Chapter 021 - The last Dragonball
"Hey, who's the kid? He looks like a pocket-sized Piccolo." Bulma asked.
"We'll fill you in on the details once we're inside the house," Krillin replied. "I'm bushed."
"Oh, I almost forgot the good news." Bulma perked up with a smile. "I just got a call from my dad and he said that Goku's on his way here – and that's not all! Goku's coming on a space ship that my dad built based on Goku's old Saiyan pod and he'll be here in six days, plus he's doing some incredible training on the way!"
The news seemed to momentarily stun those in the room. Tears began to well up in Krillin's eyes; he couldn't contain his joy from what he'd just heard. "... ALRIGHT!" He cheered throwing his fists up into the air, Gohan and Corset jumping up and down together.
"I thought that would cheer you all up," Bulma beamed.
"So he's doing some incredible training, huh?" Krillin smirked confidently. "Corset, we may get our wish granted after all!"
Inside the house, the team settled down around the table as Bulma prepared them their food. The house itself was compact, almost a studio apartment type of set-up; the kitchen and living space were housed within a single room; separate rooms were set out for the bedroom and bathroom. Although she'd seen the models set out in the catalogue her mother would sometimes let her read (to keep her quiet), Corset had never actually set foot in one of the capsule homes her family's business produced.
"I'm really hungry from all that moving today!" Corset grinned as her food was placed down before her. "Thank you, Mama! It smells yummy!"
"You're welcome," Bulma smiled, eyes turning to the little Namekian at the end of the table, who'd not uttered a word since his arrival. "So this kid's the only survivor of his village then? It's awful..."
"M-mm," Corset nodded with a mouth full of food not turning away from her meal.
"I really thought we were gonna die," Krillin swallowed his food and glanced to the young boy; he sat quietly with his hands on his knees. The food in front of him hadn't been touched. Krillin frowned sympathetically, "... I know it's not very good but you should try to eat something."
Bulma glared at the short fighter, "Not very good?" She repeated with disgust. "I slaved over that just for you and that's the thanks I get?" Her harsh tones sent chills of fear through Corset, she didn't envy Krillin in the slightest. Surely he should know better than to say bad things about her mama? She would always become angry and scary whenever anything she created was deemed not good enough.
"... We don't eat things like this," Dende answered. "We only drink water."
Krillin lowered his glass in confusion. "Didn't your village have a field? Weren't you growing some sort of vegetable?"
"Those were hydrangea plants," The boy replied. "The elders told us that before the terrible drought came, our planet was full of hydrangea planets and was very beautiful. When the drought came most of the Namekians and the hydrangea forests were wiped out. We're trying to plant them to make our planet beautiful again."
"Wow..." Gohan mumbled.
Dende looked up at the others. "... Where did you come from? Who are you?"
No one answered and for a reason; Corset almost choked on her food when a powerful ki came to her attention! Without warning she and the other fighters rushed outside to get a better idea of what was going on, shooting out into the sunlight and watching the horizon. She was sure it was what she dreaded; several tiny ki signals were vanishing.
"What the heck's wrong with all of you? Are you sensing something? Tell me!" Bulma had appeared.
"Something's happening out there..." Krillin muttered. "There's a whole lot of small ki... they're all dropping one by one."
Gohan's eyes narrowed, "Namekians are being killed again."
Corset seemed to have a mixture of anger and sorrow written across her face which her mother picked up on.
"I know it's hard to believe, honey," Bulma frowned putting an affectionate hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"... That's not it..." Corset sighed. "... I mean it's horrible that there are Namekians being killed but... but it's the one who's killing them that makes me feel sadder..."
"It's as I feared; Vegeta's learnt how to sense ki!" Krillin growled through gritted teeth. "This is bad... There's nothing we can do until Goku gets here! I'm not sure if Vegeta and this other guy are in this together but if we let one of them get their hands on the Dragonballs then it'll be the end of the world!"
"Surely if we can manage to get just one of the Dragonballs we can stop them from making their wish," Bulma suggested.
Gohan shook his head glumly, "We can't do that. If we did, they'd just kill every Namekian until they find it."
Krillin knelt down and punched the ground, "I'm not even sure Goku could do anything when he gets here. If only I'd finished off Vegeta back on Earth when I'd had the chance!"
"P-Please tell me who you all are!" Dende's voice startled the others. "Where are you from? How do you all know about the Dragonballs? Can you help our planet?"
By now the last of the villagers' ki were fading. Corset felt terrible and wished they hadn't been found. She hated this; innocent people were being killed by other's selfish actions – her father being one of them. Corset felt so ashamed; why did he have to be like that?
She stood quietly as Krillin began to explain to Dende about the fight with the Saiyans and the Dragonballs on Earth they'd lost because of it.
"...And he was the Namekian who managed to escape from Namek and landed on Earth," Krillin explained. "Now we want to bring him and the rest of our friends back to life with your planet's Dragonballs."
"If we get our wish then it'll also restore the Dragonballs on Earth," Bulma added.
"I get it now... now I know who you all are," Dende bowed his head down for a mere moment before raising it sharply, small fists clenched by his sides. "Please, someone come with me! I'll take you to see the Great Elder!"
Krillin blinked in surprise, "What? The... gr..."
"Who's the Great Elder?" Corset asked curiously.
"The Great Elder is the parent of all the Namekians," Dende explained. "He was the lone survivor of the terrible drought; he gave life to all Namekians across the planet; I'm his one-hundred-and-eighth kid."
"The lone..." Bulma was baffled. "Wait... How do you people have children?"
"How?" Dende repeated slightly shocked. "We lay baby Namekians through eggs in our mouths... How else?"
'Through eggs?' Corset tilted her head in confusion. 'Like a lizard? Or a bird?'
"R-Right, how else..." Bulma nodded sheepishly. "So then the Great Elder must be a woman."
"A woman?" Dende repeated. "What's a woman?"
Corset's jaw dropped. He didn't know what a woman was? How could he not know that? "You mean you don't know?" She exclaimed.
Bulma seemed confused. "... W-What's a woman? Aren't there two types of Namekian? You know; males and females? Surely you'd have a mummy Namekian and a daddy Namekian, right?"
"What? Different types?" Dende seemed just as confused as Bulma! "... I don't understand..."
Bulma turned to Krillin, "A-Are you hearing this? There are no males and females on this planet. How boring! I'm glad I'm not a Namekian..."
Corset wondered what her mother meant by this.
"... Anyway, what's so important about seeing this Great Elder?" Krillin asked Dende.
"Well the people who attacked my village already had four of the Dragonballs," Dende explained. "Plus you guys said there were people over in that direction being killed..."
Krillin bared his teeth. "Yeah, probably by a guy named Vegeta."
"I can't sense any more energy over in that direction," Gohan frowned. "They're all dead..."
Corset looked at the ground in shame; her father had been the one to kill all those innocent Namekians after all.
Dende frowned, "That means there aren't many Namekians left on the planet."
"If there really was a Dragonball back at the village Vegeta attacked then that means there's only one more Dragonball out there." Krillin pointed out. "Does this Eldest Namek have it?"
"Yeah," Dende nodded.
"This is bad!" Krillin clenched his fists. "Even if this Freeza guy can't find him because of their scouters breaking, there's still a chance Vegeta may find him! I'm pretty certain Vegeta's learnt how to sense ki unaided; it's only a matter of time before he'll find him and take the seventh Dragonball!"
Dende gasped in horror, "We have to warn the Great Elder. Please, we must hurry!"
"We can't let either Vegeta or Frieza get eternal life," Gohan added sternly.
"Alright, show me the way to the Great Elder's place; we'll get there as fast as we can!" Krillin decided. "Gohan, Corset; you guys stay here with Bulma. There's no sense in us all going."
"Right," Gohan and Corset nodded in unison.
"...Be careful," Gohan added nervously.
"We should be able to avoid being spotted by Vegeta if we walk there," Krillin calculated. "Dende, how long would it take if we walked?"
"Um... I guess about thirty days," Dende answered.
"Thirty days?" Krillin gawked stunned. "We don't have that much time. Vegeta would surely find him before we'd even get halfway there... Looks like we've got no choice. We're gonna have to fly there. If Vegeta spots us and closes in then we'll just hide again." He turned to Dende. "We'd better get there as fast as we can."
The Earthling and Namekian child both leapt up into the sky.
"Good luck!" Corset called after them.
"See you both later!" Gohan waved.
"You guys make sure you stay safe!" Krillin called back at them.
The duo took off and slowly vanished on the horizon.
Bulma sighed, "Well, it looks like this is gonna be a close one..."
Corset looked down at her feet. "I hope they manage to get there safely."
"I think we'd better head back inside just in case Vegeta spots us," Gohan suggested. "At least that way we won't be seen."
"Good idea kiddo," Bulma nodded.
The trio walked back into the capsule house and waited from there.
The minutes seemed to last hours. Bulma was currently scavenging through the fridge for a snack, pushing jars and bottles around noisily. Behind her Gohan and Corset sat upon the sofa; both sat staring down upon the table before them.
"Ah, there it is!" Bulma smiled; apparently she'd found what she was looking for.
Corset was lost in her thoughts, concentrating on something. She could sense strong ki quite far away from them. There were two of them, one stronger than the other.
"... Hey, what's going on?" Bulma had seen the looks on their faces.
"Someone's fighting..." Gohan mumbled, eyes peering up to Bulma for the smallest of moments before falling back upon the table. "Two powerful ki..."
"Oh?" Bulma started, suddenly becoming more anxious as she rushed towards them, "Don't tell me one of them's Krillin?"
"No, it's not Krillin," Corset shook her head. "I can sense him moving still... he can't be fighting... He must be flying fast."
"I thought he said he and that kid would be flying slowly so Vegeta wouldn't spot them," Bulma muttered crossly slamming her plate down upon the table and putting her fists on her hips.
"I don't think he will be spotted." Gohan replied, "I think one of the ki we sense fighting is Vegeta."
"I don't know who my dad could be fighting though," Corset frowned in confusion, "It doesn't feel like it's a Namekian; the energy feels different... Do you think it's one of that guy Freeza's men?"
"Maybe," Gohan shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure, there can't be many Namekians left alive now; Dende said so himself."
"Yeah," Corset sighed. Well whoever it was fighting her father, their power level was lower than his. '... I hope dad wins...' she whispered in her mind.
Eventually she grew bored of watching whoever it was fighting her dad and decided to read a book. It was one of her favourites, an educational book about animals. It was far more interesting than those mechanic books her mother gave her from time to time.
With a loud groan, Bulma slapped her hair brush down onto the table, making Corset jump from behind her book. The young girl didn't look up due to her reddening face; she wondered if anyone'd seen her jump!
"This is so boring." Bulma wailed. "I wish I'd brought some more magazines or something along..." She took a glance over down the side of the sofa, blue eyes falling on Gohan. "... How can you be so calm at a time like this?"
Gohan opened one eye and smiled, "It's easy; all I have to remember is that my dad's coming to help us out."
"Yeah, I guess you're right, Bulma nodded, leaning backwards and laying across the sofa, forcing her daughter to budge over a little. "Your dad had better get here soon, I'm so bored waiting for him!" She crossed her arms underneath her head and closed her eyes in a strop.
Gohan frowned. "I just hope that Krillin and Dende can get to the Great Elder in time... I hope Vegeta hasn't found them."
Corset looked up from her book rapidly, unintentionally slapping her book hard against the edge of the table and making her mother jerk up into a sitting position.
"W-WHAT'S GOING ON? IS SOMEONE OUTSIDE YOU GUYS?" Bulma squawked frantically, grabbing her hair brush and mirror reflexively.
"Um... sorry, that was me hitting my book on the table." Corset mumbled bashfully. "... I was just trying to sense my dad's ki since he was fighting someone earlier but now I can't seem to find anything."
Gohan curiously tried to find the energies they'd sensed before; they'd completely slipped his mind. "Hey... I can't sense them either. I wonder if it's over."
Corset looked down at her lap with a worried frown. "I wonder who won."
Boredom quickly took over the room.
Finally Gohan sighed and got to his feet. "I'm gonna go do some training I think."
Corset looked up from her book and placed it down. "If you're gonna train then so am I." She jumped down from her seat.
"If you guys are going outside then be careful," Bulma warned, "... On second thoughts, maybe it's better I keep an eye on you both. I don't want to see anyone get hurt, ok?"
The three walked outside into the sun.
"Is it me or is it always sunny here?" Bulma mumbled to herself. "Surely we've been here for almost a day now?"
Gohan and Corset had walked off a little ways ahead.
"Hey, do you wanna spar?" Corset asked. "We haven't sparred together in a while."
"That sounds like a good idea, although we might wanna keep our ki as low as we can," Gohan mumbled. "We don't wanna be spotted by Vegeta or anyone else."
The two put up their defences.
The wind displaced the grass as they leapt forwards, the fight had started...
They'd been sparring for twenty minutes now.
Gohan charged forwards and launched several rapid punches, Corset managing to block them all off, tripping as Gohan's leg drove into the side of hers knocking her off balance. The young girl fell onto her side, immediately trying to scramble to her feet as Gohan lashed out, his attack missing her. As she rose up her fist clipped him in the stomach making him take a couple of steps back yet regaining his composure.
In an instant both young fighters jumped up above the ground and met in a barrage of attacks before landing on the grass. The two both panted heavily as they wiped the sweat from their faces staring each other down.
"Hey guys, come check this out," Bulma called them both; she held the Dragon Radar in her hands.
Gohan trotted over towards the blue-haired woman, Corset standing the opposite side of her mother as the three peered down at the device in her hands. "What is it, Bulma?" Gohan asked.
"Can you see a Dragonball?" Corset queried.
"This Dragonball that's far away is moving." Bulma pointed to the small bleeping dot. "I think it's heading straight for us."
Gohan grinned excitedly, "It must be Krillin! He must have gotten the Dragonball off of the Great Elder."
"So we finally have a Dragonball?" Corset beamed cheerfully. "Yay! Now neither my daddy nor that Freeza person can get all seven balls and make their wish."
"Things are finally starting to look good," Bulma pulled a face that looked identical to her mother's!