Due Course

    Disclaimer: At the bottom.

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    All things in due course.

    Which is, of course, how all things should work.

    Too bad most of the time, they don't.

    ***

    Hammer-blows, ki blasts, smoking craters...

    They were used to battle in all its forms. That was what they did.

    While the average man went about his desk job, filling paperwork, drinking beers after hours with the rest of the boys from the office, and then, after all that, going home and sleeping soundly, knowing that the world will still be there when they woke up... They frequently died to protect those people, and defend their rights to file, drink, and sleep.

    And most of the time, it was a beautifully crafted system.

    After all, when something went wrong, it could all be wished back together.

    Mostly.

    ***

    "And here."

    "What of it?"

    "I thought it would be obvious. Think, will you? With the crystal broken..."

    "That line is doomed. It happens."

    "Why not merge it?"

    "Merging can only be done when there's a similarity between the two lines."

    "Like this one?"

    "Those two are almost nothing alike."

    "Look again. Shattered crystals and broken magics. One there, seven here. They both lead to the same outcome."

    "Of course, failure. You think they are close enough to combine?"

    "Partially, perhaps. Something would be lost... would have to be lost, really."

    "We will have to examine more closely."

    ***

    In a small, dark alley in Juuban, a creature not quite of Earth recovered its senses. Small, black, compact, and carrying the key to a power far, far, far greater than herself...

    "Oh no," she whispered.

    Memories came back in a sickening surge, reminding her of how much was lost, how little chance she had. "Oh no... the Silver Crystal is shattered... even if I find them, it's a doomed cause..."

    ***

    He gasped for breath, choking up blood. "I don't..." he groaned, collapsing to the ground weakly, while his opponent towered above him, ki-aura flaring brightly enough to blind any less well trained. "I don't know what you're talking about," he managed. "The Dragonballs were all broken when we found them the first time..."

    "Just as well," a dry voice informed him. "Your father and mother lie dead, you lie broken before me. There is no power that can stand in my way. Without the Dragonballs, I have no need to bother with you anymore."

    And with that, he vanished, leaving the boy alone, broken and bloody. "But," he gasped, wishing his father had trained him further, "why... why?"

    If only the Dragonballs hadn't been destroyed, then... then they could wish everyone back, but...

    ***

    "Very well. That is the extent. Shunt from here, to there..."

    "Will that cause an error in causality?"

    "Only if you make a mistake."

    "Very well."

    "And that will be the limit of our involvement."

    "Understood."

    ***

    He woke up.

    The processes involved were painful, first the searing pain of cracked ribs, followed shortly by the splitting pain caused by light on his migraine-sensitive eyes. He groaned, which sent off a secondary bout of pain echoing through him. And then there was the strained joints, the hyper-extended knee specifically, and the bone-deep bruising, and the scrapes and cuts...

    It hurt worse than the time that he and his father had gone drinking -- ChiChi was away, and, as she said later, 'When mother's away, boys will play.' Though she had to calm down a lot before she got to that point, because she was afraid that it would affect his schooling.

    He couldn't help but resent that, just a little. If he had spent more time learning how to fight, and less time learning about medicine and advanced math... Then maybe, just maybe, he and his father could have stood against the madness that had come.

    If some event had come that allowed he and his father's friends to become strong enough... but his own training was weak, allowing him no more than the weakest of ki-blasts and half of the hearty constitution that his father boasted.

    A hand interrupted his ruminations, forcing him -- gently -- back to whatever he was lying on. "Where..." he croaked, trailing off.

    His head was raised slightly by the hand, and a plastic cup was held to his lips. He sipped cautiously, then greedily, though whoever his benefactor was took care that he drink slowly. Just as well, he remembered. When you were very thirsty, drinking too quickly could make you ill.

    When the cup was taken away, he opened his eyes, slowly. The light seemed less intense, and he blinked up at a somber blue-haired girl. She watched him worriedly, hovering like a mother chick protecting its clutch. He managed to restrain his laughter. He saw many of the women at his college look at him the same way -- few of them would believe that he was a student there himself, since he had gotten in so young. Thanks, of course, to his mother's pressure on him to study, and his father's vaunted reputation...

    "Who are you?" he asked in careful English, taking in her features. She was dressed like a student, but none he recognized. And he and his father had journeyed to Australia to confront the invader. He had thought that most schoolgirls in the area hadn't worn uniforms, but...

    She blinked at him, and spoke very slowly, with a noticeable, but controlled accent, "Hello, Sir. My name is Mizuno Ami. Who are you?"

    He grunted, allowing his eyes to drift shut. "My name is Son Gohan. I'm sorry... I'm in a hurry, can you contact Capsule Corporation? My aunt owns a stake in that... I need to get in touch with her."

    Eyes opening at the silence that greeted his question, the girl mouthed, "Ko-n-ta-ku-tu..."

    He cursed his own idiocy, switching smoothly to the cultured Japanese his mother instilled into him at a young age, "Sorry, Ami-san. I didn't know you spoke Japanese. I need you to contact my aunt, she owns a stake in the Capsule Corporation." At the girl's surprise, he added, "Her name is Burifu Buruma."

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    Disclaimer: DragonBall, and DragonBall Z are the property of Akira Toriyama, Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeuchi.

    Notes: No, it's not a joke.