Chapter 3: Jurori
Vegeta stood up, still wincing a little. He noticed her attention was not on the boys' fight, but rather on him. She seemed to be trying to decide weather or not he needed more of a lesson. As 'punishment' for calling her a weakling, he had received a punch on the chest and a kick between his legs. He slowly continued on to where the gravity rooms. Vegeta set the controls at 150-gs and quickly stepped in to meet his hologram partners.
Once Vegeta had entered the gravity rooms, Ann shifted her gaze to roughly where the boys were. They were moving to fast for a normal human to see, but Ann swore she could sense where they were. She was not entirely sure how she knew where they were.
Suddenly, someone slammed into the wall next to Ann. Startled, she looked over to where he was sitting. The purple-hared hybrid was badly singed, and his clothes were ripped in numerous places. Goten was hovering above the middle of the room, his hair was golden-yellow, and his hands together in an open clamshell position. He had just finished the Kamehameha, his father's favorite attack. He landed and powered down so his hair fell in to place and changed to black. Walking over to the two teens, Goten pulled Trunks to his feet. They shared an almost evil grin, one that scared Ann a little. They each grabbed one of Ann's arms, dragged her to her feet and over to the middle of the room.
"Ann, both of us are going to fight you at the same time to see how you handle it," said Trunks. She nodded to show that she understood, and positioned herself in a fighting stance. The boys flew at her from opposite sides, each trying to punch Ann in the side. She leaped back to avoid being sandwiched. Trunks and Goten then flew at Ann, side-by-side, and began throwing kicks and punches her. For the most part, she blocked their attacks. She was also grateful they didn't use ki blasts. More often than not, one of the boys managed to catch her by surprise and hit her. Whenever Ann got punched or kicked, she got angrier. As she got angrier, her ki rose slightly, much to the boys' pleasure.
They had purposely staged this fight to see just how strong Ann was. Then to their surprise, Ann leapt in to the air. Hovering near the ceiling, she launched an enormous ball of energy at her opponents. They covered their faces with their arms as the blast completely surrounded them. When the blast subsided, Trunks and Goten were on the floor, on their backs, covered in singe marks. They looked up at Ann, still hovering in the air. She started to descend to the ground, when she had fainted a few feet from the floor. Trunks and Goten quickly pushed their sore bodies off the floor and over to where Ann lay. Trunks carefully picked Ann up and carried her inside. They brought her up to the room next to Trunks' and laid her on the bed. They sat on either side of Ann and watched her sleep. The rain had slowed to a light sprinkle while they were training.
"Trunks, now that the rain has slowed, I better get home. Kaasan has probably found a gray hair from worry," said Goten after a little while. He looked out the window at the dark sky and sighed.
Trunks nodded. "I'd see you to the door or something, but I better stay here just incase."
"Let me know how she is when she wakes up will ya?" Goten requested, walking to the door to the room.
"Sure," the purple haired teen replied looking up at his friend.
Goten slipped out of the room and down to the front door. Once out side, he took off and flew at top speed towards home. Just as he landed, Chi-chi came running outside.
"Where's Ann?" asked Chi-chi.
"I left her at Capsule Corp. Kaasan," he replied.
"Why?"
"We were sparing when she passed out. Trunks and I thought it was better to leave her there until she woke up." Goten went into his room, leaving behind a confused Chi-chi.
Jurori walked down the street to her friend's house. Her hands were clasped behind her head to keep the warm breeze from blowing her blond hair in her face. The hot summer sun beat down on Jurori, causing her to quicken her pace. She was on her way to see her friend, and to read more of her friend's story. Nearly a week ago, Ann started a new story and got Jurori hooked in it.
She walked up to the front door of Ann's house and jabbed at the bell. Shortly, Ann's mother answered.
"Could I see Ann?" Jurori asked politely.
"Sure, she's up in her room at the moment," Ann's mother replied. Jurori stepped in and leapt up the stairs to Ann's room. She knocked lightly on the door. When there was no answer, she knocked again, a little harder.
"Ann?" Jurori called, opening the door. Inside, Jurori saw a strange phenomenon. It looked like Ann's entire bed was engulfed in a time warp. Jurori's eyes widened in surprise. She was about to back out of the room when something shot out of the warp and hit her on the head; she blacked out instantly. Her body then floated into the warp.
Back at Capsule Corp. . . .
Ann stirred, realizing she was no longer in the large training room, but now on a bed inside Capsule Corp. She looked around and saw Trunks sitting in a chair next to her bed, dozing. Ann sat up, somewhat slowly, and the bed creaked noisily. Trunks' eyes flew open.
"What happened? Where's Goten?" asked Ann.
"He had to go home. You fainted in the middle of our fight," explained Trunks. "I'm not surprised, especially when you launched those huge Ki blasts at us from the air."
"What do you mean? I don't remember most of the fight, only standing on the ground with you and Goten bombarding me with kicks and punches," said a very confused Ann.
Trunks stared at her with amazement.
"Y-you mean you don't remember flying or pelting us with that huge ki blast!"
"No." Ann cocked her head to the side as she studied Trunks' face.
"Trunks! Dinner time!" yelled Bulma from downstairs.
"Come on, let's go eat. I'll explain to Kaasan why you're here," said Trunks grabbing a hold of Ann's wrist and pulled her downstairs to the dining room. When they got there, Trunks told his mother why Ann was going to remain at Capsule Corp. for a few days. They then sat down and began to eat. Vegeta and Trunks were scarfing down the food as fast as they could.
Just as the two sayains were helping themselves to another plateful of food, the doorbell rang. Bulma got up to answer it. Ann stared curiously at the door leading to the front hall. Shortly, Bulma came back leading a blond-headed teen. The girl looked shyly down at the floor as she entered the room.
Ann recognized the teen and leapt to her feet. "Jurori!" The blond hared teen looked up through her bangs at Ann.
"Ann?" Jurori asked focusing on her friend.
"That's me! What are you doing here?" Ann asked, leading Jurori over to the table. Trunks got up and pulled a new chair into the kitchen from the neighboring room for Jurori to sit on.
"Thanks," she murmured to Trunks, not really realizing who he was. Instead Jurori only talked to Ann. "I was going to visit you at your house. Your mother let me in and I went up to your room to talk to you, but you weren't there. The bed was trapped in some kind of warp thingy. The next thing I knew, I was standing out side the door," Jurori explained.
"Huh, that's weird. I ended up outside the Son house," Ann said. Jurori looked at her curiously.
"Whose house?"
"The Son house." Ann gave her friend a funny look. "Ya know, where Goku, Goten and Chi-chi live?" Jurori finally looked around her.
"eep! Are we really in the Dragonball Z world!" Jurori cried when she saw Goten and the entire Briefs family looking curiously at her.
"Ya got that right," Ann replied placing her elbow on the edge of the table. "What are you guys staring at? Get back to eating!" she cried at the gawking guys. "Are you hungry, Jurori?"
"Not really, I ate before walking to your house," she replied, staring as the guys inhaled the food.
"Then how about we go upstairs? We can share the room I'm in!"
"Ok." Jurori followed Ann up the stairs, pelting out question after question. Ann tried to answer them the best she could.
"How did this happen?"
"Not sure. It surprised me at the same time."
"Were those guys back there in the kitchen really the characters from Dragonball Z?"
"Yes. That was them."
"Then this place really does exist?" Ann sighed. She opened the door to her room and stepped back to allow Jurori to enter first.
"Yes, it does exist. At least as far as I can tell."
"Geese, How much weirder can this get?" Ann ignored this last question, figuring Jurori was just mumbling to herself.
They sat on opposite beds, Jurori still mumbling to herself. Ann on the other hand decided to get some rest. She climbed under the covers and stared out the window; she was lucky, in her opinion, to get the bed closer to the large window. She could easily see the stars come out until she fell asleep. Jurori eventually fell back on her bed and fell asleep in a state of shock.
Meanwhile downstairs, Trunks and Goten were pleading with their mothers, Goten on the phone with Chi-chi, so Goten could spend the night at Capsule Corp.
The two boys went to bed an hour later. Trunks decided to pop his head in the girls' room to say good night, but stopped at the sight of them lying on their beds, sound asleep. The moonlight fell across Ann's face, illuminating her features. Trunks quietly whispered goodnight to the two girls and backed out. He quietly shut the door and followed Goten down the hall and into his own room. The two Sayain hybrids sat on their respective beds and talked for a while.
The next morning, Ann suddenly woke up for no reason. She tossed and turned trying to get back to sleep, but it proved useless. Trying not to wake up Jurori, Ann got up off her bed and slipped out of their room. She tiptoed downstairs and into the living room, where she flicked on the television and tried to find something decent to watch. After channel surfing for ten minutes, she turned it off, quite disappointed.
Ann went back up to her room where she saw her friend still blissfully sleeping. She walked over to the window and threw open the shutters. Ann looked back at Jurori. How she was able to still be asleep just confused Ann. Shaking her head, she went out onto the balcony. A light breeze ruffled her hair as she closed the window mostly shut behind her. Subconsciously, she pulled her hair into a loose ponytail. She thought about her fight with the two boys yesterday, trying to remember exactly what happened. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear Trunks land on the balcony behind her.
Trunks reached out a hand and placed it on Ann's left shoulder. She quickly turned around only to find Trunks standing next to her. She smiled warily at him before she turned back to the rest of the world.
"You hungry?" asked Trunks, cocking his head to the side in a curious way.
"No, not really," came her reply. Trunks shrugged and left, returning to his own balcony. He walked back in his room, past a still sleeping Goten, intending to get some food into his stomach before it woke everyone else up. When he got to the kitchen, he pulled open the door to the fridge and stuck his head inside, searching for something good to eat. He eventually found some leftovers from last night's dinner, ate it and went back upstairs to bed. He soon fell asleep again.
Meanwhile, Ann had given up trying to remember her fight with Trunks and Goten. She put the thought in the back of her brain for a while. Ann hoped that something sometime would jog her memory. She sighed, walked back in her room and sat on her bed, frustrated that she couldn't remember what had happened.
She must have fallen asleep again, because the next thing Ann knew was opening her eyes and seeing a pair of big blue eyes staring at her. She yelped and scooted to the other side of the bed.
Jurori opened her eyes, blinking a couple times. She looked around the room, trying to figure out what had caused her to wake. It took her a moment to realize she was not at home in her own bed, but really in Capsule Corp. Man, that was a really good dream I had going there too, she thought to herself.
The little girl, on the other hand, remained where she was, next to Ann's bed. Once Ann had calmed down some, she introduced herself.
"Hi. My name's Bra. What's your?" she said cutely to both girls.
"Ann."
"Jurori."
"Why are you here?" Bra asked sitting on the bed next to Ann.
"Apparently I fainted during a sparring session with your brother, Trunks, and Goten," Ann replied. "I guess it was just too risky to bring me back to Goten's house."
"What about you, Ju-ju-" Bra was struggling to say Jurori's name.
"Just call me Jo-chan," Jurori told Bra. The young girl nodded happily. "As for myself, I was visiting my friend Ann at her house, and the next thing I knew, I was outside Capsule Corp."
"How long are you staying?" Bra asked, "And how did you know that Trunks is my brother?"
"I'm not really sure how long we're staying. As for knowing Trunks is your brother, that was just a lucky guess," Ann partially lied. True she knew a lot about everyone, but nobody, except Jurori, knew that.
"Wanna play with me?" Ann looked quizzically at her friend. Jurori shrugged in reply.
"I guess," Ann said. Bra led her and Jurori by the hand downstairs to where her dolls were already set up as a small table.
"You guys sit here," said Bra pointing towards the floor. Ann and Jurori silently sat in their designated spots and let Bra finish setting up for a pretend tea party. After all the dolls and stuffed animals were in place, Bra sat herself down in front of the two teen girls.
"Ann, you'll be Mrs. Shoder, Jo-chan you'll be Ann's cousin, Mrs. Pandowski, and I will be Mrs. Pennyfeather," said Bra while handing Juroir a pretend teacup.
She took it and pretended to sip a little tea. Ann picked up a pretend roll and munched happily on it. The three of them had a regular party.
Meanwhile, back up stairs……
Trunks awoke a second time to hear the soft pitter-patter of a few pairs of feet go down the stairs.
'Probably just Kaasan and Tousan,' he thought to himself, turning over so he was lying on his back. He stretched without getting out of bed. He placed his hands under his head and stared up at the ceiling.
'If Tousan's really up, I'd better stay out of his way for a while, other wise he's gonna make me train in the gravity rooms again,' thought Trunks. He forced his weary body out form the warm bed, took a quick shower, and pulled on some clean clothes. The clothes looked just like the ones he had on yesterday, except they were all in one piece. Trunks then left his room and walked downstairs. As he neared the living room, he heard three voices talking quietly.
"I simply love your dress Mrs. Pennyfeather! Where did you find it?" said one voice.
"Yes, dear Pennyfeather, do tell us where you got that lovely dress," said another voice.
"Do you really like it? I can't remember where I got it, but it was on sale." Trunks poked his head through the door to find his baby sister, Bra, Ann, and Jurori sitting on the floor in the middle of the living room having a tea party with all of Bra's stuffed animals. The corners of his mouth curved upward into a smile at the thought of catching his father doing the same thing a couple days before Ann had arrived.
The three of them were so absorbed in their tea party that they didn't notice Trunks walk in or see him plop onto the couch next to them. They finally realized he was lying on the couch next to them, when he asked him a question.
"May I join you, or is this for ladies only?" Trunks asked, teasing them a little. This made Ann and Jurori laugh and Bra's face light up.
"Really?" she asked her brother.
"Sure, why not. Scoot over Ann," he said, rolling off the couch and landing between Ann and Jurori.
"Your name shall be Mr. Pallen. Ann is Mrs. Shoder, Jo-chan is Mrs. Pandowski, and I'm Mrs. Pennyfeather," said Bra while handing Trunks an invisible cup of tea. He accepted it and pretended to drain it in one gulp. They continued their tea party until the phone rang. Trunks leapt up and answered it.
"Hello?" said Trunks into the phone.
"Hey Trunks. Is Ann all right?" asked Goten.
"Yeah. The amazing thing is that she said she doesn't remember any of our fight from yesterday," replied Trunks.
"Huh. Well that's weird."
"Say, how about you come over Goten."
"Ok, after Kaasan wakes up."
"Why after?"
"She'll freak out if I'm not in the house when she wakes up."
"So leave her a note explaining why you're gone."
"Ya know, that's a good idea. Ok, I'll be right over." With that, Goten hung up, scribbled a short not to Chi-chi and took off for Capsule Corp.
Trunks hung up the phone and went back to where Bra and Ann were sitting.
"Who was that Trunks?" asked Ann. Jurori looked over curiously as Trunks.
"Goten. He's on his way over right now," he replied, sitting back down between Jurori and Ann. They continued the tea party until the doorbell rang. Bra jumped up immediately and ran to the door. She pulled it open to find Goten standing there.
"Is Trunks here?" he asked Bra.
"Yup. Follow me." Bra led Goten to the living room where Jurori, Ann, Trunks, and all of Bra's stuffed animals were. Trunks stood up and walked over to his friend.
"Wanna spar Goten?" asked Trunks.
"Ok." They started to head outside when a simple question came from Ann's mouth.
"Mind if we come with you?" Ann and Jurori looked hopefully up at Trunks and Goten. The two boys shared a glance. Goten shrugged, leaving it up to Trunks.
