. He then fell into unconsciousness, something he'd been doing more often.

   Far, far away, the Wise Man contemplated this new power. It was as powerful, if not more, as the little moon princesses. He'd have to have this power for himself, no matter what it took. He decided it best not to send any of the others after him, lest they catch on to his master plan. No, he'd send a monster of his own creation.
 /Fools,/ he thought to himself, /Soon everything will be enveloped in darkness, and there isn't a thing they can do about it./

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