Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.
Chapter 5 - Outstretched Fingers
Her eyes lingered for a moment as the wooden door closed swiftly behind the woman who had rescued her life after she had done the same for her. Even though the time she had known Bulma was indeed short, there was no doubt that she was a woman of honor, of honesty. One of trustworthiness, of compassion. There was no doubt in Sashima's mind that she could count on Bulma with her own life.
An earsplitting commotion resounded from somewhere in the distance. Jostled out of the state of well-being she had experienced, she silently cursed whoever was preventing her from achieving the peace she so much desired. Another one of the crashes and the ground shook with a fury of a thousand dragons. The room she was in tethered dangerously to one side, with the intentions of suddenly caving in a definite possibility.
"What the fuck is going on out there?" she demanded to no one in particular. "Damn…this is getting so…ARGH! THAT'S IT!"
The ceiling above her seemed to laugh out loud as she struggled to get out of the hospital bed. Even though she was immensely well off than when she had first arrived at the hospital, there was still the doubt. She knew for a fact that she was not yet strong enough to do much in her state, yet there was no point in trying to debate reasons for that matter.
Planting her feet firmly on the ground, hands tight on the side of the bed, she straightened her legs and stood. She waited for the fall. It never came.
"Wow…this is strange…" she spoke to herself in a bemused manner. She never expected herself to stand, much less drag herself out of bed. With renewed confidence, she took a few steps forward. Owing to the exception that she still ached all over and was reasonably drained of much energy, she was still able to walk like she normally could. But then again, she wasn't normal.
BOOM!
This last explosion seemed to be relatively nearer than all the rest. For certain, the consequences were much greater. Like an aftershock of a disastrous earthquake, the blast made everything in the room jump a few inches in every which direction. The ceiling lights once again swayed, hanging on by just thin threads of wire. Sashima stumbled and quickly grabbed onto the table for support.
As soon as it began, it stopped. In a matter of seconds, it was as if nothing had ever happened. But she knew it was not the end, at least not yet.
Bit by bit she made her way to the large window overlooking the grounds at the end of the room. On the way she spotted the jug of iced-water, and not realizing her thirst until then, she gulped the contents down in a matter of seconds.
Snow white as the sheets on her bed, the curtains were quickly parted. It was getting dark fast, and her eyes roamed the grounds and the many compounds of Capsule Corporation, hoping to catch whatever was causing all the trouble outside.
BOOM! Yet another explosion, but this time she was ready. Turning her head in the direction of the sound and where the shockwaves were being emanated from, she caught a flash of bright yellow hastily descending from somewhere in the sky. Round as a beach ball, yet it seemed to have the intensity of a molten fireball, it was being sent from something hovering in mid-air. What it was she didn't know, yet the thing seemed remarkably familiar in a way…like she had seen it someplace recent. But where?
"Aha! That's the same person who flew over that silver plane this afternoon!"
The realization finally made, she at long last made the horrid conclusion. If that person would so willingly bring down a plane, what would he do against mere buildings? He would not hesitate to level them into miserable piles of rubble, and he was certainly not that far off from the hospital. Even in the condition she was in, she might still be able to do something. She made for the door.
At that exact moment that she let go of the bed, a blast exploded closer than ever to the hospital. The ground rocking like a giant cradle, she was thrown off her feet and slammed against the door. Pain shot up her knee where the impact had connected.
"Fucking SHIT…" Yet again she cursed herself for her incompetence, even though there was no way to reverse the condition that she was presently in. She pulled herself up from the heap on the floor, until her eyes were level with the glass in the door. What she saw almost made her heart stop in mid-beat.
At the end of the dimly lit corridor, a figure was bent double over a pile of what she presumed to be newspapers. Even though they were too far away to distinguish whether they were male or female, she watched, as if time had frozen her to the spot. The figure took out what seemed to be a bottle with a liquid of some sort from the inside of their jacket pocket and twisted the cap. Moving their arms in a wide arc, the contents of the liquid sloshed over the papers spread on the floor and instantly ignited into flames of phoenix wings. Moving back from the bonfire that leaped higher and higher into the air, the figure faded back into the shadows and out of sight.
"STOP!" Sashima cried out, flinging the door wide open, but it was already too late. The figure was nowhere in sight.
All the fire alarms began to ring, with doctors scurrying out of rooms and offices from every which direction, shouting panicked instructions to nurses and assistants to quickly evacuate all patients. The sprinkler system automatically activated, yet it was no use against the flames, which by now had engulfed half a side hallway and gaining area fast. Smoke billowed down the halls towards the madness of the people, propelled by the air conditioning let out from the ceiling vents. It was downtown Satan City all over again.
"Everyone out of the building, now!" Doctors furiously scrambled from room to room, moving patients down the second floor ramp and out onto the Capsule Corporation grounds. Sashima joined in with all the other able-bodied persons and worked desperately with the garden hoses hooked up to the sinks; water blasted out at a steady rate, trying to contain the fire long enough so that all patients would be safety transported out. So far, the plan was failing miserably. The raging fire was not doused at all. Quickly, it sucked at the ceilings and walls, and in no time at all, would soon enter one of the main hallways.
"This is not working! Everyone clear out of the building!"
There was no chance at battling the fire, which danced dangerously closer and closer to the people dashing for the exits. The intense heat was almost too much to bear, reminding Sashima of a turkey in a Thanksgiving oven. The smoke was no better; it clouded and rose not too far from her head, and gave an acidic sensation when inhaled through the nose or mouth. Pieces of the ceiling had now started to crumble and gravely wanted to cave in at various spots.
Half hobbling, half running, the fire seemed more hot-tempered than ever. Whichever way she turned, it followed, like a cat pursuing its prey. The perspiration covered her entire body and severely slowed her down, and still the fire rushed at her, closer and closer along the walls and ceilings. She and the last few people who were fighting the fire were extremely relieved when the exit was finally in sight.
A creaking sound from above made her swing her head in that direction. To her utmost horror, the fire was almost directly above her, extending its evil claws, grabbing in vain at the auburn-haired man who exerted much energy just to run and looked about ready to fall dead on the ground at any second. The loose boards in the ceiling groaned with the weight of the flames and finally broke loose.
"Watch out!" She rushed at the man, knocking him over as a block of burning plaster fell on the spot that he had just been a mere second ago, searing the ground a charcoal black and blocking their way to the exit.
"Are you okay?" Getting back to her feet, she helped the man up. He was wheezing uncontrollably and could not speak. "Come on, we need to get outta here…"
Supporting his immense weight, she half carried, half dragged him down the narrow side corridor that they had landed in. The darkness made it all the worse, and the hall seemed never to end. 'If the fire is not put out soon,' Sashima thought with impending dread, 'this whole building would collapse.'
It did seem as if her predication was going to come true, because at that exact moment, a burst of light had found its way to the beginning of the corridor. It was not light, but the flames, and they were hunting her once again, the smoke as their ally.
"Come on, you can make it…" she muttered down to the man, who by now was so weak his feet were trailing the warm floor tiles. Inwardly, she hoped that he had not died on her, and that smoke inhalation had not done him in.
Breaking the end of the hall, she emerged into a lighted area, the wooden reception desk in front of her and the last second floor exit to her right, just forty feet past the hospital kitchen. A leap of joy fluttered in her heart. Yes! She was going to make it!
With renewed confidence, she shifted the weight of the limp man onto her other shoulder and scuttled to the glass doors. Ramming her elbow against them, she shoved them opened and broke out into fresh air. It was not an exit, but a balcony. Down below, firefighters were on the scene, and cries of surprise were released from them as they hastily scampered up in their ladders to where she stood, panting.
"Here, we'll take him down with us!" Firemen on the ladder extended their arms, and carefully Sashima passed the limp man down to them. "Be careful!" She took a step and proceeded to step over the railing and to the safety of the ladder, but from above, another creaking noise resulted.
This time, she didn't hesitate to look, flinging herself back into the building and out of the balcony. Where she had stood, part of the third floor had buckled and lay comfortably on the balcony. Her only hope of an escape was sealed, and the flames, sensing her feelings of despair, crept slowly from the other end of the hallway.
For the second time that day, she struggled to concentrate, focusing mind and energy into one spot. It was no use, she had still not yet recovered from what had happened earlier that day, and the fire and smoke in the hospital had just made it worse. She had to find a window and if she jumped, she just hoped that fate would be kind to spare her life.
Suddenly a roar snapped her back to the situation she was desperately trapped in. To her right and left, flames loomed closer and closer to her, leaning in for the kill. The only place left was the kitchen.
With no time to spare, Sashima hurried inside and slid the door shut. She scanned the room until she found what she so much wanted: windows. Pushing aside the various crates of food, trays, and sanitation equipment, she made her way to the back of the room just as the fire licked at the edges of the door.
The windows were too far from the ground to reach, and Sashima only had a minimal amount of time left before she was trapped and burned for good in the kitchen.
"Come on, fucking shit, why won't this budge??" Tugging at the edges of a box, she labored to get it over to the window. Exasperated, she scooted behind the box and pushed against it with all her might. It slowed moved forward a couple inches.
Slowly but surely, the box was shoved until it finally came to rest directly under the window. By this time, smoke was seeping into the room from all sides, as if someone had turned on a hundred fans and aimed it at the cracks of the room.
Sashima was beyond fatigued. She didn't know how she managed, but she finally found herself atop the box and struggling with the latch on the window. The smoke clouded her brain, and if she didn't get fresh air soon, she was sure to die.
A vociferous crash and the charred remnants of the door shattered. Through the gap in the room, the whole outside of the second floor was engulfed in a rolling ball of flame. Fumbling with the latch, it still would not unbolt.
Sashima shut her eyes tight, awaiting her certain doom. There was simply no way she could escape this one; she was too weak to do anything that she might've done if she was back in Harakatsuma. She was just going to die right then and there, in this strange city, and without ever finding what she had set out to find.
Row after row of fire blazed into the dusky room. She could already see a flamed finger extending only inches away from the line of gas stoves on the far side of the room.
She scoffed to herself. "And before I actually thought that nothing could kill me…"
* * * * *
Bulma and her father had arrived at the burning C.C. hospital as soon as Bulma had spotted the smoke. They had assisted the patients, the doctors, and everyone else being ushered out of the building, treating them for minor burns and smoke inhalation. Within minutes, the entire second floor, and most of the first and third floors were already raging with flames, burning uncontrollably, a display of optical wonders against the evening sky. Yet it was far from a wonder. The firefighters soon pulled up in their fire trucks, and even they could not keep the fire under control. It seemed to have a mind of its own, avoiding the cool sprays of the water as it was blasted towards them.
Bulma hurried among the patients and the various people crowded a distance away from the fiery scene. All of a sudden she remembered Sashima. Where was she? Did she make it out with the rest? Hurrying through, she searched the masses of people. She was nowhere to be found.
"Has anyone seen Sashima?" she called out to the group of doctors. Some had recalled her helping battle the fire, yet no one had seen her since.
It was as if the pit of Bulma's stomach had ripped open, spilling the juices and the acids. A commotion from the building that was ablaze sent a leap to her heart as she saw Sashima handing the body of a man to the firefighters on the ladder. Bulma started to run towards the firefighters, but at that moment the hanging over the balcony that Sashima was standing on gave way and fell. The ladder flew backwards with a metallic crash and the four bodies were flung down onto the grassy C.C. grounds. None of them moved.
As the injured firemen were carried away in stretchers, Bulma returned to the safety zone, away from the fire. She paced back and forth in agitated circles, chewing her lip thoughtfully. Sashima possessed great powers, she was sure of that, but when she had left her that evening, she was still not in the best of conditions. A little better off than when Bulma had first brought her in, but nevertheless, in no shape to get out of a raging fire alive.
"Oh God, please let her be all right." Bulma murmured these words over and over again. Looking towards the hospital, her breath caught in her throat as she realized the entire building was veiled in an inferno, the dark screen of smoke even worst than what she had saw that afternoon.
"Sashima, where are you??" she called helplessly into the turmoil.
With the force of a missile strike and the loudness of a miniature atomic blast, the fallen hospital erupted outwards, blasting itself in an explosion from the inside out, scattering embers and pieces of debris in every which direction.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
AN: Sorry this took so long to write. I sorta was short on time with homework and all…so yeah…I still don't know how many chapters it's gonna be…only that it's gonna be really long and I'll average about one to two chapters per week, depending on how much time I have. Hey at least when Winter Break starts, I'll be able to do like a chapter per two days. Or in one day for that matter. Heh. Cyaz.
Chapter 5 - Outstretched Fingers
Her eyes lingered for a moment as the wooden door closed swiftly behind the woman who had rescued her life after she had done the same for her. Even though the time she had known Bulma was indeed short, there was no doubt that she was a woman of honor, of honesty. One of trustworthiness, of compassion. There was no doubt in Sashima's mind that she could count on Bulma with her own life.
An earsplitting commotion resounded from somewhere in the distance. Jostled out of the state of well-being she had experienced, she silently cursed whoever was preventing her from achieving the peace she so much desired. Another one of the crashes and the ground shook with a fury of a thousand dragons. The room she was in tethered dangerously to one side, with the intentions of suddenly caving in a definite possibility.
"What the fuck is going on out there?" she demanded to no one in particular. "Damn…this is getting so…ARGH! THAT'S IT!"
The ceiling above her seemed to laugh out loud as she struggled to get out of the hospital bed. Even though she was immensely well off than when she had first arrived at the hospital, there was still the doubt. She knew for a fact that she was not yet strong enough to do much in her state, yet there was no point in trying to debate reasons for that matter.
Planting her feet firmly on the ground, hands tight on the side of the bed, she straightened her legs and stood. She waited for the fall. It never came.
"Wow…this is strange…" she spoke to herself in a bemused manner. She never expected herself to stand, much less drag herself out of bed. With renewed confidence, she took a few steps forward. Owing to the exception that she still ached all over and was reasonably drained of much energy, she was still able to walk like she normally could. But then again, she wasn't normal.
BOOM!
This last explosion seemed to be relatively nearer than all the rest. For certain, the consequences were much greater. Like an aftershock of a disastrous earthquake, the blast made everything in the room jump a few inches in every which direction. The ceiling lights once again swayed, hanging on by just thin threads of wire. Sashima stumbled and quickly grabbed onto the table for support.
As soon as it began, it stopped. In a matter of seconds, it was as if nothing had ever happened. But she knew it was not the end, at least not yet.
Bit by bit she made her way to the large window overlooking the grounds at the end of the room. On the way she spotted the jug of iced-water, and not realizing her thirst until then, she gulped the contents down in a matter of seconds.
Snow white as the sheets on her bed, the curtains were quickly parted. It was getting dark fast, and her eyes roamed the grounds and the many compounds of Capsule Corporation, hoping to catch whatever was causing all the trouble outside.
BOOM! Yet another explosion, but this time she was ready. Turning her head in the direction of the sound and where the shockwaves were being emanated from, she caught a flash of bright yellow hastily descending from somewhere in the sky. Round as a beach ball, yet it seemed to have the intensity of a molten fireball, it was being sent from something hovering in mid-air. What it was she didn't know, yet the thing seemed remarkably familiar in a way…like she had seen it someplace recent. But where?
"Aha! That's the same person who flew over that silver plane this afternoon!"
The realization finally made, she at long last made the horrid conclusion. If that person would so willingly bring down a plane, what would he do against mere buildings? He would not hesitate to level them into miserable piles of rubble, and he was certainly not that far off from the hospital. Even in the condition she was in, she might still be able to do something. She made for the door.
At that exact moment that she let go of the bed, a blast exploded closer than ever to the hospital. The ground rocking like a giant cradle, she was thrown off her feet and slammed against the door. Pain shot up her knee where the impact had connected.
"Fucking SHIT…" Yet again she cursed herself for her incompetence, even though there was no way to reverse the condition that she was presently in. She pulled herself up from the heap on the floor, until her eyes were level with the glass in the door. What she saw almost made her heart stop in mid-beat.
At the end of the dimly lit corridor, a figure was bent double over a pile of what she presumed to be newspapers. Even though they were too far away to distinguish whether they were male or female, she watched, as if time had frozen her to the spot. The figure took out what seemed to be a bottle with a liquid of some sort from the inside of their jacket pocket and twisted the cap. Moving their arms in a wide arc, the contents of the liquid sloshed over the papers spread on the floor and instantly ignited into flames of phoenix wings. Moving back from the bonfire that leaped higher and higher into the air, the figure faded back into the shadows and out of sight.
"STOP!" Sashima cried out, flinging the door wide open, but it was already too late. The figure was nowhere in sight.
All the fire alarms began to ring, with doctors scurrying out of rooms and offices from every which direction, shouting panicked instructions to nurses and assistants to quickly evacuate all patients. The sprinkler system automatically activated, yet it was no use against the flames, which by now had engulfed half a side hallway and gaining area fast. Smoke billowed down the halls towards the madness of the people, propelled by the air conditioning let out from the ceiling vents. It was downtown Satan City all over again.
"Everyone out of the building, now!" Doctors furiously scrambled from room to room, moving patients down the second floor ramp and out onto the Capsule Corporation grounds. Sashima joined in with all the other able-bodied persons and worked desperately with the garden hoses hooked up to the sinks; water blasted out at a steady rate, trying to contain the fire long enough so that all patients would be safety transported out. So far, the plan was failing miserably. The raging fire was not doused at all. Quickly, it sucked at the ceilings and walls, and in no time at all, would soon enter one of the main hallways.
"This is not working! Everyone clear out of the building!"
There was no chance at battling the fire, which danced dangerously closer and closer to the people dashing for the exits. The intense heat was almost too much to bear, reminding Sashima of a turkey in a Thanksgiving oven. The smoke was no better; it clouded and rose not too far from her head, and gave an acidic sensation when inhaled through the nose or mouth. Pieces of the ceiling had now started to crumble and gravely wanted to cave in at various spots.
Half hobbling, half running, the fire seemed more hot-tempered than ever. Whichever way she turned, it followed, like a cat pursuing its prey. The perspiration covered her entire body and severely slowed her down, and still the fire rushed at her, closer and closer along the walls and ceilings. She and the last few people who were fighting the fire were extremely relieved when the exit was finally in sight.
A creaking sound from above made her swing her head in that direction. To her utmost horror, the fire was almost directly above her, extending its evil claws, grabbing in vain at the auburn-haired man who exerted much energy just to run and looked about ready to fall dead on the ground at any second. The loose boards in the ceiling groaned with the weight of the flames and finally broke loose.
"Watch out!" She rushed at the man, knocking him over as a block of burning plaster fell on the spot that he had just been a mere second ago, searing the ground a charcoal black and blocking their way to the exit.
"Are you okay?" Getting back to her feet, she helped the man up. He was wheezing uncontrollably and could not speak. "Come on, we need to get outta here…"
Supporting his immense weight, she half carried, half dragged him down the narrow side corridor that they had landed in. The darkness made it all the worse, and the hall seemed never to end. 'If the fire is not put out soon,' Sashima thought with impending dread, 'this whole building would collapse.'
It did seem as if her predication was going to come true, because at that exact moment, a burst of light had found its way to the beginning of the corridor. It was not light, but the flames, and they were hunting her once again, the smoke as their ally.
"Come on, you can make it…" she muttered down to the man, who by now was so weak his feet were trailing the warm floor tiles. Inwardly, she hoped that he had not died on her, and that smoke inhalation had not done him in.
Breaking the end of the hall, she emerged into a lighted area, the wooden reception desk in front of her and the last second floor exit to her right, just forty feet past the hospital kitchen. A leap of joy fluttered in her heart. Yes! She was going to make it!
With renewed confidence, she shifted the weight of the limp man onto her other shoulder and scuttled to the glass doors. Ramming her elbow against them, she shoved them opened and broke out into fresh air. It was not an exit, but a balcony. Down below, firefighters were on the scene, and cries of surprise were released from them as they hastily scampered up in their ladders to where she stood, panting.
"Here, we'll take him down with us!" Firemen on the ladder extended their arms, and carefully Sashima passed the limp man down to them. "Be careful!" She took a step and proceeded to step over the railing and to the safety of the ladder, but from above, another creaking noise resulted.
This time, she didn't hesitate to look, flinging herself back into the building and out of the balcony. Where she had stood, part of the third floor had buckled and lay comfortably on the balcony. Her only hope of an escape was sealed, and the flames, sensing her feelings of despair, crept slowly from the other end of the hallway.
For the second time that day, she struggled to concentrate, focusing mind and energy into one spot. It was no use, she had still not yet recovered from what had happened earlier that day, and the fire and smoke in the hospital had just made it worse. She had to find a window and if she jumped, she just hoped that fate would be kind to spare her life.
Suddenly a roar snapped her back to the situation she was desperately trapped in. To her right and left, flames loomed closer and closer to her, leaning in for the kill. The only place left was the kitchen.
With no time to spare, Sashima hurried inside and slid the door shut. She scanned the room until she found what she so much wanted: windows. Pushing aside the various crates of food, trays, and sanitation equipment, she made her way to the back of the room just as the fire licked at the edges of the door.
The windows were too far from the ground to reach, and Sashima only had a minimal amount of time left before she was trapped and burned for good in the kitchen.
"Come on, fucking shit, why won't this budge??" Tugging at the edges of a box, she labored to get it over to the window. Exasperated, she scooted behind the box and pushed against it with all her might. It slowed moved forward a couple inches.
Slowly but surely, the box was shoved until it finally came to rest directly under the window. By this time, smoke was seeping into the room from all sides, as if someone had turned on a hundred fans and aimed it at the cracks of the room.
Sashima was beyond fatigued. She didn't know how she managed, but she finally found herself atop the box and struggling with the latch on the window. The smoke clouded her brain, and if she didn't get fresh air soon, she was sure to die.
A vociferous crash and the charred remnants of the door shattered. Through the gap in the room, the whole outside of the second floor was engulfed in a rolling ball of flame. Fumbling with the latch, it still would not unbolt.
Sashima shut her eyes tight, awaiting her certain doom. There was simply no way she could escape this one; she was too weak to do anything that she might've done if she was back in Harakatsuma. She was just going to die right then and there, in this strange city, and without ever finding what she had set out to find.
Row after row of fire blazed into the dusky room. She could already see a flamed finger extending only inches away from the line of gas stoves on the far side of the room.
She scoffed to herself. "And before I actually thought that nothing could kill me…"
* * * * *
Bulma and her father had arrived at the burning C.C. hospital as soon as Bulma had spotted the smoke. They had assisted the patients, the doctors, and everyone else being ushered out of the building, treating them for minor burns and smoke inhalation. Within minutes, the entire second floor, and most of the first and third floors were already raging with flames, burning uncontrollably, a display of optical wonders against the evening sky. Yet it was far from a wonder. The firefighters soon pulled up in their fire trucks, and even they could not keep the fire under control. It seemed to have a mind of its own, avoiding the cool sprays of the water as it was blasted towards them.
Bulma hurried among the patients and the various people crowded a distance away from the fiery scene. All of a sudden she remembered Sashima. Where was she? Did she make it out with the rest? Hurrying through, she searched the masses of people. She was nowhere to be found.
"Has anyone seen Sashima?" she called out to the group of doctors. Some had recalled her helping battle the fire, yet no one had seen her since.
It was as if the pit of Bulma's stomach had ripped open, spilling the juices and the acids. A commotion from the building that was ablaze sent a leap to her heart as she saw Sashima handing the body of a man to the firefighters on the ladder. Bulma started to run towards the firefighters, but at that moment the hanging over the balcony that Sashima was standing on gave way and fell. The ladder flew backwards with a metallic crash and the four bodies were flung down onto the grassy C.C. grounds. None of them moved.
As the injured firemen were carried away in stretchers, Bulma returned to the safety zone, away from the fire. She paced back and forth in agitated circles, chewing her lip thoughtfully. Sashima possessed great powers, she was sure of that, but when she had left her that evening, she was still not in the best of conditions. A little better off than when Bulma had first brought her in, but nevertheless, in no shape to get out of a raging fire alive.
"Oh God, please let her be all right." Bulma murmured these words over and over again. Looking towards the hospital, her breath caught in her throat as she realized the entire building was veiled in an inferno, the dark screen of smoke even worst than what she had saw that afternoon.
"Sashima, where are you??" she called helplessly into the turmoil.
With the force of a missile strike and the loudness of a miniature atomic blast, the fallen hospital erupted outwards, blasting itself in an explosion from the inside out, scattering embers and pieces of debris in every which direction.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
AN: Sorry this took so long to write. I sorta was short on time with homework and all…so yeah…I still don't know how many chapters it's gonna be…only that it's gonna be really long and I'll average about one to two chapters per week, depending on how much time I have. Hey at least when Winter Break starts, I'll be able to do like a chapter per two days. Or in one day for that matter. Heh. Cyaz.
