Chapter 10: Hope Sleeps
"We're miles from home right now, what's going on?" Bulma wiped some grease and sweat from her face. She stared at her son through the small screen of her wristwatch, trying to read his expression.
"I don't need you to come home; I need you to come to the lookout."
"Kami's old lookout? What are you doing up there?
"Maybe you should come here before I say anything."
"Trunks, I'm a grown woman; I'm your mother; I'm perfectly capable of dealing with any news you can come up with. Did I panic when you said that aliens invaded earth just recently?"
"Sort of."
"But I pulled it together, right? What makes you think I'd just fall to pieces over some epic piece of news?" She scrunched her nose and stuck her tongue out.
"I have an egg with Kami's lifeforce inside of it."
"Kami? That would have to mean Picollo is…" Bulma fainted before she could finish her statement.
The group of Natamoru interns scrambled to action, surrounding her. They lifted her head and began fanning her while they chattered frantically. One of them could hear Trunks' muffled voice coming from the wristband.
She picked up Bulma's arm by the wrist, smiling at Trunks. "Trunks, it's me, Gem."
He smiled when her face came into the camera's view. "Is my mother alright?"
"She's fine. Looks like she got a little dizzy. What happened? What did you say?"
"Just something that came as a surprise to her. Are you all at the hangar?"
"Yes, we're accessing the computers on the ship. I think Bulma found what we were looking for, so we were about ready to pack up and leave."
Before Trunks could answer her, Bulma snapped right up, snatching her wrist back, looking at Trunks fiercely. "Trunks, do you know what this means? With Picollo back, the Dragonballs can return!"
"Hurry up and get here, then we can talk."
"Wait, why don't you just fly it home?"
"This egg hasn't hatched in twenty years; I'm not taking any chances. I'll be waiting in the sanctuary. Just make sure we have enough room to safely transport it."
"Alright, I'll hurry." Bulma pressed the red button, ending the transmission. Her face filled with determination. She stood up, clenched her fist and pointed towards the horizon. "Ladies, we're going on a field trip!"
The Natamoru girls began chattering again with excitement. As Bulma marched out of the alien ship, they followed her, carrying the research equipment with them. They approached the ships main exit, where a large steel lift waited, ready to transport them to the ground below. They all quickly boarded the bulky lift and Bulma closed the security gate, locking it in place. A few button presses later, and they were zipping towards the ground. Some of the girls laughed as the sensation of fluttering butterflies tickled their stomachs. In a matter of seconds, they had reached the ground safely. The gate opened and wasting no time, Bulma continued marching towards the shuttle. When she was twenty feet away, she skidded to a halt. She took a deep breath and cursed quietly to herself. Every Natamoru ear perked up, trying to listen.
"Change of plans. I can't take all of you. Some of you are going to have to stay and wait until later. I'm really sorry, but that's the way it is. I can make room for two of you, but four of you have to stay behind. Any volunteers?"
Gem and Bell raised their hands. They both smiled and spoke in unison. "We'll go with you Bulma."
"That's nice of you. I kind of meant any volunteers to stay behind… but if no one else objects, that's fine by me!" She looked at the other girls as they shrugged indifferently. "Alright you two, saddle up!"
The mid sized shuttle jet was much smaller than the large transport bus used to rescue the Natamoru. Its size also afforded it the luxury of speed. Once Bulma and the two girls were belted and harnessed in, she started the ignition. The powerful jets roared with flames as they reached full power. Without a second delay, Bulma wrenched the throttle and away they went. For the first moments, soaring through the sky felt much more intense than the measly butterflies they felt going down on the lift. That feeling combined with the inability to move their necks made it quite an adventure indeed. After Bulma made it high into the sky, she slowed down, returning the flight conditions to normal.
"Alright, you can unbuckle yourselves now. It won't be too long, maybe an hour or less, so get comfortable."
Gem and Bell both nodded; unbuckling their safety harnesses. Bell looked into her sister's eyes, channeling thoughts directly into her mind.
Did you hear what she said? What are Dragonballs? What do you think Trunks is up to? She thought.
Gem squinted her eyes, before responding. Let's ask Bulma. I don't think it's a secret. I'm sure she'll tell us. And if she doesn't, we'll find out anyways.
Bell gasped out loud. Bulma looked at her out of the corner of her eyes, but paid no mind. Bell's eyes narrowed, scolding her sister. We're not supposed to use our abilities to pry secrets! If she doesn't tell us, then that's the end of it, ok?
Gem rolled her eyes. Fine. You ask her. Your voice is cuter.
Bell gently cleared her throat. "Um, Bulma? What are Dragonballs?"
"I completely forgot to tell you, didn't I? It's hard to remember you gals aren't from around here. Well, you're in for a treat. I've known about this story since I was a young girl, and it still doesn't get old!" Bulma cleared her throat before continuing. "A long time ago, earth had a guardian named Kami. He watched over the earth, made sure no one got out of line, you know? Well, Kami wasn't from earth at all! He was from the planet Namek, see? He didn't know that for many years, but he did know about the Dragonballs!"
"What are they?" Bell leaned forward, her eyes wide with excitement.
Gem nudged her in the ribs, trying to deflate her enthusiasm.
"Ouch, sorry." Bell whispered. She rubbed her side as Bulma continued.
"The Dragonballs are seven mystical orbs that when brought together, summon the mighty Eternal Dragon! On earth, that Dragon's name is Shenron! Now the cool thing about summoning the Dragon is that he grants you a wish so he can return to his slumber. Almost anything you can imagine, Shenron can do!" Bulma clicked her fingers and winked at Bell.
"Wow! Have you ever seen a Dragonball before?" Bell sat on the edge of her seat, hanging on Bulma's every word.
"I've summoned the Dragon many times."
Gem interrupted the back and forth exchange. "So what does this have to do with Trunks?"
"Oh yeah." Bulma reached forward, placing both hands on the ships controls. "Well, Kami died a long time ago. When he did, the Dragonballs lost all of their power. It seems that Trunks might have found a way to bring him back. And if that's true, earth might once again get a new set of Dragonballs. I don't expect you to understand, but it means a lot of hope to me. This world is different than it used to be. Hope is pretty short these days."
"I understand, Bulma. That's fantastic news." Gem added.
"Yeah, that's awesome!" Bell couldn't help but cheer.
Bulma raised her hands in the air triumphantly. "I know, right? This has been a pretty exciting week. It brings back memories."
Gem sat forward, her eyes glimmering with quiet expectation. "What kind of memories?"
Bulma grinned wildly. "Well, if you insist… It all started when I was a young girl, maybe sixteen. After hearing the Dragonball legend, I invented a radar to track them!"
"Wow!" Gasped Bell.
You're such a child sometimes, thought Gem as she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. The small jet continued to zoom through the sky, leaving a thin trail of white smoke in its wake.
Trunks sat quietly on the steps leading into the main sanctuary while paced nervously. The small genie stopped in place and turned to Trunks.
"Maybe this is a bad idea. If we disturb it… all hope might be lost."
Trunks sat still, his eyes closed, he meditated on the egg. "Don't take this the wrong way, but any hope this egg could have brought is long gone anyways. If we can't hatch it at Capsule, then nothing can."
Tears began filling the genie's eyes as he continued pacing again. Trunks could sense his sorrow. It was almost as if his feelings were standing right there with them, waiting. A little less than an hour had passed before the sound of engines echoing through the sky could be heard, and a short time later, the small Capsule Jet was in view. Trunks opened his eyes as the wind raced across his skin. The jet hovered very slowly before landing, kicking up dust and rustling the palm trees. Mr. Popo covered his face, but Trunks didn't even flinch. The ship landed with a large thud and the engines powered down. Before the hatch was fully opened, Bulma jumped out and dashed toward them. Trunks stood up to meet her, the egg remained wrapped in a blanket, cradled in his arms.
"Is that it?" Bulma glanced at Popo, smiling. "Hey ! How have you been?"
"He's not doing so good right now; separation anxiety." Trunks pulled the blanket away carefully, revealing the pale, green egg.
Bulma's jaw dropped slowly. She reached out to touch the surface of the egg, but stopped herself. "It looks like it was made yesterday… We need to get home right away." Bulma put her hand on Trunks' back, ushering him towards the ship. She waved goodbye to . "Sorry I can't stay for coffee or something… I'll call you and let you know how everything goes!"
"But… I don't have a pho-"
He was quickly interrupted again by Bulma. "Bye!" She closed the door to the ship.
Carefully they strapped themselves in again and slowly this time, the ship gathered speed for their return to Capsule Corp. Gem and Bell couldn't take their eyes or smiles off of Trunks. As soon as he noticed them, his heart jumped and his face felt hot.
"How are you two doing?"
Bell couldn't resist the invitation, and overflowed like a river. "Bulma told us all about everything! How you defeated those artificial humans and traveled back in time and… everything!"
"I'm glad she kept you entertained."
Before Bell could continue spouting out more information, Gem reached up and silenced her. "Do you think you can bring Kami and the Dragonballs back, Trunks?"
He looked into Gems eyes, and then back down to the egg. "We'll find out."
Several hours later, back at Capsule Corp, Bulma returned to the emerald terrace in a shuttle bus filled with the Natamoru interns she left behind earlier. The hatch opened and they poured out, returning to the group of Natamoru who were lounging around.
"Sorry about that! If I knew it was gonna be longer than a few hours, I woulda called you guys a cab! She dusted off her hands, wiping the dried grease on her pants. In all of the confusion, she forgot how badly she needed a shower. She lifted her arm and sniffed gently. "Not too bad!" She pressed a button on her wristband. The screen flashed for several seconds until Trunks' face appeared. "Hey! Do you need any help down there?"
"No, I have the computer monitoring it now. It's doing a full scan and incubating," he said.
"Don't forget, Namek babies incubate differently than normal ones."
"I didn't. I went through all of the data you collected when the Namekians visited earth twenty-some years ago.
Bulma blinked, surprised. "Oh, of course you did! Well, I knew you would have everything under control. I'm gonna get washed up. I'll come down and fix all of your mistakes later." She gave him a wink.
"Thanks mother." The transmission ended.
Bulma looked up at the beautiful, puffy white clouds and took a deep breath. "What a fantastic day!" She walked leisurely into the main building, smiling politely at the Natamoru boys and girls as she passed them. Her walk seemed to have a subtle skip to it, as she unzipped her jacket and tossed it aside. Her fingertips brushed the wall, as she dazedly continued to the showers. Her mind was clear and content, filled with hope and possibility, dreams and wishes. Part of her realized the Dragonballs could restore order to the earth if they needed to be used, and her selfish side wanted to wish for Trunks to find a mate. She walked into the showers and turned them on, peeling the grimy tanktop off of her body and tossing it onto the floor, starting a small pile.
"These clothes should be burned! Yuck!" She unsnapped her bra and tossed it aside too. She closed her eyes, stretching her arms as far as she could reach. Suddenly, a small robot dropped out of the ceiling and hovered into the room.
"BUL-MA . . ."
At the sound of the robotic voice, she jumped into the air, scrambling to cover herself as quickly as possible. She hunched forward, hiding herself, and looked around.
"HEY, DON'T YOU REALIZE I'M IN HERE SHOWERING?!" She shrieked, her eyes squinting closed from anger. She opened them to see the small robot floating in place, a small oil droplet down the back of its metal head. It twiddled its metal fingers, unsure of what to do or say.
"… You in-struct-ed me to de-liver your mes-sage-es from Na-wa Gro-cer-y Store di-rect-ly to you…"
She sighed, regaining her composure, still covering her breasts adamantly. "I thought I programmed you with some manners, that's all. Turn around already and quit gawking!"
The small robot fluttered its arms in a panic and quickly turned, facing the tiled wall.
"There, now stay like that!" She reluctantly unguarded herself and continued undressing, tossing the rest of her clothes in the pile. She walked into the hot water and gave a sigh of frustration combined with relaxation. She grabbed a bar of soap and began washing off the thin later of grease that coated her skin. The hot water felt like a massage from heaven on her tired muscles. She didn't realize how stressful the last few days had been. She rinsed her hands off and reached for the shampoo. She closed her eyes and worked it into a nice, foamy lather. She quirked one eye open and glanced at the small robot that continued to hover in the corner. "Are you gonna deliver the message or what? I'm waiting already! Geeze, if you don't shape up I'll turn you into a toaster or something more useful!" She sighed again and began rinsing the lather out of her hair.
"YES… of course… so-rry BUL-MA. I will re-play the mes-sage now… LOAD-ING…" The sound of Ms. Nawa talking over the phone echoed through the shower.
"Hey Bulma, it's me, Lita… just wondering if we're still on for the campus tour tomorrow? Nadia is suspicious, so you need to be on top of your game if you want to convince her. What about Trunks? Have you figured out how we're gonna… do this? I mean… I don't know, I wish you were there to talk to me more. You've been really distant this week… Trunks too. What's going on over there? Call me back so I know what time to come over… otherwise, we'll be there at nine, ok? Call me, please! Bye."
The robot chimed in at the message completion. "End of mes-sage. Would you like me to re-peat it BUL-MA?" There was no answer, only silence.
"Would you like me to re-peat the mes-sage?" Again, there was nothing. The robot reluctantly began turning around. "BUL-MA?" When the robot had finished turning around, she was gone. A small question mark appeared above its head.
Through the halls of capsule corp, dripping with soap suds and water, almost falling out of her towel with no time for modesty, Bulma raced to the terrace. She ran out the doors and whistled as loudly as she could, causing all of the Natamoru to cringe. They turned, only to be even more confused by her appearance.
"I need all of your help, now!"
Trunks pressed the enter key on the computer one final time initiating the final incubation commands. He stood up and walked towards the glass where the egg was being housed. He couldn't help but give a hopeful smile. Finally it seemed like everything was looking up for them. He turned to the door as a small spark snapped in his mind. He could sense the ki of the Natamoru boys, Daku and Kolato. A moment later, the door opened automatically, and in they walked.
"Master Trunks," said Kolato with a bow.
Trunks smiled. He knew he had taken a long enough break from his own training, so teaching the twins might be a good way to get back on the horse, he thought.
"You guys are ambitious. Alright, let's go up to the gym. I have an idea how to start you guys out."
The boys couldn't contain their smiles as they followed Trunks up to the training area where they fought, not long ago. Although the debris from their battle was gone, the walls and ground still showed scars from the skirmish.
Trunks turned to the boys and crossed his arms. "Are you ready to begin?" he said.
"Yes." They said together. They stood several feet apart and began posturing for the fusion technique.
"Wait; there's no need to combine into one. I'll be training you separately."
Their eyes widened and they looked at each other, startled by his words. Daku stepped forward, speaking for both of them. "But our fighting skill is next to nothing without each other. We were never meant to fight alone."
"That might be true; but my hunch is the stronger you get in this form, the greater your power will become when you both fuse together. Any power worth having takes dedicated training to control." He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small case and removed a capsule. With a single click, he tossed it to the floor where it burst into a cloud of smoke with a loud POOF! When the smoke cleared, there was a large steal crate on the ground. Trunks walked over and opened it. "This isn't going to be easy. This will be the hardest training you've ever endured. I'll test your physical and mental limits to their breaking points and beyond." He tossed four black bands towards the twins. "Daku, strap these to your wrists; Kolato, you put them on your ankles."
The twins followed his instructions without question. Trunks closed the case and walked towards them, making sure the bands were secured tightly. After spending a minute to configure the bands, he pressed a button on his wrist watch, causing the bands to light up.
"These are gravity bands. You'll be wearing them while training, for now. We'll start you out easy. Two times earth gravity shouldn't be much. When you master this, then we can move on to the next level of training. Daku, your bands will only alter the gravity of your arms and essential upper body muscles. You'll be doing punch-block drills. Kolato, your bands effect the gravity surrounding your lower body, so you'll be doing kicking and dodging drills. Understand?"
The twins nodded, sharing the same look of determination. Trunks pressed the button on his wristband, activating the gravity bands. Immediately, the twins felt the strain of the gravity. Daku struggled to keep his hands above his waist while Kolato stood still, almost too afraid to take a single step.
Bulma had organized the Natamoru into different groups to help her prepare Capsule Corp. for the impromptu college fair. With their disguise bands activated, there was no difference between them and regular human students. Up until this point, Bulma had let the circumstances of Capsule Corp. Community College fall into place; but she knew now it was time to get serious. Despite being kept in slavery for such a long time, they seemed to thrive off of the work that Bulma had given them.
"Keep it up guys! That's great teamwork you're exhibiting! Each of you attending courses this semester are getting extra credit, so do your best!" Bulma said with a wink. There was a team of Natamoru dedicated to decorating for the fair, a team to setup the classrooms and a team to serve Bulma's every whim (the most necessary team of all!). Bulma pulled out her Capsule Corp. flip phone and immediately dialed the Nawa grocery. The phone rang twice before it was picked up on the other end.
"Nawa Grocery, how can I help you?" chimed a sweet voice.
"Lita, it's me Bulma. I got your message. Sorry I've been so distant. Things are hectic around here lately."
"I'm sorry, you want to talk to my mother? Hold on one second." Nadia set the phone down and walked into the other room. "Mother, you have a phone call from Bulma."
Ms. Nawa sat up, bumping the top of her head on a shelf, wincing slightly.
"Oh! Bulma! That's the…uh…dean of Capsule College! I wanted to make sure tomorrow was still good for a visit! How pleasant of her to call back!"
"Mother, how hard did you hit your head? Bulma's like your only friend in the world… you talk about her constantly."
Ms. Nawa stood still, half a smile on her face and one of her eyes twitching slightly. "Right…of course! She's also the dean, that's what I meant." She tried to smooth over the tension with a couple of forced laughs, but Nadia didn't seem to notice or care.
"Okay mom, she's on the phone right now."
"Right! Thanks darling! Why don't you take a lunch break, go pick up something to eat for us, hmm?"
"Sure." Nadia removed her apron and set it on the desk. She picked up a handbag and headed for the door. Ms. Nawa walked towards the phone and picked it up, smiling at Nadia as she watched her walk out the door.
"Bulma! You had me really worried, what's going on? "
"I'm busy getting things ready for orientation tomorrow. I ran into some trouble balancing my time, but things are going steady now. All I need is for you guys to show up."
A sigh of relief came from the other side of the phone. "That's great. I get stressed out pretty easily over things like this. Nadia is usually so resistant to me, but for some reason she's being surprisingly open to new ideas. We need to take advantage of it now! What's your plan for tomorrow? Are we introducing Trunks, or waiting?"
Bulma was silent. She forgot about Trunks. With all of her planning, she failed to realize that with the recent discovery of Kami's egg, pulling Trunks away could be harder than pulling teeth. She thought long and hard before answering. "We'll see."
The twins were training furiously under the supervision of their Saiyan instructor. It was clear that their frail bodies were having difficulty dealing with the new gravity, but they pushed onward regardless of their limitations.
"Daku, be steady with your punches. Your goal is to throw punches with identical power and speed. Kolato, keep moving between kicks; it'll make you faster and increase your power greatly." He reminded himself of Gohan as he spoke. Trunks! Even out your punches! There's no point in throwing a punch if it's weaker than the ones before it. Don't save your energy, fight to exhaustion instead! It's the key to unlocking your true potential. It made Trunks happy to see how far he'd come. He knew Gohan would be proud, were he still alive.
"Trunks!" Daku cried out. It quickly brought Trunks back to his senses.
The boys looked completely drained of all vitality. Trunks pressed a button on his wristband, returning their gravity to normal.
"Take a break guys." He walked towards them as they nearly collapsed. Daku lay on his back, breathing heavily, while Kolato fell to his knees, barely holding himself up. "Get used to the pain. Think about it like an investment in your power. If I'm right, you'll benefit much more from training in your weakened states."
"But it's…so…hard." Kolato said, gasping for his breath. "How are we supposed to keep this up?"
"You aren't supposed to keep up. Next time will be easier, but as soon as you two master this gravity, I'll increase it. The training won't stop until I have nothing else to teach."
The twins stared at each other, exasperated.
Can we last under these conditions? How is this type of torture helping us? Daku thought to his brother.
We must persevere. I trust his guidance. We will keep strong; you'll see. Thought Kolato.
Trunks' wristband beeped twice. It was an incoming call from Bulma. "What is it mother?" he said into his wristband.
"Trunks, where are you? I thought you'd be in the incubation room, but that's where I am."
"I was training the twins. I guess we got carried away with the time."
Bulma's heart dropped. If he was back to training already, she knew it would be hard to pry him away again. "You sure did! Please get some rest. Orientation for the college is tomorrow and I need you to help me. You didn't forget about your promise, did you?"
Trunks blushed slightly. He had forgotten about it in light of everything that had happened. "I'm sorry mother. Don't worry too much; we're turning in for the night. I'll see you tomorrow." Trunks ended the transmission and looked at his exhausted protégés. "Sweet dreams boys. Make sure to get plenty of rest for tomorrow. We'll pick up from where we left off then."