The day was coming to a swift end as the sun finally began to set over the mountains, casting a bright and gentle orange glow over the entire area before the adventuring pair of Bulma Trunks and Son Goku. As the two drove close to a nearby bridge where a small owl wearing a cute green hat with a red star on it feasted on a mouse while being perched on a tree branch, Bulma, now clad in black biker jacket, green pants, and black boots after she had changed herself following the scare and her little...accident earlier, closed her eyes and hummed silently so that the boy holding on to her didn't hear her and ask questions about why she was humming. As the cool, gentle air breezed in her hair and caressed her skin, she thought on how quickly things were going to fall into place when it came to the Dragon Balls from here. She already had three and now she just needed to find four more and one of those four was incredibly close and another one was on an island some distance off from the fourth one and seemed to be...rapidly moving? It didn't matter to her, she would go after that moving one after she got the one they were currently tracking down, which hopefully wasn't too far away. Her only problem was the absolute buffoon that she had been forced to deal with on her journey. Was Goku a help in protecting her? Yes, but God almighty, was he annoying as all hell and a sheer annoyance from just existing. Why oh why couldn't some gentleman be paired up with her for this adventure instead of this ape? Oh well, this would all be worth it in the end. She would wish for a boyfriend from Shenron, he would grant her wish, and the two would live out the rest of their days together with Goku being cast back into the wild, where he belonged, though she felt a bit sorry for the kid. Maybe, if he promised to behave himself, they would take care of him. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea.
"Hey!" Goku's voice snapped the young girl out of her thoughts. "We only need four more balls, right?" He asked, curiosity clear in his voice as well as wonder and excitement at his first real taste of adventure in...well, probably his entire life. "That'll be a snap!"
Bulma rolled her eyes at his naivete. If only it were so easy. "'A snap', he says." She sighed sadly as she spotted a local , she felt her eyes getting heavy as she fought back a yawn. "I guess you wouldn't know how big the world is living all the way out here." She dismissed him as she continued to drive toward the forest clearing, easing her feet on the brakes to slow down the bike. That was the perfect place to rest for the night. Then she heard the boy's stomach gurgle.
"I'm starvin'!"
"It's getting dark too." She said, letting out a loud yawn as the bike finally came to a stop. "Guess we'll call it a day." With the bike now stopped, Bulma fished into her purse for another capsule for what she was looking for while Goku jumped off the bike, the ground making a soft thud as he landed.
"I call the soft leaves for my bed!" He exclaimed. Bulma rolled her eyes at such a ridiculous idea.
"As if!" She replied haughtily before pulling out the capsule box with a smirk. "Do you think a babe like me would sleep on the forest floor?" Goku looked back at her and stupidly shrugged. Of course a rude little child like him wouldn't get it. Just a little longer Bulma, and then you'd be free of this menace.
"Where else are you going to sleep?" He asked with a brow raised in confusion. "There aren't any houses around."
Bulma smiled with glee as she flicked open the capsule box. "Capsule time!" She exclaimed happily and grabbed the one she needed. This technology was going to be very helpful for her entire journey. She just knew it.
Goku merely gaped. "Wha?!" It was clear he did not expect capsules to be as multi-purpose as they actually were. "No way! Don't tell me you gotta house in one o' those things!"
Once more, Bulma rolled her eyes at the boy's naivete. "Oh please." She held back a rather unladylike snort. "They're hoi-poi capsules." Goku held a face of understanding as Bulma prepared to unplug the capsule she had in mind to use and facing the clearing's field. "That looks like a nice level spot." She then turned to Goku as she prepared to throw. "Better clear out, monkey boy!" As Goku ran, Bulma unplugged the capsule and tossed it at the clearing where it exploded upon making an impact. Once the smoke cleared, a small white dome building with windows on the top and side, a chimney, an antenna, buttons to lock the door, and a big red number one above the door laid in the clearing. Bulma smiled as she approached, readying herself for a nice long bath, some grub, and then a long sleep. Hopefully, the boy learned about personal space when sleeping but she doubted it. "Ah, how lovely." she sighed before turning back to Goku, who was shaking in place with fear, with a teasing grin. "Well, are you still lusting after those leaves?" She mocked him.
The boy, still violently shaking, grabbed his staff and nervously pointed it at the girl. "Are you s-s-sure you're not a witch?" His voice chattered as he asked.
"Cold enough to come in yet?" Bulma replied simply before entering the building and clapping. "Clap on!" And like that, the building's lights all came on, revealing its interior. There was a cabinet next to the door, a plant, a blue chair right next to the table, a bedroom, a small kitchen area, a television, and a bathroom. All things someone needed to get by while adventuring. The girl approached the chair, taking off her purse and gloves before taking off her jacket and beginning to fold it as she took a seat.
Goku let out a surprised sound, something between a squawk and a choked gasp, as he walked inside. "You are a witch!" He accused her as he took in his new surroundings, closing the door behind him. "You turned night into day!"
"You really don't know about lights?" More and more this boy kept surprising her and not in a good way. "You've got a long way to go, Tarzan." Smiling at how simple minded the boy was, she knew the perfect distraction for him to be taken by. Walking over to the television, she flicked it on while saying "Watch this," before smiling as Goku waddled on over to the box that was playing footage of a live concert and gaped at it in shock, letting out a chuckle as he did so.
Carefully, Goku tapped the screen with his staff. "Hey, get outta that box, you midget!" He said to the singer on the screen, thinking the people on the television could hear him. Before Bulma could continue to soak in her victory, however, a horrific and odorous smell infected her nostrils. Taking a whiff near the boy, she almost gagged and pinched her nose in disgust.
"You're stinking up the place!" She groaned in disgust as she glared at the boy who turned at her and tilted his head. "You're taking a bath before we eat."
The boy raised a confused eyebrow. "Bath?" He asked, curious and unaware of the horror that was slowly creeping onto Bulma's face at that very moment. "What's a bath?"
Bulma immediately shrieked as all the times Goku touched her and got close to her and...and..."EW!" She yelled as she repulsed backwards and stared in horror. "You're kidding right?!" A shake of the head caused her to growl and roughly drag the boy to the bathtub. "Why is every minute of my time spent being near you some sort of misery?" Upon reaching the tub, she immediately stripped the boy naked and threw a pink towel at him so he could cover himself before getting soap, shampoo, and a scrubber and making sure the hose worked. Once everything was situated, she stared at the boy once more. "C'mere squirt!" And when she noticed he was curiously investigating the towel and not covering himself up, ensuring his little wee was left out and about, she yelled out, "WOULD YOU COVER YOURSELF UP?!"
Roughly placing the boy in the tub, she growled and grimaced as the smell of what was probably years of the boy not washing himself hit her nose full force. Why didn't she bring a clothespin? Squirting a large dab of shampoo on her hands, she relentlessly scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed at his scalp, trying her hardest to get rid of the stretch and dirt and grime that infested his hair and she was hit by the immediate blueberry scent of the shampoo in her nostrils, which made her feel slightly better. However, the boy who was squirming beneath her was not making this bath easy. "W-what's this?" Goku asked as he grabbed a handful of the shampoo suds and investigated it, though thankfully, he didn't try to ingest it. "It feels weird."
"OH SHUT UP!" She angrily barked before growling, "Do you know how many guys dream of me bathing them?" She groaned before muttering under her breath, "This is a total waste of my babe-itude!" Then she sprayed the shampoo out of his hair before getting the scrubber. "Ok, turn around now." She said as she directed the boy, who probably idiotically had his eyes open as the shampoo streamed down his face and got in his eyes, leading to him wiping them. Then, she noticed something odd. "Huh?" She hummed in confusion as she saw the tail from earlier still attached to this stupid little kid. She smiled, maybe he was very attached to that phony tail. "What a dork!" she almost laughed, almost, before grabbing hold of the tail firmly. "You actually attached this phony tail to your butt?" She said as Goku, now having cleared the shampoo from his eyes,looked back at her in confusion.
"What phony tail?"
Grabbing the fake tail, she yanked it, hard, to remove the obstruction to his back and butt. "Take it off!" she explained as she yanked and pulled as hard as she could but oddly, the tail refused to budge. "It's in the way!"
"Owwww!" Goku screeched in pain as he struggled and squirmed to get away from Bulma. "Don't pull it!" he begged before he used his tail to grab the scrubber. "See, I can wash my own butt!" Then he started scrubbing away at his butt happily. "How'm I doing?" He asked proudly. Bulma, who was staring at the boy in shock, had only one response.
"GYAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"
As Bulma and Goku began to settle down for the night with the makeshift home to sleep in for the night, in another part of the world, our little blue quilled friend was speeding along along the terrain of Green Hills, searching for anything more that was out of the ordinary as he continued his hunt for Eggman and more strange orbs and crystals that he had gotten earlier,feeling that both were important but not quite yet knowing why they were important to anybody. Thus, here he was, still patrolling Green Hills on what many would call a fruitless search. However, with every step forward, he felt he was closer to encountering Eggman for the very first time and also freeing the entire area from the grasp of the mad scientist. That was his ultimate goal in all of this, to encounter the doctor and put a stop to his deeds for , if he did good enough here, Mighty and Ray and Chuck would hear about what he did and finally find him, in the best case scenario.
As he arrived at yet another area of Green Hills he usually patrolled, what he so lovingly dubbed Zone 2, he smiled at the familiar sights. Then, he frowned when he saw Eggman's machines, the metallic, robotic prisons for his little critter friends, infested the area in all shapes and sized. There was crab robots, fish robots, centipede robots, dragonfly robots, ladybug robots, if you could name it, it was probably in the zone. Sonic could appreciate the hard work one could put into their craft but at the same time, the jerkwad was taking away everyone's freedom for his own sick amusement and to the freedom loving hedgehog, that just could not fly. That's what led him to slowly approach a log bridge near a waterfall where he saw two fish robots jumping in and out of the water, and below the log bridges was even more robots, spikes, and even some springs to jump around on.
'Huh,' he thought to himself, rubbing a finger on the underside of his nose, 'how convenient. Neat.' He usually loved to move quickly and speedily from place to place and also jumped quite a bit if it could save him a few extra steps in the journey from A to Z, so this was a big help. The reveal of the more robots also showed him where more of his friends were and that have him more hope he could free them all. Going straight first onto the log bridge, he immediately almost got chomped on by both of the fish bots only for him to narrowly avoid them and dodge out of the way just in time to not gain an injury and then shifted himself, jumping upwards, curling into a spiky ball, and colliding with both bots, freeing both critters from their contraptions. Immediately, they ran to the safe side of the bridge, to the part of Green Hills, but before they left the area completely, he stopped them and showed both the orb and the crystal.
"Do either of you two know what these are?" Both shook their heads in denial at the question that was signed. Then one signaled why he was asking about it so he explained. "I don't know why, but earlier, when I found this orb, I felt some kind of strange aura pulling me towards it. As for the crystal, there was a giant ring floating in the air and I decided to jump into it to see what it was about and when I entered, I saw some kind of world that revolved around this crystal." Both critters looked at one another before nodding and quickly explained how there was a second ring just at the very end of this area, which caused the hedgehog to raise a brow in curiosity. Two crystals near each other in the same area? "Is Eggman involved?" At their confused expressions, he explained, "The guy who put you in this mess, is he doing so." Both shrugged, insisting that they could only sense the ring from inside the robot but nothing else.
Just before he was about to run off to continue his quest to save the rest of the area, however, he was held back as one of the critters ran behind a boulder and gifted him a little pouch to carry the things he was holding onto. Admittedly, it would be difficult to hold onto everything if he continued collecting these strange orbs and crystals and the pouch would make things a hundred times easier. "Thanks, you two." He smiled as he signed, leaning down to pet their heads, which both leaned into happily. "I'll make the best use of this pouch that I can. You two stay safe, alright?" And with a final nod, the two critters were finally off as Sonic placed the pouch over his shoulder and put the orb and crystal in it before starting to continue to run off to the rest of Green Hill Zone 2 to see what he could change and fix, stopping Eggman in the process. He just hoped the ring was still there when he arrived, something told him that Eggman even finding one of those strange crystals would be bad news for everyone on the planet. That was simply something he could not allow, not in five million years, not if it meant eternal slavery and oppression under the false idea of technological progress. That was no way to live, no way to enjoy life, no way to experience life's wonders and he would stop it and would continue to stop it for as long as he lived.
Charging ahead, he crossed the log bridge that was ahead of him and jumped down from the little cliff onto the nearby boulder and its spring. Launched into the air, he curled into a ball and directed himself down onto the ground under the bridge in front of the waterfall. Rolling to a stop, he quickly spun and redirected himself to go straight into a wall, which led to him curling into a ball once more and using his momentum to carve a path through the solid rock. When he uncurled himself, he winced as he heard a gigantic thud that echoed everywhere. 'I'lllllll check that later...' the Hedgehog thought to himself nervously, even though he quite clearly already knew what had happened behind him. Continuing to run ahead, he dodged a laser heading for him from above and looked to see a flying robot pointing its stinger at him and preparing another blast. Immediately, Sonic once more jumped upwards and collided with the outer casing of the machine, cracking it and freeing the little critter inside. Grabbing the little guy, Sonic landed on his feet and put his friend down before signing him off.
"Alright, go off that way," he signed, pointing backwards before realizing the there was a large cliff in the way, the same cliff that he had...carved a path through just second ago...Oh..."Sorry about that, buddy." he signed as he let out a silent nervous snicker. "Just uh, stay here and, uhm...wait, I guess..." And just like that, the awkward conversation ended as Sonic zoomed forward to continue on his path to free the area from Eggman's control. As he continued to charge forward, he would smash a ladybug robot, fell off a little cliff and smashed a second one, ran into a dragonfly robot and then charged up a natural ramp that sent him flying upwards. Seeing a second flying bot in his path, he instinctively curled into a ball and smashed through it, freeing another small friend of his before gravity brought him careening down. Uncurling at just the right time, he landed on his feet and used the momentum to continue to propel himself forward, the wind gushing past his ears and blowing through his fur and quills as he did so. He loved this feeling, the feeling of pure, unadulterated freedom, of going where he wanted when he wanted and only feeling the air around him as he ran. That's what made him so unique. That's what made him so happy, after all. As he continued running ahead, he noticed a similar loop hill that was just like the one from earlier in his path way. Instead of stopping, he just continued running and easily completed the loop in one go before running up a second ramp that once again sent him flying into the air that sent him over a chasm and crashing onto a ladybug robot that freed one more friend before he turned his attention forwards, jumping up some little mounds and finishing up the robots in his path as he charged straight through a tunnel, where he curled into a ball and rolled downward from, his momentum propelling him forward until he saw a ring floating high above him. With a deep breath, he jumped upwards and forwards, speeding through the air and directly into the ring, which shined and glowed as he made contact and disappeared from his home dimension.
After a harsh flash of white, Sonic looked to see that he was indeed in the same place where he had found the blue crystal earlier on and felt a similar pull to the center as he did earlier. When he put his hand on the pouch too, he also felt a small burning sensation and realized it was the blue crystal heating up when in close proximity to another crystal that was similar to it. Taking a look at his surroundings, Sonic noticed the area he was in was different from before. The sky was bright with teals and greens that consistently shifted into...origami birds flying in the sky? Huh, weird. He was also standing on blue and green squares that constantly flashed and changed colors and right in front of him was white and red colored circles to his left and to his right a black and yellow circle with a giant blue R on it. Taking in even more of his surroundings, he noticed quite clearly that there were more of those circles in the area around him. This whole place just felt really off to him, but still, he needed to be here to prevent Eggman from getting the crystals. He also felt one misstep and one wrong move would ruin his goals.
Walking forward, being careful to avoid the motion sickness and being sent flying like he was before as the world spun with him in it, he looked down, forwards, and upwards to see what was before him. Directly in front of him was more of those circles in peppermint but looking upwards, he saw more of those same circles and more of those R circles along with blue and red circles with yellow stars on them that seemed extra bouncy for some reason and at the very top was seven red circles. Looking down, he saw circles and squares that were similar to the ones he had seen above him and while he couldn't see much ahead of him, he figured he just needed to keep bouncing off the circles until he reached the center and got the crystal that was in this part of the dimension. There was a bit of a hunch that he should avoid the red circles, however, if he sought the crystals. They just looked dangerous.
Jumping off the squares, he bounced off the circles and was sent upwards, almost going straight into the red circles above him only for a miraculous turn of the world sent him into more squares. Using the brief reprieve, he carefully maneuvered himself along the squares and peppermint circles, landing on one very close to the edge while the world kept spinning. Looking down, he saw more circles, more squares, and even some diamond shaped objects that glowed yellow, green, and blue before he noticed the yellow crystal at the very heart of them. Looks like he had to confront it all directly. Oh well, here goes nothing he supposed. Jumping down, he landed on some peppermint circles that he jumped off of, hitting a square before being sent into a diamond. Bouncing off that, he hit a circle and hit the diamond again and this happened one more time before it disappeared. He would continue this process several more times, almost falling into the red circles at the bottom at one point before the world once again saved him. Finally, he reached the heart of the area and grabbed the yellow crystal in the center of it all. Immediately feeling a surge of energy and power, everything spun around him before flashing a bright white as he returned to his home dimension.
As Sonic came too, he recognized he was on his stomach on the ground with a pounding headache. Gaia, he would probably never get used to that place, ever. He noticed some of the little critter friends he had freed earlier were now surrounding him looking at him with concern and worry. "Don't worry about me." he signed before waving them off. "I'm fine, a bit dizzy is all. Now go, let me worry about Eggman for now." The critters shared a look before reluctantly leaving, allowing Sonic to think on his lonesome. First things, first, where was that yellow...ah, there it was! He walked a few steps forward and picked it up from the ground before gently placing it in the pouch right next to the blue crystal and the orb, feeling the energy radiating off both crystals now that they were together. Whoa, if that was just two of them, then what would it look like if he had a complete set, however many that was. Taking a deep breath, he looked ahead and smiled. He figured his first meeting with Eggman was just up ahead and well, Uncle Chuck raised a very polite hedgehog who did not want to be late for meetings. Thus, he ran ahead, ready to finish up Green Hills and bring Eggman's control to an end.
As Sonic was heading off to complete his quest in Green Hills and face Eggman for the first time, Bulma and Goku were having a completely different interaction. "Y...y...you re...really...h...ha...have a...t...t...tail!" Bulma stuttered out as the traumatic experience of realizing that the tail was in fact real and not glued on came crashing down upon her, the tealette slamming her curled fists on her bed as she sat on it, staring at the little boy in surprise while shaking.
Meanwhile, Goku nonchalantly stared at her in curiosity while drying off her hair. "I din' think you'd be so surprised." He said as if everyone had a tail before a sudden recognition hit him. "Oh right!" He said, leaving the towel on his head as he slammed a fist into his palm and smiled at the realization. "You don't have one." He shrugged as he went back to drying himself off from his bath. "Guess it's just a guys thing." He shrugged.
As Goku didn't really consider the implications of this, Bulma, however, was having a full on meltdown. "Guys have...?" She questioned, raising a brow, before shaking her head furiously. "No, no, they can't..." If they did, her father would have a lot of explaining to do, along with a lot of other men she knew, but that little inkling in her brain went back to her. "But..."She blushed furiously as the next thought appeared in her head and she spoke it aloud. "I-it's not like I've even seen a naked guy's butt before..." Suffice to say, Bulma was in quite the internal dilemma. What would she say to her father. You don't go "Hi, daddy, can you tell me all about your tail!" out of nowhere, who in the world starts a conversation like that?! Her scientific curiosity demanded answers, but she was far too nervous to actually act upon her-
"But, wait a minute," Goku interrupted her internal panic, holding a finger up to his chin and thinking hard. "My dead grandpa didn't have one and he was a guy..."
Bulma pointed harshly at the boy,looking for any way to get out of the nightmare her mind had given her. "You see?! You see?!" She exclaimed loudly, as if what Goku said was God's personal gift to her. "It's not normal, guys don't have tails!"
Goku chuckled in response. "O'course, my grandpa was kind weird..." He said to Bulma's incredulous expression, raising a finger as if he just made a great point.
"YOU'RE THE WEIRD ONE HERE!" Bulma yelled at the boy, aghast at how he didn't realize that he was, in fact, the weird guy and not other guys who didn't have tails. Why was she stuck with him?!
Goku once more shrugged and began to put his gi back on. "Oh well!" He said as he beamed brightly at Bulma, who could only twitch her eyes in annoyance at him. "Who cares?"
"...I take it back..." Bulma said, shaking her head exasperatedly while walking to the bathroom to take her own bath. "'Weird' doesn't even come close." And with that, she stripped her clothes off and dipped into the bubble filled bathtub and began to consider what was up with the young lad. "Is he for real?" She raised an eyebrow in thought as she recalled their interactions for the entire day. "He acts like I'ma witch or something when he's totally like something that jumped out of a horror-" It was at that moment she noticed Goku was standing next to the tub looking at her. Immediately in reaction, she dunked herself in the water to cover up her entire body and stared at the boy angrily as she looked out, her teal hair straight and wet. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!" She screamed at him with a glare so full of venom a King Cobra would die from it in seconds.
Sadly, Goku was unaffected, it seems. "So instead of a tail, you've got an extra butt on your chest..." The boy stated so matter-of-factly that one could assume he had discovered the meaning of life from that statement alone.
God, please save her before she gets an aneurysm from this boy and his nonsense. "It's not a butt, you dolt!" She exclaimed angrily as she submerged her body up to her neck in the tub to keep Goku from continuing to stare at it. "They're called boobs!" And because her ego and narcissism was a bit too much. "And when you're older, you'll think mine are incredible!" Sighing, she sunk a bit deeper in the water. "Yeesh..." She looked at the boy. "How old are you anyway, kid?" She had a feeling she was going to regre-
"How old am I?" Goku looked at his fingers and counted. "I'm fourte-" He was immediately cut off as a sudden scream pierced the room and stuff was flung straight at him.
"EEEKKKK!" Bulma screeched, her face red hot in embarrassment and fury as she sent a barrage of things at the boy to get him to leave. "Perv! Voyeur!" She shouted as Goku ran out of the room with a confused expression on his face as stuff kept being thrown at him. "You're only two years younger than me!" Minutes later, Bulma was in a nightgown dying and brushing her hair while glaring at Goku while the boy stood there with his tummy growling. "Next time you pull that, I'm calling the cops!" She warned.
Goku, as per usual throughout the day, didn't seem like he was listening, more focused on filling his gut instead. "I'm starvin." He said,looking at the girl, who rolled her eyes at being ignored again. She hated this brat. A few minutes later, the girl laid out a nice little dinner for the both of them, with veggies, bread, and coffee for both of them to enjoy. Cautiously, Goku sniffed at the bread. 'This is food?' he thought suspiciously before grabbing it and trying to put it in his mouth and expect the hardness and toughness of meat but instead got something soft and floury. "This 'bread' all soft and nasty!" Then he used a spoon and tried to eat the dark brown soup in a mug and almost spat it out in disgust at how bitter it was. "And this soup's bitter!" He yelled out with his tongue in the open, trying to get that horrific taste out of his mouth.
Bulma sighed, not even bothering to try to understand him anymore. "It's coffee, you moron." She said, done with his antics. At this point, she just anted to sleep. "Maybe if you knew how to eat, you wouldn't be a shrimp." She felt that that final jab was necessary.
Deciding this food was not to his liking, Goku immediately stepped down from the table and put on his shoes while smiling. "I'm gonna go get some real good!" He exclaimed happily.
Bulma raised a brow at this. "Huh? What? You're going out?" Did he really not like the bread and coffee that much?
"I'll be right back!" and with that, the boy was off. Seconds later, a wolf's howl was heard through the night air that was immediately cut off by a yelp and a whine before silence. A few minutes after that, Goku knocked on the door once more. "I'm Ho-o-o-o-o-me!" He sang as he continued to knock.
Bulma, who was reading a newspaper about what was going on, and was particularly interested in this story about that mad scientist, Dr. Robotnik, who had stolen her dad's fame and credit and was now seeking to create an amusement park for every child on a random island somewhere, looked up in curiosity. "Huh?" She looked at the clock and raised her brows a bit in surprise. "That was quick.
When she walked over and opened the door, she expected something. Instead, what she got was..."Look!" Goku happily exclaimed, showing off his hunt. "I caught a wolf!" Tied to his red staff was a clearly dead brown wolf who had been hit several times on the head quite brutally. "And a centipede for flavor!" Inhis other hand was, in fact, a centipede. "You wanna have some?"
"EEEEEYAAAAAAGGGGGHHH!" Bulma screamed in primal fear, disgust, and terror at the sheer idea of eating wolf mixed with Centipede. Just what in the hell was this boy made out of?!
Later on, Goku was eating the Wolf that was flavored in Centipede juices with the body roasting over an open fire and periodically poking at it to see how tender it was. Eventually, he looked at Bulma, who was staring at the boy and his prize from the window in stunned fascination. "Are you sure you don't want any?" He called out to her, ready to carve out a slab of juicy meat for her. "I could cook yours medium!"
The girl turned away from the window in disgust. "Shut up!" She yelled loud enough for him to hear. "I don't even want to think about it!" Just the thought made her wanna...wanna...Brgh...no, stop thinking about it Bulma, just go to bed! Hopefully things will be normal tomorrow, this would all have been a horrible nightmare, and there would be no Goku near her.
Once Goku was finished with his meal, he ran into the house, leaving the skeleton after smothering the flames, and sighed aloud. "Whoo!" He stated tiredly. "Well off to dreamland." He approached his futon, ready to go to sleep.
Bulma, however, disapproved of what he was doing. "At least brush your teeth!"
Goku jumped on and laughed with joy as Bulma got the sleeping supplied out. "Whe-eee! This "futon" is gonna be fun!" Then he turned to the girl, who stared back at him disapprovingly as he wore out HER futon, and smiled warmly. "And I haven't slept with someone for a while."
Bulma was offended by such a suggestion. "Slept with?" She raised a brow before gritting her teeth. Goku was fourteen, not five, why did he need to sleep with anybody?! "You have got to be kidding me!" She laid out a green blanket and yellow-ish futon. "Here's your blanket and here's the floor!" She said, point at them.
Goku's tone became disappointed and saddened. "We're sleeping apart?"
"Well duh!" Bulma exclaimed as if it was the most obvious observation ever. "An' if you try anything, you're dead!"
"But I always used Grandpa as a pillow." He said as he thought fondly on those memories. "It was so soft and comfy..." He hummed.
Bulma wasn't having any of it. "I AM NOT YOUR PILLOW!" Grumbling, she walked to the bathroom as Goku settled in for the night, starting the sink and grabbing toothpaste and a toothbrush and filling a nearby cup with with water to swish and spit out when she was finished. As she brushed her teeth,a thought crossed her mind. "So it was just you and your grandfather, right?" She looked at the boy, as if expecting him to give a reasonable answer. "What about your parents?"
"I dunno." Goku, who was now entirely under the blanket, shrugged. "I guess they must've abandoned me in the forest as a baby." he smartly began to chuckle at the idea of his origins. "Then Grandpa found me and decided to keep me!" He let out a small little laugh as Bulma looked at him with a small pang of pity and empathy.
"How can you laugh about something like that?" She asked. Deciding to lighten the mood a bit, she added, "They probably left you because you had a tail."
"Were you abandoned because you have a butt on your chest?"
"I told you, they're boobs, B-O-O-B-S!" Bulma exclaimed angrily at him, her cheeks dusted in a light shade of pink. "And who said I was abandoned?!" Sighing, she began to explain her story after taking a swig of her mug and sloshing it before spitting it out. "I just happen to be on summer vacation from school, so I'm taking advantage of it." She said contemplatively. "I've only got another 30 days to find the other Dragon Balls. I don't have all year like you...And..." She clenched her fist tightly. "A few years ago, this fat jerk came around, Ivo Robotnik was his name." She began. "He first started working with my father and there was a lot of good achieved, but then he showed off his machines, he called them badniks, and they were amazing, greater than anyone could've ever imagined. He and dad worked on them and got everything done together, but of course, he gave no credit to my father and took it all for himself. So while this is for my own personal quest for the Dragon Balls, I also...want to help my father regain some of his lost fame and make it easier on the both of us. Who knows, maybe I can rub in finding all the Dragon Balls in Ivo's fat mustached face, too." She chuckled a bit at the thought of that, only to hear snoring. Turning, she frowned and growled as she saw Goku fast asleep. "Tch..." She tsked angrily. "At least listen when you ask." And like that, the girl went to bed and Goku and Bulma's first day together finally came to a close.
Back with Sonic, the small Hedgehog had no idea of the desire to put Eggman in his place felt by Bulma Briefs miles and miles away from him. Instead, his sole focus was freeing the rest of Green Hill from Eggman and even defeating him wherever he may appear. Running forward, he noticed a large spring and decided to jump right on it, which sent him into the air and caused him to land on a cliff where he collided with a flying bot and freed a friend. Continuing to run forward, he jumped and weaved, dodging attacks and smashing the robots and machines whenever he could while still making sure his pouch was closed to ensure the orb and crystals didn't come spilling out at the worst possible time. It wasn't long before he ran through a tunnel, around a loop-de-loop hill, and across a bridge that was under a waterfall while freeing his friends in the process and soon, he eventually reached an area where there was wide open space with two floating little ground spots in the air that the little Hoglet supposed he could jump on. He didn't know the science of that junk but he supposed it was unnatural. Maybe Eggman did something to have it happen?
Speaking of, the sounds of jet rockets roaring grabbed his attention as Sonic turned to see Eggman in a large circular machine. What in the world-? "Ah, I assume youare the one giving me such a headache here." The man said, his brow glaring down at the hoglet before him. How such a small creature, likely no older than ten at most, could cause such trouble for him, he wouldn't understand. Still, this little pest was getting in the way of his planned amusement park for this area to bring joy to all the kids of the world. He smiled menacingly as he glared down at the critter. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you need to go so I-huh?" It was at that moment that he felt a small little heat and noticed the soft cyan glow emanating beside him. The cyan chaos emerald! How could he have forgotten it?! But wait, according to what he read, they only glowed if...The doctor looked to see that the Hedgehog had a pouch and coming from said pouch was a blue and yellow glow. "You-!" He sputtered in shock. "You have two chaos emeralds?!"
Sonic simply looked at the man with a blank expression before realizing he was calling the crystals he had that. So, they were called Chaos Emeralds, eh? Good to know, good to know indeed. "Yeah, I found em!" He bragged to the man, hoping he could read sign language. "What, are you going to cry about it? You big fat baby?!" With a big smile, he gloated a bit further "And I have an orange ball with an orb on it, so I am far better than you!" What Sonic did not realize is that he had just played his hand and revealed everything to his enemy, something you most definitely shouldn't do.
"Hmm, so you found a Dragon Ball as well, eh?" He chuckled grimly. "Well, it was going to be difficult to get all seven Chaos Emeralds and all seven Dragon Balls, but now, you've given me the perfect in to getting all of them. Thank you, hedgehog." With that, he pressed a button and the bottom of his machine opened up revealing a large brown wrecking ball attached to it as the Egg Wrecker fully deployed itself and was ready for action while the Hedgehog lost its confident smirk and the machine before him. "And for the record," Robotnik grinned menacingly. "I can read sign language." he signed before pressing a button and started to swing the wrecking ball at the poor guy.
Sonic gulped as the ball came straight for him and charged right at it, thinking he could break through it. What happened instead, however, was the guy colliding with solid steel and being flung backwards. With a harsh thud, he landed on the ground and whined at the pain. As he slowly stood up, he felt something dribbling down his a finger under his nose, he rubbed it a little and looked down to see...bl...blo...BLOOOD! He had never bled for real before, not since Mighty started to stand up for him against his bullies. Not even the machines were able to get him, but Eggman had, and it hurt, it hurt so bad. The hedgehog wasn't looking as he got hit again by the wrecking ball as it swung right towards him and this time, a horrific crack was heard with the impact as he was sent flying. Landing on the ground, he screeched and howled in agony as it felt like his left arm was on fire. He didn't want this anymore, he gives up, he doesn't want to die, he'll serve Eggman, please, please, he doesn't want to die!
Robotnik smiled gleefully as he took in the sounds of his victim. Intelligent though they may be, Mobians were, at the end of the day, just animals, and no animal was superior to his machine. He had made sure of that ever since he had ousted and killed that pathetic ruler Aleena and turned the consort into his chief enforcer. Speaking of which...nah, probably just a coincidence. The point was Mobius was leaderless and it seemed this hedgehog was getting a hands on course on why he is not to be messed with. Laughing with true evil in his heart, he continued to swing the ball at the hedgehog, who desperately ran to try and avoid it. Nothing could avoid his attacks for long however, and soon, the rodent was hit a third time and landed on the ground with even more cuts, bruises, and scratches.
Sonic let out a soft whine of agony as he tried to stand up before he heard the laughter, Gaia, the laughter. It was so scary. He wanted to be in his bed, with Mighty promising to protect, with Ray hugging him and telling him it will be alright, with Chuck there reading him and Ray a bedtime story. He doesn't want to die, he doesn't want to die, he doesn't want to die! Not here, not on some island in the middle of nowhere where his family would never find him, to the hands of an uncaring human who seemed happy he was suffering. "You know," Eggman spoke up, his voice dragging out the words. "There is an easy way to end this." He gestured to Sonic's pouch. "Just hand over the Chaos Emeralds and Dragon Ball and maybe I'll let you go." Sonic didn't trust the way he smiled at him but it looked to be the only way he could get out of this, so, he carefully began to take off his pouch before the wind blew past his fur, giving him a soft feeling. On the wind, he swore he almost heard Mighty tell him to not give up, Chuck tell him to keep being free, and Ray to always protect others. If he gave up now, if he handed the emeralds and the ball to Eggman...He glared up and shook his head.
Eggman growled angrily and moved his machine to prepare to kill the Hedgehog. "Fine, I guess I'll just have to seize them from your corpse!" Just as the wrecking ball approached Sonic, he immediately jumped up, barely avoiding the ball and collided with the bottom of the machine, causing a small amount of uneasy tremors in the machine. "W-what?!" Eggman sputtered in shock but before he could get his bearings, Sonic landed on the ground, ducked under the ball, ran to the side, jumped up and hit the machine again and again and again. Eventually, after enough hits, the chain and ball blew up and the machine Eggman was in began to smoke badly as alarms in it blared. "Who are you?" He demanded, his voice hissing through gritted teeth.
Sonic simply smiled and grinned at the man despite his injured. "Sonic." He signed. "Sonic the Hedgehog. Never forget that, Eggman!"
"Oh believe me, I won't!" Eggman warned. "For I am Doctor Ivo Gerald Robotnik, conqueror of Mobius, world renowned scientist, and the man who will put you ten feet underground! This is not the last of me, Hedgehog! I promise you that!" And with that, the man was off and Sonic ran forward to a giant capsule that contained the remainder of his furry friends and jumped on top of it, freeing everyone inside. Sonic felt a bit of pride as he saw his friends be freed once more, but he felt his task was far from finished. Eggman, or Ivo Robotnik (he'd stick with Eggman), needed to be stopped, before he could capture the other Chaos Emeralds and Dragon Balls or else it would be bad news for the whole world would be doomed. But with his injuries, could he...He grabbed the blue emerald as he decided to try something out. It was a gamble, but he was willing to risk it. The emerald had a lot of energy in it and maybe with the right technique, it could heal him on its own. Focusing strongly on the Emeralds and his injuries, he breathed and waited. Never the patient hedgehog, he almost started to tap his foot in annoyance at waiting before he finally felt his body healing and his energy coming back to him. When he opened his eyes, he was completely back to normal but not just that, he felt even better than usual, like he could take on ten Eggmen. With a smile, he dashed off, ready to stop Eggman at the next area on this small island.
Back with our odd pair, the day slowly began to shine through as Sonic, when approaching his next area, was beginning to face the first signs of night. The birds were chirping, the animals were running, and one tailed boy was waking up. "Nnh..." Goku said said as his eyes fluttered open. "Wha..." He popped his lips as he took in the unfamiliar surroundings. Why wasn't he...? Oh right, what happened yesterday. Man, that sure was weird. Standing up, he stretched out and yet out a big yawn before approaching Bulma, who was still in a deep sleep. It was then he noticed something odd. "Huh?" In between Bulma's legs with a large stretch of white fabric that made the young boy smile. "Whoa!" He exclaimed happily. "Her pillow's not as big as grandpa's..." He began, getting in between the young gal's legs. "But I can give it a try!" And like that, he plopped his head down and readied for the familiar comfort to hit him...any minute now...come on familiar comfort...Why wasn'the feeling anything? Curious, he lifted his head and turned to look at it before patting it and felt that something was missing. Naturally curious, he grabbed the 'pillow' and slipped it off Bulma's legs, looking at what was there without and hoping to find an all too familiar sight only for him to yell in fear at what he saw. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Immediately, that caused Bulma to awaken. "What?! What?!" She snapped awake as she swung her head back and forth to figure out where in the world that noise came from. "What happened?! What'sa matter?!" She asked before her eyes landed on Goku who was staring at her with wide eyes and shaking in fear.
"Y...y...you've...l...l...lost...you...you're...b...b...ba...ba...ba...ba-" Goku could only stutter out before Bulma interrupted him in fear.
"WHAT?!" She shrieked as she got out of bed and ran to the table where her pouch was. "I'VE LOST MY DRAGON BALLS?!" She screamed as she ran, accidentally kicking Goku off the bed and onto the floor. When she reached the table and unzipped the pouch, however..."What the..." They were all there. "They're right here idiot!" She then turned to scold the poor boy who was still shaking in fear. "Geez, you scared the crap outta me, Goku! You gotta stop having nightmares!" And just like that, Sonic and the pair's journey has reached another chapter with the Hedgehog now heading to his next area to stop Eggman before he could bring more trouble and mischief wherever he went. Meanwhile, Bulma sighs in relief with her greatest fear adverted, but perhaps she shouldn't relax quite yet. What will happen next? Tune in next time for Chaos Ball, Sea Monkeys, Offa My Cloud, and Lava Marbles!