Shining Friendship
Trunks woke up to find Tovu and Thomas still asleep next to him. He secretly stood up, making sure he made no sound whatsoever which would awake the others. He was going back. No matter what, he was going back to Earth. Hopefully, King Yenma would understand. He looked back at Tovu and Thomas and realized that he would miss them. "Goodbye," he whispered. "Thank you, Tovu." Then, he began to run from that place, headed to King Yenma.
Oblivious to him, though, was the fact that Tovu had been awake the whole time. As soon as he heard Trunks thank him, a smile spread across his face and he said, "You're welcome."
"So, you live in a small cabin with your dad in this forest?" Goten asked. He was still following Abigail from that pond.
"Yes," replied Abigail, "my dad has this capsule that contains a small submarine. You could use that submarine to help you get your lost possession."
"Wow, really?" Goten exclaimed. "Thanks!"
Abigail stopped in her tracks and pointed to a small cabin made completely out of wood. "We're here," she announced. "This is our cabin. My dad's inside."
"Oh," Goten began to follow her inside the cabin. The cabin was small. The moment they walked in, they were already in the kitchen. There was a stairway in the back, which lead to the second floor. The whole first floor was like a room, which only consisted of a kitchen, a TV set, and a small hallway with a bathroom at the end.
"Well, if isn't my little Abigail!" A short and chubby man, obviously Abigail's father, came walking out of the bathroom. Goten had to hold his nose and avoid breathing the man's heavy smell. It was as if he hadn't taken a bath or wore deodorant for years! "What have you brought this time?" he asked.
"Daddy, this is Goten," Abigail introduced Goten as she, too, held her breath from her father's smell. "He's…um…in need of help, Daddy."
"Oh, really?" the man said. "What's your name, boy?"
Goten fought the urge to laugh. "Um, Sir…it's Goten, Sir," he said. Hadn't the man been paying to what his daughter had been saying to him?
"Oh, that's right!" the man scratched his chin. "Goten! Well my boy, what do you need? Oh and by the way, the name's Sander. Sander Yorke."
Sander reached his hand out. Goten didn't want to shake Sander's hand (why would he? The man smells badly! He wouldn't want his own hand to stink, too!) but he had to. "Well, Mr. Yorke…"
"Just call me Sander," Sander said.
"Well, Sander," Goten began, "I kinda lost something of mine in this pond. So…can you help me retrieve it?"
"Oh, there's no problem in that!" Sander cried. "Just wait 'till I find that capsule. It should be somewhere upstairs…"
As soon as Sander left, Goten let go of his nose and breathed fresh air. "I know," Abigail let go of her nose, too. "He stinks."
"He doesn't look like your dad," Goten stated. "He's…"
"Short, fat, chubby, and he stinks," Abigail finished for him. Goten couldn't help but nod even though he felt bad in doing so. "Dad doesn't like baths, so he never takes them. That's why he smells so bad." Goten felt his face turn red. "Anyway, what's your story?"
"Huh? What story?" Goten asked.
"What were you doing in the forest," Abigail asked even though it sounded more like a demand than like a question.
"I was exploring," Goten said quickly.
"Which village do you come from?"
"I come from a mountain but maybe it'd be best said that I come from the city," Goten replied.
"The city, huh?" Abigail tilted her head a little. "You sure? What city?"
"Um…" Goten thought of a city quickly. Any city. "Um, Satan City?"
"Satan City?!" Abigail cried. "That means you came a long way just to get to this forest! But wait a minute…wasn't Satan City the city that was blown up?"
"Uh-huh," Goten nodded. "I, uh, came a long way to get here."
"Where are your parents?" Abigail started walking in circles around Goten.
"They're somewhere…" Goten gulped.
"Ah-hah!!"
Sander came running down the stairs holding a capsule up in the air. "I found it! I found the darned capsule!" He put a cap on and headed outside. "Follow me, kids! We're going to retrieve whatever Goten lost in that pond!"
***
"So this is the pond, eh?" came Sander's voice. Goten nodded. "Good. Everyone stand back. I'm gonna release the jet now."
"Jet?!" both Abigail and Goten cried. "But, Dad, I thought you were gonna use the capsule that contains the underwater sub!"
"Couldn't find the little devil," Sander replied, "so I took this one. And don' worry. This jet can also go underwater. Maybe not too deep, but it can still go underwater."
"This is just great…" Abigail moaned. As soon as the jet was released, everyone hopped in and Sander took the steering wheel.
"Now, hold on," he called to the back seat, where Goten and Abigail sat. "This is probably gonna be rough. I haven't ridden this little sport in years!"
But Goten and Abigail weren't worried about that. In fact, they were a lot more worried about the terrible smell that was taking over the small jet. "I'll hold on, alright," Abigail whispered to Goten. "I'll hold on to my nose!"
And so, they ventured down underwater. There weren't many sights to see. Just a few fish here and there. "Look!" Abigail pointed out the window. Goten looked and saw something shining down in the sand. It was a bit far, but close enough for Goten to see what it really was.
"The dragon ball! That's the dragon ball I've been looking for!" he cried, completely oblivious to the smell inside the jet for once.
"What's a dragon ball?" Abigail and Sander asked in unison.
"A ball," Goten replied. "Just a golden ball."
"Okay," Sander announced, "here we go!" But after a few moments, both Abigail and Goten heard Sander swear in the front seat. "Shit! Too much pressure! We can't go any deeper!"
"Why? What's wrong?" Goten cried.
"We can't go any deeper or else the jet will blow up!" Sander replied.
"Then…" Goten looked down at the dragon ball from the window determinedly, "then I'll just have to swim down there and get it."
"No, that's too dangerous!" Abigail cried. "You can't go down there! Your whole body could blow up, too! Just forget it, Goten! The ball's just too deep!"
But maybe I can do it, thought Goten, after all, I am Saiyan so maybe my body could stand the water pressure for a bit longer. "I'll go," Goten said.
"No!" But even Abigail's hesitation didn't stop her father from letting Goten out.
"It was nice knowin' ya, kid," Sander said, and he let Goten out into the water.
Goten went down deeper, swimming as fast as he could to the dragon ball. Boy, Sander was right! he thought. It feels like my whole body's gonna blow up! But…just…a bit…further…
The dragon ball was really close now and he wasn't about to give up yet. If he wanted Trunks back, then he'd have to get this dragon ball. How did it end up all the way down here, anyway? Oh, well.
He made a grab for the ball, and missed. Darn it! Okay, one more try…got it!! Goten turned around to find that Sander's jet was no longer where it had been. Where did they go? Oh, no…they couldn't have just left me…could have they? If only his father knew what kind of jeopardy he was in right now. Went underwater with a couple of strangers to find a dragon ball and now he's left alone underwater. Now, what will I do? I can't make it to the surface in time! And I'm becoming dizzy…my ears feel like they'll blow up any second! Goten felt something warm in his ears before he realized that it was blood.
He began to panic. What was he going to do now? Sure, he had the dragon ball but now he felt like he'd blow up any second. Too much…pressure…
Then he did what he could only think of. Probably sending a Kamehameha down to the bottom of the pond would push him up into the surface faster than swimming would. Yeah, I'll try that, he thought. But he'd better hurry if he wanted to live. His dizziness was becoming unbearable.
***
"Why did you do that, Dad?!" Abigail cried. "Why?! He could die down there!"
"Forget him, Sweetie," Sander replied calmly. "The boy's crazy. He'll die anyway. Nobody can stay that deep underwater for long. Who knows, he's probably dead by now…" Abigail continued to sob but her sobs were interrupted when they heard someone splashing out of the pond.
Sander gasped when he caught a glimpse of Goten in the air and he didn't look happy. Goten's chest went up after each hard breath and he was glaring daggers at Sander. "Why did you do that, Sander?!" he cried. "Are you insane?! I could have died down there!"
"Well, you're the one who's insane!" Sander cried. "You could have died because of you!" Then, Sander got a glance at the dragon ball Goten was holding. "Hey, that looks very valuable…"
"Daddy, no!" Abigail tried to hold Sander back but Sander leapt on top of Goten, trying to get the dragon ball out of his grip. Goten kicked him away, still holding on to the dragon ball.
"You little cheat!" Goten said. "It's wrong to steal other people's valuables!" But Sander didn't listen as he charged towards Goten again. Goten ducked and kicked him in the gut. Sander gasped for breath and soon fell unconscious in front of Goten.
"I'm…I'm sorry Dad acted that way…" Abigail walked to him. "He's…he's kind of a gold freak, so…"
"Hey, it's okay," Goten said. He then winced and held on to his ears. "Man, do they hurt…!"
"Are you okay?" Abigail asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Goten replied. "They just hurt a bit, but that's all. I'll be fine."
"Okay…"
It hurt Goten that Abigail was still sad. Probably because of her father. "Well, I have to go now," Goten said, "take care of your greedy father."
"Okay…"
Then Goten said what he thought would cheer Abigail up a bit. "Hey, smile!" he said. "You look cute when you do!" Abigail's face turned red and she looked down. Goten put his dragon ball in the bag Mr. Popo gave him and with a "goodbye" took off into the air.
Abigail gasped. "Wow! He can fly!" she cried.
After Abigail was out of sight, Goten felt like slapping himself. He had completely forgotten that normal people didn't know how to fly. He actually wanted to stay with those people for a bit longer. He was beginning to like them. He made a vow to come back and visit them, someday. Because he'll miss their small wooden cabin. And Sander's bad smell. And most importantly, Abigail's cute smile…
To Be Continued…
Computer is still broken down…*sigh* Good thing Grandpa's got his laptop. ^-^