Videl and Trunks hovered above a vast land of lively plains, untouched by the heavy machinery of warfare or the taint of the Destron Gas and the destruction of the Ghost Warriors yet. It was a far-off corner from the Orange Star City, near the very center of the globe, not too far off to the southwest of West City. Giru flew in between the two, riding the jet flame of a missile sticking out from the center of its body.
"So… Giru… I've noticed you keep making missiles appear from your body. You even ride them to fly, what's up with that?" Videl spoke up with a level of discomfort in her tone. It was odd seeking the final Dragon Ball alongside someone they just met and someone who openly threatened to blow Trunks' mother up with a point-blank missile blast as an icebreaker. A bit of friendly banter and familiarity may have helped the hostile atmosphere in the air somewhat, or so it occurred to Videl.
"Giru-Giru… Correct!" Giru pointed out, kicking its thin mechanical legs in the air as if attempting to jog across the skyline. "A missile is a primitive combat apparatus. Most Machine Mutants eat one. Machine Mutants learn and adapt to technology by ingesting it. That way, obsolete technology never weakens the Machine Mutant race as a more advanced model simply eats the obsolete one, freeing up space for more innovative models while acquiring all the old model's functions. In addition, it's a great way to understand the technology of other species and adapt it to our society, Giru-Giru!"
"So… Eating a missile is like learning the fundamentals of martial arts to your kind? Like… Learning to throw a punch?" Trunks scratched his chin. While initially, this round Machine Mutant repulsed him and Trunks couldn't stop viewing it as an enemy, either the type that threatened to blow up his mother or a slippery scout trying to infiltrate the Earthlings' ranks and destroy them from within, learning a few things about Giru and the Machine Mutants made Trunks' inner sense of scientific curiosity and childish wonder spike up.
"Giru-Giru… Suppose you could say that…" Giru replied after a brief pause. Videl couldn't stop glancing at the orbicular Machine Mutant scout. He had the strangest way of talking. Whenever Giru spoke, his bright red eye flashed corresponding to the patterns of Giru's speech and an artificial voice came from somewhere inside Giru, but there was no orifice to spread that voice and no mouth from which the tiny robot scout could speak. "It's an oversimplification, but then again, Earthlings are one of the less intelligent species in the universe and you are a mere youngling, so the instinct to dumb even the most basic scientific facts down is understandable, Giru-Giru!"
"I changed my mind, I think I wanna blow it up," Trunks pouted and gave Videl a look that browsed Videl's expression for even the tiniest excuse for him to misinterpret it as permission to do whatever he wanted to. "Mom said she could build another radar in less than an hour from her lab. We can have soda and all the grilled meat and beef jerkies we want while we wait."
"You know, normally kids your age would be into cotton candy, cakes, or whatever… Your obsession with barbecue is weird. In any case, if we stray from the plan, the Machine Mutants will get ahead and find the last Dragon Ball first. Everyone's Ki is staggering, we can't be sure that we can protect our Dragon Balls against the Machine Mutants and everyone might need Chayote-san's help," Videl tried disciplining Trunks to the best of her ability.
"Giru-Giru… Earthling young enjoy… Cotton candy…" Giru recorded with a mechanical tone out loud all to himself. "Also, something called… Cake…"
"That's what Giru told us!" Trunks raised his voice with a passionate objection. "He told us that because it serves his goals to have us believe that. He didn't show either me or my mother any of his calculations, so we can't say if his logic is sound. All we have to go with is his word. He's recording intelligence on how to defeat Earthlings as we speak!"
"Giru-Giru… Showing you the detailed report of my calculations would reveal the factors of Machine Mutant military strength, which I cannot do. Also, I do not record intelligence on how to lure Earthling kids onto conveyor belts of meat-grinding death factories at all. There is a strong possibility that after fulfilling my objective I shall be discarded by the Machine Mutants as a traitor, which leaves only Earthlings as my viable cohabitants," Giru pointed out.
"It's exactly because we can ground Giru's reasoning in how they're useful to him and because his actions make sense, given his objective, that we're letting him tag along," Videl dismissed Trunks' objections. "You're just mad at him because he insulted you. That's fine, but it's hardly something to destroy people over."
"He's not people…" Trunks crossed his arms and turned away with a childish pout. Videl wanted to note how similar Trunks' caprice was to his father's fragile ego, but then it occurred to her how different Trunks was as well. The boy didn't agree with what they were up to, but he didn't act out and destroy Giru, despite being the most powerful combatant around. He pouted and whined, but he went along with it. Then again, this could have just been his age speaking and he could have just acknowledged Videl's and his mother's calls as those made by authority figures.
"Dragon Ball detected! Dragon Ball detected!" Giru began jerking around, disassembling the rocket that was sticking out from its body and hurtling toward Videl, who caught Giru in between her arms and looked at the green radar screen proudly displayed on Giru's back.
"A-ha! I knew he was faking it! He didn't say "Giru-Giru" so his speech glitch is clearly fake! I wonder what else he says and does is fake!" Trunks placed his knuckles to his waist and began leaning over Giru only for Videl to turn away like a disgruntled sister trying to hide away her phone from her little brother's ridicule.
"Why would Giru fake its speech glitch? All he won from it is his name and he can't stand that name!" Videl turned around to argue, accidentally letting go of Giru which led to the hefty Machine Mutant crash landing nearby the Dragon Ball rested on the other side of a rock sticking out from a field of grasslands.
"How do we know he hates it? He told us that, for all we know, he might like it!" Trunks barked back at Videl while Giru kicked around, unable to pull his upside-down body out of the precarious position of being stuck in the soft and moist soil he smacked head-first into.
"Big deal, it's pretty cute if he actually likes the name. Giru intends on settling down on Earth, so why shouldn't he have a name he actually likes?" Videl placed her hands on her hips, engaging in the argumentative battlefield of Trunks' choosing.
"How do we know he intends on settling down? He told us that! He could've just lied! We won't know if he did until mom checks its internals and sees if it can lie. Then again, it is a scout so it most definitely should be able to," Trunks finally looked down at the struggling Machine Mutant.
"Don't you think it's hypocritical of you to deny Giru his opportunity to settle down when your father and the other Saiyans are responsible for at least an even level of destruction, casualties, and danger to Earth yet they've become adjusted members of society?" Videl descended on the ground and gently pulled Giru out from the ground, leading the perky Machine Mutant to jog to the orange crystal ball and raise it over its head with an exuberant and elegant pose.
"I'll take that, thanks," Trunks snagged the Dragon Ball from Giru's hands with a suspicious squint and stuffed it down the backpack. Trunks and Videl handed the other six to Bulma to take to the Capsule Corps for safekeeping. Though where normally that would have made Trunks groan about the prospect of having to do even more flying to be done with his martial artist's rite of passage in collecting the Dragon Balls, now he actually preferred it since having Giru around all seven Dragon Balls would have been treachery with the direst of consequences that would have negated all they've worked so hard for all this time waiting to happen, according to the preschooler.
"Giru-Giru… May I have a request?" Giru pointed with the tiniest mechanical index finger which was thin as a needle and shorter than a pinky.
"Absolutely not!" Trunks objected, crossing his arms and turning his nose up. "I'll hand it to you that you were useful in finding the Dragon Ball, but we could've done so with an ordinary Dragon Radar all the same."
"Not all the same," Videl squinted, gently poking her finger at Trunks' head with a tease. "If it weren't for Giru's alert, you'd have flown way over the Dragon Ball's location again, admit it…"
"I would have NOT!" Trunks growled and stepped up on his toes to do his best to appear as tall and imposing as a four-year-old could be. "I'll admit that having an alert system in place when you get close is kind of neat, but my mom could've programmed that in her sleep. We don't need a treacherous weasel to eat our Dragon Radar for it."
"You're irreparable…" Videl shook her head, covering up her eyes with her hand to hide her disappointment.
"Giru-Giru? Is Trunks a broken Earthling youngling model?" Giru scratched a tiny ridge into the side of its head while examining the conversation between the two bickering companions to the best of his comprehension of Earthling customs. "If it would be of any help, I am capable of basic engineering and repairs. Though Machine Mutants rarely use such a skill, my level would still be leagues above primitive Earthling understanding of engineering. My assessment of the situation indicates that assimilating young Trunks model is out of the question, so repairs are our only option."
"There you have it," Trunks pointed to Giru with a tongue stuck out at Videl. "This rat intends to eat all of us while our guards are down and "assimilate" us like the Dragon Radar!"
"Giru-Giru, that is the exact opposite of what I suggested. My limited knowledge of Earthlings suggests they are an organic species with a 97,5% organic composition and only a 2,5% artificial metallic composition. Such a ratio is incompatible with ingestion assimilation," Giru jumped on top of Trunks' head and began pulling at the boy's hair, causing a playful struggle between the two while Videl could only chuckle and hover above the ground, waiting for the scuffle to conclude so that they could return to West City and finish this grueling quest at long last.
They have found all the Dragon Balls at long last!
"Divine Dragon, come forth and grant me this wish!" Bulma extended her hands over the Dragon Balls placed on the ground in the backyard of Capsule Corps. The Machine Mutant invasion hadn't reached the West City yet because of the efforts of the Dragon Team obliterating the largest clusters of their army and, because of their success in destroying the Destron Tower, the Ghost Warriors stopped plaguing the Earth too.
The evening sky turned pitch black with dark clouds and golden lightning bolts lashed down from the disturbed heavens. Videl and Trunks looked around in awe. Normally it may have been difficult to believe that a bunch of crystal balls could have made the sky go dark, but after the weird stuff they've seen during their long quest of gathering them together: the weirdos in Penguin Village, all the Ghost Warriors and an alien invasion, this began feeling like part of their day-to-day lives. Regardless, it was a novel part, so the two youths began soaking up the magical sights.
A stray golden lightning bolt hit the formation of Dragon Balls, coloring them bright with flashing lights as it made a swift return to the swirling storm clouds looming over the entire Earth. The mystical energies soaking the Dragon Balls kept the seven magical orbs suspended in the air as they glowed. In one strident blaze, a turbulent beam of golden energy matching the golden lightning that struck them but much thicker and more free-form began its elegant ascent into the heavens. The beam of energy curled, sailed, shot and swirled, looped and rose until it entangled the whole sky and wove through the clouds and heavens alike.
A flashy sizzle revealed green scales. The ascending and swirling serpentine energy beam revealed itself to be a four-fingered dragon with pronged brown antlers, lines of man-sized razor teeth, and scaly skin as green as the lushest forest leafage. Long and flowing whiskers waved from the nose of the Divine Dragon, wide enough to wrap around the entire city, while green hair flowed from each side of the Divine Dragon's head, relaying its ancient age and boundless knowledge and experience.
"WELL, SPEAK YOUR WISH!" the Divine Dragon rumbled.
"This is… Breath-taking!" Videl gasped. She had seen nothing like this and she's not been this gobsmacked since first seeing Chayote and Gohan become Super Saiyans while fighting super-advanced people-robots in a secret world-government-sponsored factory. While Videl never thought about the miracle of actually summoning the Divine Dragon, feeling more possessed by the idea of rescuing Chayote from her charred and petrified state, this eye-popping sight was worth the hassle and multiple near-death experiences alone.
"OH, IT'S YOU GUYS AGAIN…" the Divine Dragon lowered its house-size head closer to get a better look at Bulma and the rest of the party. "WHAT WILL IT BE THIS TIME?"
"What's wrong, Bulma-san?" blue-haired Launch turned to Bulma and cradled the hand of the frustrated woman as she rubbed her tired eyes.
"It's just… I had hoped that I could use the Divine Dragon to bring the wreckage of the Capsule Corps Star back to Earth. I figured everyone wanted to fix Chayote for the first wish, but I thought I still had the second. Now, with all this Machine Mutant mess, I suppose we'll need to reverse the damage those jackasses did," Bulma sat down and poured herself a glass of Trunks' soda, downing it from a cocktail glass with lime like she'd have done with heavy booze. Distraught, the woman lit up a smoke. "I don't think my company will just let me finance a space-faring operation to bring back my personal cybernetic mega-structure from the edges of our solar system for no good reason and I really, really enjoyed beaming myself places. Now I'll just have to wake up early to go to work, just like everyone else."
"WELL… WHAT'S HOLDING YOU SO LONG?" the Divine Dragon reared its terrifying fangs with a snarl, lowering its head to startle the locals and blowing enough air and smoke from its nostrils to topple Yajirobe's brunch table and blow food all over the place. The vagabond swordsman demon-slayer shook his clobbering fist over his head before reflecting on something for a second, shrugging and eating his food off the lawn.
"One of dese days, I'll cut ya, just to see how good ya taste, I swear…" Yajirobe gave a death-inducing stare that was absolutely ignored by the red-eyed Divine Dragon. Given how the Divine Dragon was useful, for now, Yajirobe felt content stuffing his face full of Bulma's treats that were promised to him as a price for driving them around and killing an occasional alien invader.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Trunks turned to Giru with suspicion beaming out from the boy's raised right eyebrow. "Mom's wavering and Videl's too awestruck. This is your opportunity to stab us all in the back and slip your wish in before any of us can do anything about it."
"Giru-Giru…" Giru looked deflated, leaning down with its thin little metal arms bobbing by its sides. "The Dragon Balls have been gathered. My objective is complete. Yet I still live… Why do I still live?"
"Great, he's having an existential crisis now," Trunks sighed and approached Videl from the back, nuzzling her closer to the Divine Dragon. "Come on, you say the first wish, I'll say the second. We earned it."
"R-Right…" Videl gulped down and began creeping up closer to the Divine Dragon's terrifying snout as if it could have somehow missed them or not have been able to hear them because of its colossal size. "Divine Dragon, please restore Chayote-san back to normal from her petrified state."
"NOT EVEN A RESURRECTION? A SIMPLE MATTER. DENDE COULD'VE DONE THIS MUCH WITH A FEW MORE YEARS OF PRACTICE, THE BOY UNDERSTIMATES HIS OWN SKILL!" the Divine Dragon's eyes beamed with intense red light for just one blink. "NOW, SPEAK YOUR SECOND WISH!"
"Okay…" Trunks kept his eyes on Giru, ready to blast the little, round robot to bits if he as much as perked its head up and recovered from its existential depression. "Bring back everyone that died because of Ghost Warriors, Destron Gas and the Machine Mutants!" the boy pumped his fist into the sky.
"THAT'S MORE LIKE IT. A TRUE TEST OF MY SKILL!" the Divine Dragon raised its head and stared longingly in the distance, blinking its red eyes like torchlights in the dark of the night for a couple of minutes before blinking again. "DONE! I'VE BROUGHT BACK ANY OF THE DEAD THAT WEREN'T KILLED AND BROUGHT BACK BEFORE! NOW, FARE THEE WELL, OR MAYBE I SHOULD SAY, UNTIL NEXT TIME, YOU GUYS…"
"Giru-Giru… I should have asked the Dragon Balls what I should wish for," Giru kept on sulking staring at the ground while the Divine Dragon turned into a bright wave of light and elevated the bunch of Dragon Balls into the sky, then scattered them away into different parts of the world as regular, round stones with the implosion of the unstable magical energy beam giving the Divine Dragon shape. "Giru's life has no purpose, no meaning…"
"It doesn't have to," Videl smiled, leaning down on her knees to the round robot scout. "You can be our Dragon Radar since you ate it. There will be times when we will need the Dragon Balls again. Your mission can be a continuous task, not a one-time deal."
"A continuous task… Giru-Giru!" Giru looked up at the brightening evening sky with its tiny pincer-like fingers scratching its head dome. "Affirmative. You Earthling organics are bound to die out eventually, but Giru's mechanical body will forever serve new batches of organic Earthlings and guide them to the Dragon Balls again and again. A never-ending mission means Giru's life will always be meaningful. Giru-Giru!"
"Kami-sama!" Mr. Popo stared at the petrified statue pushing against the weight of the universe beyond her limits. "Something's happening, it must be because of the sky going dark earlier!"
"So, Videl and Trunks completed their rite of passage. It's too bad I don't have the time to continue their training right now. I sense that the dark omen shall surface during all this chaos. It's good to know that we'll have Chayote to rely on as well," Kami Upa approached the stone statue just in time to see cracks in its outer shell and the lime light of Legendary Super Saiyan shine beaming from within its core.
"You're still worried about that, Kami-sama? Perhaps we should be worried about the Machine Mutants?" Dende jumbled his fingers in a nervous tick while approaching Chayote's hatching statue, which saw new cracks form every passing second.
"Kami-sama spread the Super Holy Water into the atmosphere to help the Earth fend off the corruption of the Destron Gas and relieved Piccolo of his duty to look for the dark omen and take care of the Machine Mutants. Everyone's doing the best they can and now we'll have Chayote to clean things up too," Mr. Popo replied. "These Machine Mutants picked the wrong planet to attempt to destroy."
"I'm worried that these Machine Mutants are merely a distraction that will allow the monster plaguing my nightmares to surface while we're occupied fending off the alien invasion," Kami Upa scratched his chin in concern. "We cannot allow overlooking the threat of the dark omen, or else everything we know will come undone. Come with me, Dende…"
Without objection, the young Namekian and the last remaining member of the Namekian Dragon Clan followed Kami Upa to stacked barrels filled with water. Kami Upa reached over the lid of one barrel and removed it.
"Look into the surface of this water, Dende," Upa said.
"B-But you said that I shouldn't dwell on these sights of the future, Kami-sama. You specifically forbade me to look into the future because you said I'll never stop worrying about what I see there. Is it really okay?" Dende asked his mentor just to confirm.
"Just this once, just this barrel, it's okay," Kami Upa nodded. Dende approached the barrel and stepped up, peering into the rippling water. After a few passing moments, he blanked out in shock and staggered back.
"Wh-What does it mean, Kami Upa? Why is the water all black?" Dende grabbed his head as veins littered his forehead and temples and his eyes bulged out in bewilderment.
"It's because somehow, this potential future is ruined. It shows the unquestionable end of everything, the entire universe, and the very timeline itself. Complete destruction and I fear it has something to do with the dark omen. This barrel only started showing black since Trunks from the future disappeared back to his own time. The potential future this specific barrel shows might mean that there is no future for us anymore and the disappearance of our future coincides with the dark foreboding I've begun feeling at that time," Kami Upa replied. "Now I hope you'll understand why I am not particularly worked up about these Machine Mutants. Because I believe our friends can handle them, what the future still holds in store for them, however, I'm not so sure anymore…"
Mr. Popo turned back to the returning Dende and Kami Upa while the shining stone statue began shedding its outer obsidian shell with rays of jade light emerging from within its core and coloring the evening sky with lime-colored auroras.
"She'll emerge any time now!" Mr. Popo pumped his fists with excitement. It's been a long time since Mr. Popo kicked Chayote off the God Temple for being unworthy. Since that time, whether enthusiastic about it or for her own reasons, Chayote had saved the Earth several times and now–the entire universe. Even Mr. Popo welcomed Chayote's revival with excitement and she couldn't have returned at a direr time of need.