Chapter 20 – Off to adventuring!
Next morning was quiet and a bit sorrow. Trunks was gnawing on his steak but he didn't seem to have much appetite. Vegeta didn't eat as fast as usually and Bulma even had the time to sit down behind the table and have breakfast with the others.
"What's wrong with you guys?" she asked. "You've been so quiet today. It's not like you to spend more than a minute eating your breakfast."
"It's just that… the girls are leaving today," Trunks explained. The Three Lights looked up and glared at him. "Yeah, and they too. I had really gotten used to their presence…"
Vegeta didn't say anything but his thoughts were obviously elsewhere as well.
"It's nice to hear that," Michiru smiled, "but we're not gone yet. Looking for the Dragonballs may take some time when they're really all over this planet."
"With the Dragon Radar and dad's speed it can't take more than half an hour," Trunks claimed with a frown. Vegeta snorted and looked up.
"You talk like it's some sort of a backyard scavenger hunt. Well, kid, I can assure you that those Dragonballs always find the deepest oceans, the coldest mountains and the hottest deserts to land. Besides, they fly with great speed once that dragon has disappeared and that means they'll drill themselves deep inside the ground. Finding seven crystal balls from an entire planet is not that easy."
Bulma nodded in agreement. "I remember when Goku and I were still hunting down those Dragonballs for the first time. It took us months, even with the Radar. Your Saiyan powers won't be very helpful when we have to deal with deep oceans or volcanoes."
Haruka gazed at her. "Months?" Seiya and Taiki gasped. Yaten grinned widely and grabbed another pancake.
"Fine with me," he remarked. Seiya glared at him.
"Are you out of your mind? We can't possibly stay here for months! We can't even stay for two days, for crying out loud! There has to be a quicker way!"
Haruka raised her brows. "Where's your problem? Grab an air tank, dive into the bottom of the ocean and you have a perfectly good chance of retrieving a small crystal ball before some shark eats you alive exactly as quickly as you want to."
"Not to mention 200-feet-long dinosaurs," Trunks added. "The Southern seas are filled with those."
"What are the odds that those crystal balls landed in the ocean?" Seiya asked a bit grumpily, glaring at Haruka. Bulma bit her lip and calculated a little.
"Roughly 70:1, considering the fact that there are seven balls and at least three of them fly towards the ocean which is pretty big," she said. "Say guys, when was the last time the Dragonballs were used? Or actually, where was it?"
"Dende's palace, I think," Vegeta replied. "We had this little incident with Kakarot blowing himself up while trying to help his wife with cooking."
"Atleast he tried," Bulma said with a glare. Trunks grinned. "Well, from Dende's palace they can fly very far away… I believe that about three of them are in the ocean, one or two in the mountains and the rest may have been swallowed by random beasts in the forests. I can always make an exact map using my little computer in the lab but one way or another it will probably be rather hard to get those Dragonballs.
"We have no other way so you might as well get started with it," Taiki said. Bulma nodded and stood up.
"Sure thing. It won't take long. You guys can wash the dishes in the meantime." She galloped out of the room, leaving the Three Lights staring at her back and then at the huge pile of dirty dishes.
"I'll go training, call me when you're ready to go," Vegeta said, finishing his breakfast and standing up too. Trunks followed him, giving a wide grin to the three guys.
"Well then, off to elaborate my painting," Michiru said with a smile and went away as well. Hotaru smiled slightly and left the kitchen without saying a word.
"Hey, you can't all just…!" Seiya started when he noticed that Haruka was still there. The girl grinned widely at Seiya.
"In that case, can I please stay and laugh at you?" she asked.
Seiya's eyes narrowed. "Get…… out!"
"Sometimes you can be really childish," Michiru remarked with a vague smile as Haruka passed her on the staircase. Haruka shrugged and grinned.
About an hour later Bulma came out of her lab and announced that she had finished the map. It didn't look encouraging. As they were all standing in front of the huge monitor, staring at curvy lines and blinking spots that seemed like Picasso's first encounter with computer graphic, Bulma stepped closer to explain the map.
"As I had thought, four are in the ocean," she said, pointing at the blinking spots that were on the blue area of the map. "One or two are probably very deep, this one here has luckily hit an area in the ocean that isn't deeper than a hundred meters, and this one here is moving."
"200-feet-long dinosaurs, like I told you," Trunks remarked. Bulma nodded.
"Most likely. Dinosaurs like shiny colorful objects, there's nothing we can do about it. So, another one of those Dragonballs landed in the mountains." She pointed at another spot.
"Pretty green hills with random sheep flocks and tiny villages?" Seiya asked with a frown which clearly showed that he didn't believe a word of that sentence.
"High sharp snowy mountains with random yeti flocks and huge dangerous cliffs," Bulma replied with a vague regretful smile.
"Typical," Yaten commented. "You can't just expect them to land somewhere on a green meadow, eh? Did the last two at least land somewhere warmer?"
"This one here is extremely close to a volcano," the woman said, pointing at the sixth spot.
"You just had to ask," Haruka said.
"It's been inactive for the past fifty years," Bulma reassured, "but knowing how I usually end up in neck-breaking situations during those Dragonball hunts, I'm not sure if I can promise anything."
"So where's the last one?" Vegeta asked. "In a deep jungle? In the centre of the Earth?"
"In that city," the woman pointed at the last blinking spot right by the ocean. "Actually it seems to be a small town of some sort but one way or another it's on solid ground and has a good climate."
"So… when do we start?" Taiki asked with a sigh. He had already given up all hopes to get back to Tokyo in less than a month.
"As soon as I can reach that blabbermouthed lady next door on the phone to tell her to water the plants while we're gone," Bulma snorted, pointing at a phone on the table which had obviously seen better days. It was cracked, dusty and looked like someone had hit it against the wall several times. The Sailor Soldiers gazed at it.
"I've told you a million times to get a new phone down here," Vegeta remarked. Bulma glared at him.
"Not a chance! There's no other phone available on this whole planet that would still work after I've kicked and punched it when some moronic businessman has cost me thousands with some idiotic deal. I have a huge corporation to run here, I need my phone!"
"Then how can you come Dragonball hunting with us?" Trunks asked.
"We have branch offices all over the planet; I can step by some of them while we're on the way." Bulma gave a final glare towards the phone and marched out of the room. "That's it… I'm going personal with the neighbor lady!"
About fifteen minutes later Haruka started the plane.
"We didn't exactly take many packages with us," she remarked. "What if we'll need something on the way?"
"We have enough money… and a couple of capsule houses that contain everything we need," Bulma replied.
Trunks was getting more and more impatient. "Can we go now, huh, huh?"
"Sure thing," Haruka grabbed the steering lever, "just hold…" the plane zoomed into the air, "…on."
"Does she ever wait until everyone has fastened the seatbelts?" Seiya hissed to Michiru. The girl smiled.
"Not with you aboard. Bulma, where's the nearest Dragonball?"
Bulma was examining a holographic globe, completely ignoring the turbulence and acceleration. "Well, two of them are pretty much equally away from us. Where would you like to go first – underwater or to the mountains?"
"Underwater," the Three Lights replied instantly. Haruka grinned behind the steering lever.
"Rather 200-feet-long monsters than a nice little furry yeti?" she asked.
"We'll get to your furry yetis soon enough," Vegeta remarked. "And speaking of hairy stinky creatures, are we planning to take Kakarot and his sons along? I'm not that excited about having to protect all of you from dozens of annoying monsters twenty four hours a day."
"Hey, I can protect them too!" Trunks complained as Michiru and Hotaru chuckled.
Vegeta frowned. "Not with that fist of yours. Which reminded me, we could use some Senzu beans."
"Then it's either Goku's house or Karin's tower because they're not on the same way," Haruka warned them. "Think fast."
"Karin's place," Bulma decided, "once we go to Goku's place from here, we might as well head towards that volcano from there. It's the closest to their house."
"That means no stinky yetis or huge dinosaurs, or what?" Yaten asked and stretched his legs. He seemed to be the only one in the plane who felt completely calm about the whole adventure. He had a chance to take some time off and he used that chance, even when sitting in a plane that flies above a strange planet to seek for seven magical crystal balls and possibly face dozens of hideous monsters.
"Not over there," Bulma agreed, "if we get really lucky, we might be able to see a dragon or two though."
"I think I've seen that volcano," Vegeta said, looking at the globe. "There are no dragons over there, I'm sure I would've sensed them. Dragons are extremely strong and powerful. As a matter of fact, I only saw one creature out there and that was some little birdie."
"A huge fierce pterodactyl with giant fangs?" Trunks asked hopefully.
"It wasn't bigger than a swan and it definitely had no fangs," Vegeta snapped. "Haruka, fly higher, you'll miss the top of the tower."
"I was just about to get to that part," the girl replied, pulling the lever. The plane rocketed up vertically.
Karin-sama wasn't very glad to give them his last Senzu beans but the annoyed look on Vegeta's face made him change his mind rather quickly and a little while later they were flying towards Goku's house. Trunks's fist was fine again and the kid sat next to Haruka, pointing at random dinosaurs flying by and yelling "watch out!" every couple of minutes. Haruka's eyebrow had been twitching for the last couple of hours.
"Take it easy, girl," Vegeta suggested, placing his hands behind his head and yawning. "So far it's just him. As soon as we pick up Kakarot's brat, you won't have a peaceful minute."
Haruka snorted. "You sure know how to comfort me." She pushed the lever and the plane fell for a couple hundred meters.
"What dinosaur?" she asked from Trunks with a grin as the kid rubbed his head and glared at the ceiling which now had a huge dent in it.
Goku and his sons instantly agreed to fly along. "It's been a while since our last Dragonball hunt. It would really be fun to go searching for them again," Goku said.
"Too bad I can't come," Gohan sighed. "School… who came up with it anyway?"
"Don't you have school, Trunks?" Chichi asked the kid. She had been about to explode after hearing the idea but Bulma had told her that her house would be a lot safer without Goku being around for a week or two.
"I can read all my books while we're flying," Trunks replied with a grin. "Besides, there isn't anyone at home to keep an eye on me."
"I didn't see you read any books while we were flying," Haruka snapped, " and note that, if I hear the word "dinosaur" from your mouth ever again, I'll turn the plane around and leave you with the blabbing neighbor lady, did I make myself clear?"
"Fine, Goten can go with you," Chichi stated, "if he takes all his schoolbooks with him."
Goten blinked. "Mom, there are at least fifty books!"
"The more books, the less backseat driving… bring them all here, Chichi," Haruka said, ignoring the kid's complaints. "Let's just get going, eh?"