DRAGON BALL ~GRAND TOUR~
Part II – The Grand Tour Begins
The past few weeks were a blur of unexpected adventures, seeing our small group make quick work of finding the first four balls. At first, everyone was butting heads but soon found their dynamic. Trunks turned out to be the brains of the group and the only one who had the slightest idea of how the ship worked. As he had grown older, not only had his father made sure he trained at least twice a week, his mom insisted he be familiar with most of the schematics for all Capsule Corp products since he became Junior CEO. He happened to be familiar with an earlier model of this ship, which ran exactly the same with the exception of the new onboard computer that Bra helped build.
Speaking of Bra, she had been found sleeping in her room to Vegeta's dismay. Not only had he manipulated the whole situation so that she could go along, he had also dropped the cage on Piccolo so that he would have to stay behind. To Piccolo's surprise, the cage was "mysteriously" lifted right after the ship passed through Earth's orbit.
Vegeta laughed to himself as he replayed it in his head, but cringed when he realized that since Bra had been in her room, that there was a good chance she had heard the ruckus him and Bulma had been making until the sun came up. Their game of "pretty girl being captured by the wicked Saiyan Prince" had slowly turned into "Universal God-Boss Angel tops the SSJ7 God of Destruction" in recent years and man was Bulma loud. Their bedroom had noise cancelling capabilities, but it coincidentally never seemed to be working when passions arose. Vegeta blushed and walked away stoically. Bra's training had now increased to 3 times a week whether she liked it or not!
At least Trunks ended up going along. He could prove himself as a useful member of the team, thought Vegeta.
Goku, of course was the muscle of the group, though such a description does not do his skills justice. He seemed more childlike as the days passed, but when it came time for action, his confident battle presence and warrior spirit stopped Pan and Trunks in their tracks every time.
Pan was the little sister of the group (she considered herself the 'heart') and grew into this role almost as soon and Trunks had revealed himself. Whenever things looked dire or everyone was getting frustrated with each other, she would always find a way to make everything right, for it to make sense, without having to throw a single strike. Her dad and Piccolo would be very proud of the martial artist she was becoming on this trip.
Giru on the other hand had become very close to Pan. Trunks didn't like him or trust him for some reason. Goku chocked it up to what Bulma said about him not being made exclusively of Capsule Corp parts. "I don't think all technology is made at Capsule, Trunks." Said Goku yawningly between bites of a giant leg of meat he sat eating next to a purple river on the planet they were currently visiting. The others didn't touch the meat because it looked and smelled crazy. They were definitely glad they didn't try it when Goku passed out for two days straight after eating it. Apparently it had some type of extreme sedative qualities. Pan had Giru keep a sample in case they needed to extract it later.
At first, they lamented the fact that Goku was asleep but it ended up giving them a whole day to relax and take in some sun on a beautiful tropical world. The following day, they found the fifth Dragon Ball (without Goku's help) and fended off an army of giant spike-covered bees that had the capability to lay eggs in the brain of a host and take over their body as a member of their hive army.
Trunks showed off his use of the final flash and was surprised to see Pan did not know the Kamehameha, choosing instead to use an attack she had come up with herself; the Maiden Blast.
After Goku came back to consciousness, he had a voracious appetite and refused to go any further without stopping for a sizeable meal somewhere. They went to the nearest inhabited world and to their dismay, soon found out that it was a place where drinking any of the water turned you inside out and the native tongue was only spoken telepathically.
The sixth Dragon Ball was shown to be on a world where one hour on Earth equaled 4 years on this planet. The radar showed that the ball was in the core of a giant mountain. As the group explored the claustrophobic caverns of the mountain, they soon found themselves inside the entrails of a giant beast that had been sleeping inside the mountain. It turns out there were three of those beasts sleeping in there and they all started fighting, sending the shell of the mountain crumbling into a wave of cataclysmic destruction.
They burst out of the chest of the first beast, gore raining down across the planet below. The Dragon Ball was inside the gut of one of the other two beasts, who were now beginning to tear each other apart. If they continued fighting, they would obliterate the entire area including the Dragon Ball.
The group flew around the furious battle between the giants trying to find a good angle to work with.
Goku used this opportunity to give Pan a quick lesson in how to do the Kamehameha wave. "You watch too, Trunks" he said as he drew out every second of time the way only a master could. They didn't quite get it at first, but when Goku pointed out how little time they had left, Pan launched a powerful beam towards the two battling beasts. Goku created a strong jet of wind by quickly waving his hand, which shifted the course of Pan's Kamehameha with surgical precision through the heart of one of the beasts.
The sixth Dragon Ball burst out of the wounded giant's back. "What're you waiting for, one of you go catch it before it gets lost in all of that stuff" Goku said playfully, gesturing down to the mountains of gore and destruction below. Pan and Trunks raced toward the falling ball each one avoiding ash and molten rock that began spewing out of where the mountain had stood.
It was a rush to push themselves. Pan had made her way far ahead of Trunks, but Trunks was feeling the competitive spirit and turned Super Saiyan to give himself the edge. He blasted past Pan just in time to see the last beast keel over, its body covered in gaping wounds and its guts hanging out of its stomach. The terrain below exploded in an intense surge of magma and smoke. Pan had managed to catch the ball just as the explosion blew them all back and temporarily knocked out their hearing.
Goku put his arms across his face, shielding himself from the blast. He chuckled for a second before making sure to check if the other two had made it safely out of the blast. He was relieved to see them both flying back, clothes torn.
Pan held up the sixth Dragon Ball in triumph and Goku applauded as Trunks (still in Super Saiyan) shrugged and said "I guess I overshot". Pan's expression quickly changed when she saw Giru floating, sparking and overheating next to Goku. He let out a repetitive "Giru-giru-giru-giru" which grew more warped and shrill with each round. "Oh no, some debris must have hit him. We better try and repair him quick." The volcano erupted once more, this time even more violently. Pan held Giru close and Goku instructed both of them to touch him so that he could use Instantaneous Movement.
He knew it wouldn't work between worlds like it did when he had his full-grown body, but he hadn't tried it within other planets this whole trip. He wasn't surprised to see it didn't work. There must have been something about this particular world that was preventing him from doing it, even at full strength. He let out a "tsk" and told the others to follow his lead.
They flew at blinding speeds past turrets of stone and landscape that began jutting out of the ground as the entire surface began erupting in volcanic activity. Trunks remained in his Super Saiyan state and was astonished to see Goku not breaking a sweat at the speed they were going in his base form.
Pan was having a hard time keeping up at one point, to which Trunks urged her to power up to Super as well. She looked away and pretended she didn't hear him. She closed her eyes and let out a burst of energy that helped her pick up speed.
As they reached the ship, the cliff they had parked on crumbled and sent it falling down towards a rocky abyss below. They darted around the falling vessel until they activated the entrance. As they blasted off, another large beast burst from the abyss and swallowed the ship. The force of the takeoff jets propelled the beast upward. It finally spit them out as it blistered and burned in the planet's atmosphere. It plummeted to the exploding planet below.
Trunks noted that the ship's computer was detecting some damage to a component which effected their shields and navigation. He made the quick decision to hit one of the programmed destinations they had previously charted in order to get them clear of the dying planet's blast. He slammed his fist over the button and the ship lurched into hyper-speed.
As they came out of hyper-speed, Pan was trying not to panic as she rolled Giru around on the ground, hoping he would turn back on. He had let out a puff of smoke and his red eye turned off as soon as they had reached the ship. Trunks walked up to Pan and put a hand on her shoulder. As she looked up at him comfortingly, he plunged his hand into Giru's center and ripped the Dragon Radar component out of him. He tossed the top half with the eye into a spare parts bin and left the bottom half next to Pan.
She stood up, enraged. Goku was lying across one of the flight chairs and said "Calm down you two, that's our Dragon Radar. We can't find the last ball without it." Trunks ignored Pan's fiery glare and began tinkering with the radar components.
"I know Goku, that's why I'm trying to fix it. We don't need a robot, we just need the radar." Pan lost her cool and dashed right in Trunks's face. "You wanna see 'Super'? Here it is!" As she said this, Pan erupted into Super Saiyan which almost made Goku jump out of his seat. Trunks looked slightly nervous, but kept his composure. She looked rather intimidating with her hair standing up.
"Look, I'm sorry about Giru, but you have to believe me. There was something off about those parts that mom used to build him. I'm going to take a look at them now that he's not functioning and after I do, I promise I'll get him working again. I would have done it before, but he had safety mechanisms that I wasn't familiar with."
Pan powered down and turned to hide the tears of frustration building up in her eyes. "It's fine. I just miss him." Trunks tried his best to be compassionate. "I have to be honest with you guys, the ship took a beating back there and we had to backtrack in order to save our asses. Most of our supply of fuel cells was damaged too. Even if we fix the radar, we don't have enough power to make it very far, let alone another universe."
Goku and Pan stared at Trunks dumbfounded. "We're ahead of schedule…I think. I noticed we aged a few years while on that last planet but that didn't seem to affect time outside of that world. I suggest we use what fuel we have left to get back home or somewhere close to it so we can repair the ship and get materials for more fuel cells. According to my mom's notes, time also works differently in Universe 6, but by her calculations, if we leave again within a week, we can still make it in time. It'll be close, but we'll make it."
Goku and Pan still looked dumbfounded, but soon moved on and nodded in agreement. Pan picked up Giru's pitiful bottom half and hugged it before placing it in the spare parts bin with the other half. Pan walked solemnly to her sleeping chamber as Goku snored loudly in his chair. Trunks sighed before entering the next destination into the computer and sending the ship into hyper-speed once again.
Dr. Myuu loomed over his computer screen and shot Sigma 4, the captain of Rildo's Machine Mutants a menacing glance. "What do you mean, you lost them?" Sigma 4 beeped nervously before speaking in a forceful robotic voice. "It seems our spy brother in arms was destroyed. His source feed became unreachable when they reached the planet of Krenolie, where it seems his destruction took place. We are unaware as to whether or not it was natural or if he had been discovered by one of the Saiyans. Without him at full-functionality, the trackers he attached to the ship won't work, only the blockers. What's more, we don't even know if they made it off that world with the Dragon Ball as our data says the planet no longer appears on any chart or map."
Myuu gritted his teeth. This was an embarrassment. He wanted to stay in the good favor of his superior, Android 21 who had recruited him as part of her "grand plan". More than that, he saw it as a stepping stone to working with the legendary Dr. Gero. To him, 21 was just a middle person. Powerful and mysterious, she was not to be taken lightly. She would be in the background soon enough…and if she ended up needing to be eliminated in the process, so be it.
"Even if that planet was destroyed, there's a good chance they made it off, or were the ones who destroyed it themselves! That kind of destruction must have surely damaged their ship. They're probably licking their wounds hiding out somewhere. Find them!"
Android 21 floated in meditation, reaching out with her spirit to the universe beyond. She was already made aware of the status of the Saiyan group. Myuu was just a tool. She knew he didn't actually respect her. He was obsessed with winning the favor of Dr. Gero…and that was her means of controlling him.
Her spirit ran through many minds. Blurred thoughts, desires and everything in between that would drive an ordinary mind mad, flowed past like water or routine data to her enhanced brain. She reached as far as she could before making a quick calculations. She changed her psychic trajectory to worlds closer to Earth. "Aha!" she found them. The girl…her spirit was conflicted, her potential immense.
She reached out into Pan's mind. "Daughter Saiyan" she called in a powerful, but pleading voice. "Please, can you hear me?" She repeated the question once more. The young Saiyan still seemed unable to visualize the source of the voice, but she definitely heard the call. Unfortunately, it appeared, true communication would take some time. It was worth pursuing, however. She made the pleading call once more, hoping to burn the image of her light avatar into Pan's mind.
21 opened her eyes and took in the dark room she had been floating in, the only light being a red pulsating glow in the far corner. Her toes touched the cold floor. As her hand traced the shape of her bare hip, she was surprised to feel a faint layer of perspiration. It seems that her meditation had pushed her to a new limit. Her hair also seemed to be drenched in sweat.
This odd display of effort excited her. It had been a long time since she had been pushed this far. Although her psychic abilities were growing, she would still need to train her physical strength if she ever found herself in a position to have to face any of the strongest of the Saiyan warriors, their allies or even Myuu's forces.
Her silhouette shone clear, striking and bare as she crossed the pulsating red light and entered the laboratory shower. She meditated once more, this time, pushing all thoughts away.
Beads of sweat began to drip down Pans forehead as she tried to concentrate on her meditation. She floated a few feet above her flight chair, making her best attempts to shut out the grumbling and cursing coming out of Trunk's mouth as he tried to fix the Dragon radar. He was more doing this as something to pass the time. He had been shocked by high voltage electricity when attempting to dismantle Giru's suspicious eye. It appeared that the security mechanisms were still intact.
He blasted it with an energy beam, vaporizing it. He soon came to the realization that the Dragon Radar's functioning capabilities were completely dependent on Giru as a whole. He tossed the radar components onto into the scrap bin in defeat and walked over to his flight chair.
Pan opened her eyes and a burst of energy surged around her before she extended her legs to touch back onto the ground. She noticed that her body temperature had risen significantly and that the usually cold floor of the ship now felt warm under her bare feet.
Goku, who had been observing her meditation the entire time, said "you're able to focus very well. That's Piccolo's teaching isn't it?" Pan looked over, her mind still focused on the voices she had heard in her mind. She nodded in agreement, but in reality had not heard what Goku was trying to communicate.
He leapt to his feet and threw a swift, but non-lethal blow toward her head; she instinctually blocked it and got into a battle pose, which brought her thoughts back to the present.
"Nice" said Goku. "Try this instead" he suggested as he demonstrated a counter strike which was thrown at such an angle that it simultaneously blocked and delivered a potent blow. Pan tried it successfully.
"A good follow up would be something like this" Goku continued as he demonstrated the next technique. It consisted of fooling the opponent with a seemingly missed strike past their head or guard and pivoting back with a hard elbow strike. The strike was enhanced substantially by a quick burst of ki, but only at the moment of impact.
Pan was surprised at how simple, yet effective the techniques were. Both Piccolo and Vegeta had tried to demonstrate efficient precision techniques to her, but their difference in size had made the concepts somewhat difficult to grasp. She usually had to rely on over-augmenting her strength and speed in order to make an attempt at overcoming them.
Goku was a good teacher and his new size was perfect for demonstrating the techniques effectively while still giving her a challenge due to his strength and skill. She would have to take advantage of these teachings while he was still small.
After a while of trying out more short-range techniques which involved using the opponent's own force and limbs against them, they took a break. Pan recalled the voices she had heard in her meditation. She mentioned them to Goku and to Trunks, who was still slumped in his flight chair trying to take a nap.
"That's strange" said Goku in an air-headed fashion. "I think you've been under a lot of pressure. I'm sure it was just your inner voice trying to help you deal with a stressful situation" Trunks replied somewhat reductively. Pan grew annoyed at his comments, but stayed calm. He may have had a point, she thought insecurely. She would never show it. She knew she had experienced something out of the ordinary and she would stay vigilant in case it happened again.
The ship began to rumble and the control panel beeped loudly. Trunks jumped up and eyed the computer's readout. "Yes! We're approaching our destination. We didn't have enough fuel to make it all the way back to Earth, but we're still closer than I expected. Hopefully we'll be able to find a place that can put us in communication with mom and the others back home. With their guidance and if we're able to find the materials, I might be able to put together enough fuel cells to make it back, so she can help us repair the ship for the journey to Universe 6.
A glint of hope crossed all of their faces and Trunks turned on the ship's stereo system. They all began dancing and floating around the cockpit unaware of what was lurking near the outskirts of the planet they were journeying to.
Sigma 4 pulled up his communication and reported to Myuu. "Android 21's info was correct, they are headed to Sarloo. Their ship appears to be damaged just as you had imagined. "Great work Sigma 4. Find a way to detain or even destroy them, but make sure you don't do any damage to the Dragon Balls. I have my own plans for the Earth so we need to have them returned."
"I've got it covered sir" assured Sigma 4 before ending communication. Sigma 4 was a stalky blue robot with arms and legs much like human. He began charging up and as he did, components in his body began to shift around, transforming him into a cylindrical object that resembled a high-tech cannon.
He sent a massive energy blast down to the planet below. He followed it up with several more strong blasts, until the plant began to tremble and eventually blew apart.
The Saiyan warriors felt the aftershock in their ship and looked out the view port. To their horror, the planet was no more than giant scattered debris floating in all directions. Trunks jumped into the flight seat and began maneuvering the ship past molten debris as it began coming in close contact with their vessel.
The three of them spotted a blue metallic form floating near a far-off field of debris. Trunks raced toward it while Goku began putting on a space suit. Trunks and Pan looked over at him. "That's right, just keep steering the ship. I'm gonna take a crack at him."
Neither of them argued. Trunks suddenly remembered that their shields were not at full capacity and that he needed to repair them if they were going to get in and out of the chaotic asteroid field. "Pan, you're going to have to fly the ship while I go out and repair the shields. You need to get us far enough away from the battle to not be destroyed, but not too far so that we can retrieve Goku once he's done. I'm imagining that an enemy that could easily destroy an entire planet with be rather formidable."
"Heh heh" Goku exclaimed as Trunks said this. Pan froze for a brief moment before charging up her warrior spirit and standing next to Trunks. "So, how do I fly this thing?" Trunks gave a brief, but overcomplicated explanation as to how the steering and power boosters worked before patting Pan on the back and leaving her to put on his space suit.
"Dammit" exclaimed Pan. "Once again, you're a fucking douchebag, Trunks. Let's do this." The blue robotic form did not move as they approached quickly. Goku noted that the destruction and possibility of strong opponents must have appealed to whatever artificial ego was programmed into this robot. He would use that to his advantage…and hopefully get a decent fight out of it.
Trunks and Goku hopped out of the emergency exit and Trunks held on for dear life as Pan made an unnecessarily hard left turn followed by a freefall past the heavy layer of debris ahead. "Watch it, girl" he said through his helmet com. He quickly began working with the panel that controlled the power for their shields.
Goku and Sigma 4 leapt into action. The small Saiyan's assumption had been correct; the powerful robot had an artificial ego to complement its strength. It would be his undoing if Goku had anything to say about it.
Though Sigma 4 rushed in headfirst with powerful unyielding attacks, Goku took his time and tested him with some propulsion jabs. He was somewhat impressed by the raw strength of the robot, but quickly became disappointed by his lack of skill. He thought a machine would be able to calculate…as the thought crossed his mind, he ended up blocking a very hard strike.
Goku effortlessly rolled around and evaded the next flurry of strikes from Sigma 4. The machine could not touch him. It became infuriated at not being able to make contact. He broke the pace by delivering a hard punch. He regretted it immediately when to his surprise; Sigma 4's robotic shell seemed impenetrable. This could spiral out of control. Goku guided himself through the debris they were fighting amongst and delivered a quick but potent Kamehameha.
The blast did not penetrate the exterior of Sigma 4, instead it melted away sections of the metal it came in contact with, leaving a series of motion spikes. Goku did it again, laughing at the long metallic protrusions coming out of the robot now.
Sigma's speed increased threefold and Goku had to shell up to avoid getting hit by the sharp protrusions coming off the robot now. Goku avoided the attacks and hit the robot with two more blasts, his exterior looking more chaotic and menacing as more melted metallic protrusions popped out in various directions.
The robot became increasingly agitated and realized it could not keep attacking Goku the same way. Part of his viewing glass had been melted over, but his heat sensors still worked fine. He noticed the ship swerving between debris in order to stay within their vicinity. He shot several quick blasts toward the ship, sending even more debris flying.
Trunks tried to work quickly but he was doing all he could to hold on. The shield components were pretty fried. He had to temporarily shut off their power source in order to trim the frayed wires and re-connect them. As he finished putting on the wire couplers, he re-ignited the shields. They were back at full power!
He realized the communication "brain" was located near the shield control box, so he gave it a quick check. To his dismay, he found power blocking and tracking devices all over the mechanical components in the brain. Who could have put those there? He tore one off in frustration and inspected it before a piece of planet debris near them exploded.
Pan sent the ship down once again, evading more debris. It appeared that blasts were being fired from where Goku and the robot were fighting. The debris became too scattered and small to avoid. Trunks was pelted with chunks and was nearly thrown from the side of the ship. He tore the remaining trackers off and made his way back inside once he realized his helmet had become cracked. He tried not to tumble as Pan rocked the ship en every direction. He was about to insist on taking the controls, but was thrown backwards into the rear of the cockpit.
Goku realized what Sigma 4 was doing and a serious look crossed his face. "Oh no, you don't" he said as he attached his balance to a floating piece of debris. He shot a quick blast at Sigma's shooting arm, causing metal to melt around the barrel. It exploded internally and the arm blew off, floating into the swarm of debris around them.
Before Sigma could move again, Goku rushed forward and turned Super Saiyan. The extreme force from his transformation aura melted back the metal shielding on Sigma's mid-section. Goku conjured a molten blue ball of ki and shoved it into the exposed area on the robot's shell. It absorbed the attack and let out a menacing mechanical laugh. Goku used Sigma's melted head to kick off into a back flip, zooming backwards as he did so.
Sigma 4 began transforming into the giant cannon once again. Goku used his power-up aura to stop himself in midair, blocking the debris around him. As the robot got set to blast, it exploded in a giant blue ball of energy, much like the one Goku had let it absorb.
He smiled and looked around, ensuring the robot's demise before racing back toward the ship. The damn thing was nowhere to be seen. He calmed himself and tried to find Pan and Trunks's ki, still using his SSJ aura to deflect the debris around him. He looked up just after sensing them and chuckled when he saw the ship attached to an asteroid chunk, floating in slow spirals.
Trunks threw the tracker/signal blockers down onto the cockpit table. "What's this? I was about to congratulate Pan on what an awesome job she did flying" said Goku. "What about the shields? We never would have made it through there without them!" said Trunks, frustrated. "Oh yeah, I guess you're right. I fought the robot though, don't forget." Goku replied as he leaned back sideways into his flight chair and crossed his arms behind his head.
Pan stayed quiet in her flight seat and kept a serious face. "These were attached to the ship's communication brain. They're the reason we haven't been able to talk to anyone back home or communicate with anyone else. They were also being used to track us. Whoever sent that robot was probably behind it. And what's more…" Trunks walked over to the scrap head as he continued and picked up Giru's top half. "See any resemblance?"
The tracker/blockers were slim circular pieces of metal with small lights implanted around the outside. Their markings looked very similar to the texture of Giru's shell. Trunks grabbed one and attached it to where Giru's eye had been. It powered back on for a second, before Trunks took it back out.
Pan put her head down and let out an audible sigh. Goku did not look in Trunks's direction, but acknowledged the findings with a serious look on his face. "What are we going to do?" asked Pan.
Trunks bowed his head before returning to the scrap head and removing the radar and remaining Giru components. "Well, we're sort of fucked…almost out of fuel, nowhere to get supplies from, and we're being tracked." Pan kept her head down, but moved her eyes up in Trunks's direction. Goku stayed partially laying down, his face serious.
"Between the three of us we've got plenty of muscle…and brains" Trunks began with a sly smile, "and we've got a pretty damn good getaway driver if we need to make a run for it until the fuel craps out" he said with a wink towards Pan. She put her head completely up and a small hint of a smile crossed her face.
"I say we put this little bastard back together and let whoever is looking for us find out what we're all about…besides, if another robotic piece of shit shows up, it probably has a strong power source we can use to get back home."
Pan got to her feet. "Let's do this."
Sigma 2 raced towards the beacon and widened his shell to attach to the rocket boosters waiting in the air. Dr. Myuu was furious at Sigma 4's rash decision to destroy the planet and in the process, getting himself destroyed. Sigma 3 would ensure that he defeated them and brought the Dragon Balls back safe.
He flew at an incredible velocity before finally reaching hyper-speed. No one was faster than him, he thought. They could not escape.
Android 21 monitored Sigma 2's flight and put together the pieces of the entire scenario. She deduced that the Saiyan group was baiting Sigma 2. They appeared to be in a desperate situation, not able to return to Earth or move on to Universe 6 on their own. She weighed out the possibility of whatever Myuu's plan for the Dragon Balls was. She would let it play out. He could be destroyed in an instant. Her creation was already beyond his control. He would serve his purpose and be done with soon enough.
She laughed before floating in meditation, her bare form like a sculpture chiseled by a master artist. Her spirit raced throughout space and before long was back into Pan's mind. The light avatar spoke in a soul-piercing voice, no longer pleading.
Pan seemed to fully grasp the source of the voice and in her mind created an image avatar that looked exactly as she did in real life. It approached Android 21's light avatar. "What do you want from me? You're the voice that tried to reach me before, weren't you?"
21's avatar laughed before placing a burning hot hand on Pan's shoulder. Pan winced instinctively before 21 explained that she could not be truly hurt here. She gripped her shoulder even harder to demonstrate. Pan winced yet again, but soon allowed the heat to dissipate and realize she was right.
Android 21's avatar let a calming energy pass through Pan before impaling her with a psychic blade. Pan's eyes grew wide and she almost screamed in agony before she was stopped by 21. She gripped the young Saiyan's face and raised it to meet her eyes. "Remember, you cannot be hurt here…only enhanced. Use your meditation to return to this place in order to hone your true battle power."
"Wh-who are you?" asked Pan. "I am your Saiyan ancestral spirit. Your desire to unlock your true potential has awakened me. Embrace it and meet me here once a day in the plane of your mind. Do not tell the others. They will not believe you."
Pan opened her eyes and let her feet touch the floor. She was not as hot this time, instead what felt like a surge of electricity flowed through her. She felt renewed, like she could handle anything that came her way. Goku and Trunks seemed aware of the change in her ki and looked over at her.
They made no mention of it and she didn't either. As they stood in silence, a deafening sound rattled the ship. "I think they're here" said Trunks.
Sigma 2 detached from the rocket booster ring and changed into a form with arms and legs. His red shell reflected in the light of the stars. The debris from the exploded planet of Sarloo had since spread out and was no longer an obstacle where they floated.
As he approached the ship, ready to break through the shell, he heard a voice above him say "Hey junk pile, up here". Pan stood at the top of the ship in her space suit, pointing a challenging finger toward the red robot. He immediately blasted toward her in the blink of an eye, transforming into a jet-plane like form as he flew. His incredible speed caught her off guard and she countered with her maiden blast. It missed Sigma 2 by inches and he did not waver. He made another rush toward her which she barely avoided.
Trunks and Goku followed the battle from inside the ship. "Are you sure about this, Goku" said Trunks. "I thought she was going to be the getaway driver to bait him?"
"She's doing fine" replied Goku. "Give her a chance to test his speed…he sure is fast. I don't think we'll need to bait him that way; he seems hot-headed just like the other one I fought. Get ready to fire the cables when I say so.
Pan began to get frustrated with the robot's quick attacks. None of them were landing, but they were fast enough to not give her an opening. She had to get him to stand still if their plan was going to work. They both increased their speed, avoiding each other's attacks. This was getting tiresome, but she had to admit, she had not really experienced moving this fast before and was relieved that she was able to keep up without losing stamina.
She fired another blast which still did not connect. She began to get angry and was about to turn Super Saiyan before she remembered the words of 21's avatar. She closed her eyes and let that inner electricity surge through her. It blended with her rage into a cool river of power.
Pan opened her eyes and landed a precise strike to Sigma 2's jet plane like head, denting it and destroying his maneuvering capabilities. A shockwave passed through the robot and he froze in midair, trembling with electrical current.
"Now" said Goku. Trunks used the steering controls to fire four tow cables at the stunned Sigma 2. As the cables made contact, the shockwave surged through their ship as well and their hair stood up from the shock. Trunks clicked another trigger and sent a shockwave back through the cables.
Sigma 3 stopped shaking as the cables drew him in and connected him to the ship. Pan watched with interest as the cables began fusing with the stunned robot and attaching it to the back of the ship. Their octopus-like vessel tilted to one side, with the jet plane robot on top acting as a booster.
Pan was starving for more action, but made her best attempt at controlling the cool power she felt surging through her. Trunks spoke into her helmet com. "He's almost been fused. I can see his controls coming up on the computer. Get back inside, what are you waiting for?"
At this, Pan got back into the ship and stood behind Trunks at the cockpit. "Nice Work" he said as he typed in commands into the computer. The rocket booster ring attached to Sigma 2 and fired up. "Let's go home" said Trunks triumphantly before hitting the button and blasting off into hyper-speed.
Android 21 was moist with excitement, her cheeks flushed with the potential she had felt from giving and receiving the young Saiyan's power. She traced her fingers smoothly across herself, but stopped short of release, silky spiderwebs of excitement formed between them. She would have to keep her hunger under control. This was merely a taste. Getting a full worlds' worth of impure raw energy was one thing, but she began to imagine what it would feel like to get more power like what she had just experienced. She would be unstoppable, undefeatable. The excitement brought on by the prospect of her future evolution was too much to bear and her fingers returned to their original spot, almost without thinking. She arched her back, letting out a series of hard pants and moans, her toes curling in midair before she licked the traces of drool from the corner of her mouth and touched back down on the cold floor of her laboratory.
Her glasses had seemingly fallen off. She picked them up and placed them on the counter before entering the shower chamber to clean herself off.
They came out of hyper-speed right outside Earth's orbit and began their descent. The ship's clocks and meters re-adjusted and it appeared that although it had felt like there were gone for only about a week, they had actually been gone for several months in Earth time.
It turns out Sigma 2 had a self-destruct mechanism enabled when he got attached to the ship. Trunks was able to override the commands to hold if off, but now that they needed to switch back to purely the ship's controls, he would have to dump the bot.
Trunks winced as he switched over the controls and ejected the robot from the side of the ship. It exploded immediately which propelled their vessel straight down to the Earth below. The strain of overriding Sigma's complicated programming had ruptured their remaining fuel cell, so they were dead weight after entering the atmosphere.
He steered the best he could and tried to remain calm. Pan, who had been trying to meditate to stay calm (and hopefully reach that soothing avatar once again) recognized the silent panic in Trunks's demeanor and got up to join him in the main flight seats. "I'm trying to get it so we can make our emergency landing at my house." He said as the clicked buttons and brought up a digital map.
Pan said "Let me take the controls so you can input our landing path. Go secure the Dragon Balls and any tech we need. Grandpa, we're gonna need your help if we don't want to become a ball of fire when we crash land." As trunks left to gather materials, several components began smoking and popping off the control panel. The navigations screen burst into flames.
The newly assembled Giru let out a panicked set of sounds and gripped Pan's shoulder. He then connected himself to the control panel and sat on it. He folded himself in half, uploading the navigation map into the dragon radar's viewport. Pan smiled and patted him on the side. "Thank you, friend!"
Goku yawned before hopping out onto the outside of the ship in a few swift motions. He stood calmly in a contemplative pose before realizing that the outside of the ship had grown painfully hot. He danced around trying not to get burned as the paint and top layers of metal began warping.
He turned Super Saiyan and fired a massive Kamehameha away from the ship, propelling it even faster towards the Earth. He looked back over his shoulder and saw the ground approaching fast. He raced downward in a burst of speed and redirected his energy blast back down to where he was. He touched down over Capsule Corp's massive swimming pool. Just as the ship was about to burst into flames, Goku motioned downward with his hands, sending the redirected Kamehameha into the water.
A giant wave of water splashed over the ship, cooling it down and extinguishing the flames. Goku leapt forward and cushioned the landing with his hands, the viewing windows shattered. He saw Pan and Trunks's facial expressions and chuckled before letting the ship go. It dropped several feet with a clang into the bottom of the now-empty pool.
Bulma, who had been watching them from one of the windows, came out hurriedly to greet them. "Are you guys ok? We've been trying to reach you for months! Oh my god, my pool!" She said almost with a delay. Goku stared at her innocently as Trunks, Pan and Giru emerged from the heavily damaged ship.
Trunks made a quick attempt at grabbing Giru, but Pan snatched him away, holding him close to her chest. The robot wiggled anxiously, letting out his signature stream of sounds and repeating his name. "Oh no, you don't. You said we're still gonna wait and see who is after us. It's not his fault someone put those parts in him." Trunks shook his head, but didn't argue with her. "Mom, did you know those parts you used to make Giru with were being used to spy on us? It's the reason we couldn't communicate this whole time."
Bulma shot her son an artificially puzzled look before turning around and saying "is that so?", a slight red glint in her pupils. "Follow me. We weren't expecting you yet honestly, but we've got plenty of food plus you can all clean up. I'll tell everyone you're back. Did you get all of the Dragon Balls?"
Goku replied "Only six. We didn't have enough power to get to Universe 6…or back here. We had to…I guess we'll tell you more about it later."
Bulma didn't reply. As they followed her, Goku felt a wave of the strange malicious ki that he had sensed when he touched down into the pool. Something wasn't right. He stopped Pan, who in turn stopped Trunks from following Bulma into the rooms she had directed them towards.
"Well, aren't you guys going to get cleaned up before everyone comes over? Bring the Dragon Balls to my lab when you're done, ok Trunks?" He nodded before Bulma walked out of the room around the corner, saying "You guys sure are acting weird. Maybe you just need some food".
Goku asked the others if they felt the strange malignant energy. They all confirmed that they did. "Do you really have the Dragon Balls, Trunks?" He pointed to the small backpack that Pan was carrying. "Ok, good" Goku said. He tore the tracker out of Giru's eye and tossed it into one of the rooms before instructing the other two to place their hands on him. Pan gripped Giru tight and Goku teleported the three of them to his home.
It was oddly quiet. They approached the house silently and peeked through the window. Uub appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of them. He looked the group over before relaxing and saying. Good, your ki feels normal. He followed that up by charging two balls of energy in each hand and mock-hurling them at the group.
Goku deflected the blasts and sent Uub sliding backwards with a Super Saiyan 2 transformation, his body crackling with electricity. "Heh heh" Goku chuckled. "Relax, it's really us. What's been going on around here while we've been gone? There's a malignant ki everywhere."
Uub gave a troubled look and motioned for the group to follow him. Giru let out a string of "gi-gi-gi-gi" sounds while placing his little hands over his now-empty eye socket. The four of them followed Uub over to where Gohan lived previously. He typed a code into the access keypad and the door hissed open. Instead of stepping directly into the house, the doors lead them to what appeared to be a small elevator.
The elevator lowered down quickly and they stepped out into a fortified basement, the walls lined with books and lab equipment. "Dad! Pan!" shouted Gohan as he rushed over to greet them. He held up Pan and embraced her strongly. Videl joined them and did the same. They gave Trunks a warm greeting as well.
Goku walked over to Chi Chi who had a solemn look on her face. He pecked her on the cheek which seemed to soften her, but she stayed silent. Trunks peered around the room and noticed that it was just the four others there. "Where's my dad? I didn't feel his ki when we landed on Earth." Uub stayed silent while Gohan spoke. "He hasn't been seen for weeks. Piccolo either. Everyone else…it's bad you guys."
They waited silently for Gohan to continue. He re-adjusted his glasses before going on. "Something arrived here, it must have been about a month after you left, and it's been infecting people every day. There have also been sightings of cyborgs and transforming robots." Goku, Pan and Turnks looked at each other when he said this.
"18, Krillin and Marron are ok. They're hiding out at Roshi's place. He's fine too. Bulma, Goten, Bra, and all the others on the other hand, they were all infected. That's not even the worst of it…By my calculations nearly everyone on Earth has probably been infected since that time."
The silence in the room grew thick. "Bulma seems to have been working on a new type of weapon. We were taking turns trying to sabotage it once we found out, but it became too dangerous after a while. She seems to be working for the cyborgs now. We've been suppressing our ki and hiding down here until we come up with a plan to get everyone back to normal. Earth's Dragon Balls aren't ready to be gathered yet."
Goku, Pan and Trunks recounted their adventure so far including the details about the trackers and robots. They shared that they had collected 6 of the black star Dragon Balls and still needed to get to Universe 6 for the last one. According to Bulma's original info, it was on a planet called Salad.
Gohan began repairing Giru's eye and noticed he had a complicated weapon system that had not been activated. This confirmed his theory that Bulma really had been unaware of the strange parts originally. Her malicious demeanor was all a new development, but somehow connected to the tracking and robots.
As they exchanged ideas and strategies, Piccolo's voice spoke into Goku's mind. "Goku! There you are. I'm sure you've heard about the bad situation already. Get your group together and head to Kami's lookout temple. There's a way to get you to universe 6 here."
He spoke into Pan's mind briefly, "It's good to have you back. I'm glad you're safe. See you soon." This gave her a wave of courage and she gathered her things. Trunks pondered what had happened to his family and Goten…he tried to keep his composure. A few months ago, he would have never dreamed that he would be on another adventure. He had to move past the thoughts of his family if wanted to save them.
The three Saiyans and robot said their goodbyes and made a contingency plan in case they didn't make it back from Universe 6. Goku teleported them to the lookout temple where they were greeted by Piccolo…and Vegeta. "Dad!" Trunks exclaimed. Vegeta gave him a stoic salute, but stayed quiet. Piccolo explained how they had survived and why they had been keeping their whereabouts secret from the others until now.
"I'm coming with you Kakarroto. It turns out this planet Salad is the Saiyan world of Universe 6. There's no way I'm missing out on going there." He said as he walked past Goku and over to Trunks. He spoke to his son facing away from him. "Don't worry about your mother and sister…or your friends. They would all want us to do whatever it took to finish this even if it meant having to sacrifice them only to bring them back later with the Dragon Balls. You should know how it goes by now."
Trunks nodded and tried his best to stay stoic. "I can tell you've changed over the past few months. I love to see it." Vegeta continued, as he patted Trunks hard on the back and over to Piccolo.
Piccolo directed them towards a room that had a large pool in the center. "This is a portal that I've set up to take you to Universe 6. It can only take you there and bring you back once. If this place is destroyed, you can never come back this way. I'm going to stay to ensure that this place and Dende aren't infected or destroyed. We're going to have to utilize the Earth Dragon Balls when the time comes for them to be searchable again."
You all need to put your hand into the basin at the same time. The group did so. Piccolo spoke some words in Namekian and spit into the water.
Immediately, a surge of light surrounded the group and they were sucked into the basin like liquid, the reflection of a mysterious green planet the only thing showing in the still water.