Chapter 3

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Just as the barbecue was ending and people were beginning to leave, Trunks pulled Nicole away from everyone. They went into Capsule Corp. and into the living room. Trunks told Nicole to sit down. She couldn't imagine what could be going on. "Look Nicole… I don't want this to affect our relationship, but there's something you have to know…" he began. Nicole looked into his eyes nervously. "The world's in danger… you know how Piccolo is from another planet?" he continued. Nicole nodded. "Well, you see, he had a friend a long time ago named Jukuo, that's here now, to try to take over the world." Trunks said. Nicole looked at him in disbelief. "Seriously?!?!" she asked. Trunks nodded. "No one's sure exactly what his plan is just yet, but we're sure he's trouble."

"Oh my God…" whispered Nicole. "Isn't there anything we could do?"

"Yes… which is why I want you to come with me. To help me find the Dragon Balls." Trunks responded.

"The what?" Nicole said, confused.

"The Dragon Balls… there are seven. If we can find them all, we can use them to summon the Eternal Dragon… which grants us two wishes." He explained.

"Two wishes?" said Nicole, still confused.

"Yeah, but we want to use those to fix any damage that Jukuo does to the world." Trunks finished. "I know it's hard to understand but tomorrow, I want you to meet me here at like… 7:00, and we'll go try to find them. I'll explain more then."

"Ok…" Nicole agreed.

"That's not too early, right?" he asked. She shook her head.

Nicole and Trunks left the living room, and went back outside. The sun was beginning to set. Within the next five minutes, Nicole, Leah, and Angelica had said goodbye to everyone. Just as Leah and Angelica were getting into the 2006 silver Jaguar convertible that they had came in, Nicole ran over to Trunks, said, "I'll see you tomorrow!" and kissed him goodbye.

As she got into the car with her two friends, Leah said, "Well Nicole, that sure was a fast growing relationship!"

"Well what's up with you two, Yamcha and Gohan?" Nicole replied as they pulled out of the Capsule Corp. parking lot.

"Well… they asked us out!" Angelica said excitedly.

"Yeah right…" Nicole said.

"It's true! You and Trunks went into Capsule Corp. when they asked us out, so you weren't there." Leah said.

"So… what did you and Trunks do?" asked Angelica.

"What do you mean, 'what did we do'?" Nicole questioned.

"What did you do when you went inside?" Angelica said again.

"Nothing." Nicole answered.

"Oh, c'mon!" Leah said.

"We didn't do anything!" Nicole repeated.

"Tell us!" Angelica persisted.

"Trunks just had to tell me something!" Nicole said, beginning to get annoyed.

"Like what?" asked Angelica.

"Ugh… you guys never give up, do you?" Nicole said smiling.

"Nope!" grinned Leah.

"Ok, well he told me to go back to Capsule Corp. tomorrow, so I can help him find the Dragon Balls." Nicole explained.

"The Dragon what?" asked Angelica confused.



By the time Nicole had finished explaining the situation to her two friends, they had made it back home. Angelica was dropped off first and Nicole next. Just as Leah pulled into Nicole's driveway, she said, "So the Dragon Balls can grant two wishes?"

"That's what Trunks told me…" Nicole replied.

"Any wish you could think of?" Leah asked.

"I guess…" she answered.

"Wow…" Leah said in awe.

"Well, I'll try to call you when I get back home tomorrow, ok?" Nicole said.

"Yep!" Leah said as Nicole got out from the car.

"See ya!" she said slamming the door shut.



Just as Nicole walked into her house, her little brother Josh ran up to her and said, "So, who's Trunks?"

"You little brat! You read my diary again!" Nicole screamed, running after him.

"Is he your new boyfriend?!?!" he said in a mocking type of voice.

"None of your business!" Nicole said, chasing him into her room. After pushing him out, Nicole locked her door and sat down on her bed. Sometimes Josh could be so immature!

After putting her pajamas on, Nicole walked out to the sun porch, sat down on the sofa, and turned the television on.

"Now… back to the ABC News Report!" said the announcer on the TV. "Now, over four hundred people have been killed by this strange looking green monster!"

"That must be Jukuo!" Nicole thought, looking at the picture of him.

"The president had decided to send the U.S. navy out to try to kill this beast! However, we're not sure if this will work… he seems to be invincible!" continued the news announcer.

Nicole changed the channel, hopping to keep her mind off the subject. Just then, her mom walked into the room. "So Nicole, how was the barbecue you went to?" she asked.

"Oh, it was cool." Nicole replied.

"You should probably be going to bed… it's getting late."

"Alright…" Nicole sighed as she got up from the sofa. She hated it when her mom would tell her when to go to bed. It's not like I can't do that myself. Nicole thought. She walked down the hallway into her room, shut her door, and went to sleep.



The next day, Nicole woke up at 6:00. Realizing that she had only one hour to get ready to go meet Trunks, she quickly got to work. Once she was dressed, had eaten breakfast, she went to Capsule Corp. When she got there, Trunks was waiting for her outside. "Hey!" Nicole said happily.

"Hey!" he replied.

"So… just how are we gonna find the Dragon Balls?" Nicole asked.

"Well, first before we leave, I wanna teach you how to fly…" Trunks said.

"Excuse me?" Nicole said, wondering how the heck he purposed to do that.

"Fly. I know it sounds weird, but I know how to fly." He explained.

"You're kidding… right?" Nicole couldn't help but smile. It was totally against the laws of nature! How could someone just… fly?

"Nope." Trunks shook his head. "It's like this…" he said, his feet lifting off the ground.

"Oh… my… God…" Nicole said in total shock. He was just floating there! Trunks grinned. "Now, you try it. Just jump off the ground…" Trunks directed. Nicole did as he said, and jumped. Unlike him, she came straight back down. She didn't float.

"Don't worry Nicole… it'll take time. You just have to concentrate!" Trunks said.

"Concentrate?" Nicole repeated. It sounded ridiculous! But still, if that's what Trunks said she should do, then she'd do it.



"Ok… so… what do I do first?" Nicole asked.

"Well, to start with, you need to be totally calm. Then, you have to focus your energy." He explained. Nicole closed her eyes, and tried to clear her mind. She let her arms fall down to her sides.

"Ok, now focus on your energy. Try to bring it out. Try to imagine it flowing from your stomach up to your shoulders, and out of your fingertips." Trunks directed.

Nicole did what Trunks said, and after about two hours, Nicole could successfully float in the air, for about thirty seconds.

"Yes! You're doing it! Just keep concentrating…" Trunks urged, as Nicole made it passed her record of thirty seconds. Soon it was forty… fifty… sixty… and after 3 minutes of floating, Nicole tried to move around while in the air. She fell down at first, but then after several tries, she was able to move around freely in the air!

"Awesome! Now that you know how to fly, it should make our search much easier." Trunks said happily. "I'll be right back… I have to get a radar device that my mom made to locate the Dragon Balls."

"Ok!" Nicole said, hopping into the air again, to practice her new skill. A few minutes later, Trunks returned holding a small circular machine. "Here's the radar… we can leave now." Trunks said, lifting off the ground.

"Alright." Nicole said. Trunks turned on the radar, and it automatically began to beep slowly. "West… follow me!" Trunks said, turning west, and flying off. At first, it was hard for Nicole to keep up with him, because he could move so quickly. But after a while, she was able to pick up speed, just like he could.

The radar brought the two to a desert wasteland. They walked around for a while, trying to see which spots made the radar buzz more rapidly than others. Finally, Nicole spotted the three-stared Dragon Ball, half buried in front of a blossoming cactus. "One down… six to go." Trunks exclaimed. After he helped Nicole dig it out, the two left and went to find the next one.



They flew to the north, following the directions of the radar. As the two flew, Trunks explained to Nicole what a Super Saiyan was, and how someone could reach different levels of Super Saiyan power. Finally, they reached a cold and icy tundra. "Oh… it's freezing…" whined Nicole.

"Yeah… well let's just find the Dragon Ball, so we can go someplace warmer…" said Trunks, looking at the radar. "This way…" he directed. The two headed into a damp cave. After walking for a little while, Nicole said, "Is this cave ever going to end? It feels like we've been walking for years…"

"I know…" Trunks replied. Just as they took a few more steps forward, the radar began to beep more quickly. "We're almost there…" said Trunks. Eventually, Nicole and Trunks reached the end of the cave. "There it is!" Nicole said, running to the seven-stared Dragon Ball that was perched on top of a huge, flat mass of ice. She picked it up, and gave it to Trunks. After they left the cave, they headed south just as the radar directed.



They flew south until they reached a section of a topical rainforest, where the radar buzzed swiftly. "Freezing to boiling…" Nicole said annoyed.

"Ugh… could it be any hotter?" Trunks said, walking forward, and looking up into a green, leafy tree. "There it is!" he said excitedly. "Hold this…" he said handing the radar device to Nicole. Trunks flew up to the top of the tree. It had to have been at least forty feet tall! After grabbing the Dragon Ball with one single star, he came back down.



Next, the radar tool led them to the Gulf of Mexico. After searching by air for a little while, Nicole said, "Hey… what if it's in the water?" She looked out into the ocean. "Yeah! Let's check there!" Trunks said, moving away from the peer that they had been hovering over.

"Wait for me!" Nicole replied, following. They went very far out to sea. "Stay here… I'm going under!" Trunks commanded.

"No Trunks! I wanna go with you!" Nicole said.

"Nicole… it's more safe is you just stay out here… I don't want you to get hurt." Trunks explained.

"But… Oh ok… just please be careful!" Nicole agreed.

"Ok… this should take about ten minutes… you'll be ok for that long, right?" Trunks asked. Nicole nodded. He dove under. After a few minutes, Nicole got very worried. She trusted him, and truly believed he'd be ok, but she just couldn't help it. Luckily, Trunks returned to the surface just as the ten minutes were up, holding the shinning five-stared Dragon Ball. "Yes! Now, only three more… right?" Nicole asked happily.

"Yep!" Trunks replied.



Just as the two were flying north, to find the next Dragon Ball, they saw a strange flicker of light shoot across the sky. "What was that?" Nicole asked, looking in the direction that the light had come from.

"I don't know…" Trunks said nervously. "It might be…"

"Who?" Nicole asked.

"I'm not sure but… it could be Jukuo. I sense evil from that direction, but I'm not sure…" he explained.

"Oh my God!" Nicole said in shock. "You mean Jukuo… Piccolo's friend!?!?"

Trunks nodded. "Well… what's he doing?" Nicole asked. "I don't know… probably trying to find some new humans to torture…" Trunks said angrily.

"Well, why don't we go after him?" Nicole questioned.

"Because no one's sure exactly how strong he is, or what he's planning to do…" he answered.

"Oh… well… someone has to be the first, right?" Nicole urged.

After a few seconds, Trunks answered, "You know what? You're right. Let's go after him." he said, smiling. Nicole smiled back at him, and the two flew off, in the direction of Jukuo.