Chapter 9

Trunks gritted his teeth, wincing at the woman's screams, while slowly pulling harder and pressing down. Who knew that someone could reach that high of a note? The fourth-grade teacher – he still didn't know her name – mercifully succumbed to the pain and slumped into unconsciousness leaving his ears to ring for minutes afterward. Usagi bit her lip but didn't comment.

"There!" she cried, suddenly feeling the broken leg move into place. Usagi quickly wrapped two wooden splints – school desks were good for many things – on either side of the woman's leg. This would hold the bone in place until they escaped and she could get a cast.

Trunks sat back and wiped his brow, leaving a streak of red across the sweat-soaked bandage. He and Usagi had finally finished patching up everyone. Now, they could concentrate on getting out of there alive. He glanced around for Ms. Plumb and sighed when he found her huddled in a corner – face pale, eyes wide and staring blankly at their concrete prison. She would definitely not be of much help. 'Grownups,' he thought sadly, 'They're so fragile.'

"Ummm...Trunks?" Usagi's confused voice drew his attention. He stared for a moment looking through a sea of sobbing children at his best friend. A few hysterical first-graders and even a couple of fourth-graders were clutching at her, hugging her in desperation.

"I want my mommy!" one boy wailed before burying his wet face into her shoulder. A few children hiccupped their agreement. Usagi awkwardly stroked her peer's head while looking at Trunks in confusion. He shrugged. What could he say? Humans were weird.

Since Ms. Plumb remained in mental shock, the terrified children looked for a new source of motherly comfort. Usagi being the only girl who wasn't sobbing uncontrollably and was taking charge of the bandaging and rescuing became the new lead female.

Trunks looked from the unconscious teacher at his feet to the woman rocking herself in the corner and sighed. He was a born leader of men, and it was time that he started acting like it. "Everyone shut the hell up!" he demanded. The constant wailing was giving him a migraine.

Silence descended as everyone, including Ms. Plumb, turned to the lavender-haired child. "Look, we have to figure out a way to get out of here, and the only way to do that is to stop crying and start thinking. You have to be the loudest group of babies I've ever heard!" he scoffed. "Just calm down, alright? Usagi and I'll figure out something."

The mob of kids nodded slowly and wiped at their faces, sniffling and hiccupping all the while. A few of the older boys flushed in embarrassment at being called a baby by a first-grader.

Usagi carefully detangled herself from the circle of limbs and made her way to her friend's side. "Nice speech, oh great leader." He snorted. She looked at the huddling group and sighed. "So, what now?"

"Now," he studied the concrete slab, "it's our turn to save the day."

'Uuussssaaaaaagiii,' her head snapped around.

"What?" Trunks asked.

"Do you hear that?" Usagi whispered.

'Prrinncessss....'

"There it is again!"

Trunks tilted his head to the side and strained his Saiyajin hearing to the limits. A table on the first floor crashed to the floor, two mice screamed in their hole in the cafeteria, flames smacked with delight as they feasted. After a long moment he shook his head.

Usagi looked around and noticed that when her gaze slid across the glowing cracks in the slab they flared brighter at her attention. 'Yeessss, prrinnccessss...'

She took a few uncertain steps closer. 'Ccccoommmmeee to uussss...' She drew closer to the glowing crevices. 'Heeearrrr uusss...' Her head cocked to the side. 'Beccommmee one with uussss....' As if in a trance, her hand slowly reached out. A small arm of flame seeped through the crack and stretched out to meet her half way, eager for her touch.

"Usagi!" Trunks grabbed her by the waist and bodily dragged her away from the straining flames. The churning fire blazed brightly and whipped violently in rage before slowly sinking back through the glowing crevices.

"What were you thinking?! You're not to go near those cracks again. Do you hear me? Usagi!"

Her eyes blinked as her mind struggled to cope with the receding angry voices and Trunks' yelling. "W-Wha?"

Trunks hugged her close to him, ignoring the throbbing of his head, the sniffing kids, and the crackling fire. After a silent moment and a few deep breaths, he whispered. "Please. Just listen to me, alright? I don't want what happened at the restaurant to happen again. I just . . . Please Usa . . ." He mentally shuddered at the memory. Her smoking body twitching was not something he cared to remember.

Usagi clutched at him and nodded, letting his desperate voice calm her thoughts and the mermaids in her head.

"Alright Trunks." She stared at the concrete for a long moment and sighed. "Alright. I think it's time to get out of here."

He squeezed her tighter before letting her slip from his arms. They thought together for a long moment before throwing out ideas for consideration. "We could punch through the floor and pick our way to the outside?" Trunks offered. "Heat rises so maybe the fire left most of the bottom floor intact."

Usagi shook her head. "Feel the floor tiles; they're too hot. The heat from the fire below us is rising to slowly cook our butts."

He felt before sighing his agreement. After careful scrutiny of their cell he offered his next idea. "I could punch through the wall and to the outside."

"Then the rest of the ceiling would come crashing down."

He thought for a moment. "I could use a ki blast and make a neater hole?"

She shook her head. "It's still too risky. Besides, what if someone's standing below us? We don't want to bury anyone under a pile of bricks."

Trunks grinned. "Sure we do! It's called sacrificing for the greater good. What's one life verses thirty-two?"

She just stared.

"Okay, okay. Sheesh. Stop. That's really creepy."

She winked. They sat for a long moment thinking. Usagi wondered how a day as good as this turned out so bad. 'First, the dreams. But the puppet show made up for that . . .' Her thoughts turned to the little production. 'It was so dark . . .'

Usagi jerked up, eyes wide. "I know!"

Trunks raised an eyebrow, almost scared to ask.

"The window."

He sighed. "Just in case you forgot, it's out there, and we're in here."

She ignored his sarcasm and studied the slab. "You could lift that, no problem. Then we just get the class to the other side of the room, pop the glass, and tada!"

"We're on the second floor. Most of the human's wouldn't survive the jump in one piece," Trunks objected, playing devil's advocate.

"You'll have to carry them and float them down; I'm not strong enough," Usagi countered excitedly.

"You forgot one little, tinsy winsy thing, Usa-baby," Trunks drawled out and grinned after her outraged gasp concerning her new nickname, "The fire."

"Just lift the slab high enough for me to slip under. I've got a plan."

He looked at her for a moment. "What plan?"

She grinned and leaned closer to him. "Trust me, Trunksypoo."

He winced at the name. Payback was a bitch.

"Everyone shut up and listen!" Trunks shouted gaining immediate silence and undivided attention. There were certain advantages to being leader. "Usagi and I have a plan. We will only have one chance to escape, so pay attention so we can get it right!" He felt like he was in a bad prison movie.

Usagi watched hope blossom in everyone's eyes at his words. Until then, everyone had been huddling together in little groups for comfort, waiting and worrying, wishing and praying.

"We are going to pair up, so everyone grab a partner. Anyone who can't walk, is limping, or is dizzy when they stand needs to pair with an uninjured person; I don't want any stragglers. Everyone is going to stay together, no matter what. Understood?" Trunks barked out in his meanest, dad-like voice.

Although a few of the first-graders didn't know what a straggler was they quickly nodded along with the older children.

"Well? We don't have all day, brats. Move!" Those that could quickly scrambled to their feet and began looking around.

Trunks scanned the crowd. "You, you, and you," he pointed out the three biggest fourth-graders. "You will help carry the unconscious ones." They nodded and quickly found a first-grade "Buddy".

"What about our teacher?" one older girl asked.

Trunks blinked blankly and turned to stare at the woman's limp body. The human children's carrying her was completely out of the question. He sighed and shrugged. "I guess I'll have to take her."

The older girl looked him from head to toe doubtfully. "That's supposed to be a joke, right?"

Usagi stepped forward and frowned at the girl. "What are you talking about? Trunks can do anything."

The boy in question looked at his best friend and raised an eyebrow. "Anything?"

She looked him right in the eyes and said with complete seriousness, "Anything."

He felt humbled by her faith in him. He grinned at the other girl looking on in confusion. "You heard her. Of course I can do anything," he said at his cocky best. "Just call me Super Boy." The girl nodded slowly and quickly joined a group of her classmates not wanting to challenge the leading couple.

Trunks looked around at the two classes and nodded in satisfaction when he found them paired, ready, and eager to leave. Usagi quietly slipped away from his side and made her way to the terrified teacher who was humming under her breath and hugging herself for comfort. Usagi openly stared at the broken woman – it was okay to look because the lady was too out of it to notice and punish her for it – and wondered how she had ever been afraid of such a creature. Indecision warred inside of her as her mother's training – dictating that she shouldn't speak to an adult without first being addressed – and her instinctive need to help people battled for dominance. When the sound of a girl bursting into tears echoed across the close confines of the enclosed space, the internal war was won.

"Ms. Plumb?"

The woman ignored her and continued to stare blankly ahead.

"Violet?" Usagi ventured, wincing as she broke another of her mother's rules about addressing an adult by his or her first name. She recalled Krillen's slip up earlier and wondered if the sound of her first name would jar her from her reverie.

Nothing changed.

Usagi did everything she could think of to get the woman's attention and still nothing worked. If the teacher didn't snap out of it then she wouldn't know what to do when they made their escape, and she might be left behind and die. Usagi hesitated when an absurd idea popped into her head. She knew one way that would surely get her attention. Pain.

Shaking her head, Usagi immediately rejected the idea. She refused to turn into her mother. Her Saiyajin hearing picked up a conversation across the room. The three big fourth-graders Trunks had singled out earlier were reporting.

"There are not enough okay kids to help the hurt ones. We're going to have to make two trips or something."

Usagi regarded the huddled woman stoically. 'Or she could snap out of it and carry at least two kids.' Her mouth flattened. 'Why do adults always ignore their responsibilities? She's supposed to be taking care of us, but she's only thinking about how she feels and what's going to happen to her. What about the rest of us?!'

The injustice of the situation boiled over and allowed her to take that final step without hesitation. She reached high and slapped the woman soundly, sending her toppling to the floor. The whole room froze when they heard the sharp crack. Trunks' mouth dropped. This was his shy Usa?

Ms. Plumb blinked in shock as the heat of the floor seeped through her clothes and painfully jarred her senses awake. Her shaking hand hesitantly rose to cradle her throbbing cheek as she stared at the furious six-year-old.

"Wake up and stop being selfish!"

A few of the younger kids blinked in confusion, while the older ones' attention remained absolute.

Usagi continued, oblivious to the audience. "Do you think you're the only one who matters? Look around. If you haven't noticed, there are a bunch of scarred, hurt kids here who need a little of your valuable time and a lot of comfort. So do your job, be an adult and help damn it!"

Ms. Plumb gaped at the normally quiet girl in shock. She slowly gazed out at the sea of scraped, soot-faced children for a long moment before water began gathering in her eyes. "Y-You're right. I-I-"she flushed and stuttered with shame, turning to the stone-faced child regarding her doubtfully.

"Stop. We don't need your tears right now." Ms. Plumb nodded numbly and quickly wiped her face. Usagi studied the shaken woman and allowed her demeanor to soften. In a gentle voice she instructed the teacher, "There are a few kids who will need to be carried out of here and to safety. Trunks will tell you what to do."

Ms. Plumb looked around seeing their predicament with a clear mind for the first time. She quickly grew panicked. "It's hopeless. How are we going to – "

"– We already thought of a plan," Usagi interrupted. Ms. Plumb visibly calmed at the child's confident, even tone. "Trunks will tell you what you need to do," she gently reminded.

Ms Plumb looked at her student with hope before quickly climbing to her feet and scurrying over to her most rebellious student for instructions, wanting to leave as soon as possible. She didn't demand to know what the children had planned. She wasn't up to playing leader.

Usagi glanced around at the awed crowd but stopped when she noticed the floored expression of her best friend. He raised an eyebrow as if to say 'What was that?'

She shrugged.

Trunks stared at her from across the room in wonder. 'So this is the Usagi underneath.' He looked her over as if for the first time and smiled.

Usagi smiled when he started grinning like a maniac.

"Way to go, Usa. Woo woo," he whispered, doing a little train motion before turning to address Ms. Plumb. Her Saiyajin hearing picked up his quiet words even though the room and thirty kids separated them. She rolled her eyes. Inside she was nearly bubbling over with happiness. He was proud of her. She smiled to herself. 'I'm proud of me.'

"Okay Usa. Are you ready?" Trunks asked.

Usagi nodded while kneeling before the concrete slab. This was it. The voices in the corner of her mind were whispering quietly, not wanting to distract her, waiting for her to join them. She took deep breaths and recalled the woman – what did she call herself? – the senshi of fire at the restaurant a few days ago. She kept replaying the way the flames seemed to be attracted to her. Apparently it was the same with this fire; she eyed the glowing cracks warily.

Her plan was to run as fast as her Saiyajin legs could carry her – her goal was to make it out of the classroom – and, hopefully, the fire would follow her leaving the class a clear path to the window. If not, well, she'd be one roasted chick. The only problem was that she hadn't really thought about how she would get outside before the fire caught up to her, but Trunks didn't need to know that.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing? You're not going to get hurt or anything, right?" he asked, not wanting her away from his side but bowing to necessity.

He knew her so well. Usagi smiled up innocently. "I've got it all under control." 'Besides,' she thought. 'What's a white lie or two between friends?'

He studied her upturned face for a long moment. Something didn't seem right. Sniffing from behind reminded him that they were wasting time.

"Okay." Somehow he knew that he was going to regret agreeing with her on this one. He found a few finger holds at the base of the slab and shifted his feet for better balance.

"Don't tell me you're planning to lift that. It must weigh at least a ton," Ms. Plumb commented incredulously, and began to doubt the wisdom of following a plan two first-graders thought up.

Trunks grinned. "Just watch me." With a deep breath, his muscles bulged, stretched and steadily, carefully the slab began to rise. Small pieces of the ceiling which had remarkably clung together during the initial collapse began raining down on the group like dusty hail.

Usagi kept a close watch on the growing opening – gulping as the black smoke, orange flames, and sulfuric smell poured into their prison. The paired children whimpered and began backing away. As soon as the opening was wide enough, Usagi slipped under and out of sight. 'Into the fires of Hell I go.' She disappeared into the billowing smoke.

I know that I haven't updated in a long while. Sorry. I can't really say that I blame you for being mad, but I can't promise that the updates will be coming any faster. This semester I have my two AP classes a.k.a. the really, really hard ones. I'll have a lot more time to write next semester, because it will be my last semester of High School and I probably won't care if I make good grades or not. I know you might not think that I have no time, but between the projects and the 5 hours of homework – no joke FIVE hours – every night, it's kind of hard to squeeze in.

Sorry to everyone who has waited for this for so long, but it's going to be a little while for the next one. Stick with me here. As much as I hate it, school always has to come first.

Katlin