Cosmic 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...part 2


 "Nothing happened Trunks, what do you mean?" Ceres said innocently.  He
just shook his head.

	"I don't know." He trailed off.  "But, I came here to train lightly,
so you should leave." He informed her.  She just shrugged her shoulders
and walked out of the gravity room, shutting the heavy metal door behind
her.  The sound reverberated around the room for a few seconds before
fading into nonexistence.  

	Trunks stretched his arms for a few seconds and dropped to his
knees, preparing to do some pushups.

	"That was too weird." He said out loud.  "I think she's up to
something."


	Twenty minutes later, Trunks had finished his light workout and he
shut the gravity generator off from inside the chamber.  After he
readjusted to normal gravity, he exited the room with a few beads of
sweat lingering on his jaw line.  He walked through the backyard,
passing the Capsule 009 ship that they would be using to travel to Vela.
 Shadows were cast over most of its form, but the letters "Caps" were
seen in between blankets of darkness.  He turned and walked back inside,
and headed upstairs towards his room, when he ran into Goten.  

	"Goten what time is it, do you know?" Trunks asked.  Goten just
looked at him condescendingly.

	"I don't know, perhaps you could ask Ceres!" he said sarcastically,
and pushed his way past on his way down the stairs.  Trunks just stood
in place, lost in confusion.

	"What are you talking about?" Trunks called down to Goten.

	"You know very well what I'm talking about!" Goten shouted.  "We
know all about you and Ceres, and what you did in the gravity room."

	"NANI!?  Who told you that I did anything with Ceres?" Trunks cried.
 

	"We saw you." Goten said, and then left the room.

	"Goten I swear, I didn't do anything!  We were just talking!" Trunks
called out, but Goten had already walked out of hearing range.  And if
he had heard, he didn't bother answering.  "What the hell is going on
here?" he said to himself.  On his way down the hall, he literally
bumped into Sirius.

	"Gomen." Trunks said.  "Hey Sirius what's gotten into Goten?"

	"He's angry at you, because of what you did." Sirius said.  "Don't
tell me you didn't notice."

	"I did, but I don't know where he got his ideas." Trunks said.  "I
never touched her.  She came into the gravity room just as I was about
to start training, and then the next thing I remember is standing up
next to her."

	"It was pretty clear what you did.  And apparently Goten isn't too
fond of it." Sirius said.  Trunks growled in anger.  

	"Well it's a lie." He spat.  "And I'm going to find out who told
it."

	"Not now, Trunks, we have more important things to worry about."
Sirius said.  "You need to encapsulate your things so we can load them
onto the ship."

	"Yeah, yeah.  I just don't understand where this came from.  Does
Ceres know about it?" he asked.  Sirius raised an eyebrow.

	"Are you being sincere?" he asked in a flat tone.  Trunks just
rolled his eyes and started stomping off towards Natalie's room where
Reena and Ceres were.  He threw open the door, not bothering to knock,
but immediately regretted doing so when they screamed and covered
themselves up.  Trunks jumped back, slammed the door, and blushed
furiously.  After he gathered his senses, he cracked the door just a
little bit to allow his voice to travel in.  "G-gomen nasai...." He
stammered, and then shut the door.  Sirius was still looking at him
crookedly.  

	Suddenly, Vegeta emerged from the master bedroom down the hall with
his usual scornful expression.

	"What are you bakas doing?  You're supposed to be getting ready." He
said harshly.  Sirius just stared at him with a major sweat drop.

	"Tousan we were just...discussing our...mission." Trunks filled in. 
Sirius raised his hand and opened his mouth to speak, but Trunks stepped
on his foot.  Vegeta eyed them suspiciously and then walked past them,
brushing against them coldly.  Sirius followed him with his eyes until
he was downstairs and out of sight.

	"Er...I guess we should do what he says." Trunks said hastily, and
started for his room.  Goten then walked up the stairs and would have
smacked into him the second time, had Trunks not darted out of the way. 
Goten, without words, just shot an icy glare at Trunks and walked into
his room.

	"Damn, I need to go talk to him before he gets the wrong idea."
Trunks said.

	"I think he already does have the wrong idea.  You and Ceres were
pretty convincing." Sirius commented.  Trunks scowled.  

	"How many times do I have to tell you?  I didn't do a damn thing
with that Ceres!" Trunks cried.  Just as he said that, Ceres and Reena
walked out into the hallway.  Reena looked at Trunks, and then at Sirius
in confusion, and Ceres just smiled and blushed.  Sirius looked over at
her.

	"Ceres tell us the truth.  Did you or did you not kiss Trunks,
and/or he kiss you?" he asked.  She looked at Trunks for a moment and
the back at Sirius.

	"I am telling the truth!  I don't know why he has to pretend it
never happened, because it did." She said, disguising her voice to make
herself sound distressed.  Everyone, with the exception of Ceres
herself, turned and glared at Trunks.  

	"Think what you want, but this girl is LYING." Trunks shouted, and
stormed into his room.  He threw himself onto his bed and placed his
chin in his hands.  "I can't believe this.  On the very day we leave,
something had to come up.  And I know that that baka Ceres is telling a
lie." He spoke bitterly to himself.  They'd soon see.  

	"Why don't you just tell the truth, Trunks?" Goten said, still in a
disdainful tone, walking out of the bathroom.  "Everybody knows about
it, there's no point in trying to lie your way out.  Pretending to be
innocent only makes things worse than they already are."

	"But I'm not lying Goten!" Trunks cried.  "You should know me better
than that!  Sure, I may have said false things in the past, but I would
never lie about something like this!"  Goten just looked at Trunks for a
few seconds and then turned his back to him, folding his arms.  

	"Well if you are right, what were you and Ceres doing in the gravity
room?" Goten asked.  

	"I...I don't remember.  I was in the room, about to start warming
up, and the next thing I know I'm standing up next to Ceres and she's
telling you guys that we were kissing.  I must have blacked out or
something." Trunks said.  Goten made a brief hissing sound through his
teeth.

	"I'll take your word for it this time Trunks." Goten said, turning
back around to face him.  "But mark my words, if I see anything that
confirms my suspicions in the future, you can kiss my trust in you
goodbye." 

	"I know you won't, because this whole thing never happened." Trunks
said, staring at the ground.  Vegeta walked in and scowled.

	"Trunks!  How many times to I have to tell you to get a move on? 
What, do I have to hold your hand like a little baby?" he mocked. 
Trunks growled softly.

	"Tousan I'm working on it.  Just have some patience." Trunks
retaliated.

	" What little patience I have if getting very thin." Vegeta said. 
"Have you encapsulated your equipment?" 

	"Iie.  Not yet." Trunks said, slinging his bag over his shoulder. 
"I was on my way."  Vegeta let out a sigh and walked away.  Trunks
looked back at Goten.  "Have you encapsulated yet?" he asked.  Goten
nodded his head and pulled out a small case, which he flipped open to
reveal three, color-coded capsules.  He quickly shut the case again.

	"That's what I did downstairs while you and Sirius were arguing." He
said.

	"I'm getting a really bad feeling about going now." Trunks said,
sitting on the floor of his room.  "I don't know if I'm going to be able
to handle it."

	"Sure you can, Trunks." Goten ensured.  "I think that if one person
can do it, it's you, being the son of a prince and all, and having
witnessed his pride."  Trunks didn't say anything.  "Besides, if we
don't go, Natalie would never have another chance.  You should be
wanting to go as much as, if not more than the rest of us."

	"Well I don't think I have much of a choice nonetheless." Trunks
sneered.  "How long is this trip going to take, do you know?"  Goten
shook his head no, and Trunks stood on his feet.  "I'm going downstairs
to get this stuff encapsulated." He said, and then walked out of the
room, dragging his things behind him.  He walked downstairs to the
Capsule Corp. equipment room and found one of the machines that he was
looking for.  He stared at it for a moment, and then snapped out of his
trance and ran his bad through it.  After a few minutes, a nice, neat
little capsule popped out the back of it and the machine bleeped and
shut itself off.  Trunks grabbed the capsule and dug through a pile of
cases, located the right size, and then left, placing his capsule inside
the case on his way up the stairs.  His task completed, he turned his
head up in front of him and saw Reena walking out of his room and back
into Natalie's, where Ceres was sitting on the bed in her armor.  All
three of them had some sort of crest on the left breastplate of their
body armor.  It was the same one that Orion had.  Trunks shuddered.  He
was still having a hard time grasping the concept that Orion and Natalie
had grown up together.

	"Trunks, you gonna shower?" Goten said, emerging from the room,
holding a towel.  

	"Hai." Trunks replied.  "But you can go first."

	"Domo." Goten replied, and walked back into the room.  Trunks signed
heavily.  His mind was racing, and his adrenaline pumped at the thought
of his mission.  He looked down and realized that his hands wee shaking.
 He clenched them into fists and watched as the tendon in his forearm
stuck out about a quarter of an inch.  What was wrong with him?  Was it
the time shift, or his nervousness?  He could hear the muffled voices of
Reena and Ceres coming from Natalie's room.  He could only make out a
few words of what they were saying, and he assumed they were discussing
the mission and their plans.  His stomach rumbled, telling him that he
needed to eat.  He shuffled down the stairs in a lethargic fashion,
finally reaching the first floor with a "plop".  As he trudged towards
the kitchen, his stomach rumbled again.

	"I know, I know." He spat.  He rummaged through the refrigerator,
coming across some leftover teriyaki chicken.  He opened the container
and sniffed it before putting some in a bowl.  As he shoved it into the
microwave to heat it up, he could hear someone walking down the stairs. 
He just assumed it was one of the Sidra-jins, and didn't pay it much
attention.  Then, when two arms embraced his body, he spun around in
surprise.  "Oh...gomen, kaasan." He said, realizing that it was his
mother.  She looked at him strangely.

	"What's wrong with you?" she asked.  "You seem paranoid."

	"Nothing...I thought you were someone else." He muttered.  The
microwave beeped to signal the end of the heating cycle, and Trunks
pulled the steaming bowl out, preparing to eat it.

	"Well I just wanted to tell you that we're going to miss you." She
said.

	"We?" Trunks questioned.

	"Me, and your tousan." She said, and paused, smiling.  "You know he
will miss you, don't you?"

	"H...hai." Trunks replied.  "I guess so." 

	"He will.  And Bra as well." She continued.  "You won't be able to
see her before you leave.  But we'll make sure she knows."

	"Okay." Trunks said.  He shoved a piece of chicken into his mouth
and chewed only a few times before swallowing.  He did the same a couple
more times.

	"Trunks what's wrong?  You're not even chewing your food before you
swallow." Bulma said.  "Are you nervous?"

	"No." Trunks said quickly...too quickly.  Bulma, having obviously
seen through it, folded her arms and frowned.

	"Trunks don't lie to me.  You're letting your pride get in the way."
She sighed.  "Just like your tousan."

	"Gomen kaasan, but I can't help it." Trunks said, looking away
bitterly.  

	"Don't you worry.  You will get her back." Bulma said sternly.  "If
there's one thing I have faith in these days, it's you, Trunks.  And I
mean that." Trunks looked at her.  "You are going to go on that journey
and you will overcome the odds.  I know, because you are driven by a
passion for fighting, and a love for her." She finished.  Trunks stood
in inert shock at what his mother had just said.  He swallowed hard and
tried to think of something to say in return.  "Oh, Trunks?" she added. 
He questioned her with his eyes.  "What's this I hear about you and
Ceres?" Trunks growled in protest and slammed his hand into the counter,
imprinting a slight dent into the surface.

	"Don't tell me you believe that, kaasan!" he cried.  

	"I was just-"

	"I don't know why she has spread this lie!  Now everyone thinks that
I was making out with her in the damn gravity room, and it will surely
get back to Natalie.  That's the last thing I need, after all she is
already going to be wary of me for a while because of what I did to
her." Trunks shouted.  When he was finished, he inhaled deeply.  Bulma
just stood, unable to produce words.  Vegeta walked in and observed the
scene.

	"Trunks!" he shouted.  Trunks looked up.  "Don't you dare yell at
your kaasan like that!  If you have a problem, you can take it out on
me, understand?" Trunks' jaw dropped.  "She didn't do anything to you,
and you certainly don't have a reason to shout at her!"

	"Hai..." Trunks trailed off, looking rather sheepish.  Bulma smiled
and turned around to face her mate.

	"Arigatou, Vegeta, but I don't think Trunks meant to take out his
anger on me." She said.  Vegeta sighed angrily.  

	"Fine." He spat.  He then looked back at Trunks.  "Have you finished
everything?"

	"Iie.  I still have to shower." Trunks replied.  "But, I
encapsulated my things."

	"Good.  We've changed your departure time to 9:00 since you all have
gotten an early start." He continued.  Trunks let his shoulders roll
forward as he leaned against the counter.  He nodded as he picked at his
meal with his chopsticks, separating the chicken from the snow peas and
water chestnuts. 

	"Vegeta, have I told you lately that you're cute?" Bulma said,
stifling a laugh.  Vegeta produced an embarrassed look on his face and
blushed before walking away swiftly.  Trunks just shrugged and took
another large bite.  

	"Kaasan, what are you going to do when we leave?" Trunks inquired.

	"Trunks, don't talk with your mouth full of food." Bulma said. 
Trunks pathetically gulped his food down.  "I don't really know right
now.  I would just go back to Hawaii, but we would need Goku to teleport
us, and I don't have any equipment in my lab to get in contact with
him."

	"Don't you have their...room number?" Trunks said, his eyebrow
twitching.  Bulma facefaulted.

	"Oh...yeah..." she said.  Trunks finished his food and literally
threw the dish into the sink before walking out of the kitchen and
towards the stairs.


3 hours later:


	Trunks, having showered and loaded his things into the capsule pod,
was sitting about five feet away from Goten on the grass in the
backyard.  All five of the warriors were outside, with Ceres and Sirius
standing next to the pod, and Reena sitting timidly on the grass by
herself.  Goten glanced over to her, but immediately looked away at
making eye contact with her.  

	"Why don't you just go over there?" Trunks whispered to his friend. 
Goten turned red and clenched his teeth.

	"Shutup!" he whispered harshly.  "She might hear you..."

	"Oh, relax Goten." Trunks said.  "She's just a girl." 

	"Me relax?  You're the one who was a bundle of nerves when Nat was
new here." He replied.  

	"Hey Reena." Trunks called.  She looked up at him.  "Why don't you
come sit over here?"  Goten tried not to fall over.  She nodded quickly
and scooted towards them.  Goten shot daggers at Trunks with his eyes.

	"Gomen...I'm usually more talkative than this." Reena explained. 
"But, I'm just nervous...that's all."

	"Don't worry about that.  I think we all are." Goten said.  She
looked up at him and smiled.  Suddenly, Bulma and Vegeta emerged from
the back door and walked over towards them.  The five lined up in front
of the pod without words.

	"Alright." Bulma started.  "Here's your itinerary.  You board the
pod, and there are two main floors.  The main one, or the level you are
on when you enter, contains the main control panel.  Your route is
already plugged into the processing unit, so you won't have to worry
abut navigating unless there is a system failure, in which case there
are tracking charts in the compartment below the panel.  The space-time
wave generator is programmed in as well, but you will need to initiate
the generator manually.  In the two days it will take for you to travel
to the planet, the generator will have taken you back to the year 780. 
Now, the second floor, or the cabin area, contains beds, a shower, and
food storage.  This floor is accessible by a set of stairs in the
northeast section of the pod.  And, those are the basics.  Should you
need to make contact with me, there is a telecommunication device
located on the main control panel.  However, it will not work after a
certain point, I estimate about midway through your trip.  Any
questions?"  There was a long silence, with no noise present other than
the slight breeze and a few chirping birds.  "This is not a toy, kids."
Bulma said firmly.  "It's a multimillion dollar piece of equipment."

	"Relax, woman, they aren't going to break it." Vegeta said.  Bulma
sighed.

	"You people have no appreciation for technology!" she cried.  She
then turned back to the group.  "Gomen..." 

	"Kaasan, we'll be fine." Trunks assured.  He stepped forward and
gave her a quick embrace before stepping back to the level of the
others.  Bulma smiled and stepped back until she was 20 feet from the
pod.  She nodded, signaling to them that they could go aboard the pod. 
As they stood in the doorway, she waved to them.  Vegeta just nodded,
his arms crossed firmly over his chest.  

	The five entered the cold, sterile pod and inspected their
surroundings.  Trunks walked to the main control panel and observed the
setup.  He pressed the button to shut the door, causing a loud bang to
echo around the large, round room.  He then initiated the engine startup
sequence, and the pod suddenly became alive with a faint humming sound. 
The control panel's lights were blinking and flashing as it ascended to
full power.  

	"Ready?" he said, looking at the other four.  They all looked at him
and nodded simultaneously.  Trunks pushed up on the switch slowly and
steadily, causing the generator to flash and the humming to grow in
intensity.  "Let's go." Trunks said, and the pod rocketed off the
ground. 

	Bulma looked up at the pod, her hair and clothes rippling in the
gust of air caused by the takeoff, and smiled.