Episode 2 - Training Begins

Tenchi Muyo and Dragonball Z is owned/copyrighted by their respective companies.

I'm Russell Piper, and what you're about to read is my first real attempt at a 
fanfiction.  It's based around Tenchi Universe (Tenchi TV) and the OVA so 
most of the main characters you've seen from there will appear here as well.  
It also crosses a bit with Dragonball Z with the existence of Dragonballs 
and immensely powerful warriors.  Ryoko and Tenchi had finally chosen to 
be together, and Aeka is still living at the house for now.  You'll see when it 
happens.  Anyway, I'll stop flapping my yap and let you get right to the 
story.  Enjoy!  Send all hatemail/fanmail to russael@mediaone.net.

	Prince Yosho slid the door open to the Misaki home and stepped 
inside, with Russ following behind him.  Entering the living room, Russ 
saw Nobuyuki sitting on the couch.  The room had a cozy feeling about it.  
It had lots of lighting, and was of an interesting design.  A stairway was to 
his left, and the couch with the coffee table was in the middle of the room 
on top of a nice rug.  There was a TV in one corner, with a karaoke machine 
near it.  Nobody else was in the room, but he could hear other noises 
throughout the house, which told him other people, were here.  Nobuyuki 
looked up from his paper and looked surprised at seeing his father come 
back with a visitor.
	"Hey Dad, who's the new guy?"  Not giving Yosho the 
opportunity to answer, he put his paper aside and stood up.  "Hi there, I'm 
Nobuyuki.  It's a pleasure to meet you."
	Russ blushed, since he wasn't used to being accepted so quickly.  
He was more used to having someone scrutinize his appearance first.  "How 
do you do.  I'm Russ, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."  He 
extended his hand.
	"Ahhh, okay then, Russ."  He took his hand and shook it.  He was 
surprised by how much muscle Russ had in his arms and hands.  He winced 
slightly at the crushing pressure.  "Wow, that's quite a grip you've got 
there.  So, tell me, why are you here?"
	Russ started to answer, but was interrupted.  
	"Russ is here on vacation."  Yosho looked over at Russ to see if he 
had a problem with that.  Seeing none, he continued.  "If it's okay, he'll be 
staying with us for a while.  Do you think he can share a room with 
Tenchi?"
	"Well, Ryoko has been wanting to move to Tenchi's room, for 
obvious reasons.  If Tenchi agrees, we can do that, and Russ can take 
Ryoko's old room.  Is that okay with you, Russ?"
	"No problem.  I just appreciate a nice comfortable place to sleep.  I 
appreciate your hospitality."
	"My, my.  So polite!"  Nobuyuki grinned, causing Russ to blush 
again.  "Well, let's get started, shall we?  I'll introduce you to everybody."
	Nobuyuki turned away.  "Girls!  Tenchi!  Come on over to the 
living room!  We have a new visitor!"
	Russ heard a bunch of footsteps start thumping throughout the 
house.  Normally, he can't stand being the center of attention, especially in 
front of a group of people.  Having a severe case of stage fright will do that 
to a man.  But he sighed and calmed himself down.  The first person to 
enter the living room was Sasami.  She looked over at Nobuyuki, and then 
over at Russ.  She gasped slightly, and covered her mouth with her hand.  
Russ looked over at her and smiled warmly.
	Russ squatted down and relaxed a bit.  "Hi there."  He was 
surprised at how cute she was.  "How are you doing?  I'm Russ, at your 
service."
	Sasami smiled and walked over to him.  She gave a little bow.  
"How are you doing?  My name is Sasami.  It's a pleasure to meet you."  
She offered her hand.
	He carefully grasped it and gave it a little kiss.  Sasami grew red, 
but smiled.  Just then, Aeka and her guardians came into the room.  She 
looked at Russ and almost face-faulted.  She recovered quickly at her initial 
shock and smiled widely, blushing all the while.  She couldn't believe how 
handsome he was.  Russ glanced up from Sasami and stood up, giving Aeka 
a full view of his height and muscles.  He too was taken aback.  He had 
never seen anyone so beautiful as her before.  It was almost love at first 
sight.
	"H... hi."  Russ swallowed and stumbled his way over to Aeka, 
turning red.  "I'm Russ, and I'm honored to meet you."  He knelt down, 
took her hand and gave it a little kiss.
	Aeka turned red, but she managed a respectable smile, trying to 
keep from giggling at his chivalry.  It had been a couple years since she was 
treated like that before.  She had almost forgotten that she is a princess, 
since she had been living as an Earthling for so long.  "Hello.  I'm Aeka.  
And the honor is mine.  I'm... flattered to meet you."
	Russ stood back up, still blushing.  Nobuyuki elbowed Yosho who 
had a cocky grin on his face.  Sasami just looked on with mild interest.  
Romance didn't appeal to her yet.
	Azaka and Kamadake slid forward, beside Aeka.  "How do you do 
sir," they said in unison.  Russ took a step back with a look of shock.
	"Those logs are talking!"
	Sasami giggled.  "They're not really logs, that's Azaka and 
Kamadake, our servants," she explained.
	Russ looked back at the two, and scratched the back of his head.  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect.  I've never seen anything like you 
two before.  It's nice to meet you both."  He gave a small bow.
	The log with the red design spoke.  "The pleasure is ours.  We are 
the guardians of Princess Aeka.  I'm Kamadake."
	"And I'm Azaka.  It's nice to meet you."
	Russ just smiled at both of them.  He was about to say something 
else when Kiyone and Mihoshi both entered the living room.  They both 
looked pretty tired and worn out.  Russ took a few steps back from Aeka 
and turned his attention to the two young women who were now making 
their way down the stairs.  Both Kiyone and Mihoshi were both beautiful 
and attractive.  They were also in uniform.  They both looked over at Russ 
as they made their way downstairs.
	"Hello there.  How are you doing?  I'm Kiyone, and this here is my 
partner, Mihoshi."
	Mihoshi smiled and giggled.  She found Russ quite attractive as 
well.
	Russ bowed his head, still smiling.  "Hello, it's nice to meet you 
both.  I'm Russ.  What are you partners in, anyway?"
	"Oh, we're partners forever!  We both work for the Galaxy 
Police."  Mihoshi grabbed Kiyone in a hug.  
	Kiyone, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes at Mihoshi.  She 
sighed in defeat, and then offered Russ her hand, which he grasped gently 
and shook.  Both Kiyone and Mihoshi couldn't stop staring at his muscles.  
They've never seen anyone built or as well defined as he was.  His hairstyle 
and eye color were really different too.  Kiyone immediately knew that he 
wasn't a human.  Mihoshi would not have noticed if Kiyone didn't say 
anything.
	"It's nice to meet you.  How come you're here?  You... don't 
resemble any human we know of."
	"I'm here on vacation, and you're right.  I'm not a human.  I'm 
from a race known as Saiya-jin.  I was, however, born on this planet, and I 
had lived here for quite some time.  I've only recently come back to visit it.  
I was surprised to find other people who aren't human on this planet."
	Now Kiyone was a little suspicious.  "How did you know where to 
find us?"
	"Oh, that's easy.  We have a technology that can detect your Jurai 
power.  It's called a scouter.  I had it localize your energy, so I could land 
nearby."
	"Interesting."  She still felt a little suspicious, as any good GP 
officer would, but she smiled anyway.
	Sasami was still watching Russ.  "You know, I bet Washu would 
love to see your scouter.  She loves checking out new technology."
	"Who's Washu?"
	"She's our scientific genius around the house.  You'll meet her 
shortly.  She's a little cocky, and a little full of herself, but she is probably 
the smartest person in existence," Kiyone explained.
	Russ laughed.  "Well, I'd have a big ego too if I were in her 
position."
	At that moment, Ryoko and Tenchi both entered the room from the 
outside.  Russ had his back turned toward them, but he could sense them 
behind him.  He turned around and took a look at both of them.  Once again, 
Ryoko was hanging on Tenchi with a gigantic smile on her face while 
Tenchi just sighed and shook his head.  Now noticing Russ, his eyes 
widened a little and he stopped in his tracks.  Ryoko opened her eyes and 
glanced around the room, immediately noticing Russ as well.  Already 
being deeply in love with Tenchi, she just narrowed her eyes at him, even 
though she did find him quite attractive.  She didn't like most visitors since 
she was always suspicious that they were there to capture her for trial or 
some other reason.  But lately, that feeling has been slipping away, since 
she's been out of trouble for so many years.  Even Nagi quit pursuing her 
across the galaxy since there was no bounty left on her head, since her 
involvement in the last outrage with a second Kagato on Jurai.
	Russ noticed Ryoko's slight glare, but didn't think too much of it.  
"Hello.  I presume you're Tenchi, and you're Ryoko," he said, looking at 
them both.  "It's nice to meet you two.  My name is Russ.  I'm here on 
vacation, and Yosho had offered to allow me to stay with you for a little 
while.  If you guys don't mind, that is."
	"Oh great.  Another freeloader," Ryoko mumbled to herself.
	Tenchi's eyes returned to normal and he smiled.  "Hi, Russ.  Well, 
if Grandpa says it's okay, then it's okay with me."  Ryoko didn't say 
anything, but instead grasped Tenchi a little tighter.  Tenchi turned to his 
dad.  "What are we going to do about sleeping arrangements?"
	"We figured it'd be okay if Ryoko moved into your room and we'd 
have Russ take her old room."
	"Yippee!!!  Oh, won't it be wonderful, Tenchi?  We can sleep 
together and even take our baths together.  We'll be inseparable!"  Ryoko's 
smile grew super huge, and Tenchi knew she was thinking of something 
mischievous.
	"Ryoko, we already do take most of our baths together.  But 
anyway, I guess that will work out okay.  Ryoko can have my bed and I'll 
sleep on the floor."
	"Ohhh, Tenchi!  We can have Washu fabricate us a nice big bed so 
we can both cradle and hold each other as we go off to sleep!"  Tenchi 
started blushing.  Russ on the other hand twisted his lip slightly and rolled 
his eyes.  He had never had a girlfriend or any kind of relationship before 
and never had anyone hang on him like Tenchi currently did.  He glanced 
back at Aeka, who was frowning and had her hands balled up into fists.  
Russ assumed that Aeka was still in love with Tenchi, but had apparently 
been rejected in favor of Ryoko.  What he couldn't figure out is why she 
was still living here with those two, even though she seemed angry when 
she saw Ryoko hanging on Tenchi.  He decided not to try not to assume 
anything else, since he had a bad habit of getting himself into trouble when 
he did.  He just had too many incorrect assumptions.
	 "Well, you've met just about everybody.  Would you like 
something to eat?  We have some leftovers from breakfast and you're 
welcome to them," said Nobuyuki.
	"It was a pleasure to meet you Russ.  We're going to go back 
upstairs to sleep.  We have to do another early morning patrol shift 
tomorrow," Kiyone said.
	Mihoshi started whining.  "I don't want to do that again!  It's so 
boring!"
	Kiyone just grabbed Mihoshi by the arm and hauled her up the 
stairs to their room, while she was still whining and complaining.
	Russ watched them go.  "Don't worry about them.  They always 
argue and fight like that.  Sometimes they can be quite comical," Ryoko 
said.  Russ just continued to have a perplexed look on his face, but then he 
shrugged his shoulders.
	Sasami looked back over at Russ.  "Well, I have to get back into 
the kitchen and clean up the mess from breakfast.  You're very welcome to 
join us for lunch if you want."
	"Thank you very much... uh..." He scratched his head.  "I'm 
sorry, but I forgot your name already.  I'm terrible with names and I'm kind 
of forgetful."
	 Sasami giggled.  "It's Sasami."
	"Ahhh yes, Sasami.  Thanks for the invite for lunch, but I only eat 
once a day.  I've already eaten, so I won't be hungry for the rest of the day."  
He lied.  He didn't want to eat everything in sight in the first five minutes of 
meeting everybody.
	She looked a little disappointed.  "Oh, okay.  It's no big deal.  You 
can eat with us tomorrow then!"
	Russ snickered.  "I'm afraid I don't think you have enough food to 
feed me, let alone all these other people."  The remaining people in the 
room stared at him.  Russ started perspiring a little.  "What...  Oh, I know.  
You don't know about a Saiyan's appetite.  Let me put it to you this way.  If 
you saw how much I normally eat, you'd think I was a pig.  However, it's 
just a normal appetite."  He smiled and tried to laugh.
	"Well, our offer still stands.  We may not be able to fill you up, but 
we'll do our best."  Nobuyuki smiled.
	"I've got to go to the field now and get more carrots.  Hopefully 
I'll be back before lunchtime.  See you guys later!"  Tenchi turned and tried 
to walk out the door with Ryoko still hanging on him.
	"See you later, Tenchi, Ryoko.  It was nice meeting you."
	Russ heard a meowing sound from behind him.
	"Ryo-Ohki!  There you are."  Sasami knelt down and allowed the 
cabbit to jump onto her shoulder and then onto her head
	 Russ was flabbergasted.  "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but 
what is that?"
	"This is Ryo-Ohki, our family pet and spaceship.  Isn't she cute?"
	Russ grinned and walked over to Sasami.  He reached over and 
scratched under Ryo-Ohki's chin as she meowed softly to herself and her 
tail bobbed back and forth.  Sasami mentioning that the little creature was a 
spaceship flew completely over his head.
	"Wow.  She's so soft and cute too."  Russ rubbed his nose.  "Uh 
oh..."
	He sneezed.  He did his best to block it as he covered his nose and 
mouth.  He sneezed again.  "I knew it.  Ryo-Ohki is part cat, isn't she?"
	"Yes.  She's part rabbit and part cat."
	"I'm allergic to cats.  I start sneezing like crazy around them.  
Problem is I love cats so it's hard for me to stay away from them."  He 
sneezed again.  "I need to go wash my hands.  Can you show me where a 
sink is?"
	"Sure, there's one right here in the kitchen.  Follow me!"  Sasami 
walked to a door at the end of the room and slid it back, and gestured for 
Russ to follow.
	"Excuse me, everybody.  If I don't take care of this now I'll sneeze 
myself into a headache."  He chuckled, and then went into the kitchen.
	Aeka watched him leave, and then turned back to Yosho.  "Who is 
he really?  Why is he here?"
	"I told you already, Aeka, that he's visiting our planet after so 
many years of being away.  There is nothing more to it than that."
	Aeka still suspected more, but she didn't pursue the issue any 
further.  "I still have laundry to do, so I'll get back to doing that."  She 
walked over to the kitchen door.  "It was nice to meet you Russ, but I have 
to get busy and do the wash."
	Russ turned away from the sink and gazed into her violet eyes.  
"Okay, it was very nice to meet you.  Don't work too hard, okay?"  He 
winked, causing her to blush slightly.
	Aeka went back upstairs to retrieve the mass of clothes while 
Azaka and Kamadake went outside to resume their guard duty at the front 
gate.
	"Well, I must get back to the shrine and get back to work.  Make 
sure he gets settled in okay, Nobuyuki?"
	"Sure thing, Dad.  You don't need to worry about anything."  He 
returned to the couch and picked up his paper.
	Yosho turned and walked out of the house, on his way back to the 
shrine.  He stopped at the foot of the stairs and turned back toward the 
house.  He couldn't help but wonder about this new guy.  Sure, he was nice 
and friendly, and he did tell him why he was here, assuming it was truthful.  
But he just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to 
happen.  Yosho sensed his strength, and thought that Russ was just as strong 
as he was.  He couldn't imagine anybody being stronger.  Dismissing any 
further thought, he returned to the shrine.
	Back inside the house, Russ had just finished washing his hands 
and was drying them.  He looked over at Sasami who was staring at him the 
whole time.  He cocked his eyebrow and let out a grunt.  Sasami realized 
she was staring and looked away.
	"Sorry about that.  I've never seen anyone as muscular as you 
before."
	"Oh, don't worry about it.  I've been stared at before, but most 
people comment about my hair or my eyes."  He looked outside at the 
bright daylight.  "Well, Sasami, I should get to training now.  I must stay in 
shape, you know."
	"Okay then.  If you want to come back for lunch, feel free to.  I'll 
send someone out to get you, if you'll be easy to find."
	"Thanks."  He turned and walked out the back door while Sasami 
continued to watch him.  She just couldn't get over how handsome he 
looked.  She blushed slightly, and went to go help Aeka with the laundry.

	Russ stood in the middle of a small clearing he found in the forest.  
Turns out it was Tenchi's training area.  He took a deep breath, and began 
his warm-up exercises.  He began with ten thousand push-ups, ten thousand 
sit-ups, and then ten thousand pull-ups.  Feeling rather light on this planet, 
he did all his exercises at twice his normal pace.  He tried to keep his ki 
suppressed to a reasonable level.  He didn't want it getting too high or he 
may attract some attention from Yosho or another person who could detect 
a ki level.
	Completing his warm-up exercises in about four hours, Russ 
decided it was time to spar.  Taking up his typical defensive stance, he 
immediately zanzokened to the other side of the clearing and started a flurry 
of punches and kicks.  Using his imagination, he pictured Zorpheus dodging 
and parrying all of his blows, laughing all the while.  Undaunted, Russ 
continued his onslaught against his invisible opponent, punching and 
kicking at an astounding rate.
	Changing his thoughts, he imagined Zorpheus now beginning to 
make his own attack, so he practiced dodging at a rapid pace.  He leapt into 
the air and continued to move from side to side, up and down and all 
around.  He zanzokened behind the imaginary Zorpheus and re-started his 
own offense.  His fists resembled dual jackhammers as they moved back 
and forth, almost faster than a human eye could see.  Zorpheus dodged them 
all, and did his own zanzoken behind Russ.  He quickly turned and tried to 
put a foot in Zorpheus' face, but missed.  Russ zanzokened to the ground 
again and looked up at his imaginary opponent, deciding that his 
imagination just wasn't real enough.
	Russ decided to make himself a real sparring partner.  He charged 
his ki up a bit.  "Splitform," he shouted.  A moment later, two Russ' were 
standing side by side.  They turned toward each other, grinned, and 
zanzokened to another spot in the clearing.
	"You think you're pretty good, don't you?  Well, let's see you 
dodge this!"  He threw a punch at his counterpart, who easily parried the 
blow.  He started a flurry of punches and kicks, all of which were blocked 
or dodged.  Getting annoyed, he raised his ki a little more and increased his 
speed.  He managed to kick his counterpart in the stomach and double axe 
handle him to the ground, where he made a small indentation.
	Russ stood back up and glared at his opponent.  "Oh, can't fight 
me on my own level, eh?  Fine.  I'll come up to yours!"  He charged his ki 
to match and flew back up to where Russ was still hovering.  Staring at him 
for a moment, he jumped forward with a kick, trying to nail him in the face.  
His counterpart simply nodded his head to the side as the blow sailed 
harmlessly by.  In return, he tried to bring his arm down onto his leg, but he 
zanzokened behind him and again tried to plant a kick into his head, this 
time succeeding and smashing him to the ground.
	Russ spit out a mouthful of grass and dirt.  
	His opponent laughed.  "You know, only cows and other farm 
animals are supposed to eat grass.  Did you enjoy it?"
	Russ groaned and stood back up again.  "Actually, yeah.  Here, 
why don't you try some?"  He zanzokened behind his counterpart and tried 
to axe handle him on his head, but hit nothing but air.  He looked around 
frantically but couldn't find him.  Trying to sense where he vanished to, his 
danger sense went off like a dozen alarms and he zanzokened to another 
position as a flying, ki-enhanced kick sailed through his former position.  
Not expecting to miss, his counterpart lost control and smashed into the 
ground.  Russ started laughing, which only served to get his opponent really 
irritated.  
	He felt his opponent's ki level rise sharply as he charged, once 
again getting into a melee of various punches and kicks.  Russ had to raise 
his own power to match in order to keep up.  By now, their ki levels had far 
surpassed any Jurai power in existence.  And they were barely warmed up.  
They continued to spar fiercely, neither gaining any ground on the other.
	
	Yosho felt two tremendous forces nearby.  Sitting in shock, he 
couldn't believe the amount of energy the two beings were generating.  He 
hoped Zorpheus wasn't here already.  As he felt the two powers dart all 
over their battlefield, he noticed something peculiar.  Their energy 
signatures were identical.  Wanting to investigate further, he left the shrine, 
quickly heading over to the battleground.  It was strange feeling them move 
so fast.  One moment they were in the air, the next moment they were at 
another position, and again they moved all over the area like greased 
lightning.
	Yosho's Jurai power was low enough for Russ not to notice it, 
since he was focused on the task of defeating his opponent.  Finally nearing 
where he and Tenchi normally train, he could hear the sounds of two 
individuals shouting at each other, tossing an insult here and there, and the 
sounds of battle.  Strange though, he could actually hear real strange noises 
from their special techniques coming from that area as well.
	Approaching the clearing, he saw Russ and his opponent flash into 
view for a moment, and then blur out again.  Yosho hid behind a tree and 
looked toward the clearing.  He could see the two floating in midair, 
exchanging insults.  He was really surprised.  He had no idea they could fly.  
This was just getting really weird for him.  The coup de grace came after he 
got a good look at both people.  They were identical!  He had no idea what 
was going on.  
	After their insulting match, the dual Russ' again engaged in 
combat.  A flurry of fists and kicks were exchanged.  Yosho could barely 
follow it.  Their speed was incredible.  He had never seen anything like it.  
And the amount of energy both were expelling was mind-boggling.  Even at 
his own maximum power level, he could barely match the energy each 
individual was producing.  He had a feeling that they didn't need to stop 
there either.  Just how much energy could they have, anyway?
	Finally gathering his wits about him, he stepped out from behind 
the tree and advanced to the clearing.  Russ noticed some movement under 
him and put up his hand to signal his counterpart to cease fighting for a 
moment.  Glancing down, he saw Yosho standing in the clearing, gesturing 
for them to come down to him.
	Merging back into one form, Russ landed in front of him.  Yosho 
noticed that Russ didn't even look like he was battling, aside from his now 
dirty clothes.  He wasn't winded, wasn't sweating, or even the slightest bit 
tired out.
	"That was incredible.  I never thought you could produce as much 
energy as you were.  And your speed and ability to fly is also remarkable.  
And how in the world did you split into two individual beings?  Just what 
kind of evil is on it's way here to the planet and how in the world could he 
be as strong as you are?"  Yosho looked genuinely concerned.
	Russ wasn't smiling.  "I don't know how long you were there, but 
I guess I should reveal a little more about me.  The energy you felt from 
us... was miniscule.  We were just sparring.  Our maximum energy level is 
hundreds of thousands of times more powerful than that.  I have enough 
energy to destroy an entire solar system with a single blast.  I could destroy 
this entire planet with the flick of my pinky finger here.  And Zorpheus can 
do the same thing."  Yosho took a step back and had a look of fear in his 
eyes.  "But anyway, to answer your other question, I used a special ability 
to create a sparring partner.  It's called the Splitform technique.  It allows 
me to create an exact duplicate of myself."  He noticed Yosho's look of 
horror, and in response, he lowered his ki level to that of a normal human, 
and smiled.  "Don't worry.  I'm going to do my very best to protect this 
planet and its people.  Don't be afraid of me.  I would never do anything to 
hurt anyone unless they tried to hurt me first."
	Yosho relaxed a little.  "Amazing.  Totally, completely, absolutely, 
amazing.  I would've never guessed you could be that powerful.  I do trust 
you.  I felt your energy levels start going through the roof so I thought I'd 
come out here and see what was going on."
	Russ laughed.  "Hopefully you'll never have to see my full power.  
I'm still hoping diplomacy will work with Zorpheus, but I have a feeling 
that it isn't going to, so I need to train very hard in order to stay ahead of 
him.  Another problem is the gravity on this planet isn't very high.  The last 
planet I was at had a gravity level about eight times higher than this planet.  
It was great for training.  My home world, or rather, where my race 
originated from, known as Vegeta, had a gravity of ten times Earth's normal 
gravity.  That is one of the big secrets behind our strength.  However, 
Vegeta was destroyed by an evil terror known as Frieza, who was the most 
vile, evil villain that had ever existed, although not the most powerful.  
However, our race was evil as well, at the time.  Ironic, which one of the 
most powerful warrior races in the galaxy, was destroyed by another evil, 
which at the time controlled us."
	Yosho listened with interest.  "That's quite an amazing story.  So 
you're a Saiya-jin from the planet Vegeta, and you're here to defend our 
planet against an evil that is just as powerful, if not more so, than you.  Tell 
me this.  What is this treasure, as you so refer to it as?  Why is it so 
appealing to Zorpheus and not to you?"
	Russ swallowed.  "I'm afraid I can't tell you what they are, but 
they have the power to grant any wish that is within their power.  What 
Zorpheus is after, is immortality."
	Yosho's eyes widened.  "You mean to tell me there is something 
on this planet that can grant eternal life to whoever wishes for it?"
	"That's correct."  He sighed.  He felt that he could trust Yosho 
with just about anything.  It was just something about him.  "They're known 
as Dragonballs.  They have the power to call forth a huge magical dragon 
that can grant two wishes to whoever summons it."
	"Wow.  Tell me, you're not immortal?"
	"No.  I may appear invincible with the enormous amount of 
strength and power I possess, but I am not, by any means, invincible or 
immortal."
	"I see.  Well, it's almost lunchtime.  Would you care to join me for 
a bite to eat back home?"
	Russ smiled.  "Well, I am a little hungry.  I'll do my best to eat in 
moderation.  I haven't consumed any food for the last nine months during 
my long journey from the last planet I was at, also hunting for the location 
of the Dragonballs."
	"Excellent.  Let's go.  And you can then meet Washu.  I'm sure 
she can help you out with your training.  Unfortunately, you'll probably 
have to reveal some of your secrets to her, like your strength.  However, as 
far as hiding how much power you do have, is up to you."
	"Okay, great.  Let's go."
	Both Russ and Yosho walked out of the clearing and back toward 
the steps, where they walked over to the Misaki home, where lunch was 
being prepared.