Chapter 8
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During the night, Nicole awoke startled. It was either the sound of the rain that seemed to fall like bullets, or the awful nightmare she had had. She dreamt that Jukuo had killed everyone on the planet, and the only ones that were left, were her and Trunks. Trunks and Jukuo fought the toughest battle ever, and when Jukuo killed Trunks, there was nothing Nicole could do except watch in complete horror. Silently begging that her dream would never come true, Nicole wiped away the drop of sweat that had trickled down her forehead. She looked around, remembering how real her dream had seemed. She looked at Trunks' sleeping bag next to her. He looked so calm, sound asleep. It was hard for Nicole to think that he was going to challenge Jukuo, and try to kill him. But as she looked at Trunks lying there, she also realized how grateful she was for finding such an incredible guy. Nicole's dry throat tore her from her deep thoughts. She got up slowly, and made her way to the kitchen. She almost tripped over everyone's sleeping bags on the way. When she had finally reached the kitchen. Her eyes had fully adjusted to the darkness. She grabbed a cup, and filled it with ice-cold water. Nicole took a few gulps. It felt great against her parched throat. She finished her water, put the cup in the sink, and walked back into the living room. On her way back to her sleeping bag, she passed Gohan's, Angelica's, Leah's, Yamcha's…
"Holy crap!" Nicole whispered, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets. She couldn't believe what she saw. Leah's sleeping bag was totally empty, and from the look of Yamcha's, there was defiantly more than one person inside! The sleeping bag was completely zipped tight - all four sides were shut. After staring at it for a while longer, Nicole finally realized that the bag was moving. She could hear rustling sounds coming from inside. Nicole could only imagine what Leah and Yamcha could be doing. Suddenly, the bag rolled onto Angelica's. "What the hell…?" Angelica said tiredly. She always cursed when she wasn't fully awake. She stood up to get a good look at what had woken her up. Noticing Nicole, she asked dumbfounded, "Is that Leah and Yamcha?!?!"
"I think so…" Nicole nodded slowly.
"Unzip it." Angelica said.
"No! Why don't you?" Nicole whispered.
"'Cause! Who knows what could be goin' on inside!" Angelica responded.
"Which is exactly why I'm not going to unzip the sleeping bag!" Nicole said. The two argued a little longer about who was going to open the sleeping bag, until Nicole convinced Angelica to. She slowly bent down and started feeling around the corners of the bag for the zipper. Nicole heard a loud grunt from inside. She bit her lip, wondering how Leah and Yamcha were going to explain what they were doing. Angelica then found the zipper, and slowly unzipped the top of the sleeping bag. She jumped back, as soon as she was done. "Oh my God!" Angelica whispered, as Leah and Yamcha popped out from inside.
"…Um… hey guys!" Yamcha said tensely. "What's up?"
Leah was speechless. It was obvious that she had no clue that anyone was going to catch them.
"What the heck are you doing?" Angelica asked.
"Uh… Yamcha and I were… having a little sleepover of our own…" Leah explained. Yamcha look wide-eyed at her. It was easy to see that he had no idea she was going to admit the truth. Yamcha nudged Leah with his leg. "Why'd you tell them?" Yamcha mouthed.
"They're not gonna get mad or anything…" Leah softly said, shrugging.
"Yeah, but this isn't the kind of thing that you admit to doing!" Yamcha whispered. Leah simply shrugged her shoulders again. "Anyway…" Leah said, turning back to Nicole and Angelica, "I'm… gonna go back into my own sleeping back now…"
"Uh… ok…" Nicole said, still confused. Leah slowly crawled out from under the covers, and slid into her own sleeping bag. "What's going on…?" Trunks asked sleepily as he sat up.
"Leah was in Yamcha's sleeping bag." Angelica blurted out. Trunks' eyes widened. "What?" he asked confused.
"Yeah…" Leah confessed. Angelica walked over to a small lamp that sat on a table, and clicked it on. A dim light filled the room, bringing everyone's faces fully into view. Then, Gohan groaned and rolled over. "What?" he tiredly questioned, as he slowly opened his eyes. Now that everyone was awake, it was going to be hard to go back to sleep. Nicole, who was still standing, plopped down on her sleeping bag with a sigh. "What happened?" Gohan asked, sitting up.
"Leah was in Yamcha's sleeping bag." Nicole explained. He looked at Leah, then at Yamcha, and said, "Oh… right…"
"Well, everyone's up now…" Nicole whispered.
"It's 3:10…" Gohan said, looking at his watch. "I had this really weird dream…" he continued.
"About what?" Angelica asked, sitting down on her sleeping bag.
"Well… my dad, Goku, and I were fishing… and we saw Jukuo float by on a multi-colored flying plunger… then he jumped down, and started drinking a cup of tea…" Gohan said beginning to laughing.
"Oh my God!" Yamcha said laughing too.
"Then… he asked us if we wanted to go for a ride, and we said yes, we all got onto his plunger thing, and we flew around for a while. Then we all went to the mall, but it was really weird 'cause the mall was all dark, like it was closed. Then I woke up."
"You seriously had a dream about that?" Leah asked.
"Yeah…" Gohan replied. Then, it got very quiet. "So… what are we gonna do about Jukuo?" Angelica asked.
"Well, we're gonna train as much as possible, and then go whip his butt!" Yamcha said energetically.
"But… what if he won't fight?" Leah asked.
"Oh, he will… just like Cell, Frieza, Garlic Jr. and every other enemy we've ever fought, I'm sure he has the same kind of competitive blood flowing through his veins… he'll look for a fight…" Gohan explained.
"What if everyone gets killed and he does take over the world?" Nicole questioned.
"We can't think that way. We'll be able to beat him… I don't want to underestimate him, but exactly how strong can Namekian like him be?" Trunks said.
"I remember when Piccolo fused with Kami a few years ago… but even after that he wasn't strong enough to beat the androids…" Gohan said.
"I always though that Piccolo was the strongest Namek, but now that I've had the chance to feel Jukuo's power, I'm not so sure…" Trunks said.
"Me neither…" Yamcha agreed.
"And now that he has the six-stared Dragon Ball, that could mean even more trouble…" Trunks continued.
"UGH… If I could just go Super Saiyan level three! Then maybe I'd be able to beat him…" Gohan said angrily.
"Don't worry… I know you can do it." Angelica encouraged.
"She's right you know…" Trunks said. "If any of us are going to go Super Saiyan level three first, it's probably gonna be you." Trunks said.
"I hope… then you'll defiantly be the second one to do it." Gohan assured.
"It's just so hard though…" Trunks said.
"Yeah, but I know we'll be able to do it." Gohan said.
"Exactly how are we gonna get the Dragon Ball back from Jukuo?" Leah asked.
"We're gonna hopefully destroy him, then take it, and wish back all the people that he's killed." Yamcha explained.
"Oh…" Leah answered.
"One of the biggest problems we have, is that we have no idea how long we have to train before we have to battle him…" Yamcha said.
"Hey… why don't we use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" Gohan suggested.
"Whoah… hang on a second what the heck is the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" Nicole asked.
"Yeah…?" Leah and Angelica questioned.
"Oh! It's a room where you can get in a year of training in just one day… one day in our world, is one year in that dimension." Gohan said.
"When I went back in time, I trained there, and that's when I first was able to go Super Saiyan level two!" Trunks said.
"Hey guys, that could really make a difference!" Yamcha said happily.
"Ok, so we should go as soon as possible, to get in a lot of training time." Gohan said. "There's probably not gonna be any school tomorrow like Piccolo said, so we can go then."
"We'd be able to come… right?" Nicole asked.
"Yeah! Of course!" Trunks said smiling.
"But there's three of us… either one will have to go in alone, or we'll have to find another sparring partner…" Yamcha pointed out.
"Well… one of us could… go in with… Vegeta…" Gohan said cautiously.
"You've gotta be kidding! When I went in there with him…" Trunks began.
"Well, you did manage to surpass him and go Super Saiyan level two, right?" Yamcha asked.
"Yeah, but I had no help from him…" Trunks answered. "Anyway, I'm not going to spend another year with him in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber."
"Ok, how about you two go in together, and I'll go in alone?" Yamcha implied.
"Ok, but are you sure that you'll be ok by yourself?" Gohan asked.
"Yeah! In fact, I think I can become stronger that way. You two can go first." Yamcha said.
"Ok." Trunks agreed.
"Then it's settled. Tomorrow, we'll go to Mr. Popo's tower, and use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber." Gohan clarified. "It's almost 3:30… we should get some sleep…" he advised, looking at his watch.
"Yeah…" everyone agreed. Nicole got up, and turned the light off. Then, her, Leah, Angelica, Trunks, Yamcha, and Gohan all got into their sleeping bags. Soon, it became quiet again, and the six fell asleep. Noticing that Trunks was starring at the ceiling, Nicole softly whispered, "Hey Trunks…?" He turned to look at her. "Yeah?" he said.
"Do you think we have a chance of destroying Jukuo?" she asked.
"I hope so… everything just seems so hopeless right now… I mean, school's cancelled because of him, he caused a huge hurricane… I really think that we've found something that can give us the upper hand on Jukuo. I just hope it works…" he answered.
"…Me too…" Nicole whispered. With that, she closed her eyes, and fell asleep.
The next thing Nicole knew, was that she and everyone else was awoken by an earsplitting, blood-curdling shriek. "Oh my God!" Trunks yelled, as he noticed Bra lying at the bottom of the steps. "Bra! What happened?!?!" Trunks demanded. By now, Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Yamcha, and Gohan were fully awake. "It's 5:40…" Gohan announced.
"I… I was… coming downstairs… and… and I tripped…" Bra choked out. She was clutching her wrist. Then, Bulma came running down the flight of steps to see what was going on. "Ohhh… my wrist…" Bra moaned. Leah walked over to the light, and turned it on. "Oh my God!" Bulma exclaimed nervously. Bra's wrist seemed to be swelling more and more by the second. Then Piccolo ran down the steps wearing a pair of Vegeta's bunny-footed pajamas, with his old smelly, never-been-washed drooled on, chewed up blanket that he got when he was a little baby Namekian, by his good friend (or as Piccolo would say, his 'old man') Kami, screaming, "BBBBUUUULLLLLMMMMAAAA!!!! I HAD AN ACCIDENT!!!"
"It's ok Piccolo… We'll clean it up later… right now Bra's having a little problem…" she said.
"Ok…" Piccolo said, sitting down on a chair. "PICCCOOOLLLOOOO!!!! You forgot your retainer!" Chiaotzu yelled, running down the steps.
"Thanks, man! I owe ya one!" Piccolo said, as Chiaotzu dashed down the steps, and chucked the retainer to him. Once he had put it in his mouth, he noticed Chiaotzu was looking at him in a rather bizarre way. "Piccolo… am I now a man? Now can you read me that story you and Master Roshi were reading last week? The one called, 'Winnie the Pooh's Adult Adventures'?" Chiaotzu questioned.
"You can read it yourself." Piccolo said shortly.
"But Piccolo! You know about my condition…" Chiaotzu said, wide eyed.
"What condition?" he asked.
"You know I can't read!" he cried.
"Oh… you been hanging around with Mr. Popo too much little man…"
"Well, I'm goin' back to bed now. Nighty night!" Chiaotzu said, yawning, and going back down the hallway.
"Yeah, me too. Goodnight!" Piccolo said, following Chiaotzu. Just then, Chiaotzu turned around, quivered, and said, "Hey, you sexy Namek!" and began spanking Piccolo.
"DUDE! STOP IT! STOP IT, I SAY!" Piccolo yelled, whacking Chiaotzu on the head. "OH! Sorry! Sudden urge… heh heh heh…" Chiaotzu nervously laughed. The two then continued down the hallway, and into the rooms they had come from.
"Oh… I hope it's not broken…" Bulma said, helping Bra to the couch.
"I'd say that by the look of it… it's defiantly broken." Gohan said.
"Trunks, get her some ice!" Bulma ordered.
"Ok…" Trunks said, going into the kitchen and returning with an ice pack. Once the ice had been on Bra's wrist for a while, Bulma said, "I'm going to take her to the hospital. It looks really bad." Now her wrist had turned a purplish shade of brown. "Ewwwwww… it looks nasty… " Bra whined, as she removed the ice to examine her bloated wrist. Bulma dashed up stairs, changed, and came back down.
"Hey, don't I get to change?" Bra asked.
"Fine, as long as you don't hurt your wrist… it's bruised badly enough." Bulma warned. A few minutes later, Bra returned from her room. Then, her and Bulma left. "When Vegeta gets up, tell him what happened, ok Trunks?" Bulma called, just before she shut the door. Trunks nodded and said, "Yeah, ok!" Then, Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Trunks, Yamcha, and Gohan watched as Bulma's car drive away.
"Oh my God, I hope she's ok…" Leah said tensely.
"Yeah… me too…" Nicole said.
"Don't worry… I know she will… she's been through much worse… once one of her tendons in her leg snapped, and she had to have doctors operate on it… it was nasty…" Trunks explained.
"Ewwwwww!" Nicole, Leah, and Angelica all made disgusted faces.
The six all decided to stay up. After all… it was 6:00! There wasn't really any point in going back to sleep. They had had an exciting night. "So… what do you guys wanna do?" Trunks asked.
"Oh… I'm… low…" Leah said, her eyes drowsily rolling.
"You're what?" Yamcha questioned, confused.
"I'm low… oh! Sorry! I never told you guys! I have diabetes…" Leah explained.
"Oh… uh… what the heck is that?" he asked.
"It's just a minor disease…" she said
"I still don't get what it is…" Yamcha said, shaking his head.
"Ok well, it's this disease where your pancreas-"
"Is that the thing in your body that makes you go to the bathroom?" Yamcha interrupted.
"No." answered Leah. "Anyways, mine doesn't work anymore so I have to manually give myself insulin and I have to control my blood sugar with the insulin and if I don't, I will DIE." Leah said, slightly rolling her head.
"Oh…" Yamcha replied.
"It's a good thing I brought my kit… I'm gonna go get it." Leah said, slowly getting up. She stumbled into the kitchen, mumbling to herself. "She looks drunk!" Angelica giggled.
"Oh my God… I wonder how low she is…" Nicole asked nervously. Leah acted really weird when she was extremely low. When she had returned, she sat down on the blanket of everyone's sleeping bags and began setting up to test her blood sugar level. "Ohhhhhh… look at my pretty number…" Leah said, slumping her head down.
"Holy crud!" Yamcha said, grabbing the meter off Leah's lap. "It says, 'To low for the meter to tell'!" he announced. "Is that good?"
"Heck no!" Nicole said, grabbing Leah and shaking her. She fell backward lifelessly. "Oh my God! She's fainted!" Nicole shrieked as she began to panic.
"Quick! Call 911!" Gohan screamed.
"I will!" Angelica yelled, running over to the window. She opened it, and screeched at the top of her lungs, "911! 911! Calling 911!!!!!"
"What the hell are you doing?" Gohan asked.
"Oh! Sorry! I was lost in a moment of shock…" Angelica explained. She ran into the kitchen and screamed, "Where the heck is the phone?!?!"
"It's on the wall!" Trunks yelled. He was obviously getting just as freaked-out as everyone else. Then, the shock of Leah possibly having to go to the hospital finally hit Yamcha, and he passed out. Meanwhile, Nicole began slapping Leah on the face. She had totally and completely lost control. "Trunks! Go get some sugar!" Nicole ordered.
"Sugar?" he questioned.
"Yes! She needs sugar!" said Nicole.
"Ok…" Trunks responded, running into the kitchen. When he got there, Angelica was talking on the phone. "So… this isn't 911?" she asked.
"No! This is the president of the United States of America! How may I serve your needs?" said the voice on the receiver.
"Are you sure?" Angelica asked again.
"Yes I am! How can I help you?" said the voice.
"Umm… bye!" Angelica said, hanging up the phone.
"Did you call the president?" Trunks asked.
"Uh… I just got the wrong number…" Angelica said.
"Oh…" Trunks answered as he opened up the cabinet to get some sugar. Angelica dialed 911 again, and this time she got it right. "You have reached 911. What is your emergency?" said the person who had picked up the phone.
"Oh, hi! Um… we have a diabetic who's passed out due to a lack of sugar." Angelica said.
"What's your loca-" the operator's voice became very faint. Static filled the phone line. "Hello? Hello?!?!" Angelica said into the phone. Suddenly, the line went dead. Angelica hung up, and dialed the number a third time. "Hello?" said the voice.
"Hi! Is this 911?" Angelica asked hopefully.
"Oh, no… sorry. This is Kerri McHona." Said the person.
"K-Kerri McHona?!?! From… Crystal Clear?!?!" Angelica asked in shock.
"Yep!" answered Kerri.
"Holy-" Angelica fainted.
"Hello?" said the voice.
"Angelica!" Trunks said putting down the cup of sugar he had taken, and ran over to her.
"Oh great…" he said, realizing she had passed out. He hung up the phone, grabbed the sugar, and went back into the living room. "Oh my God!" Trunks said, noticing that Nicole and Gohan had passed out too. He put the cup down on the coffee table, and went over to Nicole. Trunks began shaking her, trying to wake her up. "Oh… c'mon…" he said as he stood up. Just then, Vegeta appeared at the top of the steps. "What the heck is going on?" he asked annoyed.
"Oh God… Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Yamcha and Gohan have all passed out!" Trunks quickly said, as he grabbed the sugar and started to feed it to Leah.
"Why?" Vegeta questioned as he walked down the steps.
"Well… Leah was low, 'cause she has diabetes and Nicole and the others fainted from shock." Trunks said pouring sugar into Leah's mouth.
"Where's Bulma?" he asked.
"She took Bra to the hospital." Trunks answered, as he continued to dump the sugar down Leah's throat.
"Why? What happened?" Vegeta asked as he reached the bottom of the steps.
"We think she broke her wrist… she fell down the steps." Trunks explained.
"Oh. So that's what that huge crash was…" Vegeta said.
"Look… can you get me some more sugar?" Trunks asked, dumping the last of the sugar into Leah's open mouth.
"No…" Vegeta answered.
"Well, then can you try to wake up Nicole, Angelica, Yamcha, or Gohan?" Trunks asked as he picked up Leah and put her on the couch.
"Why should I bother helping you?" Vegeta questioned rudely.
"Well, because if mom comes back and everyone is unconscious, she's gonna get mad at you for not helping!" Trunks explained.
"Well, Tien, Chiaotzu, Krillin, or Piccolo can help. I'm going back to bed." Vegeta said, walking back up the steps.
"Wait! You're helping me wake them up then!" Trunks responded as he ran up to Vegeta.
Once they had reached the guestroom that Tien and Chiaotzu were sleeping in, Trunks walked over to Tien's side and started shaking him. "Tien! Wake up!" Trunks whispered.
"See the piggies?" Tien murmured quietly.
"What the…" Vegeta said, giving Tien a weird look.
"Wake up Tien! We need you!" Trunks said again.
"Look… they've got the mad cow disease… I like BIG BUTTS and I cannot lie…" Tien groaned, rolling over. Trunks, hearing the rustling of the toilet paper that he had put in his pants earlier, began to laugh. "Ugh… how retarded…" Vegeta said. Trunks moved to the other side of the bed, and began shaking Chiaotzu. "Mix that concrete…" Chiaotzu mumbled.
"Ok, I don't think we're gonna be able to wake either of them up." Trunks said annoyed. The two went into the room across the hall, where Piccolo and Krillin were sleeping. After numerous failed attempts to wake them up, Trunks walked out of the room and said, "C'mon dad… you have to help me!"
"FINE. But only 'cause I don't want Bulma to be pissed at me." Vegeta agreed. The father and son duo went down stairs. "Ok, lie everyone down on their sleeping bags." Trunks directed. Once Nicole, Leah, Yamcha, and Gohan had all been laid down, and Angelica was carried out from the kitchen and onto her sleeping bag, Trunks and Vegeta sat down on the couch with heavy sighs. "So… now what?" Vegeta asked.
"We wait… Leah should wake up fast, 'cause now she has sugar in her system. Nicole, Angelica, Gohan, and Yamcha should come around soon… they only fainted from shock." Trunks said.
"Great…" Vegeta complained. "I don't wanna sit here for nine hours…"
"It's probably not gonna take nine hours… more like thirty minutes…" Trunks responded. Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Ever heard of sarcasm?" Vegeta said. Trunks ignored him.
After waiting a while in muteness, Trunks and Vegeta heard Leah groan. She sat up drowsily, and looked around. "What happened?" she asked blinking.
"You had a low blood sugar… you fainted, along with Nicole, Angelica, Yamcha, and Gohan." Trunks explained.
"Oh…" Leah answered, still not sure what had happened. A few minutes later, the other four woke up, and after Trunks explained what had happened, Vegeta went back to bed, and the group decided to make breakfast. About thirty minutes later, after the six finished eating, Bulma walked through the front door, followed by Bra. She had a thick cast on her wrist. "We're back!" Bulma declared.
"How's Bra's wrist?" Trunks asked.
"It's broken…" Bra answered in a disappointed voice. "Now… my wrist is broken and everyone's gonna be fighting. This year is gonna be my worst birthday ever…"
"Mom… Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Yamcha, Gohan, and I are going to Mr. Popo's tower to train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber." Trunks said putting a plate into the sink.
"Oh, is your father going too?" Bulma asked, sitting down at the table.
"Uhhh… probably not…" Trunks said
"Ok…" she answered.
"Can we go back to our houses to change?" Leah asked.
"Uhhh… I guess that'd be ok…" Trunks said. "Just don't take too long…"
"Don't worry… we won't." Nicole assured.
With that, the group left for everyone's houses. They got into one of Bulma's jet planes, and took off to Angelica's house first, since it was closest. "Ok guys, wait here. I'll be out really soon, ok?" Angelica said, walking up the steps to her house. About fifteen minutes later, she came out, wearing a tank top, striped with different shades of green, with long denim bellbottoms. "My house is next…" Leah said, as everyone piled back into the jet. Once they reached Leah's she went inside and came back out wearing an orange three-quarter sleeved shirt with khaki jeans. Last, was Nicole's house. Once they got there and Nicole had gone inside, she changed into the lavender shirt she had bought at the mall that said 'princess'. Then, after pulling on some light blue denim bellbottoms, she left her bedroom. Just as Nicole was about to walk out the door, her mom stopped her and said, "Hey, don't I get a 'hello'?
"Hi! I gotta go… Leah, Angelica, Trunks, Yamcha, Gohan, and me are going to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to train. I'll be back Thursday afternoon, ok? See ya!" she said, walking out the front door. Nicole's mom looked at her, puzzled. She had no clue what the Hyperbolic Time Chamber was, or why Nicole would be back so late.
"Ok, now we go to Mr. Popo's tower, right?" Nicole asked, hopping into the jet after she had reached the bottom of her driveway.
"Yep." Trunks said, turning the engine on, after she shut the door.
"So… exactly where is this place?" Leah asked curiously.
"It's this place in the sky!" Yamcha said.
"Oh… does it like… float or something?!?!" Angelica questioned, beginning laugh.
"Uhhh… kinda… it's connected to these other peoples' house… that's where Korin lives. He's this white cat dude. He's really useful for sensing power levels. Oh! And Yajirobe lives there too. He's this really fat guy who gives us senzu beans…" Gohan said beginning to laugh. "Anyway, it does kinda float… although it doesn't follow the laws of gravity very well…" Gohan finished.
"Cool! A floating tower!" Nicole said excitedly, looking out her window.
"Is that it?!?!" Angelica asked about twenty minutes later.
"Yup!" Gohan answered. Nicole looked out the window. She saw a long wire, attached to a small tower. That must be where Korin and Yajirobe live… she thought. Then, the jet plane tilted upward. She leaned back in her seat. Her eyes followed the wire that led up to a huge round platform. The sides were covered with a colorful combination of red, blue, and yellow patterns. The jet zoomed up and over the edge of the circled platform. "We're here!" Gohan exclaimed.
"Oh my God…" Leah said, looking out her window, as the plane slowly landed. Once the jet had come to a halt, everyone stood up and climbed out. "Oh! Hello!" a voice said excitedly. "Trunks! Gohan! Yamcha! It's been so long!"
"Dende!" Gohan said happily. "What's up?"
"Oh… nothing much… so, how's life going for you?" Dende asked.
"Who's he?" Nicole asked quietly.
"Oh, he's the guardian of the earth. He watches over the people… he's a Namekian like Piccolo. He and Gohan were really good friends when they were younger." Trunks explained.
"Oh…" Nicole nodded.
"Ah! Hello!" said another unfamiliar voice.
"Hey! Mr. Popo! What's happening?" Yamcha greeted. Mr. Popo was very strange looking. He was completely black, with enormous bright red lips and wore a white turban on his head. "So, who are these three?" Mr. Popo asked, looking at Nicole, Leah, and Angelica.
"Oh, these are our girlfriends… Nicole…" Trunks said.
"Leah…" Yamcha explained.
"…and Angelica." said Gohan pointing to her.
"Oh! I'm pleased to meet you." Mr. Popo cheerfully said. Dende just nodded and smiled.
"I know why you're here. So, who's going into the room first?" he asked.
"Me and Gohan." Trunks replied.
"Alright then… are you two ready to go now?" Mr. Popo asked.
"Yep!" Gohan assured.
"For a day, correct?" he asked, leading the group to the huge wooden door that led to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
"Yeah." Trunks answered.
"I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" Trunks said.
"Yeah, ok. Good luck!" Nicole said, kissing him.
"Bye Angelica! See you soon!" Gohan waved.
"See ya! Train hard, ok?" Angelica said, kissing him too. The two walked through the door, and into the bright white light.
*********
During the night, Nicole awoke startled. It was either the sound of the rain that seemed to fall like bullets, or the awful nightmare she had had. She dreamt that Jukuo had killed everyone on the planet, and the only ones that were left, were her and Trunks. Trunks and Jukuo fought the toughest battle ever, and when Jukuo killed Trunks, there was nothing Nicole could do except watch in complete horror. Silently begging that her dream would never come true, Nicole wiped away the drop of sweat that had trickled down her forehead. She looked around, remembering how real her dream had seemed. She looked at Trunks' sleeping bag next to her. He looked so calm, sound asleep. It was hard for Nicole to think that he was going to challenge Jukuo, and try to kill him. But as she looked at Trunks lying there, she also realized how grateful she was for finding such an incredible guy. Nicole's dry throat tore her from her deep thoughts. She got up slowly, and made her way to the kitchen. She almost tripped over everyone's sleeping bags on the way. When she had finally reached the kitchen. Her eyes had fully adjusted to the darkness. She grabbed a cup, and filled it with ice-cold water. Nicole took a few gulps. It felt great against her parched throat. She finished her water, put the cup in the sink, and walked back into the living room. On her way back to her sleeping bag, she passed Gohan's, Angelica's, Leah's, Yamcha's…
"Holy crap!" Nicole whispered, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets. She couldn't believe what she saw. Leah's sleeping bag was totally empty, and from the look of Yamcha's, there was defiantly more than one person inside! The sleeping bag was completely zipped tight - all four sides were shut. After staring at it for a while longer, Nicole finally realized that the bag was moving. She could hear rustling sounds coming from inside. Nicole could only imagine what Leah and Yamcha could be doing. Suddenly, the bag rolled onto Angelica's. "What the hell…?" Angelica said tiredly. She always cursed when she wasn't fully awake. She stood up to get a good look at what had woken her up. Noticing Nicole, she asked dumbfounded, "Is that Leah and Yamcha?!?!"
"I think so…" Nicole nodded slowly.
"Unzip it." Angelica said.
"No! Why don't you?" Nicole whispered.
"'Cause! Who knows what could be goin' on inside!" Angelica responded.
"Which is exactly why I'm not going to unzip the sleeping bag!" Nicole said. The two argued a little longer about who was going to open the sleeping bag, until Nicole convinced Angelica to. She slowly bent down and started feeling around the corners of the bag for the zipper. Nicole heard a loud grunt from inside. She bit her lip, wondering how Leah and Yamcha were going to explain what they were doing. Angelica then found the zipper, and slowly unzipped the top of the sleeping bag. She jumped back, as soon as she was done. "Oh my God!" Angelica whispered, as Leah and Yamcha popped out from inside.
"…Um… hey guys!" Yamcha said tensely. "What's up?"
Leah was speechless. It was obvious that she had no clue that anyone was going to catch them.
"What the heck are you doing?" Angelica asked.
"Uh… Yamcha and I were… having a little sleepover of our own…" Leah explained. Yamcha look wide-eyed at her. It was easy to see that he had no idea she was going to admit the truth. Yamcha nudged Leah with his leg. "Why'd you tell them?" Yamcha mouthed.
"They're not gonna get mad or anything…" Leah softly said, shrugging.
"Yeah, but this isn't the kind of thing that you admit to doing!" Yamcha whispered. Leah simply shrugged her shoulders again. "Anyway…" Leah said, turning back to Nicole and Angelica, "I'm… gonna go back into my own sleeping back now…"
"Uh… ok…" Nicole said, still confused. Leah slowly crawled out from under the covers, and slid into her own sleeping bag. "What's going on…?" Trunks asked sleepily as he sat up.
"Leah was in Yamcha's sleeping bag." Angelica blurted out. Trunks' eyes widened. "What?" he asked confused.
"Yeah…" Leah confessed. Angelica walked over to a small lamp that sat on a table, and clicked it on. A dim light filled the room, bringing everyone's faces fully into view. Then, Gohan groaned and rolled over. "What?" he tiredly questioned, as he slowly opened his eyes. Now that everyone was awake, it was going to be hard to go back to sleep. Nicole, who was still standing, plopped down on her sleeping bag with a sigh. "What happened?" Gohan asked, sitting up.
"Leah was in Yamcha's sleeping bag." Nicole explained. He looked at Leah, then at Yamcha, and said, "Oh… right…"
"Well, everyone's up now…" Nicole whispered.
"It's 3:10…" Gohan said, looking at his watch. "I had this really weird dream…" he continued.
"About what?" Angelica asked, sitting down on her sleeping bag.
"Well… my dad, Goku, and I were fishing… and we saw Jukuo float by on a multi-colored flying plunger… then he jumped down, and started drinking a cup of tea…" Gohan said beginning to laughing.
"Oh my God!" Yamcha said laughing too.
"Then… he asked us if we wanted to go for a ride, and we said yes, we all got onto his plunger thing, and we flew around for a while. Then we all went to the mall, but it was really weird 'cause the mall was all dark, like it was closed. Then I woke up."
"You seriously had a dream about that?" Leah asked.
"Yeah…" Gohan replied. Then, it got very quiet. "So… what are we gonna do about Jukuo?" Angelica asked.
"Well, we're gonna train as much as possible, and then go whip his butt!" Yamcha said energetically.
"But… what if he won't fight?" Leah asked.
"Oh, he will… just like Cell, Frieza, Garlic Jr. and every other enemy we've ever fought, I'm sure he has the same kind of competitive blood flowing through his veins… he'll look for a fight…" Gohan explained.
"What if everyone gets killed and he does take over the world?" Nicole questioned.
"We can't think that way. We'll be able to beat him… I don't want to underestimate him, but exactly how strong can Namekian like him be?" Trunks said.
"I remember when Piccolo fused with Kami a few years ago… but even after that he wasn't strong enough to beat the androids…" Gohan said.
"I always though that Piccolo was the strongest Namek, but now that I've had the chance to feel Jukuo's power, I'm not so sure…" Trunks said.
"Me neither…" Yamcha agreed.
"And now that he has the six-stared Dragon Ball, that could mean even more trouble…" Trunks continued.
"UGH… If I could just go Super Saiyan level three! Then maybe I'd be able to beat him…" Gohan said angrily.
"Don't worry… I know you can do it." Angelica encouraged.
"She's right you know…" Trunks said. "If any of us are going to go Super Saiyan level three first, it's probably gonna be you." Trunks said.
"I hope… then you'll defiantly be the second one to do it." Gohan assured.
"It's just so hard though…" Trunks said.
"Yeah, but I know we'll be able to do it." Gohan said.
"Exactly how are we gonna get the Dragon Ball back from Jukuo?" Leah asked.
"We're gonna hopefully destroy him, then take it, and wish back all the people that he's killed." Yamcha explained.
"Oh…" Leah answered.
"One of the biggest problems we have, is that we have no idea how long we have to train before we have to battle him…" Yamcha said.
"Hey… why don't we use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" Gohan suggested.
"Whoah… hang on a second what the heck is the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" Nicole asked.
"Yeah…?" Leah and Angelica questioned.
"Oh! It's a room where you can get in a year of training in just one day… one day in our world, is one year in that dimension." Gohan said.
"When I went back in time, I trained there, and that's when I first was able to go Super Saiyan level two!" Trunks said.
"Hey guys, that could really make a difference!" Yamcha said happily.
"Ok, so we should go as soon as possible, to get in a lot of training time." Gohan said. "There's probably not gonna be any school tomorrow like Piccolo said, so we can go then."
"We'd be able to come… right?" Nicole asked.
"Yeah! Of course!" Trunks said smiling.
"But there's three of us… either one will have to go in alone, or we'll have to find another sparring partner…" Yamcha pointed out.
"Well… one of us could… go in with… Vegeta…" Gohan said cautiously.
"You've gotta be kidding! When I went in there with him…" Trunks began.
"Well, you did manage to surpass him and go Super Saiyan level two, right?" Yamcha asked.
"Yeah, but I had no help from him…" Trunks answered. "Anyway, I'm not going to spend another year with him in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber."
"Ok, how about you two go in together, and I'll go in alone?" Yamcha implied.
"Ok, but are you sure that you'll be ok by yourself?" Gohan asked.
"Yeah! In fact, I think I can become stronger that way. You two can go first." Yamcha said.
"Ok." Trunks agreed.
"Then it's settled. Tomorrow, we'll go to Mr. Popo's tower, and use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber." Gohan clarified. "It's almost 3:30… we should get some sleep…" he advised, looking at his watch.
"Yeah…" everyone agreed. Nicole got up, and turned the light off. Then, her, Leah, Angelica, Trunks, Yamcha, and Gohan all got into their sleeping bags. Soon, it became quiet again, and the six fell asleep. Noticing that Trunks was starring at the ceiling, Nicole softly whispered, "Hey Trunks…?" He turned to look at her. "Yeah?" he said.
"Do you think we have a chance of destroying Jukuo?" she asked.
"I hope so… everything just seems so hopeless right now… I mean, school's cancelled because of him, he caused a huge hurricane… I really think that we've found something that can give us the upper hand on Jukuo. I just hope it works…" he answered.
"…Me too…" Nicole whispered. With that, she closed her eyes, and fell asleep.
The next thing Nicole knew, was that she and everyone else was awoken by an earsplitting, blood-curdling shriek. "Oh my God!" Trunks yelled, as he noticed Bra lying at the bottom of the steps. "Bra! What happened?!?!" Trunks demanded. By now, Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Yamcha, and Gohan were fully awake. "It's 5:40…" Gohan announced.
"I… I was… coming downstairs… and… and I tripped…" Bra choked out. She was clutching her wrist. Then, Bulma came running down the flight of steps to see what was going on. "Ohhh… my wrist…" Bra moaned. Leah walked over to the light, and turned it on. "Oh my God!" Bulma exclaimed nervously. Bra's wrist seemed to be swelling more and more by the second. Then Piccolo ran down the steps wearing a pair of Vegeta's bunny-footed pajamas, with his old smelly, never-been-washed drooled on, chewed up blanket that he got when he was a little baby Namekian, by his good friend (or as Piccolo would say, his 'old man') Kami, screaming, "BBBBUUUULLLLLMMMMAAAA!!!! I HAD AN ACCIDENT!!!"
"It's ok Piccolo… We'll clean it up later… right now Bra's having a little problem…" she said.
"Ok…" Piccolo said, sitting down on a chair. "PICCCOOOLLLOOOO!!!! You forgot your retainer!" Chiaotzu yelled, running down the steps.
"Thanks, man! I owe ya one!" Piccolo said, as Chiaotzu dashed down the steps, and chucked the retainer to him. Once he had put it in his mouth, he noticed Chiaotzu was looking at him in a rather bizarre way. "Piccolo… am I now a man? Now can you read me that story you and Master Roshi were reading last week? The one called, 'Winnie the Pooh's Adult Adventures'?" Chiaotzu questioned.
"You can read it yourself." Piccolo said shortly.
"But Piccolo! You know about my condition…" Chiaotzu said, wide eyed.
"What condition?" he asked.
"You know I can't read!" he cried.
"Oh… you been hanging around with Mr. Popo too much little man…"
"Well, I'm goin' back to bed now. Nighty night!" Chiaotzu said, yawning, and going back down the hallway.
"Yeah, me too. Goodnight!" Piccolo said, following Chiaotzu. Just then, Chiaotzu turned around, quivered, and said, "Hey, you sexy Namek!" and began spanking Piccolo.
"DUDE! STOP IT! STOP IT, I SAY!" Piccolo yelled, whacking Chiaotzu on the head. "OH! Sorry! Sudden urge… heh heh heh…" Chiaotzu nervously laughed. The two then continued down the hallway, and into the rooms they had come from.
"Oh… I hope it's not broken…" Bulma said, helping Bra to the couch.
"I'd say that by the look of it… it's defiantly broken." Gohan said.
"Trunks, get her some ice!" Bulma ordered.
"Ok…" Trunks said, going into the kitchen and returning with an ice pack. Once the ice had been on Bra's wrist for a while, Bulma said, "I'm going to take her to the hospital. It looks really bad." Now her wrist had turned a purplish shade of brown. "Ewwwwww… it looks nasty… " Bra whined, as she removed the ice to examine her bloated wrist. Bulma dashed up stairs, changed, and came back down.
"Hey, don't I get to change?" Bra asked.
"Fine, as long as you don't hurt your wrist… it's bruised badly enough." Bulma warned. A few minutes later, Bra returned from her room. Then, her and Bulma left. "When Vegeta gets up, tell him what happened, ok Trunks?" Bulma called, just before she shut the door. Trunks nodded and said, "Yeah, ok!" Then, Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Trunks, Yamcha, and Gohan watched as Bulma's car drive away.
"Oh my God, I hope she's ok…" Leah said tensely.
"Yeah… me too…" Nicole said.
"Don't worry… I know she will… she's been through much worse… once one of her tendons in her leg snapped, and she had to have doctors operate on it… it was nasty…" Trunks explained.
"Ewwwwww!" Nicole, Leah, and Angelica all made disgusted faces.
The six all decided to stay up. After all… it was 6:00! There wasn't really any point in going back to sleep. They had had an exciting night. "So… what do you guys wanna do?" Trunks asked.
"Oh… I'm… low…" Leah said, her eyes drowsily rolling.
"You're what?" Yamcha questioned, confused.
"I'm low… oh! Sorry! I never told you guys! I have diabetes…" Leah explained.
"Oh… uh… what the heck is that?" he asked.
"It's just a minor disease…" she said
"I still don't get what it is…" Yamcha said, shaking his head.
"Ok well, it's this disease where your pancreas-"
"Is that the thing in your body that makes you go to the bathroom?" Yamcha interrupted.
"No." answered Leah. "Anyways, mine doesn't work anymore so I have to manually give myself insulin and I have to control my blood sugar with the insulin and if I don't, I will DIE." Leah said, slightly rolling her head.
"Oh…" Yamcha replied.
"It's a good thing I brought my kit… I'm gonna go get it." Leah said, slowly getting up. She stumbled into the kitchen, mumbling to herself. "She looks drunk!" Angelica giggled.
"Oh my God… I wonder how low she is…" Nicole asked nervously. Leah acted really weird when she was extremely low. When she had returned, she sat down on the blanket of everyone's sleeping bags and began setting up to test her blood sugar level. "Ohhhhhh… look at my pretty number…" Leah said, slumping her head down.
"Holy crud!" Yamcha said, grabbing the meter off Leah's lap. "It says, 'To low for the meter to tell'!" he announced. "Is that good?"
"Heck no!" Nicole said, grabbing Leah and shaking her. She fell backward lifelessly. "Oh my God! She's fainted!" Nicole shrieked as she began to panic.
"Quick! Call 911!" Gohan screamed.
"I will!" Angelica yelled, running over to the window. She opened it, and screeched at the top of her lungs, "911! 911! Calling 911!!!!!"
"What the hell are you doing?" Gohan asked.
"Oh! Sorry! I was lost in a moment of shock…" Angelica explained. She ran into the kitchen and screamed, "Where the heck is the phone?!?!"
"It's on the wall!" Trunks yelled. He was obviously getting just as freaked-out as everyone else. Then, the shock of Leah possibly having to go to the hospital finally hit Yamcha, and he passed out. Meanwhile, Nicole began slapping Leah on the face. She had totally and completely lost control. "Trunks! Go get some sugar!" Nicole ordered.
"Sugar?" he questioned.
"Yes! She needs sugar!" said Nicole.
"Ok…" Trunks responded, running into the kitchen. When he got there, Angelica was talking on the phone. "So… this isn't 911?" she asked.
"No! This is the president of the United States of America! How may I serve your needs?" said the voice on the receiver.
"Are you sure?" Angelica asked again.
"Yes I am! How can I help you?" said the voice.
"Umm… bye!" Angelica said, hanging up the phone.
"Did you call the president?" Trunks asked.
"Uh… I just got the wrong number…" Angelica said.
"Oh…" Trunks answered as he opened up the cabinet to get some sugar. Angelica dialed 911 again, and this time she got it right. "You have reached 911. What is your emergency?" said the person who had picked up the phone.
"Oh, hi! Um… we have a diabetic who's passed out due to a lack of sugar." Angelica said.
"What's your loca-" the operator's voice became very faint. Static filled the phone line. "Hello? Hello?!?!" Angelica said into the phone. Suddenly, the line went dead. Angelica hung up, and dialed the number a third time. "Hello?" said the voice.
"Hi! Is this 911?" Angelica asked hopefully.
"Oh, no… sorry. This is Kerri McHona." Said the person.
"K-Kerri McHona?!?! From… Crystal Clear?!?!" Angelica asked in shock.
"Yep!" answered Kerri.
"Holy-" Angelica fainted.
"Hello?" said the voice.
"Angelica!" Trunks said putting down the cup of sugar he had taken, and ran over to her.
"Oh great…" he said, realizing she had passed out. He hung up the phone, grabbed the sugar, and went back into the living room. "Oh my God!" Trunks said, noticing that Nicole and Gohan had passed out too. He put the cup down on the coffee table, and went over to Nicole. Trunks began shaking her, trying to wake her up. "Oh… c'mon…" he said as he stood up. Just then, Vegeta appeared at the top of the steps. "What the heck is going on?" he asked annoyed.
"Oh God… Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Yamcha and Gohan have all passed out!" Trunks quickly said, as he grabbed the sugar and started to feed it to Leah.
"Why?" Vegeta questioned as he walked down the steps.
"Well… Leah was low, 'cause she has diabetes and Nicole and the others fainted from shock." Trunks said pouring sugar into Leah's mouth.
"Where's Bulma?" he asked.
"She took Bra to the hospital." Trunks answered, as he continued to dump the sugar down Leah's throat.
"Why? What happened?" Vegeta asked as he reached the bottom of the steps.
"We think she broke her wrist… she fell down the steps." Trunks explained.
"Oh. So that's what that huge crash was…" Vegeta said.
"Look… can you get me some more sugar?" Trunks asked, dumping the last of the sugar into Leah's open mouth.
"No…" Vegeta answered.
"Well, then can you try to wake up Nicole, Angelica, Yamcha, or Gohan?" Trunks asked as he picked up Leah and put her on the couch.
"Why should I bother helping you?" Vegeta questioned rudely.
"Well, because if mom comes back and everyone is unconscious, she's gonna get mad at you for not helping!" Trunks explained.
"Well, Tien, Chiaotzu, Krillin, or Piccolo can help. I'm going back to bed." Vegeta said, walking back up the steps.
"Wait! You're helping me wake them up then!" Trunks responded as he ran up to Vegeta.
Once they had reached the guestroom that Tien and Chiaotzu were sleeping in, Trunks walked over to Tien's side and started shaking him. "Tien! Wake up!" Trunks whispered.
"See the piggies?" Tien murmured quietly.
"What the…" Vegeta said, giving Tien a weird look.
"Wake up Tien! We need you!" Trunks said again.
"Look… they've got the mad cow disease… I like BIG BUTTS and I cannot lie…" Tien groaned, rolling over. Trunks, hearing the rustling of the toilet paper that he had put in his pants earlier, began to laugh. "Ugh… how retarded…" Vegeta said. Trunks moved to the other side of the bed, and began shaking Chiaotzu. "Mix that concrete…" Chiaotzu mumbled.
"Ok, I don't think we're gonna be able to wake either of them up." Trunks said annoyed. The two went into the room across the hall, where Piccolo and Krillin were sleeping. After numerous failed attempts to wake them up, Trunks walked out of the room and said, "C'mon dad… you have to help me!"
"FINE. But only 'cause I don't want Bulma to be pissed at me." Vegeta agreed. The father and son duo went down stairs. "Ok, lie everyone down on their sleeping bags." Trunks directed. Once Nicole, Leah, Yamcha, and Gohan had all been laid down, and Angelica was carried out from the kitchen and onto her sleeping bag, Trunks and Vegeta sat down on the couch with heavy sighs. "So… now what?" Vegeta asked.
"We wait… Leah should wake up fast, 'cause now she has sugar in her system. Nicole, Angelica, Gohan, and Yamcha should come around soon… they only fainted from shock." Trunks said.
"Great…" Vegeta complained. "I don't wanna sit here for nine hours…"
"It's probably not gonna take nine hours… more like thirty minutes…" Trunks responded. Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Ever heard of sarcasm?" Vegeta said. Trunks ignored him.
After waiting a while in muteness, Trunks and Vegeta heard Leah groan. She sat up drowsily, and looked around. "What happened?" she asked blinking.
"You had a low blood sugar… you fainted, along with Nicole, Angelica, Yamcha, and Gohan." Trunks explained.
"Oh…" Leah answered, still not sure what had happened. A few minutes later, the other four woke up, and after Trunks explained what had happened, Vegeta went back to bed, and the group decided to make breakfast. About thirty minutes later, after the six finished eating, Bulma walked through the front door, followed by Bra. She had a thick cast on her wrist. "We're back!" Bulma declared.
"How's Bra's wrist?" Trunks asked.
"It's broken…" Bra answered in a disappointed voice. "Now… my wrist is broken and everyone's gonna be fighting. This year is gonna be my worst birthday ever…"
"Mom… Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Yamcha, Gohan, and I are going to Mr. Popo's tower to train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber." Trunks said putting a plate into the sink.
"Oh, is your father going too?" Bulma asked, sitting down at the table.
"Uhhh… probably not…" Trunks said
"Ok…" she answered.
"Can we go back to our houses to change?" Leah asked.
"Uhhh… I guess that'd be ok…" Trunks said. "Just don't take too long…"
"Don't worry… we won't." Nicole assured.
With that, the group left for everyone's houses. They got into one of Bulma's jet planes, and took off to Angelica's house first, since it was closest. "Ok guys, wait here. I'll be out really soon, ok?" Angelica said, walking up the steps to her house. About fifteen minutes later, she came out, wearing a tank top, striped with different shades of green, with long denim bellbottoms. "My house is next…" Leah said, as everyone piled back into the jet. Once they reached Leah's she went inside and came back out wearing an orange three-quarter sleeved shirt with khaki jeans. Last, was Nicole's house. Once they got there and Nicole had gone inside, she changed into the lavender shirt she had bought at the mall that said 'princess'. Then, after pulling on some light blue denim bellbottoms, she left her bedroom. Just as Nicole was about to walk out the door, her mom stopped her and said, "Hey, don't I get a 'hello'?
"Hi! I gotta go… Leah, Angelica, Trunks, Yamcha, Gohan, and me are going to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to train. I'll be back Thursday afternoon, ok? See ya!" she said, walking out the front door. Nicole's mom looked at her, puzzled. She had no clue what the Hyperbolic Time Chamber was, or why Nicole would be back so late.
"Ok, now we go to Mr. Popo's tower, right?" Nicole asked, hopping into the jet after she had reached the bottom of her driveway.
"Yep." Trunks said, turning the engine on, after she shut the door.
"So… exactly where is this place?" Leah asked curiously.
"It's this place in the sky!" Yamcha said.
"Oh… does it like… float or something?!?!" Angelica questioned, beginning laugh.
"Uhhh… kinda… it's connected to these other peoples' house… that's where Korin lives. He's this white cat dude. He's really useful for sensing power levels. Oh! And Yajirobe lives there too. He's this really fat guy who gives us senzu beans…" Gohan said beginning to laugh. "Anyway, it does kinda float… although it doesn't follow the laws of gravity very well…" Gohan finished.
"Cool! A floating tower!" Nicole said excitedly, looking out her window.
"Is that it?!?!" Angelica asked about twenty minutes later.
"Yup!" Gohan answered. Nicole looked out the window. She saw a long wire, attached to a small tower. That must be where Korin and Yajirobe live… she thought. Then, the jet plane tilted upward. She leaned back in her seat. Her eyes followed the wire that led up to a huge round platform. The sides were covered with a colorful combination of red, blue, and yellow patterns. The jet zoomed up and over the edge of the circled platform. "We're here!" Gohan exclaimed.
"Oh my God…" Leah said, looking out her window, as the plane slowly landed. Once the jet had come to a halt, everyone stood up and climbed out. "Oh! Hello!" a voice said excitedly. "Trunks! Gohan! Yamcha! It's been so long!"
"Dende!" Gohan said happily. "What's up?"
"Oh… nothing much… so, how's life going for you?" Dende asked.
"Who's he?" Nicole asked quietly.
"Oh, he's the guardian of the earth. He watches over the people… he's a Namekian like Piccolo. He and Gohan were really good friends when they were younger." Trunks explained.
"Oh…" Nicole nodded.
"Ah! Hello!" said another unfamiliar voice.
"Hey! Mr. Popo! What's happening?" Yamcha greeted. Mr. Popo was very strange looking. He was completely black, with enormous bright red lips and wore a white turban on his head. "So, who are these three?" Mr. Popo asked, looking at Nicole, Leah, and Angelica.
"Oh, these are our girlfriends… Nicole…" Trunks said.
"Leah…" Yamcha explained.
"…and Angelica." said Gohan pointing to her.
"Oh! I'm pleased to meet you." Mr. Popo cheerfully said. Dende just nodded and smiled.
"I know why you're here. So, who's going into the room first?" he asked.
"Me and Gohan." Trunks replied.
"Alright then… are you two ready to go now?" Mr. Popo asked.
"Yep!" Gohan assured.
"For a day, correct?" he asked, leading the group to the huge wooden door that led to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
"Yeah." Trunks answered.
"I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" Trunks said.
"Yeah, ok. Good luck!" Nicole said, kissing him.
"Bye Angelica! See you soon!" Gohan waved.
"See ya! Train hard, ok?" Angelica said, kissing him too. The two walked through the door, and into the bright white light.
