CHAPTER 25:
The Last Dragonball
Trunks waited anxiously in the pilot's seat, tapping his fingers impatiently against the armrests. His hands were numbed from the cold, and his cheeks burned. His rapid breathing made the inside of his chest sting with every inhalation of the freezing air, but he ignored everything as his mind went through every type of disaster that could occur on the way down, ranging from Goku's life support running out along the way, to random meteors striking the ship and being unable to dodge them without controls.
"Honestly, Trunks, you are probably one of the most paranoid people I'll ever know." Pan was leaning back in her chair, watching him fret about the whole mess with a grin on her face.
He knew that he nervous, but he had no idea why she wouldn't be feeling it, too. This was the last dragonball. Somehow, they had problems with every single dragonball they had to retrieve, and Trunks just knew that something bad was going to happen along the way down. It was just fate for them. It always happened. And this time, they were relying solely on a little boy to bring them in safely. If anything happened to him, there was nothing Trunks could do.
Pan seemed to have faith in Goku, though. At least that was a start. Trunks stopped tapping for a moment as he tried to take a deep breath and calm down. There would be no use flipping out about this. He'd have more than enough time to lose his head later, when having to deal with not only cleaning up the ship, but rewiring the entire control panel, trying to locate where all the problems were.
He tried his hardest not to think of how long they would be delayed because of this problem. They had a little less than a month to get home. If his calculations were correct, it would take them about three weeks to reach Earth. Although they would have a grace period of several days to fix the ship, it still didn't get Trunks to stop worrying about what horrible thing might happen on the way back home. They always managed to get themselves into trouble one way or another, without exception. Something was bound to go wrong.
He began tapping again, closing his eyes. If worse came to worse, and they wouldn't be able to make it back home, they'd just have to land on a nearby planet and make a wish on the black star dragonballs for the Earth to not explode for another year. And then, they'd have to start all over, from scratch. It wasn't a very appealing idea, but at least it was an alternative to the Earth exploding again. Except this time, it wouldn't be Majin Buu behind its destruction; it would be all their faults.
The radio transmitter that he had installed in Goku's helmet buzzed a bit, and snapped him out of his thoughts temporarily. He leaned forward and pressed the transmitter button, "Goku? Goku, are you there?"
The radio buzzed for a moment and then went silent again. Trunks growled and hung his head in his hands, very tempted to start tapping again.
"Trunks come on, calm down. He's probably just getting situated under the ship. It's only been a few minutes." Pan tried to give him a reassuring smile.
"I'll be calm when we land." Trunks huffed once and stared at the radio, as if expecting to see any visible signs of communication. Even a little red light or something would make him feel better.
"You know, Trunks, I never got how you can just sit there and think. For the past few minutes, I've been talking to you, and you've been in your own little world."
Trunks blushed slightly and looked at her, "I'm sorry. What were you saying?"
"I was asking what you wanted to tell people about our rings."
"Ah." The dreaded topic. He had been doing everything he could to force that thought out of his mind. It didn't seem as important to him as landing the ship properly. In his anxiety about safely getting the ship to the surface of the planet, he had completely forgotten to worry about the rings.
Trunks looked beyond her for a moment, trying to formulate some thoughts. He focused in on her face and watched her eyes. In the dim lighting, they looked charcoal black. They also looked as if they were searching for something, or perhaps expecting a response that would ease their tension. Trunks really had no idea what to say. He coughed and felt his nose burn him from the cold. He sniffed and rubbed his nose, thinking. "How about we just say they are souvenirs. You know, mementos."
"That we wear every single day?"
"No... Hmm..." Trunks reached out his left hand and took her right hand in his own. "I know, maybe we could say that they are friendship rings that we got on the trip and we vowed never to take off? I mean," he paused, "that wouldn't really be a lie..." He thought, looking up, "Maybe more like... bending the truth..."
"How about we just tell them the truth Trunks? They'd understand, especially with Grandpa backing us up."
Trunks looked down and lost a lot of grip on her hand. "You know, I'm sure my mom would be thrilled to hear that we eloped to some foreign moon, especially since she has been on my case for years, trying to get me to go out and meet people. But," he looked up again, concerned, "I'm not quite sure how the news would be taken by your parents." He scratched his head with his right hand, thoughtfully, "You are only fifteen, you know."
"So?" Pan's eyebrows knotted downward as she raised her voice slightly, "Are you saying that I'm a little girl?!"
"Oh! Uh, n-no!..." He stuttered, trying to find a way to reword his statement slowly without incurring her wrath, "No, Pan! I'm not. I'm just saying that... they might consider you still their 'little girl'. I mean, you're their only child, Pan, and I'm not sure they will be too thrilled to find out you eloped with me."
"You keep saying that, but we didn't elope! We were forced into it."
"Honestly, Pan, do you really think that they'll believe that?" Trunks sighed, "They might understand that we had to do it for a dragonball, yes, but once the story goes through the grapevine, it's going to find ways of being severely altered; and their interpretation of it all will find ways of changing, especially the more they talk about it." He squeezed her right hand, "I'd rather just play it safe and keep it on the low-down that we did that. Do you disagree? Because, if you disagree with me, I'd really like to hear why you –"
The radio crackled a moment, breaking Trunks from his thought, "– Trunks? Pan?"
Trunks desperately pounced on the radio and pressed the transmitter button, "Goku!!! Goku, are you okay?! How are things out there?!"
"Man, this suit is so much warmer than the ship! I love it. Why can't I wear this all the time?"
"Goku, are you underneath the ship? Is everything going according to plan?"
"...I should get Chi Chi to make me a suit like this for winter. Whoever designed this did a really good job..."
"We're about to enter the atmosphere. The slower you take the ship, the better, got that? The resistance will cause a great deal of turbulence the faster you go."
"... But they need to install some sort of little trap door in the helmet, you know, for food, because I can't stand the idea that I'd have to take this thing off every single time..."
"Goku, can you even hear me?!"
"Yeah, I can hear you. They need to make a diving suit like this. This is a really comfortable outfit, and since it can seal air out, you'd think it could work underwater as well!
"Goku, I want you to slow the ship down."
"Man, can you imagine... if I could go underwater with one of these things, I could actually pick out the fish I'd want to catch. Do you realize how much more fun fishing would be?!"
Pan chuckled in herseat as Trunks growled, "He's not taking this seriously." He pressed the transmitter button, "Did you hear me, Goku? Slow the ship down!!!" He released the button and looked down, huffing angrily.
"...And think of all the fish I could catch when fishing with Gohan and Goten... and Pan! Pan, you could come along as well, and Krillin! Wow, Krillin, I wonder what's he up to nowadays..."
Trunks pressed the button again and yelled into the microphone, "Listen, Goku, your babbling is great and all, but you really need to concentrate on holding up the ship and slowing down!"
Pan got in a word before Trunks released the button, "Yeah, Grandpa, you should listen to Trunks. He's completely flipping over here!"
"Why do you guys keep interrupting me? I have everything under control. So anyway, I was thinking that maybe you could install a little fishing rod on the back of the suit and maybe a little bait bucket on the side – with a lid on it of course, because I don't want the bait getting out, and.... Oh wow! That's such a great idea! You could put LIVE bait in it, and you can swim with the bait and...."
A sudden surge of enraged fury coursed through him. Trunks couldn't believe how Goku was acting. With a scream of anger, Trunks brought his fists down on the dashboard with a loud crack and lowered his head to pound it a few times in frustration.
Suddenly, there was a high pitched whine of circuitry going back online. Dozens of lights lit up on the control panel and the coordinate chart came back onscreen. The lights in the room shone brightly with resurged power as Trunks sat in puzzlement, his head still on the dashboard.
He lifted his head up, blinking twice. Everything was working again, as if by some miracle. He sat back, his mouth open and eyes wide. He looked to Pan in bafflement, feeling confused and struck dumb. After a moment, he barely squeaked out, "It's working...?" He looked at the control panel which lined the dashboard again, all the lights on and blinking on standby mode. "It's working..." He jumped up, out of his seat, throwing his hands up toward the Kais, screaming out in delight, "IT'S WORKING!"
Trunks grabbed the radio and yelled into it, "Goku! Hold on tight, I'm taking control!" He threw the radio to the side and grabbed the steering wheel.
"Huh? What do you mean? I thought that I – Ahhh!!!"
Trunks lurched the ship forward through the atmosphere, laughing as he navigated the ship toward the surface. Finally, something good happened to them! Although it was long overdue, it was a pleasantly surprising birthday present.
"Alright, Giru! Are you pumped for helping us find the dragonball?"
"-giru giru-! -giru giru-!" Giru jumped up from his spot in the corner and did a little flip. "Dragonball detected! Dragonball detected!"
Those were the most glorious words Trunks had ever heard.
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They landed on the edge of a white snowy cliff. Although the weather was currently windy, ominous clouds loomed overhead threatening a snowstorm. The temperature, according to Giru, was 257 below zero, which wasn't much better than the predicted –269, but they'd take whatever they could get. And nothing, not a low temperature or an impending blizzard, or a buried dragonball could get Trunks down at the moment. He was in an excellent mood.
It was funny when they saw Goku again. Apparently the friction with the atmosphere had burned away most of his spacesuit and clothes underneath. He was practically naked in the frigid weather, and was more than delighted to go change in the bedroom. When he came out, he was layered in about ten of his gis, yet still shivering and complaining from the cold.
Trunks knew that they would have to find the dragonball quickly. Even though he and Pan were well layered, after several minutes in the planet's extreme weather, all of their lives would be in danger. The minute any of them found themselves getting tired, they'd have to seek shelter. He didn't want either of them, especially Pan, getting hypothermia. Even layers wouldn't be able to keep out this kind of cold.
After they all were ready, Trunks jumped down from the ship and was met with such an intense shock, he almost lost his ability to breathe. Every part of his body was shot, almost instantly freezing when impacted with the temperature. The only parts of his body that had any heat were his hands, snugly pinning hand warmers under his gloves. He was so happy he remembered to buy those. They were the only things really keeping him alert on this planet while all his life was being sucked right out of him.
He heard someone drop down behind him and laboriously turned around to see to see who it could be. He found that keeping his eyes open hurt at this point. Squinting, his vision settled on Goku shivering and breathing irregularly, his breath coming out in clouds.
"-gasp- Guys... -gasp- It's so cold... -gasp- And I – -gasp-" He wrapped his arms around his chest to retain any bit of warmth he could, "And I thought that -gasp- the ship was cold! Aaaa... AAACHOOO!!"
Pan jumped down, following by Giru, and dusted the snow off of her ankles slowly. "Grandpa, maybe you should just stay behind and guard the ship. I don't want your cold getting any worse."
"I'm fine." Goku frowned and hugged his arms around himself tighter.
Trunks walked up to Giru and took him in his hands. "Giru, how far is the dragonball from here?"
"50 meters -giru giru-."
"Alright you two; let's head out. The faster we find this ball, the better." Trunks tried to ignore the icy weather and walked in the direction the blinking light indicated on the back of the robot. When he reached the cliff edge, he jumped down and sensed the other two following him.
The winds were really beginning to pick up. Trunks had let Giru fly by himself, as he spent all his reserved strength just trying to keep his coat secured tightly around himself, walking into the forceful gusts of air. It was really hard to tell where they were really going. The whole world was disorienting, since it was covered in blankets upon blankets of ice. Everything looked the same, as if it were a frozen desert wasteland. It was really hard fathom how any life used to exist here at all.
Although Goku had done his best to hide his anguish, after he started losing feeling in his legs and felt his face freeze over, he had taken to complaining. Trunks and Pan let him, though. As long as he was alert enough to whine, it showed he still had energy left and was okay. Besides, his rants were keeping them both alert as well, even though Goku kept saying the same thing.
"Okay...guys... when we're done... I need a jacket. Or maybe a pelt. Or maybe a microwave? Put me on the stove?"
Pan sighed and turned to the robot, "Where is it, Giru? If we don't hurry, Grandpa's brain will freeze right along with his body."
Suddenly, Trunks and Pan heard something collapse behind them and Goku's rambling was cut short. They turned around to see that a large hole had opened up in the ground they had been walking on. What was frightening was that Goku was gone.
At first, Trunks had the panicked feeling that Goku had somehow fallen through a frozen lake of some sort and was in serious trouble. "Goku?!"
Pan saw the hole and brought her hands to her cheeks, "Oh no! Grandpa!"
"Goku!!" Trunks treaded through the snow to the edge of the hole and looked down. A vast emptiness of a cavern was below them, but no sign of the boy. "GOKU!" A sudden wave of fear encompassed him. They couldn't lose Goku now. If he passed out from the fall, he would die within less than a minute, considering the cold. He turned to Pan with a determined look. "Pan, stay here and stay calm! I'm going to go find him."
Before Trunks could jump down, however, another sound came from where they had just been standing. A hand emerged, followed by another. They felt around for some good support and pushed hard, causing a head to pop from the ground. Goku grinned at the two happily and pushed his body out of his newly created hole.
"Hey guys, look what I found in the snow!" He grinned even more widely and held up the Two Star Dragonball. The seventh dragonball. It was all theirs!
Pan squealed and clapped her hands, temporarily forgetting the cold. "Yes!" She threw her hands forward and made peace signs with her gloves. Giru followed suit, bleeping something about Goku being the hero of the world.
After not only seeing that Goku was alright, but that he found the last of the dragonballs, Trunks felt a tidal wave of relief hit him. "You... you did it, Goku. I can't believe it!" Trunks smiled, "But you sure did give us a scare!"
Goku did a little dance in the snow, twirling around, tossing the ball up, and catching it. "Finally we can go home!" He laughed and smiled at the two, "And the first thing I'm going to do is have some of Chi Chi's best homemade noodles!"
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-11/18/04-
