sCosmic Crisis 3 - A New Enemy Written by Erin Miller - Nekochan016@aol.com Http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/DragonWorld/dbz.html Note: This is one of the longer chapters, so I've divided it into two parts, "a" and "b". Chapter 12 - The Journey Begins Trunks and Goten sat in Trunks' room on the second floor of Capsule Corp., discussing their preparations. They were all to leave the next morning, around noon. The idea was that they would all go in one of the Capsule Corp. pods, similar to the one that Goku had used to travel to Namek. Bulma had installed a time-travel device into the pod's main computer, which would take them back a few days before Carina would disappear. "But why can't we just go back and kill him there? Why do we have to come BACK to the present to fight?" Goten had asked. "We can't interfere with the past." Ceres explained. "If we destroy him in the present, everything should be reversed, and nobody on Vela would have any memories of the incident." "But what about Natalie. Will she remember anything?" Trunks asked. "We're not sure. In theory, she would, since, for her, everything would take place in the present. But there's no definite way to tell." Ceres answered. Now, having been informed of their mission, Trunks and Goten sat in silence, making sure that everything was ready. They would arrive on planet Vela in the year 780 ad, exactly one day prior to Carina's end. Sirius had warned them that when they would arrive, they would have to keep an extremely low profile, and only make contact if it was absolutely necessary. The problem they all faced was that Carina lived within the palace, and getting in would not be an easy task. The security was especially tight, since the beginning of the Vela war was impending. They had their work cut out for them, but there were no other options. If they decided to ignore the problem, not only would Natalie be killed for good, but also the fate of the universe had the possibility of changing. They were just lucky that all the changes hadn't taken place yet, and that they were still alive. Bulma's inventions ensured that they would remain unharmed as well. Sirius walked into the room, his presence commanding. To Trunks, Sirius reminded him of Vegeta in one of his prouder moments. But, Sirius was more of a hard, blunt character rather than sharp and spicy like his father had been when he was young. Trunks looked at Sirius, who stood with his arms folded and his head high, and the thought came to him, that Sirius had the presence of a great leader. "I came to tell you two to get some sleep." He said, looking at Trunks and Goten. "It's going to be a long journey, not just time-wise but physically demanding." "We have to go get some senzu beans from your tousan." Goten said. Trunks nodded and stood up, walking past Sirius and into the hallway. He could hear Reena and Ceres in Natalie's room, where they were to sleep, carrying on a conversation. "...and then he told me that he had never really had a serious girlfriend before, and I just melted. He was so sweet and sincere." Trunks could hear Reena talking. "Later, when he was talking to me, I couldn't help it. I leaned up and kissed him, right on the lips. It must have lasted for 5 seconds or so. I was really embarrassed, but he was totally cool about it." Trunks smirked. When he had first met the three Sidra-jin senshi, they presented themselves to he hardcore warriors, with no emotions in their eyes. But once they were comfortable with their surroundings, he could see them loosen up. Trunks turned and walked the opposite way towards the mater bedroom, and he could hear his mother. "Vegeta, don't act so tense. They're all at least sixteen years of age, and they're perfectly capable of handling themselves." She said. Trunks opened the door to see Bulma and Vegeta standing on opposite sides of their bed, seemingly arguing. Bulma turned to Trunks. "Do you need something Trunks?" she asked. Vegeta turned around as well with a scowl on his face. "I was just going to ask tousan if he had any senzu beans." Trunks replied. Vegeta, without saying a word, walked towards a dresser and opened a drawer. "There are only three left." He said, pulling out a brown, faded bag with string tied around the neck where the bag opened. He tossed the bad to Trunks, who caught them with his left hand. "Make sure you only use them when it's absolutely necessary. When you run out, that's it." "Hai." Trunks replied, and turned to leave. "Oh, Trunks." Bulma said. Trunks turned around and faced her. "We weren't fighting, if that's what you think." She said, and smiled. "We were just talking." Trunks nodded and then left, shutting the door behind him. "Woman, I don't see why you insist on-" Vegeta broke off as Bulma brought her lips to his. When she pulled away, Vegeta was blushing. "Vegeta, just relax for on night, huh?" she said, pulling him close. "Goten I got em." Trunks said, walking back into his room. Sirius was on the chair in the far corner, secluded from everything. "But tousan said that there are only three, so we have to use them sparingly." "That's good." Goten said. "As long as we have some, we should be fine." "What are they?" Sirius asked. Trunks and Goten turned to him. "Senzu beans. They recover your lost energy and repair body damages in a fraction of the time." Trunks said. "Say you had a broken bone, the senzu bean would heal it immediately and restore your health and stamina as well." "Interesting." He said, sitting forward and staring at the brown bag. "They must be very useful in battle." "They are." Goten said. "The only problem is that Korrin, who lives on Korrin's tower a ways from here, can only grow so many at a time." "I see. Well, three should be enough. I don't expect any problems while we're on Vela, but we'll most likely need them when we return." "Well I'm going to take them just in case." Trunks said, and tucked them into the pocket of his nylon cargo training pants, which he had laying on the bed to wear the next day. "Let's get to sleep. We need the rest." Sirius said. Trunks nodded. "I'll go tell the others." He said, and walked out the door and into Natalie's room, where Reena and Ceres were already fast asleep on Natalie's bed in borrowed pajamas. Trunks just stared over at Natalie's desk and turned out the lights, walked out, and shut the door behind him. As he walked back towards his room, he paused. These three strangers from outer space, who supposedly knew Natalie, were in his house sleeping in the rooms. He knew there was nothing wrong with it, but it just made him smile, because it reminded him of when he had first met Natalie. She was almost a stranger, and she lived with him in his house. She had even commented about it the day they met, when she was sitting in his room, wearing his clothes. Trunks eventually snapped out of his reverie and walked back into his room where Goten and Sirius were preparing for bed. "...They met about a year ago before Natalie knew about her powers. It was really strange how things worked out." Goten was explaining to Sirius when Trunks walked in. "Oh, hey Trunks." Goten said. "I was telling Sirius about-" "I know." Trunks interrupted. "Was he asking about it?" "I asked Goten how you and Carina met. We didn't expect you to know her when we came, but it was by good fortune that you did." Sirius answered. "It was definitely something. I think it was fate that we met, since it was on such a slim chance that we did." Trunks said. "The only reason I know her today is because I happened to bump into her one morning. If I hadn't gone out, I don't think we would have met. Orion would have already taken her before I would get the opportunity, and she wouldn't have stood a chance against him." "That is a strange coincidence. Well then it was meant to be, I assume." Sirius said, lying back on the small sofa against the wall. He was wearing one of Trunks' old tank tops and a pair of Vegeta's training pants. "Were Orion and Nat really supposed to be together?" Trunks asked, staring at the floor. Sirius paused. "That's a tough one to answer, really. It was apparent that Orion had somewhat of an affection towards her on Vela, but I don't think it was set in stone." Sirius explained. "Orion really wasn't an evil person...he was corrupted by Hesperos. Sure, he was always a little bit malevolent, but never to the degree which he was when he came here." Trunks shivered. "Well in a way I have to say that I'm glad he was corrupted, since I would never want Natalie anywhere near that cold hearted murderer." He said. "He wasn't a murderer at heart, mind you." Sirius said, almost defensively. "You would have had to known Hesperos to know how Orion became the way he did. I almost feel sorry for him because of the person he was made to be." "How can you feel sorry for him!" Trunks cried. "He came here and killed me, killed Goten, my tousan, Goten's tousan...and he didn't even flinch." "That's impossible. If he killed you then how are you sitting in front of me right now?" Sirius said. "We have these things on Earth, called Dragon Balls." Trunks explained. "There are seven of them. When you gather all seven, you bring them together, say a chant, and an enormous dragon comes out and grants you one wish. You can even bring people back to life, as long as they didn't die of natural causes." "Well why don't we just use these 'Dragon Balls' to with Carina back and Hermes to die?" Sirius asked. "You can't do that. You can only make a wish that is within the power of the Dragon Balls, and I don't think that wish would be approved. Plus they aren't active for a couple of months." Trunks said. "When you make a wish, the balls scatter and turn to stone, and you can't use them for 365 days." "I see." Sirius said. "Besides, Nat has already been wished back, and you can't revive a person more than once." Trunks continued. "Nani? You mean she died as well?" Sirius said. "Hai..." Trunks said. "One day, right after the second encounter with Orion, she overexerted herself in training..." Suddenly, a very sleepy Bulma walked into the room. Trunks turned around in surprise and jumped back. "Trunks you three need to be in bed. If you don't get enough sleep I am not sending you guys out tomorrow." She said. Trunks nodded and Bulma walked out of the room. "She treats me like I'm five years old sometimes..." Trunks whispered. After a few more minutes of conversation, the three teens were out like lights. The next day, Trunks awoke with a start, very early in the morning. He looked to the window and saw that the sky was just starting to lighten and it was a dark blue color. Beams of grey light shone into the room, making everything just visible. Trunks didn't know where he was at first, and as his memory rushed back to him, he remembered his present situation. He glanced at the digital clock on his desk across the room and realized that it was only 5:26 in the morning. Trunks though to himself. Finally, he slowly crept out of the room, making sure not to awaken Goten or Sirius, who were sleeping on blankets on the floor. He snuck out the door to his bedroom and headed downstairs. The carpeted stairs creaked a little, but he doubted that anyone would hear him. He decided that he was going to go train lightly in the gravity room, only setting the G-synthesizer to 20 times. Just as he reached the bottom stair, he thought he heard a noise coming from upstairs, but after a few minutes of silence, he dismissed it, figuring that someone was just stirring. Trunks had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, and as he tiptoed around his own home in the grayish blue morning light, it set the scene and made him all the more nervous. He finally got to the back door, switched off the alarm, and unlocked it very slowly and carefully. He stepped into the cool morning air and inhaled deeply. He walked through the dew-glazed grass to the front of the gravity room. He was just going to warm up, but he didn't dare use his ki for fear of waking anyone sensitive to it. When he arrived at the entrance of the gravity room, he flung open the heavy, metal door. Before he entered he set the controls on 20 G's, and pressed the initiation button. He listened to the gravity chamber power on and obtain a steady hum before stepping in. He turned around to shut the door, and almost jumped out of his skin when he saw a figure standing in the doorway. After his heart started to beat again, the figure stepped into the artificial light of the gravity chamber. "Ceres! What in Dende's name are you doing here?" Trunks cried, catching his breath. She just chuckled lightly and stepped completely into the room. "I heard you awaken and decided to follow you." She said. "Why, did I frighten you?" "Dende, Ceres you scared the shit out of me." Trunks said. "You should go back inside and go back to bed." "How come you're allowed to get up and I'm not?" she asked, folding her arms. "That's because I couldn't sleep." Trunks said. "I was nervous about today. I came in here to cool off." "Well I couldn't sleep either." She said, leaning against the wall and frowning. "I was just curious, that's all." "What if Reena wakes up? Shouldn't you be there so she won't be lonely or afraid?" Trunks said, obviously trying to get back to what he had intended to do. "No, Reena will be fine. Besides Sirius and that kid Goten are just down the hall. She's a smart one, she'll figure something out." Ceres said. Trunks sighed heavily and placed his hands on his hips. Suddenly, Ceres stepped closer. "Besides, what if you get lonely?" she said seductively, inching towards him. Trunks had a horrified look on his face, as he stood, frozen in confusion. A bead of sweat ran down his cheek as his heart began to beat faster. "Ceres..." he started, but she put her index finger to his lips. "Hush." She said, and leaned in for the kill. Trunks grabbed her wrists before she could get any closer and pushed her away gently. "Ceres what are you doing?" he said, stepping away from him. "Aw, come on Trunks." She said, looking down at the floor and frowning pitifully. "Don't you like me?" "Not like that." He answered. "Besides, I can't...Natalie..." he broke off. Ceres produced an angry look on her face. "Carina again, huh?" she said, somewhat annoyed. "Well, let me just tell you something. Carina isn't what everyone makes her out to be. She's too blind and weak to know how to use her power, and she's nothing but an obstacle." "Nani!?" Trunks said, surprised. "You heard me. Back on Vela, it was so apparent that Orion liked her. I don't think she liked him in return, but she allowed him to hang on to her by a thread." Ceres said bitterly. "What she didn't know, was that I liked him! NO, I loved him." "Ceres maybe you should go back in-" Trunks broke off. "No. It's not fair!" Ceres said, her eyes growing teary. "She always had what I wanted! She was practically a saint back on Vela, and she could have anyone she wanted. But she chose Orion of all people!" "No, Ceres...Orion chose her. And Nat isn't without fault, but she's not a bad person." Trunks said, taking pity on the girl. "Besides...you seemed to like her when you first arrived. "Oh what do you know?" she continued. "You've only known her for a year. I grew up with her." Suddenly, two more figures stepped into the light, revealing themselves as Goten and Sirius. "Trunks what are you doing here?" Goten asked, and then noticed the shaken Ceres standing next to him. "Oh...Sirius." Ceres said, and then a devilish smile formed on her lips amidst her flushed complexion. "Trunks and I...we were just," she said, wrapping her arm around his waist, "well all I can say is that Trunks here is a good kisser." Ceres said. Trunks almost fell over, but straightened himself out. "Nani!?" he cried. Goten looked at Trunks contemptuously and folded his arms. "Trunks you make me sick." he said, and walked away. Sirius just shot him a glare and then left as well, leaving Trunks and Ceres behind. Trunks turned and looked at Ceres with a furious look on his face. "Why the hell did you say that just now!?" Trunks shouted aggressively. "Relax Trunks it was a joke. I think you friends can figure that out for themselves." She said. "But for now..." she continued, placing her two forefingers on his forehead. He tried to back away but her hand started to glow and he was paralyzed. A few seconds later, she let go. Trunks stared straight forward, blinking a few times, before looking around confusedly. "N...what just happened?" he said, placing his hand behind his head. Ceres looked to the side with an amused look on her face.