Bulma had the sub ready to go, the engines were warm and oxygen tanks full, the only thing missing was one final passenger.
She screamed towards Kame House, "Jack what's taking so long? Let's go!"
Gohan came running from the house and quickly took his seat in the cabin among his fellow explorers. "Sorry Bulma, Master Roshi needed to tell me something."
Relieved that they could finally get underway, Bulma sealed the hatch of the sub and began to lower the ship into the water.
Goku noticed Gohan's eyes were slightly red and his cheeks were flushed. "Jack was Launch making something with onions? Your eyes are all red."
Gohan did his best to cover up any leftover emotion and replied in a nasally tone"No just allergies is all."
Light beams scattered and broke beneath the waves of the ocean as the sub took them further into the depths. The group observed, through their glass orb of a cabin, the vibrant green stocks of kelp and colorful beds of coral sprinkled across the ocean floor. The sea was overwhelmingly populated by massive schools of fish that swam rather lazily around the vessel; as if they'd seen a million before it.
"This is amazing, I never knew so many fish could be in one place!" Goku exclaimed excitedly. His tail wagged and he pushed his face against the glass to better observe the great quantity of life surrounding him.
Krillin was in agreement. "Yeah it's beautiful but you should have seen the sea a couple weeks ago. There were some migrating whales just a couple yards off Master Roshi's island. If they'd stuck around, I think it would be much prettier."
Bulma even took a moment to breathe in the beauty of the underwater landscape before refocusing in on finding the dragon ball. "Goku, hand me the dragon radar please."
Goku looked around the cabin but couldn't see the radar. "Uh, I don't think we have it."
Gohan reached into his shirt revealing the prized device. "Yeah, you left it by your backpack at Master Roshi's. I figured we would need it so I picked it up before I left."
She grit her teeth, angry at her own forgetfulness. "Well, that's just great, left the dragon balls then too."
Goku gasped, "Wait, when did you put the dragon balls in your bag Bulma?"
Her patience with the boy was wearing thin. "You left them on the couch Goku!"
"Hehe, my bad..." Goku said playfully.
Gohan handed her the radar and she turned it on. The screen indicated that they were quickly approaching the dragon ball, but that it was much lower than they were. She gazed outside the front windshield and was confused, they were already on the ocean floor, how could the ball be any lower?
She switched on the radars 3d topographical mode and discovered that they were just above a massive cave and the dragon ball was located deep inside of it. Following the radar, she dove down the side of a massive dropoff, startling Krillin. "Watch your driving Bulma, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"
Still reading the radar Bulma followed the side of the dropoff. "Sorry Krillin, but according to the radar, the dragon ball is inside an underwater cave. The cave is somewhere near this dropoff and I am trying to...there! That's it!"
The entrance to the cave revealed itself to be a massive circular opening surrounded by jagged, razor-sharp rocks. Just as they were about to enter the ominous opening, the shockwave of a massive explosion shook their little vessel. Bulma quickly rotated the ship and spotted a massive Red Ribbon military submarine approaching them.
Goku was immediately hostile. "Ugh, it's those stupid red ribbon guys! Bulma, get us inside the cave quick!"
Bulma kicked the sub into high gear, shooting them past the cave's opening. She switched on the front lights, illuminating the cave which grew narrower as they traveled deeper into it.
Gohan was the first to notice that two smaller Red Ribbon fighters had been dispatched and were closing in on them "Bulma, can this thing go any faster because if it can't we're about to be in a lot of trouble!"
Just as he said that one of the ships rammed into the backside of their craft, terrifying everyone in the cabin. Gohan knew that he was in no danger if the cabin depressurized, he'd withstand far worse pressures than the deepsea, but he knew no one other than himself would survive if it did. He closed his eyes and balled up in his seat as he tried not to focus on the mental image of his father or Krillin being crushed.
Don't think about it. Don't think about it
He was suddenly enveloped by his fathers' familiar embrace. "Don't worry Jack, Bulma's got us."
With a strong and determined voice, Bulma answered "Damn right I do! Hold on guys this is gonna get rough!" She then activated the machine's overdrive, heating up the engines until the water around them steamed and bubbled wildly. They blasted forward and left the Red Ribbon subs in the dust.
She sped around the many sharp corners of the cave following exactly where the radar indicated they go. Without even thinking she flipped open a red button and smashed it which released the flares, sending them flying into different dead-end paths of the cave. A brilliant tactic she had devised to misdirect those thickheaded soldiers.
Glancing at the radar, Bulma followed its final command which was to pull up. Trusting in her technology, she did so and the group suddenly surfaced inside of an underwater cave. She opened the hatch and hopped out, eager to lead the charge in search of the dragon ball. Or at least she would have, had the darkness of the cavern not prevented her from doing so.
Krillin stepped wobbly out of the craft. "Jeez Bulma, next time I think it might be better to let me drive. Going at this rate I'll have high blood pressure by the time I'm twenty."
As Krillin gathered himself, the two Red Ribbon subs emerged from the water and opened their hatches. A tall blond-haired and blue-eyed man stood from his vessel and commanded his troops to open fire on them, despite the lack of clear visibility. Goku quickly covered Bulma, who he considered to be the most brittle, and took charge of the situation.
"Go deeper into the cave, now!" He commanded, and the four ran blindly, further into darkness. They were barely able to run straight, only having a slight idea of where they were going, thanks to the muzzle flashes of the soldiers.
They kept running and as they went further and further into the cave, the group could hear the muzzle flashes becoming more and more distant. Still, Goku stayed in the rear, keeping an eye out for any soldiers who would dare follow them.
"I don't think they're following us..." he said.
Krillin was slightly agitated at this point, he hadn't realized that coming along on this adventure meant that he would be shot at. "How would you know Goku?! Nobody can see a thing in all this darkness!"
While running his hand along the cold, wet cavern walls, Goku felt a small circular button appear suddenly. "Hey Krillin, are there supposed to be buttons in caves?" Goku asked puzzledly. He pressed the white button before the question could be answered, and the cave was suddenly lit up by ancient incandescent lights.
Bulma was without words, she knew this whole thing seemed a little too complex for a simple dragon ball. Usually, they were in a field, or on a mountain, but a cave seemed far too unlikely. No, this was the cave of the hidden pirate's treasure.
"Guys do you know what this means!? This means the dragon ball is somewhere mixed in with the pirate's treasure! I mean what else could this scary cave be used for, am I right?"
Krillin was overwhelmed with excitement. "Oh, this is amazing! Now we'll just get the dragon ball, the treasure, and Goku'll beat those Red Ribbon soldiers!"
Those words stuck out to Gohan like a sore thumb.
'Goku'll beat those Red Ribbon soldiers'.
As in just Goku. As in only Goku can handle these soldiers.
The modern-day monk would never have said something like that. He would say something like, 'We'll take down those Red Ribbon guys together!' rather than verbally hide behind Goku.
It put things into perspective for him. Krillin had always emphasized that they did things as a team and it was upsetting to not hear the same sentiment from him now. It made Gohan feel more displaced than usual, and for the first time since he got to the past, he missed someone from the present other than his father.
They continued their way through the cave following the long line of flickering web-covered lights. The rocky walls gradually smoothed into a pleasant offwhite limestone and the lights changed to long strips of white fluorescent tubes, not dissimilar to a dingy office. There was a red line drawn sloppily across the floor that served as a warning from stepping any further. Believing this to be some sort of trap, Gohan observed the walls and floor in front of them closely and found that there were dozens of small hatches only about the size of a pencil in diameter.
These probably shoot some kind of dart or something out of them. Better tell the others.
"Hold on guys I think this is a trap. If we step on the floor past the red line, I think the walls will shoot something out at us."
Goku squinted at the floor, noting the hatches were slightly raised, he smiled as he looked at the opposite end of the corridor. It didn't seem too far away and looked to be constructed with a fine red brick rather than limestone; a clear indication of the trap's conclusion.
"Hm, I think if we just jump across we should be fine. I don't think this trap lasts all the way to the brick." he said.
He took a couple of steps back, got into a sprint, and leaped across the booby-trapped hallway with ease. Krillin, on the other hand, was nowhere near as eager to jump across as Goku, but he reluctantly did so after some coaxing. As he was landing, he would have activated one of the floor's pressure plates, had Goku not been there to grab his feet before he could hit the floor.
"That was a close one, thanks Goku." Krillin said while catching his breath.
Bulma seethed with anger. "Yeah you two can manage that but what about the rest of us hm? I don't think Jack and I can jump over fifty feet."
Gohan blushed as he interrupted her. "Uh- I can...and I guess I could carry you if you need me to."
It was obvious she wasn't thrilled with the idea but she saw no other way. "Fine Jack, just carry me across. I swear you three are not human."
Gohan lifted her with ease and jumped over to the other end of the hallway effortlessly. As soon as they landed he stood her up and she took out the radar leading the charge once again.
They cautiously continued through the hallway until it opened up into a massive underwater depot complete with a port that housed a massive battleship, the pirate's main facility to be sure.
The old ship, which was jerry-rigged with huge brass cannons and covered in different pirate-themed engravings, sat in the water alone, docked as it had been for decades.
Gohan could tell it showed signs of rust, but the ship itself seemed to carry a distinctly weary vibe. Her sides were dented and she dipped slightly near the stern. It was obvious she had been through many battles and no doubt, if any of the pirate's descendants were still alive, they could tell some crazy tales about her history. He ended his gentle observation of the vessel as he sensed his father's tense ki, something was bothering him.
"Something's watching us...be careful guys I've got a funny feeling again." Goku said.
The group circled around the depot and found a large green robot that looked to be just as rusty as the ship. They were all surprised as it activated and swiftly rolled over to them. Its cogs turning and engine running made the machine vibrate rapidly and unsettlingly. Goku didn't like the look of the robot, it didn't seem friendly and the cutlass it wielded didn't either.
He blocked its sudden violent swing with his power pole. "I knew you weren't a nice robot! Bulma, Krillin go get the dragon ball! Jack and I can handle this!"
Bulma and Krillin listened, and ran out of the depot into a separate hallway, using the radar as their only guide.
Backing away from the two, the robot attempted to launch missiles at them, but only managed to hit the massive rusted support beams that held the facility together, weakening the ancient structure's integrity. Goku and Gohan responded to its attack with a flurry of kicks and punches, making short work of a robot that, truthfully, should have been deactivated ages ago.
"Great job Jack, now let's go get that dragon ba-"
The room began to shake as one of the beams near the ship gave out, dropping tons of debris onto the vessel, smashing through her brittle wooden deck.
Goku, while struggling to keep his balance, stammered out, "Oh man, this place is falling apart! We gotta find Bulma and Krillin quick!"
The two ran in the direction that they saw Krillin and Bulma, following the curved hallway they made their way to a corridor that divided into two paths, left and right, a dilemma to be sure but Gohan sensed that Bulma and Krillin's energies were off to the left somewhere. He also felt a significant drop in Krillin's power level, making his blood pump harder than it already was. His father had told him a few stories about when he was younger and mentioned that they had to revive Krillin with the dragon balls at one point, but never said specifically when they did. Gohan decided he couldn't take the risk of letting Goku lead and started running towards the left.
As he ran, he motioned back towards his father, "C'mon Goku they're this way!"
"You sure?" Goku asked as he sprinted alongside him.
"Definitely, they absolutely went this way!"
Goku heard the fear in his voice, but trusted his sense of direction; for some reason, he couldn't explain yet, his gut agreed that Krillin and Bulma had gone left. The two ran side by side until they came upon a square pool leading into a portion of the cave flooded with water. Neither Gohan nor Goku bothered to stop and they eagerly leaped in, working to get to their friends as quickly as possible. When they entered the cave, the ground shook harder than it ever had before; a not-so-subtle indication that they were running out of time.
They swam as fast as they could in the abyss of freezing water. Gohan could sense where Bulma and Krillin were, but he couldn't tell how to get to them. Spotting a faint light in the darkness, he tapped on Goku's barely visible shoulder and pointed over towards it. As they approached the light, it turned out to be a small opening between two enormous boulders. Both climbed through, stepping into a portion of the cave housing a massive statue, surrounded by lit wax candles.
Bulma screamed, "You just wait until Goku gets here you hear me?! You won't get away with this!"
Goku and Gohan treaded silently among the rocks, staying out of sight.
The blonde-haired man, pointing his rifle at a bloody and bruised Krillin laughed. "Oh, but I think I will. Your friend may have been able to best Generals White and Silver, but I, general Blue, am far more competent than both of them combined. Now, tell me where the dragon ball is and maybe I'll consider sparing you two."
Krillin found strength and in a broken voice, spoke into Bulma's eyes. "You know just as much as anyone, Bulma, he'll kill us anyway! Don't tell him anything!"
Blue cocked back his rifle, preparing to finish off his wounded adversary when he was slammed into the base of the statue by Goku.
"Goku!" both Bulma and Krillin shouted excitedly.
"Jack get the dragon ball we don't have much time!" He glared at General Blue. "I'll deal with this guy!"
Gohan ran over to Bulma and she quickly handed him the radar. He turned it on and ran to another pool of water. The radar pinged loud and clear, looks like he'd have to swim for it
Things never can be easy, can they?
He jumped in the pool and dove downwards, as he pushed further, the radars topographical mode deactivated and began flashing a bubbled red text
fifteen meters...
twelve meters...
six meters...
one meter...
Gohan searched the environment, he was surrounded by countless treasures and jewels that glistened in the darkness. Mountains of gold covered every inch of the underwater cavern, but he couldn't care any less, he had come for only one item.
He spotted a slight orange radiance beneath a stone, he lifted it and revealed the dragon ball. Its magical orange glow was a comforting familiarity. He was thrilled to have it and packed the three-star ball safely into his gi.
When he resurfaced, Krillin and Bulma were nowhere to be found, but Goku seemed to be finishing up his battering of General Blue. Gohan ran over to his father revealing the three-star ball, his excitement faded as he saw the disappointment in Goku's eyes. Their search for his grandfather's ball would have to continue.
The cave was showing serious signs of collapse, the statue that once stood strong in the center of the room now crumbled from the massive quakes that shook everything around it. Goku and Gohan raced back the way they came and resubmerged into the cave flooded with dark saltwater. They made their way through the black waters that grew more dangerous in their absence. Jaded rocks and massive boulders dropped at random from the ceiling of the cave, threatening to block their way back into the main facility, but neither boy's determination wavered, and they pressed on.
They both climbed out of the square pool completely soaked from head to toe, and began running back towards the depot. As they ran, the brick walls began to crumble and the ceiling collapse behind them. A mess of electricity arced across the hall as the cabling was ripped from the walls, both of them were now in a full-on sprint for their lives. Gohan could tell Goku was getting tired but was amazed as he ran ahead of him. It seemed as if when his stamina gave out, his spirit took over to carry him to the finish line. Gohan quickened his pace, being mindful of not going too fast, at least not yet, the only way he would go any faster than his father is if he absolutely had to, and he knew they weren't at that point yet.
They both barely made it into the depot before the hallway collapsed behind them. The ship that once rested in her port was now completely crushed and mangled by fallen debris and the beams that held the massive underwater dock up were crumbling like paper. Goku and Gohan ran over to the port where they saw Krillin and Bulma piloting an old pirate submarine, they hopped into the craft and strapped themselves in.
"Where have you two been!? We thought you guys were crushed!" Bulma screamed as she threw the sub into its highest gear and began to speed towards the cave's secondary exit. With every moment that passed, more and more of the cave collapsed, clouding the crystal clear water with thick mud. They barely managed to exit the mouth of the cave before the whole thing imploded. A mass of muck and dust exploded from the cave, polluting the water surrounding it. The shockwave from the blast was so powerful that it shot their old submarine straight to the ocean's surface.
The cabin was filled with audible relief, everyone was exhausted from this unexpectedly dangerous adventure. Bulma slouched in her chair and let go of the controls for a moment, running her fingers through her hair, she decided she didn't mind the monotony of the city. It was better than risking her life twenty more times on another adventure for the dragon balls
"Okay Goku, you may have been right. I think I may slow you two down a little. I was not expecting today to be as dangerous as it was. Those Red Ribbon guys are nuts, I mean ramming one of their own ships into ours, that's crazy!"
Goku chuckled, "Yeah, they are pretty mean huh?"
"Mean is an understatement Goku, they're downright evil. They are the most feared for-hire military in the world for a reason." Krillin lectured.
The monk straightened his clothing and dusted himself off. "Count me out on your next adventure too. I like not being flattened into a pancake, thank you very much."
A little surprised by how shaken the two seemed to be by the events, Goku found himself a little disappointed he wouldn't be sharing their company as he continued his journey.
Bulma switched on the subs cruising mode and they slowly made their way back to Roshi's island. She didn't notice it before, but the machine was extremely dated and had trouble maintaining its course at a proper speed, she wasn't surprised though, the machine was decades old and it was a miracle it ran at all.
They landed upon Roshi's golden shoreline and crawled out of the craft. Gohan sat close to the water and observed the sun. He figured they had a couple of hours of daylight left, more than enough time to get underway towards the next dragon ball and set up camp. Goku crawled over and sat beside him.
"Do you miss your home Jack?" Goku asked.
Gohan was startled by the question. "Not really, why?"
"I was just wondering...because I'm sure your mom misses you. And I don't want you to feel like you have to keep coming with me on this adventure to find my grampa's ball. If it's getting too dangerous for you, and you want to go home, then don't feel bad. You can tell me."
He could see his father meant every word, but Gohan couldn't be happier anywhere else in the world. Honestly, the last thing he wanted to do was go home, he felt like he could go on these dangerous, thrilling ventures forever if he could continue on them with his father.
"I don't want to go home Goku, not yet anyway. Plus, I think we've already been through too much together to just give up now." He smiled as he reached into his shirt and handed over the three-star ball to Goku "We're over a third of the way done."
Goku cupped the ball in his hands for a moment and examined it before stuffing it away inside of his gi. Relieved that his journey wouldn't continue alone, Goku felt extremely grateful for Gohan's dedication to their quest. He had never felt that he could be as close to someone as his grandfather but found Gohan to feel more and more like family as each day passed. He leaned in for a hug and looked into Gohan's rich brown eyes which were identical to his own; full of light and goodness. Goku squeezed him tightly like long-lost family. In his mind, he was sure they were brothers even if they might not be related.
"You're my best friend Jack..."
"Thank you."