The two pushed the chest open, staring down into it for a long moment.
"What in the world?" Bulma finally wondered.
They shared a glance.
"What do you think it's to?" the girl questioned.
"I don't know," Krillin admitted.
The teen reached in and pulled out a key. "Some treasure," she grumped.
Kagome's eyes narrowed at the back of blondie's head as he shifted.
"What now?" Bulma sighed. "Do you think it's to a door?"
"Well, there aren't any doors in here," the boy pointed out.
"Yeah, good point..." she groaned.
He looked around, finally noticing the keyhole on the base of the statue. "Hey, Bulma? Check it out! That's gotta be it."
"Yeah, good eye!" the girl agreed, both of them moving to try it out. "This could be big trouble," she thought to warn.
"Yeah," the boy nodded nervously.
A cascade of jewels and gold fell from the statue's mouth, filling up the middle chest.
"You know what this means, don't you?!" the blue-haired teen cheered. "We're rich!"
"Yeah!" Krillin bounced excitedly.
"I'm afraid that you're both mistaken," the blond spoke up, finally climbing up out of the water. "That treasure belongs to the Red Ribbon Army."
They both gasped and turned around.
"No good bullies!" Bulma cried out indignantly.
Blondie just chuckled self-righteously - and the teen promptly lost her mind.
"Oh!" she gasped, going red and love-struck in an instant. "Hello, I'm Bulma!"
She tried cozying up to the guy, freaking Krillin - and the jerk - out. Kagome just tried not to slap her forehead as she drifted closer to the shore, staying silent and out of sight.
"Ew, don't touch me!" Blondie shrieked, pulling away from the girl. "Disgusting!"
The two on land both gaped.
"You - you prude!" Bulma accused, obviously trying to salvage her pride.
"Funny," Krillin snorted. "For a big guy, you sure scare easy!"
The guy growled. "I doubt you'll find me so funny when you're dead! You have a death-wish, don't you cueball?"
The priestess gave a soundless snort. Redundant much?
The boy just grinned threateningly. "Just because you're tall and muscle-bound doesn't mean I can't stomp you, pal!"
"Oh?" Blondie sneered. "You think so, huh?"
"I know so!" he declared stubbornly.
Sadly, he apparently did not. He got his ass handed to him. Kagome carefully ignored the rest of their dialog, sneaking over and picking up one of the discarded swords that littered the shore.
"That's it!" Krillin finally groaned as he picked himself up. Again. "You've done it now!"
The man laughed. "Is that so? A Girl Scout could put up a better fight than you - believe me, I know!"
"Wanna try that out?" the priestess finally spoke up, dropping her backpack beside her and shifting into a fighting stance.
They all jumped and turned around to look at her.
"Kagome!" Bulma cheered.
"Hey, no!" Krillin tried to argue, leaping into the air and kicking the guy in the face. "I got this, see!"
The priestess raised an eyebrow, but relaxed a bit...
Right up until Blondie went psycho over a little blood and somehow paralyzed the boy with some kind of 'special power', at least.
She gave a snarl as he kicked the motionless boy and charged. "Hey, asshole!"
He turned, trying to catch her with a left cross. She dodged, bringing the sword up to slash him across the chest.
The man went deathly still, gaping down at the gash. "Y-you... just..."
Not giving him enough time to make a comeback, she delivered a sharp kick to his side and sent him flying into one of the walls the same way that he'd been tossing Krillin around. "Well?!" she challenged, following up with an elbow to his face. "Where's the tough guy now?!"
He screamed, the bone cracking beneath the force of her blow.
"Kick his butt, Kagome!" Bulma shouted loudly. "Get him!"
His eyes flew open and he glared at her, but the miko knew better than to look him straight in the face. She'd known a few too many demons who could use their eyes to, as he had with Krillin, paralyze an enemy or worse. That had been a part of her training.
Goku flew out of the water. "Krillin!" he yelled. "Are you okay?!"
Ah, the boy must have heard his friend scream earlier. Well, it was nice to know that they wouldn't have to track each other down when they all got out of this stupid cave at least.
"Hey!" Goku growled. "Stop picking on my friends, you big bully!"
She kicked him again, sending him further into the wall. "Look, I got this - would you guys mind just focussing on finding the dragon ball?"
The man snarled, lunging at her with a punch.
The priestess ducked the blow, slamming the hilt of her sword into his gut, following it up with another blow to his face in return.
"M-my tooth is loose," the guy choked out after a moment of laying there and staring up at her, horrified. "My tooth is loose! You shouldn't have done that, you little-!"
She kicked him again before he could finish his sentence.
"I don't appreciate brainless men, you idiot," she scoffed, smashing his head against the wall. "Guys, I meant it! Enough gawking, now find that stupid ball so we can leave!"
"G-got it!" Bulma yelped, running to do as she was told. "Goku, help me with this!"
"Oh, and Krillin!" she shouted, glancing over and meeting his eye. "Stuff as much of that treasure as you can fit into my bag, okay? Take out your clothes and Bulma's if you want, but I'll slaughter you if you lose mine!"
He beamed at her, also hurrying to do as instructed. "You got it, Kagome!"
The priestess quickly knocked the soldier out after that.
"We good?" she called, making sure that he was out.
"Good!" Krillin shouted, struggling to zip up the backpack.
"Good!" Bulma also called out, helping Goku up out of the pool.
"Then run!" she yelled, yanking her bag up onto her back and stumbling just a bit from the weight. "Before this place comes down!"
The cracking of the tunnel around them seemed as good an incentive as any, and the four of them quickly dove back down into the water.
xxxx
All four of them were crammed into the sub abandoned by the pirates, with Bulma at the wheel and the other four squeezed into the backseat. Goku was practically in Kagome's lap, and Krillin was very determinedly holding onto her backpack and the treasure within. The only problem was that they still ended up catching a rock, and the sub was left without any power - which meant that they were in a very tight spot.
Goku had an idea, though. "All of you take a deep breath, okay?" he instructed, shifting around so that he was standing on the only portion of seat that wasn't being sat on.
"Goku?" Kagome called worriedly.
"Like I said, take a deep breath!" he grinned. "Ka... me... ha... me... haa!"
The girl sucked in a strangled gasp as the wave exploded behind them, launching them up and out into the open air.
"Nimbus!" he shouted with a laugh.
The cloud swooped down and caught them, Krillin quickly grabbing his hand and Bulma grabbing Kagome's so that they didn't fall.
The black-haired girl gaped at him. "What... was that?" she squeaked.
"The Kamehameha wave?" he blinked up at her. "I learned it from Master Roshi. Haven't you seen it before?"
She shook her head, eyes still wide.
His head tilted to one side. "Oh. Well, I guess you have now!"
"Y-yeah," she smiled at him weakly. "I have now."
They landed on one of the islands, each of them relaxing now that they were home free.
"Sure feels great to be back on land!" Goku announced happily, stretching his arms over his head.
"Says the one still on Nimbus," the older girl teased him as she hopped down.
"Geez, Kagome, what was that back there?" Bulma asked after a relieved sigh. "You wiped the floor with that guy, and you didn't even break a sweat!"
"Yeah," Krillin nodded in agreement. "I've never seen that fighting style before."
The black-haired girl blushed a bit as she snatched her bag from the bald boy and pulled out her clothes, tugging them on quickly. For the first time, Goku actually realized that she was practically naked - and for some reason, that had him blushing just a bit, too. "My brother taught me," she explained, letting Krillin latch around her backpack again once she was done with it. "He was pretty insistent that I learn how to fight properly."
"I'll say you can," the other girl admired. "Is that the kind of thing you wanted to teach me back on Roshi's island?"
"No way," Kagome immediately deadpanned. "You have to learn how to dodge first."
Bulma went red. "S-shut up..."
"Krillin," the black-haired girl spoke up, glancing back at the bald boy who was snuggling her bag. "You do know that all those pretties you've got there are going to get split up between the four of us, right?"
His face fell slightly, but he nodded.
"Oh, yeah!" Goku gasped, reaching into his shirt and pulling out his own loot. "I forgot about the dragon ball! Uwah... Oh, no! Three stars... I really thought this one was going to be my grandpa's ball..."
"We'll find it eventually," Kagome assured, giving him a comforting smile.
"That wasn't the one you were looking for?" Bulma questioned.
"No," the boy affirmed.
The blue-haired girl frowned a bit. "Are you going to keep looking for those things until you find the one that was your grandfather's?"
"That's right," he agreed. "I'm not gonna stop."
"And I'm along for the ride," the black-haired girl chuckled.
Bulma made a face, seeming to get angry. "Fine - but you'll have to do it without me! I'm through! No more crazy adventures!"
Goku blinked down at her. "I thought you liked looking for the dragon balls. Isn't that why you came along? You sorta invited yourself."
Kagome winced. "Coulda worded that a little differently, kiddo..."
Bulma growled at him darkly before he could argue that he wasn't a kid. "I wouldn't have if you had bothered to mention that the Red Ribbon Army was trying to destroy you!" she screamed.
"They weren't that tough," he frowned. "Look how easy it was to beat General Blue!"
"If that's your idea of fun, great," the girl snarled. "Me, I'd like to live long enough to enjoy my share of the treasure!"
"Anyway!" Krillin interrupted. "How about we continue this conversation at Roshi's place? We even have transportation, courtesy of the Red Ribbon Army," he pointed out, jabbing a finger towards a pair of helicopters.
Goku slumped over tiredly. "I can't go anywhere until I get something to eat," he whined. "I'm starving! Maybe we could find some food in one of these houses... come on!"
"Alright," Bulma groaned as he leapt down from Nimbus, the four of them turning and walking towards the small group of buildings. "We'll go inside and get some food, and that's it! This place gives me the creeps."
They made their way inside one of the structures, looking around curiously.
"There doesn't seem to be much here," Bulma sighed.
"Headquarters to Blue Camp, come in Blue Camp," a voice spoke from off to the side, surprising them. "Awaiting transmission, respond immediately. Do you copy Blue Camp, over?"
Goku glanced up at Kagome. "That's another one of those speaker things, right?"
She nodded. "And from the sounds of it, we've found the army's base of operations."
"This is a secure transmission," the voice continued irritably. "Awaiting reply. Requesting status report, over!" There was a slight pause. "This is RRA headquarters, calling Blue Camp! Are you there, over?! Come in!"
"Sounds important," he announced, walking over and poking the panel.
"Our radar shows the dragon ball at your current location," it persisted. "Can you confirm that, over?!"
"Over?" he wondered. "Over what?"
A different voice came over the speaker next. "Identify yourself, soldier!" it demanded with a growl.
He made a face and glanced over at Kagome. "What should I say?"
She shrugged, even though the other two were starting to freak out. "Whatever you feel like, I guess. This is our first chance to talk to the guys in charge."
He nodded and poked the microphone thoughtfully. "Are you a boy or a girl?"
There was a loud snarl. "You idiot! I am Red, Supreme Commander Red!"
"I think it's a boy," the black-haired girl laughed. "The voice is a bit deep to be a girl, just statistically speaking."
"What's a statistically?" he asked.
"It just means-"
"ATTENTION!" the speaker screamed, cutting her off.
He frowned and slammed a hand down on the microphone. "Stop shouting!"
There were a few yells on the other end. "Who does this guy think he is?! Do you have any idea who you're messing with?!"
"Nope!" he admitted.
There was a beat of silence. "I AM THE RED RIBBON ARMY!"
The boy cringed and covered an ear. "Ow!" he complained, finally smashing down on the whole panel and breaking it.
"Goku, are you crazy?!" Krillin shrieked.
"He was being too noisy," the other boy defended himself.
"Enough!" Bulma wailed. "We're leaving!"
Goku's face fell. "What about food?"
"Starve," the bald boy growled.
Kagome rolled her eyes and glanced around as they left, snagging her backpack from a screaming Krillin and slipping into another one of the houses while Bulma and Krillin started up one of the planes. "Oh, come on! What's two more minutes?"
He grinned and hurried to follow her. Kagome was always on his side!
"Enough with the food!" the blue-haired girl shouted impatiently. "Let's go!"
The two walked back outside, arms laden with all sorts of stuff. "Okay!" the boy grinned. "We're ready! Are you sure you're not hungry? They've got plenty."
Bulma didn't look too happy as they took off, he and Kagome climbing up on Nimbus to follow after them. He scarfed down the food quickly and happily, offering his black-haired friend one of the peaches that they had grabbed.
She just smiled and accepted it. "Thanks, Goku."
They made it back to the island quickly, before the girl had even finished her peach, and went in for a landing.
"Hello!" he called out, waving.
"We're back!" Krillin joined in, climbing up on the side of the plane.
They hopped down and Kagome reached into her bag, pulling out one of the rocks at random and tossing it at Master Roshi. "Sorry. The sub kind of blew up," she explained.
"Oh, good!" Bulma heaved a sigh of relief. "I was worried about that..."
"Don't worry," the black-haired girl smiled brightly. "It's coming out of your share."
The blue-haired girl immediately started shouting at her.
"Wait," the old man spoke up uncertainly, staring down at the fist-sized diamond. "You mean you're giving this to me?"
Bulma sighed again, this time in defeat. "Yep."
"But this thing must be worth a ton of money!" the master gawked.
"Yes sir," the girl groaned, slumping. "I'd say over a billion zeni."
Roshi choked. "A b-b-b-b-b-b-billion zeni?! Whoa, that's a lot of gem!" He stared down at the rock in disbelief. "Wah... I could certainly buy a lot of exercise tapes with that... why, I don't even know if I can count that high, Bulma!"
Krillin snorted. "Nice to know you're going to do something worthwhile with it. You know, considering we almost died trying to get it..."
The old man growled. "That was just a theoretical example!"
"Do you really think it's worth a whole lot?" Goku questioned, blinking. It just looked like a rock to him.
"Of course it is," his fellow apprentice chided. "Don't be silly, we're talkin' big bucks!"
"Well, alright," Roshi agreed, stroking the thing. "I was kinda partial to that submarine... You're not going to turn around and ask for it back later, are you?!"
Bulma frowned. "I would never do that!"
"Maybe I should hold onto it for safekeeping," Turtle offered. "That way you won't be tempted to spend it on something you might not really wanna buy."
"Are you insinuating that I don't make sound financial decisions?!" he roared.
"Yes," the tortoise admitted simply.
"Why, you no good-! I'm gonna buy myself a better turtle, that's what I'm gonna do! I'm gonna make soup out of you!"
"Come on," the blue-haired girl rolled her eyes. "There's no point in arguing about it!"
There was the sudden sound of a gun cocking behind them.
"She's right," Launch spoke up. "Especially since I'm the one holdin' the gun!"
They all jolted and spun around.
"Hand it over before someone gets hurt," the blonde woman demanded, holding out a hand in expectation.
Roshi floundered. "Hand over what, Launch? I've already given my donations this year!"
Krillin threw his arms up over his head. "Don't shoot! I surrender!"
The woman growled. "Give it!"
"Waah, okay!" the master screamed, rushing up to pass her the diamond.
"Who is that?!" Bulma squeaked.
"Launch," Goku explained with a sigh.
"Launch?" the blue-haired girl repeated uncertainly.
"Yeah," the boy nodded. "You've met her before, remember?"
"But she's nice!" she squawked protestingly.
The blonde fired at the pair and they yelped as they rushed to dodge.
"Hands up and shut up!" Launch snarled, walking forward with a grin. "That completes our transaction..."
She darted over to jump into the helicopter, but Kagome tripped her.
The woman gave a shriek and fell face-first into the sand, the gun flying out of her hand.
The black-haired girl just stared down at her, face blank, and slung her backpack up onto her shoulders.
Launch stood up, cracking her knuckles angrily. "You wanna go, bitch?!"
Kagome gave her a pleasant smile that really wasn't so pleasant. "You shot at my friends and thought that you could get away with it?" she retorted.
The woman snarled and twitched violently, but jumped up into the airplane instead of actually confronting her at the moment. "Next time I see your mug, you're dead! You hear me?! Dead!"
"Hey!" the black-haired girl shouted. "Oh, I don't think so! Nimbus!" The cloud swooped down and she leapt on top of it. "After her!"
Roshi gaped. "She... can actually use the Flying Nimbus?"
"Oh, yeah - Nimbus likes her a lot," Goku blinked up at the man as the cloud shot up into the sky right behind the airplane.
"Uh... is she gonna come back?" Krillin wondered nervously.
"Yeah, eventually," the tailed boy nodded. "Once she catches Launch, at least."
They were silent for a long while.
"So... should we all go inside now or what?" Bulma suggested.
xxxx
Kagome darted after the airplane on Nimbus, a determined frown stretching her lips. So this was Launch's other side, was it? Ugh, it was like that one guy from the Band of Seven all over again.
"Get back here!" she shouted, drawing up even with the plane. "What, too scared to fight a girl?!"
"Oh, real cute!" the blonde sneered. "What's your problem, huh?!"
"Right now? That would be you!" she growled, jumping from the cloud and onto the seat next to the woman's own. She got a gun in her face for her efforts, but wrapped her hands around the woman's wrist before she could shoot. "I think I prefer the other version!"
Oh, she never thought that she would be so happy to feel her reiki spark up again, but she gave a loud cheer as the other woman was zapped with a flash of purifying energy.
Blonde hair turned blue. "Oh, gosh!" Launch gasped. "What happened?"
"Both hands on the controls, please!" Kagome yelped, taking the gun and throwing it out into the water as the plane lurched.
"Oh, right!" the other woman squeaked, leveling them out once more.
The priestess breathed a heavy exhale of relief.
"So... what were we doing out here?" the bluenette questioned after a moment.
Kagome blinked for a moment before barking out a laugh. "Just... flying around," she told her with a reassuring grin. "We might want to go back to the island now."
"Ah, I see!" Launch gasped, nodding and quickly readjusting the controls.
She slumped down into her seat, reaching behind her and grabbing her seat belt in order to fasten it around her waist.
"So," the other woman spoke up after a minute. "Kagome... right?"
"Yup," she confirmed, straightening out a bit and readjusting her backpack so that she would be a bit more comfortable. Maybe she should have just asked Goku to look after it for her before taking off like that...
The bluenette's soft words caught her off guard. "What did I end up doing this time?"
She blinked over at her. "I'm... not actually sure if the correct question is 'You know?' or 'You don't know?' right now," she admitted.
Launch heaved a sigh. "I know I change when I sneeze, but I don't know what I do."
The priestess frowned and thought it over for a second. "... I might be able to help you with that," she murmured. "Not right now!" she was quick to add, sensing the other woman's rush of excitement. "But when I'm back up to full strength, I should be able to do something about that for you."
"Oh, would you really?" the woman gushed. "But how?"
She bit her lip. It was a valid question, and the woman did deserve an answer... "I doubt it means anything here," she murmured, "and I haven't actually told anyone this yet, but... I'm a priestess?"
The plane lurched again, and she gave a yelp.
"A-a priestess?" Launch stuttered as she leveled the out once more. "B-but priestesses are only legends! Oh, it's really not nice to try and trick someone like that!"
Kagome frowned. "Legends? Ugh, this world just gets more and more confusing."
"... World?" the bluenette repeated slowly.
The priestess groaned. "Look, I was planning on telling Goku this first," she babbled. "I mean he is the one that found me, and I know that I can trust him, but..." She looked out the window and took a deep breath. "Yeah. Certain things happened, and I ended up in this world instead of my own. Nothing makes sense here, and I'm still pretty weak right now from the wi-trip, but I-I really am a priestess."
The woman was quiet for a long moment as they flew. "I believe you," she finally spoke quietly, giving her a warm smile. "And I'm always here to talk if you need it."
She returned the smile with a wry one of her own. "Thanks."
"So when are you planning to tell everyone else about this?" Launch asked as the island came back into sight.
Kagome thought it over for a second. "Soon," she finally decided. "Things should calm down for a bit again now that we have another dragon ball, so I suppose I'll aim for the lull. That would make more sense."
The bluenette nodded in agreement. "Do you still want to tell Goku first?"
The priestess chuckled. "Yeah," she admitted. "But if everyone's there, then everyone's just there I guess."
The other woman giggled as they descended for a landing, the voices of the other four rising up around them and shouting their names. "You two make an awfully cute couple," she teased.
Kagome just snorted and rolled her eyes. "I'm not a pedophile, thanks."
They both got out, and it occurred to the priestess that the shouting actually sounded kind of urgent. She blinked and glanced over at the window. Did Krillin just say 'save us'?
The two went inside, and she felt her stomach knot.
They were all tied up! How could they all be tied up, she and Launch weren't gone for that long!
"You'll never believe what happened," the bluenette smiled. "We got to talking-"
"Hello! Earth to Launch and Kagome! There's a bomb!" Bulma shrieked.
"We're gonna die!" Krillin wailed.
"Is this a new game?" the other woman questioned innocently, looking from one person to the next as Kagome rushed into the kitchen to hunt down a knife or some scissors. "Where'd you get the blue rope?"
"Yeah, it's called stay alive!" the teen cried.
"Quick!" Roshi instructed. "Grab the box and throw it out of the house!"
"Why is there a clock on the floor?" Launch wondered.
"That's no clock, it's a highly explosive bomb!" Bulma screamed.
Overturning at least the third drawer and finding nothing better than a stack of butter knives, Kagome ran back into the other room to see the other woman attempting to lift said bomb off the floor - and failing.
"This house was spick and span when I left, and I don't appreciate things being left out!" the clueless bluenette scolded the group.
"Where do you even keep scissors in this place?!" Kagome growled, falling to her knees and trying to pry the ropes apart for Goku. "Scissors should be in the kitchen! Everyone knows that, dammit! Launch, help me!"
"Sci-what?" the boy questioned uncertainly as Launch set the 'clock' back down to give her a hand.
"This rope is so tight!" the other woman remarked.
"There's this new invention," the old man barked sarcastically. "It's called a knife!"
"Yeah, well, you don't have any of those in the kitchen either!" the priestess spat darkly.
"We've got less than a minute to live!" Bulma sobbed. "No pressure!"
The bluenette shot to her feet and ran into the other room, returning with a small blade. "This knife's a bit dull," she apologized as Kagome moved over and let her take her previous spot behind Goku, "but it's all I've got!"
"Faster!" the boy requested almost hysterically.
"We've only got ten seconds!" Krillin wailed.
Gritting her teeth, the priestess darted over to the bomb and dropped to her knees above it, raising both of her hands up and trying to collect her reiki for a barrier. She didn't have much, and she had already used a spark of it earlier to calm down Launch, but maybe if it was just for a moment...
"If you could just get my tail loose!" Goku yelped.
The others started to scream, the hand continued to click further and further towards the detonation, and Kagome felt sick.
"Please, please, please!" she murmured desperately, drawing further into herself. "I don't care if it adds another month to my recovery, you only need to last for a couple of seconds! Come on, come on!"
There was a snap, and Goku gasped out a 'thank you!', but she barely heard them. Her energy finally flooded from her hands, encasing the explosive in a shimmering - silver?
Wait, since when was her reiki silver?
She was so stunned by the change in color that the shield fell as quickly as it had risen, and Goku swept in to grab it and fling it out the window as hard as he could. The explosion came not even two seconds later, and they all breathed a sigh of relief as Goku laughed and leapt out the window with a call for Nimbus.
"Where are you going?" Krillin shouted after him.
"Be careful!" Turtle yelled.
"Don't worry!" the boy called over his shoulder. "I'm going to get the dragon balls back!"
"Go catch that crook, Goku!" the old man instructed. "Make Roshi proud!"
"I don't get it," Bulma spoke up as he took off. "Why didn't Kagome just throw it?"
"Hey, that's actually a good question," Krillin agreed. "Kagome? Hello! Earth to Kagome!"
"Did she hit her head or something?" the blue-haired teen groaned.
The priestess just stared down at her fingers numbly, not processing anything else going on around her as she curled and uncurled them. "What the hell?" she whispered to herself.
xxxx
A/N: Yay! So Kagome's kicking ass, starting to get her powers back, and - they're a different color? Muwahahaha! Hope everyone liked the new chapter!
Edit: 7/02/16