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

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

Prologue: O-kay! Let's get This Story Started!

*****

Somewhere in the world, a secret warehouse exists deep underground. Owned by a ruthless military organization, this depot harbors many a mysterious device, including the top-secret project known only as "LOGO."

What is "LOGO?" A super-weapon of gargantuan, planet wrecking proportions? A new aircraft that can tour the world in seconds? No one knows, for no one has actually seen it. Even the top officers have no access to it, and of course none from the outside world know of it. It looked like the mystery will never be uncovered...

Well, until now...

*****

"Yawn!" Biggs rolled back in his seat, his comic book covering his face. His uniform was rumpled from slouching, and his hat had fallen off onto the floor. A large strand of drool hung from his mouth, and his eyes were closed, completing the picture of the stereotypical lazy-ass guard.

He thought that working for Red Ribbon would be interesting and action packed. But so far, he hadn't seen one whit of action. Man, this regiment was nothing like the comics made out evil armies to be. Oh if it could only be like that.

{KRBUNK!!!} The door closed, and Biggs suddenly jerked out of his seat and into a semi-alert stance. If his supervisor caught him goofing off, it'd be the axe for him!

But upon viewing his visitor, he soon relaxed back into his previous slump. It was just Wedge, his partner and close friend, 'close friend' meaning someone who'd shut up and not squeal. Biggs grinned. Wedgie was probably here to take over, letting him get back to his one true love: Shounen Jump.

The guard got out of his seat. "It's all yours, man," he told his friend, bending down to scoop up his #133 issue. "Try to fall asleep on the job."

"Uh...'kay," Wedge said, nodding gangly. He wobbled unsteadily to the seat, almost tripping over his own feet. (The poor fool's into the sake again,) Biggs thought, rolling his eyes. (To think he drank all of that, and didn't save any for me!)

(Well, I should at least help the kid...) "Hey, you look a little ragged out," he said, smirking sympathetically. "You should really cut down, you know."

"Cut down?" Wedge raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Why would I want to cut anything?" He scratched his head, awkward in confusion.

Biggs reared back. "Damn, you really are smashed," he exclaimed, a weird grimace on his face. "Even your voice sounds weird." Walking up to him, he dragged his partner over to the chair. "Here, take a load off," he offered, thrusting Wedgie into the seat, who wobbled even more, as if sitting was some sort of foreign custom. "Have some R&R," Biggs said, tossing one of his old comic books onto his lap. He then raised his own comic to his nose and began to suck in the printed action.

Wedge, however, didn't seem to know what to do with his comic. "What's this," he asked, raising the book to Biggs for analysis.

The other smiled. "'Dragon Ball,' Book 14 of Part 3," he explained, pointing out at it. "This one's one of the better ones, the 'Dr. Slump' crossover."

"Slump?" Wedge asked, examining the book curiously.

"Yeah, I've never heard of it either," Biggs shrugged easily. "Still, it's some pretty wacky crap, so it's alright in my book."

He seemed to understand this much, and resumed sifting through the pages, reading silently to himself. Biggs took a closer look at his friend. "You know, you should probably take off that overcoat," he suggested. "It's screwing your posture up."

"Wha..." A large sweatdrop rolled on Wedge's temple. "N-no, I don't think I should." He stammered, waving his hands in distress. "It's...kinda cold in here, after all..."

Biggs raised an eyebrow. "Hey...why are you so nervous...?" he inquired suspiciously, a scowl slowly forming on his. "Are you hiding sake in that cloak? You putz! I told you not to hold out on me!" Now angry, he stomped over to Wedge, whose eyes were going wide in panic. "C'mon, cough it up!" he demanded, making a lunge for the buttons. Amidst Wedge's protests, he opened up the flaps.

But he was in for a bit of a surprise.

Instead of the expected and desired alcohol, Biggs was instead staring into the lenses of thick eyeglasses, magnifying a set of huge, blue eyes. He lurched back in shock, trying to get a better look at this freakish sight, and found that the glasses were framing a face of a little girl, with purple hair and vaguely cherubic features.

The eyes blinked at him, and all Biggs could do was blink back.

And then the little-girl-face grinned. "N'cha!" it cheered happily, showing pearly white teeth.

{GOM!}

Suddenly, he felt a titanic force smash into "them," turning the things into a new dimension of pain. He felt the life drain completely out of his body, a soft warm feeling replacing it.

Biggs smiled lazily. "Too many damn comic books," he giggled, before falling off his feat into the floor, knocking his mind out of consciousness.

*****

"Urk!" the small man said, grabbing his face and pinching it sharply. His fingers tugged at his cheek, stretching the skin almost clean off his skull. Then...the skin 'did' come clean off his skull, slapping off onto his hand.into a rubbery, crumpled mess. "'There," he said, throwing his mask off onto the over coat he and his friend had used. And then he sighed, putting his hand to his face and rubbing it of the icky feeling that came with wearing it.

The man that had been talking with Biggs was now a young, thirteen-year old boy, with spiky hair and wide, innocent features. His feet were fit into blue Kung-fu shoes; his pudgy form was clothed in an orange martial gi. And right next to the emblem "Kame," a rope crossed over shoulder, holding a small red pole onto his back, which he gripped tensely at the ready. "'Guess this 'sneaking in' thing didn't work out too well," he commented, turning to his friend and making a disturbed sort of face.

"So what now?" The other one in the room said, dusting her hands free of the privacy crushing work they had implemented. She was a small purple haired girl, also thirteen, dressed in gray overalls and a red shirt, with purple hair that came down to her waist. Her face was obscured by thick, nerdy glasses, and on top of her head sat a winged baseball cap that read: "ARALE." As well it should, for that was her name.

"Well, since this plan was a bust..." the boy started, straightening his wristbands. "We're gonna have to do it the hard way."

"Yup!" the girl said, and a bright smile suddenly burst onto her face. "The fun way!"

He looked a little confused at this eagerness at first, but soon he smiled with understanding. "Right!" he said, nodding his head and clenching his fists.

The boy and girl walked up to the steel door, their faces mirroring the other with crystal. "Okay!" they said, raising his leg and bending it at the joint. "Let's go!"

Then, they kicked out.

{KLONG!} the steel door went flying into the hallway, startling the Red Ribbon soldiers that occupied it. It struck the floor, toppling like a domino before skidding to a halt about twenty meters from its frame. The guards looked at the torn hinges. They looked at the two footprints embedded in the metal. And then they looked up at the doorframe, just in time to see their doom: two kids, running like mad, and ready to kick ass.

"CCCHHHAAARRRGGGEEE!!!" Son Goku and Norimaki Arale ripped through the corridor, a large swarm of dust following them like car exhaust. Screaming like hell, they launched themselves straight through the RR guards before they even knew what was going on. It wasn't until they were halfway through before they finally got their act together and readied their machine guns.

Too bad for them.

"YO!!!" Goku slammed his fist into a RR's gut, doubling him over. While he clutched his stomach, the monkey-tailed boy took this moment to hop onto his head and {Pwik} kick off it into the air. Above the soldiers he spun, before coming down with a jump kick, and proceeding to take on the others. He crossed a soldier in the jaw, swept another off his feet, and {DWOK!} kicked a third into the group, toppling them like bowling pins.

"Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!" Not one to be left out of the action, Arale soon joined in the fray, taking on a second group that was approaching her. {SHWOP!} she jumped up into the air, taking with her the nearest guard that had dared to confront. With her hands grabbing his waist, the myopic jinzouningen took her screaming soldier and {SMASH!!!}cracked his skull into the floor.

{BWAK!} Goku bashed the side of a soldier's face. {THWOP} Arale decked an RR with a hook. {WHAP!}{TWIP}{FWIK!}{DKONG!!!} and before a minute had passed, the hall was devoid of all conscious guards, letting the two superhumans free leave to continue unhindered, into the next room.

Once through the door, Goku and Arale took a quick look at their surroundings. They were now in a large storehouse, packed with boxes of all shapes and sizes. Most of them contained weapons, ammunition, and equipment for the soldiers, although a few of them carried food and rations. (this Goku noticed right off)

But despite his hunger, he pressed on, following Arale up the crates and onto the girders criss-crossing the establishment. They were on a mission, after all. This was (sadly) no time to eat.

They continued running on the rafters, keeping perfect balance despite their incredible speed. Goku's arms pumped furiously at his sides, while Arale kept hers spread out like an airplane. In no time at all, they had crossed the expansive room, nearing the wall that separated this section from the next. And since this wall only came up to below the girders, they were easily able to bypass it into the closed off area.

They ran a little bit more, up to the next intersection of girders. And then "Hup!" they hopped off and fell down to the floor, popping up in fighting stances in case of any threats. Finding none, they relaxed their stances, settling down and taking a look at their new surroundings. As well as they could, anyway.

The new room was about twice as big as the one before it...and twice as dark. Only a few flickering lights shone down on the room, barely enough for Goku and Arale to see each other with. And since the lights were positioned above the center of the room, the sides and corners of the room were complete mystery, leaving the duo in a rough pseudo-spotlight of vision.

"Man, this stinks," Goku groaned, trying to see through the darkness. "If we can't see, how're we supposed to find this 'LOGO' thing?"

"Don't worry!" Arale piped, smiling cheerfully. "I'll just use my supervision!" She clenched her fists and bent her legs, gathering all of her energy. "Hmmmmm...!" she buzzed, focusing her eyes into intense, all seeing telescopes.

"But Arale-chan, you don't have supervision," Goku pointed out. "Remember? You said you only had super-strength and stuff."

The girl turned to look at him, her eyes bulging from all the staring. Then upon realizing the truth, she snapped her fingers in frustration. "Why couldn't the Doc give me any cool stuff?" she complained, a scowl on her face. "No supervision, no rockets in the stomach, no nuthin'!" She bent her knees and sat on the ground, settling into a low pout.

"Aww, poor thing." A voice called from the darkness. "There's always next lifetime."

Arale jerked up at this mysterious sound, growing more alert. "Was that you?" she asked, turning to Goku.

"Wasn't me," he denied, his features slowly hardening up. "There's only one creep that has that voice. The guy who destroyed Kinto'un..." His finger snapped out like a whip towards the back of the room. "...Colonel Silver!"

"Very nice," the alleged Silver mocked from the darkness. "I guess you're not as dumb as you look."

"Where's 'LOGO!'" Goku demanded, his pointer still extended. "Tell us, before we beat you up!"

"Yeah!" Arale joined in, clenching her fists. "What he said!"

"Ho ho," the RR leader snickered. "You two are quite the little brats, aren't you. Don't worry, it's right in this room. But," His tone turned sinister. "You first must contend with me."

"Heh, no prob!" the boy smirked, snapping into a fighting stance. Arale soon followed suit, and the two faced off against their invisible opponent.

But instead of an attack, a swarm of brilliant light greeted them. Goku and Arale shielded their eyes from the unwelcome luminance, purple spots appearing before them. When they were at last convinced they could see, they opened up their eyes to view the now perfectly lit room...and to see the dark horror that awaited him.

There was Silver, complete in all his shirtless glory, only this time he wasn't alone. For he was embedded to the knees in a ruthless machine that could only be described as...a penguin. Yes, it was a giant, mechanized penguin, standing well over three meters and dwarfing our heroes by a large margin. It gleamed with a metallic blue shine, and its two eyes glowed blood red, waiting for a chance to strike.

In the face of such monstrous adversary, there was only one thing to say.

"Hoyoyo!" Arale cheered, throwing her hands in the air. "That's so cool!"

"Cool is right, my little friend," Silver laughed, gripping onto the two joysticks with anticipation. "For this is 'Penguin-Kun #1,' the latest in Red Ribbon technology! Equipped with freeze ray and missile cannons, it'll ice you in ten seconds flat!" He chuckled at his own pun.

"Now..." the colonel said, grinning maliciously. "...FEEL MY POWER!!!" And he clicked onto the left joystick button.

{WooWooWooWooWoo!} A vibrant blue-white beam poured out of the penguin's mouth, swirling with glowing ripples. It zoomed straight for Goku and Arale, who escaped the blast with only a second to spare. They landed back on the ground, their dukes up, but looked in shock at the patch of ice present where they once stood.

"Whoa!" Goku exclaimed, his mouth wide open. "That's some weapon!" But he had only a second more to admire it, for Silver's second weapon was honing in on Goku's silhouette, and ready to fire. {FWOSH! FWOSH!}Two rockets launched themselves out at Goku, at a velocity that surprised even him. He retained his cool, though, and batted away the unwelcome projectiles, which went careening into the corners and exploding with a loud crash.

Arale, meanwhile, had her own troubles to deal with. While the missile cannon was occupied by Goku, the freeze ray was all too available to concentrate on her. {WooWooWoo!} It hollered, firing a short shot that made Arale jump back. {WooWooWoo!} It yelled again, and she had to duck this time to avoid the bolt. {WooWoo!}{WooWoo!}{WooWooWooWooWoo!}

"Yeek!" Arale yelped, as she just barely evaded an extended ray. She looked down at her feet, and suddenly discovered that she hadn't completely avoided the last shot. One of her shoes was coated in a thin layer of ice, and her little toe had caught a slight frostbite.

"Hey!" she yelled out, glaring at the rampaging Penguin-Kun. "This guy's playing too rough!"

"Yeah!" Goku said, who had just finished with his missiles. "So we're gonna hafta play rougher!" He threw her a wink from across the room, smiling boyishly.

Arale's face was blank for a moment more, but soon she caught the meaning behind his words. "Gotcha!" she said, returning his wink with a smile.

"Are you kids coming up with a plan?" Silver asked, then chuckled darkly. "Heh heh, plan all you like! No matter what you attempt, you'll never destroy Penguin-Kun!"

Goku and Arale weren't listening, for they were already preparing their duel attack. Vibrant energies were starting to form: Goku's concentrating mainly in his hands, while Arale's rippled all over her body. An electric whine was emitting from their respective locations, filling the chamber with an echoing roar. They continued this for a moment more.

Then Goku decided that it was time. With a cold blue fire forming in his hands, he braced himself...

"Ka...me...ha...me...HAAA!!!"

And with the energies collected, he thrust his cupped palms forward, sending a blazing wave of plasma straight for Colonel Silver's machine.

While this was happening, Arale too was reading her attack. A low growl emitted from her throat as she gathered all her powers. Once these powers were concentrated, she took a large breath...

"N'CHAAA!!!"

...then she hollered out her greeting, firing out a bolt of saffron on a course for her adversary.

The two beams streaked forward...

{ZZMMMMM!!!} and then they intersected...right through Penguin-Kun. The crossing attacks tore through the metal beast, demolishing plating and circuitry, and utterly crushing all of Silver's hopes.

He had one moment to utter an "Eep...!"

{BABOMB!!!} then the entire robot burst into conflagration, a roaring fire blazing from its stomach. It started to wobble unsteadily, creaking and clanking with loose mechanics. Soon, it toppled over, hitting the ground with a hard {BONG!!!}

"Yippie!" Goku/Arale cheered, dancing around randomly. "We killed the penguin! We killed the penguin! We..."

But the show wasn't over yet. The victors stopped their celebration at a loud sound, and turned to the source. With a measure eof surprise, they found that Penguin-Kun had fallen onto a power strip, jamming in one of the switches. This prompted a large burst of light from behind the wreckage, illuminating a large structure at the end of the room.

Goku and Arale stared at it, trying to make out the strange object.

And once they did, they let loose with gigantic smiles.

"That's it!" Goku exclaimed, his eyes wide with realization. "That's 'LOGO!'"

"We did it!" Arale cheered, looking at him with a big grin.

Goku and Arale walked up to the other to view the lights together. Side by side, they put their arms around each other in a buddy fashion, possibly without knowing they had done so; they were too excited for that.

Before them, shining like the Holy Grail, was a set of two words, crafted to stand out from the world. The first word shone with a greenish light and featured a blue after-trail, giving it the illusion of speed. To its right, the second word burst out from below it, glowing red and adorned with a yellow POW effect, like that often used in comic books.

Alone, these words were quite meaningless and almost nonsensical. But together, with their powers joined, they formed the most powerful phrase ever imagined. The title of this fanfic:



Jan-ken-PUNCH!

By Reid M. Haynes



Author's Notes: Well, I've finally started my second work. No, this prologue has no real effect on the actual story, but it does hint at the style I'll be using from now on. To explain a couple of things, this fic takes place right after the Red Ribbon Saga, during the time Goku's traveling around the world. From there, the story tapers off into an AU.

Oh yeah, and for those of you who are thinking: "Who the hell is Arale?" well, Arale is an android girl that stars in Akira Toriyama's previous work, Dr. Slump. She also makes a brief cameo in Dragon Ball, where she had a couple of small adventures with Goku before he runs off again. Naturally, I wasn't satisfied with just this, so she's getting a staring role in this story.

Get used to her. She's staying! ^_^

Additional Disclaimer(s): The names "Biggs" and "Wedge" are a trademark used by the "Final Fantasy" series. (stolen from "Star Wars" before that) "Penguin-Kun" is the name of some old Fanicom game, although, to be truthful, the robot in my story really has nothing to do with it. (I just liked the name "Penguin-Kun"...)

Until next time, Ja ne! ^_^





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