Dragon Ball: Makafushigi Adventure
By Reid M. Haynes
Disclaimer: Dragon Ball and all characters within are the property of Akira Toriyama, TOEI ANIMATION, and various other companies. I am using them without permission, and I am making no money off of them.
Legend:
( ) Denotes thoughts.
Tale 3: Journey to the West
*****
Somewhere, deep in the regions of the West, a small jet shot over the countryside. Forests, rivers, and mountains passed below as the ever-moving horizon revealed more forests, rivers, and mountains, an endless collage of Nature's wonders, stretching farther than the eye could see.
The Dragon Ball gang, plus Trunks, watched all of this with varying emotions: avid amazement, reserved excitement, and silent awe. Those that were awake anyway. Yamcha and Oolong had nodded off in the backseat, though, so they missed much of the scenery.
"It's so beautiful!" Puar exclaimed, pressing against the glass. Trunks found his own eyes glancing toward the window.
"Look at that!" the cat grabbed at his jacket. "Isn't it amazing, Trunks?" He pointed out at the scenery, and Trunks couldn't help but look out the window. There was a small mountain about a mile off. At its peak lay a small pond that somehow flowed over its side and into a ring alongside the base.
"Yeah, it is," Trunks responded honesty. They lapsing back into silence, but he continued to watch the landscape avidly. The water ring poured into a river that eagerly rushed into the surrounding forests, as if anxious to eat into it's mysterious fruits. It snaked through aggressively, strafing through the trees angrily but deftly, as controlled a beast as Shenron himself.
(It really is amazing,) he thought.( I've spent so much time in the cities, I've forgotten what wonders the earth can truly produce.) Trunks did his best to pick out the details in the environs, although he felt his virgin eyes couldn't comprehend the true beauty of it.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sporadic beeping that initiated from the cockpit. Leaning over, he saw his mother glancing at a small radar in her hand. On it's screen shone seven dots that blinked on and off.
"Mom, what's that device?" he questioned.
"This?" She looked surprised at the question. "It's a Dragon Ball radar."
Goku, who was riding shotgun, looked surprised as well. "You've never looked at one before?" he asked.
"No," Trunks shook his head. "I've heard about it, but I've never actually seen it."
"Funny," Bulma turned back to the controls. "I'd think I would shown it to you sometime." Trunks thought over this statement for a moment before reaching the meaning; she was referring to her future self.
The beeping had picked up now, which had apparently pleased Bulma, for a smile grew her face.
"Great!" she exclaimed. "We're getting closer, guys!" She bumped up the speed of the jet a notch, and accelerated toward the incoming signal.
Beyond the mountains was a huge expanse of overgrown jungle, exotic in its appearance. Indeed, it looked like some thing out of some prehistoric picture book. And in the distance, as if to further emphasize the point, a pteranodon could be seen costing on a southbound current.
"Trunks, this beeping indicates how close we are to the ball," she explained to her son. "The closer we are, the faster it beeps. Oh there it is again!" As the beeping picked up so did the craft. Bulma turned it slightly to the north, roughly in the direction of the pteranodon. The landscape rushed by them, the clouds flew through them, the target was clear.
"Uh, Bulma…" Puar said quietly.
We're almost there!" she cheered. The landscape rushed by them, everything was
getting closer as Bulma's hopes got higher.
"Bulma…"
"Just a little bit more!" she pushed the throttle again, and the jet urged forward.
"Bulma!"
"Oh, what is it Puar?" Bulma finally snapped out, annoyed at the interruption.
"LOOK OUT!!!"
"WhaaaAAAA…!" At that moment, the entire craft slammed straight into the pteranodons wing. The ship buckled upon the impact, the glass covered with cobwebs of cracks. Worse still, the left wing was now completely useless, having been shredded into paper machete.
"Uuuggghhh!" Bulma groaned, trying desperately to keep the falling craft under control.
The craft was spinning out of control, cork-screwing and twisting like some Olympic diver. And then, like the diver, it took a nosedive.
Straight into the jungle.
"We're goin' down!" Bulma shouted.
"We're gonna die!" Puar shrieked.
"This…this isn't good," Trunks whispered.
"AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" everyone screamed as they plummeted downward.
*****
"Man, what a way to wake up!" Oolong muttered loudly, continuing to brush imaginary dirt from his overalls. "I think I have a wing stuck in my pants!"
"Shut up, Oolong!" Bulma snarled behind her.
"Yeah! Shut up, Oolong!" Puar chimed in, a surly grin on his face.
"Why'd you go and crash the jet anyway, Bulma? Yamcha complained. "I was havin' this awesome dream, with baseball, and money, and lots and lots of girls…" His gaze grew hazy upon his evolving fantasy.
"Shut up, Yamcha!"
"Yeah! Shut up, Yamcha!"
"Puar!"
"Whoops! Sorry Yamcha!"
The group was trekking through the dense jungle. Everyone clothes were caked with mud, save Oolong, who still made a show of "cleaning himself off." Trunk's used his sword to cut away the foliage, making the trip a little faster. But they still had ways to go.
"Well, we all know who's fault this is anyway." Bulma narrowed her eyes, glancing at her companions.
"Who's?" they asked simultaneously.
"HIS!" She pointed her finger at Goku. "It's Goku's fault!"
"Huh?" The accused stepped back, astonished. "How's this my fault?"
"If you'd just used your Instant Transaction, we could've saved this long walk!" Bulma screeched at him.
"That's Instant Transmission," he corrected her sternly. "'Sides, I thought y'didn't want me t'use my power. Thought you said it made it too easy." Goku smirked with satisfaction.
"That was before we crashed our ship, you doofus!" she retorted.
Trunks stepped in. "Guys, we shouldn't be fighting," he reprimanded. "We should be working together to get out of this!"
The rest of the group turned to him, and took a deep breath.
"SHUT UP, TRUNKS!!!"
"Yeah! Shut up Trunks!"
*****
High above the arguing party, perched upon a small Cliffside, was a large pteranodon. He kept an eagle's eye upon the group, waiting patiently for any favorable events.
Unique about this bird was the scar in place of its cranial fin, where a strong object has smashed down on it years ago. The whole story was that, when on one of his daily food runs, his eye happened to catch on a young human female. He had remembered once, a couple of years beforehand, that the human female boasted some of the sweetest meat available, especially when they were in their prime.
It was upon taking this food to his lair when, out of nowhere, a small human boy shot into the sky and slammed a twenty foot red pole on his forehead. The pteranodon was always angry about this failure, this "catch that got away." It ached on his conscience that he could fail to retrieve the most elusive of pray. So he sulked, and he pouted, and then got on with his life, surviving on the lesser meat of the surrounding animals.
But now, it was time for retribution.
The pteranodon had a long memory, particularly concerning "the catch that got away." And a good thing too. For here, after almost two decades, was the same girl that had escaped him that fateful day. From the looks of her, she was quite a bit older. But she looked to have much of the same flavor as in her youth.
It had been easy to tear apart the jet in which they flew in, due to the blade that reinforced his wingspan. It had been not-so-easy to make sure that they landed safely, but he managed that too. After all, it simply wouldn't do to have the goods spoiled before he got a chance to sink in. Live meat was always better.
It appeared that she was journeying with several others of the human race…plus a couple of odd animal hybrids. But it was obvious that she wasn't on good terms with any of them, by the way she would holler out at them every two seconds. On this thought the pteranodon grinned a toothy smile. The meat was always spicier when seasoned with the condiment of stress.
He now took note of the others in her party. There was a young purple headed human, a male judging by his build. He frowned at this; the males were never as tasty as the females. He continued with his analysis, and examined the second: another male, with scars covering his cheeks. Not tasty at all, he determined. The two hybrids might make a keen appetizer, but were very negligible.
And then, out of the shield of the canopy, came another male, this one featuring hair resembling a claw sticking out of his head. This one wasn't tasty, either…but something about him was peculiar. He felt he had had a run in with this one before, but he couldn't pick out the place.
It made no real difference anyway. All of the men were useless to him; he wanted
only the woman. Yes, that's what he wanted, that's want he's wanted for half his life. And he was going to get it. He was going to get it very soon…
*****
"You're so stubborn!" Goku shouted, finally starting to get angry. "Why do you have to be like this?"
"Because I'm cold, I'm wet, I'm covered in mud, and it's all your fault!" Bulma snapped back.
"My fault nuthin'!" he snarled. "Just 'cause you can't have the patience for a little adventuring!" Goku steamed.
"Well excuse me if I'm not a barbarian like you!" she waved her hands in exasperation.
The argument had gone from petty to ugly. Bulma was beyond mad, just about ready to kill Goku for his idiocy. What was wrong with a little teleportation to ease up the travel, even if she did forbid it beforehand? But Goku had to pick this moment to be pigheaded and childish, and why the hell was he so mad anyway?
(Man, I wish I had never gone on this trip.) Suddenly Bulma stopped her tirade. That last thought hadn't seemed quite right. She turned away for a brief moment to catch her breath. No, it wasn't right at all. She turned back to him, ready to end this trivial argument.
But surprise fell on her face at seeing Goku's reaction. The righteous anger was gone, replaced with…sadness? Yes, his eyes were misted over with tears, his mouth was turned in an unhappy frown.
"Do you really feel that way?" he asked quietly. In that instant he sounded so…hurt.
"Goku, I…" she cut off abruptly, not knowing what to say.
Oh man, did I say that last comment out loud? Bulma suddenly felt like the world's biggest jerk. She hadn't meant a word of what she said, but had taken out her frustration on Goku once again.
"I'll take you home if you want me too." she noticed Goku had extended his hand. "We can be at Capsule Corp in less than a second."
(No! I didn't mean it! I want to keep going!) Bulma wanted to scream out at him. Not for the first time, she felt guilty of her selfish attitude. But she kept silent, so Goku didn't hear it.
They were quiet then. All that could be heard was the sounds of the leaves blowing in the breeze, the cool water flowing in a nearby stream, the intense rushing sound of an incoming predator…
"Gotcha!" The pteradon swooped down and picked up Bulma with his hind legs, lifting her from the ground.
"Bulma!" Goku gasped, his body instantly curling into a combat position.
"See ya, suckers!" he snickered. "It's dinner time!" With a flap of his wings, the pterondon carried his captive up into the sky.
"Gokuuu!" She cried out as she was taken away.
*****
The lush jungles rushed into a blur as Kintu'on, with Goku aboard, surged forward after the kidnapper, leaving a verdant vapor trail in it's wake. Its swirling path cut in wide arcs, spinning it's threat into any number of random montages that any artist would be proud to create, if he could illustrate this elusive wonder of nature.
Goku maneuvered his cloud through the jungle, swooping deftly through the thick branches as he struggled to catch up with his foe. He ducked under a branch, strafed past a tree, spun on his side to slide between two branches, and followed up by turning upside down to evade yet another branch. He pulled every twist and spin imaginable, spiraling through the jungle in a crazy daredevil's course, each movement more impossible than the last, all of them executed flawlessly, almost causally.
Swooping through an opening in the canopy, Goku caught sight of the pteranodon once again. With Bulma in tow, the beast was coasting to the mountaintop. Probably to enjoy his "meal" in the privacy of his lair.
Well, he would have to take care of that one.
His hand jerked to his back, perching upon Nyoibo. Whipping in out of its sheath, he cocked the red staff into position, gripping it like a club. His eyes narrowed upon his target, then he started the attack.
"Grow, stick, GROW!!!"
*****
"Let go of me, you jerk!" The girl roared, kicking and screaming fiercely.
"Yeah, keep screaming like that, girly," The pterandon chuckled, tightening his grip on her a notch. "Makes the meat fresher. Heh heh!"
"You'll be sorry!" She looked up at him defiantly. "Goku's gonna come and he's gonna kick your ass!"
"Ain't nobody gonna save you now," he growled out. "Your little buddies are miles away. Face it: you're my little hour'derve," The girl ignored him, continuing on with some more screaming, making more struggles and generally making the entire trip a big pain in the ass.
Damn, that girl was annoying! If she weren't such a tasty treat, he'd have dropped her after 15 seconds of her incessant babbling. Who the hell was this Goku, anyway?
Come to think of it, that name did sound familiar to him. Wasn't she shouting something like that the first time he met her? Yeah, she was hollering to that kid with the big hair and the big stick.
This thought train was cut off by a small flash of movement in the corner of his eye. Turning around briefly, the pteranodon caught the image of a young man with big black hair, who appeared to be riding on…a cloud? Yes, the man was indeed flying on this strange phenonomon somehow. He was doing very well at it, too, for he had already caught up with him.
And he was doing something else, too. He was reaching behind him, and pulling out some strange object. He was pulling the object back, then he started shouting out something. Suddenly the object started to stretch in length very quickly. Within half a second it was twice it's original length, then three times, then.
Then the object started to resemble a large red pole. A large red pole…
Big hair.
Big stick.
He looked up just in time to see the pole on a collision course with his head.
Oh, shit.
WHACK!!! and all further thoughts were lost.
*****
She was falling, falling. The wind whipped at her clothes as Bulma fell on a rapid descent to Earth. She looked down to see the trees approaching her at a fast rate. Limbs stuck out of the jungle canopy like spears, as if threatening to make her a real hour'derve.
Before Bulma had a chance to panic, though, a large rod shot into the sleeve of her shirt. It crossed over her shoulder area and bolted straight out the other sleeve, without leaving so much as a scratch. The rod shuddered as it implanted itself into a rockface. And before she knew it, she was pinned to the mountain ledge, hanging on the pole like dirty laundry.
Deja-Vu, indeed.
A moment later, Goku showed up on Kintu'on. He stood there for a moment, looking at her oddly. "Um, are you okay?" he asked, a weird expression growing on his face. Bulma just hung there, not saying a word. They were like that for a minute more, not doing anything.
Then they both burst out in outrageous laughter. Bulma laughed so hard that tears came out of her eyes. Even Goku was almost crying as he let out huge guffaws.
When they were finally done, Goku took hold of the pole. "I'll help you down," he said, a trace of laughter still in his voice. Grabbing hold of Nyoibo, he tilted it at an angle, and Bulma slowly began to slide down. When she reached the end, Goku caught her with one arm just as she began to fall off. Drawing the staff out of the rock, Goku shortened its length, and finished up by placing it back in the sheath.
Kintu'on started moving again, and they headed back to the others.
Bulma, snug in Goku's grip, looked at him curiously, trying to pick out any sign of anger. Wasn't he still mad at her? She took a breath of air, getting ready. She wasn't really good at apologizing, but she wanted to make sure everything was all right between them.
"Uh, Goku?" she asked somewhat nervously, looking at her twiddling fingers.
"Hmm?" he said distantly, concentrating on the traveling.
"About before…" she cut off. Man, this was going to be tough.
"Hey, don't worry about it!" Goku said, and Bulma was shocked by the remark. There was no way he was over that so quickly. No way.
But when she saw his smile, she got all the reassurance she needed. Just like that, he had forgiven her. She really shouldn't have expected anything less from Goku, the Saiyan that could let even Piccolo slide if he mended his ways.
With that, she let a smile craw on her face as they continued onward.
*****
Back in the jungle, Trunks sat on his haunches, shining his sword with a fallen leaf. When it accidentally got sliced, he just picked up another leaf and began the process anew. He kept on the process very diligent for something that was completely unnecessary and/or stupid. Yamcha absently fiddled with a twig, a bored expression on his face. Occasionally, he's use the trig to pick something between his teeth, but stopping when he ended up getting dirt in his mouth. The two shapeshifters occupied themselves in their own way.
Oolong yawned loudly. "Aren't they back yet?" he grumbled impatiently, slumped against a tree.
"Just a little bit longer," Puar responded, while pacing back and forth.
"Hey, guys!" They all looked up upon Goku and Bulma's arrival.
Goku hopped off of Kintu'on and set Bulma down. "We're back!" he perked.
"Miss us?" she winked playfully.
"It's about time!" Oolong stomped over to them. "Why'd you guys take so long, anyway?"
"Well if Goku hadn't taken his cloud instead of flying himself, we've been back in plenty of time," Bulma sneered, putting her hands on her hips.
"Well if you hadn't insisted on stopping at that spring, everything would've fine," Goku smirked, a satisfied air about him.
Trunks looked at the twosome. They were arguing again, but something was different about them. Bulma was all smiles now, her face beaming with mirth. Goku was his cheerful self as well. Neither of them showed any signs of malice toward the other. It was almost…playful. Like two best friends that just made up after a little tiff.
"Um, are you two alright?" he asked tentatively, ready for an explosion of anger. It didn't come.
"Sure," Goku grinned. "We're fine,"
"Yup," Bulma nodded. "Everything's peachy keen!"
"You mean…you're not mad anymore?" he asked again.
"Nah. We're cool." Goku shrugged nonchalantly.
Trunks scratched his head, trying to make sense of it all. Whenever he heard Bulma arguing with his father, it usually ended up being a big ordeal that would take days to get over, if it happened at all. However these two just bounced back, carrying on like best friends. This wasn't making any sense.
Suddenly Bulma slapped her forehead. "I almost forgot about the Dragon Ball!" she called out. "Man, I bet its miles away by now."
"The last time it was beeping was when we crashed into that prehistoric pissant," Oolong stated gruffly.
Bulma and Goku got thoughtful looks in their eyes. It did seem like the beeping got louder the closer they got to it. Which meant…
Goku's eyes suddenly lit up. "Bulma, do you think…?" he began, and Bulma nodded.
"Let's find out!" She took off towards the mountain. "C'mon, Trunks!" She called behind her.
Trunks blinked a few times, then shrugged. He could examine this later. For now, he followed the group to the fallen pteranodon.
*****
"We found the Dragon Ball! We found the Dragon Ball!" Bulma and Goku danced around the corpse of the pteranodon, cheering and laughing like school-kids that had been let out early.
"Alright!" Yamcha spun the Dragon Ball on his index finger. "This is awesome!" The ball glowed with a soft light, as if to emphasize his point.
"We found the Dragon Ball! We found the Dragon Ball!" The two continued, hopping on the pteranodon's head in glee.
"Yeah yeah, enough already," Oolong growled out stubbornly. "You're wakin' the entire jungle!" He settled into a sulking crouch.
"Don't be such a square, Oolong!" Puar chided, though a smile remained on his face. "Be happy!" The cat grabbed Bulma and Goku's hands, dancing along with them. "We found the Dragon Ball! We found the Dragon Ball!"
Trunks couldn't help smiling at the ridiculous display. The atmosphere was just so carefree, as if everything was right with the world. There was no Frieza to worry about, no Androids, no Cell. Just a good time with friends.
His thoughts turned to Goku and Bulma, who were now playing catch with their Dragon Ball, along with Yamcha and Puar. The smile remained on his face.
I guess in spite of everything, they truly are best friends.
*****
The celebration died down, and the group had managed to finally get out of the jungle and onto a dirt road, where they could finally use a Capsule Car to speed things up.
"Okay now!" Bulma said, looking at the Radar. "The closest ball is South-West at about 220 degrees."
It shouldn't take us more than two days to reach it in this bug." Yamcha supposed.
"Then…" Bulma flicked on the starter, prompting the engine to purr enthusiastically. "Let's get on it!" She slammed her foot onto the accelerator.
And they were off again.
Authors Notes: Whew, that was a toughie! Took me two weeks to finish! Brownie points to anyone who can remember the pteranodon from the first episode of Dragon Ball.
Until next time, Ja ne! ^_^