Dragonball And a Half

 

Note:  Like any of you didn’t know who Ranma was by the end…  Ahnyways,
if anyone of you knows the high school Gohan goes to, it would help if
you could Email it to me.  I can’t find it anywhere.  If it turns out
that there is no name for that school I will not be surprised.

 

2^nd note:  I will be doing this mostly from Pan’s point of view, but I
may have other characters, including Ranma after he is properly
introduced, take the place of main character for a while.  In later
chapters it may shift more to Ranma’s POV but for now, you will know
only what Pan sees, and what goes on around her.

 

3^rd and a half note:  I am ignoring Dragonball GT. 

 

Disclaimer:  Not gonna look up who owns Dragonball Z.  Don’’t care who
owns Ranma.  Please to not sue me.

 

Chapter one:  New Start

 

            Pan just had to sigh in disappointment as the cute guy,
Ranma, left without a trace.  He hadn’t even spoke after winning, merely
taking the prize money and using his invisibility technique to leave
without being followed.  She had wanted to talk with him, see him some
more, even challenge him to a fight. 

 

            As she thought, they went into the car to drive home. 
People were still kinda scared when they flew around, and it was a
crowded city.

 

            It’s not every day you find someone who can beat three
Saiya-jins and a pink evil monster, even if he would have lost had it
not been in tournament rules.  She laughed at the memory of Gohan
pounding the ground and screaming, “I hate ring outs!”  It’s even less
likely that they will be a cute guy, especially a cute guy Pan’s age. 
Pan sighed again at thinking that.  “I wish  I could just find him…”

 

            Pan did a double take.  “That’s it!  I can use the dragon
balls to wish that I could find that guy!”  Then she looked at her feet
again.  “But will they let me waste them on that?  Bulma did that and…
Hey wait a sec!  She found all the best fighters in the world, and saved
the world several times!  I will just mention that and will /have /to
let me.”

 

            “Pan,” Gohan began, “Have you lost the power of interior
dialogue?”

 

            “Err, just thinking aloud!”

 

            “Actually, Pan,” Gohan looked as if he were thinking hard,
“That /is/ a good idea.  You can get some good training and have some
fun, meet some new people.  But, you will have to wait until school is
out next month.  And… That isn’t exactly the best reason for using the
Dragon balls, but maybe you can find a good reason on the way.”

 

            Suddenly a giant roar was heard, louder than even the motor
of the car they were traveling in.  They wouldn’t have been scared even
if it was a rogue dinosaur, but they all recognized the official
Saiya-jin hunger call. 

 

            Talks were quieted as they prepared to put out of business
yet another ‘all you can eat’ restaurant.  They found one on the
outskirts of town, and immediately ran inside.  However, it appeared
that someone with a Saiya-jin appetite was already eating their fill.

 

            There was precious little food left at the buffet tables,
and one table was covered in plates and bowls.  The entire staff was
occupied watching the person eat.  They were obscured from Gohan, Pan
and Videl by all the plates on the table.

 

            As they neared the table, pan noticed the legs of the person
were wearing the same type of black pants the boy had been wearing at
the tournament.  Pan ran forward in excitement, only to sigh when she
realized it was, in fact, a redheaded girl about her size, shoveling
food into her mouth at a speed that could compete with Goku.

 

            The girl stopped eating when she heard the sigh, and looked
up from twelve half-empty bowls.  She looked a little surprised to see
Pan, but then she flickered as if she was about to use instant
transmission, and the food was gone.  She quickly got up, paid, and left.

 

            “Oh thank you, young lady.  You have saved our restaurant
from bankruptcy!”  The head waiter walked up to Pan and bowed.

 

            “Err…. About that…”  Pan then sat down and ordered the all
you can eat buffet.  Soon the scene was back to normal, except with
three people eating instead of one, with only one eating at human speed.

 

            Later, back in the car, Pan asked Gohan, “Dad, who do you
suppose that girl was?  And how could she eat like… like we do?”

 

            “I don’t know.”  Gohan started to close his eyes, put his
hand under his chin, and think.  Which was a bad idea, as he was
driving.  Videl took the wheel while he thought.

 

            Finally he stopped and resumed paying attention to the
road.  “She didn’t have the ki or power level that someone needs to
metabolize that much food that fast.  It was almost like that boy.  You
realize that with his ki levels he shouldn’t have been able to perform
those moves even on his best day after a long rest!”

 

            “You should use the Dragonballs to find him anyway, so we
can ask him how he did those amazing things!”  Videl added in.

 

            They arrived home from the Tenkaichi Budoukai at 9:00. 
Luckily for them, school was let out for two days for the tournament and
Pan wouldn’t have to get up for school early the next morning.

 

            As the night rolled on, Pan didn’t notice the stranger’s
eyes, watching her sleep for about an hour before checking the rest of
the house.  The stranger was not detected by anyone in the house and he
took nothing from it.  Gohan, Videl and Pan slept through his arrival,
search and departure.

 

            When Pan woke up, she immediately had an uneasy feeling
about the coming day.  Something important was going to happen. 
Something bad.

 

            She decided to get away from her house, and flew to some
nearby mountains to practice flying and Ki usage.

 

            She used large amount of power, lighting up the mountains
for almost a minute before having to rest from constant ki usage.  She
was catching her breath when a small figure caught her eye from a nearby
valley. 

 

            “Where the Hell am I now?”

 

            Pan flew in closer and recognized the person who was
supposed to fight her, who had defeated Krillin in the Tenkaichi Budoukai. 

 

            He looked up and saw her.  “Excuse me, do you know the way
to the Tendo Dojo in the Nerima district of Capital City?”

 

            “Capital City is about thirty miles that way.”  She pointed.

 

            “Hey!  You’re the girl I was supposed to fight in that
Tournament!  Sorry about not making it there…  This is all your fault,
Ranma!”  With that he charged off in the direction opposite the way Pan
pointed.

 

            “He… knows the guy!”

 

            All thoughts of training forgotten, Pan attempted to follow
the strange lost boy, but he was already far, far away.  She couldn’t
sense his small amount of ki anywhere near.

 

            Yet another piece of the largest and strangest puzzle Pan
had ever seen.

 

            Pan returned home shortly after noon, tired and hungry.  The
Son family refrigerator was soon empty.  She took a short nap and then
decided to take a walk through the city.

 

            Thinking hard about what had happened in the past two days,
Pan didn’t even care where she was going.  Walking aimlessly, she
wracked her memory for tidbits she had heard.  The boy gave away nothing
about himself.  He barely said seven sentences the whole time, and two
of them were about the other fights.

 

            She soon realized she was in one of the worse sections of
town.  Dark alleys and noisy bars littered the area.  She stopped, and
stood in front of a large building with cheering noises and random
clangs and snaps coming from within.

 

            She stepped inside to a rather hideous sight.  A large ring
in the center, stained with blood, had three men ganging up on a smaller
man with a completely red set of pants and shirt, wearing a red mask.

 

            She watched, unable to look away, as the poor man appeared
to barely beat the three, getting knocked around rather badly.

 

            “And there you have it!  The Wild Man stands undefeated! 
Who else would like to challenge him?”  A voice called over the speakers
lining the corners of the building.

 

            Pan realized, with a start, that this wasn’t some sort of
mugging or anything… this was some sort of fighting arena.  The man in
red, the Wild Man he was just called, was doing this kind of thing for
money.

 

            She tried to sense his ki, but he appeared to have none. 
She looked at him more closely.  His red shirt and pants were covered in
blood, noticeable only because it had started to dry.  Whether his or
his opponent’s it didn’t matter.  He was a gruesome sight to behold,
barely seeming human, a specter of death or injury amongst the lowest
form of humankind.

 

            He was handed a roll of bills as the fights started again,
this time eight burly men closing in on the lone fighter.  Pan left
quickly, sickened by the thought of having to do that kind of thing for
money. 

 

            Saving the world, sure, but a person like that forced to do
that for a living?  It wasn’t right.

 

            Plus, he reminded her of the cute guy.  With that thought
she turned around and went back into the building, just in time to see
the Wild Man win yet another match with the odds against him.  This
time, when the announcer asked for challengers, nobody answered.  She
would have to talk to him.

 

            Pan jumped down to the arena.  If she could get that mask
off, she could see…

 

            “I challenge you!”

 

            The man seemed to change at this, standing taller and
seeming less tired.  “Weren’t you at the Tenkaichi Budoukai?”

 

            “Yes.  Are you the guy who won?”

 

            “Hmm.  You must be joking.”  The man didn’t lift his mask,
or even seem to move his head at all while talking.  “He must practice
that,” Pan thought.

 

            Pan charged, remaining on the ground so as not to reveal her
power before seeing his.

 

            “Well now,” The man began, effortlessly dodging her clumsy
charge, “Isn’t this a little unfair?”

 

            “Yeah!  I’m way stronger than you!”  Pan was getting angry
as he was untouched by her strong punches and fast kicks.

 

            “I meant that there is no way you can win against me.”  The
man was untouched by Pan’s frenzied attacks, not even needing to block
as he dodged each one.

 

            With that said, he took an offensive. Firing a strange blast
from his hands, Pan felt a small amount of ki flare in the man’s aura as
the small flash hit her, barely doing anything.  She charged through it
and punched at him.

 

            He caught her fist, and pulled her down to the other side of
him, pushing her down almost parallel to the ground while at the same
time supporting her with his other arm, as if they were dancing.  He
seemed to stare at her eyes for a second, as Pan stared at his blank
mask, then he sighed and dropped her.

 

            Surprised at this weird tactic, Pan tried to get up, and
then realized what the flash of ki was for.  The ki remained on her
after the attack was done, and held her fast to the ground.

 

            Ten seconds and a countdown later, the Wild Man claimed
another victory.  However, this time, he took the money and walked out
the door.

 

            Pan followed quickly after, thinking that his clothing would
be hard to miss.  But he was nowhere in sight, even though she left mere
seconds after.  There wasn’t even an alley near to duck into!

 

            Pan looked at her watch and decided it was far past time to
be home.  She sighed once more and started to fly home. 

 

            A redheaded girl stared at her from the roof of the building
she had just left.  “I wish I knew how they did that,” the girl thought
aloud, before jumping down and heading in the opposite direction.

AUTHOR’s ADDITIONAL NOTES:  I apologize for typos and mistakes.  Thanks
for the reviews, guys!  This is kinda fun to write.  Next chapter:  The
New Kid At School