Chapter 10

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Nicole's eyes shot open. She tensely sat up and looked at the clock on the top of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. It was 2:35. She lay back down, and tried to relax. She had the exact same dream that she had two nights before, at Capsule Corp., except this one continued. In her dream, Jukuo had grabbed Trunks during their battle and shot him with a ki blast. He was totally defenseless against such a great deal of power like Jukuo's. Nicole shook the awful images from her mind, and looked at the sky. To her surprise she saw a sudden flash of light. Nicole filled with panic. If she wasn't mistaken it was Jukuo.



"Oh my God…" she whispered nervously. She walked over to the other end of the sleeping bags, and started shaking Trunks. "Wake up Trunks! I think it's Jukuo!" she muttered. He slowly opened his eyes. "What?" he asked tiredly.

"Jukuo! It's him! He's here!" she repeated.

"Where?" Trunks asked as he slowly sat up.

"There!" Nicole said, pointing to the yellow-green light that was dancing across the night sky.

"Oh my God! That's him alright!" Trunks said, looking at the flickering light.

"What he doing here?" she asked concerned.

"I don't have the slightest idea…" he nervously answered. "Wake everyone up. This could mean trouble."

"Ok." Nicole said as she got up and walked over to Leah.



Once everyone was up and knew what was going on, Trunks said, "I wonder if he wants to fight us now…"

"I hope not! We haven't gone Super Saiyan level three yet!" Gohan reminded.

"Well, is he gonna talk to us or are we goin' over there?" Angelica asked impatiently.

"I imagine he came here looking for us. I say we go over to him… cautiously." Gohan said.

"Right." Trunks agreed.

"I can go, right?" Nicole hopefully asked Trunks.

"Yeah, but if we do have to fight him right now, you've gotta stay outta the way. I don't want you getting hurt." He answered. With that, Nicole, Trunks, and Gohan flew away into the distance to find Jukuo.



"That's not fair… now we're gonna miss the whole thing all 'cause we can't fly." Leah complained.

"I know… why didn't Gohan and Yamcha teach us to fly too?" Angelica asked.

"Who knows…" Leah responded.

"We've gotta ask them when they get back." Angelica decided.



Meanwhile, Nicole, Trunks, and Gohan had finally reached Jukuo.

"Ah… Trunks and Nicole… we meet again. And Gohan… I've been looking forward to seeing you. They say you're the strongest living Saiyan." Jukuo grinned. Gohan's hands balled into angry fists. "I guess you're all wondering why I came out the way out here… I just wanted to tell you that if you're ready to fight me to try to save your pitiful planet, you can meet me on that island down there, the day after tomorrow. That's where we'll fight. When the sun sets, I expect to see you and all of your pathetic friends there. Oh, and if I were you, I wouldn't bother bringing your precious girlfriends… they'll just be the ones next to die after I finish you two and all the other fighters." Jukuo evilly snickered.

"We'll all be there." Gohan said.

"Count on it." Trunks added.

"Good. I look forward to testing my power on a worthy adversary. Oh! And bring your Dragon Balls!" He said. "See you then!" Jukuo grinned as he flew away.

"Ugh, he makes me so mad!" Nicole angrily said.

"I know…" Trunks said. "He has this way of getting under your skin…"



The three flew back to Mr. Popo's tower, where Leah and Angelica were waiting. "So, what'd he say?" Angelica asked.

"He wants us to fight him the day after tomorrow." Gohan answered.

"Oh my God! And neither of you have gone Super Saiyan level three yet!" Leah said.

"Well, the way I figure, we have tomorrow to train. Then, we can rest until the fight that starts at sun set on the next day." Trunks said.

"Yeah, that should work out. That way, we'll have at least one more day of training..." Gohan agreed.

"Good. Can we go back to sleep now?" Angelica asked.

"I guess…" Gohan said.



Once the five had gotten back into their sleeping bags, they all fell asleep rather quickly, except for Nicole. She lay awake, worrying about her nerve-wracking dream, and Jukuo. She didn't want to believe that her dream would become a reality, but her dream about meeting trunks came true! That could mean that any of her dreams might come true! "But I'm not gonna let that bother me. Trunks… or Gohan… whoever… someone will defiantly beat Jukuo." she silently decided.



Within the next five minutes, Nicole dozed off trying to imagine Trunks destroying Jukuo.



The next morning, Nicole was the first one to wake up, so she lay awake for a while until the others got up.

Once they had all eaten breakfast, Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Trunks, and Gohan played their last few card games before Yamcha came out from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. "Ya know… I hate to say it but playing cards is really starting to get boring…" Leah complained.

"I know… but when Yamcha comes out, we can do stuff that's more… civilized…" Angelica said.

"If Mr. Popo had a freakin' TV or computer, we wouldn't even have this problem…" Nicole sighed.

"I know…" Trunks said.

"Let's all just be thankful that we have less than an hour to wait…" Gohan reminded.

"Yeah…" the five all agreed.



After the hour had finally passed, and everyone had put away their sleeping bags, the group gathered around the door of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Nicole looked up at the clock. It was 11:58. Then, Mr. Popo walked over and said, "Yamcha should be out any minute."

"Great!" Leah said happily. Just then, Mr. Popo walked up to the door, turned the handle, and tugged it open. The same bright light filled Nicole's eyes once again. In a few moments, when the light had faded away, Nicole saw who she thought was Yamcha, only with really long hair! Nicole and Angelica starting giggling on the spot. And Leah thought Trunks and Gohan looked awful! Nicole thought.

"Oh my God!" Leah said when she saw Yamcha's long tousled hair.

"So, is it as bad as you thought it'd be?" he asked grinning.

"Worse! Much worse!" Leah said, making a disgusted face.



Later, when everyone had eaten lunch, and had gone for Yamcha's haircut, they flew Nicole, Leah, and Angelica back to their houses. On the way, they explained to Yamcha what Jukuo's plan was, and how they were going to spend the remainder of days before the battle. "So, we have one more day to train, right?" Yamcha questioned.

"Yep." Gohan nodded.

"I just hope it'll be enough…" Trunks sighed.



When Leah and Angelica had both been dropped off at their homes, Trunks headed to Nicole's house. When they got there, Nicole climbed out from the jet plane, and thanked Trunks for letting her and her friends go to Mr. Popo's tower with them. "Sure." He smiled.

"I guess I'll talk to you later…" she said, turning, and going up the walkway to her front door.

"Bye!" Trunks called after her.

"Bye!" she waved, as she reached the front steps. After the plane had taken off again, Nicole let herself inside.



"It's been a week…" Nicole thought to herself. "A week since the fire in the movie theatre… a week since we kissed…" Nicole knew that she had never felt so strongly about anyone ever before. But she had an incredibly good feeling about this relationship… it was like no other she had ever had… she knew it was going to last for a long while.



The rest of the day, Nicole spent hanging around the house. She did go online for a while, later that evening, to talk to Trunks, but he wasn't on. Instead, her cousin Brittany was on. Nicole double clicked her screen name, and typed out 'Hi' to her.

"Hey!" Brittany wrote back. "What's up?"

"Nothing much…" Nicole typed.

"Oh… hey, my mom wants to know if you wanna go see a movie with me, Keith, and her, on Friday night." she said.

"Sorry… I can't… I'm gonna be busy then…" Nicole wrote, knowing that that was when the battle with Jukuo was going to take place.

"Why?" Brittany questioned.

"Because I have to do something." Nicole typed.

"Why won't you tell me?" she asked.

"I did! I have to do something!" Nicole typed again.

"What?" she persisted.

"I have to go watch my boyfriend save the planet." Nicole hesitantly wrote.

"Yeah right… c'mon! Tell me!" Brittany asked again.

"That's the truth!" Nicole wrote.

"Yeah… sure, whatever." She answered.

Nicole's conversation with Brittany went on for a while longer, until Nicole had to get off the computer.



It was 11:00 so she decided to go to bed. Nicole got into her pajamas, and slowly fell asleep.



The next day, Nicole got a phone call from Trunks. "So, today you, Leah, and Angelica are all gonna drive here, to Capsule Corp., and we're all gonna fly to the island that Jukuo told us to meet him on." Trunks explained.

"Ok, that sounds good." Nicole agreed. "So, I guess I'll see you then." She said when their conversation had finally ended.



Then, Nicole called Leah and Angelica and told them what the plan was, for getting to the island that the battle was going to be on. They all agreed, and Leah said that she'd drive them all to Capsule Corp. later in the evening.



So, Nicole spent the remainder of her day on the computer, until it was 5:00. Then, once she was ready, she waited until Leah came to pick her up.



Nicole was worried. Worried to say the least. She was afraid that Jukuo would win. She was afraid everyone would be killed. She had faith in Trunks… and Gohan too. She knew they could win… but just wasn't sure.



Nicole heard a car horn beep. She stood up, and went to the door. "I'm leaving now!" Nicole called to her dad.

"Bye! Be careful! And be home on time!" he dad responded.

"Ok!" she said, walking out the door. Nicole got into Leah's car, and greeted her friends. "Hey!" she said.

"Hi!" Leah and Angelica both replied.

"So are you ready to see the fight of the millennium?" Nicole asked grinning.

"I guess…" Leah smiled. With that, they headed toward Capsule Corp.



Once they got there, and the three got out of the car, they went up to the front door and rang the doorbell. A moment later, Trunks opened the door and let them in.

They walked into the living room, to find Yamcha, Gohan, Vegeta, Tien, Chiaotzu, Krillin, Piccolo, Bulma, and Bra. Trunks had the sheath that carried his sword strapped onto his back. "So can we go now?" Vegeta asked smugly.

"Yup." Trunks answered.

"Good luck you guys!" Bulma said as everyone crowed around the front door.

"Yeah! Kill that stupid Namek that ruined my birthday!" Bra added.

"Bye!" Trunks waved.

"So… we're flying right?" Angelica asked Gohan.

"Yeah… in that jet plane." Gohan said, pointing to a much larger plane than the one that the six of them had taken to Mr. Popo's tower.



Once everyone was in, the plane took off, and flew to the island. No one said anything for the whole ride there. Nicole looked out the window she was leaning against. It was getting dark. The sky was turning a beautiful shade of pinkish blue, with small, scattered orangey spots. Once the sun set… the battle would begin.



The group reached the chosen island a few minutes later. "We're here…" Trunks slowly announced. Everyone piled out of the jet. "He's not here yet…" Gohan said.

"Well we can all see that." Vegeta rudely responded.

"He should be here soon… the sun's setting." Piccolo said.

"Where should I put these?" Krillin asked, as he started taking the Dragon Balls out from the plane.

"Put them over there…" Gohan said, pointing to a mass of boulders. Yamcha walked over to a nearby rock, and timidly sat down on it. Leah followed. "Yamcha, what the heck are you doing?" Leah asked, looking at the Game Boy Ultra Star he was holding.

"Oh, well I figured since I wouldn't be fighting in the battle… unless it's absolutely necessary that is… I'd just play my Game Boy to pass the time." he explained.

"Well then what was the point of you even coming if you're not gonna watch the fight?!" Leah questioned.

"Oh, I am gonna watch it…" Yamcha slowly said, not looking up.

"Honestly…" Leah grumbled, as he continued to furiously push buttons.

"THERE HE IS!!!!!!!" Chiaotzu suddenly shrieked, as he pointed to the sky. "TIEN!!!!! I'M SCARED!!!!!!!"

"Ugh… who said he could come?" Vegeta said annoyed.

"I Did." Tien answered shortly.

"Would you two shut up?!?!" Piccolo ordered.

"DARN! I lost…" Yamcha complained.

"This is gonna be so embarrassing…" Krillin said, looking down at the rocky ground.

"Shhh! He's landing!" Gohan whispered.



Jukuo's feet touched the ground. He made his way over to the Z-fighters. With every step he took, the sinking feeling in Nicole's stomach got even stronger. He looked invincible.