Chapter 25 – The Super Dragonballs
So they really were going to be able to use the Super Dragonballs. It was going to be an interesting occasion, seeing what the god of these set of Dragonballs looked like in comparison to Shenron and Porunga. What limitations would he have? What kind of wishes and how many wishes would he be able to grant?
Maybe she could wish for the tournament to be held when she wasn't pregnant so she could fight in the damn thing!
"I doubt you'll find the last one easily!" Champa snapped in spite. "Let's go!" And with that, he turned and marched back towards his combatants, Vados hot on his heels. "You guys had better show up for the next tournament or Omni King will be mad!"
So it seemed Universe Six's combatants would live to see another day. Corset could appreciate how close to death they'd just come due to the outcome of this tournament and was glad she wasn't going to have to be a witness to anything horrific. The Saiyan of the group had now approached her father and the two seemed to have a small conversation, whilst Goku had approached Hit. Nothing much other than Buu waking up happened within the next couple of minutes and Corset was now realising how draining being a member of the audience was.
"Is something wrong?" Videl caught her attention, looking concerned. "You look tired."
"I feel tired," Corset nodded in confirmation. "If anything, I could do with taking a nap."
"You have to stay awake," Bulma interrupted, a peculiar smile on her face. "Now we can see just how well my new and improved radar works!" Corset wasn't sure when her mother had managed to pull out the Dragonball radar from wherever she'd been stashing it. "Let's see…" Pressing the buttons either side of the handles, the screen lit up.
"It doesn't work."
Bulma shrieked in shock as Birus stood towering over her. Quickly she got to her feet and took a couple of steps back, "Y-You shouldn't sneek up on people like that!"
"Well?" Birus ignored her. "Where is this final Dragonball?"
"I-It's n-not on the screen yet," Bulma answered warily. "… You're not to use the Dragonballs to wish for anything horrible! If you do, I'll complain to the Omni King!"
"… Fine," Birus conceded. Apparently her mother had just found the weakness of these Hakaishin – and possibly every other god of the universes. Just how amazing was this Omni King really supposed to be?
Bulma continued to fiddle with the buttons, expanding and manoeuvring the device until at last, she gave in. "It's no good. Even if I expand the range, we can only detect the six balls already here. We really will have to go to the centre of the universe to get a better idea."
"Where exactly is the centre of the universe supposed to be?" Krillin frowned. "I want to go home and get some rest."
"Hold on…" Eighteen peered closer at the radar screen. "… Isn't it showing that there are already seven balls here?"
Bulma zoomed in on her screen again, far enough so that all the individual Dragonballs were clear on the screen. Counting them, it turned out that there were seven instead of six… So, was the radar broken or was the seventh Dragonball…
"We're standing on it, aren't we?" Soba dryly muttered.
"But the ground doesn't look anything like the surface of a Dragonball," Videl pointed out. "Then again, it's the only other thing that's close enough to be on the map now… unless it's below the planet?"
"We'd have seen it when we came in, surely?" Krillin dismissed this idea.
"Excuse me," Monaka interrupted, "but on my home planet. I look a lot at maps of the universe. You would be better to see this in 3D."
"That may not be a bad suggestion," Bulma nodded in agreement. "Whis, could we borrow your cube?"
Whis took the group off the planet in the safety of his cube. They travelled a safe distance from the planet before halting and watching. Corset was struggling to stay awake at this point but even in her state, she could see the planet seemed a little distorted in her eyes. Cracks were beginning to form upon its crust, burning a bright, fiery colour. If anything it looked like the planet's core had given in and was about to self-destruct.
"Watch," Whis instructed.
The glow from the planet intensified quickly, expelling the outer crust and forcing it out into space. As the brightness dimmed down, there sat the seventh Dragonball, surrounded by the other six.
"I was right!" Soba grinned cockily.
"But why does the Dragonball suddenly look like one?" Bulma asked. "It was solid rock the whole time we were there."
"It could be that a wish was made on these Super Dragonballs a long time ago," Piccolo explained, "this scattered the balls across the two universes. They probably collided with asteroids and other planets along the way, catching debris as they struck… of course, it's just a theory."
"It's very neat for debris," Krillin mused. "It'd be impressive that the whole ball managed to get covered to the point it looks like an ordinary planet!"
"Do you have any better ideas?" Piccolo growled, making krillin flinch.
"So how do we summon the God of Dragons?" Goku asked. "We have all seven balls but it's no good if we don't know the password."
"Promise me one more time that you won't wish for anything horrible," Bulma glared towards Birus.
"Stop nagging me or I'll change my mind!" Birus grumbled.
"… You'd have to say in the language of the gods: Come forth Shenron – or whatever it's name is – and grant my wish!" Bulma explained. "Who knows if it'll respond to it…"
"Whis!" Birus barked up towards the top of the cube, where Whis stood on the exterior. "I'll shout the words up and you say them in the language of the gods!"
"Yes, Birus," Whis agreed. Birus passed the message on in the language required, which Whis repeated in the direction of the Dragonballs.
"… Nothing's happening," Goku frowned.
"Your words didn't help," Birus glared towards Bulma. "You'd better start telling me the truth, or -" He was cut off as the stars within each Dragonball started to illuminate a brighter red. Everyone's eyes now settled on the giant balls as they slowly started to shift and rotate, settling themselves into some kind of pattern. A few sparks of electricity connected them all before the group started to shimmer brighter and brighter, exploding with a ferociously blinding light, drowning out everything else from sight. Corset cried out as her eyes suffered, burning from the sheer brightness. It took a few seconds before she started to recover and a few more before she dared to open her eyes.
Something golden shrouded their view. Corset couldn't work out what it was for a few moments until a large red eye emerged. The worlds around them were dwarfed by its size, whatever it was. A terrifying roar came from deep with its body, the creature shifting and breaking free of the shield surrounding in. In a flurry of light, it grew larger and larger, the surrounding space turning into a blur that set off a dizzy bout in her. Corset swayed and caught herself in time, landing safely on the bottom of the cube. She had to keep her eyes shut to try and starve off the sudden nausea the movement had brought on. What was going on?
"Whoa!" Eighteen's horrified voice wasn't exactly filling her with confidence.
"Has the world stopped spinning?" Corset asked through clenched teeth.
"No, not yet!" Videl was close to her, very close in fact as her voice was cutting through the howls of the monster's cries. Corset could just about hear Pan crying; the two of them must have also taken to the floor. Cautiously she opened one eye, clamping it shut immediately as the wave of nausea grew strength. It was a few more seconds before someone else's words were load enough for her to hear.
"The stars and the galaxies…!" It was Krillin, and as he spoke, the dragon's roars died down. They were left with an eerily quiet peace. Cautiously she tried opening one eye again, the other practically ripped open when she realised that Krillin's sentence had a lot of weight going for it. Their surroundings weren't too dissimilar from an auditorium. It was as if the galaxies had shrunk in size and were now floating lazily around them. The cube seemed to have vanished, leaving them in some kind of colourful, space-themed void. Before them, a bright circle of light seemed to be sending out waves of bright light, albeit it didn't seem to be affecting them.
"Where are we?" Bulma asked concerned.
"Probably in the body of this Super Shenron," Piccolo answered.
"It ate us?" Oolong gasped in horror. "Dammit, if this is a dream then please, someone wake me up!"
"You mean we'll come out as dragon poop?" Goku asked.
"Watch it!" Chichi snapped. "Don't encourage the kids with your potty mouth!"
"There's no need to worry," Whis cut through their conversation. "We're just passing through the initial gate."
Slowly they did seem to be heading towards this light before them. As they drew closer, an image of a green dragon presented itself in the centre of this light, with red eyes and a look not too dissimilar to their Shenron. Passing through its mouth, they entered a far darker world than the one before, with the odd dash of a greyish-blue passing them by. This place made Corset feel cold, even forcing her to shiver. Was it the dark or was it because the darkest reaches of space were also the coldest, something she knew to be true? Was her mind reacting to this knowledge and unintentionally causing her to react as if it truly were the outer reaches of space?
Suddenly the area before them was filled in with the shape of the dragon from before, golden body bringing a sense of warmth to this place. Its head craned down towards them, its red eyes intensely studying them. Slowly its mouth opened.
"Is this Super Shenron's real body?" Bulma asked.
"Not quite," Whis explained, "This is the core of his presence."
The dragon began to speak in a language Corset didn't recognise and could only assume was the language of the gods. 'How are we supposed to know what to say?'
"He wants to know our wish," Yamcha frowned. "But how are we going to be able to talk to it if it doesn't understand our language?"
"Whis is able to speak the language of the gods," Birus answered. "He will translate for us. It'll have to be a good wish."
"You mean you haven't thought of one yet?" Bulma glared.
"Shut up!" Birus grumbled. "I'm thinking of one now!" He took a moment to pause before an uncomfortable smile emerged upon his face. Annoyingly, his wish was spoken in the language of gods, leaving everyone else in the dark about what he was asking for. Corset couldn't help but feel anxious considering this was their Hakaishin making a wish on these Dragonballs.
"Are you sure about this?" Whis asked.
"Yep," Birus nodded.
"Alright then," Whis smiled, "Let's ask for it." He turned his eyes back to the gigantic dragon before them and repeated what Birus has spoken. The dragon's eyes flashed in confirmation, the same way Shenron's did when he'd granted a wish. With that, the dragon started to shrink before their eyes, vanishing into nothing. Their world started to change again, Corset deliberately squatting down to the bottom of their cube and keeping her eyes shut.
"We're here already?" Soba's surprised cry brought her eyes open. Indeed there was no spinning; they were right back where they'd been before, only now there were no planets or Dragonballs floating beside them.
"What did you wish for?" Bulma asked, still sounding untrusting.
Birus seemed calm, even with his arms folded. "It's a secret."
"That's not fair, you're being selfish," Goku frowned. "You shouldn't keep us in the dark about this."
"I wished for a bed that is more comfortable than my current bed," Birus answered.
"You've got to be kidding!" Bulma cried. "Idiot – even I could have given you a more comfortable bed! You didn't have to ask Super Shenron for that! What a waste!"
"Who are you calling an idiot?" Birus barked. "I'll destroy you for real!"
Whis returned to Birus' home planet first in order to drop Monaka off. Naturally Goku was hot on his heels asking for a match, something which Birus put an immediate stop to. Quickly Whis then announced they were departing for Earth, leaving Goku's need to fight Monaka as a pipe dream. Soon they were back on terra firma, bidding Whis farewell.
"A martial arts tournament with every universe involved is going to be a huge event," Piccolo was musing.
"And fun too," Goku added.
"Perhaps we'll take another vacation to see it?" Jaco smiled, his tentacle-clad boss agreeing.
'Please don't be anytime soon,' Corset kept her fingers crossed.
"Wait until Daddy gets home from work, we'll have plenty to tell him, won't we Pan?" Videl was cooing at her daughter, who was smiling back at her mother.
"Why?" Trunks asked bemused. "Why are you holding a party?"
"Isn't it obvious?" His mother asked incredulously. "It's to celebrate our Universe keeping our planet. Besides, this way I can try and keep Birus and Whis on our side by feeding them more delicious Earthling food."
"You're shameless sometimes," Trunks muttered.
"I don't want to hear that kind of talk coming from you," Bulma scowled. "We're lucky Birus hasn't killed us yet, in all honesty. Goku and Vegeta still aren't strong enough to beat him if he goes off on one, so I want to make sure that for now, our planet is safe. The way to do that is to keep on getting them to try our cuisine." Her eyes turned from her youngest to her oldest child. "How about it? Are you up for it?"
Corset scrunched her nose up. "I'm honestly not up for anything right now. I'm shattered."
"Yeah well you will be until the baby comes," Bulma smiled empathetically.
"Liar," Corset folded her arms. "What about the part after the baby is born? She'll be crying at stupid hours of the night and I'll have to force Soba awake to help me and then my entire living-time will be dedicated to meeting her every need."
"Well, make sure it's not just her needs you're meeting," Bulma frowned.
"Eugh!" Trunks grimaced in horror. "That's more than I wanted to know!"
"What?" Bulma asked, then quickly cottoned on and glared. "I was talking about her looking after herself!"
"Anyway," Corset butted in swiftly, "I was kinda assuming that you'd be able to help out every once in a while?"
"I work," Bulma responded, earning a frown from her daughter. "What? I worked when you were both tiny."
"You worked because you had Nana to help," Corset growled.
"So ask her," Came Bulma's reply, further causing her daughter's brow to fall. "My mother wasn't working, which allowed me the time to continue working – under the same roof – whilst your grandmother looked after you. We all lived here in this one building where I work and live. I'm still very much a working woman, unlike my mother. So as much as I know you'd appreciate it, I'm gonna have to say no. I have a company to run."
"Thanks so much for your help," Corset sarcastically snorted, getting off her seat and storming out of the room. Well that hadn't gone down the way she'd expected it to. She'd assumed her mother would have been more than willing to help her out in her time of need, looking after an infant that wasn't capable of living independently by a long stretch. It sounded so selfish to her.
"Why are you surprised?" Soba raised an eyebrow. "I mean, sure it's a pain but was you really expecting her to stop doing her job?"
"I don't know," Corset rounded on him, growing increasingly irritated. "I mean I didn't expect her to be there twenty-four-seven but it would be nice to know she'd provide us with a little bit of support! It's not like you're going to be around much to help."
"I have a few weeks paternity leave," Soba frowned. "You think I'm gonna spend that time avoiding you or something?"
"No but you're not gonna be there for long," Corset responded. "You'll quickly be back to work because people will expect you to be there and I'll just be stuck at home."
Soba's frown turned into a glower. "…'Stuck' at home?"
"Oh come on, you know as well as I do that I'm not going to be able to do anything but stay at home and look after our kid if I'm the only one," Corset snapped. "If I had other people actually offering some support then it wouldn't seem like such a-"
"Like such a what?" Soba interrupted, temper flaring.
Corsrt bit her lip and exhaled loudly through her nostrils. "… All I'm saying is that it's gonna be consuming all of my time – not that I'm not prepared for that… It's just such a big change. Plus my body is going to need time to recover so I'm gonna be pretty knackered when you finally get home every night. It's a big change."
"You're free to move about, just take her with you," Soba's temper still hadn't died down. He was clearly hurt by whatever he thought she was suggesting. This seemed to happen a lot these days from what Corset could remember. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to try and work things out between them.
The conversation was quickly interrupted as Goku suddenly materialised out of thin air, startling the two of them.
"Goku? What are you doing here?" Corset asked baffled.
Goku looked just as perplexed as the two of them. "… This isn't Kaio's house either… how odd. What's going on?" He glanced around and seemed now to only notice Corset and Soba. "Sorry for dropping in on you like this, I'm trying to get to Kaio's house. My body's been acting all weird the last couple of days."
"You're a little far off the mark then," Corset dryly responded. "How is it possible you can't lock onto his ki?"
"Who knows," Goku shrugged his shoulders, placing his two fingers to his head. "I'll try this again…" And in the blink of an eye, he was gone.