Chapter Twelve

Battle of Monsters! Muscle Tower Crumbles!

The strange trio made their way up the stairs to the fifth floor of Muscle Tower. Two girls, one of whom possessed superhuman strength, and an enormous killer robot who didn't like violence. There was a question Suno had to ask, though. It was digging in the back of her mind and making her nervous. She had to know even if she might not like the answer.

"So… Eighter?" she asked as she turned her head to look at the android. He was so tall that she didn't even have to look down despite the fact that he was lower down on the stairs than her.

"Yes?" He asked.

"I was wondering…" she swallowed and hoped that her question didn't offend the giant robot. "So, you were built by the Red Ribbon Army, right?"

"This is correct," Eighter said with a nod. Suno nodded in response and chewed her bottom lip for a moment.

"Does that mean you agree with what they're doing?" she asked while trying to hide the nervous edge in her voice. After a moment, Eighter shook his head.

"No," he said and Suno fought the urge to sigh with relief. "I have heard what the Red Ribbon Army is doing and it is wrong. I do not like them."

"Treacherous machine!" barked the voice from before. Goku rolled her eyes when she heard him. This was getting really annoying. Why wouldn't he just come out and fight? "You will pay for turning your back on the Red Ribbon Army! Sergeant Indigo! Activate his bomb and destroy them all!" Suno, Goku, and Eighter froze in panic. Nothing happened. "...Sergeant Indigo! Murasaki!"

General White groaned from his room on the sixth floor, covering the microphone with his hand to mask his mutterings of frustration as he looked back at the monitor of the fourth floor. All of the Murasaki brothers were unconscious. This was ludicrous. Five people who could answer his call and all of them were out cold. "Never mind!" he said as he turned his attention back to the microphone. "You will never reach me!" He switched off the microphone and began looking through his desk for the second detonator. God, he had so much junk. Why did he even have this many paperclips?

The trio shrugged and continued their way up the stairs. They came to the fifth floor or rather a wall beside the staircase where the fifth floor was supposed to be. Goku ran up to the wall and pressed her ear to it as she tapped her fist against the wall. She frowned when she didn't hear anything behind it.

"Hey, Eighter!" she called. "What's behind this wall?" Android Eight shrugged.

"I do not know," he said. "This area has always been blocked off." Suno cleared her throat as Goku continued to listen and tap.

"If it's blocked… why don't we just go to the sixth floor?" she asked while pointing upwards towards the next floor. They did have a job to do, after all.

"Oh, right!" Goku said as she hopped way from the wall and took the lead again. Suno just smiled and shook her head as they continued their ascent.

"Goku," Eighter began, "Are you here to rescue the village chief?" Goku nodded.

"Yeah," she said enthusiastically. "Me and Suno are gonna get him back and kick the Red Ribbon Army out of town!" Eighter smiled.

"I am glad to hear that," he said. They came to the end of the staircase and reached the sixth floor. Once again the voice greeted them.

"Well done, lambs and traitor!" said General White in a tone of mock congratulation as he continued to root around in his desk. The damn controller had to be somewhere. "You have made your ascent to the sixth and final floor!" Goku pushed the door open as he talked. Suno was getting anxious. They were so close to saving the chief! She almost couldn't believe it. As Goku opened the door, they saw… a wall. "All you have to do is get through my maze!" General White said before laughing hysterically.

"What's a maze?" Goku asked and scratched her head. Suno let out an exasperated sigh. They had been so close!

"A maze is like a big room full of hallways," she said. "At least one path leads to the exit but a lot of them lead to nowhere. And General White probably has some kind of controller in his room that lets him change the walls around so that we'll never get there!" She closed her eyes and tried to think. She needed a piece of chalk or something, a way to mark which hallways they'd already been down so that, if they had to backtrack, they wouldn't get lost. But if General White could control the walls anyway… it was so hard to think with his stupid laughing!

"Hey," Goku said, breaking what little concentration she had. "Wouldn't the door just be on the other side of the room?" Suno sighed.

"Yes, Goku," she said in an aggravated tone. What kind of question was that? "But unless we can get through the maze-"

"Just follow after me," Goku said as she walked towards the wall. Suno blinked and stared at her. Before she could even ask what Goku meant, Goku put her head down and smashed through the wall. Suno and Eighter ran after her as she smashed through wall after wall, occasionally passing pockets of very confused Red Ribbon soldiers. Goku charge forward until she hit a heavy steel door and only stopped because her head made a loud "Thunk!" when it hit. Goku rubbed at her head in pain as she looked up at the door. "Ooow," she muttered. "That door's really hard!"

Suno grinned as she and Eighter caught up with Goku, "Well, I guess that's one way to get through the maze." She kept forgetting just how strong Goku was. Made getting around certain things a lot easier than they'd normally be.

"Very good, little lambs!" said General White, although now they could hear him faintly through the door. He sounded a little nervous. "You have made it this far! But I tell you what! Girl in Orange, you will give me six star ball and your Dragon Ball… locator… thing. And I will release the chief!"

"No way!" Goku said sternly. The Dragon Radar was a present from Bulma! Why would she give it up to this jerk?

"We're less than a foot from the door!" Suno pointed out. What was General White's plan? Was he going crazy?

"Very well!" General White replied. "But you have no one to blame for your fates but yourselves!" There was a sudden creak of metal as the three looked down to realize that they were standing on top of a trap door. As soon as they registered this, the floor fell out from under them and they all fell into the blackness below. Eighter landed on his back first then Goku landed on him and Suno fell on her. Suno got up quickly, thankful that the darkness hid her blushing.

"It's really warm in here!" Goku said and wiped off a tiny bead of sweat from her forehead. It was even warmer than the fourth floor had been.

"What now?" she demanded as she and Goku slid off of Eighter's stomach. "Which one of your stupid henchmen are we going to fight now?" She could definitely hear someone breathing.

"Do not be so eager to run to your deaths," General White warned them. "For now you must face the unstoppable might of the Guardian of the Fifth Floor, my Buyon!"

"Bouillon?" Suno muttered in confusion. "Like the broth?" Then the lights came on and blinded them all for a moment. Suno rubbed at her eyes and blinked to make them adjust to the light. "No," she said in a voice trembling with terror at what she saw. "Definitely not broth."

Buyon was an enormous, pot-bellied pink creature. Its mouth hung open to show drooling, sharp yellow teeth and a big, green tongue. It had sharp claws on his hands and feet and a powerful tail that thudded against the ground. Its antennae wobbled in the air as it let out an unearthly screech. Without a second's hesitation, Goku charged with a flying kick, whizzing past Suno and Eighter to plant her foot right in the creature's stomach. Surprisingly, Buyon didn't react with pain or shock. It just laughed as Goku realized that her foot was stuck in its fat belly. Like some kind of slapstick cartoon, no sooner did Goku notice this then she went flying back out again, hitting the wall with the same force she'd thrown the kick.

"What the heck?" Goku muttered as she stood up and rubbed the back of her head. Buyon just laughed again. "Come on, Suno!" she yelled as she charged again. "We just gotta hit it harder!" Suno nodded and ran after Goku, driving a spinning kick into Buyon's head while Goku hammered away at its pot belly with lightning-fast punches. However, just like with Goku's kick, they were both sent flying. Before they could recover, electricity crackled between Buyon's antennae and zapped the both of them. The two girls screamed in pain as they were left completely immobilized. Buyon opened its mouth wide and its slimy green tongue shot out at the two of them like a snake.

Until an enormous foot stomped that tongue into the floor and Buyon shrieked with pain. Eighter stood between them and Buyon as the pink monstrosity flailed and tried to pull its tongue out from under his foot.

"Eighter?" Suno said as feeling returned to her limbs. "I thought you didn't want to fight." Eighter moved his foot off Buyon's tongue and it slunk back into its horrible maw. Eighter turned back to look at them with an almost forlorn expression.

"I do not," he said. "But I will if I have to." He dropped into a low stance, strangely similar to a sumo's. "Murasaki was right. I was designed to kill." His eyes scanned Buyon as it bared its fangs at him and let out a gurgling growl. "Threat identified," Eighter said in a cold and calculating tone, "Parameters recognized. Objective," though neither Goku nor Suno could see it with his back to them, Eighter's eyes flashed red. "Kill."

Eighter let out a deep roar and charged at Buyon who let out a warbling shriek in response and met his charge. They slammed into each other like a freight train colliding with a mountain of gelatin. He gripped Buyon's sides and slammed it into the ground but the creature's elastic qualities allowed it to bounce him right off. He landed on his feet and charged again as the creature got up. Eighter leaped over a swing of Buyon's tail and then brought an elbow down on its head. This time Buyon stumbled backwards but it still took no visible damage. He doggedly went to throw another punch but its jaws snapped out in a flash and closed around his fist. The android took his other fist and bashed it against the side of the monster's head over and over, grabbing and pulling at its antennae until it shrieked and released him, freeing Eighter's hand to reach into Buyon's mouth and rip out its vile green tongue.

Suno watched the bizarre battle with almost horrified fascination. It was like a fight right out of a monster movie! But she noticed that, even though Eighter's blows were moving Buyon, they still weren't hurting it. Suno tried to think of a way to get out of this problem but it was just too hot to think. As Suno wiped sweat off of her forehead, it hit her. The room was so warm. And everything kept bouncing off of Buyon like… like rubber.

"Goku!" Suno shouted to the other girl,then had to repeat herself because she was watching the fight with excited, starry-eyed attention. "Goku!" She blinked and shook her head to look at Suno.

"Yeah?" she asked. She was a little annoyed that Suno broke her concentration. This was such a cool fight! But Eighter did look like he needed their help.

"You need to let in the cold air!" Suno said, pointing at the wall behind Goku. "Smash down that wall!" She nodded and jumped at the wall, kicking it hard and punching a huge hole in it. A gust of icy wind flew into the room as the heat was sucked out. The second the cold air hit Buyon, the monster came to a sudden stop, freezing solid and turning a dark shade of blue. Seeing his opening, Eighter laced his fingers together and swung with a double hammerfist strike, shattering the chilled beast on impact. The bits and pieces tinkered to the ground like broken glass as the android looked back at them.

"Objective," he said, his voice softening and his posture relaxing, "Complete." He looked sadly at the girls and bowed his head. "I am sorry you had to see that."

"Are you kidding?" Goku said with a great big smile, jumping up and down. "That was amazing!" Eighter gave a tiny smile as Suno nodded.

"You were really incredible, Eighter," she told the android. "I'm not sure we could have beaten Buyon on our own." Eighter's smile got a little wider and he turned his eyes back up to the trap door.

"I believe," he said as he looked back to the two girls, "That we have an appointment with the General." Goku nodded and turned to Suno.

"Jump on my back!" she told the other girl. Suno took a moment to blink before shrugging and climbing onto Goku's back. Goku jumped up through the trapdoor easily and pointed her power pole back down into the hole when Suno climbed off. "Power Pole extend!" the pole flew right into Eighter's hand. "And retract!" Eighter zoomed up out of the hole and stood beside the girls as they turned to face the steel door.

OoOoOoO

Before, General White had been nervous. Now he was panicking. This was impossible. It was like a compounding series of calamitous events, an avalanche, a tidal wave of bad tidings that were all about to come crashing down around his head. How could one girl be so strong? How could two girls have such skill? Why did a death robot have a conscience?!

Or rather, he had been panicking up until a few seconds ago. Because a few seconds ago, he finally found the detonator. Now he had nothing to worry about.

"Let them come," the General muttered as his eyes swept over to side room where the village chief sat trapped in his cell. "We will all go to hell together!" Someone kicked down the door, maybe the little monster girl, maybe the robot. General White swivelled around in his chair with a manic look on his face. "Not one step closer!" he warned, shaking the detonator in a white-knuckled fist. "Give me the Radar and the Dragon Ball or I'll push the button!" he laughed maniacally and leaned over in the desk. "The bomb in that traitor is strong enough to kill everyone here! You! Me! Your stupid village chief! I don't care!" His wide eyes twitched and he stared at the girl in the orange clothes moving her lips. Some final prayer to her awful monster god?

OoOoOoO

"Power Pole extend," Goku whispered. The pole shot out and smashed into the General's hand. He dropped the remote and howled in pain, clutching his broken hand. Goku raised the staff and brought it down on the remote, shattering it and breaking the table in half. General White stared in wide-eyed pain and horror as the three of them advanced on him.

"Just give up!" Suno told him. "All of your soldiers and guardians have been taken out! Just let the chief go and crawl back to your master!" General White pushed away in his wheeled chair, gritting his teeth despite his pain.

"St-stay back!" he warned though his voice lacked any real conviction behind it. He finally found himself with his back to the wall and dropped his head in defeat. "All right, all right!" He stood up from the chair and walked to one side of the room. "You win. Here is your chief." He walked to a door and slowly opened it. It was all Suno could do not to balk. Were… were they keeping the village chief in a closet?! It looked like a cell, of course, but it was small enough to be a closet. Was this how little they thought of her town? The chief did look as tired as General White had told them when they first arrived. Worn out and weak, like he hadn't eaten or slept properly in days. The poor man. He took a few hobbling steps out of his cell but, in a manic flash of movement, General White wrapped the forearm of his broken hand around the chief's neck. "Not so fast!" he told them as he laughed again. He reached back with his good hand and pulled out a pistol. Goku wondered how the heck that was supposed to threaten her… until he pointed it at the village chief's head. "Let's try this again! Give me what I want! Take one more step or use your magic sticks and I'll blow this worthless old bastard's head right the hell off!"

"That's not fair!" Goku said angrily. Bullets couldn't hurt her or Eighter and Suno could probably dodge them. The old man wasn't a fighter! "Just how much of a fraidy-cat are you?" she asked General White with her fists balled in impotent rage.

"Please," pleaded Eighter. "Just let the village chief go! There is no need to risk any more innocent lives!"

The village chief cleared his throat suddenly to speak. "If I may. Don't worry about me! Just take care of this jerk and save my village!" Suno gasped in surprise and brought her hands to her mouth.

"Ch-chief!" she said, moved by the old man's selflessness. She nodded and dropped into a fighting stance. General White's arm tightened around his throat.

"O-Of course," he added, "If you could save me, that would be greatly appreciated!" It took all of Suno's strength to keep from face-planting. General White pointed the gun at Goku while still holding the chief's throat in his grip.

"Now, you!" he said, holding the gun in a shaking hand. "First, you are going to put down your staff! Then, roll the Dragon Ball over here, nice and easy!" Reluctantly Goku set down the Power Pole. However, as she reached into her shirt to hand over the six star Dragon Ball, General White's nerves finally seemed to snap. He fired and shot her right in the face. Suno had expected a great big nothing to happen but it must have been some kind of high-powered handgun because Goku flew into the wall and hit it with a thud before sliding down to the floor in a heap. Eighter was too stunned to move. Suno wasn't.

They'd killed her father, terrorized her home, and now this. How much more were they going to take from her? How much were they going to take from everyone else? How many more innocent people did they have to kill to achieve their goals?

Suno suddenly saw every detail of the room with absolute clarity as rage boiled her blood. Her mouth opened slowly and she let out a blood-curdling, hate-filled shriek as she charged at General White. The General fired in a blind panic but, to Suno, everything was moving in slow motion. Dodging the bullets was easy. She deftly side-stepped the shots as they blew chunks out of the floor where her feet had been less than a second beforehand. She leaped high into the air and drove her foot into the General's face, freeing the old man from his grasp. As soon as she touched the ground, she put all of her strength into a palm strike aimed at his kidney, the force of the blow causing it to rupture. She saw him try to take a blind swing at her but she caught his arm and twisted it around before driving the heel of her hand into his elbow, breaking it. A strike to his solar plexus was delivered with enough force to slightly lift him in the air before making him sink to his knees. A strike to his sternum fractured it and blasted him into the wall. He was at her mercy.

Suno's hands were a blur that would seem like quicksilver to almost anyone as she systematically delivered every killing strike she could think of. The force of her blows caused the wall to crack behind the General until one last strike to his heart caused it to break. Suno stood there, panting from exertion, and watched him fall straight to the bottom, screaming in terror and pain until he hit the ground.

Suno kept looking down to the ground to see if he would move. The cold from outside made her breath steam as she breathed heavily through her open mouth, her shoulders heaving. She'd beat him. But she was still angry. Goku was still dead. Her father, and several other villagers, were still dead. Was this what revenge felt like? Where you just felt hollow inside and the only thing left was the anger? Blood was pounding in Suno's ears, drowning out any sound. Suddenly, Suno felt a hand on her shoulder and almost fell out of the tower in shock. The hand's strong grip pulled her back in. It was too small to be Eighter's hand but that would mean… Suno turned around and broke out into a huge grin.

"Goku!" she cried with shocked relief, grabbing the other girl in a hug. Goku hugged her back as Suno buried her face in Goku's shoulder. "But I thought…" she said, her voice muffled. She pulled away to get a good look at Goku. Where General White had shot her there was a large, angry red welt but other than that she didn't look all that bad. Goku grinned wide and laughed a little.

"I'm fine," she assured her friend. "I was just dizzy from when he hit me." Her grin got even wider. "I saw what you did to that jerk, though. That was amazing!" Suno blushed and smiled, thankful that Goku hadn't really been hurt. "We should go back down and get our clothes." Suno nodded and the four of them made their way down to the bottom floor with Eighter carrying the village chief.

"I want to thank you for saving me," the old man said before looking up at Eighter. "All three of you." The robot smiled appreciatively. They eventually reached the bottom of the tower, having weaved their way through the unconscious bodies of several Red Ribbon Soldiers, and Suno and Goku bundled back up. Eighter opened up his jacket and tucked the village chief inside to shield him from the elements as they headed outside.

"Oh, wait!" Goku said before turning around while they stood outside Muscle Tower.

"What is it?" Suno asked. "Did you forget something?" Goku shook her head.

"I'm gonna make sure this place is never used to hurt anyone again!" Before Suno could ask what that meant, Goku dropped her hands to her side and glared at the building. "Kaaa…. meee…." Suno's eyes opened wide and she looked back at Eighter.

"Weeee better stand back!" she said hurriedly and the both of them hurried away to give Goku space.

"Haaa… meeee…." Goku threw out her hands as an enormous beam of blue-white light shot forth. "Haaaa!" It struck the base of Muscle Tower and blew a huge hole in it. Within seconds, the entire structure began to collapse, sending dust and snow up in all directions. Chunks of brick and mortar fell down as Muscle Tower crumbled down into rubble. Goku sighed and dropped her hands to her side. "Phew!" she said and ran her arm over her forehead. "I'm hungry!" They all laughed but the village chief's laugh was something of a nervous, braying sound.

OoOoOoO

To say the villagers were exuberant would have been an understatement. The destruction of Muscle Tower had drawn the attention of everyone in the village and they were practically dancing in the streets by the time the group returned. The second Goku and Suno set foot in the village, they were all but swarmed by the villagers and showered with praise. To Suno, who was used to living in the background, the experience was entirely alien and simultaneously disconcerting and pleasant. To Goku, however, this was basically just another day. Even Android Eight was lauded as a hero after a hasty introduction and explanation. The villagers were still cautious around him, no doubt due to his frightening appearance, but his personality soon set them at ease.

While Goku and Eighter mingled, Suno quietly slipped from the crowd. There was one person who was absent that she had to see even though it might not be pleasant. One person to whom she owed a serious explanation and apology for just slipping away like that, leaving only a note and a promise. One person to whom she needed to explain what she planned on doing next.

Suno nervously approached her house. Facing her own mother was somehow more difficult than running off with a perfect stranger to face the Red Ribbon Army. It's not like she felt guilty for what she had done but the manner in which she had done it certainly could have been more… tactful. All of the arguments she had given herself when she had made her decision now sounded pathetic as she stood in front of the door and imagined what lay in wait on the other side.

Shaking herself free of her thoughts for the time being, Suno slowly opened the door. "Mom?" she nervously called out. "I'm home." She had expected to find the house dimly lit and eerily quiet and find her mom in a completely disheveled state staring blankly into the unlit fireplace. What she found instead was the exact opposite. The lights were on, most of the damage from the gunfire was repaired, and the house was filled with a rather pleasant aroma.

"I'm in the kitchen, dear!" her mom called out. Suno gulped and slowly made her way to the kitchen where she found her mom preparing some sort of meat-based stew.

"Mom?" Suno said, unsure of what was going on or how to react.

"Yes, dear?"

"Are you okay?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

Suno licked her lips as she thought of exactly what to say next. Nothing she could read from her mother's aura suggested anger of any sort. It was as if she had just went to spend some time with one of the neighbors rather than run off to go on what should have been a suicide mission.

"Hey, mom, I'm- I'm sorry. For, you know, running off like that." Yuki said nothing so Suno continued on. "I-I know you must have been really worried. I mean, you've never really wanted me to practice martial artes in the first place and only let me because you hoped it'd make me see that what I wanted to do was impossible. I just- I just had to do something and Goku was here and she was so strong. I knew that this- that this was my one chance to actually make a difference. I hated what the Red Ribbon Army did to our village, to our family, and I wanted to stop them. To get revenge for dad. All my life, I've alway just been here doing nothing and I just really wanted to do more. I just really wanted to be someone. I should have talked to you about what I was planning to do before I left but I knew we'd end up fighting and every second we took was another second the Red Ribbon Army lorded over us. I don't regret what I did but… I'm sorry, mom."

While Suno talked, Yuki removed the stew from the heat and wiped off her hands before turning around. "Are you alright?" was the only thing she said.

"Huh?"

"Are you hurt?"

"N-no, not really."

"Good," Yuki sunk to her knees and wrapped her arms around Suno. At first, Suno did nothing but she soon broke down crying and threw her arms around her mother. They stayed like that- Suno crying as her mother stroked her hair and whispered into her ear- for an unknown length of time. When Suno finally started to calm down, Yuki spoke. "You don't have anything to apologize for," she said as she continued to stroke her daughter's hair. "You should have told me directly, yes, but I knew something like this would happen as soon as I saw Goku. You have too much of your father in you to just sit still and wait for things to get better. I'm just thankful that Goku was strong enough to make a difference." They stayed silent for a moment. When Suno's crying didn't completely abate, Yuki took a shot in the dark. "You want to go with Goku, don't you?" Suno slowly nodded. Yuki pulled back slightly and used the edge of her apron to dry her daughter's tears. "If your father were still alive, I know he'd completely support you in this. I'd give him grief for it and we'd bicker for a while. He'd say that I'm just being overprotective and that you're strong enough to handle this. I'd say that you're just a child and I don't want you running off so soon. We'd go back and forth before he'd eventually manage to worm past my arguments and I'd cave and let you go. Given how much you're like your father, the exact same thing would happen if I said you couldn't go. I think all of that arguing would spoil the mood, though, so I think I'll just skip it and go straight to the ending."

Suno looked at her mother in awe, "You mean-"

Yuki held up a finger, "But there are a few things I need to cover. First, I want you to promise to be as careful as you can be. Second, I want you to promise to come back if you ever feel like you're in over your head. Third, I want you to promise to come back once you've done what you need to. Are we clear?" Suno noded. "Good. Lastly, there's this," Yuki reached behind her neck and undid the clasp on her necklace. It was a simple necklace, all things considered, but beautiful all the same. Its chain was made from silver and in the crystal shaped pendant sat a polished piece of topaz. "This necklace," Yuki began as she started to put it on her daughter, "was given to me by your father as a wedding present. He said that the gem brought out the fire in my eyes whenever I was passionate about something. I want you to have it."

Suno carefully lifted the pendant to look at it. She had long since been beyond words and this last act was more than she could handle. Once again, Suno found herself crying into her mother's shoulder.

OoOoOoO

Dinner that night was surprisingly quiet. Many of the people in the town wanted to hold a great feast in Goku and Suno's honor. To Suno's surprise, however, Goku had turned it down.

"I was just doing the right thing," Goku had told them. "If you want to throw a party for yourselves, just do it!" So it had just been the four of them. Well, three. Eighter didn't eat but he liked their company. That had been a very strange introduction for her mother. However, like everyone else in town, she warmed up to him once she got to know the android a little better.

"You know what's weird?" Suno asked while they were eating. Goku could only give an inquisitory grunt with four of Suno's sweet rolls filling her cheeks. "We never saw the Dragon Ball," she turned to Goku. "Isn't that what you came here for?" That was when Eighter decided to speak up.

"You've had the Dragon Ball ever since you defeated Murasaki," he told them, sitting in his comically small chair. Then he reached up put one hand on top of his head. They watched in bizarre fascination as he unscrewed the top of his head like a jar. Holding the top of his head in one hand, he reached inside his head with the other hand and pulled out the Dragon Ball. "I found it in the snow one day but I kept it hidden. I heard them saying that once they found the Dragon Ball, they were going to kill everyone in the village." On that morbid thought, Goku plucked the Dragon Ball out of Eighter's hand, rolling it around to get a look at the number of stars.

"Aw," she muttered with palpable disappointment. "It's the two-star." She sighed and shrugged. "Guess I gotta keep looking." She tilted her head back and yawned. Yuki smiled and stood up to gather the dishes.

"Well," she said affectionately, "Before you go looking for anything else, I think you two brave warriors should get some rest." Goku and Suno nodded, both suddenly exhausted as if all of the day's excitement had finally caught up with them, and headed off to get ready for bed.

"Hey, Goku?" Suno whispered in the dark when they'd brushed their teeth, put on pajamas, and gone down to sleep.

"Yeah?"

"Mom says I can go with you." Goku grinned widely and was clearly excited at that idea.

"That's great!" she said eagerly. She yawned again but Suno had to say one more thing before they fell asleep.

"Goku?"

"Uh huh?"

"Thank you so much. For saving the village chief and the village. For everything."

Goku smiled. "Don't thank me yet!" she said, though it was more cheerful and excited than sarcastic as people would usually say that. "The adventure's just getting started!" Then, like a switch had gone off, she was unconscious and snoring softly. Suno giggled a little before closing her eyes and dozing off herself.

OoOoOoO

The next morning was full of even more excitement as everyone gathered around in the village square to wish Suno and Goku safely off on their journey. Eighter had promised to look after the village while Suno was away in case any Red Ribbon forces returned to the area. However, there was one particular thing Suno had to ask Goku before they went in search of the next Dragon Ball.

"Goku," she said as she adjusted the straps of the red knapsack on her shoulders. "How are we going to get to the Dragon Balls?" Goku shrugged and scratched almost bashfully at the back of her head.

"I guess we'll have to walk!" she said simply. This time, Suno couldn't stop herself from face-planting. "I just wish that Red Ribbon jerk hadn't blown up my Nimbus Cloud," she muttered and kicked at the snow. Suno stood up and brushed herself off.

"Hang on. You have a Nimbus Cloud?!"

Goku nodded sullenly. "I had one. That Red Ribbon guy killed it. That's why I took his plane." Suno just laughed.

"Goku," she said as she shook her head, "Haven't you heard the stories? You can't kill a Nimbus Cloud! Try to summon it, go ahead!" Goku shrugged and looked up to the sky.

"Nimbus!" There was a moment of silence before the bright yellow cloud whooshed down from the sky. Goku got starry-eyed and her smile was big enough to split her head as she jumped up and hugged the cloud. The entire town gasped in astonishment at the sight of the Nimbus Cloud. Most of them, except for the elderly, had never actually seen one before in their lives. Goku laughed and hopped onto the cloud, patting a space behind her for Suno as she pulled out her Dragon Radar. Suno climbed up onto the Nimbus and squished on it with her hands. It was like sitting on a marshmallow. Goku grunted and shook the radar.

"What's wrong?" Suno asked. Goku groaned.

"The Radar's not working! It must have gotten busted one of those times I hit the wall."

"Well, what about that Bulma girl?" Suno suggested. "You said she built it. I bet she could fix it!" Goku brightened up quickly.

"Oh, hey! You're right!" Goku smiled and tucked the Dragon Radar again. It would be nice to see Bulma again.

"So… where does Bulma live?" Suno asked. Goku chewed her lip for a moment.

"...West," she finally decided. Suno blinked.

"Like… West City?" she offered, desperately reaching for something tangible. Goku shrugged.

"Sure," she said. "Which way is that?" Suno sighed and looked up at the sky. If the sun was that way then west would be…

"That way," Suno said and pointed over Goku's shoulder. Goku nodded and gripped Nimbus in both hands.

"Let's go, Nimbus!" she shouted and Suno squealed with surprise as the cloud launched into the air, leaving her little world behind.

Z/N: I've made some tweaks to Chapters 10 and 11. Suno's backstory has been slightly lengthened and the ki sensing has been changed to something else.