Cosmic Crisis

Chapter 2 - Disaster

He could feel it radiating from the source. He sensed it wasn't evil, but he wanted to make sure. When he arrived in the city, he slowed down, scanning the area. He noticed that many of the schools were letting out. He decided to find Natalie. Sure enough, he spotted her at once. He landed a distance from the yard, as to make sure he didn't startle anyone.

Natalie walked out of the building, books in hand.

"I can't believe myself. I couldn't pick up on anything today at school. I know I am going to fail my finals this week." She complained to her friend, the same one that she was with that morning.

"Don't worry about it, Nat. I'm sure you just need to go home and get some rest. It will be better tomorrow." The girl said reassuringly. "I have to go to my art class! I'll see you tomorrow!" she said as she ran down the street opposite of Natalie.

"Yeah, bye!" she mumbled, and walked out onto the schoolyard. She inhaled deeply and looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful day, she thought. But why did she feel so strange? She proceeded to walk out onto the sidewalk, where she fought to keep her balance. Trunks appeared behind her and out his hand on her shoulder. She jumped, and spun around in a fighting position.

"Oh, it's you!" she said, startled. Trunks picked up her books. "What are you doing here?" she continued.

"Oh, I was in the area." He said grinning.

"Um...okay!" she said. "But I'm not really feeling well, I have to warn you." She said, her voice quivering.

"Why? What's wrong?" he asked, worriedly.

"I don't even know. I just need to get some rest."

"Do you want me to walk you home?" he said, with his arm around hr shoulder.

"S-sure." She said, struggling to see straight. "What's the matter with me?" she thought. "He must think I'm a freak or something..."

"She doesn't look very good. I should get her home fast before she passes out." He thought to himself. He held her trembling body stable while they walked down the street. She felt so weak, so helpless. She hated being this way, but what could she do? Suddenly, a migraine headache crashed through her head. She grasped her head, and began to fall over. Trunks wasted no time, and picked her up. He shot up into the air and raced back to Capsule Corp.

When she awoke, she was in a hospital-like bed with machines all around her. One was measuring her heart rate, the other measuring her brain waves. She slowly opened her eyes. Here eyes focused slowly on a figure next to her. It was Trunks! She sat up in bed; her heart beating faster, which was apparent from the readings on the monitor. She looked around the unfamiliar room. She glanced back at Trunks, who was fast asleep on a chair next to her bed. Her heart rate slowed back down.

"Where am I?" she thought. "I'm not in the..." she was cut off but Trunks' stirring. She looked over at him. He opened his eyes slowly, focusing on Natalie's body.

"Natalie?" he asked sleepily. "Are you okay?"

"Trunks? Where am I?" she asked, looking around.

"You're at Capsule Corp. This is my house."

"Your house!? You LIVE here?" she asked, surprised.

"Y-yeah..."

She was amazed at all the technology that was around. And this was only one room! Suddenly, she remembered that she was supposed to go straight home that afternoon.

"Not again! I have to go home right now!" she said, getting out of bed and tore away from the machines.

"Wait! You're not well enough to go out by yourself!" Trunks said, grabbing her arm.

"I have to! Come with me if you want." She said, running out of the room, but stopped abruptly, as she didn't know where she was going. Trunks followed, leading the way out of Capsule Corp. Natalie was amazed at all the gadgets that were just lying around.

"I just have to take a shortcut for a sec. I'll be right back." Trunks said, and ran up the stairs towards Bra's room. Natalie sat at the bottom of the stairs. While she was looking around, a blue-tinted scouter caught her eye. She picked it up, and began to fiddle with the buttons out of curiosity. She pressed something, and the scouter made a bleeping noise and began to display random numbers. She set it down as soon as she heard Trunks coming down the stairs.

"Come on, let's go." He said, leading her out of the building and then resetting the alarm system.

Natalie ran down the walk, picking up speed as she went. A couple of times she swayed from side to side, but otherwise she was fine.

"What happened back there?" he thought, remembering the incident earlier that day. "She seems fine now...I don't understand."

Natalie ran until she reached a meadow with waist high grass. She ran through the grass, enjoying the breeze. She laughed as she raced with Trunks through the field. Trunks knew he could easily win, but decided not to. Soon, he could see a house in the distance. It got bigger as they approached it. It was a two-story brick house with black shutters. She ran to the front door and rushed inside, almost slamming the door in Trunks' face in her hurry.

"MOM!" she called throughout the house. There was so answer, so she tried again. After searching the house for her, she gave up.

"Come on!" she called to Trunks and ran up the stairs. She came to a door with a picture of a sunflower on the front of it. She went inside, and threw her books on the bed. Trunks' figured it was her room. He looked around, and inspected it. There was a bed in the corner with a yellow and blue comforter on it, as well as a pile of stuffed animals. There was a dresser in the corner, with yet another arrangement of animals on it. She reached inside her closet and pulled out some clothes, and then ran into the bathroom. He sat down on her bed, and continued to inspect the room. She had a large bay window on one side of the room, which had a great view of the meadow that they just ran through. The paint was a subtle yellow color, with a border of sunflowers and other blue flowers. Natalie stepped out of the bathroom, wearing a pair of short denim shorts and a white strappy tank top. Trunks couldn't help but stare at her as she threw her uniform into her closet. She then raced across the room and fell onto a rolling chair and wheeled herself to her desk. She quickly typed something into her computer and then got up while it logged onto the internet.

"You want something to eat or drink?" she asked.

"No thanks." He answered. She hoped back into her chair again, seemingly full of energy. She checked her e-mail and then saw a highlight on the screen.

"Oh, it says there was a terrible car crash today. One person was critically injured, the other suffered a broken leg." She said, straining to read the letters. "Sorry, my vision is a bit blurry today for some reason." She continued, and logged off. She was about to turn on her radio, when the phone rang. She picked up her cordless, and answered.

"Hello?" she spoke into the phone.

"Is this Natalie Holmes?" the grim voice asked.

"Yes...why?" she asked. Trunks watched as she suddenly became faint.

"W-What did you say?" she said into the mouthpiece, trembling. After a few minutes, she put the phone back into the cradle slowly, tears beginning to form in her eyes. She looked fearfully at Trunks.

"That was the police." She said, struggling to stay calm. "My mother was in that car crash."