Locke

The motorcycle I was currently riding seemed agonizingly slow compared to my regular speed in the air. Meadow's arms were wrapped tightly around my waist, reminding me that it was still terrifyingly fast for her, our destination only adding to that terror.

After a night's rest, Meadow quickly called her Dad to tell her where she was going, even though he obviously forbade it and she ended up hanging up on him, and we all set out. Mom took the car with Cell laying in the back seat, while Meadow and I took her motorcycle from her more exciting days before she moved out of Gran's and Gramps' house. We took different routes so that if my Power Level spiked, which it no doubt would, Cell still wouldn't be found.

Up ahead of us, I spotted the large wall of dark figures blocking off the city. They seemed to spot us as well and started firing waves upon waves of energy blasts at us. I tried my best to swerve away, but I ended up having to deflect quite a few. We finally got close enough, and I raised my ki enough to fire a Big Bang Crash, blowing a hole through the wall big enough for us to escape. We slipped through, and I put up a ki shield behind us to protect us until we were a safe distance away.

Once the assault ceased, I slowed to a stop and we both got off, Meadow almost falling from her terrified trembling. "Whoa!" I cried as I hurried to catch her. "Gotta say, that was a lot smoother than I expected."

"That makes one of us!" She let out a shaky sigh and quickly removed her helmet, then mine. Once it thudded to the ground, she grabbed my face and kissed me hard, our teeth hitting, but she ignored it and continued until she stopped shaking.

I grinned as she pulled away. "If I get one of those after a fight, we might have to take a few detours."

"Don't you dare," she warned. "We're going straight to your grandparent's house. Where do they live, anyway?"

I pointed ahead. "About two hours by air."

"And by land?"

My face fell. "A day or two?" We both let out a sigh. "Let's get moving." I picked up our helmets from the dirt and handed her her's. Once we were mounted, we set off again.

It was quiet for a while, but Meadow eventually broke the silence. "Locke?" she asked. "Why did you call Cell your dad?"

I started to answer, but stopped, realizing that I had none. "Dunno," I responded finally. "It just kinda slipped out." I smiled, even though she couldn't see it. "But it might be true soon enough. Like I said, he and my mom are good friends, and I can tell she really likes him."

I felt her nod against my back. "I hope so. You deserve-" She stopped and squeezed me tightly. "B-blue!" My head jerked up, catching sight of a blue light zooming through the sky. Checking my senses, I identified Gohan. We both quickly lowered our ki levels as much as we could, as I'd taught her earlier that morning. After a few minutes of praying, the light vanished from sight.

I sighed. "They're really trying." My hands clenched against the handlebars. "Damn. Why is it so hard for them to accept that Cell's changed? They took Vegeta easily enough, even after he killed so many innocent people!"

I felt Meadow squeeze me again, but this time in a comforting way. "We just need to show them."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"Stop these shadows," she said simply. "They're already a huge threat across the world. If you and Cell help stop them, then they'll hopefully keep an open mind. And Goku seemed ready to believe you, didn't he?"

Slightly cheered-up, I nodded. "Yeah. That could work." I tried to look back at her, despite the helmets covering both our faces. "How long do you see us being together?" I asked out of nowhere.

She seemed startled by the sudden question. "U-um, I didn't really think about it," she nervously replied. "And I guess I don't really want to. If we are going to split-up someday, I want it to be a really long time from now, if ever."

I smiled. "And keep in mind that you getting hurt brought out Super Saiyan Orchid. Clearly, you're important to me. I don't want to lose you any time soon." I couldn't see her face, but the tender squeeze she gave me was all I needed.

As we rode, the grassy wasteland gradually turned to desert. A dark dome was coming into view; another city imprisoned by the shadows. I planned to go around it, but right as I started to turn, the vehicle slowed to a stop.

"Why did we stop?" Meadow asked, alarmed.

I checked the meter and sighed. "We're out of gas. I guess we'll have to stop at that town." She looked at the black dome, then back to me.

"You planned this," she accused. "I don't know how, but you planned this."

I grinned. "Nope, just a happy accident." We got off and I started wheeling the bike towards the town.

As we drew near, I gauged the dome to be fairly small, possibly enough so that I could demolish it. But I wanted to keep a low profile, so I'd have to save that experiment for later.

"Gonna make a hole?" Meadow asked as we approached. "I think they see us." Right as she said it, shapes started to break free from the dome and flew towards us. "They definitely see us!"

I raised my hand, charging red energy into it. "Hold it..." I waited until they were within a few yards of me, then fired. "Big Bang Crash!" The red energy sphere smashed into the shadows, reducing them to dust and continuing on. I grabbed Meadow and the bike to follow after it. It crashed into the dome and exploded, giving us a hole just big enough to escape through. I continued running past the startled townspeople, until I came to an empty area of town and ducked into an alley.

As I hoped, Meadow grabbed me in a terrified kiss when we came to a stop. "Maybe a warning next time?" Meadow requested as I set her down. "It would be great to expect that for once."

I shrugged and looked around the corner. "I don't think anyone got a good look at us; we should be okay to go back into the open." I slowly wheeled the bike into the open and we went to look for a gas station.

Sorry that this was kinda uneventful, but there had to be a way to get them from point A to point B without just skipping ahead. Don't worry, though: next week will have a little more, and there'll be somewhat of a surprise, as well. That's all I've got, followers and favoriters. See you next time.