This chapter's a short one, so think of it as an appetizer... Next up is the long awaited conclusion! Thanks everyone, as always, for giving this story a read! Just a reminder, this story will still continue on, so don't think the upcoming chapter, 12, will be the finale. Lastly, feel free to follow this story or mark it as a favorite (Heh Heh), and always leave a review! (That's law, ahem...) Alright, enough talk! Enjoy the chapter!
Only one, final Dragon Ball left to go! And, according to Bulma's radar, our adventurers haven't that far to go…
A young Sairaorg, sitting next to Bulma, up in the vehicle's front, playfully tossed a pebble he'd collected from the ruins of Fry-Pan Mountain, up and down. Besides the audible hum of the jeep's engine, the car was dead quiet. Everyone in the backseat—Goku, Rias, Akeno, and Sona—cuddled together, sleeping akin to an assembly of penguins during the harshest of winters. The half-fallen angel, Akeno, tightly clung to the boy's right; Sona, shockingly, held onto his left arm; and the prideful Rias, his princess cousin, slept on Goku's lap like a balled-up kitten.
If only their parents could see this! He laughed to himself, then noticed Bulma's focused attention to the screen of the Dragon Radar.
"Hey Bulma," he started talking to the teenage girl, "I've been meaning to ask you… what are you wishing from Shenron, anyways?"
Reciprocating accordingly, the girl broke out into a random squirm and loudly giggled. "Ho Ho Ho!" She turned around in her seat to face the young devil. "Haven't I told you guys yet?! A boyfriend! The world's greatest boyfriend! A heavenly lover, someone like the pro hero Kamui Woods!"
"Huh?!" The beautiful redhead, who'd been previously sleeping snug on Goku's lap, suddenly shot up from her slumber, violently gripping at Bulma's facial cheeks from behind the front seat.
"GYAHH!" Bulma cried out in surprise as Rias pulled back.
"WAITA-MINNIT!" The crimson princess screamed in a childish-like dialect. "You're telling me that you've been tagging along with us just to get a b-boyfriend?!"
Her shrieking scared Goku awake, who presently wasn't entirely sure if the world was ending.
"Nnhh…" Akeno, amazingly still asleep, moved herself into his lap, rubbing her head against his cheek. "…Go back to sleep, Cutie-pie…"
Bulma managed to free herself from the girl's iron tight grip, then spun around; her cheeks ballooned up with a red swolleness. "Y-You all should be proud to contribute to such a worthy cause!"
"Oh, boo-hoo! Give me a break—" Her voice immediately clumped up in her throat. "Akeno… Sona?!" While she'd been lambasting Bulma, her two friends had taken up nearly all the free space near Goku. "You guys, Goku's mine… all mine!"
Far, far away… overlooking the land atop a tall vantage point, someone watched the car— carrying our heroes—eventually approach her positioning.
The stranger was a fairly tall, pretty woman with blue eyes, long black hair with bangs, red eyeshadow, and bright red lipstick. Her teal trench coat blew in the wind, revealing a brown belt with a pistol holster attached to it from the right hip, beige slacks, and brown combat boots. "Well, well, well…" She whispered to herself, then brought up a dark walkie-talkie. "Lord Pilaf! I am in Area H-15, and one car has just passed through."
A loud, obnoxious voice answered back through the device's speaker. "That's got to be the one! Well done, Mai! Commence the operation!"
"Yes, m'lord!" She watched the car drive by, then talked into the walkie-talkie again. "Shu! Can you see the car? They've just passed my position."
"So ba, so good!" A lighter voice cheekily responded.
Mai smiled, never taking her eyes off the car disappearing somewhere in the distance. "They've got them… the Dragon Balls!"
With everyone now up, thanks to the girls' rather loud squabble, the arguments over the final, last wish from Shenron continue on…
This car's way too tight… Goku quietly thought to himself as the four girls continued at it.
"After everything we've been through, couldn't you at least use the Dragon Balls for something a little more worthwhile, at least…?!" Sona pointed a porcelain finger, accusingly, at Bulma.
"Oh, shut up! What have any of you done for me, anyway?!" Bulma retorted, her hair stood up with her immature anger.
"Excuse me, but what did you just say?!" A vengeful, blood-red aura emitted from the completely peeved Rias.
"Guys!" Suddenly, Akeno shouted. "Incoming!"
DUBOOM! Something hit the trunk, the hard collision of a rocket propelled grenade. The jeep's back wheels exploded, encased in a spray of hot, unforgiving flame. Debris and hot metal tore away from the vehicle's destroyed body, cruising through air like several jagged knives. The car collapsed on itself and tumbled, crashing straight into an offroad ditch.
Unwilling to become casualties, the group's supernatural members took to the air, gaining distance for the exploding car. Rescued by Sairaorg, Bulma hysterically screamed as they dropped back down to the ground; Rias flew out with Akeno; and Sona, mindfully, dragged Oolong away for the destruction as well.
A boy-sized fireball rolled out of the flaming vehicle as well, and back onto solid ground, unharmed but dizzy as can possibly be. Revealed to be Goku, he calmly put out the flames and shook his head. "Yow! Th-That was scary…!"
"Oh yeah? Well I'll show you scary, chump!" Suddenly, a mechanical voice shouted. Amidst the sudden chaos, something came crashing down from the sky: a mech. The massive chunk of steel carried a missile launcher and a single giant claw. Hidden behind a dome of bulletproof glass, a dog piloted the robot!
"What the… who the…?!" Even Goku was baffled.
"You might have survived one rocket, so let's try two!" The dog laughed then aimed his weapon, firing off a barrage of mini-missiles, certainly way more than two! DOOM! DOOM! DOO! The flaming projectiles scattered for the monkey boy's positioning.
["Goku!"] Everyone, collectively, cried out for the boy's safety.
Rias desperately hurled a ball of crimson destruction, wiping out a third of the tiny, fast explosives. Not lacking behind, Sona deployed her own utility of magic. A small water serpent formed around the devil, before flying off and swallowing several missiles.
Even Akeno dashed in front of Goku, her arms spread out towards the remaining heat-seekers. A crackle of golden electricity shot out from girl's hands, eliminating the rest of the danger. KRAK! KA-BOOM!
"Oh, yeah! Eureka!" The dog laughed, unbothered by his failed attack, then suddenly shot out his metal claw, nabbing Bluma by her waist!
"EEEEE! NOOOO!" Bulma shrieked as she was dragged back towards the dog. "HELP ME!"
"Thanks for the Dragon Balls… Chumps!" The rockets on the mech's back erupted, and the dog took off with Bulma in hand, giddy with victory while flying away. "Sayonara!"
"Oh, crap!" Shouted Rias. "Bulma's got her own Dragon Ball, and we're too slow to catch that guy!" Lacking confidence in her own flying speed, she turned to the only other option: Goku. "Can you catch them?!"
"Sure thing, Rias!" Goku threw up a thumbs up, then yelled to the skies: "Flying Nimbus!"
Diving from the blue atmosphere, a small yellow cloud dashed towards the monkey boy. Taking an agile leap, Goku landed straight onto the flying cloud and then took off after the mechanized dog and Bulma.
Minutes pass on by as Goku cruised through the air, still searching…
"Huh…?" Quickly, however, Goku realized he wasn't seeing his directed target, anywhere. "Where'd he go…?" He continued to fly around the skies, keeping a sharp eye out for the equipped kidnapper.
"Oh!" Suddenly, out of the corner of his gaze, the boy noticed the stationary mech. "There he is!" Goku pointed. The Flying Nimbus decreased its speed, allowing the boy to safely jump off and land next to the seemingly motionless hunk of metal.
"Hey, you!" Goku immediately drew his Power Pole, ready to give the kidnapper an epic fight. "You shouldn't take other people without their permission, you know!"
Despite his threats, the mech remained motionless akin to the dead. "Well?!" Goku yelled. "Say something!" He poked the machine's front with his orange rod, causing the whole thing to topple over like a sack of potatoes.
"Huh?" Goku tilted his head, then poked the mech's side with his pole, again. "He just… died!" The naive, innocent young boy stood there for a moment, completely and utterly at a loss. "What a weakling…"
Some time later…
Rias frowned as she looked over the empty hull. There was nobody left inside to pilot the mech, and certainly no dog and whiny teen in present sight. "Abandoned." The girl stood up and shook her head. "If I had to say, they got away before Goku arrived on the Nimbus."
Right after discovering the deserted mech, Goku returned back to the group and led them to the newly discovered scene.
Akeno glanced at Goku, then back at Rias. "Now what? Looks like we're a Dragon Ball off…"
Sona crossed her arms, sighing midway. "We were too naive, Rias. I guess we shouldn't be too surprised that others know about the Dragon Balls. They were chronicled in both devil and human ancient documents, after all. Great, first that annoying desert bandit, and now this current predicament we face…"
"C'mon!" Interrupted a stressed Oolong, irked from their seemingly never-ending journey. "Let's just give up! This time we're really screwed!"
"Maybe not." Suddenly, Sairaorg lightly tapped his cousin on the shoulder. "Rias, check it out." Revealing a tiny blue capsule in his hand, Sairaorg clicked the device's top button, and the Dragon Radar, suddenly, appeared out of a puff of smoke.
"Sairaorg, amazing work!" Rias couldn't believe her eyes. "How'd you get it?!"
"That human girl is a lot more clever than we give her credit for. Right before she got snatched away by that dog, Bulma snuck that capsule in my hands. She's probably had a counter plan in mind, if worse came to worst." Sairaorg grinned as he switched on the radar. "With this, we can definitely track her down and then get the Dragon Ball back!"
"Right on." Rias smiled. "Then let's get going! We can't afford to waste any more time!"
Everyone—excluding the party pooper, Oolong—cried out. ["YEAH!"]
Meanwhile, somewhere inside a custom designed fortress… a group discusses their recent captive…
A small, blue, imp-looking creature, wearing a green, red and black tunic with a frill over the neck area, sighed as he turned to face his two loyal minions. "I wish you'd counted the balls before you nabbed that annoying girl."
Mai and Shu nodded and apologized, sincerely.
"Y-Yes Lord Pilaf, sir, we're so sorry, sir…"
"I guess I didn't use my noodle…" The short dog scratched at his head.
Emperor Pilaf ignored them and returned his attention to the monitor displaying another form of Dragon Radar, albeit a less swavy version of Bulma's amazing invention. "Well, no matter… really. The other one happens to be heading this way… although I swore there were more…"
He broke into a childish grin, balling his fists with a victorious pose. "HEH HEH HEH… this simply must be my lucky day! What a gift are these Dragon Balls! A no-fuss recipe for world domination!"
"ARE YOU IDIOTS GONNA KEEP IGNORING ME?!" Someone screamed from just behind.
Held up by a robotic claw, Bulma struggled. "Whadda you three losers think you're gonna do, huh?! Let me go, you muggers! When my posse gets here, they're gonna flatten you all!"
"Oh, please." Emperor Pilaf turned around, smug. "As if they—"
Suddenly, a red light blared besides the tiny creature, scaring him half to death. "GAH! What in the blazes?!" He shrieked as he retreated to his minions' sides.
Forming from out the magic sigil, backup arrived: Rias, Sona, Akeno, Sairaorg, Goku, and a shaken Oolong.
"""M-Monsters!""" The Pilaf Gang shouted in unison, petrified for their lives.
"Yo, Bulma." The young, charming crimson princess smiled. "We've come to save you."
Oh snap, we're getting close, boys! With our heroes and villains (?) all united, face-to-face, see what happens when the seven Dragon Balls are finally united, too! Next time on "Gotta Heed The Call Of Magic Dragon Balls", the conclusion: At Last… The Dragon!