Cosmic Crisis 2 - The Return of Orion

Chapter 16 - Journey

King Kai's antennas suddenly perked up and he stared into nothingness with a grim look on his face.

"What? What is it Kaio-sama?" Goku asked.

"It seems that tragedy has befallen on Capsule Corp." the god replied. Vegita's head snapped up suddenly.

"What did you say!?" he said, grabbing the Kaioshin by the collar.

"Vegita put me down!" King Kai cried. Vegita just dropped the blue man onto the ground where he got up and dusted himself off in annoyance. Suddenly, there was a sound behind them. The three spun around in surprise to see Piccolo standing before them.

"I felt it as well." The Namek said, folding his arms. "One of the ki's on Earth has just disappeared." Goku and Vegita got worried looks on their faces.

"Who was it, King Kai?" Goku asked.

"I'm afraid it was the Sidra-jin girl." Kaio-sama replied, looking sullen. Vegita's jaw dropped and Goku went wide-eyed.

"Natalie!? What happened to her?" Vegita asked. Goku was surprised at Vegita's concern, but didn't say anything for fear of deflating his highness' royal ego.

"What do you think happened, Saiya-jin?" Piccolo growled. Vegita spun around angrily but Goku stopped him.

"Is she-?" he started. King Kai nodded his head sadly. "What? How!?" Goku cried.

"I'm not sure. You can ask her when she arrives." King Kai replied.

"She's coming here?" Vegita inquired, folding his arms.

"She will. King Yemma knows of her importance and will surely send her." Goku, Vegita, and Piccolo just stared at King Kai with bewildered looks on their faces.

Back on Earth, Trunks held Natalie's limp body in his arms as tears ran down his face and landed on her shirt. Suddenly, she began to glow. Trunks looked at her with a surprised expression on his face as she began to fade away right before his eyes.

"No no no!" he cried, trying to keep her in his grasp. Soon she was completely out of sight and little points of light were left where she had once lain. They then collected themselves and swirled upwards towards the heavens, surrounding Trunks and then dispersing into the sky. Kira suddenly appeared in the doorway and fell to her knees when she saw the grisly scene. She tried to speak but choked on her own words. The skies darkened and thunder crashed in the distance as Kira suddenly became furious. Trunks jerked his head over in her direction, looking at her with a stunned expression. The ground began to rumble and pieces of debris left from the charred fighting droids bounced on the floor of the gravity chamber. Kira then clenched her fists and screamed as her body went rigid and enormous amounts of raw power surged through her body. Trunks just watched in awe as his daughter transformed before his eyes. Kira's tiny muscles bulged and her aura expanded outward, surging through her small frame and her hair turned from lavender to bright gold, spiking outward and falling back onto her shoulders. Her tail also turned gold and her eyes just remained their original green color. When all of this was finished, she fell to the ground, barely breathing. When Trunks snapped out of his shock, he ran over and scooped the girl up in his arms, carrying her into the building. Bulma came downstairs with pieces of ceiling plaster in her hair and a confused expression on her face as she clung to the railing.

"What the hell was that?" she cried. "It felt like an earthquake!" Her eyes then locked onto Kira's body. "What's up with that girl!? You mean to tell me that she's a...a...you know!" Bulma cried. Trunks smirked and nodded his head. Kira squirmed in his arms and he set her down. She examined herself carefully, marveling at her new hair and tail as Trunks explained the unfortunate situation to Bulma, who burst into tears.

"She's-she's gone..." Bulma trailed off, dabbing her eye with the bottom of her shirt. "This can't be happening." Trunks dropped his head to the ground and moved his eyes along the floor until he came to Kira's feet. She even had little boots like his. This made Trunks crack a smile. Deep down, he knew that Natalie would be okay and they would wish her back with the dragon balls, but two and a half months without her seemed like an eternity.

"I suppose you two are hungry." Bulma said, making her way down the rest of the stairs. Trunks and Kira's heads popped up and they looked at Bulma with excited expressions on their faces. Kira was still in Super Saiyan form and strands of her blonde hair fell over her eyes. Trunks looked at his daughter with pride. She was quite the little warrior.

Natalie suddenly woke up in a large area. When her senses came to her, she looked around. She was on some kind of large, floating platform!

"What the!" she cried out. "Where am I? What happened to me?"

"There is no need to fear my friend." A gentle voice said from behind her. Natalie spun around defensively and put her arms up.

"Who-?" she broke off. Before her stood a green figure about her height, dressed in loose-fitting robes.

"My name is Dende." He replied. He looked like a younger version of Piccolo. Natalie's eyes went wide.

"You're Dende! Then that means-!" she broke off. She looked up above her and saw a golden halo floating above her head. "I'm dead!?" she cried. Dende nodded reassuringly. Natalie fell to her knees and stared at her hands in disbelief. Dende placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't be afraid. You were sent here for a reason." The Namek said.

"I don't want to be here!" she said, standing up on her feet and looking around fearfully. "I want to go home! Please let me go home!" she begged.

"I am sorry but I have no control over that." Dende said. "You will be sent to King Yemma's place, where he will allow you to pass on to snake way to journey to King Kai's planet. Goku, Vegita, and Piccolo are already there." He continued. Natalie sighed and folded her arms, looking to the heavens as a tear slid down her cheek.

"I suppose I don't have a choice." She said, her voice heavy with sorrow.

"Yes, you have a choice. You don't have to go to down snake way. That would just be the best route to take." Dende said to the girl.

"How long will it take me?" she inquired.

"It all depends on your speed. Snake way is ten-thousand miles long." He replied. Natalie's jaw dropped.

"I have to be brave." She thought to herself. "Besides, what's the worst that could happen?" Suddenly she imagined herself tripping and falling off of the side of snake way and falling into oblivion. She snapped back to reality.

"I'll...I'll go, then." She said, trying to put on a brave face. However, Dende could see right through it.

"If you don't want to go, you don't have to." He suggested.

"No. I'll go." She said. She had heard about King Kai from Trunks and Goku. Surely the journey wouldn't be that bad? Goku, Vegita, and Piccolo managed it, so she could too. "How do I get there?" she asked.

"I'll take you to King Yemma's, and from there you will be transported to the beginning of snake way." Dende replied. Natalie nodded. Then, Dende put a hand on her shoulder and concentrated. Before Natalie realized what was going on, they were teleported to King Yemma's "office". She gasped as she looked up and saw an enormous man sitting at a desk, right in front of her.

"Well hello, Dende." He said, his loud voice booming. Natalie leaned over to Dende.

"Is this King Yemma?" she asked. Dende nodded in response.

"Greetings, King Yemma. I have a girl here who wishes to travel down snake way to King Kai's." Dende said to the large man behind the desk. King Yemma looked at Natalie with his huge eyes, causing her to fall back in surprise.

"And who might she be?" he asked, opening a gigantic book.

"M-my name is Natalie." She said fearfully. She wasn't sure which identity to use, since she had apparently had two different places of residence.

"Natalie? Are you from Earth?" he continued.

"Uh..." she said. "Technically, yes."

"What is that supposed to mean?" King Yemma asked. He intimidated Natalie so much that she was afraid to speak.

"I am from Earth." She repeated.

"King Yemma, this girl was born on a different planet but sent to Earth. She was taken in by the Briefs family." Dende said, much to Natalie's relief.

"Hmm..." King Yemma said, flipping through the pages of his book. Finally he came to a stop and scanned the pages with his large, black eyes. "I see. You are Carina, are you not?" he asked. Natalie gulped and nodded. "You are a rare one, indeed." He said, chuckling. "Well I suppose I will let you pass. You seemed to have proven yourself worthy."

"Thank you!" Natalie exclaimed. She was then led outside to an area where a skinny blue man in a business suit was waiting for her.

"This man will transport you to the beginning of snake way. From there, you will journey to King Kai's planet, which is at the very end. Make sure to stay on the path, for one you fall, there will be no coming back." Dende said. "Good luck to you, Natalie." The Namek said, and bid her farewell. When he had teleported back to his lookout, Natalie cautiously approached the man.

"Hi! I will take you to the entrance to snake way. What is your name?" the man asked in an unusually strange voice pitch.

"My name is Natalie." She replied.

"My, my that's a lovely name. What are you going to King Kai's for, may I ask?"

"I-I don't really know. Dende suggested I go. Goku and the others are there as well." She answered.

"Oh, Goku is an old friend of mine! I think we are soul-mates or something, because we think just alike." He said. "Well just hop in the back and I'll take you on to snake way!" the man said cheerfully. Natalie cautiously sat down in the back of the back of the...car. From there she was driven to the entrance, while the man struck up some unusual conversations.

"So how long have you known Goku?" he asked.

"Well, ever since Orion came to Earth and we fought him, I met Goku that day." She replied, observing the scenery...or lack thereof.

"Orion!?" the man cried. "You mean to tell me that you guys fought that awful young man?"

"Y-yes. How do you know him?" Natalie asked.

"Oh, he came to King Yemma's when he died. Everyone comes here. Then the king decides where they should be headed." He replied.

"Really? So, then I guess he went to -" she broke off.

"Yeah, he went there." He interrupted. Natalie stifled a laugh. "Well here we are, then! Good luck on your journey." Natalie looked up and saw a huge, demon like creature made out of stone. Its open mouth was the start of the long pathway.

"Wow. That's creepy." Natalie said.

"I say the same thing every time I see it!" the guy said. "We must be soul-mates or something." Natalie looked at him with an eyebrow cocked before taking a few brave steps towards the mouth. When she looked back, he was waving goodbye to her and then took off in his...car.

"You can do this, Nat." she said to herself. She took a big gulp of air and stepped into the mouth. The sounds of her breathing were echoed off of the stone walls as she just stood still for a few moments. "That wasn't so bad." She said. "Here goes..." she trailed off and took a few more steps. Soon she was out of the mouth and could see the elongated pathway twisting and turning on its way into the horizon. "Oh man. This might take longer than I expected." She said, powering up her aura and then taking off with blinding speed.

Goku, Vegita, and Piccolo were all standing outside of Kaio-sama's house, trying to make out Natalie's ki.

"She's already begun the journey." King Kai commented. "But there's no telling how long it will take. At the speed she's going now, it would take a few weeks." He continued.

"She can go faster than that." Vegita said. "I've seen her power. She's just taking her time." Goku and Piccolo turned to him.

"You care for her, don't you?" Goku asked.

"WHAT!? Whatever made you think that?" Vegita snarled. "I have no feelings for that girl." He continued to rant and rave. This proved the obvious: he did care for her after all. When Vegita was done with his outburst, King Kai spoke up.

"Well I guess you three would like to begin training, then?" he asked. The three warriors looked at him.

"I'll sit this one out." Piccolo said with his usual cold tone of voice. He didn't want to be bothered with training when he could be meditating. He then proceeded to hover over to the side of King Kai's house and floated a few feet off the ground in an indian-style position with his arms crossed. Goku and Vegita watched him and then turned back to each other.

"Looks like it's just you and me, then." Goku said cheerfully.

"Hmph." Vegita said. "Looks like I'll have to kick your ass solo then." He said, smirking. Goku smirked as well.

"Think what you wish, Vegita," was all he had to say before the two of them became a blur of fists and feet, punching, dodging, swooping, and attacking faster than the eye could see. King Kai watched...er...sensed them intently as they fought.

"They have greatly improved since I saw them last." He thought to himself as his sunglasses glinted in the sunlight. Soon after the two began sparring, the ki attacks began, sometimes running astray and narrowly missing King Kai or Piccolo.

"Watch where you're firing!" Piccolo snapped, angry that his concentration had been broken. He could sense Natalie's ki in the distance, making it's way to King Kai's small planet.

On Earth, Bulma, Trunks, and Kira all sat at the dining table, eating their breakfast on the Sunday morning. Kira had french toast with syrup, and Trunks had an omelet with hash browns. Bulma was just sipping at a cup of black coffee and reading the paper. Trunks had barely touched his breakfast, much to his mother's surprise and displeasure.

"Trunks! I just cooked you that whole meal and you've barely taken three bites." Bulma complained. "Don't you like my cooking?"

"No, mom. Your cooking is fine. I...I'm just upset right now." He replied with a solemn tone of voice. Kira looked up at her father with smears of syrup on her face. She had managed to power down to regular form, since Bulma had a "No Super Saiyans at the Table" rule. While Kira studied him intently, he was deep in thought. "There has to be some way to get her back early." Trunks thought to himself. "If only Goku were still alive. He could teleport to new Namek and collect the Namekin dragon balls." But he wasn't.

"Man this sure is boring." Natalie said as she shuffled down Snake Way. She decided to walk for a while and save her strength. Earlier she had found out that the edges of Snake Way were sharp, the hard way. "How much longer is this going to take?" she cried out loud. There weren't any other souls around for miles, and she was beginning to wish that she hadn't even come here in the first place. Actually, if it hadn't been for Orion...no. She needed to just forget about him. But how could she? It was all his fault! All of the things that had taken place during the past couple of months had been because of him. "Damn him." She muttered under her breath. "Oh well...I'm stuck here. Might as well make the best of things." She said, shrugging her shoulders and picking up the pace again. The road seemed to go no forever, just begging to discourage her on her journey. Luckily, she had inherited the fiery will that Saiyans were renowned for and wouldn't give up that easily.

Back on King Kai's planet, Goku and Vegita had taken a break from sparring and were indulging themselves in a bowl of rice, provided by Kaio-sama himself.

"You still have that enormous appetite, I see." King Kai said, watching Goku as he inhaled his food. Goku grinned in between bites.

"Okay, Kira." Trunks said, studying his daughter. "You seem to have some potential."

"What's potential?" she asked. Trunks slapped himself on the head.

"How old are you again?" he asked.

"Five." She replied with an innocent look on her face.

"You're five!?" Trunks cried. "I mean...you're five." He said again, this time straightening up his voice. "Have you ever trained before, Kira?" he asked. Kira nodded her head.

"Grandpa trained me." She said proudly. Trunks rolled his eyes.

"So father trained her, huh?" he thought to himself. "Typical."

"Are you going to train me, dad?" she asked. Trunks faltered when he heard her call him dad. It sounded so...strange. But he liked it.

"I was thinking about it." He replied, snapping out of his daze. "Are you up to it?" he asked.

"Of course I am." She replied, placing her hands on her hips.

"She definitely has dad's ego." Trunks thought to himself. "Not to mention Nat's attitude." It was obvious that she was his daughter.

"Okay then. Tell me, how hard did father train you?" Trunks asked. "Did he use the gravity room?"

"Yes he's been training me ever since I was able to walk." She replied plainly. Trunks gaped. "But he didn't let me use the gravity room until I was three."

"O-oh." Trunks said, amazed.

"But mom only let me train up to ten times normal gravity." Kira continued, as if nothing were abnormal about this. "She said that grandpa would end up killing me if he trained me too hard. But I think mom is silly." She giggled.

"Ah, of course." Trunks said, trying to keep himself from exploding. He couldn't believe the things that she managed to pull off at such a young age. "So is there anything else you can tell me about the future?" Trunks asked. He was really curious.

"I-I can't. I'm sorry but I don't want to risk anything." She replied.

"That's fine, don't worry." He said. "Now let's get to training!" he said, then noticing that she was still wearing her old clothing from the day before that had already been ruined in battle. "But I suppose you will need some new clothes." He said.

A few minutes later, Kira emerged from Natalie's room wearing one of her white tank tops and her navy blue nylon pants. They were so long that she kept tripping over them. Trunks laughed at the sight.

"I think you need to roll those up." He said, sitting down in front of her and began to roll up the bottom of the pants to prevent any accidents. Dende knows they didn't need anything else to happen anytime soon.