I'll Be
Here
by Juuko
Disclaimer: All
Dragonball Z characters are property of Akira Toriyama, Bird Studios, Toei
Animation, Funimation, and probably
many other people I haven't listed, I do not own them and do not intend to make
any money from this, and so on. Now, on with the story!
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* * *
Prologue
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* * *
*KKAAAAABBOOOOOOOOOM*
A
loud explosion erupted from the parking space in front of the tall yellow dome
known as Capsule Corporation, shattering the late morning peace. Burning hot
lumps of metal and severed wires ricocheted through the air. A spiky-haired man
emerged, coughing, from the charred smouldering ruins.
Seconds
later a startled Bulma popped up through the open window, wearing a white lab
coat while holding a pocket calculator and a notepad in each hand. A brief
glance was all it took before she let out a shrill scream.
"Nani?
Goku! What did you do to my car!?"
Son
Goku looked sheepishly at the near-hysterical Bulma, behind him at the pitiful
remains of what used to be a Capsule Corp. aircar, and back at Bulma again.
"Err…
sorry 'bout that, but the door was jammed and I… uh… was in a hurry to get to
the kitchen…"
"Who
cares about your stomach! That was our only vehicle left you baka! Now
how are we going to deliver that shipment of food capsules to Plum City, huh?"
Bulma fumed as she threw her notes onto the bushy green lawn in disgust, "And
that's not mentioning the hovercraft you blew apart last week!"
"Hey,
calm down… I can always use my Instant Transmission technique to get the
capsules there in no time."
He
walked up the paved walkway and through the glass doors into the clean, air-conditioned
foyer, only to be blocked by Bulma, now staring sternly with her hands on her
hips.
"Yes,
you could do that, Goku, but that still leaves us with no car, and I'm
not about to buy a new one just because of you!"
As
if on cue, three figures descended from the sea blue sky, landing with a soft
thud on the front lawn, and entered the saffron yellow dome. Goku and Bulma
turned around, the latter still intent on continuing their argument. One of the
newcomers was an attractive blonde-haired woman with pale pearly skin and light
blue eyes wearing a denim outfit. The other was a short noseless guy with six
orange dots on his head of thick black hair, holding on to a little pig-tailed
13-year-old girl.
"Hi
there Juuhachi-gou, hi Krillin, hi little Marron," said Goku, eager to change
the subject, "did you drop by for lunch too?" Krillin let go of his daughter
and scratched his bushy head, slowly regaining his ki from the long
flight.
"Well,
we were planning to drive here like ordinary people but we had car problems
over at Kami's House."
"You
too, huh?" Bulma groaned, "well don't look at me for help, I'm having enough
trouble taking care of my little girl Bra, trying to put together all the spare
parts in the garage and working on my blueprints at the same time!"
"Why
don't you hire someone to help you?" Juuhachi-gou suggested. While they were
talking, she had begun to form an idea that had been tugging at the back of her
mind for some time, and finally surfaced now. It was a far-fetched one, but an
idea nonetheless. The blue-haired woman eyed her sceptically, with her face
still pulled in a stubborn pout.
"I'd
like to see any mechanic attempt to fix those scrap heaps back to usable
machines."
Juuhachi-gou
had been ready for this retort. But still, she let a few moments of silence
wash over as she dubiously re-considered this decision. Was it really the right
thing to do? Was it even going to work? Finally, she let out a deep breath.
"I
know just the one."
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* * *
Later that day when the sun had
reached its peak, Marron idly sipped a glass of lemonade at the kitchen bench
and contemplated about her mother's "idea". 'Kaasan had been acting strange for
a while now – always staring out the window and rambling on as if she knew
something they didn't – and just half an hour ago she had taken off into the
air without telling anyone where she was going. It was all a big mystery, one
even her beloved 'Tousan wasn't sure about.
"Marron-san,
are you right?" a little voice snapped Marron out of her trance as Bra tugged
on her pink cotton skirt. Marron smiled down at the little girl, picking her up
and sitting her on her knee so she could drink the rest of the lemonade.
"I'm
fine, Bra-chan… but I am curious about the mechanic 'Kaasan was talking about –
I wonder who he is?"
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