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 9: In Too Deep, Part 2
*****
The city lights streaked into a montage of rainbow strokes, which melded together into a blur of pure color. Road lines darted forward into a semi-sequence of reflective gold, guiding all motorists onward to a vibrant nighttime skyline. The mountains of building mirages winked with their busy, never-sleeping life, needling into the misty urban eve like a grand tapestry meant only for giants.
Lunch's motorcycle carried Goku and her down the highway in speeds exceeding 100 kph. It moved faster and faster, burning a trench of rubber on the street behind the back tire. It swerved and swooped down hairpin turns as its driver operated it with the skill of the pro bike racers.
As the world went by, Goku's face flashed with the town's neon lights: blue, red, green, aqua. Resting his arms on the edge of the passenger car, he watched the streaks with an unreadable expression, eyes picking off each color individually. They found hoards of buildings upon buildings, each with its own personality, although blending with neighbors.
But soon the buildings grew sparser and sparser, as mountains and countryside took its place. The motorcycle was approaching the outskirts of the city, where large expanses of fields could be viewed and glorified by means of the cliff that oversaw them. It was a truly lonely sight.
Despite this, Lunch stared at it with soft happiness, her blue hair waving in the wind ethereally. Her eyes were innocent and pure, rivaling Goku's during his peaceful times. Her appearance was near perfect, excepting the small hue of red etching the rim of her nose. It was allergy season, after all.
"So," she smiled, turning to the young man sweetly. "Did you want to talk about something?" The woman blinked innocently at him.
"Not really," Goku said truthfully, neglecting to meet her eyes. He continued to stare at the stars quietly, very uncharacteristic of him, or so many might think.
Yet Lunch only giggled airily. "Don't worry," she said, putting her hand on her cheek. "It's safe."
Goku opened his mouth to refute her, but closed it after his thoughts caught up with him. He scratched his reason with a fingernail, then shrugged in resignation. What the hell, he thought. At this point, what did he have to lose?
So he told her everything. About the Dragon Ball hunt, about Bulma, about Vegeta and Trunks. About his forgotten family, even about Kuririn and Juuhachigou. When he was done, tears were pouring from his eyes. But now he was unabashed by them, and let them run off his face and onto the chrome detail of the bike, sending ripples across its maroon gloss.
Lunch's head was lowered, her blond hair covering her face with a dull shadow. She rubbed her nose a few times from a recent sneeze, sniffling a bit before fully catching her breath.
Then she socked Goku across the face.
"You idiot!" Lunch screamed at him, hitting him again with a vicious backhand. "You infantile moron! How could you be so stupid!?"
"Ow!" Goku rubbed his reddening cheek, an irritated frown on his mouth. "What was that about!?" He growled, his old spirit making a brief comeback.
"I can't believe you!" she growled at him, plugging her pointer to the tip of his nose. "Crying and whining like a little baby, because you royally screwed up your entire life. How dare you!?"
"That's not fair!" Goku protested, outraged. "I tried to keep Chichi and Gohan from going! I tried…"
"You haven't done jack!" Lunch cut off his excuses harshly. "You just sat there while everything passed you by, just like that city over there." She pointed at the town behind her. "Look at that, Goku," she said coldly, motioning to the buildings. "Life happening all around you. Life you've ignored by being too naïve about your own damn feelings! Fool! I oughta…oughttaaa…aaa…aaaaahhhHHHHHH…CHO!" With a musical twing, the vixen's golden hair reverted back to blue, and the shady eyes widened into those reflective pearls again.
Lunch looked bewildered at Goku's angry expression, but only for a moment, for soon she broke into hysterical laughter. "Whoops!" She put her hand to her mouth, stifling her hoots. "Did it again!"
Goku looked a bit astonished by this little demonstration of schizophrenia, but quickly regulated his facial expression once he gained control of himself.
"Look, Goku," Lunch placed a gentle hand on Goku's shoulder, who flinched at the gesture, but didn't refuse it. "I know how you feel. I mean, I've been naïve too about a lot of things, and I don't always…pick up on everything so fast…" She looked a bit bashful at this admission, yet she continued her speech without too much hesitation. "After all, I've had the hardest time trying to catch up to Tenshinhan to tell him how I feel. But I've never found the right time."
"But I won't give up!" A determined look grew within her pupils. "I know that someday, I'll finally catch up to him, and then I'll work up that nerve and courage and give it my all! I won't rest until then. And neither should you."
Goku was dumbfounded, shocked completely out of his depression. In all the years he had known Lunch, he had never seen her with such a serious attitude. She really believed in what she was doing, and she believed in him.
Goku rose from the bike trailer, and gave Lunch the first smile he had felt this day. "Thanks, Lunch," he said, stepping out of the car. "I think you've helped me a bit."
Lunch blinked a few times. "Leaving?" she asked, turning to him. "Already?"
When she saw Goku's subtle nod, she relaxed in submission. "Well, as long as you're going, tell me if you see Tenshinhan," she called out to him. "I really need to see him…"
A breeze, a sneeze, and a lass to a sleaze.
"…'cause I want to wring his scrawny neck!" she finished up with a low growl, shaking her fist with vigor.
Goku just smiled at the girl's quirks, and raised his hand. With a twitch of the eyebrow, he gave her the classic Son salute. And then, with a step that was a tad lighter than before, he was off towards the wilderness and the mountains and who knows where.
Lunch watched him go, the scowl still on her face. Slowly, though, as she watched the young man go, she let a rare smile penetrate into her normally negative self.
"Good luck, kid," she said quietly to him.
Then the sound of police sirens filled her ears. "Damn!" she cursed, shaking herself out of her sentimentality and revving her engine. With a burst of exhaust, she shot off from the cliff side and back to the city, ready to give the fuzz a merry chase.
*****
For what seemed like decades for him, Son Goku journeyed all over the world, stopping at strange little spots he somehow held dear to his heart. His pace was quite normal to him, yet he moved in a dimension that few could possibly dream of. The dimension beyond light, where speed was so fast that neither man nor time could catch up with him. He was a phantom, an apparition none could see, unless he willed it.
Mountains melted into rivers, into forests, into deserts, and back to mountains again. But he didn't stop. He just kept walking and walking and walking…
*****
At a native village in the Karin region, villagers bustled about in their ceremonial costume, preparing whatever rituals were dear to them. They were hardworking sorts, and let their sweat flow freely from their skin. Their faces held strain for the labor ahead, but they were happy, so he left them alone.
Two brown-skinned men sat by a fireside, poking at it with long twigs. The first one, a buff man with silver hair tied back into a ponytail, held a gruff expression on his face as the fire started to dwindle. The other, a lean muscled youth with tiny eyes, kept a determined expression on his face as he continued to stoke the fire, albeit with little success.
But just as the young man began to lose hope, a small spark appeared in the limbs. Excited, he quickly prodded it more, and suddenly a huge blaze roared out of the formerly cold embers. Warmed by this sudden outburst, the man looked victoriously at his elder, only to find a proud smile on his grizzled face, as if he had known he'd be able to start the flame all along.
The two warmed themselves, and enjoyed each other's presence.
Son Goku smiled sadly, then moved on.
*****
Mountains to rivers, rivers to forests, forest to deserts, deserts to mountains. A young man toured the Four Corners of earth, hoping for something to end his search.
Step, step, step, step…
*****
At a little known hamlet called Penguin Village, all was at peace. The sun flexed its muscles, the pigs flew, and the birds cheerily called out: "Asshole!" at the happy towns-folk. Just another typical day in the mind of an insane artist.
A red ball rolled to his feet, which he stopped with the toe of his sneaker. Scooping it under his arm, he waited for its owner to receive the missing object. Soon, a purple haired girl with huge glasses approached him, dashing forward like a berserker on a caffeine high. With bright eyes, she held out her hands for her ball, which he promptly delivered to. Burbling her thanks, she went on back to her friend: a shorthaired boy with glasses that matched hers.
The two laughed happily, and enjoyed each other's presence.
Son Goku smiled wistfully, then moved on.
*****
Mountains to rivers, rivers to forests, forest to deserts, deserts to mountains. A young man toured the Four Corners of earth, hoping for something to end his search.
Step, step, step, step…
*****
And then, finally, he stopped.
He was on a nameless prairie, much like the one he had left Bulma and the others at. It was fairly non-distinctive, but featured a couple of round boulders embedded deep in the dirt and grass. On this prairie, it was around morning, and the sun was rising in a slow fog.
"I say there, sir," A slow, methodical voice rumbled from one of the stones. "Do you need a break?"
Goku looked over at the rock, which seemed able to talk. Then he took a double take, and chuckled. "Hey there, Turtle," he said in greeting, walking over to the 'rock.' "Taking a vacation from the old timer's hut?"
Turtle smiled. "But of course," he said, with the same polite-yet-cynical voice he had acquired while dealing with the Muten Roshi's various jaunts. His smile faded, however, when he caught the falsity in Goku's grin. "Excuse me for saying so," he started smoothly. "…but to be perfectly frank, you seem to be in an awful fix."
"Feh," Goku smirked bitterly. "You can say that again." He paced back and forth on the field, his arms crossed. "Everything's gone to hell, Turtle," he said sadly. "My entire life has been torn to shreds, and I have no way to fix it."
"My word…" The normally reasonable tortoise was wide with shock at seeing the master of solutions backed into a corner with no way out.
"Yeah." he snorted, wrinkling his nostrils in an irritated motion.
Turtle closed his eyes for a moment, then quickly opened them, with an idea immersed inside them. "Well, there is little I can offer you in ways of solutions," he said. "…but right now, I may provide to you a good ear and a good seat."
"Huh?" Goku asked.
"My shell provides but an ounce of protection, it's true, but it should serve as a stool for your purposes." Turtle moved slowly to the martial artist. "Sit down, old chap, and let's hear your tale of woe."
Goku was about to turn him down, but then he realized that he could use a good rest about now, what with all the walking he had done. So he moved over to the reptile, lowered his haunches, and took his seat.
*****
After a good fifteen minutes, Goku had completely finished telling his "tale of woe," as Turtle referred to it. This time, he was not so teary eyed, having gotten accustomed to hearing the grim truth, at least on one level. It had become more like a distant fact, rather then a blatant reality, and could be shut away temporarily with the detachment one gets when exposed to tragedy.
Turtle listened to all of this with an open mind, calmly nodding his head in response to Goku's sufferings. "Indeed," he agreed, taking a moment to munch on the dry grass. "Truly, you are at the bottom of your rope." Having decided that it wasn't much like seaweed after all, he spit the grass stems into the dirt, thoroughly disgusted. He was a gourmet, after all.
"So that's it," Goku stared onto the clouds above. "Bulma is gone, Chichi is gone, and Gohan probably hates me…"
"Gohan wouldn't hate you," The tortoise said firmly, glancing up at the man sitting on his back. "He loves you. He will always stand by you."
"But Chichi is gone," Goku affirmed with his friend.
Turtle sighed. "Yes, she is gone," he said softly, but raised his head with confidence. "However, I believe that what you are truly looking for may be within your grasp. If you reach for it."
"What?" Goku raised his eyebrows, and looked at him curiously. "What I'm truly…looking for?"
"If you wish me to tell you what you seek, that I may not answer," The turtle shook his head." However, I may lead you in the correct direction, if you want."
"Right direction…?" he pondered.
"There is an old saying passed down by wise men," Turtle said. "'Whenever there is a future that is filled with questions, it's best to look in the past for the answers.'"
Goku's eyes suddenly grew to the size of dinner plates, and he was suddenly struck with a revelation. He now knew where he could go to have peace of mind.
"Do you understand, Son Goku?" the turtle asked him.
"…yes, I think I do," Goku's eyes were even clearer than before. Quickly, he leapt off Turtle's back and hit the turf, looking up at the sky once more. He started in the direction of the sun, then stopped and said: "Thanks."
"Where are you off to now?" the tortoise asked.
Goku looked back over his shoulder. "I've got one more place I have to visit," he said. Then, he was gone.
The Turtle smiled. "Good day," he said.
*****
And then Son Goku went to his final destination.