Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Lost and Found: Royal Line Blues ❯ Repercussions ( Chapter 36 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z, Toriyama and Toei Animation do, as does Funimation. I only own the fan characters in this. Ami and Yumi are from Hi hi Puffyamiyumi, produced by Cartoon Network Studios. I don't get paid for this.

Author note: This chapter is an attempt to tie off some loose ends, and answer what happened to Krillen and Yamucha after they landed. Vegeta and Bulma don't show up much in this chapter, but will probably in the next. While this story is winding to a close, there may be a sequel in the works…

Repercussions

By Trynia Merin aka StarbearerTM  

Gohan yawned as he saw Piccolo levitating just above the Son household. It was early next morning, and he was making his way towards the small Son house where his father had grown up so many years ago. Bulma and the Prince had made no signs of wakefulness, and like a good host, Gohan decided to see if there was anything they needed.

"Good morning, Mr. Piccolo," he called up to his sensei.

"Let me guess, your mother chose YOU to check on them," said Piccolo, glancing down at him with a half smile.

"Well, I don't think she even wants to be in the same room as Vegeta, and well… Vegeta and I kind of have an understanding since Namek…"

"True, but you realize WHY we're being wary… considering the message we got over three months ago," Piccolo reminded him. "The mere fact that Vegeta offered any help, and has Bulma with him is the sole reason none of us are interfering with them…"

"Bulma loves him," said Gohan. "And my dad's word should be good enough to keep everyone else off their backs…"

"Did you forget that other message we got, shortly before they arrived, from Krillen?" Piccolo asked. "Saying that Vegeta had kidnapped Bulma and blasted the hell out of Yamucha? And then the screen went blank? That's a loose end I think is pretty suspect… why did they return in separate ships. And where did Vegeta get all this SAIYAN technology to save Goku?"

"That's what I'd like to know," said Gohan. "Why don't we just ASK him?"

"You know how he is," said Piccolo. "I think that we can't trust him… especially when Krillen and Yamucha and those two female friends of Bulma are STILL missing?"

"Sure, but he did rescue Krillen and me on Namek. And Goku insists he's okay. Why don't we just talk to him about it and see his side?" Gohan asked with a sigh.

"I have my reasons," Piccolo answered simply.

"Maybe he just wanted to be alone with Bulma because he wanted to get married…"

"Married?" Piccolo snorted. A look of mild surprise flickered over his former sensei's face, puzzling Gohan. The deep worry eased a bit, but then remained to a lesser degree, indicating Piccolo's last suspicions.

"Mr. Piccolo, you're pretty relieved there… I thought you'd be more surprised then that!" said Gohan, lowering his dark brows. He rested his hands on his hips, after pushing his long hair out of his face.

"I see… so… they're together. I suppose… that makes sense…" Piccolo finally said. "Vegeta's adverse to PDA's… so if he DID want to get together with her, naturally he'd do it away from the others…"

"You see, that makes sense. I'm sure that Krillen and Yamucha probably jumped to conclusions. You know how Yamucha still…"

"Aren't you a little young?" Piccolo teased him.

"Give me a BREAK!" Gohan snorted. "Look, jealousy makes people do dumb things. And Yamucha doesn't exactly act really smart when it comes to how to treat girls right! My mommy said that he and Bulma-san were ALWAYS arguing, and never were happy together. So maybe Yamucha got mad and panicked and was so jealous…"

"Humph, let's hope you're right, kid," Piccolo said with a grim nod. He unfolded his legs and stood up in midair. Then he levitated towards the Son House, landing on booted feet.

"You know what my dad said about that message," Gohan said to Piccolo.

"Who told him? He was out of it!"

"I did," said Gohan. "He wanted to know… no matter how sick he got, if we heard anything from Krillen and Yamucha. So I told him."

"And what was HIS reaction?"

"He was pretty sad. He said we shouldn't pass judgement till Krillen and Yamucha and the others came back. That we needed both sides of the story. And that maybe Yamucha might have been… well jealous. Basically what I just said! And you KNOW that he's known them since way before they first met. If it weren't for my dad, Bulma and Yamucha wouldn't know each other at all! So if anyone knows them both it's him!"

"I hope you're right. And in that case, would you like to come with me to meet their ship when it lands?" asked Piccolo. "I don't think Tien and Chaozu are good candidates because knowing them this whole situation could get out of hand…"

"We need to be open minded. My dad trusts Vegeta, and he seemed okay seeing them together. It was like he expected them to be together when he and I sensed Vegeta going Super Saiyan those months ago… before my dad got sick…" said Gohan.

"Right. But we can't take ANYTHING for granted. In fact, it might be better if you stayed here with your mom and dad, while Vegeta and Bulma are here. I'll go to meet the ship when it lands. Dr. Briefs calculated it would land sometime today… based on the trajectory of the message…" said Piccolo.

"Okay. What will we do if there IS a big problem…" asked Gohan.

"I'll let you know soon enough. Now, you'd better see if your guests are awake. And keep finding out as much as you can from them about what happened out there in space," Piccolo said. Nodding, Gohan walked across the courtyard to rap lightly on the double doors. Piccolo landed, entering the house to check on Chichi and Goku.

Gohan raised his knuckles to rap three times on the solid wood doors. He heard no answer, so he pressed his ear more closely to the door to listen. A loud rumbling indicated someone was snoring. Sheets rustled, and he heard soft whispers and giggles that made him blush. Gohan slowly opened the door a bit, and glanced in through the crack of the widening door.

Sheets rustled, and he flushed bright red. A pile of clothes lay on the floor, comprised of Vegeta's armor and bodysuit, and intermingled with Bulma's clothes. Both of them lay together on the bed, wrapped in each other's arms in a manner identical to when he would walk in on his father and mother. Although the silk sheets and comforter covered them, it was obvious to him what had happened. Quietly he closed the door, and tiptoed back to the house. He guessed that they would come for breakfast in their own time.

***  

Two days later, Piccolo and Gohan rocketed off towards the beach, nearly three hours distance from Goku's home. They had sensed the presence of familiar ki headed towards the planet at a great clip. Bulma had wanted to go, but Vegeta had insisted she remain behind till the other Z fighters had returned to see what it was.

"Do you suppose it's Krillen and the others?" asked Gohan. "That's what Vegeta figures."

"Logically it should be. Bulma-san's father got a ship message two months after they left, and this message was sent almost two weeks ago. It seems like it was transmitted by Krillen…" said Piccolo. "You'd better stop here kid. I'll go on alone… remember what we talked about…"

"My dad IS getting better," Gohan said. "But I've got a funny feeling about this… and it's pretty much centered around Yamucha and Krillen…"

"Exactly WHY you should go back to your mother. Just in case. I'll give you a holler when I find them…" said Piccolo. "And if I need backup, you'll be the first to know…"

"Right," he nodded. Turning, he rocketed back toward his home in West Province 439, while Piccolo continued on alone.

Streaking over the trees, Piccolo reached the tall mountains and shot overhead. Over the mountains the flat texture of interlocking farming fields stretched like paving stones and floor tiles. Suddenly he noticed a faint streak out of the corner of his eye in the upper boundaries of the atmosphere. Stopping, he glanced up at the jet trail of something catching fire.

"There it is, or it's one hell of a shooting star," Piccolo grunted, shading his eyes with one hand. Increasing his speed he corrected his course to meet where it was going to land. A huge boom rattled the ground for miles when it broke the sound barrier. Flames crackled and swirled on the streaking ribbon of fire blowing up larger in size.

The bright streak bashed its way into the ocean, causing a huge cloud of steam to rise. A wave crested forwards from the distant sea jut on the horizon. Grumbling, Piccolo thrust all his ki into reaching the beach to somehow stop the wave with a directed ki blast in case anyone would be overtaken. Luckily the beach was largely uninhabited rocky coastline.

Just as the wave smashed into the shore, he reached the beach, and hurled a large blast of ki towards the ocean to blunt its impact. Energy bled off, causing the surf to only come inland a few hundred yards to the tree line of the rocky terminus. Smoke rose in a tall plume about a mile out to sea. Piccolo streaked out towards it; sure that he had to get there before it sank.

Most capsule craft were designed to land not in the ocean, but on land in uninhabited fields. Large ripples radiated from the smoky sphere bobbing in the ocean. Charred lettering on its surface indicated the words "AP U 5 RR".

"Capsule 5, no doubt," he nodded, dropping his altitude. The sphere showed no signs of sinking, and the ocean had quenched most of the heat of reentry. He gave the metal a tentative push with his booted foot, hoping to spin it around so he could get the hatch to float up so he could enter. Inside he sensed three life signs, barely coming to consciousness. Two were puny, while the other was remotely Krillen's ki level. The locking mechanism looked fused shut from the reentry, so it was pointless to try and open it. Judging from its reentry, nobody was piloting it.

Not wasting any time, Piccolo aimed two fingers at the hatch, and sliced it open with a pencil thin beam of his own golden ki. He wrenched the hatch open, and threw it aside. "HEY!" he called inside. "Anyone ALIVE in there? Its Piccolo!"

Small groans met his ears. He ducked inside, glancing around the dark space. A heavy sweet almond odor made him cough, and he scanned for any ki. Behind the nearest door he felt the three life forms, growing steadily stronger.

"HEY! Krillen! Yamucha!" Piccolo called. "Wake up! Can you HEAR me?"

"Piccolo?" Krillen's voice faintly called. "Is that REALLY you?"

"Stand back, I'm going to blow the hatch! And get you out of there!" he shouted. Seconds later, the door exploded inwards, revealing thick smoke. Krillen lay on the floor next to two females. One of them was curled up on the sofa, while the other lay near a regeneration tank. Inside floated Yamucha's body, in a sea of nutrients.

"Piccolo… help me… the girls…"

"What the hell happened?" Piccolo grunted. Sparks flew from pieces of terminal. He glanced around, and saw most of the life support was still operating, and the air wasn't stale. In fact that strange mist was making him feel a bit sleepy.

"I don't know… are we on earth?" asked Krillen. "Oh no… Yamucha… the girls… Vegeta…"

"Let me get this thing back to land. I want to see if there's some ship log…" Piccolo said. "You guys hold on… I think I can drag this ship to shore…"

"Are you NUTS? It weighs tons!"

"I can be very persuasive…" Piccolo grunted. "Now just relax. It would take more of an effort to carry you all out. And whatever that thing is that's holding Yamucha I don't want to disrupt it!"

"But!"

"QUIET!" Piccolo grunted, and flew out of the chamber into the open air. Aiming a low-grade ki beam at the rear of the craft, he slowly nudged it towards the beach a half mile distant. The tide would help him carry it in, and he could stop the craft from rotating if it moved in too unwieldy of a fashion.

***  

A half-hour later, Piccolo carried Krillen, then the two girls out and lay them on space blankets he had salvaged from the ship. It rested on the rocky shore, charred and still mainly intact. Although the hatch was forced open, it looked as if it could be repaired and used again for a future flight.

"Why didn't you just GET us?" Krillen groaned, rubbing his head. Still he was groggy from the hibernation gas, trying to make sense of what was going on. Bright sunlight blared into his bleary eyes, eclipsed by a tall figure standing overhead, his white cape flapping in the quickening wind. Salty sea air blasted its scent across the grass near the rocky shoreline that merged with the woods nearby.

"Because there's a mystery here, and I want all the answers I can get, that's why!" Piccolo answered. "I'm not going to jump to ANY conclusions REGARDLESS of what you're going to tell me…"

"But Vegeta almost KILLED Yamucha! If we didn’t' get him into the regeneration tank…" Krillen gasped, struggling to sit up. His head spun in circles, indicating he was still not completely recovered. Every muscle was stiff and almost impossible to move.

"He's already dead," Piccolo said. "The girls are still alive. But they're in some sort of hibernation. That gas…"

"Yamucha's DEAD?" Krillen gasped. "Oh NO! But…"

"Quiet!" Piccolo snapped, dropping to one knee and shoving Krillen down with a green muscular hand. "Getting angry won't help!"

Slowly the girls laying to the left and right of Krillen moaned and turned over. Piccolo noticed the pink haired one, Ami, had a few scars that indicated ki burns, and a few bruises that were just beginning to fade. The other purple haired one, Yumi, was basically unharmed. He had found her by the regeneration tank, while the other was collapsed on the sofa, presumably from her injuries.

"This pink haired girl looks like she's recovered from a fight. What happened?" he asked, pointing to Ami with a pale white fingernail.

"But Vegeta blew Yamucha away, and he took Bulma… Yamucha went NUTS and I…" Krillen babbled.

"Tell me from the beginning, and take your TIME! Before these two wake up!" Piccolo demanded. He got up and strode over to crouch over Ami to Krillen's left. Slowly he turned the girl's head, showing Krillen the injuries he had spotted before.

"But Yamucha…"

"Give me a break already! He's already dead. That tank fluid kept his body preserved, but that's all. Whatever happened, it must have blown a circuit shortly after he was put in…" Piccolo said. "Most of the other circuits are blown out save basic life support. And it looks like there were several dings from meteors. You're lucky that YOU three are alive…"

"I can't believe…" stammered Krillen.

Piccolo turned his head quickly and glared at him. He snorted, "Believe it. Vegeta and Bulma are at Goku's house, and Goku's recovering…"

"WHAT?" asked Krillen.

"A lot's happened. You've been gone for six months. Bulma and Vegeta arrived two days ago in another ship… and said you guys were on your way."

"Wait, they're HERE?" Krillen asked, falling over and almost bonking his head against the ground under the blanket he lay upon.

"That's what I said, Krillen. Would you calm DOWN? I know you're pissed because Yamucha's dead. But I want to know WHY and what happened. And there's more to it then Vegeta blasting him. According to the Prince, Yamucha attacked Bulma, and he merely defended her…"

"Yes, but he didn't have to kill him!" Krillen gasped.

"Look at this girl. Did Vegeta cause those bruises to her head? I know they're healing over, but it looked like she being shoved against the wall caused them. And so do these cuts which are now scars. Would Vegeta waste his time knocking someone around when he could just blast them?" asked Piccolo.

"I… well… now that you mention it…" Krillen mumbled sheepishly, glancing at where Piccolo leaned over the unconscious Ami.

"He could have killed all of you, but he didn't. Why would he waste his time setting your ship to return if he wanted you dead?"

"He could have made it look like an accident," said Krillen.

"You're alive. And he didn't pretend that you were dead. Besides, we can wish Yamucha back with the dragon balls. But not before we get a good answer why this happened," said Piccolo. "And it stands to reason that this ship must have some sort of visual log or something… because I noticed some cameras. What really happened would be encoded there…"

"Why didn't I think of that?" Krillen groaned. Piccolo held up the small computer disc containing the ship logs, and slipped it into Krillen's hand.

"You'd better play that when we get back to Capsule. Gohan's probably putting in a call to Bulma's dad now to come get this wreck. And you and I can get these girls to a doctor. But I'd rather not have you flipping out on me and going on some fool vendetta against Vegeta when he's just all but saved Goku's life…"

"Say WHAT?" asked Krillen, leaping to his feet.

"Goku's been sick. And Vegeta happened to find some sort of cure for it. Along with Bulma and Gohan. Both of them are staying there now till Goku recovers."

"You left VEGETA and Bulma at Goku's?" asked Krillen, blinking in disbelief.

Annoyed, Piccolo explained, "Gohan's there. Like I said, a lot has changed. Gohan tells me that Bulma and Vegeta are married… is that true?"

"Vegeta and Bulma DID say they were interested in each other… man my head hurts… and Yamucha…" Krillen struggled to remember.

"You were in hibernation, according to Bulma and Vegeta. She says that he set up the ship with the same gas used by Saiyans in their space pods. So that explains why you are still groggy, and these two girls are still fast asleep. It somehow slows your body functions down to almost nothing. Which explains why these bruises and lacerations Ami-san are still fresh… from two weeks ago…"

"Okay enough with the detective stuff, Piccolo," sighed Krillen, rubbing his forehead. "I'm starving…"

"Then it's time to get these girls to a hospital. And you could use a good meal by the looks of it. Leave Yamucha, we'll get him later… and give him a proper burial. Because if what Vegeta and Bulma says is true… he has a lot to answer for. Because she herself told me that Yamucha attacked both her and her friend there. And that's not something I think the Yamucha you and I know would do…"

"I can't believe Yamucha would hurt Bulma intentionally…" Krillen grumbled.

"You're human Krillen. Wouldn't you get insane with jealousy? I might be a Namek, but I've lived among humans my whole life. And I've seen a lot of things that disgust me. And petty bickering causes many of them. I don't want any advantage we have against the Androids to be taken away because we all jump to conclusions…" said Piccolo.

"So… we just LOOK the other way? He's our FRIEND. Doesn’t' that MEAN anything to you? Or have I misjudged you all this time?"

"Think what you want, Krillen. But Goku trusts that what Vegeta says is true. And these two are still alive and need medical help. It doesn't make sense to waste time with foolish notions when we can get the answers easily enough. Now are you going to help me with these girls or NOT?" Piccolo snapped irritably at him.

Sighing deeply, Krillen gathered Yumi into his arms. Reaching down, Piccolo scooped Ami up and put her over his shoulder. He opted to leave Yamucha in the regeneration tank till they watched the video disc and saw for themselves what was encoded. For now, Piccolo put his money on Goku and the Prince. He did not want to think of the unpleasant alternative. They needed Vegeta's strength on their side when the Androids emerged. If what Vegeta claimed was true, Yamucha's insane streak would only be a liability that they could not afford. Friend or no friend, they had only the evidence before them, and a Saiyan no Ouji and his woman's word against that of a fellow Z fighter. And Goku's good will and faith in a kid from the future.

***