Chapter 12 – Porunga to the rescue
The sun was rising and one of the creepiest nights in the Saiyans' lives was now over. They were all sitting around the breakfast table, quietly and each thinking their own thoughts.
"It was so easy," Goku suddenly snorted. "Too easy."
"You think it's coming back?" Michiru asked him. The Saiyan shrugged.
"Who can tell? Maybe. Now we know that its powers came from Hotaru and since it doesn't have her powers any more, we don't have to worry about it." He clenched his fists. "And we wasted so much time on something so unimportant when we actually have a problem that is a LOT bigger!"
"And growing with every minute we sit here," Haruka added with a frown. "Have you guys ever met anyone from that Dead Zone?"
Goku and Gohan nodded. "Garlic Junior," Goku said. "A long time ago. He's immortal so the only way to defeat him was to send it in the Dead Zone. Most of that place's inhabitants are either immortal or just undefeatable. Dead Zone is practically the only safe place for creatures like that."
"Well, we have to get Hotaru out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and the demons back in the Dead Zone," Vegeta summed the topic up. "The worst part is that it wouldn't be a big problem at all if those Dragonballs wouldn't be powerless at the moment."
"Duh," Trunks commented, "that's why it turned into a problem in the first place. Shouldn't we still try contacting Namek?"
"King Kai won't help us thanks to that Afterworld law and my translocation… wait a minute, we still don't know what's causing its breakdowns!" Goku said in surprise.
Bulma blinked. "Whoops. Thanks to all that ruckus about your demon, I completely forgot about the research. But actually I think I wouldn't be able to explain it anyway. Those fighting techniques are too far away from my skills. You need to ask someone that knows the instant translocation technique well enough."
The kitchen was quiet for a while.
"King Kai," Goku suddenly announced. "He knows that technique."
"And how are you planning to contact him?" Vegeta asked. Goku grinned widely.
"Simple. Hey you two," he turned to look at Haruka and Michiru, "could you call that winged horse again?"
The two girls glanced at each other, then they sighed. "Fine. Just make sure you know what exactly you want to ask him, he's terribly busy at the moment." They both took their talismans out and after a few moments Pegasus appeared.
"I should block all your ways of contacting me again," he said with a frown. "I know it's a special occasion but honestly, I still am the master of all dreams and it's a full-time job."
"I'll make it fast," Goku said and the unicorn turned his head to look at him. "Could you take me to King Kai?"
"What for?" Pegasus asked back. "I prefer to stay away from the Afterworld at the moment."
"I need to ask him a few questions about the instant translocation technique," the Saiyan replied.
"Ask me," the unicorn suggested. "I know the technique well."
Goku blinked. "You do? Wow... Okay then... have you any idea why my translocation keeps going off the target?"
Pegasus looked at him and then raised his brow. "The technique is rather foolproof. The only possible reasons for its failing may be dimensional changes in the Space and Time or perhaps some radical changes in your personal aura."
"Can't say my aura has changed lately..." Goku said in surprise. "Has something really happened to Space and Time?" he turned to Haruka and Michiru. "You should know."
The two girls confidently shook their heads. "Setsuna is in charge of the Space and Time and if even a tiny little thing goes wrong, she uses her Garnet Orb to fix those things. Our talismans would've reacted to the Garnet Orb if it would've been used lately. Besides, the Space-Time continuum is easy for her to fix."
Goku scratched his head. "Then I have no idea."
"Wait..." Pegasus thought for a second. "Wasn't there a magnetic storm when you and Vegeta went to the other Earth?"
"Not exactly, but it came right after we had gone there," Vegeta remarked.
"Then it could've very well damaged your aura without you even noticing it," Pegasus announced. "After all, even humans don't feel well when a magnetic storm comes and they hardly know a thing about their auras. You are a Saiyan, any magnetic trouble affects you a lot more than some weak human."
"Now I get it..." the Saiyan said. "But the storm is long over, why is it still failing?"
"Auras don't heal fast," the unicorn answered. "And hasn't it gone better one bit?"
"When we first returned, we landed on a plain far away from the CC;" Haruka suddenly said. "And when we returned from the Afterworld to Dende's palace, you almost got there; only a little bit lower but next to the tower. I think that in a few more days it'll be completely back to normal." She frowned. "We may not have a few more days though."
"I think it's worth a try," Goku said. "I'll go to Namek and summon their Dragonballs. It'll give me three wishes, with those I get Hotaru out and send the demons back to the Dead Zone."
"Good luck, Dad," Gohan said. "But do you think Porunga is stronger than the whole Dead Zone?"
"He has to be," Goku replied with a grim frown. "He has to." He concentrated and tried to find Namek. Then he nodded and prepared for the translocation.
"Goku, would you please...!" Vegeta and Haruka shouted at the same time.
Goku flashed and disappeared. A few moments later he opened his eyes to see Namek's blue trees and green sky.
And the breakfast table.
"Seriously, some people need to learn how to keep their elbows off the table," Haruka snarled. She had just been taking her coffee cup from the table when the teleporting took place. Everyone else had been eating at the moment as well.
"That table has really seen everything," Vegeta remarked. "Okay. We're on Namek now. Could we please deal with the Dragonballs and get back home before Bulma gets the omelet done and eats it all up?"
This time Michiru had come too. She stood up and looked around. "Nice place... where are all the people?"
"They live in villages all over the planet. We need to find the one where the elder of the Namekians lives. You two girls should probably sit on the table again," Goku said, lifting the table up in the air.
"You'll get used to it soon enough," Haruka muttered to Michiru as the table flew towards the distance next to the five Saiyans.
The village wasn't far away; obviously Goku's skills were really coming back. As they landed in front of the village with the table, all Namekians came out from their little houses to see them.
"Whoa, lotsa Piccolos…" Haruka remarked.
Goku waved at the inhabitants. "Heya all! Where's the elder?"
"And he skipped the "we come in peace" part," Goten said to the others with a grin.
"Do we?" Vegeta asked back. The elder came out of his little hut and smiled as he recognized the Saiyans.
"It's been a while since you last came here," he said.
"And this time we can't stay for long," Goku replied. "We need the Dragonballs."
The elder nodded. "Not a problem." He ordered two Namekians to bring the crystal balls out. As they were placed on the ground, they instantly started glowing and gave a quiet humming sound.
"Wow… aren't these big," Michiru admired.
"These are the original Dragonballs, they're supposed to be like that," Trunks explained quietly. "The ones on our Earth are a lot smaller. Shh… they're calling the dragon now!" The elder had raised his hands and now spoke a weird-sounding phrase. The crystal balls started glowing again, then they turned white. The sky turned dark, a couple of lightning rods flashed and the Eternal Dragon Porunga flew out of the crystal balls.
"He's a lot bigger than Shenlong," Trunks quietly explained to the two Sailor Soldiers, "and a lot more powerful too."
In the meantime the elder of Namek listened to what Goku had to say, frowned and nodded. "I'm not sure if he can do anything about it," he said, "but it's definitely worth a try." He looked at the dragon and translated the wish. Porunga seemed thoughtful. The Saiyans seemed nervous. Haruka crossed her arms with a frown, looking up to the dragon.
"This better help," she said.
Porunga's eyes suddenly glowed red. "Your wish will be fulfilled," he said with a deep, dark voice. "But it will take all of my power. You are asking me to move dimensions and therefore you will not have the other two wishes."
"If he can speak in our language, how come they had to translate the wish into Namekian?" Michiru whispered to Trunks who shrugged.
"Go figure. At least we got the wish. The demons are now back in the Dead Zone and the Universe is saved... right?"
Vegeta, who had overheard that, shook his head with a grim frown. "Not necessarily. Kakarot asked the dragon to move the demons but Hotaru's still in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, her mind is most likely still severely harmed and the demons may still have the way out. We need to get back to Earth - fast." The Dragon disappeared again and the sky turned back to green. "I do hope that she has learned to protect her mind in the meantime."
"She had almost two years in there. Let's hope the best. Can we go home now?" Gohan said.
"We need to go to Dende's first; to get Hotaru," Goku replied. "I hope it won't go too wrong this time. Girls, ready?" Haruka and Michiru nodded. "Let's go then."
This time they almost reached the palace. As the breakfast table whizzed through the cold air, Michiru muttered something about the extremely safe life of being a Sailor Soldier.
Dende greeted them and announced that the demons had almost broken out for a couple of times but something had managed to hold them back. From the inside.
"Hotaru?" Michiru quietly asked her friend. Haruka shrugged. They all went to the chamber door. Dende hesitated a little before pulling the door open. A bright light shone into their faces, blinding them for a couple of seconds. Then the light faded away and Sailor Saturn appeared on the door.
She didn't seem older. As a matter of fact, she looked like as she had really entered the room only two days ago. Her eyes were determined and even though they were still a bit empty, she had obviously become stronger.
"It's about time," she said.
"How have you been?" Haruka asked as the girl came out of the chamber and stretched her back, breathing the fresh air. Dende entered the room examining it and his eyes turned big.
"No reason to complain," Saturn replied. "Considering the fact that I had to sit in here for two days with about twenty thousand immortal demons."
"Two days? But… you were supposed to spend two years in here," Goku said, raising his brows. The girl smiled and shook her head.
"Simply a dimensional glitch. It's easy to change it when you know the trick."
Dende came back to them. "No… no it's not! The Hyperbolic Time Chamber is supposed to change the time for anyone in here – permanently! It's not possible that you only spent two days in here, just like outside." He scratched his head. "Even though she's right and the time chamber really passed only two days. But how did you do that?"
Saturn looked at her Silence Glaive. "Using this little thing here. It equalized the time inside there with the time out here. I didn't want to sit in there for two years. Anyway…" She looked at Haruka. "Is the Universe safe now?"
"Is your mind safely locked now?" Haruka asked back. The girl nodded.
"That nightmare demon managed to harm it but those other demons weren't able to do a thing to it. I had enough time to heal in here, using the Glaive to keep the creatures away and hoping that it wouldn't take you too long to fix the things. So, what have I missed?" She turned back to Hotaru.