Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters, but I do own Sleepy Hollow on video! ^_^
Notes: A little surprise in here, and a little humor bit about Gohan's traumatizing experiences as a kid.
Chapter Fourteen: Survivor
"For a second there you reminded me of the Ginyu Force." - Goku
April 8, Sunday à 3 days until the eclipse
Relena felt air inflate her waterlogged lungs. As she returned to consciousness, she sat up and leaned to the side, hacking up the liquid in her lungs. Her chest heaved as she inhaled and exhaled, savoring the oxygen she swore she would never again take for granted.
"Whew," a voice said. "We thought we'd lost you."
Relena looked up to see who had spoken, but her eyes had to adjust to the dim light supplied by two flashlights lying on either side of the tunnel floor. After a moment she made out Trunks kneeling beside her after performing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. Goku and Goten stood behind the purple-haired half-Saiyan, and Bra was beyond them, wringing the water out of her hair.
"Luckily Trunks knows CPR," Goten put in, "or you might not have made it."
Trunks laughed. "Typical humans. You get submerged in water for ten minutes and you fall unconscious."
"Look who's talking Trunks," Bra spoke up. "You three big boys weren't exactly awake after practically getting drowned either. I woke up and you were all knocked out sprawled in the dirt." Bra turned to her brother and smirked. "Hey, Trunks, what was it I heard you saying about Marron in your sleep?"
Trunks's eyes widened. "Nani?"
"I think it was something like 'Oh, Marron-chan, you're so beautiful! I love you!' Bwahahaha!"
"Shut-up, Bra!"
"You holding out on me, buddy?" Goten spoke up, going along with Bra.
"No!" Trunks exclaimed. "Whatever she's implying isn't true!"
Bra continued to mock her brother. "'I love you, Marron-chan! Kiss me!'"
"Shimatta!" Trunks chased his sister around the tunnel. "Stop it!"
"Wow," Goku said. "Wait until Krillin hears about this."
Trunks froze and his face paled. "It's not true!"
Bra ran behind Goten. "You wanna know what else he said?" Bra said mischievously. "'Come on, Marron-chan. Give Daddy some sugar!' Bwahahaha!"
"NANI?"
Still lying on the floor, Relena burst into laughter. Despite the situation, these people were certainly cheerful... well, everyone but Trunks anyway.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Goten asked Trunks playfully.
"There's nothing to tell," Trunks muttered, folding his arms. "That's all I'm saying about it."
"About 'it'?" Bra hinted. "What is 'it,' Trunks? I thought you said there was nothing to tell."
Trunks ignored his little sister and held a hand out to Relena. She grasped it and he helped her up. Her clothes clung to her skin uncomfortably, the dampness making her shiver. Beads of water dripped from her hair, sleeves, and pant legs, soaking the ground beneath her.
"Damn, Seether," Relena muttered as she wrung out her hair as she'd seen Bra do.
"You're mad at Seether for getting you wet?" Goten said with a smile.
"That is kind of stupid, considering everything else." Relena looked around at her companions and the tunnel floor. "Um... Where are the bags?"
"I have mine," Goku replied, "but everyone else lost their pack in that water blast."
Relena sighed. "Great. That means no food, no water, no walkie-talkies, or anything. Well, of course for the food and the walkie-talkie in Goku's pack."
"Um, my walkie-talkie got lost in the blast," Goku mentioned.
"But if I know my 'tousan," Goten added, "there's plenty of food in his pack for all of us to ration for a few days."
"Ration?" Goku said.
"It means we're gonna have to split the food between us in small portions," Trunks said.
Goku looked disappointed at the phrase "small portions," but he managed a small smile anyway. "Okay."
Relena eyed the two flashlights. "Who lost their light?"
"Me," Goku said sheepishly.
Relena sighed, adding this to the growing list of their disadvantages. "We can't lose the other two. It's hard enough to see down here as it is."
Trunks nodded. "We should get going now."
"Yeah," Bra agreed, "but which way?"
The five travelers glance left, and then looked to the right. Then they realized they had no idea of which direction to travel.
"Well, this is just dandy," Goten grumbled.
"We're heading east, right?" Bra spoke up. "I mean, that scroll said that Seether is supposed to strike in Satan City, and Satan City is east of home."
"Well, that's all well and good," Trunks said, "but we don't have a compass."
"Yes, we do!" Relena said, digging into her soggy pockets. "Please still be there..." she muttered, hoping it hadn't been lost in the water. A triumphant grin spread across her face as she pulled out a round object.
"Praise the Lord!" Goten cried out, falling to his knees and raising his hands into toward the dirt ceiling. "We have been saved!"
Everyone stared at him and sweatdropped.
Goten noticed all the bewildered expressions and lowered his hands. "What?"
"Um, nothing." Relena turned her face downwards and looked at the compass. "There's east," she said, pointing to her left.
Goten got up and brushed the soil off his knees. "Let's get going then."
Goku grinned his classic smile and snickered at his youngest son.
"What?" Goten repeated.
"For a second there you reminded me of the Ginyu Force."
Trunks burst out laughing, holding his sides.
Goten didn't get the joke. "The Ginyu what?"
Trunks stopped laughing and looked at his friend. "Didn't your 'tousan ever tell you about that whole Namek thing?"
"Only that Frieza fight."
"What about Gohan?"
"I asked him and he had this post traumatic stress attack or something. Then 'Kaasan got all mad and told me to never to ask Gohan about it again."
"Remind me to tell you about the Ginyu Force later," Goku said.
"Yes," Relena agreed. "Let's get going."
They all set out to the left, Goku bearing the burden of the backpack, although it was easy for him to carry.
"Hey, Trunks..." Relena said after a moment.
"What?"
"Tell me about this Marron girl."
"AARGH!"
She lay on the ground for a few moments after returning to consciousness, coughing up salt water. She concluded that Seether must have opened up a tunnel that brought water from the ocean to this chain of underground paths, trying to drown all that were traveling inside.
The huge water surge had caught her by surprise; by the time the sound of roaring water reached her ears and she realized what it was it was too late to even try to run. She was caught in the blast, tossed and turned in the flowing liquid until she fell unconscious. She guessed that the water must have petered out eventually, leaving her behind to lie in the mud.
She pushed herself up out of the dirt, immediately pissed that now she would have to wander around soaked and caked in mud. It was bad enough that damn mud monster pulled her into the ground, and left her buried somewhere deep within the dirt amidst the tunnels, probably to struggle until she suffocated to death. She almost would have if the brainless dirt creature hadn't left her so close to a tunnel. After frantically scratching and clawing at the dirt around her, part of a wall in a nearby tunnel collapsed and she spilled out into the hollowed area.
Bulma was damned lucky. She herself knew that. This was further proved by the fact that she'd managed to hold onto her pack and flashlight while she was thrown about in that water rush. If she'd lost the flashlight, it would've been extremely difficult getting around. If she'd lost her bag, she would've had no food or water to survive on.
She stood up and wrung out her hair and clothes the best she could. Then Bulma picked up her bag and flashlight, and continued her journey through the tunnels. If her luck continued, she might meet up with the others again. Then again, she might make it back home, in which case she would get more help. She might even find Seether, and although that might not be lucky, she would be ecstatic to see Vegeta again.
If her luck deserted her, she would just die in this underground hellhole, from either lack of food and water or whatever other tricks Seether had up her sleeve.
Bulma wondered if Trunks, Bra, Goku, Goten, and Relena had survived the water attack. She was optimistic that the first four had made it, but Relena was human. Of course, Bulma herself was human too, so Relena probably had a good chance.
Bulma stopped when she realized she could be going in the wrong direction. She knew that to get to wherever Seether had Vegeta she needed to go east towards Satan City. If she didn't, she'd just wander around these tunnels forever.
She knelt down and removed her walkie-talkie from the backpack. The transmitter had been clogged with dirt and short-circuited; she couldn't transmit her signal to the others or talk to them through the speaker, but the signal receiver worked fine. Bulma had tried to repair the transmitter, but she had limited supplies and, go figure, the one part she needed hadn't been in her backpack.
But she made do with the receiver, pointing it to one end of the tunnel and then to the other. The signal was weaker to her right, but it got louder when the transceiver was pointed to the left, the direction she'd been traveling in anyway.
"Left it is," were the first words out of her mouth after awakening. She put the walkie-talkie back and zipped up the pack, putting it back on her shoulders. She shone her flashlight in that direction and continued to tread through the mud, her mind occupied with her determined thoughts.
Hang in there, Vegeta. Wherever you are you better believe I'll find you. Almost being suffocated didn't stop me. Almost being drowned didn't stop me. Nothing has stopped me.
So there's no way I'm gonna let that evil bitch stop me either.
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SHE'S ALIVE! YEA! ^_^ Oh, and please excuse the little humor bit about poor Gohan... You would think he would be traumatized for life, though, wouldn't you?? O.o Any who, Kim would like to tell you about my cat... -_-;
Oh, my goddess, let me tell you...this cat is EVIL. It does NOT like ANYONE! I swear it's Vegeta reincarnated. Ok, the thing let me pet it ONCE and it was only because it wanted food. How evil is that. :\ Damn the Veggie-cat!!! Bwhahahahahhhaa! AHHHH and the color of the cat is black! And it's collar is PINK!! Ahhhh! Remind you of a certain "Badman" shirt? O_O It IS Vegeta! I know it is! ::Eye-twitch:: ::spasm::
Anyhoo, on a more happy note we're listening to the DBGT soundtrack!! Yatta! *GOING TO KILL PAM'S ANNOYING SISTER ~.~* Back to being happy! ^_^ I love these songs!! ::Does the dance of joy:: Kays and that's all I have to say for today!
Ja ne, minna! Mwah! *Psst! Think FRIEZA :)*
e.e Until next time, minna-san.